The recording of Understand the Words was going steadily but slowly. In October 2006, I got former Frank’s Enemy drummer Alex A in to play drums on a few of the tracks. I put this sampler out in early 2007 when I finished mixing some of them. I also created individual graphics for each of the songs. They’re all in the digital booklet included with the mp3s. It’s also a five-song EP, despite the title, because Alex plays drums on four of the songs.

1. Great
2. Dead Aid
3. I’m Living My Lie
4. Love Is Pain
5. Fata Morgana

Words at Not Silent. Contemporaneous documentation at the blog.

(.zip/17.5mb)

In 2005 I started to record the tracks that would end up on Understand the Words as I actually released it in late 2007, reflecting my new direction towards the acoustic. I needed another sampler to hand out in the meantime, hence this second Understand This Sampler, complete with acousticky graphics for the label. The mixes here would be different than the ones on the final CD (except for Spiritual, I think). And dig the little crossfade between tracks 1 and 2.

1. Spiritual
2. Jacuzzi Days
3. Thank You For My Money
4. Man On The Mountain

More info and lyrics at my blog and Not Silent.

(.zip/9MB)

First finished product using GarageBand and I am not disappointed. Wrote the whole thing in the last couple of weeks. Soft vocal, acoustic guitar, bass played almost like a drum, rockabilly chugging guitar and some atmospheric GarageBand keyboards played on keypad. Straddles the line between folk and rockabilly with some drumless reggae backbeat at the bottom. Words are what’s left after the firecracker smell fades away on July 5th.

(.zip/46MB)

1. Scooby Doo (Theme)
2. Mr. Joyless
3. I’m Living My Lie
4. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
5. LBpunk4Xmas
6. The Child Is Crying
7. If You Could Read My Mind
8. Great
9. Michael Iceberg

Read all about it at Not Silent.

(.zip/8MB)

Released in 2007. Three mixes of my cover of the Ciro Diaz-composed Porno Para Ricardo ballad “23.” More on Cuba’s favorite dissident punks at my blog. Stream song previews from their upcoming new record “The Red Album” here.

Somber and intense Polish folk music with a Cuban (and rock) edge from Ciro of anti-Castro Cuban punk rockers Porno Para Ricardo in a full-length .rar file (81.6 MB) with artwork and documentation  (in espani). Get it here.