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(Mr Phreek circa early 2001 - Photo by Ackronomicon)
December is my birth month (I was born on the seventh) so all my posts this month will be from my own musical projects.
When I recorded this album, I had been NY for a year and a half and I was completely frustrated. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect with anyone musically - open-mindedness isn't exactly prevalent on the east end of Long Island. I really wanted a punk band, but I was surrounded by strict metalheads and people whose ideas about punk rock came from MTV.
So, in DIY fashion, I did it on my own. It's a really good document of what was going on in my head at the time (late 2002). I also pulled out some of my favorite songs from the original MPAE tape and finally gave them a proper recording, despite the ultra-crappy production.
Goes well with a 12-pack of cheap beer.
(Mr Phreek circa early 2001 - Photo by Ackronomicon)
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)
01. Something More - This song came from nights where I'd just aimlessly drive around the North Fork because I didn't have any friends and I didn't know what to do with myself.
02. Q&A Session - Musically, this was one of the first songs I ever wrote back when I was 16, but I never really did anything with it. I decided to resurrect it here and write lyrics that are kind of like a punk rock Samuel Beckett. It's too bad I mixed this so poorly, as I really spent time on the drums.
03. Climbing Up the Walls - I had kicked junk a little less than two years before this was recorded, but I still had really bad cravings, which only got worse with my frustration.
04. I Wanna Die - This Dwarves-inspired ditty can be interpreted as either a celebration of hedonistic nihilism or a sarcastic mockery of it. Personally, I go back and forth, depending on what mood I'm in. Lots of people tell me this is their favorite song on here.
05. Deaf Mute - Remember that part in The Catcher in the Rye where Holden Caulfield says he wants to move to some podunk town and work in a gas station and pretend to be a deaf mute so he wouldn't have to deal with people? I horrified my freshman high school literature teacher when I told her I thought it was a good idea.
06. Pissed Off/A Sellout Like You - The first part is very Black Flag-ish hardcore, but the second part really came from Crass. Again, the drums were mixed way too low.
07. Bithing Again - A song about how all my songs were complaining about something or other. Even in my darkest moments, I retained a sense of humor. I've always really liked this one.
08. I Really Hate You - One of the songs from Anokist Antiquity that got a proper recording here.
09. Kill Your TV - Another Anokist Antiquity track that finally got the balls it deserved.
10. Sick of Porn - Ack had sent me this horrible porn tape, The World's Luckiest Man starring Jon Dough (who has since killed himself), and, without internet access or the slightest success in the female department, it was all I had to get off. It got old really quickly.
11. Burn Down Your School - My favorite Anokist Antiquity track. Burn, baby, burn.
12. I Don't Care - A much better version of a song from Mixdown 2 with better lyrics.
13. That's Me - This was also originally on Mixdown 2. This version is dirtier in that Fang way.
14. Pretty Bad Girl - A Flipper-type track about a girl I worked with based on stories she told me. It seemed like a good way to end the album.
FPOSFuck You, We're Fucking Piece of Shit CDR(MPAE)2002
(Photo of M7 by NASA)
Songs About Girls Who Never Existed was one of the first albums I finished after I moved to NY. I was having a really hard time connecting with anybody musically, as I was (and still am) on the ass end of Long Island where people get their cultural relevance from television and radio. I actually had some redneck asshole tell me that the music I like couldn't be any good since he hadn't heard of it. So I holed myself in my apartment, got really drunk and stoned and recorded music on my own.
I'd been a huge Helios Creed fan since I was 14, and I always wanted to do something along those lines. I even bought a bunch of effects pedals to get that spacey sound. Finally, I decided to put together some older tracks of mine, record some new tracks, and have a spacerock "band" of my own.
I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. My dad was even impressed with my guitar playing. Maybe you'll dig it, too.
Best heard under the influence of something or other.
About the songs:
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)
01. I Saw You (Crying) - An old song from my solo recordings. Go here for more info.
02. Lady Dragon - Another old song from my solo recordings. Go here for more info.
03. Descent Into Your Mind - This was the first song I recorded after buying my Danelectro phaser pedal. It had been a long night working in the bar (I was a barback) and I was irritated at having to listen to Rush on the satellite radio, so I went home with a few drinks in me, quickly assembled my recording gear and basically improvised this. It's mostly influenced by The Butthole Surfers' "Human Cannonball," especially in the vocals. It's a fun song.
04. Mistress Morphing - The guitar riff was inspired by a song from the cult science fiction animated movie Rock & Rule, where the character, Mok, is summoning a demon in Ohm Town. I believe this was recorded under the influence of opiate pills, hence the pun title.
05. Space Flying - This was centered around a riff I had written for The Gardeners that was really influenced by Neu! and Stereolab. I kept it an instrumental and recorded two guitar tracks. I always liked this one.
06. Xolotl/I Wanna Be Your Dog - "Xolotl" was a song I wrote for Anubis Rising, but I was never happy with the way it came out with them, so I redid it and tacked The Stooges to the end for some reason (probably because I could, and because I wanted to do a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" that didn't try to sound like The Stooges for once). By the way, "Xolotl" means "monster" in Nahuatl, the language of pre-Columbian Mezo-American cultures, i.e. Aztecs.
Messier 7Songs About Girls Who Never Existed CDR(MPAE)2001
(Mr Phreek circa 2000 - Photo by Judy Jean Kwon)
The first three songs were recorded at my mom's town house in Northridge. 4 and 5 were done at my mom's house where the first five Books of Pope Goat VII were channeled. 5-9 were recorded in the apartment Ack and I shared in Granada Hills. Track 10 was one of the first songs I recorded when I moved to NY.
The "bonus track" mentioned on the cover art isn't included because I used it on my spacerock album along with two other songs from this CD and that would have put about half the album up here. I'll be posting that spacerock album in the future.
About the songs:
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)
01. That Certain Feeling - This was an attempt to do something "industrial" sounding, but it just sounds like something Steve Albini would have done with Big Black. I wanted single note arpeggio, like you'd get from a Moog, as the bass. I didn't have a keyboard yet, so I used a real bass. It was hard keeping time. The guitar line turned out well considering that I played the whole thing through the song. I also incorporated some sampling elements that I had begun with The Goatfish Oratorio. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. It ended up on my digital hardcore/industrial album, Luddite Surprise.
02. I Saw You (Crying) - My first stab at psychedelia and spacerock. I tuned my guitar to some strange tuning that went something like E B D A B F#, essentially making power chords out of the three pairs of strings. I spent a lot of time programming the drums, which wasn't easy considering I have a Yamaha RX-11. I actually mic'ed the bass and guitar, too. I think this is one of the best songs I've ever recorded. It opens my spacerock album, Songs About Girls Who Never Existed.
03. Can't Really Complain - I was big into digital hardcore, ie Atari Teenage Riot, and this LA band called Babyland, who were the closest thing to DH that I had heard locally. This was my tribute to both. I recorded the vocals in a friend's (John from The Gardeners) closet. I played an early version for my friend Mark Lovretovich and he said it needed some squeals, so I got our friend Phil, who would become Sir Oedipus Beer in Pope Goat VII, to play a noisy guitar solo over the whole song, which I edited. Many people love this song, which makes me very happy. This is the first track on Luddite Surprise.
04. Torn Apart - This is the original version of "Torn Apart," and to me, it's far superior to the one on the Anubis Rising demo. It's very Slip It In Black Flag with a heavy dose of Hammerhead.
05. Is It Worth It? - I wanted to do something like Flipper, but ended up with this teen angst anthem instead. Features the first extended guitar solo that I ever wrote.
06. Kicking Self - This was a less successful attempt at psychedelia. It's kind of a spacerock version of Flipper. My vocals sound very drugged-up - I probably was.
07. Lady Dragon - Hands down, this is my favorite spacerock song and one of my favorite songs that I've ever recorded, period. It's "Lady Dragon" as in "chasing the dragon," something I was doing heavily at the time until I switched to a much more sordid way of getting high. The song was recorded very Pope Goat-ish - mostly improvised. It came out perfectly. This is also on my spacerock album.
08. Freight Train Baby - I was really big into The Stooges' Funhouse and it shows here. I even programmed a pseudo-funk, Ron Asheton-style drum beat.
09. Highway Driving - I really shouldn't have used the same beat as "Freight Train Baby," but I think I was just trying to get some ideas down as quickly as possible. More Funhouse-infused Stooge-rock.
10. Liz Thinks I'm a Bore - A very trashy garage rocker that marks my transtition to NY. I was using a really shitty Radio Shack mic that was meant for portable tape recorders, which is where all the noise comes from in the middle of the song.
(Mr Phreek circa '98/'99 - Photo by Ackronomicon)
By this time, I was fully steeped in Iggy Pop's The Idiot, Throbbing Gristle, The Birthday Party and free jazz, especially Sun Ra. All those influences can be heard here, though I was really trying to do my version of The Idiot using Indian beats described by Don Cherry on Actions. I used my drum machine, Fender Rhodes electric piano and bass.
I ended up sending a copy of these songs to Michael Dean from Bomb. He said it reminded him of Suicide, certainly a high compliment.
About the songs:
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)
01. Hibernation - I guess this was my attempt at doing something like "Mass Production" from The Idiot. You can hear that I'm trying to do my best Iggy Pop impression in the vocals. Haha.
02. Friday - I programmed one of those Don Cherry beats into my drum machine and jammed this one out. It ended up sounding kind of industrial. I like the way it turned out, especially when it changed 2/3 of the way through.
03. Drunken Battle - Another Don Cherry beat. This one has Iggy all over it, even stuff from his first two Arista albums.
04. Desert Song - Probably the darkest song from these sessions. I really like the way this turned out.
05. Crossing the Line - This song ended up being pretty prophetic, as I was sinking deeper and deeper into drug use. There's much more of a Birthday Party/Jesus Lizard/Stooges thing here than on the previous tracks. You can clearly hear me smoking pot at the end.
06. Factory Man - The Stooges/Birthday Party/Jesus Lizard sound comepletely took over here. Maybe it was a good thing that I stopped when I did.
Mr Phreek
Summer 99 Rhodes Electro Punk CS
(n/a)
1999
(Mr Phreek circa early 2001 - Photo by Ackronomicon)
(Mr Phreek circa early 2001 - Photo by Ackronomicon)
FPOS
