Like everyone else it seems, I’m a sucker for highly stylized pop with a nod towards the 80’s.  Tegan and Sara’s new single, Closer, definitely fits the bill, and it integrated seamlessly into a solo-guitar performance. If you’re new to this blog, I have no scheme as to what […]

I remember the very day Urban Hymns was released. I took the day off of work (it was that important to me), bought the CD at Sam Goody, and drove around blaring it from my car stereo. I had been playing in my new band […]

Upon hearing the first few bars of Where Are We Now?, I was admittedly luke-warm about David Bowie’s first single in 10 years.  That is, until I was sucked in by the immensely watchable, and totally weird video.  I think I watched the video so many times […]

As you can probably tell, I am on a Radiohead bender — and I’m almost ashamed that I haven’t explored solo-guitar interpretations/arrangements of their music until now. Not to belabor the blog thing, but if you want to be successful, their are certain things you have […]

Many props to Quentin Tarantino for still putting so much emphasis on soundtracks. This time around his Django Unchained soundtrack/score is a highly stylized mix of old-school spaghetti western, retro R&B, and hip-hop. Rather than the all encompassing interpretations I normally do — this can be considered an instrumental version of […]

I think of Lana Del Rey as a modern David Bowie (with regard to her song-writing) and her single, Lucky Ones, worked out beautifully for solo-guitar.   It appears that her previous album Born to Die, is being released with her new album Paradise and aptly called: Born to Die […]

I have not yet seen Cloud Atlas, but a quick scan of the soundtrack on iTunes revealed some excellent pieces of music, most notably Prelude: The Atlas March and it’s end-credits counterpart, Cloud Atlas End Title. The Atlas March is played in standard tuning, and […]

As expected, Adele’s Skyfall is a proper Bond theme and incredibly well done. Skyfall uses a mixture of the You Know My Name (Bm – G – E) progression, the 007 theme, and Adele’s sultry vocals to pull off a perfect blend of several past […]

My observation is that the iPhone (of which I’m an owner and a fan) has created an entire generation of “walkers” — or as the zombies are referred to in AMC’s The Walking Dead. We see them everywhere, and you might be one: a human-being […]

Sounding like equal parts George Michael and U2, Muse’s new single Madness, is an unbelievably crafted pop-song.  Coldplay front-man Chris Martin praises it as “Muse’s best song ever” and there’s even a Phil Collins-esque (bump bump, bump bump, bump bump) drum fill into the final chorus crescendo. […]

Extreme Ways is the default theme song for the Bourne franchise — specifically the conclusion of each movie. Just when you think Jason Bourne or (in Legacy’s case) Arron Cross has disappeared — the sampled violins strike and Bourne is on the move. To memorize […]

Comprised from a collection of  instruments and guitars, Apertura serves as a powerful opening to The Motorcycle Diaries. This post is an all-in-one arrangement for solo guitar of Gustavo Santaolalla’s classic song. I use my middle finger to “swipe” the high notes in the beginning (and […]