Four New Songs: The Firstfruits Of My New Zoom H4 Digital Fourtrack

Songs:

1) Without A Warning
2) When You Move Into The Void
3) Painfully Missing From The Floor
4) Won't You Tell Me Your Name

Log: Recorded on my new Zoom H4 digital fourtrack. Edited in Audacity.

Lyrics:

[Without A Warning] Seasons change / Without a warning / They return / Attacking your mind / Golden cage / For terrible darling / I must walk / 'Till I'm in a coma / I must work / Until I'm defied / I must talk / Until I am / Swept away by the Final Day
[When You Move Into The Void] I / Am looking for ways to get hold of / The time that expires when you / Move into the void / And you leave me paranoid / High above the skies / Counting the days while I'm looking for ways to ignore you / 'Cause I ain't true / Terrible days in which voices are raised in the morning / And I can't get out / Rolling away with the prizes they pay in the morning / Just to be alive / I cannot say / I cannot say who I am now / But Im alive
[Painfully Missing From the Floor] She said there was no / Other way to take it / Bad news from hell / She could take it well / She was planning to leave anyway / And I watched her big head / Her beautiful big head / And I still heard what she'd said / When she was finally gone / And I had to check on her work / She'd / Been a pin-up / But now she was / Painfully / Missing from the / Floor
[Won't You Tell Me Your Name] Tomorrow / I'm gonna be a better man /My sorrows / Are gonna have to face my plan / I'm broken / I'm shattered and I'm left behind / I will need some time to heal / This is how I'm gonna feel / Ain't it right to wait for the morning / I'm gonna make a last appeal / Fly to the ceiling of the moon / This is how I'm gonna... / Hey, I ain't gonna climb my way up to the heavens / You have to let me in for your own sake / Everything I make is tumbling down / I ain't never gonna wear no crown / You gotta believe me / I gotta believe you / Wow, and I know your life and truth / Won't you tell me your name?

Experimental and romantically desperate: fourteen and a half glorious minutes: 'Into The House Of Solid Souls'

Album: Into The House Of Solid Souls
Songs: 1. Old And Buried In Sorrows; 2. Naked In The Sea; 3. Messy Mezzo; 4. Into The House Of Solid Souls; 5. He Fell In Love With A Patient Whore; 6. A Welcome Song For Little Sunshine; 7. The Messianic Age; 8. For A Good War, You Can Wake Me Up In The Middle Of The Night; 9. Never Been No Hiker; 10. Good Morning Crocodile
Session Date: The recording of #5 dates from Dec. 2007; that of #6 from April 2008. All other songs except #8 (which was recorded around May or perhaps June 2008) were first recorded on fourtrack around June or perhaps July 2008. I edited and mixed all songs in October 2008. The process took a couple of weeks, with intervals of course.
Recording Gear: Fostex fourtrack; cheap dynamic mic or semi-SM58 mic, can't remember; Audacity; headset-mic
Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar; Casio SA-1 keyboard
Log: This was mostly a project of fourtrack-songs that I'd left, but have tried to revive with excessive digital editing. I took a couple of strange runaway songs on board as well. Jeroen Breebaart saved my ass once again with his brilliant plugins.
Lyrics: [1. Old And Buried In Sorrows] I never thought I would be here / Amazed and bewildered / I now that you /Can disappear and suddenly strike me / Intrinsically mild / But like fire / That burns to make sacred / You've made me your child / Take away / The greed and the hatred / Oh, oh / I never thought I'd be so old / And buried in sorrows / I try to find instant delight / Like there's no tomorrow / Hurried and wild / I'm on fire / Blow out like a candle / You've made me your child / For you I can't / Be too hard to handle [2. Naked In The Sea] Naked in the sea / Stung by a sacred bee / Leafs whisper goodbye / 'Don't you even try / To die / Unsaved' [3. Messy Mezzo] [4. Into The House Of Solid Souls] Into the house of solid souls / Swim in a bath of burning coals / I close my eyes in disbelief / Enclosed in a garden filled with grief / And I'm afraid my life has ended / I have com here to just let go / I'm haunted by your love offended / I could just shake my feet / I know / Shrunken back and disarranged / I just wish that nothing'd ever changed / You are real and you can laugh / Don't know how to lose all that I have / And I'm afraid my life has ended / I have com here to just let go / I'm haunted by your love offended / I could just shake my feet / I know [5. He Fell In Love With A Patient Whore] Ooh, not a trace of delight / And the face of [sorrow] shining bright / Scorched heights of [hell] with the flags of the sweet / [Sunbird] burnt down to swart / Swallow and wag / Manhandled and put in a bag / Oh, the sun ain't shining no more / He fell in love with a patient [whore] / Oh, with a patient whore [6. A Welcome Song For Little Sunshine] Wake up / Little sunshine / The world's been dark / For such a long time / You are welcome / Welcome in our home / Little sunshine / Little sunshine won't you come / Won't you come? [7. The Messianic Age] Won't let down my hope / For the messianic age / Life that I can't grope / Like a torn out final page / I'm a man / Filled with blood / And I can / Talk to God / Searching for the start / With the finish far behind / Brainboard full of darts / There's a multitude of signs / I can't miss / My last train / Here them hiss / Fear and pain / I shouldn't fear / But I do / Shouldn't look back / But I do / Shouldn't look down / But I do / Training me again / For the road that lies ahead / Unexpected friends / Make me feel I'm not dead yet / I'm alive / But I'm bruised / Life or death / I can't chose / I shouldn't fear / But I do / Shouldn't look back / But I do / Shouldn't look down / But I do [8. For A Good War, You Can Wake Me Up In The Middle Of The Night] Shadows're gonna stone me / Truly I don't know how to reverse my skin / Bable boy gone to the shore / To dance in the moonlight with the wolves / Oh, how cruel / Is that ego on top / For the ego on wheels / [Drop me a line / Father ] / Thirsting for war / For a good, good, for a good, good, for a good, good, for a good, good war / Yeah [9. Never Been No Hiker] If this is only / A test for Meite / Gonna like me Bobby / You don't know I'm so sad / In the world I suffer / Never been no hiker / Never been no hiker.. [10. Good Morning Crocodile] Not heat / The cold sun / Empty nutrition / I bleed / Am not one / Roll me away / No hiding place for me / No sugar-coated eyes / The snowman holds me back / I've come too far / Trembling / Good morning / Crocodile belly / Mortuary / Thunderstruck ally / Good morning / Crocodile belly / Mortuary / Thunderstruck ally / Good morning Croc!

Nine-Minute Constellation of Lo-Fi Songs: 'The Fallen Hemisphere'

Song: The Fallen Hemisphere

Session Date: Between September 20th and October 6th 2008

Recording Gear: Cheap headset-mic, PC, Audacity

Music Gear: Talamine acoustic guitar, Farida D-10E western guitar

Log: Fed up with having to re-install my recording equipment because of a bug that has appeared ever since I moved my stuff to another room, I decided to say ^(&*$-it and just do some improvized recordings with that good ol' headset-mic. I edited the stuff in Audacity with a minimal amount of effects because even most of my plug-ins were gone after the move. Anyway, here is a nine-minute constellation of songs that I think fit the weather.

Lyrics: Hello, papa / I'm a hellhound / In love with the tides / I just wish I could recall my number / 'Cause now I have to hide / Between the sandhills /
.....
She was standing in the doorway / Murmuring about gold / Things that I have never told her / I could only go away
.....
Hovering just above the ground / Sergeant Impulse keeps on letting me down / Patiently keeping an eye on the bathroom-door / She might come out and slap my map to the floor ! / Drunken stars, please step to the fore / I have only heard of you tenthousand times before / If you hover black between black between twinkle Jack specks / Drunken stars, please.. / Please, step to the fore..
.....
You said be silent / But silent was the last thing that I could be / Escape to the city with a bag full of garlic in our bones / Rise up full moon / With the flickering of bloodstained teeth below / You said / I want it to be slow and special / Like an evil snail
.....
If I could never cherish you / I would go back / And try to dig up the truth / Holding you and me aloof / We walked a pretty while together / You were naked / And I was all alone / Terrorized by inner drones / And if you'd rather be / Untied and free / Why don't you eat your pain / Take it all and all away / And if you are / Superfar / I thought that we could be best friends / But I didn't / Know about your withered hand / Buried in a rental tent / I choked below the yellow ceiling / She was smoking / Smoking under silver skies / Exploded into distant cries / And if you'd rather be / Untied and free / Why don't you eat your pain / Take it all and all away / And if you are / Superfar / Away from the enemy / Take the enemy away

Newsflash: Gig on August the 1st in Joure!

What & Where?! Yes! U is gonna gig once more. Friday the 1st of August 2008 on the Street Festival of Joure. Look here for the program.

Erik Klinkhamer is going to support me on bass. We're practicing our asses off right now.

Featured will be a couple of brand new songs along with MURSB's classics like Solomon's Choice, Moonspells, Arrows of Hope, On a Monday He Stepped Out of His Grave and Went to Work, Lester, Lester, Filling Out Coordinates, Knick-Knackery Peace, The Story of the Three-Legged Horse, Only the Son, The Potatoe-Plate Midday-Break.. Stuff like that. Probably. Don't bet your money on it.

Just be there!!

'Before the Gates of Answer Flood' : 13 hitlets!

Songs:
1 - Someone Who Didn't Rot Away
2 - Who Cares?
3 - Arrows of Hope
4 - Pageturner
5 - Sugar and Bones
6 - What's a Man Without Eternal Passion
7 - I Was a Happy Clown
8 - The Side-Effects of Jesus Christ
9 - Sing for the Planter of Souls
10 - Before the Gates of Answer Flood
11 - The Emptiness Cage
12 - 'Welbehagen'
13 - Time for a Release

Session Date: September and the first bit of October 2007

Recording Gear: PC using Audacity, Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic, cheap dynamic mic

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Yairi acoustic guitar, Squier bass, percussion stuff, toy xylophone, wind-organ

Log: This was born out of the enthusiasm of beginning something new. I wanted even shorter songs - and lo, I succeeded. With Sunblisters, I arranged the songs in chronological order of recording. Now I've arranged them strategically. It's only 12:47 minutes, but it's meant to seem much longer. There are different atmospheres here: lovely and absurd, cynical and honest.
The cover was created by Jonathan Sterkenburg (thanks pal. And thank your granddad for cooperating.)

Lyrics:

1 - Someone Who Didn’t Rot Away /And if I dream – somebody pinch me - but I don’t feel a thing! / I’m alive with all the hazards of you /And if I cry, it’s because I can’t remember a thing / Of all the miracles that I have seen / Through the curtain / And it is certain / That we die / But hey, hey, hey! / There’s someone who didn’t rot away..

2 - Who Cares? / Don’t say you’re sorry / When you ain’t / Don’t say: ‘Don’t worry’ / To a saint! / Don’t say anything at all when you got no message for the unrich / Are you sandwhiched? / Between hope and despair / Like everybody cares / But someone does / Yes, he does

3 - Arrows of Hope / From the city I fled when I lost all my pets / I thought it was a joke.. / I’m a supersad guy with the moon in my eye / And I am always broke / Come to me, arrows.. / In the village of grey I am lost in today / I’d like to travel back / To the years of delight when the future shone bright / I always hit the deck / Come to me, arrows / Of hope..

4 - Pageturner / Don’t wanna hurt nobody / I’m in too much pain / I’m gonna throw a party the day it’s gonna rain / It’s gotta be stopped, and started / Someone open this cage / It’s gotta be robbed or guarded / Someone’s gonna turn the page / I am a simple fellow, all I see is blood.. / I just don’t know why I know that there’s a God / It’s gotta be stopped, and started / Someone open this cage / It’s gotta be robbed or guarded / Someone’s got to turn the page

5 - Sugar and Bones / Riding the waves of a million flies / I’m heading back to this paradise / If you feel cold or cannot sweat / I’m not so bold, I’m just a head / Carry the stones / Oh oh oh / Sugar and bones / Oh oh oh

6 - What’s a Man without Eternal Passion? / You’re extraordinary and afraid that your moment won’t last / All catastrophes in a box, always up to the test / Several sequences later you’re still on the very same spot / All exacerbates when you don’t have a passion from God

7 - I Was a Happy Clown / Rain is falling down on the highways of desire / And the sellers are so tired / Wearing heavy crowns / I have been around / For a short while and I think back / To my schooldays, oh how happy / Yes I was a happy clown

8 - The Side-Effects of Jesus Christ / I’m sick and tired of these crazy meds / They steal and lie and have no regrets / There’s only one medicine / That really works / It’s the Son of God / Who was killed by jerks / Like you and me / But can you handle the side-effects, the heavy side-effects? / Can you handle the side-effects of Jesus Christ?

9 - Sing for the Planter of Souls / With my cold head on the playground / I should just stand here, I suppose / Breathe the air that I still take for granted / If I’m broken, then it be so / I know the one who loves the most / Will never leave the souls that he has planted

10 - Before the Gates of Answer Flood / I’ve entered a new story / The tunnel of a green light / I lingered till she came with force / The night / A dozen teardrops falter / The night is endless and without / A goal / Clap in your hands, it’s appalling! / The shameless way you’re happy to exist

11 - The Emptiness Cage / I need a break here, I step to the side / With a hole in my head, and a knife in my thigh / I feel so lucky, I’m one of the few / With the problems of Mars, yes I do! / Gather together all the flocks of delight / But when you got no mustard well them dogs gonna bite! / There’s sorrow and wisdom in the eyes of a child / But the beggars and tramps have gone wild / Beggars and babies in need of our love / Prisons and parties, keep spending your time / Your time and your money, your sugar and honey / I’m with the emptiness cage!

12 - ‘Welbehagen’ / Pictures of hot chicks abound / If you feel an unclean spirit, cast it out! / All the good things that the Lord has bestowed upon us, we try to steal them away / All my petty sorrows are bizar / My cravings and my longings are at war / I want to feel like a high botherbugger but I’m really just ripping myself apart / He wants to make us feel good / He wants to make us feel good / He wants to make us feel good

13 - Time for a Release / It’s time for a release / The stars are sighing: ‘please’.. / I’m hardly ever on my knees / I want the honey without the bees and flowers / Trepidation, yes / I hardly can believe that I’m alive / With all that’s hunting me / I hardly can believe what I can see / It’s time for a release / The stars are sighing: ‘please’..

Copyright and attribution: You are free to copy and/or share this album or the songs on it on a strictly non-commercial basis. This album is licensed under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0) which can be found at the following internet-address: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed-music

Cover created by Jonathan Sterkenburg. Thanks!

I used the following sound files from Freesound (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu):
By Spandau: rainoncarroof.wav (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=40700); by sazman: 070422-cats-sample.wav (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=34094); by sandyrb: USAT BOMB.wav (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=35643); by Paracelsus: radio.wav (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=32266); by ERH: Sweethearts at war.wav (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=31645); by freesound: Bye_Bye_Claps_ses1.wav (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=25292)

The New EP: 'Sunblisters'

Songs: 1 - Rearing Dogs That Never Bark
2 - Solomon's Choice
3 - Post-Euphoric Blunder-Soup
4 - Whatever Happened to My Calling
5 - Maximum Output, Minimum Gain
6 - Secrets of the Night-Air II
7 - The Old Light-Searcher
8 - Moonspells
9 - Funkin' with Cornelia
10 - The Daily Mysery
11 - Waiting for the King

Session Date: Last third of August and first bit of September, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, cheap dynamic mic

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guita, Yairi acoustic guitar, Squier bass, shakers, Yamaha RY-10 drumcomputer

Log: Rather different from 'Cool World', both musically and lyrically. Short songs again. Used a lot of samples of every day sounds. Recorded in less than a month. Only 'Whatever Happened to my Calling' (original title 'Called for the Job') is an older song that had to stand in for a weaker little brother that died prematurely.
'The Daily Mysery' is not a misspelling.
Reception by small fan base was enthusiastic. Now what do you think of it, world? (Comment!)

Lyrics: 1 -Rearing Dogs that Never Bark [1:15] Questioning the question-marks / Never taking stand / Rearing dogs that never bark / Laugh while shaking hands / Wasn’t cruel otherwise / Had a puff too much / Had a passion to argue / Always feeling too slow / See, believe, if you don’t stop yourself / You’re gonna travel low / On the road to where you find the end / Of everything that grows / Having a good time you suppose / A fatal overdose

2 – Solomon’s Choice [2:10] A Solomon’s choice / Raise your voice / And speak to the terrible boys / Confident stuff / Opened wide / But closed when the going gets tough / I feel fresh tonight / Don’t think that I will ever sleep / Lost my cash tonight / Climbing a mountain way too steep / Warmer than me / All you see/ Are bits of spectacular dreams / I’d like to be/ Far away / From faults and failures today / I feel hot tonight / Don’t think that I will ever sleep / Talk to God tonight / Climbing a mountain way too steep

3- Post-euphoric Blunder-Soup We wondered if it was real after all / The feelings we had were giant and small / Striking us like a power we didn’t know did exist / It was a fortunate explosion / Of disproportional emotions / I wanted to grasp the magical past / Preserve the contact that came with a blast / Muddling in a soup I didn’t know much about / It was an unfortunate exception

4 – Whatever Happened to my Calling [1:26] Haven’t you called me for the job of saving? / Haven’t you been true to the life that you’ve given? / Haven’t I lied to myself and to you? / Haven’t I died to the world to be your son?

5 – Maximum Output, Minimum Gain [1:11] Maximum output, minimum gain / Without you I just can’t sustain / In every season / There is you / Devil-dead-end at the corner of the road / Wish I could push a little button / And implode / You long for love that burns away / Everything else

6 – Secrets of the Night-Air II [1:01] I spend some time with the night / She tells me that everything’s right / But I can’t hear the cries of those / That get hurt / I can’t get out of this train / Of thoughts that drive away pain / Now I can’t hear the voice of him / Who got hurt/ And died to fill the universe / With his life

7 – The Old Light-Searcher [0:57] I’m a silent crow / Waiting for a glistening light / To catch my old eyes / I just wanna grab and to hide it / Don’t ever play no more / I can feel the weight of my bones / I’ve seen too many nights / But I still hope that I will find it

8 – Moonspells [1:20] Once again I hear the church-bells / Hear the living call the dead / I’m swimming in a sea of moonspells / I’m driving around in a bed / And all the pills that make you sober / They’re gonna turn you into an elephant / They’re gonna work until your brain is fried / Might it not be better to turn to God? / Might it not be better to turn to God?

9 – Funking with Cornelia [0:30]

10 – The Daily Mystery [1:48] In the middle of the week I fall down / Lying blinded on the floor / Struck by lightning that has come to turn around / In my mind I see the door / This is how I wish my life would start / Because I’m not as smart as you are / ‘Read your Bible and pray every day’ / But when you fade away, it’s hard / The dishes are waiting for me / Cold and absorbing / Rude and exhausting / I’m building a tower of songs / Their destiny is falling / Gibberish they’re calling to you

11 – Waiting for the King [1:37] Far horizons / Glorious reminders of our hope / Shattered puzzle-solving / Newspaper, coffee, I’m alive! / Don’t you sit down / Forever in an electric chair of fear / The future is waiting / The future of the king who will appear / The binding of the anointed one / Has freed us from our strings / He died a torturous death for us / The creator of all things / And now I wish to praise his name / The living one of old / You love me and I stand ashamed / How could I grow so cold?

Newsflash: Got Some Five+ Songs But Am Waiting Till Full Release

Yeah, I got some five+ songs, but as I said, I'm workin' on an EP, and though my EP's may be short, five short songs is too short even for me. So hang on, it's gonna happen, just give me some more time.

Newsflash: Workin' on a New EP

I've decided to start working more project-wise, that is, creating collections of songs (EP's or CD's) rather than individual songs. This will significantly slow down my output but I think it's a better way of working eventually, one from which I will learn more. So I'm working on another collection. I'll keep you updated.

Seven New Songs: 'Cool World'

Songs:

1 - Rushing, Blushing and Reality-Crushing [2:08]
2 - Accidental Semi-Pig [1:35]
3 - Lamebrain's Sad Silly Song [0:58]
4 - Happy with You World [1:20]
5 - Wrong Lane [1:03]
6 - Martyr in the Wrong Arena [1:36]
7 - On a Monday He Stepped Out of His Grave and Went to Work [2:57]

Log: I recorded this little lo-fi sucker for a friend of mine, Dirk in Amsterdam (cheers mate). It's a bit of a concept album, mixing biographical elements with a harsh critique (clothed in harmonic sarcasm) on our modern day hedonism and escapism.
It was recorded between Tuesday, July 17 and Tuesday, July 24, 2007. It's got seven songs that were all primarily recorded on my Tascam 8-track and edited in Audacity, sometimes adding extra tracks.

Session Date: July, Tuesday 17 till Tuesday 24, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic, dictaphone

Music Gear: Ibanez electric guitar, Squier bass, Takamine acoustic guitar, eggs, shaker, wind-organ

Quick and Drowning in Cult: 'Snapfastener Pre-Breakfast Kick'

Song: Snapfastener Pre-Breakfast Kick

Session Date: July 7-8, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 4588 MKII used as a mixer, PC with Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic for guitar, cheap dynamic mic for vocals

Music Gear: Ibanez electric guitar, Vox AD15VT amp, Squier bass, conga's with paint-brushes

Log: The title is admittedly slightly Pollardish.
Played a guitar with the Vox's tremolo; played them old conga's with one euro paint-brushes bought at Xenos (flung quite a bit of delay over that track). That was yesterday. Wrote the lyrics this morning and recorded the vocals in the afternoon: 2 times the same part plus a higher voice. Used some reverb and delay over the first two vocal tracks. Mastering: Compression, hard limiter... You know how it goes.

Lyrics: Straightforward and shy at the same time / I die in the midst of a telephonic poll / Hey sandgirl, Stop lookin' at me! / I'm just a stand-in for the better part of me / Stop cookin', We're all gonna die / I'd like to order an airballoon - oh my!

Plain, Simple and Possibly Beautiful: 'Diarrhoea'

Song: Diarrhoea

Session Date: Friday July 6, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C1 condensator mic for guitar, cheap brandless dynamic mic for vocals

Music Gear: Old Yairi guitar in alternative tuning, Vox AD15VT amp

Log: Alternatively tuned my old Spanish guitar and plugged it into the Vox. Put the Behringer C-1 in front of it. Used the amps' tremolo. Strummed around.
Grabbed an old cheap mic that my wife once bought for singing in a band called 'Fudge' (long, long ago). Invented some lyrics, sang, didn't bother 'bout perfecting it so sticked with the first track. Put some classical delay over the vocals as well as some reverb. Duplicated the vocal track and ran a high pass filter over the dub.
Mastered the whole thing. There you are. Plain and simple.

Lyrics: You found me high and dabbling in plastic truths / Got no reply / You let me go lo[o]se / Stepped into the world with a broken radio / Lookin' for a girl that would speak and make me slow / There was anguish / I was sandwiched / Between hope and bitter curse I pronounced / Over myself and over her / So we drowned / I didn't get it / I didn't know how love would feel / Thought it was just diarrhoea / It never made me kneel / There was sorrow / No tomorrow / But you have led us along paths unknown / Taking out this heart of stone

Dreamy Alt Country: 'Closing Up the Hatred Chapters'

Song: Closing Up the Hatred Chapters

Session Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic for instruments, semi SM-58 mic for vocals

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, eggs, shaker, Squier bass

Log: I wrote this song the day before yesterday, at least the chords and the melody, in about five minutes. Today I decided to record it. Invented the lyrics on the roll as I usually do.
Mixing the song took quite some time. I used a classic decay effect over the vocals, amongst others.

Lyrics: If you take me to the perfect storm / Where hearts are warm / And we get harmed.. / Don't believe that it comes today! / When it comes it will rain and rain / If you draw me to those poison eyes / I'd rather die / Than to hear him speak / But you gave me the words of truth / When you come, you renew my youth / The starlight shines again / The parlour is my friend / And I will close up all these chapters again

Experimental but Song-Like: 'Simply So Little Time'

Song: Simply So Little Time

Session Date: Friday June 29, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Ibanez electric guitar, Vox AD15VT amp

Log: An attempt at using my new amp's delay. Lots of cutting, copying and pasting here.

Lyrics: There is only a phrase in the sand / Are you stuck in the middle / Of something falling out of your hands / There is simply so little / Time / That's why you should make the best of the rest of your life

Just Another Imperfect Beatlesque Song: 'Fighting Snakes' (Bonus-Track: 'The Swinging Stellabirds')

Song: Fighting Snakes

The Swinging Stellabirds

Session Date: Tuesday June 19, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer; PC using Audacity; Behringer C-1 condensator mic for instruments; semi SM-58 mic for vocals

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Squier bass (new strings!), percussion

Log: Wrote the song yesterday and recorded it, but the first session crashed and the second was bogus. So I did it all over today. I think it's not so bad; a beatlesque song. The lyrics are inspired by my preparation of a sermon on Numbers 21:4-9. I've been editing the vocals heavily to straighten up volume-wise imbalances. Used an 'anechoic room simulator' on the verse vocals with a large room. Recorded the chorus vocals with boosted hi frequencies; then edited the sound with some classic LP equalization; then pushed it through a hi-pass filter..
Yeah, it's a lot of work.
'The Swinging Stellabirds' was the aperitive.

Lyrics: I don't know how / I could ever trust you again / 'Cause I am hardly innocent myself / I don't know who / Could ever clean up this mess / When will we ever get some rest at home / But you need Jesus in your heart / To fight the snakes that bite your heal / Only he can heal you / But you need Jesus in your veins / 'Cause there is comfoprt in his blood / You need a blood-transfusion / Your pain is no illusion / I don't know how / I will ever love and be loved / I find that my wells have all dried up / I don't know who / Could ever wake 'n shake me up / Misery will never stop, they say / But you need Jesus..

Semi-Taperecorder to Taperecorder Songlet: 'Seed'

Song: Seed

Session Date: Friday June 8, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII, pC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic for guitars, semi SM-58 mic for vocals

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar

Log: This is an attempt to do some taperecorder-to-taperecorder-like recording. When I was younger, so much younger than today, I used to record that way. It was an effective way at beating perfectionism: I used to overdub everything so many times that making mistakes was no longer an issue as you wouldn't hear it in between all the overdubs anyway.
So, for this song, I recorded some six semi-identical guitar-tracks and ditto vocal tracks. Did some ping-ponging here. It sounds... Well, not as quirky as the real thing, but quirky it is, no questioning.

Lyrics: It is too warm today / To be afraid of distant wars / The sun is spoiling our heads / And wealth has made (up [Hollandism]) our beds / There's babies everywhere and / Mums who care about their / Brand-new families they / Wish to do a better job / And we're still childless we are / About to enter a new world / At least we hope that we will / We know we're ready for life / You put us together, didn't you / Say that you had our seed in mind / We know we can't do it / Only you..

Another Impressively Simplistic Ditty: 'Knick-Knackery Peace'

Song: Knick-Knackery Peace

Session Date: Tuesday and Wednesday June 5 & 6, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic, PC using Audacity

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, shaker, eggs, Ibanez electric guitar, VoxAD15VT amp

Log: Another improvisation that grew into a song. Not an easy birth, this one.

Lyrics: Don't gimme / No knick-knackery please / I see a swarm of bees / Failing to find the flowers of peace / They suck the nectar of disease / Hey now, seems like you're struggling / Just to find a place to be safe / Hey now, seems like you're smuggling hope from the cradle to the grave / And the thingies aren't quite what they seem / Are we living in a dream? / Everything has a price and everyone wants reliable lies / Happy money, happy food and neuro-sorcery / For a happy-snappy mood / Hey now... / Razor-edge coins fall from the clouds inside your head / The fire in your loins could drive you home until you're dead

Lo-fi is cool-fi: Five Brand New Songs!

Songs: 1. Deaf & Dumb & Blind
2. Called for the Job
3. Morning Zombie Needs to Pray
4. The Will That Didn't Work
5. Laughing at the Juncture

Session Date: Tuesday and Wednesday May 30, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII and PC using Audacity

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Ibanez electric guitar, Vox AD15VT amp, Squier bass, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic, eggs, shaker

Log: Decided to start recording some real lo-fi sh*t right on my Tascam. I only have a 90 minutes tape left, which is not good for quality (you need 60 minutes). Sixties weren't available anymore. What the heck. I want it to sound bad. Lo fi is cool fi.
Did these songs yesterday and today. Just improvising, guitars first and then the vocals. Juts mixing it down on the Tascam and then recording it on my PC. Added no digital effects, as far as I remember.
O yeah, the guitar amp is new, as well as the electric guitar. I bought them with the money my parents gave me for finally finishing my studies. My Godin Radiator is gone now. This Ibanez is the sh*t. The amp ain't too bad either, though a bit over-fancy.

Lyrics: Deaf & Dumb & Blind:

I'm so afraid that maybe I will die / Without blooming up into the sky / Without being whom you had in mind / Without seeing / Deaf & dumb & blind

Called for the Job:

Haven't you called me for the job of saving / Haven't you been true to the life that you've given / Haven't I lied to myself and to you / Haven't I died to the world to be your son?

Morning Zombie Needs to Pray:

I wake up and feel like a zombie again / I'm glued to my bed, Sister Sleep is my friend / But I know her older sister is Death / I get up and head for the shower / I shoot at ideas as the water comes down / Get dressed and I eat so I know I won't faint / There's no way to beat the new day / Man, I need to pray 'cause I long for you

Laughing at the Juncture:

Listen to me and dust the moon / Wipe off the cheese and cry / You had a fight for eleven years / And lost every natural high / Go blow the trumpet, they will see / You never chose thsi hour / Clappin' and jumpin', let them be / First we all need a shower / 'n All this rivalry, it's only good for adrenaline / Too much too high for me / I just need food, please no channelling! / There's so much left that we can count / We need to take a break / There's so much lost that could be found / We must stop being fake

It Began with Alternatively Tuning a Rattling Guitar: 'Between Death and TV'

Song: Between Death and TV

Session Date: Wednesday May the 23th 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Old ragged acoustic guitar, Squier bass

Log: Oh boy, does that guitar rattle. Anyway, lo-fi is lo-fi, and the question is: are you willing to go all the way with me? Did some percussion with my bare hands on this one. Guitar was in alternative tuning.

Lyrics: Well, I think that I am wrong /As I tell every hurt to get lost, oh! / And all options have been thoroughly discussed / I didn't come here just to watch TV and die / And release some kinds of tension in between / Neither is this a commercial enterprise / Well, I think(/know) that I am wrong.. / Couldn't we get a new morning?

Spaced Out Synths: 'On the Verge of Going Nuttiebops'

Song: On the Verge of Going Nuttiebops

Session Date: May 17th 2007

Recording Gear: PC using Audacity

Music Gear: Tuareg 2 (freeware tracker with in-built synths)

Log: Played around with software synths.. Results are completely random and completely cool. Almost.

Lyrics: -

Semi-Disco: 'Are You Hungry, Nino?'

Song: Are You Hungry, Nino?

Session Date: Monday & Tuesday May 21-22th, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Squier bass, Yamaha RY-10 drumcomputer

Log: A jam that rather quickly grew into a song. In the end you hear my wife asking: 'Are you hungry, Nino?' and our cat affirming her question with heartbreaking intensity.

Lyrics: Gonna find another reason / To hide inside myself / Anticipate the orange season / Gonna cut the world in half / And all this juice is gonna make me / Be a prisoner of fun / And all these bombs are gonna shake me / Leave me searching for the pun / Now I know that I'm too late/ I have to pay back what I ate