diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'album')
25 files changed, 1965 insertions, 124 deletions
diff --git a/album/cherubim.yaml b/album/cherubim.yaml index 260a33f..846a62d 100644 --- a/album/cherubim.yaml +++ b/album/cherubim.yaml @@ -250,11 +250,25 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Constant Confinement - Doctor Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - I floated the idea for a UU + uu album last year in about June as a concept record divided in half with equal and analogous parts Calliope and Caliborn. While we really wanted to jump in and get to making more Homestuck music following Volume 9, we decided to wait and discover more of the two characters until December when Radiation re-organized the effort. He proposed the Jekyll / Hyde alternating pace of the album culminating in "Eternity Served Cold" and had the group split into pairs, each musician working with a partner on a track with the same themes and motifs. - I worked with Erik, who sent me the at-the-time unfinished Calliope composition "Constant Confinement" for me to base my Caliborn track around. Erik's track was so meditative, it was actually difficult to recognize the slow-paced woodwind melody over the course of the piece, which pulses onward without any strict meter. This melody had to be expanded upon a lot to match the pace of "Constant Conquest" - it actually flies by at breakneck pace in the first measure of the piece before settling into its groove. - Conquest in many ways resembles [[Ruins Rising]], another electronic track based around one of Erik's piano compositions. Like in my approach to "Ruins" I arranged the melody sparsely and created a very dense environment of drums and percussion sounds to convert Erik's pulse into a groove. Same input, same solution, although this time I went much, much heavier than ever before. I had a handful of different drum kits going all at once, each with unique effects chains, to create more of an ensemble sound than a clean dance beat. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + + I floated the idea for a UU + uu album last year in about June as a concept record divided in half with equal and analogous parts Calliope and Caliborn. While we really wanted to jump in and get to making more Homestuck music following [[album:homestuck-vol-9|Volume 9]], we decided to wait and discover more of the two characters until December when [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] re-organized the effort. He proposed the Jekyll / Hyde alternating pace of the album culminating in "Eternity Served Cold" and had the group split into pairs, each musician working with a partner on a track with the same themes and motifs. + + I worked with Erik, who sent me the at-the-time unfinished Calliope composition [[track:constant-confinement|"Constant Confinement"]] for me to base my Caliborn track around. Erik's track was so meditative, it was actually difficult to recognize the slow-paced woodwind melody over the course of the piece, which pulses onward without any strict meter. This melody had to be expanded upon a lot to match the pace of "Constant Conquest" - it actually flies by at breakneck pace in the first measure of the piece before settling into its groove. + + Conquest in many ways resembles [[track:ruins-rising|"Ruins Rising"]], another electronic track based around one of Erik's piano compositions. Like in my approach to "Ruins" I arranged the melody sparsely and created a very dense environment of drums and percussion sounds to convert Erik's pulse into a groove. Same input, same solution, although this time I went much, much heavier than ever before. I had a handful of different drum kits going all at once, each with unique effects chains, to create more of an ensemble sound than a clean dance beat. + What really sealed in the atmosphere of this track was the huge slather of pads that adorned the track, most of which were created using analog equipment. I fed the signal from an old Radio Shack keyboard with basic midi patches through a pawn shop guitar pedal to create the many layers of sound that fill the background. Some of the most excellent sounds on the track (especially that snarling synth at 2:57) were created by hammering the mod knobs and wah-wah pedal while playing atonal pitches. The result is distorted synth excellence. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1965), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + And then in the later years of the comic... 2013 was my final actual production that was a contribution to it. I did Constant Conquest, another piece of work with Erik. I took the Caliborn side of it and Erik took the Calliope side of it. Erik wrote the Calliope theme first, Constant Confinement, and I took the theme from that and decided to just go... real crazy industrial with it. + + You know, it's so hard when so many villains have already been introduced! You know, you've got Jack Noir, and Lord English, and all these other characters that are already in the mix - and they're already all dangerous, and now you're four years in, and you have a new villain, and you have to like, heighten that much further than the previous ones. You know, a bit of a Dragon Ball Z style problem. + + This was the only piece I actually used Logic Pro to write. I had switched over to Logic Pro at the time. I used a whole new palette of sounds, and played with all kinds of new effects chains, I found it way easier to edit the piece... I had pedals that I had used for my live performances. That was fresh off the year where I had made my live debut (laughs) - I had gone to South by Southwest and I'd had a little band involve Marcy Nabors, Erik Scheele, Clark Powell, and Riki Tsuji, and we had done a backyard show, and a show at the Velveeta Room, where we performed stuff from Mobius Trip, other Homestuck music that we could figure out how to get arranged, and stuff from my second solo album, Ithaca. So I had all this leftover equipment from that crazy adventure, and played with, you know, running the keyboards and guitars and stuff through wahs and distortions and just created this great little crunchy mess. + + I even brought in Buzinkai's [[Doctor]] for two seconds because, you know, at this point, Doctor was in so many remixes and references and revisitations, that it was fine for me to take it for the first - and only! - time, and do it in this, ah, totally out of tune, random vignette. Just to say, there, there's my Doctor remix. Y'a happy? --- Track: The Lyrist Artists: diff --git a/album/class-act-b-side.yaml b/album/class-act-b-side.yaml index 7992af1..b2cb419 100644 --- a/album/class-act-b-side.yaml +++ b/album/class-act-b-side.yaml @@ -1,4 +1,5 @@ Album: CLASS ACT (B Side) +Always Reference Tracks By Directory: true Artists: - Funk McLovin Date: August 31, 2020 12:00:00 @@ -19,24 +20,56 @@ Additional Files: - Title: Bandcamp Banner Files: - banner.jpg +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/album/class-act-b-side)) + + An album full of covers! Enjoy this one for free. Original artists and video links are included per track! --- Track: Accept My Shaft Directory: accept-my-shaft-funk-mclovin +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Accept My Shaft [Song A Day 2020 Day 32] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDt2HHrjqC0) Duration: '3:45' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/accept-my-shaft - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDt2HHrjqC0 Referenced Tracks: -- track:accept-my-shaft +- Accept My Shaft +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/accept-my-shaft), excerpt) + + Originally by Ninja Sex Party (Daniel Avidan and Brian Wecht) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDt2HHrjqC0), excerpt) + + Month 2 of Song A Day kicks off with a favorite: ACCEPT MY SHAFT + + Original song by NINJA SEX PARTY: [youtube.com/watch?v=nxvz325stqw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxvz325stqw) --- Track: Get It On Directory: get-it-on-funk-mclovin +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + GET IT ON [Song a Day 2020 Day 36] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TALiw8ahfzA) Duration: '2:33' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/get-it-on - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TALiw8ahfzA Referenced Tracks: -- track:get-it-on +- Get It On +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/get-it-on), excerpt) + + Originally by Bill Chase + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TALiw8ahfzA), excerpt) + + This one's an old favorite. Enjoy. --- Track: LAWNMOWER Directory: lawnmower-funk-mclovin @@ -46,32 +79,75 @@ URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOxJH4XCHjE Referenced Tracks: - track:lawnmower-neil-cicierega +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/lawnmower), excerpt) + + Originally by Lemon Demon (Niel Cicierga) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOxJH4XCHjE), excerpt) + + Originally by Lemon Demon --- Track: Lonely Rolling Star (English) +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Lonely Rolling Star: English Lyrics + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4VSTqOUdg) Duration: '5:38' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/lonely-rolling-star-english - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4VSTqOUdg Referenced Tracks: - Lonely Rolling Star +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/lonely-rolling-star-english), excerpt) + + Lyrics: [katamari.fandom.com/wiki/Lonely_Rolling_Star](https://katamari.fandom.com/wiki/Lonely_Rolling_Star?oldid=15479) + + Originally featured in Katamari Damacy + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4VSTqOUdg), excerpt) + + Loosely based on: [katamari.fandom.com/wiki/Lonely_Rolling_Star](https://katamari.fandom.com/wiki/Lonely_Rolling_Star?oldid=15479) + + Song-a-day 234 --- Track: Hey Baby Directory: hey-baby-funk-mclovin +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + "Hey Baby" AKA That Stand Cheer From Pep Band [Song A Day 2020 Day 46] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7RbFsG2TOg) Duration: '2:01' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/hey-baby - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7RbFsG2TOg Referenced Tracks: -- track:hey-baby +- Hey! Baby +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/hey-baby), excerpt) + + Originally by Bruce Chanel --- Track: Fever Directory: fever-funk-mclovin +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + FEVER 🎶🌡 [Song a Day 2020 Day 66] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBaWWnmNtNU) Duration: '3:13' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/fever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBaWWnmNtNU Referenced Tracks: - track:fever-little-willie-john +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/fever), excerpt) + + Traditional Jazz --- Track: Man of Constant Sorrow Duration: '2:56' @@ -80,20 +156,56 @@ URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKyqO5LIw6w Referenced Tracks: - I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/man-of-constant-sorrow), excerpt) + + Originally featured in the film "O Brother Where Art Thou?" + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKyqO5LIw6w), excerpt) + + A song about loss and love. Watch "O Brother Where Art Thou" + + Song a Day Day 55 --- Track: Teenagers Directory: teenagers-funk-mclovin +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + TEENAGERS - Jazz Cover + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9a-ddeXY80), minus artist name Duration: '2:04' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/teenagers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9a-ddeXY80 Referenced Tracks: - track:teenagers-my-chemical-romance +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/teenagers), excerpt) + + Originally by My Chemical Romance (Brendon Urie) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9a-ddeXY80), excerpt) + + Originally by My Chemical Romance + + Song-a-day 189 --- Track: Rainbow Connection Directory: rainbow-connection-funk-mclovin Duration: '2:51' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/rainbow-connection +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpfBbrJwcDg Referenced Tracks: -- track:rainbow-connection +- Rainbow Connection +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/rainbow-connection), excerpt) + + Originally by the Muppets (Jim Henson) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpfBbrJwcDg), excerpt) + + Song A Day 2020 Day 54 + + This one was fun! I choose to interpret this as a gay anthem. diff --git a/album/class-act.yaml b/album/class-act.yaml index e12a307..872ee81 100644 --- a/album/class-act.yaml +++ b/album/class-act.yaml @@ -24,52 +24,134 @@ Additional Files: - banner.jpg --- Track: New Year Boogie +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Day 1: NEW YEAR BOOGIE [Song-A-Day 2020] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6T-UoGahY) Duration: '2:16' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/new-year-boogie - https://open.spotify.com/track/5A1NWAJkTxwAP4jaN84U9e - https://music.apple.com/album/new-year-boogie/1643021697?i=1643021699 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6T-UoGahY +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6T-UoGahY)) + + For every day of 2020, I intend to write a new song for this channel. Here's the inaugural song, one celebrating positivity in the new year. Happy new year, everyone!!!! + + [The video date says Dec 31, 2019, but it was released Jan 1 2020 at 12 am Midnight!] --- Track: Aliens Stole My Boyfriend +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Aliens Stole My Boyfriend [Song A Day 51] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQymEBPTSU) Duration: '3:14' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/aliens-stole-my-boyfriend - https://open.spotify.com/track/43RFOiL2kfowY2YW0gg9KX - https://music.apple.com/album/aliens-stole-my-boyfriend/1643021697?i=1643021700 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQymEBPTSU +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQymEBPTSU), excerpt) + + A tale of love and loss. --- Track: The Devil Was Beautiful +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + The Devil Was Beautiful [Funk & Adri] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6Y7Cqul_c) Duration: '2:18' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/the-devil-was-beautiful - https://open.spotify.com/track/57ViG0rhzxmozAIzZnE1N3 - https://music.apple.com/album/the-devil-was-beautiful/1643021697?i=1643021701 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6Y7Cqul_c +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/the-devil-was-beautiful), excerpt) + + Lyrics by Davi: [(Dead Wordpress link)](https://home.blog/2020/05/02/the-devil-was-beautiful/) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6Y7Cqul_c), excerpt) + + Special thanks to ADRI for the wonderful lyrics. As always, you're a devil-lover. + + Song a Day 139 + + <i>Quasar Nebula:</i> (wiki editor) + + The linked Wordpress blog has gone offline, but Davi [reposted](https://medium.com/@davidecandia/the-devil-was-beautiful-a-poem-edb1bc961fb9) this poem to Medium, too. --- Track: Away Directory: away-class-act Always Reference By Directory: true +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + AWAY + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGkP5ejgtac), minus artist name Duration: '2:41' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/away - https://open.spotify.com/track/0vVa7F8H4uGdTvauG1yMHd - https://music.apple.com/album/away/1643021697?i=1643021703 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGkP5ejgtac +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGkP5ejgtac), excerpt) + + Song a Day 71 --- Track: I'm In Love With Mothman +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + I'M IN LOVE WITH MOTH MAN + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGYkkQowP40), minus artist name Duration: '4:13' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/im-in-love-with-mothman - https://open.spotify.com/track/1I8NLAN1aZVFZjVdZi8Mw6 - https://music.apple.com/album/im-in-love-with-mothman/1643021697?i=1643021704 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGYkkQowP40 +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGYkkQowP40), excerpt) + + Previously: Spooktober Day 24 --- Track: Robots Stole My Wife Additional Names: -- Robots Stole My Job (streaming platforms) +- Name: >- + Robots Stole My Job [Song a Day 2020 Day 22] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F99BlmX4Vzk) +- Name: Robots Stole My Job + Annotation: streaming platforms Duration: '1:10' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/robots-stole-my-wife - https://open.spotify.com/track/76FYLaVyUGM9LCL6nki48O - https://music.apple.com/album/robots-stole-my-job/1643021697?i=1643021705 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F99BlmX4Vzk +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F99BlmX4Vzk)) + + AUTOMATIC SYSTEMATIC CHARISMATIC ENIGMATIC<br> + SO PRAGMATIC ACROBATIC GOOD SCHEMATIC ROBOCRATIC --- Track: Button Eyes +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Button Eyes (ft. Davi) + Annotation: >- + [Bandcamp](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/button-eyes-ft-davi) +- Name: >- + Button Eyes [Funk & Davi] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orO3kCI8Oe0) Artists: - Funk McLovin - Davi @@ -78,27 +160,78 @@ URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/button-eyes-ft-davi - https://open.spotify.com/track/4zgnodBm2prkjNRnwGYB8f - https://music.apple.com/album/button-eyes-feat-davi/1643021697?i=1643021706 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orO3kCI8Oe0 +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/button-eyes-ft-davi), excerpt) + + Lyrics and Vocals by Davi + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orO3kCI8Oe0), excerpt) + + Thanks to ADRI for the singing and the lyrics! + + Song-a-day 211 --- Track: Japanese Spider Crab +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + JAPANESE SPIDER CRAB 🦀🎶 + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOUscy6ycK4), minus artist name Duration: '2:04' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/japanese-spider-crab - https://open.spotify.com/track/1H74ZsCqfM6Ee1R9OuQN3u - https://music.apple.com/album/japanese-spider-crab/1643021697?i=1643021707 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOUscy6ycK4 +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/japanese-spider-crab)) + + Formerly part of the ANIMALIA LP: [(Dead YouTube link)](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOVvrdnGToXVRCM2rFQGMxfbLuGJRYSQh) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOUscy6ycK4), excerpt) + + A song about my favorite crustacean... + + Song-A-Day 195 --- Track: Sneaky People Exploding In Love +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Sneaky People, Exploding in Love 🎶 + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em42RIev5SA) Duration: '2:33' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/sneaky-people-exploding-in-love - https://open.spotify.com/track/3LGerxN9rlz1z25HNnRagc - https://music.apple.com/album/sneaky-people-exploding-in-love/1643021697?i=1643021708 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em42RIev5SA +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em42RIev5SA), excerpt) + + Song A Day 75 --- Track: You're At The Ocean But You're Not Alone +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + You are at the ocean and you're not alone + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAOcj-fjY_Y), minus artist name Duration: '2:32' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/youre-at-the-ocean-but-youre-not-alone - https://open.spotify.com/track/5fdvB5g9WgMqSfKC4baTOA - https://music.apple.com/album/youre-at-the-ocean-and-youre-not-alone/1643021697?i=1643021709 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAOcj-fjY_Y +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAOcj-fjY_Y), excerpt) + + Due to popular demand I will now only be making good music. + + Special thanks to ROXY and the PARADOX MUSIC TEAM + + Song A Day 176 --- Track: WAKE UP Duration: '2:02' @@ -106,3 +239,8 @@ URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/wake-up - https://open.spotify.com/track/5IMhjjQaA5ZaEKE0wzsyE8 - https://music.apple.com/album/wake-up/1643021697?i=1643021710 +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nk-3mJg6o8 +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nk-3mJg6o8), excerpt) + + Song a DAy 80 diff --git a/album/cool-and-new-homestuck-2.yaml b/album/cool-and-new-homestuck-2.yaml index 1d13779..3b4f92a 100644 --- a/album/cool-and-new-homestuck-2.yaml +++ b/album/cool-and-new-homestuck-2.yaml @@ -743,7 +743,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Unite Synchronization - Revelawesome - track:jungle-3 -- track:rainbow-connection +- Rainbow Connection - Negastrife - Explore - track:im-a-member-of-the-midnight-crew diff --git a/album/gba-pokemon-unbound-super-music-collection.yaml b/album/gba-pokemon-unbound-super-music-collection.yaml index 4da0fe0..fd197e3 100644 --- a/album/gba-pokemon-unbound-super-music-collection.yaml +++ b/album/gba-pokemon-unbound-super-music-collection.yaml @@ -445,6 +445,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Victory! (Gym Leader Battle) (Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue) --- Track: Evolution +Directory: evolution-pokemon-unbonud Duration: '0:46' Artists: - NewoRGBY @@ -601,6 +602,7 @@ URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyGrQfz0TLY --- Track: Motorcycle +Directory: motorcycle-pokemon-unbonud Duration: '2:07' Artists: - Pascal van den Bos @@ -652,6 +654,7 @@ URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9wQ3fb7h5I --- Track: Gate +Directory: gate-pokemon-unbonud Duration: '1:00' Artists: - Rowyn Berlan @@ -968,6 +971,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Pokémon Gym (Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue) --- Track: Surf +Directory: surf-pokemon-unbonud Duration: '0:56' Artists: - Humanly @@ -1532,6 +1536,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - The Borrius Motif --- Track: Battleground +Directory: battleground-pokemon-unbonud Duration: '0:54' Artists: - Caelan Kier @@ -1543,6 +1548,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Phosphor Bronze --- Track: Dive +Directory: dive-pokemon-unbonud Duration: '1:29' Artists: - Caelan Kier diff --git a/album/gravity-makes-the-flame-rise.yaml b/album/gravity-makes-the-flame-rise.yaml index 586153e..46cabc9 100644 --- a/album/gravity-makes-the-flame-rise.yaml +++ b/album/gravity-makes-the-flame-rise.yaml @@ -10,14 +10,24 @@ URLs: - https://music.apple.com/album/gravity-makes-the-flame-rise/1550064159 Cover Artists: - Kazee +Art Tags: +- Bowman Color: '#b2a89d' Groups: - Michael Guy Bowman - Beyond +Commentary: |- + <i>Kazee:</i> (cover artist, [Twitter](https://x.com/KazeeSnep/status/1354240997933383682), 1/26/2021) + + Just finished listening to the album and it's already one of my favorites from you. I'm honored to have had the privilege to work with you and create this album art! + + <i>Bijan Eghtesady:</i> (drums, [Twitter](https://x.com/melancholy_robo/status/13542740143534735400), 1/26/2021) + + super happy to be a part of this awesome album! Nice job on those mixes 😎 --- Track: Gravity Makes The Flame Rise Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) - Tensei (guitar solo) Duration: '5:26' URLs: @@ -146,7 +156,7 @@ Commentary: |- --- Track: They Want To Live Forever Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '2:50' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/they-want-to-live-forever @@ -207,7 +217,7 @@ Track: Burnout Directory: burnout-gravity-makes-the-flame-rise Always Reference By Directory: true Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '4:30' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/burnout @@ -256,7 +266,7 @@ Commentary: |- --- Track: Get Tough Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '4:04' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/get-tough @@ -320,7 +330,7 @@ Commentary: |- --- Track: The Real Thing Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '2:46' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/the-real-thing @@ -385,7 +395,7 @@ Track: Manufacturers Directory: manufacturers-gravity-makes-the-flame-rise Always Reference By Directory: true Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '3:44' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/manufacturers @@ -437,7 +447,7 @@ Lyrics: |- --- Track: 2020 Visions Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '3:01' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/2020-visions @@ -498,13 +508,15 @@ Track: Anarchy Directory: anarchy-gravity-makes-the-flame-rise Always Reference By Directory: true Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '3:42' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/anarchy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66z3wjsnDak - https://open.spotify.com/track/1nB8jkxJC5rlnqJMI3f9L4 - https://music.apple.com/album/anarchy/1550064159?i=1550064168 +Sampled Tracks: +- Nothing But The Best Lyrics: |- There was a time You thought it all was for you @@ -521,7 +533,7 @@ Lyrics: |- Your ambitions were bold You were high on a bluff Could not confess a mistake - You demanded the best + You demanded the best ([[track:nothing-but-the-best|but the best]], but the best, but the best...) Left the worst in your wake You could never be stopped @@ -578,7 +590,7 @@ Lyrics: |- --- Track: Land Of The Free Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) Duration: '3:33' URLs: - https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/land-of-the-free @@ -642,7 +654,7 @@ Lyrics: |- --- Track: With The World Sitting On Your Shoulders Contributors: -- Melancholy Robot (drums) +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) - Thomas Hatfield (piano) Duration: '3:28' URLs: diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-10.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-10.yaml index d5aa904..b1776c8 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-10.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-10.yaml @@ -146,6 +146,14 @@ Commentary: |- Album managed by [[artist:robert-j-lake]] with help from [[artist:marcy-nabors]] and [[artist:james-roach]].<br> Booklet designed and assembled by [[artist:robert-j-lake]].</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2342), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + And then, uh, the project shifted, quite a bit! We stopped releasing albums regularly, there was, you know, several hiatuses - a shift in the way that the work was made. I would have wished that the, you know, intense period of like, releasing music in 2011, had gotten to go on. Because, I think there was always a demand for it. If the comic couldn't be updated at the breakneck crazy pace it was being updated consistently, we were more than hungry enough to continue running our weird little cyberlabel. + + We didn't do another Homestuck volume until a fan volume that was being organized eventually was realized as a real album, that became Homestuck Volume 10. + + *(Continued in [[track:solar-voyage]])* + <i>Homestuck:</i> ([Bandcamp credits blurb](https://web.archive.org/web/20160612161939/https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/homestuck-vol-10)) [[artist:seth-peelle|Seth "Beatfox” Peelle]]<br> @@ -866,6 +874,14 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Seth Massey:</i> (track artist) ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2389), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + *(Continued from [[album:homestuck-vol-10|album commentary]])* + + My only real addition there was Solar Voyage. I didn't do any of the production for it, but Solar Voyage, which I think was coordinated by Marcy Nabors, was based on something we had put together at that South by Southwest show. We took [[track:ruins|Ruins]], [[Explore]], and [[Flare]], and we mashed it up into one giant medley. + + We really loved that one, and even though I didn't personally oversee getting that one produced, I was really glad that that one got organized and put on Volume 10. 'Cause, you know, that was one of that few IRL collaborations that we actually did together. I would have wished we could have done more with that. There weren't the resources to, you know, permanently do a Homestuck band or something, but the chance to, you know, really bring it out in person, and have cosplayers be there and listen to the stuff we made, was so cool. --- Track: Feel (Alive) Artists: diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-2.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-2.yaml index e419c72..b0c00a1 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-2.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-2.yaml @@ -60,7 +60,12 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Harlequin Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + The rock version of "Harlequin" sure made a scene, blasting through people's speakers as the background music for the Green Slime Ghost pogo game. Joseph nails the tough bits along with some sweet harmonics on the chorus. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=626), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Oh, the rock version of [[Harlequin]]. That was such a cool deal. That was I think one of the first really collab-y things I did, where it was like, "hey, let's work with multiple sources, let's take this person's piece" - that was a [[artist:mark-j-hadley|Mark Hadley]] composition - "let's take that and let's arrange it some other way," and we got live guitar on that one - not my playing, but, y'know, better than I could have done that quickly. I think it's so funny that when it comes through the speakers, it's just, *so* stupidly loud... it just blasts you with energy. --- Track: Skaian Dreams (Remix) Additional Names: @@ -176,6 +181,14 @@ Commentary: |- I think putting together all these collab tracks really early on helped build the culture of the forum. There was this sense that what [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] was attempting to do was to build a studio of musicians whose work would cross pollinate. There were guys like [[artist:malcolm-brown|Malcolm]] and [[artist:mark-j-hadley|Mark]] and [[artist:seth-peelle|Seth]] and [[artist:bill-bolin|Bill]] whose work was ready to go on its own. So I worked with them less and was more interested in people like [[artist:nick-smalley|Nick]] or [[artist:buzinkai|George]] whose work was less arranged. And I wanted to work with musicians who could bring their own playing to the work so I leaned on [[artist:fenris|Fenris]] and [[artist:joseph-aylsworth|Joe Aylsworth]]. I don't think I knew just how "all in one" digital production was until I saw how quickly someone like Mark Hadley would turn out new hs music. It was competitive quickly. I guess my father being deeply anti-electronic music was a big influence. I wanted to work with musicians to qualify some reality to the work. To me it's very sexy to imagine the power of the ensemble. Composition might just be putting the right musicians in the room. So I practiced a lot more collaboration early on. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=662), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Explore was one of Buzinkai's pieces. RIP, of course. + + Chip music ended up having such an important role in this comic. I was never like, a big chiptune person - I didn't have the same dedication to trying to work with the hardware emulation that a lot of people did, and the handful of times I did chip music, I just faked it using the 3x oscillator within FL Studio. What I felt I could do, was to approach it - y'know, 'cause I'm always trying to think of it like it's something being produced in a studio, even [if it's] a simulated one within software - was to pad it out and put drums behind it, and find a way to make it more than just a loop, but something that progresses, once again. So I put the simulated drum sounds, the simulated guitars on that, and created this big ch-ch-ch rising scope to it. + + I only mention it with, you know, humility, that we had so much to work with because of Buzinkai. Including [[Doctor]], and [[Endless Climb]]... they were drawing a lot from Cave Story and the soundtrack to that game, which was such an inspiration for a lot of people. I was just glad to have something to contribute to that piece of inspiration, which I think maybe came closer to the grove, on what Homestuck - and anything that's sort of, like, a retro "let's revive the aesthetics of classic Nintendo gaming..." all that sort of thing, is about. --- Track: Guardian Bandcamp Track ID: 2586232115 diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-3.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-3.yaml index 6687212..cc3fa6e 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-3.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-3.yaml @@ -184,7 +184,12 @@ MIDI Project Files: - 'Ohgodwhat Remix - Unknown.mid' Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - The remix of Nick's "Ohgodwhat" is a terrifying little affair - that I even made it mystifies me. + + The remix of Nick's [[track:ohgodwhat|"Ohgodwhat"]] is a terrifying little affair - that I even made it mystifies me. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=751), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] did us a little favor around that time, by creating interactive elements that he could use to include otherwise unused music. So first, there was [[flash:338|Dave's beat maker]], and then later [[flash:830|the FreshJamz player]], where I had mixed [[Ohgodwhat]] done as a remix with all kinds of goofy stuff added on. --- Track: Rediscover Fusion Bandcamp Track ID: 2051130741 @@ -246,9 +251,16 @@ Sheet Music Files: - 'Chorale for Jaspers - Zephyr.pdf' Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - My signature efforts from this album, of course, are "Chorale for Jaspers" and its corollary (or chorale-ary?) "Pony Chorale". They were the first two Homestuck tracks to feature vocals with me as the cat and Tavia as Maplehoof - for this I am proud. - ([Twitter](https://twitter.com/mguybowman/status/1669411378359328771)) - Got a message asking if "Chorale for Jaspers" is based on "[Time Is Running Out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URYhXY5R0rQ)" by Muse and now I cannot unhear it. + + My signature efforts from this album, of course, are "Chorale for Jaspers" and its corollary (or chorale-ary?) [[track:pony-chorale|"Pony Chorale"]]. They were the first two Homestuck tracks to feature vocals with me as the cat and Tavia as Maplehoof - for this I am proud. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://twitter.com/mguybowman/status/1669411378359328771), 6/15/2023) + + Got a message asking if "Chorale for Jaspers" is based on ["Time Is Running Out"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URYhXY5R0rQ) by Muse and now I cannot unhear it. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=770), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Oh, the Chorale for Jaspers - I don't know if it's a perfect chorale, but I did draw a little bit from basic music theory classes I took in high school, to make something that's, you know, got a little bit of a shared four-part thing, in like a pseudo-Bach kind of style. I think I might have broken the harmony a little bit with the descending meows on that. I did break one taboo that we had established, real early on, which was that there were going to be no voices in the comic. There was going to be no person doing any of the character voices, there was going to be no singing, and - right away - I managed to just do something stupid enough that [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] took it and ran with it and made a big exception for me. --- Track: Pony Chorale Bandcamp Track ID: 1771864197 @@ -277,4 +289,11 @@ MIDI Project Files: - 'Pony Chorale - Twix Stix.mid' Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - My signature efforts from this album, of course, are "Chorale for Jaspers" and its corollary (or chorale-ary?) "Pony Chorale". They were the first two Homestuck tracks to feature vocals with me as the cat and Tavia as Maplehoof - for this I am proud. + + My signature efforts from this album, of course, are [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|"Chorale for Jaspers"]] and its corollary (or chorale-ary?) "Pony Chorale". They were the first two Homestuck tracks to feature vocals with me as the cat and Tavia as Maplehoof - for this I am proud. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=770), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + And of course, on Pony Chorale, the little [[flash:pony|secret page]] where Rose is riding on Maplehoof I guess, we snuck in a little "neigh" in there as well. + + I was a big fan of KC Green and [Gunshow](https://gunshowcomic.com), that was another webcomic that was going at the time, and I remember going to an independent press expo in Austin that was called "Staple!". KC Green happened to be there; I don't know if he was promoting anything, or if he was just hanging out. I touched base with him briefly and he said that was his *favorite* thing from Homestuck, which, uh, I'll feel free to brag about, because... y'know. I loved that comic when it came out, and I can't believe he was, like, that into the pony music. (laugh) diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-4.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-4.yaml index fae4033..6a34e4e 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-4.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-4.yaml @@ -273,6 +273,16 @@ Commentary: |- it was probably the first "full" song written for the project, [[artist:andrew-hussie|andrew]] told us to do loops at the beginning thinking all the flashes would be loops. [[track:sburban-jungle-brief-mix|the short version]] was written as a loop, but then the loading screen ended. i wrote out a "full" version to give it a tag and andrew loved it so much he decided to sit on it, so the full version was ready to go as early as August 2009 but didn't end up [[flash:1149|in the comic]] until 2010 + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=405), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + So, the first major piece I worked on that ended up being used in the comic was Sburban Jungle. [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] had wanted something that sounded like music from SimCity 4. He had linked us to this piece called [Epicenter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8HW5agFwUY), and said, "I want something that sounds a bit like this," and he specifically focused on the marimba breakdown in the middle of it. And, it had kind of a pulsing beat, and sort of this evolving, atmospheric thing going on. + + I was at my computer, at the time he posted it, seeing the speed at which people were working, where they were like, seeing these little requests on this forum, where we'd just kind of talk with him. I was like, oh yeah, I gotta sit down and *immediately* make something, 'cause like, Andrew's style of working is to pick the first good thing, really. You know, he doesn't want to dwaddle. He could only really make that comic as quickly as he did because he had a philosophy that's sort of, like, I think kind of an improv philosophy of like - go with the first idea that isn't so bad you go *eugh,* you know, and sometimes even go with a bad idea and see if by decorating it, you can make it a good one. I knew that the gauntlet was thrown and that if I didn't make something, like, right away, it might not happen. + + And I sat down in FL Studio, on my terrible Dell laptop that I had had to uninstall Windows Vista from and put Windows XP on because it was so buggy and bad, and immediately got around to composing a piece that involved looping... xylophone. I think I was drawing a bit from the kinds of music I'd studied in percussion, actually. Anyway, what I ended up writing was [[track:sburban-jungle-brief-mix|about a minute of material]] - it was like, the first thing that got posted that night. I think it might have taken, like, an hour or two of, you know, feverish "let's just get something in there and figure out", and he immediately liked it, and was like, "This is what I'm going to use," and within days, it was in [[flash:137|the loading screen for SBURB]], with the spirograph and the graphics and I was just like, pleased as a peach. It was, like, one of those moments where it transitioned from comedy to an epic. + + Sburban Jungle was so clearly necessary to expand upon, and I went ahead and just wrote the full thing out, you know, with the big bridge, with the piano breakdown and all that stuff, just to see what would happen. Because, actually, the main emphasis was going to be on loops, originally - we thought that everything that appeared in the comic was just going to be a piece of looping media, the idea that he was going to do full animations, with a beginning, middle and end, that wasn't in the scope of the project yet. Finishing out Sburban Jungle and saying, like, "now *here's* something that could progress from start to finish, and stand on its own," motivated him to later bring it back at [[flash:1149|the end of Act 3]] as this big moment. And that's what ended up happening, with a lot of the project, is [that] people said, you know, "let's move away from just doing loops, and let's also focus on full-length pieces." Everybody just started working that much harder, as we saw that Andrew was willing to do that kind of thing. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP6916yGx6c), excerpt) The theme song of #Homestuck, first appearing as [[track:sburban-jungle-brief-mix|an excerpt]] on [[flash:137|page 137]] and then later in full on page 1149 ([[flash:1149]]). The full song was originally released by What Pumpkin on [[album:homestuck-vol-4]] on April 13, 2010. diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml index a83af97..7a1e15a 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-5.yaml @@ -71,7 +71,13 @@ Commentary: |- This pretty much imploded with the [[flash:1149|end of Act 3]], when Andrew informed us all that he was going to cut back on the animations after spending a week working on the accompanying animation for [[Sburban Jungle]] day and night on end. Since then, the focus has drifted to various new sectors which I guess will just have to be a surprise to all of you. Either way, consider the new album an outlet for you to sample music inspired by and written for Homestuck and as a chance to support this new community that Andrew has shepherded. - <i>Lexxy:</i> (cover artist & booklet editor, [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/lexxercise/art/Homestuck-Vol-5-167501453)) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1081), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + *(Continued from [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]])* + + That was one of the pieces that was on Homestuck Volume 5. By that point, people were really starting to cross-polenate - the musicians were talking to each other a lot more. [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] was bold enough to say like, hey, y'know, you've all written so much music that's probably never going to be used in the comic because there's more of it than he actually needs at the rate he can produce animations... Let's just say, all these albums are like, standalone expansions upon the concept. Let's not limit it to this [[album:midnight-crew-drawing-dead|"fake band"]] idea. So, suddenly, the albums go from like ten tracks lasting twenty minutes or so, to like, this fifty track monster. *(Caption in post: "71 tracks, actually")* So that was like, a cool shift for us, that suddenly created a lot of creative freedom, and kind of - had us starting to think, you know, this is more than just a little soundtrack, it's kind of a little label. + + <i>Lexxy:</i> (cover artist & booklet editor, [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/lexxercise/art/Homestuck-Vol-5-167501453), 6/13/2010) On Wednesday this past week, I was offered the task of illustrating the album cover for the Homestuck Vol. 5 Soundtrack, and this is a preview of the result! Since this album is a whopping *71 tracks long,* featuring a wealth of unreleased original songs as well as remixes and the latest [S] tracks, I decided to go the extra mile and produce a small PDF album insert with a full track list of each song title and its artist. The images shown here are the wraparound illustration that makes up the front and back covers and a modified version of the background that was faded to put behind the inner pages. @@ -85,7 +91,7 @@ Commentary: |- (Check out the [Vol. 5 Anthology Presentation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyxgBfhPEG8) for an awesome animated showing of the anthology art and original tracks!) - <i>allyssinian:</i> (anthology announcement, [Tumblr](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/154730733932/vol5anthology-homestuck-vol-5-track-fan-art), excerpt) + <i>allyssinian:</i> (anthology announcement, [Tumblr](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/154730733932/vol5anthology-homestuck-vol-5-track-fan-art), excerpt, 12/20/2016) Homestuck Vol. 5 Track Fan Art: Call for Artists! @@ -95,11 +101,11 @@ Commentary: |- The final deliverable will be a free downloadable file of all the images. Because of issues with copyright, this is an unpaid fan project, but we hope you enjoy participating all the same! - <i>Vol. 5 Track Art Anthology:</i> ([Tumblr set #2](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159528808107/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #3](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159531042667/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #4](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159533259415/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #5](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159535479078/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #6](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159537863827/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #7](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159540270055/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #8](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159542834944/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have)) + <i>Vol. 5 Track Art Anthology:</i> ([Tumblr set #2](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159528808107/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #3](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159531042667/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #4](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159533259415/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #5](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159535479078/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #6](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159537863827/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #7](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159540270055/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), [set #8](https://vol5anthology.tumblr.com/post/159542834944/hey-everyone-its-413-and-that-means-we-have), 4/13/2017) Hey everyone! It’s 4/13, and that means we have the official release for the Vol. 5 Anthology Fan Anthology! Please enjoy the hard work of all the lovely artists who participated. - <i>Sollay:</i> (anthology team, [Tumblr](https://sollay-b.tumblr.com/post/188094230423/hello-a-couple-of-years-ago-allyssinian), excerpt) + <i>Sollay:</i> (anthology team, [Tumblr](https://sollay-b.tumblr.com/post/188094230423/hello-a-couple-of-years-ago-allyssinian), excerpt, 10/2/2019) Hello! A couple of years ago, [[artist:allyssinian|@allyssinian]], [[artist:cityinthesea|@cityinthesea]] and I (but first of all ally, lest we forget) gathered a large group of artists to draw the missing art of Volume 5, but the collective download link is no longer up and none of us has access to the official Tumblr account anymore, so I’m making this post now to share a new one! @@ -348,9 +354,13 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - Chorale for Jaspers Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer) Radiation, or [[artist:toby-fox|Toby]] as I've never actually had the chance to refer to him, sent me his midi arrangement of Happy Cat Song, a sort of lighthearted version of [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|Chorale for Jaspers]], so I loaded VSTs for each part and balanced it, along with adding a "meow" sample in for good measure. The effect of it reminds [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia]] of arriving in a village in "final fantasy or chrono cross or something and it's initially all peaceful and then by the end of the game it's totally raped and pillaged." So the calm before the storm then? MEOW + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1200), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + There was another, like, twenty second *(Caption in post: 35 seconds)* Toby Fox-produced [[Chorale for Jaspers]] that was called "Happy Cat Song!" - I really only set that into the program, into FL Studio, and chose the synth patches for it, like, hardly anything else. I think he expected me to go somewhere with it, and... I was just like... I don't know what to do with it. So, twenty seconds, somehow ended up on an album! --- Track: Hardchorale Artists: @@ -379,6 +389,10 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) Harchorale was another [[track:chorale-for-jaspers|Chorale]] arrangement by Alexander and Toby for which I contributed more vocals. The morning after I recorded the yelping and yowling for this arrangement, I received an ultimatum from my apartment complex, saying that if they ever received another noise complaint they would evict us so hard we would probably go blind. I know [[artist:richard-gung|Richard]] has footage of me recording this somewhere, so I'll surely post it when I find it. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1184), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Hardchorale! They arranged out a heavier version of [[Chorale for Jaspers]], and were like, "can you contribute meows to this?" and I was like, sure! I got a noise complaint from my neighbors because, I think I'd left all the windows open. I was just screaming. (laughs) Whoops on that. --- Track: An Unbreakable Union Artists: @@ -1121,6 +1135,12 @@ Commentary: |- Also, [[artist:joseph-aylsworth|Joseph]], who recorded the guitar on [[track:harlequin-rock-version|harlequin]], was missing, and when I solicited an awesome guitar solo, Nick responded out of the blue… And was the only response… So I used that I don't think anyone's ever seen from Joseph again + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1011), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + How Do I Live was another glaring exception to the "no vocals" rule. I think that was another one where I knew it would make [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] laugh, so I went for it, even if it wasn't really what was called for. But, I knew that he had a special fascination with Con Air. I, on a whim, made the How Do I Live track, done, y'know, stupidly and sarcastically and with this idea that "I'll do it dumb just to do it," and... (laughs) I think I might have tried a little harder. + + And I realized, y'know, how far How Do I Live was going to go. As the cosplay and convention scene for the comic built up, we saw, y'know, videos of people showing up to places where Andrew was tabling, and singing at him. *(Caption in post: "please send me this if you can find it")* When they're performing it in large groups of people in costumes, I'm hearing the notes I sang come out, rather than the notes that were on the original recording, and that was, like... one of those surreal things where it was like, oh my god, I can't believe who this has reached! I could tell that Andrew hated having people sing at him. No regrets there, a lot of fun. --- Track: Dupliblaze COMAGMA Artists: @@ -1260,7 +1280,7 @@ Commentary: |- This one is really hardly me, honest, it's all [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|Bowman]]. [[track:ruins|Ruins]] was this piano recording I'd put up back when I still hardly knew how to record anything, and then Bowman just went and added magic to it. And the piano track, that's just another one of those "improvisations out of nowhere", no real purpose or theory-thinking beforehand to delegate anything to it. Especially the descending-thirds, no way I could have just thought about that and been like "Yes that is a good thing to be doing", it was just spur of the moment thinking. - <i>Erik Scheele:</i> (co-composer, [Tumblr](https://erikscheele.tumblr.com/post/21217208124/ruins), excerpt) + <i>Erik Scheele:</i> (co-composer, [Tumblr](https://erikscheele.tumblr.com/post/21217208124/ruins), excerpt, 4/16/2012) [[track:ruins|Ruins]] was one of the first things I contributed to the music forum after getting on the team, a small improvisation based around descending seconds which was made back when I still had no idea how to record things properly. Since Earth was kind of a gigantic wasteland planet at that point (and it still is, today), I conceptually tied my recording in with that, and called it Ruins. @@ -1278,6 +1298,10 @@ Commentary: |- Really, the track should probably be listed simply as "Ruins" if not for the fact that there is not official piano rendition of the piece. I think it would be really cool to hear such a version of the tune if Jit ever found himself recording material in a studio again (as he did for [[artist:james-dever|James's]] piano suite [[album:sburb|Sburb]]). + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1139), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + I also arranged strings for a piece by Erik Scheele, which was called "Ruins". He had submitted [[track:ruins|Ruins]] to the forum, and I said, well, here's my, you know, decoration - my production on top of it, I said, this is Ruins *with strings,* and for whatever reason it was just published on the album as as, you know, "Ruins" - in parentheses - "(With Strings)". Which, I was just like, *yeah,* it's really just Ruins... but you know... whatever. And I like that it had that Myst-like interactive element that went with it. That felt like something that touched home for me. I'm already a big Myst fan, and I would have loved to be somebody making music for Cyan, and so it was sort of a fulfilment of that dream. + <i>ghostpressure:</i> (anthology artist, [Tumblr](https://ghostpressure.tumblr.com/post/159560433261/my-contribution-for-the-volume-5-anthology-ruins)) my contribution for the volume 5 anthology, ruins with strings, plus sketches for Drama. this was fun and everyones stuff turned out so great its a really good collection!! @@ -1803,6 +1827,10 @@ Commentary: |- "Greenhouse", of course, is the easy winner amongst the tracks I contributed. I think the spontaneity is what makes it really work - I just wrote it as I recorded each little piece. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1129), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Homestuck Volume 5, I did Greenhouse, which was dedicated to the location that Jade Harley lived in. + <i>creepyknees:</i> (anthology artist, [Tumblr](https://creepyknees.tumblr.com/post/159546453749/a-testament-to-jades-living-space-my-piece-in)) > *“a testament to jade’s living space”* diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-6.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-6.yaml index 1eacada..53aca8a 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-6.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-6.yaml @@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ Commentary: |- Did the bedroom really need a new coat of paint then and there? Could it not have waited? Guess I just don't know hospitality. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1324), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + I Don't Want to Miss a Thing - (scoff) I was, like... totally high on paint fumes when I recorded that one. I think I would have liked, [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version|once again]], to have tried a little harder to do it, like, *well,* instead of just sarcastically do it. But, I liked kind of making fun of the dramatics of the Aerosmith recording. I liked weaving in all the other little themes on that. I kind of did a light remaster, [when I went to the Requiem Café](https://youtu.be/QzF-zd-C0K0?t=3139), I dug through my junky computer and found all the stems and went, oh, my god, I would never do it like that today! --- Track: MeGaLoVania Directory: MeGaLoVania diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-7.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-7.yaml index 3cce8c2..0fec4c6 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-7.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-7.yaml @@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ Commentary: |- Volume 7 is pretty self explanatory. Contains many songs from the story, plus a bunch of other great new ones. I say this every time, but this is now the best HS volume. AND IT KEEPS BEING TRUE EVERY TIME I SAY IT. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1684), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + At the same time that [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido|Mobius Trip & Hadron Kaleido]] came out, we released Homestuck Volume 7. That summer of 2011 was so cool because we were in full swing releasing one of these cool spinoff albums, and one of these compilation albums, like, every month. So we were operating on the capacity of an independent label, and like, really killing it. I would have loved to see that continue. + <i>Homestuck:</i> ([Bandcamp credits blurb](https://web.archive.org/web/20110603145524/https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/homestuck-vol-7-at-the-price-of-oblivion)) Music by:<br> @@ -486,6 +490,10 @@ Sheet Music Files: - Title: Modernized notation by Diminutive Calvin Files: - 'Warhammer of Zillyhoo - Diminutive Calvin (modernized).pdf' +Commentary: |- + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1711), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Let's see. On Homestuck Volume 7, Warhammer of Zillyhoo - I think it started as a non-canon Problem Sleuth page and somehow spun its way into the canon of Homestuck. That was, of course, [[flash:3679|the page]] where he bothered to lip-sync John Egbert's lips to mine. Somehow, once again, we broke the rules, and there's voice acting involved, which there was never supposed to be. Y'know, you can take it as maybe like a, like, well, it's a fantasy, or it's what John's *imagining* himself doing. Y'know, it's not like I ever did it again. But, you know, one more brag for me, I guess. --- Track: Savior of the Dreaming Dead Artists: @@ -526,6 +534,10 @@ Cover Art File Extension: jpg Art Tags: - Rose - Maplehoof +Commentary: |- + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1754), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Oh, Maplehoof's Adventure. I don't know what attracts me to the dumb pony music so much, but, you know, knowing [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] and his obsession with the horse paintings and Humanimals, I figure it's just par for the course. --- Track: Sburban Reversal Artists: diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml index 7f7213a..604038e 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-8.yaml @@ -152,7 +152,11 @@ Commentary: |- The countdown sample is from a NASA recording, I believe it's the launch of Apollo 11. - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1809), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Okay, Homestuck Volume 8. Calamity. Awesome tune. I don't know what else to say about that. I thought [[track:walk-stab-walk-r-and-e|Walk-Stab-Walk]] was a cool contribution from Erik, and I just wanted to create something that wove that and the honking and all that, and build up to this big showdown moment between Karkat and Gamzee that never happened! You know, we were all just guessing at what [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] was gonna do next. And sometimes we got it, and sometimes we got it wrong. But at least we got this epic piece of music out of it, huh? + + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt, 10/28/2011) I had a lot of fun working on Calamity which gave me an opportunity to adapt a very classic Marvel comic book style to Homestuck. My favorite part of the piece is the small touch in Karkat’s eyes where the background shows through, coloring them. As [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|Bowman]] worked on Calamity I was developing the composition for the art. [[flash:4085|The moment when Karkat and Gamzee lunge at each other]] got my heart racing in the sheer epic-ness of the sight. It had to be the track art. --- @@ -381,6 +385,10 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, Bowmantown Discord, excerpt, 8/20/2017) I was inspired by [[artist:mark-j-hadley|Mark Hadley]] announcing that he had a baby on the way + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1837), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Ocean Stars Falling - I liked Mark Hadley's [[Ocean Stars]]. I thought it was this incredible little moody thing, and taking it in kind of this indie rock direction was cool. --- Track: Escape Pod Artists: @@ -405,6 +413,10 @@ Commentary: |- The track also pulls a lot from actual rock music - the Roxy Music track ["Street Life"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_dTFdRAvN0) was a big cue here, and the start-stop structure on the second chorus was really inspired by Tally Hall's track ["Greener"](https://youtu.be/8sV1EOJQTEI) of which the effect can only be described in exotic dance. I really wanted to pull out the stops on this one and make it catchy as hell, but apparently the [[track:ocean-stars-falling|two]] [[track:davesprite|tracks]] book-ending it on Volume 8 steal its thunder. What more can be said about it? This is about as totally poppy (or perhaps J-poppy) as I get. Compared to stuff like [[track:greenhouse|"Greenhouse"]] and [[track:squiddle-samba|"Squiddle Samba"]] this track is right up my alley. It in contrast with some of the other stuff that I've made appearing on the very same album (the minimalist piece [[track:gust-of-heir|"Gust of Heir"]] which I collaborated on with [[artist:james-dever|James Dever]] comes to mind) you'll see that I can go just as far in the saccharine direction as I can into the abstract. For me range has always been an asset I've felt was important to nurture, so with Volume 8 I set the pace for my work ethic on [[album:ithaca|Ithaca]] in terms of never settling to have "found my sound" no matter how well any one idea works. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1849), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + God, I'm just looking at the list of stuff that was on that record. Escape Pod - with Homestuck Volume 8, it was almost like I, uh, said, you know, it's the eighth volume, so I'm going to write eight songs! *(Caption in post: "I only got to 7")* --- Track: Davesprite Artists: @@ -452,19 +464,19 @@ Referenced Tracks: Sampled Tracks: - Amen, Brother Commentary: |- - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt) + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt, 10/28/2011) So, Volume 8 came out and I did art for four of the tracks [one of which might look familiar](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/10881819098/thought-they-looked-rather-nice-together). *(contined below)* - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> ([Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/10881819098/thought-they-looked-rather-nice-together)) + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> ([Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/10881819098/thought-they-looked-rather-nice-together), 10/1/2011) <img src="media/misc/airtime-original-designs.png" width="300"> Thought they looked rather nice together! - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> ([Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt) + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> ([Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt, 10/28/2011) *(continued from above)* @@ -495,7 +507,11 @@ Commentary: |- The point of this song was to kind of put the action, the drama, and all that teenage chemistry on hold so I could focus on a moment in the story that might be just a little bit more peaceful. Going on a safari for frogs on a newly-awakened alien forest world seems to beckon a very different angle than the heated stakes typically associated with Homestuck. Plus, I've always felt that the environment of Homestuck deserves a little more attention given that nearly 99% of all art generated by the fans are homages to their favorite characters and not the fantastic places imagined by [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]]. - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (track arist, [Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1864), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Frog Hunt was atmospheric and kind of based on, like, a weather report. + + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (track arist, [Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt, 10/28/2011) Frog Hunt was, like [[Calamity]], one of the more challenging pieces since I opted for a much cleaner (And much more Disney) look for the piece. I totally saw Jade and Dave on the frog hunt, dressing for the part as adventurers and explorers. Jade, in her excitement, may have dragged Dave through a couple of bushes and thorned plants. --- @@ -784,7 +800,7 @@ Cover Artists: Art Tags: - John Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer) Two of the tracks I put on Volume 8 were collaborations with other Homestuck musicians, something I've been meaning to do more of because two heads are usually better than one. The first of the two was "Gust of Heir", a track that James Dever wrote and for which I did the production. @@ -793,6 +809,12 @@ Commentary: |- Anyway, I knew right away where James was coming from when he sent me a midi demo of "Gust of Heir" though originally it was arranged as a piano solo. Without access to a pro recording situation as on the [[album:sburb|Sburb]] piano suite, we knew there would have to be an alternate solution, hence the electronic approach. I played pretty heavily with a set of new sounds, specifically the soundfonts of Ethan Winer, an audio professional whose work was recommended by [[artist:toby-fox|Radiation]] a good while back. As I have on many occasions I took cues from [Oblique Strategies](http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/) to get some ideas for the arrangement. Part of the intrigue in producing this piece was that it was fully written, meaning that in some ways I was boxed-in to a complete journey for the song to take musically yet in others free to really explore and discover a unique sound for the song. I really played toggling a slew of effects until this tune became rendering hell for my computer. I stepped a bit outside my own range of comfort and got some drum loops from [[artist:clark-powell|Clark Powell]] to really polish off the piece, adding a touch that otherwise would probably have eluded me. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1872), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + [James] was, ah, such a huge fan of Philip Glass, and we really connected on that. Gust of Heir was me taking a MIDI, I think, that he'd written, and setting that to some electronics, and I just thought it was so cool that somebody else got the appeal of that kind of composition style. + + *(Continued in [[album:sburb]])* --- Track: Afraid of the Darko Artists: @@ -819,7 +841,7 @@ Cover Artists: Referenced Tracks: - Even in Death Commentary: |- - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> ([Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt) + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> ([Tumblr](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/12054861967/homestuck-volume-8-track-art), excerpt, 10/28/2011) This one has a bit of a story behind it.<br> I am a belly dancer and most mornings I make it a point to drill choreography and fundamentals. At first I was drilling to [some](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1BG8NspIOM) [dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTx3G6h2xyA) [music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfvIE2pVn3w) to get my blood going, [slowed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPQWYrq6LSs) [things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCVJ-uoGOAY) [down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcofrLg1GxI), then moved to some [more traditional music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUGMxkgIGb0). In the process I found [[Even in Death]] made it’s move in to the playlist as the Kodo sound naturally caught my ear. I let [[artist:clark-powell|Plaz]] know this and soon I found her picking my brain for what I listen to when I’m developing a choreography. She sent me versions of Even in Death for my own use. Luckily she decided to stick the new “Belly Mix” version on the latest album. @@ -1023,7 +1045,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Dirgeish - Sburban Jungle Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer) "Revered Return" began as a track called [[track:dirgeish|"Dirgeish"]], a .pxtone composition that [[artist:nick-smalley|Nick]] had completed some time ago but never managed to squeeze into an album. Because as a chip tune it had been long overlooked, I decided to take a whack at producing it in a different style for inclusion on Volume 8. I had been looking for a piece that would work as a rock tune, and "Dirgeish" really struck me because of the heavy involvement of drums, its steady pace, and dynamic structure. @@ -1031,9 +1053,13 @@ Commentary: |- The structure I think might be the most unique part of "Revered Return" - it doesn't waste time by really repeating itself a lot. Nine out of ten times I work on a song I find myself writing or arranging something that moves in a very basic structure like ABAB or AABA or other variants, etc. "Dirgeish" gave me the challenge of establishing coherency in a piece that seemed to move almost completely linearly, and I made sure to preserve its sort of ABCDEFGBA-type structure in arranging "Revered Return" for Volume 8. - <i>Nick Smalley:</i> (composer) + <i>Nick Smalley:</i> (co-composer) [[track:ohgodwhat|Remember that thing about ORGMaker?]] Yeah, this song, too. Except add me asking [[artist:andrew-huo|Andrew Huo]] to help finish it and [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|Bowman]] to ramp it up, and you've got Revered Return. :3 + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (co-composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1915), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Revered Return, that was a piece of Nick's music that I arranged out. That was one where I rewrote the piece, basically, from beginning to end, from this chiptune. At the time it was literally just me going through the haphazard, not really built for multitake thing on FL Studio and trying to write guitar lines that would, you know, go through, nearly one measure at a time, just to get it down. But I was so pleased with the result. --- Track: Judgment Day Artists: @@ -1241,6 +1267,10 @@ Commentary: |- The trick to this one for me was cutting out all the bullshit really - the ridiculous key change is removed and the drums are minimal to the extent of sounding like a funeral march. Rather than starting off with chipper little electric organs and keyboards, this version takes a cue from ["Purple Rain"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Y1gohk5-A) and uses only electric guitar and vocals for the first minute. The vocals start off sounding a million miles away and are subtly brought closer and closer until the other instruments join in on the second verse. I added a new bridge section in so that [[artist:thomas-ferkol|Thomas Ferkol]] could have a chance to play some real guitar in this one, and of course he showed his colors as a metal guitarist, sending me a duet between harmonized voices. [[artist:david-ko|David Ko]] also appears on this track as the gently-spoken backup vocalist. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1940), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + The D8 Night version of How Do I Live, that was like a [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version|more serious]] attempt with it. I played with the key change a little bit, because I always thought that like, the massive key change on the choruses was like, really corny. So I, I got rid of that, and I added guitar from Thomas Ferkol on that one. The result, I think, is much spacier, much more serious. --- Track: Cascade (Beta) Artists: diff --git a/album/homestuck-vol-9.yaml b/album/homestuck-vol-9.yaml index 9691f89..663469b 100644 --- a/album/homestuck-vol-9.yaml +++ b/album/homestuck-vol-9.yaml @@ -374,12 +374,19 @@ MIDI Project Files: Files: - 'Another Jungle - Purple1222119 (flash version).mid' Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - Before this track was used in Homestuck along with Beatfox's "A Taste for Adventure", it was actually made for a nearly 3-year-old defunct fan project. Housetrapped was a story about an alternate Sburb session and "Another Jungle" was a the-same-but-different theme for the loading screen of that universe's Sburb client. Sound familiar? - When we shifted into gear to create new Homestuck music following the start of Act 6, I was asked to refurbish the forgotten 40-second theme I'd written as the theme to Sburb Alpha. "Another Jungle" is thus the alpha equivalent of "Sburban Jungle" which I had written back when Homestuck began - structurally both songs are very similar, but each with their own melodies and sound choices. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + + Before this track was [[flash:4665|used]] in Homestuck along with Beatfox's [[track:a-taste-for-adventure|"A Taste for Adventure"]], it was actually made for a nearly 3-year-old defunct fan project. Housetrapped was a story about an alternate Sburb session and "Another Jungle" was a the-same-but-different theme for the loading screen of that universe's Sburb client. Sound familiar? + + When we shifted into gear to create new Homestuck music following the start of Act 6, I was asked to refurbish the forgotten 40-second theme I'd written as the theme to Sburb Alpha. "Another Jungle" is thus the alpha equivalent of [[track:sburban-jungle|"Sburban Jungle"]] which I had written back when Homestuck began - structurally both songs are very similar, but each with their own melodies and sound choices. + "Another Jungle" has the benefit of years of experience with production I did not have when Homestuck began, and to me the fidelity difference really shows. Since writing "Sburban Jungle" I'd become far more familiar with automation, recording, eq, mixing, mastering, and all the techniques that polish a music project. "Another Jungle" is far more dynamic than its predecessor, with each subsequent section of the song having its own unique way of using the instruments and sounds in the project. - My favorite touches to this one are all the very mellow sounds that contrast with the brisk pacing of the track - the various pads, the wah-wah guitar, the echoing melody, all of it underlined by drums and brute synth loops. The sudden change in energy when the guitars duck out in the middle and the melody of "Showtime" whispers in is a favorite moment of mine. The very pop ending with its retro house sound was another choice I wouldn't have seen myself making three years back. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do. - The art for this track is by Richard Gung. + + My favorite touches to this one are all the very mellow sounds that contrast with the brisk pacing of the track - the various pads, the wah-wah guitar, the echoing melody, all of it underlined by drums and brute synth loops. The sudden change in energy when the guitars duck out in the middle and the melody of [[track:showtime-original-mix|"Showtime"]] whispers in is a favorite moment of mine. The very pop ending with its retro house sound was another choice I wouldn't have seen myself making three years back. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1965), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + And then Homestuck Volume 9 - oh my god, I can't believe I busted my ass so hard back then... I have Another Jungle, which was more stuff in the style of [[Sburban Jungle]]. I think it's more evolved as a piece, I really love the way it progresses, and it's less copycat from section to section. Just a moment of great composition, if I dare say so myself. --- Track: GameGrl (Original 1993 Mix) Artists: @@ -480,29 +487,51 @@ Lyrics: |- (Awesome! That was totally rad to the max! I could just keep doing this all day... NOT! I've got games to play, and if you think I'm gonna slow down just to talk to a bunch of amateurs, then you need to seriously blow the dust out of your cartridges. But hey, girls, whenever you need to show those creepy boys who's boss, just remember that GameGrl's got your back. Look for me on specially-marked boxes of Betty Crocker brand snacks and have an adult call the toll-free number to subscribe to the exclusive girls-only GameGrl Magazine. Alright, check you later girlfriends!) Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - Originally we'd planned on doing a Homestuck album that was devoted entirely to the Sburb Alpha kids and their session, all of us doing tracks that would parallel earlier tracks in a same-but-different fashion. While this album became Homestuck Vol. 9, a lot of analogous tracks remained from the original concept, including this track as an alternative to "GameBro (Original 1990 Mix)" from Homestuck Vol. 6: Heir Transparent. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + + Originally we'd planned on doing a Homestuck album that was devoted entirely to the Sburb Alpha kids and their session, all of us doing tracks that would parallel earlier tracks in a same-but-different fashion. While this album became Homestuck Vol. 9, a lot of analogous tracks remained from the original concept, including this track as an alternative to [[track:gamebro-original-1990-mix|"GameBro (Original 1990 Mix)"]] from Homestuck Vol. 6: Heir Transparent. + While we can only imagine what the set-decorating GameGrl magazine from Jane Crocker's bedroom might actually be like, it's pretty easy for me as a child of the 90's to imagine how the magazine might have looked in the era of the Burger King Kid's Club and Lisa Frank. With GameGrl I attempted to capture a lot of the basic messages perpetuated to girls by children's advertising in the 90's: + - Boys are gross and need to have their butts kicked - Girls are cool and should pretend to understand pop culture - Clubs must be started in tree-houses and couch forts to keep boys out - Parents suck and will never understand - You can trust corporate America + The music was a hodge-podge of a lot of things - the production style of early 90's house music (Deee-Lite and Cathy Dennis were my main references) was coupled with the intentionally insipid rap vocals in a time in which many game commercials [had](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkWYP95WbbY) [awful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m__j99flW9w) [raps](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7FN5B02YEo). The lead vocals are performed by Tavia Morra, whose voice I discovered sounds scarily childlike when sped up slightly. We played the backup track at about 75% speed and had her rap over it to create the vocal comp before speeding it back up to create the cringe-worthy little girl voice. I did a digital process to lower my voice to create the [Pokérap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0LoHA_FPAs)-style breakdown towards the middle of the track and then asked Erik Scheele to play a painfully retro midi guitar solo. + For the track art (lovingly created and posed for by Tavia) among our many references were Alex Mack and The Olson Twins. The big deal-breaker for us was getting a pair of overalls, a garment seemingly synonymous with the 90's. We spent nearly three hours hunting for a pair in Austin coming up short at Wal-Mart, Academy, Sheplers, Cavender's Boot City, Goodwill, a costume store, a paint store, and a plumbing store before finally finding a wearable piece 17 miles out of town at a farm supply store. Apparently humanity had the good sense to wipe that fucking hideous fashion travesty off the face of the earth at the end of the decade (I knew the y2k bug must have done something!) and now only people who actually need them wear them. + We took our pictures at the Japanese-style game center Arcade UFO. Outtakes can be found [here](https://seeyoutmorra.tumblr.com/post/24983253249/some-of-the-other-photos-from-the-gamegrl). - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> + + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (vocalist, track artist) + I don't even know where to start. + One day Bowman and I discovered that if we pitched my voice up a little higher than where it normally is, then I sounded like a 12 year old girl. The idea for GameGrl came up later and he proceeded to write lyrics that would make any 90's kiddo cringe at the nostalgia of their childhood and want to do it again. + I had way too much fun recording it to the point that I knocked over a music stand from dancing too much. Bowman was a fantastic coach. It's always a pleasure to work with him. + The track art has more of a story to it than I would have cared for, but Bowman and I both knew we had to go all the way with the track art. And so begun our quest for the GameGrl outfit, which we found all of the clothing elements for except for the overalls. + We figured we were just going to go around the corner to the Goodwill, find a pair of overalls, slap those suckers on and get the track art done within about an hour tops. + But no. + No, no, no. + We ended up shopping for three hours at nine separate stores before we found those goddamn overalls. Bowman livetweeted our journey: + <img src="media/misc/overall-quest.jpg" width="331"> + Eventually we got the overalls and proceeded to take the most fantastic pictures ever. I'll be posting up some other photos from that day later on so keep your eyes peeled! + All in all, this track is probably the most involved I'd been on a Homestuck album and am so glad it was this one. I had a blast! + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1988), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + The GameGrl rap - I loved Erik's [[track:gamebro-original-1990-mix|GameBro rap]], and I thought that - when the idea of there being a GameGrl magazine was introduced - that it would be funny to write a rap and have Tavia perform it. That was based around the idea of there being a gamer girl, as it was, in the 1990s. I think we did a really good job imitating all the, like, nuances of how this girl in overalls with a backwards hat represented the ideals that were being marketed (laughs) through toy commercials, and otherwise, to girls back then. If you think it's cringy, that was the intended effect. --- Track: ASSAULT Artists: @@ -676,14 +705,29 @@ Cover Art File Extension: jpg Art Tags: - Maplehoof Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + I get the feeling that down the line there will be an explanation for why exactly there's a tiny Maplehoof on Dirk Strider's desk and it will be one of the biggest plot revelations in all of Homestuck. For me it was a cue that there needed to be a Sburb Alpha universe parallel for the song [[track:maplehoofs-adventure]], which in itself was a spiritual sequel to [[Pony Chorale]]. It's sort of a reality check to realize that I have written not one, not two, but three songs for cartoon ponies now - I guess that's part of this disease we call the Internet. + As with the previous installments, I used a sample of Tavia Morra saying "neigh" to punctuate phrases, this time sped up to about double speed to have that chipmunk-esque effect. Everything about this song is a bit faster-paced and squeakier to reflect the stature of the tiny horse. The orchestration was largely inspired by my last trip to Disneyland - the whistles are arranged to sound a bit like the teapots from Alice in Wonderland, and the horn synths were selected because of their resemblance to a merry-go-round organ. + Along with recent tracks like [[track:another-jungle]] and [[track:elephant-gun]], this song represents one of my attempts to stick less closely to a predictable song form. The key signature moves up a whole step around 32 seconds in and never comes back down, and the main repeated refrain that ties the song together is the little cadence that shows up at the end of each section. I stuck to my guns as a high school music theory student on this one, mostly drawing from Mozart and Sousa - it's an overstimulating mess of counterpoint, and my main goal was to see if it would annoy composition major Erik Scheele (it worked). + Out of all the tracks for Volume 9 I worked on, this one was a real breeze. I was on such a roll that I considered making it ten minutes long just to piss off everyone, but I knew that I'd most likely be asked to cut it down if I'd gone to that kind of excess, and I had other tracks to work on. + The track art was done by Tavia Morra. - <i>Tavia Morra:</i> + + <i>Tavia Morra:</i> (vocalist, track artist) + Bowman and I quickly settled on the idea of a picture emphasizing the size of Minihoof, but couldn't decide on a specific way to show it. Maybe put a magnifying glass over the little pony? Having her next to Dirk's hand while he typed on the computer? The energy of the track made us think of little Minihoof running through an obstacle course Dirk set up for her on his desk, thus the stapler, the tacks, the brads, the pencils, and the GameBro Magazines. This was a super fun one for me since I had such a personal investment in it. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2028), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Oh, Minihoof's Adventure - that was another piece of pony music. That was another thing where I was like, really on a roll, and like, writing beginning to end. I feel like I could have written, like... an hour of that, if I wanted to. It's just like, once your palette is figured out with like, the kind of carnival environment that it was supposed to sound like, it was just so easy to just be like - let's have something different happen here, and let's have a little breakdown, and... I could write hours of pony music if I wanted to. (laughs) I don't know why I would, but I could! + + *([From the Q&A section](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2893))* + + "What song on the Homestuck soundtrack did you have the most fun making?" I'm gonna say Minihoof's Adventure. I hate to say it, but like, every second I was working on that, there was a smile on my face. --- Track: Encore Artists: @@ -769,29 +813,33 @@ Art Tags: - Jake - Tavros' lusus Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/kitten-burrito/25391031646/iambowman-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know), around 6/18/2012) This is pure Jake strife music - I started this project with the definite goal in mind to make something that sounded purely like video game music for a battle. Jake English is sort of the archetypal Roosevelt-type swashbuckler with all the bravado of a turn-of-the-century primitivist. For him, the palette of sounds is instantaneous: heavy percussion rumbling at a breakneck pace. I threw in chimes, timpani, xylophone, glockenspiel, cymbal crashes, and an uncompromising drum machine to get the atmosphere I wanted. - I had a nice, retro-sounding portamento synth as a lead, a quick little intro, and a couple of smart little themes going on right at the beginning, and I was all set for this to be one of those simple, memorable themes not unlike one of the previous Strife themes ("Beatdown", "Showtime"). Then, at 44 seconds in, something snapped - I suddenly decided that what I was writing was boring and that nothing could be normal from that point on. Inspired by a few listens to "Rollo Interior", I wrote a rhythmically unconventional breakdown followed by the whole song shifting into "Zappa chords" for a little while. + I had a nice, retro-sounding portamento synth as a lead, a quick little intro, and a couple of smart little themes going on right at the beginning, and I was all set for this to be one of those simple, memorable themes not unlike one of the previous Strife themes ([[track:beatdown-strider-style|"Beatdown"]], [[track:showtime-original-mix|"Showtime"]]). Then, at 44 seconds in, something snapped - I suddenly decided that what I was writing was boring and that nothing could be normal from that point on. Inspired by a few listens to ["Rollo Interior"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAZD1VCl5EU), I wrote a rhythmically unconventional breakdown followed by the whole song shifting into "Zappa chords" for a little while. + + What was excellent about working on this track is it's one of the first instances in a while where I had really freed myself from any preconceived goals for the song's form and just decided to write a track from start to finish and see what felt right. I ended up at sort of the golden length - the song begins to loop at 2:15, making it still functional as video game music, and fades out by 2:39. [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia]] pointed out to me that pop songs that run a bit short of 3 minutes tend to be incredibly satisfying, especially for a first time listener, as they ask for your attention for an amount of time that doesn't wear you down. Out of all my tracks for Vol. 9, this is the one I find the easiest to listen to on a loop. - What was excellent about working on this track is it's one of the first instances in a while where I had really freed myself from any preconceived goals for the song's form and just decided to write a track from start to finish and see what felt right. I ended up at sort of the golden length - the song begins to loop at 2:15, making it still functional as video game music, and fades out by 2:39. Tavia pointed out to me that pop songs that run a bit short of 3 minutes tend to be incredibly satisfying, especially for a first time listener, as they ask for your attention for an amount of time that doesn't wear you down. Out of all my tracks for Vol. 9, this is the one I find the easiest to listen to on a loop. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2059), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) - The track art is by 8bitkitten. + Elephant Gun, I think that one was a bit Frank Zappa influenced. I like the weird breakdown on it that's jumping around. I think if I were playing a game and I had to do a little battle, and (gesturing) press my buttons and pick my attacks while that was playing, I would be pretty hype, and not get, like, bored and driven crazy, the way that sometimes you can be in an RPG. - <i>8bitkitten:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/25391031646)) + <i>8bitkitten:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/25391031646), 6/18/2012) I was thrilled to get the opportunity of illustrating your music. It’s always so gosh darn fun. =3 - <i>8bitkitten:</i> ([Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24979824333)) + <i>8bitkitten:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24979824333), 6/12/2012) After listening to this energetic strife theme, I imagined Jake English is hunting down a pesky Tinkerbull. >:3 - <i>8bitkitten:</i> (alternate artwork, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24979824333)) + <i>8bitkitten:</i> (alternate artwork, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24979824333), 6/12/2012) <img src="media/misc/elephant-gun-bonus.jpg" width="300"> - <i>8bitkitten:</i> ([Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24982629793)) + <i>8bitkitten:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24982629793), 6/12/2012) + + <b>Elephant Gun post edit</b> So upon browsing Volume 9 on Bandcamp, I noticed my first version of “Elephant Gun” was used which is why I posted that one, but it turns out the edited version where I gave Tinkerbull a nose ring was the one included in the album download? @@ -931,13 +979,11 @@ Lyrics: |- Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - This track was an attempt to try something in the same vain as the soundtrack to Jet Set Radio Future which was recommended to me by friends Erik Scheele and Richard Gung. Composer Hideki Naganuma has created some of the most intricate and engaging pieces of dance music I've ever heard - his signature approach is his construction of entire songs around only a handful of samples (check out "Funky Dealer" for a good example). + This track was an attempt to try something in the same vain as the soundtrack to Jet Set Radio Future which was recommended to me by friends [[artist:erik-scheele|Erik Scheele]] and [[artist:richard-gung|Richard Gung]]. Composer Hideki Naganuma has created some of the most intricate and engaging pieces of dance music I've ever heard - his signature approach is his construction of entire songs around only a handful of samples (check out ["Funky Dealer"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpAF8bGm-MM) for a good example). - Going off of the notion that there aught to be some music dedicated to the 3 years that John, Jade, and Davesprite spend by killing time in Ghostbusters 2 MMORPG, I recorded myself singing the famous exclamation uttered by Ray Parker Jr partway through the legendary 1984 single. What is the deal with that line, really? Apparently chasing ghosts isn't just a public service for Mr. Parker - it gets him off. + Going off of the notion that there aught to be some music dedicated to the 3 years that John, Jade, and Davesprite spend by killing time in Ghostbusters 2 MMORPG, I recorded myself singing the famous exclamation uttered by Ray Parker Jr partway through [[track:ghostbusters|the legendary 1984 single]]. What is the deal with that line, really? Apparently chasing ghosts isn't just a public service for Mr. Parker - it gets him off. - The majority of the track is driven by drum and crowd samples with some very funky but intentionally primitive synths on top. I liked the idea of building up to some big climactic house beat, and the climax of the song is sort of an homage to Kalibration and his EDM project Screamcatcher (albeit missing all the cool). - - <!-- The art is by Victoria Grace Elliott. --> + The majority of the track is driven by drum and crowd samples with some very funky but intentionally primitive synths on top. I liked the idea of building up to some big climactic house beat, and the climax of the song is sort of an homage to [[artist:kalibration|Kalibration]] and his EDM project Screamcatcher (albeit missing all the cool). <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (Bowmantown Discord, excerpts, 9/11/2017) @@ -949,6 +995,10 @@ Commentary: |- Neil is fantastic though, if this is great minds thinking alike I'm honored I think he understands a generation so crystal clearly though in a way I'm still never going to. They'll look at him like Andy Warhol someday. He's the next great voice in pop art after him, certainly. They want to give that honor to Banksy or some other pretentious counterculture figure but I think Neil looks up to kitsch rather than down to it. That makes all the difference, like comparing Dan Harmon to Seth McFarlane. Parody should honor its subject, not condemn it + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2082), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + (gasp) Busting Makes Me Feel Good! Now that's a piece where I have to say... I beat Neil Cicierega to the punch on that! I'm just saying! He did that [Bustin'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdyU_gW6WE) thing years later. I beat him to the punch. I'm not - no, I'm not sore about that, you know. Parallel thinking. Everybody wanted to make fun of Ghostbusters. It's a weird line. I mean, "busting makes me feel good"... you know, there's entendre built in there, you know. --- Track: Everything is Something to Somebody Artists: @@ -992,9 +1042,11 @@ Commentary: |- My demo fused the Spanish sounds associated with Tavros and the electric lead guitar associated with Vriska. The result was just over a minute of power-flamenco silliness which I planned to expand upon heavily until suddenly Tavrisprite exploded less than an hour after I uploaded the demo. I decided the song aught to be short and sweet as well, so I asked Thomas Ferkol to play some additional metal guitar at the end before dropping in an explosion effect and a distantly echoing "honk" from a certain codpiece-wearing merchant. - The track art is by 8bitkitten. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2104), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Oh, iRRRRRRRRECONCILA8LE, I was so happy with that one. I would have liked to have seen the, uh, the [attempted merge](https://www.homestuck.com/story/4829) between Tavros and Vriska go on longer, and wrote it as soon as I saw it happen - wrote, like, the first chunk of it before the additional guitar with Thomas Ferkol on it. And then when they updated the comic and the two of them [immediately blew apart](https://www.homestuck.com/story/4837), I had no choice but to cap it off with the sound of, you know, the whole thing (pfwhoosh) popping apart, and a random honk in, just for the sake of keeping you all on your toes. (dramatic honkscare) - <i>8bitkitten:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24981766963)) + <i>8bitkitten:</i> (track artist, [Tumblr](https://kitten-burrito.tumblr.com/post/24981766963), 6/12/2012) I wanted to compliment Bowman’s rockin’ Tavrisprite theme. }::::) --- @@ -1019,19 +1071,64 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - track:im-a-member-of-the-midnight-crew Lyrics: |- - I hate a moral coward, one who lacks a manly spark<br>I just detest a man afraid to go home in the dark<br>I spend my every evening where there's women wine and song<br>But like a man, I always bring my little wife along! - I'm a member of the Midnight Crew<br>I'm a night owl, a wise bird too<br>Home with the milk in the morning<br>Singing the same old song!<br>Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun<br>Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun<br>Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you<br>Make her a member of the Midnight Crew! + I hate a moral coward, one who lacks a manly spark + I just detest a man afraid to go home in the dark + I spend my every evening where there's women wine and song + But like a man, I always bring my little wife along! + + I'm a member of the Midnight Crew + I'm a night owl, a wise bird too + Home with the milk in the morning + Singing the same old song! + Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun + Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun + Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you + Make her a member of the Midnight Crew! + (Make her a member of the Midnight Crew) - The fun it doesn't stop 'til 12 on happy old Broadway<br>So what's the point of going home, until the break of day?<br>Now, something confidential, whisper not above a breath<br>I once went home at 2 AM, and scared my wife to death! - I'm a member of the Midnight Crew<br>I'm a night owl, a wise bird too<br>Home with the milk in the morning<br>Singing the same old song!<br>Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun<br>Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun<br>Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you<br>Make her a member of the Midnight Crew! - I never shall forget the night I made six robbers run<br>Although I did not have a knife, a blackjack, or a gun<br>I proved myself a hero of a very high degree<br>I ran for home, and six of them, was running after me! - I'm a member of the Midnight Crew<br>I'm a night owl, a wise bird too<br>Home with the milk in the morning<br>Singing the same old song!<br>Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun<br>Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun<br>Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you<br>Make her a member of the Midnight Crew! + + The fun it doesn't stop 'til 12 on happy old Broadway + So what's the point of going home, until the break of day? + Now, something confidential, whisper not above a breath + I once went home at 2 AM, and scared my wife to death! + + I'm a member of the Midnight Crew + I'm a night owl, a wise bird too + Home with the milk in the morning + Singing the same old song! + Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun + Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun + Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you + Make her a member of the Midnight Crew! + + I never shall forget the night I made six robbers run + Although I did not have a knife, a blackjack, or a gun + I proved myself a hero of a very high degree + I ran for home, and six of them, was running after me! + + I'm a member of the Midnight Crew + I'm a night owl, a wise bird too + Home with the milk in the morning + Singing the same old song! + Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun + Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun + Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you<br>Make her a member of the Midnight Crew! Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - One of the things I'd always felt was curious about our re-appropriation of the hundred-year-old vaudeville track by Eddie Morton was the complete contrast between its cheerful mood and the sinister nature of the characters it represents. The Midnight Crew, while fashion-savvy, are cold-blooded murderers, and I'd been curious as to what a darker version of their signature song might sound like. - The inspiration for this "post-punk" arrangement comes specifically from the Iggy Pop track "Nightclubbing", which was produced by David Bowie during their stay in Berlin in 1977. The Iggy Pop and Eddie Morton tracks are very different takes on a night on the town, and I was utterly fascinated by the thought of injecting the old ragtime track with the same seedy atmosphere of Iggy's sardonic croon. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + + One of the things I'd always felt was curious about our re-appropriation of the [[track:im-a-member-of-the-midnight-crew|hundred-year-old vaudeville track]] by Eddie Morton was the complete contrast between its cheerful mood and the sinister nature of the characters it represents. The Midnight Crew, while fashion-savvy, are cold-blooded murderers, and I'd been curious as to what a darker version of their signature song might sound like. + + The inspiration for this "post-punk" arrangement comes specifically from the Iggy Pop track ["Nightclubbing"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVqag7tN8k8), which was produced by David Bowie during their stay in Berlin in 1977. The Iggy Pop and Eddie Morton tracks are very different takes on a night on the town, and I was utterly fascinated by the thought of injecting the old ragtime track with the same seedy atmosphere of Iggy's sardonic croon. + I'd been playing this particular arrangement live at live shows for a while, and for this recorded version I brought in bandmates Erik Scheele and Marcy Nabors to record their respective parts. Erik delivers the excellent jazz piano, while Marcy added some amazing textures by playing theremin and accordion. I made full use of the wah pedal on my guitar to deliver the very textured guitar performance, and copied Iggy's beloved drum machine loop for the main percussion. - The track art is by Cari Garafalo. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2143), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + My version of the Midnight Crew song - I called it the post-punk version because it's modeled after [Nightclubbing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVqag7tN8k8), from the Iggy Pop album The Idiot. I suppose he was post-punk at the time, but, you know, 1977, let's be real, Sex Pistols and all that stuff, it was really the breakout of it as a commercial genre. + + I've heard that people say I sound drunk on the song...? I don't know, like, where people got that idea. The idea of the intonation there was to make it a little sinister, a little seductive, a little creepy, you know... It is about some villains that wander around, ostensibly being gangsters - what do the Midnight Crew even do in the comic? I forget. + + I was really satisfied with that one. And that was a great collaboration, Erik on that once again... *(Caption in post: "Erik Scheele - piano, Marcy Nabors - theremin / accordion") --- Track: Three in the Morning (Aftermath) Artists: @@ -1681,10 +1778,15 @@ Art Tags: Referenced Tracks: - Another Jungle Commentary: |- - <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> - I've mentioned a few times that Homestuck Vol. 9, in its early planning stages, was conceived as an album that would be dedicated to the new session of Homestuck, and most of the tracks would mimic older songs re-imagined in the new universe presented in Act 6. "Another Countdown" was thus the sister song of "Sburban Countdown" - both are brief arrangements of their parent songs ("Another Jungle" and "Sburban Jungle" respectively) meant to crescendo towards a major climax. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer) + + I've mentioned a few times that Homestuck Vol. 9, in its early planning stages, was conceived as an album that would be dedicated to the new session of Homestuck, and most of the tracks would mimic older songs re-imagined in the new universe presented in Act 6. "Another Countdown" was thus the sister song of [[track:sburban-countdown|"Sburban Countdown"]] - both are brief arrangements of their parent songs ([[track:another-jungle|"Another Jungle"]] and [[track:sburban-jungle|"Sburban Jungle"]] respectively) meant to crescendo towards a major climax. + "Another Countdown" was retooled from its parent track to be far mellower at first - the bass and drum comping is a bit latin in flavor, and much of the song's first half is almost completely quiet until the explosion that finishes off the track. When the concept of the record was changed, it was decided that this relatively short song would be included as a bonus when you purchase the full album. - The track art is by Emery Ferguson. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2192), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Oh, Another Countdown, of course I put a little cap on the [[Another Jungle]] thing, with a revisitation of Mark Hadley's [[Sburban Countdown]]. --- Track: Frustracean Artists: @@ -1704,6 +1806,9 @@ Sampled Tracks: - Snake Eyes - Leaving Las Vegas Lyrics: |- - That was the plan, to give you a boner<br>And you GOT ONE + That was the plan, to give you a boner + And you GOT ONE + Ha-HAA + boner diff --git a/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml b/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml index 879712d..fdcd73e 100644 --- a/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml +++ b/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead.yaml @@ -73,6 +73,14 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> The Midnight Crew album was the first of our really high-concept releases with the fake bands, especially since we attempted to invent some kind of goth-jazz genre out of thin air, despite the team's minimal understanding of goth music or jazz. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=861), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + This was, I think, right at the cusp of Bandcamp being a known platform, and for a minute when we started releasing these albums, they were, like, routinely the best sellers on there. At the same time that the Alabama Shakes were on there, like, breaking out as a band, it's like - "Wow! Look at this big indie band that's doing numbers using Bandcamp - this obscure platform!" We were routinely outselling (laugh) the Alabama Shakes. We were super stoked to just expand on that, with, uh, non-animation, non-interactive element contributions. + + And, the first big thing that we did with that was the Midnight Crew album, where we took the Midnight Crew characters and said, well, they're actually a band, and this is their album, containing video-game-style jazz music on it. [...] + + This was one of Andrew's initial ideas, which was like, there were going to be many many bands within the comic. He wanted to do something like, Gorillaz, but, different sets of characters. So, the Midnight Crew would be a band. And the Felt would be a band, and they made orchestral stuff for that - I wasn't a participant on that one, I was a little busy. And, I think we drifted away from the band concept... there were proposed bands that were never done, there was the two robot rappers who cameod but never really were expanded on, there was an interest in doing, sort of like, a robot hip-hop album, which would have been fun, had those characters gone anywhere... There was also the idea that, of course, each of the kids were going to have their signature instrument, you know, the piano, the violin, the beat maker, and the bass. The culmination of that would have been music that features those four instruments, as if it's like, well, here's the demo the band was making. This is what the four beta kids were doing in their spare time. I would have loved that one to see the light of day, I think that would have tied the comic together. --- Track: Three in the Morning Artists: @@ -253,6 +261,10 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt, 8/5/2017) I tend to hold on to ideas and use them when they're ready. [[track:forever|Forever]] was an idea I'd been holding on to for about five years. Lunar eclipse I think was 3 or 4 before I arranged it. Lots of my stuff bakes for months or years. Sometimes the first drafts suck but I find myself humming it later. That's how I know. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=919), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + My contribution on the Midnight Crew album was an original called Lunar Eclipse, featuring sax by someone named Fenris, who we've never heard from again! We don't know what happened to them. --- Track: Hauntjam Artists: @@ -272,7 +284,7 @@ Referenced Tracks: Commentary: |- <i>Andrew Huo:</i> - Hauntjam and Hauntjelly are interesting things. They were actually made based on a short fruity loop that The Big Man Andrew did, called haunt.wav or haunt.mp3 or something like that. A jam on his theme, logically, would therefore be called "hauntjam," with the opportunity for naming puns including "hauntjelly." His theme appears mostly unchanged as the bassline for the first part of the pieces. At this point in terms of instrumentation, we were still mostly striving for faithfulness to the canon Midnight Crew "band," as can be seen in [the Extras page](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/extras/ps000018.html) wherein the MC fill 'em with midnight (bottom), so Hauntjam employs trombone, string bass, piano, clarinet, and sax (I forget which because I've lost the file and am not a band person, but I think it was alto). From there on, it was fairly straightforward to write a haunting refrain and then solos for each instrument. I will admit I got a little writerblock'd for the second part, which was sort of a brief modulation to the dominant, so it sounds a little strange. But it still has its own little charm, with the almost annoying trill put in for a spooky ghost-like effect. In Hauntjam, Bowman did some good stuff with bringing out moving parts in the first refrain. In Hauntjelly, [[artist:ian-taylor|Xerxes]] emphasizes the spookiness by changing instruments for more electric organ. + Hauntjam and Hauntjelly are interesting things. They were actually made based on [[track:haunt-andrew-hussie|a short fruity loop]] that The Big Man Andrew did, called haunt.wav or haunt.mp3 or something like that. A jam on his theme, logically, would therefore be called "hauntjam," with the opportunity for naming puns including [[track:hauntjelly|"hauntjelly."]] His theme appears mostly unchanged as the bassline for the first part of the pieces. At this point in terms of instrumentation, we were still mostly striving for faithfulness to the canon Midnight Crew "band," as can be seen in [the Extras page](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/extras/ps000018.html) wherein the MC fill 'em with midnight (bottom), so Hauntjam employs trombone, string bass, piano, clarinet, and sax (I forget which because I've lost the file and am not a band person, but I think it was alto). From there on, it was fairly straightforward to write a haunting refrain and then solos for each instrument. I will admit I got a little writerblock'd for the second part, which was sort of a brief modulation to the dominant, so it sounds a little strange. But it still has its own little charm, with the almost annoying trill put in for a spooky ghost-like effect. In Hauntjam, Bowman did some good stuff with bringing out moving parts in the first refrain. In Hauntjelly, [[artist:ian-taylor|Xerxes]] emphasizes the spookiness by changing instruments for more electric organ. <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> @@ -289,6 +301,10 @@ Commentary: |- I think drums, more than any other instrument, define the genre of the music. Even very minor choices can change the character of a whole song. At the very least there's been only two songs with no drums on them on the billboard number one slot in the last 50 years. I still do it by spreading of the parts across different instruments. Just in logic now. [[album:electric-daydreams|Electric daydreams]] is deliberately simple, and a couple of the songs just have a normal exs24 on there with all the drums going to the same channel. I wanted to imitate what I would be able to achieve if I were just a guy taping himself playing in a room. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=929), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + And, the other thing was an arrangement of Hauntjam, which I just added drums on and synthesized out and did the bounces[?] for. The original on that one is by Andrew Huo, and supposedly it's based around a track that Andrew Hussie himself wrote, that was just called [[track:haunt-andrew-hussie|"haunt"]]. --- Track: Carbon Nadsat / Cuestick Genius Artists: diff --git a/album/mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido.yaml b/album/mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido.yaml index eaa1674..994a44d 100644 --- a/album/mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido.yaml +++ b/album/mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido.yaml @@ -85,6 +85,26 @@ Commentary: |- That's all I can remember at the moment. Bowman might remember more. + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1359), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Mobius Trip & Hadron Kaleido, now there's something! When the fake band idea was being proposed, I think partly because of all the guitar and drum stuff I had been writing out on some of these, [[artist:andrew-hussie|Andrew]] was really into the idea of, hey, you know, you should produce a rock album. And that's what he actually told me - it was just, produce a rock and roll album! That's what I'd always wanted to do, is produce original songs and do rock music. + + *(Continued in [[track:lies-with-the-sea]])* + + More broadly, what we ended up doing with that - I wanted to do, like, a prophetic work, where I wasn't tied to concrete storytelling episodes within Homestuck, because ultimately I didn't have authorship over the comic, Andrew did. And I wanted to create something that would be able to be interpreted freely, so that he could use it however he wanted to use it. So he never really... gave me characters, or anything, that he wanted there to be. I was just like, you know, let's come up with some loose characters, and we'll just see whether or not Andrew wants to use them. Because he never had a real, like, hard idea for that one. I think he was just too busy with other stuff. + + The characters were a collaboration of myself and [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia Morra]], and we based their images on ourselves, and we came up with these citizens of Prospit and Derse who were generals, who were on opposite sides of a battle. And of course, knowing the comic, the battle is futile, and really the answer lies somewhere in the eternal, and they are prophets of peace who express that prophecy through cryptic art. (laughs) They are telling you something that's kind of, a psychedelic truth, which is that, you know, the universe is bigger than we know. + + And I always respected that about Andrew's ideas with the cosmology of Homestuck, even with Problem Sleuth, with the Godhead Pickle Inspector and stuff, and staring into the lotus, and like, the microscopic becoming the macroscopic. He was always playing with the idea of, what's our eternal purpose? in a universe where time may be cyclical and where individual lives may not amount to much, in the face of cosmic destiny. I think thematically, that's what I wanted to play with. + + *(Continued in [[track:dawn-of-man]] and [[track:chain-of-prospit]])* + + I was really encouraged by Mobius Trip & Hadron Kaleido, even if it wasn't ever incorporated in the comic, I was more motivated to say - you know, I care about my own songwriting and want to continue with it. That meant that I ended up pivoting that year to making more solo music - those of you who follow this channel and know my personal work, it's probably not the biggest history lesson for you, but, that was the beginning of me doing [[group:michael-guy-bowman|a series of solo albums]] that I'm continuing to work on [[album:your-majesty|to this day]]. Of course, I didn't stop making music for the rest of the comic. We worked on more volumes and compilations. + + *([From the Q&A section](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2856))* + + "What were your main inspirations for Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido?" I talked about that a little bit, of course Bowie comes to mind again. At the time I was really listening to BT, Brian Transeau - I think that's how you pronounce his last name - and he is a trance music pioneer. I'd been listening to This Binary Universe, and that was a really great album of instrumental electronic music. And then it had a wonderful follow-up album, that was called These Hopeful Machines, and I loved both those albums a lot. I think they were really... I refrain from saying eye-opening... because they were ear-opening. + <i>Homestuck:</i> ([Bandcamp credits blurb](https://web.archive.org/web/20110603145529/https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido)) Album art by [[artist:tavia-morra]] and [[artist:richard-gung]] @@ -180,6 +200,14 @@ Lyrics: |- They fly right by Who were they, and next to them Who the hell am I? +Commentary: |- + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1517), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + *(Continued from [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido|album commentary]])* + + I did that on Dawn of Man, which was this piece that wove, you know, near-death experience, atrocity, and the survival instinct, and it's kind of like... 2001-style, oh, you know, pre-history and history and the future are all connected. + + *(Continued in [[track:chain-of-prospit]])* --- Track: Beta Version Duration: '4:35' @@ -394,6 +422,10 @@ Commentary: |- The thing that most strongly made me feel comfortable using this track on Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido was its inspiration from dreams and the sense that it generally echoed the thought of being swept away in a wave as mentioned in "Dawn of Man" earlier on the album. Originally I even recorded an alternate lyric to the melody of "Sburban Jungle" to open the second verse which I ditched that went as follows: "Down, down far below, somewhere safe/ Lost in the wave once again." + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1386), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Originally, I think partly inspired by Plastic Beach, I was kind of interested in an underwater theme, characters like Eridan and Feferi and the sea kingdom thing... like, one of the first ideas I worked on that was Lies With The Sea. --- Track: Chain Of Prospit Duration: '4:37' @@ -482,6 +514,18 @@ Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt, 8/11/2017) the outpouring of people who told me that song got them through a rough patch was incredible. it definitely makes me think twice about what the effect of my work on an audience will be, esp. compared to the stuff i was working on when i was way younger + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1537), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + *(Continued from [[track:dawn-of-man]])* + + And, taking that journey toward, you know, a culmination on Chain of Prospit, which says that our reasons for living are personal, and not refutable simply because the universe is giant and possibly indifferent. We have our own right to live for ourselves. + + To some extent, that album was a turning point for me, because, you know, when you compare it to how stupid it was to do these... silly songs, you know, I think *so* much of the stuff I did for Homestuck ended up being funny, and it was like, I managed to get my way back into the comic again and again by being, you know, a comedian, that - pivoting so hard, to this, y'know, big serious thing that was more about "what does life mean?" (laughs) And doing that while decorating it with the elements of this comic, which are... sometimes just stupid and shocking. + + I don't know, I think it hit right in the weirdest way, by reaching people that weren't expecting it. When people tell me that Chain of Prospit, for instance, really connected with them, and made them feel like they're not alone, or it made them feel like, that it... that it is personally true that they have a reason to live and that they shouldn't doubt their own struggle to keep going... I think it made me change, quite a bit. How cynical can I be about the world, when there's this other side of myself that... does honestly believe that, what you do with art, even if it's for some crazy thing like Homestuck, um, could actually touch somebody, in some real way? + + *(Continued back in [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido|album commentary]])* --- Track: Pumpkin Tide Duration: '3:31' diff --git a/album/references-beyond-homestuck.yaml b/album/references-beyond-homestuck.yaml index 57e88ea..d160461 100644 --- a/album/references-beyond-homestuck.yaml +++ b/album/references-beyond-homestuck.yaml @@ -1086,6 +1086,58 @@ Duration: '1:46' URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPT_YvaM7vc --- +Track: Nothing But The Best +Artists: +- Michael Guy Bowman +Duration: '1:08' +URLs: +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkxobIn5gvQ +Lyrics: |- + I expect nothing but the best + Nothing but the best + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing but the best + Nothing but the best + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing but the best + + I expect nothing... but the best + + I expect... nothing ...but the best + + I expect nothing + I expect nothing + (lip smack) + I expect nothing + I expect nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing but the best + + I expect nothing + Nothing but the best +--- Track: Noun (Astro Kid's Pronoun Remix) Artists: - Riki Tsuji diff --git a/album/sburb.yaml b/album/sburb.yaml index fd2b98d..5a1642d 100644 --- a/album/sburb.yaml +++ b/album/sburb.yaml @@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ Commentary: |- While I have long lost track with MSPA, I still am good friends with my fellow musicians from the Homestuck Music team including [[artist:erik-scheele|Erik "Jit" Steele]], who performed on these recordings. Looking back on it now, I love how obvious my early inspirations are but I do love the work I was able to create during one of the most tumultuous times in my life. Thanks for listening. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1892), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + *(Continued from [[track:gust-of-heir]])* + + I was really glad when [James] had that Sburb album come out, you know, he referenced [[Sburban Jungle]] on that, which was, you know, an honor of course, and hearing it [[track:exodus|performed]] by [[artist:erik-scheele|Erik Scheele]] on the piano... And I think that's my favorite piece of Homestuck music, that album, just because regardless of where the themes came from, it was just good listening. You know. Could put that on during breakfast. (laughs) Additional Files: - Title: Commentary PDF Files: diff --git a/album/squiddles.yaml b/album/squiddles.yaml index bf5f019..115fe4e 100644 --- a/album/squiddles.yaml +++ b/album/squiddles.yaml @@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ Commentary: |- [Click here for album and animation credits.](https://web.archive.org/web/20110815160049/http://www.whatpumpkin.com/squiddles.html) + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1224), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Lost to the sands of time! The Squiddles album. I'm not familiar with the entire history of how the art team's work went, but I do know a bit about the Squiddles album, and their association with it - which was that they made the Squiddles! cartoon intro, and wanted to do this whole, like, oh, we're going to figure out a way to make a Squiddles spinoff pilot. I wish that it'd really gone somewhere. I think we did a good job establishing the kind of, like, on the surface, you know, show for babies thing - um, that was actually secretly some... satanic eldritch horror thing. But I played it completely straight on all of my pieces for it. + <i>Homestuck:</i> ([Bandcamp download blurb](https://web.archive.org/web/20100828115437/https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/squiddles)) COOL BONUSES INCLUDED: Squiddles animation (in .swf format) and PDF booklet with lyrics and credits! @@ -226,7 +230,12 @@ URLs: - https://youtu.be/3KdAsyPq4UM Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + For the Squiddles album, I dropped in a good three tracks of fun for the whole family. "Tangled Waltz" is a little piece that [[artist:tavia-morra|Tavia]] repeatedly insists should be set to the image of a million squiddles building a castle out of little blocks. The waltz gets its name from how it gets "tangled" in the middle, turning into some kind of march in quintuple time. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1275), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + Tangled Waltz, I think it owes itself a little to Yann Tiersen and the Amélie soundtrack, which I was listening to a lot at the time. --- Track: Sun-Speckled Squiddly Afternoon Artists: @@ -348,7 +357,12 @@ URLs: - https://youtu.be/U1H0Q6FjGyc Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + "Squiddle Samba", after a few false starts in the writing process, ended up going this whole latin-fusion direction I rather like, complete with a guitar solo that is delightfully out of tune. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1267), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + I really enjoyed the Squiddle Samba, that's kind of... a pastiche of Chicharia[?] or something. --- Track: Squiddles in Paradise Artists: @@ -363,13 +377,41 @@ Referenced Tracks: Sampled Tracks: - Plumbthroat Gives Chase Lyrics: |- - Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up!<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! - Squiddles down in paradise invite you to play<br>They're tangled up with joy and fun every single day<br>It's a silly kind of life they live, but for them it's nothing new<br>They are friends with everyone and they love you! - 'Cause they're Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! - It's a funny time in paradise with their Squiddle friends and more<br>So let's dive on in and we'll go see what they have in store<br>We'll ride up on sea unicorns into uncharted lands<br>Watch out for Skipper Plumbthroat! And his salty band<br>(Bye Skipper Plumbthroat!) (I'll get you yet!) - They're Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! - It's a lovely time in paradise, see the Squiddles smile with glee<br>We should join them in the fun they made for you and me<br>'Cause soon enough we'll have to leave, and depart for shore<br>But we'll be back another day, on the ocean floor! - Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up!<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up!<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up!<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise<br>Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + + Squiddles down in paradise invite you to play + They're tangled up with joy and fun every single day + It's a silly kind of life they live, but for them it's nothing new + They are friends with everyone and they love you! + + 'Cause they're Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + + It's a funny time in paradise with their Squiddle friends and more + So let's dive on in and we'll go see what they have in store + We'll ride up on sea unicorns into uncharted lands + Watch out for Skipper Plumbthroat! And his salty band + (Bye Skipper Plumbthroat!) (I'll get you yet!) + + They're Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + + It's a lovely time in paradise, see the Squiddles smile with glee + We should join them in the fun they made for you and me + 'Cause soon enough we'll have to leave, and depart for shore + But we'll be back another day, on the ocean floor! + + Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! + Squiddles, Squiddles, Squiddles in paradise + Squiddles, Squiddles, let's get tangled up! Commentary: |- <i>Solatrus:</i> (original commentary) @@ -431,19 +473,65 @@ Duration: '4:33' URLs: - https://youtu.be/S3bsomR8W_w Lyrics: |- - They call me Skipper Plumbthroat<br>'Tis a name ye'd best remember (Yar)<br>I'm captain of me ol' boat<br>The Grundy Catchyegrabber (Oh-ho) - I travel the seven seas<br>In search of valuable ink<br>It sparkles like a blessing<br>Of unicorns made from zinc - I'll row, row, row me boat<br>Collect that valuable prize<br>I need the stuff to stay afloat<br>'Tis the apple of me eyes - This ink that I do seek<br>Comes from little Squiddles<br>They swim around and squeak<br>And are full of Squiddle giggles - My fishing nets will grab<br>A tentacle or two<br>And maybe afterwards<br>I'll have some Squiddle Stew! - Row, row, row me boat<br>An' throw out all o' me nets<br>Those squids won't know what hit 'em<br>'Til they're payin' off me debts + They call me Skipper Plumbthroat + 'Tis a name ye'd best remember (Yar) + I'm captain of me ol' boat + The Grundy Catchyegrabber (Oh-ho) + + I travel the seven seas + In search of valuable ink + It sparkles like a blessing + Of unicorns made from zinc + + I'll row, row, row me boat + Collect that valuable prize + I need the stuff to stay afloat + 'Tis the apple of me eyes + + This ink that I do seek + Comes from little Squiddles + They swim around and squeak + And are full of Squiddle giggles + + My fishing nets will grab + A tentacle or two + And maybe afterwards + I'll have some Squiddle Stew! + + Row, row, row me boat + An' throw out all o' me nets + Those squids won't know what hit 'em + 'Til they're payin' off me debts + (Yes... if I... if I ever can pay off me debts, I mean, I... I still have to pay for... school. My... I mean... just- never mind, never mind! Just, well...) - Sometimes I have to ask meself<br>Skipper, where's your life led ya?<br>You dropped right out of law school<br>To sell rutabagas (I need a tangle buddy.) - My poor business flopped<br>I was penniless once more<br>So land for sea I swapped<br>And left my native shore - Strugglin' to stay afloat<br>But it's all right, I guess<br>Just as long as I can gloat<br>An' sail an' fish an' Aggress + + Sometimes I have to ask meself + Skipper, where's your life led ya? + You dropped right out of law school + To sell rutabagas (I need a tangle buddy.) + + My poor business flopped + I was penniless once more + So land for sea I swapped + And left my native shore + + Strugglin' to stay afloat + But it's all right, I guess + Just as long as I can gloat + An' sail an' fish an' Aggress + (Aggress. I love aggressin'. Yar, har. Ah-har. Yar-har!) - I've come far, that's for sure<br>Nanna Plumbthroat would be proud (Yes, she would.)<br>I've no time to be demure<br>'Cause I'm scary as a storm cloud (Or scarier!) - Yar-har<br>The fishin' life's for me<br>I love me job, I love me life<br>Catching Squiddles of the sea! + + I've come far, that's for sure + Nanna Plumbthroat would be proud (Yes, she would.) + I've no time to be demure + 'Cause I'm scary as a storm cloud (Or scarier!) + + Yar-har + The fishin' life's for me + I love me job, I love me life + Catching Squiddles of the sea! + (Yar-har-har. I'll get those little Squiddles yet. If I can... if I can just get enough money, and... maybe overcome my crippling depression. But... but I have friends, I have a crew! They... they like me and, but... well... I mean...) --- Track: Plumbthroat Gives Chase @@ -458,10 +546,22 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Catchyegrabber (Skipper Plumbthroat's Song) Lyrics: |- (This might not fit my... rude alter ego, but I really love drinking tea and eating broccoli. But don't tell anyone!) - (Yar-har, time for some Squiddle Stew!)<br>(Come here, Squiddles! Little Squiddles! Ha, ha, har!) - (Come back here, you Squiddles!)<br>(I'll show you tangle buddles! I'll show you tangle... hoo-)<br>(Darn those Squiddles, come back with my pants!) - (Darn those Squiddles, where are my pants?)<br>(I am embarrassed that you Squiddles have had to see my naked body.) - (I'll get you yet, you Squiddles!)<br>(Well, EXCUSE me, Squiddles!)<br>(Squiddles! Curse you, Squiddles!)<br>(You have yet to see the power of the Catchyegrabber!) + + (Yar-har, time for some Squiddle Stew!) + (Come here, Squiddles! Little Squiddles! Ha, ha, har!) + + (Come back here, you Squiddles!) + (I'll show you tangle buddles! I'll show you tangle... hoo-) + (Darn those Squiddles, come back with my pants!) + + (Darn those Squiddles, where are my pants?) + (I am embarrassed that you Squiddles have had to see my naked body.) + + (I'll get you yet, you Squiddles!) + (Well, EXCUSE me, Squiddles!) + (Squiddles! Curse you, Squiddles!) + (You have yet to see the power of the Catchyegrabber!) + (I wish I had a job! I wish I wasn't such a- [unintelligible] this! [unintelligible] Skipper Plumbthroat!) --- Track: Squiddles the Movie Trailer - The Day the Unicorns Couldn't Play @@ -474,7 +574,9 @@ Referenced Tracks: - Squiddles! Lyrics: |- (But... but where are the unicorns today, Mommy? Where are the unicorns?) + (Someday, when I'm older, I'll— I'll find Santa Claus. He'll bring the unicorns back, won't he Mommy? Mommy? Where are you, Mommy? Are you with the unicorns?) + (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) --- Track: Carefree Princess Berryboo @@ -485,7 +587,8 @@ URLs: - https://youtu.be/_Z8qT1GBhds Referenced Tracks: - track:carefree-action -Lyrics: (Well EXCUSE me, Princess Berryboo!) +Lyrics: |- + (Well EXCUSE me, Princess Berryboo!) --- Track: Mister Bowman Tells You About the Squiddles Artists: @@ -496,25 +599,83 @@ Duration: '4:27' URLs: - https://youtu.be/09eVHqwHWYM Lyrics: |- - (Mister Bowman, can you tell us about the Squiddles?)<br>(Well of course, child!)<br>(Yay!) - Let me tell you of the Squiddles who live below the sea<br>They love to sing and dance and play just like you and me<br>They're squishy little creatures with tentacles of joy<br>And adorable eyes that bring delight to every girl and boy - Not much is known about the Squiddles, at least on our behalf<br>And many wonder why it is they always seem to laugh<br>Do they know some kind of secret? Well, maybe, just in part<br>But any child knows the real answer deep within their heart! - They laugh because they love<br>They sing because they're free<br>They splash because they're safe and sound<br>Below the deep blue sea - They leap because they like you<br>They swim because they're swell<br>They smile because they have so many<br>Stories they like to tell - The Squiddles live in a magical land<br>Below the waves in castles of sand<br>If you listen close you can hear them make their plans - (What kind of plans?)<br>(Happy Squiddle plans!) - They kiss because they can't help it<br>They wiggle because why not!<br>They prance because they're oh so proud<br>Of all the friends they've got (Hey guys, how's it going?) - They jump because they're joyful<br>They giggle because they're glad<br>They Squiddle because in Squiddle Land<br>No one's ever sad! + (Mister Bowman, can you tell us about the Squiddles?) + (Well of course, child!) + (Yay!) + + Let me tell you of the Squiddles who live below the sea + They love to sing and dance and play just like you and me + They're squishy little creatures with tentacles of joy + And adorable eyes that bring delight to every girl and boy + + Not much is known about the Squiddles, at least on our behalf + And many wonder why it is they always seem to laugh + Do they know some kind of secret? Well, maybe, just in part + But any child knows the real answer deep within their heart! + + They laugh because they love + They sing because they're free + They splash because they're safe and sound + Below the deep blue sea + + They leap because they like you + They swim because they're swell + They smile because they have so many + Stories they like to tell + + The Squiddles live in a magical land + Below the waves in castles of sand + If you listen close you can hear them make their plans + + (What kind of plans?) + (Happy Squiddle plans!) + + They kiss because they can't help it + They wiggle because why not! + They prance because they're oh so proud + Of all the friends they've got (Hey guys, how's it going?) + + They jump because they're joyful + They giggle because they're glad + They Squiddle because in Squiddle Land + No one's ever sad! + (All right, now we're going to do the whole song one more time, and this time I want everybody to join in. Parents, that means you too. If you don't know the words just look them up online, I'm sure they're there somewhere. Otherwise, sit real close to your television set and follow the bouncing ball and you're sure to be a winner! Are you ready, kids? All right, here it comes again. And a-one, and a-two, and a-one two three!) - They laugh because they love<br>They sing because they're free<br>They splash because they're safe and sound<br>Below the deep blue sea - They leap because they like you<br>They swim because they're swell<br>They smile because they have so many<br>Stories they like to tell - The Squiddles live in a magical land<br>Below the waves in castles of sand<br>If you listen close you can hear them make their plans - (What sort of plans?)<br>(Happy Squiddle plans!) - They kiss because they can't help it<br>They wiggle because why not<br>They prance because they're oh so proud<br>Of all the friends they've got - They jump because they're joyful<br>They giggle because they're glad<br>They Squiddle because in Squiddle Land<br>No one's ever sad! + + They laugh because they love + They sing because they're free + They splash because they're safe and sound + Below the deep blue sea + + They leap because they like you + They swim because they're swell + They smile because they have so many + Stories they like to tell + + The Squiddles live in a magical land + Below the waves in castles of sand + If you listen close you can hear them make their plans + + (What sort of plans?) + (Happy Squiddle plans!) + + They kiss because they can't help it + They wiggle because why not + They prance because they're oh so proud + Of all the friends they've got + + They jump because they're joyful + They giggle because they're glad + They Squiddle because in Squiddle Land + No one's ever sad! Commentary: |- <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> + "Mister Bowman Tells You About the Squiddles" is maybe 50% Donovan and 50% pure evil, although you wouldn't know it considering I ended up cutting a set of alternate lyrics that would have been more sadistic than the album's bizarre conclusion. Tavia gets her cameo as the little girl and some of the backup Squiddle voices. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1282), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + There's also Mister Bowman Tells You About the Squiddles, where I dared self-insert into the comic, as myself, doing vocals *again.* I wanted there to be, like, some creepy verses that were, um, "they laugh because they love, they swim because they're swell, they smile because they have no sense of heaven or of hell." I think that direction might have been funny, but... I was just playing it completely straight, I turned it into something I could take to conventions and like, just perform and have people actually sing along to. And you know, just, Captain Kangaroo style or whatever, everyone just becomes little kids singing along, y'know! --- Track: Ocean Stars Artists: @@ -613,5 +774,8 @@ Duration: 0:19 URLs: - https://youtu.be/w6RNFIXfiyY Lyrics: |- - (I love you, Squiddle Ruby!)<br>(I love you too, Squiddle Sapphire!)<br>(Let's have serious friendship!) + (I love you, Squiddle Ruby!) + (I love you too, Squiddle Sapphire!) + (Let's have serious friendship!) + (Oh man, I just had a friendship aneurysm.) diff --git a/album/the-funk-mclovin-homestuck-experience.yaml b/album/the-funk-mclovin-homestuck-experience.yaml index 1b4173e..eedbe86 100644 --- a/album/the-funk-mclovin-homestuck-experience.yaml +++ b/album/the-funk-mclovin-homestuck-experience.yaml @@ -35,7 +35,14 @@ Lyrics: |- --- Track: The Strider Rap-Off Date First Released: April 9, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Dave Strider Vs Dirk Strider, Rap Battle Of The Century + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkDY73uNxtE) Duration: '3:16' +Contributors: +- AE (Terezi) URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/the-strider-rap-off - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkDY73uNxtE @@ -144,16 +151,38 @@ Lyrics: |- DIRK: Fucking sick. (<i>Credits to [Vinyl](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPFTOXaTJ665xSDVxoV6wgQ) for [transcription](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkDY73uNxtE&lc=Ugxw9X0PulMJTLiITwV4AaABAg).</i>) +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkDY73uNxtE), excerpt) + + Song A Day 100 Baby + + once again i am sorry that i cannot rap. Terezi by [[artist:ae]] --- Track: Jade Defender Date First Released: February 21, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + JADE DEFENDER + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0jzBu7IZWU) Duration: '2:21' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/jade-defender - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0jzBu7IZWU +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0jzBu7IZWU), excerpt) + + A Homestuck fan song inspired by Jade Harley's pacific island and what growing up on it must have been like. + + [Song A Day 52] --- Track: GameGoth Date First Released: January 28, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + GameGoth [Gothstuck Zine] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLHdyAM4ujs) Duration: '1:42' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/gamegoth @@ -195,6 +224,20 @@ Lyrics: |- I'd say "better luck next time" but that won't be the case Another victim claimed to the darkest gaming ace Hahahaha! +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/gamegoth)) + + Made for the GOTHSTUCK ZINE: [twitter.com/gothstuckzine](https://x.com/gothstuckzine) + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLHdyAM4ujs), excerpt) + + READ THE GOTHSTUCK ZINE: [twitter.com/gothstuckzine/status/1252351803351461900](https://x.com/gothstuckzine/status/1252351803351461900) + + A loving parody of GameBro and GameGirl from Homestuck:<br> + [[GameBro (Original 1990 Mix)]]<br> + [[GameGrl (Original 1993 Mix)]] + + [Song a Day 2020 Day 28] --- Track: Less Pale, More Pail Date First Released: February 10, 2020 @@ -229,30 +272,88 @@ Lyrics: |- (Oh, baby. Please don't make me beg. 'Cause I will beg. I don't wanna beg but I will. I definitely will beg. If you make me.) +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYQj9F5fLMI), excerpt) + + Song A Day: Day 41 + + I don't even like Cronus. --- Track: 'Steel Bastille: Heart of Light, Crown of Thorns' Date First Released: February 26, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + ROSEBOT: Steel Bastille: Heart of Light, Crown of Thorns. + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DDPym9XkRk) Duration: '2:58' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/steel-bastille-heart-of-light-crown-of-thorns - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DDPym9XkRk +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/steel-bastille-heart-of-light-crown-of-thorns)) + + Rosebot, huh? + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DDPym9XkRk), excerpt) + + A Rose Lalonde Robot fan song. I was vibin'. + + Song a Day 57 --- Track: Vrissy's Theme Date First Released: January 2, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Vrissy's Theme [Homestuck 2] + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w86Mq0kLnwQ) Duration: '2:29' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/vrissys-theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w86Mq0kLnwQ +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/vrissys-theme)) + + I used the chords for [[Vriska's Theme]] in this. + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w86Mq0kLnwQ), excerpt) + + Song-a-day Day 2: Vrissy's Theme + + This is not an official track. Homestuck^2 and Vrissy belong to What Pumpkin Studios. --- Track: Vogue Rogue Date First Released: January 6, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Ｖｏｇｕｅ Ｒｏｇｕｅ + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttk-q7BonIE) Duration: '2:09' URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/vogue-rogue - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttk-q7BonIE +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/vogue-rogue)) + + Roxy Lalonde + + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttk-q7BonIE), excerpt) + + Song-a-Day 6 + + Roxyposting 2020 + + "Vogue Rogue" --- Track: Ult!Dirk Can't Rap Date First Released: April 3, 2020 +Additional Names: +- Name: >- + Ultimate Dirk Can't Rap + Annotation: >- + [YouTube title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btUK0HAPXeQ) Duration: 0:59 URLs: - https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/track/ult-dirk-cant-rap @@ -292,6 +393,16 @@ Lyrics: |- I wonder how Jane's doing? God I miss Jake (--Rose get the fuck out of here!) +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btUK0HAPXeQ), excerpt) + + Ppl are using this track on TikTok here's the link lol: [tinyurl.com/dirkrap](https://tinyurl.com/dirkrap) + + BACKING TRACK ONLY: [youtube.com/watch?v=YgZn6DYFf_w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgZn6DYFf_w) + + SPECIAL THANKS TO ZERROX for the loop : ) + + Song a Day 2020 number 94 --- Track: Vriska's Theme (Off The Shits Edition) Duration: '3:50' @@ -300,3 +411,9 @@ URLs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o34votcZmMA Referenced Tracks: - Vriska's Theme +Commentary: |- + <i>Funk McLovin:</i> ([YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o34votcZmMA), excerpt) + + SONG A DAY 104 + + HAPPY 4/13 diff --git a/album/the-wanderers.yaml b/album/the-wanderers.yaml index b64b782..d8d89da 100644 --- a/album/the-wanderers.yaml +++ b/album/the-wanderers.yaml @@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ Commentary: |- Are you running out of room on your ipod yet? You might have to start deleting some of that crappy non-HS music soon. + <i>Lauren Ross:</i> ([Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/luzerna/7604385333/andrewfussy-whaoanon), excerpt, 7/14/2011) + + I did the cover and header image for this!! I'VE BEEN WAITING SO DAMN LONG FOR AN EXILE ALBUM AND THEN IT FINALLY CAME AND IT'S REALLY GREAT AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ASKED TO ILLUSTRATE IT DFJSDJFSD I COULD HAVE CRIED TEARS OF JOY. *SO MANY TEARS OF JOY.* + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1766), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + This is something else I didn't get around to recording, but there's actually another lost Homestuck album. It was called The Wanderers. It was a compilation that I had two songs on. One was called [[Aimless Morning Gold]]. The other is [[Ruins Rising]]. [...] I really liked the whole desert-punk vibe of this record. If you feel like tracking this one down, be my guest - it's a really great record and I wish it were still up there. + <i>Homestuck:</i> ([Bandcamp credits blurb](https://web.archive.org/web/20110717121349/https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/the-wanderers)) Includes music by:<br> @@ -53,10 +61,6 @@ Commentary: |- [[artist:tensei|Joren "Tensei" de Bruin]] Cover art by [[artist:lauren-ross|Lauren "Sock" Ross]] - - <i>Lauren Ross:</i> ([Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/luzerna/7604385333/andrewfussy-whaoanon), excerpt) - - I did the cover and header image for this!! I'VE BEEN WAITING SO DAMN LONG FOR AN EXILE ALBUM AND THEN IT FINALLY CAME AND IT'S REALLY GREAT AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ASKED TO ILLUSTRATE IT DFJSDJFSD I COULD HAVE CRIED TEARS OF JOY. *SO MANY TEARS OF JOY.* Banner Artists: - Lauren Ross Banner Dimensions: 1463x270 @@ -334,6 +338,10 @@ Commentary: |- doing scratches was fun too<br> i like to think the myst soundtrack was an influence on it too<br> really listened to the uru and myst iii soundtracks to death + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=1778), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + The other is Ruins Rising, which is, again, another treatment of [[track:ruins|Ruins]] by Erik Scheele. This one, the guitar intro is kind of drawn from the Frippertronics technique of Robert Fripp, and, it actually features a lot of re-re-record scratches and cool textures that I hadn't really experimented with before. *(Caption: "God bless the fruity scratcher")* --- Track: What a Daring Dream Artists: diff --git a/album/ulterior-motives.yaml b/album/ulterior-motives.yaml index a4d26bd..e8bd075 100644 --- a/album/ulterior-motives.yaml +++ b/album/ulterior-motives.yaml @@ -10,10 +10,34 @@ URLs: - https://music.apple.com/album/ulterior-motives/1635799078 Cover Artists: - Lucas Adelman +Art Tags: +- Bowman Color: '#a7aeb2' Groups: - Michael Guy Bowman - Beyond +Additional Files: +- Title: Album release photoset + Description: >- + Michael Guy Bowman shared these photos, taken by [[artist:lucas-adelman]], on Twitter over the week following the album's release. + Files: + - Ulterior Motives Photo 1.jpg + - Ulterior Motives Photo 2.jpg + - Ulterior Motives Photo 3.jpg + - Ulterior Motives Photo 4.jpg + - Ulterior Motives Photo 5.jpg + - Ulterior Motives Photo 6.jpg + - Ulterior Motives Photo 7.jpg +Commentary: |- + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1547446734577475584), 7/13/2022) + + 7/20 in a week. How will YOU celebrate? + + This is my plan: [(Bandcamp link)](https://bowman.bandcamp.com/album/ulterior-motives) + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1549991868439543808), 7/20/2022) + + Thanks for making 7/20 magical. The life you have breathed into ancient Internet content has in turn kept me alive. I love you. --- Track: Bombs Away Date First Released: July 14, 2022 diff --git a/album/unknown-diva.yaml b/album/unknown-diva.yaml index 260a50e..41caa02 100644 --- a/album/unknown-diva.yaml +++ b/album/unknown-diva.yaml @@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ Wallpaper Artists: - Oshioshio (supervision) --- Track: Oracle +Directory: oracle-unknown-diva +Always Reference By Directory: true Artists: - Amane Kanata (vocals) Contributors: diff --git a/album/your-majesty.yaml b/album/your-majesty.yaml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf6f06b --- /dev/null +++ b/album/your-majesty.yaml @@ -0,0 +1,889 @@ +Album: Your Majesty +Artists: +- Michael Guy Bowman +Cover Artists: +- Alice Hu +Date: August 9, 2024 +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/album/your-majesty +- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mCULaO4C21RpqtIPN2cn-NShRYBTbf_Nk +- https://open.spotify.com/album/04PD4zgt0ZdyCwn4Ap5wuV +- https://music.apple.com/album/your-majesty/1757139886 +Color: '#deb24e' +Groups: +- Michael Guy Bowman +- Beyond +Art Tags: +- Bowman +Additional Files: +- Title: Album booklet + Description: >- + Stylized booklet featuring lyrics for all tracks, and artworks by [[artist:alice-hu]]; included with the album download on Bandcamp as well as in the physical CD album. Included on-wiki [[media:misc/your-majesty-booklet-permission.png|with permission]]. + Files: + - Your Majesty - Booklet.pdf +Commentary: |- + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Bandcamp about blurb](https://bowman.bandcamp.com/album/your-majesty) / album booklet) + + When the future is uncertain it can be easy to romanticize the past. In fairy tales we imagine that the world was once a more beautiful place where magic explained the mysteries of life. The probing tools of science were once the simmering cauldrons of alchemy. We trusted our leaders completely as the righteous defenders of a higher order which placed ourselves at the center of the universe. + + We are tempted to return to this mythic era. The epic tales of old generations bewilder us with stories of glorious quests and lives of adventure. All of it seems to be disappearing just beyond the horizon of a new world that has become petrified with frightful complexity. We treasure the artifacts that remain from simpler times, believing in vain that they might unlock hidden entrances to unspoiled realms. + + Though the arrow of time pushes us ceaselessly beyond the dominion of our half-remembered past, we hold onto a belief that we are meant for something more than the cold reality that we face - too obvious, too impersonal. We imagine this is only a dark age between the reign of two great kingdoms, the next greater than the first. It is a seductive belief, and potentially dangerous. + + And yet, occasionally, we must indulge these fantasies. We romanticize the past because we remember once that we were able to romanticize the future. To permit legendary origins is to hope for a destiny beyond our crude surroundings. We have the choice to see life as a brief epitaph or as the unfolding chapters of a grand saga. Which way will you turn? + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (composer, [Michael Guy Bowman Talks About His Homestuck Music](https://youtu.be/85VXWZTg-vo?t=2792), adapted to text, 7/20/2024) + + "How much has your process changed between [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido|Mobius Trip]] and earlier works, and [[album:ulterior-motives|Ulterior Motives]]?" You know, aside from like, the software changes, I think I have experimented with - doing things in different orders. Some of the time I was doing things with, like, intention to produce the beat, or come up with the instrumentation or something first, and sometimes I was doing things lyrically first, and trying to have um, a song written in an instrument. Actually, lately, *since* Ulterior Motives, coming up on this new album - that's been the main focus, is to move over from trying to do things with any production idea really in place, and have complete demos, just like a normal singer-songwriter, and then go in and start arranging them as if you're in the studio, and be your own producer. + + [...] "When writing music with lyrics, do you write music-first or lyric-first?" Yeah, see, that's why I was like, so nuanced on the other answer. Because you already know - sometimes, I do one or the other. But these days, I would say when I'm writing "lyric first", what I mean to say is that I'm writing lyrics with chords. And sometimes, I have a melody in mind, and I have to like, do settings to the melody - and I think, the challenge for me as a songwriter right now, comes from the synthesis of that - saying, here's the format, and how do you better fit the format? And the result is poetry. + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> (Bowmantown Discord, 8/11/2024) + + > how exactly do you decide on like, the musical style of an album? + + This time around I wanted to focus on working just with acoustic guitar and vocals at a couple of open mics, so I based the arrangements on that + And the strongest ideas that emerged early on were sort of fantasy based + + So I was conscious of that both as an intent for writing and a guideline for what I picked to refine + + And in the end it felt like [[track:your-majesty|"Your Majesty"]] the song was the centerpiece because it's about heroism which unifies the images on the album + + Like the colorful characters you might find on an epic adventure + + I think I'm sort of conscious of what does and doesn't go together on all of these and picking which ideas to develop is a bit strategic + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1821024053702103081), 7/18/2024) + + Something's coming... + + <img src="media/misc/your-majesty-preview.jpg" width="300"> + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1821024053702103081), excerpt, 7/19/2024) + + BIG ANNOUNCEMENT + + *([YouTube mirror](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYXTTXPxx0M))* + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1821024053702103081), 7/25/2024) + + Your Majesty<br> + Coming August 9 + + <img src="media/misc/your-majesty-cd.jpg" width="350"> + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1821360726054769031), excerpt, 8/7/2024) + + Bijan Eghtesady drums on all the tracks on the new album! He is the drummer for approximately 500 bands and can crush coal into a diamond with his bare hands. Check him out on my last 2 albums and also with [@bonehengeband](https://x.com/bonehengeband), [@whydogswhy](https://x.com/whydogswhy) and his solo stuff! + + <i>Michael Guy Bowman:</i> ([Twitter](https://x.com/mguybowman/status/1821024053702103081), excerpt, 8/7/2024) + + Caught up with Bonnie Maddox who plays accordion on the new album! Listen up for her on [[track:overboard-your-majesty|"Overboard"]] 🪗 + + <i>Alice Hu:</i> (cover artist, [Twitter](https://x.com/coccoderma/status/1819545928799519203), 8/2/2024) + + Some concept sketches of the cover art for Your Majesty! + + <img src="media/misc/your-majesty-concepts.jpg" width="350"> + + <i>Bijan Eghtesady:</i> (drums, [Twitter](https://x.com/melancholy_robo/status/1821967799683838279), excerpt, 8/9/2024) + + new mgb album is out today! it's all bangers imo go listen +--- +Track: Julia Verne +Duration: 3:36 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/julia-verne +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuM7VFAJHWw +- https://open.spotify.com/track/6d8GxzSAmlAXdphXMSoGgB +- https://music.apple.com/album/julia-verne/1757139886?i=1757139887 +Lyrics: |- + Long ago we used to lie + Beneath the summer evening sky + The moon and mars and all the stars + Were in our eyes + You made a wish and it came true + But what it was I never knew + Until one night I saw your light + Was up there too + + Julia Verne - she's on a journey to the stars + Leaving behind these worldly binds + For something new + Julia Verne - will you return to mend these scars? + I've got to hope, my telescope's + Always on you, on you + + I found the note beside the bed + The strangest thing I've ever read + "I've got to go, that's all I know" + Was all it said + So off it went, a loaded gun + To shoot you right around the sun + Are you insane? I can't explain + The things you've done + + Julia Verne - she's on a journey to the stars + Leaving behind these worldly binds + For something new + Julia Verne - will you return to mend these scars? + I've got to hope, my telescope's + Always on you, on you + On you + + How many nights and days + Since last we parted ways + It must be hard to count them out in space + Lay down your landing gear (Ooh, la la la la) + You know I'm still right here (Ooh, la la la la) + Forever wondering why you disappeared (Ooh-ooh-ooh) + + But if I could I'd take a ride + Across the great cosmic divide + And maybe then I'd once again + Be at your side + For if it's true that what you've found + Way out there where there is no sound + Is worth it all, I'll never fall + Back to the ground + + Julia Verne - she's on a journey to the stars + Leaving behind these worldly binds + For something new + Julia Verne - will you return to mend these scars? + I've got to hope, my telescope's + Always on you, on you + On you (on you, on you, on you) + On you (on you, on you, on you, on you) +--- +Track: Vampire State +Duration: 3:07 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/vampire-state +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSYi5x0aU8U +- https://open.spotify.com/track/19xl0O3ujAfT3362KrLWY9 +- https://music.apple.com/album/vampire-state/1757139886?i=1757139888 +Lyrics: |- + Come one, come all to the midnight ball + There's trouble brewing in the banquet hall + Take a leap through the line and you'll be just fine + I've seen your face all over the unwanted signs + Have a toast to your host who's got the least + He's secretly something of an awful beast (Oh) + With a bulletproof plan for the also-rans + And an awful lot of time upon his idle hands + + Everybody's going on about the end of the world + In fact they seem a little excited + It's a party and your pity's invited + Dinner and dessert provided + + Vampire State - home to all the miscreated + Where nightmares are related and dreams annihilated (Oh) + Vampire State - pierce the moonlight with your steeple + We're not your kind of people anymore + + Slow down, look around, take in all the sounds + Your cup ranneth over ‘til it nearly drowned + Take a few small sips, leave a few tall tips + And you can keep on dancing when the record skips + Don't you try to sneak out of any exit routes + ‘Cause the scent that you're dispensing is a sense of doubt (sense of doubt) + If you show off your back, you're just an easy snack + You must impress upon them that you're always on attack + + Everybody keeps talking while their mouths are full + But you know every word they're saying + And you get the feeling you'll be staying + It's an urge you can't resist obeying + + Vampire State - where the jawline meets the collar + It's a real hoot and holler of opulence and squalor (Oh) + Vampire State - rising over the horizon + You'll wish that you'd been wise enough to run + + High on that heathen tower (Oh), clock strikes the midnight hour (Oh) + Down from the belfry comes a cloud of wings (Cloud of wings) + Kaleidoscope of teeth and shadows underneath + Eclipsing all these wretched things (Oh, oh) + + But at the end of the night, if your cards are right + You might get out of there with only just a couple of bites + Keep your sleeves rolled down when you reach the ground + And no one else will have to know when you get back to town + + Everybody looks different in the light of the day (Oh, oh) + At the masquerade's adjourning (Oh, oh) + But when the midnight oil is burning + You know that you will be returning + + Vampire State - climb the hundred-story talon + A crimson Irwin Allen exploding by the gallon (Oh) + Vampire State - calling all the anti-saviors + Be on your worst behavior at the + Vampire State - dreaded fang as high as mountains + An oozing scarlet fountain a billion served and counting (Oh, oh) + Vampire State - where the wounds are freshly severed + You'll wish that you had never heard its name +--- +Track: Hermit of the Half Moon Rock +Duration: 3:44 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/hermit-of-the-half-moon-rock +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7cmG64swV8 +- https://open.spotify.com/track/6m4d4NjMpT06vye30DCsw5 +- https://music.apple.com/album/hermit-of-the-half-moon-rock/1757139886?i=1757140099 +Lyrics: |- + He stood on the top of the hill + He said "This isn't a drill - I'm gone" + "I'm headed up to the dome" + He put his life on his back + And headed out at the crack of dawn + To make himself right at home + + Out where the river shimmers in the night + And the stars speak words if you listen to them right + The crazy little creatures hidden out of sight + They come out and talk + To the Hermit of the Half Moon Rock + It's him and the hawk + Hauling up the vertical walk + Of the Half Moon Rock + Why don't you give him a knock? + Follow the trail of chalk + Up the Half Moon Rock + Up the Half Moon Rock + Up the Half Moon Rock + The Hermit of the Half Moon Rock + + He sewed the leaves in his dress (oh yes) + And if it was hot even less he wore + And sometimes nothing at all + The hawk was all that he had (all that he had) + And if he was lonely or sad, he'd roar + And echo through the canyon walls (Aiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiai!) + + And the mountain lion came running to the sound + While the whole hog herd would gather all around + The [[album:comfortable-bugs|comfortable bugs]] all living in the ground + Would raise a few stalks + For the Hermit of the Half Moon Rock + It's him and the hawk + Hauling up the vertical walk + Of the Half Moon Rock + Why don't you give him a knock? + Follow the trail of chalk + Up the Half Moon Rock + Up the Half Moon Rock + Up the Half Moon Rock + The Hermit of the Half Moon Rock + + He's got the ink on his hands (ah-ah-ah) + The beetles lend him a gland + For the testament he scrawls inside his cave + (Shooby dooby mm-bop, shooby dooby) + He carves it out with a tooth (ah-ah-ah) + He's on a mission for truth + In a world he does not know if he can save + (Shooby dooby mm-bop, shooby dooby) + + And he thinks he might be leaving + But he isn't ready yet (Oh yeah, yeah, yeah) + 'Cause under every stone there's a spirit to be met + Oh yeah + + And when he'd finally rest + There with the hawk in his nest, he'd pause + And think about who he was + Out in the world all alone + His life completely his own, his laws + Only written in the things he does + + But if the buffalo bunch could stand the monsoon + And the choir of crickets could learn to sing in tune + Could the prince of the primates rise pretty soon + And find his own flock? (Oh) + Oh the Hermit of the Half Moon Rock + It's him and the hawk + Hauling up the vertical walk + Of the Half Moon Rock + Why don't you give him a knock? + Follow the trail of chalk + Up the Half Moon Rock + Up the Half Moon Rock + Up the Half Moon Rock + The Hermit of the Half Moon Rock +--- +Track: Oracle +Directory: oracle-your-majesty +Always Reference By Directory: true +Duration: 3:11 +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/oracle +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVHumukLgA +- https://open.spotify.com/track/6rAxSqrahsnWhdE4ppKet8 +- https://music.apple.com/album/oracle/1757139886?i=1757140100 +Lyrics: |- + Oracle awaken + Tell me where to go + The course of life has taken + Everything I know + Show me a tomorrow + Free from all the sorrow + I will beg and borrow + Anything it takes to make it so + + Oracle astound me + Tell me what's to come + The world all around me + Leaves my body numb + Show me a horizon + I can fix my eyes on + Destiny, it lies on + Distant shores beyond where I came from + + Oracle imbue me + Purpose for my soul + Something's running through me + I cannot control + Read the constellations + Share your observations + I could conquer nations + If you'd only show me, oracle +--- +Track: Breakers of Dawn +Duration: 3:41 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/breakers-of-dawn +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iOx5H6oOsU +- https://open.spotify.com/track/1y8sbfAuVLfMojBJp2izIg +- https://music.apple.com/album/breakers-of-dawn/1757139886?i=1757140101 +Lyrics: |- + Dawn calls to you + Rakes its ragged claws across the eastern sky + Day bursting through + All at once you're certain of the reason why + + The night and its terrible kingdom has finally gone + The nail of the crimson horizon has fallen upon + The breakers of dawn + The breakers of dawn + + Steel razors climb + Scatter 'cross the borderlines of no man's land + Cruel winds of time + Move the mounds of sacred grounds and shifting sands + + Where vultures and vipers lay waste to the lives of our spawn + Look to the few and the crazed who ride vengefully on + The breakers of dawn + The breakers of dawn + + They cannot be made, they can only be born + Proclaiming tomorrow has come with their horn + A power far greater than any could ever control + I know you have felt it for all of your days + The white-hot injection of turbulent rays + Which penetrates down to the depths of your undying soul + + Now turn the wheel + See yourself as seeing eye and as the seen + Break off the seal + Re-engage the light from where it's always been + + From fringes where faces of heroes and villains are drawn + We're graced to awake in a world which embraces their brawn + The breakers of dawn + The breakers of dawn +--- +Track: Your Majesty +Duration: 3:32 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/your-majesty +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUq1wMXqb8A +- https://open.spotify.com/track/5RQXeDG8PMymcypC7LIkeM +- https://music.apple.com/album/your-majesty/1757139886?i=1757140102 +Lyrics: |- + Every corner of the city's lined with shadows + Every stranger in the street averts their eyes + All the people locked away behind the windows + They're all waiting for a hero to arise + All the men remember days when they were stronger + Every woman hides a dagger in her gown + But you won't cover up your faces any longer + On the day when I come riding into town + + So put a light on in your window, put your face against the glass + Don't you know that I'm your hero? Won't you whistle when I pass? + I'll move a mountain if you just rely on me + I'll be the one you want to call "Your Majesty" + + Every year it comes with trials and tribulations + And all the answers are revealed to next to none + But I recall a time of grand imaginations + Long before you learned to say "it can't be done" + There is a storm to come that none alone can weather + But if you'd like to learn I'll gladly show you how + And in the days ahead we all will band together + For your liberator walks among you now + + So raise a banner from the tower when you open up the gate + Don't you know this is your hour? I have come to bear the weight + I swear I'll set your body and your spirit free + I'll be the one you want to call "Your Majesty" + + Now is the reckoning of wretches and the meek + For the champion that you seek is at your door + I'll rectify a world of impotence and rage + And not only for an age but evermore + + In times of trouble we are torn in all directions + You may be dazzled by the roads you travel down + Do not beleaguer in the burden of selection + You'll be lighter when you learn to lay your crown + I've heard the wailing of your city in the distance + I know the strain you must endure to still believe + But I could steer a steady course with your assistance + Toward the things that only power can achieve + + So now awaken from your slumber, wipe the worry from your brow + Don't know I've got your number? Can't you hear me calling now? + I'll make you one with wonders none before could see + I'll be the one you want to call "Your Majesty" + I'll be the one you beg to call "Your Majesty" + I'll be the one you dare to call "Your Majesty" +--- +Track: When We Take The Sky +Duration: 3:47 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/when-we-take-the-sky +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epr19iwqZzk +- https://open.spotify.com/track/79DVfwJJvA80OKkdv7AdeU +- https://music.apple.com/album/when-we-take-the-sky/1757139886?i=1757140103 +Lyrics: |- + There's love in the air + And I'm taking you there tonight + So let's hang like a key + Flying fancy and free from a kite + + The morning edition and trusted magicians + Say all the conditions are right + So up we'll be travellin' where they're unravellin' + Jupiter's javelin smite + + Climb up to the clouds + We're the few and the proud here tonight + (Tonight, tonight, tonight) + Indulging a dream + Like the smoke and the steam taking flight + (In flight, in flight, in flight) + + The evening papers can peer through the vapors + Which cover our capers from sight + (From sight, from sight, from sight) + Where static explodes from our five-finger nodes + Into plasmatic roads made of light + (Of light, of light, of light, hey) + + What a thing to behold + We'll be way up high + When we take the sky + + We've ridden the wheel + That hangs at our heels tonight + (Tonight, tonight, tonight) + There's dozens around + Who are holding the ground very tight + (Very tight, very tight, very tight) + + But cool are the cats who'll be hanging their hats + Way up here where the bats couldn't bite + (Couldn't bite, couldn't bite, couldn't bite) + Few mortals would dare to the mischief we share + In the throes of such hair-raising frights + (Such frights, such frights, such frights) + + So widen your eyelet + ‘Cause I am the pilot tonight + (Tonight, tonight, tonight) + And all those behind + May they pay me no mind, but they might + (They might, they might, they might) + + I've stolen away for an evening of play + And I wish I could stay at this height + (This height, this height, this height) + To linger the level where angels could revel + Or are these the devil's delights + (Delight, delight, delight, hey) + + What a thing to behold + We'll be way up high + When we take the sky + + At last we're descending + We're reaching the ending tonight + You're shook to your tail + And your lips are so pale, nearly white + + Let's go get some rest, it is all for the best + If the atmosphere's guests are polite + Again we could treasure a night of such pleasure + So long as the measure is slight +--- +Track: Overboard +Directory: overboard-your-majesty +Always Reference By Directory: true +Duration: 3:17 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +- Bonnie Maddox (accordion) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/overboard +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8ypGOYWxME +- https://open.spotify.com/track/3HbV2xPU2bN6KgWTPLyxG1 +- https://music.apple.com/album/overboard/1757139886?i=1757140104 +Lyrics: |- + Gentlemen, listen right now as I speak + I fear that this ship of ours has sprung a leak + The sea, she is coming to take us an inch at a time + It's roaring in faster than buckets can fill + I fear it's a matter of minutes until + From belly to mast we'll be deeper than any can climb + + And all of this now with the shore plain in sight + We might make it yet if the load could be light + But what sort of life do you think we'll afford + If we have to throw all that we have overboard? + + The gold in our coffers is weighing us down + We shan't spend a cent if we're certain to drown + And none can come with you at all in the life after this + So gather your treasures and cast them away + And if you are swift then I hope and I pray + We won't soon be up to our eyes in a watery kiss + + And if one among you at all hesitates + Remind them this is for the lives of their mates + But what sort of life do you think we'll afford + If we have to throw all that we have overboard? + + See now the spoils in motion + Straight to the heart of the ocean + Down in the drink, every glimmering piece + You watch as they sink while the waters increase + Just slow enough to renew life's intolerable lease + + At last we arrive clinging onto the sails + And leap to the dock when it finally fails + The ship where we spent seven months as we circled the globe + The price that we paid sure is awfully steep + Behind us the trail that shines in the deep + Could only be seen by an angler's most luminant lobe + + We came as we left now with only our lives + The glory is gone but the story survives + So what sort of life do you think we'll afford + Now we've had to throw all that we have overboard? + Yes what sort of life do you think we'll afford + Now we've had to throw all that we have overboard? +--- +Track: Venus Fly +Duration: 3:16 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/venus-fly +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm9sCOCvuUo +- https://open.spotify.com/track/00yJcVssMuPIS1kR85ey3I +- https://music.apple.com/album/venus-fly/1757139886?i=1757140105 +Lyrics: |- + Little fly, don't you die so easy + I know you only live a day + Weathered by the winds so high and breezy + Don't you let this evening slip away + Little legs hatch from eggs each morning (ooh) + Silhouettes hardly ever change (ooh) + Stomach begs the musky dregs adorning (ooh) + For a taste of something new and strange (ooh) + + Oh, open up your eyes + Can't you see you're falling for the venus fly? + Oh, won't you tell me why + You keep living like you're never gonna die? + + Little speck, don't you wreck your wingspan + The beating of which gives to you your name + Keep in check below your neck for things can + So easily be plucked upon your frame + Spiders crawling forest walls you've thwarted (ooh) + You circumvent the snatch of froggy tongue (ooh) + The birds who call from perches tall you've shorted (ooh) + But on this fang you let yourself be hung? (ooh) + + Oh, open up your eyes + Can't you see you're falling for the venus fly? + Oh, won't you tell me why + You keep living like you're never gonna die? + Never gonna die + Don't you know that it's a lie? + You were only passing by, for a try, another high + Now the jaws will never pry + + "Come and play," you hear it say so sweetly + Nothing else had ever been so bold + But where you lay it's had its way discreetly + With all the rest who never grew so old + The same disease that lures the bees to pollen (ooh) + Pulls you where no free thing should involve (ooh) + In the squeeze of this the tease you've fallen (ooh) + Now to feel your body be dissolved (ooh) + + Oh, open up your eyes + Can't you see you're falling for the venus fly? + Oh, won't you tell me why + You keep living like you're never gonna die? + Never gonna die + Don't you know that it's a lie? + You were only passing by, for a try, another high + Now the jaws will never pry +--- +Track: Merry-Go-Round +Duration: 3:02 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/merry-go-round +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtjNKebhdZo +- https://open.spotify.com/track/69YIvXKF1e0cau6feSDKwW +- https://music.apple.com/album/merry-go-round/1757139886?i=1757140106 +Lyrics: |- + There is an ivory horse + Upon a platinum post + Down at the bumper car breaks + Of the roller coast + Where all the riders go on + In an exotic parade + You were there long ago + While the organ played + + And although you aren't sure when + You know you will be there again + Upon the merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + + Out of the strollers they rise + Up to the saddles they crawl + To seize the world by the reins + Standing ten feet tall + I saw the mayor and his wife + Wearing their funny old hats + Sat in the carriage behind + With a herd of cats + + And they rose to the sound of the pipe + Which blows a peppermint stripe + Upon the merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + + Ah, merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + Ah, merry-go-round + + Many a person's lost in the crowd of faces + But up on your horse you're the star of the rodeo + Many a year you'll wonder just where your place is + But when you're there in the round you're certainly bound to know + + For when the lights flicker off + And all the riders depart + They are sure to return + When the new day starts + And though the faces have changed + It's still the same bumpy ride + You've seen it all before + And from every side + + And it calls you to climb up the stairs + Where it all still waits for you there + Upon the merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round + Merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + + Ah, merry-go-round (Merry-go-round) + Ah, merry-go-round +--- +Track: Charity Bizarre +Duration: 3:08 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/charity-bizarre +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljht21vJ0-g +- https://open.spotify.com/track/5rmtvbed6LYQoRNcH7ErAR +- https://music.apple.com/album/charity-bizarre/1757139886?i=1757140107 +Lyrics: |- + Oh, here it goes - they're all in rows + All the madames and mademoiselles + Decked to the nines and hanging signs + From the cupboards and carousels + The old bric-a-brac is out on bail + But you know as I that what's for sale + Is more than what's above the bar + + Charity Bizarre + That's all you are + You steal their hearts + But you never take it far + Charity Bizarre + + Oh, look at that - the tails and spats + They are lining around the block + A tip of the brim and you know him + He's aware what you have in stock + It's all for a very worthy cause + And last that I heard there were no laws + On doors getting left ajar + + Charity Bizarre + That's all you are + You steal their hearts + But you never take it far + Charity Bizarre + + The wives and widows play so posh + But this is not the Sunday wash + The price is high but the talk is free + Underneath the canopy + The lines we keep so clean and clear + Are just a little jagged here + Where dollars line the lips of mason jars + + What have we here? The auctioneer + Strikes the podium gavel down + Out goes the maid and marmalade + With the newcomer in this town + The school on the hill will lay its stone + But lest that the rest should leave alone + I'm sure that two will share a car + + Charity Bizarre + That's all you are + You steal their hearts + But you never take it far + Charity Bizarre + + Charity Bizarre + That's all you are + You steal their hearts + But you never take it far + Charity Bizarre + Charity Bizarre +--- +Track: Mister Mirror +Duration: 5:12 +Contributors: +- Bijan Eghtesady (drums) +URLs: +- https://bowman.bandcamp.com/track/mister-mirror +- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1MlnMBZ-4 +- https://open.spotify.com/track/1BaLM9gQ0EMvzog7sV8Rnr +- https://music.apple.com/album/mister-mirror/1757139886?i=1757140108 +Lyrics: |- + I have a secret power + That lets me change my face + Every bone in my body + Is replaced + + I've been the baker with his heavy hands + I've been the soldier in a foreign land + I've been every kind of person so very many times + I'm not sure who I was when this began + + I'm a copy, I'm a clone + I have no face of my own + And the mask I wear before you + Hides a fool who's all alone + You can call me Mister Mirror + Though I might not be a man + For the life that I am living + Is forever secondhand + + Secondhand + Won't you please understand? + + Oh it's a wild transformation + To move inside another person's skin + Still I remain in isolation + For the faces never fill the space within + + But if you'd like to see it + It isn't hard to do + Just reach over here and touch me + I'll be you + + Won't you let me draw you nearer + See yourself a little clearer + In the eyes of Mister Mirror + History's greatest disappearer + Bring to me the mouth and nose + The tensed brow, the fidget toes + The rib that aches, the heart that knows + The love and hate a lifetime chose + + I'll taste the sweet and bitter upon your tongue + I'll choke the smoke and glitter that glaze your lungs + I shall know you as no other ever has or ever will + Though I know that you could never do the same + + I'm a copy, I'm a clone + I have no face of my own + And the mask I wear before you + Hides a fool who's all alone + You can call me Mister Mirror + Though I might not be a man + For the life that I am living + Is forever secondhand + + Secondhand + Won't you please understand? + + I'm a copy, I'm a clone + I have no face of my own + And the mask I wear before you + Hides a fool who's all alone + You can call me Mister Mirror + Though I might not be a man + For the life that I am living + Is forever secondhand + + Secondhand + + So if you'd like to see it + You know what to do + Just reach over here and touch me + + Oh, won't you please just reach over here + And touch me |