Week 37/Song 39 - "RiverSway"

Song 39 - "RiverSway"

A quick sketch this week.

Week 36/Song 38 - "Who Am I"

Song 38 - "Who Am I"

Given how exhausted and frustrated I was today about my music in general, I am more than delighted with this, which felt like it poured out of me from nowhere. I do seriously mess up the bridge, and you can hear me laugh about it at the break.

I am working on a list of my top 10 or so songs from the year and will be posting a player here or possibly on my facebook page in the next couple weeks or so with the reworked/finalized versions. Exciting stuff :)

Week 35/Song 37 - "Leave Mr. Johnston Alone Mr. Devil"

Song 37 - "Leave Mr. Johnston Alone Mr. Devil"

Learned "Walking the Cow" this morning and watched some interviews with Daniel Johnston.

P.S. You heard me Mr. Devil. Move along now.

Week 34/Song 36 - "Goodmourning"

Song 36 - "Goodmourning"

This is certainly one of the roughest sketches I have posted in some time. That's a nice way of saying it's a dire mess. The verses need to be shaped up, and I need to record during the afternoon so I can belt out the chorus and give it body. You can clearly hear how restrained I was, and that high in my range cannot be performed with hesitation (there's a newborn in the apartment next door, okay!?). Better rhythm would be nice as well.

All this being said, I'm going to work on it this week. I think that adding the right beats, synth noises and a couple falsetto oohs and ahhs would lend to a really good indie pop/dance tune and take away some of the morbid ambiance.

Finally, if you have a good set of headphones, this audio file posted by Seed Magazine is a nice jaunt into the true wild. Of note, number 7 in the slide has a bird that sounds electronic.

Week 33/Song 35 - "Don't"

Song 35 - "Don't"

Good times. Good times.

Week 32/Song 34 - "Little Round Box"

Song 34 - "Little Round Box"

Had just watched Solaris(the '70s version, not the one with George Clooney, which I haven't seen) before coming up with this this morning, so you could say I had some otherworldly influence going on in my imagination. Going to do something a little different this week and actually post the lyrics. They aren't necessarily set in stone, but they are what show up in this version. So here you are(forgive messy puncuations):

"Maybe I could town you down and throw you up and you would tell me

Maybe I could cut you open tear you out spill you out onto the dance floor and spread you around and you eyes they would open, they would adore the dollared tune

Maybe I could make a Xylophone out of your brain and grow so wise

But what's to say, who knows, who knows

Maybe you'll go hidin in a white guitar, and then i'll break it down and go out. Maybe you'll break your heart, and hold it up, and shake your pans around

And you'll shiver and you'll shake as you make love to yourself in heart, hard times

Thank you, I thank you for saying, we can stay in love in a little round/brown box. We can stay in love with the antelope.

I bet your hiding, I bet your hiding and you don't know where to go or hear what to say. Probably all that excess, you take it into your brain and you don't even love yourself anymore.

A little be higher, and then you break it up, and then go over to I, and yet you make it up, and you got a lie, but you hate it all, and then you've got to die."

Week 30/Song 33 - "The Next Mistake"

Song 33 - "The Next Mistake"

This needs another take, but I am simply out of time.

I spent a lot of the weekend reading about the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the pineal gland. While perusing these topics, I stumbled upon this speech by Alan Watts, whom I had never heard of prior to today, but I will be listening to more as he is quite the fellow.

Week 29/Songs 29, 30, 31, and 32

Song 29 - "Never Ever"

Song 30 - "Let the World"

Song 31 - "The Gods Have Gone Home"

Song 32 - "A Beatle on His Back"

So, evidently, I had four ideas building this week and decided not to horde them. This could be a sign of absolute foolishness or extreme productivity. I guess we'll find out.

One thing I did this week that was definitely not foolish, was that I heeded the advice of a friend and made a point of writing down real lyrics and making them 80% to 100% understandable (he advised 100%, so I still let some of the fool win). I put a piece of paper and a pen in front of me each time I played, and, surprise, I was able to be much more productive with the lyrics than I have before. Enjoy.

Week 28/Songs 27 and 28 - "SilenceViolenceDebts" and "Blackground"

Song 27 - "SilenceViolenceDebts"

Song 28 - "Blackground"

The weekend is over. Booo.

One of these is angry. The other is influence by Bon Iver.

Week 26/Song 26 - "In the Bottom of a Well"

Song 26 - "In the Bottom of a Well"

I had quite the inspiring weekend this week. So much so, that I did not even go to sleep last night. I thought this would make writing something for this week harder, but, in fact, it made it easier. I don't know if this is because my senses are dulled, and what I think sounds good is actually complete crap, or if things just worked out well.

Needless to say, there is something about this one that I like a lot and will look forward to nurturing into a fully mature piece. This recording is the third take of basically making up everything as I went, and while it is flawed, again, I feel something raw about it that I like. Then again, maybe after some sleep . . . I had to finger pick, because my cat stole all my picks :)