Disco Shawn, Aspiring Vocalist

Um, this is a little weird for me to post because despite my obvious love for music, I have never really considered myself to be much of a "musician". Long ago I realized that I should stick to my strengths (snarky online commentary and behind-the-scenes busywork) and leave the artistry to folks with actual, you know, "talent".

So imagine my surprise when the boys from Lovely Chords insisted that I contribute some vocals for a Mr. Brown remix they were putting together.



As I wrote back in July, this Buenos Aires duo has been making some excellent Ed Banger-style electro tunes, often enlisting the vocal talents of their MySpace friends from around the globe to fill out the tracks. After meeting them when they performed at Zizek, I guess that I should not have been surprised when they sent an e-mail asking me to record a few lines for them.

While it is safe to say that most people don't like the sound of their own voice (except those weird drama club "look at me" types), my voice is undeniably bad. During my many years in radio, I was told more than once that my voice was not ideal for the airwaves. At one point while I was working at a "new rock" radio station during the height of ultra-masculine nu-metal, the program director specifically told the guy in charge of producing commercials not to use me for voiceovers because I sounded too "gay". It did not matter that I happen to be heterosexual or that the station was located in San Francisco - my voice was that bad. (I am happy to report that the program director was eventually fired and last I heard was programming a cluster of stations in Mississippi.)

Despite my concerns, Lovely Chords kept pestering me so I eventually recorded my lines into my laptop's built-in microphone and sent them the files. A few weeks later, they sent me the finished remix. I was not really planning to put up the track, but this past Sunday I saw it posted as part of Remix Sunday on the excellent Palms Out Sounds blog.

If a bajillion people are going to hear the track over there, I figure that I may as well post it here.

Mr. Brown - I Dance for Money (Lovely Chords remix for free)

Take a listen and see if you can spot the Disco Shawn contributions. I should warn listeners that I was asked to say some naughty words, so folks with overly sensitive ears might want to skip it.



Lovely Chords certainly enjoyed what I brought to the track, but even after their enthusiastic response, I promise not to start referring to myself as a "musician" or "vocalist".