Artifacts
2011
Bat Lenny's dormancy gave me the excuse to go back and finish some of those old ideas that didn't fit the BL mold. When I saw that 4-eyed cast iron head relic at an antique shop I immediately knew what the cover was going to be. The background is The Big Tray, an antique Norwegian rosemaled metal tray that we used to beat on as a percussion device until my mom told us to knock it off.

1. Spider Bite
   A quick upbeat one to kick it off. Speaks for itself.
2. The Speed of Dark
   I started it in the mid '90's, building it in MIDI, experimenting with tempo changes and seeing how intricate I could get without making a wall of mud. It's structured like a pyramid. I knew it could never be played by BL so I didn't think it would ever get past my hard drive. But here it is.
3. The World's Watery Face Part 1
   Vocals have always been a problem for me, so I rely on others whenever possible. In this case I collaborated with Jilly Wright, then the Social Networking Moderator of DIY music website iacmusic.com. Her Kate Bush-like voice and wacky British style seemed perfect. The result isn't anything like I thought would come of this collab. I was expecting whimsical, and instead got stunningly beautiful.
4. Effajeniah Penelope
   When I was a little kid my dad threatened to give my little sister this name when she was born. Lucky for her he didn't. I always pictured a mischevious scheming little brat named Effajeniah Penelope, so this is a song about her. My attempt at the catchiest pop song in the oddest meters ever. I resorted to the use of a vocoder to make my voice at least palatable.
5. What an Awful Planetarium
   Certainly the least accessible song here. I was experimenting with Plogue Bidule - an odd Canadian modular music application - which was so foreign to me at the time that I just clumped together a bunch of random "Bidules" and threw some audio clips and midi files in there and started turning knobs. It was like a musical blender, and this is the lumpy beverage that I poured out. I topped it off with some diced narration from a real annoying planetarium projector I had in the basement. Yum!
6. Half Passed
   The "Passed" instead of "Past" is intentional. A song about getting older. I recorded a quick demo with the intention of making it a Bat Lenny song, but BL stalled so I finished it myself on top of the demo track, making it sound a lot more spontaneous than most of my stuff.
7. In the Shade of the Biliary Tree
   I did this one when I was home recovering from gall bladder surgery. I was feeling a bit woozy at the time...
8. Der Doizisch Mann
   Yes, I am trying to sound a bit like King Crimson here. Rearrange the letters in "Doizisch" for a clue. The weird middle part is actually a midi file of that song ground up and spit out by Plogue Bidule. A wet zucchini snorted my fry stint.
9. This One Worm
   Just the bass, exactly 1 minute long.
10. Snowday
    My car got stuck in the snow about half a mile from home on my way to work. I walked back home through a field of knee-deep snow. I was exhausted, and couldn't get to work, so I did this.
11. The World's Watery Face Part 2
    The World's Watery Face Part 1 Continued...
12. Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun
    Certainly in my top 10 most influential songs, by Pink Floyd of course, and with a neat tie-in to the album cover. Here the vocoder actually makes sense, instead of just being a crutch to help my limping voice.
    
    
    

The Cog That Binds, The Wheel That Grinds
1992

1. Arp Magika 
   Named after a strange instrument I bought in a gift shop in Mexico. Made of plywood, guitar strings and big wood screws for machine heads. Sorta like an autoharp. 
2. Tentacle and Suction Cups 
   Inspired by a painting I did about 15 years ago (see portfolio). Features a virtuoso drum machine solo and a Casio Rapman. 
   Stop Hitting Me 
3. A fun little instrumental. Started out as filler, but evolved into one of my alltime favorites. With Floydian wah wah. 
   
4. Mousetraps 
   A narrative of one of my strangest dreams with appropriately eerie music, ending in a flurrious metallic attack. 
   
5. Metalmorphosis I 
   A polyrythmic piece inspired by an M.C. Escher lithograph. Don't ask me what time signatures I layered on, 'cause I have no idea. 
   
6. You're the Violin 
   Yup, the Nazareth song. Vocals by an Amiga computer. 
   
7. Ceramic Dove 
   Named after a ceramic whistle shaped like and sounding like a dove. I played the bongos with 2 pencils. 
   
8. Refrigeration 
   Be careful what you leave in the fridge. Inflating the mundane into the grandiose. 
   
9. House With No Rooms 
   Instrumental. Camel, anyone? 
   
10. Metalmorphosis II 
    A metalflake instrumental version of part I. 
    
11. The Cog That Binds 
    A stretched out progresso attempt at something deeper than a puddle. Even I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it sounds deep.  

Moon Wheel

1997

1. Serenade From the Laughing Spaceman 
   All I know is Spock sang it on the Plato's Stepchildren episode. Now he sings it here with Alexander on lyre and me doing the rest.
2. Dreamplot A song about dreams and how easily we're fooled by our own minds. Half your brain invents, the other half unwittingly observes.
3. The Giant & the Dwarf
   Started out with Pink Floyd's Julia Dream in mind, but ended up with King Crimson's In the Wake of Poseidon. A Mellotron driven epic through the heavens.
   
4. The Thing Under the Bed  
   Fear itself, from a child's point of view. Intended to tingle the spine, just a bit.
   
5. Wither  
   Perhaps too negative a title for such a pretty song, but there's a bit of sadness under the 'tron flutes. 
   
6. Snow Angels & Dust Devils  
   Two songs in one. First half features a chorus of angels and an icicle xylaphone, second half is sorta... whirlwindy 
   
7. Sneeze  
   An examination of what happens when you sneeze. Another one changing the mundane into the grandiose
   
8. Moon Wheel  
   A very dark place in the Universe
   
9. Thank You, Dr. Seuss  
   About 5 songs in one. Sort of a tribute to one of my earliest influences. Lyrics by the Good Doctor himself.
   
10. Bitter Dregs 
    Here we've come full circle - This is the alternate title and an acoustic version of Laughing Spaceman.