Song #45: What Am I To Do With You

This is the 4th song I ever wrote (back when I was 15). It's super cheesy and I'm embarrassed by it but I thought I would get it out there anyway, zits and all. The sound copies Jack Johnson.

Song #44: The Way I Feel

This is a fun upbeat song that sat unfinished for a while. I think it sort of has a Beatles/Elliott Smith vibe  with a garage rock twist. It's a bit sloppy with the drums but I think I like it that way.
 

Song #43: Come Back and Stay

This is an oldie. One of my first. I'm not really sure who is sounds like. Maybe 90s post-alternative? Or that song from the Wedding Singer when Adam Sandler goes off about his ex-girlfriend? Recording the last few lines, I broke a guitar string but I decided to keep it in. That's how rock and roll I am.
 

Song #42: Bright Side

I wrote this one around my freshman of college. Originally, I it was written on an acoustic guitar and I had something more along the lines of early Coldplay. When it came to record this, I started trying different things with the piano and drum machine and ended up with something closer to electronica/dub-step along the lines of Thom Yorke's "The Eraser" or James Blake.


The instruments for the recording are a keyboard part (with delay and reverb added), two vocal tracks, a keyboard synth (with phaser added), 5 Ebow guitar tracks put together to make up the chords (with distortion, reverb, and delay added), and an electric guitar part for the solo section. I think it turned out way cool! I love this one!

Song #41: Sunny Rain

This is an oldie I had written back when I was about 15. I was going for something like the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower." I had since written it off as a throw away song. When I was going through my notebook deciding what to record, I played it played it more along the lines of Cat Power's version of "Satisfaction" and liked it better.



The instrumentation is pretty sparse: just a voice and an electric guitar.

Song #40: Speak My Mind

Another oldie from around the sophomore year of high school. I had the piano line in the place of the chorus with the intention of eventually writing something there but I decided I like the idea of having an "instrumental" chorus. At the time I wrote it, I was going for something along the lines of Radiohead's "Karma Police."



When it came time to record it (about 15 years later) my thoughts for production were more in the line of Menomena's "E. Is Stable"

To record the drums, I did each part of the drum separately for a few bars each(kick, snare hit, snare roll, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, ride cymbal, crash cymbal and floor tom). I then looped and layered the tracks, adding delay until I got a sound I liked. The sound sort of reminds me of a drum corp. I also have three tracks of guitar with an ebow played at octaves so that it sounds like a synthesizer. Finally, I put distortion on the vocals, added acoustic guitar, and bass. I think it's one of my better efforts. What are your thoughts?

Song #39: Talk About Love

This one is a little ditty I wrote my sophomore year of high school. It's in the vein of 90s acoustic pop/rock, namely Hootie and the Blowfish. Not my best song but still an ok tune that I felt was worth documenting.