Muzak/Karaoke Tracks

The following is an excerpt of an email sent from Art to Max on 19 October 2015.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Art:

Hope you're doing well! Long time, no see! 

I'm swamped as I often am during the school year, but I had a good idea, especially if you're not swamped. 

I was thinking of doing some fundraisers where we just invite select people to my home or other people's homes and have a "freewill offering." Instead of practicing a ton and making major mistakes anyway, I had the following awesome idea (inspired in part by the concept behind Maria Bamford's The Special Special Special): 

You create muzak/karaoke tracks for a good set list of Arthur White songs. Ideally, use a heavily produced, saccharine, polished sound. You can add your own "spin." Late 90's keyboard sound, nothing vintage or cool. With my voice and content, this will assuredly be disturbing without resorting to any Nine Inch Nails high jinks. I'm talking like this synth break that comes in Palace's "West Palm Beach," but even more immersive, that is, no implied irony/critical distance. It's like an attempt to be optimistic and uplifting in a socially appropriate way that ends up being so inappropriate--all the more inappropriate for trying to pretend like it was appropriate in the first place! If you could get some awesome canned backing tracks, you could also play guitar over the top and I would just get wheeled into the room and sing the songs. I've talked about this idea before in the blog post about Pino Marelli. A couple up-tempo disco numbers would be good as well! 

I actually had a chance to see Will Oldham (now Bonnie "Prince" Billy) do a set a lot like this in Chicago, where he just pressed play on a tape deck and it played horribly "uplifting" synth/muzak versions of his songs while he attempted to play along with his out-of-tune guitar and flawed voice. It was so disturbing and satisfying at the same time! I did a similar thing back in the 90's, recording my songs direct to my Wurlitzer Funmaker tape deck. You might be able to find a cheap MIDI option where you can just plug in the chords and mess around with the voices.

Max:

It's great to hear from you! I've missed our Tuesday sessions, but I've been really busy with drawing and film studies and yadayadayada. Also, I enrolled in a drawing class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at LCC, but that is ending a week from now. But hopefully I won't be any less busy because ideally I'll just fill that empty space with more drawing, as I am trying to get really really good. That being said, I am really interested in this "house show" as us youngsters like to call them. With my class done, I'd like to open up more time in my schedule for music. I got some really good software with some really great sample instruments which, though they may be too cool for what you are talking about, could be of use in this next endeavor. I'll attach a video of a short little track I made with it so u can get an idea of what it can do. The program would also be of really great use in rehearsals if we ever get those started again! But anyways, just to be clear I am down for this show! It's sounds awesome.