microdot
Dave Cavalier, aka The Misanthrope, doesn't hate people. I will go to bat for him and say that he's a very kind person when he's not talking about politics.
In this post, he describes in detail the thought process behind where he is/we are in our songwriting efforts. It's a fascinating read; Dave's a super guitarist and songwriter (shout out for 'Madeleine') but he mentions a map, and alludes to me. Funny, but I have no idea what he's talking about.
In my experience, songwriting is a hairy business. When I first started writing songs, I couldn't write them well enough to even sound like my favorite band. The second song I ever wrote was supposed to sound like Twin Tones Minneapolis, but it came out sounding like AC/DC Xerox. The Xerox model they made in the '80s. The early 80s. And I don't mean the Pat Beneleotardatari2600 80s.
Two of my favorite* three Microdot songs, 'Beauty Mark' and 'X-ray', are written with Dave in the most collaborative way imaginable. We sit down with guitars in an otherwise empty room, I play him a verse, he plays me a chorus, but we don't know it yet. An hour goes by, and we mash them together, and we have a song, or in this example, two songs. That's an amazing feeling.
And that's where I am today. There's no map, there's no formula. Music's language -- your ears perk up when you hear something interesting.
*David Byrne gave an interview once where he was asked what his favorite Talking Heads songs were. His answer was that they were all his children and he couldn't pick between them. Bullshit!
In this post, he describes in detail the thought process behind where he is/we are in our songwriting efforts. It's a fascinating read; Dave's a super guitarist and songwriter (shout out for 'Madeleine') but he mentions a map, and alludes to me. Funny, but I have no idea what he's talking about.
In my experience, songwriting is a hairy business. When I first started writing songs, I couldn't write them well enough to even sound like my favorite band. The second song I ever wrote was supposed to sound like Twin Tones Minneapolis, but it came out sounding like AC/DC Xerox. The Xerox model they made in the '80s. The early 80s. And I don't mean the Pat Beneleotardatari2600 80s.
Two of my favorite* three Microdot songs, 'Beauty Mark' and 'X-ray', are written with Dave in the most collaborative way imaginable. We sit down with guitars in an otherwise empty room, I play him a verse, he plays me a chorus, but we don't know it yet. An hour goes by, and we mash them together, and we have a song, or in this example, two songs. That's an amazing feeling.
And that's where I am today. There's no map, there's no formula. Music's language -- your ears perk up when you hear something interesting.
*David Byrne gave an interview once where he was asked what his favorite Talking Heads songs were. His answer was that they were all his children and he couldn't pick between them. Bullshit!
posted by stinkrock at 2:58 AM
7 Comments:
You don't need to see the map. I need to see it.
And stop being such a pussy about politics.
why do you like the map? We stumbled onto paper airplane crash without one.
Stop being such a dick about politics.
you'd think a pussy and a dick would be the perfect match.
oh, how many times i've been proven wrong on that one.
I'll write about it some more in a bit, but if you think a map is bad, imagine a full itinerary - with places of interest duly marked, your rental car all picked out for you, times of departure and return decided upon, your hotels and motels carefully chosen...
Saturday at Smoke and Mirrors.
I don't think a map is bad (and with that let's stop using the term map). Dave describes a different approach and it was insightful to hear him talk about it. Probably wouldn't work for me.
A friend of mine in college had a car with a broken horn that would go off unexpectedly. One day, he and a friend went driving, decided to go straight until the horn went off at which point they'd take the next turn. Musically, that's me.
All I can say is that since that show which can't be named because of my repeted use of it's name - I have had a number of Microdot songs stuck in my head. Such is the mark of quality songwriting, and to do it in 'odd' time signatures is a feat few can achieve.
I'll wipe my chin now...
it was nice seeing you sunday night at the bowery ballroom! hope you enjoyed the show, i certainly did! i found your blog through dave murrow's. -maria.
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