A lot of snow fell the other day. So this mp3 will happen now.
This is just a cool (pun intended) atmospheric piece, almost threatening to be techno, but not quite getting there.
I really love this one mainly for the title fitting the music. I just really see a night time blizzard with a hooded man in the snow in the distance fighting the wind, drudging along. It was so clear to me when I listened, that coming up with the title was effortless.
It's a pretty old piece (2002), so the sound quality isn't great and there's a lot of awkward mixing (I wish those cymbals crashes weren't in it), but I still love this.
This week's song is a real rarity. I've only played it live...twice? And like 5 years ago.
In early 2005, I had a subconscious sense that my girlfriend of 2 years was about to break up with me. I didn't even want to realize it, but it was coming out in all of the songs I was writing.
In February 2005 I debuted "I Know How To Cry", with her in the audience. A week later she dumped me. And right on Valentines Day too, isn't that nice? Here is a version from later that year, in December (keep listening to the MP3 to hear a joke at the end about the whole debacle.)
Technically this is a really complicated song, and I'm pretty damn proud of my vocal range and performance in this MP3. So hey!
The song is pretty clear. It's about being able to withstand so much pain because you've done it 100 times before. Unfortunately this song just keeps getting more and more relevant. Here are the lyrics. I think the line that tears me up the most is the last verse. Love is when you're smiling and for a brief second you're not thinking about WHY.
Where once you said you love me Now you say "that's enough" Where once we'd go to celebrate Now we walk by and let out a cough
A million things were said that never meant not a thing
A lot has changed But that's OK If another one gets away I'm fine this time Cause I know how to cry I know how to cry
There's a lot of real anxieties Just hanging out by your side And they may make you nervous They may make you wonder why
A girl once through the haze of love would ever want to stay
chorus
Cry all night And then again in the morning In between yawning
For a long time I would smile And I wouldn't even know why For a long time you'd be smiling and you wouldn't even know why
This MP3 is a really nice little guitar instrumental I made back in February 2004. I hadn't even heard this one in years but discovered it just now.
It's almost all real instruments, no synth (except the clickety clackety percussion that comes in about halfway through.)
I count about 6 acoustic guitars (the riff, a bass line, the hitting percussion, the little noodling in the left and then in the right ears, and also a repeating pattern in the left ear), plus an accordion. All together a very calming and sweet sounding instrumental. Not something I can always tap into.
This week's song is Nerd Squint, a little instrumental from 2002.
I really like this one because of how much the title nails what it sounds like. Usually I title these after I make them, and the phrase "Nerd Squint" was the only real choice. It SOUNDS like some fat nerdy kid walking down his school hallway and squinting, because his vision is bad, and feeling some weird sense of pride.
Musically, I just like the arrangement...the bass line, the way the beat comes in right when the melody picks up. The "electric guitar" repeated line throughout the whole thing (OK it's fake terrible sounding casio electric guitar.) Everything helps contribute to the title...Nerd Squint.
This week's MP3 is a song I wrote called "April Fools (Was Yesterday)", and sung by the lovely Yoko Kikuchi. It is part of an ongoing project called Sally, where a female vocalist sings my sad or happy love songs. I play guitar and sing back ups ("oh no.") This recording is from 2005.
This song, and all the Sally songs, are fairly direct: It's a break up song. Here are the happy lyrics! My favorite line is "Let me down gently, but it's still gonna kill me." Ouch.
You say you love me But you're breaking up with me (oh no) You look so happy But you're breaking up with me (oh no)
I don't know what to say except that April Fools was yesterday
I made you happy Now you can't even stand me (oh no) Let me down gently But it's still gonna kill me (oh no)
I don't know what to say except that April Fools was yesterday Unless I'm wrong and it's today Let me be wrong, don't go away Let me be wrong And please say that we're OK
Holding you tightly But I'm feeling you squirming (oh no) Missing you nightly God my stomach is hurting (oh no)
I am honestly quite shocked that I haven't put this up yet as an MP3 of the Week.
A few years ago I started a fake soundtrack to an imaginary videogame I made up called "Crime Streets."
The game would be a Double Dragon-type beat-em-up. Nintendo. Or an arcade. Whatever. I've made a small handful of MP3s to cover the first few levels, the start menu, the Big Boss battle, etc. The concept is that as you listen to the music, it makes you REALLY want to play this game. Visualize it in your head. Smile.
Although it may sound quaint and funny, I am so incredibly proud of these pieces of music. They are some of my best arrangements and I've worked as hard on these as anything else I've done. I plan on putting a lot more Crime Streets score on this blog, so keep checking back!
Anyway, enough of the talking. Let's play some CRIME STREETS! Level 1: CRIME IN THE STREETS.
I took a break from this blog for-reasons-that-are-known-to-me-and-me-alone, BUT NOW I'M BACK. Let's start things with a BOO.
This week's MP3 is a really nice soundboard recording of my band Trouble's Afoot (currently in need of a drummer) performing my song "Halloween", at the Sidewalk Cafe in August 2009.
Once you've listened to that (or don't listen to it, what do I care?), you can see how AWESOMED UP it got once I brought it to my band. Dave's bass is crazy during the "party freak out" section, the drums are completely loose and fun and somehow holding this Frankenstein song together, and my guitar is...well, it's doing it's job. By which I mean ROCKING. HARD. REAL HARD. AND TOUGH.
Mostly because the amp at the Sidewalk Cafe only had one setting -- "ROCKING HARD AND TOUGH", which made the song sound a bit odd, but I like it.
This was always a song I considered a b-side, a little oddity nobody would ever hear. But my drummer LOVED it, and the more we practiced it the more we realized how much more interesting it made our show. All year round, not just in the Fall. I gotta write more like these.
This week's mp3 was made a few months ago. I am extremely proud of it. Here's the story:
Me and my 3 roommates entered the 48 Hour Film Festival. Our movie was about a former child star who was on a sitcom called "Once In A Smile."
We needed the theme song for the end credits. Well, OK, we WANTED the theme song for the end credits. On the morning of the due date, I whipped it together.
The idea is that it's a lame 90s (or 80s?) sitcom theme, with cheesy meaningless lyrics and a heavenly mix and terrible guitar soloing to be "cool", and of course, the bluesy and soulful ending of the song (my favorite part.)
Here are the lyrics:
Every once in a smile You gotta be with the one you love You gotta look right at the sun Fits just like a glove!
Once in a smile A brand new day Through the dark Your face will light the way ONCE IN A SMILE!
Isn't that what life's all about?
We got far in the festival, making it to the "Best Of NY" screening and winning an audience award! Not bad at all. I think the song may have gotten a few laughs at the screening, but it was hard to tell if people knew what was going on.
This week's mp3 is a cool instrumental I made in 2004, called "Slow Me Down."
I just really like how the layers add up here, getting more atmospheric and melodic the farther along this goes. I also like the fake accordion in the last 3rd.
What's it about? Well you aren't supposed to ask what instrumentals are about, duh.
This week's MP3 is a full length rocking instrumental from 2005 called "No Show."
I called it that because for the first time ever I had to cancel a show because I got sick. I stayed home that night and made this.
I've always liked this a lot, it's just really fun and and I'm definitely outside of my comfort zone with the guitar soloing. The ending wasn't really figured out, but hey, whateva woiks?
This week's MP3 is a live recording of a rare piano song, called "Honest Guy." It may be better if I don't ramble on about what it's about. Here are the lyrics:
The thing to know Is I won't go I've been mean I've been obscene
I'd like to say How I've done wrong But you won't let Me on your lawn
I've carried so so much pain I let it out It looks insane
Well I've lived here All my life I've always been an honest guy
I've never been an honest guy So of course I was put on trial
The thing to know Is I won't go This is my home This is my home.
I really like this song. I should make a nice recording of it one day. But until then, this is from a 2005 performance at the Sidewalk Cafe on Avenue A.
This week's MP3 is a cool ambient-like instrumental from 2005 called "We Dream."
Now I don't exactly remember MAKING it, but these are things I like about it as a listener:
I like the dissolving drum beat echo that pans the stereo field and gets more and more lo-fi.
Since I can make a lot of music that is hyper, tense, and upbeat, I like that I have the ability to do some dreamy atmospheric "chill" music. As in, music to totally "chill" to.
I like things that are about late at night and sound like they were made late at night.
This week's MP3 is one of my favorite songs. I was surprised I hadn't put this up yet (I had to google myself to make sure I didn't.) A lot to say about it, so let's go:
It's called "If We Had No Moon." It was based on the title of a scientific and doom-laden special I saw on the Discovery Channel, which basically stated that our moon is slowly being pulled away, and when it's gone Earth will spin out of orbit and kill us all.
Talk about dropping a love song right into my lap! What better romantic metaphor could there be for a relationship ending? Or the idea that a relationship needs the romance of the moon to keep it alive? Le sigh. This was originally going to be a "Sally" song (my side band where a female vocalist sings my songs), but I liked singing it too much.
The 2nd verse in the song is actually based on an episode of The Tom Green Show on MTV. He had a guest on his show who was obsessed with the "face on mars," basically a series of landscape formations that look like a scary sad face in the right light. This man (and many others) say that this face is proof of extraterrestrial life on Mars, or elsewhere.
He was on the show to be ridiculed, and I felt really awful for somebody who was so passionate about something that just was not true and so easily disproved. The idea in general was heartbreaking to me, so I popped it onto the moon song and there you have it, the saddest song ever.
The demo: I'm pretty happy with this demo, though it may be a bit "busy." My acoustic guitar is making little space beeps, the metronome is being used as the percussion track, and I'm proud of the subtle harmonies. No bass necessary, which gives it a more weightless outer-space zero gravity feel. Adding a bass line would have weighed things down a little too much.
Originally my main guitar track was very stiff and boring and "nice," but I realized it felt kind of dead. Inspired by the Rheostatics, I re-recorded it to be a lot more free-form and natural. Some random hits on random strings, not bogged down or sounding like a "scratch track" for people to easily play along with. Again, I was really happy with that.
Here are the lyrics:
These chilly nights make me think I think of you and me, but also other things I think about the laws of time and space and what would happen if everything changed I heard the moon is pulling farther away And soon it will be gone, though soon is far away
And if we had no moon the Earth would not just spin 'round But sideways and upside down And everything would be thrown around
You've heard about that face on Mars? Some people think it's put there By beings very far away I'd like to think that that's the case But evidence has shown that it's just not that way And though the shadows make it look like a sad face It's just not that way It's just a mountain range
And if we had no moon the Earth would not just spin round But sideways and upside down And everything would be thrown around
If we had no moon No times for light or dark Oceans wouldn't know where to start Most certainly we'd be torn apart
Sorry for the delay. Crazy busy week! Next week there will be a very new and very surprising MP3. This week however is one of my favorite little instrumentals, from way back in 2004.
It's called "How Do You Fail?", which is kind of a pun ("how do you feel", in case you didn't get it), and has some cool effects and sounds that I can't remember making and probably can't replicate. For a while I made this one of the first tracks on a CD I gave out that showcased my instrumental skillz. I really like the sound and feel of this.
This week's MP3 is a cover of the great Violent Femmes' song, "Held Her In My Arms," played live by band Trouble's Afoot on November 2nd, 2009, at Niagara Bar. As usual, Dave Fox on bass and Chris Roberts on drums.
This was our drummer's last show. We prepared this Violent Femmes cover very fast, then PLAYED it very fast, as you can hear. It was fun. Please enjoy it.
Sorry for the delay! The internet went down in my house for a lot of last week. ANYWAY...
This week's MP3 is one of my favorite instrumentals I've made from back in 2004. It's called "Everybody's Crying."
It's a rare full length (i.e. over a minute and a half long) instrumental. I borrowed my friend Dave's electric guitar. I'm really happy with the general production of the song. The big drum sound, the atmospheric stuff at the very end, the bass line, everything. The title was inspired by the presidential election results of 2004.
ONE YEAR! It has officially been one year since I put the first MP3 on this blog!
I guess I better put up something pretty special. Please indulge me.
This is one of my biggest songs -- long, multiple bridges, elaborate piano arrangement. Probably one of the best things ever written. Perfect pop song.
But I rarely speak of it's existence.
This recording was made 10 years ago, in October 2000. The demo, as you'll hear, is terrible quality. My singing is quiet and unsure and awkward. The lyrics are uncomfortable for me to listen to, and I won't even mention all the timing mistakes.
But still...this is and will always be one of my best songs. It was essentially me trying to write a Ben Folds song. And in some ways I succeeded, but in other ways it's as much of a "me" song as any of the others. One day I'd love to make a perfect recorded version (there exists a 2nd unfinished demo which I may put up here on day), with a lyric tweak or two (or twenty.) In fact, I still play this song to myself about once a week, just so I don't forget how it goes.
In the meantime, here it is: Miss Glasses. About a girl I had a huge crush on in high school. The drawing at the top if one that I drew (I think someone else colored it...badly) at the time. I am extremely embarrassed by it.
I haven't been updating this as WEEKLY as I'm supposed to. But anyway:
This MP3 is from my show last week. My friend Daniel requested I perform my song "Swish." "Swish" is definitely an odd one. It's lyrics were basically a flowing poem that I wrote and then put to music, playing a chord progression and not worrying too much about the melody or catchyness. Usually not my style, but I think the song has a kind of directness and raw quality that the others may not have.
The song was inspired by this crush I had on a girl. I was trying to get over her, and then I thought I saw her walking by my house. It wasn't her, but the feeling I felt when I thought I saw her (i.e. having a heart attack) made me realize I was in no way over my crush. These are easily some of my favorite lyrics I've ever written.
Here they are:
Eyes focus through the fence down at the train station Some straight haired girl Stole your whole style And I looked like a guy who Had one too many Too many things on my mind
And they fell out Fell down On the sidewalk Dripped down And in the stream of consciousness A cigarette but couldn't help but... resist
Like a log headed for a fall it dripped down to the gutter Underwater tunnel And down to Brooklyn Passed under your shoe I think I hope for once you knew I think I hope for once you knew And while you had to STOP Your friends made fun of your SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH
Thoughts fly like the breeze Sometimes inviting, but sometimes chilly stinging I can remember everything In seconds flat it all comes back In between 0 and 1 That's all it takes to break it down That's all it takes to break down
I have been totally busy and totally slacked off Mp3 of the Week this past 2 weeks. So here is an MP3 now, with another one sooner this week. AUGH HERE WE GO.
This week's MP3 was made with my friend Matt Koff in 2002. He recorded a guitar part and vocals while I was in the bathroom. Then I came out and added some keyboard shenanigans for the 2nd half. I really like this. And I'm betting he forgot this existed.
This week's mp3 is an instrumental called "Grad Rat." I made it on May 17th, 2004, probably the day I graduated from college. I don't know what the title means exactly but when I googled it, that image above came up.
Not much to say. except I think this is a cool instrumental.
This week's MP3 was made...yesterday! A girl I've never met named Sarah Epler said she'd pay me a couple bucks to write a song about her.
Why the damn hell not?
So I did. I thought of the melody while I was driving 2 days ago and recorded the idea into my phone. I recorded the song the next day.
I really used it as an excuse to make my first ever recording with my new amp and my new drum program, making this MP3 very different sounding (in my opinion) than all my others. From now on the fake drums in my music will still be fake, but more real sounding.
EXCEPT!!! For the cymbal that I found in the GARBAGE, featured on this very mp3. In fact, I find it difficult to determine which is the real cymbal and which is the fake cymbal. Try and guess! GARBAGE CYMBAL!
Since I barely know her, I didn't try to pretend that I did, so the lyrics are (sort of) about how easily google-able she is, which hopefully this blog entry will help reinforce.
Lyrics:
Sarah Epler I've never met her But you bet I'll never ever forget her
She's the internet She's an online chat She's a jpeg and a profile and an iphone app
Sarah Epler wrote me a letter Sent her back a letter in reply to her letter
Sarah Epler I can't help her But I'm gonna do what I can
Sarah Epler Gave me a dollar That I plan on spending on Sarah Epler
This week's MP3 is "Horny Manatee", a song I wrote and recorded in one day.
Back in 2006, Late Night With Conan O'Brien was doing a running gag in their show about a website called HornyManatee.com, and asking for people to submit artwork.
I wrote a song, thinking maybe they'll play it on the show or even invite me ON the show. I was literally a day too late. That night, Conan enthusiastically debuted a band who "actually wrote a song called 'Horny Manatee'!" They sang their song, and I felt awful and annoyed. God fucking damn it! I mean, seriously!
I still sent mine in, with no reply. But I like it a lot. I think the recording is really nice, and the melody and chord progression are interesting. Maybe I'll change the lyrics so it can become a real song and it isn't so retarded.
Lyrics:
This manatee is good enough for me Every girl I know's been wrong for me I'm not a gay, and things are looking gray Get me a big ol' manatee
A big ol' manatee comes to me in my sleep
I've had enough of all this landlocked love I'm heading out to the sea No girl will find me No one will mind me Being away with my horny manatee
My horny manatee Comes to me in my sleep My horny manatee Not half as horny as ---
This week's MP3 is a very old instrumental I made on May 15th, 2002, called "Skating."
One of literally hundreds of instrumentals I was making nonstop at the time, this was one of the many where I thought the title really nailed what the music sounded like (I would usually make the music first, then title it.) I believe my friend James Jajac came up with the title after stopping by and hearing it. James also crushed a soda can at the very end.
If you can believe it, that horrible static sound about 30 seconds in is actually an electric guitar I borrowed. I had no good way of recording an electric guitar. So it sounds like crap. The accordion sounds nice though.
Hello there! This week's mp3 is actually something I made THIS week. I've been submitting theme songs for Kevin Allison's (The State) podcast RISK!, as well as serving as part of the house band for the live shows. Here is one of many theme songs I've made.
It's very affectionately in the style of Stephen Merritt, or his band Magnetic Fields. I'm really damn proud of this. As my friend Daniel said, "you've got the moon, love, dancing, lullabies, and death, all in under a minute."
This week's song is from a live show I had a month ago! I explain the origin of the song to the audience in the MP3, so need to ramble over here! All you need to know is I handed out a list of songs, so that the audience can make request. That's what you hear at the very beginning of the MP3.
It's a happy loving marriage song. It also contains one of my only guitar solos. Enjoy!
Here are the lyrics, why not?
Here we are laughing at the same joke Half an hour and it's time for the next show For everyone who says that boring lives have no surprises, well I've got one
Will you marry me so we can go to sleep? Will you marry me so we can watch TV? I've spent too much time by myself doing things that never add to much I'm one, you're two, and we'll be pooped together
For a time I didn't go out much I met you and we don't go out much (but it's nice) For every dollar bill I save by staying home for dinner We get thinner
(chorus)
Counting down bringing in the new year All around it's been a pretty good year A simple resolution is easier to keep And I'd like to keep you - keep you here
This week's MP3 is extremely special and random and rare.
Back in 1999 my friend Matt Koff gave me lyrics for a song he wanted to perform at the senior revue for his high school in Ardsley, Westchester. I put them to music, and the plan was for me to go to the piano and play while he sings. We were really happy with our work, but the people in charge didn't want us to take too much time away from the show (which is crazy now that I think about it..we wrote an original song for ARDSLEY HIGH SCHOOLl!), so the plan got aborted and we replaced it with something a lot weirder.*
This is the 2nd demo I sent Matt -- the first one was too fast -- and even though this was 1999, and possibly the first full song I ever wrote, I'm pretty impressed with how elaborate it is. And it's also fun.
* Matt grabbed the mic, said "and now everybody, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!" I came on stage in a suit, did a bad Christopher Walken impression and said "The fire exits....are over THERE....And over THERE....Please...remember that...or else you're gonna get caught in a FIRE...!" to much confused laughter and silence.
This week's mp3 is from December 10th, 2002. It is a very rare (and the only) live performance of a song called "Posters (Tear Them Down)."
This song, along with several others, was written as a kind of fake "punk" song, when me and my friend Daniel were set to perform at a punk show and needed some tunes. Daniel described the songs we wrote as "songs for teenagers." Other songs written that week include TV Girl, I Want My CDs back, and Movie Set Girl. These will most likely pop up on this blog soon enough!
So this song was about wanting to tear down the posters in your wall as an obvious metaphor for hating yourself and wanting to change your identity. I actually really like this song. It's in another confusing subdivision of songs that aren't exactly sincere attempts at writing a song but still come out to my liking, magically turning into a real song in the process. Here are the lyrics:
I'm sick of being used to all the posters in my room but i'm just too lazy to take them down
All the posters on four walls with their colors loud and all sing me a sad song in stereo sound
I'll tear them down Let the scotchtape rip off the wallpaper Then put up some more To cover up the scars
There goes the one with the cartoon face Smiling at me, taking up space Now I'm Glad it's in the trash bag, buried alive
There goes the picture from the magazine Years ago it wad added to the scene Now I can finally see what's on the other side
chorus
These posters from the past have been up for way too long I'd rather not stare at the squares that desecrate my wall I'd rather stare at nothing at all.
All these posters in my room seems like they've been up for a century or two Now I know exactly what I have to do
This week's mp3 is a fancy sounding demo for a song called "Never, Ever." I worked hard on this demo, especially the drums, which were sampled actual drums that I PIECE BY PIECE placed into the song BY HAND. It was insane and stupid but I was experimenting. Every little drum hit or hi hat hit or bass drum hit...all placed by hand as I desperately tried to keep the timing in line.
Upon listening to this now, I'm pretty happy with how this sounds. The guitar is really nice, the arrangement is interesting, with the acoustic guitar also doing a bass line...the harmonies are nice. Nice job, me.
Anyway, I'm not sure I want to say specifically what the song is about, but it's one of those epiphany type character studies I do enjoy ever so much. Also, I was trying to write a Morrissey type line for the end of the song. Here are the lyrics:
Things move so slow They never go In the window She waves hello
Never, ever
The grass is cold Between my toes My big new home My silk bathrobe
Never, ever, never, ever, never
Dirt in a hole A boy grown old The more I know The worse it goes
This week's mp3 is from one of my many "side projects", Proceed To Small Talk.
Proceed To Small Talk is an experimental recording project with my friend (and bass player) Dave Fox. We both do everything on the songs -- write, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, vocals, etc. You can learn more about us on our myspace: Http://www.myspace.com/proceedtosmalltalk
This track is a favorite among our friends, titled "Is It Free?"
The legend goes, we ordered a pizza, and were waiting for a very long time for it to arrive. While we waited, we created this song.
As I can recall, it's Dave on lead vocals and acoustic guitar. I'm on synths, and banjo. Possibly backwards guitar too.
This week's mp3 is a live cover of "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins. Me and my band (Dave Fox on bass, Daniel Matz on drums) performed this at Pete's Candy Store in April, 2006.
We wanted to play a cover that people knew (for once), that was kind of a funny and odd choice, but that we were sincere about. Despite not even being Pumpkins fans, Daniel and I admitted that "1979" did mean a lot to us back in the day, and it still affects us (Dave not so much.)
I was really happy with how this came out, and the audience seemed to dig it. I definitely wanted people to be kind of confused about why we were even covering this song that everybody has heard 1000 times, but won over at the same time.
