2008 New York Sessions
My first attempt at recording myself. I was so fearful about the vocals that they almost got mixed out completely. Which is a shame because some of the lyrics are well thought out. And sadly I no longer have the stems.
Julia (#4) is the track that I have always been most proud of - uniquely Morgan Herskanthia in the way it explores the use of the augmented fourth and has a strong narrative thread that manages to make the word 'Tchaikovsky' sound natural in the middle of a song . Follow on (#1) was written when I was in a Jackson Browne adoration phase. Last year's reverse face save manoeuvre (#6) also remains one of my favourites. Of the others, Neon allergy (#8) once again deals with introversion, as does Karl Joseph's unemployment (#5). Penguin soup (#9) is about nutrition while Afghanistan (#1) was written while being gay in the military was still officially illegal.
Then we have The Ups and Down of Rice Farming (#10), which appears to share a similiarity with Lady Gaga's 'Edge of Glory'*, and Annette Cohn (#2) which was actually written after a visit to Auschwitz. These sessions were originally included on a My Space site but Annette Cohn (#2), the Violins (#11) and the Diver** were excluded
On the happier side, these sessions started the development of the Morgan Herskanthia sense of humour, which carried through into Humanity, but was missing completely from Night - see Literal Disease (#7) and This was a once a civilised relationship (#12) for example. Maybe someday I will get round to recording my wife's early favourite - Two Whelks in Love........
Disclaimer: All tracks written, recorded and produced by Morgan Herskanthia. *The ups and downs of rice farming was written/recorded in 2008. Not sure when Edge of Glory was written. ** It seems stems and recordings of the Diver are lost.
These songs were recorded between June 2008 and February 2009