Call Off The Revolution! Everything's Cool! Plus: Another Demo of a TFS Song from the NE Lab's Rubbish Bin

In the final days leading up to this presidential election that just happened, I received word from a reliable source that not only were the bad guys going to win, they were going to loot and pillage and spray shaving cream all over our stuff in a last-ditch power-grab, coup d'etat bonzo doo-da deal so ferociously ruthless that it would have taken nothing less than a Superman-style reverse-planet-spin to undo.



What I'm talking about is not merely an old man assuming the presidency, but a steely-eyed repudiation of liberty itself by forces hitherto unimagined in this nation. So I did what any sane person would do, I took to the mountains. Not to escape, mind you, but to regroup and fortify and launch the effort to reclaim freedom. And also to hike:

Well, you can imagine my relief when I stopped in the General Store at the foot of Mt. Foom (for supplies: eggs, milk, "fruit leather," paper towels) and saw a newspaper that said "GOOD PREVAILS" and so we excitedly packed our stuff and headed on back to the city.

Which is why posting has been light. Needless to say we're all thrilled to have found ourselves in this new age of hope and palpable relief, even if running around the woods with dogs and waterfalls is pretty nice. But it's time to ENGAGE, and the only place to do that is back at NEHQ in Philadelphia. Which is where this demo of Eva the Atom-Smasher was recorded way, way back.

Many of you know this song in the key of D (as it is on the album) but this one's in E flat. For you non-music scholars, that means I had a capo on the guitar for no discernible reason other than to make it slightly more difficult to play on most instruments.

Enjoy, and don't forget these fun demos for Several Beaches and Effortless Plane from past excursions into the Land of Lazy Low Fidelity.

(Rugged Mountain Man Picture credit: Gretchen Lohse)

Don't Wait for the Box Set!!: Part Two In Our Unearthing of Crummier-Sounding Versions of Songs From The Farthest Shore (Doot-Doot-Doo Edition)

Now that the album has been available for a full week, it makes (marginally) more sense to throw some more crummy demo versions at you. That way, you can sit down and carefully notice all the interesting musical things that can happen between Conception and Reality (i.e. demo version vs. final album track). It's a mystical journey every time, I assure you.

We've already offered up the demo for Effortless Plane, which was pretty darn different from the album version -- a fact not lost on our readers. Here's what some of you had to say:

"This is a much slower version of this song than the one on the album. Is there something wrong with my VCR?"
Linda Winston, Des Plaines, IL

"where r the drums?!?"
Edmund Softel, Battersea, London

"I have to agree with bombdroppa99: mit Sicherheit eine (längst bekannte und zugängliche) Bereicherung für ihre Studien, als Projekt ohne echte Angabe von Gründen oder Nutzen und als bloße Quelle für sinnlose Verlinkungen: eine."
Andy Conroy, Nebo, KY

"Hey Caruso, ever heard of singing lessons? Just kidding! Call me."
Admiral Cornelis Cruys, Taganrog

Good points, all. But let's move on already!

Our next primordial offering is the song Several Beaches, presented here without the benefit of Gianmarco's drums, Will's bass, Josh Newman's guitar, Doug's backups, Charlie Hall's electric piano, or decent lead vocals. Nevertheless, fans of accidental tube distortion and mid-song coughing will not be disappointed!

In other words: COMPLETISTS ONLY!

[Also included above: another great page from Jeff Love's Farthest Shore. This one looks beach-related so it feels appropriate.]

The Great NE Vault Exhumation Part One: Effortless Plane

Here is a demo of a song that is VERY different from the way it ended up sounding on the album, which you'll find out when you buy it on October 14th or if you've already heard it over at my house or possibly if you've heard us do it in a "live" setting.

For instance, this version has no drums on it or trumpet or violins or electric guitars or even bass guitar and it also sort of sounds like crap. But a good sort of crap and if there's one thing I've learned in my 56 years in the entertainment industry it's this: people love demos of songs they've never heard before.

So without further ado I submit to you the "Simon and Garfunkel" version of Effortless Plane.

I failed in math and science so please let us know if this doesn't work or works but in a way that is stupid.