waitin' around, dyin'

downloadable file

sources:

dark star - live dead 69

The Be Good Tanyas - Waiting Around to Die

moods of nature babbling brook - bearcamp

inside/outside - blackbird

popcorn - blackbird

pete seeger in sweden 1968

am fm scan

dark star (3-track homage to the dead)

sources:

Blues Harp & Bottleneck Guitar Duet # 2 Blind Willie Johnson

Hawaiian steel guitar classics 1927-1938

Fresh aire IV

fm/am radio

Charlie Musselwhite & Richard Bargel performing "Mississippi Beat Part I" at Altes Pfandhaus

Sonny Boy Williamson harmonica solo

Grateful Dead - Dark Star (Live/Dead) 1969

blackbird- trap, 333, raga trap

guitar by raw land

diamond (19:07)

recorded live.

blast see 3 following residents digging feet yesterday. driveway, Ohio. mother nature. freezing. dual. run. west.

duet 3 + duet 4

duet 1 + duet 2

+

1) mood swings
2) in sink






1) the interview
2) whodunnit

CANNED BEETS

1) bubbly icon

2) glowing eyes

3) howl

star plaza (3-track sweepstakes)

1) ultrasound

2) medicine

3) signs of coyote

animal tracks (3:25)

more than meats (the eye)

46:01

raccoon shuffle (3:12)

this is the dead (9-track comp)

made the week of 10/23/2016.

this is the dead. the planet. the snowing. 333, Rensselaer. hands off on tuesday. betsy spoke to the stradolin ($45.99 on Used special back in 2007 at daddy’s junky). unearthing ancient wisdom. the ghost orchards will bring the roof down at any elks club lodge for sure. (can you hear the scotty dog!?) it’s a damn race to the dirt, but that’s alright, right? i’ll spend more time at darlenes pond, with the darlene herself. the burger of my eye. compost.

tracklist

1. the planet itself
2. now it’s snowing
3. 333
4. tuesday
5. race to the dirt
6. darlenes pond
7. ghost orchards (scotty dog!)
8. burger of my eye
9. Rensselaer

9:31 (3-track comp)

9:31

searching for the pocket.

recorded live on my smartphone. crude editing on the computer (cut+paste, layerlayer, tweak vol)

blackbirds trigram (3-track comp)

all songs created during the indian summer. post-squash harvest. de-tuning, sitting 20 minutes-sustaining focus. post-hunters moon, folks talking about apple orchard drought. hickory burns clean and fills the house with a comforting odor. i wish i was a plant. feng shui. feng shui. feng shui. i sent an email to avey tare, his agent was apologetic; called my email "unsolicited." i ain't trying to sell nothing. what ever happened to fan mail?

1) indian summer

2) grow light

3) squash harvest

blackbirds songs for the Body (3 track comp)

here's a 3 track comp for you and your body. a trifecta. deep moods. recorded live. distorted tapes. i can't read arabic!. looping floot loops. guitar soliloquy's tend to lock in to the wild environment. and a wash cycle to boot. it woke me from a wooden slumber post mtn hike. that voice you hear is Zinn. he's got your back. all vibrations are created equal! these will chew you up, but spit you out whole again. 

thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking. 
1) dog collar strew
2) karma charma (i is i, u is u)
3) raga trap (wash cycle)

for maximum effect listen after sundown.

matches (13:09)

recorded live on my smartphone. 

i ran my boombox through the delay/loop station, this allowed me to layer samples from cd's/tapes/radio (this starts around 5:30). as always, minor tweaks were made on a computer program where i cut indulgences and maximized the accidental gems. 

a song for cosmic dog (25:43)

guitar (samantha). found sounds (am scans/book on tape). toy organ. plastic bag. homemade rattle. wooden box. dog collar <--recorded live. vocals added after.

house chore music.

eating an apple --> meanwhile (16:23)

a time distorter for sure. 

absorb this psychic landscape during my apple snack. 0:00 - 11:37

meanwhile [i snap out of my trance, and find myself here] <--11:38 - 16:23


---
guitars (samantha and coo-stick)
delay
boombox for found am scans
wooden box

instrumentation recorded live...vocals added after

Crystal Geyser (standard tuning)

Recorded live. 

corn husk (6:14)

photo by David Fogarty

i initially recorded bits from a documentary i was watching late one night, 

this became the spoken intro. 

i  then added on to this recording by recording a randomly selected track, from a soundscape cd i bought the other day for a dollar.  i recorded this through my boombox creating a  camcorder cult propaganda commercial sound.

 using a delay with the feedback knob maxed out, i produced feedback and plucked a few notes on the guitar. i also took advantage of the electrical issue this guitar is having, this created the buzzing you hear at certain points. 

The radio static and talk show excerpt you hear looped at the end was discovered and "mixed "live using my boombox. the looping at the end was not done live.    

   

the combination of these things created a sort of atmosphere similar to the one seen in Davids photo. 

peanuts/raisins (25:52)

recorded live on 9/10/16 using smartphone. guitar, clarinet, toy organ, plastic bag, bike, traffic, people talking, AM scans/radio static, excerpts from found CD's played through boombox. some cuts made and volumes adjusted on the computer.

michael douglas (22:40)

intended for continuous play. 

Two live recordings (9/5/16 + 9/6/16) combined by placing one (9/5/16) on top of the other (9/6/16). 
Some volumes were adjusted on the computer.
guitar (Betsy + Samantha). toy organ. clarinet. homemade rattle. AM/FM scans + cd samples encountered live during recording.

from pine orchard (18:24)

to build walls and ditches.
(two hearts softly beating were murmuring low)

guitars (betsy + samantha), toy organ, clarinet. Radio frequencies and featured love songs encountered live during recording on Sony CPD-510 boombox.

kefir (6:32)

Pretzel Snack (20:26)

Now enter the pretzel zone

Here ye, here ye. Pretzel zone programme below:

pretzel 1 (0:00-3:29)

pretzel 2 (4:10-9:25)

[hidden pretzel] (9:51-10:40)

pretzel 3 (10:47-12:45)

pretzel 3 reprise (13:30-13:52)

pretzel 2 [pt 2] (14:21-19:29)

pretzel 1 reprise (19:35-20:26)

guitar. clarinet. toy organ. weather underground.

Universal Body (6:36)

Universal Body

guitar.

pear (9:48)

"dedicated to all people who feel obliged to space"

guitar.

lingual sunshine > six pointer (6:41)

anthropomorphic groove enhancement surgery 20% success rate.
found sounds, guitar, toy organ.

From the Garden of Cells (17:36)

wash your dishes to this

Track list

somewhat sullen (0:00-3:39)

plastic flamingo (3:40-6:50)

bodies upon the gears [withdraw] (6:55-10:20)

from the garden of cells (10:21-13:42)

ESP drone (13:47-17:36)

throwing shade (8:16)

searching for The groove. if found please call

all sounds found by blackbird. 
acoustic guitar, stream, locusts, jerry etc.

Peaking Duck (34:57)

Ladies and gentlemen, the Peaking Duck.

Starring

eyes have seen the glory (0:00-4:22)

changing tides (5:10-6:44)

dropping out (6:45-8:28)

knowing He’s there (8:29-13:31)

tuning in (13:32-16:52)

a heavy air (16:54-18:30)

roger that! (19:01-20:39)

Voltaire (20:44-21:54)

broken antler (22:00-27:30)

Vygotsky (27:42-28:49)

peaking duck (29:02-30:38)

speaking to a skull (30:39-32:03)

Kim Gordon (32:11-34:57)

From a Wire

photo by Shannon Straney

Tracklist

1. Dr. King (0:00-2:23)
2. White Moth (3:00-3:39)
3. Media Blackout (3:42-4:17)
4. The Weeping Willow (4:18-7:42)
5. Appetizer/Dessert (7:44-8:20)
6. one more spit (8:22-13:40)
7. we’ll be alright (13:41-19:10)
8. through a wire (19:14-20:37)
9. love your enemies (hate the system) (20:38-21:42)

recorded on my smartphone. found sounds, guitar, synthesizer, wind instruments by blackbird

Red sound collage

blackbird - Red (sound collage) from Roland Graves on Vimeo.

Yellow Sound Collage

blackbird - Yellow (sound collage) from Roland Graves on Vimeo.