Museletter # 10: Everything You Say Sounds Stupid

October 23, 2017

New Song: Enlighten Me

Here it is, an acoustic demo of a brand new song, Enlighten Me:

Enlighten Me acoustic video

I plan to make a more rockin’ version eventually, so stay tuned. I would love to hear what you think!

Sale Still Going!

Don’t miss out! The $5 sale on my music at CDBaby.com is still going on for a limited time – agh, I can only keep this salesman stuff up for so long. Just buy my music if you want to. $5 for 11 songs!

In the Earbuds: Revolution Radio by Green Day

Green Day is a household name in the “alternative rock” world (whatever “alternative” means) almost 30 years into their career. What person learning guitar hasn’t prioritized memorizing one of Green Day’s power chord-riddled hits like Longview or Welcome to Paradise? (I know I have.) With Revolution Radio they show that they can still belt out the catchy tunes with punk rock velocity. Billie Joe’s lyrics were never fully juvenile, but these lyrics here are more profound, more meaningful. Themes of social unrest and current events. Standout tracks are Bang, Bang, Troubled Times, title track, and Youngblood. But they’re all pretty good.

To Err is Human… I am Definitely Human

September 19, 2017

Send In The Tanks – the Bloopers!

You know when you are practicing something and you mess up a lot of times before you get it right? Well, if you really need a lesson in humility, I recommend hitting record on a camera while you are practicing so you can capture your mistakes for eternity. Thanks to this outtake video I just posted, I am the humblest man ever:

I think it turned out kind of amusing.

In the Earbuds: Matthew Sweet, Tomorrow Forever

Matthew Sweet is one of those rock artists whose work from a bygone era (the 90s in Sweet’s case) is burned in my mind, although they have been steadily releasing music unknown to me. Sweet is known for his hit radio songs “Girlfriend”, “Sick of my Myself”, and he is still very much here with his 12^th album, Tomorrow Forever. It’s terrific.

There are some hard rockers (Pretty Please), some slow ballads (Haunted), and plenty of feel-good guitar pop songs (Trick, Music for Love). I love the bluesy, surfy beat to “the Searcher”. The beat throbs under a mildly sung verse until the chorus kicks in with Matthew yelling in your face “You still can’t see!”

Matthew Sweet’s strong suits are stronger than ever here:

His ability to write catchy, but tasteful, fresh melodies.
His penchant for hiring astounding lead guitarists to noodle all the way through his songs – Jason Victor and John Moreman compete for who can melt more faces.
He may be among the best background vocalists out there. That is, he always knows exactly when to place a nice “Oooo” or “Ahhh” to compliment the song, and the small army of overdubbed Matthews in the background just couldn’t sound any more harmonious.

The album is sure to delight Matthew Sweet fans, and even those new to him who just enjoy well-written songs that feel good going down. More background on the album can be found here.

The Show

I had the privilege of seeing Matthew Sweet and band at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis recently on the Tomorrow Forever tour, and came away completely fulfilled. There were slain-by-the-Spirit guitar solos from Jason Victor, Paul Chastain was solid on bass, and Ric Menck just pounded the drums into drum powder (he’s been playing with Sweet since the “Girlfriend” album in 1991!). Matthew sounded strong on vocals and rhythm guitar, and ably performed all the hits as well as a healthy dose of the new songs: Trick, Pretty Please (maybe my favorite from the new album), Music for Love, the Searcher. I’m sad they didn’t do “Entangled,” among the strongest of his new songs, but I guess they couldn’t play forever.

I’ve been so excited about Matthew Sweet lately, that he has made his debut on my Spotify playlist, “Give Me Liberty and Give Me Rock.” Give it a listen.

Interface with me on:

Suspicious Skin Color (New video!)

August 10, 2017

Send In The Tanks – OFFICIAL Music Video

Proudly presenting, the official video for my new single, Send In The Tanks!

I had the idea to record this song in such a way as to entwine audio and visual. In addition, I get tired of spending a lot of time in the editing process for song mixes, tweaking and splicing takes to make the best parts shine through. To these two ends, here is what I did for Send In The Tanks:

I used my camcorder to video-record each audio take for each instrument track (that’s what you’re seeing in the official video)
Each music track in the final mix is a single, uncut performance. I did no splices or “punching-in/out” for each take. (Sadly, there are a few times where a note or two is off and it could have benefited from a little redo. But I stuck to my guns and kept it in there.)

I thought I could save on editing time by doing only uncut takes. This was achieved. However, because I’m not the best performer, I ended up having to do a boatload of single takes to get one that was workable. Backfire!

I suppose now is as a good a time as any to tell you about…

A collection of new songs!

I have a collection songs incubating of which “Send In The Tanks” is the first. I thought this whole video/audio single take thing would be a cool theme for all the songs. However, it ended up being pretty time-consuming, and I don’t think I’ll continue it for all the songs. The songs are in varying trimesters of gestation, and the one that is closest the term is “Enlighten Me.” Expect to see a demo on that one soon! Another song you should expect to see soon is “Shirley, You Must Be Joking.”

All these songs have a common thread of anti-authority, anti-politics, anti-establishment, etc. – those themes are not often sung about in in rock n’ roll, so someone has to! And I know every singer who has ever sung says this, but I’m really excited about these new songs!

I’m not sure yet how I will release this collection. I may try crowdfunding. Who knows!

In The Earbuds: Drones by Muse

The symphonic-glam-experimental-art-synth-arena-hard rock band Muse has done it again with Drones. Continuing their railing against the global power structures, this appropriately-titled album has a common theme of, well, drones. The word “drone” probably elicits the idea of an unmanned aircraft used in the Middle East wars. Some songs address that definition (Reapers), but the album takes different meanings of the word drone and applies them to the situation of the West’s foreign interventions and intervention domestically.

Musically, the album is heavy on the rock riffs (Reapers, The Handler, Defector, Psycho). This is a welcome characteristic. Expect to get your skull pounded by an amalgam of Radiohead and Black Sabbath. On the other hand, Drones still tests the limits enough to remind you it’s a Muse album – the 10 minute prog song “Globalist”, the Prince-esque pop of “Dead Inside”, and the acapella choir sounds of the title track.

These are the strongest tunes from Muse in a while, well worth your attention.

Coming attractions

Twitter contest
Enlighten Me acoustic demo
Surprise cover song!

Send In The Tanks Around The World

July 11, 2017

Send In The Tanks – the Single!

My new song, “Send In The Tanks” has been mixed and mastered and released to digital worldwide distribution!

Send in the tanks

Buy it now wherever fine music (obviously) is sold (iTunes, Amazon, etc.)! You can also stream it on Spotify if you don’t like commitment (I’m a guy, so I understand that. Am I right, ladies?).

(More parentheses here.)

If you dig it, here are a few ways you could help that would go a long way:

Write a review on iTunes, Amazon, etc.
Save it to your library on Spotify
Follow my Matt Bankert artist page on Spotify
Add it to a Spotify playlist
Share it with your friends, enemies, and everyone in between

I am most grateful!

“When they said you could do whatever you want, they never meant you could do that.”

In the Earbuds: A Different Kind of Truth by Van Halen

Many old-timer bands try to do a revamp album after being inactive for a while. Few succeed. Van Halen succeeded. It’s been out for a few years now (since 2012), but the reunion album of the classic Van Halen lineup including David Lee Roth is a triumph. Despite Roth’s voice showing some age, he can still belt out some eye-popping high notes. Roth’s girl-crazy lyrics now have a degree of profundity and wit to them (Bullethead, Tattoo) that may not have been there in the more classic, less-philosophical Van Halen tunes (Hot For Teacher). The rhythm section hasn’t lost any speed and if anything, has picked up some steam with the addition of Eddie’s own son, Wolfgang, on bass. This means the band is now 25% more Van Halen. Wolfgang has definitely inherited his father’s snaking fretboard gene (pardon the technical medical term). Some highlights are the speed rock songs “As Is”, “Bullethead”, and “China Town”, as well as the raucous, heavy blues-rocker, “Stay Frosty”.

But of course the highlight of the album is the band’s namesake, Eddie Van Halen. His scorching, serpentine riffs and solos are just as strong as anything from the late 70s. Eddie is one of my favorite guitarists, because he sounds like a child with his favorite toy. You can hear in his music that signature smile he always has on his face. His playing appears to be effortless. He gives a command, and his guitar is helpless to obey – snarling, singing, crying, trilling, or bellowing in response.

Listen to this and you’ll be smiling like Eddie.

===Follow Matt’s Spotify playlist, “Give Me Liberty and Give Me Rock,” updated weekly!===

One Nation Under Mammon

May 24, 2017

Economic Stimulus Blues – Fun Facts!

Then it comes to learning, watching a movie is so much better than reading a book. There tend to be more pictures and less words. You don’t have to move your head while reading over sentences – you can keep it stationary as the images assault your optic nerves. That’s why I am pleased to present a long running project I’ve finally completed, a “fun facts” video for my song Economic Stimulus Blues. Please share and subscribe!

In the Earbuds: Ray Davies, Americana

The Kinks are, I think, in the US a largely unknown treasure of music. They are a treasure in no small part due to the rich, thoughtful, witty, and personal songwriting of their front-man, the recently knighted Ray Davies. In Americana, Ray joins the legend and ideals of the America he heard about from across the pond in England as a boy with the real America he visited while touring with the Kinks as an adult. The songs are strong for the most part, with a rootsy blend of primal blues (Mystery Room, Change for Change), country (Americana), and rock (the Great Highway). While the Kinks waxed nostalgic about England in the 60s (Village Green Preservation), here Ray waxes nostalgic over an American era not much earlier than the 60s. But it’s not just about yesteryear for Ray, it’s about an attitude going forward: “Americana is not so much about the country or even about the style of music [even though it is those things – MB]. It represents hope for a better future as the dream continues along the great highway.” From the song, “The Great Highway:”

At a juke box in a smoky bar
A girl stands looking at the stars
Dressed in denim wearing shades
And outside is the The Great Highway
(I had this dream, America)
She sips a coke, walks away
It’s just a second in a day
But all her culture’s on display
She might be a dreamer
But maybe I’m a dreamer, too

An idealized romanticization of American values and culture from a bygone era, Americana is a real treat to hear. If we don’t knight people here in the US, maybe we can find some room for Sir Ray on Mt. Rushmore.

Coming soon…

Send in the Tanks, the single! Complete and waiting for upload to the world
Send in the Tanks, the video! Half-complete