Fell Through the Cracks, Misfits and Rejects: 20 Years fo BearSnare Records

1. Noisediver – Toothache We played and recorded a number of versions of this song. It was a fun jam that we’d play whenever we hung out after work. My part was written about a bad coworker. My buddy wrote his part, and it worked. Energetic, heavy, and aggressive, with some melody to balance it out.

2. Ariel Powell – PriVate Sector Another aggressive tune, from probably ‘08 or so. This one’s a political rant!

3. Ariel Powell – Floodplains and Dr. Paul Here’s the first song I recorded after moving into a bungalow on stilts by the river. It was a beautiful setting in which to play music.

4. Ariel Powell - Repugnant As I Try This repugnant little tune was inspired by a girl who liked me. I liked her at first, until I realized that all she ever did was complain.

5. Ariel and Casey – Haunted I once dragged a coworker home to the loft studio at my parents. He rocked at guitar! We figured out a way to play to some lyrics that i had laying around, which had come to me from someone in prison who I didn’t know, through a mutual. This is not at all what he had envisioned for his song, but oh well, haha, we had fun!

6. Ariel Powell – Trainwreck Waiting An ex wrote the chorus for this song, and I had fun making it. I somehow found a cool vocal harmony here. It’s cheesy and dumb, but whatever, YOLO!

7. The Lightningrod Salesman – Dawg Fighting Remember Michael Vick, the NFL player, and the dog fighting scandal? WELL, let me tell you! U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, the KKK grand wizard or whatever, was getting kinda old at the time, and made a wonderful, epic botch of his speech regarding this issue. He had many papers, with HUGE print, and there was much shuffling of them. I’m pretty sure he didn’t care this much when it was humans whom he voted to torture and kill, so I feel ok laughing at him through this fun track. I did surprisingly little editing to his speech, this is pretty much how it was delivered.

8. The Lightningrod Salesman – Shake Me Get into your headphones, so you can hear the dice tumbling and the paint can spraying. This one’s an immersive experience.

9. Ariel Powell – This Perfect Day Ah, young romance! ‘05-’06-ish. Like some of the other older songs on this collection, this was recorded on a 16 track recorder. It was digital, but worked like a multitrack tape recorder. This process of recording was very different than the new, computerized, visual way. Something about the sounds I found on this song reminds me of how good my old 16 track could sound.

10. Ariel Powell – After the Waves Break Well dang it, it’s another young romance song. This one’s a bit more distant and desperate. Also ‘05-’06.

11. Ariel Powell – They Cover You in Snow An immersive and passionate jam with myself. I don’t remember what inspired this, but I was feeling it.

12. Ariel Powell - Garden Calendar Some things start as a soundtrack to a video or slideshow, and that’s what this was. It turned out nicely enough that I’ll call it a song! It could almost go under the lightningrod salesman name, due to the electric drums. But it’s nice chill guitar, and very post-rock. So I’m claiming it!

13. The Lightningrod Salesman – APAX Here’s a weird thing that I recorded in my brother’s basement when we lived there, in between houses. I had just been gifted a saxophone, which I am still very rough at. This number has a weird, something’s wrong kind of vibe.

14. The Lightningrod Salesman - Oh, How the Spring Doth Weep! This started as a cover song, see if you can figure out which one. I think it turned out quite distinct from it’s inspiration. I might still go back and add real drums to this. The piano is nice and evocative.

15. The Lightningrod Salesman – EOL Intro Originally intended as an intro to ‘Empire of Lies’, I decided that it didn’t fit, and I was bothered by putting the good Dr. Paul’s voice into this hellscape of sound. But it’s a cool little piece, and Dr. Paul’s voice echoes through with the harsh truth.

16. Ariel Powell – Whispers and Prayers From the original version of ‘The Leaves, Shimmering Gold’, this is yet again another misfit that I rejected from the newer versions of that album released online today. It’s really more appropriate under ‘the lightningrod salesman’ moniker, but this song was born first.

17. Ariel Powell – Only With Each-Other This is an alternate version of the last song on “Empire of Lies”, “Snow Jar”. I went back and forth trying to decide which version to release with the album, since I had both in-hand. This one is kinda tighter, but the other version was the original, and I really liked my brother Toby’s vocals on it.

18. Ariel Powell - Another Lost Day Man, I’m glad I’ve found my Keeper since this pathetic little indulgence. Haha it’s kinda cool anyway. There’s an epic and expansive aspect to whatever this is. Rough vocals, I know. The masters are lost to time, but cool jam, I hope.

19. Ariel Powell – Mother, I’m Alive! The oldest song in this collection, circa 2001. I was a senior in high school when a very close friend in the dorm died. He was besties with my brother, and well loved by everyone in the school. He had a wild, flamboyant, theatrical and dtramatic personality. He was a cripple, with something similar to cerebral palsy. He was literally a hunchback, but he played the hammer dulcimer beautifully, hiked multiple mountains despite being crippled (a true example of willpower), and he knew how to laugh. This song’s for Justin.

20. Dudes 4 Deep – I Used to Be Happy The first ever Dudes 4 Deep song. In the loft, at my parents, in our early 20’s, not sober. Something magical happened here, half of us really didn’t play instruments. But somehow we made a weird thing happen, and therefore went on to make even weirder things happen on subsequent days and evenings of not-soberness.

Dudes 4 Deep - Bottle and Drum Dudes (and dudettes) late at night, inebriated, making noise! Great call and response here.

21. Dudes 4 Deep – Ruminations on Bourbon Oh boy, here we go, it’s getting late, we just got back from the bar, and BearSnare’s hitting record. Time to hop on some instruments and wax eloquent about the wonders of bourbon and each-other. I’ll spare the names of my co-conspirators on this drunken endeavor, because I’m quite sure that’s how they want it.

22. Dudes 4 Deep – Haulin’ Loads Truckers got it rough. Late night, early morning, who can even tell the difference? I don’t think this dude ever drove truck for a living, but other dudes certainly do.

23. Noisediver – Chimney Tops Sleepy and very homegrown, but somehow hypnotizing. Thanks for the good times, Chief.

24. Ariel Powell – Hunnybutt I make a valentine’s mix for my wife every year. I did this as a bonus track ; *