I am a Digital Goddess!!!

Yes!! I figured it out. And my apologies to my Scrabble friends at the Internet Scrabble Club for not being as attentive as usual. I've been lurking there, watching games and chatting while testing out various programs and finding my old songs to convert to readable formats. So instead of adorable pictures of my cute kids from their younger years, my desktop is now cluttered with shareware that can turn my mpeg4s and wavs into mp3s. Do you have any idea how this has tranposed me from a lowly nerd to a haughty geek? I thought I was totally analogue. Phew!


It has been brought to my attention that while I'm so busy heralding the accomplishments about others or the world around me, very little is actually known about my art or music. I am not the most forthcoming and am a very private person, believe it or not. So I will try to describe the music. Pardon moi if I do not divulge about the "why" of my songs and instead focus on the "how." Just easier for your humble blogger.


Before I go on, let me add that I decided to post the above picture of multi-instrumentalist Al Watsky (left), me and SoCalled (right, with corned beef sandwich) so that you would not be bored with what I'm about to talk about, namely, me. It was taken on Yona's phone last summer in Riverside Park, NYC. I also want to mention that SoCalled is an amazing guy. If you do not believe me, then check out his "These Are the Good Old Days" vid on YouTube. Ouph/e! See? There I go again. Distracting you.

Okay. About me. Um, my "myspace" is very much under construction and needs tons of work, but you can check out three of my songs at www.myspace.com/guitargirl4scrabble. Pictures? Another time, amigo. First thing's first.

There you will find:

1. Tonight
2. Birds Can Swim (Fish Can Fly)
3. Lord of the Universe

They come from various places in time and space. "Tonight" was originally an uptown Bronxy doo-wop until Denis Keldie gave it a Barry White mojo feel and slowed it down dramatically. The instrumentation is low- to no-tech and includes a huge chromatic harmonica, acoustic guitar bass, and a Moog synth. See what else you can recognize in the layers there. It's a Protools recording, made in Denis's basement.

"Birds Can Swim (Fish Can Fly)" is inspired by Shalom Aleichem who asked, "A bird may love a fish, but where will they build a house together?" This song attempts to explore that. Because I think a lot of birds out there ended up with fish and face a lifelong balancing act. This was recorded at Wellesley Sound in downtown Toronto with great people like Denis, Dennis Pendrith on bass and Bucky Berger on drums. I set it to a Cajun beat, which is pretty normal for a Canadian girl with a guitar, I think!

"Lord of the Universe" is modeled after a liturgical poem that most people of the Big Three organized faiths can instantly recognize. I wanted to write a rip-snorting soca for Jouvert Morning, and voila. I did a rough mix on my Fostex X-15 and mailed it to my friend and producer, Ronnie Payne. I had sung a bit around St. Martin (French side) in the past with Ronnie at the keyboard and we had the good chemistry, so we kept in touch. We recorded the track in his home studio in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten (Dutch side). My arrangement. The singer was a local guy whom the producer thought would add a little island flavour to the piece.

You should know that I had intended to upload a fourth tune, which is a ska I wrote about my old house in Kensington Market, affectionately known as the Hotel Kensington, but the file was too big for MySpace. So if any of you know how I make the file fit, get in touch. Anyhow, it is a great, pumpin' ska with a horn section, recorded in London's funky Camden Town, with drums by Jah Bunny who is Mr. Riddum on the international reggae scene. Paul McCartney signed him with his band, the Cimerons, back in the 1980s. Bunny put together a kick-ass bunch of studio guys, some of whom I knew from the reggae scene in Toronto. We had a ball with the track. Later I took it to Toronto and Denis Keldie sweetened it a bit. So I hope to get that one up somewhere -- maybe as a download. Getting there slowly but surely.


I hope you enjoy the tracks. I have a bunch of analogue stuff I am furiously digitizing from my club dates and hope to compile them. I know it won't happen in time for Mamapalooza, but somewhere down the road we will celebrate!!!


Upcoming posts to watch for - my appearance dates. Hope to see you again real soon.


Love,
Lynda
xoxoxoxoxo


PS -- I'm on the road again. Have a love-filled, meaningful and peaceful holiday.