Morning Ritual

An excerpt from my score for "Your Friend the Rat" (Jim Capobianco) the Ratatouille DVD short. It won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short. You can watch the short on Disney Plus.

Year of the Rat: The Music of "Your Friend the Rat"

Alex Mandel Score from Ratatouille Short  - Why Rats are Cool

"Turn It All Around" 
written, performed, mixed and produced by Alex Mandel
from the Sliding Doors LP

AlexMandel - Turn It All Around

My god Prince was a genius. It took me so long to have the guts to try and pull off a falsetto track myself ("Take It Slow" on my new album). Prince was taken way too soon. One way to process his death is to pay tribute to Prince, and one of his greatest bands, The Revolution (that's Wendy and Lisa with me in the picture) is to try and recreate one of my favorite Purple Rain tracks, "The Beautiful Ones". The tempo, of course, is 69. And, yes, my throat hurts. #RIPPrince

Alex Mandel -  The Beautiful Ones

The first single from "As Long As We Breathe"
Written, performed, mixed by Alex Mandel
Drums by Dave Brandt

Helping Hand

This feeling coming on
You toss and turn until the dawn 
You know you know know know

Across the river beyond the hill
Horizon calls and you can’t stand still
You go you go go go

(chorus)
Taking a chance on the other side
Body lives where the soul resides
You hear a voice but you can’t reply
Because you know know know
Seeking a helping hand

It’s all wrong but you’ll get right
Now you’re feeling strong you try with all your might
You know you’ll go go go

Don’t take your time or it’ll take you
Take it in stride or it’s gonna break you
You know you know know know

(Chorus)

All the while we know what’s true
It’s not who we are it’s what we do
We know you know know know
Lending a helping hand

(Chorus)




Alex Mandel - Helping Hand (album version)

I love the Father John Misty album "I Love You Honeybear" so I wanted to pay tribute through this cover. I jam out on a guitar solo for the last 2 minutes, cuz it's fun. (There are a few mistakes; one take).  You'll hear me talking to myself. The lyrics are hilarious and sad. Love live Father John Misty!

Alex Mandel covers Father John Misty's "I Love You Honeybear"

A duet with Scottish singer Julie Fowlis, The Road is the third track on the LP "As Long As We Breathe". It also features the fiddle and whistle of the amazing multi-instrumentalist John McCusker. Julie sang my songs for Pixar's Brave, "Touch the Sky" and "Into the Open Air." The lyric dramatizes the artist's journey into the darkness, and hopefully provides encouragement.

Alex Mandel (featuring Julie Fowlis) - The Road

Was inspired to finish this original song by the 20 year anniversary since Radiohead's OK Computer. 


Each day chipping away at your freedom
in each way so sneaky that you can't see them
build webs to ensure that you need them
tell me do you think you know better?

unless you keep it all inside
they're gonna take you for a ride 

Give me your liberty
and I'll give you security
leave it to me I'll keep it together

unless you keep it all inside
they're gonna take you for a ride 
leave it to me and I'll keep you safe

forever
sometimes you wait forever
and each day the feeling grows
nobody really knows 

freedom is a commodity
everything has a price
does anyone really see
where this is heading?

unless you keep it all inside
They're gonna take you for a ride 
leave it to me and i'll keep you safe forever

sometimes you wait forever
and each day the feeling grows
nobody really knows

song by Alex Mandel
recorded/performed/mixed by A.M.

Nobody Really Knows

From the album "As Long As You Breathe" this is the instrumental version of "Back Home" the final track. Written, recorded, performed and produced by Alex Mandel.

Alex Mandel - "Back Home" (instrumental)

This is an experiment for fun, a cover of John Lennon's  song "In My Life" from the Beatles Rubber Soul LP.  (credited to Lennon/McCartney),  this is for research only. I used the Waves REDD .51 plug-in which simulates the console they used to record the song. It's noisy and distorted but gives it a certain sound. Also the Waves Abbey Road analog tape plug in, and a Vox AC30 amp, and plate reverb. My rule was no edits, one take per track. Sounds pretty good to me. Enjoy!

In My Life

While at #Pixar for a decade, Alex Mandel composed two songs for the Academy-Award winning film BRAVE (2012)-- "Touch the Sky" and "Into the Open Air", both sung by Julie Fowlis.

Mandel also composed the score for the Ratatouille short film, Your Friend the Rat, written and directed by Ratatouille writer Jim Capobianco, and recorded at Skywalker Sound with Michael Giacchino and Brad Bird. 

Director Mark Andrews asked Mandel to write the BRAVE songs, after hearing his album The Echo Falls, which was featured on KQED's "The Do List."  Earlier, Mandel led the alt-rock quartet The Fingers. 

Mandel recently completed his score and songs for The Inventor (Jim Capobianco) which features nine of his songs performed by Marion Cotillard, Daisy Ridley, Matt Berry and Sequoia Cristobal-Mandel. He scored the Netflix series Super Giant Robot Brothers (Mark Andrews). He is also known for his scores for such films as "East Side Sushi" (Anthony Lucero, 2014), "Snow Day" (Erica Milsom, 2015), and "Tracy" (Dan Scanlon, 2009). He also wrote his first musical in 2014, "Painting America", with a book by Lynne Kaufman, which premiered at Theatreworks (Director, Robert Kelley). 


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandelmusic
Twitter: @alexmandelmusic
Website: www.alexmandelmusic.com

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