Home demo for a new song. Lyrics aren’t complete, and it’s just a GarageBand demo. My ideas for actual production are really different that the shimmery and monotonous pop song you hear here. But I’m happy with these beginnings.

Sketches

Our Time in the Serengeti (6)

A gentle, half-concept album about the ghosts in singer Brandon Durham’s hometown of Cedar Park, Texas, Palaxy Tracks’ second album “Cedarland” is a sleepy mix of crystalline pop and delicate instrumentation, an American rock record that channels the Spring rain melancholy of all the early ’80s British LPs you clung to for dear life at some tender age.

“Cedarland” recalls the emotional depth of Joy Division with the quiet, ethereal luster of Galaxie 500, Texas’ own Bedhead and even Brian Eno circa “Another Green World.” Sharp slices of slide guitar, ambient feedback, Wurlitzer organ and singing saw waft in and out while Durham’s overarching theme — it’s over, but still we cling — is calmly and resolutely worked out through the course of these 11 picture-perfect songs.

Durham’s terminally wistful croon is a voice that’s both distinctive and totally unaffected. His singing and lovelorn songwriting invite the listener into a profoundly personal space, and while these songs may be confessional in nature, they’re generous and inclusive, never absorbed. This isn’t a diary of personal pain, but universal emotions. “Cedarland” is a vision of rainy English skies from beneath Texas’ clear, wide, blue ones.

Release Date:  April 22, 2003
Peek-a-Boo Records

Song About A Ghost

One of my favorite recording sessions ever was with Keith Grap, Brad Murph, Ben Kane and Ted Cho at Clava in Chicago. It was really late and we'd just wrapped up basics on a Leonard Cohen cover ("Seems So Long Ago, Nancy"). I wanted another layer of sound for the song and had the idea that we could all just walk around the room making sounds. Ted set up one stereo pair of mics in the middle of the room and we all put headphones on.

When he hit record we each just started picking things up and making sound, occasionally walking closer to the microphones. I walked around playing with shakers, coffee cups, bells, and creaky chairs. Brad sat surrounded by things on the floor, as did Keith, both rifling through their selections. Ben paced the room using tambourines, chains, pipes, and who knows what else.

When the take was over I just remember jumping around and laughing like giddy children. We ended up doing it three times, I think. Mostly because it was just incredibly fun.

So long, Mr. Cohen.

Seems So Long Ago, Nancy

Heavily inspired by the writings of Raymond Carver, “Twelve Rooms” is essentially twelve different stories — some fiction, some not — written with an insightful observance and quiet desperation. Palaxy Tracks’ distinctively subtle compositions perfectly convey a sense of loss and longing, evoking images of specters and spectators, murders and memories, empty rooms and endless open roads. Mood is carefully established and embellished with touches of mellotron, horns, hammond organ, pump organ and other finishing flourishes.

“Twelve Rooms” shows a band that has progressed gracefully over the course of three records, growing ever more evocative and sweetly heartbreaking with each respective release to build twelve rooms of swooning, bittersweet perfection.

Release Date:  May 31, 2005

The Criminal Mind

Lamplighter

Camera

Up My Sleeve

The Clarion Way

Grey Snake

Speech With Animals

In honor of the beautiful, inspiring Mary Tyler Moore.

Written and originally performed by Sonny Curtis. We (Palaxy Tracks) recorded this at home in 1995 on a rented 8-track cassette recorder. Greg Wallace sang and Brandon Durham played the instruments. It was later included on our first self-released cassette, The 700 Club.

This recording will be included in an upcoming release for charity called “Animals”. All sales of “Animals” will go directly to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, who help orphaned rhinos and elephants.

More info at palaxytracks.com

Palaxy Tracks

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