Grab The Crossbow!

Picture by flickr user Christopher Hawkins

I'm taking a brief hiatus from my hiatus to share with you my latest track from The 50/90 Challenge (the longer version of FAWM), "Reap."  In my younger days, I was a bit of a metal-head, and I would have taken a song like this very, very seriously.  Nowadays I don't dust off my old Metallica CDs very often, but when I do, they take me down memory lane.  It was a ton of fun to revisit this genre, and I was very fortunate to have a collaborator who was every bit as into this as I was.  I'm speaking, of course, of my longtime musical collabator and good friend John (aka Das Binky).

We visited John & his lovely family at their home in Madison, WI last weekend.  I brought with me a little guitar riff in Em that had been bouncing around my head.  Together, we turned it into a metal masterpiece.  The original idea was that it was about a guy who was "paranoid" and by the end he was facing down a horrible mob (possibly of supernatural monsters, we're intentionally unclear on that point).  This was the most fun I've had making a song in a long time.

John did all the guitar & bass parts and joined in for the vocals on the chorus (as well as screaming the word "BLOOD!" with me in the second verse).  He also did the vast majority of the production work, making it sound way better than it has any business sounding.  I played the keyboard parts and did the singing (I had no idea my voice could go that high).  We co-wrote the lyrics.

Click here to listen to "Reap" on the 50/90 site, or just hit the play button below.  Have fun, and remember:  grab the crossbow!

Summer Break

If you haven't noticed yet, Wired For Music has been on a bit of a summer break lately.  So I figured I might as well make it official - at least for a few weeks.  Between the heat, the humidity, my travel schedule, and general summer-related malaise, I'm hereby giving myself permission to go on blog vacation for a spell.  [Editor's note:  I call it "blogcation!"]

But don't worry, I won't leave you empty-handed until fall!  Please enjoy the following summer playlists; I hope they help fill the void created by unhealthy amounts of heat and sunshine.  Happy summer, everyone!

• Wired For Music's own summer playlist remains a classic.
  
  
• Entertainment Weekly gives you 10 hot songs for summer (just ignore Maroon 5).
  
  
• Danger Mouse limits himself to 170 of his favorite songs for New York Magazine's summer playlist.
  
  
• NPR Music helps you get your summer dance on.

Have fun, and remember to wear sunblock.  Safety first, people.