Earlier this year we were approached by Adam Waltemire to contribute a song for his “Sing Me A Song – A 50th Birthday Celebration” project. This is a collection of many of his favourite songs, covered by friends of Pop Garden Radio, and published a couple of weeks ago. Here’s our effort – a Mike Viola / Candy Butchers song for which one of us nipped across the pond to make the video. 😉 Also featuring jays on Andrea’s back deck.
Check out the birthday collection at https://popgarden.bandcamp.com
Well it’s been real nice to know you.
Everybody’s gone at last – but with no numbers…
Here’s a song with no name! We recorded this cover last year for the Theme Music Tributes version of Elliott Smith’s album “Either/Or” and have just made a splashy little video to accompany. You can hear the whole album at https://thememusictribute.bandcamp.com/album/either-or-a-tribute-to-elliott-smith
There’s a Blackbird outside yelling in the pitch black.
A couple of weeks ago, late one evening…
Owen: “There’s a blackbird was yelling its head off in the pitch black outside.”
Andrea: “One might even say that it was singing in the dead of night.”
And of course, with a cue like that…
Both: “We should cover that.”
And to accompany, some local examples of the species (which have an unfortunate Latin name) filmed back in 2014 and more recently.
I don’t know why I Ever Said Goodbye
In our quest to cover every break-up song ever written, here’s a regretful number from The Weepies to remind us of the consequences of terrible relationship decisions.
We should all Keep Feeling Fascination
It’s 2022 and the world hasn’t quite ended yet. Unsurprisingly, given the times, it sometimes feels like we’ve lost sight of the wonder and joy we used to take for granted, so maybe this reminder to keep feeling fascination is an apt cover for the moment!
Written by Jo Callis and Phil Oakey, here’s one from early 1980’s Human League given the Aeon Wanderers treatment!
It’s the (H)appiest Christmas Ever!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And we’ve been threatening to memorialize it in song for some time now. That’s right, the two of us — one a lapsed Catholic, the other a secular Jew so non-observant there really wasn’t anything to lapse from — have been meaning to write a Christmas song for years. Well! We’d both finally completed our Masters’ courses, and about a week ago thought, “Oh… remember how we used to write songs?” So with a limited swath of free time, an impossibly tight deadline, and inspiration in the form of a marauding, mutating virus that’s ruining absolutely everything – challenge accepted!
(H)appy Christmas, one and all!
(Psst – downloads available at our Bandcamp page! )
Nothing’s fine, I’m Torn
WE’RE BACK! WITH A *NEW* THING.
Hello! We’re shaking off the pandemic doldrums with a cover we’ve wanted to do for quite some time. This song was made popular on the radio Back in the Day by Natalie Imbruglia, but it was actually written and recorded by LA-based band Ednaswap (of whom Andrea is a longtime fan). Recorded and filmed in the attics, offices and unfinished basements of Boston and Scotland. Hope you like!
So this is the New Year…
It’s often the case that one year feels very much like the last … we can perhaps be optimistic that nothing could ever feel quite like 2020, but while the current situation continues, there’s a certain ennui about living these days on repeat. This feeling of being powered entirely by coffee is definitely brought to mind by Death Cab for Cutie’s “The New Year”, which we have done our thing to to celebrate the birth of 2021.
Wishing you all a happy new year, and hoping your 2021s will be good ones!
Hey hey hey! Are you a twisted fire-starter?
O here! 1996 seems like a ridiculously long time ago, but that’s when The Prodigy’s “Firestarter” was first released, standing out instantly from all the other stuff on Radio 1 that I was forced to listen to at work at the time. It’s since been hailed as a groundbreaking genre crossover track, and of course, featured the late great Keith Flint’s inspired and unforgettable vocal and screen presence.
All of which leads nicely up to February 2020, pre-pandemic, and pre-lockdown, when Andrea was over here in Scotland, and we were discussing unlikely songs that we could cover. “We should do Firestarter,” quoth I, after mimicking a measure or two with accompanying ridiculous head and arm movements. “Oooh!” quoth she. Out came the flute and pseudo-string quartet, for what better instrumentation could there be for such a song? And after some further lockdown-enhanced ridiculous head and arm movements, please allow us to present our own crossover version of Firestarter, with some of the delicate sounds and rhythms of the original recreated from the ground up for your listening pleasure.
Hey hey hey.
That Hazy Shade of Winter is around us
Hey! It’s been a while! The cold season is upon us, and for our seasonal offering this year, a song that isn’t generally considered a seasonal song, but definitely fits the time of year. It also seems to fit the mood that has been 2020.
So enjoy our take on this Simon & Garfunkel classic, with a nod to The Bangles, and a deluge/sprinkling of snow depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re looking at.
Seasons Greetings to all from both of us!
Fictional Histories
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Recent Posts
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