Modern & Im/material Things

Working draft of a new instrumental. Feedback welcome.

Production Notes:

DAW: Logic Studio 9
Keys = Customized Synth Patch from Logic Library
Bass = Electric Bass recorded through Midi Interface
Guitar = Hagstrom Viking RexTone Recorded Through Midi Interface; Modeling done directly in Logic
Drums= Drum loops re-worked and edited in Logic [Only part of the song not actually written and played by me] 

Part Two of my Judy Butler, Deep [Minimal?] House track. This is just an instrumental mix. Still working on making Judy Butler’s lecture work without being overkill. 

Production notes: Logic,
Synths, bass and guitar parts by C.Dennaoui
I ran my Hagstrom Viking Rex Tone through a Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler which is the best $400 dollars I have dropped in a long time. 

My pal Rosi, who supplied the vocals on the song “Little”, posted a final mix of one of her songs to Soundcloud today. The track, “1 to 5,” consists of her vocals layered, overdubbed using a looper. I think some kind of vinyl plugin was used on the final mix. Maybe it’s the iZotope Vinyl plugin, which is free and used by folks like Toro y Moi? Hard to say.

Either way, give the song some love; it’s a really lovely track. 

I decided to rework a song from forever ago. Not a perfect draft but much better than it was in the Fall. I wrote the song with two other women, Carley and Rosi. Due to logistics, our project (International Women) unfortunately ended sooner than I wished it had. Here’s the one thing we managed to do before Rosi headed back to London to make sweet beats and songs using a looper!

Note: Vox supplied by Carley Mostar and Rosi Croom of Autumn Music; Cello by Carley Mostar

Lyrics written by all of us

Music and Production by Me

LeXo, a Paris based electronic band, and I have spent the better part of 8 weeks ‘remixing’ and re-situating Slavoj Zizek’s Occupy Wall Street speech as an electronic music track. We are currently working on a more in depth write-up of our process working across countries, continents, DAWs as two strangers who have never met but connected in the realms of musical taste and political ideology. Expect a more formal post about that in the next week or so. In the meantime, enjoy the Zizek remix. Spread the word and share feedback. This is our attempt to reimagine how something like the Zizek speech can experienced and shared. 

#occupychristmas

P.S. I drew the cover art/portrait of Zizek in case you’re interested.

Click through for more information about LeXo’s work or my own. 

I spent the better part of this evening revisiting some of the electronic instrumentals I wrote several years ago. Similar to stumbling upon your high school journal full of bad poetry, listening to old songs is like opening up a sketchbook of sorts: sometimes I have moments where I think “Oh, I might actually have talent” and other times I think “What the fuck is going on here?”

And then I found this song, which started as a joke and never evolved into anything else. When I finished writing it, my first thought was “This could be in a GE commercial.” Six years have passed and I still think the same damn thing. 

When I am not writing electronic music, I play in a band with a drummer and another guitarist. I’ve been describing our sound as post-rock jazz. Our attempts to find a practice space have been eventful but unsuccessful thus far. So, in the meantime, we’ve been playing acoustically. We recorded a track from our acoustic attic session this afternoon. 

Josh is on drums, Ian is on guitar and I’m also on guitar. If you’re curious, I am playing an Godin Archtop, which sounds like a resonator when recorded. I am also the first guitar solo after the jazz break, if you feel a need to pick me out. Our drummer played a floor tom, ride cymbal and lap drum as a snare with brushes.

Rough draft of new instrumental, one that is more guitar driven than anything else I’ve written. Feedback welcome.

In Which I sample Zizek’s discussion of love from “Examined Life” in a minimal, dub inspired electronic instrumental. 

I’ve been joking about dropping some Zizek in an instrumental. Something about a little minimal, dub/darkwave synth heavy instrumental seemed like an appropriate sonic take on Slavoj. Can’t say it’s finished but it’s amusing enough to share. I think this moves me into an entirely new echelon of pretension. Oh well, at least I’ve ACTUALLY read Zizek.

My Minimalist Electro Remix of Night Version’s Instrumental “Zenith”

Night Versions is a local band and their music can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/night-versions

The Original “Zenith” song can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/night-versions/zenith-demo

Study #1 in Ambient Hip-Hop:

In which a rap-metal band asked me to translate my atmospheric, ambient style into hip-hop. This is my (very rough) first draft. To be clear, I know jack about producing hip-hop beats. I’m the least gangsta person I know save for the tat of “Thug Life” on my stomach. 

For the past few months I have been collaborating with two female singers on an electro trip pop musical project. Our goal is to create atmospheric and dancey electronic pop music. The above is a working demo of our first track together. This track is sort of like chillwave with a cello!

For those of you who have been following this blog, you’ve probably heard various drafts of this track (which can be heard here). This is by no means a finished track. Think of it as a “This is how this song will sound” draft. However, I’d like to take a break from it and solicit (constructive) feedback. So if you’re going to tell me it sucks, tell me why or just keep your opinion to yourself. And although this sounds alright on laptop speakers, I’d recommend listening to it with headphones. 

Who’s doing what:

Me: Production, Beats, Guitar
Rosi Croom: Lead Vox
Carley Mostar: Backup Vox, Cello

The lyrics were a joint effort. 

(Very) Rough Draft of New Instrumental Track, or the product of too much Burial and Palestinian Folk Music.