Here's a strange one - I'd received a request to cover Smoking Umbrellas by Failure, a sort of Grunge-anthem style song, which is written with all kinds of strange chords which sound great in dropped tuning and distorted amps...but not so much with straight singing and piano.  

I probably tried this 6 different ways before settling with this version, but I almost had to rewrite the chord structure based on the vocal melody to make it suit a piano/vocal cover style.  
The verse is in A Harmonic Minor, while the chorus moves to A Major, making it really push and pull between two different feelings.

I went for a watery-sounding style as the song is about being trapped in a fire, which I believe was influenced by the film The Mirror, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.  I could be wrong - please correct me if I am!  haha

I wanted the cover to marry the theme of Fantastic Planet (French film for which the album was named) and The Mirror into the song itself...which I think I did, but that's up to your discretion. 

Please enjoy!

Smoking Umbrellas

My cousin had a baby and I made a song for that sweet lil thang!  Photo is of my dog out of respect for their privacy.

Little Lassen

Inspired by a video posted on Instagram by Moby.  I liked the chord progression, so I ran with it!  Less than perfect, but fun to make.

Remastered 4/20/19

Demo-lish Your Thoughts

Autopilot

AutoPilot

Practicing some better mixing after a Music Production Analysis class at Berkelee College of Music - I feel like I'm honing it in.  This song describes a dream I had that I can't shake years after I had it.

Chimera Demos

Lemon

I made this while on a trip to NYC - I had to make a relaxing track which captures a part of me for a Music Therapy & Wellness class at Berklee College Of Music Online.  I could only accomplish this in an instrumental form using my iPad, but was pretty pleased at the result.  Definitely a soft form, maybe I'll shape it up into something else one day.  Photo is of an art exhibit at NYMoMA by Adrian Piper: A Synthesis Of Intuitions.

Cloudlife

Demo-lish Your Fears EP

Taken

All made by me on midi keys.  Painting in the photo is by Danika Cauthen-Wright.

I listen to a lot of murder podcasts and this kind of came out of that through a filter of my own experience...along with having a stuffy nose.  Somehow, t's easier to sound dark when my nose is stuffed, so I went for it.  Just letting songs fall out and catching them here...enjoy. ;)

Still

A morning vitality meditation inspired by The Art of Possibility by Ben Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander.

Alaina Musich

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