Project 18: Playlist Challenge for 2022
1. Each contributor creates a playlists of 5 songs via Spotify or YouTube or something that enables other people to hear it. Submit your 5 song playlist to me via email or Slack by July 1. (Late playlists will not be accepted. Playlists consisting of more than 5 songs will be edited down to only 5 songs.)
2. Anybody who wants to contribute covers for Project 18 chooses a song or songs from the playlists submitted. The only rule is that you can't cover a song or songs from your own playlist.
3. People submit their songs as they complete them, and I posted all songs to the site at once the evening of Saturday, July 30 or so.
Tom Stromsodt covers Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider
I’m pretty sure we let them kill the laughter.
Randy Dever covers Jail Break by Thin Lizzy
I did this at the last minute. I just used my bass, a guitar, Zoom multi effects pedal. Elektron Digitakt, telephone handset for a mic, Arturia MIcrofreak for vocoder and dumped the mix to cassette for some tape saturation and pitch effects. So, not a synth festival this time.
Cheers, folks!
Kelly Duclos covers
Minor Threat by Minor Threat
Couldn’t Get it Right by the Climax Blues Band
Fearless by Pink Flyod
These three covers have two things in common: banjo and 4 track cassette transfered to GarageBand.
Jeff Kearns covers New Pleasure by Richard Hell
Not too familiar with Hell but always dug the license he somehow gives himself. To find this new pleasure. With whatever’s at hand. Desperate ambivalence. Projecting with style.
KC McKee covers Five to One by the Doors
I've been a fan of the Doors pretty much since I discovered rock music around the age of 13, and I've always regarded this song as being among their best. There is a vaguely threatening quality to it, and I had a lot of fun with the parts on this recording. That being said, Robby Krieger's guitar solos are way above my ability, so I didn't even try to reproduce them here.
The following instruments were played on this recording: drums, bass guitar, electric guitar (slide and fuzz), faux-fisa organ, c-melody saxophone, tambourine, vocals.
Noah Warren covers Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen
Merle Haggard's "Hungry Eyes" was recorded in 1968 as a tribute to the Oklahomans dwelling in Depression Era labor camps. But when we think of "Hungry Eyes" we don't think of Merle Haggard, we think of the power ballad from Dirty Dancing.
There were so many songs I tried to cover from the mega list, but none of them worked. I would keep scrolling past hungry eyes and the song would instantly get stuck in my head, so I just recorded this at the last minute to have something to hand in.
Sorry Merle Haggard, it's time to eat your heart out at the Eric Carmen buffet.
Andrew Charon covers Fairies Wear Boots by Black Sabbath
I’m not sure exactly what happened here. It all started during a golf outing with Grant and we were talking about Black Sabbath and Basement Sketches and I was like, yeah cool, I’ll cover Fairies Wear Boots. On my drive home was thinking about it and was like ok, what the heck have I committed to. I came up with this. This song is kind of sacred and complex in so many ways. And, watching Tony Iommi play this is just so incredible. So, I’d say this version was totally hack. When I was researching the song, somehow I tracked down a version of all of the parts of the original song split up and each part isolated was pretty mind-blowing. Isolated guitar, bass, vocals, drums, etc..and I originally imported all of the tracks into GarageBand and manipulating the heck out of them....the bass itself was pretty insane with distortion added to it. But I found myself remastering the original and I was getting lost in the mix so I ended up appropriating the vocals and doing my own sophomoric version of guitar as if it was played on a homemade cigar box. I really enjoyed listening to Fairies Wear Boots nonstop over the past few weeks, watching live versions of YouTube clips of old Black Sabbath, etc. For Basement Sketches Project 18 I finally graduated to Logic which was a nice change and only took advantage of a couple additional features that GarageBand doesn’t have. When I first started exploring, I was pretty determined that I was going to get a DJ Controller and Serato and DJ a mashup of Fairies Wear Boots and Snowblind. Also didn’t happen, maybe I’ll mess with Serato next time. Anyways, enjoy!
Jacob Sharff covers Minor Threat
The summer of 1987 was transformative. I was between 6th and 7th grade. Thrasher magazine and Bones Brigade videos had opened up a completely new universe to me. I got my first deck, a Powell Peralta OG Ripper and spent the entire summer trying to skate any patch of concrete I could find in the small town where I lived. My new obsession with skateboarding naturally led to the discovery of punk and hardcore music, which was equally life changing. In 1987, Minor Threat was at the heart of this for me. A perfect soundtrack to bloody elbows and busted shins on repeat all summer long. The decision to do a cover of a teenage skate anthem came with a certain amount of nostalgia attached, and for whatever reason it felt like the only way to approach the song was with the least amount of seriousness possible, so I took that general approach.. and well, things got kinda weird.
Here's a quick list of other notable events from 1987: The Simpson's debuted on the Tracy Ullman show, the Twins won the World Series, Guns 'n Roses released Appetite for Destruction, Fischer Price started selling the Pixelvision camera that could record video on cassette tapes, Nintendo released Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Andy Warhol died, Star Trek The Next Generation aired for the first time, and, wait a second... isn't that the dude from Reading Rainbow with some sort of strange space visor on...?
Seth Hogan covers Gold Soundz by Pavement
I decided to severely limit my options and do this in one full take with just an acoustic guitar and vocals. Malkmus effortlessly sings this tune in an offhand way, but it is up there (pitch wise) for me and you can hear me breaking a bit on the high part. I didn't fix anything. Headphones fall off my head at 2:07, and you can hear them clattering to the ground. We've all been there when real life intrudes on the take.
Eric “Czahr” Scott covers
One Hundred Years From Now by the Byrds
I chose this song based purely on the appeal of the song itself. The Byrds are a corner of classic rock that has escaped my attention over the years. Why? No reason at all, really. I think the seed of my ignorance might have been planted back when I was in high school and discovering Dylan and then becoming obsessed with Dylan, and taking the misguided attitude of, "The Byrds are only known because they covered a whole bunch of Dylan." I think they did technically crib Tambourine Man without permission, but Bob dug it anyway (“Hey you can dance to that!”) so whatever I guess.
Anyway, I plan to correct my ignorance and better familiarize myself with their catalog. I really love this song, and hadn't heard it before this project. I decided to do a mostly straightforward cover and take the country twang out of it. I have no access to or ability to play a pedal steel so it kinda had to be that way. I just bought my daughter a new acoustic guitar and decided to use it for this track, so this recording features its maiden voyage. Beyond guitar, it's just vocals, beating on a super old tambourine with a toy ice cream scooper, a digital kalimba, and a Moog app.
Snowblind by Black Sabbath
First of all, yes, I covered another Black Sabbath song. I wasn't going to, but as I was listening to it on the playlist I instantly got inspired, grabbed my guitar and the version you hear came out almost fully formed. I did several takes on the guitar over the course of weeks because I am absolute horseshit at fingerpicking, but in order for my idea to come out it had to be fingerpicked. Having finished another 'pretty' cover of a Sabbath song...I think I could do several more. Had I the time, resources and energy I'd seriously look into doing a whole album. Maybe with other people playing to make up for my limitations. I am quite satisfied and proud of my Sabbath covers. There's just something satisfying about the transformation. While you're here, I came across a fun Sabbath story while I was doing this: In their early days the band was followed by a lot of people into the occult. The members of the band were very much not interested in that sort of thing, and would get irritated by all the satanists that approached them. One night after a show, they went to their hotel to find the hallway lined with satanists wearing black robes, holding candles and chanting. They jumped over them, went into their rooms and after deliberating what to do and formulating a plan over the phone, they all opened their doors at the same time, sang the Happy Birthday song and blew out the candles. This pissed off the satanists, who then left.
Bill Fricke covers Listen to the Sirens by Tubeway Army
There were so many great songs to choose from and I futzed around with a few but couldn’t quite find the time to work on as many as I wanted. I worked on Tom Petty, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Green Eyed Lady. I love that song. I couldn’t find a way to make it work ,but at the very least, I learned the bass part, which is something I always wanted to do. So, win on that.
I went into the Tubeway Army (aka Gary Numan) knowing the song well. My friend and I covered it in High School as he had the synths. I had the guitar and my friends’ drum kit. It sucks, but it still exists for posterity on a CD.
Anyhoo, I had no idea what to do. Just grabbed a drum pattern from GarageBand and the rest fell into place. It became a rock, Stonesy type song. I even did the Keith Richards open tuning. Why not?
So, enjoy. No synthesizers! (as Queen would say)
Grant Eull covers
Well ambition my have got the best of me yet again! With so many great ideas submitted by everyone I had a very very hard time choosing. My original cut was down to 16 songs and then narrowed from there. This challenge was truly challenging as I tried to pick some song ideas I thought would be easy for me and some that were way out of my lane of comfort… well at least one. Hope you enjoy them.
Life A Gas
This was the song that popped first for me. I have completed two other TRex songs from past basement sketches projects and love doing these, so it was obvious to give this one a go.
Guitar
This selection seems so out from left field and I loved that about it. I am a huge fan of this Cake record and I was hoping it would be an easier one for me. It wasn’t. Vocals were way more difficult than I thought they would be, and I never did find a good horn sound. The Theremin did a fair job for a free VST - also my acoustic is a pile of $#*%$^*%) - but overall I do like how it turned out.
Beautiful World
Um YES! Huge fan of DEVO! Love loading up the Arturia V Collection and finding sounds for synths. Had an absolute blast doing this, and very happy to have another DEVO cover in the can.
Dirty Boots
My wheel house… I think. This is my second Sonic Youth cover for basement sketches and I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan with each listen and cover attempt. I forget who submitted this one, but thank you!
Jailbreak
Another easy choice. Had my friend Randy Kramer again support on drums! Wishing I would have gone back to improve my lead guitars and worked on drum tone a bit more, but I just ran out of time. As Randy said, "good enough for rock n roll!".
Passenger
This is a repost on request as I covered this as part of the 1977 project… but I love how it turned out so I'm happy to post it again as part of Project 18.
Take Me Home
Loved everything about doing this cover. It was a huge undertaking, and I will never get over my sad vocal performance. That said, having Randy lay down drum fills over the drum programming and my daughter sit in on back ups really made it a fun time.
Again, thanks to everyone for an incredible list of songs to choose from and for making my July a very productive learning experience.
Neil Fasen covers Close Up the Honky Tonks by Buck Owens
I was drawn to Close Up the Honky Tonks, because of it’s simple structure and nice harmonies. Then I found a Dwight Yokum version of it, and decided it was a sign. Long ago, I had helped my friend (and fellow basement sketches contributor) Chris Danforth record a Dwight Yokum song, 1,000 Mile from Nowhere, and that song and experience still hold a special place in my heart. 1,000 Miles was the first track of the first EP Chris put out after college. When I first moved from Fargo/Moorhead to Minneapolis, I heard it played on the local college radio station, 770 Radio K. I was so proud of Chris for getting his first release played on the radio and was so honored to have contributed to it. I thought Minneapolis must be the best place in the world.
This Close Up the Honky Tonks cover balances sloppy with clean somehow. The tuning for the baritone ukelele is kind of funky, because I tried to use a capo on it. I was going to re-record it and just re-tune the ukulele, but I ended up liking the weird microtonality that the off tuning created and played with it a bit by juxtaposing odd keyboard lines. Each track was done rather quickly and wasn’t belabored or ironed out.
PLAYLISTS BELOW
Seth Hogan’s Playlist
Slip Slidin’ Away by Paul Simon
Dirty Work by Steely Dan
Listen to Her Heart by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
You’re No Good by Linda Ronstadt
(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back by Peter Tosh
Jacob Sharff’s Playlist
Alessi Brothers - Seabird
Black Sabbath - Snowblind
Animotion - Obsession
Catpower - Manhattan
Nation Of Ulysses - Diptheria
Brian Eveslage’s Playlist
Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen
Take Me Home by Phil Collins
Push It by Salt-N-Peppa
I Found That Essence Rare by Gang of Four
China My China by Brian Eno
Kasey McKee’s Playlist
Folk Implosion - "Natural One"
Flaming Lips - "Bad Days"
Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Spellbound"
Jane's Addiction - "Of Course"
Tegan and Sara - "Walking with a Ghost"
Barrett Haroldson’s Playlist
Windowlicker - Aphex Twin
Lonely - Swamp Dogg
Life's A Gas - T. Rex
You're A Song (That I Can't Sing) - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Where Do I Begin - The Chemical Brothers
Randy Dever’s Playlist
Driver’s Seat by Sniff and the Tears
Green Eyed Lady by Sugarloaf
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by Bachmann Turner Overdrive
Foolin’ by Def Leppard
Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider
Ian Royal’s Playlist
Passenger by Iggy Pop
Coconut by Harry Nilsson
La Grange by ZZ Top
Sh-Boom by the Chords
Kelly Duclos’s Playlist
Turtles All the Way Down by Sturgill Stimpson
One Hundred Years From Now by The Byrds
Train Leaves Here This Morning by Gene Clark
You Were the Fool by Ween
Close Up the Honky Tonks by Buck Owens
Grant’s Playlist
Minor Threat by Minor Threat
Listen to the Sirens by Gary Numan
54-46 That’s My Number by Toots and the Maytals
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver by Primus
Jack the Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots by Black Sabbath
Tom Stromsodt’s Playlist
Living in America by James Brown
Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp
Lil’ Devil by The Cult
A Life of Illusion by Joe Walsh
Take It From The Man by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Jeff Kearns’ Playlist
Miracles by Jefferson Starship
Resist by Rush
Don’t Know Yet by Hüsker Dü
Love Me by the Cramps
Pastoral by the Jesus Lizard
Colby Heston’s Playlist
Gold Soundz by Pavement
Paisley Park by Prince
Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
Couldn’t Get It Right by the Climax Blues Band
Dirty Boots by Sonic Youth
Noah Warren’s Playlist
Tears for the Years
1921 by The Who
1969 by The Stooges
1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins
1985 by Bowling for Soup
In the Year 2525 by Zager & Evans
Mark Schumacher’s Playlist
Yellow Blinds, Cream Shadows by Cate Le Bon
Yesterday Princess by Stanley Clarke
It Was A Very Good Year by Frank Sinatra
Cue by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Debris by The Faces
Bill Fricke’s Playlist
Scary Monsters (and super creeps) by David Bowie
Another Day by Galaxie 500
Beautiful World by Devo
Primary by the Cure
Breathe by TV Chakra
Keith Bohnen’s Playlist
Slow Motion by PHOX
Blue and White by PHOX
Sun in Your Eyes by Grizzly Bear
AN ITERATION by the Armed
Wake Me When It’s Over by Longwave
Andrew Charon’s Playlist
Five to One by the Doors
If 6 Was 9 by Jimi Hendrix
Blue Jean Blues by ZZ Top
Fearless by Pink Floyd
Last Trip to Tulsa by Neil Young
Eric “Czahr” Scott’s Playlist
Guitar by CAKE
Specify Gravity by Man or Astroman?
New Pleasure by Richard Hell
Die, Die, Die by Dr. Dog
Galaxy Song by Monty Python
Neil’s Playlist
Reclamation by Fugazi
What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding by Elvis Costello
Have You Ever Seen The Rain by CCR
Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying by Belle and Sebastian
Kool Thing by Sonic Youth