I went through a 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 deep-dive in the winter and spring of 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐, getting to know all of their albums. The debut album and 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶é never did that much for me (though I did hear "Sultans of Swing" a lot on my dad's car stereo when I was a wee lad), but 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘴 is where I started to get a feel for 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐫'𝐬 way with a song. 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘴 is their undeniable peak, and I love the title track of 𝘖𝘯 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, but 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥 may be the record that resonates the most with me. The hit single "Private Investigations" has a great atmosphere, and I get so immersed in "Telegraph Road" that I never notice its 𝟏𝟒-minute run time. But the loveliest song for me of their entire catalogue must be "Love Over Gold."

It's simply gorgeous, so I had to try it out despite my limitations. It took a lot of attempts to get this performance, which remains uneven but not entirely unlistenable, down. I improvised the final "play-out" part as I obviously couldn't match 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐫'𝐬 stellar guitar work in any way. I think I solved it pretty well for what I was able to do at the time.

𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐃
October 6, 1992

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓
Oslo Cathedral School music room sound system

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒
Rönisch upright piano

𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
Microphone (𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐, unknown brand)
Audacity® Cross-Platform Sound Editor (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 clean-up and edits)

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃
𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘳

© 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟐 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐋𝐭𝐝.

The Katta Tapes

Love Over Gold

I obviously could never match the magic and pure energy of the 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 version of this classic song, which can correctly be labeled "iconic," so I just did it in my little impromptu way, having moments before memorized the lyrics. I enjoyed trying out the tune in a low-key, lo-fi fashion. Not a perfect performance as I got a couple of words slightly wrong in the first verse, and my piano playing wasn't metronomic by any means, but my vocal and finger work weren't the worst I've ever heard.

𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐄
𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 | 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 | 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘒𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘯

My baby's always dancin'
and it wouldn't be a bad thing
But I don't get no lovin' and that's no lie
We spent the night in Frisco
at every kinda disco
From that night I kissed our love goodbye

Don't blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Blame it on the boogie

Don't you blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Blame it on the boogie

That nasty boogie bugs me
but somehow it has drugged me
Spellbound rhythm gets me on my feet
I've changed my life completely
I've seen the lightning leave me
And my baby just can't take her eyes off me

Don't blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Blame it on the boogie

Don't you blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Blame it on the boogie, woo

I just can't, I just can't
I just can't control my feet x 4

Sunshine
Moonlight
Good times
Oh, boogie

This magic music grooves me
That dirty rhythm fools me
The devil's gotten to me through this dance
I'm full of funky fever
A fire burns inside me
Boogie's got me in a super trance

Don't blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Oh, blame it on the boogie

Don't you blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on the good times
Blame it on the boogie

𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐃
April 6, 2025

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓
iPhone 14 | Voice Recorder Pro

𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
Audacity® Cross-Platform Sound Editor

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒
KAWAI CN 32 Digital Piano
(𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 1)

© 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟖 𝐂𝐁𝐒 𝐈𝐧𝐜. 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩.

Blame It on the Boogie

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧, one of my greatest heroes, has left this plane, after being with us much longer than we could have prayed for him to be. He always vibrated on some other level than the rest of us, and I think his unique ability to hear music and put it into the heart of the world was comparable only to the likes of 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐌𝐨𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐭, and 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 was also beset by a true artist's fragility, almost like a musical 𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐠𝐡, and it nearly destroyed him. But he survived, and long before he departed, his music was destined to last forever.

I don't have a 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧-esque song to honour him with, so I offer instead this ethereal piece that I let flow from my heart one night in 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲. May he be reunited somewhere with 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐬 and 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥, his brothers, harmonizing into eternity -- where they shall endure.

Where We Shall Endure (for Brian Wilson)

One evening as I parked my car in the garage complex underneath my apartment building, I was thinking of 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧, who'd just left this world a few days earlier, and decided to use the acoustics of the expansive area to record a vocal attempt of the second movement of one of his greatest songs into my telephone.

This is a slightly reverb-adjusted version, its one track doubled and de-synchronized just enough to create the illusion that I overdubbed a second vocal. I intend to work on this by adding harmonies. Stay tuned.

𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐃
June 14, 2025

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓
iPhone 14 | Voice Recorder Pro

𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
Audacity® Cross-Platform Sound Editor

© 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨.

Surf's Up (2nd Movement Lead Vocal)

Music is a friend, a playground, a way of life. To dabble is satisfaction; to improvise is freedom; to please is joy.

Most of these works are my fledgling musical "sins," many of which go back several decades.

This track is not available anymore.

Other tracks from Trecathlus