3 posts tagged “white reggae”
Well, Gold as in the gaming industry definition of gold, which means the Etcetera Thesis Music Blog is complete now. We are no longer in beta *grin*.
The demo tracks from two 'albums', plus a couple of new songs for the upcoming album, most of which feature me on assorted instruments (keys, guitars, bass, drum programming, lead and backing vocals -- of varying quality, depending mainly on my health and what take it was), with varying degrees of musicianship from myself, Gary Falkins (guitars, keys, bass, lead and backing vocals), Derrick Rose (drums, percussion, backing vocals), and our old friend, Big Dave Beddard (bass, backing vocals).
I still don't really like how Vox bastardizes my text edits, but nevertheless, I have completed posting virtually all of the lyrics, commentary notes and composition/performance credits on the Etcetera Thesis Music Blog. From here on out, I'll only be adding bits and bobs as they come along, including new demos and any bits of film and stuff the guys acquire. Hopefully we'll start writing about band-related news there, instead of it being a veritable museum.
Anyway, I'm supposed to be working on a vector file for the computer store signage printers, and emailing the latest revision of the tradeshow banner to my sister and the water people. I'd prefer to snuggle up and go to sleep with my wife, but duty calls. *sigh*
Have a nice day.
Okay, so I woke up today with a terrible hangover after drinking one whole finger of single malt scotch (WTF??) while I was making last night's post. So it's taken me a hand full of hours, two tylenol, one glass of water, one cup of tea, a peanut butter and jam sandwich and two chapters of The Beatles' Anthology (ch 5-6) to shake it off and get productive again.
After a couple of phone calls with the band to duly report about last night's blog, I decided to take a shower, reboot my computer, and 'remaster' the best take of The Dream Falls from last week (take 2, for those counting; there were five takes, but I flubbed the lyrics and bassline in all of the other takes, and the guys muffed the ending on teh first take, when my voice was still alright).
It's actually a song I started writing a few months ago to express my sympathy for Ragnar Tornquist, the writer and director of the 'Modern Adventure' game Dreamfall: The Longest Journey II. It's a brilliant game, but it's much shorter than the original, it ends with a huge cliffhanger (cliffhangers, actually), and had some fighting and stealth elements that pissed off a lot of fans (and detractors, who had clearly been waiting for a chance to piss on Ragnar, after all of the acclaim his first game got, much to their chagrin).
Personally, I was put off the action sequences at first, but eventually got the hang of it, and it now lives on my list of truly great video games. However, many, many people still bitch and whine about the frustratingly downbeat ending, so I found myself imagining Ragnar's position, and wrote this song for him.
If I ever get it recorded cleanly, I'll send him a copy for his personal amusement, even if he doesn't completely get it. The lyrics are just obtuse enough that you could take it to mean a number of things, including a sort of terse goodbye to a bad relationship if you wanted to, I'd imagine. It's not, but I like obtuse lyrics, so I rather enjoyed this piece. I posted the lyrics at the official Dreamfall forum, but I'm afraid nobody got it. There were one or two requests to hear the music though, so I'll probably go post a link over there for their edification.
Vital Stats: The Dream Falls comes in at exactly 2:00 mins; it's an 80's-style post-punk tune á là The Police, XTC, The Cure and maybe Split Enz; it actually sounds pretty good despite the raw recording technique; and it goes on record as being the shortest full pop song I've ever written and recorded, which I think is bloody brilliant for me. I'd say it's comparable to OK Go's Here It Goes Again, only not as cleanly recorded, sadly.
Anyway, I was on a roll again, so I decided to 'remaster' I Want Someone Close To Me while I was at it. So here you go.
© 2006 Lee Edward McIlmoyle
Etcetera Thesis Music
for the upcoming album 'Add Infant Item'
Hello and Welcome. My name is Lee, and I'm the principle singer, songwriter and lyricist for a couple of bands I started years ago and am tinkering with again today, called Etcetera and Thesis. I play guitars, keys and bass, and program drums because my drummer (Derrick) won't let me near his kit (possessiveness issues).
Etcetera is a band of buddies and I jamming out tunes and demoing them until we're strong enough to record and play live. We've been together off and on for over a decade, but sadly haven't gotten very far as of yet. Our musical influences are pretty varied, stretching all throughout the 20th Century, but centering mainly on our Power Pop, Prog Rock and Art Rock influences. We are currently a three-piece, but if my drummer has his way, I'll be festooned with so-called band members again before too long. Please send flowers. Or good single malt.
Thesis is more of a personal side project, mainly consisting of songs written and performed by myself, sometimes with Gary Falkins (guitarist for Etcetera), and an Alesis SR-16 drum machine that left me for a better band (I presume). As most of these tunes are multitrack studio efforts, there has been little effort to make this into a gigging band to date. That too may change
This first tune, I Want Someone Close To Me, is a sarcastic little ditty about a guy who ain't getting any. It's a very recent composition written and introduced to the band expressly for the purpose of building up a full album and set list of original material to go along with older originals we never got past the indie album (i.e. demo) stage back in the 90s. It's a white Reggae number in the vein of The Police and other popular rock musicians of the very late 70s and early 80s. I hope to include a final version on a commercially-available album and download site in the near future, once we have access to better recording equipment and a full album of material.
This was recorded in a small concrete and dry wall-filled basement room, using an old Fostex 4-track and a PZM mike with no close miking, mixing board or even EQ. Sounds like someone taped it using a microcasette recorder in a bar, minus the audience. So if Low-Fi is not your thing, this may be a hard listen. As well, the musicians are rusty and the performance is nothing like flawless, but the tune isn't too shabby, if derivative. All that said, I'm quite proud of it. It stands up to the best we've ever done as a band, and I think augers well for our reincarnated form, even though we have a ways to go yet before I declare us 'ready'.
I hope you enjoy the tune, and thank you for listening.
Lee Edward McIlmoyle
Etcetera -I Want Someone Close To Me
© 2006 Etcetera Thesis Music
from the upcoming album 'Add Infant Item'
