Favorite Studio Recordings?

MJ Sykes

I prefer JoCo's live performances of many songs (especially with P&S) to his studio recordings, though I admit my exposure to his studio work is more limited. Studio recordings that I like as much or more than the live versions include Code Monkey, Space Doggity, and When You Leave.

What are your favorite JoCo studio recordings?

Angelastic

A Laptop Like You and Womb with a View, but only because I've never seen them live. Also When You Go, I'd love to see that live a cappella with Paul and Storm.

kerrin

Also When You Go, I'd love to see that live a cappella with Paul and Storm

I'm sure he did on this years UK tour....Bristol was it?

Angelastic

I don't know, I only went to London this tour. If he did, that's awesome, unless nobody got a recording, in which case it's awful.

chicazul

@kerrin - Having watched the entire Bristol show via your videos, it definitely wasn't Bristol unless for some reason you didn't record that one. Which would be a shame--When You Go is one of my favourite songs, and I've been dying to see it performed a cappella!

A quick YouTube search comes up empty; might try looking harder when I do not have to leave for work.

Jmonkee

He's never done When You Go a cappella, unless I missed it. Which I doubt, since I'm pretty obsessive about this stuff.

mtgordon

Anyone have the source tracks handy? How many voices are there in "When You Go"? He routinely has three vocalists at his disposal (tenors, conveniently), occasionally four (an alto). If it's written for four voices, people should request an a cappella "When You Go" for west coast shows... well in advance.

Angelastic

I have the source tracks here on my iPod, there are five of them:

Bari Vox
Bass Vox
Lead Vox
T1 Vox
T2 Vox

I'll listen to them after the meeting I'm about to go to and see if two could be sung by one person or anything like that.

ETA: I only hear three voices when I imagine the song in my head (the one that sings the lyrics, the one that sings 'ba ba' and the one that goes 'mmmm'), but I wouldn't be surprised if my memory or ears missed something. In any case, my memory and ears would not notice anything amiss if it were performed live with just these three.

EATA: It turns out there's not one voice going 'ba ba' but three separate voices each going 'ba'. These source tracks would be great for a repetitive flash animation involving a flock of sheep.

chicazul

The Sibelius transcription available uses four voices, but I am not musically literate enough to know what to call each of them. (I am working on an instrumental cover version using this source, and it sounds reasonably like the original.)

I am certainly going to request this before the hoped-for Vancouver show.

mtgordon

I have no idea whether they're going to have a fourth (Molly) in Vancouver as they often do in Seattle. Getting another American performer across the border might not be trivial. Also, I'm not sure what her school schedule is like.

chicazul

I've already looked into it...American performers only need a work visa if they are playing a bar or club (which the venue is not), most universities are on reading break around then (I get two weeks because of Olympics, but it's the normal week off) and JoCo & Co will almost certainly be driving up from Seattle anyways. I have turned enough of my friends into Molly fans that I am going to make a serious campaign to get her up here.

...assuming they don't cancel the show. Again.

chicazul

To un-derail this thread, I like many of the studio recordings as much as the live versions, and many of my top-rated songs I have never heard live (e.g. Furry Old Lobster, Octopus, That Spells DNA.) I believe some of the up-tempo songs like Shop Vac and Code Monkey benefit from a fuller arrangement, but the live show has more energy to it; as a result I end up preferring different versions depending on my mood.

When I was first deciding to buy some Coulton music, a friend said the live stuff was much better and that I should get "Best. Concert. Ever." I understand his point that some of the studio recordings sound a little clinical or flat, but I do not regret for one moment my decision to invest in the complete studio collection as well. Although his acoustic arrangements always sound good, the depth and variety of the studio arrangements are what truly impressed me.

Of course the original question was which recordings are my favourites, which I could not possibly say without listening to them again. Off the top of my head I will pick When You Go, So Far So Good, and You Could Be Her for vocal effects that do not translate to the live show; Someone Is Crazy and Madelaine for being great, energetic songs that I have never heard live; and any song which includes banjo or accordion.

mtgordon

some of the studio recordings sound a little clinical or flat

Bear in mind, the Thing a Week studio recordings were done on a tight schedule; the same could be said for Song Fu songs. I'm still quite impressed with many of those, but I think he benefits from having some more time in the studio. One wonders what new studio recordings of those tracks would be like.

chicazul

@mtgordon - I admire JoCo intensely for what he accomplished within his time constraints, but I can recognise that a non-fan might not look beyond an uninspired audio mix to grasp the greatness of the song itself. I think many of the songs are great as they are, but occasionally I wish he could revisit a recording.

Code Monkey is the best example I can think of--it is obviously extremely popular and I love the electric arrangement, but every time I hear it I think it lacks a little punch. Baddox's punked-up version is closer to how it sounds in my head.

mtgordon

I recall JoCo saying somewhere that he's personally rather underwhelmed by the rudimentary chunka-chunka-chunka accompaniment in the studio version of "Code Monkey." That being said, it was probably the biggest original hit to come out of Thing a Week. That was probably the subject matter, though; it quickly went viral in the nerd community.

chicazul

The first time I ever heard Code Monkey was prior to JoCo taking the stage at PAX 2008, as a spontaneous chorus broke out in the crowd beside me. As a huge nerd and former programmer, there was never any doubt in my mind why that song was a hit.

Javier

I like many of the studio recordings as much as the live versions, and many of my top-rated songs I have never heard live (e.g. Furry Old Lobster, Octopus, That Spells DNA.)

One down, two to go. ;-)

Dr. Perry Cox

Make that two down

ETA: On topic- The top of my love-the-studio-recording-want-to-hear-it-live list is Bozo's Lament. It doesn't get enough love in my opinion

Looking through the list of songs, the only songs that I really think I prefer the studio version over the live version (That I've heard live versions of, obviously) are Chiron Beta Prime and Blue Sunny Day. CBP just sounds off to me because I had the "unreleased" version before I had heard the released version and the second verse just doesn't sound right to me. With BSD, I think it's because Paul and Storm are too loud. It's kind of funny, though: I had preferred the live version to the studio version upon the studio version's release. It felt over-produced.