Cody Weathers

Music so hip you'll need a bigger belt

 

 

MP3 OF THE "MONTH"

We here at Cody Weathers, Inc. like to consider ourselves to be on the cutting edge of technology and also eJournalism. You may have noticed that --for an ePresence-- we have very few actual articles, and most of them are very old. We pride ourselves on that too (although we're not sure why). Anyway, your helpful, precious feedback has led us to believe that we'd better start providing service (and also probably turn off the old site), so in that spirit, we bring you The Official Cody Weathers mp3 of the "Month" Club! Did you know that the Cody Weathers archives contain more than 2500 versions of more than 400 original songs and 50 covers? WOW! We sat down with Checkmate Vice President of A&R, Clayton VonSickly, and he said, "Boys, let's get this music out to the people." So the vault is open, and our "crack" staff of temporary workers is furiously reviewing its contents for the sort of hidden gems and long-lost relics that Cody Weathers fans just can't find in stores.

 

But while they're doing that, we thought we'd go ahead and feature Puppy 2010 (studio with The Men Your Mama Warned You About) because it might take them another year or more to find an actual hidden gem.

 

Some Facts About This Song (article December 2010):

Recorded by Engineer Jimmy Herbert in Evan's garage in a whirlwind session in spring 2010, this new version of the fan favorite showcases the simple tightness of the band.  With minimal preparation, and without being a featured song of the live show at the time, Tim & Evan nonetheless carved a vibrant and breathing groove around the signature syncopation of the 11-bar alternate blues in the guitar.  Tim & Evan also contributed backing vocals heard near the end of the song.

 

June 2010: Best of Days (live with The Men Your Mama Warned You About) 

 

Some Facts About This Song (article February 2010):

Recorded live at the Dublin Pub in December 2009, this rollicking funky version of the longtime staple demonstrates the chemistry and spontaneity of the Men Your Mama Warned You About (Tim Krajcar on bass & Evan Whitacre on drums).  In particular, listen for Evan's fresh approach to the feel and interplay with the scat.  At the time of its recording, the band had only been together for a matter of weeks.  This is the lead single off the 18-song live album Mama Done Warned Ya.

 

July 2009: Cinema (entire 16-song Sunhouse Branch album)

The long-awaited followup to "The Top Secret Band That's So Secret That The Members Don't Even Know That They're In The Band" that's so long-awaited that the audience forgot what they even were waiting so long for. A highly-structured concept album pivoted about a mirrored hard-rock song cycle based on selected films by Werner Herzog. All songs are in odd- or mixed-meter and employ direct metronomic shifts liberally. They are arranged to segue in two unbroken blocks (plus three standalone songs), moving immediately from one song to the next without pause. But the smarmy self-importance and unbridled snootery doesn't stop there! Sure to be the greatest undiscovery of summer 2009. Don't look for it in stores --secret albums such as these require the sneakiest brand of consumerism by only the dedicated purchaser. For a "limited" time, offered entirely for FREE as a track-by-track mp3 download.
 
April 2009: My Every Dream's Come True (live). Some Facts About This Song: This solo acoustic version was recorded live at 9Muses in Portland, on 5/26/07. It will be part of the forthcoming eElbum, Live Significant Failures. Keep your eyes peeled! No wait, don't do that, your eyes would dry up if it was more than a few minutes, and this will definitely be longer than that.
 

November 2008: Christmas mp3s for Joy to the World (5.0 MB), God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (2.8 MB) and The Twelve Days Of Christmas (3.7 MB)

Some Facts About These Songs (article November 2008): These are three of Cody's daughters' holiday favorites.... at least, three of their favorite public domain holiday favorites. Having missed the chance to invade the Weathers family non-stop holiday playlist in '07, Cody uncharacteristically completed these in record time for '08.

 

September 2007: live mp3s for Up To Her (9.4 MB) and Catnip (7.3 MB)

Some Facts About These Songs (article September 2007): This solo version of Up To Her was recorded in 1995 at Evans Auditorium in Portland, OR with Cody on vocal and grand piano. "Catnip" was recorded live at Twin Paradox in Portland in April 2007.

 

March 2006: China, Present Day

Some Facts About This Song (article March 2006): China, Present Day was written as incidental music for the Frumples Pictures movie Flame Cow. It appears under the improbable opening helicopter montage (the song title is lifted from the title card to the scene). Almost entirely atmospheric in nature, it features a high-energy yelling chorus coupled with a distorted scat reminiscent of "And Then The Fireman Ate The Eggs" (possibly the filthiest song ever written) off of the Cody-produced (and largely -penned) Leaky Joe album, Fistful of Blues. Amazingly, in theater exit polls, this song was frequently cited by moviegoers as the highlight of the entire film. Not wanting to leave any phenomenon unmilked, the collective braintrust of Frumples/Checkmate re-licensed the song for use in subsequent Frumples films Intergalactic Soccer and Colfax (possibly the filthiest screenplay ever written, featuring a new acoustic version of the song since released on Box Set Disc 3: I Love You, Helicopter). Additionally, a live version of the song (segue into Leave Me Be) from the pending release "If Flip Nasty Falls In the Forest" was included on Tongue Meets Eyeball, the 2000 Checkmate CD sampler.

 

February 2000: Garbage

Some Facts About This Song: Garbage was written as part of an underground song project sponsored by Kaptain Karl of Great Uncle Helmer. Musicians throughout the country --some of them extremely tiny people-- were given a melody, a first verse, some chord changes, and some optional other verses to a song called "garbage" and asked to put their own creative spin on it. Here's Cody Weathers, explaining his arrangement and what he brought to the table(Interview with Moses Weathers, October 1999):

"....Yeah, I'll get you your food in a minute! I want to finish explaining about Garbage, first, OK?! So Karl gave me the starting materials, and I decided to keep the core melody and the first verse, but I wrote my own chord changes to sort of 'Flipify' it, moved it from 4/4 time into 7/8 time, and wrote my own lyrics for the other verses."
The song was an instant success, and even appeared over the opening credits of Flame Cow, although it was not included on the soundtrack since it was deemed to be too closely related to the actual film. However, it was subsequently released on Disc 1 of the Official Flip Nasty Box Set: I Hate You.

 

Starting lyrics: Got so hungry last night that I started eating garbage; I was feeling just fine, then my head came undone, so I threw it away. Now it's lying in the garbage.

Cody's lyrics: Got so hungry last night that I started eating garbage; I was feeling just fine, then my head came undone, so I threw it away. Now it's lying in the garbage. Got so freezing last night that I had to make a fire, but I burned my guitar on the living room floor, and the lesson I learned is: you shouldn't play with matches. Got so sexy last night that I started getting offers, but I didn't believe they were really for me, so I gave them to Sam. Now he's going to have a threesome. Got so needy last night that I called up Shirley Manson and reminded her how I had once saved her life. So she hopped on a plane --now we're eating breakfast naked. Got so lonely last night that I had to build a girlfriend, and I took her outside just to show her the sky, but she broke from her leash, so I'll have to love my neighbor. Got so sleepy last night that my spirit left my body and I floated outside and I talked to a ghost, and she said I was dumb 'cause I never share my feelings. Got so wistful last night, and I thought a lot of Sarah, and I really regret that we didn't go out. She was really my type, but I'll never get to love her. Got so hungry last night that I started eating garbage; I was feeling just fine, then my head came undone, so I threw it away. Now it's lying in the garbage.

 

If you would like to know more about the Garbage, Vol.I album on which Flip's version appears along with all of the other underground versions by people such as:

  • Great Uncle Helmer
  • Memphis Evans 
  • The Cierna brothers
  • Scot Ninnemann
  • Mike Wagner
  • Kate Peterson
  • Evan Johnson
  • Snotty Scabby Scalp
  • The Jimmy Carters
  • Peterson Kate
  • The Michigan Militia
Visit the "Garbage Project" tab of KaptainKarl.com at www.kaptainkarl.com/Garbage.html.