albums
Underway
2023 Battle of the E-Bands
2006 Wonday
Compilations
1993 Songs to Sleep By
1997 Songs to Sleep By 2
2002 Sunday Sampler
2002 Dad's Picks
1999 Mix 1 (sy55)
2010 Mix 2 (triton vocal)
2010 Mix 3 (triton instr.)
SY55
1991 Archives
1992 College Collection
1993 College Collage
1994 The Hermit
1997 Where's My Muse
1999 South or Southeast
Triton
2001 In the Margins
2002 Renewal
2002 Re-treat
2002 Convenience
2002 Back Up
2003 So So
2003 So On
2003 So Long
2003 Baby Steps
2003 Baby Talk
2004 Schmocial
2004 Brroom
2004 Chuckadee
2004 Disco Hike
2004 Extra Extra
2005 Coma Pill
2005 Ourboretum
2005 Jaminy
2005 Padden Drift
2005 Gorilla Love
2005 Aminals
2005 Vegibles
2006 Fruitine
2006 Dignored
2006 Miner
2006 Mouseculine
2006 Yata
2007 Zipit
2007 Sixawon
2007 Halfdosin
2007 Whatcom Home
2008 What Roses
2008 Pho Kit
2008 Composed Pile
2009 Decomposed Pie
2009 Swaddlicious
2010 Lost Train
Soft Synths
2011 Out the Margins
2011 Redebut
2011 Reprogression
2012 Working Progress
2013 Tripico
2014 Aerosol Concrete
2015 Reduced to Clear
2016 Motions
2017 The Walking Dad
2018 Mockolate
2019 Still Testing
2020 Slow Wins Teddy
  • Title: South or Southeast
  • Artist: Tripecac
  • Timespan: 1997-1999
  • Theme: grad school daze
  • Length: 79:29
  • Tracks: 35
  • Lyrics: 18
  • MP3s: 35 play all locally
  • Rating: (none) rate this album

Track List

# title lyrics time download listen started recorded rating
1 CopyRite lyrics 3:53 download listen locally - 1997-10-11
2 Dinner Table lyrics 1:54 download listen locally - 1997-10-11
3 Neumania lyrics 3:03 download listen locally - 1997-10-11
4 We're Being Watched lyrics 0:06 download listen locally - 1997-10-11
5 Memory Hog - 0:53 download listen locally - 1997-10-19
6 South or Southeast lyrics 3:51 download listen locally - 1997-10-19
7 The Ups... - 2:11 download listen locally - 1997-11-08
8 ...And Downs... - 2:39 download listen locally - 1997-11-08 (none)
9 ...Of Living Alone - 1:36 download listen locally - 1997-11-08 (none)
10 Krautrock Parody lyrics 3:06 download listen locally - 1997-12-15 (none)
11 Moody Xmas lyrics 7:26 download listen locally - 1997-12-24 (none)
12 Appy Ew Ear - 2:16 download listen locally - 1998-01-01 (none)
13 Reverse 2 - 0:26 download listen locally - 1997-10-11 (none)
14 My Everything lyrics 3:57 download listen locally - 1998-05-13 (none)
15 June Morning lyrics 4:31 download listen locally - 1998-06-13 (none)
16 June Evening lyrics 4:01 download listen locally - 1998-06-30 (none)
17 Experimental Harvest - 1:11 download listen locally - 1999-01-01 (none)
18 Feeling Sharp - 3:23 download listen locally - 1999-03-27 (none)
19 Re-Rite - 1:07 download listen locally - 1997-10-11 (none)
20 Okay Track One lyrics 0:05 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
21 Chimera (early) - 3:00 download listen locally - 1990-0?-?? (none)
22 Funky Snippet - 0:36 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
23 Travis and Jon (early) - 0:58 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
24 Testing the Cup (early) - 1:10 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
25 Heavy Reggae - 0:38 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
26 Spacy Funk - 0:38 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
27 Bad Sync Dance - 1:03 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
28 Synth and Drums - 0:32 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
29 Interview lyrics 3:18 download listen locally - 1994-01-?? (none)
30 Sleeping Gas (1) lyrics 4:47 download listen locally - 1994-12-12 (none)
31 Sleeping Gas (2) lyrics 4:31 download listen locally - 1994-12-13 (none)
32 California Greetings (full) lyrics 2:52 download listen locally - 1997-04-19 (none)
33 Letter to Beth lyrics 0:22 download listen locally - 1997-04-19 (none)
34 I Am Not Funny lyrics 3:18 download listen locally - 1997-04-19 (none)
35 Bored Echo lyrics 0:11 download listen locally - 199?-??-?? (none)
Total 79:29 play all locally album rating: (none)

Notes

Shortly after finishing Where's My Muse?, I left my job and went travelling in the Pacific Northwest. I loved it (particularly Alaska and Bellingham), and wanted to move there ASAP. Unfortunately, I'd already enrolled in graduate school back in Charlottesville.

Back in grad school, I hardly ever touched my keyboard. Maybe once a month, I'd sit down with the SY55 and start working a song; but then I'd get invited to dinner by friends or family, and I'd forget all about the song. Gradually, I filled up the SY55 with little ideas. To make room for still more (never-to-be-finished) ideas, I'd periodically dump the incomplete song snippets onto my four-track, and then delete their data from the keyboard. Those "songs" became South or Southeast (tracks 1-19).

The remaining tracks are miscellaneous scraps from 1990-1997.

I used a Yamaha SY55 keyboard workstation for most of the music, occasionally adding a Roland TR-505 drum machine or an acoustic guitar. I recorded to a four-track and used a cheap reverb box (perhaps too frequently!). I mastered to cassette using a tape deck. For the CD, I recorded to my PC using a SoundBlaster Live, and used Cool Edit for noise reduction, amplitude normalization, fades, and all other editing.

Guest Voices: Jon Hill, Miro Kresonja, and Dale Newfield on "June Morning" and "June Evening"; Beth Ogura on "Interview".

Participants

Name Performed Wrote
Travis Emmitt Yamaha SY55, Roland TR-505, acoustic guitar, vocals all music and lyrics except where noted

Songs

CopyRite

During graduate school I got heavily into krautrock and other repetitive jam-based music. This song is named after Julian Cope's Rite album.

I liked the groove, but my keyboard's sequencer didn't have enough memory for me to extend this song into a "full-fledged" jam. Frustrated, I recorded it to four-track in this somewhat unfinished state and adlibbed the annoyed, disillusioned vocals.

Lyrics to "CopyRite":

INTRO:
  get me a paper bag
  and then a pencil and some paper
  and i'll make you a nice mask

TALK: [hard to hear - these are a guess]

  there's some fun
  but it, it sits there mostly

  i try to vacuum over there
  once in a while

  i wish i could get my own place
  ??? clean saliva

  people come over there

  i just think i can
  but i've rhythm deep down
  oh i can't say i do

  get away!

  spit it out
  i spit it out

  then again, i don't
  because i don't have anything else
  ??? i don't care
  ??? i'll always ??? there
  ???

  that's enough
  i think i've told you too much
  i think it's way too much

LEFT:
  all right, here, give me the remote

RIGHT:
  that's it
  that's all you're getting
  nothing more than that
  that's the end of the song
  there isn't anything more
  it just, it just stops, like that
  kind of like my dreams
  

Dinner Table

Most of my social interaction those days focused around meals. Hence the dinner table sound effects.

Also, I was being pursued by girls I didn't want to date at the moment, and was hiding away. The whispered vocals hint at how I felt.

Lyrics to "Dinner Table":

LEFT:
  i guess i know what you want
  i guess i know what you want

  you know what i think?
  i think that you want people to like you
  so that you feel important

  'cause everybody wants to feel important
  everybody wants to feel like they matter
  everybody wants to feel important
  everybody wants to be like me

  everybody wants to feel important
  everybody wants to feel like they matter
  everybody wants to feel important
  everybody wants to be like me

RIGHT:
  pass the, pass the...
  pass it over here
  yeah, you can...
  yeah, i need some of those
  ouch!

BOTH:
  everybody wants to feel important
  everybody wants to feel like they matter
  everybody wants to feel important
  everybody wants to be like me
  

Neumania

The vocals were improvised. I was thinking a lot about empathy and learning how to perceive motivations in order to minimize interpersonal stress. In other words, I was babbling!

The title is a pun. I was into a krautrock band called Neu at the time, and mania, of course, means mania. The second meaning is "pneumonia"; I may have been getting over a cold or something, or maybe I knew someone who was sick.

Lyrics to "Neumania":

INTRO:
  okay, let's do it

VERSE:
  oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
  oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
  oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
  oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

  [laughing]
  huh?
  oh, i don't know
  oh, you want to talk?

LEFT:
  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need

  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need

RIGHT:
  why not?
  but you're supposed to know everything

LEFT:
  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need

  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need
  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need

RIGHT: [at same time]
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need

LEFT:
  i don't know, i don't know
  i don't know what you need
  i don't know, i don't know
  i don't know what i need

RIGHT: [at same time]
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need

LEFT:
  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need
  i don't know what you need
  i don't know what i need

RIGHT: [at same time]
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need

LEFT:
  i don't know, i don't
  i don't know what i need
  i don't know, i don't know
  i don't know what i need

RIGHT: [at same time]
  please tell me what i need
  please tell me what you need
  but you're supposed to know everything

LEFT:
  just give me something

RIGHT:
  oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
  oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
  

We're Being Watched

This was the original (improvised) ending to "Neumania". I think I split it from the song due to the mild suggestiveness.

Lyrics to "We're Being Watched":

hey, we're being watching
huh?
sorry
i wasn't paying attention
  

Memory Hog

I wanted to get this off my sequencer to make room for "South or Southeast".

I recorded the music to my four-track with Dolby noise reduction turn on. When I mixed down to tape, I accidentally had Dolby turned off. This gave the mix a very crisp high-end. The funny thing is I ended up liking this "messed up" mix better than the "proper" one (which I don't have any more).

South or Southeast

This is the only "complete" song I wrote in grad school (with pre-written lyrics and a conventional song structure). I like the music, but the lyrics are cringe-inducing.

I met a girl on vacation in Alaska, and liked her a lot. While we were travelling together, I yearned for a future with her. Unfortunately, my vacation had to end so that I could go to graduate school back in Virginia. The last couple weeks of the trip, I treated her very distantly and even rudely. We parted ways sadly, with no promises and (for me) no hopes.

A couple months later, when I was in Virginia, she offered to visit me. I was excited at first, but then asked her to wait. I was worried that if she visited, we (or just I) would be tempted to stay together. My plan for the next couple years was to focus on grad school so I could get good grades, finish early, and then move to the Pacific Northwest. I didn't want to get heartbroken if she left, but I also didn't want to be "tied down" in Virginia if she ended up liking it there. To me, it seemed like the safest thing was to wait until I was almost done with school.

However, she didn't seem to understand (or agree with) my plan. She kept calling me, asking when she could visit. This caused me a lot of pressure and guilt. Eventually I started "hiding" from her by screening my phone calls. I think at that point she started calling my parents' house. I became polarized, trying to convince myself (and my friends) that I didn't want anything to do with her. It was easier (and "cooler") to think of her as the aggressor (the obsessed ex-girlfriend), rather than a victim of my self-centered agenda.

I wrote this song to remind myself of how poorly I treated her. I tried to make it "light and funny", as I had done with break-up letters in the past, but failed, because I was too full of negativity, not towards her but towards myself. Although I know I was scolding myself, when I listen to this song today, it just sounds like I'm making fun of her. Oh well.

Lyrics to "South or Southeast":

VERSE:
  ring ring!
  hello, this is evelyn
  i met your son on vacation
  i think there's
  something wrong with his telephone
  'cause i tried calling again and again

TRANSITION:
  but he won't answer me
  travis won't answer me

VERSE:
  hey trav, today
    yeah
  we got a call from your friend evelyn
    ewww
  she says she's been
  invited on a trip to south america
    good for her
  she wants to know
  if you'll ask her down to visit you
    ha ha yeah right
  she wants to know
  if she needs to come to virginia
    oh, please hide me

CHORUS:
  south or southeast
  shall i go south or southeast?

TRANSITION:
  travis won't talk to me
  travis won't talk to me
  why won't he talk to me?
    'cause i don't like you
  why won't he talk to me?
    ring ring!

VERSE:
  hello,
    don't pick up the phone
  this is evelyn
    it might be evelyn
  i've been calling and calling
    she's been calling and calling
  and calling again and again
    and calling again and again
  please tell travis
  that i really need an answer
    two letters
  does he want to come and visit him?
    please don't make me see her again!

CHORUS:
  south or southeast
    the fact is i don't like her
  shall i go south or southeast?
    and i really can't stand her
  south or southeast
    i wish she'd go away for ever
  shall i go south or southeast?
    [???]

END:
  ring! ring! ring! ring! ring! ring!
  [inaudible]
  

The Ups...

This is the first part of a "trilogy" of song ideas that were clogging up my sequencer. None were anywhere close to being done, but I wanted them off my sequencer, so off they came. I recorded them all at once to four-track, but split them into three separate tracks for the CD.

This first part is a chaotic mess. It doesn't make any sense to me. I don't understand why and how I "wrote" it. All I know is that I called it "The Ups" because it sounded really hyper.

...And Downs...

This was the second part of the "trilogy" that started with "The Ups". It has the worst title (since it wasn't really a "downer"), but the nicest music. It's longer and more coherent than the other two parts, and has a pretty instrumentation.

It was my favorite instrumental on the album for a few years. Dad liked it too; he selected it for Dad's Picks.

...Of Living Alone

This was the final part of the "trilogy" that started with "The Ups". It's the saddest-sounding part, and is pretty boring. I don't know what else to say about it. It's not like I can write something that would make it seem brilliant or anything. Next!

Krautrock Parody

I called this a "parody" only in hindsight. I was trying to get a "live" feel from my equipment, and turned to the acoustic guitar, which I never learned to play.

My idea was to improvise four complete tracks, one at a time, each track attempting to "complement" the one(s) before it. This became my primary method for constructing songs on later albums.

Unfortunately, this first stab was a mess (as most first stabs are), so I called it a "parody". (Come to think of it, most "stabs" are messes, first or otherwise).

Someone at my dad's office heard this song and told him "my little kids can play guitar better than that!" Sigh.

I have no idea what the faint vocals were saying.

Lyrics to "Krautrock Parody":

this is travis' krautrock spectacular
hit it

??? this close?
???
  

Moody Xmas

A week and a half after recording "Krautrock Parody", I used the same strategy to record another guitar-dominated song. Fortunately, this one actually "worked" (at least to my ears)!

I liked it so much that I uploaded a RealAudio version of this song to my web site; this was one of the first songs that I uploaded. The big surprise was that I actually got some very positive feedback about it!

It's too bad the song cuts off so early (I ran out of room on my four-track). The improvised vocals and background sounds try to portray Christmas from a kid's perspective.

Lyrics to "Moody Xmas":

INTRO:
  ??? under the tree
  is it is seven o'clock yet?
  no
  ???
  daffy, get away from there
  do that tomorrow, not tonight
  oh, it's another one; it's big

VERSE:
  seven o'clock christmas eve
  smelling the christmas wreath
  [laugh]
  and then it's time to get up and wake up
  and open the presents and eat it
  yum! let's go
  hit it
  woooo!
  who's this one for?
  it says "jessica"
  i think i'm gonna rename it "travis"
  that's good!
  super ted again?  oh
  hey, be thankful; at least it's not seeds
  [laugh]

CHORUS:
  gimme more, more presents
  gimme more, more presents
  gimme more, more presents
  gimme more, gimme presents
  gimme more, gimme presents
  gimme more, more presents
  oh oh gimme more, more presents
  gimme more, gimme more presents
  oh gimme more, more presents
  'cause i want more, more presents
  gimme more, more presents
  oh gimme more, more presents
  i want more, more presents
  gimme more, gimme more

VERSE:
  more

  christmas time
  christmas
  christmas time
  merry christmas

  christmas
  merry christmas
  ??? merry merry christmas
  ??? merry merry christmas

  ???
  waiting for christmas
  living alone on christmas
  living alone on christmas
  living alone on christmas
  living alone on christmas
  opening presents on christmas
  gimme more presents on christmas
  ??? on christmas
  ??? on christmas
  singing them carols on christmas
  wishing you a merry, merry christmas
  wishing you a merry, merry christmas
  i'm wishing you a merry, merry merry christmas
  christmas, merry merry christmas
  ??? christmas ???

  there is no santa
  but we celebrate christmas
  there is no jesus
  but we celebrate christmas

  'cause we know what we'll have
  have on christmas
  we want presents
  presents on christmas
  

Appy Ew Ear

I wanted to have a musically productive year, so I started by recording this song on New Year's Day 1998. I didn't stick to the musical resolution, however; by the end of the year I had only recorded three more songs for Tripecac.

As for this song, there's not much there. I ran out of sequencer memory and/or patience before I could add any drums, so I recorded it as-is.

I don't know why I dropped the first letter of each word in the title. Drunk, perhaps?

Reverse 2

This is a backwards version of the middle part of "Neumania". Sounds kinda cool, but isn't very long.

My Everything

The improvised lyrics start off about yet another girl who was obsessing over me. Then I segued into wondering why people thought I was gay (which I'm not). I have no idea what I was singing most of the time.

The music is pretty energetic, and I like the synth solo. The bridge is a crazy drum fest, completely over the top. The vocals sound pretty fun; if only we could understand them!

Overall, I think the song is too moody and weird to be a "keeper". That's kind of the case for most of South or Southeast.

Lyrics to "My Everything":

INTRO:
  she wants to be my everything

VERSE:
  into the bath water
  ???
  ??? now and you suck
  you suck, what's up?
  ???
  a slab of beef
  a ream of fat
  a pound of butter or bacon
  ???
  ??? walks across the hall to my ???

  ??? else ???
  on a whim they imbibe
  on a ???
  we pour salt
  on a slog
  on a mirror they will down ???
  ???
  atilla the pun
  ???
  i'm sorry about that
  ???
  i've got more
  and i'll tell you more
  and you'll be rolling on the ceiling

CHORUS:
  i like meat
  and i wear hats
  and i, i go to the gym
  so why do you think i'm a fag?
  do you?
  

June Morning

I was starting to get into trance and other electronic music; hence the "synthy" instruments. The background chatter is from a video of a camping trip I took with my friends: Dale, Jon Hill, and Miro. We stayed in the St. Mary's Wilderness, in Virginia.

Lyrics to "June Morning":

JON:
  don't do any annoying voice overs

TRAV:
  ...fire glazed eyes

MIRO:
  fire!

DALE:
  somebody starts with a letter
  you go around to whoever's playing
  and each person has to add a letter
  the goal is not to end a word
  but it has to be a valid word
  there has to be a valid word

TRAV:
  okay

  [inaudible]

TRAV:
  i?

DALE:
  l
  zilt
  zil

JON:
  i wasn't listening
  i have no idea...
  i have no idea what's going on

  ???

DALE:
  you have to, um...

TRAV:
  you started it

DALE:
  no, i started zilch

DALE:
  i challenge you, miro

MIRO:
  zillion

TRAV:
  your turn

DALE:
  i challenge; what's the word?

JON:
  the word is zillion
  too freakin' bad!
  

June Evening

I used the same bits of background sound on this song that I used on "June Morning", but with different music. I also put more emphasis on Dale's description of the letter game ("Ghost"). The "what are summers for?" intro is an improv about graduate students' responsibilities (which I wasn't enjoying at the moment).

Lyrics to "June Evening":

JON:
  don't do any annoying voice overs

LOW:
  this is travis
  it doesn't get any better than this

HIGH:
  what are summers for?

  ...working and doing all that other stuff
  that i'm supossed to be getting paid for
  that's what summers are for
  doing i.r.
  not hiking and biking and laughing
  and seeing all the sights that are really cool
  and drinking and gaming
  playing and singing
  and playing music that's really cool
  doing anything really cool
  that's not what i'm in school for
  that's not what  i get paid for
  and i'm certainly not getting laid for
  that's what summers are for
  they say, they say
  it's to earn our pay
  and i say that's boring
  summers are a bore

DALE:
  this is not very similar at all

  somebody starts with a letter
  you go around to whoever's playing
  and each person has to add a letter
  the goal is not to end a word
  but it has to be a valid word
  there has to be a valid word

TRAV:
  okay

DALE:
  with that letter
  it can't be less than 3
  it can't be less than 4 letters long
  a 3 letter word doesn't count

TRAV:
  gotcha
  so let's see...

DALE:
  and when you finish a word
  when you get a challenge

  [inaudible]

TRAV:
  i?

DALE:
  l
  zilt
  zil

JON:
  i wasn't listening
  i have no idea what...
  i have no idea you guys are talking about

DALE:
  we're playing a game called ghost
  the way the game is played is
  a word is being created
  and each person is adding a letter
  and your goal is not to end the word

DALE:
  you have to, um...

TRAV:
  i

DALE:
  that's not a word

TRAV:
  you started it

DALE:
  no, i started zilch

???

DALE:
  i challenge you, miro

MIRO:
  zillion

TRAV:
  your turn

DALE:
  i challenge; what's the word?

JON:
  the word is zillion
  too freakin' bad!

TRAV:
  ???
  oh, are you kidding?
  ...last time i did this...
  um...  got fire glazed eyes

MIRO:
  fire!
  

Experimental Harvest

This is another "New Year's Resolution" song; this time I returned to the acoustic guitar. I recorded 4 tracks of it. It was an attempt to recapture the raw energy of "Moody Xmas". The results were listenable, but very boring. I think this song killed my enthusiasm for guitar, and the album in general.

Feeling Sharp

This is an out-of-the-blue return to simple, catchy jazz-piano funk/pop. It's too bad I never finished the song, because it could have revived the album (and my hobby) from its slump.

I had completely forgotten about this song until late 2001, when I found the long-buried master tape for the album. Hearing this one song inspired me to put this and all my other Tripecac albums on CD so that I could listen to them and not forget any more cool tracks like this one.

Dad liked it too; he selected it for Dad's Picks.

Re-Rite

This is a backwards reprise of "CopyRite". It ended the album by returning to the beginning.

Everything after this on the CD is outtakes.

Okay Track One

This is just to set the mood for the outtakes section of the CD. The idea is that we're rewinding to my first piddlings on the Yamaha SY55; hence the "track one".

I'm not sure when I recorded this clip. Doesn't really matter, does it? Does any of this matter?

Lyrics to "Okay Track One":

okay, track one
  

Chimera (early)

This is an early version of "Chimera" (from Archives). I think it's slightly sloppier and has more polyphony problems.

This was probably the first song I programmed into the Yamaha SY55.

Funky Snippet

This is a funky little snippet, probably from the Archives era. It's pretty cool. I wish I'd finished it. I don't know why I didn't.

The fake guitar sounds okay, but the brass sounds cheesy. Maybe the brass sound turned me off to it?

Travis and Jon (early)

This is an early version of "Travis and Jon" (from College Collage). I found it on a practice tape.

It could be from the College Collage sessions (early 1993). However, since it seems to have been recorded much earlier than "Anand's Journey (early)" (which is definitely 1993), I'm thinking maybe I started it in 1990 or 1991 and then resurrected it for College Collage. I don't remember.

This version is very short. The melody is played by piano instead of sax. Also, the piano gets chaotic at the end, like I was getting frustrated or something.

Testing the Cup (early)

This is an early version of "Testing the Cup" (from College Collage). As with "Travis and Jon (early)", this could have been from any time between 1990 and 1993.

It's much shorter than the final version. The instrumentation and programming seems the same, though (except for the missing vocals).

Heavy Reggae

This is a slow, distorted reggae groovy. It indeed feels "heavy". Who knows, this could have been cool if I had finished it.

Spacy Funk

This synthy funk is pretty lame. No wonder I never finished it.

Bad Sync Dance

This has a nice tune and illustrates a decent idea for a groove. On the downside, the drums are poorly mixed and slightly out of sync. It sounds like I hadn't quantized it yet. Either that, or the keyboard's limited polyphony was messing things up.

Synth and Drums

This starts with nicely syncopated synth chords, but then the drums come in and ruin everything. I think I was trying to be too fancy with the hi-hat.

Interview

I had a habit of talking at the end of my albums. For this one, I decided to include Beth since she played a big role in the last few songs. During this "song", she interviews me about finishing The Hermit and my musical history in general. The music in the background is the same as in "Amateur Night", although I think it's sped up a little bit.

There wasn't enough room for this on the CD version of The Hermit, so I included it on South or Southeast.

Lyrics to "Interview":

[edited slightly for clarity]

BETH:
  hello, this is beth ogura
  i'm about to interview mr. travis emmitt about his upcoming album
  what is your album title?

TRAV:
  currently i don't have a title for it

BETH:
  and?

TRAV:
  i'm thinking about "txe 1993"

BETH:
  that's very original
  this is your second album, i take it

TRAV:
  well, actually, you're quite wrong

  i started mailing tapes to my cousin kim in about 1986,
  which was 8 years ago
  i think in all i mailed her about 30 tapes,
  so it had hundreds and hundreds of songs on it

  but anyway, since then i have done a few albums with ipecac
  now, ipecac was a band i was with from about 1988 to 1989
  and there were just two of us: a sax player and myself
  i think that ipecac did about maybe 8 albums

  and then i was in this band called the master anchovies
  and while we didn't really sit down and record our stuff
    like in a studio situation,
  we often recorded our live sessions,
  and i put them all together so we have at least an album of that
  so that's, what, 9?

  and then also i had a somewhat lo-fidelity album (solo)
    of my own from about 1989
  and it's not very good
  but i did play some of the music on soundtracks for english projects
  so that's 10

  since then, all right, i did at least 1, 2, 3 and then this one,
  so 3 more albums, and this, this is the 4th
  so 14 plus however many i sent to my cousin kim
  about 30, i said, so that's about 44 albums
  of course, only about 1 of them is good enough to listen to

BETH:
  wow, thank you, that was very informative
  let's see...
  why don't you describe one of the songs,
  or several songs that you especically like on this upcoming album

TRAV:
  actually it's not an uncoming album
  i've already recorded all the songs,
  and all i have left to do is put on this interview
    that we're currently making
  what was the question?

BETH:
  i wanted you to give us a sample of
    one of the songs on the album that you most liked

TRAV:
  a sample of one of the songs?
  you mean, like, you want me to sing it or something?

BETH:
  sure, and then tell about your inspiration for writing it

TRAV:
  okay, well,
  here's a particularly pungeant song called "millions of monkeys":

  "millions of monkeys
  screaming around
  they're driving me crazy
  they make such awful--"

BETH:
  thank you, thank you!
  why don't you tell us your inspiration for this particular monkey song?

TRAV:
  well, actually the intro came from an ipecac album
  i think it was catharsis
  that was in december of 1988
  the intro just has this...
  it was actually part of the song
  it goes:

  "millions of monkeys swarmed the house,
  broke and busted in every window
  they strangled the poor professor --"

BETH:
  interesting, interesting
  thank you!

TRAV:
  oh yeah, oh yeah, what was your question again?
  oh yeah

BETH:
  the question was: what was your inspiration?

TRAV:
  oh, well, i rarely have inspiration
  i just kind of wing it
  

Sleeping Gas (1)

This is a Teardrop Explodes cover song, recorded for the first Julian Cope tribute project (Tiny Children).

It's the first take, and features "normal" vocals. I ended up using the second take instead ("Sleeping Gas (2)").

Lyrics to "Sleeping Gas (1)":

[written by The Teardrop Explodes 1979, transcribed by Travis Emmitt 1994-12-12]

ORGAN INTRO (monotone bass/organ + guitar)          [1-2]

VERSE INTRO 1 (bass/organ + guitar + drums)         [7-10]

VERSE 1:                                            [11-18]

  sometimes i wonder if you're really living
  oh what is this feeling you think that you're giving?
  you can sit down erect and dismayed
  wondering what are all the plans that you laid

CHORUS 1:                                           [19-28]

  but you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  just like a cartoon by a.a.p.
  oh, it's just like a cartoon by a.a.p.
  oh yeah

VERSE INTRO 2 (diss. organ)                         [29-32]

VERSE 2:                                            [33-40]

  oh whether to phone you or whether to see
  i never do anything you never do things for me
  i wander around, i just wander around
  i just wander around, i just wander around

CHORUS 2:                                           [41-48]

  but you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  oh you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  so here comes my head and my hands just behind
  so yeah yeah yeah

VERSE INTRO 3 (diss. organ, different guitar)       [49-52]

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE 3: (solos)                       [53-80]

  [funky bass 2x high, 2x low]

  hit my head on the ground
  i bang my head on the ground
  i keep spinning around
  i keep hearing the sound

  is sleeping gas around?
  is sleeping gas around?
  yes, she's dancing around
  yes, she's dancing around

  she's got her head on the ground
  she's got her feet in the air
  she's flying high
  she's so ethereal

VERSE INTRO 4 (simple fanfare)                      [81-88]

VERSE 4:                                            [89-96]

  i stand in the streets, i look for someone to meet
  but you don't call me or phone, oh you're never alone
  i wander around, i just wander around
  i just wander around, i just wander around

CHORUS 4:                                           [97-end]

  oh, you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  just like a cartoon by a.a.p.

  oh, you kill much rapity turn into a cereal
  it's just like sleeping gas, it's so ethereal
  it's just like sleeping gas, it's so ethereal
  it's just like sleeping gas, it's so ethereal

  i just wander around, i just wander around
  i just wander around, i just wander around
  i just wander around, i just wander around    [dual vocals repeat last verse]
  i just wander around, i just wander around

  i want to wander around, i want to wander around

[complete fanfare]

  it's just like sleeping gas, it's so ethereal  [dual vocals]
  it's just like sleeping gas, it's so ethereal

[fade]

etc...
  

Sleeping Gas (2)

This is a Teardrop Explodes cover song, recorded for the first Julian Cope tribute project (Tiny Children).

This is the second and final take. It features sped-up vocals. I ended up using it instead of the first one ("Sleeping Gas (1)").

Lyrics to "Sleeping Gas (2)":

    same as "Sleeping Gas (1)"
  

California Greetings (full)

This is the full version of "California Greetings" (on Where's My Muse). I couldn't fit everything on that CD, so I trimmed off this song's weird and cheesy ending. Not a big loss. Here it is in its full "glory".

Lyrics to "California Greetings (full)":

LEFT:
  and that reminds me all the more strongly of how much time has passed since 1991

RIGHT:
  14th of june, 1996

LEFT:
  life in general has changed by bits and leaps

RIGHT:
  a letter than was never sent

LEFT:
  i'm the same person, really, but...

RIGHT:
  i don't know why, but i had an overwhelming urge to write to you tonight

LEFT:
  but my "self" has been tested and shown back at me

RIGHT:
  here it is, 1:30am and i was all curled up for bed tonight

LEFT:
  the dice have been rolled
  more of my life is set in stone now

RIGHT:
  and then suddenly I felt an intense desire to write to you

LEFT:
  i've made a lot of decisions that i never expected to be making

RIGHT:
  odd, isn't it?

LEFT:
  well, yeah

RIGHT:
  odd, isn't it?

LEFT:
  now that i think of it

RIGHT:
  well, perhaps not
  for one thing, i am where i never really pictured i would be

LEFT:
  enough of the abstract for the moment - my brain is aching

RIGHT:
  i'm in california
  and this is my first time here, my first time travelling free

LEFT:
  was yours where you wrote to me from san francisco?

RIGHT:
  i recalled your trip to san francisco over christmas break, 1991

LEFT:
  that is the only letter of yours that i have

RIGHT:
  now I seem to be feeling a bit of perhaps what you felt
  when you travelling here alone

LEFT:
  a few pictures, a letter, and a green and gray sweater

RIGHT:
  i guess my point, before i fall back to sleep,
  is that i notice how calm and peaceful it is here

LEFT:
  but i don't really need those things to remember you

RIGHT: [concurrent with following LEFT]
  the flat, easy topography
  the beautiful mild, sunny weather
  lots of space, yet lots of people too
  on the east coast there are intense, sweaty pockets of people,
  dramatic, concealing hills, crammed, tall old buildings,
  dreary and clammy and smothering

  but here, everything feels so free
  at last I get it: the psychology of california
  i cannot really imagine beth here at the same time
  it is all too personal, stress-free
  not that beth is stress inducing,
  but let's just say she's not relaxed or relaxing

  california seems like a nice, lazy draught
  with the feet up and the eyes half closed
  and the sun goes down
  while the kids are playing happily off down the street
  and all the space and time in the world is at our feet
  that is what I feel here in california

  did you feel like that when you were here?
  it reminds me so much of you sometimes
  the relaxed, confident, outwardly focused side of you
  you know, the "you" that introduced yourself to me
  the friendliness without artifice
  your beauty inside

  it's a golden moment
  a rare parting of the clouds
  a small sunbeam of understanding
  and here i am, in california

LEFT:
  i'm really writing in hopes that you can help me understand...
  i guess, understand how to take what i've got in life
  to be happy with it,
  to be able to make other people happy also

  i know i've said it before, but i really do mean it,
  no matter how poorly i or anyone can express it:

  you have a true gift,
  to make people fell good about themselves and about you
  it's been four and a half years since we were together,
  and i still think about you a lot

  it's not the same with any of my other girlfriends or ex-girlfirends
  i don't think about them any more than i think of old movies i saw

  but for some reason, i'm always thinking about you
  well, not always, but at least once a week

  you can add this to your stack of fan mail, i guess,
  but i will leave you with my clearest,
  most honest and human california words
  

Letter to Beth

According to the title, I was reading a letter to Beth.

It sounds like it was recorded around the same time as "Hoboes on Acid" (on Where's My Muse), but it's not actually on that tape. It might have been a test recording.

Lyrics to "Letter to Beth":

the metro home from work
to good old alexandria
??? a lot of money ???
??? last night your dad ???
something something something easter
and which is not this weekend but next weekend
  

I Am Not Funny

This was part of the narration for Songs to Sleep By 2. It consists of two tracks of improvised chatter, with the music to "Artificial Life" in the background. The talking makes fun of my long-windedness and my poor (but persistent) attempts at humor.

Lyrics to "I Am Not Funny":

RIGHT:
  hi!

LEFT:
  hi!

RIGHT:
  you just heard "the best of ipecac and the master anchovies",
  1988 through 1990
  you are about to hear the best of the dead anchovies and tripecac

LEFT:
  [snoring]

RIGHT:
  the dead anchovies were the master anchovies minus jon
  we recorded a couple times through college
  the sound quality was kind of poor but you will notice that,
  except for the song "superstuds" where, unfortunately,
  luke does not play a part

LEFT:
  all right

TRAV:
  tripecac is the name i've chosen for myself solo

LEFT:
  boring...

RIGHT:
  i initially called call myself "travis" or "travis emmitt"
  or "trav" or "txe" or just "t"

LEFT:
  boring, boring...

RIGHT:
  but now i call myself "tripecac"
  maybe i'll change my name again

LEFT:
  wooh!

RIGHT:
  it's fun!
  anyway, i hope you enjoy the upcoming songs
  this is 1997, four years after i recorded the first part

LEFT:
  yawn

RIGHT:
  ...and I realize that as i have grown older I have grown more boring

LEFT:
  you've got that right!

RIGHT:
  so i will spare you the between-song chatter

LEFT:
  yay!

RIGHT:
  maybe i'll pop up every now and again

LEFT:
  boo!

RIGHT:
  but, for the most part,
  this is the only time you'll have to endure my narration

LEFT:
  yippee-skippy

RIGHT:
  this is the only time...

LEFT:
  [groan]

RIGHT:
  ...you'll have to listen to me...

LEFT:
  all right

RIGHT:
  ...talk...

LEFT:
  okay

RIGHT:
  ...because I wish to spare you...

LEFT:
  enough!

RIGHT:
  ...the pain of having to listen to me talk
  because I realize that...

LEFT:
  [groan]
  i'm trying to sleep!
  [groan]

RIGHT:
  ...listening to me talk can get irritating
  it can get boring and i am not funny
  i am not funny
  even though i make myself laugh, i am not funny
  now, say it along with me

LEFT:
  can you be quiet for a second?

RIGHT:
  i am not funny

LEFT:
  you are not

RIGHT:
  everyone sing along:

  i am not funny
  i know that i'm not
  i'm not funny
  i know that i'm not

  i can't think
  of what to say
  'cause i'm not funny
  on any day

LEFT:
  oh yeah
  stellar, stellar!

RIGHT:
  this will never get onto the real tape

[laughing]

RIGHT:
  oh yeah

LEFT:
  oh no

  you've said enough
  now go to sleep
  put your head on my shoulders
  and stretch out your feet

  you've said enough
  just go to bed
  as i put this plastic bag
  around your head

  travis is dead

  all right, guys, so what do you think?
  you wanna hear some music?
  wanna hear some tunes?
  

Bored Echo

This was a clip from Where's My Muse, repeated a few times.

Lyrics to "Bored Echo":

hey, wake up, you getting bored?
  hey, wake up, you getting bored?
    hey, wake up, you getting bored?
      hey, wake up
        hey hey hey...