Trex - Kim 9

This is a chaotic percussion and sparse keyboard improv. It sounds like I had given up on writing songs, and just wanted to bang on something. I think there are (at least) 3 tracks of banging here; you can tell by the voices, the hiss, and my comments in "Lucky Three Chatter".

I'm pretty sure this was recorded the same day as "The Brightest Smile" and "Lucky Three Chatter".

See "Lucky Three Chatter" for my thoughts regarding the recording date.

The a capella vocals in the beginning (about no smoking) are kinda funny, especially if you consider the song title. I can't understand most of the other singing. I think is has something to do with a shark attack. The last bit collapses, and I forgot the name of the song at the very end.

This chatter is split into three parts.

The first part starts with an explanation of how I had been recording with 3 tracks. Then comes a "tour" of the percussion instruments. This dwindles off talking about whatever was on my mind, all the while banging those stupid drumsticks!

The second part has my voice slowed down a lot, using a dictaphone. I was trying to guess the date.

At first I thought the date was the 17th, and the later I thought it was either the 16th or 18th. The "funny" thing is that this was either the 16th or 18th tape; I wasn't sure because the label had fallen off. It turns out it was the 16th tape, and this was recorded on the 17th, since that was a Sunday. Since the talking in "Adios Amiga" suggests that it was recorded on the 16th or 17th, and since that was probably the following day, that means this was most likely recorded on the 16th.

Anywah, the third part returns to "normal" speed and gets us focused again on the songs I was supposed to be recording (rather than this stuff).

This is energetic but sloppy. At some point I got off sync, and never really recovered. Yet I kept banging away with enthusiasm, which is kinda fun to hear. The ending is a mess.

I'm guessing this was recorded the same day as "Lucky Three Chatter".

This was an attempt at "toasting". It's kinda pathetic for the most part, although the "can you feel the rhythm" bit is almost catchy at times. The music is monotonous and the solos are super-lame.

This was a single live recording, no layered tracks. The middle and ending is very sparse; I think this is because I decided mid-song to add more tracks later (see "African Poo 2").

The mix has really bad panning. I think this was because the tape was dying.

This is "African Poo 1" sped up with at least 2 more tracks. It's just as stinky as the original. Sure, it's faster, but it's also sloppier and more out of tune with itself. Interesting idea (showing both versions) but poor execution.

This song gives me a headache.

Next I attempted beat-boxing. It's horrible, in a hilarious sort of way.

The sound quality makes me think it was recorded on a different day. Also, the numerical song references in the following songs imply the same thing, since this would have been song number 1 for that day (the 17th).

The title was a pun on King Sunny Ade, whose song was on the tape before this. The music starts with a percussion jam. When the keyboard finally starts, the song really starts to stink.

There's a vague Spiderman theme at times; I don't know what inspired that. Well, maybe "inpired" is not the right word. There's really no ideas here, just lots of noise.

The "this first one" reference implies that this was the first song recorded that day, although I might not have been counting "Wet the Mic".

This is kinda boring, but it states clearly that the only copies of these tapes were going to my cousin, and that I didn't expect to see them again. It was, in fact, almost 20 years later that I finally heard the tapes again!

The last part is kinda funny, where I talk about breaking my mom's canteen (which was one of my percussion instruments).

As for "making pretty good music", well... Ahem.

Perhaps my belief that the music was "disposable" contributed to my lack of focus? Or maybe I was just getting irritated with the "mess" of percussion that surrounded me in the studio? Or maybe I was getting bogged down in school work, having to write format papers, as suggested by the writing references? Or maybe I was getting sick from eating pencils?

This Scat-Trav jam starts off horribly chaotic, with no beat or melody, just lots of banging. Finally the main rhythm (and scat singing) kick in, making it a tiny bit better. It still feels too hyper and sloppy, but there's some semi-catchy moments in there.

This is a very sloppy birthday song for Kim. I recorded it a few days before her birthday, probably on the same day as "Zulu dance".

It's slow and messy and sounds like a complete improv. The singing is lame. The keyboards are out of tune with themselves.

The lyrics are not really for or about Kim. They are about myself (surprise, surprise). I was excited that my History Day project ("Settlement of Southern Africa") had one first place in the school's competition. Of course, the "funny" part is that I was the only entrant in my category. Anyway, I sang about that for a while, before politely returning to the birthday theme.

So, my "it's the thought that counts" comment at the end is laughable, since it's clear that I was thinking primarily about myself rather than Kim.

This starts off slow, sloppy, and repetitive. A couple minutes into it, I got bored and sped it up, which made it marginally more interesting.

I think the lyrics are are reference to the "bring out your dead" segment in Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail.

Dumb title, cheesy chords, sloppy playing, bad singing. I must've been tired, and utterly unspired. For that reason, I'm thinking this was recorded the same day as "Sloppy Birthday" and "Number 5".

More clatter. This time I admitted that I was getting bored. I added multiple cornet parts in an attempt to liven things up. The result is just more noise, lots of noise.

This was the last thing I recorded before sending the tape to Kim for her birthday. It's mostly talking, with an improvised song in the middle. The chatter is kinda boring, but I kept it because gives a clue as to the recording date.

Right after (or before) recording "Mustard", I decided to bang along semi-steadily to a keyboard drum preset. For some reason I never finished this (or recorded over it). Anyway, I decided it would make a good outro so here it is.