Music

Google Honors Les Paul

Published

13 years ago

June 10, 2011

Before you get your panties in a bunch, yes, I know that it was yesterday that Google honored Les Paul with a strummable logo. However, yesterday got hectic and went by before I could say something about it. So, here’s a little bit about how Les Paul influenced my life:

Photo Courtesy

I’ve been playing guitar for just about 14 years now. I started out on an acoustic because my teacher recommended it to build callouses. However, from the very beginning, I wanted a Les Paul. That was my dream guitar. And not some shocking color situation either. I wanted a vintage sunburst Les Paul that showed wood grain, so that I could see the beauty of the instrument itself. Well, a year after I started lessons, I got an Epiphone Special as a gift. Mind you, this was before the Epiphone Special series went to complete garbage. No, this Special actually had weight and feel to it.

Anyways, that guitar is still mine. As a matter of fact, I’ve modded the everliving hell out of it (leave a comment if you want me to make a video talking about/showing my modifications), leaving nothing original but the wood (pretty much). I’ve used my guitar to play in bands ranging from indie rock to latin funk to metal. It’s got dings and scratches on it from years of use, adding to its character. It’s my Les Paul and it’s a part of me.

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…