Tripecac - Dad's Picks (1990-2002)

Walkman Instrumental (DAD) [3:01] 2001-11-26 - 2001-11-26
Renewal Instrumental (DAD) [3:39] 2001-11-12 - 2001-11-12
Working Week (DAD) [1:59] 2000-11-11 - 2000-11-11
Close Your Eyes (DAD) [2:51] 2000-09-01 - 2000-09-01
Feeling Sharp (DAD) [3:00] 1999-03-27 - 1999-03-27
I Don't Do Hills (DAD) [3:55] 1996-05-12 - 1996-05-12
Tick (DAD) [2:26] 1997-02-01 - 1997-02-01
Keep On (DAD) [3:38] 2001-05-17 - 2001-05-17
...And Downs... (DAD) [2:39] 1997-11-08 - 1997-11-08
My Computer and Me (DAD) [4:44] 1993-02-26 - 1993-02-26
The Hermit (DAD) [5:38] 1993-07-29 - 1993-07-29
Momiata Instrumental (DAD) [2:53] 2002-05-04 - 2002-05-04
Tension (DAD) [6:27] 2002-05-18 - 2002-05-18
Stuffy (DAD) [3:02] 2002-05-22 - 2002-05-22
My Old School Instrumental (DAD) [4:22] 2002-05-15 - 2002-05-15
Memorial (DAD) [5:26] 2001-10-11 - 2001-10-11
Trail Running Instrumental (DAD) [5:21] 2001-12-02 - 2001-12-02
Walkman (DAD) [7:49] 2001-11-25 - 2001-11-25

Dad chose the songs, track order, and most fade points. I then edited every song. Here are the original liner notes:

2002-06-16

Happy Father's Day!!!

Great selection and song order, Dad! A lot of your picks surprised me. Here are some details...

I actually recorded "The Hermit" (my theme song) for your birthday, back in 1993! :) Glad you like it!

Tracks 1, 2, 12, and 15 are instrumental versions of my recent "proper" songs. I spent much more time on each of those songs than on any previous songs. The vocals are what made me take the songs so "seriously"; they motivated the polish and the focused structure. The instrumental versions inherit the precision and organizational "tightness" of the originals.

On the opposite end of the "tightness" axis are tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. These were "tests" and "throwaway" songs which I hastily assembled and dumped to tape or hard disk in order to free up memory on my keyboard or gain a sense of "closure", so that I could start a "real" song; I had essentially given up on these.

The extreme case is "Feeling Sharp" (track 5), which was the last song I recorded on my old SY55 keyboard. I forgot I had recorded it until 2001, when I stumbled across the master tape to South or Southeast; I'd been playing a backup copy of that tape for years, but had never even bothered to copy "Feeling Sharp" onto it!

Your selection of so many "throwaways" and the fact that they actually sound better to me in this new context (which you defined) than many of the more meticulously crafted songs is part of what inspires me to dive back into the past and bring some of the old, "forgotten" efforts back to the surface.

I appreciate your interest in this music and your willingness to provide feedback and suggestions. This CD was a lot of fun to make, and I enjoy listening to it; I hope you do too! Thanks again, and nice job!!! :)

-- Trav