WEEK 88: And I'm Gone ALBUM PREVIEW!

Hey everyone!

This is an insanely special MP3 OF THE "WEEK", a preview of my first ever album!

My band Trouble's Afoot disintegrated a while back but we had started work on two (!) albums, doing the drums and bass. For the past year (or more...it's been a long time) I have been working in a studio on the first collection of songs. I have no idea when the album will be done (I am out of money and lack time), but for now I am enjoying the results.

There are lots of great things to share, but I am particularly happy with "And I'm Gone", one of my stranger and harder-to-classify songs. It came out as interesting and strange as I wanted, but I still consider it very catchy and accessible all the same.

I don't exactly want to talk about what the song "means", because this is one of the rare tracks where I DON'T quite know what it means, in a literal sense, though I certainly know the feelings it's based on. I'd rather talk about the production, since that's what I spent the big bucks on:

I love the super stereo mixing of the drums and bass. Drums on the right, bass on the left. Another Beatles-esque touch is the plodding piano that comes in at the end section of the song, my favorite thing on here. I love the heartbeat-like bass line that my buddy Dave Fox is playing during the choruses (uh, I think they're choruses?), and Chris Roberts on drums really gave the song a surprising danceable groove, something I had never intended, but makes complete sense.

The best thing? FOOT STOMPS. The foot stomps during the choruses was thought of in the studio and track after track of stomping (ow my feet) on a wooden floor really adds to the heft of the beat. Love it love it love it.

I am also proud of the production idea to have a subtle ambient noise hiss fade in on the verses and fade out before the chorus. It gives the chorus a clarity of sound that is almost subconscious.

Anyway, enough of that, check it out!

Download it by clicking here!


Or preview it!




See ya whenever!

-Jordan

WEEK 87: Sexy Low Self Esteem Song (live)

Hello! 

I know this blog hasn't been "weekly" at all, but at least I'm managing to put something up this month!

This is another MP3 from my last solo show at Gizzi's Cafe where I debuted a ton of new songs. This song doesn't have a title yet, so I can only refer to it by it's content -- The Sexy Low Self Esteem Song.

That's what it's about. Me playing a kind of funky ("kind of" because this isn't my typical guitar style and I AIN'T-A SO GOOD AT IT) riff while singing painfully honest lyrics about how much I disgust and hate myself. It's meant to be funny.

Ha...ha?

I'm not even sure I want to type up the lyrics, actually. Also, the song is sung veeeery low, I may need to either belt it out or change the key. Hmmm.

One cool thing this song does, is after the bridge it is lowered a key. I did this because normally songs that change keys go HIGHER, to give a feeling of triumph and power, but I thought subconsciously going down one step would give a feeling of defeat and sadness.

At the end of the MP3 you can hear an astonishing two people clapping, and I say "thanks, no one!", which may give you a hint of why I haven't played a solo show in a long time.

What a low self esteem post! Perfect for this song. Besides all that, I actually do love this song, I think it's one of my best new ones. I really hope to have a version with a band (or simulation of one) soon, because this would really really work with a full band.

Please enjoy!


Download it by clicking here!



Or merely preview it!





See you soon!


-Jordan

WEEK 86: Party Guy (Live)

Hey everyone!

PARTY TIME! This is a new, somewhat unfinished song called "Party Time" that I debuted at my last solo show in December 2011, at Gizzi's Cafe.

This song is kind of simple, but I think it has potential. I imagine a big party production with thumping drums and techno sounds and lots of rocking. 

I don't need to explain what it's about, but it's based on...every single time I have ever gone to a party. Especially parties in suburban areas, which is why I used the "fictional" (even though hundreds of them exist) town of "Woodlawn", which is as subarbany sounding as it gets.

Here are the lyrics!

Everybody's at the party, come along
Everybody's dancing and going strong
You're gonna come out to Woodlawn and have a good time

You're gonna come out to Woodlawn and have a good time

You're a party guy

Party guy

Park your car into the drive

Bring some snacks and then say "hi"

You're gonna say hi to that guy by the TV over there

Gonna kiss the cheek of that girl by the stairs

You're a party guy

Party guy

Everyone can tell you're not having fun

Why did you even bother to come at all?

You're gonna leave sad and angry and hating yourself

Gonna leave sad and angry and hating yourself

You're a party guy

Party guy

You're a party guy

Party guy

---

Download the song by right clicking here!


Or merely preview it:




Thanks!


-Jordan

WEEK 85: Bombinate

Hey guys!

This week's/month's/year's MP3 is a really wacky song from 2005 that I made for my friend Matt Koff's old comedy blog, Word Du Jour (sadly no longer existing on the internet.)

On the blog he taught you a new word every day and then used them in funny sentences. I offered to do some musical word lessons for him. I ended up doing 3 in total. Here's one of them!

I think I shocked him because he thought he was going to get a 10 second thing and this is basically a complete song, with a full band arrangement and even singing back up girls (which are all me.)

"Bombinate" means to hum, so knowing that, here are the surprisingly dark lyrics:


BOMBINATE, BABY!

I bombinate on the way to work (ooh, I bombinate)
I bombinate in the bathroom stall (ooh, I bombinate)
I bombinate in the journey home (ooh, I bombinate)
THEN I BOMBINATE ALL NIGHT LONG! (wow!)

(humming)

I bombinate in the dentist chair (ooh, I bombinate)
I bombinate on the garage floor (ooh, I bombinate)
I bombinate inside a plastic bag (ooh, I bombinate)
LET ME BOMBINATE JUST ONCE MORE! (WOW!!!)

(humming)


Download the song by right clicking here!


Or preview it here:




See you soon!


-Jordan

WEEK 84: Undo (Sally)

Hello everyone!

A super special exciting MP3 this week!

A NEW song from my band Sally. And...

A NEW singer! The wonderful Kristen Gudsnuk! (Special eternal thanks to Meghan O'Neill for being lead singer for the first year of the band!)

This recording is from a practice we had 2 days ago! Will Kastner nailing the drums after only playing the song like twice before ever. FUNKY STUFF!

We are really excited about this song and see it as some sort of future "single." It's currently my favorite song of ours.

This song is about how excited you get when you start dating someone you like, and how crushing it is when they reject you, especially after you've already imagined the entire relationship you two were supposed to have.

Here are the lyrics:

We went to every park in New York City
We visited your relatives in south New Jersey
On the bus we traded headphones
Played each other our favorite songs

These things didn't happen yet
but now I've got to undo
I've got to undo 
the things I imagined doing with you

Remember when you met my friends?
You liked them all, except for one
Then we went and met your friends
They all liked me, except for one

I shouldn't have talked about you so much
That was my first mistake
I shouldn't have talked to you so much
I should have given you a break

I planned the way I'd say "I love you"
The time and place, and weather and clothes
I planned the way that I'd react
To your reaction, however it goes


Download it by right clicking here!

Or preview it first!







See ya!

-Jordan

WEEK 83: Hell It Stays In Hell

Hey everybody! 

Here is another one of the 7 new songs I performed at my latest solo show!

I don't quite have a title for this one, though "Hell It Stays In Hell" may end up being the de facto winner. 

The chorus for this song came to me in a dream. I woke up singing it and recorded it on my tape recorder. I based the rest of the lyrics around it. 

Musically, I felt the song was a bit standard, so I implemented a cool trick where it goes back and forth between major and minor (changing in the middle of each chorus.) So the 2nd verse is all minor chords, then back to major, etc. Fun?

Here are the lyrics.

Grab my sleeve and lead me down
In the boat we'll go
Pick people up along the way
Drop them off and so

All the fools go up the river
All the Hell it stays in Hell

Lovely ladies, angel men
Never done nothing wrong
Not one drop of fun in their whole life
Now they're where they belong

(chorus)

Dump my body out and leave it
Naked, bruised and waiting
I'll be dragged in smiling 
While they shake their heads with pity
But I don't need their pity


Download the song by right-clicking here!


Or preview it!






-Jordan

WEEK 82: Big Delay (live)

Hey everybody!

NEW SONGS! A few weeks ago I performed 7 new (as in: never before played live...some of these are very old) songs at a show at Gizzi's Cafe, and I will be putting a bunch of them up in the coming weeks.

This first one is called Big Delay. I actually wrote the bulk of it in around 2006/2007, but only recently finished it.  It's about a very very troubled relationship I was in, that was fraught with fighting and dying to be put out of its misery.  

These lyrics are VERY personal and autobiographical, more so than usual. My favorite line is "hating every word you heard," because it's a funny roundabout way of saying how bad or cold the words coming out of my mouth were throughout the relationship, but from her point of view.

The line "miles of walking nowhere" is actually in reference to a very specific event, not just a simple metaphor for the relationship. In fact every line is referencing a very specific memory. Like I said, extremely personal.

I also love the melody, the chord progression, the feel of the song...everything. I've been dying to play this live for years and I'm glad I finally did. 

Here are the lyrics.

I left you crying with a fake hug
Swept my feelings under the rug
After all the arguments
We can both agree this once

This man and woman failed
They're in each other's way
Miles of walking nowhere
One big delay

All along I tiptoed by you
Hating every word you heard
And on that day in that strange city
Holding hands seemed too absurd

With tired eyes and anger
Kicked you out of my bed
Tried to show how bad I was for you and you for me and we for us and well...

I'll be full without ever eating
Spend my days in waiting rooms
Anything to keep me strong
Anything to last us long


Download the song by right clicking here!


Or:   Preview it here!






-Jordan