Tag: songs

Posted on

Best of 2010: Our Favourite Songs By Other Bands

Dog Is Blue #11, 8x8" mixed media on canvasAlright, 2010 is coming to a close very soon, so it’s time to wrap up the best of fun. We’ve already done our favourite band moments of the year in two parts as well as our favourite 2010 albums by other bands. All that’s left is our favourite songs of the year.

There were some real humdingers dropped this year, so it was tough to widdle down, but here they are in a very loose order starting with our favourite:

Ryan Driver – Everything Must Spin
Construction & Destruction – The Oracle
Born Ruffians – What to Say
Brasstronaut – Lo Hi Hopes
The Mohawk Lodge – Cold Hearts
Diamond Rings – All Yr Songs
Zeus – Kindergarten
Yeasayer – O.N.E.
Hooded Fang – Highway Steam
The Sojourners – Nobody Can Turn Me Around
Winter Gloves – Plastic Slides
Rich Aucoin – Brian Wilson Is A.L.I.V.E.
Broken Bells – The High Road
Boxer the Horse – Mary Meets the Pilot
The Beauties – Fashion Blues
Belle and Sebastian – Come On Sister
Spoon – Got Nuffin
Sufjan Stevens – Vesuvius
The Abramson Singers – Take A Camera
Owen Pallett – Scandal At The Parkade
The Gertrudes – Warm Wind from the South

There you have it. These tunes all killed it this year. Go hunt them down and support the bands.

Bring on 2011…

Posted on

Merry Christmas from Dog Is Blue and Santa Wahs

DIY Santa Clause Snow White Auto Wah Guitar PedalMerry Christmas, folks!

In honour of the festive season, here’s a guitar pedal I built a while back that has become a necessity live. It’s a homemade Snow White Auto Wah on one side with an Easy Drive distortion on the other. I call him Santa Wahs (I hope that’s an obvious enough pun for you…)—makes for some very funky Jingle Bell Rock.

In fact, the wah portion featured heavily in the recording of “Hot Air Balloons (and Submarines).” You can hear it mostly in the lead guitar (along with a homemade phaser, for extra warble—starts about 13 seconds in).

Download the track by clicking the arrow button on the right, or buy the whole Hot Air Balloons EP from Zunior for only $2.22 with all proceeds going directly to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Happy Holidays!

Hot Air Balloons (and Submarines) by Dog Is Blue

Here are the messy gutshots—for all you gearheads like me (extra points for those who notice that the Easy Drive side is wired point-to-point!):

DIY Santa Clause Snow White Auto Wah and Easy Drive Guitar PedalDIY Santa Clause Snow White Auto Wah and Easy Drive Guitar Pedal

Posted on

New Demo: Southern Ontario

Foster 812 Mixer and R8 Reel to ReelAhh, the bittersweet financially-depraved love song. It’s the age-old “baby, I love you, but it’d be a lot easier to do if I was a millionaire.”

We recorded this last weekend in a studio space we just started renting—the usual tactic of throwing mics all over the room and hoping for the best. The electric guitar is, as usual, going through my homemade Fender Princeton amp, this time with the snowman Clari(not) pedal that I posted about recently thickening things up and adding a subtle warble (There’s a homemade phaser in the bridge too).

This song and “Tortoise” (that we posted a demo of last week) are the two that seem to get the most reaction out of our new material at our shows. I’m thinking the album version might need some Anna Atkinson viola.

Southern Ontario (Live Demo) by Dog Is Blue

Also, for Laura’s sake, let it be known that she sat patiently nailing her glockenspiel and vocal parts while I bumbled through take after take (listen to how happy she is at the end to have finally made it through the song). She’s the rock, I’m the roll.

Posted on

New Demo: Tortoise

Fostex R8 reel to reel and 812 mixer A few months ago we came across an old Fostex R8 1/4″ reel to reel recorder with matching mixer for a great deal. I’ve been wanting to try analog recording for a while, so this was perfect—there’s something just so damn satisfying about hitting a big “record” button and watching reels spin instead of clicking a mouse around.

We set it up in our apartment a few weeks ago and recorded an entire tape of live demos with a bunch of mics strewn about the room. “Tortoise” is the best of the bunch. It features Laura on backups and Korg Polysix/shaker and myself on hollowbody guitar through my little homemade Fender Princeton with a tambourine on my foot.

“Tortoise” is a live staple these days and also likely the title track for our next album.

Tortoise (Demo) by Dog Is Blue

Posted on

Don’t Think Twice: Ancient Bob Dylan Cover

Sketch of Bob Dylan2005. Taiwan. I’ve got a thrift-store Vivitar camcorder microphone* balancing off the back of a kitchen chair. The acoustic guitar in my hands is an Ibanez that I bought used and wouldn’t make the trip back to Canada with me.

Always one of my favourite songs, this recording of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” is one of the earliest recordings I’ve got that I don’t cringe at. Played and sung in one take (screw-ups intact) while hoping the mic didn’t fall off the chair, the backwards guitar and sputtering distortion was added afterward.

It’s funny the things you find buried in your FTP when building a new website…

Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright by Dog Is Blue

*The box showed a very happy blonde with a ridiculous 80’s perm. Best $8 I’ve ever spent.

Top