Day 441: Let's Start again

Lyrics:

Do you wanna go for a ride?
Come on now, hope inside.
Do you wanna make new friends?
Let's start again.
This is the end.
Let's start again.

Taking a break from my experiments with NAA to try something a little different.  OR back to my old tricks.  Take your pick.

Day 385: ObliStrag

Nothing wrong with repetition.  I know because the Oblique Strategies told me so.

Just trying to play with some more "organic" sounds this time around.

Day 365: Well, What I meant to Say...

The intent for today was to put up something epic, but due to the fact that it's almost Christmas and I have a bunch of family coming over tomorrow, the time that was going to be spent working on that epic piece got devoted to cleaning the house and taking care of other things.  Instead you get this.

I'm guessing that there aren't too many people looking at this that are disappointed, or really is anyone even reading this thing?  There are about 100 million blogs out there, so this one might just be getting lost in the mix.  I have 3 subscribers after a year.  I guess that means that 3 people are reading it.  Sometimes.

Well, enjoy some messy glitch hop.

Day 347: Mixing It

Today's track is a remix for a contest on Soundcloud.  The original track is by Kenna.

Day 340: BitKrushed

An angry tune about self-realization, relationships, and bondage.

lyrics

I hold your life in my hands,
I promise to be true.
I don't think you can hold back from my hands.
I promise to save you.

Just listen to me.

I know that you think I don't have my own thoughts.
I'm here to tell you that's not true.
You and I, we go way back, and you that I know you too.
I'm reading your thoughts right now.
I know what you're thinking, don't try to get away,
You can't escape me.

Just listen to me.

Day 335: So Simple

Lyrics:
You aren't ever gonna hold me back, don't try to ever hold me back.
Don't give it away, I'll hold you in sway
We live in a dream.  It's not what it seems.

Day 328: With Fingers

An early effort using Figure (by Propellerheads) as a live instrument recorded into Reason. Added some additional instrumentation to the beat in post.

Day 294: Someone is a liar

It's been awhile since I've had more than just a moment or two to actually type anything as a blog entry.  For the last 10 days I've worked my day job and it's been driving me crazy.  Finally a day to relax, which really just means to clean house and do laundry.  I'm getting to spend time with the kids today, so that's great.  I've missed my boys.

Here's a new piece of music.

Lyrics:
You tricked me. 
And I don't even know how to get out.
You tricked me, played me for a fool. 
I see you , standing behind your lies.
You tricked me.  
And I'll never get out.  
You're such a liar, 
I'm just a fool.
And I'll never get out.  
A fool for you.

Day 292: Sticks and Instruments

Earlier today I was listening to the band Clogs. If you aren't familiar with them you should go check them out now. They make really interesting instrumental music. In particular, the album "Stick Music". That inspired today's piece.

Thanks to Drew Miller, AKA: Assemble, for introducing me to Clogs.

Day 291: Minimal Techno

This isn't a genre I usually work in, but today it is.

Playing with Ammo a little bit.

Day 290: Another Junto

Another piece for the Disquiet Junto project on Soundcloud.  The idea was to capture the "tone" of three separate rooms and stitch them together.

My three rooms were:
Studio
Kitchen
Bathroom

I used my iPhone to record to live audio, but I don't think I was quite far enough away to get the full effect of each room.  You can hear as I started to walk away from the sound source in the kitchen.

More on this 92nd Disquiet Junto project, in which room tone is used to shape a three-part suite, at:

http://disquiet.com/2013/10/03/disquiet0092-roomtonesuite/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Image via

http://goo.gl/K2Tnhi

Day 259: No, Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes

Here is another piece focusing primarily on Revival and Antidote.  They are the center pieces here, for sure, but not the only things that are going on.

The words were inspired by the children's book No, No, No, Yes, Yes, Yes.  About as simple as one can get, lyrically speaking (unless you want to just go with one word, but where's the drama in that?!).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.  The experiment continues.

Day 252: Exploring the New Rock

So this is a slight homage to the Rolling Stones, but is really more of a diatribe about how things are fucked up in America, A.K.A. "The Land of Opportunity".

First, let me state that I firmly believe America is a pretty great place to live, and it seems like many others agree, otherwise we would have significantly less immigration.  People emigrate to lots of other places, but I doubt Kurdistan has the same problems we do.  What I AM talking about is that while people say "You can be anything you want here." or "The sky's the limit."  I would say that's not quite true.  Some people are victims of circumstance and it's nearly impossible to break out of those circumstances.  Rather than rant anymore I'll let the music speak for itself.

Lyrics:
You can almost always get what you want (welcome to America),
In this land of giants and fools, 
you follow each and every rule.  
You think you know how to escape
But you don't know any way. 

 Only in america.

As long as night moves on, 
express yourself in every song, 
hold your head up high,
you can do it all, 
any way you want, 
you will never fall.  

Only in america, 
here in america.

You can almost always get what you want (welcome to America), 

Here in America.

Day 250: Revive

After much debating on the Propellerheads user forum I bought two new synths.  Revival and Antidote.  Two very different instruments, that can co-exist peacefully, as today's piece will show.  It's the most money I've spent on something musical in awhile, but sometimes you gotta splurge.  Enjoy.

Day 245: More Music for the Days

A kind of mixed bag piece today.  There's some experimentation with Bitspeek, some with the Konstruct Refill, some with delay.  Overall it came together all right, I suppose.

Lyrics:
You may not come back from this, this time.

No one asked you to speak.  
Why don't you take the time?
Think for yourself, don't bother me.
I don't have the time.

You acted like a fool, 
you thought you were so cool,
Now you have to deal with all the consequences of your actions.

No one asked you to speak.  
Why don't you take the time?
Think for yourself, don't bother me.
I don't have the time.

Day 242: Not a piano

This track is another one for HitRecord.org.  Today I realized that it's against the user policy to actually publish these works anywhere other the HitRecord website so I might redo this one with an instrument/sample that isn't attached to the site.  Otherwise this, yesterday's, and tomorrow's track won't be on the next 100 days album.

We can't have that at all.

Day 241: Hit that Record button

I'm a member of HitRecord.org, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's site that is currently making a TV show exclusively from user submissions.  It's a really interesting project and this one was right up my alley.  Basically, it's making music from junk.  Composer Nathan Johnson (Brick, Looper) took a bunch of field recordings in a junk yard and people remix them into music.  This was my first effort.  More to follow.

More info here.

Day 236: More on the Machine

Partially inspired by the "Wild Card" book series, edited by George R.R. Martin

Lyrics:
Not likely to find my way back,
Not going to try, just try to act.

Where is the path?

Closet full of ghosts. 
Closet full of lies,
You expected the truth,
I'm not that kind of guy.

Where is the path?

We all stand in line, biding our time.

You haven't got an honest bone in your mouth.
You have the courage to take it down South,

Where is the path?

A hole in your shoes matches the hole in your soul,
Dirty teeth smiling as you take on your role.

Where is the path?

Gun in your hand looking for the line, biding your time.
Villain  on the streets wreaking havoc above,
Stay below.
On the streets 
Stay below.

Day 215: 117

Have been working on a long-distance collaboration with my friend and writer, Colin Fox, for some time.  This track was an early effort that ended up being an alternate version of a song that will be on our forthcoming album, the 117th Parallel.

Lyrics:
Bowls overflowing with every type of pills one could think of.
Girls dressed like Jesus,
Shirts that answer questions,
Boys with swagger,
Tans like Joseph,
My mind swims across the room,
Some girl in front of me.

Like the super boys who never stop
The special girls who live to shop,
Old men with shark tooth necklaces,
Old women, fading light behind their smile.

Dancing to create the night,
When we move together,
Under threat of terrible silence we turn our music loud,
Under the beat we hypnotize,

Like the super girls who fly at super speed,
Middle aged men who shake from the need,
Sci-fi junkies who inject the idea of a perfect drug into their mind.
Like the super boys who never stop
The special girls who live to shop,
Old men with shark tooth necklaces,
Old women, fading light behind their smile.

Day 212: More weirdness

I'm not a huge fan of world music, but I am a fan of inappropriately placed segments of music from other cultures into western music.  This track has Indian vocal samples and tablas mixed with some totally screwed with synths.  Synth destruction courtesy of LoveOne Consulting rack extension BZR.