AT
Loverly groove going on this one.  I think it is sounding fine and I don't find too many elements going.  It is really just adding and dropping them along the timeline.  If you drop the main rhythmic line you can open up a whole lot of space w/o the groove falling apart.  And nice bit of rhodes dropping in. 
 
Good stuff.
 
@

Thanks AT!  Yeah, I love that Lounge Lizard!!  I go to it a lot.  It's so nice and soft, but can cut when you want it to.

geetsifly
Hi Walt,
 
I really enjoyed this track. Its got a cool ambient vibe but the mix itself makes a lot of the magic.
 
The combination of synth and non-synth tones is terrific and I know what you mean about trying to call out a melodic center for a song like this. It can be a challenge. The tune definitely works and is inspiring. Sometimes I start stuff like this but get scared off thinking, "Man I cannot make this work live". This song make me think "so what, do it anyway ;)". So thanks for that.
 
George

Thanks George!  I love using "real" guitar and bass, and organic sounding samples/synths (like the Lounge Lizard EP, The Giant piano, Battery hand drums, etc.).  I strive to place them in my songs because "real" instrument sounds are where I come from, and what I understand.  They just sound "right" to me.  That being said, I'm learning to love synthetic sounds too.
 
As for creating a melody, I guess this is a personal preference, but I have found over the years that some of my favorite tunes have been ones that I struggled to make sense of at first.  I'm talking about epic tracks like Dark Star (Grateful Dead - Live/Dead, and many other GD jam breakdowns for that matter), Echoes (Pink Floyd - Meddle), Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin - the live version from The Songs Remains The Same), The Gates of Delirium (Yes - Yesshows), Thick As A Brick (Jethro Tull), etc.  Those songs all have sections (sometimes really long sections) where the rhythm and melody become confusing, or even disintegrate entirely, and you have to kind of make up your own musical continuities in your own mind.  I often find myself humming a melody line that shifts from instrument to instrument seamlessly, as if it were written that way.  But it wasn't.  At least I don't think it was. ;)  Anyway, I think a little chaotic dissonance or arrhythmia can be a good thing, as it can leave it to the listener's imagination to fill in the gaps.
 
In Electric Strut I wasn't really going for such all-out chaos, but I did avoid writing a dominant melody, in the hopes that creative listeners would find their own.  At most, I've tried to imply a melody, hopefully without overstating it, and allow the tune to flow in and out of multiple instruments/voices.  Not sure if it worked or not, but that's what I was going for.

daryl1968
Nice subtle groove - hypnotic. Mellow yet slightly haunting. Nice one

Thanks for listening and commenting Daryl.  I hadn't considered it "haunting", but I guess the delayed lead arpeggio has a kind of a spooky droning dissonance to it.

Thanks Tim!