Embedded Files
Blimey O'Riley, folks, is it really December again already? The lack-of-sleep-induced haze I write this in tells me it must be so, and let me tell you, this years 12 Tracks got off to a rocky start.
After 2014's massive undertaking, I made a point to try and keep a track ahead and make sure I'm prepared well before December 2nd. A couple of factors kinda mitigated that this time, with the most major being one entirely out of my control; early morning on November 28th, my uncle passed away in his sleep completely out of nowhere. To say it's hit the family hard is an understatement, and likewise it's going to hang over this Christmas season like a shadow. As you can imagine, I stress about coming up with song ideas or fearing whether I will or won't be able to make it through all 12 tracks without stumbling on the calmest of Decembers, so one fraught with personal tragedy only ramps up the stakes. But I know I'd never forgive myself if I threw in the towel before I even started and let grief wash over me; these albums have become a tradition over the last few years, and now more then ever I feel compelled to use my talents to spread joy and love and all that sort of business. Even as I slaved over the first track for hours on end, frustrated beyond belief at points, I resolved not to give up.
This years 12 tracks is going to Bang™ and absolutely nothing is going to stop me.
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Track 1: Humble Bumble [Hovering Over The Quality Street Tin Mix]
Artist: Visor Jack
I kept ahold of elements from Humble Bumble with the intent of remixing somewhere down the line, even considering putting a remix release together with a few other artists. By self admission, however, I was a bit stuck for a starting point for this years album- not helped by the fact I'd not even settled on a theme until, like, today (and even then, a very loose one)- so when ideas for stuff I could do with Humble Bumble came to mind, I jumped at them. I had a few hiccups- that chopped break was the second one I attempted to use, as the first one I tried just did not want to flow smoothly no matter how I chopped it, and the simple act of building the main section's wonky bassline was an absolute goddamn nightmare- but ultimately I was blessed by the Gods Of No Program Crashes today, something for which I am truly grateful. And by and large, the remix came out exactly as it did in my head; it's more hype and dancefloor ready then the original, it's jam packed with buzzing, bee-like synths, and I finally got to use a Charlie Brooker sample in a song. I'm also far more proud of that sample of me saying "I felt like a HGV, trying to catch a Bumble Bee" then I have any right to be, because of course I would be.
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Track 2: Rave Racer Type-92
Artist: J-MACHine
I never should've tempted fate by saying "I'M GONNA DO 12 TRACKS NUFFIN GON' STOP ME DURR HURR", because fucking CHRIST, the struggle and strife I went through trying to get this song done over the last couple of hours. I won't lie to you, folks; I really struggled to come up with a solid idea, both by going over memory card scraps or writing from the ground up, and practically nothing stuck for ages. I'd either hit a wall and not know where to take what few elements I had, or I'd find my own scratch tracks dull and tedious. I was legitimately afraid I wouldn't have something by today at one point.
Thankfully, it all worked out in the end, and man, am I very pleased with the result. This track grew out of a couple of things; firstly, the synth stab/piano chord sequence that comes in at 2:20, which I've had laying around for at least three years unsure what to do with, and an attempt at a Boom-Bap style Master Controller Featuring track that I salvaged and repurposed a couple of samples from. I struggled with a name for a while, but one came to me after repeated listen-throughs put images of a certain Namco game I love very dearly in my head.
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Track 3: Old Girl's March [Piston Quints' Queen Of The Wild Remix]
Original Artist: Gonkaka
A bit of context is needed for this I feel; one of Dio's dogs, Molly, very sadly had to be put down back at the beginning of November. I put together a short song for the old girl around about the time, to commemorate her passing and celebrate her life. A little before the December season got underway, Dio asked me if I could do something with the song, expand on it and whatnot. And thus begins a long list of "funny how things work out" moments regarding this song.
Firstly, my original intent was to do this song as the 12th and final track for this year- y'know, something sentimental to close out the album. Then, in the midst of planning out another song for the album, the drum machine beats and central bassline that make up this interpretation of the track popped into my head, and I had to get them down. Secondly, throughout the composing process, the melody from a previous Piston Quints track- Summer's End- kept entering my head, prompting me to sneak a little of into the song at a couple of points. Initially I thought this was down to a slight similarity between the chords of Old Girl's March and Summer's End off the top of my head, but no... it was because I was actually reusing the chords from yet another older Piston Quints track- I Wish You All The Very Best, the track that closed out the 2013 Christmas album. Granted, the chords from I Wish You All The Very Best and Old Girl's March are very similar, and... gah, confusing. Point being, this kinda wound up as an accidental amalgamation of three Piston Quints tracks because I am a very forgetful boy.
As one final "funny how things work out", work on this song went smooth as butter. It went very quickly, was entirely free of tech issues/mostly free of stress, and the piece come out pretty much as it did in my brain. A complete 180 on the eternal nightmare that Track 2 gave me. And- if I can bolster my own ego for a moment- I am immensely proud of how the Violins in the last section of the song came out.
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Track 4: Can Humans Drive Stick? (Final Results/Name Entry) [From "Relentless Riders"]
Artist: Gonkaka
Uuuuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh, I thought the process behind Track 2 was a nightmare. This one managed to top it. I only finished the song about 30 minutes ago (9pm; I started work around 1pm), I haven't eaten a thing all day, and I managed to get 4 scrap bonus tracks of unfinished/unused stuff trying to figure something out for today- that's only what I remembered to record, by the by. I'm having a real problem this year with getting over the initial starting process for tracks; even the initial beginnings of the final piece you hear above was a little rocky.
I am fairly pleased with the end result, though I acknowledge it isn't not quite perfect. I'd have liked it to be a little longer for one thing, but I couldn't think of a good way to drag it out any more (and I think it really would've been a drag if it were any longer, paradoxically). I also would've closed out the final section with a proper solo, but I likewise couldn't come up with one (or a sample to play it on), and I readily and wholeheartedly admit that by that point, I just wanted the damn song finished. On the upside, I think the track flows very nicely, doubling up on chords and not having them clash pleases me greatly, and the bass/drum work is solid. The triplet shuffle at the end of the second-to-last section is a little rough (as is the timing of the Amen Break), but I'd rather have tried doing both and have them not be 100% perfect then to give up and take a lazier route out. Plus, the track's got that overall mid-to-late 90s video game music vibe I'm known for working with, which is always a good thing.
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Track 5: Some Like It Ice Cold
Artist: The Twisted Kerchiefs
More or less since this round of 12 Tracks started, I knew I wanted to do something with Twisted Kerchiefs. Specifically, something more Bebop influenced and faced paced then prior TK tracks have been. At least half the headaches I dealt with on Day 2 and Day 4 were the result of trying- and failing- to get this damn song out of my head (something which, as you can probably imagine, is fairly hard when you're going in with no pre-written melody and only a vague idea of style).
Finally, roughly half a day before posting, something finally clicked. And whooo, the sense of relief when it did, folks, I tell ya what. Shit's better then at least 5 sloppy make outs.
It blows by very quick as a track- and there's one tiny little mistake in the percussion I didn't correct in time (that I'm not going to point out, so, y'know, have fun guessing)- but overall, I am extremely proud of this one. I reckon this'll be one of the best of the year, hands down, and given I've never worked with this style of music before that's probably nothing short of a miracle. Also, not gonna lie; one of the things I'm proudest of is that intro. Ever since I heard that Speak 'n Spell vocal whilst combing through The X-Static Goldmine sample pack, I knew I needed to use it in a Twisted Kerchiefs song. And I'm still pleasantly surprised at just how well it works.
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Track 6: Takoyaki Chop (The Noodle Bar Break)
Artist: Master Controller Featuring
Y'know, I'm starting to get the distinct impression that even-numbered days are cursed, because once again, I really struggled to come up with something today. Words can't begin to describe how frustrating- hell, how outright disheartening- it is to be sat in front of your software at 4pm on the day you're supposed to be posting, and you've got absolutely nothing to show for it.
On the flipside, I seem to have a knack for eventually managing to get an idea out my thinkpan in the end, and so far I haven't run late in my time zone, so hey, silver lining.
Similarly to the Twisted Kerchiefs piece, the rough idea for this track came relatively early on into the project; I've just struggled to make it into anything more concrete. Although, to be fair, up until today the idea only extended as far as "an MCF song with chopped up drums like they're being played on a sampler like". The idea evolved a little bit after I pulled some inspiration from something actually Xmas Season related by way of a change- namely, a little Noodle joint me and my family stopped at for lunch during our annual Christmas Shopping day. Something about the ambiance of the place brought to mind a (mostly) chilled out choppy cut like this. The vaguely industrial sounding percussion I wound up using (ganked from "Burning Combat" from Gungage) weren't part of the initial plan, but I think they work with the feeling I was going for well and they sound fantastic chopped up like that. The TB-303 bass wouldn't normally have been my first choice for an MCF song either, but I was salvaging elements from a (second) attempted third-MACHine song, and honestly I think it kinda works.
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Track 7: Acid Jazz (SKETCH)
Artist: third-MACHine
It is with a very heavy heart that, for the first time in the five years since I've done this, I concede defeat; I haven't got anything finished for today, and it's not likely I will before midnight tonight. Needless to say I'm devestated, but I'm going to have to roll with it. No current idea what this means for the future of this year's album as a whole but I really cannot deal with that right now.
In place of a full track, here's a sketch of an earlier attempt at a piece for the album; a third-MACHine number that I hit a brick wall with around Track 4. Plain and simple, this just sounded dull to me, and at the time I couldn't think of anything I could do to spice it up. Some of the acid-bass samples didn't quite work out for what I was planning to use them for either, so that didn't help. Perhaps I may revisit it before the album's done.
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Track 8: Oxygene IV.MCMLV / XCII
Artist: Piston Quints
Original Artist: Jean-Michel Jarre
So, you might've heard; I missed a track on the 14th, something I've not yet done in the history of this yearly project. As you can imagine, there was a lot of drama. A lot of swearing. Maybe some tears, I'm not sure. Either way, it was a Kerfuffle™
It left me wondering exactly what the future of this years 12 Tracks was going to be, and I'm not gonna lie; I debated calling it off at the halfway point. Making it "The 6 Tracks Of Christmas 2016". Both because of how much I've been struggling- with music, with personal stuff, etc.- and simply for how much stuff I've got to work around in my schedule. It looked bleak.
And yet I couldn't stop myself from starting this off early yesterday morning, chipping at it and tweaking it over the course of the day and between sleep. I wasn't always happy with it, and several times I wanted to call this off too- just make it another demo and maybe attempt it again later- but I couldn't stop myself from working on it.
I know why, mainly. I went into this year's 12 Tracks with more or less zero plan, barring one. You see, on November the 28th, days before the project started, my uncle- Les J Aldridge- unexpectedly passed away. It's one of the many things I (and my family) have been dealing with these past couple of weeks, and has been playing a small part in the difficulty I've had getting things done. His funeral is set to take place today, and once the news hit I knew I had to commemorate his life with a piece of music on the same day. I settled on doing a cover/reinterpretation of a song that both of us loved; Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygene IV". The old boy would've probably considered this take on it "pure noise", bless him, but to do anything but leave my own fingerprint on the song would defeat the point of the song. That point being that, ultimately, it's a way of saying goodbye.
Perhaps, too, there's that ever present undercurrent of raw, stubborn willpower. Even if I want to quit, I can't help myself from trying; I just can't let it all go when I've still got work to do.
christ that was all very melodramatic, jeez
Rest In Peace, you old git; we're gonna miss you.
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Track 9: Supermarket Sweep (SKETCH)
Artist: MIGHTY-MACHine
Once again, I've sadly had to put a demo up in place of a full song; I simply ran out of time in the day to have what I'm working on finished in time. Not an easy decision to make, but I'll live with it.
This was one of two attempts to work a track using samples from "Double Bass" by Gorillaz, but both times I wound up hitting a brick wall. For someone who loves Big Beat music as much as I do, I find it extremely difficult music to actually make (as evidenced by the fact I haven't really made any full, complete Big Beat tracks).
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Track 10: Brandy Butter Battleplan
Artist: third-MACHine
So, fun fact; when I mentioned I'd run out of time to finish what I was working on the other day, this is the song I meant. I was only about a minute and a half into this before I realised I probably wasn't going to have it done before midnight on the 18th, so I decided to push it back to today to give me plenty of time to finish it.
There are a few slightly more freeform, Decon Theed style elements in this then your typical third-MACHine song, but overall I feel this sticks to the vibe of the alias. It's definitely more mid/late 90s Acid Techno then a pure Summer Of Love jam, but hey, when it comes to Acid music I don't discriminate. Between this, Takoyaki Chop, and a couple of the failed demos that never went anywhere, I've really been getting mileage out of the TB-303 sample ganked from the end of "Because Of You" by Scanty Sandwich. Plus, any third-MACHine song where I get to mix and match different Acid bass samples for more dynamic sounds, or muck about with cutoff tweaking/pitchbending to the point it sounds like the bass is slipping over itself is always a good thing in my book.
Here's another fun fact: the text for the intro was written with a Mk. IV Escort song in mind. I decided to use it here largely due to the title I wound up going with, and partially because I don't really have any solid ideas for a Mk. IV Escort track this year, and I didn't want the text to go to waste (because if nothing else I at least found it funny).
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Track 11: Hallway Hellion (Battle Theme A) [From "Misfit Manor"]
Artist: Gonkaka
The irony of the fact that I'm able to put this together two days in advance, after several days of really struggling with music, is not lost on me at all.
To be fair, this came as easy as it did partially because it's based on a much, much older Gonkaka piece I wrote like five years ago now- Uncover The Truth. Although a tad simple in arrangement, I contest that it's one of the best old tracks of mine by a wide margin, due to the ambition backing it. It was part of a series of songs designed to sound like MIDI pieces from an old DOS game in the vein of something like The 7th Guest.
Originally, the idea was just to arrange it, but I quickly latched on to the idea of styling it to fit with the other two pieces I've written for Misfit Manor, an imaginary video game based on Dio'sMisfit Demon Manor series. Largely because I thought the base track could make for a cracking RPG style battle theme. Granted, when I wrote the first two Misfit Manor pieces, I was going with the idea that it was an arcade game in a Snow Bros. / Nightmare In The Dark mould rather then the RPG Dio had in mind, but shhhhhhhhh.
This is one of my favourite Gonkaka pieces I've yet done, entirely because it has every hallmark of each of the fictional band's songwriting styles. It's got the free flowing melodies and complex drum work of Fumie Saso, the weird SFX + samples/intricate bass playing of Takayuki Mitsuyoshi, the Very 90s Dance and/or Hip Hop touches of Denji Koshiro, and the guitar shredding of Shinji Namiki. Whilst it's fun to write Gonkaka pieces from just a single band member's perspective, I treasure the pieces that sound like a "band" wrote them. I'm also particularly fond of how well the ghostly lead in the third section works, as well as finally getting to use some samples taken from Halloween Toys I've been sat on for a couple of years.
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Track 12: E.Q. Moodscape #12: (Not So) Silent Night
Artist: Arcade Child
I thought repurposing Master Controller Featuring elements for a J-MACHine track was some wacky shit (likewise with third-MACHine ones for a MCF track for that matter). This piece? This was built out of another MIGHTY-MACHine track attempt. And if you compare it to the demo for said track when the album drops, you'll probably be surprised at how little some things changed.
In what's been pretty much the usual story for tracks this year, I went into todays song with very little concrete idea of what I wanted; just vague ones like "A MIGHTY-MACHine song" or "a remix of this song". But after said MM track bit the dust, the idea to turn some of what I had into this moody piece for E.Q. gradually formed, and hearing the end result now it just feels so natural a direction for the song to've gone that I dunno why it didn't come to me sooner.
Soundtracking E.Q. has been on my bucket list of Music Projects I'd Love To Dedicate Time To, so any opportunity to do so I'll more then happily take. And hey, given 2016 was E.Q.'s fifth anniversary, what better way to close out the year's 12 Tracks with something explicitly E.Q. related?
I deliberately choose to keep the "story" of the song vague, but I think there's a definite one buried in the 03:42 runtime. To me, it sounds like something that ought to play on a cold, snowy December night in 23rd Century New York City, as Treble, Bass, Fade, Balance, and Quentin get up to some sort of mischief.
Also also, this marks the first time I've used FL Studio in a finished track; the heavily altered/reversed strings that play in the intro were written in it, and then edited in Wavepad. I included the strings as they were written as a bonus track for the album, because this 12 Tracks is already loaded with bonus material so hey, what's one more song?
OH, yeah, some closing thoughts; this year was by far and away the hardest 12 Tracks undertaking yet. I struggled a lot with the initial planning stages of songs throughout the entire things- with a bad bout of depression and a sudden death in the family no doubt exacerbating that problem. It even lead to two demos going up in place of full tracks for days 7 and 9. Needless to say, that was far from ideal. On the flipside, the 10 finished pieces I managed to get out came out- in spite of everything- really damn good. I'm genuinely pleased with every single one. As per the norm, the 12 Tracks project has promised a tremendous amount of growth in my musical ability going ahead, and that makes all the stress and strain more then worthwhile.
Have a very merry Christmas, everyone. Hopefully this topsy turvey year ends on a high note.
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