Ian C Stewart Archive of Sound

COLLABORATION The Ian's Basement All-Stars "Suxx 2 B Me" MP3 This is an odd track - aren't they all - from 1991. It was recorded in my basement on my 4-track probably using my stuff, but beyond that I have no recollection of who did what. I know Chris Daly sang and I can definitely make out Michael Million and David B singing backups. And that's definitely my drum machine programming, which would've been a big deal since I'd only had the thing for a few days at this point, I think. I'm not sure what we were going for as far as the sound of the song. It's like.... I don't know, Ministry covering the Charlatans? The drum machine is heavy on the kick, a la Ministry. But the bass and guitar are kinda vibey and baggy. So.... who knows. I think this was Chris's first time singing. He did a great job. His singing voice sounds like mine! Perhaps due to the whole session being filtered through my stuff? He's like Ahmet Zappa when he was in the b...

Ian C Stewart "Whiffy Riffs" MP3 Another fake riff jam from 4 Track Fallout , my last collection of 4-track recordings from like 10 years ago. It's a guitar/bass/drums workout that runs through all of the riffs I had on hand at the time. Or so it seems. None of the riffs ever amounted to anything so this is kind of like a museum piece.

Ian C Stewart "Beam Me Up Squatty" MP3 This one is too sloppy to live but too funky to die. Wow. The song is named after the squatty-ass guitar tone that is just purely raunchy. It's nothing to do with Star Trek, don't worry. This is from the 4 Track Fallout mixdown tape from 1997, one of the last things to be recorded in the basement at my mom's house. The drums sound pretty sweet, actually everything sounds pretty sweet for a change. I think I had Ray's little Radio Shack mixer and a few extra mics. Let's see, it sounds like the drums were recorded at half speed on the four track, a trick which Dweezil pointed out you can't do in the digital realm. I made a percussion loop on the drum machine, which was blasting out of my little Peavey practice amp. The ambient mics picked up the drum machine which mingled with the live drumming. And the riffs still sound like the Beastie Boys or Rage Against the Machine to me. Like, anthemic. But they don't tra...

In related Youtube-ry, I made a playlist of all seven songs Michael and I did at Madlab just in case anyone wants to watch the whole thing in one go. Samarkand live at Madlab And here are two, possibly one badly rendered, horribly transferred clips from my solo acoustic appearance at Andyman's Treehouse. Watch 'em quick before I delete 'em. 01.28.92 Eye

SAMARKAND Saturday August 18, 2007 Andyman's Treehouse Just when I thought the Samarkand Summer Tour 2007 couldn't get any more last-minute or intimate, a gig came up so quickly that I was the only one who could/would do it! For the Madlab gig back in July we had a couple of weeks to prepare. For the Cafe Bourbon Street gig in late July we had one week. For Andyman's Treehouse, I had about twelve hours. So I decided to attempt my first ever solo acoustic one-guy-with-a-guitar performance. After spending a few hours with an acoustic guitar, racking my brain to come up with enough songs that were easy to play and sing at the same time, I was as prepared as I could be. I had a few alternate songs on the setlist too, because you never know. If the gig was smokin', I didn't want to make everyone wait while I tried to think of other songs to play. But it didn't matter in the end. We got to Andyman's around 9:30pm or so. The main band was setting up their stuff. V...

Ian C Stewart "Napalm Friday" MP3 It's the continuing story of a string of songs I don't remember. "Napalm Friday" has more words & a one-note vocal line that I couldn't exactly call the greatest. Nice use of the Casio Tonebank keyboard, which of course has gotten a lot of mileage from other groups in recent years like the Moonbabies & Midlake.

Ian C Stewart "Thursday Killer" MP3 Relatively uptempo but still quite depressive. Ingredients identical to the rest of Workweak . Plus some slappy bass for no obvious reason. Nice breakdown in the middle so everyone can clap their prescription bottles together over their heads. ? but it's not and it isn't it's snot and it tisn't maybe tomorrow will be the day and I'll say yesterday was the day I said tomorrow will be the day but it's not

Ian C Stewart "Wednesday of my Soul" MP3 Hm, a sad humpday reggae song about the immortal reggae humpday of the soul. Y'know. Acoustic guitar on the upchucks, it sounds like fretless bass and a dubbed out organ GR707 guitar synth patch. Hey, more Windows system sounds in the mix, that's always nice. This is one reason why it does not pay to multitask at mixdown time. This song sounds like something from my Devilcake solo album, aka An Alphabetical Food Odyssey by Icy Stew. It's obscure and meandering and wears out its welcome almost instantly. Just like me! just getting past you'd be so sure not in the past not the future somewhere in the world it's Thursday but not in here it's the Wednesday of my soul not in the past you'd be so sure just getting past not the future and what of

Ian C Stewart "Casual Tuesday" MP3 Continuing the Workweak theme ... "Casual Tuesday" features more groovy moping. Another simple kick/snare drum loop. Acoustic guitar up front. Regular bass guitar at 10 o clock, Chapman Stick at 2 o clock in the mix. Guitar synth gets the tremolo effect. The vocals sound like I just woke up. Or fell asleep. The lyrics are clearly rooted in reality. I'm not even getting dressed I don't care Wear my best flood khakis Check out my white socks Did you see that freak show

Ian C Stewart "Monday Love" MP3 Ah, 2003. It doesn't seem that long ago, but apparently it was. The date on the CD is February 15, 2003, which might indicate that this was the second of a started-off-strong-but-died-quickly series of new albums. I think my goal was to release an album a month. Which was no problem for me, even four years ago. Listen for the Window system barking sound. I started with the concept of a song cycle about the working week. And, you know me, no pun goes left unpunned. So, "workweak" it was. The song titles came next. It was easy once I had "Casual Tuesday" on the list. "Napalm Friday"? What? I can't find the lyrics & the vocals are buried in the mix, so maybe you can listen closely & transcribe 'em for me, mm-kay? It must be, Oh no it can't be! Musically, wow does that beginning sound like Idaho . One of my favoritest bands of all time that is also one of the obscurest bands of all time, apparen...

Samarkand "Mortality" Youtube also from theee other night.

Yeesh, this video makes it look like Brian & I are being held captive in a basement. SAMARKAND "Cathedral" Youtube live at Cafe Bourbon Street, August 7, 2007

SAMARKAND (OHIO) AUGUST 7, 2007 CAFE BOURBON STREET This gig fell into our laps last week, as these things occasionally do. And especially when Samarkand goes 15ish years between times onstage, I tend to say yes to everything. Michael Million was previously detained on vacation in Florida & unable to reprise his role as guitarist/bassist/right hand man/left hand man/whatever, man. So Brian Dort made his guitar debut with Samarkand.... Brian did an awesome job absorbing & recreating the big boy chords of "Cathedral" etc, so hats off to him. This was everyone's only time being at Cafe Bourbon Street, a typical campus bar if e'er there was one. Fortunately the soundman was accessible and open to all our wacky, drummerless ideas. He was totally accomodating, which really makes a huge difference. It was also my maiden voyage as the bassist in the band Samarkand. Obviously I've played the bass on all (most) of the recordings over the years & played bass in D...

a cop-out post since I'm running late today. EVIL BREAD "Broth" EVIL BREAD "Donuts, Oh Ooooooooooh"

Samarkand "01.28.92" MP3 This song was written in early 1992 and just kind of appeared, fully formed as a wimpy pop song and a new direction for my songwriting. Self consciously wimpy at times, the lyrics were a 180 degree turn from my other notable songs of the time, like Devilcake's ode to @ss, "Pie, Hair Pie" and Devilcake's ode to sugary @ss, "Soft Batch Mama." We 'll be playing this one in the middle of the set at Cafe Bourbon Street tomorrow night. See ya there. You can hold the camcorder. I care so much and I worry about you with a heart this fragile what else can I do I could wrap both arms around and hold you forever Hold on to you with all my heart kiss you goodbye when you go carry the memory in my hand when I see you again I know that I could wrap both arms around and love you forever

Samarkand "Cathedral 95" MP3 Here's a late entry into the Samarkand catalog. In summer 1995 I rerererererererecorded several old Samarkand hits for the sheer hell of it. Feeling at the time, much as I do now, that these songs have never been presented correctly. So, a few pokey jabs of keyboards, a few experimental twists with drum programming, and a fresh coat of paint all around, then. And that was the end of it, I don't think anyone has ever heard any of these re re re re re re re re recordings. I didn't touch the lyrics, though. This song was originally called "Cathedral Decay," I'm not sure why the title changed. Maybe for the white tape we wanted all the songs to have single-word titles? I forget now. The lyrics are rooted in the exhaustive William Carlos Williams biography I was reading at the time. William Carlos Williams became my favorite poet in high school. When I heard about ' the red wheelbarrow ' and the one about the peaches ...

Samarkand "Maracanda" MP3 This was in many ways the song that started the whole Samarkand business. I wrote it in one of the practice rooms in the dorms at Berklee in fall 1992. I had just gotten the Zoom 9002 effects, which were incredible at the time. It was the first piece of gear I owned that not only sounded amazing but was small enough to be carried around easily like a Walkman & sounded literally incredible on headphones. So I found a nice...placid....guitar sound. And the guitar part kind of wrote itself once I turned out the light! Ridiculous, I know. Can you imagine locking yourself in a dark closet with a guitar & some headphones? I'm sure. The music sounded like Cocteau Twins or This Mortal Coil to me. The lyrics were a pretentious recollection of a deceased relationship. This song was originally called "Samarkand." Later I added the "lately I've been thinking" part and retitled it "Maracanda," which was an earlier nam...