Circles

Really old demo recording that I recently found on a decaying tape.

It's like a dub of a dub, I think. Dumb lyrics. It was a staple for a while, I remember recording many versions of it. Then I was embarrassed of it. Now I don't care!

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posted by chococat (16 comments total)

Very nice chococat.

Yummy!
posted by Zenabi at 3:38 AM on May 9, 2010

Melodic rhythym is beautiful.
posted by Zenabi at 3:40 AM on May 9, 2010

Distorted dub of a dub sound good. Me like.

Your vocal delivery, these lyrics and the overall character of this tune brings to mind They Might Be Giants for me, in a big way.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:55 AM on May 9, 2010

Funny to hear this in 2010, because now it sounds just like a good song and now we can judge it by its qualities alone. I think the texture of the fuzzy bass gives it a Nirvanaesque 90s feel, but the beachboyness of the songwriting takes it to a completely different place. Had I heard this in the 90s, I would have think it was the perfect antidote for some of the things that were abused in mainstream music in that decade.

Perhaps that's all too abstract, what I'm trying to say is that it has that some of that 90s sound (the best aspects of it, in my opinion) without all that contrived rage that everyone seemed to need to put into everything. It's like a Beach Boys song given the Nirvana treatment, which spelled out like that sounds horrible, I know, but both bands made great, great songs, and this song is a great song reminiscent of the best aspect, not the cliches, of both bands.

On a brief side note, you often complain about your own lyrics. I guess you don't feel writing lyrics is your greatest strength, but for what it's worth, I've never found a song of yours I felt was ruined, or lessened, by the lyrics. It does happen to me with other people. Natalia Lafourcade makes amazing songs with really, really, stupid lyrics that do not serve the songs. Of course this is not meant to be a dictum or anything, I just wanted to say that, from this side, your lyrics don't sound as bad as they apparently sound to you.
posted by micayetoca at 9:51 AM on May 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

It was a staple for a while, I remember recording many versions of it. Then I was embarrassed of it. Now I don't care!

Ah, the classic evolution of a song! I am envious of how good your early demos sound. My early demos are... embarrassing. To say the least.
posted by ORthey at 11:41 AM on May 9, 2010

The start of this reminded me of Blur's Beetlebum although the song's nothing like that. This is a cool demo choco - kind of wondering what it would sound like if you re-recorded it? I guess, like the rest of us, your chops as far as getting things down on "tape" are better now than they were then.....
posted by MajorDundee at 11:54 AM on May 9, 2010

i was going to say TMBG too, but was afraid that might be taken the wrong way as some find them rather annoying. i do sometimes. but this isn't annoying at all. and i love the lo-fi-ness of it.
posted by peterkins at 3:17 PM on May 9, 2010

Really, really good. So warm.
posted by Corduroy at 3:29 PM on May 9, 2010

I like how the chord progression unfolds, how you use the relative G# minor of B and then turn around with G major later--that G major is probably what gave micayetoca the echo of Nirvana. It's compact, and works. It's an earworm.

Yeah, it's always iffy and sometimes unwelcome to play the "this reminds me of" game, but I'll add a 1990s name to the list. I think the use of minor chords and especially the guitar solo remind me of Michael Penn.
posted by umbú at 6:02 PM on May 9, 2010 [2 favorites]

yeah, I was guilty of such "reminds me of"-ism upthread. Hope you didn't take offense, chococat. None intended.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:33 PM on May 9, 2010

Man, this is awesome. The super-fuzzy guitar and the super-clean harmonies are neat together.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:43 AM on May 10, 2010

was guilty of such "reminds me of"-ism upthread. Hope you didn't take offense, chococat. None intended.

Same here re the gratuitous "Blur" ref - maybe we should have a zero-tolerance approach to comparisons....?

And I wish you colonials would learn to spell the Queen's Inglish proper. It's offence Flapjax not offense. Well, honestly........you'll all be spelling colour as color next, or theatre as theater ;-)
posted by MajorDundee at 12:03 PM on May 10, 2010

Thanks!
And no offence/offense on the comparisonisms. I do it all the time.
posted by chococat at 1:01 PM on May 10, 2010

I like every song I've ever heard calles "Circles," and this continues the streak. Thanks!

I like that lo-fiety. I see the TMBG comparison, but specifically, their early demo stuff, like "Weep Day," is what it's kinda like.

Thanks!
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:27 AM on May 11, 2010

I really dig this and am glad you posted it.
posted by snsranch at 1:35 PM on May 12, 2010

All we have are comparisons! Who's to say who's riffing off who(m)?

What's fascinating is that we can date popular music via the harmonic content at all. People really do listen to other people! Which validates the comparisons!

I got TMBG thru the vocals, and the mid 90's thru that tag before "like my head". But what I really gravitated to is the dead simple drum beat, and the tasteful guitar stabs that stand in for snare hits otherwise. This is a really great arrangement, and you obviously have been refining your arranging abilities for a long time, chococat, to great effect!

P.S. Your head is completely round? Were you cesarean?

P.S.S. I apologize for the abundance of exclamations in this comment. Sometimes I can't find the words to speak, so I shout instead.
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 8:45 PM on May 13, 2010