Hard to believe that I composed this song over 10 years ago, and this recording is largely untouched. I wrote it early 1999, during the height of the Y2K craze. Remember Y2K wasn't just about computers potentially shutting down, but also about the possible end of the world as well.

Writing this in the early part of the year, I tried to write a song that captured both the jubilation of a 12/31/1999 New Year's event in Times Square, but with an undertone of impending doom. 

I had thought about extending this tune and adding in explosions, riots and landing alien spacecraft as the clock strikes 12. But the song just fades out as the crowd counts down to midnight. The end of the world will end with a whimper, not a bang, right?

PS - the guitar riff during the breaks (kind of hard to hear) and outtro is the classic "Motown riff" I first learned many years ago by way of Yes's Trevor Rabin and the song "Owner of Lonely Heart."

Enjoy!

Vertical September -  Goodbye Times Square

Gingersuite is a short piece that I composed entirely by "playing" the Soundprism Pro iPad app. Soundprism Pro (on iPad) is sending five MIDI channels out to Kontakt 4 running on my MacBook Pro; Kontakt patches include Double Bass, Timpani Roll, Violas, Flutes and Harp. All data transmited wirelessly from the iPad to Macbook over adhoc network.

Vertical September - Gingersuite

The Right Angle comes from years of a steady diet of The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. This song is an interlude between two other songs (which I haven’t written yet…). Make sure to listen to this one with headphones on. Interesting note: there are three guitar tracks in this recording, and everyone one of them is a software instrument, played on keyboards. Conversely, all of the synths – and the synth lead during the break around the 1:10 mark – were played on guitar (via Roland guitar synth). PS – Thanks to Inara for the awesome vox. ;)

The Right Angle

Cliff Martinez’ score of the Solaris soundtrack is one of the most incredible listening experiences I’ve ever had. I love how he ping-pongs those mallets and bells. “I Remember Something He Said" is a stab at composing a tune in that vein.

Written and performed by Joe Stallings

Vertical September - I Remember Something He Said

When you make generative music and you type "Brian Wilson" into your computer, this is what you get.

Vertical September - Only Brian Wilson Knows God

Vertical September's cover of "Coming Up" from Paul McCartney's "McCartney II"

Coming Up (Paul McCartney)

Having some fun with a remake of Pink Floyd's "On The Run," using Konkreet Performer for the iPad to control and modulate an (emulated) EMS Synthi. Tools used were Logic Pro, Reaktor, Maschine, Osculator, sound effects, and of course Konkreet Performer.

For a video showing the iPad interface, check out http://bit.ly/jaQwAK

Vertical September (feat. Dr. Drew and JSJR) - (Still) On The Run

This is a one-take cover version of Pink Floyd's "Young Lust" from the album "The Wall."

Young Lust

Looking out the window
What have we become?
Everybody’s making war, 
And nowhere left to run

People pointing fingers
Trying to find someone to blame
And someone used a digit
And the bomb changed everything

(Chorus)

Maggie’s still in Belfast
Able Archer is still in the news
As I gaze out over the L.A. skyline
Neunundneunzig luftballoons

We were already walking
On a paper-thin sheet of ice
When the Distant Early Warning line
Gave us all cause to hide

Jenny, head to the shelter
We have to move on soon
We’ve got to prep the shuttle
For a bike ride to the moon

Did anyone ever consider the notion
That our misguided potions
Would end up costing us
All that we could lose?

And the bomb has changed…everything.

The Bomb Changes Everything

First mix of track #2 of our upcoming album, "The Bomb Changes Everything"

Jenny Lane (First Mix)

Earth (First Mix)

The Sun Still Shines (First Mix)

Is It Real (Draft Mix)

Unbreakable

The End (Beatles Cover - Instrumental)

I'll date myself and mention that the original version of this song came out when I was 13. While I've never really been a Phil Collins fan, I've always kind of dug Genesis, and this song, especially, has a creepiness that I've thought was kind of interesting. So here is a complete remake for 2011.

The specs: 24 tracks, I played (or programmed) everything here. Started out with a metronome set at 84, and built up the drums, then the synths, and then everything else. One exception - I found an isolated recording of Phil Collins' original vocal track for Mama, and paired it with my performance. Pretty cool - felt like Phil was in the band! 

As always, headphones are recommended as I like to throw in a lot of stuff that sometimes doesn't come through on speakers. Also listen out for Collins' patented "gated reverb" drums effect which I tried to replicate when I start playing the live drum part around the four:12 mark.

Drums - for the programmed beats, I used stuff from Logic Pro's library. I'm not a huge fan of the acoustic kits in the Logic libraries, but I found the synthetic / electronic drums to be pretty awesome, especially when using compression and EQ. For the live drums at the end of the song, I played through a Yamaha DTX kit with a ton of gated reverb to get the 'Phil Collins effect' (most famous in his song, "In The Air Tonight"). I've also got some timpanis going on after the first chorus.

Synths - one of the reasons I chose to recreate this particular song was because I just got NI's Retro Machines MK2 synth library and was looking for an early 80s song (that I could stomach...) to try out some of these vintage synths on. There are nine different synths I used here, most from Retro Machines, but I also used Absynth and Lazerbass (Reaktor).

Effects - The most prominent effects are Tim Exile's The Finger (used on one of the rhythm tracks during the synth solo, around the 3 minute mark), and the wild effects on vocal tracks at the end of the song (Traktor 12). The more subtle effects are a few tape delays on some of the rhythm tracks. The lead vocal track already had a bunch of reverb baked in, so I left it mostly as is.

Guitar - Guitar is sparse, but you can hear it in parts. I used my beloved 1985 Fender Stratocaster ("Andy"). It is running through an Apogee Jam to my Macbook, using Guitar Rig 4 and a modified version of the Rammfire Lead A Pro preset.

Vertical September - Mama (feat. Phil Collins)

This is our coverix (cover / remix) of “Disturbia” by Rihanna. Aside from Rihanna’s acapella, all of the instruments were recorded from scratch and performed by Vertical September. We did something similar with “Mama” be Genesis a few years ago (https://goo.gl/kj0821).

We thought it would be fun to re-record “Disturbia” using some of the instruments that we use a lot in our own songs, including Mellotron, Clavinet, congas, Hammond organ, and live drums. Of course, no Vertical September tune would be complete without wah guitar, a David Gilmour brick-in-the-wall rhythm riff, and a guitar solo played on a guitar synth through a Rammstein rig. :)

So we took a great, modern R&B tune added favorite 60s and 70s instruments and set the whole thing to an 80s vibe. A beautiful, hot mess.

Disturbia (Rihanna Coverix)

The name Epimetheus comes from the Greek god (or titan) Epimetheus (or hindsight) who was the brother of Prometheus (foresight). Together, they represented humanity. The craters on Epimetheus include Hilaeira (who was a priestess of Artemis and Athena) and Pollux (who was a warrior in The Illiad and who carried off Hilaeira).

Epimetheus (Parts I-III)

Princeples is an instrumental dedicated to Prince. Prince has played an enormous role in our lives -  not just as musicians, but as human beings.

We started this song by firing up a Linn LM-1, programming a beat, and noodling on the guitar and bass. We later added horns and acoustic drums, and capped the tune with a wholly-unworthy nod to the closing guitar solo from “Let’s Go Crazy.”

This 3+ minute song includes a few different unique sections. Here are the Prince songs that influenced this particular tune (in somewhat of the order they appear in the song): America, It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night, Girls & Boys, Computer Blue, Batdance, Tambourine, Mountains, and Let’s Go Crazy.

#RIPrince

Princeples (Prince Tribute Song)

"Carine's Letter," from our Fairbanks sessions recorded in 2000 which also included "Wake Up Dreaming" (https://soundcloud.com/verticalseptember/wake-up-dreaming). This album was based on Jon Krakauer's book, 'Into The Wild.' 

Carine's Letter

Faded Moon

Part Scott Walker, part shoegaze (outtro). A difficult song to listen to, but an essential part of the album concept.

In The Company Of Stars

This was a soundcheck and (home) studio warm-up for our album "In Glorious Black & White" (https://open.spotify.com/album/3rHgToY6pEo7oRYEobXaoJ). 

Empecemos

"Sit here, while I go over there and pray."

This instrumental with an Eastern flavor features the new Animoog synth for the iPad by Moog. I was poking around with the Animoog, and thought the particular preset I was playing with sounded good with an Eastern-type scale. I played the Kaval via the iPad (using Pianist Pro, going into Kontakt) as well. Drums were played via my Yamaha DTX kit.

Vertical September - Garden of Lost Souls

We gonna tell your fathers
You been messing around
You think you're all tied up?
You ain't the only one in town
We gotta get you to some place
We call The Crunch

You better hide your problems
We gonna scout them out
Ooh you better git it girl
And rock everyone around
We ain't got no problems
Inside The Crunch

We gonna scout the whole city
We gonna talk all that talk
We gonna make up a ditty
Sell it to Dr. Salk
Did I catch you solving The Problem?
Inside The Crunch? 

Well now I've told you the story
All the ins and the outs
And now it's all up to you babe
Are you in or you out?
Cut to solve your problems
And come to The Crunch

The Crunch

We cranked out this quick cover of one of our favorite tunes of all time, "Love's Theme" by Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra. The original song (which came out in 1974) essentially established the blueprint for disco, which was still a few years away. One of the rare, genre-defining tunes, and a tune that has inspired us for many years. Enjoy!

Love's Theme

[Call to the Creator]

Barum shira fa

[Commentary]

Darkness - my constant friend, my true beginning & my certain end
Solitude - my soul's only food, simply mend & wash away my sin
My sullen mood - baptized by blood of fools
Will shift the winds - until we meet again
Be still my love - we shift from powers above/of love

Hold me close - we'll surely meet again
In cosmic realms, within our shallow minds
We'll reach the path - which can't be tracked by time 
But we shall see - tragic unspoken words 
That beckon me - to distant thoughts of Gayatri (The Cosmic Creator)

[Statement of Commitment]

Be still my friend (Dena mera atma / bless my soul)
Is this the end? (Gayatri, Gayatri / the cosmic creator)
Be still my friend (Dena mera atma / bless my soul)
Is this the end? (Gayatri, Gayatri / the cosmic creator)

[Epilogue]

I should have told you long ago
But it's hard, to just let go
But I'm…letting go

Brian Jones

Commodore Mack

Thanks everyone for your years of support. We are always looking to collaborate with other musicians - send us a note!

Note that (most) all of our tracks here on SoundCloud are demos, outtakes and/or alternative takes. For "finished" tracks, please visit us on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.

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