So, we left off with Bunny Slippers and the cat sneeze induced crazy drum programming. As the drums conclude, it immediately drops into a gentle piano number entitled “Solitary Man” with the “my mother wanted me to play Mozart….I liked baseball” dialog. I don’t remember specifically thinking about this as a device, but this interlude definitely works as a relief after the scattered drums. This little snippet comes from the same place as the dialog on my Deep Puddle “Rainmen” remix, so including this was another one of my little nods to past projects. I didn't think much of the baseball line at the time and I was drawn more to the solitary man stuff. Later on down the line, the baseball line would be a conversation starter for me and Buck 65. You can read more about that here.
“Test # 1” is the first in a series of tests, which are basically interludes. Kinda funny because the whole album is a series of interludes and sketches. The tests are basically transitional pieces, glue between the other parts that may have more substance. I ended up continuing the “Test” idea to Right Handed Straw and the numbering also continues. LHS has 1-5 and RHS has 6-9.
“Follow the Light” is not something I thought much of, but I have gotten quite a few comments on it over the years. It’s a pretty simple beat with reverb being the featured instrument. The thing that makes this one a little unique for me is that I never had much gear, so I didn’t really understand or use any effects. Pretty much everything I did was either through manipulation of a record or through the simple filters on the MPC2000 (I didn’t have the internal effects card when I made LHS). In a previous post, I mentioned that I was using a Yamaha MD4 (minidisc 4-track). When I bought it at Guitar Center, it came with a free reverb unit. It was somewhat inconvenient for me to rewire everything to use the reverb unit, so I basically never used it. Looking back, I probably could have saved myself some time on a few things if I understood it better and actually used it. Anyways, “Follow The Light” is essentially all reverb. It’s a beat that gets so drown out that it transforms along the way. It wouldn’t be that song without the reverb unit and I think that is the only thing I’ve ever released that used it. I eventually sold the 4 track and gave my friend the reverb unit with it. I titled it “Follow The Light” because that’s what it felt like, like walking through a tunnel towards a light.
“Yellow” is next. For awhile, it seemed like this was everyone’s favorite song on LHS. It was always one that I really liked. The first part of the beat started earlier, before I left for college. The end part with the more frenetic drumming was added while working on the Stuffed Animals record. I was trying to do some out there stuff to get their attention. In all honesty, some of that stuff is harder for me to listen to these days. You can hear the simplicity of the technology and also my impatience. The drum solo on Bunny Slippers and the second part of Yellow come from that same impulsive approach. I was going with the feeling. Two different friends pointed out flaws in the song that I never heard until they said it. LHS is basically a huge collection of flaws and mistakes, but I guess that’s where some of the appeal is. The drums, which I love, come from a funny source. On their own, they are not funny, but if you knew what song this person is playing it would make you laugh (it’s from a drum instruction video).
In 2005 or so, I made a new edit of the song. I was invited to do a show in Chicago and I made some edits of different songs. It’s a more refined version, but it wouldn’t surprise me if people still preferred the original. You can hear it on my Soundcloud page:
”Secrets” is a collage of things I recorded on my micro-cassette tape recorder. Here are a few things you can hear:
saxophone player on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley
I don’t remember who that is laughing
Moodswing 9 saying “yeah man, what’s up? Is it cool if we swing through? I’ve got vinyl” We were driving to SF so he could trade records with someone.
a gutter punk yelling at her dog to sit
Moodswing 9 saying “I’m just a rat with fur.”
A clip from Late Night with Conan O’Brien
Jel telling a story about some untalented, but enthusiastic street musicians.
Jel saying “you’re not slick Tommy, I know what you’re doing” because he saw the red light on my recorder.
If you asked me why I made this sound collage, I’d have no answer. I can’t think of any specific inspirations or intentions.
“Dismantled” is a little nod to the beat that I made for Sole’s “Dismantling of Sole’s Ego.” Not much to say there.
“Test # 2” is another little nod to a beat, but to change things up, it is a nod to the beat that comes right after. I guess I was trying to set the scene and give you a peak behind the curtain of what was about to come. Besides that little vignette, there’s another sound collage. Since I made this record chronologically, I am sure I was building off of what I’d done on “Secrets” and thought I should do some more. In that little section, you can hear:
some Simpsons dialog
weird noises
Dose and Jel planning a set for a Themselves show at Rico’s. Dose says “so I want to pick another beat” and Jel describes manipulating a sample and then Dose says “you want to play it for me real fast?” That’s me using their dialog as a way to bridge the earlier sample reference with the finished beat that drops right after. I thought it was a perfect way to make that connection and I just happened to be a weirdo that recorded people all the time.
I’ll jump into “Unknown” next time.
The poster featured at the top was made by my high school friend, Mon. She was in a screen printing class and she did this as one of her projects at UC Berkeley. She used images from the Yamaha MD4 manual, a music production book I had, and the LHS artwork. I think it is a 6 color print, so there’s no half stepping going on here. I think she made about 10-20 of them. I know a few people got them, but I have no idea how many remain besides the one I have.
I hope people are enjoying these newsletters. I know I am going slow, but I’d like to cover things in chronological order. If you’re digging them, it’s great to see likes and comments, just to make sure I’m not whispering into the void. If you’ve got specific questions or there are things you’d like to see me cover, let me know.
I’m glad you touched on it, but I’m always game for more info about how you come up with song titles for instrumental(ish) tracks.
Thanks for sharing these memories. You’d be a great guest for the DOD45 Podcast. Jel, Dose, Yoni & Sole have made appearances and I think Tai would love to hear your stories.