Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

(Trad.)

And another new direction for 365: I'm currently taking some piano lessons to learn how to play the "correct" way (as opposed to the normal plonking around I do to come up with this stuff) and this is one of my practice pieces. So I add some synth strings and vocals and presto!: another 365 piece. Multitasking!

Your Mileage May Vary (Demo #2: Nu Wave)

(Morgan-Wall)

Another YMMV demo, this one in a more new wave style. I recorded these on the same day to see what each approach would be like. Turns out we wound up recording both versions in the studio...how's that for mileage?

Re: Percussion

Re: Percussion

(Morgan)

That's what I like about this site: I can (and sometimes have to) grab onto an idea that I might not have fully developed in another context and take it to see where it goes. Here we go with the tribal beat and pile on the drums, giving us a hypnotic groove thingy that...well, check it out yourself. About time I was allowed a drum solo...if Iron Butterfly can do it, why can't I?

Your Mileage May vary (Demo #1: Heavy)

(Morgan-Wall)

How heavy metal can you get with a distorted organ? (Insert your own dick...joke here.) Trawling back thru the cassette archives brings us one of the many interesting demos for this song. Name checking Jon Lord of Deep Purple is completely justifiable in this instance.

Calling the Bluff, Pt. 2

And....we're back! Sorry for the delay, folks, but it was a very nutty weekend over here. I promise we'll play catchup for the next few days and post 2 songs until we've hit our quota later on in the week.. With that said, let's begin the fun...

Gaaah!

(Morgan)

Heh heh, nice suggestion, Eric! As you can tell, I'll turn anything into a song. I must say, it is a peppy little number for something devoted to a primal grunt. Is guess that must make it punk rock...

The President's Analyst

(Morgan)

Here's a cheery little number (heh) from the mid 90's. For you eagle-eyed culture vultures, yes, I stole the title from an old James Coburn movie. I've never seen the film in question but I liked the title so I "nicked" it, as our friends across the pond would say. Somber yet hummable.

Gaaaah!

Sorry, folks, it's been extra crazy over here for the last few days...but I promise to post again tonight and catch up for the last few days. Thanks for yer patience, and enjoy the music!

Al

She Bangs My Head

She Bangs My Head

(Wall)

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh, BABY! Are you ready to ROCK? (I know Cousin Eric is...enjoy this, fella!) We hit the wayback machine to those pre-Nirvana days of yore (Days of your what? Har-dee har har) so you can enjoy Osmium in all its big hair glory. I think this is probably John's fave early Os-joint, and I'm pretty fond of it, as well. My "Ian Astbury on helium" impression still gives me a grin when I hear it. Ah, memories...

Al: Yow!
John: Guitars (natch)
Dave: Drums, bass, more guitars

Electric Sandwich

Electric Sandwich

(Morgan)

Groovy, man! Like, wow! Like, what if hippies had modern synthesizers? Would they have made something like this? Would they have drenched the vocals in delay like yours truly? Only the fates know for sure! As the song suggests, "bite into the Electric Sandwich" and find out! Soon to be on an Electric Lime Peel Expansion Module compilation near you...

Al: still biting

Grantham Heights

Grantham Heights

(Morgan)

Cap'n Sam lovingly rolled his glass eye around in his mouth as he thought about what to best say next. The orb made a slight clicking sound as it made a circuit past the good captain's teeth, and finally he released it into his hand with a slight wet Pop! Grunting slightly, Sam then carefully pressed the eye under his eyepatch and into the waiting socket. Satisfied, he then cleared his throat and studied the young man before him.
Young Billy gazed up at the captain as if examining some strange new species of exotic bird. Still weak from a night belowdecks on the HMS Rotterdamnungfillip, Bill cast a jaundiced eye upon all of his surrounding, not least of all his brightly attired host. Wondering whether he should bring up the Treasure of Chao Yung Sang, he decided against saying anything at the moment, instead relying on a series of eyebrow movements to communicate his unease to the seemingly oblivious captain.
The captain thought this amusing, and stepped down to clap Billy on the back. "Ho! We have a feisty one today!" Turning to the first mate, he bellowed "Mr. Mohammed! Bring me the tar paper! We have a live one tonight! This'll be a shore leave, to remember, I wager!"
Bill said nothing but clenched his teeth in anticipation of the events to come. Just a few more hours, and there would be raspberry jam enough for an entire city flowing from the shattered hull. And for once, HE would be in control...

Technofugue

Technofugue

(Morgan)

We revisit "Centrifugue" from a few weeks back, stripping off all but the vocals and building it back up as a new song. I wanted to see how grunge might translate into electro, and the answer is...surprisingly well! Maybe Kurt Cobain would have gone techno had he lived after all (yeah, right...and maybe Pat Boone will make a heavy metal album...)

Al: a nu man

Get the Funk Out Of Here

Get the Funk Out Of Here

(Morgan)

Another cassette goodie. More Phil Collins than Bootsy Collins, it's really just an excuse for me to use the title, which hopefully is clever and cheesy at the same time (cleveesy?)

Al: All funked up

Walk the Silent Road

Walk the Silent Road

(Morgan)

So the wheel comes 'round and we have another soft one tonight. The lyrics are another mood painting, but relate to the idea that emotions are inexpressible sometimes, solace seems to remain out of reach, and that we have to keep on keepin' on. You know, garden variety happy happy dance music kinda stuff...expect to hear this one on American Idol, I'm sure. I'll get this outta my system and the next one will be a punk rock ode to flatulence...

Al: Still Walking

Do You Feel?

Do You Feel?

(Morgan)

Back to the cassettes. Humboyah! The answer to tonight's musical question is "as often as I can." Seriously folks, I'm here all year, enjoy the drum machine.

Al: Feelings, nothing more than...

Feed The Machine

Feed the Machine

(Morgan)

Never let it be said that I didn't push the envelope of new sounds and technologies...what we have here is essentially a 70's keyboard workout in the context of an 80's dance song using 90's sounds played on an '00s keyboard. It's all music, homeez!

Al: More machines

December's Child

December's Child

(Morgan)

More 90's cassette; here's an instrumental I've always been fond of. I will often plonk down in front of my gear and just start riffing on stuff just to de-stress, and the best of the ideas form themselves into songs. Of course, with this site I've gotta be a bit more focused...but only a bit. Don't want it to become like actual work, dontcha know...

Al: Snowed in

Air

Air

(Morgan)

Back to the 90's we go for some cassette demos. Ah, youth! Nothing like the aural equivalent of old photos to get the ol' cringe reflex going. Still, I will endeavor to separate the chaff from the less-chaffy here.
Here I go for an interesting vibe based on the classic "overdub the four-track until you can see through the tape" philosophy. Kind of a groovy art-funk-vocal thang here...echo is your friend!

Al: Airhead

Beat Me Up

Beat Me Up

We return with new material designed to sound old. A bit of Merseybeat, a smatter of Motown, and a big chunk o'punk (60's style)...Martha and the Standellas, if you will. Of course, the tongue-in-cheek-osity is much higher than on your standard garage raver, but that's just the way I roll.
I freely admit to being inspired by "Talkin' to A Jar", our entry from a week or so ago...your check is in the mail, Mr. Sookman. All we need are some scratchy 45 noises and we're off...

Al: All right!

This is It (Not the Kenny Loggins Song, Sorry)

Chocolate Down (SQ Quad remix)

OK, this is the last SQ remix I've got for a while, so more new lummage tomorrow. For now, get up and dance around your speakers, funk puppies! (Hey, there's an interesting band name...)

Al: 72% cacao

In Which We Continue the Trend Started Last Night

Ha ha! Thought you escaped, didn't you? Well, my pretties, prepare yourself for another round of action with Al's Mixing Board (well, it's really a computer-based digital audio workstation, but youze gets the idea). The culprits this evening are:

Instant Revolution! (SQ Quad remix)
(Morgan)

Call me a sailor, I like this one. Peppy, some nice little keyboard bitsies and a message for all you kids out there (I think it has something to do with the fact that I can't drive 55, but I can't quite remember).

Centrifugue (SQ Quad remix)
(Morgan)

Oh! The moaning. Oh! The angst. Oh! Henry. It's as if the 90's never ended. Party on, Wayne!

Al: Come again? Don't mind if I do...

Al's Semi-Regular Quadraphonic Remix Extravaganza!!

Dissidentists (Jumpin' 'Round Guitar) SQ Remix
Dissidentists (Static Guitar) SQ Remix
Sacred Lullabies (Extra Moody Bluesian Vocal) SQ Remix

(Morgan)

No, the title does not refer to a circus act. This, as you may remember, is where I get to put my feet up and fiddle around my with surround sound gear in the name of buying myself a few days. "But why, Al", you opine, "should we download the same tracks we downloaded in weeks past?"

"Ah ha! " I counter, "even if you play these back in simple stereo there are changes, nay IMPROVEMENTS, that I believe you will find of interest. In fact you can feel free to discard the previous versions if you so desire...why, you should smash the computer holding the old files. SMASH, I say! THAT is how confident I feel that you will find these tracks UTTERLY SUPERIOR to any previous versions. Ha ha! Ha ha! Glerk. Bring me my medication, my face is spasming..."

And so on. I may be overstating the case a trifle, but to make up for it I attach TWO versions of "Dissidentists". (What's the difference? One has more swirly guitar bits.) All tracks, natch, are encoded in SQ quad. Enjoy.

And on a different note: Well, it looks like we just passed the halfway mark for the year-long project here. Holy Crap! I might actually make it all the way through...

Al: Better the second time

Crown of Despair

Crown of Despair

(Morgan)

Y'know, I haven't really taken a potshot at the Goth genre for a while. That's a shame, really, because if any genre is humorless and ripe for parody it's that one. So here ya go, a little sumthin' purposefully designed to sound like bad Depeche Mode (I know there's inherent redundancy in that statement, but let's roll with it for now). Aficionados may argue that DM is not "true Goth" and namecheck several dozen bands I've never heard of. Fine. Get yer own blog.

Al: Really, really, really depressed (until the ice cream arrives)

Damage Control

Damage Control

(Morgan)

Well, it's a good thing I'm sitting here in my underground bunker plonking away at my keyboard, as aboveground I'm sure cries of "Bring me the head of Rex Grossman!!" are resounding out into the night. Not a happy day for Chicago football fans, but hey, we're all about the music here!

Al: Touchdown!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

(Morgan-Wall)

Osmium gets all socially relevant and shit. We take on consumerism with a wide array of weaponry including incisive lyrics, lyrical incisors and streamlined production values. We put a bit of effort into this and it comes out swingin'. The arpeggiated piano riff came to me in the shower, as many good things do. Mmmm, soapy!
Yes, the title was subconciously "lifted" from an old Gil-Scott Heron song. Steal from the best, I say.

Al: Massed Vocals, Keys
John: Guitars, Radio Voice #1
Dave: Drums, Bass, Guitars

Talkin' To A Jar

Talkin' To A Jar

(Sookman)

Mindflux time again. Y'know, now that Little Steven's "Underground Garage" is hot and happening, there are all kinds of Scandanavians out there exploiting the sound of good ol' USA 60's punk. Just let it be known that we were in the FIRST wave of exploitation back in the 80's, and we're damn proud of it.
Here, Mr. Sookman scores with his Standellian tale of young love and prescription medication (I think). Good stuff; also contains my first (and last) recorded attempt at playing the harmonica, which sounds like it should be on life support. I wisely stuck to keys on the rehearsals and live version of this track, which I will post imminently.

Sook: Vox & percussion
Al; Keys & harmonica
Andy Hammond: Guitar
Dave Minken: Bass

In Which The Author Comments, Sonically, on a Variety of Issues Which Are of Relevance to our Society, Partly in Response to Post-Post-Modernism, Enco

In Which The Author Comments, Sonically, on a Variety of Issues Which Are of Relevance to our Society, Partly in Response to Post-Post-Modernism, Encompassing a Series of Sub-Tributes and Arcane References

(Morgan)

In which the author comments, sonically, on a variety of issues which are of relevance to our society, partly in response to post-post-modernism, encompassing a series of sub-tributes and arcane references.

Al: In which the author comments, sonically, on a variety of issues which are of relevance to our society, partly in response to post-post-modernism, encompassing a series of sub-tributes and arcane references.