i did your mom (original album mix)

this is the final version of something i'd been playing with since about '94 or so, and by this time the track had become something that was beyond absurd. in a way, this is the culmination of everything i did in this period. it's the central track of my inri years: it's both the first thing i spent any time seriously writing and the ultimate realization of the musical ideas i was exploring. it's the longest track on the first demo. the drum programming is deep, there's an orchestration through sequencing, synth parts in the background, lead guitar work coming to the forefront - it's everything thrown together at a coherent level, really for the first time.

thematically, i'm just going to let it stand as is, other than to point towards the existing writeup at the demo site:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/i-did-your-mom-2

that this is the central track of this period maybe demonstrates how ridiculous i was and how ridiculous my musical vision was. maybe it also demonstrates just how young i was.

the remaining tracks in this period sort of pivot after this.

i should be clear: this is pretty much the most terrible song that you could possibly imagine existing, and that was kind of the intent. the shock value is entirely up front. but at the same time, it's just so terrible that it's kind of funny, and that was entirely intended as well.

you could maybe say something about somebody like alice cooper. ripping live chicken heads off in the middle of a performance is just about the most tyrannical thing you could imagine somebody getting away with on stage. it's just *so* ridiculous, that you can't help but laugh - even as you're horrified.

it's a phase a lot of teenagers go through. i guess the difference between me and a hundred thousand other kids is that i was exploring it through composition.

recorded in mar, 1998. edited on nov 13, 2013.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/i-did-your-mom-1998-archived-112-kbps-mp3-2

mwp (original album mix)

i don't really remember exactly what i was thinking with this. i think it was a sort of a reaction to "western conservatism" as it may have come out in something like the reform party of canada, which is really a midwestern idea (these ideas aren't popular on the pacific coast). i seem to have been interpreting those ideas through some less than ideal stereotypes.

a trent reznor sample near the end of the track has been ejected.

i think i was also reacting against the initial lyrics of the song, which were a naive exploration of terrorism from a first-person perspective. as mentioned in the initial write-up, terrorism in the late 90s generally had more of a christian fundamentalist bent as interpreted through the like of the ira, the atlanta bomber or timothy mcveigh. i was sort of inverting that to a discussion of more mainstream midwestern christian fundamentalism.

ultimately, though, i'm not sure i'm making a lot of sense, in hindsight. if it made sense at the time, the logic has sort of lost itself on me.

musically, i like this track, a lot, though, and i've often wished i would have just left it instrumental. the drum programming is really thick, and the overlapping guitar parts are something that's always interested me.

meandering initial version here:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/terrorists

recorded in mar, 1998. edited on nov 13, 2013.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/schizoid-terrorist-original-1998-cd-mix

relax (original album mix)

another sample collage, made out of krusty the clown samples.

recorded in mar, 1998. 

http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/09-relax

it's not hypocrisy, because ford is above the law.

no, really. the law applies to everybody except the people it doesn't apply to. ford is one of the people it doesn't apply to, because he's above it.

now, if he had a funny name like 'rahim jaffer' it would be different. then he wouldn't be above the law. but 'rob ford' is not a funny name.

clear? any questions?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-mayor-rob-ford-admits-to-having-bought-illegal-drugs-1.2424106

the proper response to this, of course, is not to hammer ford on not attacking himself. that's up to the cops. and they haven't put down a last word yet. i wouldn't be surprised to see an arrest.

this is why i don't have a cell phone...

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/you-are-a-rogue-device/Content?oid=18143845

schizoid (original album mix)

again: big upgrade in sound, big downgrade in vocals. well, i guess the vocals work on a different level, but comparing them back-to-back what i'd like to have are the demo vocals with the rerecording's music...

this is the first serious example of any kind of keyboard sequencing that's more than just background sound. there's seriously a crude string section in this track

original version:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/schizoid-2

recorded in feb, 1998. 

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/schizoid-terrorist-original-1998-cd-mix

hey god (original album mix)

upgrade in drum programming and in guitar work, downgrade in emotion.

i'm noticing this going through these. on the one hand, i think i was sort of afraid to be too emotional. i wanted to keep that "ironic distance". but, i don't think i would have felt that if the material was fresher. these songs are two, three years old at this point. i'd reinterpreted them a dozen different ways. i'd lost connection to them...

in the sense that the drum sections were partially created for the purposes of performing these songs live (which never happened), and they completely recreated most of the pieces, i think it was necessary. but i'm realizing that it very much sounds like i was performing a chore. perhaps i was....

original version:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/hey-god

recorded in feb, 1998. 

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/hey-god-1998-archived-112-kbps-mp3