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.