Yes, it’s late at night. I’ve been up re-launching my blog (God knows how many times I’ve done this…but moving from one host to another always kills me). I should be asleep, but Jonathan Coulton just came up on my iPod…so I’m gonna take a couple minutes to tell you about him before I sleep.
There’s a long story behind this guy…he’s quite the internet success story. But none of that really matters at the moment. He’s where he is mostly because he writes some really good songs. My kids will tell you how much I hate most music these days. Not because I don’t want to like it… I have found a few nuggets: John Mayer, John Legend, Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae all have some very decent songs out. But most of the stuff on the radio is junk…and truly, I find even much of indie music to be sorely lacking. So it was with great relish that I discovered Coulton on a podcast a couple weeks back.
All I can tell you is that you need to hear some of his songs. You may not like them all…maybe not any of them…he does have a certain novelty twist to some of his material. But even some of those are wonderful songs. My favorites:
- Skullcrusher Mountain (Love song from an evil genius to his captive lady love. Incredibly infectious and very funny. Kids into sci-fi can appreciate this one.)
- Seahorse (Just exactly what it sounds like…a song about a seahorse…but gorgeous!)
- Summer’s Over (This one reminds me just a bit of 70s Bread…a wistful song of separation…wonderful accordion and background vocals)
- When You Go (If you enjoy the music of the Grease era, you’ll enjoy this one…a tender song of lost love. Beautiful lyrics: “Fold my heart up small, or break it into pieces. Find somewhere and keep it there. Take it when you go.” Delicious, layered background vocals from the doo-wop era.)
- Code Monkey (This was the first one I heard from him. A really cute approach to a geek love song thru the eyes of a monkey…”code monkey” refers to a software programmer. This one has a GD bomb in it, so it’s not appropriate for younger kids, but it’s very sweet.)
- Re: Your Brains (Hysterical. If you’ve got a kid that loves monster movies, he’ll devour this song. It’s told in a series of office communication exchanges between coworkers…one of them is a zombie. The chorus is “All we wanna do is eat your brains. We’re not unreasonable, I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes. All we want to do is eat your brains. We’re at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise: If you open up the doors, we’ll all come inside and eat your brains.” Your kids won’t be able to stop singing this. Great, huh?)
So, where can you find all this great music? Right here: Jonathan Coulton’s Store
One word of warning: Not all of his music is appropriate for general audiences. He incorporates profanity with semi-regularity…so you might want to listen initially with the speakers down low or using headphones if sensitive ears are around.
His best stuff is very, very good. Well worth the time investment!
NOW I can sleep. 😉