19 posts tagged with music by flapjax at midnite.
Displaying 1 through 19 of 19.
Cupcake, When You Have a Chance
This month's themes (cupcake, brisk, interstitials) didn't exactly turn the inspiration amplifier up to 11, but, goddammit, I ain't one to run away from a challenge, no sirree. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. So this one goes out to you, my little cupcake. You know who you are. [more inside]
Man of Very Few Words
Well, it's a few days late for the November '07 MeFi Music Challenge, but my on-the-fritz computer spent most of the month in the repair shop, plus the dog ate my homework, but better late than never, I reckon. So this one's going under the veryfewwords tag, as if the song title didn't give that away. [more inside]
Don't Play Cards With Satan (D.Johnston)
Took a look at this month's challenge themes and thought: Tom Waits does a much better Tom Waits impersonation than I could ever muster, and I'm just not a 'lots of notes' kinda guy. But, "spooky"... there you go! Submitted for your listening pleasure, my version of this Daniel Johnston song. With lines like "I saw my own heart laying, black with blood", I guess you could say it's pretty damn spooky. Here's a very powerful clip of Johnston performing the song on organ. [more inside]
Some Kind Of Superhero
For the MeFi Music Challenge. This one uses mouthbow, bodhran (but it sounds like a bass drum), a little bell, shakers, some little woodblock rattley things, a drone, and voice.
New Orleans 2005
On this 2nd anniversary of hurricane Katrina, I thought I'd post this song, which I wrote and recorded in the days following the disaster. In 2005, when I first posted it to my own web site, I received some comments from folks who were pretty incensed by it. I'd never had such visceral negative reactions to a song. Should you be interested, you can read some of those comments and my replies here. I also just posted a live version (from a gig earlier this month) to YouTube. [lyrics inside]
Bridge In The Sky
Fellow wants to cross a bridge, but it floats up into the sky. Woman comes along but she turns into smoke. Fellow throws a fistfull of dirt in the air, gets a new idea, goes and does some other stuff. Then there's a happy ending. Written for the "bridge" challenge, but I reckon you knew that already. Guitar by Ken Kawashima, who can also be heard here and here. Lyrics inside.
Half Remembrance
For the past several years I've been regularly composing music for a fashion design company here in Tokyo, for use in their fashion shows. Here's something recent, a relatively short piece at 3:45, done for one of their upcoming shows.
Until You Sever The Snake
Written and recorded for the serpentine challenge now underway. My buddy Ken Kawashima brought in the North Mississippi blues riff and yours truly did the rest. Apologies to animal rights advocates, but some snakes were severed during the recording of this song. Had to be done. [lyrics inside]
Used To Ride That Train
There must've been hundreds of times over the years that I've tapped out a rhythm on a pan full of water while doing the dishes, the pitch woozily shifting as the h2o sloshes about. At those times I've almost always thought, hey, I should put this on a track sometime. Of course, I never did, until the first MeFi Music Challenge, with its "water" theme. Along with the big metal bowl full of troubled waters, you'll hear jawharp, talking drum, bombo drum, bell, shaker and vocal. [Lyrics and more inside]
Lexington Avenue Line
In a departure for me, this tune features no percussion, synths, jaw harps, scrap metal or hand held mini-vibrators, but is simply accompanied by... an acoustic guitar. Radical, huh? Anyway, as you might guess from the title, the tune is a kind of meditation on New York City. Hope you enjoy.
Bring Me The Head Of Elmo
Lyrics [with handy reference links!] and more information inside.
Just Blew Into Town
Here's a song from the RPM '07 CD that I just popped into the mail today. In the end I was able to get 8 presentable tunes together within the space of the month. Whew!
Oscillendulum 1
This is one of a series of short pieces (about 10 or 12) I recorded using only a JUNO 60 analog synth (found at a Tokyo junk shop for only 10,000 yen!). The Oscillendulums all share a similar structure (gradual addition and/or subtraction of layered repeating parts), with an eye toward the creation of a sort of liquid polyrhythm. I also had in mind the musical approximation of animal sounds such as frog and insect choruses from a pond, which are part of the inspiration for this series.
Blues Wrapped Round My Head
In a slow count of 5, here's some kind of convergence of Burma and the blues, or thereabouts. "scissors cut paper / paper blows away / stone smashes scissors / and so it goes / another day / but it's all downhill from here / at least that's what sisyphus said /ah you're fucked six ways from sunday / with the blues wrapped round your head"
Oh Death
Here's my version of this most haunting of American folk songs. It's very stripped-down: just voice, drone, a bass drum and a shekere. In the time-honored folk tradition, I've made a few minor lyrics changes here and there, and the melody I'm using is different from the Dock Boggs or Stanley Brothers versions of the tune. Anyway, it's one of my very favorite traditional songs. Hope you enjoy.
Until You Kiss Me
"i blew across the great plains like a plastic bag / from the broken heart of town to the dock of the bay / there ain't that much to say about the wide wide world / people everywhere just sleepwalk in their own little way / and ain't no hope of waking up / until you kiss me babe"
If There Is Any News
This song is by Skist (my duo with singer/electronicist Haruna Ito). It's from our new CD. [lyrics inside]
Party People (Get On the Dancefloor)
This is a recently recorded song that'll probably go on my next release. I'm not sure yet about the mix, but I guess it's good enough in its current state for a spin around the MeFi block. Party down y'all. [lyrics inside]</small]
Flat Fix
This is a tune from a 1995 release called "Samm Bennett's History of the Last Five Minutes", from the Knitting Factory label. The CD is currently out of print. The guitarist is Hahn Rowe, everything else is me. I've been thinking about re-releasing this and possibly my earlier KF CDs on my own label (Yay! Rights have reverted back to yours truly!) but I've got a bunch of new songs I wanna release first. Thought I'd just throw this one out there into the ether. Anyway, [lyrics inside] and, hope you enjoy...
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