Solitaire
Awesome. This is my band 'Four Banks', (formally 'Triceratops' - myspace.com/triceratops1), and I think this is my favourite one of ours so far.

Spin
An old demo, perhaps a little frantic in parts but it works.

143 AMR
A phone recording which I keep going back and listening to. I think I just like the way it keeps changing...

OMGBBQ
It's so beautiful outside!!!

Untitled
Another quiet one, tomorrow's will be upbeat I promise.

Everett
This is a little tune I never had a name for, but always makes me think of the small, dented, classical guitar I wrote it on at Everett Road.

Different Lines
It's a song with words and everything, hope you like it.

Z27
Just a gentle melody today, sometimes it's all you want.

Academy
The second is kind of an 'epic' improvisation using sitar-style tuning.

Experiment
Once again the internet failed me and I missed yes-todaysriff, so here's two to make up for it. The first one is an experiment to see what I could build from an initial two note loop.

77 amr
This is a weird one, played on a cheap guitar, through an even cheaper amp, and recorded on a phone. Doesn't get any better than that. But it's the Boss Compression Sustainer that makes this one sound like something you'd hear in an 80's arcade I think. Just keeping it fresh kids.

Active
This one came together yesterday, between moving house and running around playing theatre games.

Spook
Love this one, going to try and make a song out of it if possible. 

Echoer
This one meanders. It just kind of happened, and happened well, so here we are. Sometimes you try really  hard and it sounds like James Blunt with a hangover, and other times you don't try at all and the notes flutter out like Fantasia. On that day I felt like Mickey Mouse!

Teenager
An experiment in looping drums and guitar parts.

Got Out Alive
Here's a work in progress. I started writing some words but they seem to get in the way rather than enhance the thing. So perhaps it can be used as background music for something.

Vaquero
Another rough recording with the band (Four Banks). We're in need of a singer/songwriter, let me know if you're interested!
I've got a few quiet ones coming up in the next few days to balance out all this noise, as well as a looping experiment, and perhaps even some vocals to be included here or there.

W31
Just a work in progress.
For anyone tuning in - I am more than happy to try writing something based on your suggestions. Just give me a key, a 'tone' for it, whatever you like. I'm limited to guitars and drum loops though so I won't be writing any operas...

A Spark In You
This a very rough demo of a new song recorded today with the band. We're called 'Four Banks', formally 'Triceratops' (http://www.myspace.com/triceratops1).

W36
I missed a day :( Well it wasn't for lack of songs or effort, rather my ISP's outage. Regardless I'm making up for it with a double song for yesterday, and another for today.
W36 - we have the slow original and a fast version, but which one sounds better?

This is a simple tune which never really required words. Before uploading this one I dragged the file into GarageBand to edit it and for some bizarre reason it came out twice as fast. I’m not too sure which version I prefer.

Maxine

“I love you to the Max. Let’s not kid ourselves, it gets really really bad” - Silver Jews.

The home front has been continued source of stress and we’re finally on our way out, moving into a fantastic flat and we can’t wait. This tune seems to reflect this transistion so I’ve named it after our new tomato plant - a housewarming gift which we named Maxine.

Solomans

Another old track, actually a recording over a recording, so apologies for the ‘tinnyness’. This one grew up to be ‘Photo Booth’, which you can hear as a full 'band' recording at: http://soundcloud.com/trainbusker/photo-booth .

Balcony

I’ve got a brand new place,

Look at that storage space,

It’s got a balcony,

It’s got a CD player (player, player, player….)

Z10

Back in university a friend of mine gave me this plastic, coin sized microphone you could plug straight into your computer and record, it turned out to be an absolute treasure. Thank you Dave T! What a legend.

This is one of the many old rediscovered tracks, and I can’t even remember recording it. If you can bear with me on the ‘working out’ phases, I think it has something.

I'm 4U
Today's song comes from the mind, and voice, of Danny Price, of Kermit's fame. A new song by old band mates.
Words by Daniel Price, music by Alex Walker.

Welcome to todaysriff.


A few months ago my brother, a youtubing sensation, approached me stating that he was always in need of music for his videos. I’d been writing and recording for over 15 years and had somehow managed not to notice the sheer multitude of sound I’d compiled over the years. I ploughed through nearly 500 tracks of lo-fi amateur rough cuts, only a handful of which had ever blossomed into actual songs. 
The shame I felt.
Music is made to be heard! I had truly neglected these old wav files, these children of mine, left to fester on my old Dell hard drive. As a birthday present to my brother I presented 98 unfinished songs, to use however he pleased, and decided to send the best of the rest out into the world. I write songs, but really I’m a ‘riffist’ – a guitarist who can come up with a new wordless tune almost every time he picks up the guitar. I struggle to finish songs, and struggle to like the ones I complete, but the tune is always there and it’s wasted without an audience. Hence the blog - a new track, everyday.


There may not be much in the way of singing, full band production or even structure, but for these things I make no apology. The point is here that something is always being made and at some point, for someone, some of it might actually be worth paying attention to.


Wish me luck, and thanks for listening.