It was a strange toilet in a land of strange toilets. Didn’t plan on speaking to anyone on the way out, but then suddenly we were both heading for the door at the same time and making way at the same time and saying sorry too much, and that was enough somehow. I don’t know who offered to buy who a drink first, or who suggested another afterwards, but the way things played out kind of made perfect sense. She said she knew a place, and I was surprised because…it wasn’t like that.
And it wasn’t: half an hour later, we were sitting on the arm of a broken ride in a theme park no-one had visited in five years…or that’s what Wikipedia told me later. I asked her what the park was called and she told me “Dreamland.” Nara Dreamland. Like a prayer or a lullaby: Nara, Nara.
It got cold enough that we had to go our separate ways, and I never saw her again. I used to think we’d find each other, that it would just suddenly happen like the first time, but when they knocked down the park a few years later I felt that feeling slip. I couldn’t believe we were still sharing the same sun and breathing the same air in a world without that park. It was like they had scribbled her out of the world at the same time as they signed off the demolition permits. My memory of her faded bit by bit until the only things left were the feeling of her sitting beside me on that broken swing and the sound of her voice saying those words. Nara…Nara…goodbye Nara.
Dim the lights, dust off your speakers and enjoy as you so please! This album has been in the works ever since Mirrored Headbutt//Romantic Porn came out 3 years ago. It's not just about chiptune and soundtracks anymore - everything Nightmare Puppy's done with those things lives on here, but these tracks are about taking those elements to more ambitious, expansive and NOISEY places! Nara Nara...'s Nightmare Puppy has been a hungry, growing puppy! It's bitten off more than it can chew but ended up in a better place for it. A few more of these and we'll see about rebranding to Dream Dog...
These tracks have been written and produced over a large enough timespan that my tastes and influences have changed a lot around it. There's a full list of these further down, but it's interesting to note that I discovered several artists with whom I feel these tracks have much in common (Sweet Trip, Melt-Banana, Yuki Kajiura, Polvo) after most of them had been written. It's probably a good thing this happened as it did given how much I'd have leant on them had it been the other way around; as it was, these artists were like an encouraging pointer to the place I'd wanted to end up all along. We'll see how that goes next time.
A significant number of tracks were cut or backseated for sequencing reasons - some of these will hopefully see the light of day relatively soon, and after that Nightmare Puppy can move its paws futurewards again...
credits
released February 4, 2020
<credits>
Composition, production, guitars - Nightmare Puppy
Voiceover on Françoise Goes To Nara Dreamland - Rhiannon Shaw
Glitches on the transition out of Homewrecker - Tom O'Grady
Big thanks to Izzy and Lara for letting me borrow their voicenotes, my buddy Marcel for moral support and useful feedback, and everyone I pestered into validating my choice of song titles.
<production nerd info>
Set-up consisted of Logic Pro, a cheapass Behringer line-in, a laptop mic, a handful of guitars and a few human voices. And a capo! The main guitar tone was built towards emulating a synth lead, so modest reverb, a heckton of bitcrush, generous wahwah and occasional gating. Instruments and tunings as follows:
Turn Off The Helicopter Lights & Françoise Goes To Nara Dreamland - Epiphone Dot in DADGBD (plus a trash acoustic Yamaha for the second half of Françoise, same tuning)
Homewrecker & Catastrophe of Dirty Laundry - Ibanez RG7321 in Eb standard
Cambridge (15/11/17 Serotonin Song) - Ibanez RG7321 in E standard
Caffeine Icicle - Fender Stratocaster in Eb standard, capo 4 but high Eb open (GCFBbCDEb)
Shower Song // Everything Evil Happens In Bathrooms - Ibanez RG7321 in E standard + Epiphone Dot in drop D
<sources/inspirations>
Shower Song... was written in 2013/2014 and was originally about 4 minutes shorter, but its various sections grew out somehow; Turn The Helicopter Lights On probably came from my obsession with Ulver's Blood Inside in late 2016; Homewrecker was my reaction to hearing Shellac's Prayer to God for the first many, many times; Catastrophe... was a dumb synthed up rock song; All My Friends... was a foundation for a vocal collage that never got made; Françoise... was a miniature rock opera and originally performed with lyrics as a musical number; Cambridge (15/11/17 Serotonin Song) was a musical diary entry from that respective place, time and deficit; Totally Wicked! was for a choreographed dance and toured as part of an Oscar Wilde adaptation in East Asia; Overlooking View and Murder Speculation were inspired by the Kara no Kyoukai films of the same names and their OST by Yuki Kajiura; Caffeine Icicle was an attempt to riff off Melt-Banana and Ling Tosite Sigure over a foundation inspired by the Nier Automata soundtrack.