The Commuters

As I Make My Way starts with a scratchy guitar riff that morphs into a burst of late Beatlesque sound then moves into a groove that for some reason, although it’s slower, makes me thing of Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend. Maybe it’s not the rhythm, maybe it’s the lo-fi production, (which I love), or that rough around the edges guitar part, but I swear, there’s a little bit of Sweet’s megahit in there.

And then, As I Make My Way is nothing but The Commuters, with their very own pop/rock, anthemic sound. And even though it’s a band sound, the mix never gets crowded, never becomes a wall of music, and stays refreshingly lo-fi—that hint of Sweet’s Girlfriend, all grown up, and possibly holding a U2 CD in her hands—with vocals that are sometimes tough, sometimes tender, always honest. Grounded.

I’m seeing light from the other side of morning
Reflected light from the other side of day
I’m seeing light from the other side of morning
I’m seeing light, my mind is blown away

…My mind is blown away — away
I’ll figure it out as I make my way

I watch the world from the other side of owning
The things I’ve held, I’ve let them go away
I watch the world from the other side of owning
I watch the world, desires have slipped away

…Desires have slipped away — away
I’ll figure it out as I make my way

I’m on a journey, I’ve got my faith
I don’t have to worry about my fate
The planets align as the will dictates
I’m writing it out as I make my way

I walk through time with a different understanding
Embracing what I see along the way
I walk though time with a different understanding
I’ll figure it out, as I make my way

…as I make my way — my way
I’ll figure it out as I make my way

I’m on a journey, I’ve got my faith
I don’t have to worry about my fate
The planets align as the will dictates
I’m writing it out as I make my way…

Siren Zeeshan Zaidi, frontman and founder of The Commuters, was generous enough to share the story behind As I Make My Way.

“This song is about the vision I had all my life of becoming a professional musician and just going for it. I’d been in and around the music industry much of my life, but had put my own musical dreams on the back burner. One day I was deep in thought and said to myself: Some day I will die. And when that day comes I don’t want to look back on my life and kick myself for not doing what deep down inside I’ve always wanted to do. So the song is about that moment, and going for it, and not worrying too much about outcomes — about giving it your all and just trusting that things will work out as they are supposed to.

Ironically, even though this was the obvious first single, in the studio, this was one of the last songs to come together. It was lagging a bit behind the other songs and I wasn’t sure if it would even make the album. Then one day I said to Uri — let’s take a cue from the song itself and lay down some cool parts, starting with a great intro, without caring too much about how it turns out. Just let it go. So then I came up with the two guitar parts you hear in the intro and put them down, and Uri was messing around with a keyboard and came up with the really killer synth riff, as well as the scratchy sound at the beginning.
Felt a lot like magic.”

And sounds a lot like magic. So glad The Commuters got it down.

The Commuters are: Zeeshan Zaidi (Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Songwriter, Co-Producer), Uri Djemal (Guitar, Keyboards, Co-Producer), Ben Zwerin (Bass), and Paul Amorese (Drums). Their full 11 song album Rescue was mastered by White Stripes/Ryan Adams collaborator Fred Kevorkian and includes Take a Step Back, a gorgeous ballad that I’m particularly in love with. Rescue is available on bandcamp so you can easily choose the tracks you want, or get the entire album, which is what I recommend.

The music video for As I Make My Way is of the Day In A Life variety, but what makes it so interesting, besides the fact that it uses the band’s hometown of NYC as a backdrop, is that it shows Zeeshan Zaidi as the start of the day not as a musician, but as The Man In The Gray Flannel suit tech entrepreneur that he is in his ‘other’ life.

This Could Be Yours

This Could Be Yours is certainly an evocative name, but maybe this Berlin based band should be called They Could Be Huge. They’ve got all the ingredients for pop stardom.

A pulsing  body of an indie/postrock song lying in an atmospheric electronica bed, At Your Feet is intense, yet almost delicate at the same time. It’s driving, but contemplative.

I hit the road
Become insane
If those forces really please you
I will be the one that you never see again

It’s a misery that’s fitting
“Desperation Of The Day”
And you don’t seem to know
All those ghosts around here
seizing hold of your friends

Oh yes, you were laughing out loud
To witness the words that you’re spitting
Shuts my mouth

You never know when to stop
You never fall

Down at my spot
Decomposing and decay
Please don’t open up those eyelids
Don’t you get a glimpse of that
dwarf at your feet

Oh yes, you were laughing out loud
To witness the words that you’re spitting
Shuts my mouth

To silence you once for all 
Every minute that I stayed
This plan did grow
I wanna make you lose
I could have sworn

You never know when to stop
You never fall

This Could Be Yours is Max Wiegand (Vocals, Guitar), Levin Siert (Guitar), Fabian Haupt (Drums), and Jan Möller (Bass).
Max was kind enough to tell me a bit about the band.

“The core of the band has existed for about ten years now. Everything started in a town called Bremerhaven which belongs to Bremen but is 60 km more far to the north. The three of us (Fabi, Levin, and me ) grew up close to the northern sea. The last missing member, Jan, is from Berlin originally, and took over the bass almost two years ago. We came to Berlin in late 2009, where we went through various changes, not just in line-up but also in terms of music. Also the name ‘This Could Be Yours’ was found here.”

I love the way Max says that the name of the band was “found”, as if it was waiting for them.

The official music video for At Your Feet is equal to the song, a combination of video and animation that is just as pleasing as the mix of musical styles.

This Could Be Yours will announce some new tour dates soon. Hope NYC makes the list, because I love these guys. Even without the stage makeup.

Using Music to Protest Mountain Removal

Stream of Conscience from the New York City based band 2/3 Goat (pronounced: Two-Thirds Goat) is more than just a great bluegrass song with an edge, it’s a powerful protest song in the vein of the legendary Pete Seeger.

And that’s it. I don’t want to waste another second on words. You must listen to this track, and then please, spread the word.

Music has the power to change the world, and I hope the metrobilly of 2/3 Goat does exactly that.

Although I don’t often post video, I’m including the music video for Stream of Conscience here, because it’s amazing, and because it will show you what mountain top removal mining looks like, if you don’t already know. Plus, it gave me goosebumps. I’m happy that 2/3 Goat found Sirenstories, and proud to feature their music on the blog.

A few words about the video from 2/3 Goat:

“Protest footage (courtesy of Jordan Freeman) is from the March on Blair Mountain, a march to save historic Blair Mountain from being demolished by mountaintop removal. The 2 men on the sign: Sid Hatfield, sheriff of Matewan, WV, and his deputy Ed Chambers. The pro-unioners were shot and killed on the steps of the courthouse while awaiting trial. This led to the Battle of Blair Mtn (1921). 2/3 Goat is against the destruction of any Mountains. They are all part of our rich history and our livelihood.”

Stream of Conscience is the title track to the second album from 2/3 Goat, and was recorded entirely on vintage equipment. Get Stream of Conscience here.

Learn more about 2/3 Goat and earn yourself some karma points by liking their fb page, thank you!

Unfinished Song

Philly area Singer Songwriter Denise Moser was one of the first Sirens on this blog and I’m very happy to share the news that she’s released a new CD, Here Right Now.

The excellent, detailed review written by John Apice and published in No Depression on January 27th covers just about every aspect of Here Right Now, and he calls Unfinished Song the bravest song on the CD. I agree with him completely, and although guitarist Marc Moss did a wonderful job producing this gorgeous, honest collection of songs, Unfinished Song, an a cappella piece that gave me chills when I first heard it, is my favorite.

 

It’s lionhearted.

 

And it’s not just the fact that Denise Moser sings this song alone and unaccompanied that makes Unfinished Song so courageous, it’s the content, and the simple, profound resolution in her voice. If I was willing to bare my soul, like Denise does, this part of the post would be a lot longer. Instead, I’ll just say that I love this song so much, it hurts.

Blank paper is an old friend

My life’s unfinished song

Pretty lines and melodies

No rhyme to hang it on

I walk down roads look straight ahead

And then I change my mind 

I lose the path I double back

Regrets can be unkind

Bright stabs of inspiration

Sometimes I do my best

I put a good face on it

But this heart needs a rest

My mind is all a clutter

In places you can’t see

I never was a mother

That part of me bleeds

Denise released Here Right Now at the end of 2012, and despite the fact that I’m late with this post, she was generous enough to share her thoughts about Unfinished Song.

“It’s interesting to me that Unfinished Song resonates with people. I actually wrote that one a while back, just for me. It came out in one sitting with very little editing. No one else was ever supposed to hear it.

One day in the studio, I thought of it, and I wanted a good version for myself, so I asked Marc to start a new track, and I sang it. He liked it and planted the seed of an idea that I put it on the CD. I had it on the list of songs for consideration and shocked myself a bit that I put it on. It makes me feel vulnerable, and at the same time I don’t live in that space anymore.

Seven of the eleven songs on the CD were written within the past year and a half, and the other four are older ones that I wanted to include in this collection. I surprised myself a bit by what I left out and what I kept in some instances.

I feel proud of this CD. My dad died in March of 2011, and that ushered in a period of intense creativity – it felt like the veils between the sacred and the ordinary were thin. At the same time, I committed to songwriting for 55 minutes a day. I call it my Duck Sessions, because at the end of 55 minutes, the duck on my iPhone timer quacks. This has been my most prolific time, and I’m grateful that new songs continue to be unearthed. I’ve even begun writing customized songs for other people. There are two of those on this CD as well.”

Boy Meets Girl. Cities Burn.

Soundtracks can be a great source of inspiration for writers.

If you’re writing a scene today with a lot of conflict, check out Final Battle (The Gates of Kronos) by Peter Mor. Final Battle is a minute and a half of epic drama, perfect for book three of your paranormal trilogy, when good and evil go at it.

Dotted with hits of quirky synth sound that come in for the first time around the fifteen second mark, you can use Final Battle as the background music for you YA dystopian, too, or to help you get that sci-fi novel you’ve been thinking of out of your head and onto the page. Focus on the vigorous strings if your characters need to flee, or the sustained brass part if you’re writing your hero. The insistent, driving drums guarantee you’ll have a sweeping setting if you let your muse listen to Final Battle and allow her to have her way, although she might talk you into writing a historical novel, something you promised yourself you’d never do, because it’s just too much work.

Peter Mor was born in Volos, Greece, and comes from a musical family. He began classical guitar lessons at the conservatory at age seven, but his favorite instrument is the electric guitar. I’m pretty sure he loves movies, and Sirens. This pic was on his site.

Allow

Breathe. Listen. Feel. Watch.

Allow.

After the events of the last few months, tonight, just sitting and being open to music, feels like a luxury.

Working, talking, rushing. These things are sometimes a balm, sometimes a burden. So I’m setting aside unfinished work—unfinished thoughts even—to simply listen. To allow the soothing guitar lines of Merlin and the Fox to wash over me. To let the voice of Francesca Baines draw me away from this desk, away, away . . .

Woods rise up in my mind along with a memory of Joni Mitchell, and further back now, Annie Haslam. The walking pace of the guitar takes me back to a pre ironic time, where I discover  a lovely voice I’ve never heard. The voice of a Siren from Kinsale, Ireland.

Suddenly, as I listen and write, as I stop worrying about who’s reading, and allow the song to open me up, tears form in my eyes, and I realize just how generous the artists who contribute their music to this blog really are. Offering us their work, song after song, because they want us to hear it. Because they want to give us what they love. Because they must make music, and unless shared, music is not complete.

He dwells in the forest with the sleeping owl 
The infants of his oak crack on the ground 
The distant cry of a horn turns to a nearing howl 
Approaching are the huntsmen and their hounds

The fox I feel him falter, wild-eyed and panting fast 
Together we’ll be surefooted let us be calm 
And turn our gaze to the grandfather trees that open out their boughs 
To the outlaws, to the travelers seeking alms

Vivienne! You were sly as he was wild 
Broceliande bore this child 

My path it strays in the maze to the line of men holding their guns 
I fight my flighting urge to turn and run 
And offer them my heart ‘though their foe is more my friend 
We greet each other in a foreign tongue

Cloak him in the scent of heather and the stirring leaves 
Soothe his shaking body still as stone 
Shroud his beating heart in the lichen and the moss 
‘Till fur and the forest become one

Vivienne! You were sly as he was wild 
Broceliande bore this child 

And Merlin you were near as the shots ran out so clear 
As I held a glowing acorn in my hand 
Like a bullet how it shone, like the eyes of your feathered one 
That left a tawny token where I did stand

Vivienne! You were sly as he was wild 
Broceliande bore this child

Restez toujour un âme sauvage 
Ne les laissez pas vous apprivoiser

From Vela, released 21 October 2012
Francesca Baines: voice, guitar, whispering forest
Bruno Hollemaert: accordion

Francesca Baines says:

“Merlin & the Fox was written whilst walking in the enchanted forests of Broceliande in Brittany, home of the Arthurian stories. I was looking for the tomb of Merlin when I could hear a fox hunt happening. I started singing a song of protection for the fox and was reminded of one of Merlin’s stories; how he grew up wild and nurtured by the forest itself, and how Vivienne, Lady of the Lake, entrapped him by encircling him in a silken bind, in which he was invisibly tied to her for life. She trained him in spellcraft and gave him many powers, and yet he was a wild man enslaved. Sadly on this day, as I regarded a bright acorn, I could hear the gun shots of the distant hunters. And as I felt the shock of a dead fox, an owl feather fell to the ground – the bird associated with this fine wizard. So this song is for the wild and the untamed.
Working on the song in Foix at the foot of the Pyrenees, I stayed with a man, Paulin, who told me his experience of walking with a Mongolian shaman woman, who sang in clicks, buzzes and hums. By accentuating the consonants within the lyrics and merging the voice with recordings of woodland walks I have endeavored to evoke the elemental nature of a witch’s intonements to echo the aliveness of these whispering forests. French accordionist Bruno Hollemaert brought so much depth of feeling to this song written on guitar and voice.”

 

Joy To The World

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Sirenstories

Special thanks to PT Walkley for permission to post his beautiful version of

Joy To The World.

I’ve been a fan of PT Walkley’s music since I first heard it in one of my favorite movies, Purple Violets, a relationship comedy written and directed by Edward Burns, who I wrote a bit about here.

Edward Burns uses Joy To The World as the closing music for his new movie The Fitzgerald Family Christmas which I watched last night—and loved. It’s another deceptively small Edward Burns movie that includes so many universal truths and so much beauty, it hurts.