Feb 2022 casiocore
Another quickie to make up the numbers.
Yuki has had a Casio MA-150 languishing in her closet untouched for the last 5 years or more. This morning she decided it was time to chuck it out since it was just gathering dust, so I decided to give it one last spin before sending it to keyboard heaven. The result is this throwback to my old Casiotone days that some of the older fawmers may remember.
Inevitably I have now decided that we cannot throw it out so it is destined to collect more dust for the next five years.
Getting super lazy now. All the vocals are pretty much first takes so you get to hear how off-key I'm capable of going. Also the keyboard only has a minijack output and I appear to not have any jack-to-minijack converters so all the sounds were recording by micing up the built-in speaker, allowing you to hear the sounds of me hitting the keys for added texture. Amusingly the drum loops have the kick in the left speaker and the snare in the right speaker forcing me to record both and layer them which is why the drums have the weird phase effect.
It's overcast
On Sunday morning
In the northern mountains
The frost is thawing
Something's afoot
You cannot hide
I can see that ruthless look
In your eyes
This is my desperate last stand
Before you toss me in the trash
Oh if only my keys
Could unlock another chance
You left the documents
On the photocopier
I never knew what you meant
Until you told me
The touch of your fingers
Triggers a voltage
Something I can't feel
Unless you hold me
This is my desperate last stand
Before you toss me in the trash
Oh if only my keys
Could unlock another chance
@elainedimasi Mar 2022
What delicious Casiocore. Yeah, you have to keep it and also NOT buy an adaptor for its audio out - great news I'm sure!
Perfectly new wave lyrics imo. Were all those other songs in the 80's about Casios and I never knew it?
Really fun song and I'm so glad I found it.
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
"Oh if only my keys could unlock another chance" is a cool line for sure. You really get a full sound out of that Casio! Love the little lead melodies like in the chorus.
@adforperu Feb 2022
Big fan of the way the keys are recorded... i mean hey, Nils Frahm goes great lengths to get the clicks and clacks of a piano recorded, so why not with a Casio? Getting real Futurecop vibes from this!
@frenchcricket Feb 2022
It's funny how the things you list as flaws are the things that give it charm. The high end roll off from miking the speaker, and that wonderful clack sound from the keys. The melody under the vocal on the right side is really addictive
@vomvorton Feb 2022
Hell yeah casiocore! The miced up speaker sound makes it sound even more charmingly lo-fi so I'm into it! Really good keyboard parts, I love that chorus riff. And yeah, love the "is this about a relationship or wondering whether to get rid of a Casio MA-150?" lyrics.
@timfatchen Feb 2022
The Casiosound is not at all as twee as one expects until you really turn it on. I smile at my Privia at my elbow. Can't get proper Casiocore sounds out of it. But there's a PSR-something from 1995 in my cupboard! Love the double meaning of the lyrics. Of course you can't throw him/her/Casio out now.!
@jackketch Feb 2022
This has a cool retro 80s sound to it, like it could've been on an album from that era. A really well together little song.
@santadharma Feb 2022
You definitely can't throw it out!! This is f-ing amazing. Love Casiocore. Awesome use of the Casio sounds and the little shifts through the song, songs about Casios are always winners in our book.