For Round 7 of Victor Infante's Great Cover Song Challenge, disco edition. I was assigned this track, and it was one I was thinking about covering anyway! This is disco gone 80s dreampop.

Me - all vocals, all guitars, synth bass, drum programming

More, More, More (Andrea True Connection cover)

My first entry into slothcore. Because why not?

This Sloth's For You

The words of a recovering Catholic, spoken and screamed along with a distorted keyboard and a sometimes-distorted Korg Volca Beats.

Lyrics:

I was thinking back to a time long gone
Where a mindless puppet would prattle on
While at least three dozen would come to yawn
'Til I changed my plans on Sunday

In the midst of conscience becoming nascent
I spent my time with the saint-adjacent
With a daft routine I was complacent
'Til I changed my plans on Sunday

They were all keeping track of where we'd been
"If you share the same junk, then it's a sin
But if the man's a boy, we'll let you in!
So don't change your plans on Sunday!"

We all shunned the so-called wicked shit
Which made every one of us a hypocrite
And I got so goddamn sick of it
That I changed my plans on Sunday ℞

℞: This is not real!
    None of this is real!

It went on so long before I heard a voice
That told me, "Dude, you've got a choice!
Only when you leave here can you finally rejoice
You'd better change your plans on Sunday!"

I jettisoned the words of priests and abbots
I shed the thumpers and their nasty habits
And the birds and the bees started fucking like rabbits
When I changed my plans on Sunday ℞

My Plans On Sunday (demo)

A song about obsolescence, the title being a style of printing that's not used anymore, used as a metaphor for feeling as if most of the work world is, indeed, obsolete.

Lyrics:

Another day
Another dime
To maintain my pathetic bottom line
My labor
My only worth
Just to be able to live on earth

From adolescence
To obsolescence
What exactly happened in between?
I can't be sure
It's all a blur
I wasted years on the mezzanine

Awaken, trudge, toss, turn, repeat

As I'm sitting
Across Gail from accounting
I start to feel frustration mounting
I feel so outdated
Not exactly a keeper
Discarded right along with my beeper

Awaken, trudge, toss, turn, repeat

They think, with much sacrifice,
That a dollar should suffice
To be part of the team
And 999,999 more is just a pipe dream
One by one, the days, depleted
'Til in no way are you needed
And you're rendered null and void
How the hell did we get here?
How's this scene not redundant?
How's it not been destroyed?

Until then...
Awaken, trudge, toss, turn, repeat

Dot Matrix (demo)

Just some improv synth arpeggio play atop increasingly glitchy synth percussion. Also, I lost my scarf. Though this music does not reflect that mishap.

Did I Leave My Scarf In Brian's Car?

This is the first "single" off my upcoming album Refresh, out 4/20/23.

Hey...if Blur can have "Song 2", then I can have this. Me on all vocals, guitars, vocoder, and programming.

Lyrics:

Why are we back here?
The third time's not the charm it claims to be
We're rehashing the same old story
Dress it up all you want, it's plain to see

We're putting our hands in the fire again
We're putting our hands in the fire again
We're putting our hands in the fire again
We're putting our hands in the fire again

We're gluttons for punishment
We burned each other one too many times
So naive, so cavalier
We've been ignoring all and any signs

We're putting our hands in the fire again
We're putting our hands in the fire again
We're putting our hands in the fire again
We're putting our hands in the fire again

Will we ever learn?
We always get burned

Track III

Off the upcoming album "Refresh". This is about a rather nasty person.

Lyrics:

You've so many skeletons
Your closet might as well be a grave
But since we have bones to pick with you
We thank you for the time you've saved
You've ruined the lives of those undeserving
The reasons thereof nothing but self-serving
Yet you deem yourself akin to a pastorate
Your projection's inaccurate

You've got no class
(You give everyone the finger
And with that finger, you scratch your head
And wonder why we all despise you
All from your mouth is better left unsaid)

How can one so low punch so far down?
Where do you get off, you insufferable clown?
As displayed by the childish words that we've read
You've let your infamy go to your head
And you've been parading around ever since
No bats in your belfry, no words left to mince
You chirp like a piping plover
As if your cup runneth over

You've got no class
(You give everyone the finger
And with that finger, you scratch your head
And wonder why we all despise you
All from your mouth is better left unsaid)

A School In July

This is for everyone who has fairly recently felt as if they had no other option but to end it all. I remind myself of this daily, as I will remind each and every one of you -- there IS hope. Hold out.

Lyrics:

As the daily alarm rings out
So many are sleeping in
Ill-equipped to face the horrors
Growing loud into a din

As the daily alarm rings out
One less person will hear
For they've succumbed to the louder one
That's been sounding off for years

It's time to wake
There's too much at stake
It's time to wake
There's not much more that we can take

As the daily alarm rings out
That one time far too oft
Another shuts it down for good
So that their soul may be aloft

As the daily alarm rings out
It only serves to remind
About the ones who've lost the battle
With loved ones left behind

It's time to wake...etc.

As the daily alarm rings out
Try as they all may
They hang and shake their heads
With nothing left to say

As the daily alarm rings out
They're reluctantly awake
To put on the bravest of faces
For theirs and each other's sake

It's time to wake...etc.

As the daily alarm rings out
One less person will hear
For they've succumbed to the louder one
That's been sounding off for years

Alarm

I was given this song to cover from a sibling duo with whom I was previously wholly unfamiliar, and though my production prowess is definitely inferior to the original, I tried my best to make it my own. These kids really know what they're doing!! Done in Ableton, mostly with live looping, vocals overdubbed.

Me: all vocals, guitars, synths, production

Slow Motion (Nicole + Scotty Cover)

BEST WITH HEADPHONES. READ DESCRIPTION!!!

This is my entry into round 3 of Victor Infante's Great Cover Song Challenge, a cover of Madonna's "I Know It", as assigned.

**EVERY sound you hear was made with my mouth/voice.**
Yes, there were plenty of effects and EQ used. Let me break it down:

What was used:
My mouth/voice (almost 40 tracks' worth)
Delay
Reverb
Distortion
Amp Modeling
Modulation
Looping

What was NOT used:
INSTRUMENTS
SYNTHESIZERS
PRERECORDED SAMPLES
DRUM MACHINES
PITCH-SHIFTING (of ANY kind!)
AUTOTUNE

This was a self-imposed challenge, and I know it's been done before, but it was too good not to try. It's not perfect, but I can live with that.

Enjoy!

I Know It (Madonna Cover)

This is a "cover" of "Act of Contrition", the last track off Madonna's 1989 album "Like a Prayer", as a second song for the Great Cover Song Challenge round 3. Including clips from certain televa- er, SHYSTERS, who shall remain nameless.

Act Of Contrition (Madonna "cover")

Quick Ween cover. Their tribute to Phil Collins. My tribute to them.

Me - All vocals, guitars, keys, drum programming

Demon Sweat (Ween cover)

BEST WITH HEADPHONES!! I'll get EQing right one of these days...brace yourselves; this one's kind of abrasive.

This is my entry into Round 4 of Victor Infante's Great Cover Song Challenge, in which the theme this time around was 80s movie soundtracks. I was given "He's a Dream" by Shandi Sinnamon, from the "Flashdance" soundtrack.

I decided to make this version an homage to Canadian disco-punk duo Death From Above 1979. 

All sounds were made by vocals, bass guitar, drum machine, and myriad effects. NO GUITARS, KEYBOARDS OR SYNTHESIZERS WERE USED.

She's A Dream (Shandi Sinnamon Cover)

For Victor Infante's Great Cover Song Challenge, round 5.
Elton John meets the Clash. Sort of. Also, major allergies played a role in my vocal performance. Which helped the Clash thing. Blep.

Honky Cat (Elton John cover)

This is for a compilation entitled "It's...Complicated", in which each participant had to choose a popular song that touches on the more complicated aspects of love and relationships.

Me - vocals, keyboards, synth and drum programming, live percussion at the end

Wrapped Around Your Finger (Police cover)

I'd better be getting at least a dozen autographed pictures of Sid Caesar out of this. Otherwise, this has all been for nothing.

Itoarazi

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