I'm s l o w l y digitizing my stuff. Stick around a bit;
everything will eventually materialize.
There are representative excerpts from each work alongside
corresponding cover "art." Enjoy the tunes, drop me a line,
or direct your mouse to more proof of my disturbingly unsubtle self-indulgence:
aot8D (2007)
Just finished this monster. It sucks.
The keyboard parts had been sitting around for 14 years, "Pigboy" needed a home, only "Jimmy Voodoo" had a complete drum track, and I figured what a wonderful opportunity to break in the electronic drums...
P.E.M. (2006)
If you're a fan of The Residents or Zappa's Uncle Meat you might get a laugh out of my attempt here. Fun to make, but hardly noteworthy.
Very little VSS/SK-5 sampling; mostly the old Multi-Trak (see image of
laughably obsolete keyboard above) with radically tweaked voices.
Listen hard enough; you might hear an Elvis impersonator
waxing Kurt Cobain.
Orphans (2004)
Not long ago I realized I had too many stand-alone creations; songs without parent 'albums.' Thus, the cop-out, 'themelessness theme' CD.
Twenty tunes covering nearly two decades, ranging from full-production art rock pieces to Dolbyless voice sampling essays.
HuH (1998)
My brother Casey, a phenomenal guitarist, and I (on the bass) improvised several songs into my Portastudio one night in September '98. I later added drums & keys to the nine tracks that made the cut. We'd not yet recorded anything together, and for some, apparently unmemorable reason we decided to call ourselves HuH.
Update - the whole thing is available here.
Mathom - Mohawk (1998)
I hesitate to call what my brother, Daniel, and I created in July 1998 "jazz," but in the strictest sense of that term, it is. Dan, a bassist/vocalist, and I created "Who Needs a Wife?" (all but the drums), and after a few beers laid down bass and guitar for five additional, wholly improvised pieces. The later addition of drums to this stuff proved nearly impossible.
Totem Pole (1995)
In 1991 I began writing/recording this stuff while stationed in Albuquerque, and finalized it at our next assignment, in Italy.
For once the term song is technically correct; I actually sang (or spoke) in many of the songs for this one.
Update - the whole thing is available here.
Doimo Basso (1994)
Bass on bass experimental stuff, w/a Gemini 8 second digital sampler. Les Claypool influenced me more than anyone else in the early 90s, and I'd never before taken the bass seriously. Not exactly a quality production, but I ended up with 14 discrete compositions, many of which aren't half bad. And yes, the second track is a ripoff of a Vai/Satriani trademark.
* Compressed wav file; not an mp3. Converting it into an mp3 eliminated the "popping" bass line.
Mathom - No Recoil (1994)
During the summer of '93 my brother, Dan, came out for a visit, and between trips to Sandia Crest and Old Town we recorded No Recoil. Fans of Tolkien, we called ourselves Mathom. Dan conceived the (maudlin) storyline & lyrics, and sang. I wrote/ played the music, and "released" it in May 94 as a high school graduation gift for Dan.
Project K (1991)
Armed with my trusty VSS-30, I picked up a Casio SK-5 in March 91, and combining the two recorded dozens of voice sampling compositions into a boom box. Not long thereafter I picked up a 2 sec digital delay & used imitation Gibson Les Paul, adding these into to the mix for the last ten songs or so.
There are nearly 50 "songs" on this production, & despite its dolbyless, horrific sound quality, I think PK underscores my creativity better than anything else I've produced.
Panama (1990)
As far back as 1990 you could go digital without being rich.
With his MIDI keyboard, Korg emulator and Alesis digital 8 tracker, a friend, Dan Holmes, and I began a "Slush" (SLoppy + rUSH) project, later adding a "Slyx" (SLoppy + stYX) song to the thing. Dan was going to sing, but lost interest in the effort. I ended up creating six originals in addition to our three spoof pieces..
Flabby Worm - Cable Crossing (1989)
Shortly after Bad Vibes I put together this weird concoction, deciding "Flabby Worm" would be my nom de plume for all future Residents-esque Phil projects. The Yamaha VSS-30 had a brief appearance on BV, but it needed to be featured somewhere. And dig those quarter tones in "Hyperstep!"
* Compressed wav file; not an mp3. Converting to mp3 turned the thing into a Space 1999 episode.
P6 - Bad Vibes (1989)
This was my first major production - and for the longest time my "baby." One 36-minute long song. Basically.
P6 (1988)
1988. I'm 22 and full of energy. My good friend, Mike Weaver, owns a Fostex X-15 4 tracker, a drum machine, electric guitar and bass, and frequently allows me access to his equipment.
The stuff here is so bad it's funny. But I had fun and learned a lot about multitracking. And a thing or two about cheating with the speed knob.
Piano Stuff (written 1980 - 1985; recorded in 1987)
These old piano originals often elicit the following response: "sounds like Primus." Of course, this observation from friends aware I'm a huge Claypool fan. But I wrote my "Primus-like" stuff in the early 80s. Long before Primus.
Raymond Scott, whose music Carl Stalling frequently borrowed for those surreal 1940s WB cartoons, influenced plenty of musicians, like Zappa, Claypool, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck; The Residents, and even me.
Clay (a.k.a. GUP, the Great Unfinished Project)
Started this monster in 1998. Planned on "singing" again (see Totem Pole). Would've been done in '99 or 2000, but the brain of my home studio broke down in 1998, and I was stationed in a town whose only electronic repair shop could barely pronounce "Tascam," much less actually diagnose and repair one.
Now it's back on track (more or less), though with my schedule it may take a year or more to wrap it up.
I laid down the electronic drum lines (last three tracks here) for the creation of this web page. The older (acoustic) drum lines were also tentative - certainly I'll redo the entire drum track, though the guitar and bass will remain.
Sooner or later I'll get a real
synthesizer. Don't laugh
(okay, laugh), but here's the
contraption I used to create aot8d and PEM:
I actually recorded "Baleen Ballet" in 1988 and used to include it with my "P6" cassettes. But it fit so much better here, despite its lack of voice sampling.
Last of three done with Mike's 4 tracker.
You first realize how "good" your product is when many openly doubt its origin. Bad Vibes was my first caster of doubts.
Those are my (then new) drums, but the bass lines make me cringe; recorded before Claypool opened my eyes, I picked all the bass parts.
For this one Mike lent me his 4 tracker, bass, Gibson Flying V, and effects.
