Song-A-Day 2024

Blue Dog

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Even more Lo-Fi! Honestly, I’m enjoying doing these and know they’ll be good playlist fodder in the future. As with my ambient stuff, the hardest part is often naming them. There’s not a ton to talk about in this one, though there is one fun trick that came from XO. The extreme panning in the electric piano part is happening as part of one of the XO beats. I’m using it as a sample player instead of just as a … Continue reading

Apert

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. The only concrete thing I remember about this track is that I wrote the entire piano part first and in one take. I’d been noodling for a bit with the lovely Piano in Blue sample library and had come up with the general pattern you hear. While it was still fresh and enjoyable, I improvised the entire track, not really paying attention to bar numbers, but with the metronome going and an occasional glance at the elapsed time. As with … Continue reading

Sea Pap (Derek Greenberg Cover)

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Another Song-A-Day, another cover. I’ve written about my love/hate relationship with cover day before, so let’s just assume I rehashed it all. Most years, I struggle to pick something and then deal with all sorts of self-inflicted angst about covering a song that I know the original artist will hear. 2024 did give me a lot of possibilities, though. When I looked back at my notes, I had nine different songs written down as cover options. Surprisingly, Sea Pap wasn’t … Continue reading

Narcissus Rising

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Where to begin? This is one of those oddball pieces that became more or less what I was sort of trying to do in a roundabout way. It’s not quite a “pants” track – I had a plan – but that plan was nebulous at best. It’s as much an exploration of texture and rhythm as anything. It veers strongly into Systems Music territory but is just as firmly in Eno-esque … Continue reading

We Use Power

Note: This post was written in 2025 and backdated to appear on the day I wrote and published the track. Back to the land of ambient techno and another chance to open that bag of tricks I’ve been wanting to try. Earlier in the month, I went all in on an Orb-style track with The Match Went Out, and had really been enjoying listening to it when the opportunity presented itself. I wanted to revisit that genre, though not necessarily in exactly the same way. One of my favorite sources for public domain audio and video1Well, in theory. Some of … Continue reading