A day of song production work. The final layout for the album is now set. I ended up creating or toying with about 25% more tracks than were actually used in the end. The provisional track list is now:
I'm In Love With My Car
American Lawyer
Go To Bed And Miss Me
Excessive Consumption Has Laxative Effects
Pictures On My Telephone
A Gift Freely Made
Style Guru Fashion Queen
Mister Moan
Incomplete Version Of The Writer
An Autumn Tale
Cat Parasites
Cat Covid
Burning Meat Outdoors
Thinking About The Cats I Used To Know
Of the discarded tracks, some just didn't quite fit and may end up being used in future. 'Rock And Roll Is King' needs more work on the production side, and didn't fit thematically. 'Walls And How to Hit Them' is fine, but the theme doesn't fit the album, I'll certainly use it in future. 'What Happened To All The Good News' is half complete and needs more work.
Burning Meat Outdoors is itself an older track, dating from The Dusty Mirror era. I spent a few hours today adding to it, though it was largely complete anyway.
The song's mood is joyous and upbeat in every way. One inspiration, apart from the Kimono-era Sparks, was Polythene Pam, as evident in the brevity, energy, and limerick-like (but not exactly!) lyrics:
I've been burning meat outdoorsburning meat outdoors
I serve it with a sticky sauce
and wait for the applause
I've been burning meat outdoors
cooking in the sun
people don't like eating it
but burning it is fun
I've also started a second version of Pictures On My Telephone today, this time very sleazy and synthetic. The other version used a 'live' played synth-acoustic bass, in a vague emulation of Heartbreak Hotel, but it was too short. It needed an instrumental middle section, and I thought would work better sequenced anyway. I chose a heavy synth bass inspired by Genesis' Squonk, and have spent a few hours making and rejecting various backing parts on the Microkorg, a synth I love as much as ever.
I spent some time getting the MIDI working on the Microkorg. After trying version settings I discovered that the MIDI Clock Send in Sekaiju was causing problems. Once switched off, it was fine. I tend to record best live anyway not using MIDI. I don't know why, because I then start to pick little things I want to change, and wish that it was a MIDI sequence! This time I've recorded about 5 or 6 full backing parts, and like them all, but want yet more control, so I may completely resequence some.
I'm all packed for the long-awaited day of mural painting tomorrow. Months of planning for a (hopefully!) easy job. Deborah is too ill with a flu-like virus to be with me. I miss her. My mum will help me carry things and watch over the site. I don't need help with the work, but being alone on the site presents problems, so I'm lucky to have help.
