Trio. Wow. Bad. Okay.
So, i’m uploading the first bad one and the second bad one, because they’re bad for totally different reasons and between the two of them you can almost see the good that i intended. In the first one i’ve got too much voice and too much guitar and it’s all just much too much, and in the second one i don’t have much voice left at all despite having solved the other issues – but the voice makes a big difference. Fuck. Now i’m not going to be able to hit my high note tomorrow for practice-juries. Or, is that today… I’m such a stubborn little fucker. Trio will be the death of me, i’m sure of it.
Reccomended: Trio A – Tired Of Sex (Weezer), Up & Down, Buildings and Bridges (Ani), The Trouble with Poets (Mulvey), Lost (original key)
Not For the Faint of Heart or Ear: Trio B – The Trouble with Poets (Mulvey), Lost (original key), Up & Down, Tired of Sex (Weezer)
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Grab the lyrics to the new Trio! “Unstrung” was initially written the night i saw Peter Mulvey, though i’ve been chipping away at it ever since. Anything in the Trio that isn’t in the lyrics i posted was ad-libbed (and probably is nearly what will be in the finished version). “Punk” has had official lyrics for quite a while now, but let’s not forget that it made it’s first appearance right here in an early Trio. “Make It Last” has plagued me ever since i first hammered out the lyrics in a blog window, but now that i changed the key it works a lot better than it used to (thought it’s not any easier to play). “Will It Ever Come” was the top-secret song on the demo because no one had ever heard it and the lyrics were tucked into the “relative obscurity of the second week of the page. Now the cat’s out of the bag, but no amount of online performances will truly ruin the wacky version that made it onto my new demo. “Other Plans is the oldie of this bunch; it predates this blog, Drexel, this computer, and lots of other things too. But i still like to play it, so it’s all good. “Other Plans” is the second oldest song on Relief, and only loses that title by a month (to “Bridge“). So, now that i’ve totally overwhelmed you (and me) with links, you ought to listen to the damned Trio so you know what i’m talking about. But, no matter what you’re doing, i’m going to sleep. G’night!
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So, yeah, today’s trio is up. In the true spirit of Trio, it features brand new and mostly unrehearsed material recorded in one ten minute take. The new song might be called “Colorblind,” and that’s the first time i ever played it. The second song is the infamous Ani tune from earlier this week (which i transcribed by ear yesterday), and the third was linked way back on last Sunday. So, this is actually a relevant Trio. Enjoy.
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I just recorded a Trio of four songs… both couples of songs. The new two from Thursday and the combo of “Splinter” and “Hold on Me.” I don’t know if i really want to upload it, because it feels a little too raw, but i want to have those songs on here to hear, so we’ll see. But, for now i have to go. *sigh* See you later.
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Monday, February 19, 2001
I wrote two songs this weekend, like flipsides of a coin: one bitter and detached and the other one guarded and head over heels. Pretty much the A-side/B-side to my life right now. So far they seem to be titled “Splinter” and “Hold on Me,” but lyrics are still in flux. God, where the hell did this come from? Two months of dry spell and suddenly i have something to say. Go figure.
Been waiting for a Trio, have you? Well, get prepared for a monster-sized new-guitar special: 8 songs & 30 minutes long! Witness me tear through “Bridge,” “A Long Time Since,” “Inadequacy Song,” “Punk,” “Almost,” “World In My Hand,” “Relief,” and the always sparkling “Under My Skin.” I make no promises as to the quality of this recording: i’ve been playing this guitar for under 24 hours, i’m sick and i can’t hear the sound of my own voice, i’m dealing with wacky amplifier distortion, i haven’t done a Trio in a month, and i’m sure i clipped the microphone at least three times in every song. But, anyway, if you’re the sort of person that cares about this sorta thing, it’ll be up for your listening pleasure come midnite. Enjoy.
While you’re waiting for me to upload the new Trio (almost 5megs, and still as low quality as ever), feel free to check out some other new audio: namely, the three ad-libbed love songs i wrote for the folks over at the SurvivorBlog2 PeanutGallery in a blatant attempt to win their affections earlier this week. “ErnDawg,”(Tony,) I Want More,” and “Revirginized Honey.” The first is on a bass played an octave high to simulate a guitar, the second is on an electric guitar missing a significant amount of strings, and the third is played just as bass-melody. Funky. Which is your favourite?
There’s a new Trio on the sidebar. I didn’t really mean to take so much time off from it, as i mentioned last week, but i did. Today i spent a lot of time in the recording studio working on a dubbing project, and after listing to the results i’m starting to think that Trio’s going to have to drastically change it’s tact or just fade away. I absolutely cannot make a satisfactory recording anymore standing here at my computer; my songs are not about planting my feet firmly and strumming anymore. now they feature quiet to loud dynamics and bouts of near-whisper by both my voice and my guitar. Today i picked that all up in stunning digital audio, and it made me feel so powerful. You could hear my attack on the microphone, and the pick scraping against my bottom string, and the bass thump of my fist against the bridge of my guitar. I recorded an impromptu Trio … songs i’ve played already for the webpage but in rompingly fun versions that pulsed and buzzed. I’m going to look into doing digital audio transfers onto disc or wav, because after that day in the studio recording here made me plainly sad. Still, this week’s Trio is something special… the elusively classic “Falling Down,” a new Madonna cover, and the sentimental “never say goodbye” (reportedly an audio homage to Ani DiFranco, but then, isn’t everything i play?). Listen! I promise to work on better audio quality in the meantime.
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Sunday, December 10, 2000
A new and varied trio was just recorded in one take, freeing up the rest of the day for me to lounge around and do nothing. First is the work-in-progress “burn,” and then an amazing turn at my longtime favorite “bridge“, and finally an oldie that i basically rewrote as i sang it: “fad“. The latter was a shout-out to my hostee Sky, who took a liking to the lyrics of the song. So, have a listen to a second week’s worth of unrushed and uncluttered Trio. Yum.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2000
trio is finally up, and it’s an odd one. “Disguise It” and “More Than That” are two songs that originated on this very page (here and here), and since then they’ve been on the back burner for quite a while. “Lost” is a long lost song originally mentioned nearly two months ago when i couldn’t get it re-recorded correctly. “Lost” is an interesting case because i wrote it a whole step under standard tuning, but i never tune down to there so i’m forced to sing a whole step up (not the most comfortable place for me). These three are very much a representation of what Trio was initially meant to be, so i hope you can enjoy them not matter how rough their edges might be.
Sunday, November 26, 2000
Trio is in the can, and i am bleeding. Alot. But, the music was good. Ouch. Give, Like Mine, & Nothing To Say.
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Sunday, November 12, 2000
A very bad Trio was just uploaded. Don’t listen to it. Really. Just listen to last week’s trio again. It’s so bad… but then i broke a string on my electric and couldn’t record another one. Please dear god, don’t subject yourself to me attempting to play an electric guitar while Matt uses our broken sink to get water all over the floor of the bathroom.
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Trio got done in one take! Listening back to it now with Amy & Matt, but it should be up by halfway through x-files. Happy listening.
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Ha! I mistakenly uploaded the bad trebly version of the Trio, but it isn’t too bad, so i’m going to upload both versions and you can hear twice the fun. Here’s the second one Gotta love that nearly unlimited space….
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New Trio is up! And so early!! This week’s songs are Deadweight (again), Other Plans (finally), & Afterglow (randomly). Enjoy my melodious voice … errr… scratch that… anyhow, if those songs don’t float your boat, try either the trio archive or my audio archive.
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New trio up and hopefully functional … grab lyrics to the other two songs here, or older audio here. Be back later. Loveya!
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A very unusual Trio has been recorded for tonite, to match my unusual Autumn mood. First comes “Under My Skin” featuring little of its actually melody, then comes “Inadequacy Song” where i strand myself in the middle of an ad-lib and have to struggle out, and then the fragile new “almost.” Listening back to it now, but i’m fairly certain that i’ll be uploading these songs within the next hour.
Whoo!! A successful Trio is being uploaded as we speak, featuring absolutely no talent, coherency, or enunciation on my part (but one half-naked neighbor walking into his refridgerator). Oh, yeah, and the songs world in my hand, novel/gaze, & lament you. I suggest checking out the lyrics, cause otherwise i might make even less sense than i usually do. Really.
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Sunday, September 24, 2000
I suppose for all my fucking up, Trio is a very true thing. For example, last week i made it through two songs perfectly, and then turned in a fun but flawed version of a third song. My playing is obviously not always up to concert quality, and by posting the first live take that i make it through i show some of the thoughts (musical and actual) behind the songs. Sure, i might have messed up all three songs tonight, but wasn’t listening to it more fun, in a way, than listening to some glistening album cut? Maybe that’s just my love of Ani and Tori showing through, and maybe that’s a bit strange for someone who’s a fan of good music, but i love outtakes. And, rest assured, Trio is heavy on those.
Sunday, September 10, 2000
New Trio is up and featured a bit more prominently on the sidebar (god only knows how people were expected to find the link from last week, ‘cuz i don’t). I encourage you to listen to it, since this entire site really did start from my music (which remains the center-piece). This blog just adds background to where i’m coming from in my songs.
On that note, i’m gonna talk about “deadweight,” which is one of the songs from this week. I originally wrote the lyrics in July of 1999, and then arranged it in early August. When i first wrote the lyrics i thought they would head in the musically jerky direction of Elastica’s “Hold Me Now,” but i wound up being more influenced by my summer obsession with Melissa Ferrick (one part Ani, one part Melissa Etheridge, shake well). I actually didn’t think “deadweight” would amount to very much at all, which is evidenced by the fact that i wrote it upside down in the margins of another song (which remains unused).
The chorus came first to me first: here i was headed to college while some people seemed to be intent on keeping me rooted to the spot where i stood in every sense. While most people tend to think the song is about my mother once they hear that much about it, it’s actually about a friend of mine from highschool. He was perfectly fine as a friend, but his whole life was centered very much around secrecy, competition, and negative energy. I increasingly found that being with him kept me rooted in the catty snappish spot i spent much of high school in, and i didn’t want to be there anymore. However, as many times as i tried to “cut him loose” in the past, i always wound up friend with him again. Realizing all of this in “deadweight” put an end to the vicious cycle; i haven’t spoken with him since.
For more commentary you can head here or here. Audio of “deadweight” and most other songs i mention can be found in the AMkitchen, which is the core of my webpage.
Sunday, September 3, 2000
What’s going on with the layout, you ask? Why have i been idle for over an hour, you wonder? Let me tell you why!
As of this instant i have added a new weekly feature affectionately dubbed trio. Basically, once every weekend i will sit down in front of my computer and play a continuous live take of three songs to RealProducer, and then upload them as a 28k RealAudio stream to the site. A trio concert will only be up for a single week, when it’ll be overwritten by the next one. This week’s selections and performance was rather tame, but in coming weeks look for me to debut brand new songs and a few covers as well. And, unless i change the name of the feature, i’ll always play a trio of songs – no more and no less. This might lead to some creative rearranging on my part, but i guess we’ll have to see.
In this week’s trio streaming concert you can HEAR “Never Say Goodbye, “Bridge,” and “Under My Skin.” Send any requests to me and i’ll see what i can do. I have been known to do Tori Amos and Madonna covers by order in the past.
