#composerly shit

[maleficent-cannoli]

If anyone can find me this one scene in TSC I will be eternally grateful. It’s for lyric purposes.

It’s the one where Jean and Jeremy are having some together time and Jean just can’t bring himself to break contact because he’s really touch-starved and he doesn’t want Jeremy to leave but he also can’t ask him to stay.

Thanks guys

[hellacellos]

Composerly Shit 1/? - Titanic, Rescored

Not the whole movie, just the trailer

this is a finished piece but I’m also going to be posting wips and literally whatever I’m working on

[nelcu]

@floweringeclipse

      It turns out, Neku does still have it in him to be embarrassed about his slovenly living habits! It was just, uh, he hadn’t had a girl over since he dumped Eri. Beat and Joshua didn’t count as legitimate company, so like hell he tidied up for them. Joshua seemed to enjoy roasting him about it, anyway, and sometimes he got free Composerly maid services out of it. The guy just couldn’t seem to stand seeing clothes getting wrinkled on the floor. Pansy. 

      He didn’t have a lot of impulse visits, okay? He usually just holed himself up in a blanket cocoon on his couch, where he would doodle on his tablet until his hand cramped or his eyes blurred. But Iris happened to be into the same bullshit rhythm games he liked, and he had just bought the new one, and Iris had gotten excited, and he physically couldn’t make a girl sad on purpose. 

      So here he was, speed chucking clothes into his room and sweeping empty cans of Viper Energy off living room tables. At least the faint smell of paint and charcoal overpowered the general boy aroma of the place. 

      “Uh.”

       Neku couldn’t exactly get her game-ready when his arms were occupied by last week’s Jägerbomb binge with Beat. He didn’t drink this all himself! He swears!!

     “--hey! You haven’t met Trashcan, right? Uh. She’s ...” 

     There she is! His lazy piece of shit cat he had lured off the streets. Sunbathing on the art desk he had used literally once in his life, because he’s too queer to use a chair correctly. 

       “Don’t touch her tummy, though. It’s a trap.”

[practicegoodpractice]

soft tissue + Semispecific Ensemble

Sunday 7th November

8pm

Rumshack

Pay-What-You-Can tickets: https://practicegoodpractice.bandcamp.com/merch

I am delighted to finally have my good friends soft tissue coming to play in the Rumshack. soft tissue are Feronia Wennborg and Simon Weins.  They have a wonderful debut album issued by Penultimate Press back in 2019 and a new LP titled "Hi, Leaves" forthcoming on Students of Decay early next year.

I had them booked for play my “good gigs for tough times” parties back in March last year but then as we all know the world well and truly went to shit. But you can't keep a good thing down and now we're back up and running, re-enthused and joyful and its finally happening on Sunday 7th November which is a week on sunday. Go grab your Pay-What-You-Can advance tickets not, please and thank you.

soft tissue make intimate, playful sound work that I can't really describe. I asked Alex Cobb who runs Students of Decay and he came up with this

“soft tissue inhabit an intoxicating soundworld somewhere in between the patient abstractions of composerly eai music, the haptic indulgences of ASMR, and the diffuse digital pastorals of the 90’s a-musik/Cologne scene. “

which seems about right to me.

Its maybe going to be more of a listening session than a dance party so we're going to have some extra seats set up so everyone can get comfy and settle in for an evening of extrodinary sounds. I'll play some music by other people and throughout the night there will be a number of live improvised interventions from soft tissue and semispecific ensemble and some brand new combinations there of. And hey, maybe there will be some dancing at the end depending on how much wine we've all drunk.

We're going to be doing a SPECIAL FEATURE to promote the night airing 7pm on Thursday 4th of November on Clyde Built Radio. Expect some picks from Feronia and Simon, some exclusive music from their forthcoming LP, and some murky collage dj stuff from me.

[raspberryjones]

Henry Threadgill Zooid // Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes, Anteloper, Blacks’ Myths

Friday the 13th. Arrived to Jazz Gallery late — traffic, rain, seasonal New York shit-show — elevator to 5th floor smells of wet, mildew-y clothes. Not sold out. Zooid already deep in free-flow as I find my seat towards the back. Henry is on the flute, Elliot Humberto Kavee (drummer) is swinging on metal. (Additionally: Liberty Ellman guitar, Christopher Hoffman cello, Jose Davila tuba/trombone.) Textures are from New Orleans - and a composerly nether region. Baroque by design. Out-of-time music. Like some sort of labyrinth, where the musicians are playing a relay, passing it off, whenever it’s not tonic+support. But goddamn is it not swinging the whole time. Solos yes, but also support is key here, with everyone playing roles —so it’s a weird kind of around-the-horn, when it’s actually NOT that at all. Composed slabs of sound. Unique textures, and no pure tones (except maybe Henry’s flute and saxophone - occasionally). A baroque piece comes into play — guitar, flute and cell — and it becomes a straight-up classical duo/trio. There’s a minimalist spareness to it. Gong-play gives it an Asian (maybe gamelan) feel, but unlike those musics there are no discernible patterns, just freedom. (The gongs and cymbals are hanging in a line center-stage, as though on a wash rack, dividing the stage with a weird straight line.) The whole show is an exercise in how composed and open spaces interact. (There’s a reason Threadgill got a Pulitzer for some of this music.) When Henry moves towards saxophone, the space turns crowded again. Syncopation and elation. At one point, a tuba/cello/drums trio starts on a groove, dubbing; it could theoretically be London, but the music is unabashedly American, with many modes of expression in it, truthful in a way that language can’t really be, because language requires too much precision. This music is not “precise” with its argument, because it says so many things at once, smearing itself. The chords could be “What A Wonderful World,” yet deconstructed into a different dimension: its shell is brittle, its changes giving birth to one musical digression after another. The set ends suddenly. A gentleman gets angry with me for taking notes on my phone. (I apologized then, and apologize again, now, for being a distraction.) Back out into a downpour, where it remains Friday the 13th.

Saturday the 14th. Different setting and context — Ridgewood club H0L0, midnight, a trio of incredible improvisational duos in front of 30 or 40 people (a chipcore party full of costumes in the back room), punk energy not chamber hall — but a similar power towards expressing something hard to put into words. Dancing encouraged. First up: Aquiles (trumpet) and Tcheser (drums), who also play in Irreversible Entanglements, with a set of hot sonics and building phrases. Aquiles later told me he studied with Carlos Garnett (!) in Panama where he grew up, so his ear is predisposed to blowing long and uptempo. He lays his horn deep into a hot mic, with a delay, and creates minimalist grooves before time-expanding them into longer streams, while Holmes rides the cymbals hard like a MF. Definitely worth going in with these two. Jason and Jaimie (Anteloper) are making crazy-people dance music, mostly drums and analog synths, with Branch’s trumpet making an occasional appearance in natural and distorted format. The relationship between the instruments is spatial, hitting a pocket and staying there, then looking for another top to hit. Their set felt like Suicide, but not on a highway drive, so much as an off-roading cavalcade. Constantly reaching for...something intense. At 2a, Blacks’ Myths closed with a set of pure spiritual hardcore. On our way home, Kate and I discussed how hardcore has been reduced to a subgenre of punk — and if there is nothing else that I am rooting for these two DC dudes to achieve, it’s the freeing of hardcore (Black hardcore) from being imprisoned by the “1-2-3-4” set. Gorgeous tidal waves of emotion, with Luke’s bass guitar administering a lo-fi take on Kevin Shields’ feedback and loops of sound, all the while busting out basslines of power and doom; and Trae beating the absolute crap out of his kit. A tequila kind of night.

(Image: Petra Cvelbar, Henry Threadgill Zooid, Jazz Gallery, June 2013)

[maleficent-cannoli]

TSC song update (kinda)

Ok so I know it’s been a while, I’ve been busy with lots of shit, but I am still working on the TSC song. I kinda got stuck on instrumentation for like two months, which sucks because I’m usually really good at that stuff.

ANYWAY, she’s still in the works. Right now, I’m thinking of taking some sort of a folk/Americana approach - so guitar, bass, drums, maybe piano, fiddle, and, if I’m feeling a little spicy, potentially mandolin? Idk, we’ll see where it goes.

If anyone has any input lmk.

Tagging some of the people who have been a part of the process:

@achillean-heartbeat @honkygay @webedragons @dendoe @if-you-dont-ask-me-to-stay @rockyt-fuel @problemduetest4life

[maleficent-cannoli]

Y’all I wrote a verse for the song last night and I need y’all to tell me whether or not it’s a little too on-the-nose

I was only taught to hurt so I never learned to heal

And I deserved the pain, I know by now to yield

Why do you offer things I’m not allowed to have?

You’ve never been property so you could never understand

Because I spent two days trying to write a verse around that first line and I can’t tell what works anymore.

[maleficent-cannoli]

Guys I finally finished the lyrics, so, without further ado:

Sunshine (Take Me Home)

At fourteen I learned it only hurts more if you fight

So why risk jumping if you know you won’t survive the height?

Locked in the dark, no point in reaching for the sun

No place to hide and nowhere left to run

This ain’t home, but at least I’m not alone

When you’ve shut down, when you’re drowning and afraid

I’ll take your hand and guide you out of the rain

They broke your wings so bad you’ve forgotten how to fly

But you can learn again if we take one day at a time

Follow the light, my sunshine

Just feel the cool night breeze, see the rainbows, the open roads

I’ll be your friend, I’m on your team, oh let me take you home

I was only taught to hurt so I never learned to heal

And I deserved the pain, I know by now to yield

Why do you offer things I’m not allowed to have?

You’ve never known hell like this so you could never understand

You want a truth I can’t give to you

You say you must endure, but where do you draw the line?

How much is contrition worth if you don’t make it out alive?

A twisted ankle, a broken nose, three fractured ribs?

Head forced under water, teeth sinking into skin?

Let me inside, what’s on your mind?

The memories (Look in my eyes)

Are haunting me (You don’t need to hide)

I can’t sleep (We’ll be alright)

I can’t breathe

Come back to me

Red for love, red for blood, red for rage

Blue for your tshirt, blue for crashing ocean waves

Black for despair, black for violence and shame

Gold for hope, gold for something they can’t break

Grey eyes meet brown, they can’t hurt you now

You ask me to stay because you know I don’t think I’m worth

Your quiet company, your careful touch and gentle words

I offer you my shoulder as a safe place to rest

You deserve to be loved, you’re worth saving I promise

Rain or shine, I’ll be by your side

I can feel the cool night breeze, see every rainbow on the open roads

You are my friend, you’re on my team, oh won’t you take me home

Take me home—

So yeah. Unless I choose to make some adjustments later on this is pretty much the final lyric draft.

To whom it may concern: @achillean-heartbeat @honkygay @dendoe @webedragons @if-you-dont-ask-me-to-stay @rockyt-fuel @problemduetest4life

[maleficent-cannoli]

TSC song progress report

Once I finish lyrics, it will probably be harder to find things to update about since I’ll be working on the instrumental.

SO I figured I’d give you guys a little peek at where I’m at so far with instrumentation and also harmonies if anyone was curious about what it’s going to end up sounding like

The lower melody on piano is the main melody, it’s a little harder to hear, and then the higher one is the primary harmony just pitched up an octave because I thought it sounded nice

@achillean-heartbeat @honkygay @webedragons @dendoe @if-you-dont-ask-me-to-stay @problemduetest4life

[maleficent-cannoli]

I’m so sleepy rn it’s almost midnight BUT I wrote another verse! Hooray for breaking out of creative block! Anyway here it is, it’s from Jeremy’s POV, any feedback is much appreciated

You say you must endure, but where do you draw the line?

How much is contrition worth if you don’t make it out alive?

A twisted ankle, a broken nose, three fractured ribs?

Head forced under water, teeth sinking into skin?

Let me inside, what’s on your mind?

So yea that’s what I got. One more verse to go!

Some ppl who’ve given input before:

@achillean-heartbeat @honkygay @dendoe @webedragons @if-you-dont-ask-me-to-stay @problemduetest4life

[maleficent-cannoli]

Ok so just did the math on how long Sunshine is going to end up being once I finish writing and recording it and y’all… even if I were to make the interlude after the bridge only two bars long, it’s still going to end up being

4:48.

Four minutes and forty-eight seconds at LEAST.

That’s almost 5 full minutes. What the fuck.

ANYWAY. I’m almost done with lyrics, we’ve just get two more verses to go before I run out of excuses to start working on the instrumental track so there’s that.

[maleficent-cannoli]

Ok well since at least 9 people want to see the lyric progress so far, here we go:

Jean verse:

At fourteen I learned it only hurts more if you fight

So why risk jumping if you know you won’t survive the height?

Locked in the dark, no point in reaching for the sun

No place to hide and nowhere left to run

This ain’t home, but at least I’m not alone

Jeremy verse:

When you’ve shut down, when you’re drowning and afraid

I’ll take your hand and guide you out of the rain

He broke your wings so bad you’ve forgotten how to fly

But you can learn again if we take one day at a time

Follow the light, my sunshine

Jeremy chorus:

Just feel the cool night breeze, see the rainbows, the open roads

I’ll be your friend, I’m on your team, oh let me take you home

Also there’s this bridge I wrote for mixed POV:

The memories (Look in my eyes)

Are haunting me (I’m right by your side)

I can’t sleep (We’ll be alright)

I can’t breathe

Come back to me

I swear it makes more sense when you hear it

Oh and also this mixed POV verse:

Red for love, red for blood, red for rage

Blue for your tshirt, blue for crashing ocean waves

Black for despair, black for violence and shame

Gold for hope, gold for something they can’t break

Grey eyes meet brown, they can’t hurt you now

Now you may be wondering, Vel what are you stuck on? Well, I need a verse to sort of act as a “trigger” for the bridge. I’m also having a hard time finding a way to approach the whole “I deserved it” thing.

Oh and that first Jean verse was originally intended to be referencing Icarus and a fear of flying too close to the sun, or so to speak, and only hurting more if he tried to resist his situation, and while I think I’m getting the message across, I don’t think it’s clear that Icarus is the reference and I’m not sure how to fix it.

[maleficent-cannoli]

should I be posting a quick”lyrics so far” for my little tsc song? bc I’ve gotten just a tad stuck and I think I might need some input

[maleficent-cannoli]

y’all the tsc brainrot is so bad at any given time at least half of my thoughts are just “should I write a song using a bunch of aftg quotes?”

[maleficent-cannoli]

Ok so the song’s coming along nicely but I want to bring in a reference to Greek mythology and also something about the whole “Ravens are never alone” thing so if anyone has any ideas please lmk

[maleficent-cannoli]

Since apparently at least 20 people want me to make a tsc song, what are some quotes I should use?