Matthias Harris

There are so many talented people in this world.  I can't carry a tune to save my life, but I love music.  I may not always like good music, but that doesn't mean what I like isn't good.  While wandering around the wasteland that is youtube, I discovered an A Capella cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know performed by some guy named Matthias Harris.

Now, you can ask Mark, and he'll tell you that when I discover a song I like, I'll listen to it over and over and over again, so much so that people around me can end up hating it due to over-exposure.*  Needless to say, I greatly increased the number of views Mr. Harris had on Youtube for that song.  Actually, as I type this, it's playing.

I would have been ridiculously happy if it had been available on iTunes for purchase, but when I last checked, it wasn't there.  The Gotye version was there, but I don't care for that one all that much.**  This has, of course, driven me back to Youtube.

Tonight, after listening to it three times or so, I was checking out what else they suggested for me when I discovered that he had a new cover out.  He did his own version of Best of You, a Foo Fighters' song.  Now, I was skeptical at first, as I really like the original.  Harris, however, manages to handle the piece well.
It took me listening to it a time or two before I started to like it.

Perhaps the amazing characteristic that I am glazing over is the A Capella style.***  As far as I know, the music is created by him using simple percussion and his own voice.  He claps and sometimes uses little shakers, but there is no use of traditional instruments.****  That's just plain amazing.

Because he likes to blow your mind, he has layered himself singing different parts of the arrangement   You hear him essentially harmonizing with himself.  To be able to create something this intricate and balanced is mind blowing.*****

Finally, you have the presentation.  Harris has crafted videos for his Gotye's cover and Foo Fighters' cover that are interesting to watch.  Yeah, it's just him singing a lot, but I like it.  The visuals also help you understand just how many parts there are to the audio.

Before deciding to write this all down, I decided to look up Mr. Harris.  I found his Tumblr page, which I normally wouldn't bother with, as I'm not a user of Tumblr, but I checked it out.  He had a picture of his cat, whom he apparently loves very much.  As such, I must approve of him, as well as what he has done.  I sincerely hope he is a Redditor.******

On a final note, I didn't have to watch any ads when I pulled up his videos.  That right there means you should go check them out.  It will only take a few minutes.  I'll wait...

*I'm pretty sure my brother suffers from this as well.

**I did like the Star Wars parody version, which I told you all about some time ago.

***I always thought it was spelled acapella, all one word.  The spell check and internet assure me that I was wrong.

****I love music, but I am far from an expert.  I don't know the rules of A Capella, so I'm hoping he isn't breaking them.

*****For me, anyway.

******He not only had a picture of his cat, but he also had a comment about The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.  That is potentially a lot of Karma, depending on how it is used and blind luck.