The cadence reminds me of early Joni Mitchel

one of my favorite Jonitunes....you bring out the best for sure Kathleen

Well I come back to this one to have a dance with you baby :)))))))))))))))))

Well you certainly put a  lot into this fine Joni song Kat and it was a pleasure to give it another blast sweetheart and a really excellent job of it you done too.

A great favourite of mine and you do it great justice. Thanks for sharing Kathleen

A sweet wistful quality and gentle sound-great!

bloimm bloimm clang clang // rock :: blues :: folk :: acoustic

So Famous I'm Fucked

Nov. 25, 2013 [recorded piecemeal amidst our alleyway cacophony]

Another cover of Mother (Superior) Mitchell off her sublime "Blue" album. I make it a point never to revisit any song I cover before recording my own spin on it. This usually means I miss a lot of the original musical boat -- often lyrics as well -- but it also can help ensure a more unique version as opposed to a merely faithful cover. For e.g., I know my intro / outro dissonance sections are way off from what Joni does, but I had a lot of fun finding a variety of synthstrument sounds to layer for my take on my aural memory of it.

Her lyrics here (and everywhere) resonated with me as a young girl and still do today. Even if I no longer "wreck my stockings in some jukebox dive," I still "wanna be strong" "wanna have fun" "wanna laugh along" "wanna shine like the sun" "wanna belong to the living" and "wanna be the one that you want to" hear. 

Warm Thanksgiving wishes to all U.S.ers!   :)

All I Want

Lead-off track from our EP Things Too Obvious to Sing, out March 29 on My Little Owl Records.

Wond'ring

Released on LP and download  25 May 2014 
Recorded and mixed Summer / Fall 2013, at Marlborough Farms, by Gary Olson 
Mastered by Ron Harrity at Peapod Recordings 
Keyboards by Kyle Forester. Backing vocals by Suzanne Nienaber and Gary Olson 
Additional percussion by Gary Olson. Keyboards on Boy Of Your Dreams by Brooke Watkins 

Pale Lights on this recording are: 

Andrew Adler, guitar 
Lisa Goldstein, drums, vocals 
Maria Pace, bass 
Philip Sutton, guitar, vocals 

All songs by Philip Sutton 

© Calico Cat (CAL004) 

Another album that I’ve been listening a lot this week is that of New York’s own Pale Lights. […] But what an album this is. It’s only 30 minutes long and opens with a cracker of a song called “Another Broken Heart”. You already know what to expect in the other 9 songs. Just heartfelt jangly indiepop crafted in perfection. Highlights are “Port of Shadows” that reminds me of The Bats, their previous single “Boy of Your Dreams” that has that Felt-ish guitar, or The Chills inspired “Only an Ocean”. I don’t know what will happen in 2014, but this might be a serious contender for your next year list! 

Roque Ruiz, Cloudberry Cake Proselytism: www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/?p=2321

These Things Happen

VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kly5_YX3Kkw



Line Up on the Solstice

It's been a minute since I composed a new piece—over six years as a matter of fact. Intervening was a call to political activism followed by a relocation to a new continent during a global pandemic. And because I had sold every bit of electronic equipment before the move to Finland, I was resigned to embark on no further recording or production work. Then in September 2024, I was struck with an idea to create a new novelty piece culled from a collection of my silly aphorisms and taglines. I had barely begun penning a stanza or two when I received a midnight visitation from The Muse, who generously gifted me with a memorable melody to match my title sentence. It was a solemn minor key, however, so I shifted lyrics away from my trademark wordplay toward a more somber composition. It soon evolved into a Latin rhythm but still sounded so melancholy, I decided I should make a point of ending my sad lyrics on an upbeat note. I had no wish to bring down anyone's spirits—including my own!—one solitary scintilla beyond wherever they landed at year's end. Plus after the election results for US, I was especially glad for that hopeful, major chord ending on I'm Friday's Child (IFC).

Since I no longer owned any synth equipment, I presumed new music production, if ever I returned to it, must rely on a collaborator for additional instrumentation and possibly for vocals as well. So after I had a rough guitar and voice part set for IFC, I immediately contacted my Nice friend, Damien Riba, for a piano habanera part. Monsieur Riba came through—brilliantly as ever!—with a habanera piano part in a delightful orchestration for me to use and post here, courtesy of Mangalyan Records. His arrangement accompanying my vocal includes piano, accordion, violin and percussion. Merci, Damien! [Check him out at www.damienriba.com and www.cinelovers.fr ]

To hear my own orchestration w/vocal: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/im-fridays-child  Unfortunately, I have otherwise run out of free time to post anything further whatsoever at SC. So for my own purely instrumental version of IFC, please find it at freemusicarchive.org/music/Kathleen_Martin or at my Bandcamp "Kathleen Martin" account.

Last but never least, multiple thanks to JT Lindroos for his great partnership in using the library's Mac software—I had only recorded vocals and synth parts in the past with a PC using Reaper software—and, as always, for his cover art contribution (photo of li'l Kat at 4 used). How appropriate then to release IFC to the world on January 4, 2025, which marks our Silver 25th wedding anniversary! 😊

😽 XXXOOO 🤗
Kat (a Friday's Child)

I'M FRIDAY'S CHILD

I'm Friday's Child living in a Wednesday world,
A world full of woe for me and any girl,
Who's loving and giving at the time of birth
And stays that way all her days on Earth.
I'm Friday's child living in a Wednesday world.

A Wednesday world can break a Friday heart.
This world of woe can tear that heart apart.
There was a time I seized the days,
They struggled free and slapped my face.
I'm Friday's child living in a Wednesday world.

A Wednesday world can crush a Friday's Child.
Can make her meek, and woe can drive her wild
With walls of pain built brick by brick,
A pincushion pierced prick after prick,
When a Friday's child living in a Wednesday world.

All Friday folk, let's forge a Friday world.
Each woman, man, all boys and every girl,
Who are loving and giving at the time of birth
And stay that way through their days on Earth,
Come Friday folk and make it a Friday world.
Yes, Friday folk can make this a Friday world!

--Kathleen Martin © 2024

IFC (orch. by D. Riba)

Long Story (Remix 2025)

Out May 22 on Manic Pop! Records!

Visit our Kickstarter Page for advanced downloads and pre-orders! www.kickstarter.com/projects/638863…sprin?ref=email


Return to Sender

FMA Blog features Kat tracks: https://freemusicarchive.org/blog/kathleen-martins-new-tracks  This site is for music fans who think outside the boxy confines of genre labels. Find here and at SCannex my originals and covers on anything from felons to lovers, arranged for and performed on a variety of instruments, for sounds ranging from sweet to sassy and reedy to brassy; from lofty to lowdown and soulful to hoedown; from serious to silly and urban to hillbilly.

I am so grateful you are taking the time to listen to these self-recordings, many of which required an enormous amount of my time and effort to produce. If I also introduce you to a singer-songwriter you never knew, or if something I wrote or recorded brings a smile to your day, well, that's just the sweet icing on my aim-cake!

Hope you will seek out the original artists' versions of cover tunes unfamiliar to you and, please, share my sounds with any like-minded listeners. I also urge you to click on individual track titles to read my production notes and lyrics before or as you push play. Some notes are informative, some are entertaining and some may be neither or both. ☼:) Kathleen xxxooo

All I Want

kat330

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Mark Badinson

markjbennett

Lee >>> Lucas

Lee >>> Lucas

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