A non-verbal response to the article “The Freeloaders” by Megan McArdle from the May 2010 issue of The Atlantic, based on its accompanying editorial illustration by Jeremy Traum
Track 10. (Duration: 00:55.) “That’s a Traum! [Brontosaurus]” by Simon Lott and Beta Collide. Description of Piece (by Brian McWhorter): “This piece went down like this: asked by Marc Weidenbaum to realize a cartoon as though it was a graphic score; through a conversation with the cartoonist Jeremy Traum, discovered what musical score he excerpted in the graphic; I recorded snippets of said copy written piece with Eugene pianist Matt Svoboda; found additional samples to use of the tune (which I felt was almost a requirement given the subject); assembled a rough track; was emailed an incomplete track for a totally different project from New Orleans drummer Simon Lott; combined the two tracks; realized that the result was not a realization of the graphic-as-score, but rather, the music that must have been playing in the cartoon itself.” Beta Collide is Patrick Cronin (piano, subwoof), Robert Nash (guitar, electric bass), Simon Lott (drums), Brian McWhorter (vocals, trumpet), Matt Svoboda (piano). [MP3. More info: simonlott.net and betacollide.com]