Au Revoir
All about the melody, really. A tune about saying goodbye to things. To a part of my life and also to 11 tunes that have been sitting in my head and on my hd for far too long. So goodbye to all of that.
Deadbeat
The idea was to have an arrangement where the chords in all 3 channels segue into a 2 channel version and make way for a lead. I had it sitting on my hd for the longest time, just making minor alterations to the melody. And so, very close to the release date, I had to test cramming that arrangement into only 1 channel, to enable dual lead voices. I think it worked out well and gave the tune the finish it needed.
Living4Love
If you haven't spotted the obvious cover yet you don't really know my preferences and discography. During the last year Living For Love by Madonna has been my mantra, while trying to climb out of dark places. So it makes sense that I had to make a SID-version. What made less sense, however, was mashing it up with two other Madonna-tunes, Masterpiece and Get Together. I used an arrangement without traditional arpeggios and instead played around with a detuned harmony and 2 channel chords.
Minnesota
This is the first tune that I made for the music disk. I've always wanted to do a tune named after one of the states and this seemed appropriate, since it was pitch dark outside, freezing cold and late December when it happened. A bit like Minnesota in the winter. The backing harmony climbing down the scale symbolizes the falling snowflakes, and the long, sweeping lead symbolizes something like looking out there and searching for something, maybe a warmer place.
Monumental
A small medley from my heroes Röyksopp. Ruk had been nagging me to try to make a decent cover of their collaboration with Robyn, Monument. I don't know about decent, but using a sync lead felt appropriate for it. At the time I was also madly in love with Running To The Sea, so I snuck that in. And finally I had the crazy impulse to add Poor Leno at the end. Some great tunes to start with, and my cover hardly does them justice.
Nine Lives
This is one of the last tunes I finished for the music disk. The title has two meanings. It was the ninth tune I did and it is also an expression of hope. Yes, bad things will happen and you will feel like dying. But that's just one of your lives, and there's at least eight more to go. The arrangement is rather simple, but I really like the second time that chorus comes around and there's a vague backing vocal merged into the bassline in channel 1.
Northern Star
The title track of the music disk, chosen because it epitomizes the music that I've done these last twelve months. Originally titled Hypothermia, which is the process of freezing to death - once again sticking to the theme of cold and ice. Focus is on narrative, melody and structure in a tune that spans over 7 minutes, taking on a few new shapes along the way while staying true to the theme. To extend and really take my time with each of these tunes became something of a mantra after Northern Star was finished.
The Universal
A 17 year old worktune that was reinvented for this music disk. Another composition where I first feel that I've really come up with something structurally - to later find out that it's the traditional Tin Pan Alley-song structure of verse, verse, bridge, chorus, with the same lead figures making a tonal transition from pensive minor key in the verse to triumphant major key in the chorus. Very universal composing, actually.
Treble Heart
Another medley, this one from the by then unreleased and leaked demos of Madonna's album Rebel Heart. Borrowed Time got a shuffle speed make-over, Wash All Over Me something more dramatic and finally there's the title track Rebel Heart. Much like the Cycle tracks, this was me exploring and rediscovering melodies I really like trying to glue them back together in new shapes.
Unwanted
A more sombre and wistful version of the soundtrack to Uncensored. Done to showcase the actual theme and melody, by removing some of the gimmicks and sections that were there more as illustrations for demo effects. The bassline from Giorgio by Moroder is lifted from Daft Punk. The rest is a composition that I am proud to call my own. Music and melodies which will hopefully live on for a long time.
Zero
One of the last tunes I finished for this music disk and an obvious upbeat choice for a closing track. An exercise in composing layer-on-layer to combine different hooks and chords giving the illusion of more than 3 channels. If someone has never heard a tune from me, this would be an ideal first tune to play as it really screams Dane throughout. Or what do you say? |
