Accident Zone

Accident Zone

(Morgan)

Mid-90's fun in 7/8 time. Yet another Al dance song you can't dance to, the music came first and the lyric idea came later as I was groggily recovering from jet lag on my honeymoon. What's the accident zone? Life, baby, life. Come help me out here.

Al: Accident prone

My Dark Energy

My Dark Energy

(Morgan)

The homework's done, the family's out for the evening...ah, time to spend more than 1 hour in the studio. I like this one...alternate guitar tunings always play well with me.
Time to address the things eating away at me and slowing me down. I sometimes lay awake at night and listen to my heart pounding in my chest, wondering if it's going to stop before morning. Morbid, but it could happen to any of us. Do I need to eat better, exercise more, stress less? Hard to turn off the 1 AM thoughts...

Al: Energetic

Center Yourself

Center Yourself

(Morgan)

I wanted to try something a capella, so dig this semi-improvised faux-zen piece (dig it, man); being in the moment is on my mind a lot lately. We veer perilously close to "Renegade" by Styx once or twice here (unintentionally), but hopefully you can forgive me.

Al: Vox

Outta Here

Outta Here

(Morgan-Wall)

An interesting one-off from a different LA studio in the late 90's. A usual laundry list of societal complaints, done from the viewpoint of a guy so fed up he's moving to Canada. We've all been there, eh? Some cool textures from a Japanese engineer and some fine playing from da boys.

Al: Vox, Drums
John: Guitars
Mike: Keys
Steve: Bass

Ice Age

Ice Age

(Morgan)

Music is therapy, isn't it? Sometimes we need it to thaw the ice in our souls...at least enough of it for a drink or two.

Al: Slipping on thin ice

The President's Song

President's Song

(Wall)

A perennial Osmium fave, and always topical. I try Jello Biafra on for size (put your own joke here), and we skewer presidential politics. A John Wall classic song. Played on Dr. Demento!

Al: Vox, Organ (no Vox Organ, however)
John: Guitar
Scott: Guitar
Dave: Bass, Drums

Mark 7

Mark 7

(Morgan)

More instrumental fun from bygone days. Trip out on the recursive sounds...far out.

Al: Master of the Quadraverb

Geneside

Geneside

(Morgan)

Back to the 90's for a trip back to the 80's: When I recorded this instrumental the keyboard sound/progression and thuddy electro-drums reminded me of "Abacab"-era Genesis, so the title seemed to be a natural. I make no attempts at a Phil Collins-esque vocal here; whether that's a plus or a minus is your call.

Al: Rockin' the suburbs

Living In The Ozone

Living In The Ozone

(Morgan)

OK, here's the slicked-out full studio "dance version" of the perennial Pop Machine fave (also available here and on iTunes, you lucky people). A (hopefully) catchy number that exhorts us all to get our heads out of the clouds and get out on the dance floor, it also prompted the following exchange between Mike and an unnamed actress friend (not repeated verbatim 'cause I wasn't there and am working from second-hand memory):

Mike: So what did you think of "Living in the Ozone"?
Actress: Oh, it was good. I really like songs about the environment!
Mike: (blank disbelieving stare)

Not everyone can be a rocket scientist.

Al: Vox
Sook: Bass
Scott: Guitar
Mike: Keys
Dave: Drums

Living In The Ozone (Demo)

Living In The Ozone (Demo)

(Morgan)

Hello, and welcome to another edition of "Demo Today, Version We Spent Money To Record Tomorrow". Today's showcase is that perennial Pop Machine fave, "Living in the Ozone". This one's been kicking around since those halcyon days in the early 90's when Sook and I were living in Hollywood and mumbling demos into a Tascam 4-track while police helicopters circled overhead looking for drug dealers and gang members...ah, memories. Anyway, enjoy. More on this one tomorrow...

Al: Master of the 4-track

My First Car

My First Car

(Wall-Morgan)

Hotcha! An Osmium fave, beloved by at least one 10-year old I know of (no joke: an ex-co-worker informed me that her preteen son was rabidly devoted to this song). Anyhoo, it's punky, it's funny, it rocks. And it's about a car. What more do you need?

Al: Sneering
John: Guitars
Dave: Guitars, Bass, Drums

Clap Your Hands 2.0

Clap Your Hands 2.0

(Morgan)

This is the last surround sound remix for a bit (I promise). Partially in celebration of the upcoming Beatles "Love" surround sound DVD-Audio due out Tuesday. And I'm gonna git it!

Al: Still clapping

Two Acoustic Remixes

Nice SQ
Can't Let You Go SQ

(Morgan)

Some more SQ Quad Remixes: 2-for-1! Nothing dramatic: more open soundfields, some effects in the rears (and we all know how painful that can be sometimes). I could sit here and tweak indefinitely, but then I'd wind up rerecording the songs...and redoing the lyrics, and then the music, and finally giving it all to Dave to play...so I'll just leave it here...

Wireless Head 2.0

Wireless Head 2.0

(Morgan)

Well, I juiced up a thing or two on this remix, including adding some echo effects and...you guessed it!...mixing it into SQ Quad. Please remember that this quad encoding is fully compatible with stereo playback, so live it up! See you tomorrow for another adventure in modern recording...

Al: Still wireless

The Simple Life

The Simple Life

(Morgan)

The anti-John Denver song. The lyrics get a bit...rude, so not for the easily offended.

Al: Peace & Love

Crimes of the Heart

Crimes of the Heart

(Morgan-Wall)

Another relationship song from the mid 90's. I like the vocal call and response in the chorus and the jazzy intro chords.

Al: Vox, Keys, Drums
John: Guitar
Dave: Guitar, bass

Hive Mentality

Hive Mentality

(Morgan)

Buzz, buzz. This one's been percolating since about '96, with bits and pieces added since then. Rather than futz with it further, I may redo it at some point, though I don't know if I can appropriately recreate the bludgeoning drum sound that hooks me in here. I dig it, but I'm a sucker for an insect metaphor.

Mixed in SQ Quad for surround sound fans. Feel the drone!

Al: Worker bee

You Haunt Me

You Haunt Me

(Morgan-Sookman)

Two words: Moody Blues. Psychedelic, maaaaaan!

Amiable enough, and Sook did a nice job on coming up with appropriately florid lyrics for the task at hand. Taking it at midtempo gives it almost kind of a sea chanty feel. Ahoy, mateys!

BTW, this here's the 100th song (counting the introductory post). Whoo-hoo! Excelsior, as Stan the Man might say...

Al: Vox, guitar
Sook: Percussion
Dave; Guitar, Bass, drums

Nice

Nice

(Morgan)

More True Romance Stories from the house of Al. For any of you who have received the particular faint praise damnation which is "You're really...nice." I dedicate and commiserate to and with you, respectively. Stories have been altered for the sake of rhyme and concision; otherwise, you get the gist.

Al: Guitar & vox

Build

Build

(Morgan)

Found an interesting idea from a '96 cassette demo and fleshed it out a leetle (adding guitars and a keyb bass). This instrumental build (hence the title...oh, you got that...) reminds me in retrospect of the opening part of Genesis' "Duchess", which I liked quite a bit until the part where Phil Collins begins singing, at which point I would always turn the song off.

Al: Building blockhead

Someday

Someday

(Morgan-Wall)

Mid-90's, we start to tackle relationship songs. I remember this as being a group step forward from the punk/heavy metal grunch that we were spewing heretofore. Not entirely successful, but it had some nice bits. We draft in Steve on bass and, in addition to writing the night before the session, actually rehearse it once or twice. Shocking!

Al: Vox, keys, drums
John: Guitar
Steve: Bass
Dave: Guitar

Lucky Number Two

Lucky Number Two

(Morgan)

Whoo, I gotta lay off the "Ummagumma"-era Pink Floyd and get some sleep.

Al: Echoes from the outer reaches of space

I Wanna See You Tonight (Acoustic)

I Wanna See You Tonight (Acoustic)

(Wall)

Hey, I had forgotten about this one. This is a lovely little number written by John (and palatable enough so that we played it at my wedding). I thought I had posted the full electric version of this already, but I can't find it in the archives, so maybe I'll put it on tomorrow. Anyway, this is an "unplugged" mix with an earlier version of the lyrics...kinda nice. Includes John's original strummed/picked intro.

Al: Vox, keys
John: Guitar
Dave: The rest

Can't Let You Go

Can't Let You Go

(Morgan)

Taking a mood and extrapolating on it. Not about anyone I know...any one person, at any rate.

Al: Guitar, vox, ghostly backing vox

Changeela

Changeela

(Morgan)

Probably the b-side to "Numerosophy" in some alternate universe; the detuned guitar gives it that faux-Police vibe. It flows along, right from the studio to you...

Al: Plays it

Eleanor Rigby/Veidbach

Eleanor Rigby/Veidbach

(Lennon-McCartney/Wall)

If you needed any proof that we've always been smartasses, look no further. Originally put out on Pop Machine's early 90's cassette releases, we are joined by guest guitarist John Wall, really making this an Opmium (Pose Machine?) track. Taking our cues from Neil Young, we consider the feedback at the end a separate "art" piece and have labeled our masterwerk accordingly, giving rise to perhaps the only shared "Lennon-McCartney-Wall" writing credit in human history.

Al: Vox, bass synth
Sook: Drums
Scott: Guitar
John: Guitar

Good Boy

Good Boy

(Morgan)

More self-psychoanalysis masquerading as songwriting, but isn't that pretty standard for a boy and his guitar? At least I put some tasty bits in here...this may get a remix to clean up some of the guitar stuff, but for now enjoy the hummable goodness.

Al: Good, gooder, goodest

Spineless Suzie

Spineless Suzie

(Wall)

As promised, here's the Osmium tribute to groupies, a commodity which I do not have first-hand experience in handling. I'll just have to take John's words at face value here.
However, this was a fun one to sing. I plowed into the Steven Tyler-isms at the end with gusto...vive le rock!

Al: Vox
John: Guitars
Dave: Drums, Bass, Guitars

Summer's Day

Summer's Day

(Morgan)

Hey, I know...since it's going to be about 12 degrees Fahrenheit here in Chicago tonight, how about I trot out something I put together in (and about) the oppressive August heat? Ah, I feel warmer already. Chicago weather: if you don't like it now, just wait 15 minutes...or until global warming catches up with us.

Al: Hot hot hot

High Road

High Road

(Morgan)

This little number originated out of a drum pattern and looped guitar figure, though I might lose the hip-hop flava of the rythym track now. I was going for something dreamlike, the idea that there's something just out of the corner of our eyes we can't quite describe...

Al: Road warrior