Category: Virtual LP

Back in high school I was lucky enough to have two excellent friends who were also great musicians — Heroic Imp and SKP. They’d jam, and I’d make up some words — insta-tunes, written and recorded in one night. And that right there was my introduction to the idear that writing and recording music is good for the brain.
Post-high school, sometime around 1987, Imp and I were at his Jersey City pad, most likely suffering an MSG hangover. He took out the 4-track, guitar, bass, and drum machine, and we wrote up a little homage to country-singing-legend-and-sometime-movie-star Mac Davis.
When we were done, musta been after midnight, we switched on the tube and there was the man — Mac himself — in North Dallas 40. Imp recorded a sample on the spot and then went back to his Tascam to work it into the tune.
The result has been on a cassette in various closets for 17 years or so. But this weekend I finally figgered out how to turn cassettes into MP3s — surprisingly easy once the plug is in place. Easy and kinda like magic.
Thus it is, that all these years later, Mac Davis rides again. Giddyap!
Press Play to play.
playtime: 2:07
file specs: a scant 1.9 MB

There was music there. Musicality, I like to think. And there was a little guitar. And enthusiasm. “Say! Say! Say!”
And there was that kid, that funky funky kid — and that unusual groove. What was her deal? It like she was clear-channeling.
And then there was the last one. The one who seemed to understand it all. He summed things up. He broke things down. And the rest of us just tried to keep pace.
Me? Me I’m still not sure. Of anything. Ever. Except this: we call it Zibby Zabble. Because really, what else could we call it?
Press Play to play.
playtime: gone in 25 seconds
file specs: a scant 400K

For this week’s tune, I sent bass and a pair of keyboard tracks to Yaniv Soha — my frequent co-conspirator and the recently ousted former CFO of yanivsoha.com. Yaniv added vocals and atmospheric guitar and, hey presto — here are the results. (If the music sounds a little familiar, those bass and keyboard tracks also show up as the back up band behind Dan Mummert’s excellent The Lotus Eaters, over on Monkey Vortex Radio Theater .)
Press Play to play.
I liked Yaniv’s lyrics so much I thought I’d include them here for your reading pleasure:
Downed Them All

   come down like the rain again
rain down like the fall
come down from those asian drugs
you downed them all

   catacomb stalls
soft decay
soft-spoken calls
shades of grey

   you drown them all

And that’s the name of that tune.

Here’s a wee thing (voice talents: eb and xian) — 26 seconds of sound, a 415K mp3. It’s a scrap. A found object. A thin slice of terror. And, as an added bonus, it’s also an almost entirely misleading trailer for an upcoming Monkey Vortex Radio Theater feature entitled: “I, Baby Robot.” Enjoy. And watch the skies, -CV
Press Play to play.

As we ramp up production here at the house of Vortex, I’ll be aiming to post a tune every week or two. Today’s is a collaborative effort recorded a few months back and written in the key of Leon Russell. As ever, it’s on the fairly small side (1.3 mb), download-wise.
TV’s Yaniv Soha contributes all manner of haunting notes and noises. Be sure to drop by his site for more of that distinctive Yaniv-Soha-style rock ‘n roll goodness.

I think most of us have been there at one time or another. I know I have. And I don’t mean that metaphorically either.
Here’s a piano/vocal song about those times, and what we were thinking. And maybe even a little about what we were feeling. Standing there. All banana-handed.
It’s less than one meg, not even 900K really. Because you deserve a quick-downloading song about being banana-handed. What with all the good works you do. So enjoy! And watch the skies, -CV
Press Play to play.
playtime::56 seconds
file specs: just south of 900K mp3

Here’s an instrumental thang that I’ve been noodling around with for the last week or so.
It goes kinda like this: da da da da, da da da — blinnngggg, da da da. Oh, ya know, it’s a wee thing. Hardly even a meg. Why not just download the tune fer yourself and hear this haunting melody the way it was meant to be heard? — with sounds….
Press Play to play.
playtime:1:03
file specs: just south of 1MB mp3
Breaking news: Lyrics for Double Agent of Love are currently being developed by a small but well-trained army of underpaid worthsmithies working under the watchful eye and toe-tapping heel of xian. Look for the altogether vocalized version, coming (fairly) soon to a cecilvortex.com near you.

As a follow up to our smash hit “Bye Bye, Blackbird, here’s the second in a continuing series of occasional piano/vocal jazz standards plucked from bygone days. This time, we’re headed all the way back to 1921 for “Second Hand Rose,” written by Grant Clarke and James F. “the F stands for foot pedal, sonny, and don’t you forget it” Hanley.
This track features lead vocals by eb (of “Clowney“ fame) and and lead German-style vocals by Eileen Dahl (of “Love“ fame).
playtime:1:07
file specs: roughly 1MB mp3
Thanks for listening…

I’ll be posting a few (usually fairly short) tunes up as we go. Some solo multitrack homebrew this and that. Some long-distance musica-collabarativo. And the occasional piano/vocal jazz standard from 1926.
Here’s the first tune out the gate, a piano/vocal jazz standard from 1926: “Bye bye, blackbird,” written by the great Henderson and Dixon.
playtime:1 minute or so
file specs: roughly 1MB mp3
how to:right-click on the song name and choose “Save Target as…” to download the file. Or just click on the link and wait a minute or so for your player to come up. If it’s jumpy, give it a sec, rewind, and play again — that’s just the file loading in.
Thanks for listening…