#61: Monochrome - Songs Along the Y Axis

An Old Chaos #2

Last week’s announcement about the new record (Monochrome) catapulted me into a frenzy of organization. Ok, maybe that’s overstating things. Let’s just say I finally got my shit together. The material—files of lyrics, recordings and voice memos—had been strewn across multiple folders, subfolders, programs, codecs and hard drives. It was a mess. But they are strewn no more. I’ve stared down the beast of digital proliferation and won, for now. Everything has been distilled into one folder, called “New Record 2024”. I know, really boring. But when it comes to naming folders, accurate and descriptive is what you want. It’s also good to keep the folder out in open space on the desktop, away from other folders that may swallow it whole, and where it may be watched over by some 15th-century renditions of biblical figures. Anyway here it is, on its way into the starboard door of Noah’s Ark. And yes, this really is my desktop.

Noah’s Desktop

The tidying up did not end there. On a roll, I created an elaborate color-coded spreadsheet. I love spreadsheets. They calm me down, so I’ll jump on any excuse to make one. A couple of examples: phone calls or emails owed, to whom and how long it’s been. It’s a very large spreadsheet. Another one is called “The Guitar Situation”. Enough said. I also use them for writing. Plug in a bunch of words, give each its own cell, and then go wild with the filter and sort functions. I can’t say anything mind-blowing has ever resulted, but it has yielded some interesting juxtapositions. The main thing is, I just love messing about in spreadsheets. The quality of the concentration required feels similar to that of editing—not writing, editing. Everything in its place. And given the pathological clutter that reigns everywhere else in my life, the spreadsheet (like a text or a chord progression or a melody) is a refuge and an opportunity to create a little bit of order.

The Y axis is a list of song titles—one song, one row. Each column of the X axis contains an instrument/musical event: voice, guitar, bass, gas can, palm frond. Once things start filling up I’ll add comments (“more palm frond!”) and color coding. Big fun. I’m not going to show you a picture of the spreadsheet yet. It’s empty. But here’s a pic of the folder open, now much too large to fit through the starboard door:

So where do things stand? There are almost 30 songs along the Y axis. Some of them you’ve heard here (Tactical, Did I Hear Wrong, Here Comes the Zephyr, Let’s Build a Fire, Almost, Progress and Mortar). Others I haven’t posted for one reason or another. Then there are the fragments (in the subfolder called “On the bench”. A few of those you’ve heard here (Other Blues, Hymn, and the The Adaptor).

Production-wise, this will be a bi-hemispheric operation. In Buenos Aires I’ll be working with David Bensimon and my youngest son, Martín Shindell. My long-time collaborator Greg Anderson will be joining in from Beacon, NY. Tomorrow we begin. I think we’ll start with this one, attractively titled “Tapping Progression #5”. It needs

some work still. But with any luck it will make it through the door.

An Old Chaos #6

A couple of final comments. First, many of you will have noticed that this post is just like all the others in that it’s accessible to all, paid subscription or not. As I announced last week, this post was supposed to have been the first in which a demarcation was made. But it appears I have no idea how to do that. I’ll work on it this week. For now, we all remain in the same boat.

And lastly, a note about the black and white (or monochrome) photos. They were taken this week during a late afternoon walk around a nearby Laguna. The sun was tremendous. It was an epic walk. But there’s no connection to the record other than the fact that they are, like all the photos I’ve been taking recently, in monochrome.

Until next week,

Richard