Season's Greetings!

Here's a little Christmas ditty that the Danforths recorded back in 2006 for a local radio show featuring local bands doing Christmas songs. It's "Oh Holy Night" which Danforth and I had performed with an old college band called Wisconsin Dells at a Christmas show in Fargo many years ago.

Happy Holidays!

Mexico

Mexico by The Danforths


First Version of Mexico by The Danforths


On Friday, December 12 we will perform what we call the "soft release" of the "Amphibian" album by the Danforths. This will be like a run of twenty cds that we will hand-design each package, just because we are that into art projects. At the show, we will play a live rendition of the album.

All of this makes me reflect over the past few years and the slow process of creating this body of music. Looking back, it's interesting to see how songs and ideas change and develop. Here's one example of a song that has stayed the same, but also significantly changed over time. This is Mexico from Amphibian in 2 versions.

Ellie's Birthday Song 2008 - by Jake

As you may know, I have been in the habit of writing songs for my wife on her birthday. Last year I enlisted the help of Jake, my 9-year-old stepson, who played drums and sang on couple of birthday tracks for his Mom. So again this year I worked with Jake. We only had a few hours, but he came up with this song in which he drums and sings.

P.S. Don't forget Art Party, Nov. 22 from 7 - 10pm at Java Jacks.

ART PARTY Coming Soon!

Hello Everyone! Just a friendly reminder that Art Party is only a few weeks away! If you are interested in displaying your art, please contact me by emailing neilfasen@yahoo.com. Thanks! Hope to see you all there 11-22 from 7-9pm at Java Jacks.

ART PARTY: 11-22 @ Java Jacks

Hey - we're having an Art Party! This is a chance for people to get together, check out art, hear some music, and drink some wine and beer. It's a party! It takes place in this cool lounge area under Java Jacks from 7-10pm on Saturday, November 22. There is no admission cost or any bullshit like that. (Though we will kindly accept donations to cover costs.)

Anyone can submit work of any kind. If you are interested in showing something, simply email art.party.08@gmail.com buy November 8 and let us know. We will have a wide range of work including photography, painting, drawing, prints, and even some weird random shit. Some selected works will be displayed in the main coffee shop gallery for an extended period of time as well.

Music will be provided by Ambition Recliner and some other, as yet un-named act.

We hope you will join us. It's always a good time.

Silver Sails demo

Again, I have been delinquent with my postings, failing to maintain my goal of Monday updates. I'm trying to be a better person. I've been working on my manners, trying to be more punctual, and really focusing on my short comings. As a result, I have come up with a series of person goals that I hope in some way benefit not only me, but also the content of this otherwise undependable blog. At this time I am not at liberty to divulge the details of my objectives, but suffice it to say that you the blogee will no doubt benefit from the results of these efforts. Without making any sweeping claims of grandeur, I can at the very least assure you that what is to come will be better, more consistent, and more surprising.

Oh who am I kidding? Occasionally I will post music here for some reason. I don't think I can even promise when or what or even why. Sorry.

Anyway, Czahr recorded this song on Monday. It's a first draft that he recorded along on a small digital 4 track recorder. I dig it and hopefully you will too.

The Green Bay Incident

This week I'll break with tradition. Typically I post something that comes from "home" in one way or another. Be it something from myself or my friends or even a live recording from a local bar, everything posted on this blog up until this point has had some connection directly to my life or more generally to where I live. Indirectly, this song relates to where I live, in so far as it was inspired by recent events that have impacted my home state of Minnesota. This song by Lord Sassafrass is called "Green Bay Incident." I don't know if you watch football, but if you do, this will all make sense.

ellipsis - Ambition Recliner

Since we have a show coming up next Thursday at the Turf Club, I thought I should share some early demo versions of our tunes. This is "ellipsis."

Monday Song - Pacaderm March by Sugoi!

Pacaderm March by Sugoi!


This week's song is Pacaderm March by Sugoi! This is a room recording from a practice we had back in March of 2007. Though we have a number of random practice recordings of this song, we never had the chance to record it in a studio environment. I always enjoyed this one and wished that we had a version to share with people.

Brian had the initial idea for Pacaderm March. We developed the song and started playing it sometime in late 2006. This song was part of a group of new tunes, all of which were much more angular and abrasive that the previous stuff Sugoi! had been doing.

Though the audio quality of this is not perfect, I am glad that I was able to find a version of this tune so I could remember it.

First Monday Song

Adam Marx



Well, it is late in the day, but this technically counts as Monday. As promised, here is the first of my Monday songs. In the future I hope to do this Sunday night, but I had a barbecue and wasn't able to get back to the computer. I have a lot of excuses that I am sure you would love to hear.

At any rate, my first Monday song is by my friend Adam Marx. I posted a few of his tunes back in April or March or something. I hope you dig it.

Part II - Name that Band Song

Just for the heck of it, here is the next four minutes of that crazy song. This probably won't help you figure it out, but it helps flesh out where the song is going. Any guesses? (Czahr you can't guess any more, because I told you who it is.)

Name that band

This is something that I probably shouldn't even post, but I feel that my readership is limited enough that I can share this without feeling like I have revealed some sacred promise to the world. It is, after all, not the complete song, but rather a snippet of a much longer piece. As such, it is perhaps misleading to represent merely this segment to the outside world, since it is only about one fifth of the length of the complete version. Nevertheless, I wanted to post something unique, and I feel that this fits the bill.

Oh yeah, and I've got a new thing to keep me in line - Monday's song. Every Monday (probably Sunday night) I will post a song. It might be a random recording made at the practice space. It might be an old practice recording I found to be interesting for some reason. It might be complete crap. It's my new theory to keep me posting regularly and using this as I had originally intended, to share music with friends. So if you are bored enough to check this, check it on Mondays.

Sugoi! Practice Recording 3-12-08

I've been doing a lot of various recording sessions at the old practice space these days. The other night I went down there with the Bolschavic to get down some trumpet lines for a song he is working on, and we came across some old Sugoi! practice recordings. Among them was this tune. It was song idea of Brian's that we worked on a few times but never really finished. I rather enjoy this short rough version.

I've Been Away So Long

Since the last post consisted of nothing but groveling and apologizing, I will not repeat myself. We both know that I am a bad blogger and do not attend to this site very consistently. Slap my hand. Ow! We cool? Okay, now that we have that out of the way lets catch up.

I recently went to Pitchfork Music Fest in Chicago with Tom Kemmer, Chris Hennen, and a dude named Connor who I had not met before but turned out to be a really cool chap. All in all good times were had, great music (along with some mediocre music) was heard, and old working stiff Neil had a four-day-weekend. Oh, and did I mention that it was a road-trip? Oh yeah. It's six and a half hours minimum from Minneapolis to Chicago. That may not startle many of you, but you have to remember that I am an old, broken down man. Though there was a time when I could drive in a small van for 24 hours in one shot and be no worse for wear, things have changed for me. I have come to enjoy the basic comforts of life. And with that, my old back can't handle that kind of confinement. Luckily, this was the worst part of the trip.

In Chicago we stayed with Jim Zespy, an old friend of ours from Fargo. I have a number of both endearing and incriminating stories about Jim that I will not share with you now. Suffice it to say that this man is a character in the most positive sense of the word. Jim works for a prominent indie record label in some kind of managerial capacity (the exact nature of which I am not exactly certain) and actually lives in a large apartment above the Chicago office/warehouse. It is the perfect spot for visiting musicians due to it's size and capacity for people. There are 5 bedrooms, a large kitchen, living room, bathroom, and a "chillin' room" filled with the most extensive record collection I have every seen (including record stores.) One of my favorite activities on the trip was having Jim play dj and spin us a variety of obscure and unique albums at the end of the night. Thanks Jim!

The show itself wasn't all that bad either. Highlights included seeing performances by classic music icons like Public Enemy, Sebadoh, and the o.g. Dinosaur Jr. Of the newer crew, I thoroughly enjoyed Fleet Foxes and the Do Dos. There were also a few surprises like King Khan and the Shrines, who I've never heard of before, but almost literally kicked ass. Les Savy Fav "killed it" too. They are a band whose name was familiar, though their music was not. Tom referred to them as "this generation's Jesus Lizard." I agree with him to a point. They are definitely the archetype of that classic recipe consisting of a solid band mixed with a crazy extrovert front man somewhere between G.G. Allen and Preston Olson. Needless to say, they really blew me away. I missed a lot of bands that I had wanted to see, like Hawk and a Handsaw and the Dirty Projectors to name just a few. You can't do it all.

Tom took a number of pictures, some of which I would like to post at some point. I'll keep you posted.

At any rate, I am back now and plan to be more dedicated to this blog. As a token of my appreciation to you the reader I have a crusty, blown-out demo.

More coming soon . . .
Neil

It's been a while . . .

Well, first off . . . where do I begin? I've been spending more time on occupational web endeavors than on this web initiative. It's not that I don't love you, baby . . .it's just that . . well, I've been busy. But I can try.

Well . . . I don't know what this is or where it came from. But I promise to have lots of good new music updates soon. In the meantime, enjoy this pirated rock.

Work - The Unexpected Source for Music

Trunk by Jason Vosu



Back in mid-January, I started working in the interactive marketing department of a large corporation. It's the kind of place where everyone wears suits, except of course on "Casual Fridays," a place where at least 75% of your day is spent in meetings. It is an all around professional and very formal place. Don't get me wrong, I really like it. But it certainly is not the kind of place where I would have expected to encounter really avante guard music.

On my first day at work, I was settled into the middle section of a 3 person cubicle next to a gentleman named Jason Vosu. It was his first day as well. We both conversed about expectations of the position and complimented one another on our suits. Time passed and eventually I found out that Jason played music. He gave me a cd of some stuff that he had recorded back around 2002 or 2003. It's called "Elephant," and it was not at all what I expected. It was wild. Some of the songs are really experimental, slightly reminiscent of Ween, while other songs are more seemingly straight forward folk but with extremely bizarre lyrics. There's not a dull moment. It is really interesting stuff that is quite bold. It just goes to show that you never know where you'll find something cool.

If you are interested in finding out more, check out Jason's website http://jasonvosu.com.

The Good Old Days

I Wanna See You Dead by the Scrodonauts


Skate Harassment by the Women


So I've been stressin' hard as of late.

Times like these generally cause me to reflect on the past. In this case, it has resulted in my nostalgic posting of old, poorly recorded songs from college bands. Looking back at the "glory days" when life was "easy" often makes me feel better. Though at the time, I no doubt had any number of issues or problems that seemed just as difficult or impossible as now. Nevertheless, hearing these old tunes, recorded on 4-track tapes and the like, makes me recall a simpler time.

Shows Coming Up!

For the 2 or maybe 3 people who might actually look at this blog, I apologize for my negligence over this past week or so. I have been extremely busy with all of the projects and haven't had the time to update the old blog.

Two of the reasons I have been busy are the shows I have coming up with Ambition Recliner and the Deaf. This Friday, April 25 Ambition Recliner will be playing at Station 4 for the "Rock n' Raffle Photo Extravaganza," a benefit for the Minnesota Center for the Arts put on by MCTC photo students. It starts early; doors are at 5:30pm. It's all ages and photos will be raffled. Then on Saturday, April 26, I will be playing with the Deaf at Big Vs. As with most V's shows, it will be a later show, with doors around 9pm.

Come on out!

Adam Marx - side project

Adam Marx




As most of you who read this know, Fargo/Moorhead was a pivotal location in my life. I moved there from my small hometown of Paynesville, Minnesota, attended college (Minnesota State University, Moorhead,) made lifelong friends, and became part of a community of artists and musicians who all continue to practice their crafts despite whatever circumstance, situation, or occupation that life has dealt them. I proudly declare myself to be an adopted Fargonian. Much like Tarzan, I was a sheltered individual who was taken in and raised by a group of exotic apes with their own set of rituals and practices.

Needless to say, there are many accomplished musicians with Fargo heritage. Among those who continue to be actively involved with art and music, few are as prolific or as engaging as Adam Marx. If you know anything about the independent rock community in Minnesota, let along the Twin Cities, you are very familiar with Adam's band the Seawhores. The Seawhores were an institution in Fargo and became a respected name in the Twin Cities. They've been playing for over 10 years and continue to break the boundaries of what is considered typical in regard to live performance and sound. Originally a 2 piece, consisting of Futon Dwan and Judy Station, the Seawhores played a number of shows with a "Beat-Bot," a pre-recorded and video taped drummer. These were not just any old dude off the street mind you, but a mix of local killers and nationally known drummers from acclaimed bands. (No, I am not going to list bands like Lightning Bolt, the Cows, the Melvins, or the Velvet Lush. I'm not a name dropper.) On top of this, their performances were anything but typical. They had a habit of "kidnapping" people, bringing them to their practice space, and performing exclusive shows for them. I was privileged enough to be privy to one such performance on my 24th birthday.

But the Seawhore are not the only musical outlet that Adam has at his disposal. He assumes a different persona completely with Arctic Universe, a club-footed eccentric who croons in a Bowie-esque howl lamenting the events of his life often whilst swinging on a swing or gazing into a mirror. Arctic Universe performances showcase the marriage between Adam's prowess as a potent performance artist and a strong vocalist and song writer.

If this isn't enough, Adam plays guitar in Vaz, who (if you don't know)is an insane heavy band consisting of some of the members of Hammerhead. Their history would be at least a post in itself.

So recently, I was at my good buddy Tom's place, and he was playing this great music. It turned out to be another damn project of Adam's. I don't know the name of it. I just know it is stuff he recorded while on tour in Europe with Vaz. Or at least that's where I think it came from. There is no single tune that really captures the entire album, but these are some highlights. As always, Adam hits above the mark.

Here are some links you should check out, if you haven't already.

http://www.myspace.com/seawhoresofficial
http://www.myspace.com/thevaz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S5JuaEsIYk

O.G. - D4th Tune

1,000 Miles (cover of Dwight Yokum)


I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the songs we are finishing up for the next Danforths album, "Amphibian." It has been a long time in the making, close to two years now. Throughout the process it has been interesting to see how much the ideas have morphed and developed from their early stages. I am really eager to post them, but at this point I want to wait until they are completely finished. I can't spoil it.

This did get me thinking about the evolution of the Danforths as a group. Like the songs, the band itself has morphed and changed over time both in regard to it's members and it's approach. But as the old saying goes, "The more things change the more they stay the same." I went back and listened to some of the earliest recording from the Danforths (or the Chris Danforths as we were also known) and found that despite changes to instrumentation and recording methods there seems to be a common thread to the style of the music.

Hearing "1,000 Miles," the first song off of the first Christopher Danforth ep, brought me back to my role in the recording of this Dwight Yokum cover tune. Around the time of this recording, the majority of our close knit posse had graduated or were in the process of doing so, and everyone had started moving away from our college community in Fargo/Moorhead. Chris had moved down to the Twin Cities. A number of our other buddies moved to California. Our crew of friends, who were bound together by a love of making and performing music, was dispersed, and there was a real sense that this was the end of our musical endeavors with our close friends. Little did we know that it was the very beginning of a new era of creativity that would span a longer period of time than any of our previous projects.

Chris Danforth began making recording on a PC in his bedroom. Through this new medium, he began working with more abstract and electronic based sounds. This was a significant change to the types of tunes Chris had been best known for in Fargo/Moorhead, where many of the bands he had been a part of (the Women, the Scrodonauts, the Velvet Lush, and Wisconsin Dells) had their songs rooted in the live experience. As such, these earlier bands were based around how the songs could be played in a live setting focusing on guitars, bass, and drums. This new approach allowed Chris greater flexibility in regard to sound and structure.

He eventually came up to Moorhead to visit with some bits and pieces of his new material. One song he was putting together was this Dwight Yokum cover, which he asked me to sing. I had never heard the original, but figured I'd take a crack at it. Here is the result of that session. It was the beginning of looking at and working on music in a totally new way for us. I hope you like it.

Ben Graner, Brad Smarjesse, Jim Zespy = Posthumous Hits

Beehive

skeptically tendon



I am branching out with my little blog. This is my first post of a project with which I am not involved. This is a song by Posthumous Hits.

Posthumous Hits is primarily a project involving some old friends of mine from the glory years of college in Fargo/Moorhead, namely Ben Graner and Brad Smarjesse. I recently received their most recent album "sliding glass doors & personal effects," and I really enjoy it. Overall, it is a really spacious experience. Layers of hypnotic sound-scapes intertwine with haunting vocals.

Having known both Ben and Brad both as friends and through a number of various musical and artistic endeavors, this recording makes a lot of sense. It is a very satisfying realization of their specific creative personalities as I know them. Ben was involved in some great bands in Fargo/Moorhead like Humdrum, the Sweethearts, and Senator just to name a few. In all of his groups, Ben had a very engaging approach to songwriting. His performances evoked a restrained power, an urgency without anger. The guitar parts were often driving but didn't overpower the intensity of the vocals, which typically displayed a quiet strength. Ben's contributions to Posthumous mirror this authenticity.

Brad on the other hand is the master of the abstract. While Brad has always possessed a great mind for detail and order, he has tended to gravitate toward the atypical. Back around 2002 or so, I took a trip to Seattle and visited Brad. He gave me a recording he had recently completed, and it was amazing. It consisted of some of the most unusual sounds I'd ever heard, but Brad had constructed them in a way that made perfect sense.

There are a number of other folks who contribute to Posthumous. Brad's wife Rumi and Ben's wife Jen add their vocal talents to the recording. Another good old buddy Jim Zespy does something for this as well. I am not sure what he does, but something good I am sure.

Bottom line it the boys are making great stuff. I am posting these 2 songs to give you an idea of what it is all about, "Beehive" and "skeptically tendon." Check them out. Contact them for a CD if you want to hear more.
http://www.myspace.com/posthumoushits

CAUTION - PRACTICE RECORDINGS NOT FINISHED RECORDINGS

These songs are posted for scientific purposes only. They are not meant to be taken as representations of finished songs nor intentional recordings. The songs on this post are all taken from random practice room recordings. All of these songs are in the processing stages, and the parts are still being figured out.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the different song writing styles at work. (Unfortunately, I do not have a Danforths' recording to share, but I will soon.) Rather than compare what the end result will be, it is kind of neat to see the different ideas in a raw developmental stage. Parts are played incorrectly. Elements are totally missing. Still I think it's kinda cool to hear the ideas in environment of a practice session.


Ambition Recliner - random practice

In the beginning and the end of the Ambition Recliner tune you can hear another band practicing through the wall. Czahr and I are obviously playing without a drummer. Tom was on a crazy road trip to Houston, so we practiced as a 2 piece. We did not have a vocal part figured out for the second verse, so Czahr and I mumbled through some random ideas in order to figure something out. I farted my way through the trumpet line. The first few notes on the one refrain are so aweful it kills me. It's so bad I didn't want to post it, but all of the songs on this post are flawed in some way.



The Deaf - random practice

I like this song idea we have for the Deaf, even though this recording does not have the best sound. I recorded it on my small Korg digital recorder using the built-in microphone. Needless to say the bass is a bit blown out. Also, there are no vocals. The singer wasn't there, so it's an instrumental, which is not ultimately how the song is intended. Nevertheless, I like the tune and have been wanting to post some Deaf music. More to come.



Sugoi! - random practice

Finally, I have Sugoi! This is a newer idea that is also lacking vocals at this stage. Like the other songs on this post there are flubs and mistakes, but you get an overall impression of the idea in development.


So there you have it. A snippet out of my week, imperfect

Dark Black Suit - Ambition Recliner

This is an Ambition Recliner song that I've never posted. As are most of my posts, this is an extremely rough first round attempt of recording the idea. This is one we recorded a while back and have since developed more. I wanted to share this initial attempt at playing the song.

For the record (no pun intended) I am the dude fucking up the otherwise simple snare drum line. I just wanted some kind of rhythm reference, but I played it like crap. Since Tom is now our drummer, I feel it is important to point this out so that you do not blame him.

Other than the sketchy drumming, I think it's an okay representation of things to come.

I am recording Ambition Recliner, as well as Sugoi! and the Deaf at every practice. I intend to record The Danforths practices as well. My goal is to create a post featuring one song from each band from one week of practice. I think it would be interesting to show the variations and similarities between them all, like a snapshot from one week in the life of these related projects. More to come . . .

Old School Photos

Kemmer in Fargo 1998.



























Nodak at Andy's ramp back in 2000.

Spring Break In Mexico - The Danforths

As anyone who reads this blog knows, we (the Danforths) are working to complete our next album "Amphibian." The process has been a lot of fun. Some of the songs are based on ideas that either Chris or I brought in initially, and then were developed further as a group. A few of the tunes we came up with as the result of "jam" sessions in our practice space. Other tunes are re-worked versions of tunes we had originally written for a band that never happened called "Land Bird."

This song, "Spring Break In Mexico," came about through a completely different process. Chris completed wrote and recorded this tune, with some percussion help from Tom. We are now going back, and completely re-recording this song with different instruments and a few other surprise substitutions for existing parts. The version that will be on "Amphibian" will be structurally similar, but sound totally different. In light of that, I felt it was acceptable to post this.

Like Birds That Fly - Ambition Recliner

During the first weeks of Ambition Recliner, Czahr and I would go down to the practice space and not leave without having a song recorded. Mind you, we weren't striving for perfection by any means. Our goal was (and I guess still to some degree is) to capture an idea with fairly minimal elaboration.

This song, "Like Birds That Fly," was one of the first things we recorded. We incorporated the shitty old organ that we have at our practice space and a trumpet part. I had just gotten a trumpet around the time that we recorded this song. It had been about 14 years since I had played one, so needless to say my "chops" were very rusty. We also recorded Czahr singing through our crappy P.A. system, which resulted in an odd vocal quality. It's not a very technically appealing recording, but, as is often my purpose, this is meant simply to preserve the idea for future elaboration and express a base idea. Anyway, I hope you like the tune.

Genesis Climber

This is one of my favorite songs of Czahr's. It's called Genesis Climber, and we recorded a rough take of it one night a few months back. Like most of the initial Ambition Recliner songs, we sat down and recorded it and kept whatever we recorded. The purpose was to get the idea recorded in order to further elaborate at a later time. Anyway, Czahr intended this to be a song for the acoustic guitar but was never satisfied with how it sounded. He put a capo on an electric bass, started playing, and I thought it was perfect on that instrument. I have a really sketchy trumpet part, which is the reason I haven't posted thsi song yet, but I guess "fuck it." Nobody reads this blog besides sympathetic friends anyway . . . right?

Strange Speed Issue

This past week, I attempted to post a song from an old practice session. Though it appeared to play fine, many people reported that the song played back at twice the normal speed. I tested this post on a few machines and discovered inconsistent results. Unable to determine the cause of the "Chipmunk"-esque quality, I removed the post. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused. I will post something new soon at a natural speed.

Ambition Recliner - Demo Track "Fade In / Fade Out"

Here is another demo recording from the Ambition Recliner sessions. This is the rough cut of a song we call "Fade In/ Fade Out." We whipped this one together in a few hours, and we still like how this original version turned out. The final version will probably include a bass line and possibly some fuzz or feedback effects. You'll have to wait to find out.

Check out Czahr's blog "Way of the Beard" to see our initial idea for a track list. http://czahr.blogspot.com/

New Bands - New Job - Old Song

So I've been a little busy recently. I started a new job working as a project manager for the interactive marketing department of a large company. I have to wear a suit to work. It's a big change for me, but I really like it.

At the same time, I've been getting together weekly with my good old friends Chris Danforth and Tom Kemmer to work on finishing the forthcoming Danforths CD "Amphibian." It's been the most fun I've ever had creating a recording, and I cannot wait to share it with people.

Also, I've been working on new material with my homies in Sugoi! We've got some epic new tunes in the works.

In addition to these projects, I just joined a band called the Deaf. Check them out at: http://www.myspace.com/thedeaf. I did not play on the music you hear on their myspace page. That was their previous bass player. But it should give you an idea of what it is like. I'm really excited about the stuff we are working on for our upcoming show at Big V's on April 26. Come on out if you are around. It will be a good time.

Well, last but not least, Czahr, Tom Kemmer, and I have been also working diligently on recording music as Ambition Recliner. There will be more music to come.

Despite all of the current music projects, I found an accidental gem to post. Czahr and I checked out some old 4-track recordings that we had made many years ago. I posted one of the songs (Night of the Iguana) previously. Some of the master 4-track tapes wouldn't play correctly on the machine we have at our practice space. For some reason, it plays it at the wrong speed and some of the tracks play backwards. At any rate, the result was some interesting and bizarre stuff.

I selected this section to share, because I feel it has a strange cohesion to it. Check out this accidental tune and let me know what you think.

Night of the Iguana - 1996

Once a year or so, my friend Czahr and I would get together and spend a night recording strange music on his cassette 4-track. We recently uncovered an old tape from a 1996 session titled "Ballsy Nicaraguans: Real Techno Trace from St. Cloud." This session contained some bizarre stuff on it. None of it could be defined as techno and/or trance.

This selection in particular features a booming drum that is mixed poorly. There are in-audible people talking through-out, reading from Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana." It's fucked up, but hopefully enjoyable.

David Lee Roth Sings For The Danforths

So we have this song called "Pelican Bridge" for the Danforths. And somehow D (Chris Danforth) came across David Lee Roth's vocal track from "Running With The Devil." He messed with the pitch a little bit, cut out our vocal line from our song, added Dave, and there it was. The end is the funniest part. I recommend listening to the whole deal.

Ellie's Birthday Songs 2005 and 2006

There are so many new things that I want to post but just don't have on my home computer yet. I recently discovered some old recordings that my friend Czahr and I made back in the early 90s, but I have to convert the original 4-track cassette mixes to a computer friendly format. Ambition Recliner, my new project with Czahr and Kemmer, has about 10 songs that will be posted once they are in a more finished state. The Danforths are almost done with "Amphibian," but I dare not leak any actual tracks from that yet. Sugoi! has been working on new material and have started to make some really awesome room recordings that should be postable soon. I'm even going to jam on the bass with a sweet local band, so if that works out I'll have some completely different music to share as well. But for now, none of it is on my computer.

What I do have are the first 2 birthday songs I recorded for my wife Ellie. A few posts back, I put up the most recent birthday song I made for her, so I figure I might as well share the preceding installments. Mind you, these are songs for my wife, so lyrically they may come off a bit cheesy or trite. These are love songs of course, which is not my specialty. Mr. Christopher Danforth was instrumental in the creation of these tunes. Those of you who are familiar with his work will no doubt be able to pick out his contributions. I recommend listening through headphones to get the full effect.

The top mp3 player is the 2006 song. The bottom one is the 2005 song. I hope you like them.

(It's Hard To) Watch Something Die - demo

One of the music projects I am involved with is called The Danforths. We have been working on a new cd, tentatively titled "Amphibian," for the past year or so. I am very excited about this project, because I have had the opportunity to write some of the songs.

Attached is the demo I recorded for a song called "(It's Hard To) Watch Something Die." This version is just a rough cut I recorded using an old baritone ukulele and bass guitar. The album version will be greatly elaborated from this simple beginning. Nonetheless, you'll get the basic gist of the song.

I Can't Post Music

So I've been posting music using this service called "Fandalism," which is supposed to be like a "You Tube" for music. It allow users to upload their own music and provides html code that you can put into your blog or website. As of late, this "Fandalism" website has not been functioning, so I have been unable to post any of my tunes. I will find another solution eventually.

In lieu of any new tunes, I figured that I might as well at least talk about music. The other night I experienced something notable to write about, the Bon Iver show at the Turf Club. All the hype aside, it was honestly one of the best show experiences I have had in a long time.

I first heard about Bon Iver a while back from my homie Jay Peterson. Jay's one of those guys (not that you all don't know him) who always seems to have the inside track on the best new music. He's the guy who first turned me onto Beirut, which is one of my favorite bands, and he never fails to deliver the goods. So when he told me about this Bon Iver character, I assumed it was good. I think he offered to burn me a copy, but I never got around to getting it from him.

Eventually I heard old Mr. Iver (yes, I know that's not his real name - I'm being funny), either through Jay or Bolsch or one of the bros. It was right up my alley: earnest but not hoakey, minimal but not sparse, intense but not over-done. Most of all, I liked his voice. He sang in falsetto with strength. It wasn't light and weak but haunting.

As time passed Pitchfork gave the Bon Iver album a favorable review, and the Current started playing him. I started hearing him a lot and hearing about him a lot. So when I heard that he was going to play a show at the Turf Club, our local stomping ground, I knew that it would be a rare opportunity to witness something cool before the shit really hit the fan.

Sure enough, when the day of the show rolled around I heard that it had already sold-out. This was unbelievable, because they never pre-sell tickets for the Turf. It's a local bar venue! Anyway, I was covered because I was going with Tom Kemmer. He works there occasionally (I use that word very loosely), but mostly has just befriended the entire staff. We pulled up to see a line of people standing at the door that stretched down the block. That's crazy enough, but keep in mind that this is January in Minnesota and it's fucking 10 below zero outside! Not to worry, Kemmer and I walk right past the crowd and right into the front. We didn't ever have to buy a ticket! You've gotta love getting hooked up.

Hook-up aside, the show was sweet. Two things stick out in my memory that really impressed me. When Bon Iver was about to begin his set, a hush fell over the capacity packed Turf Club. I've never seen that happen, and I've been to 4,879,543 shows there. Kemmer's been to close to 10 million shows there, and he hasn't witnessed it either.

The other thing that was crazy was the fact that he effectively pulled off a sing along. When he performed his song "The Wolves Act I and II," he prompted the crowd to sing a specific part later on in the song. I grew concerned. The old "sing this with me" schtick always fails, at least at the shows I've seen. A few die hards sing their guts out and look like dumb asses, while the rest of the venue looks on in disgust. This time it worked. Once Bon got to the appropriate section of the song, the Turf erupted into a chorus. It wasn't quite a bar full of drunken Irishmen bellowing along with "O' Danny Boy," but it was widespread and moving. People were so engaged by what he was playing that they actually wanted to take part in it more than they worried about what the folks around them would think.

Well, it's not like Bon Iver needs any help in the hype department, but the show was awesome. I fully recommend him, if you like that kind of thing.

Old School

ellipses by Ambition Recliner

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Back in my high school days, my good friend Eric Scott (a.k.a Czahr - not to be confused with a czar or a zahr) and I would occasionally hole up in his basement with ice cold Coke and a scissor cut pizza and proceed to make crazy recordings on his cassette 4-track.

This hollowed tradition continued into our college years. Czahr and I got together annually and re-visited our process. Despite the fact that I resided in the alcohol soaked tundra of Fargo/Moorhead and he called the St. Cloud (and eventually twin cities metro) area home, we managed to re-connect over some form of imported beer and recorded songs on his newer and better 4-track.

Now Czahr and I are old, married, and slower than we once were. We can't stay up as late as we used to back in the "good old days." but now we have technology. It's nothing fancy mind you, but we have basic multi-track recording available to us finally, and it's a lot of fucking fun.

We get together once a week and lay down a track in a few hours. It is what it is. It's not meant to be a completed song or a fully realized idea necessarily. Sometimes it is. Other times it's just a great beginning. Either way, I can't think of anything I enjoy more than being able to create music with one of my best and oldest friends.

This is a song of Eric's to which I added a very crude initial idea. I wanted to post this, because I really like Eric's song. This is simply the result of one quick evening, but there will be more to come.

Sugoi! Tune

Here's a tune from my band Sugoi! (Not to be confused with the jam band Sugoi, the bike clothing company called Sugoi, or the German band Sugoi.)

Our Mission Is Hope by Sugoi!

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Song For my Wife's 32nd Birthday

You by Neil Ogura-Fasen

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For the past three years, I have written and recorded a song for my wife as a gift for her birthday. In previous years I have done this with the help of my good friend Chris Danforth, a man I have played music with for over 10 years. This year I was able to create the song completely by myself, thanks to the fact that we now have a computer with recording software (Cool Edit Pro) at our practice space.

I wrote and recorded this song in a day, but I think it turned out alright.