Buddha in the Google PLAY Store May 11, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Got six bucks? I’d bet you’d love Shooting Beer Cans Off the Buddha. Now available in Google PLAY and iTunes.
You know it’ll be good for your karma.
@jmacofearth aka buzzie
Got six bucks? I’d bet you’d love Shooting Beer Cans Off the Buddha. Now available in Google PLAY and iTunes.
You know it’ll be good for your karma.
@jmacofearth aka buzzie
This song was written to a friend…
watch directly on YouTube: A Place to Go – Buzzie
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/a-place-to-go
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
This song was imagined as a love song sounding directly inside the head of my listener through their headphones. When I wrote it, the iPod didn’t exist yet. Now the song makes even more sense, as headphones are probably to the most common way that people listen to music. And now my idea is complete. Listen to this song with headphones. Let the chorus wash in the space between your ears.
Watch this video directly on YouTube: Inside You by Buzzie
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As an example of songwriting in motion, here is the original version, I recorded in my home studio. The song was practically written by the lush reverb effect that bounces around in your head.
Watch this video directly on YouTube: Inside You by John McElhenney
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And here is the Blue Cartoon version. Notice the subtle lyric changes.
Watch this video directly on YouTube: Inside You by Blue Cartoon
It is fun to hear all three versions again. Each one has it’s own vibe. Thanks to my mates in Blue Cartoon for allowing me to republish this song.
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/inside-you
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
I celebrate these two massive bands, and the huge influence their music has on my life and experiential growth. (I have survived with these songs. I have broken down with them. Resurrected. I have come back from the abyss into hopefulness from the bravery of these exposed nerves.
BUT…
I can name 1 song of the newest Radiohead, King of Limbs, after listening to it for maybe 20 times. And I can’t tell you a single song off the rushed Coldplay disc, Mylo Xyloto.
Paradise, the only single on Coldplay’s most recent effort is pure cotton candy. There is no heart or substance in the lyrics, the sharing of deep feelings, or the expression of truth. Perhaps that’s not all that music is about. But it’s what I’ve (personally) come to expect from Coldplay. Rather we get a radio-friendly chorus, that my kids were singing along to with the 2nd listen. No problem with that, except for the fact that there is nothing else in the song to grip onto. A shallow concept. Risk free. Pabulum. And while Viva had several good songs, overall, the disc lacked the power and craft of the first 3 studio albums. And not by a small measure.
Additionally, a NEW RADIOHEAD disc for me was a moment of exquisit anticipation. On the day it was released I purchased and digested King of Limbs, waiting for a song to blow me away. I’m still waiting.
Radiohead has often been a 2 – 3 listens to nirvana for me. But somewhere along the uneven progression from OK Computer (perhaps one of the greatest albums of the 2000′s) through the morass of electronica and meander (Kid A and Amnesia) and peaking with In Rainbows (my pick for the most influential album – in my collection), Radiohead ran aground without an anchor and produced a bland and unmemorable CD with King of Limbs.
And as I was trying trying trying to get into the Limbs disc, as Radiohead toured Austin both for an Austin City Limits taping, and a arena show, I continued to come back to In Rainbows for my ya-yas.
The magic for me was rediscovering Eraser, Thom Yorke’s solo disc that received little acclaim. The first 4 tracks on Eraser are better than anything on King of Limbs. And the apex is Black Swan. The best Radiohead written in the last 4 years that isn’t a Radiohead song.
So what do we do with bands that have spun out of orbit and begun producing predictable if not boring albums?
U2 returned to the fold with All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and the hits “A Beautiful Day” and “Elevation.” They returned to the roots of rock and roll and performed as a band again. They sounded like a band. A rock n roll band. Not an electronica driven super-arena-mega-jaded group.
So what’s ahead for Radiohead? They capped their biggest masterpiece, The Bends, with OK Computer and just about blew the entire music business a new arse. And then they zigged and poked fun at us with two CD’s of anti-rock. Will King of Limbs be the tipping point back towards music making?
Does Coldplay have a bit farther to fall and crash, before they return to the search for their soul? I guess fame, touring, money, and expectations of AM Radio hits, will drive any set of musicians into the plains of sameness. As Paradise reaches for a mythical HIT that isn’t, much like the girl in the song, Chris Martin, needs to find a reason to ache again. Maybe he needs the loss of his band, or something to break him back to the core of his songwriting magic: The ache, loss, and Longing for Love. The chill and heartbreak of the entire X and Y albums is what sets is apart for me. And Mylo Xyloto holds no keys to what that future might be for the band.
Examples of SHEER GENIUS: Radiohead / Tom Yorke
Tom Yorke doing Black Swan from his solo album, Eraser.
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And House of Cards from In Rainbows (In The Basement – Live)
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Examples of SHEER GENIUS: Coldplay
Y and X Live from Austin City Limits
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Coldplay - See You Soon – LIVE 2003 DVD
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CONCLUSION
Do these bands, these frontmen, Yorke and Martin need to lose it so they can find it again? Can they share their process of pain and seeking for all of us to resonate with without experiencing something to reset their current trajectory?
I’m not hoping for problems for either band or their lead singers. I AM, however, hoping for a return to songwriting that comes from the heart.
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/peaking-and-past
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
No checking your iPod for reference, no taking more than 5 minutes on this exercise. Name the top 15 most influential cds in your life. “If you were stuck on a desert island… blah blah blah” NOTE: I’m only sending this to YOU because I actually want to hear what you think is essential listening. You can write a note of your own and then TAG me back along with people you would like to know more about, musically. That’s it. Rock On!
1. U2 – Boy
2. Led Zepplin 2 (Whole Lotta Love)
3. Coldplay X and Y
4. Radiohead – Ok Computer
5. ACDC – Back in Black
6. The Guess Who – Best of
7. OK Go – Oh No!
8. Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
9. The Who – Quadraphenia
10. Led Zepplin – Houses of the Holy
11. Collective Soul – Collective Soul
12. The Beatles – Revolver
13. Mr. Mister – Go On
14. Level 42 – World Machine
15. Eric Johnson – Tones
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@jmacofearth
permalink:
This EP is dedicated with thanks to my friends in the WYRE* class that just ended. Man did I need that. This quick-release EP is for you guys and girls who have grown so much these last 11 weeks. And the full CD is coming. Hold me to it. You can get it now from CD BABY. (free listens available too)
The title comes from a conversation I had with Krista where she said she and her kids were “shooting beer cans off the buddha.” In a later conversation she let me know they were indeed tallboys from her neighbor. When asked if she drank tallboys, she replied, “No, I don’t.”
The tracks on this EP tell a shortened version of the full-length “Admitting There’s a Problem” CD that still requires a few tweaks before it’s ready for prime time. I wanted to put this out in celebration of this moment in my life, at the close of our group and a terribly painful phase in my life. I pause this evening and breathe as I anticipate the next adventure.
The tracks on this EP are:
@jmacofearth
permalink: http://goo.gl/tUmEL
You can see and hear all the Buzzie releases on the Buzzie’s CD Baby Page.
*WYRE – When Your Relationship Ends group
Today was one of those days. I was looking for a song. I was full of it. I had an idea of where to start.
I got clear of my obligations around 6pm and headed home to get on with it. And then technology got in the way.
I really wanted to start with a drum pattern, a ROCK drum pattern and build the sound from there. So I opened my mac and started loading WIN7 under parallels so I could run Sony’s ACID PRO, where I store a lot of my drum loops. And nothing worked right. I could not get WIN7 to access the web so I could serialize and activate a new version of ACID PRO.
Okay. I moved on. I opened iDrum, a drum loop program for the Mac, no parallels and WIN7 needed. And also no inspiration.
All right, punt on the drum pattern, let’s go straight to the guitar. And jumping back from technology a bit further, let’s get the Taylor warmed up. No electronics just wood and steel. And… it literally took me 15 minutes to find a guitar pick. (I’ve just moved into a new house and my studio is not even close to being unpacked, but this was ridiculous!)
So I found the pick and tuned the Taylor, oh about an hour and a half after I started my tune quest, and I was finally strumming the first chords. It would’ve been easy enough to give up, move on, do something else. But when I put the capo into the 3rd position something connected. A tone, a feeling, the crisp cool air coming in from the open sliding glass door, the little dog at my side and the cat looking sulky at me from the carpet.
And just as the first verse was coming together my phone went off. And magic of the universe it was the person I was *sort of* writing the song about. And I just kept on writing and texting and writing and singing. And though this person was 20 or so miles away, and couldn’t know that they were in the middle of a songwriting session, there was something inspiring about the interconnectedness of it all.
It’s here and it’s free from NoiseTrade.com.
Please enjoy my pre-CD release of a small handful of new buzzie songs and one radiohead cover. It’s free for the taking, so grab it. (tipping appreciated but not necessary)
Namasté,
John
(image is of iPad as control surface using Digital Performer, cool huh?)
Yesterday I bought my first drumkit. It’s the least satisfying thousand bucks I’ve ever spent, partially because I don’t play drums, and partially because I kinda dread setting them up… but…
I now have drums!
So today I’m recording drums with my old buddy from Blue Cartoon, Barry Simon. And a couple things I won’t have to worry about today.
I picked up a set of Roland’s V-Drums, and man have they come a long way! Now I can record Barry’s performance in both sounds and midi. Then if I want to “collective soul up” my song I can simply replace the “wilco-trapkit” with the “heavier-things-kit.” Viola!
Barry can even run the recording session with the iPad.
Let me know if you want to hear some daylies. (grin)
It wasn’t hard. And I had some help from Scrambles. Here is the outta-da-box experience with my new Roland V-Drums.
That all looks pretty serious. Like a drum kit.
All racked up with no where to go.
Had to go with the Iron Cobra.
Even the box had instructions.
Da Brain. Where all the sounds and midi comes from.
The pedal to nowhere. It’s virtual baby!
Even the box is pretty.
As close as V gets to real drum sounds.
Wiring up the brain. A little help from my furry friend.
Rockin da House Kit.
All set. All I need is a drummer. And a bit more cowbell, of course!
Here’s a quick peek at what happened here on Sunday when Barry Simon, formerly a bandmate in Blue Cartoon, came over and added some drums to my song. I’m pleased. Granted this version has no bass yet, and the mix is still not quite right, but I think the shape of the song is beginning to come out. Thanks Barry!
A Good Day (mp3 download)
Enjoy, and let me know if you have any thoughts.
All it takes is an inspiration these days and with the magic of technology something so simple as a visual palette for a song. The story sort of tells itself. And the object of our desire is Helen Mirren from 1967′s Herostratus. Give it a click and let us know what you think.
@jmacofearth
permalink: http://goo.gl/qnYmb
Today a friend on facebook shared a link with me of our college dance band. Wow, I had no idea this stuff existed. Listening to an REM medly right now. The cassette tapes held up pretty well. Thanks to the keyboard player Karl Rehn for preserving this historical blast.
Stuck in Neutral – SOLD OUT – at Cafe Brazil (archive page)
Carnival of Sorts/Radio Free Europe – REM (mp3)
Have fun with that.
I’ve been thinking of this little experiment for a while. Go back in your history and recall all the MAJOR ALBUMS of your life. No googling, memory only. And share the list in chronological order from the earliest major love affair to your current FAVORITE. (do this from memory as best you can, this is not a reference but a survey of your memories)
First Known Crushes
High School Begins
A song from the forethcoming Admitting There’s a Problem from Buzzie.
I Need a Good Day
* watch I Need a Good Day directly on YouTube. See also the full-size version.
Thanks for listening,
@jmacofearth
John McElhenney aka: buzzie
So putting music on YouTube is like, part of the global plan for everyone. Fans make videos to their favorite songs, people post complete tracks with the album cover as the entire show. So, how do we get our music up to YouTube without being really boring?
This song Last Flowers (on the way to the hospital) was an unfinished Radiohead song from The Bends era. It showed up on the In Rainbows (bonus tracks). It kicked my ass and I called Ron and asked if he would help me. The entire thing was done in a matter of hours in Ron’s studio. I retracked the vocals in the living room of my house, in the closing days of my marriage. Not to be dramatic, but this song sort of captures the whole thing for me.
Watch directly on YouTube: Last Flowers (radiohead) by Buzzie © 2012 Happy Mac Tunes (ASCAP)
My dear friend and music producer Ron Flynt held down all the instrument duties and let me focus on the non-autotuned vocal. It’s in the push and effort that the soul of the music is discovered. This is raw and unpolished for a reason.
And if that weren’t cool enough, I got this email last week from ESC, a German label that is putting a Radiohead Compilation together:
Rock on!
Thanks,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
A friend sent this video along yesterday. It made a perfect background for an instrumental rock song called, “Rising Above the Blame.”
Watch this video directly on YouTube: Rising Above the Blame by Buzzie.
© 2012 Happy Mac Tunes (ASCAP)
You tube is telling me that some one named “happy smile people” owns this video. I don’t think that’s right, do you?
Let me know if you like it.
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
Note the rock guitar sound is courtesy of this little gem. The tone sort of wrote this entire song. And an American Standard Strat, that I no longer own. (frown)
Another quick-release video from the upcoming CD. Heavenly, by buzzie, from Admitting There’s a Problem.
*View this video on YouTube: Heavenly by Buzzie
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
UPDATE 2-6-12: I got the contract for the Radiohead Tribute CD today. Buzzie is IN. wOOt!
While the ink is not on the paper yet, intentions have been set to include Buzzie’s Last Flowers on an upcoming Radiohead tribute record from ESC Records in Frankfurt, Germany.
I don’t know if it will be available in the US yet, but I’m sure I can get some copies. I’m excited to see who else will be on the CD.
Pretty good terms. Inside Voice: I wonder if they will pay Radiohead’s publisher for copyrights. I’m sure they will. I wonder if I need to pay here in the US? (nod) Yes, I do.
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
Permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/radiohead
Garr Reynolds (Presentation Zen author) has an amazing stream of pictures. These are from his Japan series. Thanks to him for permission to use them.
This video is supposed to have a “Lost In Translation” feel.
After we leave, or part, we usually travel. Travel alone is a mix of joy, liberation, spiritual journey, and sadness.
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
Watch this video directly on YouTube: I Wanna Love You (official music video)
I Wanna Love You is another single from Shooting Beer Cans Off the Buddha from Buzzie. This video includes a video montage of modern-day rock goddesses. We can aspire to great things while continuing to rock along. All buzzie songs are ©2012 Happy Mac Tunes (ASCAP)
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/wanna-love-you
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
A found video that is in Russian. It seemed cute and works with this song. “My Little World of Love” from Buzzie’s 2002 album, Are You Feeling Anything Yet?
Watch this video directly on YouTube: My Little World of Love – Buzzie – 2012
Enjoy.
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/little-world-of-love
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
© 2012 happy mac tunes (ascap)
I took a video today at Whole Foods Market in Austin, Texas. I was amazed by the number of beautiful women walking around. And as I thought about walking away from the wreckage of the last relationship I felt a hopefulness about what’s next. This song carries that spirit, and this video seems to embody the future.
Watch this video directly on YouTube: I Walk Away by Buzzie
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/i-walk-away
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
I find the happy love song is harder to write than the sad one. Here’s my best shot.
Beautiful Beautiful from Are You Feeling Anything Yet, by Buzzie.
watch this video directly on YouTube: Beautiful Beautiful, by Buzzie
Thanks,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/beautiful-beautiful
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
This video features the famous Buzzie Reutimann. If you Google “buzzie” these days this race car driver and weekend motor gladiator comes up a lot. In my sincerest homage to my name sake and hero, Buzzie. Here is an unfinished song called, “Higher Than Anyone.”
Watch directly on YouTube: Higher Than Anyone by Buzzie
Peace Off!
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/higher-than-anyone
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
Russian syncro swimming duo Anastasias Davydova Ermakova set the back drop for this classic pop song, Buzzie’s The Same Thing from 2002′s Are You Feeling Anything Yet.
watch this video directly on YouTube: The Same Thing by Buzzie
Enjoy,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/beautiful-beautiful
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
Holy crap! I’ve been a little slow on the uptake for Wilco’s new CD.
Here’s a cut from their David Letterman appearance where they show the power that they wield. Notice Wilco go from a band with almost no guitar sounds, even the guitarist is messing with Radiohead-ish effects. We have two full-time keyboardists, Tweedy with no guitar… and by the end of the song we have three guitarists and a bass player rocking hard.
All I could say after this one was WOW!
Watch directly on YouTube: Wilco’s The Art of Almost
And also from the Letterman show, this rocker that has a real Joe Jackson/Elvis Costello feel. I Might.
watch directly on YouTube: Wilco’s I Might
Brilliant. Some of the best music today. Tweedy and company truly cutting their own path, and doing it well.
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/buzzie-loves-wilco
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
www.nickibluhm.com (highly recommended)
Wow. Not very often you are blown away by a music video. Maybe it’s a crush on the lead singer, but I think it’s the whole presentation. A great song. (Just how I’m feeling right now.) Wonderful harmonies. And the sly joy of knowing they are doing something bad ass.
Watch directly on YouTube: I Can’t Go For That (Hall & Oats Cover) Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers
And two more Van Sessions classics:Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry Be Happy and Linda Ronstadt’s You’re No Good
And here’s an original, that really shows Nicki’s range and rocker/hippie chickness.
Watch directly on YouTube: Jetplane by Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/buzzie-loves-nicki
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
The contracts are signed, the cover art is done, the tracks are in digital transit via the interwebz. And here’s your preview of the Radiohead Tribute from ESC Records in Germany.
(And if you are reading this and would like to hear a preview,
here’s the final mix via MP3: Last Flowers (radiohead cover)
Buzzie (4:00)
Last Flowers (on the way to the hospital)
(Radiohead)
VIDEO: http://youtu.be/cld4WMt4QTk (pre-mastered vocal)
Buzzie was formed in 2000, after lead singer and songwriter John McElhenney left his popular pop band Blue Cartoon after two acclaimed indie pop CDs. Buzzie has performed at the International Pop Overthrow in Los Angeles and been featured on numerous compilations. In 2011 Buzzie released an EP of songs entitled Shooting Beer Cans Off the Buddha in anticipation of a full-length disc expected in the summer of 2012. This track, “Last Flowers” is from the Extra Tracks version of “In Rainbows” and was written during “The Bends” period. This recording features 20/20 legend Ron Flynt holding down all the instrumental duties. The instrumental version is available on the CD containing this song, “Shooting Beer Cans Off the Buddha.”
JOHN MCELHENNEY / vocal
RON FLYNT / all instruments
Recorded by Ron Flynt at Jumping Dog Studios in Austin, Texas; vocals recorded at Little Frog Studios, Austin, Texas.
Produced and mixed by John McElhenney
Published by Happy Mac Tunes (ASCAP) with additional rights from radiohead
www.buzzie.com
http://www.facebook.com/
available via: http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/
Namasté.
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/head-radio
Original announcement: Buzzie to be Included on 2012 Radiohead Tribute from ESC Records, Germany
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
A Fan Video of 99 Days from the Buzzie CD, Are You Feeling Anything Yet.
99 Days – Buzzie from John McElhenney on Vimeo.
Watch directly on Vimeo: 99 Days from Buzzie
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/99-days
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest:
So why not set it to the longing and fantastical beauty of Victoria’s Secret models? Buzzie’s Disappear.
Watch this video directly off Vimeo: Disappear by Buzzie
This take was a single pass with two mics. I have often tried to better the performance, but this captures the fragility of the moment and the feeling of loss and hope at the same time. At least the singer/writer is still alive to sing the song. In the end it is triumphant. Or will be, when the singer is in a different place.
This song is from the forthcoming release, “Admitting There’s a Problem.”
Namasté,
@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)
permalink: http://blog.buzzie.com/archives/disappear
Here is the Buzzie Video Playlist on YouTube if you want more.
Other buzzie links of interest: