recording of rhythmic analog vinyl crackle, an incomplete work but i like it the crunchy sound so much i thought i would post it anyhow

Pure Vinyl Crackle

22 (modal Melody In Fmaj)

Recorded with a UA Volt 2, Cockos Reaper, Taylor GS Mini, Fender Mexican Strat Jr. with Keystone pickups, Ibanez TB300 with Wilde pickups, Laney Cub 12r, Lauten LA-120 mics, spring 'verb convolution impulses, tambourine

lyrics:

Would you agree
That recently
Birthdays just feel weird
You hide at home
Forcibly alone
Wondering if all your loves are beards
Inculcation
Where does it end
And where do I begin
Untangling
The self-strangling
The conformity contortion
Like umbra & penumbra
I define myself by what
I’m warned never to become
Not made of “and”s, just “but”s
I wish that I could see myself
Beyond the narrow straight
So I’m coming out
As the mess this world has made

If you believe
That autumn leaves
Are lovelier in death
Or martyrdom
Is kingdom come
So we should hold our breath
I don’t know why
I ever try
To span the famished gulf
Developed
To envelope
The likes of you & I both
Umbra vs penumbra
I’m afraid
Of the shade
I know what comes
Of anyone
Who doesn’t make the grade
I only want a peaceful life
And death without aid
So I’m coming out
As the mess this world has made

I’m moved to tell
My cautionary tale
I’ve been thru hell
So that old threat is stale
The sole damnation
That puts the fear of god in me
Is reservation
Pruning the sprouts
That out me as a freak

I’m a wreck
Coming correct
Restoring my mojo
From the debris
Of neuroses
Dumped on me ages ago
Knotty complex
Tied to perplex
As a litmus test
To scare the squares
And tempt the fair
Into the hottest mess 
I’m trying the things
That freak me out
In that enticing way
I’m dusting my
Freak flag off
To see the light of day
I will not dig my own grave
By calling a shovel a spade
I’m coming out
As the closet on parade
I’m coming out
As the trap our culture laid
I’m coming out
As the bed that this world made

Comin Out (1st Pass)

I get songs beamed into my head all the time, no big deal. Sometimes, though, they don't seem to be songs for me, they seem to be for some other artist. They're in that artists' style and I hear that artist singing the song in my head. These songs always come to me completed already, there's nothing I can do but tweak certain lyrics or notes. Obviously I can't sing it in their voice, so whose voice do I use? This song was a song for Jason Molina. Maybe the Muses offered it to him at some point and he turned it down, I don't know. I just heard his voice, his guitar, his Crazy Horse worship band when I got this song. I jotted it down quick today in audible form. I don't know where the hell the Southern accent came from. I don't ever sing in a fake country voice. It sounded different when I rehearsed it. It sounded better in my head when I was hearing Jason's voice singing it. I'm sorry! Anyway, here are the lyrics. I do not think I like them, but this song was offered to me by the Muses, and who refuses the Muses?

It’s good to see you again, old friend
Recognize those lines in another’s face
It’s good to see that shack torn down
Good to see that dirt road paved
Let’s not dig around too deep
No sense uprooting the field
Let’s just marvel at the harvest
Regardless of its dwindling yield

We’re not gonna talk about the dark
We’re not gonna bring up the bad times
We’re not gonna light the cellar lamp
Disturb the shadows in the back of our minds

I can’t believe how long it’s been
But you ain’t aged more than a month
It’s surreal to see a childhood friend
Surrounded by their little ones
If I notice in your eyes
That not all the years were kind
If there’s a slowness to your smile
I’m not gonna pay it any mind

We’re not gonna talk about the dark
Or the years the locusts ate
Or if the good times arrived too late
Let’s thank the Lord for the food on our plates

When the kids go to bed
And the ball & chain turns in
And it’s just the two of us
I’m gonna lie through my grin
It’s all been smooth sailing
Plentiful, bountiful whaling
The boat never capsized once
Never even touched the flare gun
And I’d hope you’d do the same
Out of the deepest respect
‘Cause any day can sour quick
When you barely steer out of a wreck

We’re not gonna talk about the dark
Not gonna speak unsettling thoughts
Let’s change the subject on a dime
Anytime a voice trails off
We’re not gonna talk about the dark
Let’s keep the conversation light
Cast your cares into the bonfire
Let your troubles waft into the night

High Bias Demos

Not Gonna Talk About The Dark

This is pretty much the very first real song I ever recorded, at some point in 2014. Originally intended for the 1st 666 Spells Dad album that became Spooky Mulder - Not Ded Yet. Presumed lost in the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2016, this track was unearthed today from a Facebook message.

lyrics:
No cause for worry
Since you fled the scene
No lines are blurry
Since you left me be

I see so clear for the first time
Now that I put you far behind
Nothing to crowd my line of sight
No one to try & boss me ‘round
No one to kick me while I’m down
No one to throw me to the ground

No fear, no tension
Since I cast you out
No apprehension
Your absence
Exorcized my doubts

And now I’ve finally been set free
And when I sleep I’m free to dream
Of anyone or thing I please
My heart has been whitewashed mint clean
I admit it’s too empty
Save for the echos but at least
I’m all alone at last
A man divorced of his past
But at night the wind howls
And I’m haunted by
The hooting of the owls

Home Alone ∞

No Cause For Worry (1st song ever)

resurrected sessions from 2016. the first verse & chorus vocals are from then. all other vocals are from now.

White Lighter (1st Pass)

Jesus Rots Inside His Grave, 8bit version (Elvis Depressedly)

I was learning how to use my Korg Volca Sample when I accidentally made this song. All sounds were made by the Volca Sample, a Korg Poly 800, a Korg M1, an Alesis Midiverb II, and my throat.

For Someone Whose Name I Don't Even Know Yet

dumbest pop song i've put to tape yet -_-
lyrics:
I can hear the world beyond
Carrying on
Have they been counting how long
I have been gone?
It seems I am not missed much
No one stayed in touch
But I want to be alone
Want to be alone

When you leave your place behind
Will it be filled
By the one most qualified
To fit the bill?
Will it be an upgrade when
I am replaced?
Does it bother all my friends,
My vacant space?
I just want to be alone
Want to be alone

If I am forgotten,
Do I still exist?
Or am I an omnipotent
Solipsist?
Do I make the world appear fresh
Every time I tire of loneliness?
I don't want to be alone
Want to be alone
But it's too late to return to the world

To Be Alone (cassette demo)

wow shit this is the closest i ever came to writing a country song
it's about being drunk, i wrote it while i was drunk.
here are the drunk:
 I shouldn'ta stayed home tonight
Should be with friends
I'm rummaging through my mind
Tangled in loose ends
I'm tryna make some sense of them
Nobody here to interrupt
I'm home alone
I've never been this fucked up
Dive into the unknown
I'm tryna drown my sorrow
Hands cradle head
Migraine of regret
Massaging scalp
Nothing help
Sun shining grey
On a hangover holiday

I'm off of work tomorrow
Today I'm a slob
I could be off a whole lot more
If I had no job
Tell everyone an alibi
A valid excuse
I'm living an elaborate lie
A pathetic ruse
I'm tryna pretend I have use
Make up events
Bail out on friends
Then use those friends
To bail on events
I'm everywhere
Yet I am thin air
While I'm away
On a hangover holiday

I'm going on a booze cruise
I know that if I snooze I lose
I've already lost
So put the cost on my tab


Hangover Holiday (cassette demo)

3rd day in a row I sat down at my Korg MS-20 to try out a song idea and came to like half a day later to find myself with a finished song. My sappiest, poppiest, most boyband effort yet, this is me fully embracing everything I hated most of my life. All sounds made exclusively with the MS-20, even the beats are samples of it sequenced with a Volca Sample.
Lyrics:
Not tryna be completed
I am not incomplete
Not tryna be too needed
Some needs I can't meet
Leave it clearly defined
So I don't hafta remind
My concept of love
Is healthy

I'm not the heavenly body
Your universe orbits
I could never be your god
I am proud to admit
I'm not tryna be cold
I lack the gravitational pull
My concept of love
Is healthy

I'm tryna make you understand
Where I begin and you must end
I can't let you envelope me
Now I'm finally healthy in myself

You have to know I love you more
Than I have ever loved anyone before
That's why I spell out each boundary
Cuz I want this love to be healthy

Concept Of Love (Korg MS-20 demo)

My first actually good collab with my brother who lives thousands of miles from me, our contribution to the gazillion emo songs about summer in the canon.
Jason F: drums
Maf: everything else
Lyrics:
Summer breeze
Please stick around til Fall
Without your air conditioning
I can't leave my house at alllll
Last summer sucked
Missed all my favorite bands
Fell in a deep funk
Bailed on all my plans

Summer sun
Don'tchu rise on me
Til I've shotgunned
Beers in a roof jacuzzi
Last summer was beat
Lonely, boring house arrest
This year better gimme
A bonafide Beach Blast

I want this summer to be a Baja blast
Top the golden glory of summers past
Drink in graveyards, swim, play hackeysack
Tell me that ain't too much to ask

Wake in Autumn blind with sunspots
Farmer's tan, jorts & worn out Crocs
Need good memories so I won't get bummed
When the winter isolation comes

Sunspots (Baja Blast) {full band emo song}

i got a Nord Lead 1 today and decided to record an Enya cover

Boadicea / Sleepwalkers Theme (Enya cover)

a pop song i made to tell my friends i'm sad so they don't get too sad
Einstein's Parable of Quantum Insanity: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
lyrics:
 I keep hiding from everyone
And wondering why I'm lonely
I keep mulling over trauma
And wondering why I'm sad
Now it's late
But I can't sleep
I need to see a friend
Or I'll stay up
In agony
Swatting thoughts swarming in my head

I keep drinking myself to sleep
And wondering why I can't wake up
I keep overeating cheap food
And wondering why I feel dead
I get no rest
I wake up more
Beat than the day before
I worry that
In 5 years of this
I won't be able to move anymore

I don't know why I sabotage myself
I know that I know better than that
It's just that in the moment I forget
Every single moment I'm alive

I keep doing the same old shit
That keeps me in a nosedive
I can't break the habit
To save my life

Parable Of Quantum Insanity

version of the 1st track from the debut record with test vocals and it's also unmastered
i just wanna know if i am wasting my fucking time doing music, please tell me

Not Dead Yet

Nietzsche Is Dead (preliminary mix)

the unmastered electropop remix version of the 2nd track off my album
gonna fix it up for an official release someday
lyrics (which will be rewritten for offical release):
always introspective
walking back home
parties leave me pensive
walking back home
i heard you get what you pay for
and that's the price of a halcyon time
c'mon brighten my door
i'm on my final dime

always reminiscing
walking back home
feel like something's missing
walking back home
slinking past all the revelers
sauntering off to the next gold time
c'mon open your world
to rescue me from mine

Dank Nug EP1 (4/20 Teaser)

Slink (electro remix)

(acoustic demo of the 1st song from the album I'm working on, It's OK To Make Mistakes)

Why is life
So damn hard
Just to endure
All this time
Digging at its heart
Nobody's sure

I wanna glide
Over the streets I trod
Sad satellite
Shedding my earthly thoughts
Leaving behind my body

Why is peace
So fleeting
Its seat never gets warm
Runs & hides
At the 1st bad sign
Like a dog in a storm
Why is rest
So damn scarce
When I need it most
Lay there stressed
Too aware
To cross the threshold
To the astral coast

I wanna float
Outside the air I breathe
Celestial ghost
Shedding terrestrial leaves
I wanna feel
Something besides this plane
Beyond the corporeal
Where no words exist to explain
The absolve of oblivion
All is dissolved into one
Heavenly body

Astral Projectile (solo demo)

I bought a strange black guitar on Friday the 13th, in October. To celebrate, I recorded a demo of this song I wrote when I was 13. No vocals because I'm infirm.

Friday the 13th of October (potatomoon Demo)

"Einstein's Definition of Insanity" from the album in progress It's OK To Make Mistakes, in a demo form recorded on a reel-to-reel tape machine I'm fixing up.

Insanity (reel demo)

Today, a new song popped into my head, a total 80's slowjam replete with cheesy Yamaha DX7 presets & drum machine cowbell...
Here's a snippet.

80's Slojam (demo)

I fixed a friend's EHX Memory Boy today, this was a test track to see if it's working, all sounds processed through the pedal.

Fixed Memoryboy Jam

I fixed a friend's Tascam Portastudio and made this ditty as a test
it was snowing so it's about snow
here's the lyrics:
Fresh dandruff
From above
God's combing his beard
We bemoan
Each flake of snow
But winter without it's weird
It's snowing
It's snowing
So stoked
It's snowing

Sweatpants &
Hooded sweatshirt
Dressed to kill some time
Bumming out
Around the house
Getting sick is sublime
Kleenex
Bed rest
Vick's on chest
Hall's Defense

It's winter and I love it
Let it snow no don'tcha shovel it
Close the world and it the hay
I declare a national snow day

Spring will come
But til then
I'll be in my den
Bein’ a bum
At no doctor's behest
Getting peace & rest

God's Dandruff (tascam portademo)

some strange Birthday Party sounding song we created one day while bored in Craig Hodgkins' parent's basement, replete with me (Michael Freund) providing super over the top horrible Nick Cave vocals

Annakarina - A Rotten Business This

After reading about the Boss DS-1 mod that's supposed to make it sound like a Marshall JCM800, I wanted to try to tweak mine to sound like a cranked Marshall Plexi heard on basically all the classic emo records. It's a more trebly responsive scaled-back sound that can go from clean to dirty depending on playing dynamics and offers great note clarity for dissonant chords. Just enough grit for power chords, but also really sings on higher notes. It took hours of swapping out capacitors & resistors & diodes, but I finally got the sound I was looking for. It can go from Saves The Day - In Reverie to Jawbreaker - Dear You with a tweak of the Dist knob & some fiddling with the Mids on an amp.
This demo was recorded with my custom Frankenlespaul Epiphone Grackle through a beat up Marshall MG100DFX, Audix i5 dead center on the stock Celestion, no post-production besides leveling, all EQ'ing done on the amp.

Midwest Plexi modded Boss DS-1 demo

Everything but the vox recorded slapdash into a laptop mic that's so low-res it makes everything sound like a shit-rate mp3.
Equipment used:
Ibanez PF5ECE acoustic tuned down 1&1/2 steps
Epiphone Grackle custom Les Paul w/ coils tapped, standard tuning
Randall RG-80 vintage solid state amp with spring reverb
cheap Percussion Plus drum set
Sony F-96 dynamic mic
ProCo Rat w/ NEC uPC4081C op-amp (used as mic preamp)

lyrics:
Accept this gift basket
Of my sincerest apologies
Another IOU to redeem
When I have the means
For now just let it slide
The downside of ride or die
Once I recall
Where I fit in
I will renounce
Where I have been
Retrace missteps
Cover my sins
I’ll take the time to rewind


Look sharp for sundry flak
Friendly fire from shooting myself down
I’ll preemptively backtrack
Just to note the mines I’m laying around
Hopscotch with deadly stakes
Race with a crash for brakes
Once I recall
Where I fit in
I will renounce
Where I have been
Retrace missteps
Cover my sins
I’ll take the time to rewind


Employ some slight of brain
To recast the last couple hours
Convolved legerdemain
To conjure sweetness from the sour
Ritualistic majick
It always does the trick
Once I recall
Where I fit in
I will renounce
Where I have been
Retrace missteps
Love covers sins
I’ll take the time to rewind
Once we come to
All will make sense
Hearty relief
Sweet recompense
Tension dissolved
Into past tense
Let’s take the time to unwind

When I come to
I will repent
Ruin the mood
Being penitent
Beg you to name
The required sacrament
I would stop time to rewind

Rewind (lo res take)

demo of a pedal i designed, doomy fuzzy overdrive by way of a fried old 80's digital synth DAC
not sure what to name it yet, but the working title is the Untamed Shrew
recorded with an Audix I5 off center for the right channel, AKG P420 in the figure-8 pattern for the left channel

MAF FX Untamed Shrew fuzz pedal demo

TRUSTNO1 but us 4 good pop music

we're just two brothers, Jay on drums & Maf doing all the other junk

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