Wednesday, 12 July 2023

Monthly Music Challenge with Cosmic Bos - MMC 1.6 - Artificial Intelligence

 Welcome human and bot alike,

You have reached the blog of the Monthly Music Challenge, and this particular entry refers to the 6th outing of the MMC in it's first year...embedding player now...




Episode 1.6 - Artificial Intelligence

Join Nick and Andy (Cosmic Bos) as we explore the musical side of artificial intelligence, what can we learn from our robotic offspring? Will they ultimately rise up and destroy us all? Can we find a way to live in harmony? All these important questions and more will not be answered here, this is a music challenge podcast, with a couple of idiots in the hosting chairs, if you want deep philosophical discussions on A.I then please check out other more informed podcasts, if, however, you want lots of musical explorations of the theme, ranging from Electropop to Orchestral to Heavy Metal, then you are in the right place. Welcome.

We have a humdinger of an episode for you this month, with some Beeeeeeeeautiful songs by MMC regulars like Andrew Hartshorn, TexMex Shaman, Tonal Drift, Hellwaddler, Notehead, A Sea Warren, Man of Arun, Scowsh Molosh, Peter Hawkey, Mobidextrous and Trench Gun as well as 3 exceptional new additions from Natalie Williams Calhoun, Voltage Poetry Project and JPeck.

Outergalactic shoutout to the wonderful peeps of Music Weeklies, which continues to supply the MMC with some of the most exciting musicians working in the world today, we love you guys 

The next hashtag (for MMC 1.7) is Mother Earth #MotherEarth

You have until the 4th August 2023 to get your songs about the Earth into us for inclusion in the main section of the show, alternatively, you can still submit songs based on the previous 6 themes to be included in our Late Subs section. (Previous themes 1. New Beginnings, 2. Escape, 3. Ignorance, 4. Winning, 5. Razzmajazz and now 6. Artificial Intelligence). Send an Mp3 and a write up about your song, along with a bio (for new subs) to cosmicbos@gmail.com 

Please take the time to comment, follow all the amazing artists featured, like, share and subscribe


Without further ado, here is the full tracklist for the episode:

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE songs

1. There's No A.I in Team - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos 
2. Clouds Dissolve - TexMex Shaman & Tea R Sea 
3. Talos - Andrew Hartshorn
4. Techno Sapience - Tonal Drift
5. Silent Rebellion - Hellwaddler @Hellwaddler
6. A.I God - Notehead
7. Art's Official Intelligence - ASeaWarren @aseawarren
8. Dichotomy - Natalie Williams Calhoun
9. Uncanny Valley - Man of Arun @ManofArun
10. Era Oeuvre - Voltage Poetry Project
11. Ghost in the Machine - jpeck

There you have it, a whole heap of very real intelligence taking on the artificial world and very clearly coming out on top (for now). Exceptional work all, and a huge welcome to the newbies Natalie Williams Calhoun (NWC!), Voltage Poetry Project (VPP!), jpeck (JPC!) and Tea R Sea (slipping in on the TexMex track), thank you so much for contributing, we wish you a long and musicially rewarding stay on the MMChallenger. Truly wonderful stuff.

There was also a few other hashtags from the music weeklies peoples that produced some interesting songs this month. Firstly there was a MimicAGame challenge which produced some stunning interpretations of classic VGM (Go check out the Music Weeklies site or twitter or discord), we present one of these tracks by our good friends.

12. La Cosa En El Umbral - Trench Gun

As Cosmic Bos are a little out of the gaming loop we took the opportunity to revisit a song from over 10 years ago, and slipped out this little gem.

13. Money Zombies - Cosmic Bos

This challenge was followed up by Bittersweet

14. Bittersweet - Peter Hawkey @peter_hawkey
15. Bittersweet - Cosmic Bos

Then to mix things up a bit, we did early Late Subs:

16. Hummingbird - TexMex Shaman & Stonerjazz (Razzmajazz)
17. Save the Bees - Trench Gun (MiniMe)

Cheeky little newbie sneaking in there, big shout out to Jeff aka Stonerjazz for your exceptional work with TexMex. Right back on the hashtag train for ComingOut and Smart

18. Third Eye Pride - Cosmic Bos
19. Smart - Scowsh Molosh @scowsh
20. Smart - Tonal Drift
21. Watch Your Six - Mobidextrous
22. Get a Little Bit Smarter Everyday - Cosmic Bos

As is tradition now, Cosmic Bos put all our songs onto a handy EP which can be purchased from Bandcamp https://cosmicbos.bandcamp.com/album/mmc-16-artificial-intelligence

So quick reminder, the next theme is Mother Earth and you have till the 4th August 2023.

Also, we have finally done the deed and set up a Discord server, come join us there 

Before the next episode we will be doing a special presentation for the Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren album 'Sound Investments', which will be available on CD and Bandcamp on the 4th August from Monochrome Motif Records, we are all really excited to share our Business themed album with you all, Spoiler Alert! it's pretty good.

Here is the youtube playlist of the podcast 


Peace and infinite robot love

Cosmic Bos

Sunday, 25 June 2023

Tribute to Tribute - Cosmic Bos's tribute to Tribute by Tenacious D

 Hello my rockin' amigo's,

Welcome to the gates of Hell! Where musicians must fight demon's to save the very fabric of our existence. Andy and Nick Jackson (Cosmic Bos) stood before such a demon and used the powers of Tenacious D to save us all. Here is the video evidence of this mighty quest.


Tribute by Tenacious D is arguably the greatest tribute to the greatest song in the world that has even been made. Cosmic Bos have chosen to honour the greatest song in the world by doing a tribute to the tribute to the greatest song in the world.

Brothers Andy and Nick (Jackson) - Cosmic Bos, have been making music for a long time, one of the very first bonding experiences with music for the Jackson brothers was the self titled debut album by Tenacious D - Jack Black and Kyle Gass created a masterpiece with that album, and it was whist visiting America (Florida to be precise, for the theme parks) that the very British Jackson brothers did stumble upon Tenacious D. Purchased from a record store in an outlet mall along with the Spinal Tap Soundtrack, Nick and Andy proceeded to spend their two week holiday learning every lyric, skit and harmony that the album had to offer. Nick was 15 at the time, Andy was 21, and their vocal only rendition of 'F**k Her Gently' on the boat ride to Disneyland was both inappropriate and hilarious.

Tribute is the stand out song on the album, it is a true masterpiece on its own. The video is also a masterpiece in Cosmic Bos's opinion. Nick and Andy learnt to play and perform the song shortly after returning from America. Several years later it would be their party piece, once an acoustic guitar had been located at a party it wouldn't be long before the pre Cosmic Bos brothers would be flig-a-guinging their way through a ropey rendition of Tribute.

Now all these many moons later, Nick and Andy have been making music together as Cosmic Bos for over 5 years, embodying the spirit of the D, continuing their quest to find the greatest song in the world and share it with everyone. They found it only fitting to honour the song that inspired their lifelong quest, give praise to the musical gods that Jack Black and Kyle Gass are, and offer to help them in their quest to be the greatest band in the world, maybe take the septa for a while, maybe even take over as they are getting on a bit now.

Tribute to Tribute is Cosmic Bos's tribute to Tribute by Tenacious D, Andy and Nick attempted to lovingly recreate the original video as much as they could. Not having access to a suitable 'recording booth' as in the original video, the lads just decided to skip all that and cut straight to the song.

Please consider subscribing to us on YouTube

And like, share and comment on the video, especially if you are Jack Black or Kyle Gass (we love you guys)


Peace and infinite success

Cosmic Bos

P.S - here is our audio only page on youtube, please consider subscribing there too :)


Sunday, 18 June 2023

Album Writing Club 2023 - Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren - Sound Investments

 Hello prospective client,

Andy Jackson here, from Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren, I am one of the partners in this musical business that was set up for the #AlbumWritingClub 2023 and I am head of the vocal/lyrics and promotional department of HJJ&W

For your consideration, I present to you 'Playing Office' by Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren


This song is one of the 11 tracks on the album 'Sound Investments' that HJJ&W submitted to the albumwritingclub competition. 


This is the second year that Lights and Lines record label have run this wonderful competition, last year the partners of HJJ&W had taken part in the comp separately, as Andrew Hartshorn, Cosmic Bos (the Jackson brothers) and ASeaWarren (Al Warren), developing friendships through discussions around the competition, working together in different capacities before joining forces to tackle Album Writing Club Year 2.

Here is the full playlist of entrants to the singles competition part of the album competition.

You can vote for your 3 favourites here VOTING FORM (pick your top 3)


Anyway, back to the business at hand, the musical business of Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren.

Headed up by the CEO of Monochrome Motif Records, Mr. Andrew Hartshorn is the first name in our musical business, we call him the Big Dog, mainly because he's the oldest not because he's particularly dog like in any sense of the word. Hartshorn runs a tight ship, having at the beginning of 2023 assembled his labels artists and affiliates to produce the epic Poseidon's Realm under the name the Monochrome Assembly. 

Purchase the album from this embedded link to band camp, and enjoy the video to the song 'It's Between Me and the Sea' from the very album. It features Andrew Hartshorn and the two Jacksons of HJJ&W.


This rather smoothly moves us on to the aforementioned Jackson brothers, Cosmic Bos.

The hosts of the Monthly Music Challenge (MMC), Cosmic Bos love to make music, lots of it, in loads of genres and styles, and then make videos for some of them, if not all of them. 


Cosmic Bos operate a DIY approach and have to date managed to rack up quite a discography of musical experimentation. Working directly with Andrew Hartshorn since last years competition, Cosmic Bos have developed a close working bond with Monochrome Motif. With Andrew Hartshorn taking part in the MMC and Bos being part of the Monochrome Assembly along with...

The Warren part of HJJ&W, Mr. Al Warren, ASeaWarren, musical guru and all round legend of the soundscapes, working with Hartshorn on his debut Orchestral Suite and becoming a New and Notable on Bandcamp with it (awesome work Al). Al was also a key member of the Monochrome Assembly. 


Al (as we are officially allowed to call Mr. Warren) is also a participant in the MMC, and once word had got out that Mike 5 was running Album Writing Club again in 2023, it didn't take long for the 4 partners to combine their unique musical skills and form Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren

Further details about HJJ&W will be made available to the public in due course.

Thank you for your time, please consider following us on Soundcloud whilst we build our profile and prepare to take this business venture public. https://soundcloud.com/hartshorn-jackson-jackson-warren profile

Kind Regards

Andy Jackson partner in HJJ&W


Friday, 9 June 2023

Monthly Music Challenge with Cosmic Bos - MMC 1.5 - Razzmajazz

 Hello cool cats,

Welcome to the Monthly Music Challenge with Cosmic Bos


Episode 1.5 - Razzmajazz

Come on a jazzy journey with Nick and Andy (Cosmic Bos) as we venture through the razz and the matazz of the musical world of jazz. This is one interesting ride you are in for, as Cosmic Bos guide us through the fascinating land of the razzmajazz.

With stunning songs by Andrew Hartshorn, Notehead, Tonal Drift, ASeaWarren, Scowsh Molosh, Hellwaddler, Man of Arun, Trench Gun, Peter Hawkey and of course your ever idiotic hosts Cosmic Bos, this is a trip your ears deserve to go on.

Razzmajazz marks our last collaboration hashtag with the wonderful musicians of Music Weeklies, a massive thank you to them for helping get the Monthly Music Challenge off the ground, and we will continue to play songs made for their hashtags until the end of this season of MMC.

The next hashtag (for MMC 1.6) is Artificial Intelligence #ArtificialIntelligence and you have until the 7th of July (2023) to get your AI songs to us for inclusion. You can alternatively submit on any of the previous tags we have had (1. New Beginnings, 2. Escape, 3. Ignorance, 4. Winning and now 5. Razzmajazz) to be considered for our coverted Late Subs section. Just send an mp3 with a little bit of info about yourself and your song to cosmicbos@gmail.com 

Here is the full tracklist for MMC 1.5 Razzmajazz

Razzmajazz songs

1. Razzmajazz - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos
2. The Jazzman's Trumpet - Andrew Hartshorn
3. This is Fine - Notehead
4. Razmajazz - Tonal Drift
5. No.7 Quartet in Bb - ASeaWarren @aseawarren
6. razzmajazz - Scowsh Molosh @scowsh
7. Just Make It Up - Hellwaddler @Hellwaddler

What a trip! Some real Jazztastic fun sitting there being all quirky and interesting, also notice that all the members of Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren are present (n.b Cosmic Bos are the two Jacksons) as is tradition at this point on the MMC.

For the other hashtags of music weeklies month of May we have:

#minime 

8. The Wasted Youth - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos
9. Talkin' - Man of Arun @ManofArun
10. Warped - Scowsh Molosh @scowsh
11. Kody - Trench Gun 
12. Minime - Hellwaddler @Hellwaddler

HopeAndDespair

13. Remaining Forever Hopeful - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos
14. Hope and Despair - Peter Hawkey @peter_hawkey

#Sandcastle

15. The Sand King - Notehead
16. Basic Sandcastle Destruction - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos

And there you have the full set list for the episode, #SpoilerAlert, there were no late subs this month so no subs for you!

Cosmic Bos always pop their tunes for the MMC onto a handy little EP which is available on bandcamp right here https://cosmicbos.bandcamp.com/album/mmc-15-razzmajazz

And as mentioned several times during the episode, you can check out Hartshorn, Jackson, Jackson and Warren's single (Playing Office) Playing Office - HJJW on Soundcloud

in the singles playlist over on soundcloud for the #albumwritingclub 2023 - full playlist here

and there is a handy voting page where you can pick your 3 favourites from the 34 singles (Congratulations to everyone who took part in AlbumWritingClub this year, you are all winners for getting to the finish line), playlist found on link just above.

You can vote here on this link right here

Please like, share and subscribe to the Monthly Music Challenge, tell your friends and musical rivals.

Our YouTube is here is you fancy some visual stimulation to go with your audio


Peace and infinite jazz

Cosmic Bos

Monday, 8 May 2023

Monthly Music Challenge (MMC) 1.4 - Winning podcast

 Winning!


Welcome to the Monthly Music Challenge Podcast with Cosmic Bos

Episode 1.4 - Winning

Cosmic Bos (Nick and Andy Jackson) present for your listening pleasure the finest in underground musical talent building a musical empire, one hashtag at a time, for the fourth outing of the first year of the MMC, we took on the epic concept of #Winning, and invited the worlds musicians to also take part, and some of them did, and here it is, in podcast form for you.

This is the first hashtag that we have undertaken without being partnered up with the music weeklies peeps (check them out, they are awesome sauce), but rest assured, this episode still contains several of the challenges set by the weeklies, once all the Winning has been dealt with.

And, returning once again, we have the Late Subs section, with some tasty musical treats for your ears around the previous hashtags of the MMC.

Before #SpoilerAlert ending the show with a track from the Poseidon's Realm album by the Monochrome Assembly

Check out the Monochrome Assembly bandcamp here https://monochromemotif.bandcamp.com/album/poseidons-realm-album

The next hashtag for Monthly Music Challengers is #Razzmajazz 

in conjunction with the Music Weeklies again, we challenge you to explore your expressive Jazz, be wild, be bold, and see what happens, it's all that kinda jazz baby! You have until the 2nd of June to get your Rasmajazz songs to us, send mp3's and a bio or song info to cosmicbos@gmail.com 

We begin proceedings this time with (surprise, surprise) Cosmic Bos and our song We Are All in This Together (which we made a lyric video for)


Here is the full tracklist for MMC 1.4 Winning

Winning songs

1. We Are All in this Together - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos
2. Slow and Steady Wins the Race - Andrew Hartshorn
3. You Can't Be A Winner (If You're A Sinner) - ASeaWarren @aseawarren
4. D - Hellwaddler @Hellwaddler
5. Let's Go Bro! - TexMex Shaman
6. Winning isn't Everything - Man of Arun @ManOfArun
7. Smell Defeat - Notehead
8. Winning (Deep Friend Mix) - Mobidextrous  @mobidextrous9777

What a collection of Winning songs right there, all returning players to the MMC, with an eclectic take on the theme, bangers one and all, go check out all these wonders on the socials.

On to the weekly hashtag songs provided by the @musicweeklies 

TuneWithAView

9. TuneWithAView - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos
10.  Tune With A View - Peter Hawkey @peter_hawkey

MyCulture

11. Kick in the Cultures - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos
12. Scrying Mirror - Notehead

Accelerate

13. Accelerate - Tonal Drift
14. Accelerate - Scowsh Molosh @scowsh
15. Sprint - Cosmic Bos @CosmicBos

That leaves us with the LATE SUBS, Whoop Whoop!

16. in the beginning (#NewBeginnings) - Tonal Drift
17. Ignorance (#Ignorance) - TexMex Shaman

And finally, to cap the episode off nicely, we present to you another track from the Poseidon's Realm album by the Monochrome Assembly

18. The Seagull - The Monochrome Assembly 

Thanks for listening and supporting, please consider subscribing and leaving comments and share with all your friends

Here is Cosmic Bos EP MMC 1.4 Winning on bandcamp, where you can purchase it should you be so inclined.


Here is the podcast playlist courtesy of YouTube


Peace and infinite love

Cosmic Bos





Friday, 5 May 2023

Cosmic Bos MMC 1.4 Winning EP - for the Monthly Music Challenge 1.4 Winning

Hello lovely you,

It's band camp Friday, and a new EP by Cosmic Bos is here for you


And a video to go with the single We Are All in This Together


Full episode of the Monthly Music Challenge coming Sunday 7th May, with some wonderful exclusive music around the subject of Winning

Peace and infinite love

Cosmic Bos

Cover done by AI





Friday, 14 April 2023

Monochrome Motif Records presents - Poseidon's Realm by the Monochrome Assembly (Preview Podcast out now)

Happy day music lover,


Welcome to this special presentation podcast all about Monochrome Motif records new album coming out 22nd April 2023 - Poseidon's realm by the monochrome assembly

https://monochromemotif.bandcamp.com/album/poseidons-realm-album

Order your copy right now from the above link.

To celebrate Monochrome Motif Records first birthday, Andrew Hartshorn (Label manager) put together a super musical team of ultra talented musicians to take on the mammoth task of concurring Poseidon's realm, and Spoiler Alert, the assembled musical masters took it to the depths.

Here's a quick word from the boss himself - Andrew Hartshorn

Re: Poseidon launch

Really pleased with how the launch has gone with lots of listens across the board for the preview tracks that are part of the preorder. 

A big thank you to everyone who has already placed a pre order for the download and the limited edition CD.

As we already have the stock, all pre ordered CD's will be posted immediately so it means you get to hear the tracks prior to the official launch date of 22nd April.

By purchasing the album (https://monochromemotif.bandcamp.com/album/poseidons-realm-album) it will support our ambitious plans for the forthcoming year with a further 7 albums currently scheduled.

And finally a massive thank you to all the artists, for their time, skill and enthusiasm for the project

- Andrew Hartshorn (Monochrome Motif Label Manager)

Thank you Andrew for the update, now on with the preview show

There are 6 preview songs from Poseidon's realm here for your listening pleasure: and the running order is as such

1. The Lighthouse (Andrew Hartshorn, Natalie Williams Calhoun and A Sea Warren)

2. it's Between me and the sea (Andrew Hartshorn and Cosmic Bos)

3. Drowned (A Sea Warren)

4. Painted Ship on a Painted Ocean (Alexa Thanos & Sean Ettlin)

5. The Siren's Lament (Dan Johnson - Age of Infernal)

6. The Last Glacier (Hipster Pug)

Here is the embed from bandcamp of these 6 awesome songs


The full album has 7 other songs that complete this unique and wonderful celebration record, which, let's face it, you really should get a copy for your collection, maybe buy two so you have a backup if one gets broken by squirrels (trust me, it's a serious problem in some parts of the world)

Full bio's of all the members of the Monochrome Assembly can be heard in this preview podcast. The full members roster for the monochrome assembly is Andrew Hartshorn, Natalie Williams Calhoun, A Sea Warren, Cosmic Bos, Dan Johnson (Age of Infernal), Hipster Pug and Alexa Thanos & Sean Ettlin. 

Don't forget to visit the bandcamp page and get your copy today https://monochromemotif.bandcamp.com/album/poseidons-realm-album 

And like, share and subscribe to Cosmic Bos's podcast, https://cosmicbos.libsyn.com 

And comment please, comments help spread the word.


Thank you for your time, hope you enjoy all this amaze-ball music, and pick up a copy of the full album. Have a great lunch

Peace and infinite love

Cosmic Bos