Nilatir

The A-side to the Disconap 7” record.  Probably dating from around 2000.  

This was my first attempt at “real” lyrics, and while I can’t say it holds up too well, I’m still partial to it for purely nostalgic reasons.  And yes, the fact that it spells ‘ritalin’ backwards was my ham-handed attempt at being clever. 

Nilatir by mattmarque

I will feel so good when you’re gone.

This isn’t the first song I ever wrote, but it’s close.  I’m actually a little embarrassed by it from my vantage point of over a decade.  Still.  

I will feel so good when you’re gone. by mattmarque

From the out-of-print demo tape ‘Lightbulb, Fork, String.’

Department of the Interior

I’m actually excited about this one. Like everything else, it needs a ton of work, but I think it’s starting to resemble a real song. Or at least it will if I can find the right vocal melody.

I’m including the original loop for comparison’s sake, since there’s a fair amount of changes that have occurred since I wrote it. (Warning—it hasn’t been trimmed, so it’s basically 7 minutes of the same thing with a short coda at the end).

Incidentally, the original loop was featured in a short student film which I have unfortunately lost the link to.

Department of the Interior by mattmarque

This Dream I Had.

First song I started working on after Nothing Personal, and I’m still not sure what to make of it.

It’s really just an extended part, so it’d need a lot of work before it became something I’d want to sing over.  I’m including it here mainly because I keep forgetting about it otherwise.

This Dream I Had by mattmarque

A Darkness in the Glare

Here’s another one I’m working on.  Apologies for the audio in some places, as well as the lack of vocals.  I’m still trying to nail down the overall framework, so a lot of this is still a rough sketch.

On the one hand, I like the speed of the final version, and the way the bell/chime sound comes back in towards the end.  On the other hand, the second half seems forced and ‘samey,’ and is missing the drastic shift of the second version.

As for the super early version, all I can say is that I like the guitar that comes in during the verse, but I’m not sure how to steal it and incorporate it into the later versions, so I may just abandon it altogether.  

Incidentally, A Darkness in the Glare was going to be the title of my next record.

A Darkness in the Glare by mattmarque

You Who Enter

Somewhat of a before/after of a song (tentatively) called You Who Enter from my upcoming record.  The original draft lacks vocals, organ and embellishments, but I figured I’d include it here anyway.

I should also note that the final version here isn’t actually final, because it still needs to be recorded in a proper studio.  More of this hereafter.

New Recordings by mattmarque

P.S.  You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to ‘seat’ that crash in the second, more complete version.

Oh My Darling

I wrote this song when I was 20 or 21.  The actual title, if memory serves, was ‘Flip and Fuck,’ and was a reference to a friend’s oversized (and eminently collapsable) red chair that doubled as a bed.

I’m not sure when I started referring to it as Oh My Darling, but it was probably not long after seeing the words Flip and Fuck in print.

It was originally the B-side to the Disconap 7” which is still, astonishingly, for sale.

Oh My Darling by mattmarque

Steal this business model.

Ever since picking up a copy of The Baffler in High School, I’ve taken a keen interest in the record industry. The actual mechanics of it I mean. How records are made, how they’re marketed, etc. I’m certainly not the first to make the observation that the music industry doesn’t so much resemble a mature, vibrant enterprise as an incomprehensible foreign soap opera, what with its bizarre plot twists and recurring scandals.

And I admit I’ve kind of enjoyed seeing it slowly cannibalize itself. But these days, watching the music industry flail around like a drunk is getting old. Depressing even. I can only snicker so many times at RIAA website defacements before I start feeling sorry for them. They just can’t help themselves. Like other vastly more knowledgeable people than I have pointed out, the industry is changing and it seems like the last to realize it is the industry itself.

Which is a shame, because it sure is an exciting time. You don’t have to do things the Old Way anymore. Bands have figured out how to make it outside of the system. Every week new distribution models are popping up. Vinyl is back from the dead (again).

And so in this spirit of willful abandon, I’m giving away my latest record for free. There’s absolutely no strings, no coupon codes to enter or signup forms to leave a fake email address on. Just click the link and woop, there it is. The entirety of Nothing Personal.

If you want, you can download each track separately, or you can also click the link at the bottom and download it as one big compressed file. (Careful, it’s about 75 megs). I’ve encoded it with LAME at 256K variable bit rate, which is about as high a quality as you can get with MP3. It’s yours. Do with it what you will. If you want to put it up on Bittorrent or Limewire or The Pirate Bay or whatever the kids use these days, you have my personal word that I think that’s awesome.

If you want to seed it to Usenet, or burn CDs of it only to throw them into the lake during the climax of a Wiccan ceremony as you pray to the four elves of the Magic Forest, be my guest. Because really, I want you to hear it. It does me no good to keep it locked up inside CDs that you’ll never hear.

Plus, let’s be honest: I’m small potatoes. In a given month, the amount of records I sell absolutely pales in comparison to bands like Radiohead or even, probably, Milli Vanilli. So even if I set up some sort of pay-to-download system, the amount of money I’d make from it is not worth the hassle of making you jump through hoops to get it.

I don’t consider this a bad thing. I never really expected to make money making records anyway. For one thing, it’s an astoundingly expensive pursuit. Just to record Nothing Personal alone cost me $5,000. I had some help from the label of course, but I also contributed my own money because it was important to me to be able to make a record in a fancypants studio, with nice gear and with wonderful, patient people.

The other reason why I’m doing it this way is because, well, I think it may actually be a good business move. If my calculations are correct, the more people who hear your music = the more people who might one day potentially want to pay for it = the very slim but intriguing chance that you may one day be able to make a living at it. Radiohead gave away In Rainbows for free and they still sold a metric fuckton of actual records when it went on sale “officially.” (It helped of course that the packaging wasamazing).

Speaking of, you can always buy the actual Nothing Personal CD, too. I personally like to own a hard copy of whatever I have on my computer, but your mileage may vary. I toyed with the idea of including a donation link via Paypal, but really, I don’t want your money. Just your ears. Just for a little while.