Blank...
 
Words can't describe how true this was.  Well...the word "blank" kinda sums it up...
 
After the rebound of "What's the Indifference?" from my slight bout of cold sickness, I was faced with making two pieces of art:  the footage for WEBCAMS episode 26 and the song for said episode.
 
And I drew a blank...big time.
 
For the life of me, I could not come up with a decision as to what to do for the song, style-wise and lyric-wise.  It was almost as if the sheer scope of the title zapped away my thoughts for a brief moment.
 
But, I, the comeback kid, won't be denied my tunes, let alone my own.
 
Continuing with my journey of different musical styles, I decided upon a kind of cool hybrid of Latin-influenced electric lounge, which is great on a dusky Saturday night with no TV and the windows open (complete with your drink/smoke/drug of choice...).
 
The lyrics simply came from the true concept of simply being blank on an idea, which is what the episode is about.  So, while it sounds like I am talking to a person, I am merely talking to the song itself. 
 
It came together quicker than ever, because time was pretty much running out on me.  It took about 30 minutes to do the music (sans guitar), and about 15 for vocals and guitar.  Add mixing in the equation for about 10 minutes and you've got 55 minutes of "blankness" working you for about 27 seconds. 
 
Numbers...word.

Quack Quack! Mu'Fu'ka!

Upon hearing the title alone, I knew I had to go somewhere different with it, musically.

The lyrics were simple enough, I basically took some of the more highlighted points of the script (i.e. the dead pigeon) and used it as a literary device...or some shit like that...

The main thing to point out is that it usually only takes one line in my head to get things going.  If I make up a line and once tested on my own brain I start to laugh, then I usually go from that point.  In this case, I was in hysterics every time I thought of the phrase "Luck of the Duck".

For the music, I had only a few rules:  keep it odd and keep it scary.

I used, to great effect, the LM-1 drum machine samples.  I used it solely for its infamous Clap sound, which was the "gunshot”, heard in the middle.

I was aiming for a haunting sort of textural background to go along with the deep voice that I was thinking of using.  The chords that play when the drums kick in actually are a play on another song I have written for my solo effort.  I thought about using something else at the time, but I decided that in the context in which they are used is different enough to be distinguishable, yet related.

I am a big fan of conceptual continuity.  A concept favored mostly by Frank Zappa, it is a process or state in which all things tie in somehow, whether it is sound or lyric-wise.  If you listen to a Zappa album...cool.  Then you listen to a second.  You still might not find the tie-ins.  But listen to three or more, you start hearing the same themes, almost as if these albums were one long song and he's finally getting back to the turnaround.  I LOVE stuff like that!

While WEBCAMS is a hard show to do it on, I still manage to make it either tie in to my solo stuff, stuff I have done for others, and even older Pre-You Tube Chris LeBrane stuff

(For examples of these works, check out the album "Into the Mind of Chris LeBrane" (1998)...Available Nowhere!)

I'm sure as an afterthought, way down the line, the continuity will show.  For now...just good ‘ol fashioned show funk!