MX Skroch – Scratchrock Volume XVI
Album #: 88
Recording Dates: 2010 – 2011
Release Date: 2015
Catalog: SMR 33
ScratchNotes:
I finally got back into doing music regularly, but it primarily took the form of mixing multi-track Sheep Fiend recordings. The Rumpus Room Studio was fully functional and capturing everything. Good fortune shone upon us as Brian M got to know the evocative and personable man dubbed Faiz who has the power to make a guitar hit you like an orchestra. They recorded some jamming in the studio and sent it to me. I laid down some guitar, bass, and keyboard for the project that came to be known at the Rooster Davis Trio.
It was proposed that we take the Sheep Fiends down the road to Pennsylvania where Brian M’s farm resides. Despite no cell phone signal or Internet the band summoned primal instinct and recorded three days of music ultimately known at “Farm Jam”! As surprising as it was getting a group of guys to travel 500 miles to a remote area for an entire holiday weekend of luddite styled whatever, it is shocking still that as of this release there have been five consecutive Farm Jam events – and attendance is as large as it’s ever been.
This volume contains many songs where I recount events and situations from my ongoing existence. Tackling transportation (”The Road”, “Dan Ryan Shithead”), the dangers of childhood (”Through the Ice”) and the dangers of Farm Jam (”Crawlin’ in My Instrument”, “Fing-er Numb-er”); the lyrics tell stories infused with truth – at least as possible as that is with improvisation…
Experimentation is the other major aspect of this release – with “SidSense” taking delay and reverb where they dread to go and “Very Avant-Garde” and “The Fucking Drum Machine” offering remixed & humorized summaries of particular Sheep Fiend gatherings.
Four Track Sampler
Track 04 – Drawing a Blank (Sheep Fiends) – We had a visiting drummer sitting in on this jam and he allowed us to open up a bit more than we usually do. Faiz’s falsetto meshes so well with our funky low end and mandolin melodies. I’m so glad I picked up that bass so that this cool sequence of sounds could be born. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 06 – Lower the Goat (Rooster Davis Trio) – I went off in my own direction with these raw jam tracks of Brian and Faiz – is this shit like ‘Scratchbop’ or something? Weird horn flavored keys freak out with chromatic disturbance and trebled out guitar solos, but a haunting melody of sorrow threads it all together. [Scratch on overdubbed Guitar & Keyboard]
Track 07 – Space Time Metaphor (Sheep Fiends) – Sometimes you’ve got sit back and realize that the big picture includes not only all of reality; but also its intersection with infinite time. It’s a lot to take in. But still the group must burst out in song to celebrate this enigma with some kinda faux-reggae bounce. Live from the very first Farm Jam. [Scratch on Vocals & Guitar]
Track 14 – Big Bad Baby (Sheep Fiends) – What do you mean now is not a good time for some rockabilly? Screw it man – here is some sliding shimmering roots music about a failed love like all the rest. “I’m 6’4″ at least in my dreams”. So true. So true. [Scratch on Guitar]
