 Horrid Little Man(2002)
1. Intro (Mr. Picotte)
This is my fourth collection of poor excuses for music. It was started in October of 2001 and was "completed" in roughly June of 2002. Included in this collection are three versions of some of my friends songs. |
Thoughts behind Horrid Little Man all notes by tonyLkollman This was my fourth original album. This one is a bit shorter than the others, crossing the finish line just a few seconds short of 40 minutes. This was done during a sort of experimental phase in which I was playing around with various tools on my computer. I had fun with a program called Fruity Loops and also my editing software, Cool Edit. This album was once affectionately referred to as my "techno album" by a dedicated fan. I guess that's not TOO far off. A majority of these tracks do include loops, samples, or other electronic elements of sorts. Three of these tracks are covers of songs done by friends of mine, which I liked so much that I wanted to come up with my own interpretations of them. "Folding Chair" was done by Josh Trumbo, "Cotton Candy" was done by Anthony Bergman, and "Angry" was done by Pegtop. All were done with permission, of course. No copyright laws being violated here. Intro (Mr. Picotte) Mr. Picotte very often called my apartment looking for the weather line. Apparently, my number is similar. I've never known the weather line number. But this particular time, he left a message apologizing for disturbing me and wishing me a good night. It's kind of what inspired the weather elements of the next song...
The Calm Before This is one of my favorite songs out of my own work, I think. It appeared also in the 2003-2004 Shelterbelt, NSU's literary CD-Rom. It goes back to the autumn of 2001 when I had a crush on a girl. That's what most of them come down to, isn't it? I was actually still getting over Liza, from a couple years previous. My friend Amanda made me realize I still had feelings for Liza. When Amanda went away, I realized she was right. I tried desperately to push Liza from my thoughts. She was unavailable and probably would be forever. I got a crush on this girl, who will remain nameless for now. It was all part of my efforts to get over Liza. There are lines in this song that refer to just that; "The chimney children are clothed and the rocketeers have failed." Direct reference to "Liza Annie" from Drama Queen. "But I don't feel the rain, I only see the sun, the darkness comes and goes, and I'm done with my fun."
Folding Chair This song was originally written and performed by Joshua M. Trumbo, whom you may recognize from the Kamikaze Snowmen. I worked with him one summer and I heard this song and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I took it down a whole step and added some television commotion in the background and a second guitar part on top. The drum loop is a slowed down sample of my own drums from a Junebug soundcheck. I like how this track turned out.
Is it Time to Go? My previous album was entitled, Time To Go. I wrote it at a time that I really wanted to get out of Aberdeen. Nearly (if not all, I don't remember) of the songs had the lyric "it's time to go" somewhere in it. By the time this album came around, I had become comfortable with my surroundings and the people around me. I think that God was trying to get me to consider things and to think that it's not such a bad place after all. So was it really time to go? Not then, no. "Someday I'll build a house, made of logs and leaves. Someday I'll be with her, with beauty I can't believe." When I wrote that line, I pictured Liza interestingly enough. Well, I think that someday is now. And as I type this (April, 2005), it's really getting to be time to go. This song sounds a lot better with the full band, coach reverend.
Cotton Candy "Cotton Candy" came from Anthony Bergman, whom you may recognize from Junebug or his own solo music. This was the first song off of his album If You Give Me a Dollar, I'll Give You Fifty Cents. He performed the song a capella, entirely vocally. At one point I thought it would be a good song for Junebug to play, but it never happened. So I taught it to myself and had a lot of fun arranging it. There's a lyric in the original in which the angel says, "Anthony, you have been chosen to write and album for me." Well, in MY version, it says, "Tony, you have been chosen to cover this song for me." Hmmm.. The drum loop is a sample of my own drums from a Fed By Doris show.
Angry "Angry" comes from Dave Piegthal and Pegtop. I spoke to Matt Patrick, the bassist for the band, and he thought it was cool that I covered it. He even said they didn't require any royalties. Those are some nice guys. Dave is a sportsman and I believe when he wrote it, he was hunting... but somehow, my version sounds like a jealous man staking out the other man to shoot him. That's not what I intended to do, but that's the way it kind of sounds - a man driven to the point of murder by jealousy.
Unreal This little blurb was an admittance of an internet addiction. Sounds stupid, I know. But it happens. People have addictions that interfere with their lives and an internet/chat room addiction generally gets shrugged off as stupid and nerdy and laughed away as a joke. But it can be serious. And luckily, I got out of it.
Nothing's Changed Quite honestly, I don't like this song. I originally recorded another verse too, but it was garbage so I edited it out. I don't know why I even put it on here. Oh yeah. I needed a few extra minutes to try to fill more time. I think it's a poorly constructed song and an even poorer recording. If I had the chance to do it again, I'd leave it off. It was recorded, I believe, the same night as "Seldom the Optimist" from Time To Go, which actually turned out good. I don't know what the problem was here.
Back to Illionois This song was a blast to create. The slowed down loops that create the foundation for the song are from a live Junebug performance of "I'm a Bad MammaJamma (Who Works at Wendy's)". It contains Anthony Bergman and Dustin Marks on guitar, Dan Cleberg on bass, and me on drums. The content of the song is actually spiritual. I was once asked to think of a metaphor for Heaven and my first thought was the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. Hanging out with friends, listening to music, meeting new people, no responsibilities... It was a pretty good comparison at the time. So this song is about getting to Illinois. The drive of life, I guess you could say.
The Noise After A nice little instrumental ditty. It's kind of a musical sequel to "The Calm Before". I like to picture hobbits in a pub. It's not a perfect picture to fit the song. I tried to put real-sounding hand claps in on the downbeats too, but it didn't work. The feel I was going for was a pub- or barn-dance. Ah well. It's a fun little number regardless.
Eleven O'Clock Will Come Around This song came out of long conversations with a good friend. We discussed life, liberty, the pursuit of happines, plans, dreams, travels, everything. We both had homework to do but we stayed in the parking lot visiting. She said at one point, "You know, eleven o'clock will come around and we'll still be here talking." Eleven o'clock came and went. The song is me talking to God, not knowing what to do about certain things. And thank God I consulted him. I like where things have gone. I'm glad that I didn't get what I wanted at the time. The foundation of the song is a slowed down looped sample from a live performance of "Bumblebee" by Junebug with Dustin Marks and Anthony Bergman on guitars and me on drums. All additional music was later recorded by me.
Horrid Little Man See above. This was from that same era. The aforementioned friend jokingly referred to me as a "horrid little man". At the time I may have been on the way to "having it bad"... luckily I didn't get that far. After this was recorded, I wrote a second verse that I play in live shows...about the same person, same sentiment. Looking back, I'm so glad it didn't pan out. But at least I got some songs out of it, eh?
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