One of a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation. 

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Based on
I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango) by Grace Jones
composed by Astor Piazzolla (original tango melody), Grace Jones, Barry Reynolds, Dennis Wilkey, Nathalie Delon
Originally a 1981 single taken from the album "Nightclubbing"

This version recorded the evening of 17 March 2020

I've Seen That Face Before (Sketch)

One of a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation.

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Based on
"Ghosts" by Japan
composed by David Sylvian
Originally a 1982 single taken from the album "Tin Drum"  (1981)

Instruments tracked the evening of 18th March. Vocals and mixing on the evening of 19th March 2020.

Ghosts (Sketch)

The third of a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation.

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Based on
The Pink Room and Theme from Twin Peaks (Fire Walk With Me) by Angelo Badalamenti
The Pink Room composed by David Lynch
Theme… composed by Angelo Badalamenti
From the soundtrack album for the 1992 motion picture "Twin Peaks (Fire Walk With Me)"

This version recorded and mixed the afternoon of 20 March 2020

The Pink Room / Theme From Twin Peaks–Fire Walk With Me (Sketch)

The fourth in a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation.

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Biographical note. This is the first song I learned to play on the guitar and sing and also the first song I performed in front of a school concert audience (aged maybe 9 or 10?)

Based on
Sunday Girl by Blondie
Composed by Chris Stein
1978 single taken from the album Parallel Lines

This version tracked the afternoon of 21 March and mixed the morning of Sunday 22 March 2020

Sunday Girl (Sketch)

The fifth in a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation.

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours (the complex mix broke the rule of this one by about two hours)
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Based on
Live to Tell by Madonna
Composed by Madonna Ciccone and Patrick Leonard
1986 single taken from the album True Blue

This version tracked and mixed the afternoon of 22 March 2020 with additional mixing on 23rd March.

Recording Note: 
I debated whether to transpose this but decided to keep it in the original key signature as part of the reason I'm doing this project is to stretch my technique in areas where I feel lacking. 

There is a huge change in pitch between the verse and chorus, which I've always noticed in the original, one of my all time favourite pop ballads of all time. I set a challenge to myself to try and master it as I need to work on my vocal range now I am fronting a band regularly. 

Obviously I'm singing it with the pitch change reversed, the verse and middle 8 an octave down from where M sings it. We're both singing the chorus in the same pitch. I just about got a way with it and I am reassured that I currently have this range in my toolkit.

Live To Tell (Sketch)

The sixth in a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation.

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Based on
"Time" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids
Composed by Richard Hell
From the 1982 album "Destiny Street"

Instruments tracked 6–20 April 2020. 
Vocals tracked 30 April. 
Mixed 30 April  - 1 May 2020

Recording Note:
This is the penultimate of this set of covers and it's also taken the longest by far from start to finish. I've been (and still am) suffering from an acute attack of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for pretty much the whole of April. It came on soon after the completion of the previous song in this series. 

I thought I would never finish this song because I was so in pain and unhappy while making it, but during conversations with various people I realised that sometimes, when you are creatively and psychologically marooned, you need to build (in my therapist's words) a "raft" to get you to the safety of land so you can continue your journey. The raft might not be the most beautiful thing you create and you might decide to throw it away afterwards, but it serves a purpose.

I was originally going to do a multitracked acoustic guitar arrangement of this great New York punk song but playing guitar has proved  practically impossible while under the slavery of the pain, so I rearranged it for piano. 

I couldn’t use my right hand at all during tracking of the piano part so I played the left and right hand parts separately, both with my left hand, about two weeks apart. A sort of time separated duet between two clumsy versions of me. It’s been a laborious and a painful process and it has led to a very odd version of the song. I’m not sure I like it but it is what it is.

This is my raft.

Time (Sketch)

The seventh and final in a series of quick "sketches" recorded during the 2020 COViD-19 isolation.

I set some rules for myself. They are:
- covers of songs that shaped my musical identity
- don't listen to the original. work it out from memory and try and do something distinct (looking up lyrics is fine)
- each recorded and mixed in a maximum of six hours
- all instruments and vocals are performed by me in one take. Minimal editing. So mistakes will be in there.

When this project is complete I will release it as a donationware EP. Beneficiary to be decided but it will be related to the global pandemic crisis that inspired it.

Based on
"Eternal Flame" by The Bangles
Composed by Susanna Hoffs, Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg
1989 single taken from the 1988 album "Everything"

Tracked 6 May 2020. Mixed 6-7 May 2020

Recording Note:
Working out and recording this song yesterday marked the first time I picked up the guitar after 6 weeks of an acute attack of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. 

While it was still painful I was absolutely ecstatic to be able to play again and am still on a cloud now. 

Stay safe and keep others safe and let's beat this thing x

Eternal Flame (Sketch)

A collection of cover versions recorded during Lockdown 2020. All sales from this collection go to the charities Gendered Intelligence and The Black Curriculum.

Performed and produced Spring 2020, and mixed and mastered Summer 2020 by Kaoru Sato in London.

Original credits:

"Sunday Girl" (Stein)
originally performed by Blondie, single from the album "Parallel Lines" (1978)

"Ghosts" (Sylvian)
originally performed by Japan, 1982 single from the album "Tin Drum" (1981)

"Live to Tell" (Ciccone-Leonard)
originally performed by Madonna, single from the album "True Blue" (1986)

"Eternal Flame" (Hoffs-Kelly-Steinberg)
originally performed by The Bangles, 1989 single from the album "Everything" (1988)

"I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" (Piazzolla-Jones-Reynolds-Wilkie-Delon)
originally performed by Grace Jones, single from the album "Nightclubbing" (1981)

"The Pink Room" (Lynch) and "Theme from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (Badalamenti)
both originally performed by Angelo Badalamenti, from the soundtrack to the motion picture "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (1992)

"Time" (Hell)
originally performed by Richard Hell & The Voidoids, from the album "Destiny Street" (1982)

"It's No Game, part 2" (Bowie)
originally performed by David Bowie, from the album "Scary Monsters" (1980)

Note: the sound quality of track 8 does not match that of the other tracks due to the circumstances of its recording.

Live To Tell

Personal cloud for the dabblings of Kaoru Sato. 

Producer, composer and musician (Bands: current: The Dead Zoo, past: Deathline, Six Inch Killaz, Weird Sex, Easterhead, Electric Shocks)

Trans woman. She / her.

Kaoru Sato

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