It’s been a long time. I’ve been busy working on music and I have neglected to keep this going. My intentions are to work my way through all of my music eventually, so stick around.
In the last post, we’d reached the midway point of the album. Time to flip the tape over. Ironically, up until a few years ago, there was never a cassette release for LHS.
Depending on where you listen to Left Handed Straw, the number of tracks may be a little different. If you bought one of the original handmade CDRs, there are less songs. If you bought the 6months CD reissue, there are 37 tracks. If you listen on Spotify or iTunes, there are the same amount of songs, but they are combined into a 20 track run. I had my reasons for doing this, some that probably don’t even matter in this modern society.
“Balance”
I believe this is a recording of me walking to a beach. It’s basically wind and waves. I used to record all kinds of stuff. Why it’s on here…I like the way music sits in real environments and feel that it adds a nice texture.
“Unbalanced”
This was a beat that I made for the Stuffed Animals album. It’s still one of my favorite beats. The drums were one of my first secret squirrel drum discoveries. I got it at a thrift store and nobody else seemed to know about. In retrospect, there’s really no reason you’d want that record, but it was a score to me in those early days. I’m not sure why I titled it Unbalanced, but I can pretty confidently say that it was either as a contrast to Balance or Balance was named as a contrast to Unbalanced.
“Check # 434”
All of those weird snarling noises were done by my friend Greg Gardner. He’s one of my oldest friends and, at one point, he’d been on every release of mine. He stopped by my apartment and I asked him to do something over those drums. I was really into the idea of having friends add little odds and ends. The title probably comes from where I was in my checkbook. When making up song names, I will usually look around and see what jumps out at me.
“The Candle (Remix)”
Similar to the Deep Puddle Dynamics “Rain Men” remix, this was all done inside my MPC 2000. I’m not saying it was the hardest thing ever, but it also wasn’t an easy task back then. The original beat was made by Moodswing 9 on an MPC 3000, so the timing probably was the same, but I’m not sure if I knew the actual bpm. It was pretty much done by feel. If it seemed like it was drifting, I’d add in a sequence that was 0.1 off of the other one, like a little nudge. I triggered the acapella as one sound, so when it started, it ran all the way until the end. I could have chopped up lines and verses to line it up, but that seemed pretty daunting at the time.
I really like this beat. I like the swing of the drums. I like the progression in the sample. It all felt like it lined up pretty well. The original is great, but it seems like this version made its mark too.
“The Place Where Smiles Hide”
I made this one in the summer before I started school at Berkeley. I moved into a friend’s apartment and the landlord raised the rent 2 weeks before school started and I had to move. I was only at this place for about 2 months. I had to be really quiet because the neighbors would complain about everything, so it was probably for the best. This song is in 5/4 and I think this is the only song I have ever made in 5/4. It wasn’t intentional, but I just went with the sample. It was a little tricky figuring out how to do the drums.
As the song fades, there is a pop, like a record static pop and it was very intentionally placed there. It was a transition device. The “oh I’m sorry” thing is the other transition to get to the next song. I may or may not have used it as an apology for the pop. I can’t remember, but it seems like something I’d find funny.
“Tuesday”
I liked the beat/sample that this is made from, but I felt like it needed something in order for me to justify putting it on there. It may not be obvious to most people, but that is me saying all of that stuff. A rare vocal appearance, although I did recreate a similar type of thing on Right Handed Straw.
I can picture myself, sitting at my MPC and doing this, but I have no recollection of how I came up with it. I think I just worked backwards. The sample says “don’t come crying to me, girl” and I just set up the lead with some weirdo telling a story about a bugged-out Tuesday.
“Over the Hill”
My friend Greg (mentioned above) was filming at UC Berkeley and ran into this guy. He was talking non-stop. I liked how he said “the government’s actually run by 1 and 2 and 3 year olds. By the time you’re 3, you’re over the hill.” Hopefully he is out there somewhere, happy and healthy.
I didn’t have a lot of records at this time, so I tried to squeeze lots of things out of the ones I did. This comes from the same record as something else on LHS. That doesn’t seem weird at all now, but back then it seemed like a no-no in our nerdy beatmaking rules.
“Animal Control”
I am not sure where that animal noise comes from. It sounds a little too desperate for it to be anything I could have safely recorded in person. It was probably me holding up my tape recorder to my TV. It’s funny that I felt the need to give these types of interludes their own track on the CD. In 1999, it was common to cram anything you could onto a CD. I think I also just wanted all of the beats to be searchable and not tied to interludes.
“Imagination Cycle”
This one is interesting because it is a replacement for a different beat from the original CDR release. Since I made this on a 4-track and I had already filled up the space after that original beat, I had to swap in something that fit that exact length. At the time, I did not like having to let the beat go so long, but it probably provides a good balance to all of the other short pieces.
“The World Outside My Door”
This is exactly what the title says. I stood outside of my apartment in Berkeley and recorded this. Some people were talking, there’s a wind chime, an airplane flying by, and a siren. I don’t think of all of those things as musical, but it was a pretty cool little jam session of random things. The thing that I absolute loved and I still do, is me going back inside and closing the door. The little screech-thud combo felt like the perfect trasnition into the next piece.
“Test # 4”
At one point, this was probably the thing I was asked about most. People would always ask if I would tell them the source. It happened enough that I just decided I wouldn’t tell anyone. I eventually did. It’s not an incredibly rare source, but it was always interesting to me how much it resonated with people. The original song is good, but I think the appeal is having just this bite-size highlight of the best moment.
About two weeks ago, I went to Needle to the Groove in San Jose. They are the record store/record label that recently released the double vinyl pressing of Left Handed Straw. Not only do they have some of the final remaining copies of that LHS pressing, but…
they also have a copy of the record that I used for “Test # 4.” I’ve actually only seen it twice in real-life. The one I originally bought at Big Al’s Record Barn in 1998 and now this copy at Needle to the Groove (ironically, both stores were/are in San Jose).
I really wanted to wrap up LHS in this post, but this is already getting long. I will conclude in the next post.
A few notes:
The are only 5 copies of the double vinyl Left Handed Straw release on Bandcamp. Besides that, I think there might be a handful in the shop at Needle to the Groove. If you have been thinking about getting one, these last 5 probably won’t last long.
There are only 10 exhale02 cassettes left. There are 16 Billy CDs left.
The exhale02: Moments vinyl is in and has started shipping. It comes in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with a full color insert and a bonus disc of unreleased material.
You can find everything on Bandcamp.
https://controller7.bandcamp.com
I’ve been working on two albums and I’m really excited about them. Hopefully there will be more information soon. I’m in the final stages with both albums, the part that can drive you nuts. These are rap records that I produced for other artists. I’ve had the chance to work with some amazing artists on these records. It’s been a great experience and I’ve checked off some wishlist items.
Once I am done with those, I’m hoping to work on a release of my own. I have some great songs that I have been sitting on for a long time now.
and…
Coming Soon: Couch Instrumentals on vinyl. I’ve got some cool stuff lined up for this. I pushed back the release a bit because the exhale02 vinyl came in and I wanted to spread things out. Couch turned 3 years old on 3/20/2023. It was the start of a whole new era for me. I’ve made more music in the last 3 years than I did in the previous 20.
Really looking forward to your album projects with emcees...
couch on cassette please =-)