Socrates Eats Hemlock is one of the first eps I wrote and commited to tape after moving up here to Brooklyn. I wrote the three songs that make up the ep in a matter of a few hours, and recorded them in the same evening, and because of this, these recordings are quite frankly the most honest and direct I think I have been in my songwriting in a long time. I write everything on my acoustic, and by the time it makes it through the recording process it rarely sounds like it did originally. Sometimes, it seems that it is best for the music to just get it out, record it in its infancy, and capture it raw. That's what I did here.
These recordings are the first in which I circumvented my DI line, forgot about layering effects, multi-instruments, etc. and just let the simplicity of the acoustic and vocals do the work. These are simply one guitar, me, and a microphone. Another unique quality of these recordings, besides the speed with which I wrote and captured them, is that save for one song, I got them all in a single take. The second track has a second guitar on it playing the arpeggio in reverse, thus the cool left to right effect in the speakers. I left the editing to a minimum (sound adjustments) and left in all of the imperfections, pops, squeeks, and even, hidden somewhere in there, a briefly incorrect chord change.
I hope you enjoy the music. There is much more to come. Please take the time to comment on this blog if you download, so I can try and keep track of what is out there. Thanks.
Socrates Eats Hemlock ep (2008, Brooklyn Sessions)
1. Drunk Homesick Blues
2. Socrates Eats Hemlock
3. Life Vest
4. Drunk Homesick Blues (Alternate Take)
P.S. The name Socrates Eats Hemlock is from a painting in a book in the art section at Borders Bookstore. Put that in your trivia hat.
P.P.S Sorry about all the commas, I'm not it the editing mood.
