A soundtrack CD for the 2012 suicide documentary Don't Change The Subject
- www.dontchangethesubject.org.
By the way, don't be afriad of the movie, it manages to take
a dark
subject and make it entertaining and even funny at time.
(Kind of like
The Bigfellas.)
The Bigfellas were comissioned to "write a song
about suicide that you can dance to" for the movie and did just that
with "The Suicide Song" which they can be seen performing in the movie.
They also put together another original song on the subject,
"Always Be" which de-glamourizes suicide & sounds like some
odd,
modern mashup of U2 and Pink Floyd.
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Charlie from The Bigfellas also did the entire musical score for the
movie with over 60 minutes of cues and instrumentals that are found
inside the movie. The music ranges from orchestral
productions, sparse piano pieces, dust bowl guitar sounds, experimental
art pieces, bouncy grooves and more. They've been
re-engineered here to stand more on their own (rather as support or
background in the movie) but it's all from the movie.
One piece is an electro adaptation of Gabriel Faure's "Pavane":
The original song for the credits features Charlie and
singer/songwriter Mary Grasso in a pretty acoustic duet, "Gotta Tell
You":
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Listen to
our 2008
CD, Chubbed Up
(click on song
title to play):
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"Good
songs, clever, irreverent. Right up my alley. It's
really well done,
strong. I hope to hear you live sometime. It's really fun to
listen to."
- Bruce Hornsby, about Chubbed Up
"This
record is truly one of the best I have heard in almost twenty years."
- Al Bowman, LA Music Awards,
2009
"The
Bigfellas are a pretty big deal in San Diego and only getting bigger."
- KNSD Morning News, 2007
"I
love how the melodies are so beautiful, but the content is a complete
left turn
from what you would expect to hear lyrically (with those particular
melodies).
It's like hearing Stevie Wonder playing keys and singing about
"slappin' a
bitch"..but it's still amazing!!"
- Abraham Beltran, KPFK, Los Angeles, 2008
"Words
that I would kill to hear on primetime radio."
- The Power Of Pop, 2008-09-20
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"Beloved
San Diegans reflect more wittily and tunefully than most on their
normally
displaced lives."
- Robert Christgau Consumer
Guide, 2009
"We're
delighted."
- Van Dyke Parks, Jan 5, 2009
"Best
Local Band in San Diego."
- San Diego
Union-Tribune Readers Poll, 2006
-and- 2007
"Full
of tongue-in-cheek satire, playful lyrics and melodies, and a
sophisticated
sense of music to suit the topic, The Bigfellas are an intellectual pop
fan's
dream."
- Bill's Music Forum, Oct 3, 2008 (full review)
"Zevonesque."
- LA Weekly, 2006
"Great
piano driven music for the mind as well as the soul; type of satire
that Randy
Newman used to do so well."
- Powerpopaholic, 2008
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Places
to buy Chubbed Up
whole
album or just individual songs:
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iTunes
Get Chubbed Up
entire album or individual songs;
easiest way to get us into your iPod
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CD Baby
Good people
& very good to independent artists
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Amazon
You know you love
it.
Or get it from their
downloads
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The songs on CHUBBED
UP
a little story for ya:
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1
- California King
We couldn't be more pleased
with everything about how this turned out. It's THE single
for us. A primer on California that goes beyond Venice Beach,
plus a reminder that we recalled a governor once, we can do it
again. |
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- 4:20
A special time of day for
stoners. People still can't figure out if it's pro-marijuana
or anti. Just between us, here's our opinion: getting high
would be great if only you didn't do it with other stoners.
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2
- Dollar For Every Dime (The Lotto Song)
Do you wish you had more
money? Us too. Yes, it's that simple. We
defy you to not tap your toes if you listen to the whole
song. I mean, don't be a dick about it, just give it a chance
and see if you're tapping. |
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9
- Adam & Eve & Ted & Alice
Originally was just an idea
for a comic book about two 1970s swingers joining uptight Adam and
looser Eve in the Garden Of Eden. Now it's a song.
If you read Chapter 1 of Genesis, it's surprisingly accurate.
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3
- Moving Day
Ladies and gentlemen: The
Bigfellas Horns. Really cool groove. And as far as
we know, it's one of the few songs that straight on tackle the issues
of what a pain in the ass it is to pack up your house and move. |
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10
- Four Minute Mile
Really pretty and addictive
elliptical progression of chords that's hard to stop playing, believe
me. And the words still trip me out a little: "If you run a
four minute mile in my shoes, you could see yourself smile if I was
you." ??? |
4
- I Wish That I Were Gay
We all can't be Rufus
Wainright, but we can try. This isn't the dance version, this
is the REAL one ... you know, cabaret style. If you're like
90% of the world, think what you're missing out on by not being
gay. |
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11
- Reinventing The Wheel
We've heard this described as
country-punk (or was is punk-country). A riff that won't stop ...
really, we've tried. Some things in life are cliches, some
things are the objectively best; just sit back and enjoy it.
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- Johnny Get Out Of The Sky
One of the Bigfellas best
guitar songs, you'd be surprised how much you can sound like Hendrix in
a modern studio. I'm just saying. About how "The
Man" is always watching us
& it just ain't right. |
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12
- Vous Ne Parlez Francais
Makes you feel like you're
wearing a beret and black and white striped shirt with a baguette
sticking out of your grocery bag on the streets of 1920's
Paris. Oh, the accordion. Oh, the violin.
Ooh la la. |
6
- Wish You Knew
What's this ... a moment of
tenderness and ennui? The song that Burt Bacharach never quite
wrote. If you're feeling good about yourself and wish people
from your past could see you now. |
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13
- Stuff On The Moon
For about 20 years the United
States put stuff on the moon: lunar modules, jeeps, golf balls, used
rock hammers. Then we just left and never came
back. A spacy musical lesson in picking up after
yourself. |
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- On The Green (the golf rap)
Has always been our most
requested song. Apparently we've created a market for a song
that's a tour-de-force of inappropriate language and bringing the world
of rap braggadocio to the staid environs of golf. |
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14
- HIDDEN TRACK (Mr. Blue Sky)
We're saving Jeff Lynne from
himself. You know what I always thought about ELO?
It needed more bluegrass and banjo. The trumpet solo so good
that it made this throwaway session un-cuttable. |
Also,
you might be interested in Charlie's page
of
demo songs.
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