StrawBerry Attic

I would like to introduce you to the new Sans-Serif Complex logo. Work on the album will begin very soon. I already have a potential album cover, posted on flickr. It may be called 'Paint Chips"

Hope everybody is having a good summer. I'm mostly bogged down with work and school these days.

"Eyelids Blossom Tulips" is sort of a trippy song mostly based on my love of a cup of tea, and other ideas sort of thrown in. I like the music in this one a lot.

The b-side is a song from the scrapped "hype!" ep project. It's an instrumental song that I feel is kin to Eyelids.

• Eyelids Blossom Tulips (mp3)
• bonus 7 (healthy carrier) (mp3)

Track 4 is now available. It's a noisy synthesizer freakout laid atop of frantic distorted piano and some driving drums, with a short break in the middle for a nervous interlude. Pick it up!

The b-side is just a little extra noise to get you through the day.

• Vegetable Scream (mp3)
• bonus 4 (thy last) (mp3)

Work continues on the Vacant Sky Parlor album "Octopus Zoo". I'm just making tiny tweaks here and there now, because the music is pretty much done. All that remains is to record the vocals. The lyrics are written for all but one song, not considering the instrumental track. "Anchor Light" needs more work on the words, but I am extremely happy with the music. If I manage to get time to record vocals and get them mixed in, then this album will be done and released at the end of summer.

In other news, my "Intro to Audio/Video" class is participating in the 48 Hour Film Project this summer. Or more specifically, this weekend. I'll be doing the music and be involved in the audio/music side of post-production. I'm also going to be with the rest of our team working on other bits as well. It's going to be a long and busy weekend.. with me completing the final draft of a essay in the middle of it. The movies for the 48 hour film are to be up to 7 minutes long, so I figure that means maybe 2 - 12 little pieces of music for the thing, depending on what all the thing requires. Whatever happens, I'll offer up versions of the songs for download in a couple weeks.

It's amazing complete most of the songs are. 9 out of 13 of them, actually. And then the 4 that are lacking vocals stick out and annoy me due to their lack of being done.

'Honey Lamb' is a simple song that I should be able to just record the vocals and toss them in happily. It'll take a 3 hours of work, probably, to get that done.

'Not a Drop to Drink' will take a bit more time, because I changed the way I am approaching the vocals from the way I had been practicing for months. So, it'll be tough to do them the new way. It's also a longer song, and more complex. Where 'Honey Lamb' is short and in one key.. 'Not a Drop to Drink' is about 3 times as long and goes through 4 keys, the one is only used for a few vocalless bars that make up the bridge.

'Octopus Zoo in the Sky' is only one key, and shouldn't take long at all. It's a musically strange song, I think.. even though it's 4/4 and one key the whole way. It's also a song I wrote when I was about 14, and this re-write is an exciting one. I love it.

The real beast will be 'Anchor Light', which is almost 12 minutes long. It involves one key change (though there's a disguised mass of modulations during that bridge) It starts in 4/4, has a 3/4 section, and comes back into 4/4. There are large instrumental sections, so that's good.. but some of the lyrics aren't even fully written yet. I've got pages and pages of notes and outlines for it though. In some ways, the song intimidates me.

That's the status report.
I'll post an mp3 of 'Gone Fishing' in a few days.

May or may not make the Feb 12 date, I'm trying.. but I start back at school on Monday.
Regardless a few of the songs have changed positions on the track list.

Vacant Sky Parlor : Octopus Zoo
tentative track list as of January 10, 2008
anticipated release : February 12, 2008


1. Lovely day
2. Sunlight Shines
3. Gone Fishing
4. Vegetable Scream
5. Halls and Walls
6. Not A Drop To Drink
7. Eyelids Blossom Tulips
8. Honey Lamb
9. Circles
10. Octopus Zoo in the Sky
11. Anchor Light
12. Tonight To Sea
13. Airborne Dreams of the Angler Fish