Hum 1:Barely a Nun

Hum 1: Barely a Nun

(Morgan)

This is how the suburbanites sample. Way back in '88 I had access to the Syracuse University electronic music studio, ostensibly for a class I as taking. This loopy concoction was my second project and eventually made it onto the Mindflux tape (ah, yes, our college band Mindflux. Remind me to tell you about them sometime...) Consists of sampler, analog synth, voice and a skip from a Grand Funk Lp I found for 33 cents at the local record store. That's old school looping, boy-ee!

Al: Sounds (save for the loop of Grand Funk Railroad's "I'm Your Captain")

Cover Me

Cover Me

(Morgan)

No, not the Springsteen song, but I stole the title. I wanted something evocative/hypnotic; adding the creepy echo always helps. Hope the narrator gets his phone call...sounds like he needs some sleep...

Al: Vox, keys, etc.

Kung Fu Fighting

Kung Fu Fighting

(Douglas)

An oldie but goodie. Our version of this Carl Douglas classic ALMOST made it onto one of Pravda records 70's tribute compilations back in the early 90's, but it was not to be. The deft implementation of chunks of "A Fistful of Yen" from "Kentucky Fired Movie" make it a stone classic, tho.
Fondest memory: several of us working the wah-wah pedal like a bellows while Scott H got funky. Studio fun!

Al: Vox
Sook: Backing vox, percussion, SFX
Scott: Guitar, backing vox
Mike: Keys, backing vox
Dave: Drums, backing vox

Hey! Here are some more profiles, keeds...

The Playas:
Scott Sookman (Sook): Pop Machine:
Raconteur-about-town Scott Sookman is the high priest of high concept and one of the creative minds behind the whole Pop Machine venture. Willing to tackle songwriting in almost every conceivable genre, Sook has dabbled in bass guitar, percussion and keyboards but seems to be most comfortable behind the vocal mic, creating characters and adding entertaining fillips in his own inimitable manner. Sit down, have a drink, and be entertained.

Scott Hewitt (Scott): Pop Machine:
Guitarissimo and songwriter Scott Hewitt provides the all-important final angle in the three-cornered hat which is Pop Machine. Always there with a great song idea or way to punch up someone else's, Scott has a quick mind and caustic wit which can also be viewed at:
Check it out.

Mike Lawrence (Mike):
Keyboard wizard (an overused term but appropriate here) Mike Lawrence has been indulging us in our whole Pop Machine/Osmium trip now for 15 years and still picks up the phone when we call. A prolific and talented songsmith in his own right, Mike is always up for a challenge and throws himself into every musical situation he finds himself in with gusto and finds a way to come out on the winning side. His advice has been invaluable...who else could come up with a great vocal arrangement on a song devoted to Whirling Blades of Death?

Go Home With Me

Go Home With Me

(Morgan)

Had trouble finding songs that combine elements of Santana, Prince and the Residents? Well, look no further! As always, 365 is looking out for you, the savvy music consumer. Please enjoy this readymade ditty about fish, presidents and lovelorn androids.

Al: Fourier transforms of love

Wireless Head

Wireless Head

(Morgan)

My coworker Joel made some remark about a "wireless head" one day in passing (which I may have misheard entirely. He could have been asking "why buy bread?"), causing me to clap my hands in glee. "I'm gonna make that into a song!" I enthused, as Joel smiled and nervously backed out of my cubicle. Well, after some pushing and prodding, here it is.
Turns out it's about a person who's so into gadgets they've replaced their entire body with 'em. It's not about anyone I know, he said as he sat surrounded by his computers, tape decks, processors...

Al: Drums & wires

Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch

(Morgan)

So a guy buys a few Elvis Costello resissues and thinks he can write like the man. The nerve! Obviously influenced by Mr. C, I pulled this together back in '94 under the sway of "This Year's Model". Mr. Steve gives up a great bass line and I try to hang in with a nod to another Steve: Nieve. Boxing metaphors...whoda thunkit?

Al: Drums, keys, vox
Steve: Bass, backing vox
Dave: Guitar

Note: Since I haven't had a chance to put up the companion website for this yet, please enjoy a few profiles of some other folks who have contributed to the music. I'll post one every few days as appropriate. Now you can see a few last names...!

Steve Kanter (Steve):
Another college bud, Steve is a great player (which he will deny) who is always on the spot with the right bass line. We started recording stuff together in the mid-90's for a possible project, some of which may see the light of day here if I can twist the Stevester's arm hard enough. I still draft him for stuff when I'm in LA, and he makes a mean bowl of oatmeal.

Walking Through Your Soul

Walking Through Your Soul

(Morgan)

I'm not sure what the words to this mean...they just seem to fit the feel of the song as it built up. I'll let any L'il Frueds or Junior Jungs take a crack at it if they want. Drop me a line if you figure it out...

Al: Walkin'

Climate Control

Climate Control

(Morgan)

Here at the 365 project we tackle the big questions like: What price do we pay for modernity? Do I control my creature comforts or do they control me? And: will a studio rat creating garage techno make a sound that's like Kraftwerk attempting doo-wop? We answer these questions and many more in today's installment...

Al: Hi!

Mist

Mist

(Morgan-Wall)

Ooooo...atmospheric! It would seem that the idea here is that love is amorphous and we have a grand capacity for self-delusion in the name of said love. However, we like to keep ya guessing so I'll not say more than that. Some tasty keywork here by Mike, and we all get to be Moody Blues for a day.

Al: Vox
Mike: Keys
John: Guitar
Dave: Drums, Bass

(Say Goodbye to) Good Ol' Rock and Roll

(Say Goodbye to) Good Ol' Rock and Roll

(Morgan)

Boy, grad school is really kickin' my ass. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to post anything new for almost two weeks, but I'm glad to have a chance to do so now. Please enjoy this Ramone-ish ditty; a bit slower than da brudders, but with extra guitar noodles (which go great in marinara sauce).
The narrator here seems a bit cranky about all things rock going the way of the dodo. Lighten up, dude! Vinyl is making a comeback...

Al: Good Ol' Rock and Roll

Louie Louie

Louie Louie

(Berry)

Continuing the covers, this one's good for a larf. I remember discussing the following back in the early 90's with the other Pop Machine guys whilst washing the dishes one balmy LA evening (my wife will dispute this, as she insists I NEVER washed the dishes back then).
Our mutual buddy Tommy G had jokingly observed that many Steely Dan songs started out in D minor; being the smartasses we are, this caused a mutual lightbulb to go on over our heads (this was actually the lightbulb in our front hall, which had been on the fritz). What was the most un-Steely Dan song we could think of to transpose into Becker-Fagenland? Why, the mighty "Louie Louie" of course. With the help of Dr. Dave and his magic sampler, we were on our way.
Mike, being the true musician that he is, considers this a bad joke and has voiced his displeasure on occasion. Naturally, we consider this a sign that we have succeeded in our misanthropic goals...

Al: Backup vox, keys
Sook: Lead vox
Scott: Lead vox
Dave: SFX, sampling

I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone

(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

(Boyce-Hart)

Another quickie for y'all. My various bandmates and I have played this song in various forms for many years, and here's the most recent version I've committed to disc.
I've played this for my kids a number of times, and when I threw on the Monkees hit version a few weeks ago they asked if they could hear this version instead. Zounds! It's good to grow your own fans...

Al: programming, echo chamber

(I Hear My Baby's Voice) On the Radio

(I Hear My Baby's Voice) On the Radio

(Morgan-Hewitt-Sookman)

Crank up the studio magic, the Pop Machine boys are in town! Recorded in the waning days of the last millenium when terrestrial radio was still king, we salute a bygone era where hearing voices in your head was still a quaint notion. Hum along!

Al: Vox, Keys, Drums
Sook: Percussion
Scott: Guitar
Dave: Keys, Bass

Primal Man

Primal Man

(Morgan)

Not to be confused with last night's entry, this is another Pop Machine demo from around the same time. This one is dripping with angst, and I swear to God that I had not yet heard of Trent Reznor when it was recorded.

More SQ Quad goodness. Why? Because we care.

Al: Rzzzzrrrgh
Scott: Backwards Drum Pattern

Paranoid Man

Paranoid Man

(Sookman-Morgan-Hewitt-G)

Sook's in town! In honor of his visit, chew on this Pop Machine demo from 1991. Very noo wave, we pull out every robotic stop in the book on this ode to...well, paranoia. Are we not men?

Also mixed into SQ quad for you surround sound equipped androids.

Sook: Vox
Al: Synth-y goodness
Scott: Guitar
Special Guest Tommy G: Guitar

Nice Guys Don't Get Laid

Nice Guys Don't Get Laid

(Morgan)

Ah, memories. This song dates from my early LA days, and has hung in there for quite a few years. Sook and I used to attend songwriter conferences and I submitted the original demo of this for judgement by B-level industry professionals (which was pretty cool, considering we weren't even D-level). Since it was a rinky-dink 4-track cassette demo recorded on a cheap keyboard, the reaction was mild at best. However, it got a big cheer when the title was announced...
This version was recorded some years later (about '95) and actually made it into an indie film, the name of which completely eludes me at the moment. This is a slightly less rinky-dink 4-track cassette version. Mike occasionally mentions that he's come up with a bluesy arrangement for it that we could spiff up nice over at Dave's studio. Now THAT I'm up for...

Al: Throbbing keyboards & whatnot

My Turn

My Turn

(Morgan-Wall)

Rock!! We go for an AC/DC vibe, though I think I get a little Ronnie James Dio at times. I went waaaaaay over my range for the last verse run-through, but it sounded INTENSE, so in it stays. Someone get me the Cepacol, please...

Al: Vox
John: Guitar
Dave: Drums, Bass, Lead guitar

G.T.O.

G.T.O.

(Wilkin)

Some years back, John got really hot to record a cover of this classic car song by Ronnie & the Daytonas. Well, all right. I never argue with a man willing to pay for the studio time, so off we went.

I heard the original on the radio today and decided to throw ours up on the site. Dig those crazy car lyrics...I'm not exactly sure what a "rail job" is, but I'm sure it's only legal in Thailand.

Al: Lead & backing vox
John: Some Guitar
Dave: Everything else

Do the Funky Dial Tone!

Do the Funky Dial Tone

(Morgan)

Continuing our early-90's excavation, please enjoy this toe-tapping instrumental selection, designed to get you bopping along on your busy day. An operator will be with you shortly!

Man With The Mileage

Man With the Mileage

(Morgan)

OK campers, now that we've settled in for the long haul, let me pop open a few more vintage cassette demos to hold up to the light. The next few entries are from '93/94-ish, so if you don't like 'em don't blame me, blame the me of the early Clinton administration.

I have to say this has one of the odder set of lyrics I've come up with (which for me is pretty damn odd). I'm not sure who the titular character is, but I would not want to meet him in a dark limousine any time soon (unless I was equipped with one of those Oscar Goldman exploding briefcases. Who came up with THAT idea, anyway?)

¿Dónde Están Mis Pantalones?

¿Dónde Están Mis Pantalones?

The Big Daddy of Pop Machine Spanamerican novelty songs. This may well be a perfect distillation of the PopMo smart-assedness that we are not quite legendary for, and an ideal starting point for neophytes. Recorded at my birthday party some years back, the main Hewitt-Morgan-Sookman axis brought this idea to the table for a number of people to kick around and have fun with, and this resulted. Enjoy, and if you're Beck, please don't sue us.

Al: Vox, acoustic guitar, drum sounds
Sook: Vox, percussion
Scott: Vox, percussion
Steve: Bass, vox, percussion
Dave: Vox, percussion
Tom McAndrew: Sax, vox, percussion
Toni Morgan, Bill Spring, Neil Levin & assorted revelers: Vox, percussion

Numerosophy

Numerosophy
(Morgan)

There's something about certain alternate guitar tunings that say to me "Police B-Side!" Noting that and the fact that I had the usual 3 hours to come up with a musical gem, I decided to take a whack at the oeuvre (French for "egg") of Sting, Stewie and the other guy. Perhaps closer to (as usual) early XTC than our heroes, please nonetheless enjoy a little 365 tale about a man, a plan, a canal: Panama! (Oh, wait, that's a palindrome...)

BTW, the first line is a tip of the hat to Randy Newman, who noted about America's "classic" "Horse With No Name" (I'm paraphrasing here): "When I heard the line 'The heat was hot' I knew it was going to be a hit".

Al: Sub-Jungian philosophical musings, heatstroke

Rolling Down

Rolling Down
(Sookman-Morgan)

Hands up, everyone who has O.D'ed on classic rock radio growing up. I'm looking at you, Mr. Sookman!

In all seriousness, here's a good song to kick off the weekend. A rousin' rocker referencing the road, righteously rebellious (all right, all right, I'll stop. I'm not Stan Lee, after all), conceived by Sook and polished by Dave & the Pop Machine guys, it hums along nicely and will leave you doing likewise. Which Doobie do you be?

Al: Vox, keys, drum programming
Sook: Bridge vox,percussion
Scott: Guitar
Dave: Lead guitar & bass

Through the Cracks

Through the Cracks
(Wall)

Reaching back to '95 for this one (another stellar Dave Waterbury/Osmium production), when this new "internet" thing was all the rage. The idea of you being able to erase your digital footprints is a compelling concept, now certainly more than ever. I decided to pull this one out after a frustrating afternoon of trying to install new software on my Mac and spending hours on the phone with tech support to no avail...and then finding out the only service center within miles I can take the damn thing to is going out of business (!!)

Fuck it. I always wanted to see what a large object would look like falling out my second-story window. Anyone who wants a Mac G4 can come over with a broom, dustpan and magnifying glass...

Al: Vox, keys
John: Guitar
Dave: Drums, guitar, bass, keys

Heavy

Heavy
(Morgan)

I'm fascinated by the changing slang of our society, so this is a musical exploration of that. Basically, I'm noting that many complimentary adjectives (heavy, dope, fly, etc) sound pejorative when taken at face value, hopefully in a reasonably punny way.

I worked on some "heavy" music to match. You might hear a Failure (the band) influence to some extent if'n you're a trainspotter with these kinds of things. I dig the whole post-grunge-art-core-metal dissonance thing, right?

Whoo, coming up with 3-4 custom made songs a week on top of everyday life is work. Wake me in August, 2007, OK?

Al: Sounds

Remixes

Yesterdays (Go On and On)
Drowning In Attitude
(Morgan)

So now we're rounding to corner into our second month (yay, us), so it's 2-for-the-price-of-1 day. Thanks to all who have stopped by and given me feedback so far...

Here are a few remixes into SQ quad as a shout out to the fine folks coming over from "Quadraphonic Quad", a truly wonderful site for multichannel sound enthusiasts old and new. Check it out, music fans!

BTW, when I mention remixes, I am generally referring to them in the "take the existing elements and redo volume levels, instrument placement etc." sense rather than the more contemporary "remove the drums/guitars/keyboards/vocals and replace them with glockenspeil/funk banjo/tabla/guest rappers etc. in an effort to completely change the song" sense.

Not that I have any problem with the latter, I just haven't gotten it right yet. My attempts at revamping material usually just make a Pop Machine demo sound like a very odd Pop Machine demo. Oh, well, I'll keep trying, and one day I'll be able to live out my secret fantasy and refer to some of my music as "Crunktacular!"

A Love Song

A Love Song
(Morgan)

As advertised and simply put, a love song. Can't we all do these once in a while?

Al: Guitar & Vox

Theme From "The Soft Addiction"

Theme From the Soft Addiction
(Morgan)

As I sat in the studio tinkering I adopted the persona of a young singer-songwriter who thinks himself to be a latter-day combination of John Lennon & Bob Dylan and who writes songs that, though he's not sure what they mean, exude INTENSITY and IMPORTANCE, man! This rushed out...

I do not consider myself to be this person. I consider myself to be a latter-day combination of Thorstein Veblen, Moms Mabley and Pliny the Elder. Or Weird Al.

Note: "The Soft Addiction" is the latest band name I am enamored with, and hope to use it on future projects. Were I in 10th grade, I'd carve it on a desktop using my pen. Come to think of it, I might yet.

Al: Guitar & Vox

1000 Miles Away

1000 Miles Away
(Morgan-Wall)

Another tale of emotionally dislocated lovers, set to a poppy beat and hummable tune...this is what radio has taught us. The tambourine in the chorus seals the deal.

Al: All vocals, keys & drum programming
John: Guitar
Dave: Keys & bass

Tired and Wired

Tired and Wired
(Morgan)

Deliberate chaos, punk rock with a cold, recorded breaking all speed barriers to meet our deadline just as Momma taught me. What he said. What's it about? About 3 minutes.

Al: Grarrrgh