So since my next musical output will most likely be the Songs for Autumn EP, I thought it would be nice to let you all in on what I’m working on for the EP. It, obviously, will be a little more tranquil than Songs for Summer, because fall is all about tranquility.

Well, one song is pretty much done. It is slated to be a duet with my friend Kira, and it’s called “In the Autumn.”

I was going to put up a link to a rough demo of the track, but in some magical instance that may never be repeated again, I pitch-shifted the entire song up an octave, and I totally love it.

So I present to you, In the Autumn, totally pitch-shifted.

Enjoy.

I opted to pick a new blog template today only because I tend to be long-winded, and I thought it would be better if my blog was wider, to accommodate my long-windedness. I guess it doesn’t matter one way or another; a lot of words is a lot of words, no matter how wide they are. But this template is a little easier to read, too, mostly because it’s so damn simple.

Right now I am hunkering down and bracing myself against the economic fallout that is currently happening. I’m lucky, I suppose, in that I didn’t lose my job, because I didn’t have one to begin with. And my brother and his wife have jobs that aren’t likely to disappear any time soon. Plus I’m not totally unemployed — the play I’m in will pay (though I don’t know how much), but that’s in a few months. I need work now, and all the good jobs are on hiring freezes until the economy gets better. Add to that all the spamjobs on Craigslist, CareerBuilder, Monster, etc, and you can see the predicament I’m in. Fortunately, this time it’s not just me. Thousands of Americans are feeling the hit from this crisis, and instead of mellowing them out, it’s making them paranoid. This is a bad trip, my friends. A bad trip indeed.

I have a lot of music to prepare for an album. I think the Songs for Autumn EP will be first, since those are relatively easy to record. Also, my brother has a camera set up for YouTube videos, so I may record some music videos (not as good as L’il Jon’s, though, sorry) and upload them in the next week or so. See, I’m busy with stuff that doesn’t make me any money. This is my problem.

Speaking of that, I ought to go write some songs.

Warning: long post ahead.

I started the 50/90 challenge on July 1st; it is now Oct 2nd, and the challenge is over. I “won” — I ended up submitting 52 songs total (just like a deck of cards!), each with a demo, whether it be a full-out demo or just me strumming a guitar. For the record, the 52 songs are as follows (told you it would be a long post):

01. Exposed
02. The Gov’t
03. Suicide
04. Manslaughter
05. Simon, Go Home
06. Song for Plasma Lady
07. Singing My Song
08. He’s Not Mine [Meg's lyrics]
09. Still on Board?
10. Porcelain Garden [Meg's lyrics]
11. HLL – Cut Coupons
12. HLL – Ellie Mae
13. HLL – A Million Things
14. HLL – Something
15. HLL – Wam-Bam-Boom
16. Sad Song at 3am
17. HLL – Railway Train
18. Nothing Less (The King’s Conquest)
19. HLL – Lady’s Lace
20. HLL – Chicken Bone!
21. 911
22. HLL – Dance, Hipsters, Dance!
23. HLL – Nothing Left
24. Reputation
25. HLL – Black Socks & Birkenstocks
26. Katerina Sokolova
27. Zadebce-Kolonia
28. HLL – Diana
29. HLL – The Laundry Blues
30. The Theremin Song
31. Aaron vs. the Tornado
32. I’m Finally Here!
33. Drunk Party Love (O Madeline!)
34. Puffy Red Hands
35. Davy Crockett [w/Debs]
36. KoT – Rant on the Corner of 82nd
37. KoT – This Home
38. KoT – I Need the Sun
39. KoT – Union Station, 2pm
40. Expired ID
41. The Fifth Element
42. The Paintress, Searched For
43. Solipsizing
44. What I Was
45. The Josh Belville Show Theme Song
46. Too Naive (to Be in Love)
47. Thank God It’s Over
48. A Toast to the Wicked and Wretched
49. Elephant!
50. HLL – The White Whale
51. The Evil Singer-Songwriter
52. Goodbye, Everything I Loved

Damn, that is a lot of songs. So now what the hell do I do with them?

Welllll… Some songs have already been put onto other albums. Most of the AK EP is there. A couple of Songs for Summer tracks.

At this point I have enough material for three albums. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “SLOW DOWN,” and I couldn’t agree more. One of those albums is a Here Lies Laika album, which will be put indefinitely on the back burner until I can find an adequate band to record those songs. This leaves me with two albums: one being a “me + guitar” album, the other being more of a “band” album, with drums and bass. Three years ago I would’ve just released both of them and called it a day, but today I am all about the All Ighty Ollar, and so this month, October, will be spent remixing, rerecording, and getting ready to release a proper album. I figure it will be released around Novemberishish.

The “Internet Album” which I have been speaking about for some time now is going to be released September 30th, to coincide with the deletion of Songs for Summer (or, rather, the heightening of it to buy-only status, or whatever). The album itself will be called How I Remember You, which I just realized tonight is precariously similar to Steve Goldberg’s EP, How I Remember Them. But mine is named from a song and Steve’s isn’t, so I decided it was okay. Truthfully, I couldn’t think of a damn name for this album and I still don’t think How I Remember You is the best title, but it’ll do. I’m not good at naming things, I guess.

The cover art looks like this:

I know, really original and unique, right? It fits, though, and I think it looks kind of almost rustic in it’s simpleness. Plus it’s cool cause of all the pictures on the top. I’m remembering them, you see? You see?! Carmen will be pleased, since she is clearly visible in that one photo.

The tracklist is a mixture of unreleased stuff and tracks from other projects. It looks like this:

01. The Audition Song
02. Baby, I Ain’t Comin’ Back Home
03. How I Remember You
04. To an Old Home
05. Horror Movies
06. Rant on the Corner of 82nd
07. The Compleat History of British Naval Warfare in Ottava Rima
08. I Wanna Dance With You
09. For Elsie
10. Simon’s Death March
11. Darlene
12. Denial
13. This is All A Dream
14. Henry Meloy
15. The Confabulators Theme Song
16. Better
17. It was Too Cold and Now It’s Too Hot and I Hate It
18. Love On Pointe
19. Next to Ganymede
20. The Angel and the Lemon Tree
21. The Goodbye Song

Will there be bonus tracks, you ask? Does the Pope shit in his funny hat?

Uh, yes, yes there will be. But I’ll let you find them yourself.

Anyway, September 30th! And How I Remember You will be the ONLY album that is for free over the internet. All previous and subsequent albums (including the new, post 50/90 album) will be for sale in the merchandise section of my website. So if you want a brief rundown of the type of music I write and sing, How I Remember You is a great place to start.

So stay tuned for that!