1. Beneath Loch Stoat
This is the only song I composed by humming - the piano line was just that catchy. I was going for a feeling like the Overture to Notre-Dame de Paris (musical by Riccardo Cocciante), with a bit of Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh". It was supposed to be a very mysterious, ethereal song at first, giving the feeling of exploring a long-empty spaceship nestled in the bottom of a loch... and then I went and tacked a guitar solo on the end and somehow worked in an awesome bassline; almost something Bear McCreary might have put in Battlestar Galactica's music. And that was before I envied him. Or knew about him at all.
2. RedVenture IV - The Longboat (feat. Nick on bass)
When Tara asked me to compose a piece for her Redwall-themed writing contest, RedVenture IV, I tinkered out a couple of utterly random demo melodies on the piano and asked her which one she liked better. Although slightly disappointed with her choice (the other one sounded suspiciously like "Home, Sweet Home" from Final Fantasy V, which is incredibly Redwally) I did my best in the following week(s?)... and somehow came up with something I'm genuinely proud of. The quality is a bit lacking, however, as this was the first serious step towards properly mixing and mastering a song. As I lost some of the original files along the way, I am not able to give it a shiny new sound. My friend Nick was ever-so-kind to supply me with a live bass, though!
3. Shores of Loch Stoat
Taking the piano line and chords from "Beneath Loch Stoat" and slowing them down into a relaxing piano piece... didn't work. But taking the main idea, putting it to a guitar, and adding a whole new melody and countermelody to it somehow did. I didn't mean to at first, but the end result is happily reminiscent of something off the soundtrack to Chrono Cross.
4. Viking Otters From Space
This started out a simple piano doodle, just the sad bit, and took ages for me to figure out what to do with the rest of the song. I didn't just want to repeat the sad bit again and again... At last, in a fit of inspiration, I tacked on a simple Am, C, Am, C chord sequence and and spilled a Jarre of Jean-Michel all over it. Its weird, but it works. (Fun facts: I do believe Crimson is to blame for the title, and the bassline during the happy bit sounds suspiciously like the one in Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive" from Portal. I didn't mean to do that, either.)
5. Orange Ferret
They had a sort of zoo where I live, with some of your standard zoo animals; a tiger, ostriches, various birds... and then some not-so-standard animals, such as a genet, some foxes... orange-furred ferrets. Bright orange, almost all over. Not just a tinge, not just a tad - all over. They looked like they'd been smothered in orange sherbet ice-cream. I don't know what prompted me to name this song after them, but no other name works now. The song itself was somehow composed after being disappointed in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess's ending song - and I still think it sounds like a bit from the Jekyll and Hyde musical...
6. Kittens in a Basket
Yes, yes, kittens aren't mustelids. This is actually a song I'd done earlier, but fixed up because my dad liked it so much. It was originally Anya's Theme, from RedVenture II. I'd written it after listening to Edge talk about layering guitars for one of U2's songs in their Classic Albums documentary for The Joshua Tree. Remarkably pretty for having about 2.5 chords.
7. Weasels in a Bin
Yet another song originally written by random fiddling on the piano. The intro is a direct homage to Pink Floyd's "Lost For Words" (couldn't resist after I realised the chords were the same.) I have a soft spot for accordions, and am terribly sad I couldn't fit more into this album, and sadder still that the samples I have don't match up to the real thing even remotely. An alternative title is "Frances's Theme"; she was the original Binweasel. The piano at the end was recorded live via midi; it sounds off because over half the keys stick on our piano. Gives it a nice lost, wandering feel, though.
8. Monster Doctor Theme
My dad wrote a book. This is the song I wrote for it. It should have been longer, it should have been better... but I was lazy at the time, which is why the drums are all midi and the guitar sounds off. I could re-do it, but I don't feel like it. Monster Doctor isn't shiny and polished. He's gritty and unfinished. He eats his patients to save their lives. And he isn't House.
9. Ermines (Are Stoats in Winter Coats)
Working title: "An Extra Two and a Half Minutes of Ermine". Having finished all the other songs, I realised that I still had nearly 3 minutes of extra space left on the CD, and I'd had this song lying around with its stolen timpani beats and bassline ("Le Pape Des Fous" from Notre-Dame de Paris and "Let There Be More Light" by Pink Floyd, respectively.) So I tacked on a quick bass solo, some random cymbal noises and called it finished. Heh.
10. The Fisher and the Mink (feat. Brya on bass)
Originally written for my friend Nick's birthday, and originally titled "Showdown". The quality is majorly iffy because I'd tried to do everything but the drums live - then gave up, mixed in a fake rhythm guitar and dual-solo at the end to hide my crummy playing. As I don't have a bass guitar, and asking him to record bass for his own birthday present seemed... odd... Sharp Garvo/Tislane Tinker/Brya managed to pitch in with some spot-on playing.
11. Monty's Farewell
Back to songs written for Richard Bach's Ferret Chronicles. This was supposed to show the undisplayed anguish of Monty as his friend Cheyenne left to become a movie actress - but also show their hope and friendship and... stuff. I like to say that the whistle represents Cheyenne and the harmonica, Monty, but that wasn't really my original intention. It just fits. Originally titled "Cheyenne's Farewell" until I realised that I shouldn't steal everything from Once Upon A Time in the West's soundtrack.
12. Night Rescue
The clarinet in this song should actually be a voice, singing lyrics, but I haven't written them yet. This would be the "studio" version of Zsa-Zsa and the Show Ferrets' song, "Night Rescue", which they perform at the end of Rescue Ferrets at Sea. I feel I must point out that the guitar riff in the beginning came about from me trying to teach myself Pink Floyd's "Cirrus Minor"; either that, or "Wots... Uh, The Deal" or "Is There Anybody Out There?". I don't remember.
13. Shadow of the Sun (Part I)
This was mainly written after a brief (but not too brief) infatuation with the band Apocalyptica. Although I was unable to replicate their sound very well, I think I managed to turn it into something rather awesome all the same. It was originally titled "Marscapone's Theme", after one of my characters, but changed when I attempted to add lyrics to it:
You can't see me - you're the sun
14. Shadow of the Sun (Part II)
The interlude here was originally written for the scene in the Mystery Ferrets story of Bach's Ferret Chronicles, the bit where (spoiler!) Shamrock finds herself back in time with Avedoi Merek, and sees all these meteors flying through the sky - only to have Avedoi say, "No meteors." I also used it in an overdub of the final Barricade Scenes in the Shoujo Cosette anime; a re-make of Les Miserables. They had the nerve to kill everyone off with a jaunty J-pop song.
15. Avedoi's Choice (feat. Geo Holms on... microphone)
The actual song part of this was also used in the Les Mis overdub, when Grantaire and Enjolras were shot together. It was actually written after I'd heard "People Seized With Life" while playing Chrono Cross; I then offered it to a friend for use in a video game he was making... so its had quite a few purposes. The words being said in the intro are from the aforementioned Mystery Ferrets story - although Avedoi did not actually say "I withdraw my consent from evil" in his speech, and did say "thank you" twice. Creative liberties there. Fellow Ferret Chronicles fan Geo Holms offered to voice Avedoi for it, and I think he did a marvelous job at it.
16. Writer Ferrets
The history of this song is long and difficult to get through without explaining about a million other things along the way, so I'll keep the write-up simple: It's a love song about ferrets who are writers. I'd once written lyrics for it, but they weren't very good. If there are ever to be lyrics for it, they can are to be found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 1-7.
17. One Paw, Two Paws, Three Paws, Four Paws
Originally written as the theme for one of my first characters, Seige, I've since passed it on to represent certain ideas in Writer Ferrets: Chasing the Muse. Ideas about a first book, a kit's book, an instant success, and trying to copy that success with another book - and failing, at first, to do so. A bit sad, a bit sweet, overall pleasing and relaxed, and a guitar quartet because I've always wanted to do a guitar quartet, however fake and meandering.
18. The Pine Marten's Lament
Jethro Tull did a very happy, awesome song called "The Pine Marten's Jig". I didn't intentionally set out to do the opposite, but it worked out nicely indeed. An earlier song I'd composed, "Northern Skies" for RedVenture II, had this bit in the middle, the "Vermin's Theme"; I'd always liked that melody. It didn't work out as a ballad, though, and it certainly didn't work out as a a techno-blues mix. But it does fairly well a dark bluesy rock piece with a (hopefully) Gilmour-esque guitar solo.
19. Air Ferrets
There was just something about the bit in Air Ferrets Aloft, when little Willow swept the wolf hat from her head, never to wear it again. I cried. I cried at the memory of that scene, while writing this song. As for the technicalities, the style is very heavily influenced by Pink Floyd's "Take It Back". Here and there, reprises of other songs - the piano line from "Beneath Loch Stoat" is heard, (and, in fact, the main chord structure is almost entirely the same), the descending melody from "Night Rescue"... and I'm pretty sure I'll find a way to work in some of the bass solo and electric guitar from the interlude into songs for Rescue Ferrets At Sea and Rancher Ferrets on the Range. Someday.