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...

Samarkand "Involution" MP3 Here's another lost Samarkand track from the final - Painful Realization - batch in 1995. Mopey chords, piissyyy lyrics, slow tempo. That was the template. Was? Is? Will be? Dr Rhythm for drums, probably the Warlock definitely through the Zoom 9002, definitely El Macho Mannequin for the bass gweetar. I was so proud of the three verse chords. I remember showing them off to Jeff and Marc in the waning days of Samarkand Thee Westerville Version. Jeff said "yeah, but the first and third ones are the just A minor in different positions." Never let a little knowledge get in the way.. Your voice is ugly and I don't like what you say Your ugly words hang in the air like clay It doesn't matter how hard you try Because of you I defy I defy you to make your case and then be still I defy you to make your case and then be gone I lost her to the possibility to the hope for something more I lost her to the chance that I wasn't her only ...

(It looks like we'll be doing another Samarkand gig on August 8, so.... back to Samarkand Mania!) Samarkand "Living with the Pain" MP3 This song was a late contender for the aborted 1996 Samarkand album with the working title Painful Realization . The realization in question of course being the crisis of confidence I had in my musical pursuits. This is one of the last songs I wrote and recorded in that style, in that era. That's around the same time I started AUTOreverse & basically stopped trying to be a music maker. Some of the Pitch Wheel pieces were done around this time as well, hence the prominent swirly keyboard action here. The music is uncharacteristically uptempo & bright. The lyrics are more negative than usual. Nice dichotomy or just a bad combination? The guitar is tuned to DADGAD. I wasn't happy with the bass line originally because I wanted it to do its own thing & not just follow the guitar. Oh well. The drum machine is cranked up to ...

it looks like surveillance footage due to pointing a webcam at the camcorder screen. The Samarkand master video looks fine, don't worry. Samarkand "Beautiful Kiss" 2007-07-14 - Madlab, Columbus, Ohio

Irreligion "Improv" MP3 This is kind of like Irreligion 2.0. You can hear that we're using the same gear as when we were playing with Elliott. Same drums & cymbals, same amps. But in this case, Ray is on guitar, Michael is on bass & I'm on drums. This was when my drumming finally got halfway decent. This version of Irreligion was going to be an all-improv band, playing whatever kind of music you'd call this. I mean, it's probably standard fare for any jam bands these days, but in 1990, there was no precedent. Of course, many years later I'm aware that we were never alone in our musical explorations in the basement. Anyway the hope was to find a vocalist who could be a poet & frontman so we could just concentrate on heads-down musical noodling & the would-be Perry Farrell could do his thing & be the focal point. We might've jammed with a couple of different singer/vocal guys at various points, it's kind of hazy now & I didn...

Irreligion "Mystery Song" MP3 I'd love to tell you everything about this gothic funk jam but um I have no idea. Maybe it's a cover? Whatever it is, it perfectly encapsulates I think where we wanted to go with the whole funk-goth thing we were about at the time. Ray's singing, I'm on guitar, Michael is slapping the Macho aka playing bass, Elliott on drums. I think if we had been about 20% more serious, we could've taken Irreligion out of the basement, onto a stage somewhere. But in the end it just wound up being a brief stop along the way, between XYCHQ and Evil Bread. A strange but necessary part of the transition. This was recorded on Christine The Death Box in my basement, sometime in mid/late 1990. Beyond that.... I have no clue. I mean, it still has its unique mutated charm to me. It's still an exciting sound that we were messing around with. I don't know what the lyrics are.... maybe something from Ray's notebook. Or possibly mine? Or mayb...

(in Parentheses) "Hope Fear Lie" MP3 Here's another song from early 1989, recorded on Christine Theee Boomboxxxe Of Deathe. Christine was kept down the hall, behind a door, due to the ridiculously high volume we were playing at. For no apparent reason. And the neighbors called the cops on us for maybe the first time ever, shutting down the whole party. So loud we were. Ah, "Hope Fear Lie," I forgot about this one. It's the Cure meets Metallica, what can I say. Both influences were paramount at the time. It's a pity that the guitars aren't completely in tune, but oh well, you still get the idea. (in Parentheses) was a vicious, brutal, caveman beast trying to better itself, an ape trying to walk upright for the first time. Some type of pissed-off cave creature walking out into the light. There's a strange naive finesse to the playing & songwriting. It's so stupid but so complex? A doomed little experimental microorganism with a tiny half-li...

XYCHQ "Cancer Coffins" MP3 February 1989. Michael and I were in two bands together simultaneously. XYCHQ and (in Parentheses). Both of which played at this particular party. XYCHQ was normally Ray singing, Jeff playing bass, Michael on guitar, me on drums. But there were one or two songs that I played guitar and sang on. "Things I Hate" was one, "Cancer Coffins" was another. Both were "searing" (cough) indictments of the shallow world around my 17-year-old self. Y'know, the social injustice of um people using tanning beds. So yeah, this song "Cancer Coffins" was sort of a funky metal thing at the beginning. Then a thrashy riff for the chorus. And then the breakdown, which will be familiar to anyone who ever heard Devilcake's song "Fribble." or the (in Parentheses) track "Enthalpy." Hey, never let a good riff go to waste. Michael slays the drums on this one. Jeff still on bass. I'm not sure why I was yelli...

Domestik Quarrel!!? "Xychq" MP3 Recorded July 23, 1988, using theee trusty olde boomboxe whom I nicknamed Christine after the Stephen King joint of the same name due to its tendency to eat everyone's tapes but mine. It made great recordings due to having a matched pair of stereo mics built in. I still have it, it still rules and it'll probably still eat your tapes but not mine. So, where are we. Summer of 1988. The core trio of Michael Million, Raymond Lilly and yours truly I See The Stew had been playing together for a few months, first as The Uncultured, with Mark Ward on drums, then as Domestik Quarrel. I played guitar and wrote most of the songs, or was it actually all of the songs? I don't remember writing all the songs but I may have done that. Jeff Sampson played bass and was a wallflower. Michael Million played guitar and Raymond sang. At some point we turned the corner & called ourselves Domestik Quarrel!!? . .... the name was Jeff's idea, the mis...

Ian C Stewart "Uptempo Dark Modern Disco Dancepop" MP3 Quite often with instrumental songs, I give them a name to remind me later of the overall vibe. This one was recorded some time in 2005 right here in this very room. I think the beat was done in Acid, or it might've been when I had the new Dr Rhythm for a brief while. The guitar is probably the Steinberger. Bass was probably the Steinberger. Keyboards...definitely the Proteus 1. I used ambient pads and slow swelling strings for a different feel. The cumulative effect is probably just this side of a New Order reject. I'm still not sure where this song came from because I'm certainly not a New Order fan, nor do I listen to much uptempo dark modern disco dancepop in general. I guess it's better than accidentally writing uptempo fake willie nelson.

here's one for the masochists: Ian C Stewart "Toothpaste Sandwich" MP3 From my third-ever 'album', Mucho Papa , recorded in April & May 1987. The Synsonics kept time while I tried my best to get through an entire song without stopping to tune or to play an out of key guitar solo. Unsuccessfully. toothpaste sandwich brush eat and go toothpaste sandwich who the f will know

that's right, this tape is for HIGH ENERGY MUSIC . Ian C Stewart "Corner of the Sky" MP3 Ianeffective is most of the In Bursts stuff. "Corner of the Sky" never wound up being released despite being one of the stronger songs of the era. It went through at least two musical permutations but I guess I was still unhappy with some aspect of it in the end. Which is strange considering how enthusiastic I was at the time about "William Carlos Williams," which is a Hugo Largo ripoff for two bass guitars and um unique vocal performance. ? Exactly. I think "Corner of the Sky," even at the time, felt like a blatant homage/parody of the Cure. Like, too blatant to be comfortable with, maybe. I don't remember. It's not a bad little song now, though. at the center of the sky is an escape loop for you and I climb on top because you can fly levitate and don't ask why Samarkand swirly sticker 1993 Making this sticker thrilled me to no end. That w...

Ian C Stewart "Not Sure" MP3 Iansane was a mixdown album in late 1993/early 1994. The seeds of the 1994 Samarkand EP Behind the Veil of Obscurity are here, some of them anyway. Same with the 1995 Samarkand album In Bursts , a couple of pieces wound up there. The drum loop on "Not Sure" was yoinked from the Cure's excellent song "New Day." It was rare that I could get any workable drum loops on the Casio SK-5 since its sampling time was erratic at best. Ocassionally the erraticness worked in my favor & I got something unique. Mostly not. The guitar chords are in line with the era, mainly "Rough Draft Again," aka "I'm So Glad You're Back." This song also could've worked as a Star*Pillow number. Hmm, perhaps it still could. none of this makes sense can't be happy with you don't ask why because I don't know don't ask why because I'm not sure

Ian C Stewart "Not Entirely Clear" MP3 The concept with this mixdown tape, Wordless Reruns , (and, yes, there always was a concept) was arty, experimental, instrumentals gone mental. But then the idea is preempted by probably a fresh batch of lyrics from my penfiend "Marian." Not her real name, obviously, but that's how it went in those days. The music I used for Marian's lyrics was usually uncharacteristic of my usual stuff, but I'm not sure how or why. It just worked out that way, I don't think I planned it out that much. I mean, beyond the broad concept. This batch of songs was also immediately pre- Euphoria Suicide . Even though I think this song is actually on Euphoria Suicide , come to think of it. "Not Entirely Clear" sounds strangely serious. The new car smell was still pretty strong on the Dr Rhythm, which is why the drum programming is so over the top. GoodNESS. I think the acoustic might've been Todd's, or maybe I was jus...

GIG BLOG SAMARKAND RYAN JEWELL + LARRY MAROTTA REMORA DEVILCAKE Madlab Columbus, OH Saturday, July 14 2007 Crikey, what a night. Where to start. When Brian J Mitchell contacted me out of the blue about doing a solo guitar set at this gig, I don't think anyone had in mind that I'd open and close the show in two different bands. But, um, yeah. Give me an inch and pretty soon I'm practicing my rock guitar moves AND my drum fills. The planets aligned for the first Samarkand gig since January 1994. Michael Million was already planning on being in town for the weekend, so it worked out perfectly. He still remembers all of the songs & can play whatever instrument is required. We had one rehearsal on Friday night to get acquainted with the whole thing, the updated arrangements, the effects, the, uh, whatever. The pyro cues. Not really. The magic night finally arrived & we all descended on Madlab. I hadn't been there in many years. I've only played one gig there. FZ...

Samarkand "This Time of Year" MP3 The intro was done on Todd's old Casio. The rest of the song is kind of typical of my early 1990s style, which now sounds like all the wrong aspects of Jesus Jones, Curve and Ned's Atomic Dustbin combined. But this song represents a breakthrough in the Samarkand catalog. For once it doesn't rely completely on the bass line for the vocal melody. And the lyrics aren't just cliches. When I recorded the vocals, I actually held a different Casio up to my face, playing the notes of the melody so I wouldn't forget it. Very smooth. Natural born vocalisto, me. This is the first song on theeeeee remastered & expanded edition CD. Last disc in the aborted Samarkand box set. Yep. The more I want you and tell you so the further away you go the more I want the less I get where did I go wrong I hate this time of year This is the sound of the body shutting down Nothing going in or out In silence and contradiction this is the sound of t...

Samarkand "Equal Force rehearsal" MP3 Backtrack to fall 1992, to the practice rooms at Berklee in Boston. I somehow roped a few very talented peeps to play my songs with me. I'm still not sure how that happened. Jeremy Van Buskirk played bass, Stephanie Ralston sang, I played guitar & behaved badly, Chad Popple played drums. I hate to say that I took all of their presences in the band for granted, but I did. It was Jeremy's idea to call the band Samarkand & I guess I never bothered to think of a new one? "Equal Force" dates back to early 1992, it was a rare excursion into an XTC-style swing. Chad was able to duplicate & enhance the drum machine programming I had done. I still like most of the song. This recording is a bonus track on the remastered & expanded edition of the October 1992 green Samarkand demo we made. That's right, it's disc one of the aborted Samarkand box set. the higher I climb the farther I fall the farther I go the ...