Friday, December 23, 2016

"Sweet & Cynical" / "A Cold Dark Autumn." Double A sided single.


SWEET AND CYNICAL
Sweet and cynical
Nightmare and miracle
Heartbreak and mythical
Concrete and whimsical
Icy, wet Freezing sweat
What can I get
When you’re my pet?
After the curtain call
I thought I’d seen it all
But there was one more trick
At the end of her fingertips
The girl lies down in the pouring rain
She feels no pain
She hears the sweet refrain
From inside the bedroom she
Jumps through the window it
Stings like icicles it’s
Almost mystical she’s
Caught by tentacles she’s
In a spectacle of strange
And at the curtain call
Flowers fill the hall
Now I’ve seen everything
I still need one more fling Sweet and cynical
Cold and clinical
Barely visible
Mostly miserable
Open book
Have a look
I take a stand
She slaps my hand

Monday, December 19, 2016

Reviews of new single "Sweet & Cynical" / "A Cold Dark Autumn."

 "There’s a good mix of post-punk/new-wave that runs through the music…a bit of 80’s electricity in the vibe…combined with a whole shit-ton of ingenuity, ideas and instrumentation!" - Sleepingbagstudios.ca.

"... instills his music with enough signature traits to separate himself from likeminded revivalists, things like his strong vocal melodies and blazing guitar solos are enough to do the trick.  A singular mind in today’s alternative pop-rock landscape." - Tuneload.com 

Download the new single from Bandcamp.

Monday, November 28, 2016

A Cold Dark Autumn

A COLD DARK AUTUMN
The leaves are turning crisp and yellow
And it’s still summer
Leading me in anticipation of
A cold dark autumn
Arms are heavy breath is slow
 I’m so tired
This is what I was afraid to know
A cold dark autumn
Stars reflected in the mirrored lake
 Long past midnight
I pray to someone my soul to take
This cold dark autumn
Have no fear for what’s in store
You always wondered
This is what you’ve been waiting for
A cold dark autumn

Friday, November 11, 2016

Dicentra


DICENTRA
These fading blooms
In your empty rooms
They smell of autumn
In the dusk
 If I’m too late
I know you can’t wait
You’ve got a plan for your escape
This obsession
A fatal infection
The heart has a hunger
It only gets stronger
Fading away
Nothing to say
All of my thoughts in disarray
That door is closed
For good I suppose
This bleeding heart will decompose
But if you find I’ve not been unkind
Give me a thought from time to time
I want to reach you
But I can’t touch you
The soul bears the stain of desire
The body a house set on fire

Monday, September 19, 2016

Until I Started Liking You

UNTIL I STARTED LIKING YOU
You can like me as a friend
You can keep me as a pet
You can haunt me like a memory
I’ll take whatever I can get
When it hurts I feel happy
When I’m in pain I feel fine
It only happens when I think of you
I think about you all the time
 I only like you at a distance
Because you live so far away
If I could change my life this instant
We’d be together every day
The pain of love is so exquisite
It keeps romantic fools alive
I only live for your next visit
I only hope I can survive
When it hurts I feel happy
When I’m in pain I feel fine
It only happens when I think of you
I think about you all the time
I said I’d never write a love song
And to that promise I held true
I never had the inspiration
Until I started liking you

A Shadow Crossed






A SHADOW CROSSED
 A shadow crossed my heart
When I left that sunny afternoon
A kiss kept me alive
On the lonely highway ride
Springtime had to end
I still have the sweetest friend
As summer falls to autumn
I worry if we’ll meet again
I feel you every day
We’re miles apart
I’m still afraid to say
What fills my heart
What is the chance
This ill fated romance
Is what we waited for
But we promised ourselves nevermore
And closed the door
You and I continue on
We’re never out of touch too long
Messages we write
Keep the two of us up all night
I feel you every day
 Now we’re miles apart
There’s something I should say
And it breaks my heart
He said, “She’s good”
And I thought, “I know”
Those eyes the lips that hair
There’s no one like her anywhere
But soon I’ll have to go
I should have stayed
Just for one more day
Walked you up the avenue
Made a longer rendezvous
Spent more time with you

Thursday, August 4, 2016

lovesick

LOVESICK
I fell ill from the love
The one thing I’m guilty of
is watching you from the trees
It seems to help my disease
A paper doll hung on a string
It’s heart the most fragile of things
If you pull on one end
Then my life will extend
You’re most happy alone
When you feel like a stone
But you’re a beautiful flower
And softness is a power
What I’m saying my dear
Is that you're drawing me near
And I want to be close
It’s what I desire most
Fenestra
Palestra
Cathedra cadenza dicentra
Tremella

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Lyrics are being added.

As I can get to it, I'll be adding the lyrics to all the songs I have posted here.  The words aren't available anywhere else, so it will make this site unique, instead of just a replication of what's on my Soundcloud page.

Soul Mates In The Rain

SOUL MATES IN THE RAIN
The boys all love you
But what you need to know
I’m not some other
Sweet talking romeo
I care more deeply
Never pin you down
You’ll decide freely If you want me around
We’re star crossed lovers
Soul mates in the rain
There’s that connection
Logic can’t explain
 I can’t control this
It’s bigger than my pride
But if i tell you
I’m afraid you’ll run and hide
 I know you love me
Clues are everywhere
But you keep insisting to me
That you play solitaire
We’re star crossed lovers
Soul mates in the rain
There’s that connection again
No logic can explain
Star crossed lovers
Soul mates in the rain
There’s nothing that we can lose
And everything to gain

That Weekend

THAT WEEKEND
I wanted to take you downtown
Cause you don’t know your way around
But the city changes every day
And I might not even find our way
We went in circles on the subway line
Spent hours on the lower east side
Found vinyl at the record store
Got an armful but there’s always more
That weekend
Wish it would never end
We can walk
Don’t even have to talk
That weekend
Wish it could never end
I have a plan I want to hold your hand
This is my dream come true
Breathing the same air with you
We’re free to do whatever we like
Go anywhere stay up all night
We said goodbye and then we kissed
You held onto my hand a bit
Walking over to fifth avenue
you know I’m so in love with you
That weekend
Wish it would never end
We can walk
Don’t even have to talk
That weekend
It doesn’t have to end
We’ve got plans
To do it all again

What If I Never Saw You

WHAT IF I NEVER SAW YOU
I want to see something in the dark
I want to be somewhere from the start
I want to be perfect in your mind
I want us to be happy all the time
 It must be love, but it’s not real
It can’t be love if it’s not real
What if I never saw you in that light
An incandescent halo in the night
The vagaries of random circumstance
The power to disable or enhance
 I’ll be more specific when we chat
Right now I don’t know what I’m getting at
It must be love, but it’s not real
It can’t be love if it’s not real

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Room 313

ROOM 313
You want to play a role?
Put on this blindfold
You might get cold without your clothes
In room 313
This was your request
Let’s put it to a test
A dream come true in black and blue
Is no longer repressed
I won’t hurt you
Unless you want me to
We can add to our repertoire
If you want me to go that far
 I’ll look for the rope
While you have one last smoke
You’re my queen of the obscene
Amorally baroque
 As I bind your wrists
I’ll lean in for one last kiss
Enjoy your sin and discipline
It’s futile to resist
 I won’t hurt you
Unless you want me to
We can add to our repertoire
If you want me to go that far

Valori Plastici

VALORI PLASTICI
Your shadow on the piazza in a dream
The slanted light of late summer so it seems
The ball the spoon the spool the string everything
is a sign connected in a line endlessly
The sealing wax with initials mine and yours
An envelope in a fire now obscure
The hunt the arrow poised to pierce this lover’s curse
One final waltz the victim’s shadow falls windows burst
The bell the book the time you took
the story line a life of crime
the stagehand said you look divine
I found the space a window seat
I saw your face I could not speak
I recognized the widow’s peak
The chilly air of December keeps your love
a box tied up in black ribbon a hand in glove
You dreamt a double dream of spring bright and sunlit
The evil genius of a king ruined it

Friday, March 11, 2016

Stars In Your Galaxy

STARS IN YOUR GALAXY
This is the page I tore out
from your diary
you called me m
in the list of your lovers gallery
Do others know
we are framed in your memory
How can i even breathe
we’re all stars in your galaxy
The mannequin can’t find her skin in a mirror
it’s much clearer in a fog
The empty hangers now in the closet
recite dulcet dialogues
You live on air
from a rare planetarium
and waves of grace
 in the care of a sanitarium
What hellish noise
could distract you from your equipoise
You don’t need boys
when the girls offer better toys
The perfect love affair from a distance
needs persistence every night
Be steady confident understanding
Not demanding or she’ll take flight

The Secret Diary

Friday, February 26, 2016

Review of "You Walk On Air" in issue 28 of Aquamarine

Online magazine, Aquamarine, wrote a lovely review of "You Walk On Air," the EP I released on Jigsaw in 2014.  The reviewer describes it as "retro pop with witty and poetic observational lyrics and eccentric musical touches," and "off-centre moments with a dreamlike, floaty atmosphere and touches of vintage soul."  I quite like this review!  You can read the whole thing here.

Friday, February 19, 2016

"Je t'aime"

> JE T’AIME
Je t'aime
Le dimanche sous la pluie
Je t'aime
Les yeux de brouillard gris
Je t'aime
Je sais que tu menti
Je t'aime
La sourire qui m'aneanti
Tu danse
 comme les etoiles crepesculaires
Et trembles
tes cheveux tentaculaires
Je te suis
a la fin de la folie
Je te suis
a le jardin noir du paradis

TRANSLATION:
 I love you
Sunday in the rain
I love you
Eyes of grey fog
I love you
I know you lie
I love you
The smile that annihilates me
You dance
like twilight stars
and tremble
your tentacle hair
I follow you
to the end of madness
I follow you
to the black garden of paradise

New EP! Blocked Aortas: a bittersweet Valentine's EP

Friday, February 5, 2016

Review of The Ouija Board Share on Tumblr

Stereo Stickman music blog just published an in-depth review of the new album:

"The Ouija Board is probably one of the most entertaining albums I’ve come across in recent months. Every part of every song has something about it that surprises you and keeps you interested."

Read the whole review here.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

New Album! The Ouija Board

Friday, January 15, 2016

Covers Share on Tumblr

Covers are a tricky business.  Before the the Rock/Pop era, songwriters were only very rarely also the singer.  After the early years of Rock n Roll, songwriters more often performed their own material, and it became corny and amateurish to do covers, you only did covers to learn your craft.  The idea of "covers" brings to mind wedding bands and lounge acts.  But even the Beatles and Stones did covers well into their professional careers.  Some notable covers from the 60's were magnificent transformations of the originals: Vanilla Fudge doing The Supremes' "Keep Me Hanging On," The Who's version of "Summertime Blues," and the staggering "All Along The Watchtower" from Dylan, redesigned by Hendrix.  Then for decades it seemed unforgivable to do covers due to our romantic investment in the shaky concept of "authenticity." In May of 1987, I saw Husker Du play a 30 second punk version of the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song, "You're Gonna Make It After All" on the Today show when Gumble and company did a live broadcast from Minneapolis because, of course, MTM was supposed to take place in Minneapolis.  I thought it was ridiculous, but also kind of cool.  Today we live in the Age of Irony, so loads of bands cover each other's songs, and hipsters dig it.  Witness Ryan Adams covering T. Swift's entire 1989 album, and Father John Misty "covering" Ryan Adams covering Swifty, in the style of The Velvet Underground - the mind reels, the stomach churns. As recently as this September, Drowned In Sound posted a playlist of 89 Cover Songs.  Many of the videos posted on Stereogum are well known bands doing unexpected covers.  However, covers are still a minefield of bad taste.  Just think of the entire run of The Voice, or American Karaoke, I mean, American Idol, where we've witnessed the senseless slaughtering of hundreds of familiar favorites.

For myself, I love to do covers, but they have to suit my voice and, somehow or other, my style.  I'll only do a cover if I think I can do it in a way that will be musically refreshing, not just weird for the sake of it, but in a way that will be challenging, yet still entertaining.  So, I've done a sythpop arrangement of Dylan, a shoegaze version of Charli XCX, and a Steely Dan styled Beatles tune.  I like to change some of the chords around too because varying the harmony from the original can put the melody in a new light.  I don't have a logical explanation for doing covers, except it's fun, it's a break from working on my own music, and they seem to get a good deal of attention on my Soundcloud.  My takes are usually so left-field though, they may be mistaken for parody, but I'm not making fun or being satirical.  If a song is good, it will stand up to a variety of approaches.

Here are the cover songs I've recorded over the last couple of years in reverse chronological order.  I've preceded my versions with the originals for comparison:

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