First tune from new studio featuring live drums and percussion played by moi.

"IDENT1" By Bennetton

12 Songs #12
Challenge COMPLETE! This is the last song of my 2013 challenge of 12 songs.
Being the last song and being that I'm making it in December, it seemed a great idea to make a Christmas song. Also I wanted to do something a bit more light hearted, so I wrote it about Die Hard, from the perspective of John McClane. I even rap, oo-err!

The Ballad Of McClane (I Want To Spend Christmas With You)

2012 marks the 60th Anniversary of the publication of C.S.Lewis’s classic, Mere Christianity. Having sold over half a million copies in the UK alone, his overview of Christianity has been imitated many time, but never bettered. The book is compiled of the legendary radio talks which he gave during the war years. 

 Mere Christianity brings together Lewis’s legendary broadcast talks of the war years, talks in which he set out simply to ‘explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.’ Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity’s many denominations, C.S. Lewis provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith. This scintiallating collection confirms C.S. Lewis’s reputation as one of the leading writers and thinkers of our age.

Buy on Audible

Mere Christianity, By C. S. Lewis, Read by Geoffrey Howard

Esuna - Summerfall

Please note: this conversation starts about 10 minutes in -- by this point my wife and I are both completely flustered by the oppressiveness of the rep.

So! Last week my wife called to disconnect our service with Comcast after we switched to another provider (Astound). We were transferred to cancellations (aka "customer retention").

The representative (name redacted) continued aggressively repeating his questions, despite the answers given, to the point where my wife became so visibly upset she handed me the phone. Overhearing the conversation, I knew this would not be very fun.

What I did not know is how oppressive this conversation would be. Within just a few minutes the representative had gotten so condescending and unhelpful I felt compelled to record the speakerphone conversation on my other phone.

This recording picks up roughly 10 minutes into the call, whereby she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations as to why we are canceling (which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question -- it was clear the only sufficient answer was "Okay, please don't disconnect our service after all.").

Please forgive the echoing and ratcheting sound, I was screwing together some speaker wires in an empty living room!

Updates:
7/15 - Comcast has issued an apology: http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/comcast-statement-regarding-customer-service-call
7/16 - I have continued to reiterate publicly that I do not want Comcast to terminate the rep, and that I believe the call itself belies a deeper, systemic dysfunction:
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576392250519552
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576399636676609
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576406301413376

Comcastic service disconnection (recording starts 10 mins into call)

My cover of Table For Glasses by Jimmy Eat World from their album Clarity.

Table For Glasses

From the new album CARRIE & LOWELL by Sufjan Stevens
Get it: http://akrec.co/1y05i0M
Available on Asthmatic Kitty Records

More info: http://carrieandlowell.com

LYRICS:

I should have known better
To see what I could see
My black shroud
Holding down my feelings
A pillar for my enemies

I should have wrote a letter
And grieve what I happen to grieve
My black shroud
I never trust my feelings
I waited for the remedy

When I was three, three maybe four
She left us at that video store
Be my rest, be my fantasy

I’m light as a feather
I’m bright as the Oregon breeze
My black shroud 
Frightened by my feelings
I only want to be a relief

No, I’m not a go-getter
The demon had a spell on me
My black shroud
Captain of my feelings
The only thing I want to believe

When I was three, and free to explore
I saw her face on the back of the door
Be my vest, be my fantasy

I should have known better
Nothing can be changed
The past is still the past
The bridge to nowhere
I should’ve wrote a letter 
Explaining what I feel, that empty feeling

Don’t back down, concentrate on seeing
The breakers in the bar, the neighbor’s greeting
My brother had a daughter
The beauty that she brings, illumination

Don’t back down, there is nothing left
The breakers in the bar, no reason to live
I’m a fool in the fetter
Rose of Aaron’s beard, where you can reach me

Don’t back down: nothing can be changed
Cantilever bridge, the drunken sailor
My brother had a daughter
The beauty that she brings, illumination 

--------------------------------------------------------

Sufjan Stevens, "Should Have Known Better"

'Thoughts That Float On A Different Blood' Available Now.

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/TTFOADB
Store/Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/DKstore
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/TTFOADBAmz
Spotify: http://smarturl.it/TTFOADBSpfy

Thoughts That Float on a Different Blood

Jesus Christ

Get it on iTunes

for some reason I always expected TLC's vocals to come in over this beat so I made it happen.

Ed Sheeran VS TLC - Shape Of Scrubs

My name's Peanut and I live in Cardiff. I like to write, perform and record music of a variety of styles. Always up for a collaboration.

I play Alternative/Electro Indie Rock as 'BRIGHTLIGHTS'

I put out Ben Folds Five/Sufjan Stevens-esque power pop as 'The Incomparable Peanut'.

I also really love bands/artists like Jimmy Eat World, Brand New, Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, Thrice, Counting Crows, Mute Math, Switchfoot, Coldplay, Elliott Smith, ELO, Foo Fighters etc....

Ed Sheeran VS TLC - Shape Of Scrubs

peanutismint