Ha! You thought I had given up and wasn’t going to post again didn’t you?

Oh wait. Nobody reads this thing anyway.

BUT JUST IN CASE…

Here’s a link to a zip file with MP3s of my RPM record, titled Bittersweet Drive

As most RPM’ers seem to have experienced, this process was a combination of sheer joy, terror, frustration and fun. I’m kinda sad to be done with it. But I’m done. For now.

I didn’t plan a lot of collaboration on my record because part of the challenge for me was to try to do as much as I could on my own. Next year I plan to do a lot more e-collaboration, cause that ended up being some of the most fun.

If you’ll indulge me, some quick thank you’s:

Ian Miller played bass on 2 tracks, “Battle On, Satellite” and “West Of House”. Not only is he an excellent bass player, but he’s just a great person who kept me going more than once during this challenge. Much love, Ian.

Jason Norman provided all of the drum loops and sampled voicemails on “West Of House”. Jason deserves more credit than he gets as a beat master. His contributions really made the track happen. More love for Jason.

Greg Thompson mastered this for me. I think he either lost a bet or is a masochist, but I really can’t express how thankful I am that he did it. You’d be surprised how well a polished turd can shine. Thanks for doing this and teaching me a few things along the way, Greg. You can learn more about Greg here.

Chris Huff put together my cover art from one of my wife’s paintings and some photos. I’ve included a very small version (200×200) of the front cover in the zip file for now. Larger images of the front and back cover are at the bottom of this post. Thank you so much for this, Chris. My wife loves it.

Sean O’Rourke and Scott Evans were also very helpful in getting me through this thing. Thank you both for the motivation and feedback that you provided me.

So here it is. Thanks in advance for listening. I’d love to hear any feedback - just hit that comment button! So far my favorite comment is this from Sean O’Rourke, who says “this record is like the Talking Heads meet a less-boring Pink Floyd, fronted by a Michael Stipe that I don’t want to punch in the face”. Now that’s a review!

P.S. - I’m much fatter than Michael Stipe.

You can listen to rough and incomplete mixes here.

The drums still (still) need work, and vocals (and in some cases, lyrics) will be done in the second half of February. Also, these MP3s are really compressed and I don’t like it. Needs remixing to let it breathe.

So far I’ve got 3 things that are worth mixing down and sharing. I’ve also got 3 other things that are… um, not ready to share.

So here we go:

1) This is a remixed version of the first track I did. Still needs vocals, but it’s in pretty good shape: http://www.uncledig.com/RPM08/RPMtrack1.mp3

2) This a little punk rock thing ala Screeching Weasel. Don’t ask me why the banjo/acoustic is still in there - it’s kinda what started me off, and I’m leaving it for now. I’m hoping to have Ian put real bass on this (pardon my crappy bass playing). Drums need a lot of work, too (cause they SUCK): http://www.uncledig.com/RPM08/RPMbanjopunk.mp3

3) A very rough start for a song I’ve had in my head for almost a year. It’s going with the lyrics below. Again, drums need serious help: http://www.uncledig.com/RPM08/RPMMamaSays.mp3

Here are the lyrics for #3:

Mama said
Promises
Are made to keep
And talk is cheap
And true love cuts deep

Dark eyes
Sunshine
On the graceful and the wise
On the pity and the lies
And the beauty in your eyes
Shines

Mama said
Don’t get it in your head
That you’re alone
You make a home
You bury my bones

Dark eyes
Goodbye
To the graceful and the wise
To the pity and the lies
To the beauty in your eyes
Shines

Goodbye, goodbye Ruby Mae
Sunshine, first class all the way
Coast the car down the hill and sneak away
Coast the car down the hill

After some time spent figuring out workflow and laying out basic grooves, I’ve finally managed to put together an almost-finished track. You can download it here: http://www.uncledig.com/RPM08/RPM08Track1.mp3

I’m not real happy with it right now. The first 20 seconds sound like a bad singer/songwriter record. I was shooting for something a little more strange and intense, so this will need a little more work. There are also some arrangement changes I want to make.

But those will have to wait - it’s time to move on to the next one!