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, for who knows why, I've been writing and recording a song each and every day. This has allowed me to really master the art of guitar tuning, and also to master the art of dodging landlords. 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, September 5th - repitition is comedy - I don't know, man. This is a song, I guess. I'm not really any good at loops or anything like that, plus my software isn't really designed for it(Audacity. It's free. Check it out.) So, anything that sounds like a loop in this song is actually played live. So there's that at least. I am a one man fake loop making machine. Other tha n that it's kind of uninspired. I was going for a Brian Jonestown Massacre kind of thing but I was also hung over. Maybe Anton can make great music while feeling like crap, but I cannot. God bless the big galut.

Older song it reminds me of: angina

Sunday, September 6th - tunnel soundz -  I like this song for the first half. I have this really distorted and reverbed out beat that sounds really cool. Then at the halfway mark I remove all of that and the beat sounds "regular" and, to me, that ruins the whole mood of the song. I don't know what I was thinking. It's kind of a pretty melody, though. It's got a bizarre ending too that I enjoy. I give it three out of five pizza slices.

Speaking of pizza slices, what in the hell happened to Little Caesars? There was a brief moment, at childhood sleepovers mostly, that one of those long slabs of pseudo-pizza represented the height of the genre. Do kids have more refined tastes now? Sure, it kind of tasted like crap, but there was so much of it! And it looked cool sitting on the dining room table, damn near taking up the whole thing. If kids can't eat mounds and mounds of bad pizza at sleepovers then the terrorists have already won.

Older song it reminds me of: elephants

Monday, September 7th - used to know where the souls go - This one starts three in a row that I'm really into. I seem to be going in waves lately. I do ones I dislike for a couple of days, and then I flip back the other way, and so on and so on. It's odd. I think I'm always "capable" of making something I'm into. Deep down. But sometimes I just don't feel like it. I can see the steps it's gonna take to make the song good stretched out in front of me clear as day. Sometimes that excites me. "Wow. An adventure!" I think. Other times, those steps just seem like sad little obstacles, each one forcing me to exhale a pathetic little sigh. So, obviously, when I'm excited is when I run the whole race. When I'm not, I stop running after the fifth hurdle and take a cig and Old Country Buffet break.

This song isn't perfect, of course. I'd change up the second verse more and add more "oomph" to the outro. But, otherwise it's good. It's catchy and sad and somehow kind of fun. Also, I try to namedrop my own song in the second verse. I was thinking of March's song "Gold Junk" but forgot the title and sang Pavement's "Gold Soundz" instead. Oh well. Pavement rules.

Older song it reminds me of: gold junk

Tuesday, September 8th - darkness cells - This song has nearly the same production of yesterday's song, only a lot better. It's always fun to do that. Learn from mistakes from the day before. It's how Tiger Woods does it! And any average eight year old! Anyways, this is my favorite song this week and earns the coveted "five of five pizza slices" award. It sounds a bit like Built To Spill to me. It's funny though. Sometimes friends ask me "who is this song about?" when it's sort of your typical lovelorn number. The truth is, nobody. I don't have time for that kind of a thing nowadays. Songs like this are my attempt to recreate that feeling, to revisit a moment in my past, or many moments. Then I mush the feelings all together and out comes the song. No one real protaganist. It’s a mishmash of many - of every one even, so there.

Ok. So I'm totally bullshitting. It sounds like truth though, and sometimes that's all we need. Like the Iraq war! Also, don't tell any of my friends.

Older song it reminds me of: messy love

Wednesday, September 9th - piper at the gates of yawn - I have no idea where this song even came from. It sounds like IDM set inside of Bowser's castle. I've always been strangely fascinated by video game music, but never really experimented with making it. I have a lot of fond video game memories from childhood. Video games were my television. Wait, so was television. What I mean to say is, I was a latch key kid and I had a Nintendo so what else was I gonna do with my time? I always was especially partial to Bowser's castle theme - so dark and ominous and fun. Seriously though, where did that guy get the coins to buy all of those castles? Dude owns more homes than John McCain. 

I couldn't leave well enough alone, though. Blips alone cannot feed a kingdom. So I added a lot of dark guitar, fleshed it out a bit. So eventually, around halfway thru, it stops sounding like video game music and becomes something else. Something sort of like "Explosions in the Sky" I guess. Although I've only heard them maybe twice in my life, so don't quote me. Actually quote me. Even bad press is good press.

Older song it reminds me of: most peculiar, mama

Thursday, September 10th - takes so long - I said on the blog, and I'll repeat here, that this song reminds me of something Blossom's dad would make when he was trying to appear badass. This is not a compliment. An older gentleman trying to recapture his youth is never pretty. That's why bald dudes in convertibles look stupid. Actually, just about any kind of dude looks stupid in a convertible. But, again, I'm being unfair. I'm sure in twenty years, when I have my own Blossom(I'd prefer Six as a kid, actually) I will start making homages to the music of my youth. Maybe. Punk songs about how taxes suck. Snooze.

Also, I pissed off my roommate with this one - too much noise. Maybe Blossom's dad is a punk after all.

Older song it reminds me of: you sorta set me free

Friday, September 11th - braise yourself - You know, during the original 9-11, I was here in NYC. I'm not going to talk about the day itself, because what more can possibly be said by now? Still, in the days immediately following, unless you were here, you'll never know how strange it was (although I'm sure it wast similar wherever you were at.) Everyone was so friendly and open. It was the oddest feeling. People would hug on the streets, ask how you were doing and actually mean it. Stores would give out food, toiletries, whatever. Venues would organize free shows just because everyone was bored and scared. For a while, those in Brooklyn were pretty much trapped in Brooklyn so it was a much-needed diversion. It was interesting to view people on the streets as brothers and sisters in arms, compatriots, instead of obstacles to walk past lest we be late for work. I sort of miss that. I don't miss what preceded it of course. But it was nice to not be stuck in my own head for a while.

Also, this song sucks and I refuse to listen to it ever again. I'm gonna go ahead and blame Glenn Beck and his "9-12" movement which pretty much co-opts what I just wrote into something creepy as all hell. Wait. Did I just get political? Shit. Sorry. I sure hope my cadre of sponsors don't get queasy.

Older song it reminds me of: swimming with nursharks

That's it for now. I'm joining the circus. Wanna squeeze into a clown car with me?

Posted by Lawrence Bonk on Sep 16, 2009 @ 9:00 am