'Silly String III' - Individual Song Breakdowns ____________________________________________________________ “The End of Everything” (drum transcription) Quotes: 1:20 (violin, “He Slept Like a Maniac”) 1:48 (sax, “Coffee Terrorist”) 2:46 (guitar, “A Slightly Unfinished Sound”) 3:10 (guitar, The Adventures of Nerd Wolf,” bass, “Snarl”) Whilst composing the tunes, I typically made a margin-note correlating to the instrument/song quote. I am pretty sure that I may have forgotten a few and I’m having trouble placing what they could be, in retrospect. Anyway, this was the first tune that I wrote, commenced on 28FEB21. As one may be able to infer from the outset, the tapped bass riff was the initial spark. I don’t think any of my releases have begun in such a manner, so bonus points. I just love how everything crashes in, and alongside the displaced groove of the drums, sounds nearly uncontrollable, only to be amplified by the wild guitar melodies. The B section riff is when I knew that this record was really gonna kick ass… or at least this tune, hah! When switching to lyric-writing mode, I had read Daniel Quinn’s superlative Ishmael and—if memory serves—was in the thick of reading both volumes of Derrick Jensen’s Endgame. These texts, in combination with podcaster Paul Parkey Jr.’s rants on the environment, influenced me. And I always had Gabe in mind for a guest vocal, to either double me or harmonize. He delivered fantastically! Lyrics: The world is dead On our watch Selective dread And it’s scotched The world is dead Now for sports Distractive dreck Give me more Bellwether changed 12,000 years ago Landbase estranged, reset, extinct, afloat Corporate brain: denude the fat ego Re-program me Yearn to think free We’ll never stop “Cachinnating Fulgurations” (drum transcription) Quotes: 1:21 (santoor, “The Adventures of Nerd Wolf”) 1:23 (synth, “End of an Error”) 1:28 (santoor, “Overreacting Bad-Karma Boy”) One of the heavier, if not the heaviest, tunes on the record. So, an admission: I had—QUITE erroneously—started writing santoor arrangements prior to receiving it. I looked up information regarding the range of the instrument, but not the individual bridges, assuming some degree of chromaticism would be available to me. When I realized this whopping mistake, I had to resort to sampling the instrument, tuning the bridges up and down (depending on the note needed), which resulted in a few snapped strings sailing across my studio. Then, I programmed the parts, tracking only the B section of “Parvenu.” This failed/successful(?) experiment was one of the reasons prompting me to compose “The End of Anything,” but more on that later. The B section here features a single paradiddle ostinato on the feet, between the kick drum/pedal hat, with a quasi-displaced (it’s in 13) snare/floor tom groove. I dig how the groove of the D section finally straightens out at 1:47, and the brief pause 4 seconds later with a hint of santoor resonance peeking through. It was a hefty challenge playing the intro reprise even faster on the drums. The C section bass riff was also an almighty pain in the ass. “Lunacy” (drum transcription, percussion overdub transcription) Quotes: 1:59 (vocals, “Snarl”) The chunky, chordal bass riff in the B section was the first piece of this puzzle that presented itself. The A sections were a bitch to play on the kit and just impossible for me on the bass - it’s programmed. The chords on the synths during the quiet interlude intimate the chord pattern on the keyboard that follows. I think the rhythm section groove there (E section) is killer. Lyrically, this is essentially about going insane, replete with lapses into another language (Sinha’s native tongue, I believe, so it wasn’t too awkward!), childish gibberish, some laughter, and a violent climax. I adore Sinha’s performance in the powerful outro; even though she’s hitting those in-the-damn-stratosphere notes with aplomb, she also sounds as if she’s barely holding it together. It’s the exact quality that needed to imbue the performance. The little bit of German, translated: “I am one who cackles wildly / nocturnal pillager / society abhors me / the crazy motherfucker.” It makes me giggle to no end hearing Sinha sing “motherfucker.” Now I know why Zappa had so many ludicrous lyrics. Lyrics: Expiate my mistakes Unraveling cracked home springs Forthright spite, I’ll die tonight I’m feckless and reckless I’m clarion Roost in the noose, I need out before This trait escapes, I need out before La la la la, la La la la la la la La la la la la (laughter) Ich bin einer der wild gackert Nāchtlicher plünderer Gesellschaft verabscheut mich Der vōllig bekloppte motherfucker Expiate my mistakes Navigate frenzied haze Set ablaze all I crave Roof has caved Fountainhead “Knotted Saccade” (drum transcription, e-drums transcription) Quotes: 0:22 (synth 2, “Inextricable”) 0:46 (santoor, “Random Hajile”) Here’s a fun, bouncy interlude mostly in 11. Gotta love big, washed-out reverb-y endings. Re title, I was gonna employ the technique I used in naming some of the pieces on The Soundtrack of Nonexistence, with synonyms representing the songs that I quoted, but since one tune was named after a character from a video game I chose ‘saccade,’ as the rapid melodies on the santoor imply such a visual to me. “Sine Qua Non of Inscrutability” (drum transcription, percussion overdub transcription) Quotes: intro (vocals, “Chucklehead”) 0:28 (violin+sax, “Obstreperous Restriction”) choruses (all basic tracks, “Fleshier Glitch”) I had always been particularly fond of the dance-y choruses in the otherwise tech-fest that is “Fleshier Glitch,” and sought to incorporate them into a proper chorus, rather than a troll, heh. The intro repurposes the chords on the synth from the bridge of “Chucklehead” in a barbershop/doo-wop style, followed by a funky groove in mixed meter. I had Sacha in mind for the chorus, especially after he sent me final mixes for his third solo album. What a voice! And I knew he’d mingle with Sinha magically. The lyrics tackle solipsism in a bit of a piss-take. Lyrics (parenthetical words in chorus denote Sinha): Ba da ba, da ba da You don’t exist, I will resist And you spew lies I do exist, you will desist I will ply You don’t exist I muse, therefore I bruise You can’t deny I am solely responsible for me This is not blithe And I want you to know I don’t really care for you All that I am is everything and you’re (A) standing hologram Immaterial spectral sham All that I am is everything and you’re (Just) an illusion, fulfilling my delusion All that I am is everything and you’re (A) standing hologram Immaterial spectral sham All that I am is everything and you’re (Just) my own mirage, you won’t dislodge “Parvenu” (drum transcription) Quotes: 1:20 (synth+drums, “What Happened to the Pause Button?”) 3:08 (santoor, “What Happened to the Pause Button?”) After filming some drum improv, I nicked some bits to formulate the intro, which features rapid-fire linear fill-ins, the synth+santoor in lockstep with the snare rimshots and the kick synching with the guitar+bass. It then settles into a fat groove based off of the stabs. After doing a session for a project entitled Irradiant, I asked Tom if he’d like to contribute some vocals; I also requested a separate track of various screams, which I used to layer with my own before he enters. I gave him a reference track for the “conform” rhythm. There are some very sub-bass-driven growls in both sections with vocals, which more or less sound like me impersonating Dr. Claw. Speaking of the aforementioned inability to recall quotes, I think the santoor is quoting a melody at 1:40; the bass riff there was something I had in the archives. When finishing up composition, I contacted good ol’ Pete P to gauge his interest in doing a geetar solo, and boy howdy am I glad he didn’t decline. Ripsnorting! Lyrics: I will never conform I don’t owe you anything Made my bed with broken springs Furtive glow despite your show Awed by fraud, your legion of dopes “My Umbra” (drum transcription) The B section bass riff served as the initial bit of motivation. The whole tune is based off of those notes, which comprise an eight-tone Spanish scale (in B). I inquired Alexander about playing a solo for the A section and he sent me two or three and I comped ‘em. I can’t place any quotes here, but something is nagging at me saying there’s at least one - perhaps the big unison fill at 2:21. The song is about unrequited love. Lyrics (parenthetical words denote Sinha): Daylight pours on your face I no longer want to see you ‘Cause I see me Upright, pulled open Goodbye: unspoken anew Keepin’ you out, the guilt shouts August, yet faltered Flawless: I’ll call her until she’s real My head, steeled with dread Tonight’s tall order (cannot refuse, I will not settle) Pyrites, disorder my own (cannot refuse, I will not settle) Sleep alone (own selfish needs, I don’t know what’ll please) I cannot cope (but I know I won’t cope) “The End of Anything” (drum transcription) Originally, I’d planned on making a 7-track extra-extended EP, like Fall and Response, as nearly everything (composition-wise) was finished up in March. I even tracked the drums, bass, did large-scale synth production, and bounced out stems to generate the main mix sessions. But once the santoor arrived, I had realized my blunder, gotten through sampling it, and was able to sit with it and simply play it, ideas started to flow. One morning, I was timing 11-tuplets and 13-tuplets, immensely enjoying the inherent challenge of transitioning between the subdivisions—brutally compounded by the short distance between the bridges—as well as the beautiful little melodies I was pulling out. I decided to write a piece starting with this concept, beginning on 11JUL21. The piece ballooned, featuring synth, bass, and marimba solos. Gabriele thought the nightmare was over, mwah hah hah! As much I like to wage psychological warfare on my session musicians, I do like to reward them at times as well; e.g. giving Sophia all of “Redux” to do whatever she’d like, extending a solo spot to Alexander in “My Umbra,” etc. This was my tiny olive branch to Gabriele. (Please don’t take anything seriously, we all had buckets of fun). Anyway, he sent three solos and I used one in its entirety - no comping needed. The middle section from 4:39 - 7:10 is pretty trippy. I set up an ambient-esque canvas in which to draw drum+santoor improv atop. The subsequent part, which sets up the bridge, features a theremin that I layered much later and is heavily processed. Both of these sections feature vocal embellishments with reversed audio. There’s another outlandish synth solo with a wicked (programmed) bass line, and then it’s back to the A section. The chord progression for the Big Rock Outro came to me as a whole, while working at my side job. I voice-memo-ed it, then later transcribed it and added vocal melodies. The album would have—literally been, but also—felt so empty without this piece, and particularly this section. I think it provides the ultimate bookend. I asked my friend Anusha if she’d voice-memo herself saying, “This is the end of everything, and anything. The world is dead,” in Farsi. I comped the best take (which is also in the middle section, with reversed audio and a robotic effect) and placed it at the end. Apropos! Lyrics: This is the end of everything, and anything This is the home that you betrayed, we could have stayed This is the end of everything, it’s all been bled Felicity enshrouds me The world is dead

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