Song062_Scheduled Collapse

For the entire month I have been sending FREE music to those that requested it (via email). The month has flown by, and today is already the final day of August. It was nice having frequent feedback. It was also interesting to see each of the voting results for 'song-of-the-week.'

Matt Coleman (www.UnblindProductions.com) filmed a video for this music project today. It should be online sometime next week.

I got a later start on today's song than usual...got the song uploaded at 11:47pm (CST). I hope you enjoy this instrumental. Another album, Alluring Catastrophes, will be available for sale tomorrow.

-Matthew

Song061_Discarded Inventions

This song is in honor of failed inventions, and the ingredients that make great inventors...creativity, persistence, perseverance.

LYRICS: "Human hydro hamster wheels, JATO rocket on a classic car, bird wings fixed with suspenders and glue, drive-thru money-machines for the blind, riding vacuums and dogs with wheels, candle-lit coal mines, robot policemen, meatless meatloaf casserole mixtures, scuba suit laced with hooks and bait, cell phone tazer with defibrillator, pirate cruise-ships, ice fly-fishing, chocolate covered bacon, and aerosol cheeses. Lazer-beam bombs, deep sea jeeps, vegan-friendly cattle, bottles made of leeks, crust-less loaves of uncooked toast, and space ships fueled by jumping beans. You might've failed, but it was fun to watch. You gave it lots of thought, but it wasn't meant to be."

Some of these things I made up, and some of them actually happened. I recently sketched out the plans for a cell phone that has a built-in tazer as well as a heart-rhythm analyzer and defibrillator. I thought that was a practical idea. Chocolate covered bacon actually exists, and I love it. Also, I thought it would be nice if someone invented "vegan-friendly cattle" so our friends, Tim and Kristen, could enjoy meat that isn't tofu.

-Matthew

Song060_Defining Moments

We left town this morning at 3am and rode the 'Hotter Than Hell' (100k) cycling race in Wichita Falls, TX (3hrs 35min 48sec). We didn't get back until late afternoon, and (although I had given it lots of thought) I didn't have a specific plan for today's song. I decided to record an instrumental that mirrors my feelings about the day's events.

The ride was great...great scenery, great company, fast track, no crashes, etc. I rode without any music today, and I enjoyed the time to think. I kept recalling "defining moments" that I've witnessed...some great and some catastrophes, but all of them truly "defining." It's hard, if not impossible, to anticipate defining moments...just have to always be ready.

The primary track in this song is an acoustic guitar which I recorded through direct input (using GuitarRig 3). It's layered with a few delay effects and large-room reverbs. The analog bass was recorded next. There are two electric guitar tracks that have dueling E-bow parts. (An "E-bow" is an electronic device that you hold against a guitar string. The magnet in the E-bow reacts to the magnet in the guitar pick-ups...creating a sound that emulates a violin bow). The "icing" on the song was: a computerized vocal section, a french horn, and a few other random sounds.

I hope you enjoy the song.

-Matthew

Song059_Flames Eat Forest

The key tracks in this song are electric guitars...one distorted and two picking different melodies. (The opening sounds like the band Luna during an aggressive moment). The three drum tracks are interesting to me. Two of these tracks start the song, and the third track enters before the vocals. The drums that play during the first vocal section were programmed using a new (well, new for me) software program.

The message of the song is vague, but it does apply to this week's theme. "Be aware of uncertainty (when it comes to our general safety each day), but don't let it consume you." Awareness can inspire prevention, but consumption can lead to implosion. We like thinking we have control, but in moments of weakness we're all the same. (I like Ben Stiller's character in The Royal Tannenbaum's. His fear of the unknown turned into psychosis...in a humorous way that only he could've portrayed).

LYRICS: "Here we stand. This ground beneath us (is) like loose-packed sand. I sense the shifting. I promise you. I'm yours forever. Hold my hand. Let's go down together. You slow way down so you can stare. Then the visuals haunt you. You try to act like you don't care, but the bitterness gets you. Cars will crash (and) flames (will) eat the forest. We might burn out, but love can carry us."

-Matthew

Song058_Replay

It was raining outside when I created this instrumental. There are 3-4 main guitars that started the idea (two pick single strings and are panned opposite, one is a wash of reverb and delay, and the other is a heavy distortion). After adding analog bass it was a matter of placing rhythm where it was needed. (I like the way it opens and ends without drums). I experimented with additional rhythms in the center of the song, but the single/simple drum line seemed to work best.

-Matthew

Song057_Anchors and Hosts

I've grown somewhat desensitized to the sensationalized "news" on TV, but my life has still been less stressful since I got rid of my TV over a year ago. (We still have a TV, but only to watch movies...we didn't get the new digital black-box gadget, no satellites, not cables, no Tivos) I listen to NPR radio and read the newspaper to stay current. I don't miss network television.

This song started with a guitar track that didn't even make it into the final mix. After recording a few guitars, drums, and analog bass I took an hour break and wrote these words...

LYRICS: "You can say words with a smile that would make others stutter. (You can) deliver grief with such passion (and) embrace death like a lover. But where would you be if not for tragedy? Open your windows and unplug your TV's. You can look good in a storm, and (you) bring your make-up when you go to war zones. You make news seem more like fashion than something I really need to know."

-Matthew

Album Artwork

There are a lot of peripheral-type tasks associated with this music project, such as creating the concept and artwork for each week's album. This is not really a "task"...it's as much of a fun/creative challenge as the actual recording. Over the years I have stockpiled an original list of "Names and Titles" that contains over 1,200 entries. I thought these titles might come in handy someday for: short story titles, movie titles, song titles, character names, etc. It's also just plain amusing for me (I once created a compilation of fake album covers and titled the collection "History's Greatest Fictional Bands"). I also have an extensive collection of photography, illustrations, and random concepts (which I started in 1996). Still, there are some weeks (like this past one) where the final art concept and design didn't happen until hours before the deadline.

In the past I've done these design projects alone, but it's been great having Carly's help lately (my wife). Carly is also a photographer, and she has great post-production editing skills too. I explained a few concepts for this design, but she's mostly responsible for how this one looks. The original idea was to use two kids talking through a homemade phone (two cans attached with string). We used Brandon and Allison's kids as models (Parker and Ethan), but the idea didn't come across as well as we'd hoped. The final design for "Life According to Others" (now available online) is a combination of photos. Several individual people/photographs were combined and then silhouetted, and then she altered and inserted a photo that she took during a trip to Honduras. The final look has the exact "feel" that I was hoping for. Thanks, Carly!

This next week's concept/design is still being decided. I have a few title ideas ("Alluring Catastrophes" and "Simple Days of Jousting"), but I need to hone in on the overall message and musical style first. I'd better do that now.

-Matthew