"Jazz Combo Demo"

"Jazz Combo Demo" [mp3 removed]

Or, as the band Fear sang 30 years ago, "New York is all right if you like saxophones."
Am continuing to explore music writing, off and on, through the vehicle of the "jazz quartet simulacrum." The piano part is the spine; bass, sax and drums drop in and out as needed. One MIDI loop was used--the drum part, playing two different kits and with minor alterations.
I found some old videos of Bill Evans' group playing in the '60s and although this isn't nearly as sensitive, am interested in that model for a more artificial kind of music. Evans has a mathematical mind and works through many tonal variations in real time without hitting "wrong" notes. That's kind of what I like to write (at sub-light speed) in the piano roll, although I like passages where the notes go off the rails occasionally (which doesn't really happen here).

"Love Reconstituted" and background

Made/posted this tune a couple of years ago:

"Love Reconstituted" [mp3 removed]

It's kind of an "atmospheric techno" bit with analog synth burbles and a "rave hit" ending consisting of some early '90s house piano stabs. Those were reconstructed more or less note by note from this nutty remix* somebody did of this pop tune.**

As you can hear, the remix* consists of "vocal science" made from clips of the diva's voice over minimal banging piano chords. I've always really liked the energy and simplicity of it. And thanks to the miracle of YouTube (the poor man's iTunes), I recently found the "original" hit that mix was taken from, Bizarre Inc.'s "Love in Motion."** It's pretty lightweight (unlike moi) but not unenjoyable.

*"Love in Motion (Unknown Mix)" [mp3 removed] (sound quality is dicey because it was cassette-taped from a radio mix show in '92)

**"Love in Motion" [dead YT link]

"Lithium Valley"

"Lithium Valley" [3.3 MB .mp3]

This song, and the previously-posted song "Peak Lithium," are not about meds. They are about lithium, an element we need for batteries, so rare that wars must be fought over it, we are told. It is a blues song because this state of affairs is unbelievably sad. It is a lament to lost dreams and the promise of Hopey McChangealot.

This language is vague because I'd like to keep posting self-penned songs and artwork on this blog and not have it suddenly vanish at the whim of said McChangelot and his dudes (for the sake of Hollywood's right to sell you total crap, and lithium). [Google "73,000 wordpress blogs"]

Update: Took out some of the upper piano key frills at the beginning.

"Floorswabber"

"Floorswabber" [mp3 removed]

A fairly straight-up techno-house tune with scattered nerdy elements. Again, this is mostly Reaktor "groovebox" presets, played live by changing "snapshots" and muting/unmuting tracks. I altered all the snapshots before playing and feel that in most cases I added hooks that weren't there. The ravy organ part that plays twice was added later.