Greys and Blues

THE JOURNAL HAS MOVED

2010-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've got my own place now, where the grass is green and the water is sweet.

codycduncan.com

Consider this a place a ghost town.

Mustached Girl

2010-09-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

Since I've found myself with a little money, and no jobs, and a swimming pool, I've found it hard to be very serious.
Consequently:
Cody Duncan is Stashy McStoosh is Natral Flava is Hellen Keller presents

"Mustached Girl"
<a href="http://natralflava.bandcamp.com/track/mustached-girl">Mustached Girl by Natral Flava</a>

Some clown...

2010-08-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Looks like you can't keep a good mustache down.

<a href="http://natralflava.bandcamp.com/album/third-and-final-sixth-album">First and Final Warning by Natral Flava</a>

The Accumulated Recent History, The Ongoing Story

2010-08-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/07082010-wonderful-sponsor">07082010 - Wonderful Sponsor by Cody Duncan</a>

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/07212010-breed-and-succeed-version-ii">07212010 - Breed and Succeed (Version II) by Cody Duncan</a>

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/08142010-in-the-soil">08142010 - In The Soil by Cody Duncan</a>

I have been telling myself for some time that I have been extremely unproductive. In retrospect, I don't really think that's true, I simply haven't been posting any work. Also, to be quite honest, I'm not super excited about anything I'm making lately, except that I have a new project in the works.

I just completed the fourth version of Breed and Succeed (Version 2 is listed above, see V1 in Fall Journal). I plan on compiling these alternate versions of this track, along with a fresh track, for some kind of single. I hope to, if all goes well, have a limited press of this single, and mail it off to some hip-as-hell dudes around the globe to tell me how tired-as-hell it is (but maybe they'll secretly enjoy it, and mail me wads of cash). Is it that late? Am I dreaming?

Enjoy the tracks, and drop me a line with any comments etc. There is actually a mailing list for this operation, and if you'd like to be on it, send me an email through my profile.
-Cody

06172010 - Transition Transmission Tortillas

2010-06-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://natralflava.bandcamp.com/track/transition-transmission-tortillas">Transition Transmission Tortillas by Natral Flava</a>

I graduated college. I should have a lot to say about that, but really I am just to worried about work and my ability to pay rent, or to be more specific, the fact that I have no work and don't know how I will pay my rent. My solution: make some Natral Flava. I think soon I will make a dedicated Flava page, but for now I will continue the trend of letting Natral Flava (specifically Stashy McStoosh) and Cody Duncan become the same person.

05202010 - Popping Circumstance

2010-06-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/05302010-popping-circumstance">05302010 - Popping Circumstance by Cody Duncan</a>

I took my last class of my educational career, assuming it ends here, yesterday. I will be graduating in a little over a week.

How in the hell did life happen?

05202010 - Bean Sprout (and Jesus)

2010-05-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/05202010-bean-sprout">05202010 - Bean Sprout by Cody Duncan</a>

What's new in my life?

A month or so ago I started cutting bottles and cans in half, filling them with dirt, sticking beans in them, and putting them on the roof. With regular water, my sweet, flat, suburban roof has become something of a hangout. The sun is up there, and we are buddies. Next thing I knew I was collecting plants from freecycle and whatever other handouts, buying seeds, and spending a lot of time outside (what a concept). I'll tell you, outside is one hell of a place.

I finished reading a few books. Here are my lengthy reviews.

Cannery Row : Totally great.
Flow My Tears The Policeman Said : Yes.
Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas : Just like the movie. Awesome.

Now I am reading The Sun Also Rises. I suppose I will finish reading it, but really, a little adventure yesterday made me think about dropping books for a while, only to read one long one. Crazy, yes. Here's why.

I was sitting at the Memorial Union waiting for my bus, and as I sat down, placing my briefcase on the ground (usually I would say bag, but the long strap snapped that day, weighed down with wah pedals and tools, significant symbols of my lifestyle). As I rested my body, and began to pull out my waiting-book, I started thinking about how strange it is that so many people go through their lives without a significant religious crisis. Sure everyone has a test of faith, but I feel that my faith has been fairly strong throughout my life, it has only been the nature of that faith that has been in question. And it has always been in question. I feel that there is something, it is obvious to me, the guiding light, whatever, the question of whether or not He/She/it exists is almost silly to me. I look around, and it is right in front of me, but still, I ask questions, probably more so than most people, Atheists, Believers, and Achievers alike.

I sat in contemplation, ignoring the book for some time, simply looking around, looking for meaning in the meaningless. My brain shot through the laundry list of topics I have studied in my soon-to-end educational career, and finally, I looked down and saw a tiny red insect crawling on my arm. In his forest of hair, he was shielded from the chill of the breeze. Mountains rose up in front of him as the chill went up my body, and down my arm. I began to think about the nature of the feeling, "cold," and in scanning my Encyclopedia Pseudophilisophica, I settled onto the subject of qualia, specifically of the difference in experiences between individuals with different neural compositions or sensory capabilities, across the borders of the individual, the sex, the species, down to the different kingdoms.

Eventually I settled on the seedling of one idea, that qualitative experiences are, if not illusory, absolutely arbitrary. That's not exactly fresh ground, I realize, but what was fresh in my mind was the simple idea that feelings are not like anything, they are only about things. Sure, I am likely to abandon or forget this idea in a few weeks, but what I will not forget is what happened next.

Sitting, thinking about the nature of God and vision, I eventually lowered my eyes from their exploratory and explanatory gaze at the blueness above, and saw a blind man walking towards me. He and his friend walked toward me, and as I was about to avert my gaze in the way people do when coming into proximity with strangers or past Facebook friends, I noticed a hesitant twitch in the lips of the escort. He looked down at me and said, "Hello. My name is (I forget), and this is my friend (Something Else). Would you like to have a conversation with us about Jesus?" I answered politely and instinctively, "No, thank you."

As the two of them walked away, I began to wonder if I had just missed a golden opportunity. Between the two of them, they probably could have answered most of the questions I was struggling over. Had that undeniable force reached a hand out to me, only for me to turn it down because of my own pride or awkwardness? I thought, no, it does not work like that. All opportunities are presented, and all opportunities are fulfilled. The message was clear, and that was all I needed. It says, "Go forth, explore, be good." Not a presentation of answers, but a reminder of purpose, a shake up from stagnation.

Can Hemingway answer my questions? Thus far, all he talks about is drinking at different bars, and being the all too familiar mixture of depressed and sarcastic.

So, I aim to read the Bible. It seems obvious now. The most important book of the last 2000 years (perhaps excluding Everyone Poops) has eluded me. I don't expect to find many, if any, answers in there, except that in reading it, I will be taking a glimpse into the psychology of a huge portion of the world, like, how can you operate in civilized society without having seen Back to the Future? You simply cannot.

Bean sprout, a cheerful little piece of electronica. I liked it, and I hope you do to. WINK.

Ave Maria

2010-04-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

I made this little animation. Enjoy.

It's short because it was a small project that only called for 30 seconds, and that shit is time consuming.

04222010 - Mind Made Up About You

2010-04-23T11:48:00.001-07:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/04222010-mind-made-up-about-you">04222010 - Mind Made Up About You by Cody Duncan</a>

Just a little soundscape I worked up yesterday. Enjoy.

Why's It Gotta Get All Raining Again?

2010-04-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/04092010-late-stage-cheesing">04092010 - Late Stage Cheesing by Cody Duncan</a>

One of those days where you wake up and say, "shit," basically because the weather. Fluffy Donuts and coffee turned my day around.

I'm waiting on some bread to rise right now, and just finished an export of a couple-days-old track. I like to think that if Furby started a rock band, it would sound like this.

The title refers to a cooking technique that I used to engage in on many a night. Doesn't the internet love inside jokes that are only funny to about two people?

04042010 - Chicken Wire

2010-04-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/04042010-chicken-wire">04042010 - Chicken Wire by Cody Duncan</a>

Just got back to my place after visiting the folks for my niece's first birthday party. She turned 1, it's not as though they have just not celebrated her past years.

That and, given some free time today, I made music! What a novel concept. It's pretty generic as far as music goes, but I'm calling it done in hopes that this will be a glimmer of another era of actually being productive. I was productive last season, just not with music (see last post).

In reference to my last post, Pixar turned me down, which isn't much of a surprise.

I am studying electronics this quarter, doing some oddball projects. I just got my Maker's Notebook, which is a nice little scratch space with some useful references packed in the back.

Enjoy the music today. Drop me a line, strangers, if you still read!

Journal Fail, and Shots in the Dark

2010-03-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Winter came and went, and I only finished three tracks, and of those, only one stands out.

To those of you who enjoy this journal, I'm sorry, I have been otherwise occupied. With what? Well, I got into 3D animation this last season, and spend all my time on that. I suspect the Spring won't be any different, and maybe even worse, but I will try, okay? Okay Just, don't go reading someone else's journal just because I mostly abandoned you.

Here's this to keep you entertained:

Among the Clouds of Smoke

2010-01-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, I haven't written in a long time. I had a whole entry written out, as well as a working track on New Years Eve, I remember, but it was just so damned depressing, I didn't think it was fit for this venue. For a 15-year-old's MySpace blog, maybe, but not for this. So, without further adieu, here is a bitter and mechanized little number for you. Lately, in the realization that I will likely never be able to get a job, I have taken to hating them. It's nothing new, I suppose. I equate hourly wages with the selling of time, and time with life, and thus, the hourly wage paradigm with selling of our lives, one hour at a time. So here is my response to that system, and the industries that it is built upon, I call it...

01172009 - Among the Clouds of Smoke

I can't imagine all the time I wasted trying to taste a little of the spice of life

In my time sipping on bad wine thinking that it tastes fine for the price

Found myself dreaming of the screen and it was screaming at me saying that my clothes ain't right

From my chair pretending that I care, wishing I was out there in the light

Among the clouds of smoke a promise broken to our shining mother earth

Pay us to sit in cages slave for wages telling us what every day of ours is worth

I can remember days when I would say that everything was going to be just fine

the gray days calculating week's pay wondering what I will say at the end of the line

We file papers about papers for the machine building machines to continue our crime

That beige hell, is it ringing a bell? I suppose we may as well show up on time

Among the clouds of smoke a promise broken to our shining mother earth

Pay us to sit in cages slave for wages telling us what every day of ours is worth

12242009 - Fortune Cookie

2009-12-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

I found the words inside a fortune cookie
It said the prophet must be playing hookie
A scripture written on a scrap of paper
The size of the message is not defined by shape
or maybe I'm kidding myself
or I never even had a fortune anyways
I tried to save a little time by sticking it inside of a jar
but it must have fallen out before I got too far
or maybe I'm wasting time

Christmas eve party

Pictionary, Christmas themed, perhaps too easy

Day-time call from lady friend, exciting

Maybe I'll watch some TGN, like a boss

I plan on waiting by the fireplace with a shotgun this year. There's no way I'm letting that fat red bastard burgle my cookies. Not this year.

12232009 - Mother, Father, Sisyphus

2009-12-23T22:21:00.001-08:00

I wrote this song in the early days of Pilgrim production, but wasn't able to make a version that I liked, and that fit the album. I think this would have sufficed, but you can't exactly tack on tracks three months after a release.

Speaking of a release, it's Winter, and as such, I'll be compiling (as if there is any more to do) the Fall journal in the next couple of days. The music is all available now, but I'll do my usual trick of making a book and bundling some bonus tracks for my loyal fan(s).

Winter should bring some new things into our lives. Spring is a time of growth, but sometimes, as is the case with winter, it is almost as important to let the dead branches break off under the weight of the cold. That, or we can keep pushing, pushing, pushing.

There is something about Sisyphus that I cannot get over. Camus' two cents (which actually cost $12.95, or $17.95 in Canada) have been sitting on my shelf for about two years now. It's one of those books that, well, reading it seems like a nice idea, but I don't know that I need to. It's right next to Civil Disobedience and Thus Spake Zarathustra. Nietzsche blows my mind with practically every sentence in that thing, but it's slow going, and I get the distinct feeling that reading it is just a form of reinforcement for me, when what I need is something new. Knowing a little bit about his life has just led me to believe that most of his work was just made out of personal frustration and alienation, but isn't that just what we do?

Why do I make music that damn-near nobody hears? I love the stone.

These disjointed ramblings brought to you by:

Christmas

Now with more consumerism!

Speaking of which, consumerism is some fuc...well, no, not now, I won't get into it. Making this song today didn't take very long, as it was already written. So what else did I do today, you might ask?

I made toffee and other baked goods. Why? Because I'm a manly man, or more accurately, because I refuse to buy people dumb shit during Christmas. I prefer to kick them in the direction of diabetes instead.

Chest Fire

2009-12-09T17:58:00.001-08:00

12092009 - Chest Fire

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/12092009-chest-fire">12092009 - Chest Fire by Cody Duncan</a>

Study? Not now. Music.
"Tea! More tea!"
Okay, this book isn't going to read itself.
Or is it?

Have you ever felt the fire in your chest, waiting to explode? Music helps. Love helps. Sometimes, though, exploding sounds wonderful.

12072009 - If I Had More Time [ PLUS 12072009_2 - A Pretty Little Thing In Love

2009-12-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

12072009 - If I Had More Time

12072009_2 - A Pretty Little Thing In Love (Recorded From The Horror Show CyberSteampunk DigiGramophone)

Start the day,
talk to her,
take a shower,
talk to her,
get dressed,
talk to her,
eat breakfast,
drink tea,
fix machines,
get lunch,
get donuts,
drink tea,
fix machines,
machine screams,
clean up,
drink tea,
make song.

Watch some shows,

Don't read,

Eat dinner,

Watch something,

Read something,

Do something,

For God's sake,

Do something.

Here's a joke for a technocultural studies student:

Marshall McLuhan says I've got a media addiction, he says I cannot stop reading, that I'm addicted. This of course is no surprise to me, because I distinctly remember, as a child, being forced to take part in a programmed that was aimed at getting me hooked on phonics. It was only a matter of time until I moved onto harder stuff. Movies, or dare I say films, video games, crazy this'n'that's.

A Warm California December Day

2009-12-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

Sleep through first class.

Get up, get ready, go to pay rent, Chinese food for breakfast.

Ride there on bike, the weather is fantastic, I sing my way to campus.

Landlord says he will give us $50 off of our rent a month if we renew our lease, so as to help out since the fees are going up. Nice guy.

Class. Programming.

Ride bike home not as cool as first time.

Get home, see sliding glass door open, go climb up onto roof, roommates are there.

Chill out, lay in the sun.

Climb down.

Make song.

'My Planet Has Children' & 'Breed and Succeed'

2009-11-29T23:19:00.000-08:00

We all ate turkey and potatoes and there weren't even any fist fights or shoot-outs! No tough guys even walked away in slow motion while something exploded behind them? What the hell am I to be thankful for, then?

Family, I suppose, and beautiful distant girls.

Two tracks of my voice doing things my voice cannot do.

Enjoy.

Live, please.

2009-11-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

I found myself yesterday, after having read an exciting Craigslist ad, rummaging through the remaining possessions of a recently deceased, likely fairly young, man. In going through what was left of his life, searching for some bargain to integrate into, and hopefully supplement, my life, I spotted a doppelganger in the reflection of a 9” Sony television set.

This man was like me, even his wife, now a widow, made some comment to the effect, “your friends say you like to build things,” and now he is gone.

Some time ago, a figure from my past, a friend of mine from younger days, Emmett Broaddus died in a car crash. I should say that this is not altogether unusual of my life. Every few months I have a phone conversation with my mother in which she asks, “Did you know (insert name),” at which point I generally know that the person in question is either dead or in jail. This time, the person was close enough to me that I did not need to get the news from her, instead, my roommate wandering into my room and saying “Emmett is dead,” sufficed. As I said, this kind of thing is not unusual for me, but this time, I knew him. This time, he wasn’t some character in the corner of my high school narrative, this time it was a friend, granted, not one of my closest, but close nonetheless. I had been eating cheeseburgers with this one just a few weeks before, and now this man, this boy, one just like me, was gone. I skipped the funeral, I did not see his family sorting through what he left behind, I do not know how they have been since. They are close and far away.

What does this say about me? Am I just a ghost waiting to jump out of a body, are we all? Am I a walking stack of ashes, awaiting a strong wind? The television would tell me not to think so, the books spouting empowerment would have me believe otherwise. Today we tell ourselves a happier version of the story, a version that lets us go on living our lives, working, consuming, carrying on. That, however, is not my version of the story. My version says that every decision you make, while not the most important, is potentially the last. My version says that the fire we have burning in all of us is not something to merely be contained until we find it convenient to be ourselves. My version does not allow us to limit ourselves to the realm of economic viability. My version does not allow for waiting. My version begs of us all:

Live, please, live.

These days

2009-11-15T02:52:00.000-08:00

These days we drink. Fast drinks, and slow drinks, we drink.

We burn time away searching, collecting, compiling.

These days, I look to the watcher in front of me. He types into his screen, it says,

"print 'Fuck This'

"truth = "I am never gonna die

"print truth*100000"

He got an error message, but I could not see why.

These days I see things I never would have seen, like a kid with a comb in his hair.

These days I walk past a girl on the quad. She says, "I love you too," into the piece of plastic clipped to her ear, and it whispers something similar back.

These days I can't drink enough tea.

These days we take machines apart, and love them.

These days I remember her face and her lips and I remember the way it used to seem like every thought I had echoed off of another thought of her, that my world was dusted with her image. Pictures have to do.

These days I can't remember what reality is like.

These days I find myself thinking "This Thus Spake Zarathustra is a hell of a book!" just before the thunderous banging of some friend at the door asking that I abandon my throne to come see some computer dance.

These days the world seems worth changing.

These days the tide seems worth fighting.

In days like these, I look to the moments written in my notebook, about the kid coding angst, the girl and her phone, and I remember what it means to be human, and increasingly I think,

The machine made machines out of us all.

Journal: 2009 Summer

2009-11-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/album/journal-2009-summer"&amp;amp;amp;gt;07092009 by Cody Duncan&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

I decided that a good scheme for distribution in this journal would entail compiling a seasonal "best of," coupling it with some bonus material, and making it available for easy consumption. So that is exactly what I have done here.

I am keeping the old versions of the tracks here in the journal for the time being, but with that said, it should be added that there are certain bonuses that come along with downloading this album.

I can honestly say, I really enjoy making the music for this journal. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

You can expect similar packages to be created for each season from here on, pending drastic developments in my life.

-Cody

11042009 November Already

2009-11-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

<a href="http://codyduncan.bandcamp.com/track/11042009-november-already">11042009_November_Already by Cody Duncan</a>

It's been a while since I made a track. I have not been so productive lately, despite my (stupid) assumption that I would find myself with an abundance of creativity and free time at this juncture.

The time changed, and the days are short. It is autumn now, to be sure, but the weather has not spoken much to that effect. The trees are still green and full of leaves. Halloween came and went without even the most fleeting gust of autumn air, full of the smell of rotting leaves. An odd year. Perhaps a sign for the future.

I've been listening to rather noisy music lately. It started with Dan Deacon, but now, on to Lightning Bolt. Probably big names in their respective genres, but honestly, I don't know. I'm not name dropping here. I am not just trying to say, like, "check me out, I am cool because of what I choose to consume." No, sir. Fuck that very much. No, I am only saying that my musical tastes have been taking a bit of a turn lately. While just weeks ago, in the wake of Pilgrim, I found my style going into a more acoustic direction, now more than ever I am finding myself being pulled back into the sounds of the machine.

It is unavoidable. In our habitats, the hum of the digital age is our holy Aum, Om, Ohm. We hear the whisper of our future, calling out to us. Like the airplanes of Russulo's age, to a man of my age, the computer screams out, seeking a voice, seeking a presence beyond the screen, beyond the box, it screams out, and I want to hear the voice. The new sound, the new aesthetic is the soul music, the music of our digital slaves, humming away in our laps like a Turing kitten.

Though it is not the sounds I seek, it is the sound that seeks me at the moment.

I call this one "November Already," because it was already October. See my logic there?

Yes, I know.

2009-11-05T00:49:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been almost a month since I've put something out. But, with that there is good news.

I am working on a track right now.

Now for the good news:
I have decided to compile a sort of seasonal digest of the music from my journal, basically a seasonal album of, weeding out the bad/boring/secretly good tracks.

The music is compiled, now it is just a matter of creating some supplement, and to be honest, I don't know how long that will take. I started gathering photographs from the summer today, and will put them together with...shit, I don't know, materials?

I plan to keep all the material up on here as well, but package collections for easier/better consumption.

So look forward to that in the next week or so, and probably some music in the meantime.

While I am on the subject, this whole seasonal deal is likely to be just be one change among many. It's a few months into this project, but I am still figuring it out.

What's Happening?

2009-10-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

No music today, I just have not posted in quite some time, so I thought I would dish out a little update.

The release of Pilgrim went well enough. Probably sixty or so downloads. I don't know what I was expecting, or whether or not to be pleasantly surprised, but that is how it went. Actually, I am pretty happy with that considering most of my tracks get less plays than that on average. Think of that when you read this blog, you are special.

So with that little consumerist Mr. Rogers spiel, here is what is going on:

I do not have any music for you, not because I have not been working on music, but because I suck at it now. More accurately, I am in the midst of a software switch, which is putting a serious damper on my creative output.

I have been using FL Studio for about six years now, but am finding one serious limitation, in that while it allows me to produce a track as well as I want, I can't really use it as a live platform. Because of this, I am switching to Ableton, which should allow me to compose and produce, and give me the freedom to take those tracks out of the studio.

So that is where I am, creatively, now. In the middle of a regime change, without the means to kick out the jams. I figure I should dip into FL now and again in order to make something for the journal, I just have not yet.

Until next time,

Cody

Pilgrim

2009-10-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

So the album is done, which is to say, I am finally calling it done. I've listened to it. Good 'nuff.

In addition to creating this album for you, my fan(s), I put together a couple visual elements. The first is a Pilgrim trailer that I posted on youtube, and this blog, a while back. The second, and more important addition is the virtual booklet, compiled in a convenient, pretty, and hefty .pdf file.

A year and a half's work, available for your immediate consumption.

Where you choose to get this content basically depends on how much attention you actually want to give to it. Here are all the links I could come up with for how to get this album:

Basically, getting it off of my bandcamp page is the best option, otherwise torrents get you the best content.

So with that, if you want to say, I don't know, remix any of this, go for it. If you want source files for it, contact me. I will be happy to provide them assuming there is some demand for such things (as in one person asking for it). Want to give a copy to a friend? Go for it. Want to burn a bunch of CD's and sell them on the street? I'd really rather you didn't. In fact, don't. Just give them away, but even better, save the environment, and just tell people to come here for the album. Post a link. Tattoo it on your forearm so you don't forget it.

Okay.

Wow.

A lot of work, done.

Read the book, there are some thanks in there.

Enjoy.

SECTION FOR RELATED CONTENT (may be updated over time):
Facebook group

[update 10.12.2009 7:17AM
Less than 12 hours of web-presence, aaaaaand
Typo in the book. I just don't care. Sorry.
Was reported that the .zip link was broken, but I just tried it, and it worked, so I can't exactly
say what to do. It is a weird download, as you can't see your progress, and it is fairly large (269MB), but if you let it run, it should be fine. Otherwise, just go to the Archive.org site and get it from them.
I will stress again, at this point the torrent has 11 seeds, so downloading that may be the way to go. Set it and forget it. Popeil style.]

ALTERNATIVE DOWNLOAD OPTIONS:

The best way:
Pilgrim on codyduncan.bandcamp.com (same as player above)

If that does not work, basically, if you are savy enough to use the torrents, please seed, because that's what the cool kids do.

Otherwise, I really recommend downloading from Archive.org. If neither of those are immediate enough for you

Archive.org (reported asiffy, but tested, and seems to work. Try the link on the Archive.org site if this doesn't work.)

[Streams and Individual Track/Supplement Downloads] Streaming music and links to individual tracks and book on Archive.org

[,m3u Stream] Streaming Pilgrim .m3u from Archive.org (.m3u)

Pilgrim package on IsoHunt (torrent)

Streaming available on my SoundClick page.

[Music and Supplement] The Whole Big Everything on TPB (.torrent) (probably the hippest, if not the best option)

[Music and Supplement] Pilgrim on The Pirate Bay (page contains the above link)

[Supplemental .pdf] Pilgrim Supplement from Archive.org (.pdf)

[.zip of Music] Download a decent quality zipped file of the album from Archive.org (reported asiffy, but tested, and seems to work. Try the link on the Archive.org site if this doesn't work.)

[Streams and Individual Track/Supplement Downloads] Streaming music and links to individual tracks and book on Archive.org

[,m3u Stream] Streaming Pilgrim .m3u from Archive.org (.m3u)

[Music and Supplement] The Whole Big Everything on TPB (.torrent) (probably the hippest, if not the best option)

[Music and Supplement] Pilgrim on The Pirate Bay (page contains the above link)

[Supplemental .pdf] Pilgrim Supplement from Archive.org (.pdf)

[.zip of Music] Download a decent quality zipped file of the album from Archive.org

Pilgrim Supplement from Mediafire (page for .pdf download)

Pilgrim by Cody Duncan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Finishing up visual stuff for Pilgrim, Enjoy this in the Meantime

2009-10-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

I am putting together a kind of supplement to the music of Pilgrim, but it is a bit of a task.
But I took a break, and made this.
The times I have the most fun are the times when I cannot figure out how ridiculous I am being.

I wrote this song about writing rock/love songs on my typewriter.
I wrote the lyrics, and performed some of the sounds in the track, with the typewriter.

10082009 - My Typewriter

It Is Done

2009-10-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

After about a year and a half, and some retrospective considerations, it is done. Whatever it is here and now, it is done.

Tomorrow should be the day, maybe Friday, maybe Saturday, but probably tomorrow. Subscribe to the RSS if you can't stand checking over and over. Worst case scenario: you are subscribed to a feed that is, you know, pretty good.

So, to put it more simply, less elusively.

I have been working on this project since the spring of 2008. It is finished.
Pilgrim is done.

Also, in searching youtube for my own video, I found this as well. It is a little strange, and may be supporting a cult for all I know, but I thought it was rather relevant. The world is coming down. Fuck it.

Much of the next 24-48 hours will be spent cataloging, putting together torrent files, and finding good file hosts. It will be free, as in free beer. I think tomorrow, I will have more to say about it, but for now, I am 'calling her good (which is to say finished)'.

Oh man, it's like I'm busy again.

2009-10-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

10052009 - October Again

10062009 - D Grade

One of those is weird, one of them is probably less weird. That's all I have to say here. I'm in college, man. I'm busy. I could say more about the first one, how I think it is a bit different than my usual composition and all that but...no.

You really want something to read? Well...
I got a free typewriter this last summer, and have been putting it to use in off time. This is some ridiculous list that my roommate and I came up with.

A list by Alfredo and Cody.

This shit happens all the time.

Fragment Revisited, Autotune Re-examined

2009-09-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

09272009 - Fragmentwo

That track up there? Well, here is the story.

I was sitting tinkering with some different textures, just playing around with blues rhythms and things, until eventually I ditched the blues, and found myself playing a few chords progressions that I liked on the electric piano, until I realized (as I have probably done a hundred times) that I was basically playing a piece of music I made about four years ago called Fragment (this was still in my Apathy Overdrive days). It was, at that time, the best piece of music I had ever made, and I still consider it to be in my top ten, if not for production quality, at least for, well, honestly, I can't say. There is something about that track that makes me simultaneously proud, and sort of inferior to my own past. Granted, it is nothing amazing, but I still look back on that track and wonder how I did it. It is one of the few tracks I have ever recorded live piano for, one of the first tracks that I sampled vocals in (without using actual lyrics), probably the first major project that I used bitcrushing in, and where now, I tend to just play with a track until it seems done (as is the case with today), Fragment was a production, it took on multiple phases, and took days of production. Taking days is not unheard of, in fact, it is quite common, but typically I find I do the best work over the course of the first 8 hours after starting a track.

So two days ago I started playing with the electric piano sounds again, digging that mix of darkness, sensuality, and funk that only the electric piano can give you, until eventually I had put down the first chords of this track.

I think at this point, I am over my brushes with the vocoder, which is to say, I have integrated it into my music as an instrument, not as a means of doing that ridiculous "human after all," business, but simply as a way of giving sounds a human texture. Well my experiment today basically stems from some of the sounds I used in 08142009_2, where I used samples of my voice, manipulated to create a sort of impossible vocal performance by cutting up different vocal notes I had recorded. I attempted a different strategy today. Basically I recorded a couple straight tones of my own voice, and used autotune to bend the notes to, again, create an impossible performance. The sound is rather strange, I know, and the method is pretty roundabout, but that's what makes this an experiment.

I know, autotune is played, but I don't care. When I was using the vocoder last month, someone commented to me that doing so killed the spirit of my music, that essentially, the vocoder was played out, and killed any originality. See, that's one of the reasons I used it in the first place, to try to overcome that constraint, as there has to be an original way to use a vocoder. Again, I will point out Black Moth Super Rainbow. While they use it rather conventionally, the way that it is used constantly, as an instrument in its own right, well, that is just respectable.

So here is this track. Like it? Download it. I've made all of the tracks available for free now, so enjoy. Play it for some pretentious kid you know, saying like, "I discovered this guy. I am the shit."

Related to the free downloads, are you one of those people that likes to pay for music? Well, I have two options for you: 1. Donate to my paypal link. Give whatever you want. A penny? Kind of a slap in the face, but sure, go for it. 2. Check out those links that are speckled along this blog. Consider this: If I put up these tracks for paid download, they would generally cost the consumer about a dollar a track, and I would generally get about half of that. However, I get about twenty-five to fifty cents every time someone clicks on one of the ads on this blog. What that means is this: I get about the same amount for a paid download as for an ad click, but an ad click costs the consumer nothing but a click. Think about it.

I think I'll write about this another day, a whole article about a new model for digital music.

Okay, so, I love you.
Bye

If It's Not Flava, and It's Not Serious, What is it?

2009-09-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

"Robot Ghost Attack (A Thousand Motherfuckers)"

"Bring Dat Milk!"

One of these is Flava, the other is one of those tracks that makes me confused. It if isn't Flava and it isn't serious, what is it? Is it just weird? I think it may just be...yeah...it's just weird.

Tomorrow, I am a student once more. I open tomorrow up with New Trends in Technoculture and a bright and early 3 PM. The red squiggly line below "Technoculture," tells me that I have some splaining to do.

Well, Ricky, you see, I am a student of Technocultural Studies at the University of California, Davis. What is Technocultural Studies? Good question. I'm hoping someone will tell me that as I receive my diploma. We watch movies a lot, write papers, the like. We take classes where we spend over an hour per lecture laying down in the dark listening to records. We get expensive toys, and learn that they aren't nearly as useful as cheap ones.

That's not cynicism. I love the department, and cannot imagine studying anything else.

Except Philosophy. Yes, Philosophy. No, I do not want to talk about it.

So that music up there, about that. Well, I suppose it's some...well, look...I have been back amongst my comrades, here in my home away from my home away from home, and it has been something. Creativity flows, I must say, but as usually the case, such rivers do not always reach a fertile valley. Too poetic? Sometimes I make real spiffy garbage, and sometimes, there are a thousand motherfuckers trying to jump on my shit.

Relapse - An Introduction to Natral Flava

2009-09-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

Those of you that follow this journal will have noticed my recent lack of activity. Let me phrase that another way: no one noticed my recent lack of activity. I will touch on that subject (though not get into it in an impertinent way, as it is the sure sign of a terrible blog), as it relates to a subject that I have yet to discuss here, yet is an integral part of my musical career.

I shall for the first time give a formal written description and backstory of Natral Flava, with brief notation as to how it relates to today's events, and my broader musical activity.

-Natral Flava: A History-

In the winter of 2005 a small group of young men (myself among them) found themselves in a basement, with access to large amounts of caffeine, yogurt pretzels, and most importantly, musical equipment. I had been making music for about 4 years at this point, and decided that the four of us in the room should use what was left of our energy to compose some music, or more specifically, to make the most ridiculous music we could make. What resulted was a handful of off-the-cuff recordings, tracks made quickly, without care, and without conscience. The first and most resounding of these was "Mad Jamz to duh Funkness," a poorly-conceived rap about the current events in our lives, and a love for Shasta Cola (the ingredients of which inspired the name Natral Flava). Also notable was "Robuwalking," which was composed and recorded in its entirety in less than three minutes, while one of the group was using the bathroom.

In addition to these tracks, the foundations for the Natral Flava philosophy were also laid down that night.

While the Flava may well have ended that night, things changed in mid January of 2006 when I drove to Radioshack and bought my first microphone for ten dollars. The microphone did not allow me to make what I would have considered quality recordings, and thus, it seemed only natural to use the microphone to continue the Natral Flava saga in the form of "Listen to Your Heartbeat," and later "Saudi Arabia," and "Fuck (Emilio)." As I was in high school at the time, it was quite common for me to use Natral Flava as a sort of pass time, inviting my friends over to "make some Flava," (sounds like slang for some kind of drug activity that the local news would warn you about). MySpace was at the peak of its popularity and utilization at that point in time, and as a result of that, copies of these, and later tracks, began to be distributed through my group of friends, and friends of friends. I was later told that "the Natral Flava CD," (I had no idea that there was a CD) had been played at Relay for Life/Walk for Life a year or two after I graduated.

By the time I entered into college, the Natral Flava doctrine had fully come into its own, as my need for a means to release creative frustration grew, and also as I began to become more and more disenchanted with mainstream popular music, and culture in general. (See "Snakes on a Plane," and "Shitty Shit."

In the spring of 2007, I started a Natral Flava contest on The Flipside Forum, a forum for FL Studio users, thus resulting in the first (and so far the only) instance of international Flava (see "The J-Pop Song," "Monkey Love Rap," and "Knock-off 909").

Two years later, Natral Flava exists, for the most part, as a means for me to get out the frustration of writer's block, or alternately, a way to make music while drunk amongst friends.

The early Natral Flava tracks were compiled into a collection called Teen Angst, while the later tracks, up to the current, have been gathering to compose a collection called Bootreg From Hong Kong.

It should be said that while I had been making these kinds of tracks when goofing around basically since my first days making music, it was not until this point in my life that such tracks were given a chance to see the light of day in the form of Natral Flava.

-Natral Flava: A Description-

Natral Flava, put briefly, is the equivalent of crapping on a pile of instruments and microphones (or a DAW for the current generation), giggling, and calling it music. In that regard, it is often pointed out to be not too dissimilar from the content of your typical Top 40 radio station.

While the creation of Flava is often engaged in simply as a means of having fun, the goal of Natral Flava is to serve as a means of getting out ones frustration at music, be it creative, or consumptive, in a way that is productive, and generally non-pretentious. While in its earliest stages it existed only as a form of goofing around, today, it has become much more advanced. Today, it is a form of dicking around, the highest form of tomfoolery.

Whenever I am frustrated, and can't seem to make a good track, I say, "screw it," and make music anyways, but I make it bad. I make it terrible. I try my best to shit on the music without dirtying my equipment. That is Natral Flava. In creating Flava I aim to create the worst music I can muster up at the moment, or alternately, I aim to have the most fun with a normal track that is simply going nowhere (as is the case with today's blog entry).

The magic of Natral Flava is that while horrible, it is generally entertaining, and is often just the thing for getting over a creative hump. Say all the things you want to say, play all the notes you shouldn't play. Give yourself a musical enema, letting the frustration trickle out of your symphonic sphincter. Don't like that imagery? Deal with it.

As a means of detaching myself and my serious musical creations from Natral Flava, I have developed an alias - Stashy McStoosh. This is standard practice in Flava creation (anyone I work with has to create an alias for themselves, for example, Timmy Tam Tam, Lord Longeway, Shifty Sunglasses, etc.). This detachment isn't exactly a rule of Flava, rather it is simply a suggestion, as there are no official rules, just suggestions, such as: do not spend very much time making any one piece of Flava, try not to express anything serious, or better yet, try not to be serious, do not worry about covering up your mistakes, and don't make anything your mother would want to hear.

With that, it should also be said that I do not consider Natral Flava to by me, or mine. I don't think of it as a band or a group, more like a movement, or simply an activity, or a genre (though crap-core is generally the term used for Flava). I invite all musicians to engage in this activity, and I imagine that most of them do from time to time, but simply call it goofing around, but I suggest they stop goofing around, and take it one step further, to dicking around. It's an important distinction.

The best way to get a feel for Flava is simply to listen to it, or better yet, to make some yourself. If you do, please contact me. I would be happy to get you the help you so desperately need, and link to your creation.

-Today: A Day-

Sooooo...we're back where we started. There is, granted, much more that could be said about Flava, but I am bored, and the first rule of Flava Club is you do not talk about Flava...when you are bored of the subject.

I got back to Davis yesterday, cleaned the house, went grocery shopping (which I found surprisingly liberating), cooked dinner, hung out...alone. I basically undertook my usual "back in town before anyone else, nesting, and killing time" routine.

I found myself bored today between watching pieces of Knocked Up on Megavideo (the site sucks, but works, basically), as I have for the last few days, and like the other days, tried to do away with that boredom by making music. However, for the last few days, all the music I have tried to make has basically turned to dust. I have not been able to finish a track or make anything that I considered compelling, even slightly. This, I would attribute to a general over-thinking of the problem, as a discussion of my music (specifically this blog) with others has caused me to reconsider a few of my approaches and stylistic choices, and in such times of change, productivity can often take a hit. Another problem is that today, I was at first attempting to make a track for Pilgrim, my current "big" project.

Either way, I was working hard, and going nowhere, so naturally, it came down to one thing: Flava.

Today's project started out as a kind of mixed-bag. I was kinda making Flava, and kinda writing serious lyrics, but I quickly decided that there was only one approach I could take with this track, so I went to my garbage can, pulled out a few pieces of trash, took them over to my laser-scanning-thing (I recently watched Tron, so just take it as that), and produced today's crapsterpiece.

This is often how it goes. I start working seriously, repeatedly find that I cannot, and break down into making Flava. That is what today was, a relapse into that crazy Flava stuff the kids are all doing these days.

Jiminey Cricket, it's 3 AM. I said basically what I wanted to say on this. Maybe I'll expand more on it all later, or maybe not. Probably not. No. I won't.

Enjoy today's track. Make some Flava. Tell me about it. Rotate your tires. Rotate my tires.

Love,
Stashy McStoosh
XOXOXO

More Links:
Natral Flava on Soundclick
Natral Flava MySpace
Teen Angst at Archive.Org

-

So glossy and pretty and that's about it.

2009-09-12T02:10:00.000-07:00

09102009

09112009

So as you can probably see (unless you are reading this a long time from when I am writing it), things look a little different here. If you've never been here before, well, just take my word for it. Isn't this prettier?

So, I am continuing my regiment of doing jack shit. It is tough, but I am holding strong. Obviously, I am continuing to produce music, but that's about it, and I don't even have to get dressed for that.

Why am I so idle, you may ask. It's very simple. Upon returning from Berlin, I considered calling my old boss and asking if he had some work for me (I was working construction), but in planning that call I had been working from the assumption that I would be both bored, and very short on money. Am I bored? No. Growing up in the boondocks taught me to handle inactivity better than most people. I can keep myself entertained for months, if not hours at a time. The fact that I spent nearly nothing during my European Vacation starring Chevy Chase means that I am not broke, either (read as: I can pay my rent next month). These two things made me think, "I don't really need to work right now," but what really pushed it over the edge was the realization that this is probably the last time in my life that I will not need to have, or be looking for work. By the time I do need a job, its likely that there will be none to be found.

And so, for the last few days I have been lounging around the house watching Adult Swim, eating the steady flow of parent-cooked leftovers, and sleeping until noon. Jealous? I wouldn't be either.

I put the tracks on the top of the entry today (yeah, those things are music, not ads), because I figure that is the main pull of this little publication.

I've been using vocoders a lot lately, probably because I've been listening to a lot of Black Moth Super Rainbow, which may also explain my new found love of the mellotron. I know, I know, you were thinking I was aiming for Daft Punk, weren't you? Well, sorry to disappoint, but once I found out that those guys weren't real robots, I just cried and cried, "never again." They are probably only lip syncing their lyrics anyways.

It's 2:34, so, you know late, thus I am going to hit that cushy rectangle over there, but fear not, I will return in another couple of days with more music, and even less interesting stuff to read. I've been getting the urge to make a comic lately, so maybe I'll finally drop the Skinny Kid bomb on you.

That Darn Wiki pt.2

2009-09-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

In response to a well-aimed comment (well aimed in the "I am overly hostile" sense, not the "I wrote the Wikipedia article" sense) I should say that most of what was said in that wiki article was pretty unfair, as are my comments about Sonora being computer illiterate.

But, I do feel I should make clear, I didn't make those edits. I have never lived in Sonora, and wouldn't feel particularly drawn towards knocking it. Hostile? Well, I have my problems with the area, most of which are your average irrational teen-angst carryovers, but really, I've got no serious beef with the city, or the county in general.

I could write volumes on my mixed feelings towards my home town, but why? You only get a few kinds of people coming out of a place like this, or rather, you only get a few kinds of attitudes. Really, I grew up hating my home town (Tuolumne, CA) with a fiery passion, but in the end, I just grew out of it, basically because I left, and the angst and isolation I associated with living there just melted away, revealing the place for what it was, just a place. Some people love it from the beginning, I just was not one of those people. But with that, I still do not condone what the man said. Well, perhaps I should be more clear, I only condone it so far as it is still funny.

However, the fact holds true that this kind of stupid event should in no way constitute front page news. Are sour MySpace bulletins the basis for the next media frenzy? Perhaps one of the few sources of news and journalistic export could better spend its time addressing some of the issues brought up by the editor of that Wiki article, rather than shrugging it off as proof positive of the unreliability of what is now one of the most useful sources of centralized information on the web, or in the world for that matter.

No music for you this time. All business. Who reads this thing anyways? An anonymous reply? There are only about 15 possibilities as to who that could be. Don't put your bear hide away quite yet, sir, Winter is coming.

090909: Tuolumne County, meet The Internet

2009-09-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

I read the newspaper today. Look at me!
It was a day old. So what?
In looking at the front page, it seems someone wrote a dangerously accurate Wikipedia article about Sonora, causing a minor uproar in the hearts of a few noble citizens. I love the way people in the sticks react when they find out about the Internet, as in, when they discover that it exists. Someone writes a (funny) article, and one of the 18 Sonorans with Internet access reads it, and rather than reporting it to Wikipedia as inaccurate, calls the Board of Supervisors? Do they call the police when someone rants on a forum? What's worse is that it seems that the article intends to call Wikipedia's accuracy into question, due to the fact that it is not written by "experts," while if anything, the page's activity (check dates beginning August 23) speaks to the effectiveness of Wikipedia's system, rather than its problems, as all of this was fixed in a relatively short amount of time, despite the persistence of the "bad guy," Vayne, who is likely one of many disgruntled ex-citizens of the city.

A close look at the history of Tuolumne City's Wikipedia page will reveal two interesting, often overlooked bits of information (October 6, 2007 and April 10, 2007 revisions). Most educational institutions fail to look at the history of Richard Hunter (AKA Mini Andre The Giant) and his rule over the town, or Tuolumne's dental shortcomings (just read the articles, and you'll see what I'm talking about).

The point is, this kind of stuff happens all the time, but here it is front page news. That's right, a Wikipedia article edit constitutes front page news.

Tomorrow's news: Google is run by witches.

Two tracks for you today. One is a couple days old. I was not even going to post it, but as usual, after coming back to it after some time, I find that I like it more after I am done with it than when I am working on it. The other is something I cranked out last night after downloading a swell little mellotron emulator.

09072009

09092009

You Asked For It

2009-09-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

So I was asked by someone, or rather, it was suggested by someone that I write a little more about what each of these pieces is inspired by, or perhaps what was going on in my life such as to create these sounds. Well, some of that may be more personal than would be suitable for such a platform, and thus, most of that will not see the light outside of my head, and the rest is probably pretty boring.

What have I done recently that would inspire this? Well, last night I watched District 9. I do not have much to say about it, other than that I liked it. I actually watched it alone, as the friends I was to meet at the theatre wanted to see Inglourious Basterds, which I had already seen (in Berlin, in a room full of Germans, laughing their asses off), and thus, we timed the screenings right so as to end up in the lobby at the same time at the end, give or take 5 minutes. From the movie, I went to the Wal-Mart across the parking lot to buy some cough drops, bought gasoline, met my friends outside of Carls Jr., drove to a skate park where I told them stories from my recent excursion until the cops came and told us, "you don't have to leave, but you can't stay here," went up the highway and hung out at a now-unused elementary school before going back to my friend's house to sleep on a spare mattress, wake up an hour or so after him, eat breakfast with his family (while he is off taking photos somewhere), coming home, watching an episode of Firefly, playing video games, and realizing, "I've been wearing the same clothes since yesterday. I need a shower."

You're the one who wanted to know what I was up to.

What this should tell you is that as far as I can tell, I'm not pulling inspiration from my day's events. Generally I am pulling inspiration from my day's lack of events. Boredom and all sorts of frustration are generally what inspire me. A prison sentence would make for the utmost productivity, but I think I'll stick to regular boredom.

So here's this track, a funky little number I cranked out this afternoon, complete with a little bass guitar and vocoder action.

09052009

Fiddling About...Fiddling About!

2009-09-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

How long does it take a person to realize that their home town is boring? About two days.

Glad to start off on a high note there.

Really, I have spent the last two days lounging about the house, eating sandwiches, and watching cartoons. I cannot deny, however, that it is a welcome change. It's so fantastic to finally be able to obsessively check my email while being in the same time zone as the people sending those emails, that way I get them interspersed throughout the day rather than in a big clump in the morning. Also, I am finally getting around to all that pacing I've been putting off. I should have a pretty good track worn in the carpet by Monday.

Is there some middle ground between being busy and stressed out and being so idle that you are going borderline insane? I suppose this is where wanderlust comes from. A trip to Paris would be okay with me.

Soon enough I will back in my headquarters in Davis, CA, home of cows, KDVS, and a bunch of awkward indie kids throwing back Pabst to something reminiscent of music. Soon enough it will be cold and I will get to wear heavy sweaters and wool caps, and complain about the cold.

On a side note, in reading American Elf, I took note of a link to another fellow's semi-daily animation site: My Odd Days. I found it to be pretty charming, and reminiscent of Brad Neely's work (on a side note, there is a Kochalka reference in that video, small world), though original to be sure. Check him out.

In other news, here is the product of my idolatry, my idylitry. I'm worshiping a lack of activities, I guess. It's another surprisingly cheerful tune. I've been composing in majors a lot lately. Must be the meth.

09022009

America! Fuck yeah!

2009-09-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'm back in the United States.
Recap?
Okay.
I departed these amber waves of grain on July 31st, and set out for beautiful Berlin, Germany. I was staying in Kreuzberg (Mitte, if you want to be specific, but I don't), drinking cheap beer, hanging out in a couple pubs and clubs, and eating doner kebap like there was no tomorrow.

A few days after arriving in Berlin I left for Locarno, Switzerland for the Locarno international film festival. I saw 30 films or so, most of which were torture (I'm not going to be a plastic optimist here, art cinema is just hard to watch). I could get a liter of wine there for 2 CHF, and thus I did just about every day. I made a little music in the room of my hostel, but mostly spent my time walking around town, living like a total cheap skate, and throwing back what I called "two Franc Hank."

While on my Locarno adventure, I dipped down into Italy a few times to check out other lakes, and spent a day in Milan. I saw the Duomo cathedral, which was simply stunning. I tried in vain to capture that feeling with music, but in the end produced nothing for a few days.

The festival ended with a few good times along the way. We took a train back to Berlin, back to eating bratwurst and kebab, drinking cheap delicious hefeweisen and commenting on the apparent unapproachability of Berlin women. I made music a couple times in my apartment there, but spent much of my final days working on assigments for school and wandering around Alexanderplatz in a buzzed awe.

A fairwell dinner gave a few of us an excuse to spend a night living like fat cats, ordering multi-course meals and drinking things we couldn't pronounce. I smoked Lucky Strikes in the cool Berlin air and quoted Stand by Me, "I cherish these moments."

The trip wound down while the realization of departure set in, and the work load piled up. We spent the last night squandering our last pennies on beer and eating whatever was left in our apartments.

I flew out on the 31st at 11:25 Berlin time, and wound up in San Francisco at about 8:05 Pacific. Having awoken at 6:45 AM, and laying down at about 10:30 PM, it made for about a 24 hour day.

Now I am in the depths of jet lag, looking out my bedroom window, thinking about the heat, thinking about kebab, and still craving tacos.

I've got three tracks for you. One is your typical journal entry from my first day back in in the states, the others are a couple of pieces of experimentation that I found lurking in my unfinished projects and finished (more or less).

Now that I'm back here, I figure I need to get back to work on Pilgrim, which is close to done. I'll put links here, but will likely release that via torrent files. I won't ask for money, but I do have a donation link here, so as to help replace some of the equipment I have ruined over the course of this project (I no longer have a working electric guitar, for example).

Enjoy:

09012009

Awake

Expermentation2

Less than 48 hours left in Berlin

2009-08-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to write much. My school requirements are bogging me down at the moment, but I've made a couple tracks over the last week, and have little access to internet. I was not very impressed with them at th time of creation, but on a second listen, they are better than I had thought. Enjoy:

08212009

08252009

Almost back to Berlin

2009-08-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

Last day here in Locarno. Yesterday was rather productive, as I have less films to see, and was able to spend some time producing. I've been living on the cheap here, as in spending about 4 bucks a day, generally on bread and a bottle of wine. That leaves me with 50 of the 100 CHF I got when I arrived, so I plan on living large today, as in eating something besides bread and apples. The grocery store is closed today due to some kind of Catholic holiday, and thus eating out is my only option. Not that it is a problem today, but this is an expensive place. I stopped by a McDonalds, and a Big Mac meal runs 12 CHF (basically 12 dollars). B-B-B-Bullshit.

Word on the street is that the hostel will be cooking us Mexican food tonight, for which I am both nervous and excited. I've seen this continent's take on Mexican cuisine, basically chips (often Doritos) and chili beans. Nachos here are Doritos and salsa, which is not to say that nachos of any kind are the most genuine Mexican food, but Doritos?

My shoulders are sore from skipping stones at the river here. I can honestly say I was not expecting to be swimming in any rivers while here, as that seems to be more of a "home" activity.

Two tracks for you:

08142009

08142009_2

From Lacarno

2009-08-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Lacarno film festival.

Good things here. See if you can find a short film called Mix Tape online, as the sound work was incredible. Anyways, I have no close web access here, so I'm keeping this brief.

I made this track in my room in my hostel. It's a pretty nice place. Helicopters buzz to a close helipad in the mornings, waking me up in time for breakfast. Films are shown in the Grande Piazza here in the evenings, but have been a bust for the last few nights, as once it was way to crowded (a well-known film was premiering) or there have been rough storms rolling through from nowhere.

Enjoy:
08092009

What is this? Oh, and, hello.

2009-07-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Entry 1 - Introduction and Berlin Predeparture

Chances are, if you are reading this, you are already somewhat familiar with me, and the work I do. If not, here is a little introduction:

My name is Cody Duncan.

I am currently a college student, about to finish my undergraduate career, preparing to dive into the exciting world of probably unemployment and delusions of grandeur. I wonder if I knew I would be saying that when I was giving my Valedictorian speech in high school?

I have spent most of my time for the last seven or eight years producing music, as well as drawing the occasional comic, and writing a blog here and there. The finer details of my personal life are less important to this forum, so I will simply allow such facts to slowly trickle out if and as when this project develops.

As a musician, I plan to use this space primarily as a forum for posting my journal, and as a musician, the entries are most often musical. Below are the three most recent dated and untitled pieces of music I have produced.

In two days I will leave for a month-long stay studying film in Berlin. I imagine I will find some inspiration in my travels, but at the same time, the next update to this space will likely not occur for some time, so enjoy what you have here.

07092009

07252009

07292009