Rainy, dreary evening here in Madison.  I love it very much thank you.  I've always been warm to the idea of a cloudy March and April, with rain just pissing down on us all.  I guess it springs from my roots on my family's farm.  I know we all need it, so it's cool.

Some time ago, I played an embryonic version of "Summersmiles" to a work colleague ( Read more... )

A short session on Friday, adding some toy guitar to "Vanity" was followed up with a longer session today.  Finished the tricky second verse with some porn shop doorbells mixed low and I've moved on to the final chorus.  Hoping to twist the main hook a bit, I've decided to slow the tempo slightly and add a big kick to the finish, envisioning a long ( Read more... )

I'm calling it a night after a slightly frustrating session where I tried just about everything to make "Vanity's" second verse more dynamic.  I wound up creating a little "black hole" of ambience with a church organ, a thumb piano and a Tarzan yelp.  I gave it a bit of distinction from the surrounding bars of music with some creative, old-school ( Read more... )

Dabbled with the "Vanity" drum track and chinese stomp samples tonight and found a lovely new way to make my stop-starts more dynamic:  Slow the whole damn rhythm track down, much like playing a 45 at 33 RPMs.  Gives the song a nice, jerky quality.  Now on to the top information ( Read more... )

Added some subliminal beetle bits (no, not actual Beatles) to "Vanity Show" tonight.  It now revs up quite nicely to verse two, but said verse needs some work.  It has a nice stop-start motion to it, but the stopping needs to hang a bit more.  Some atmosphere needed.  Maybe pull out my wind samples again, but mix them with some other subtle noise ( Read more... )

So the wife and I spent some time in Door County, hiding from blizzards and trying to keep our fireplace lit.

It was nice overall.  We were a mixture of lazy and artistic.  Watching Vertigo while watching the storm outside our window and creating glass and ceramic art at a Fish Creek based studio called Hands-On Art Studio.  It comes highly ( Read more... )

Finished the bridge for "Vanity" tonight.  Only a verse and chorus left.  I think it might need a coda.  It's still punchy and fights with me a bit ( Read more... )

I'm adding (what I believe to be) a Chinese stomp group to "Vanity Show."  Because every album needs one.

Wait, is that you, Rain?

Finished production on the choruses for "Vanity Show" tonight.  Added some Japanese bells and some sampled Cuban harmonies and it's sounding very perky ( Read more... )

"...let's win this one for the Gipper!"

Two Minutes of Hollywood Inspiration.

Lyrical notes to myself...  "Lindsey In Parenthesis."  "Just dance and sing.  Don't be so fucking stupid."

Musical note to myself...  The Apples In Stereo are a terrific fucking band.