Casey Stratton Audio Podcasts

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

#46 - Sports, Bingo and Double Albums

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss the Winter Olympics which leads to a wider discussion on sports in general. I then discuss my recent obsession with Bingo. I then discuss independent music before talking more about the plans and process for my next record. Two live performances follow, the first being Fortress from The Darkest World EP, the second being Dante's Prayer from Loreena McKennitt's The Book of Secrets. Music recommendation is the aforementioned The Book of Secrets by Loreena McKennitt.

McKennitt's recordings always have the quality of a spiritual sojourn; her songs are those of a seeker, whether she's setting Yeats, Scripture, or her own words to her compositions. It's this that attracts people to her music, and The Book of Secrets is no exception... - Genevieve Williams for Amazon.com

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Wednesday, February 03, 2010

#45 - Grammys, Commercialism and Artistry

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Audio Podcast I discuss last week's State of the Union address in the U.S. and then talk a little about the Grammys. This digresses into a conversation about commercialism vs. artistry. I then go on to talk about my new release, Artifacts: Memories and Photographs B-Sides Volume Two before playing Beyond the Pale, from that release, on the guitar. Music recommendation is Beth Nielsen Chapman's Sand and Water.

One of America's finest undiscovered singer-songwriters, Chapman lost her husband to cancer in 1995, and this emotionally rich collection details her process of loss, reconciliation, and healing. Jim Ed Norman's strong production ranges from piano-based ballads ("The Color of Roses," "No One Knows But You") to exuberant rootsy pop (lead single "Happy Girl," "All the Time in the World"). This is music with a tender grasp on the big picture. --Jeff Bateman

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

#44 - Rescues, Reality and a Ridiculous Feline

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss current events including the recent earthquake in Haiti. I then answer 2 of your questions. The first is about how I came to co-habitate with my 4 cats. The second is about audio production and engineering. I then talk a little bit more about the new album I am working on. Live performance of A Promise Made follows. Music recommendation is Sleepthief's The Dawnseeker.

The expansive sound of The Dawnseeker is the product of two years of production and countless hours of lost sleep--and the end result is a compelling album that beckons to be heard. Engineered and co-produced by Israel Curtis, The Dawnseeker is sure to garner attention of fans of angelic vocals, sublime electronica and celestial soundscapes alike.

The music is rich and varied, ranging from the drum and bass pulse of "The Chauffeur," an amazing cover of the Duran Duran classic hit, to the Celtic-influenced melancholy of "Eurydice;" from the sweeping sorry of "Sublunar (Sweet Angel)" to the middle-eastern energy of "Desire of Ages." What is certain is that Sleepthief has composed a moving and powerful debut album that showcases the mystery and beauty of the female voice. - Musical Discoveries

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Wednesday, January 06, 2010

#43 - Video, Covers and Sad Creators

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I have some growing pains getting used to filming video while recording the audio. Both versions are now available. This is still your spot for the audio podcast but you can find the video podcast, as well as YouTube clips of the live performance(s), at caseystrattonvideo.blogspot.com. I talk some current events including the recent attempted terrorist attack in the US and the situation in Uganda before taking some questions. Questions include how I choose covers, whether sadness makes for better music creation and the story behind Dear Sylvia. I then go on to talk a little about the new record I'm writing before performing Dear Sylvia live. Music recommendation is Patty Griffin's Children Running Through.

On her fifth studio CD, folk-rocker Patty Griffin employs three timeless themes--childhood, flight, and death--to craft her most musically diverse and accessible album yet. But while moving through jazz, beatnik, classic and modern folk, gospel R&B, Americana, and moody piano ballad, Griffin keeps her backing quiet and spare, all the more to showcase the power of her deft storytelling and the bell clarity of her unadorned soprano. On song after song, the characters who waft through her experience are on the move, chasing one thing and fleeing another--on trains, ships, buses, in cars, even on the aerialist's bar--ultimately trading an ending of one kind for a new beginning and transference. - amazon.com

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

#42 - Christmas, Holidays and Music

In this special Christmas episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I perform many holiday songs. The first is O Holy Night, followed by What Is This Lovely Fragrance?, Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle, Joy to the World and It Came Upon The Midnight Clear. To close out I play a recording of me singing Jolly Old St. Nicholas in 1981 at the age of 5. Music recommendation is Tori Amos' Midwinter Graces.

Tori gets her own chance to reimagine classics like "What Child, Nowell" and "Star of Wonder." Tori will also add her own bittersweet bliss to the season with original tracks like "Pink and Glitter" and "Our New Year."

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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

#41 - Shows, Snows and The Holy Ghost

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss current events, take some of your questions and then talk about why I'm OK singing Christian songs on my holiday albums even though I am an agnostic. I go on to perform two requested songs: What If? from Memories and Photographs and a cover of Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones. Music recommendation this time is Kate Havnevik's Melankton.

Kate's debut album is title "Melankton". Melankton means "Black Rose" which describes Kate's idea of the album's sound-scape and production perfectly: dark, yet beautiful.

The 12 songs on the album range from symphonic pop extravaganza to the most intimate of melodies. A truly beautiful body of work, Melankton is heady, intoxicating and evocative with its mix of wistful lyrics, mellifluous orchestration and cinematic electronica.

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Friday, December 04, 2009

#40 - Snow, Rain and Cracked Out Ceilings

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss current events, including President Barack Obama's recent announcement about the war in Afghanistan. I then take a question about social networking in the modern era before discussing the reason why the podcast is 2 days late. Wendy makes TONS of appearances, some amusing and some obnoxious. I talk briefly about the new holiday album, A Winter Moon before performing I Won't Let Go Just Yet, and original I wrote for it. I then close out the podcast with a 2001 recording I did of Loreena McKennitt's Snow. Music recommendation is Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars.

"The Civil Wars craft ethereal, tenderly exquisite songs that are the aural equivalent of finely spun gossamer."

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

#39 - Rituals, Waltons and New York City

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss some current events before taking a question about how I prepare for a show and how I choose my set lists. I then talk about my recent trip to New York to perform at The Bitter End. I perform two songs you requested as well: the Whirlwind Medusa B-side Epitaph and DIVIDE's second disc B-Side Pray for Rain. Music recommendation is Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man (A Mass For Peace).

Jenkins has said that The Armed Man was inspired by the "L'Homme armé" masses that were popular in the 16th century, and he makes this debt clear with passages written in a neat pastiche of Palestrina-style renaissance polyphony. There are also echoes of earlier and later styles, including plainchant, medieval ballads, John Barry-style horn writing (think Goldfinger), and even a direct quote from Rigoletto (the choir imitates wind sounds at one point as in Act 3 of the Verdi opera). The smorgasbord manages to hold together, probably because Jenkins's obvious sincerity shines through every note. - Warwick Thompson

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

#38 - Marriage, New York and Shaking My Keys

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss yesterday's election results from Maine and Kalamazoo, MI and give some opinions on the marriage debate. I then discuss my upcoming show and my thoughts on playing the older songs versus the newer ones, hopefully without offending anyone (Really!). I then play the 2003 recording of the Kate Bush song This Woman's Work that I recorded on the Bosendorfer piano during the Standing at the Edge sessions. After that, I discuss and perform You're still Waving, the Standing at the Edge B-side written in New York in 2002. Music recommendation is Bat For Lashes: Two Suns.

One of the most dynamic and intriguing performers out of the UK, Bat For Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) returns with her dazzling second album, produced by David Kosten (Faultline), featuring guest spots by Yeasayer and Scott Walker. Bat For Lashes' previous album Fur & Gold was nominated for Mercury & Brit Prizes in the UK and a Plug Award in the US, and has received accolades from Thom Yorke, Bjork, Spin Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The NY Times, GQ, Nylon and Blender. - Amazon.com

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

#37 - Tattoos, Tracks and Touring

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I take many of your questions, including discussing my 5 tattoos, the remastering process and more about what it takes to do my live performances. I then play There Lies the Answer from The Crossing and Whirlwind Medusa from the album of the same name (on the harpsichord!), both by request. Music recommendation is Greg Laswell's Covers EP.

Los Angeles based producer and songwriter Greg Laswell covers Echo & The Bunnymen, Morphine, Mazzy Star, Kate Bush and Kristin Hersh on his upcoming Covers EP, out October 6 on Vanguard Records. Listen to Greg Laswell’s cover of Kristin Hersh’s “Your Ghost.”

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Wednesday, October 07, 2009

#36 - Reunions, A Lake and Sky

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I answer a question from a listener before discussing my 15 year Interlochen Arts Academy Reunion that I attended this past weekend. I then go on to perform The Lake from Whirlwind Medusa and You Never Touched the Sky, a B-side from Lily Sleeps. Music recommendation this time is the B-side collection to Memories and Photographs, releasing today!

More Memories and Photographs: The B-sides

1. Nevermind
2. Damaged
3. Hindsight
4. Notebook
5. A Difficult World
6. Evidence
7. For Just Tonight
8. Starry Night
9. Only My Darkness
10. Coastline
11. Crie Pour Toi (French Version of Done For)

Listen to Podcast #36

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

#35 - Lies, Dancing and Managers

In this edition of the Casey Stratton Podcast I talk about the recent TV opportunities I have been offered that may or may not pan out. I also talk a little more about Memories and Photographs before performing Time Will Melt Us Away from that release. I then perform a cover of Cloudbusting by Kate Bush. Music recommendation is Rosie Thomas' If Songs Could Be Held.

On her third Sub Pop full-length, this Seattle songwriter/vocalist approaches the sometimes difficult but universal topics of introspection, identity, and love with bravery, honesty, and above all, stunning beauty. "If Songs..." marks the first time she's collaborated with musicians outside her circle of family and friends, this time working with Liz Phair guitarist Dino Meneghin, accomplished film soundtrack string arranger Josh Myers, and a duet with Ed Harcourt on the classic "Let It Be Me". - Amazon

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Wednesday, September 09, 2009

#34 - Beaches, Business and Bushes

In this installment of the Casey Stratton Podcast I answer a question about Driving to the Moon as well as touching on the subject of getting your music out there (for the aspiring recording artists who have been asking). I then talk a little more about Memories and Photographs before performing Sea Change and Shut You Down from that record. Music recommendation is Kate Bush's Hounds of Love.

The album was self-produced and primarily recorded on her Fairlight keyboard. Bush weaves intricate tapestries of sound and imagery with songs that span the range of all emotion, from the most intimate to the most frightening. - Amazon.com

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

#33 - Memories, Photographs and Characters

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I talk about the new album, Memories and Photographs a bit. I also discuss social networking and its impact on music, artists and fans. I perform I Fail Again from the new record before performing a cover of Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me. Music recommendation is Imogen Heap's Ellipse.

Imogen Heap--singer/songwriter/producer and two-time Grammy nominee--is back with her much anticipated new solo album, Ellipse. Beginning in Hawaii and working her way through Fiji, Imogen Heap has poured her heart and soul into writing her next masterpiece. Ellipse was recorded in her new studio, which she built in her old family home in Essex, U.K., and features the lead track "First Train Home."

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

#32 - Choices, Lazy Days and Rainy Days

In this installment of the Casey Stratton Podcast I update everyone on the documentary, as you asked for. I then answer a few questions about the songs I chose for the Best Of collections and about whether or not I force myself to work when I don't feel like it. I play an improvised recording from the Standing at the Edge sessions called Rainy Day before performing a B-side from Memories and Photographs (as was suggested by Steven! I was confused for a minute in the podcast) called Starry Night which was also an improv originally. Music recommendation this time is City and Colour's Sometimes.

Dallas Green, for those that may not know was in the Pop-Emo/Screamo Hardcore band called Alexisonfire, which has disbanded. (so I've heard) So he picked up his Acoustic Guitar... pieced it together with some well written poetry and made one of the finest super-mellow albums I've heard in awhile. Naming his solo work after himself, CITY (`Dallas') And COLOUR (`Green') Whish is actually quite witty. - Amazon User Review

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

#31 - Youth, Tweeting, and Stalking

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss more of my childhood musical path. I left Twitter open during the show and responded to some of your tweets. I then performed two songs I wrote when I was 16 including the first song of my own I ever played live. That song is called It's About Time and the other performance was a song called Paintings. Music recommendation this time is Paula Cole's This Fire.

Cole's self-produced 1996 breakthrough, finds her investing her songs with outsized emotions, framed by consistently inventive arrangements built around Cole's keyboards, and reaching a zeitgeist-piercing intensity on "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" and "I Don't Want to Wait," making Cole seem very much like Fiona Apple's older, slightly less cracked sister. --Sam Sutherland

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

#30 - Politics, Religion and Sex

Have I allured you with that title? In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss some current events before talking a bit about officiating my sister's wedding next week. I take 2 questions including a suggestion that I build a track live so you can hear the process a bit. I bring in a drum loop and quickly write a piano line and then build on it, just like I would in the recording process. After that I play the piano and vocal version of Man in the Mirror, also by request. Music recommendation is Imogen Heap's Speak For Yourself.

Imogen Heap is an enormously gifted singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist, and programmer. She does it all here on her second solo CD which showcases her remarkable talents. The stunning track 'Hide and Seek' offers the electronic equivalent of a cappella, with only Imogen's expressive voice heard via vocoder -- an early favorite that shot right to #1 on iTunes Electronic Chart in June 2005. The song was also featured on the season finale of THE O.C., and earlier in the season, THE O.C. previewed another track from this album called 'Goodnight and Go', a bittersweet ballad about the secret admiring of a neighbor. Comparison's have been made to Bjork, Alanis Morrisette, Joni Mitchell and Annie Lennox, among others, but no one can hold a candle to Imogen Heap. - Amazon.com

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Wednesday, July 01, 2009

#29 - Celebrity, Vampires and Self-image

In this edition of the Casey Stratton Podcast I discuss the death of Michael Jackson, the situation in Iran and the current state of affairs in Iraq. I then answer two questions, one about the book series and movie Twilight and one about the song Daylight from Whirlwind Medusa which I subsequently perform. Music recommendation is Jane Siberry's When I Was A Boy, from which I perform Love is Everything.

Nothing Siberry has done in the past quite prepares the listener for this album's prevalent mood of spooky obsession, bewilderment and resignation, and deathbed reflections. Though there's occasionally a rumble in the reverie ("All the Candles in the World," for instance, is positively funky), the overall ambience is prayerful, abetted by a production that often creates a cathedral of silence between the low tones (husky viola or cello filigrees) and the spare front line (an acoustic piano or guitar). Though songs like "Temple" (co-produced by Siberry and Brian Eno) and "Candles" are immediately likable, long free-floating meditations like "Sweet Incarnadine" and "The Vigil (The Sea)" are the album's centerpieces, gradually unfolding songs about love and dying. - Rolling Stone

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

#28 - Protests, Pictures and Patterns

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I talk extensively about the protests in Iran, followed by taking a question regarding photos and album artwork. I then talk a little about the psychological process of creating an album as you gear up to the release and the moments when you hate it and think it is the worst record yet. I then perform Window by request. Music recommendation is Christopher Dallman's Race the Light.

“Christopher Dallman’s debut CD is an entertainingly literary pilgrimage into the inner sanctum of the songwriter’s psyche. If good songwriting confronts listeners with truth about themselves, their emotions, and their world from a fresh point of view, then the songs on Race The Light represent songwriting at its best.”

-Ken Mowery, Indie-Music.com

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Thursday, June 04, 2009

#27 - Retrospectives, Remixes and Psychopaths

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I answer 2 questions from listeners, one about doing a retrospective collection. I then talk a little about the new remix collection I am working on before delving into the recording of The Crossing and the events that took place during that time. Included in the discussion is the movie-like drama that happened in early 2006. I then perform Coat Tails Dragging from Lily Sleeps and possibly the most unlikely cover I have ever done, Poker Face by Lady Gaga. Music recommendation is Brandon Carmody and Emptyland (featuring Me on vocals) - Lonely Dream Single.

Listen to Podcast #27