Tripecac - Halfdosin

I took a jog the morning I started this. I was in a bad mood.

The jog helped me relax a little, but it wasn't perfect. Neither is this song. By a long shot. Nor am I.

We have two guinea pigs. One of them is named "Coffee".

In the morning, after I give the piggies fresh hay, I often see Coffee jumping around uncontrollably in happiness. This is called "popcorning". When Coffee does it, we can call it "Coffee-corning".

The music is based on a simple blues progression, which is a bit cliche. It was a challenge finding the enthusiasm/willpower to finish the song. Usually I have 16 tracks, so I can distract you with lots of layers of sounds to make boring ideas slightly less boring. However, my rule for this album is to only use 8 tracks, so the original "corny" idea remains somewhat naked.

I almost didn't want to finish this song, but I made myself do it. Whether or not finishing up corn-balls like this is worth the effort is really beside the point. It's not the end result that matters to me; it's the process, the practice. For me, practice does not make perfect, but it does keep my fingers and mind limber for the next song, which might be better. Might.

Let's cross our fingers for greener pastures over the next hill... Yep, always the next hill, it seems! Sounds laughably self-delisional, but hey, that's what keeps me going.

Or, as Coffee would say: "hay, that's what keeps me going." :)

Our second guinea pig is named "Donovan". Although he is younger and shorter than Coffee, he is rounder and heavier. I think he's fatter because he eats so many pellets, which are probably the pigs' highest calorie food. Kinda like donuts. :) So Donovan's little nickname for this song is "Donut Van". :)

I started this song the same day as "Coffee Corn". I normally don't do that, but this time I couldn't resist. I was really bored with "Coffee Corn" and came up with a funky synth part which didn't really fit that song. So I started this new song instead. I named it after Donovan in order to justify starting it on the same day. Quick thinkin', huh? :)

It's funky, which I like, but a little too repetitive for my tastes. I wish I had more tracks to work with, so that I could layer more percussion and subtle sounds. But I stuck to my 8 track rule, because rules are rules.

For breakfast I usually have a mountainous bowl of raison bran. Yum!

The title is also a pun on "mountain man".

As for the music, well, I wanted to make something "branny" (with lots of brass bursts) but when I was fiddling with the template I stumbled upon a soothing 3/4 EP pattern. I really liked it, and decided to build upon that. As a concession to the title, I did add a tuba and a brassy-sounding bass. :)

Unfortunately, on the day I finished it, my head was tormented by pollen. I had zero patience, zero enthusiasm. My edits and mix had all the finesse of an elephant butcher. Sorry for the unpleasant image, but the music's even worse! As if two "bads" make a "good"... Not quite.

Are bicycles considered cars or pedestrians? Should they drive on the road or the sidewalk? Should they follow traffic lights or disgression? In heavy traffic, should they signal or keep both hands near the breaks?

Well, I for one regard bikers more as pedestrians. We should get to go wherever, whenever we want, at our own risk. And we should yield to pedestrians and small forest creatures. For instance, I don't think bicyclists should be allowed to repeatedly run over snakes or mice. That's not fair, no matter how much you might personally dislike those animals. Also, I don't think it's appropriate to throw bricks at the harbor seals.

For this song, I wanted the music to be slow, simple, and happy. I wanted a steady rhythm at roughly pedaling pace (one left/right pair per second). I also wanted it semi-jazzy, like "I Don't Do Hills". However, I didn't really want to mimic that old song; I just wanted to lighly remind us of it. Kinda like reminding you of your own last bike trip. And that time you crushed all those slugs, clogging up your tires and gears with slug guts. That took hours to clean. Very smelly, very disgusting. Please stop doing that!

Good morning, cubicle!

This song laments the tiny honeycomb desk jobs that so many people accept as "normal". Sure, I know, there's lots of people in the world who would rather be working a cubicle than a tractor or a counter. However, who says we must be content with what we have? If we were all content with what we have, we'd never bother eating. Or breathing. Status quo is overrated.

I wanted to make the song very rigid (to fit the theme). I stuck to a strict 4/4 and gave it a krautrocky feel. At the end, there's a tick-tock which is supposed to represent a clock ticking off your life. And you can hear the jail doors slamming, louder and louder as they get closer to your cell... Can you escape in time???

People who eat junk food are bound to be more likely to develop Diabetes, right? And then they get bound to a strict diet, insulin injections, doctors' offices, and possibly a wheelchair. Fun fun fun!

Well, that was the idea behind this song's title.

The music doesn't really fit it, though. It's soft but peppy and kinda funky. Does this mean I think Diabetes is groovy?

Nah. But wheelchairs and needles certainly are, so hooray for junk food! Let's all gorge on cinnamon buns, ice cream, and sugar-laden cereal so that we are chronically "too full" to eat our Vegibles!

I wanted a very stripped down sound. Initially I thought I would just have a solo keyboard part; hence the title. It would be one big improv, a la some of those piano based Trex jams. However, after I recorded it, it felt empty, so I added drums. No other instruments, though. So it's still sparse.

What does this have to do with Loki (the Norse trickster)? Ummm... Nothing, really.

I guess I fooled you with that title. What a prankster I am!!!

I started this a couple days before my first marathon in 6 or 7 years. I was wondering how hungry I would be after I finished. That explains the title (hopefully).

The music is a deliberate attempt to sound peppier and funkier than than last song ("So Loki"), which might as well have been named "Slow Loki". I also wants it to play at roughly jogging tempo. So I started with the rhythm (drums and bass) and added choppy bits of melody, which are supposed to represent the scenery that you see on a long jog.

I completed the song a week later, after the marathon. The jog ended up taking 7.5 hours. When I finally got to the finish line (Canada), I wasn't hungry, but I was very, very sore. I remained sore for the next couple days.

A nice evening walk and a glass of wine. That was the plan. Didn't happen. End of story.

I started this song two days after my second ever century (100 mile bike ride). I wanted the music to represent that ride, with lots of repetition but also different "scenes". The first part was supposed to be melodic, with comfortable starts and stops; the second part was supposed to be more relentless grueling in the reptition. And then since our route was a loop, I wanted the music at the end to return to the original theme.

Well, that was the idea anyway. I followed it loosely. Very loosely.

The "finish line" is anticlimactic, like the ride itself. We quietly coasted down the road into our driveway and quickly disappeared inside, with just one tiny note of congratulations to ourselves. And then silence.

Until the next ride.

Each calorie we consume should have a reason, a justification.

Did you pedal for 4 hours while working on web pages? Did you pull and machete weeds around the edges of the house for an hour? Did you spend 3 more hours mowing the back lawn for the first time in months? Did you then go biking for 2 hours while doing our errands? All without eating anything more than 1 slice of bread and 2 glasses of water?

Or...

Did you spend all day sitting in chairs and cars, standing in crowds and lines, repeatedly feasting on soft drinks, deserts, and cheese balls?

Next time you're about to shove yet another "goodie" into your mouth, stop and think for a second... Did you do anything to deserve those calories? Did you earn them?

Do the math.

Because if you don't, your body will. One extra pound on the thighs, two on the hips, three on the belly... A double chin, a triple chin... Quadruple man boobs, deluxe, with mayo and extra cheese, please... Because it makes us feel good, right???

The title is a pun on:

• baker's dozen (because this is the 13th song on the album
• beggars dozing in the hot sun instead of working (it was very hot when I started this)
• beggars dosing up on drugs (out of boredom) or meds (because of sickness)

As for the music, well, it's typical Tripecac. Jazzy, trancy reggae with lots of repetition and occasional solos and quiet sections. Pretty empty sounding, actually. Oh well, no real surprises here. I guess it's sufficient if all you want is another dose of Tripecac. :)

This is a birthday song for my dad.

I recorded the first, super-rough version back in 2001 (see the last few tracks on Trex's Dad Day Jam). This new version adds more parts and polish.

The mix was extremely frustrating. It's muffled and swishy and thin, sapping the energy out of the song. I was very glad to finally finish the song, and therefore the album. No more 8 track rule. Hooray!!!