Something a bit Threshold-y with lots of crunchy guitars and double kick drums. Who knows, maybe one day it'll turn into a song? 

Untitled Prog Metal... Thing

Turn Up The Heat

Burning Beef

Back in 2020, when the news headlines was full of reports that COVID patient data was getting lost because of government departments using Excel as a data interchange format, I  recorded a version of Chris Rea's "The Road to Hell" about... well, about exactly that.

I never got the guitars quite right. Chris was a phenomenally talented - and underrated - guitar player, and after a week of recording and re-recording slide guitar parts and never quite getting it the way I wanted, I shelved it and it's been sat in a Dropbox folder ever since.

With the sad news of Chris' passing this week, I thought perhaps now would be a good time to share it. Not finished, no video, but here it is.

Rest in peace, Chris. Thank you for the music.

The Road to Excel

Have I Got Nodes for You (Theme Tune)

LYRICS:

Take a look at your career, that's no way to do it,
You're building software like it's 1993,
That ain't working. What you got to do is,
Get yourself a ticket to the NDC

Come along and join the conversation,
Rachel Reese'll talk immutability,
Hanselman's all about the open web platform,
Barry Dorrans' all about security,

CHORUS:
We've to to install Microsoft Azure
Continuous delivery,
We're building virtual infrastructure
We're hacking code on our PCs

Serial Seb will solve your API problems,
Dan North keeping it light and lean,
Paul Stack, Ben Hall, Michele Bustamante,
Docker containers and virtual machines

CHORUS

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK (guitar riff / 8 bars)

CHORUS

I should have learned, some HTML
I should have learned, some Node JS,
Startups, burndowns, venture capital,
Man, this business is the best,

And Troy's up there? What's that? Australian noises?
He's banging on your wifi like a chimpanzee,
Oh that ain't hacking, no, that's no way to do it,
Now get yourself a ticket to the NDC

CHORUS

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK (guitar riff / 8 bars)

Now that ain't learning, that's no way to do it,
You're building software like it's 1993,
That ain't learning, what you got to do is.
Get yourself a ticket to the NDC

Web applications, security.
Optimization, NDC

Web applications, Security,
I want my... I want my... I want my NDC
Optimization, NDC
I want my... I want my... I want my NDC

Music by Mark Knopfler and Sting
Lyrics by Dylan Beattie
Lead guitar and vocals: Dylan Beattie
Backing track: Total Accuracy "Jam with Dire Straits"

I Want My NDC

Arc 1950

My entry into the GitKraken 1.0 Songwriting Battle! Click "Like" on SoundCloud and help me win - I need the prize money for singing lessons. :)

https://blog.axosoft.com/2016/04/04/gitkraken-version-1-launch-contest/

And for those of you who want to sing along at home...

It's half past five in the morning, you're lying awake in bed,
You're trying to sleep, but you just can't keep, the ideas from running round your head,
Your brain is buzzing, fingers are twitching, you're trying not to overload,
And you know that if you fall asleep, you'll only end up dreaming code,

So get up, get dressed, get coffee, get hacking,
Git push, git fetch, git merge, GitKraken,

It's nine pm on Tuesday, and it's probably time you went  home,
But it's down to the wire, and you're on fire, you're totally in the zone,
Hackin' on the stack, from the front to the back, when ev erything is crystal clear,
And before you're done, every single one of those bugs is gonna disappear

So get up, get snacks, get wired, and get hacking,
Get pull, git branch, git push, Git Kraken,
Get up, get snacks, get wired, get hacking,
git pull, git branch, git merge.... GitKraken

You've made it all the way to Friday, and the latest release is all done,
The site's gone live, it's quarter to five, it's time to have a little fun,
So head on down to that bar in town, and have yourself a couple of beers,
'Cos it's been a long week, and the Ballmer Peak is where we get all of our best ideas,

So get out, get drunk, get home, and get hacking,
Git branch, git stash, git clone, GitKraken,
Get out, get drunk, get home, get hacking,
Git push, git stash, git merge, fetch, tag, log, status,
add, push, clone, show, rebase, 
branch, pull, diff, grep reset,
git, git, git, git, git, git kraken

GitKraken

Recorded on an iPhone - hence the AWESOME sound quality ;) - this is Ad Lib playing live at the Spotlight Christmas party at Shoreditch House, on 9 Dec 2011.

dylanbeattie

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