Heave Media

You're Only As Good As Your Latest Song

Another Day On Earth writes and records a new song every day – and HEAVE gets a weekly update on this adventerous project.

Hey. Since January, because of a case of "space madness," I've been writing and recording a song each and every day. This has allowed me to see the world as it really is, as a series of beautifully connected notes. It's also allowed to wear a sizable groove into my bedroom chair. Anyways, I post the tunes on a "blog," http://anotherdayonearth.net. I'm using this space to review the week's songs. I promise to be scathing when necessary, after all, like any of us loathsome "creative types," I am my own worst critic:

Saturday, August 29th - if you go again

This kind of sounds like the music playing in your head at the Atlantic City boardwalk, as those dudes working the carnival games try to taunt you to play. This is not necessarily a good thing as it's not that fun to be called a fat loser by a guy wearing a "My Asshole is ONLY for shitting" t-shirt. Also, considering the actual music being played at the boardwalk is probably Nickelback or something worse, that leaves me to wonder where I'm going with this.

Oh yeah! I don't care for this song. It's an average melody with below average production. It's so simple a toddler could have done it. And one did. I had my three-year-old cousin in to record keyboard and harmonies. She's a little champ - although the vocal booth scares the bejeezus out of her.

Foiled again. Everyone knows I don't have a vocal booth.

Older song it reminds me of: will i be the same when you're note around me

Sunday, August 30th - libra greav

A true song title magician never reveals his secrets, but who cares, especially since David Copperfield owns some kind of horrible rape island. Jesus man. Anyways, Libra=indecisiveness. I am one. I should know. And greay is a combination the two ways in which gray can be spelled. Well, maybe one is technically incorrect but I've been flip-flopping between the two my entire life. Anyone else do that?

This song is pretty ok. I'm definitely on a slight upward streak from the past few days. I wish I had gone with different melody for the third chord in the verses. I'd have rather gone down than up. If you listen you can see what I mean. Otherwise, I love the second verse when the harmonies and keyboard kicks in - and the last 10 seconds (of the first song) sort of sounds like My Bloody Valentine or something. The band, not the movie.

Older song it reminds me of: i was alone

Monday, August 31st - herbicide

I'm going to give another "David Copperfield owns a rape island so who cares anymore" trade secret: The lyrics to this song are complete and utter gibberish. See, I am of the opinion that the the way words fit into the melody is 100 times more important than the words themselves. With that said, before I write lyrics, I always do a dummy track of vocals. I just sing whatever "feels right" and then use those syllables and general sound of the fake words to write the real lyrics. Trust me. You can get away with saying just about any stupid shit so long as the words sound right. In this particular case, the vocals were mixed so low anyways. I tried a few takes with real lyrics but I ended up liking how the dummy one sounded better, so I went with it. Nobody has complained yet. So, don't complain? Thanks. Don't forget to tip your blogger.

Older song it reminds me of: curmudgeon blueze

Tuesday, September 1st - 6ae;">bluesy cig

Well. Here we go - the beginning of month nine. I guess I never thought I'd make it this far. Actually, I guess I wasn't thinking much at all. Imagine it, in less than four short months; I'll be able to leave my room! That is the one major detriment at this point. In March, my laptop broke so I truly am tethered. Compounded to this blog, I also do freelance writing for money from time to time, and I can no longer do that elsewhere either. Compounded to that, I am the world's worst interior decorator. Left to my own devices, I will keep any room I live in looking like a prison cell. Not on purpose. I just don't get it. I don't know how to think about rooms. My idea of a cool looking room is a bunch of torn Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr posters. Still. Help me evolve!

This song is ALSO good, though. I must be on something resembling a "roll." The beginning, laugh and all, is a total rip off of The Beach Boys, either "Smiley Smile" or something off of some Smile sessions bootleg I had at some point. I'm fuzzy on it but it's in my brain so it must be true. I like when the beginning ends and the song kicks in. I also like the neverending keyboard solo that starts halfway through and never lets up. This song reminds me of being in college and sitting on a car in my driveway smoking a cig. Those were good times. Of course, in typical fashion, at the time I thought they were shit. Oh nostalgia you cruel cruel beast!

Older song it reminds me of: blues without the blues

Wednesday, September 2nd - danced for the wrong good

The roll continues. This song is a bit shaky in the production department, but it's still pretty solid. It reminds me of a junkier Replacements. That's saying a lot considering the Replacements are one of the world's most junky bands. That's like saying "What I ate was like pizza but pizza-ier." Well, they still had more than a day to practice a new song so give me, and them, a break. Paul Westerburg once said in an interview I read, that's always stuck with me, "If you gotta move somewhere to make it, you just don't got it." I tend to agree, especially in this new e-world. There is really no benefit to being in NYC since every web browser gets to Myspace (or Rapidshare, you devils.) just as fast. There's the human element, but one should never trust musicians that are too good at that. They spend too much time learning how to meet and greet and not enough learning how to be good.

Speaking of, I give my music away for free. It's all there on the site. If you want an MP3 just email me or join the mailing list. Does anyone buy music anymore? Has anyone for years? Is this a bad thing or a good thing?  I know a lot of people who run tiny record labels and who are in tiny bands, and it most assuredly cannot be too good of a thing for them. They were barely making it as is. But at the same time, there's the whole "Well at least people know about it now" argument. Yeah. That is a good argument. But, here's a counter.  Is it enough to just be known for something if, slowly but surely, you are being squeezed out of doing it? That real world beckons just around every corner, and it doesn't like when people flitter their lives away on something with no hope of even the most meager of returns. 

Who knows. I can see both sides. Libra greay.

Older song it reminds me of: your bluster is back

Thursday, September 3rd - gonna stay the same

This is part one of a modest two-parter. I think I was enamoured by my current "roll" and didn't stop to think about what I'd do if I crashed into the side of a hill. Well, self. Meet hill. I just wasn't in the mood. No longer having the freebie to fall back on has, again, taken a toll. I'll get over it. It's not that bad. It has a haggard Dennis Wilson (was there another kind of Dennis?) feel and I like how the synth fades in at the end to eventually drown the entire song. Otherwise it's fairly uninspired. Maybe the second part will be better.

Older song it reminds me of: help me get there

Friday, September 4th - ...unless i gotta change

I threw the end of yesterday's song at the beginning of this one to set a bit of "ambiance." The folk song coming out of that drowned out synth noise is kind of the whole hook of the song, after all. It actually happens to also be the best part. Another one bites the dust. It's becoming more difficult to "force myself" to be in the mood. I either am or I'm not. I find that lately I'm in the mood about 4 days out of 7. The other three, well, God only knows.

Where do I start with this song? My nose was stuffed up(I never dust) so the vocals sound nasally and a bit off. The two guitar tracks fall out of sync on a couple of occasions and the whole thing just sounds "clunky." That's a recording word that means "the opposite of warm." Warm is exactly defined as "the opposite of clunky." Otherwise, no recording engineer on earth could adequately describe either. Ah, the secret language of our craft. So cute!

Older song it reminds me of: lost in time

Ok. I'm done for this week. I'm going to rehab for acid addiction.

Posted by Lawrence Bonk on Sep 08, 2009 @ 9:00 am