undulate underling

A short, lyrically strange new song partly based on a dream.

Not sure what to say about this one. It lacks a verse/chorus/verse type structure -- it's basically a long verse, a kind of prechorus, and then it slows down and repeats a couple of lines four times amid ocean sounds. My sometimes Internet collaborator Riadsala recorded the bassline I wrote.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by edlundart (7 comments total)

skipping from stone to stone
to cross a childhood river
small challenges mastered one by one
rowing from shore to shore...
well the metaphors confound me
but these images echo our home

the living room floor is a sea
the couch wasn't meant to hold you
the couch only applies to me

you're a carpet swirl
a wood knot in a floorboard
everything that founds our home

you're the water
that could drown me
it's strange but it can set me free

be my surroundings
undulate underling
i want to float on you
posted by edlundart at 9:04 PM on July 20, 2008

That's a fantastic song -- I really like the second part (the texture, namely). You've captured the dream element to it well.

Not sure what to say about this one. It lacks a verse/chorus/verse type structure
It's hard to pull off music that sounds immediately pleasant that doesn't follow the verse/chorus/verse pattern. I think you got it in this song, though.
posted by spiderskull at 1:18 PM on July 21, 2008

This is not at all my usual type of thing; not in the slightest. But I really like it. The texture is fantastic, I love the fretless bass, and the sudden change at the end is really, really nice. Thanks for the surprise.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:38 AM on July 22, 2008

Thanks guys. I enjoy the change at the end as well. I got kind of sick of this as I was working on it because I'm eager to try to record some songs using more peculiar time signatures and harmonic textures, etc. I'm going to take a really different approach to recording my next song. We'll see if it makes much difference to the end result...
posted by edlundart at 9:37 AM on July 22, 2008

This has a kick-ass beat/groove.
posted by ORthey at 6:08 PM on July 24, 2008

It lacks a verse/chorus/verse type structure

This isn't about that comment I made on your knack for catchy hooks, is it? :-)

The structure may be unusual, but the two parts sound very much like a verse and a chorus to me. (Or verses and a chorus, I guess.) I think the atypical arrangement works well here. The "Be my surroundings" section especially sounds great.

I look forward to your experimenting with time signatures. I'm always a fan of that.
posted by danb at 8:54 PM on July 24, 2008

Heh. R.E.M. always said that "Losing My Religion" is a song without a chorus, whereas I feel like it certainly does have one. I guess it's all in how you perceive it when you write it. I think what I mean is that it doesn't go from a verse to a chorus and then back to a verse, and then back to a chorus again, etc. It just goes one way and then it's done.

The catchy hooks comment was totally appreciated! :-)
posted by edlundart at 9:45 PM on July 25, 2008