Taking Stock

Eleven songs in and I’m as charged as ever to cover more REM. Listening back to these tracks, I can’t ever stop wincing at my own voice. Mixing the vocals on Frequency so low makes it the easiest re-listen to me. Though the final electonic section of Hope is another standout for me. Same with nailing the Backing vocals on My Most Beautiful.

Biggest lesson is that I can make these tracks sound perfectly fine using only Garageband. I never was able to use GB effectively and it felt so limited as a DAW. While it’s not neatly as powerful as DP or Protools, it can do all the same things. Plus, it’s usually eaiser to collaborate with GB since anyone with as Mac has it.

One thing I will do before continuing is to chage up some of the song list. At this point, I have sixteen more songs on the list. I was staying away from piano lead songs as I don’t have a real piano. After getting a decent result from a half out-of-tune piano, I want to add a couple more in place of others. I have a friend who has a piano I can use for a couple of these. Small upright and likely out of tune a bit, but I know it will work. “Perfect Circle” and “Don’t Go Back To Rockville” are definately getting in there.

So, to get them in there and still finish this project a couple will have to come off the list. Unfortunately, this will have me kicking off two late-period songs. “Discoverer” and “Supernatural Superserious” will be getting the boot. It’s most unfortunate since that was my only track off of “Collaspse”. Seems appropriate since that and “Around the Sun” are the only two of their albums I have never owned a physical copy of. Plus, this means I’ll have to do another round someday 8 )>

Updated Songlist:

  • “Sad Professor”
  • “Leave”
  • “Sweetness Follows”
  • “You Are the Everything”
  • “Turn You Inside Out”
  • “Finest Worksong”
  • “Exhuming McCarthy”
  • “Begin the Begin”
  • “These Days”
  • “Driver 8”
  • “Don’t Go Back To Rockville”
  • “Harborcoat”
  • “Pretty Persuasion”
  • “Radio Free Europe”
  • “Perfect Circle”
  • “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcar)”

Next Song

Driver 8