Comments on: Melody

Melody

Item — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:30:17 -0800

Featuring Daniel Johnston (yes, that Daniel Johnston), Jad Fair, and item. Contains a bit of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', and may hold the world's record for the most number of musical bridges ever in a song.

By: Item

Item — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:31:02 -0800

Daniel - guitar, vocals
Jad - drums
item - guitar, vocals

Pieced together by Daniel and item

Where to begin...

For an interesting period of my life I held a friendship and musical collaboration with Daniel Johnston. This was recorded in the spring of 1999 in Daniel's parents garage (the 'studio' featured in The Devil and Daniel Johnston) under extreme amounts of duress. I had originally gone into the sessions thinking I'd be a sideman, but Daniel and Jad both asked me to contribute vocals and songs. I was not prepared.

Daniel's health, both mental and physical, was suffering greatly at the time. During one point in the sessions, Dan threw a guitar at me, convinced I had demons in my voice and was plotting with said demons against him. He later apologized by buying me a bunch of candy. His voice was suffering from his inability to stop chain smoking long enough to allow a case of bronchitis to pass.

I kept detailed journals of the sessions but unfortunately lost them in one of my many moves. I could write for the next 12 hours about the experience, but really, hey, isn't it about the music?

I'll post a few more tracks from this album in the near future. If for some reason you find yourself liking it, the album is called 'Somewhat Humorous' by the Lucky Sperms, available through Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian.

By: Item

Item — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:35:57 -0800

Oh yeah... the song: a medley simply called 'Melody'. Daniel and I both picked out songs to rework. We actually played this live a few times. Audiences love it when you give them a game to play, this game being 'name that tune(less)'.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:35:56 -0800

Where to start... no really I've tried to start this 5 times and can't think of anything. I love Daniel, most of Jad Fair (and marvel at the idea of Jad Fair* more), and I may now love you, item. This is great, thanks for posting it.

*I saw Fair and his brother play in Half Japanese years ago. Jad sat around before the show, but he really just looked like a kinda weird record store dude, smiling at everyone. Of course being a teen and only really hearing the band without pictures, I didn't realize who it was (pre-internet, MTV wouldn't play them if their image depended on it). When he played he turned the guitar strings toward him and strummed the back of the guitar. It wasn't plugged in, but it was fairly convincing. Sorry, long story.

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:23:33 -0800

Awesome!

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:05:39 -0800

Wow what a bitchen piece of history you're sharing with us! Thanks, this is incredibly interesting on many levels.

Here's a short wiki on Daniel.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:30:24 -0800

I don't get it.

By: papafrita

papafrita — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:58:20 -0800

Hi, item. I just stumbled upon this post of yours, and well, I don't think I have any words other than "Wow". I mean, playing with this guy must have been amazing... and also a bit of an ordeal, I imagine. Thanks for taking the time/trouble to post this, and I hope you post a few more tracks.

And re:writing about the experience, well, I for one don't think it would be a wasted effort. At least I'll read it! haha, but anyway I'm sure others would be interested in that as well. Yes, the music does speak for itself, but I'm always a sucker for context. Gimme more context!

OK, enough. Thanks for this.