This is the printable cover for Zipit.
Since I use it to make labels, it's tailored to my printer and browser (IE7) settings. It might not look or print as nicely on your PC.
I suggest you try a print preview and/or low-ink draft print before trying to print actual labels.
Make sure you configure your browser to print backgrounds, or the images won't print.
Set your left/right printer margins to 0.75 and your top/bottom margins to 0.50.
Vocal fatigue had set in. Or some kind of fatigue.
2006's fourth album, Mouseculine, had a fun theme (numbers in titles) and energetic songs throughout. I liked it.
The followup, Yata, was much mellower and more contemplative (a/k/a boring), with looooong songs and very loose/shallow writing. Its first 3 or 4 songs were okay, but the album quickly lost steam. Perhaps the lack of fun outdoor activity was wearing on me (we didn't vacation that summer), or maybe I was just getting tired of the same old Triton template that I'd been using all year.
It was probably a little of both.
Or a lot of both.
Whatever the reasons for the "slump", I decided to try to finish the final album of 2006 quickly in order to give myself a sense of accomplishment. I also wanted to keep the song building as free (and hopefully fun) as possible, so I gave myself only one rule: I had to omit vocals (to "zip it").
Did my plan work? Well, yes and no. Some of these songs are fun to hear, and it was fun to make them. Others are tedious and mechanical, and it felt like work to finish them. A couple songs were fun one day and boring the next, or vice versa. Overall, Zipit was a half-fun, half-tedious experience for me, and I'm guessing it'll be the same for you.
If these these liner notes sound tired, it's because I'm indeed very tired. I ran out of time in December 2006 and had to scramble to finish the album by the end of January 2007. Here it is, 10 PM on 2007-01-31 and I need to print and burn this CD in a few minutes in order to meet my goal.
So, the bad news is that there's a lack of polish in the notes and music. The good news is that I'm finished. The latter is more important to me. Naturally.