Tom McCarthy - Musician

J is for Jamiroquai, Cosmic Girl.

Drummers are hassle, so I’ve found a way to cut them out. But srsly, I thought this video would be more interesting as a loop. This song is so good. It was great listening to it again today! They’re an excellent band full of amazing musicians!

#2020 What The Dead Men Say by Trivium.

I bloody did it. 1954-2020. The Steve Stevens top gear guitar solo is playing in my head right now. Some years were harder than others, but you guys had excellent suggestions when I struggled to pick a song. Thank you hugely to all the people that have followed this and liked and commented! I’m going to take the weekend off then come straight back at you with more videos.

This is a track from the newest Trivium album. Those guys are great and they’ve always put out great music. Listen to the Crusade again without the press noise around it clouding your mind and you’ll realise it’s a good album.

#2019 Last Ride by Tiger Army.

This band are great. I’m a big fan of the punk/country/rockabilly crossover. I’ve also done very little punk on this series of videos, so here it is.

Honourable mention for 2019 would be Orville Peck, his album Pony is phenomenal.

#2018 Rats by Ghost.

It’s Ghost again. I love the album Prequelle. I’ve listened to it quite a few times recently and it keeps getting better. This is the fourth Ghost track I’ve done since I’ve been regularly doing videos, which means they are my most covered artist.

The old school metal vibe on this song is so cool. The harmony part before the solo is excellent and the riff is so fun to play!

#2017 Highway Tune by Greta Van Fleet.

This band is amazing. I wasn’t always a huge fan but I liked a few of their tracks so went to see them. When you see them play, it clicks. These guys are for real. There’s some top draw musicianship and I’m excited to see how their sound develops over the next few years.

I’ve also done something slightly different by doing an improv solo instead of learning the recorded part. I’ve done this because Jake, the guitarist, seems to always do improv solos. He did a 10 minute one on the second song in the set when I saw them, which is incredibly ballsy and rare to see now. So my solo is a blues rock thing similar to something you might hear if you see them live. The only thing I had to do was make sure I hit that G note at the end because it was very prominent on the backing track that I found to play over 😂

#2016 Square Hammer by Ghost.

Great song by a great band. I’ve been on a heavy Ghost listening spree recently, so I had to pick a track from Meliora for today.

Ghost are a refreshingly ambitious band. The mainstream success they’ve had in recent years is so massively deserved!

#2015 Don’t Wanna Fight No More by Alabama Shakes.

One of the tracks of the amazing album Sound & Color. I’m jumping between guitar parts, but Brittany Howard’s guitar work here is amazing. Her voice is also incredible!

#2014 Elysian Woes by Opeth.

Super short one today because I’ve been recording again at . So here’s a fragment of an excellent Opeth song on an old Gibson acoustic.

Opeth are a great band, I’ve seen them a few times including the show from the Royal Albert Hall. A 14 second clip doesn’t do them justice, so when I’ve got more time and this series is over I’ll do one of their more involved tracks.

#2013 Sweater Weather by the Neighbourhood.

This is a song that I didn’t hear until a few years ago, looks like it was massive in 2013 though. It’s great, I can’t believe I missed it when it came out. It was a toss up between doing this track or something from the Darwin Deez album Songs For Imaginative People, because I loved it when it was released. Arctic Monkeys also put out an album that year so it was a good year for alt rock/indie music.

Tomorrow will be a return to something more ‘guitary’!

#2012 Lost by Frank Ocean.

A couple of hours ago I uploaded myself playing the amazing bassline to Monks from this album. UMG weren’t feeling it so it was muted. So instead I’m messing around with a loop pedal to get something that sounds close to the amazing track Lost.

The first tome I heard Channel ORANGE I was completely blown away. It’s such a great record and it still sounds fresh. Frank Ocean is immensely talented and definitely one of the artists of this decade.