He took a bullet for me.

Tuesday 06/15/04 10:02 pm

Today I started recording my next album...for real this time. It is...The Albatross. I don't know if I'm still going to call it that in the end, but that's what I'm calling it for now. I recorded the instrumental tracks to Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore and The Loss Of Your Albatross. They're sick and ill. NOICE. It feels good to pick up where the Gemstone Rap EP left off. I mean, there was Crack House, but that was kind of a different beast. Tomorrow I'm going to record Missile Silo and something else...maybe Fight The Cougar. Maybe Admire The Admiral. Maybe [verb] the [noun]. Here are the songs I plan to record:

1. Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore
2. The Loss Of Your Albatross
3. Missile Silo
4. Admire The Admiral
5. Magma's Burnin'
6. It's A Druid Eat Druid World
7. The Industrial Revolution
8. Fight The Cougar
9. Resist The Submarine
10. Hummingbirds
11. Banana Slug
12. Unnecessary Dairy
13. You've Got To Earn (My Respect)
14. Aw Shucks
15. Alex Arrowsmith Rap, Parts I and II
16. Trow
17. Pirates Vs. Ninjas
18. I'm Your Back Hair
19. I Am The Ice Age

Thursday 06/17/04 1:34 am

I recorded more today. I did most of the music to Missile Silo and Admire The Admiral. I have to redo some guitar parts tomorrow, but it's sounding fresh and bountiful so far. I broke a string after I finished too, so at least that gave me an excuse to restring my Dot. I get lazy about that. So tomorrow, I'll be recording with fresh strings. I believe tomorrow I'm only going to start one song (don't want to burn myself out) in addition to the fixes. Magma's Burnin' I think.

Thursday 06/17/04 10:06 pm

I redid the electric guitars on Admire The Admiral and The Loss Of Your Albatross. They're sounding magnificent now. I also did the music to Magma's Burnin', one of the rap songs on the album. Gotta do those mandatory rap songs. If this album turns out as good as I'm feeling it will, it'll be better than every other album on the Ectoplasmic label. Sorry Jeff. It's basically going to be not only the best album put out by Ecto to date, but the best album birthed on Earth to date. It's going to be the best album ever, let's not beat around the bush here. I'm making a list of possible album titles and my favorites as of right now are The Albatross (or The Albatross Project) and Inappropriate Chief. What do you think? Sound off!

Final thought: I have so many donuts.

Sunday 06/20/04 10:36 am

I've been having to work on my acoustic guitar. I have to make some neck adjustments because the intonation is a bit wacky (bad intonation is when the guitar goes out of tune when you play stuff higher up on the neck). I don't really know much about working on acoustics, I only sort of know what I'm doing. But yeah, I started "It's A Druid Eat Druid World" and it sounds magnificent. It's cool how some of these songs take on a different life once there's an actual BEAT behind them.

Monday 06/21/04 1:34 am

I started recording The Industrial Revolution earlier, just the programming.

Monday 06/21/04 11:53 pm

Today I recorded the music to The Industrial Revolution. It sounds immaculate. Fight The Cougar is next up on the list. I'm loving the sound of the new album so far. Recording it is like making love to a beautiful woman.

"But wait dude, how would you know what that's even like? You haven't had a girlfriend in over seven years!"

Oh yeah, huh!

Tuesday 06/22/04 11:49 pm

I did most of the music to Fight The Cougar and Resist The Submarine. Fight The Cougar has some sharp cutting guitars, man. Harsh. Resist The Submarine is off to a good start, but something sounds off to me. I think it's the bass. I need to use a different bass sound. SIMPLE. I also recorded some more guitars on It's A Druid Eat Druid World, but they don't sound right to me. More recording tomorrow. Oh and p.s., The Industrial Revolution is going to be a standout track. I played about one second of it and it caused Carl to exclaim, "What the hell is that?!" I think it's a sign.

Friday 06/25/04 12:28 am 2004 Y'ALL!!!!

I lost Admire The Admiral today. The whole fucking song. The program/computer messed up (as it so often does) but this time it permanently ruined the song. This is the SECOND time it's happened (you may remember a month or two ago when I lost North Dakota Bay the same way). More like Mourn The Admiral. It's so frustrating that I can't do my albums exactly how I want to anymore. Something always goes wrong, either a technical or creative issue. Or a marsupial issue.

I have realized I don't get off on recording like this anymore. That's why I never finish anything. It's a goddamn miracle that I even finished Crack House. I tried to record the followup to The Brask in the spring of 2003 and failed...I salvaged the better moments for the frail Gemstone Rap EP (the song Gemstone Rap is ill though). Then in August 2003 I tried to record a streamlined album called Leave A Massage After The Beep which was basically reworked versions of my best songs and a few new ones. That fell apart (but the reworked Surgeon and Alien Jump Rope Party are pretty rad). I magically recorded Crack House in the fall of 2003. Then in December, I tried to record the followup to that called English. Failed.

In January and February I recorded a new acoustic demo CD along with tons of new song demos. In March, I tried yet again to record English. I couldn't finish it. And now, The Albatross Project is on the verge of defunctness. What's up with this? I think I need to do something different. Not different songs, but a different approach. I think I have an idea too. It requires a house. I'm going to be in Wallowa until Sunday so I'll have time to think about this. Think of it as a spirit animal quest. Emphasis on animal.

It may or may not seem stupid that I'm fretting over a stupid little album. You may desire a pretzel right now. But I feel like I need to be constantly making progress.

Monday 06/28/04 12:26 pm

I have decided to continue with The Albatross Project despite lame-ass setbacks. I'll have to redo Admire The Admiral though. I'm going to start backing up those session files so I don't lose anymore whole songs like that. Fucking binary code! But really, the album is too good to leave hanging. I'm almost half done with the music side of things, so it'll be coming along. But that idea I mentioned before is something I am planning to do after The Albatross Project. It'll be earthy and real and have foliage.

Tuesday 06/29/04 12:17 am

I started recording "Unnecessary Dairy" and "You've Got To Earn (My Respect)" today. Not too much, just the drummer and bassist so far. Oh, I also started building the music to "Bust My Chops" on the ACID computer software. It's going to be funny, but it's really a throwaway garbage song. I'm not sure if I want throwaway garbage songs on this album the music. If I do, then it has to have several of them and lots of songs total sum. Like A Bunch Of Songs by me. Cheeeeeeeeee's chocolate. It's looking like it's going to be about 18 songs total sum. We'll see it. I'm just going to record the bunch of songs of them and decide what works best when it's all done with it. Who knows, it may end up being but a mere 10-12 songs total sum for conciseness sake. I don't even know what the first song introducing is going to be. It's going to be a musical gauntlet fist though.

Tuesday 06/29/04 11:23 pm

Productive day today. I recorded a ton of music for various songs...most notably "Unnecessary Dairy," "Banana Slug" and "(You've Got To Earn) My Respect." It's all really starting to come together. It's going to be the best album ever made I think. I could be wrong. I still have several more songs to start (like "Trow," "I Am The Ice Age" and "Pirates Vs. Ninjas") but hopefully it won't take too much longer. Maybe a month or so at this rate. Who knows but THE DARK LORD. Nick and I also made a music video to his song "The Legend Of Herschell Gordon Lewis" and it actually turned out sublime. It's worthy of a place in the hall of spleens.

Thursday 07/01/04 12:40 am

I went to Hood River today because I was fricking bored here. Myself, Nick and Jeff went to Eliott Glacier and cruised the gut a few times. I needed to get out because I haven't really been outside much the last few days. I recorded all day yesterday so I didn't really get around to fighting a cougar. I started recording "Trow" today. It's kind of a bitch.

Saturday 07/03/04 12:14 am

I recorded music to "I'm Your Back Hair" and "Pirates Vs. Ninjas." The former is already way hot. "Pirates Vs. Ninjas" is dangerously fast. Like a boulder obtaining great speeds rolling down a hill in Ireland.

Sunday 07/04/04 1:47 am

Work was done on "I Am The Ice Age," "Trow" and "Admire The Admiral." Only one more song to start before I have at least a solid foundation for all the songs...and that song is the EPIC "Alex Arrowsmith Rap," parts I and II. Wow.

Final thought: Why do slugs yell?

Tuesday 07/06/04 9:54 pm

I wrote a song called "Get A Job, Hippie" and I think it will be a last minute addition to The Albatross Project. I tried to record some vocal cords today, but it wasn't happening. Maybe I needed more coffee.

Wednesday 07/07/04 10:29 pm

I made a bunch of copies of various album covers/backs today at the college. Party. I recorded vocal cords to "Admire The Admiral" and "Banana Slug." I'm going to try doing the vocal comp method, where you record multiple takes going all the way through the song and then take the best parts from them to make one hot vocal track. That's just for the lead vocals though; the harmonies will be done in pieces like usual. Instead of comping the tracks right now, I'm just going to lay down a bunch of takes on all the songs and comp them after they're all done. That way, I can get a more objective view of things and recording them isn't so fresh in my mind. Dig?

Friday 07/09/04 12:59 am

I did a bunch of vocal cord recording today. I recorded several takes on "Fight The Cougar," "Hummingbirds" and "I Am The Ice Age." I started to try "I'm Your Back Hair," but for some reason I have a hard time singing it and I got distracted when Mayhaw got back. But it's all turning out pretty super tubular I think. "I Am The Ice Age" is starting to be my favorite, along with "The Loss Of Your Albatross." Mayhaw wants to make a video for "The Loss Of Your Albatross" where I'm singing with a band at the 'tross's funeral in a suit. Everything is better when you add "...in a suit." But if we do a video for that song, we gotta find someone to be the Micro Machines Guy. He was, after all, the one who killed the albatross. Squawk! Side note: I'm thinking of including "Gemstone Rap" and "Black Omen" on The Albatross Project since I like them and they haven't yet appeared on a proper Ecto album...

Saturday 07/10/04 12:27 am

I recorded a little more on "I'm Your Back Hair." That song is really hard to sing for some stupid reason. The melody isn't even that creative. But for some reason it's giving me guff. And I tried to sing on "The Industrial Revolution" but that was so not happening today. I have to sing higher than is comfortable and that one is also going to take some time. Stupid machines and their assembly lines!!!

Final thought: I love lamp.

Sunday 07/11/04 10:51 am

�I didn't do much else yesterday (my birfday). I recorded vocal cords on "The Industrial Revolution" and I went on a foolish search for plain silver CD-Rs. I ended up ordering some from Musician's Friend.

Monday 07/12/04 12:00 am

I recorded vocal cords on "It's A Druid Eat Druid World." That's a fun one. Next up is "The Loss Of Your Albatross" (since I'm recording the vocals in alphabetical order). I'm looking forward to that one.

Wednesday 07/14/04 12:28 am

Earlier today I pretty much finished "I Am The Ice Age" and "The Loss Of Your Albatross." They sound like if you were listening through the ears of a marmot. Beautiful.

Wednesday 07/14/04 11:57 pm

I worked more on The Albatross Project today. I'm not sure if I like how the vocals are turning out on some of the songs. They're probably fine. As much as I like the full production sound, it fails to sound REAL to me. I fear that trying to top my past albums in both song craft and production value is sterilizing the songs beyond coolness. But at the same time, a more stripped down approach would feel like a step backwards. I feel that I am putting my songs inside an inpenetrable dome that takes the human ZEST out of them. I think it's a microcosm for my life. I need to get out of my inpenetrable dome where baguettes and medium-rare steaks are so plentiful and actually experience some human things. Like clam chowder. CARPE DIEM!!! That's what I yell when I go fishing. I'm sorry, I just got done watching Dead Poets Society. Seizing the day is SO easier said than done.

But even if I DO make the GREATEST ALBUM EVER, what good would that do? I don't have much of an audience to hear it. Which is why my emphasis should be on PLAYING LIVE, not making these albums in my own little shell. At least playing live is always REAL. Well, I'll end up with some sort of killer album eventually, one way or the other. Billy Shears can kiss my grits. The songs are always there at least, real or not. And I do believe they are good songs, even played in a shitty cafe with two people watching unimpressed.

Friday 07/16/04 12:26 am

I worked a ton on The Albatross Project. I have 11 songs that are nearly complete. I still need to comp the vocals on "Hummingbirds" and touch up some things here and there, but it should basically be done in a couple weeks. However, I still have to hash out the mixing, mastering and song sequencing. And I need to sit on it for a while and hone the tiny things until I'm cool with it sleeping on my couch. It looks like it will be more like 13 or 14 songs instead of 19 or 20. There are just some songs that aren't quite up to par, almost throwaway. They would have been good on A Bunch Of Songs...but this isn't that! This is fucking musical plumage! Here's a possible running order for the album:

1. I Am The Ice Age
2. The Loss Of Your Albatross
3. The Industrial Revolution
4. Fight The Cougar
5. Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore
6. Missile Silo
7. Admire The Admiral
8. (You've Got To Earn) My Respect
9. It's A Druid Eat Druid World
10. Hummingbirds
11. Gemstone Rap
12. I'm Your Back Hair
13. Banana Slug
14. Black Omen

Saturday 07/17/04 12:35 am

I just got done comping the vocals for "Hummingbirds" and it's pretty much done now. Doesn't really need any backing vocals. I still need to do the vocals to "Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore" but then I'm pretty much done recording. I just need to do whatever extra vocal bits and fixes are needed. And then there's all the post production, which will be fun but convoluted as usual. It will be 14 or 15 songs for sure. I was also working on album cover ideas earlier, and I think it's going to be based on the de facto title song. The albatross's gravestone or something...with an epitaph saying "he took a bullet for me." Looks like The Albatross Project will be the best album ever created.

Sunday 07/18/04 11:35 am

I am mostly done recording The Albatross Project. I redid the vocals on the verses of "The Industrial Revolution" and I did the vocals on "Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore" yesterday. Now I just need to fix little things that no one cares about but me and mix the thing. I'm thinking by tonight I'll have a rough mix of the CD done. Definitely by tomorrow. Yearn!

Final thought: I have to write an obituary for the albatross for the liner notes.

Sunday 07/18/04 10:49 pm

Oh lordy. I just got done listening to the first mix of The Albatross Project. I'm extremely happy with the results so far. It could very easily be done tonight, but I need to tweak a few things in the way of mixing. Like, there's so much going on in "Black Omen" and the mix is so freaking cluttered it just sounds like mush. I need to fix that. But yeah, it really came together. It's 15 songs in 39 minutes. That's about one minute longer than The Brask and six minutes longer than Crack House. And there isn't one song that I'm iffy on, I'm happy with all of them. In fact, I feel bad for the songs near the end of the album because I feel that they should all be at the front of the album!

Oh and I reinstated the "SHIT!!!" back into "Gemstone Rap," the way it originally was before I changed it to "JEEZ!!!" at the last minute for the Gemstone Rap EP. It is easily the best curse I have ever uddered. I kind of want to sit on the album for a while and tweak it until it's 99% perfect, but I also want to get it out and done while I'm still excited about it, ya know? So if it's not completely done in two weeks, feel free to get on my case and complain about it not being done yet. That is assuming of course that there is at least one person out there who wants it. Anyway, that's all I did today. Here's the tracklisting as of tonight (it will probably change):

1. I Am The Ice Age
2. The Loss Of Your Albatross
3. The Industrial Revolution
4. Fight The Cougar
5. Trow
6. Missile Silo
7. Banana Slug
8. I'm Your Back Hair
9. (You've Got To Earn) My Respect
10. Hummingbirds
11. It's A Druid Eat Druid World
12. Gemstone Rap
13. Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore
14. Admire The Admiral
15. Black Omen

Tuesday 07/20/04 12:41 am

I worked even more on The Albatross Project today. I bought a discman for my car (I already had the adapter that Dr. Dan Keatinge bought for me in LA a couple years ago) and put in the rough mix of the album. I drove around until I had listened to it twice. It sounds pretty rad, but I still need to fix some things here and there. And then I drank a galloon of eggnog (yes, a galloon) and threw up rainbows.

Tuesday 07/20/04 10:30 pm

Today was really worthless. I worked a little bit on The Albatross Project and fixed small things. "The Loss Of Your Albatross" is now as perfect as it can get. I think the same is true for many of the other songs too. I think two or three others need a few words fixed here and there. Tedious stuff. Mayhaw and I listened to the rough mix all the way through today and he said it's good and "solid" and that "Black Omen" is the best song. Thanks, BEST FRIEND.

I watched Dr. Phil. Boy am I glad that I did. Thanks, moustache.

Wednesday 07/21/04 10:45 pm 2004 Y'ALL!!!!

Man this summer sucks ass. Today was really depressing. I would say I can't wait for it to be over, but once the summer is over things will still suck, if not more. I hope I have somewhere to live next week. However, despite the muck and mire, I fiddled with The Albatross Project today. Mostly just mixing. I added a couple keyboard parts to "Pirates Are Not Funny Anymore" and "It's A Druid Eat Druid World" though. It's still not quite there yet, but soon. I also did a lot of walking, at the college and then around at Gresham Station. I went to Borders, then decided to walk around. My arch nemesis wasn't there. Jeff told me MH and SH have a show at River City next Saturday. Sick.

Final thought: Anyone wanna go on a corn dog date?

Thursday 07/22/04 11:19 pm

Today sucked too. I did some more mixing of The Albatross Project. It was too hot to go for a walk, even though I did for as much as I could muster. But, I went to Elmer's, bought some beers and recorded vocals to a song I started in May for the aborted English called "Tried And True." I also worked on my cover of the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice" that I started in March (incidentally, the day I saw Elvis Costello, who half spoofed the Beach Boys on his 1991 song "The Other Side Of Summer," which I've also done a cover of). I did manage to finish "Tried And True," and you can now download it on this very awesome website. It's a departure from the Albatross Project style and even the Crack House style, but I'm really digging it right now. I might use it for the first installment of the Ecto Recs Massively Monthly Song project. I also worked on some songs for the Fall 2004 project that I wrote in April that are, well, mind-numbingly depressing. They're called "With The Passing Days" and "I Need A Disaster." But they're catchy and bouncy so that makes it okay. That album (which will be recorded mostly live with Nick, Jeff, and maybe others) will be an interesting one. It's so different, in fact, that I may not end up doing it. There's a lot of what I consider good songs for it though, so we'll see.

Friday 07/23/04 11:48 pm

The Albatross Project is proving to be a bitch to mix. Ersh. Nothing else of note today really.

Sunday 07/25/04 11:34 am

I wanted to finish mixing The Albatross Project by the time I moved out, but I doubt that will happen. If I manage to do it today, maybe. I've been getting closer though, and I did a few more vocal fixes yesterday. It's sounding sick, maybe a little ill. But I'm going to be packing up the computer soon, and I'm going to be quite busy between Monday and Wednesday. I hate moving. I'm just going to stand still for a few days.

Sunday 07/25/04 11:57 pm

Today I finished what may be the final mix of The Albatross Project. Mayhaw, Carl and T-Bone heard it and they approve. Since I won't have access to my computer from the time I move out in the next couple days until sometime in the future, I don't know when it will be "officially" released with artwork and everything.

Monday 07/26/04 8:17 pm

In my room rummaging while packing up my belongings for the move, I found a piece of paper with the following written on it: Listen bucko, this ain't no cockfight...wait, YES IT IS. I believe I wrote that down in the middle of the night last January for use in "(You've Got To Earn) My Respect." I must use that. It made me laff. It made me give birf.

Tuesday 08/03/04 3:49 pm

Also, I'm not sure The Albatross Project is all that and a bag of fritos. I've been listening to it a lot in the tent trailer in Mayhaw's yard in Hood River and it's just not the whipped cream of dairy products to me. However, I'll still finish it and sell millions of copies.

Tuesday 08/10/04 10:12 pm 2004 Y'ALL!!!!

Two updates in one day! I win! I recorded for hours today. Lordy. I recorded the following: The Daylight, I Need A Disaster, Dusty Hills, Not For Good, Palm Trees, The End Of The Rope (a brand new one) and Get A Job Hippie. I still have to record vocal cords to The End Of The Rope and Get A Job Hippie and redo the vocals to Palm Trees. They'll all be done tomorrow easily. They're just demos so they don't need to be 101% perfect. But they do sound rad; mostly one guitar and one vocal, with minimal embellishments. I don't know what I'm going to do with this, but I think I want to give it to lots of people. I think some of the songs are my best yet, especially The Daylight. That one will blow y'all away. It's got that Soldier Down kind of vibe, but it ups the stakes and it's even better. More epic and spicy. I wrote it on June 2, and I can't believe I'm just now getting to it. Sheesh. I think once I get this batch done, I'll record a few more tunes, maybe rework a few old songs. I want to make it a ten song demo. But The Albatross Project will be out first, of course. I should finish that tomorrow too. Straaaiiiight up. Time to eat more bran cereal!

Thursday 08/12/04 12:57 pm 2004 Y'ALL!!!!

Yesterday I finished my batch of new demos. Freaking EASY. Jeff came over and recorded a new William Oaktree song, a dancy one. It sounds pretty rad. We'll probably add more to it, like synths. Right now it's just acoustics and a drum loop. I also finished The Albatross Project (I think). I still need to give it to listening test on a few different stereos, but I think it should be good. I'm probably nitpicking as it is.

Friday 08/20/04 12:47 pm

I'm moving tomorrow! I'll be living in NW Portland and I'm going to eat spicy food and eat CDs all day long. Once I'm settled in at my new place, I'm going to FINALLY finish The Albatross Project. I want to bring my slip 'n' slide with me. It's a mini slip 'n' slide. There's not much slide, mostly just slip.

Thursday 09/02/04 6:57 pm 2004 Y'ALL!!!!

Shit brothers and sisters, it's been a face-meltingly long time since I've updated (and even longer since I updated from my own computer). I just got my internet hooked up today. I haven't been doing much the past couple weeks... I finished and have been pumping out The Albatross Project, which is now available with full artwork and all. If I could find my camera, I'd take a picture of the cover and put it on the page. It's the total shit, so buy one. It's $5, but $6 if you mail order it (to cover shipping). Talk to me if you want one.

The Albatross Project recording journal LOG