The decision has been made. The next piece we will record will be Watchers!
Watchers is actually quite an old piece that pre-dates Nth Degree, taking us back to the days before Michael and I even listened to progressive rock/metal, not to mention many of the other genres that we now love. In 2005, I decided to take it and transform it into something proggy. Both of us absolutely loved the result. However, many subtle but intolerable errors in the original recording, as well as some tricky guitar parts which we doubted we could find a guitarist to play, caused us to abandon the idea. We've both missed the piece and longed to do it properly ever since. So, last weekend, we finally decided to just damn well do it! :)
Instrumentally, this piece sports a very cool mix of funkiness (Rhodes, cool piano cords, organ, beat skipping and crazy accenting), catchy synth melodies that get stuck in your head and a synth solo in the middle with a huge, dark, gothic backing (pipe organ, choir, etc.). We're still discussing the finer details of the vocal parts, but we think they'll be fairly eclectic and dynamic, featuring a mild jazz vocal influence and, of course, the usual Nth Degree obsession with harmony. We're both very excited about this piece - it's been years since we first envisioned it and we're very keen to be finally making it a reality.
Stay tuned for more news soon!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
An update, finally!
So 2010 has begun with a vengeance.
It is already late February, seemingly only seconds after we released Everything is Fine, when in fact it has been several months. Oops!
Whilst I have been home, sweltering in the Brisbane summer heat, Jamie has been freezing himself into an alto in the dark, snowy surrounds of Europe with his lovely new wife, Jennifer, who you will know as the person with the beautiful voice in a number of our songs. Despite getting married, travelling overseas and getting sick from time to time, Jamie tells me that he has had a couple of new ideas, one of which I have heard; it was inspired by his sky dive that he performed on his Buck’s day. It features massive harmony in the Sieges Even style with a fast piano backing. It’ll certainly be interesting to see where that goes!
I have a couple of songs on the go and, as usual, they’re dark, depressing and not finished. One of the pieces is a 6/8 cutie in f-sharp with parts of it reminiscent of Elton John’s or Billy Joel’s playing styles. Odd but true. The lyrical subject-matter is a discussion of religion, which will be interestingly contentious. It always is where religion and politics are concerned isn’t it? The other piece hasn’t coalesced in my head as yet so I’ll hold off talking about it until I know where it is going.
Jamie and I have also been writing a piece together, which is tentatively entitled “Midnight Train”. I like it. It leaves me feeling cold and slightly anxious of what might be creeping up behind me… who said expressionism was dead!
We’ll be in touch soon. We are working, we are trying, but sometimes – sometimes – the weeks move too quickly.
It is already late February, seemingly only seconds after we released Everything is Fine, when in fact it has been several months. Oops!
Whilst I have been home, sweltering in the Brisbane summer heat, Jamie has been freezing himself into an alto in the dark, snowy surrounds of Europe with his lovely new wife, Jennifer, who you will know as the person with the beautiful voice in a number of our songs. Despite getting married, travelling overseas and getting sick from time to time, Jamie tells me that he has had a couple of new ideas, one of which I have heard; it was inspired by his sky dive that he performed on his Buck’s day. It features massive harmony in the Sieges Even style with a fast piano backing. It’ll certainly be interesting to see where that goes!
I have a couple of songs on the go and, as usual, they’re dark, depressing and not finished. One of the pieces is a 6/8 cutie in f-sharp with parts of it reminiscent of Elton John’s or Billy Joel’s playing styles. Odd but true. The lyrical subject-matter is a discussion of religion, which will be interestingly contentious. It always is where religion and politics are concerned isn’t it? The other piece hasn’t coalesced in my head as yet so I’ll hold off talking about it until I know where it is going.
Jamie and I have also been writing a piece together, which is tentatively entitled “Midnight Train”. I like it. It leaves me feeling cold and slightly anxious of what might be creeping up behind me… who said expressionism was dead!
We’ll be in touch soon. We are working, we are trying, but sometimes – sometimes – the weeks move too quickly.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Everything is Fine Released!
We're pleased to announce that Everything is Fine has now been released! Yay! Michael already gave a summary of it in his previous post, so there's nothing left to do except download, enjoy and spread the word. You're also very welcome to tell us how good we are and perhaps even donate all of your worldly goods to us...
You can grab it on our Demos page. Direct links: mp3, ogg vorbis.
You can grab it on our Demos page. Direct links: mp3, ogg vorbis.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Everything is Fine!
So, on 5 September 2009, Jamie and I practically finished our latest piece called Everything is Fine. All that remains to be done is to finalise the mix. It is unlike anything we have done previously. For starters, it is actually a happy song! And, believe it or not, it has hardly any violin in it. Oh, and it has no guitar. Yay for the keys!
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