Tripecac - Padden Drift

This song, whose title is short for "let's go", kicks off the album on an upbeat note. The familiar Tripecac formula is in effect (or "in da house"): a repetitive mix of funk, jazz, and reggae. It's peppy enough to sound like it could have fit on Coma Pill. I guess that's a good thing, because I like where Coma Pill was headed. Now I just need to slow down and actually start writing some songs!

It's interesting (to me) that I've been waiting almost three years to start working on new material, and here I am, building this song in exactly the same way I was working on the old songs! There's no "composition" phase; it's just me constructing patterns, dropping instruments in and out, and adding solos. Perhaps this first "all new" album will be a bridge between the groove/improv older material and actual written songs? Who knows?

For the record, I actually like this song, so I'm not "knocking" it. It's just not as radical a departure as I thought it would be. No revolution here! Just steady improvement, hopefully. I like the fact that I didn't obsess over it! I finished it in about 3 hours, over 2 days! :) I'm happy. Okay, on to the next new creation!

The song title is a pun on "recycle". The day I started it was recycling day. Also, the tune recycles itself (through lots of repetition), and even starts off sounding a lot like the preceding song ("Sgo").

The groove is a little bass-heavy for my tastes, but I like the first few seconds of the bluesy synth solo.

Nature or nurture? Does it matter?

This song has the "genes" of a mindless dance song. I tried to jazz it up with loose solos, and intentionally "off" rhythms and conflicting bass lines. Whether it works or not is a testament to, ummm, nurture over nature? Huh? Well, blaa blaa blaa, says me. A glass of wine helped me finish this clunker.

This was an exercise in minimalism. I wanted only 2 instruments plus drums. I started recording the bass line before I knew what chord progression I'd play. It ended up being a semi-blues riff. I quickly added drums, and then an organ solo. The next day I cleaned up the organ solo and extended it a bit. I didn't add any more instruments or even a melody, just drums.

The title comes from the fuel for the song. Interesting how alcohol seemed to make me focus better. Maybe I should try it again some time. And again and again! :)

I have a gut feeling that gut filling isn't a healthy habit. Somewhere I read about a study which found that half-starved mice live the longest. Perhaps a music "career" which is undernourished (in terms of education and audience) has similar longevity.

Okay, enough with the deep thoughts. The song tried to be light 80s post-punk. It ended up with cheesy jazz/elevator elements. Did I say cheesy? I meant "stinky". To try to add some life, I added cheesy, oops, I mean stinky, nature sound effects. Man, this description is chees stinky!

All right, I actually have something interesting to say about this song now... Today's 2005-05-05, or, for those of you who haven't learned the Y2K lesson, 05-05-05. And guess what; this is the fifth song on the album! Imagine that! Too bad I didn't make it 5 minutes and 5 seconds long. On second thought, it's a good thing I didn't make it that long, because the song is ssttiinnkkyy!!!

Somewhere between whining and winning is wining. Somewhere between pathetic and mediocre is this song. I intended it to be a sequel to "Dog Street Jam". It's slow, slow, slow; it's almost like a dirge. I sped it up on the last day, but even that didn't make it peppy enough to be interesting.

I started this on Mother's Day. M also stands for: moody, miserable, mean. I wasn't very happy when I started this. Fortunately, everything turned out okay.

On a brighter note, I used this song as an opportunity to break out the guitar again. It was in E, which is the easiest possible key for someone who hasn't touched a guitar in months. I also had zero ideas for melodies. As a result, this song is basically just a super-simple bass line, drums, and solos.

Also, the mix is a bit off; the melody instruments are too loud. Sigh.

There was a robin repeatedly flying at the window the day I started this. He quixotically charged his own reflection for hours and hours. In the evening, we turns on the lights so that he wouldn't see himself anymore. The next morning he was gone.

The song is attractive in some parts, "slow" and scatter-brained in others. Every once in a while it charges into chaos... and then regains its footing.

I started this song on the day that I ordered my new laptop. If it doesn't feel very inspired, that's probably because I was exhausted from all the research. When I finished it the next day, I still didn't have much energy.

It's sappy, very sappy. Like a weeping spruce. Or a weeping laptop battery.

The title is a pun on "Whatcom". We took our first walk on the eastern side of Lake Whatcom the day I started this.

The intro is very loose, with no metronome. The rest of the song is in time, and attempts to build. I never managed to add much oomph, though. Perhaps the mix is the problem: the drums are too sparse, the bass is too loud, some instruments are too crisp, others are too muddy. Yuck! What comes is yuck!

This song retreads old, mellow, long jam grounds. I couldn't call it "New Leaf", so I called it "Blue Leaf" for its bluesy feel (at times). Well, it kinda turns a "new leaf" in the middle of the song, when it switches from minor to major.

All it is is an EP improv plus some quiet, repetitive bass and drums. Minimal effort, minimal results.

I installed my first operating system (XP) on a laptop on the day I started this song. The title also refers to the maternal instinct of offering an "instant lap" to someone. Guys can't offer their laps. What can they offer? Their arms and legs, I guess. And brains. No offense, girls. Oh, I forgot: girls don't have brains, so they can't read! Ha ha silly me.

Anyway, lame faux-sexist jokes aside, let's talk about the music. The core tune is a long trancy piano improv, a bit dirge-like to start. I then added layers of improvised organ, strings, bass, and drums. There was no planning, practicing, or even looping (until the very end). Also, the mix is really muffled. Yeah, it's a lazy way to churn out songs, but I enjoy indulging myself in jamming every once in a while. Just like I enjoy indulging in lame jokes! Blaa, blaa, blaa... Zzzz...

I just got back from my second hiking trip to Mount Rainier. This time, there weren't any meadows. The company made up for it, though! :)

The music is repetitive but has a nice bounce. I was literally bouncing in my chair when I played the piano part.

This started off as simple piano noodling. I thought it was pretty cheesy. I was practicing with headphones, but didn't realize that the speakers were on too. When I discovered that my noodling had been heard by everyone in the apartment (and neighboring apartments), I decided to go ahead and finish it.

It's one of the rare recent songs that has a verse, chorus, and bridge. Or at least a chorus and a bridge. I really liked the melody, but hated the mix.

I still hate the mix. Honestly, I have no idea why the mix is so annoying. It sounded bad in headphones, and sounds just as bad on speakers, despite an hour or so of fiddling.

Well, if it's any consolation, the bridge is kinda lame. And so are the solos. And so is the intro. Hey, come to think of it, the mix is pretty darn awesome, compared to the rest of the song.

Ummmm, yeah, right.

Die, stupid mix, die!!!

The title implies dance music. The actual song is a ho-hum piano jam with a decent melody but not much originality. It repeats its simple idea a few times, and then devolves into pounding.

Perhaps the title is a plea to "mix it up a bit, Travis!" The instant I created this (right after finishing "Noooodle", which has similar chord progressions), I wished I had tried to push myself into more adventurous territory. But this plays it safe, and is pretty dull as a consequence. The most interesting bit is the trancy bass line at the end. I added vocals as an afterthought.

Musically, it revisits snapshots of Tripecac history. It starts off tentative and tuneful, like "Soft" (1991). Then I start reading stuff in the background like I did on the Where's My Muse (1997). Next it gets trancy and minimal, focused on the rhythm, like on In the Margins (2001). Finally, it devolves into a capella, like "Treadmill" (2004). That's where it originally ended.

I listened to it for a couple of days, and found it interesting (in bits), but not overall satisfying. Whenever I got to the end to it, I'd rewind it again so that I could hear the tuneful beginning. I then realized that when the song goes on CD, rewinding it won't be as easy, and that it'll probably leave the listeners hanging like it did for me.

So I decided to add a second ending to it. The simplest thing to do was repeat the chorus and bridge from the beginning. I faded out on the "self-mimicry" bit. It's not brilliant, but it at least gives the song some closure.

If the song represents Tripecac's musical evolution, does this mean I will eventually return to the simple tunefulness of my early songs? Or should the song be taken as a whole, meaning I'll continue to incorporate different eras' elements into my music? Will the elements be blended smoothly, or will they remain separate, causing me to create more medleys like this song?

Perhaps the next song will answer the question. Or the next.

I needed a short song to finish the album, so quickly brainstormed this ditty. It started with the plucked strings; I added the other bits with too much thought. It was done very, very quickly.

The title is a pun on the album name ("Padden Drift"). I picked it very quickly. The whole song was quick. Bang, bang, you're done! I could easily have finished it in one day, but then it would have gone on Wonday, and I'd be no closer to finishing Padden Drift.

Anyway, is it catchy? I hope so! I like to end albums on a positive note! In this case, I literally did that; I threw in a bright C major chord at the end.

And then I deleted it. And add the vocals. Which kinda kill the song. Oh well, next album!

This a capella improv continues the vocals that I threw onto the end of "Pudding Draught". The title is short for "Diminished Returns". It's a horrible way to end the album, really. For the CD I put 15 seconds of silence in front of it to make it a "hidden" track.