And now for the second Kingrow album to come out in 2009!
#1 - CONFUSION
One of Forbes' finest, I chose this one as the first single and opening track because of its dramatic intro. A nice way to start the day.
#2 - DREAMS
This track by Forbes was among the first batch of PlayStation 2 songs he showed me back in 2004. A nice mix of hard rock over a dance beat.
#3 - THE TRAVELLER
The first PlayStation 2 song I ever heard from Forbes' initial batch. Originally named "Time Traveller" (after my own song), I gave it its current name as I had plans to work on the original "Time Traveller" at some point, and this song sounds nothing like what I had in mind. It's its own track.
#4 - METRO WARS
Every time I hear this Forbes classic, I imagine a CGI low-flying air battle over a city. Must be the title.
#5 - ALONG THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL
One of my earliest compositions from 1999. It was a part of a MIDI assignment at my first audio engineering course, making this 1 of 2 songs made using the Logic Audio software. The title was inspired by the Vietnam War.
#6 - ABATTOIR
One of my titles from the Swede archive, it was a suggestion from our good friend, Tim. Forbes chose to use the title about a decade later for this classic track.
#7 - CHILDREN OF THE MILITARY WORLD
This was a random mix of mine from around 1999. It's a very basic drum beat with a single-note bassline with random sound effects going on in the background, to a war-time theme. Quite appropriate for any era of modern history, really.
#8 - QIHQP 654700
The most random title ever. From memory, Forbes said the PlayStation software he used ("Music 2000") randomly generates a title until you name it yourself. I could be wrong though. This became the second single and was released on New Year's Day, all because of the guitar solo intro. A nice way to start the year.
#9 - THE BOTTOMLESS PIT
The music was composed by Forbes sometime between 2005 and 2008, not sure when exactly. He came up with the idea of reading a Bible passage over top of it. We settled on the first 10 verses from Revelation chapter 20, and topped it off with a resounding Amen at the end.
#10 - ESCAPING BABYLON
This PlayStation 2 song was actually made by both of us while we were hanging out at his flat on New Year's Eve one year (probably 2005 or 2006). The reason it has such poor audio quality is due to the cassette I recorded it onto. This would be the last time I would use audio cassettes for any form of recording. Goodbye, childhood. I miss you!
#11 - JAM (DEMO)
From the n-Somnia collection that made its way to the Kingrow archive in 2006. A detailed story on this song in particular can be found in the first "Song Stories" post, "Kingrow Online".
#12 - FUNKING GOOD (DOWN-STEP MIX)
Like above, the description of this song can be found in the first "Song Stories" post.
#13 - DEATH IS THE CURE (ACOUSTIC MIX)
This is one of the many mixes of the song Forbes made. In this one, he gives us a look at how it would've possibly sounded in a demo or 'Unplugged' environment.
BONUS TRACKS
#1 - PLANET DUCK
At one point while recording Forbes' songs onto the computer, we had a habit of making various noises in the background for the microphone to pickup. The intro to this one is a fine example.
#2 - MURKY
This one ended up on the 8th "Ducksel FM" episode along with "Planet Duck" and the following track, as well as being B-sides for the "Kingrow Online Again" singles. Creative control is awesome.
#3 - GRITTY
The guitars are exactly what the title says. One of Forbes' finest.
#4 - M. 321
An example of Forbes getting experimental with pre-made vocal tracks.
#5 - PACIFIC HURRICANE
Just like "The Traveller", this one was originally given a Swede title ("Radio Shoreline") by Forbes before I had other plans for the title.
#6 - LEAD ASTRAY
From our first compilation album, "Single File". Turns out the title is actually spelled wrong. It should be 'Led', not 'Lead'. But either way you read it, they both mean the same thing in context. The instrumental for this song was going to be used for something else, but Forbes had a listen and loved it. So I included it in the Kingrow archive instead. The lyrics and vocals came later.
#7 - LET ME TAKE YOU ON A TRIP
The B-side for "Lead Astray". One of my slower tracks and kind of 'trippy', hence the name.
NEXT EPISODE - "DIGITAL DISTORTION".
#1 - CONFUSION
One of Forbes' finest, I chose this one as the first single and opening track because of its dramatic intro. A nice way to start the day.
#2 - DREAMS
This track by Forbes was among the first batch of PlayStation 2 songs he showed me back in 2004. A nice mix of hard rock over a dance beat.
#3 - THE TRAVELLER
The first PlayStation 2 song I ever heard from Forbes' initial batch. Originally named "Time Traveller" (after my own song), I gave it its current name as I had plans to work on the original "Time Traveller" at some point, and this song sounds nothing like what I had in mind. It's its own track.
#4 - METRO WARS
Every time I hear this Forbes classic, I imagine a CGI low-flying air battle over a city. Must be the title.
#5 - ALONG THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL
One of my earliest compositions from 1999. It was a part of a MIDI assignment at my first audio engineering course, making this 1 of 2 songs made using the Logic Audio software. The title was inspired by the Vietnam War.
#6 - ABATTOIR
One of my titles from the Swede archive, it was a suggestion from our good friend, Tim. Forbes chose to use the title about a decade later for this classic track.
#7 - CHILDREN OF THE MILITARY WORLD
This was a random mix of mine from around 1999. It's a very basic drum beat with a single-note bassline with random sound effects going on in the background, to a war-time theme. Quite appropriate for any era of modern history, really.
#8 - QIHQP 654700
The most random title ever. From memory, Forbes said the PlayStation software he used ("Music 2000") randomly generates a title until you name it yourself. I could be wrong though. This became the second single and was released on New Year's Day, all because of the guitar solo intro. A nice way to start the year.
#9 - THE BOTTOMLESS PIT
The music was composed by Forbes sometime between 2005 and 2008, not sure when exactly. He came up with the idea of reading a Bible passage over top of it. We settled on the first 10 verses from Revelation chapter 20, and topped it off with a resounding Amen at the end.
#10 - ESCAPING BABYLON
This PlayStation 2 song was actually made by both of us while we were hanging out at his flat on New Year's Eve one year (probably 2005 or 2006). The reason it has such poor audio quality is due to the cassette I recorded it onto. This would be the last time I would use audio cassettes for any form of recording. Goodbye, childhood. I miss you!
#11 - JAM (DEMO)
From the n-Somnia collection that made its way to the Kingrow archive in 2006. A detailed story on this song in particular can be found in the first "Song Stories" post, "Kingrow Online".
#12 - FUNKING GOOD (DOWN-STEP MIX)
Like above, the description of this song can be found in the first "Song Stories" post.
#13 - DEATH IS THE CURE (ACOUSTIC MIX)
This is one of the many mixes of the song Forbes made. In this one, he gives us a look at how it would've possibly sounded in a demo or 'Unplugged' environment.
BONUS TRACKS
#1 - PLANET DUCK
At one point while recording Forbes' songs onto the computer, we had a habit of making various noises in the background for the microphone to pickup. The intro to this one is a fine example.
#2 - MURKY
This one ended up on the 8th "Ducksel FM" episode along with "Planet Duck" and the following track, as well as being B-sides for the "Kingrow Online Again" singles. Creative control is awesome.
#3 - GRITTY
The guitars are exactly what the title says. One of Forbes' finest.
#4 - M. 321
An example of Forbes getting experimental with pre-made vocal tracks.
#5 - PACIFIC HURRICANE
Just like "The Traveller", this one was originally given a Swede title ("Radio Shoreline") by Forbes before I had other plans for the title.
#6 - LEAD ASTRAY
From our first compilation album, "Single File". Turns out the title is actually spelled wrong. It should be 'Led', not 'Lead'. But either way you read it, they both mean the same thing in context. The instrumental for this song was going to be used for something else, but Forbes had a listen and loved it. So I included it in the Kingrow archive instead. The lyrics and vocals came later.
#7 - LET ME TAKE YOU ON A TRIP
The B-side for "Lead Astray". One of my slower tracks and kind of 'trippy', hence the name.
NEXT EPISODE - "DIGITAL DISTORTION".