B IS FOR BUPEK: MISCELLANY BY KUPEK http://www.radiomaru.com/kupek SONG NOTES 10/10/2006 1. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE BECAUSE THERE IS NO EXCUSE Recorded solo Was a title before it was a song. Had a million rewrites. Was going to be on "Awkward Songz" but i couldn't fit it in, and then the files accidentally got deleted, so it just exists as this mp3 (recorded spring 2004). Later got rewritten as "Story of my life", but I think this version stands up pretty well. It has one or two fascinating musical moments. 2. YOU JUST DON'T EXIST (Plumtree cover) Recorded solo Recorded around May 2005. A cover of one of my favourite Plumtree songs. Kind of an experiment to see what it would sound like as this silly piano vamp, like a Todd Rundgren version of the song. This song has an astounding number of tiny signature changes and stuff, and the beat was difficult to program, but it was fun to make. 3. REFRESH ME (demo) Recorded solo Written and recorded in spring 2004. I have since rewritten the lyrics a bunch, but I deleted the files for this one and I really like how it sounds, and I don't know if I'll ever record the new version. This is one of the first things I recorded when I got my own keyboard (Korg X5). 4. I'LL NEVER BE A PILOT (Honey Dear song) Drums - Ricardo Malondo Bass - Mark Sonnen Guitar - Leah Boucher Guitar - Joel MacMillan Keyboard/singing - Bryan Lee O'Malley Backup chorus - Everyone (plus Greg Miller) In 2004-2005 I was in a band called Honey Dear, and this was the one I contributed to our first batch of songs. It's kind of a nonsense nursery rhyme about being completely lethargic. Recorded fall 2004. 5. NOTHING COMPARES 2 U (Sinead O'Connor / Prince cover) Recorded solo I did this one in late summer 2002 when I was feeling exactly like the song says, so there is no irony in my delivery of it. I always liked this song, and I think my arrangement of it is pretty okay, even if I recorded it rough and sloppy. 6. SONG FOR SOMEONE (2004 remake w/ 2006 remix) Recorded solo One of the earliest Kupek songs (written fall 2000). Cheesy but occasionally beloved. I re-recorded it in early 2004 when I did a few other remakes, but it was kinda lacking until I remixed the beat and stuff in 2006. Now it's the definitive version of a cheesy old song. 7. SLEEP AWAY THIS HEART CONDITION (demo) Recorded solo Written in February 2003. A re-recorded version was almost included on Awkward Songz, but I ended up liking the demo version better and I dumped the final one. 8. SHE'S AN INVALID Recorded solo Done around May 2005. This song is some kind of x-treme metaphor for something else. There's a nintendo beat in there sampled from Totally Rad or something. 9. KLEPTO (cover of a song by Jacob) Recorded solo One of Jacob's older songs. This version that I made eventually led to us doing Awkward Songz together, I think. Recorded probably early 2003. 10. COUGH DROPS (demo) Recorded solo Done in early 2004. I was probably listening to a lot of Gram Parsons and stuff, because this song is very countryish. I like the wall of dubbed vocals at the end. 11. NAUTICAL DISASTER (Tragically Hip cover) Recorded solo Done in December 2002. I had the idea of doing like a folky cover of this Tragically Hip song that I used to like. I think Gordon Downie is a genius, etc. 12. NOT A SONG FOR ANYONE (2004 remake) Recorded solo Done in early 2004 as part of my set of remakes, but it didn't turn out that great so it's only seeing the light of day now. I remember writing this song (in summer 2001) on the front lawn, in the middle of the night, and I couldn't really see to write, so the lyrics are scrawled all over the place. 13. STILL FEELING BLUE (Gram Parsons cover) Recorded solo Done in early 2003, around the same time as "Klepto". I think this song ended up defining the sound of the Vanilla Dome EP. It's kind of a sketch. My harmonies in this recording are completely terrible, but it has some energy. 14. SWEATERWEATHER Recorded solo Co-written by Joel MacMillan This was one of the later Honey Dear songs that we never recorded. Joel wrote the chorus and I wrote the verses and we structured it together. (The ending jam part was one of the best parts of being in Honey Dear, although my version here is very restrained.) I adapted the song a bit, adding the totally emo bridge part. And I put in some wind sounds from Final Fantasy VI, for whatever reason. Was originally going to be on "Before the Beginning and After the End", but the album was overlong and this one didn't fit too well. 15. WALLS (Tom Petty cover) Drums - Paul McNabb Guitar/Tambourine/Backups - Joel MacMillan Keyboard/Singing - Bryan Lee O'Malley One night in the summer of 2004 we got kind of drunk or something and recorded this absurd Tom Petty cover. I love this song, and our version is almost solid, despite being silly and having a terrible tambourine solo in the middle. 16. SHE'S AN INVENTOR Recorded solo Written and recorded around May 2005, and kind of remixed in January 2006. It's another x-treme metaphor song and it goes with "She's an Invalid". I like the floaty quality of it paired with the dirty electronic rhythm section. This one was inspired by a Honey Dear jam and was originally going to be a Honey Dear song, maybe. 17. CATS Recorded solo Written and recorded in fall 2004. Kind of a jokey song, but with feeling.