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Jonathan Coulton

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Jonathan Coulton
Background information
Born (1970-12-01) December 1, 1970 (age 53)
OriginBrooklyn, New York City
GenresFolk rock, power pop, indie rock
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, banjo, ukulele, zendrum, tenori-on
Years active2003–present
Websitehttp://www.jonathancoulton.com/
Not to be confused with Jonathan Moulton.

Jonathan Coulton (born December 1, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains" and "Still Alive".

A former computer programmer employed at Cluen, a New York City software company[1], and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty lyrics about science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. Rare topical songs include 2005's "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, and 2006's "Tom Cruise Crazy". Most of Coulton's recordings feature his singing over guitar, bass, and drums; some also feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and glockenspiel.[2]

Coulton graduated in 1993 from Yale, where he was a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs[3] and the Yale Spizzwinks(?). He is now the Contributing Troubadour at Popular Science magazine, whose September 2005 issue was accompanied by a five-song set by him called Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms.[4] He was also the Musical Director for The Little Gray Book Lectures.[5]

Career

Coulton's best-known works include his light-acoustic cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song "Baby Got Back" and original pieces such as "Code Monkey", which was featured on Slashdot[6] on April 23, 2006 and linked from the webcomic Penny Arcade.[7] It was also the theme song for an animated show on G4 called Code Monkeys.

His work has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Good Morning Silicon Valley featured a link to a video set to his song "Re: Your Brains".

Coulton accompanied John Hodgman on his "700 Hobo Names" promotional track for Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise as the guitarist (he was credited as "Jonathan William Coulton, the Colchester Kid"). Coulton also can be heard throughout the audiobook version of the same book, playing the theme song to the book, playing incidental music, and bantering with Hodgman, who reads the audio version of his work. Hodgman has also mentioned Coulton on The Daily Show: a Jonathan Coulton of Colchester, Connecticut, was Hodgman's pick to win an essay contest on overpowering Iraqi resistance to American invasion.[8] Coulton wrote and performed "the winning entry", a song about dropping snakes from airplanes. Coulton appeared on the tour for Hodgman's second book, More Information Than You Require.

Coulton composed the title music for the show Mystery Diagnosis, and also has contributed other songs under "The Little Gray Book Lectures", a series of audio releases from John Hodgman.

Coulton, Paul and Storm, and Molly Lewis performing at Dragon*Con 2011

In 2006, Coulton began touring with comedy-duo Paul and Storm. At their first few shows, Coulton opened the concerts, but soon after his rise to fame, he was headlining.

Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game Portal, with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game Rock Band.[9] A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the Orange Box Original Soundtrack,[10] in addition to the one heard at the end of the game. "Still Alive" has also made an appearance as an easter egg in Left 4 Dead 2.[11] The song has been called "the most influential game music".[12] In 2011, Coulton followed up the success of "Still Alive" with a new song at the end of Portal 2, "Want You Gone".

A DVD & CD of a concert performed February 22, 2008, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, entitled Best. Concert. Ever. was released in 2009. At the concert, Coulton played the aforementioned song "Still Alive" on its Rock Band version, along with guest "musicians" and geek/celebrities Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Veronica Belmont.[13]

Coulton opened for They Might Be Giants for a few shows of their March 2010 tour.[14]

Coulton had been working on his follow-up to the Thing a Week albums, tentatively titled The Aftermath. It has since been stated that the title is merely an umbrella term to classify non-album tracks released after Thing a Week. On May 25, 2010, Coulton said on his official site that he would be working on a new album, to be produced by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants,[15] and for the first time ever with a full band, including Marty Beller of They Might Be Giants,[16] in a professional recording studio. The resulting album: Artificial Heart, was released on September 2, 2011.

In May 2011, Coulton was interviewed on NPR's popular economics-related program Planet Money. He disclosed that he makes about $500,000 a year from his music despite lacking a record label contact. He expressed gratitude towards his fans for his surprise success, the degree of which he called "absurd". In a broader discussion of whether or not the internet is good for musicians, Coulton answered in the affirmative, while journalist Frannie Kelley described him as a "fluke" such as the Snuggie.[17] Coulton posted a tongue-in-cheek response on his blog about the comparison, saying "to which I say: snarkity snark snark!"[18]

Licensing

Coulton releases his songs under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, allowing others to use them in their own noncommercial works. As a result, a number of music videos have been created using his songs, including such machinima as the ILL Clan's video for "Code Monkey" and a kinetic typography video for the song "Shop Vac".[19]

Thing a Week

From September 16, 2005, to September 30, 2006, Coulton ran "Thing a Week", during which he recorded 52 musical pieces in an effort to push his creative envelope via a "forced-march approach to writing and recording"; to prove to himself that he could produce creative output to a deadline; and to see whether a professional artist could use the Internet and Creative Commons to support himself. Early indications are that the experiment succeeded in generating a large number of high quality songs, boosting sales of music downloads, expanding Coulton's public presence, and enlarging his fan base. The success of the financial objective is more difficult to judge, but Coulton was quoted in a September 2006 interview as stating that "in some parts of the country, I'd be making a decent living".[20] In a February 25, 2008, interview with This Week in Tech, he stated that he made more money in 2007 than he did in his last year of working as a programmer, 40% of it from digital downloads and 40% from merchandise and performances.[21]

Discography

Main article: Jonathan Coulton discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Other releases

  • Other Experiments (Rarities Collection) (2005)
  • Unplugged (Live on Second Life) (2006)
  • The Orange Box Original Soundtrack (2007)
    • 1. "Still Alive" (Sung by Ellen McLain)
    • 19. "Still Alive" (Sung by Jonathan Coulton)
  • The Aftermath (2009)
  • Portal 2 Soundtrack: Songs to Test By - Volume 3 (2011)
    • 13. "Want You Gone" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

Most of Coulton's songs are published on his website as MP3 and FLAC downloads. Some of them are free, and none of them are subject to digital rights management. All of his original songs fall under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 License. "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" are the only exceptions to this, as Coulton assigned all rights for the songs to Valve. Along with "Still Alive," Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains" appears in jukeboxes in Left 4 Dead 2. "Want You Gone" also features in the end credits of Portal 2. All three of these games were designed by Valve.[22]

Other versions and covers

Pianist Louis Durra recorded an instrumental trio version of "Code Monkey" released on "Mad World EP" and "Arrogant Doormats" (2011).

NES Rock Band I Fight Dragons covered "The Future Soon" on their "IFD Super Secret Exclusives" EP (2009).

References

  1. ^ Jonathan Coulton - JoCopedia, the Jonathan Coulton wiki
  2. ^ Best interview ever - Talking with Jonathan Coulton[dead link]
  3. ^ Rapkin, Mickey (23 March 2008). "Perfect Tone, in a Minor Key". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  4. ^ "The Future of The Body: The Soundtrack" (accessed on 23rd June 2008), Popular Science
  5. ^ "Witty Tunes Are Jonathan Coulton's 'Thing'" (accessed ) on NPR's All Things Considered
  6. ^ "Code Monkey Like Fritos". slashdot.com. April 23, 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  7. ^ "Prinny Please". www.penny-arcade.com.
  8. ^ "Essay Contest work = Daily Show: Hodgman". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  9. ^ Chris Kohler (2008-03-31). "Rock Band Gets 'Still Alive' Tomorrow, Free". Blog.wired.com. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
  10. ^ Valve Corporation. "Orange Box Original Soundtrack". Store.valvesoftware.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
  11. ^ "LFD2 Easter Egg". October 17, 2009. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  12. ^ "Most Influential Game Music". February 20, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  13. ^ "2/22/08 Concert info". Jonathancoulton.com. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
  14. ^ "Jonathan Coulton to open shows for TMBG!". They Might Be Giants. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  15. ^ Michael Harrison (2010-06-11). "Jonathan Coulton and TMBG's John Flansburgh to Collaborate on New Record". Wired.com. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  16. ^ "Blog Archive » Band Shows, New Songs". Jonathan Coulton. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  17. ^ An Internet Rock Star Tells All : Planet Money : NPR
  18. ^ Jonathan Coulton
  19. ^ "Shop Vac (kinetic typography animation)". Jarrett Heather. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  20. ^ "Quick Stop Interview: Jonathan Coulton". View Askew Productions. 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  21. ^ "TWiT 133: Jonathan Coulton — Functional And Elegant" (MP3). TWiT.tv. 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  22. ^ "Left 4 Dead 2 (video game)". Giant Bomb. 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
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