Remix #4: Rachel Rosen

Rachel Rosen (John Anealio remixed).mp3

This month I have the great privilege of having my song "Rachel Rosen" (inspired by Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep") used as the December song at remixfight.org. Remix Fight is a monthly competition where a group of remix artists duke it out by remixing the same song. It is a wonderful example of the wealth and breadth of talent that exists on the Internet.

There are seven different contestants in the remix fight of "Rachel Rosen". Each one is wildly creative and completely unique. Go here to check it out and vote on your favorite one.

Remix #4 is the remix artist who goes by the name of Undesirable's version of "Rachel Rosen". I will eventually post all of the remixes that entered this month's contest but this re-imagining of the song was the first one to grab me.

Undesirable managed to keep the spirit of the original song while creating something completely different. This remix accomplishes the difficult task of being both robotic and emotional at the same time. I love how he constructed a new melody from the samples of my vocal, and how he created the glitching and stuttering droid-like effects that inhabit his arrangement. It is a stellar piece of work.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do,

John

Special Thanks to MC Jack in the Box for picking "Rachel Rosen" for this month's remix fight.

Related Posts:

1. Sci-Fi Song #6: "Rachel Rosen": This is my original recording of the song
2. "Rachel Rosen" radiotimes remix
3. "Android Girlfriend": A great mash-up using "Rachel Rosen" and a few other songs.
   

Remix #1: Rachel Rosen

Rachel Rosen (radiotimes remix).mp3

I love to hear a different interpretation of a familiar tune. In the past, the only way to do this was to "cover" the song. When I perform in coffee shops, I usually play a bunch of cover tunes. I perform in a somewhat laid back, folk, finger picking guitar style. Any song that I choose to play at a show comes out sounding like that. If you ever clicked on my last.fm page, you've probably noticed that my taste in music is quite eclectic. My shows have consisted of folk versions of songs by the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and James Taylor to Led Zeppelin, Rush, and Whitesnake (I'm not kidding, "Limelight" and "Here I Go Again" make excellent folk songs). Here are a few links to some great cover song blogs:

1. Coverville
2. Cover Lay Down
3. Fong Songs

Another, more modern way to interpret a song is through a remix. A remix is when a musician takes the actual recording of a song (usually the individual tracks; vocal, guitar, drums, etc.), and mixes it up with other original material. Sometimes remixes can be as simple as substituting a new electronic drum part for the original beat, other times it can be a completely different interpretation, where the remix artist creates a whole new track underneath the vocals.

There is a wonderful music community website called ccmixter.org. cc stands for Creative Commons. All of my songs are released under a Creative Commons license. Basically, this means that my songs are free and can be freely posted on blogs and podcasts or used as a soundtrack to some one's video or remixed.

ccMixter is a site where musicians can post the separate tracks of their songs for other musicians to remix in any way that they would like. radiotimes is the moniker of a very active remix artist at ccMixter. He did an excellent remix of my song "Rachel Rosen", which is the song that you can download at the top of the post. He took my guitar part and vocals and added a completely different drum beat and bass line. He also added all sorts ofsynths, sound effects, and reversed cymbals. I love it. Check out some of his other remixes at his ccMixter home page here.

Here is my original version of "Rachel Rosen"

If you or anyone that you know enjoys remixing other people's music, head over to my ccMixter page here. This is where you can download the individual vocal, guitar, and drum tracks to some of my songs. Check it out, and feel free to do something creative with them.

Hope you enjoy it,

John

Summer Glau: "The Remix: Part 3"

Summer Glau - triple mash (ft. John Anealio, Nurykabe, DoKashiteru).mp3

Here is a really cool remix of my song "Summer Glau" This remix was created by teru , a great remix artist who posts his material over at ccMixter.

"Summer Glau" is my most remixed song. This is one of the most creative and musical versions of the tune. teru really has a great ear for combining various sources into a interesting and cohesive whole. Check out a mash-up that he created using my song "Rachel Rosen ". This Mash-up/remix also uses tracks from Nurykabe and DoKashiteru.

Check out more of teru's music here.

Related Posts:

Summer Glau (original version)
"Feel Fine" (a different Summer Glau Remix)

Summer Glau (In the Hear of Autumn Remix)

Hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio

Remix: "Summer Glau"

Summer Glau (ft. John Anealio).mp3

Here is a really cool remix of my song "Summer Glau" This remix was created by a great ccmixter artist that goes by the name of weathercock. "Summer Glau" is my most remixed song. If you listen closely to this remix, you'll notice that weathercock used most of my original sound sources (vocals, guitar, bass). He added a completely different drumbeat and creatively applied different audio effects like delay and reverb. So even though most of the sound sources are the same as the original, this remix sounds very different (and awesome!).

Related Posts:

Summer Glau (original version)
"Feel Fine" (a different Summer Glau Remix)

Summer Glau (In the Hear of Autumn Remix)

Hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio

If you have any ideas for the blog contact me at 27summers@gmail.com or via Facebook or Twitter .

Remix: Leodora; inspired by Lord Tophet

subliminal_-_Jax_(Leodora_remix).mp3

Here is a great remix of my song Leodora entitled "Jax (Leodora remix)". This remix was created by Subliminal, a great remix artist who posts his material over at ccMixter. I'm really blown away by how good and different this remix sounds. Subliminal really outdid himself. He took the backwards guitars, that were initially a small part of my original mix, and really put them front and center.

Check out more of Subliminal's music here.

Related Posts:
Leodora (original version)
Summer Glau (In the Heart of Autumn), another great Subliminal Remix


Hope you enjoy it,
John

Free Music! The Angry Robot Remix Album

You can download the entire Angry Robot Remix Album for absolutely free! Just click the Download button on the player above.

If you are viewing this post in a feed reader, click here for the free download:

Angry Robot Remix Album.

The album features great remixes by:

1. Dale Chase
2. Denis Cherryman
3. David Ritter
4. Mike Crooker
5. Chooch Schubert

My original version of the Angry Robot Song was co-written by Angry Robot Books Author, Matt Forbeck. These remixes are the creative result of a remix contest held by Angry Robot Books. The winners earned a spot in Matt Forbeck's upcoming novel.

If you like any of these remixes, please click the Share button on the player above to automatically share the music with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or your blog.

The fantastic artwork for this album was created by Patrick Hester.

I hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio
Twitter, Facebook, blah, blah, blah

80's Metal, Steampunk Superheroes & A Free Remix Album

I hope that you're having a great end to your summer.  Here's what's going on in my little corner of the world.

What I'm Reading, Listening to, and Watching: 

• Books: I just finished Andrew P. Mayer's The Falling Machine (Steampunk Superheroes!) and I just started Lev Grossman's The Magician King (Harry Potter for Grown-Ups).
• Music: I recently joined a gym and can't stop listening to 80's metal when I'm there: Dokken, Warrant, etc.  Non-gym music includes Bon Iver's new album and The Beach Boys.
• TV: I'm up to Season 10 of Stargate SG-1 on Netflix Streaming.    

What's Going On:

I rearranged my home so I can record more efficiently.  I've got a few unrecorded songs that I'm really excited about.  I hope to record and release Nerds Arguing About Spaceships & Steampunk Girl sometime this fall.

Free Remix Album!

Wired.com recently ran a contest to remix my GeekDad song.  The winners each won a $50. Gift Card from ThinkGeek.com.  I picked 5 great entries and put them on the GeekDad Remix Album, which you can download for absolutely free!  Click here for the free download: 

Free! The GeekDad Remix Album

This one is on me, but I'd love it if you'd help me spread the word about the album.  Here are a few things you can do to help.

1. Click the Share/Embed button on the album page to automatically share the music with your friends on Facebook, Twitter & your blog.
2. Click the Facebook Like button or the Tweet button on the album page.
3. Forward this e-mail to a friend that you think might enjoy the music.  

Thanks for all of your help.  I hope you enjoy the remix album and I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer. 

Thanks again,

John Anealio

Friend me up on Google+, Twitter & Facebook

Free Music! The GeekDad Remix Album

You can download the entire GeekDad Remix Album for absolutely free! Just click the Download button on the player above.

If you are viewing this post in a feed reader, click her for the free download:

GeekDad Remix Album

The album features great remixes by:

1. Mike Crooker
2. Casey Shultz
3. Haruhiko
4. David Ritter
5. R. A. Blum

My original version of the GeekDad song was co-written with Z. of Hipster Please. These remixes are the creative result of a remix contest held by Wired.com's GeekDad blog. The winners each received a $50. gift certificate from ThinkGeek.com

If you like any of these remixes, please click the Share button on the player above to automatically share the music with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or your blog.

The fantastic cover art is by Patrick Hester.

I hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio
Twitter, Facebook, Google+

Remix: Page 123

page 123 (ft. John Anealio).mp3

Here is a great remix of Page 123 (a song of mine based on the Page 123 meme from a year ago). This remix was created by Kristian Vuljar Docster, a great remix artist who posts his material over at ccMixter.

I've been posting the tracks to my songs at ccMixter since I started Sci-Fi Songs. Interpretations like this point to the power of the Creative Commons. My music has been enriched by the wonderful work of remix artists like Kristian, Teru, Subliminal, and radiotimes. If you'd like to hear more remixes or if you'd like to take a shot at creating a remix yourself, you can download the individual vocal, guitar, bass, drum, and keyboard tracks to some of my songs at my ccMixter page here.

If you are a Mac user, you already have Garage Band on your computer. You can dowload the mp3's from my ccMixter page and import them into separate tracks in Garage Band. You can adjust levels, apply effects and add some of Garage Band's included loops to create completely different versions of the songs. Have fun! If you make something cool, I'll post it here on Sci-Fi Songs. Contact me here at 27summers@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio

If you have any ideas for the blog contact me at 27summers@gmail.com or via Facebook or Twitter .

http://twitter.com/JohnAnealio

http://www.facebook.com/john.anealio

Related Posts

1. Page 123 (orignial version of the song)
2. San Luis Obispo (a good song for the summer)

Remix #3: Summer Glau

Feel Fine (ft. John Anealio and Bex).mp3

Here is a great remix of "Summer Glau" entitled "Feel Fine". This remix was created by Charlie Bit Me, a 24 year old German remix artist who posts his material over at ccMixter. This is a really polished and professional sounding dance remix that takes the song into a completely different direction. Charlie Bit Me composed an entirely new bed of music and manipulated my vocal in a really interesting and musical way. I love it.

Check out more of Charlie Bit Me's music here.

Related Posts:

Summer Glau (original version)
Rachel Rosen Remixes

Hope you enjoy it,
John

Remix: Cylon #6

cylon6 (remix ft. John Anealio).mp3

John DeNardo of SF Signal e-mailed me this week to let me know that actress Tricia Helfer discovered that I wrote a song about her character from Battlestar Galactica. Here is a link to her blog post mentioning the song. Pretty cool, huh? If you haven't already heard the song, click here to download the MP3 of "Cylon #6" for free.

To celebrate this event, I'm posting a brand new remix of the song created by remix artist airtone. This is an ambient and spacey interpretation of the song, very different than the original. I hope you dig it.

If you'd like to hear more remixes or if you'd like to take a shot at creating a remix yourself, you can download the individual vocal, guitar, bass, drum, and keyboard tracks to some of my songs at my ccMixter page here.

Hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio

If you have any ideas for the blog contact me at 27summers@gmail.com or via Facebook or Twitter .

http://twitter.com/JohnAnealio

http://www.facebook.com/john.anealio

Related Posts

1. Sci-Fi Song #18: Cylon #6 (This is my original version of the song)
2. Remixes

Listen! "Steve Jobs Hates Flash" (Electronic Remix)

This electronic remix of Steve Jobs Hates Flash will be included as a bonus track on my new album, which is coming out on September 18th.  You can listen to it now by clicking the Play button on the player above or by clicking here: Steve Jobs Hates Flash (Electronic Remix)

Oh, and to celebrate the upcoming release of my new album, you can download my last full length album for absolutely free!  You can get the Sci-Fi Songs album for free by clicking here:

Sci-Fi Songs Album

If you like the new remix or the Sci-Fi Songs Album, please share them with your friends by clicking the Facebook Like button or the Tweet button on their respective pages.  It helps a ton.

Hope you enjoy 'em,
John Anealio

Download the "Summer Glau" Remix Album... For Free!

You can download the 5 song Summer Glau Remix Album for free!  Just click the Download button on the player above. 

If you're viewing this post in a feed reader, click here for the free download:

The Summer Glau Remix Album

If you enjoy the album, please share it with your friends by clicking the Facebook Like button or the Tweet button on the album page.  If you really like the album and you're really fancy, click the Share/Embed button on the album page to get the code to share the album on your blog, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, FB or Twitter.  

 

I hope you enjoy it,

John Anealio

One last thing, the lyrics to this tune were written by SFsignal head honcho John DeNardo!

Remix: Summer Glau (In The Heart of Autumn)

Summer Glau (In The Heart Of Autumn).mp3

Here is a great remix of my song "Summer Glau" entitled "Summer Glau (In The Heart of Autumn)".

This remix was created by Subliminal, a great remix artist who posts his material over at ccMixter. The backing track that Subliminal created reminds me of composer Bear McCreary's excellent work on the recent Battlestar Galactica series. Subliminal combined the ethereal background vocals from Trifonic’s "Sooner Or Later" and the Industrial Drum Kit from PorchCat with a middle-eastern sounding woodwind instrument to create a wonderful piece of music.

Check out more of Subliminal's music here.

Related Posts:
Summer Glau (original version)
"Feel Fine" (a different Summer Glau Remix)

Hope you enjoy it,
John

Download The "Laser Zombie Robot Love" Album... Today!

The day is finally here!  You can now download the Laser Zombie Robot Love album for only $5.*  Just click the Buy button on the player above or click here for the album download:

The "Laser Zombie Robot Love" Album

The album features 11 tunes, plus 9 bonus electronic remixes and acoustic versions of the songs.  20 tracks in all.  Just $5. 

Here's the track list:

1. Steampunk Girl
2. George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch
3. NaNoWriMo
4. GeekDad
5. Undead Love Song
6. Pr0nbot
7. Blue Lego (Steve Jobs Hates Flash)
8. I Should Be Writing
9. Angry Robot
10. A Stormtrooper For Halloween
11. Batman Smells (A Rebuttal)
12. George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch (Remix)
13. NaNoWriMo (Dance Remix)
14. Steampunk Girl (Bossa Nova Remix)
15. Steve Jobs Hates Flash (Electronic Remix)
16. Angry Robot (Acoustic)
17. Pr0nbot (Acoustic)
18. I Should Be Writing (Acoustic)
19. Undead Love Song (Acoustic)
20. A Stormtrooper For Halloween (Acoustic)

Hope you enjoy it. 
John Anealio

*The album is actually name your price: $5. or more.  So, if you are one of those super generous types, you can elect to pay more for it. 

Remix: Sarene (inspired by Elantris)

Sarena (Synonyms Mix).mp3

Here's a cool remix of my song "Sarene ". The lyrics of "Sarene " are based on Elantris, a great novel by Brandon Sanderson. This remix was created by Briareus , a remixer who posts his material over at ccMixter .

This remix is quite interesting. Briareus pitch shifted my vocals into oblivion, the melody is completely different than the original. The backing track is moody and very musical.

Check out more of Briareus' music here .

Check out my original version of "Sarene" here .

Hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio

Remix #2: Android Girlfriend

Remix #2: Android Girlfriend

Android Girlfriend is not really a remix. It could be considered a mash-up of sorts, but by combining elements from four different musical sources, remix master Teru has created a completely new piece of music that stands on its own merits.

The song begins with a sample of windshield wipers rhythmically swishing across the glass. Teru then chopped a two measure sample of the acoustic guitar part from "Rachel Rosen" and digitally slowed it down to match the tempo of the windshield wipers. He then layers in some snare drum roll samples and a snippet of my electric guitar slide to complete the groove.

What I find most interesting about this piece is that Teru took the "She's just an android. She's not alive" counter vocal from Rachel Rosen , and used it as the hook/chorus of his piece. This type of re-purposing of musical material is what makes releasing one's music under a Creative Commons license so rewarding. That counter vocal is such a small part of my original piece. It only appears at the very end of the song. Teru made into something completely different.

The verses of Android Girlfriend are comprised of a spoken word bit. They tell the story of wanting to live on the moon with your robot girlfriend. It's really funny. When you hear these verses followed by my vocal melody, it almost seems like these two parts were composed by the same person. It is a perfect fit.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Check out more of Teru's music here.

Want to do a little remixing/mashing up yourself? Check out my ccMixter page here for the individual vocal and guitar tracks of Rachel Rosen and a few of my other songs.

John

New Album Due September 18th!

I've got a new album coming out on September 18th!  I'm excited to finally collect some of my favorite, previously released singles into one package.  Here's the track list:

1. Steampunk Girl
2. George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch
3. NaNoWriMo
4. GeekDad
5. Undead Love Song
6. Pr0nbot
7. Blue Lego (Steve Jobs Hates Flash)
8. I Should Be Writing
9. Angry Robot
10. A Stormtrooper For Halloween
11. Batman Smells (A Rebuttal)

Because some of these songs have been around for a while, buying this album would be kind of a gyp for the folks who already know these tunes.  That's why I decided to add 9 bonus tracks!  I'm putting together some brand new electronic remixes and acoustic versions of these tunes to make it worth your while.  Here are the bonus tracks:

1. George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch (Electronic Remix)
2. NaNoWriMo (Dance Remix)
3. Blue Lego (Electronic Remix)
4. Steampunk Girl (Bossa Nova Remix)
5. Pr0nbot (Acoustic)
6. Angry Robot (Acoustic)
7. Undead Love Song (Acoustic)
8. Stormtrooper For Halloween (Acoustic)
9. I Should Be Writing (Acoustic)

That's 20 tracks in all!  

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting sneak peaks of the bonus material, offering free downloads of one of my previous releases and having a "name the album" contest.  Subscribe to the blog or join my mailing list (located in the sidebar to the right) so you don't miss any of the fun. 
 
  

Brandon Sanderson and more!

Back in August, I posted a song (Sci-Fi Song #5 ) that was based on Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. On a suggestion from Kristen at The Fantasy Cafe blog, I e-mailed Brandon to let him know about it. Just this week and to my surprise, Brandon replied to me, told me that he enjoyed the song, and linked to it from his blog. I suddenly realized how beloved Brandon is to his many readers as my song "Sarene" was downloaded over 700 times in the past two days! Thanks Brandon.

If you are new to the blog, welcome, and thanks for stopping by. If you are a fan of Mr. Sanderson and you enjoyed "Sarene", I hope that you will find a few other songs here that you might like. I release everything under a Creative Commons License, so please download any song that you like for free and share it with your friends.

My name is John Anealio. I am a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who writes and records songs based on science fiction and fantasy novels, TV shows, and movies. My goal is to post a new original song every other week. I have kept this pace since this past July and I currently have 10 original Sci-Fi Songs which you can download for free right now. On the alternating weeks, I usually post a remix of one of my songs by one of the excellent remix artists over at ccMixter or I do a links or roundup post (like this one). I've been meaning to do a roundup post for a while, so this seems like a good time to do one.

Here are a few highlights from the first four months of Sci-Fi Songs:

• "Sarene":the aforementioned song that was inspired by Brandon Sanderson's Elantris.
• "Rachel Rosen": based on the classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick.
  • "Android Girlfriend": a super creative mash-up of "Rachel Rosen" and a few other musical sources done by Teru.
  • "Rachel Rosen (radiotimes remix)": a great remix by radiotimes.
• Solo Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals
• "The Return of Titus Quinn": inspired by Kay Kenyon's Bright of the Sky. Scroll down and check out the comments to read some of the nice things that Kay Kenyon herself had to say about the piece.
  
• "Merithyn's Promise": based on Requiem for the Sun by Elizabeth Haydon
• "Summer Glau": inspired by Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity
• Vampire Duology:
• "Beautiful Vampire"
• "Angels and Vampires"

Thanks for stopping by. If you like what you are hearing please subscribe to the RSS feed. I'll be delivering new songs and remixes just about every week.

Hope you enjoy the music,

John Anealio

George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch... Remixed!

This remix of George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch will be included as a bonus track on my new album, which is coming out on September 18th.  You can stream it now by clicking the Play button on the player above or by clicking here: George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch (Remix)

Oh, and to celebrate the release of my new album, you can download my last full length album for absolutely free!  You can get the Sci-Fi Songs album for free by clicking here:

Sci-Fi Songs Album 

If you like the new remix or the Sci-Fi Songs Album, please share them by clicking the Facebook Like Button or the Tweet Button on their respective pages.  It helps a ton.

Hope you enjoy 'em,

John Anealio