Podcast 17 Interview with Jonathan Lewis
Podcast 17, a weekly audio show discussing mods and news from the Valve/Half-Life sphere just posted my recent interview discussing my latest album release, Combine Road. The interview starts around 71 minutes into the podcast and goes through the end of the show. Also included in this week’s Podcast 17 episode release is an exclusive copy of “Headcrab” as performed by Phillip Marlowe from PlanetPhillip. It’s definitely worth a listen. Thanks again to William McMahon, Glenn Lawrence and Patrick (aka. foxholeboy) for having me on the show.
New Album Release! Combine Road by Jonathan Lewis and Phillip Marlowe
I’m very excited to announce the release of Combine Road, a 5-track parody album using Half-Life and all its incredible details as inspiration. Think Abbey Road by the Beatles with a genocidal alien 1984 Orwellian twist. Combine Road focuses on Valve’s mega blockbuster video game series Half Life and features parody songs from pop hits such as “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor and “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World.
Phillip Marlowe, a wonderfully-humored celebrity within the Half-Life community, owner and operator of PlanetPhillip and my partner on this project first thought of the concept as a Christmas album using classic Christmas carols, but after I jumped on board it was decided to branch out into varying musical styles and release a parody album this summer.
Phillip and I worked hard on writing the lyrics. I then spent several weeks recording the album in my studio. I want to say a very big “thank you” to the extremely talented Kyle Woods, who provided excellent vocals on 3 of the songs and really helped raise the bar for the project. If anyone is interested in hiring a superb and professional vocalist just shoot me an email and I will connect you with Kyle.
You can find interesting notes about the project, free song download links and lyrics on the album’s official website at www.CombineRoad.com. You can also listen to my live interview with Podcast 17, the popular Valve/Half Life themed podcast this Sunday around 1pm (edt).
If you’re a Half Life fan you may also be interested in other Valve themed song projects I’ve released including Left 4 Dead themed song Blow Like Hurricane at www.Lonley-Rider.org and Half Life themed song G-Man’s Last Breath on my music page.
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Combine Road by Jonathan Lewis and Phillip Marlowe
Episode 3 (Parody of The Middle by Jimmy Eat World – YouTube)
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Freeman (Parody of Russians by Sting – YouTube)
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Kinky Dr. Kliener (Parody of Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson – YouTube)
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My Combine Bride (Parody of I Will Survive by Gloria Gayner – YouTube)
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Headcrab (Parody of Hound Dog by Elvis – YouTube)
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Free Song Download: Blow Like Hurricane
Below you’ll find a free download for my latest song “Blow Like Hurricane.” The song was inspired by Left 4 Dead’s Midnight Riders and tells the story of Riggs Donner, the supposedly deceased member of the band. For more info check out the post below and go to Riggs’ website.
Blow Like Hurricane – Lonely Rider
Free Download (click to play, right click and “save as” to download)
Just got out of a recording sesh with Riggs Donner
a.k.a Lonely Rider. If you can get over the overwhelming smell of gunpowder and moonshine he’s a great guy. He didn’t have anything good to say about the Midnight Riders though. He sounds pretty bitter to be honest. I guess that makes sense considering the entire album we just recorded was devoted to bashing, or whining about them (don’t tell Riggs I said that).
Check out Riggs’ new album, Blow Like Hurricane, on his Lonely Rider website.
Song “I’ve Got A Belly” Finalist in the 2010 New Mexico Music Awards
The finalists were just announced for the 2010 New Mexico Music Awards. “I’ve Got A Belly,” the final track on my most recent EP Fell From Heaven, is listed as a finalist in the Novelty category. Winners will be announced at the award ceremony on Sunday, May 23rd. Good luck to all of the finalists!
New Song: “Overgrowth” for Wolfire Games
Update: Free song download below.
The awesome (and sometimes pink-bearded) folks over at Wolfire Games just posted my latest song and guest blog post written for their upcoming title Overgrowth. In short, Overgrowth is Wolfire’s highly anticipated upcoming third person action game being developed for the PC and Mac. It features hardcore ninja animal action and looks like it’s going to be amazing.
The song is a humorous take on a serious game, featuring lyrics about each of the main animal characters layered against a rock backdrop. There are some inside jokes here, so if you’re confused about things like the Whale Man you might want to check out this video for some background.
Working with the folks at Wolfire games was a blast. Their sense of humor made it easy to put together an over-the-top rock Overgrowth tribute. I’m probably most proud of the bass/guitar riff which opens the song and continues throughout. I had it stuck in my head for days when I first started work on the song. It just seemed to fit the Bruce Lee-80′s-rock feel we were going for.
If you’re a developer and are interested in pursuing humorous music for your title, just shoot me an email at jonathanlewismail (AT) gmail.com to discuss.
Overgrowth
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Free Download (If you’re using Firefox just right click on the link and select “Save Link As.” Enjoy.)
Fun New Link: CODEORGAN Turns a Website into Music
The CODEORGAN is a website/tool that analyzes the “body” content of any web page and translates that content into music. It’s actually really cool. You just type in a URL and the CODEORGAN uses a complex algorithm to define the key, synth style and drum pattern most appropriate for the page. If you’re interested in more detail on the math just check out CODEORGAN’s about section here.
CODEORGAN is a simple, elegant and fun experiment using music and math. Go give it a try. It’s worth checking out.
Thanks to Neiko for the heads up on the website and link.
Human Error Game Mod Round Up and Free Song Download
Au-heppa’s new Half Life 2: Episode 2 video game mod titled Human Error released last week. The game featured “This is Larson”, my most recent song, in the end game credits and a promotional YouTube video. If you haven’t downloaded the game yet, head straight over to Human Error’s website or Planet Phillip to get it right away.
So far, the game has received thousands of downloads and a lot of press. I’ve included some interesting links below. And due to several requests, I’ve also included a free download of “This is Larson”.
“This is Larson” featured on:
www.planethalflife.com
www.halflife2.net
www.moddb.com
www.gamer.ru
“This is Larson” – Free Download
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Enjoy!
New Song and Music Video: This Is Larson
The anticipated new Half Life video game mod, Human Error, will release this week to the world, and along with it, a new song and video titled “This Is Larson“. I’ve been working closely with Au-heppa, the lead game developer, and Phillip Marlowe, the in-game voice talent to record the song. After discussing the vision of the game and song with Heppa, I knew I couldn’t resist the chance to explore the dark side of Half Life and write a song from the point-of-view of the Civil Protection, the human police force that the Half Life aliens use to help subjugate humanity.
Most of you will remember the last Half Life themed song I wrote titled G-Man’s Last Breath. If you haven’t heard it yet you can listen to it on iTunes or the Music Page. Many thanks go to Au-heppa for the opportunity to work on such an interesting project. And to Phillip for always being a pleasure to work with. Be sure to download the game and take it for a spin as soon as it is released. You can find out more information about the game at moddb.com.
So, what do you think?
For all you cool people with an iPhone like me
Download the #adbowl iPhone app to vote on the best super bowl ads during the game. If you’re not quite as cool as me than you can go to www.adbowl.com and vote too.
Hey there…
My name's Jonathan Lewis and I write and record music. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's really funny. Please email me for all music collaboration inquiries.
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