Animal Wars (early 2007)
This is another song that already appears on this website in its original form (see 2002). I include this version because I think it's an improvement. At this point I was re-recording old songs just for the purpose of getting good at Cubase. After a few months of that I finally felt confident enough to write new songs, which ended up making up the majority of the first Black Sugar Transmission album ("Nine Butterflies", "Slide", "This Is the Night", "Burning Wreck of Love", etc etc).
Hotter Than the Sun (early 2007)
Written in 2004, this tune was a part of P*S*K's live sets toward the end of our tenure. This is me re-vamping it for posterity -- without changing anything too much -- just to get practice mixing in the digital realm.
Covered (early 2007)
Another oldie which I gave the digital makeover treatment. Getting my chops up in Cubase.
Dust Upon the Ground (early 2007)
See above (really like this shiny version!)
Ripe (early 2007)
See above
Scream Angel, Scream (early 2007)
See above again. Actually this remake was a contender for the first Black Sugar Transmission album. In the end it lost out to "Dressed and Desperate." At this point I'm starting to get better at dense productions.
Slide 3/4/07
That main hi-hat pattern with the G chord hits had been rattling around in my brain for months prior to this. The final version of "Slide" appears on the first BST album. I thought it would be fun to post this early incarnation, though, which had a quite different chorus. The song went through at least two different choruses before I finally reached the golden one. This was something new for me: doing different drafts of a song. In the 4-track days, I would generally just scrap the idea if it didn't happen on the first try.
Pardon the severe edits in this. And if you haven't already, DO check out the album version of "Slide" -- it's one of my best!
The Burning Wreck of Love 3/11/07
Again, the album version of this is ultimate, but I thought I would share this earlier take for kicks. The original guitar solo on "Burning Wreck" (and the one that ended up on the album) is a bizarre, Brian May-on-crack assemblage of many layered, dissonant, individual notes. As great as it sounded, I thought maybe it was too "out" for most ears, and had a go at a more "conservative" solo, which is what you hear on this take. The weird one kicks this one's ASS.
Happiness Is Just Cosmetic 4/6/07
At this point I was on a roll with new songs (many of which ended up on BST album #1 and do not appear here) and "Happiness..." is as good as anything I wrote during this period. It should get formally released someday. Really like the lyrics in this one, too ("you're the butt of a joke/that hardly bears repeating").
Five Years Behind 4/10/07
Something (not sure what) inspired me to craft a song almost entirely out of pieces of Public Image Ltd songs. This is the result, which I quite like. I wonder what Johnny would think? (of course, he'd hate it).
Pull That Pout 4/17/07
This is a stomper with fun nonsense lyrics. Enjoy!
Sheer Heart Attack (Queen cover) 4/07
A re-working of one of my favorite Roger Taylor-penned tunes. Dig the "We Will Rock You" excerpt in the middle! The Queen version, of this, by the way (from 1977), is pretty insane-sounding to this day.
Lost Girls In the City 4/27/07
This was inspired by the punk/metal band Warrior Soul, with whom I'd just done a Swedish tour. It has since become a part of Acey Slade's live set (I play guitar w/Acey, if you didn't already know). A good, hard-hitting song. Love the solo section and breakdown.
Fresh Out of Heart and Soul 5/17/07
A real winner, which was inspired by a Simple Minds song I heard one night on satellite radio (the title eludes me). This one has always been a part of BST's live set and is an absolute kick to play.
I Know There's Something Going On (Frida cover) 6/21/07
This is a lost classic by former ABBA vocalist Frida, who put out a Phil Collins-produced record in the early 80s. I must credit DJ Dario Speedwagon for giving me the idea to cover this; I heard it during one of his sets and freaked out. I knew I had to take a stab at it. The original version is in Dm and I lowered it to Am so I could sing it comfortably. I quoted the guitar chords from "Under the Bridge" (Chili Peppers) and Crystal Waters's "Gypsy Woman" (la da dee la da daa) in the outro. Don't ask me why!
Use It 7/25/07
Here's the original, Andee-only version of "Use It". Of course this song improved greatly once the legendary guitar god Vernon Reid laid some of his magic on it and we added Matt and Devlin's vocals (Dev also played glockenspiel). This was a seismic moment for me -- finding out that Vernon was a huge fan of the first BST album was thrilling, but having the man actually PLAY on one of my songs was incredibly gratifying. Check out the album version on the e.p. of the same name!
Miserylou 7/27/07
Here's the original "Miserylou", which would later become a duet with Patti Rothberg (and consequently one of my favorite things ever). This scratch-y version also lacks Matt Farley's drums and Matt and Devlin's additional chorus harmonies. So here, fetishists, is the scrappy original demo in all its blemished (but promising) glory! I also did a really lovely remix of the Ande-n-Patti version, which you can check out here: myspace.com/blacksugarremixes.
I Dare You 7/31/07
The basic idea of "I Dare You" came to me while walking the streets of NYC -- I was thinking Bauhaus meets Chemical Brothers. I include this rough early version because it features the original chorus, which I ended up scrapping (you'll hear why).
A year later I had my pal Acey Slade do some support vocals on the song and it ended up not only on Black Sugar Transmission's USE IT e.p., but on Acey's She Brings Down the Moon e.p. as well! As mentioned earlier, I've been moonlighting in Acey's band and "I Dare You" has become a staple of our live sets. So this song has enjoyed a sort of double life since its humble beginnings. You should definitely check out the album version (and the video on Youtube) though -- this early sketch is purely for curiosity-seekers and fetishists!
Blinding Somewhere 8/7/07
A mostly-forgotten song which, upon recent consideration, really deserves to have a future. I'm so pleased with this track!
Bloodstorm 8/11/07
This dark, thumping number sounds really nice but it's not the most imaginative thing I've ever done. Give it a whirl, see what ya think.
U Got U 8/12/07
Good good fun, a little hand-grenade of a tune. It's got some Queen, some Ramones, some Cars, some Jesus and Mary Chain. A live staple. Nifty solo, too.
