I was more than a little honored, recently, to receive an email from “This American Life” production manager, Seth Lind, asking if I would be interested in writing some original theme music for a live, story-telling TV pilot he was working on (kind of along the lines of The Moth). He had heard my version of “The Three of Us” (a This American Life original from one Ms. Starlee Kine) when it was on the podcast and had received my creepy stalker mail sent to TAL (a copy of “Cutting Ties” I sent in for them to play with my blessing) and liked my music. So, I cooped myself up in the studio for a few days and after a few different drafts came up with a suitable piece of instrumental music entitled One Last Heist (For Old Time’s Sake). You can hear said “suitable piece of music” in the trailer for the “Told” pilot below.
Please keep in mind that the whole project was a bit rushed and my final version didn’t make it Mr. Lind before the pilot was created, but there is a slightly less rough version that will accompany the final product when it makes it’s big debut.
Anyway, thanks to Seth for thinking of me and let us raise a glass and hope that “Told” is a runaway television success the likes of which we’ve never before imagined possible (I’m thinking The Simpsons & Leave It To Beaver status).
So, I got an email Sunday night from a friend who was clearly ashamed to be asking, but asked nonetheless, “Ummmm….Did I hear your song on “Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami” tonight?” I thought long and hard and then remembered that yes, I had in fact agreed to let the production company responsible for the show use my music quite a while ago. With a little help from Lisa, we found a clip of the show on youtube and found that indeed, it was “Long Year” playing in the background. My friend, let’s call him….”Todd”….went on in the email to try to distance himself as much as possible from the show (while clearly having watched it closely enough to recognize the opening song). Sure “Todd,” your wife is the fan. Riiiiiiight.
Anyway, here is a clip of the clip of the show as we found it on Youtube. Because I love you, I edited it down to include none of the actual show itself, because…..wow…..to be diplomatic….in watching a 30 second clip, I discovered that it is not a terribly thought-provoking show (understatement…..understatement).
Oh and in all seriousness, many thank-you’s to “Todd” and “Todd’s wife” for the heads up.
Woah, I’ve never heard WWP called “sadcore” before. Thanks to the delightful chaps over at adequacy.net for the kind write up.
“Washington, D.C. native Mike Boggs makes music everyone can enjoy. And he does it all by himself.
Wielding nothing more than a computer and a few microphones, Boggs, under the moniker We Were Pirates, constructs perfect pop gems, songs that blend together real instruments with blankets of electronic noise. And did I mention that he plays everything himself?
“Nervous,” a stand-out track from his 2007 EP The Wolf, is a beautiful tapestry of subdued guitar work and electronic percussion flourishes, on which Boggs’ ethereal voice dances wildly. “And as we watch the world below us start to fade/I know that everything will be OK,” he sings in the chorus, his voice both vulnerable and aching.
The song demonstrates one of We Were Pirates’ biggest strengths: the ability to create heartfelt, dramatic music out of familiar components. No one will ever accuse Boggs of breaking any musical barriers – his voice is a dead-ringer for Ben Gibbard’s, and his music veers remarkably close to the sadcore niche that Death Cab for Cutie has carved out for itself – but with songs this good, it doesn’t matter. “Nervous” is catchy, well-written and warm, labels made all the more impressive when one considers that every sound is crafted by Boggs himself. In other words, the future looks very, very bright for Mike Boggs, Death Cab be damned.
And did I mention that he plays every instrument himself? Even Ben Gibbard can’t do that.”
Hey friends, last week’s episode of The Real World DC featured a clip of “Settle Down”. I was out of town so I didn’t get a chance to see it until yesterday, but thanks to the magical powers of DVR, I fast forwarded and bam, there it was. And I didn’t even have to sit through any body shots at loud clubs, or cat-fights between two house mates who wanted the same vapid muscular dude, or even one utterance of the phrase: “omg”. If you want to check it out, you can watch the episode here.
Oh, and I got word that the season finale will also feature a clip from “Don’t Forget.” So, check that out. I promise you can’t contract an STD just from watching a television show….even if it is The Real World.
Thanks to Shelby from Shifted Sound for featuring “Settle Down” and “The Three of Us” on the podcast. You can download/listen on their website or here on iTunes. They feature a lot of great new music.
