Now I've managed to whipsaw in the other direction, with a tape I estimate to be from circa 2010, surely one of the latest in this series of tapes.
But this is closer to what I was looking for: not mumbled half-ideas from 1997, but completed (or nearly so) songs that never received even a rough demo beyond these tapes. Big finds are: "People Playing Games," "Did You Ever Get the Feeling?" "Counting Cans," "One Cloud Over," "Ulysses," and the verse of "i take the bus every day" - (lowercase indicating a song with no official title).
Something pleasant that this tape helped confirm is that my songs have gotten better over the years. I'm not trying to recapture some golden age from my youth, because my golden age is still on the horizon (the one in front of me). It's pointless to ignore the powerful role that mortality is playing in this project, goading me to direct my otherwise fathomless energies into remaining immobile on the floor, gargantuan headphones atop my head (Samson SR950s), while inching my way through these tapes (some of which will be substantially more tedious to endure than this one).
Ok, yay Crab Stanzas, and yay 2010!
2/12/2017
Reclamation Tape #1: Random Ideas Whilst Lounging (Creativity Blooms)
So, I chose to begin the project here although I guessed (correctly) that this tape predated that era that I was most interested in re-mining.
I may have been too eager to anoint these snippets as being worthy of follow up; I have an awful lot of these marked down for further review. But really, I think there are just two serious takeaways from this tape: "Looking for Angels," and the partially uncovered "Reno."
Doubtless, there are other good ideas here, but no better than what I could whip up today, so why bother?
I may have been too eager to anoint these snippets as being worthy of follow up; I have an awful lot of these marked down for further review. But really, I think there are just two serious takeaways from this tape: "Looking for Angels," and the partially uncovered "Reno."
Doubtless, there are other good ideas here, but no better than what I could whip up today, so why bother?
Reclamation Tape #16: Solid Waste (Stew-Fueled Miscalculation)
This was something of a disheartening experience, not only because of the dearth of decent tunes, but because my casual mention (barely heard in a palimpsest-y portion almost completely recorded over) of John Geilgud's death marks this tape with cruel precision as having been recorded (at least partially) in May 2000. That's a while ago.
There are some lost studio efforts in here, including a completely forgotten song we will refer to as "Anisette" - which isn't worth recording again. There's a proto version of "End of the Reel" which has the title "Steps" here, and different lyrics.
Otherwise, the only unrecorded songs with any bounty on their head are "In defense of all I ever believed," which I remember a bit, and "California," whose lyrics I actually wrote down in one of the two codex that serve as my lyrical guide through this journey. The former earned one check mark as a possible future patient; the latter, none.
There are some lost studio efforts in here, including a completely forgotten song we will refer to as "Anisette" - which isn't worth recording again. There's a proto version of "End of the Reel" which has the title "Steps" here, and different lyrics.
Otherwise, the only unrecorded songs with any bounty on their head are "In defense of all I ever believed," which I remember a bit, and "California," whose lyrics I actually wrote down in one of the two codex that serve as my lyrical guide through this journey. The former earned one check mark as a possible future patient; the latter, none.
Reclamation Project
After a brief ten year lull, I'm reviving this blog to track the ongoing Chuck Zak Reclamation Project whose goal it is to rescue unrecorded and forgotten gems from the Oxford Boy past and bring them to some kind of wholeness.
This effort consists of trawling through the mountain of worktapes I've managed to hold on to these past two decades, even while I've surrendered just about everything else to the abyss. These tapes are all titled on their case, with a subtitle on the tape itself. I'd like to at least post once per tape, though now that I'm fully 16 tapes into the project, I have to consider grandfathering in some of these recordings.
At least, I want to find the recordings of a few particular songs I know I've written and get them down in a more professional manner. If, in the course of that effort, I discover other tunes I've completely forgotten, that will be gravy.
Ideally, I'd love to resurrect the feverish productivity I enjoyed when last this blog was active. If I lower my recording standards, and commit to at least a decent recording of guitar/vox, that might be possible. But it would be criminal to ignore full productions altogether, as my skills in that area have only gotten better over the years.
Another important goal is to rerecord as much of the half-assed versions of good songs I've put down, the raw files of which were lost in the infamous hard-disk crash of 7/2007. Songs like "Another World" or "Your Hell" which suffered various fatal flaws - easily remedied if I had only remembered to back up those files before the drives died - and which now exist in only infuriatingly imperfect versions.
We'll see...
This effort consists of trawling through the mountain of worktapes I've managed to hold on to these past two decades, even while I've surrendered just about everything else to the abyss. These tapes are all titled on their case, with a subtitle on the tape itself. I'd like to at least post once per tape, though now that I'm fully 16 tapes into the project, I have to consider grandfathering in some of these recordings.
At least, I want to find the recordings of a few particular songs I know I've written and get them down in a more professional manner. If, in the course of that effort, I discover other tunes I've completely forgotten, that will be gravy.
Ideally, I'd love to resurrect the feverish productivity I enjoyed when last this blog was active. If I lower my recording standards, and commit to at least a decent recording of guitar/vox, that might be possible. But it would be criminal to ignore full productions altogether, as my skills in that area have only gotten better over the years.
Another important goal is to rerecord as much of the half-assed versions of good songs I've put down, the raw files of which were lost in the infamous hard-disk crash of 7/2007. Songs like "Another World" or "Your Hell" which suffered various fatal flaws - easily remedied if I had only remembered to back up those files before the drives died - and which now exist in only infuriatingly imperfect versions.
We'll see...
10/09/2007
The sybilline
From the geographic center of heartbreak [2400 e. Dauphin, apt. c] comes the Sybilline.
The song is admittedly unworthy of the subject, but it's a start...
The song is admittedly unworthy of the subject, but it's a start...
8/01/2007
The genie
Let the Genie bring your summer to a close with an appeal for a happier future, and a cautionary tale. The appeal is rendered in chords and keyboard arrangements uncomfortably similar to the song "Visions of Joy" from electronica duo The Beauty Room, but it's certainly not actionable, similar more in mood than melody I guess. "Melt the guns" is the message.
It's also the song that ushers us into a new era, forced upon us by the painful crash of a hard drive that took oodles of precious data with it when it passed. And yes, I reformatted, so it's really gone. "Back up your data" is the lesson learned.
It's also the song that ushers us into a new era, forced upon us by the painful crash of a hard drive that took oodles of precious data with it when it passed. And yes, I reformatted, so it's really gone. "Back up your data" is the lesson learned.
7/01/2007
On the clock
When it comes to searching for new and uncharted pop hooks, the Oxford Boys are always On the Clock, which is coincidentally the name of this month's song.
6/10/2007
5/04/2007
As an American, I support the idea of oversized portions, whether it be in the form of a loaf of bread with an entire pizza inside it, or a pop song. Dark Places is just the latest battle in the war against less-is-more, one with it's share of weaknesses (the keyboards in particular needed some re-recording), but one worthy of the Oxford Boy imprimatur regardless.
I squander an allusion to Joeseph Conrad, but do manage to reference the 60's one-minor-hit-wonder Every Mother's Son and their tune "Come on Down to My Boat." I thought I might've ripped a riff off from them, but it turns out not, though I'm not saying some small theft did not occur.
I squander an allusion to Joeseph Conrad, but do manage to reference the 60's one-minor-hit-wonder Every Mother's Son and their tune "Come on Down to My Boat." I thought I might've ripped a riff off from them, but it turns out not, though I'm not saying some small theft did not occur.
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