My Songs (1)

OK, just because I am absurdly bored, I will start posting my own music here for a while. For some reason, I have managed to write about 300 songs. While most of them are in acoustic demo form, some I've managed to record in 'full band' versions. I'll post two songs per post so as not to bore people into numbness.

First, a song called "Locust Dreams" which I wrote while living in Philadelphia during the end of my lost years. I later recorded a full band version while in graduate school, in my forgotten bedroom on Bayard Street somewhere in Pittsburgh. Amazingly, I used no reverb on the lead guitar solo but it sounds echo-y for some reason.

Locust Dreams is also the title of my first e.p. Anyone wants a copy, let me know. It has seven songs on it.

Second, a song called "Paul Westerberg" recorded in New York in the summer of 2003. I was living on 112th st. and Broadway, sharing a place with a very nice professor from Columbia who I have since lost touch with. I don't think she appreciated my loud guitar playing. This was as garage-y as it gets. I literally wrote and recorded this in an hour.

Joy - Locust Dreams [mp3]
Joy -- Paul Westerberg [mp3]

Saturday Morning

What's on your mind on a quiet Saturday morning?

Not much.

On the drive to the Bronx the other day, a slow and languid instrumental piece came on. On these drives, there's not much to see outside. The deep blandness of Major Deegan, the frenetic Spanish of Fordham Road, the imminent parking on Cambreleng Avenue. Once, while veering the car into an awkward space, this song came on -- I waited in my car for the whole piece to finish. Pianos twinkle through a soft summer melody, evoking anticipation, melancholia (that, again), and some sort of resignation. Perfect for that moment before I got out of the car and headed up the steps.

The Album Leaf -- The MP [mp3]

The Album Leaf is not really a band, but a person, Jimmy LaValle, who used to play guitar for the San Diego-based post-rock band Tristeza. He mixes electronics with guitars these days. This track is from his 2001 album One Day I'll Be On Time. For those who saw Sigur Ros in 2003, you may remember The Album Leaf opening for them.