Torley Lives

Today marks a presentation of the progreg sound I call "Torley's Ten-Course Techno Dinner", or THCTD for short. I don't have as much time to wax as ornately as I'd like, but here goes. For you, today, 10 tracks… bon appetit *claps hands* dinner is served! So without further ado, here are highly biased descriptions to help you choose what you like. This music can be hard to fit in a category, so please bear with me, thank you graciously:

Emma's Theme - I wrote this in the vein of the 80s, which is the decade I emerged in. I think it shows in that stabby bassline thing, but on the whole, I crafted a lovely, fragile but strong melody which I came up with in a few minutes. Some hot flute action too. It felt very natural. I wrote this about someone who means a lot to me and always will, although we don't keep in touch.

Gunmetal Tiara - full version which was teaser-thing'ed earlier, yes, this is what you *might* call symphonic progressive breaks. I wanted a certain sense of drama, like this passionate sort of drive in a loving relationship. Always going forward, but remembering the past. I am especially pleased with how the rich string melody came out; that was rich!

Happier Times - I feel sad about the internal fighting in the world of electronic music (sort of like the Goa'uld conflicts), so I did something about it and made this to express my thoughts + feelings. It has a techy (Detroit, Detroit), bouncy bass, lots of chorded electric piano riffs, and a positive message. Robots dancing?

Incarna - Short for "Incarnation". I knew I had to do something with that rattlesnake sample a friend gave me, so it shows up here — a LOT. I wanted something spacy, like flying through the galaxy, with sci-fi atmosphere, and again, a trademark Torley Touch (TM) memorable melody

Cool Fusion - This is a very primal, tribal house-sounding affair. Think of cats playing bongos or something. Really, that's what I thought of. I wanted a more delicate counterpoint to it as well so I weaved softer melody lines above the banging bass. If you're going to have your cake, you might as well eat it too. Whatever that means.

Mongrel - So-called because it's a bit of a jolly, oblique Frankenstein monster thing. The bassline is SOOO obviously copped off of UK Garidge. This one goes through a number of dynamic changes and happy edits, I wanted to let it unfold gradually but meaningfully at its own pace. No, in case you wanted to ask, I couldn't resist throwing in the funeral organs in there. That's just the way I am. Hands off the flanger!!!

ADSL - Upbeat, with a darkly poppy melody. It's about Internet technology.

LeviOsa - This one's a strange bird, it's like a rubbery synth solo with ostinatos and other synth ambiences weaved around it. Tip of the hat to 70s electronic space music new age timeframe. So the beat isn't very heavy, but that's okay. The pulse is powerful in its own subtle way. Sort of like those Cadbury Creme Eggs (which are pretty tasty). Or, that Aero with Caramel ad.

Fashionable Weapon - I don't know how many trance producers were into Ally McBeal, but I sure was. No, this doesn't really sound anything like the show's music even though it is inspired by Calista Flockhart — what it is is more of a peaktime progreg alternative trance pounder, wild club excitement. What a mouthful. I wanted a firm THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP kick drum thingamajig and those floating arp orbital weapons platforms.

Fathersland - This is for my Dad. I found a recording with him and me talking about Chinese language and the word for cementary (odd coincidence, which happens to me all the time) and it made me cry, but I felt I still had to pay my posthumous respects . . . and so I do it through music.

Work on the "progreg" or whatever it's called continues to improve quite nicely, will double up work efforts again and then take breaks (accordingly, I hope).

In the meantime, I can post an incomplete list of some of my favorite fictional characters from film and television. I can relate to them:

-Hermione Granger, from Harry Potter — she has wicked eyebrows
-Mr. Bean, from the show of the same name — love his sense of humor and defiance of the "pecking order"
-Teal'c, from Stargate SG-1 (thanks to Terry and Lane for getting me started on this one, I'm trying not to get too obsessed too quickly) — great loyalty and honor to his friends, Chris Judge has such a good voice
-Amelie Poulain, from Amelie — she's cute and charming, i do lots of the same things
-Donnie Darko, from Donnie Darko (except I am more light) — it helps to listen and observe

I have come up with a new thing to do for myself. Sometimes when posting a message on a message board, there is miscommunication and even smilies don't really help sort the jam out. So I quickly record a voice mail-type message and post it on as a WAV. Yes, you can click here to hear for yourself.

If I had a cat that looked like Avril Lavigne, I would feed it well, cuddle it with lots of love, and teach it to do tricks like do the famous "Grrr!" Avril face with teeth bared. I might give it a cute glittery, sparkly collar or maybe alternate it with a spikey one on some days, and put a mini-sock around one of its paw-joint things. But no, I would not make it sing "Complicated".