The following is part of a series where I review music I've composed. I'm going through The Final Selection in order, starting from the top. Use the inline audio players to preview, then click track titles to download them in MP3. Enjoy!
 

» Artilies

#011 - recorded on 2003-04-24

So, we're into the "A" section. I've decided to drop quotation marks from these posts' titles, because it's clear excluding them won't cause confusion that these are individual songs-mostly-without-words (as opposed to italicized albums).

This track is a shimmery, curious affair backed with delay-echoed classic drum sounds (hear that 808 crack?) and a pizzicato bassline which suggests an aristocratic background.

My partial inspiration for "Artilies" can be found in the magic of the Indiana Jones movies, because do y'know what the opposite of "Artilies" is? ARTIFACTS! Ha-ha.

But seriously, in my orthogonally humble opinion, the best part of this piece whips in @ 1:59, where what I deem "the watermelon belly dance routine" begins. I took the pitched-up sample of a Middle Eastern string instrument, and made it go all Bollywood. The echoed strings @ 2:15 are well-worth listening to over and over.

The closest external inspiration for "Artilies" comes from Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92, which is perhaps most evident @ 2:59. (Compare it to something like "Xtal", not so much in exact sound as spirit.) And maybe because of the Eastern influence, there was a little Muslimgauze in there too, rest his soul.
 

» Aspergia

#076 - recorded on 2004-03-09

VERY SOCIALLY AWKWARD. Within, I did my best to draw a parallel between Asperger Syndrome stereotypes and the stilted, mechanical nature (if you can call it that) of a lot of so-called Intelligent Dance Music (IDM). I had my bitcrushers out in full force for this, flattening supporting cadences holding up the drippy lead melody. Loads of weird chromaticism, it sounds like it's climbing yet falling at the same time.

The drums are a unique affair unto their own: I think I took several very over-compressed clunkers, and loaded them into the sampling section of the Yamaha RS7000, which was a pretty awesome "all-in-one"-type groovebox. It's definitely one of my "weirdest" tracks, and I think there's even a 32-bar loop, quite uncommon for dance… or any type of music, really.

"Aspergia"'s name is derived from aspergia.com, of which I was an active community member in the early 00s. I thought a lot about how best to sonicfy the eccentric way I see the world, so there are some obvious themes: the beat chugs along like a train — a motif I'll often employ is motion, engines on multiple tracks representing different instruments; also, lengthy crossfaded transitions. I've long liked sweeping changes over 8, 16, and as stated, even 32 bars. Subtle variations create interest and are easy to automate, so I'll be darned why so much dance music is still boringly repetitive. Of course, one of the stereotypical Asperger behaviors just happens to be repetition, so I challenged myself (I come up with holding patterns, lock myself in them, then bust out when I've mastered those skills) to setup loops, and knock 'em down. I succeeded.
 

» Assburgers

#124 - recorded on 2004-05-21

VERY AWKWARD NAME! This has very little redeeming value. It's blase, boring, and gosh, why did I make it? To prove a point, or rather, several. "Assburgers" is how "Asperger's" often gets mispronounced, so I was showing I don't take myself seriously. And yes this is very repetitive and grating. I do hope someone uses it for an annoying Flash anim someday, tho! Move on, move on…
 

» Asshookers

#048 - recorded on 2004-01-17

ANOTHER VERY AWKWARD NAME! Well, y'see, there was this Southern American guy I sampled, I'll call him a neo-Aztec, and he was actually saying something like "Asuka" (which really sounds more Japanesish) amidst all his "EE EEEEE WOOOOO ARRRIIIIAHHHHH!", victory cries, but when you keep repeating it, which I do in the track, it sounds like something else phonetically. :p

I slimmed the mix @ 0:57 to a bleepy, breakbeat-driven bouncer. The bassline is a variation of a phat Moog classic, and listen to the low-pass drum-filtering that rises up at around 1:32.

Silly party track. But sometimes, that's all it takes.