May 2011 Archives (all archives)

May 31

Old Man (cover)

My best effort to turn a Neil Young song I've always disliked into a big blustery rock thing. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 3:22 PM PST - 8 comments

May 30

Music Challenge for June

I'm going to be your moderator for June, and this month's subject will be: SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE. Details inside, plus a description of how July's moderator will be chosen. [more inside] posted by unSane at 5:19 PM PST - 9 comments

The Tunneling Horror

A small New England town finds itself unable to eliminate the tentacled terror that lurks deep beneath its basements and sewers.

posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:01 AM PST - 3 comments

808 Digital Gamelan

808 drums, canned percussive samples, .. and gamelan!

posted by ageispolis at 2:23 AM PST - 0 comments

May 28

Winter Song

My one minute song recorded on Garage Band. (circa 2005).

posted by jabo at 10:43 PM PST - 2 comments

Ana Ng

Easy listening cover of the song by They Might Be Giants. [more inside]

posted by mubba at 2:35 PM PST - 2 comments

May 27

My Girl's Blues

A little rough, a little raw. Just a little old-time blues instrumental.

posted by snsranch at 9:33 PM PST - 6 comments

May 26

The Hurr Durr Swamp

A track I put together in an afternoon to test some MIDI software. [more inside]

posted by LSK at 6:37 PM PST - 1 comments

_Come On Round Here Baby

MeFiMu debut of the Electric Drum! From the Smoke Benders' recent Hokuriku tour, this is a tune I've posted before in a solo version. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:37 PM PST - 6 comments

Keyboard Workstations and DAWS

How well do keyboard workstations like Tritons / Motifs / etc. play with DAWs like Sonar / Reaper / ProTools in terms of MIDI / sequencing? If I have a sweet sound in my keyboard how do I bring that into my DAW and then susequently edit time / duration / velocity in the DAW? How does the DAW ultimately record the sounds from the synth? I am confused between audio vs. midi and how these two play together. posted by jasondigitized at 11:55 AM PST - 1 comments

I Must Confess

From the Gospel According to Britney

posted by ageispolis at 8:20 AM PST - 4 comments

May 25

kikkit

heavy distorted electronic - 4/4 beat, EBM-ish... [more inside]

posted by symbioid at 7:27 PM PST - 0 comments

Keep on Loving You (REO Speedwagon cover)

For the Challenge: I attempt to massage a horrible song by a horrible band into something Not Bad. [more inside]

posted by DiscountDeity at 5:38 PM PST - 4 comments

Additional Small Things

I loved ianK's minimalist take on All The Small Things the other day, and I thought it'd be fun to fill it out with a bunch more acoustic instrumentation and harmony vocals. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 11:17 AM PST - 6 comments

The Bitter Withy

Six-year-old Jesus was a bit of an asshole. This is an old traditional English song. I think I first learned it off a Watersons record. [more inside]

posted by nebulawindphone at 8:47 AM PST - 0 comments

What She Says

What She Sees

posted by ageispolis at 7:56 AM PST - 0 comments

Weird Dream House

Lucid dreaming heartbeat house. Field recordings and textures recorded within the last week here in Seattle. [more inside]

posted by loquacious at 6:39 AM PST - 0 comments

Cooling Card

I don't often deliberately set out to learn a cover, but I love this Jawbox song a lot and wondered if I could somehow squash a bassline and two guitar parts down into one. Not sure if I succeeded, but this is a lot of fun to play.

posted by Maaik at 4:20 AM PST - 1 comments

May 24

vampire deer - walks like a lady

the demons forced me to do a cover of a journey song - now i must shower

posted by pyramid termite at 10:24 PM PST - 2 comments

All The Small Things

I seem unable to cover songs (even those I hate) without making them sound completely earnest.

posted by ianK at 12:12 AM PST - 8 comments

May 23

Whole Bag of Wrong

Here's another one from the Smoke Benders' recent Hokuriku tour. Clocking in at 8 minutes, it's a wee bit longer than previously posted tunes here. It goes through summa them changes and all, and includes some psychedelic diddley bow solos. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:52 PM PST - 3 comments

Wayfaring Stranger

First stab at recording my new Estey folding Chaplain's pump organ. [more inside]

posted by unSane at 11:40 AM PST - 9 comments

Acetaminophen with Codeine

TAKE 1 TO 2 TABLETS BY MOUTH EVERY 4 TO 6 HOURS IF NEEDED FOR PAIN [more inside]

posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:54 AM PST - 1 comments

online music communities

Forums / Online Communities for Musicians: recommendations for Lo-Fi Electronic Pop? [more inside] posted by mary8nne at 7:56 AM PST - 3 comments

May 21

Songbird (Kenny G cover)

As a saxophonist who loves (real) jazz, I hate pretty much everything Kenny G has done. He took a wonderful and expressive art form, sucked out all emotion, joy, and creativity from it, and left a hollow, dessicated husk in its place. To top it off, he hoodwinked the American public into thinking his vision of jazz was what jazz is and always was. In short Kenny G is the Karl Rove of music. [more inside]

posted by baniak at 7:17 PM PST - 5 comments

Cave Creek Jail (The Real Deal EP Version!)

So a good long while back I posted an early demo version of this song. This, right here, is the final finished product that is on the EP. [more inside]

posted by pazazygeek at 8:36 AM PST - 1 comments

May 20

Judgement Day

Let's go grab a pizza.

posted by man vs sun at 9:30 PM PST - 1 comments

Tequila Sunrise (The Eagles)

This is a horrible rendition of a horrible song. Does it even make sense? [more inside]

posted by snsranch at 4:46 PM PST - 9 comments

Higher (the slam poetry version)

Inspired by vampire deer and DaDaDaDave and their covers of Creed, I couldn't help myself. This is a self-serious slam poem version of Higher, with a bit of my dad's Lutheran minister preaching style mixed in. [more inside]

posted by Corduroy at 10:27 AM PST - 8 comments

May 19

Oh Death

Once again, it's that song that I just can't stay away from. This time it's coming at you from the Hokuriku region: live in Kanazawa, Japan, from my trio, the Smoke Benders. Our tuba player Daysuke Takaoka is channeling the deep didgeridoo spirits on this one. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:21 AM PST - 9 comments

May 18

Middle Management

Meet Doug Sanderson. He's just landed a job with authority over a meager number of employees and he's on top of his very small world. [more inside]

posted by man vs sun at 7:38 PM PST - 4 comments

May 17

Sustain

Short little thing, decent guitars and frustrating digital drums. [more inside]

posted by erikgrande at 8:11 PM PST - 2 comments

Every Breath You Take

It's a little known fact that wedding band and creepy stalker favorite "Every Breath You Take" is actually a cover of an old folk standard, as this recently discovered outtake from the "Another Side of Bob Dylan" sessions shows. The glossy adult contemporary arrangement popularized by Sting and the Police has unfortunately displaced the traditional arrangement in popular memory.

posted by Et En Arcata Ego at 10:23 AM PST - 16 comments

Captain a Ship

A song about unrealistic relationship expectations. [more inside]

posted by JPDD at 8:19 AM PST - 4 comments

Silent Movies

A song about love, silent movies, and people who pretend they watch silent movies [more inside]

posted by minifigs at 1:43 AM PST - 2 comments

May 16

vampire deer - my sacrifice

i just couldn't bring myself to do a journey song - just couldn't do it - so runner up is creed, a band that i rather dislike, except - even though they do this in their usual sludgy, draggy style, i hear something in this song they didn't - and so ...

posted by pyramid termite at 11:24 PM PST - 5 comments

prisencolinensinainciusol oll raigth - (tone loq remix)

A much better mix/edit of this.

posted by loquacious at 9:14 PM PST - 5 comments

I Go Blind

I got to really hate this mofo over the last couple of weeks. So I had no choice but to record it. [more inside]

posted by unSane at 8:39 AM PST - 9 comments

May 15

2011.04.21: Baritone Ukulele, Temple Block, Guitbass, QSR

Woodblock minimalism, combined with electronic soundscapes, alternate string tunings, and a nice healthy drone thrown in, for good measure. [more inside]

posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 10:58 PM PST - 1 comments

May 14

round the corners.

Messing around using snarling dogs wah, as to this question, and then decided to use garageband to make the bass and drums. [more inside]

posted by infinite intimation at 11:32 PM PST - 0 comments

Oxidising Base Metal

Minimalist guitar piece. All one guitar. Imagine a tractor factory at night

posted by Jonesisdying at 5:18 PM PST - 2 comments

Drum Mixing Woes

I trying my hand at recording and mixing drums in a full kit, and I'm having trouble getting it to have that sort of punch that most drum recordings have. [more inside] posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 4:23 PM PST - 9 comments

Celebrated Summer

My 12-string and I take a fingerpicking stab at the Husker Du classic. [more inside]

posted by COBRA! at 12:34 PM PST - 4 comments

Prelude-Midnight (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Having already tackled Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Christmas Music, and the Catholic Church, we decided that, for May's Challenge, it was time to up the ante to the second worst thing ever: TSO's non-Christmas music. [more inside]

posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 5:27 AM PST - 2 comments

May 13

Nodul Gangbyeon

I am making some (very) short recordings for my grandmother of the Korean folk songs she taught me. I thought I'd put one on MetaFilter. [more inside]

posted by peachfuzz at 10:04 PM PST - 9 comments

And Over Again

A song about loss that I've been working on for a while now, but today, it is finished and released on cassette-single / USB drive hybrid [more inside]

posted by thetruthisjustalie at 2:13 PM PST - 3 comments

Joscho Stephan Trio

Joscho Stephan Trio [more inside] posted by Zenabi at 6:42 AM PST - 3 comments

The Music Incubator

Introducing The Music Incubator, a place to incubate your musical ideas until you're ready to go public with them. [more inside] posted by unSane at 4:16 AM PST - 6 comments

May 12

Higher!!!

See, I think about weird stuff. Like, what would happen if you combined Creed and (a really sloppy, tuneless version of) The Buzzcocks? Heh, well, you'd get the Creedcocks, wouldn't you? And you know, I think they might sound a little something like this... [more inside]

posted by DaDaDaDave at 11:08 PM PST - 8 comments

Fix You

Here's a quickie for this months challenge to record a song you hate. Fix You, by Coldplay recorded as a really slow, lo-fi, slightly out-of-tune and very out-of-rhythm bedroom song. A tiny preview of my new pump organ makes it's way into this recording (which you can check out here) [more inside]

posted by Corduroy at 3:31 PM PST - 12 comments

Command Performance

A future challenge idea wherein a chain of volunteers is gathered and lined up in the order they volunteered. Each person then commands the next link in the chain to cover a song. Fiendishly, the command has to include a reference - however oblique - to the previous song. For instance, majordundee commands unSane to perfom "September Gurls", unSane commands Flapjax to perform "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" etc etc. The final person in the chain commands the first, thereby completing the loop (or loopy, in this case). Hey - it's just an idea..... posted by MajorDundee at 5:46 AM PST - 6 comments

May 11

Down the Road

Breaking out ye olde Hungarian mouth bow once again for this little number, recorded live at gaijin haunt What the Dickens in Ebisu, Tokyo, on the first day of May in the year of Two Thousand and Eleven. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:02 AM PST - 4 comments

May 10

Heart Of The City

This song is an ode to my hometown, Chicago. [more inside]

posted by dapperkoala at 10:06 PM PST - 2 comments

Saturday Stone

Normal For Once work-in-progress mix [more inside]

posted by Crane Shot at 6:35 PM PST - 4 comments

Black Swan (Massive Spoilers)

Seriously, if you haven't seen Black Swan don't listen to this. [more inside]

posted by minifigs at 4:36 PM PST - 3 comments

Waiting for Ikea

I didn't have the internet, furniture or any instruments. I did, however, have a lot of time to kill.

posted by cyberdad at 2:19 PM PST - 3 comments

May 9

Little Spoon

A song about love, online dating and desperation by JP & Elah. Remix and cover as you like. [more inside]

posted by JPDD at 4:08 PM PST - 0 comments

Tubas In The Moonlight (Cover)

A song by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, hastily covered as a means of testing out Garageband on the iPad. WARNING: Contains muffled swearing. [more inside]

posted by Jofus at 3:14 PM PST - 6 comments

Vikki's on the Moon

I've been writing short songs for my friends' birthdays. This is one of them.

posted by buriednexttoyou at 1:30 PM PST - 4 comments

Everything I Do (I Dun Fer You)

Some rollicking bluegrass as a spoon to the heart of Bryan Adams, Kevin Costner, and basically that whole period of the early 90s. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 12:51 PM PST - 22 comments

May 8

To Mom:

Song I made wrote for my mom. I didn't write it for mother's day but I figured I'd post it since today was mother's day. [more inside]

posted by dapperkoala at 10:31 PM PST - 3 comments

May 7

flyball's lament (the verbose version)

this is a take on 'Flyball's Lament' by the Great Big Mulp, which was also covered by ORthey... I made up some additional lyrics about space hazards some time last year, and I've been playing it at parties and whatnot - basically whenever people talk me into playing in front of a crowd. [more inside]

posted by kaibutsu at 9:50 PM PST - 4 comments

Madness

A fist-pumping dance track I recorded tonight. Performed live with my Monomachine and Blofeld.

posted by TheKM at 9:06 PM PST - 0 comments

I am so angry right now

Obnoxious skipping error with Cubase on Vista. Is this my latency? What is it? Please, someone help, before I kill somebody. [more inside] posted by koeselitz at 1:27 PM PST - 12 comments

May 6

Not Anywhere Anymore

i put down the phone / left a bag of cookies on the corner / filled my brain with a soft white light / sent all my 8-track tapes / to my cousin down in mississippi / took my foot off the pedal, and gave up the fight... A brand new song, live in Tokyo, May 1, 2011. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:50 PM PST - 14 comments

8 Bit Canon in D

An abridged version of Pachelbel's Canon in D. [more inside]

posted by drezdn at 6:37 PM PST - 3 comments

Knew It Was True

Song description....let's see......ummmm.......it's a pop song. Enjoy. [more inside]

posted by MajorDundee at 1:23 PM PST - 12 comments

May 4

I'm Yours But Not Really

For the May music challenge. One of Jason Mraz's most popular songs, which to me evokes images of boorish fratboys slamming PBRs, wearing nice hats stupidly and casually observing how sensitive they are because this song is on their iPod. [more inside]

posted by jnrussell at 11:10 PM PST - 10 comments

Tel Me About Your Wah Pedals

I've been playing with a couple of wah pedals owned by a friend, an old Dunlop Crybaby and a new Vox, and I think I'm ready to get one of my own. The Vox seemed a little too dark for me and didn't really cut through with the band very well, and the switch was very hard to engage. The Crybaby cut through really well, it actually was a little too bright for me. I wasn't really happy with the pedal movement on either one, they went from high to low frequencies really fast- I'd like to have some more room to play around in. Any suggestions? posted by InfidelZombie at 12:35 PM PST - 35 comments

May 3

Rock, Paper, Scissors (the single mix)

Shorter, sweeter mix of this responding to some of the suggestions on the last one. Lost the first intro, cleaned up the drums, changed the harmonies slightly, brought up the melody guitars, and dropped in a blazing little guitar solo, even if I do say so myself! It's under three minutes now -- give it a listen! Now just have to figure out the B-side...

posted by unSane at 6:22 PM PST - 18 comments

May 2

Random Act of Cruelty

Recorded live at Super Deluxe, Tokyo, April 22, 2011. I'm playing strumstick and stompbox. Video here.

posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:14 PM PST - 4 comments

Complications

Just a short something I whipped up with my Elektron Monomachine. It has a retro video game soundtrack sort of sound, a territory I've been exploring lately. I hope you like it.

posted by TheKM at 9:53 AM PST - 1 comments

Osama's Dead (So I Wrote A Funny Song)

This is a song about how I feel weird about writing this song. [more inside]

posted by cortex at 9:28 AM PST - 7 comments