Track #9 from "
Virtual Light", the new CD from
ALIEN BLUE, is "
Lady's Got the Blues" (4:14).
The song is a classic minor key blues in Am (which we'll discuss below) using a "straight" rhythm, features a gorgeous vocal by Blue, smooth vocal harmonies, and a cool opening lick where I double the guitar with a unison "scat" vocal (shades of things to come...) as a nod to the incredible George Benson.
For those interested in the mechanics of composition, it should…
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Added by David M. McLean on November 12, 2009 at 11:37am —
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original post:
http://skinnydevilmusic.blogspot.com/2009/11/song-of-week-8-skinny-devil-shuffle.html
"
Skinny Devil Shuffle" clocks in at 2:37, but this isn't a true representation of the song length. It's actually much shorter - just a little jam over a 12-bar blues shuffle. But this one was so much fun (you hear us laughing and such) that we left the mistakes and re-starts and afte…
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Added by David M. McLean on November 3, 2009 at 10:00am —
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original post:
http://skinnydevilmusic.blogspot.com/2009/10/song-of-week-7-imagine-we.html
=====
"
Imagine We" clocks in at 4:41 and is chock full of guitar mayhem hidden within it's mellow exterior.
Today, I mostly want to talk about compositional ideas....
Borrowing from a common melodic theme heard in dozens of songs sung over a simply Cmaj7 to Am7 change, followed by a 2nd section that replaces…
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Added by David M. McLean on October 26, 2009 at 11:30am —
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"
Ragamuffin Voodoo" (3:47) is song #6 from "
Virtual Light", a quick, energetic, and a fun song to play!
The song kicks off with a vocal riff (me) followed immediately by a second vocal (Blue) singing a haunting opposing line. This second vocal, if it sounds familiar, is a direct reference to the title track, "
Virtual Light". The guitar comes in and doubles vocal, then adds some cool percussive effects.
The verses feature some fun vocal harmonies and the chorus sneak…
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Added by David M. McLean on October 19, 2009 at 10:24am —
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We're back this week with song #5 from "
Virtual Light" (the new CD from my duo Alien Blue): "
That You're Gone" (5:07).
This song came about while I was jamming. Just goofing off by myself using that classic
Hendrix R&B chord-melody style that Jimi developed by expanding on the ideas put forth by
Ike Turner, Curtis Mayfield, Steve Cropper, and others. After Hendrix used this in songs like "
Castles Made of Sand" and "
Little Wing" the idea was p…
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Added by David M. McLean on October 12, 2009 at 9:58am —
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We've talked about (& listened to!) the first 3 songs from the new Alien Blue CD "Virtual Light": "Welcome to the Show", "Virtual Light", and "Cool Cat". Now it's time for song #4 - "harmonica interlude" (1:04).
Less a song and more just me jamming on harmonica using a classic blues theme (G mixolydian blues using the draw 2 position of a garden variety C harp) for about a minute - hence the term "interlude".
This one is simple & pure improv: I start playing, add a bit of Blue's improm…
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Added by David M. McLean on October 5, 2009 at 10:00am —
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"Cool Cat" - that's the third song from Alien Blue's new CD "Virtual Light" and one we've been playing for a while now.
Basically, this song is all vocal with just a backing bass line and some finger snaps. Blue wrote all the lyrics and does an amazing vocal performance. We slapped a bit of echo in the mix and then left it alone.
The song features the same approach as "Desperation" from the debut Alien Blue disc "An Alien Blue". Namely, the acoustic guitar mimics the sound of an up-right bass…
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Added by David M. McLean on September 28, 2009 at 11:21am —
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The second song from the new CD is the title track, "Virtual Light" (4:52).
This one started out as a blues riff I was playing with that I decided to shift into the Phrygian mode (3rd mode of the major scale: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) to see what that particular meat grinder would do to it. Turned out I liked it. I also add (due to the blues angle) the b5, so the scale often alludes to Locrian.
So I'm jamming away on it and I think of my buddy Greg Francis. Greg, for those who don't know him, was the…
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Added by David M. McLean on September 24, 2009 at 8:30am —
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http://skinnydevilmusic.blogspot.com/
Due to questions regarding the inspiration for the new Alien Blue CD "Virtual Light", we decided to do a "Song of the Week" feature, where we'll make some of the inspirations, concepts, & lyrics of each song available. So, without further ado...
CD title and song # 1:
The title of the new CD is "Virtual Light". The term was coined by Stephen Beck and is also the title of William Gibson's 4th novel (Gibson, by the by, is the man who invented the term "…
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Added by David M. McLean on September 14, 2009 at 10:11am —
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Just up-loaded a picture from Savannah GA of my acoustic duo Alien Blue with Tony T at the Sand Bar on Tybee Island. We had a BLAST!
More pictures coming soon from the summer mini-tour...WV, IN, OH, KY, TN, GA, SC!!!
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Added by David M. McLean on August 7, 2009 at 1:47pm —
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Howdy, raw food friends!
2 quick items: 1) New music from Alien Blue (CD release!); 2) Gigs...
1) The new
Alien Blue CD "
Virtual Light" is complete and is now available on-line!
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX0078R4QB
The disc features 12 new songs that my acoustic duo,
Alien Blue, has been performing for the past few months, including the first single "
That You're Gone" (wit…
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Added by David M. McLean on July 16, 2009 at 10:00am —
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I'm old enough to remember....
I remember the day Elvis died. I was playing at a friend's house. Paul R. Living in DC at the time. We were in the basement and his mom came down stairs in tears. "It's the End of an Era. The King is dead." was all she said. I didn't know what king she was talking about, I was just bummed because she sent me home - it was time to mourn. I walked home and my mom explained...
I remember the day John Lennon died. I woke up, turned on the radio (different town). I wa…
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Added by David M. McLean on June 26, 2009 at 9:02am —
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Raw, dreads, and all....me performing with Lori & my buddy Phil not only on local TV (to about 100,000 viewers):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGzOc2nOktI
...but on Woodsongs, which goes out to at least 2.6 million around the world every week. Check your local public radio or public TV, or listen on XM radio The Village channel 15...or watch the entire show (the 60 minutes of TV/radio PLUS the extra 30 minutes of behind the scenes,…
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Added by David M. McLean on February 19, 2009 at 9:30am —
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The old song "Killing Me Softly" was a big hit in the 1970s when Roberta Flack released it. Just before that, it was a minor hit when it debuted by singer-songwriter Lori Lieberman.
Lori has quietly been doing her thing for years, and has a new CD out. Next Monday night (not "next", but February 16, 2009) , Lori will be performing, backed by yours truly, at the Woodsongs Old-time Radio Hour. Broadcast times differ from station to station, but if you're interested in Lori's unique brand of sophi…
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Added by David M. McLean on February 4, 2009 at 11:22am —
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Quick up-dates for all our friends....
1) We'll be posting video up-dates of our progress on the new CD from ALIEN BLUE: "Virtual Light". You can check out the first 4 videos on the Virtual Light playlist at Skinny Devil TV:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4F0C6D4DB7966DE5
While you're there, be sure to rate the videos, leave comments, and all that fun stuff!
2) Once the new CD is out, you can catch us live, beginning in late February in Lexington...then out across KY and into WV, TN…
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Added by David M. McLean on January 15, 2009 at 2:18pm —
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