- Newest
- Bears Ex Machina This is an entire album (10 songs, but about 20 minutes long) written and recorded in February of 2008 for Record Production Month. I just clicked the Random Article button in Wikipedia and wrote a song about whatever came up.
- The Tuesday Night EP 3 songs recorded one Tuesday night in December of 2006. See this blog post.
- In Your Light. Based on Ps. 36:9, written 1-31-06. The line "I'm a crusty dog turd" is sung enthusiastically at the beginning (as a mic check) and is also part of the song, and the phone rings at the end, making it even more awesome.
- Peach, Plum, Pear. Cover of a song by Joanna Newsom, from her album The Milk Eyed Mender. Recorded 1-19-06.
- Psalm 37. Just a short song based on Psalm 37. Written 8-18-05.
- The Quetzalcoatl Waddle. The latest dance craze to hit the ancient Aztec city of Quetzalcoatl! Written 6-20-05.
- Christian
- The Thirst and the Fall. Summer of 2000. Johnathan Fowler recently started making an a capella version, which you can hear here.
- When the Bridegroom Comes. Written Spring of 2000. Mike Doberenz beat on something loudly the whole time I was recording this, no matter how nicely I asked him to stop. (Just kidding, Mike, you rock :-)
- Waited Long Days. I read somewhere that when he was old the Apostle John used to get really sad wanting to go to Heaven. If you think about it, he lived the longest of any of the disciples, so near the end of his life all of the friends he had been so close to were gone. This song is kind of about that feeling.
- Grace. Written Summer of '02. I hate having a song where the title is the same as about a million other songs out there (at least Christian songs), but it's better than "Untitled #497" or even worse -- have you seen stuff like this? -- "Untitled (Grace)." I mean, how is the song "Untitled??" You put the title right there in the parentheses!! I am aghast.
- As I Am and So Alive. The oldest songs on here are also the ones with the best sound quality. I wrote these in high school and recorded summer of '98 at R/R Studios in Lake Jackson. The Amazing Paul Pisklak on drums, ladies and gentlemen. Emily House sings backup on "As I Am." David "Virtuoso" May plays a ripping guitar solo on "So Alive." (Interestingly, David's middle name really is "Virtuoso," and it really is in quotation marks on his birth certificate.)
- Your Compassion Overflows. Words from Lamentations 3, music courtesy the D, G, A, and Em chords.
- The Can-Do Missions Song. On the way back from a Can-Do Mission to San Lorenzo, Mexico, I co-wrote this song with my friend Landon Ledlow. At one point, there was actually a part of the song where Landon would RAP, but he wasn't around when I recorded this, and I couldn't remember how that part goes. The world may never know.
***UPDATE*** If you're interested in hearing the rap part (or just another version of this song), Landon sent me a recording he made of the whole song. Here it is -- enjoy!
- When We Rise. One of my favorite song topics, experiencing the resurrection with my wife. It's a cool thought to me that we'll be buried side by side, so she'll be the first person I see at the resurrection.
- Spoken Word
- Answering Machine. Colin and I had a pretty funny answering machine in college.
- Marmaset Moroseness. A poem I wrote with my good friend Gottfried while on a long van ride to Mexico. Just like Marma used to make.
- Tuckus. A short poem about a Turkish llama salesman.
- M.C. Wack Attack, live on WPOP. Oh, man, this is terrible.
- Stay of Execution. In the summer of 2000, Jason Moreno and I made a lot of recordings like this. We'd just sit around in front of my computer (with a sound recording program loaded) thinking, and when one of us got an idea, they'd hit record and start talking, and the other one would just have to try and keep up. They are mostly pretty awful, like a train wreck that you can't look away from.
- Michael Bolton. It was for a commercial.
- Nord #1. This really is the essence of hanging out with Jason.
- Nord #2. We think we're pretty funny. We are probably wrong.
- Prank Calls
- Andrew Gore. In which Andrew wins the vacation getaway of a lifetime.
- Helium. In which I am running out of helium.
- Dominoes Pizza. In which I place an order for some sweet love.
- McDonalds. Can you look that up for me in your database?
- Silly con Queso
- There Ain't Been No Trash in My Trailer Since I Threw You Out Last Saturday Night. This song's origin is a long story involving the President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Let's just say, President Kieschnick sent me a very nice letter saying he enjoyed the song :-)
- Fantastic Man. An underutilised super hero has a nervous breakdown in a grocery store.
- Plate of Nachos. I was over at Johnathan's and we were recording improv songs for fun. If you listen very carefully at the beginning, you can hear him ask Whitney, "What should we sing about?" She says, "A plate of nachos!" And a few seconds later, the song starts (he's on guitar, I'm vocalizing my love for nachos).
- Intercourse, PA. Intercourse is a real town in Pennsylvania. The song practically writes itself! On a different note, now Karianne won't be able to view this page from work, because they use a web traffic filter and the page contains the word "Intercourse."
- I don't got a top row of teeth. This is what I sound like singing with my lower jaw jutted way, way out.
- Jenny. Just a song about falling in love. With a robot.
- I Can't Stop Living Without You. My attempt to write a sort of country song. Didn't come out sounding very country, but has some convoluted lyrics!
- Wedding Ring. Also known as "The No-Arms Song."
- The Andrew Gore Song. Andrew Gore is a friend from high school. We were on the basketball team together, and one time on a trip to a game I brought along a tape recorder and recorded Andrew telling stories. When I got home, I sampled some techno beats and made this song.
- I Am Your Robot Slave. I created this on my lunch break at work using a program that turns your computer keyboard into a musical keyboard. Lyrics available here.
- Moses Supposes. Karianne and I made this song up together. The lyrics are mostly based on tongue twisters (rubber baby buggy bumpers, you know you need unique new york, that sort of thing).
- You Wouldn't Understand
- The Tiffany Song. There was this mission trip to Mexico, see. And we were driving late at night in a van. And I had my guitar, and my good friend Mike had his drum. We found out that Tiffany doesn't have a middle name, so we made one up for her, started improv-ing, and this song was born.
- The Lindsay Kelly Song. Pretty much the same story as The Tiffany Song. The funny thing here is that Mike and I didn't sit down to record this until several weeks after we made it up... so we couldn't remember any of the verses! Not to worry, we just made up some totally new and completely unrelated ones.
- Futuramike. This one time, Mike built a time machine.
- Short but Weird
- Frubglinoids. Totally awesome words by Gottfried Schroeder.
- Speedy Monkey. I had just gotten a 4-track recorder, and I took it over to my friend Chip's. After messing around for a while, he handed me his guitar and said, "Dude, you just play something psychadelic, and I'll talk." Thus, Speedy Monkey was born.
- Love Songs, Shmove Songs
- Starshine. My attempt to write a Backstreet Boys song.
- Space Girl. This song got played on the radio in College Station once. The only "fan letter" I've ever received in the mail was from a girl named Kim who heard it on the radio, and later she sent me a picture of her (I think she was like 14), and on the back she wrote something like "I'm your space girl!" I'm embarrassed to say that this made me feel very cool.
- I get into you. The intro to this one has some crazy panning -- listen to it through headphones and you'll get dizzy!
- Beautiful Escapes. Sweet dreams, sweet love, and bittersweet are tangled up in her.
- Walls. Just playing around.
- Rich Girls in Confined Spaces Should Try Not to Talk With Their Hands. Long Pretentious Song Titles Saved As MP3s Should Try Not To Exceed The Character Limit For Windows Filenames.
- Goodnight, Nobody.
- Covers
- Baby Got Back (Acoustic). Original by Sir Mix-a-Lot, as if you didn't already know that.
- Landslide. Written by Stevie Nicks.
- You Can Call Me Al. Written by Paul Simon. This was my first real recording using a 4-track (hence the tape hiss).
- Hey, Jude. I'm playing two instruments at once while singing... In a way...
- Song Week #2
- Run Aground. Kind of a Matchbox-20-ish break-up song.
- Deposit. Also a break-up song. "Break-ups" was the unofficial theme of Song Week #2.
- Song Week #3
- All That and a Bag. Trying to sound like Beck.
- Hey, Bloody Carcass. Trying to sound like They Might Be Giants.
- Karianne. Trying to sound like Weezer. Ended up sounding more like Buddy Holly, who Weezer wrote a song about. So the circle of life is complete.
