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July 1, 2008

A Shoutout to a So-Far Silent Reader

Contrary to what I believe popular belief to be, I do not write songs exclusively about romantic love or the lack or loss thereof. Sometimes I have other things to write about. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes other things come to mind. Sometimes they don't. In college, I wrote a song that I intended to be not at all about romantic love, but it was sort of a strange song. It had three verses and no choruses, and each verse was about a different person that I respected or admired or whatever. Sure, every person is a woman, but that's not...

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May 30, 2008

Something New

I've been working on this song for about twenty-four hours. It's not done by any means--this is the first time I'm posting a very, very rough demo here. The guitar tone sucks--I went directly into my input box rather than putting a mic in front of my amp. The singing is also rather lame. But the most noticeably lame part is the fact that the song doesn't really change or move--something that I abhor in songs. I had the distinct displeasure of catching the Eagles' "Lying Eyes" on the radio the other day. That song fucking sucks hard--it's fucking eight...

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April 27, 2008

"The Broken World"

This is my latest song. I wrote it in about fifteen minutes and the entire recording process took about an hour, including mixing. It's a pretty simple song--two guitars playing identical parts, a double-tracked vocal, and some harmonies. Not complicated at all. The lyrics are very simple, but I like them. Here's what I sing:I wish I could fix the world I wish I could fix the world For you, for you And if I could mend your bones And if I could mend your bones I would, I would The sun will shine, the ice will melt The sun...

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February 5, 2008

Setlist

So, like I said before, I want to get out and play some open-mic nights sometime this year. The first thing I have to do in order to do that is to create a setlist, so I've been listening for some good songs that could be arranged for one guitar. It's generally easy to play a version of a song that's recognizable regardless of what the original instrumentation was, but it's often difficult to keep all of the important elements while removing all but one instrument and still put your own spin on the thing. I've done some vaguely risky...

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January 6, 2008

Resolutions Are for Losers

I've noticed that a lot of the people on a lot of the blogs I read are writing posts that pretty much say that they don't usually make new years resolutions, but that this year is different for some reason. Frankly, I think that's pretty lame. If you're going to do something, own it. I don't usually make new years resolutions, but this year is different. Or not. And, actually, I've made new years resolutions before. But, whatever. The point is, I think I'm going to try to set some broad goals for this year. So, here they are: Do...

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December 20, 2007

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

Last year, The Lovers of Sight and Sound brought you an electric guitar version of "Carol of the Bells." This year, in order to uphold the tradition of bringing you covers of Christmas carols, I recorded a version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." I originally wanted to do it a cappella, but I decided that it sounded kind of empty without the guitar. So I took the middle road and just buried the guitar in the mix. The result, I hope, is that the guitar doesn't detract from the vocal harmonies but still gives the song a little more...

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September 12, 2007

"Maps"

I started working on a cover of "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs a while ago, then abandoned it because I got distracted by some other stuff. I found it today as I was looking around my harddrive and decided to give it another go. I usually go overdub crazy, so I originally wanted to buck that trend and include only one guitar and one vocal track on this one. Ultimately, there are five tracks: two guitars and three voices. Still, I think it's pretty sparse. Also, I took tRJ's comments from my "Tiny Dancer" attempt to heart and sang...

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