A large portion of this record was written with my friend Wilsun in mind. If anything, this is an album to amuse him. To ensure I achieved that goal, I tried to write a song that reminded me of "Life In A Northern Town", although it actually…
Sometimes you listen to a Peter Murphy song and then ask ChatGPT to help you write a song. Sometimes you end up with this. You wouldn't believe the lyrics I left out.
Goths on the beach, all dressed in black,
Heading for the waves, and…
A large portion of this record was written with my friend Wilsun in mind. If anything, this is an album to amuse him. To ensure I achieved that goal, I tried to write a song that reminded me of "Life In A Northern Town", although it actually…
Don't let it be said that I've forgotten my love of R.E.M.
Dream of a life that’s never been seen
A world of possibilities, a place in between
A place of shadows, a place of light
A place of secrets, hiding in the night
Oblique, oblique…
I asked to robots to help me write a song in the style of Tom Waits.
Riding on a train to the edge of town
Where the night has just begun
People on the street with nowhere to go
Living hard and having fun
Everywhere I go there’s a song…
A large portion of this record was written with my friend Wilsun in mind. If anything, this is an album to amuse him. To ensure I achieved that goal, I tried to write a song that reminded me of "Life In A Northern Town", although it actually…
I asked to robots to help me write a song in the style of Tom Waits.
Riding on a train to the edge of town
Where the night has just begun
People on the street with nowhere to go
Living hard and having fun
Everywhere I go there’s a song…
I asked to robots to help me write a song in the style of Tom Waits.
Riding on a train to the edge of town
Where the night has just begun
People on the street with nowhere to go
Living hard and having fun
Everywhere I go there’s a song…
Okay, I was cut off so here goes again: I really like this. I can hear Tom singing this in my mind and it's really cool as well. You did a great job on this. One of my favorites. Dave C. (acoustic57) :-)
Brent wrote a song. A really good song.
I asked for his session file. I replaced his drum and keyboard sounds and remixed things.
I added a second guitar and some strings.
I created an odd percussion track.
Then I recorded my own vocals…
Based on the show "The Great" on Hulu. Yeah, I know. You've never heard of it...
Lead guitar by Anton Samford
Backing Vox by Megan Kleven https://megankleven.bandcamp.com
You got the moves, you carry the cachet
Always used to having…
I developed a strong obsession with the building blocks of pop songs and tried to craft one. Unfortunately, I wrote it in a key that was high enough that the combination of the rapid-fire words and the pitch nearly made me pass out while singing…
A tale of two songs and a unicorn. The funky instrumental meets the jazzy bits and then Megan joins in on the singy bits.
I've spent years searching for the proper female singer for my songs. I've referred to it as my quest for a unicorn…
For the first time in 13 years Grant sent me some lyrics. I added a verse and then spent the month of February waiting for the song to give me a direction. It did on about the 24th. Originally this was sunny and upbeat.
Keep it quiet kids…
This started out as a joke from a meme and then, well.....
Wilsun did his best imitation of Bruce Dickenson in the bridge
Dan Upton played the heavy guitars in the bridge and the solo you like
Time to self-assess
You still want to be so…
Another song idea from a meme. Or, more accurately, a movement.
The term “Birds Aren’t Real” refers to biological “Birds” no longer existing on United States soil. After the government forcibly made the entire species extinct in the 20th century…
A tale of two songs and a unicorn. The funky instrumental meets the jazzy bits and then Megan joins in on the singy bits.
I've spent years searching for the proper female singer for my songs. I've referred to it as my quest for a unicorn…
This started out as a joke from a meme and then, well.....
Wilsun did his best imitation of Bruce Dickenson in the bridge
Dan Upton played the heavy guitars in the bridge and the solo you like
Time to self-assess
You still want to be so…
Based on the show "The Great" on Hulu. Yeah, I know. You've never heard of it...
Lead guitar by Anton Samford
Backing Vox by Megan Kleven https://megankleven.bandcamp.com
You got the moves, you carry the cachet
Always used to having…
I developed a strong obsession with the building blocks of pop songs and tried to craft one. Unfortunately, I wrote it in a key that was high enough that the combination of the rapid-fire words and the pitch nearly made me pass out while singing…
Oh I love this. Personally glad you were in that key. Like the quality it brought to the sound of the vocal. Also like the mental image of you catching your breathe in between sections 🤣 it's a wonderful melody. Very satisfying.
Look, it's not a Letter Seventeen record if I don't end it with something like this. Plus, I spent way too much time playing with orchestral libraries all summer to not use them somewhere.
It started off so nice
A time for you and me
Taking…
Brian did a tremendous job pulling this all together. This was recorded as part of a Church of England retreat in 2023 celebrating my 55th birthday. Featuring: Brian J. Wood on vocals and guitar, Wilsun on bass, This Wretched Vessel on guitar, Tim from Letter Seventeen (that's me!) on guitar, and the remarkable Jarrett Osborn on drums.
from the album "FULL MINGO"
vocals Ash Reynolders
mastering Dave Storms
Here we go
I can't wait for you to show, me the way
and I know
there are places we will go, someday
but i'm feeling inside
that there's thing that we hide
and…
RPM. Month of concessions. I had lots of ideas, and they all seemed to fall apart. Time was not in abundance. Glad this was a leap year, for me to squeeze this out in a few hours after work.
Piano - Soprano in Pythagorean Tuning - poem by TS Eliot (in public domain)
I
The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o’clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy…
“Bats in Flight” composed, recorded, and mixed on 10/20/2023, for October’s 30 Day Songs challenge (30daysongs.com).
“Bats in Flight” was also submitted to October’s REM Challenge (via RPM Challenge).
“Bats in Flight” composed by W. Ng…
“Bela Lugosi's Dead” recorded and mixed on 10/14/23 and 10/15/23, for October’s 30 Day Songs challenge (30daysongs.com).
“Bela Lugosi's Dead” written by Ash/Haskins/J/Murphy, originally by Bauhaus.
Released on October 20, 2023. Happy 141st…
Wow. You really nailed that intro!
Quick story: my high school girlfriend was obsessed with this song. She once played it on a loop for 54 hours straight (CD players had just become affordable and that repeat button was just too much for her to resist). When I came over to see her she was a little..... frayed. She really wasn't much of a goth, but she loved this song and the movie The Hunger. Okay, so maybe she was a little bit of a goth.
October 2023 A-side? It started with the stupid singsong thing I remember hearing as a kid and then mutated into Meshuggah... with a special cameo at the end of the track.
The first lines of the chorus just crept into my head.
I had to write the rest.
ALL IN
You've been holding back for so long now
And I've been losing track of how many times I've written my vows
It feels like you're sleeping behind the…
“Geisha Boys and Temple Girls/Let Me Go” acoustic Heaven 17 medley, recorded on the evening of 8/10/2023.
“Geisha Boys and Temple Girls” and "Let Me Go" written by Gregory/Marsh/Ware, originally by Heaven 17.
Comments on Letter Seventeen's stuff
Love this!!! Going to be my ear worm for today I'm sure.
Another amazing track… this is my favorite so far…
This is amazing…
Dude, OUTSTANDING production. This might be my favorite track of the album.
So smoooooooooth
GREAT track!
Love that lead guitar sound on this, killer vibe on this tune!
Okay, I was cut off so here goes again: I really like this. I can hear Tom singing this in my mind and it's really cool as well. You did a great job on this. One of my favorites. Dave C. (acoustic57) :-)
Love it!!!
This is the very definition of starting off an album with a strong leading track. Well done good sir. Well done indeed.
More wonderfulness from Megan - much sweetness to love here.
Lovely keys - and yes Megan is fantastic!
Ooh! I'm loving that vocal breakdown towards the end - absolutely awesome!
Punk bird rock!
Bout time someone said something about this. But genuinely. This is genius in my book
I want to go baaaaack! And frickin stay there! Sugary sweet this one.
It sure do rock
Positively raging guitar solo! A great fun track. Having serious trouble hanging on to my blues listening to this!
Oh I love this. Personally glad you were in that key. Like the quality it brought to the sound of the vocal. Also like the mental image of you catching your breathe in between sections 🤣 it's a wonderful melody. Very satisfying.
This is lovely this. Made me feel good. You can't ask for more than that! I was feeling like shit till I put this on.
Comments made by Letter Seventeen
Brian did a tremendous job pulling this all together. This was recorded as part of a Church of England retreat in 2023 celebrating my 55th birthday. Featuring: Brian J. Wood on vocals and guitar, Wilsun on bass, This Wretched Vessel on guitar, Tim from Letter Seventeen (that's me!) on guitar, and the remarkable Jarrett Osborn on drums.
This is quite awesome.
I'm with Keith. I think I prefer this version.
You did it again. Of course you did.
Yeah... we need to talk about how you get those bass sounds.
Fair. True. But seriously.... no one should ever record an acoustic guitar via the pickup. It should be declared a crime.
I do loves me some cheap guitars.....
I sold my Neve and I use the SSL more than the ToneBeast these days, but my last recordings were an SM7 straight into the interface. So there!
But my mic **IS** better than your mic!
This is quite lovely.
A very cool soundscape here. Nicely done.
Wow. You really nailed that intro! Quick story: my high school girlfriend was obsessed with this song. She once played it on a loop for 54 hours straight (CD players had just become affordable and that repeat button was just too much for her to resist). When I came over to see her she was a little..... frayed. She really wasn't much of a goth, but she loved this song and the movie The Hunger. Okay, so maybe she was a little bit of a goth.
And you finish it out with loungy goodness. This is a fabulous set of songs for October. Bonus points for the great harmonies.
Spooky, but also more fun!
Awesome work, Ed! This song is all kinds of fun!
Very cool!
This is quite spectacular. You took the song someplace different and Andy is a rock star, but we all already knew that.
Nice work, Keith.
Not only do I not hate you for this one, I love it!
You've started using a different approach with your vocals and I really like it.