Stoned Alone b-sides!

“”Stoned Alone b-sides!” is my attempt at making the worst record ever.  This album is not worth listening to more than once (save for the track “Foreign Affairs,” which you can play twice, if you like.)  It is a presentation of my source tracks, many recordings straight from my micro-cassettes, which would be sampled for “Stoned Alone.”  So, if you have some sort of masochistic streak, or want to be some sort of music scholar, dig into these tracks.”

-Catch The Reference?, August, 2009

1. “Toy Blender” (Lana)
-an excerpt from “Maytag Live,” and one of two samples from that track used to make “Frozen Melt.”

2. “For A Sound Collage, I Swear/What Would We Do If Andy Warhol Were Here?”
-“For A Sound Collage, I Swear” is a brief and weird recording, made in William’s Batcave, and featuring him on his signature instrument, the Clarinet.  If it was ever used for a sound collage, who knows?  Recorded in May or June 2007.  “What Would We Do If Andy Warhol Were Here?” immediately proceeds it on the micro-cassette, and was recorded in June of 2007, the night before a Trigonometry Final (and a few days before seeing Paul McCartney live in concert).  His father once having told him that Andy Warhol once filmed himself sleeping, Catch The Reference? decided to record himself sleeping.  The recording runs well over twenty minutes, and here only the very few are presented.  At no time during the tape was Catch The Reference? asleep, despite some effort.  However, his stepbrothers are.  (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

3. “Candy For The Banshee” (Catch The Reference?, Peter Krow, & William Gerrard)
-a mash-up of “Banshee Man (In The Digital Age),” and “That’s Berlin, Pop!” that was removed from the proper album since both tracks appear in some form on it already (“Banshee Man” on its’ own, “That’s Berlin” as “That’s Berlin, Syd!”)  Mixed in early 2009

4. “Train Music”
-this recording was made at Plaza 67, on a little caged overpass that crosses LIRR tracks.  William and Catch The Reference? went to record the trains, for source material.  While there, they met a gaggle of girls, and one who offered to lend her voice.  William coaxes her to say “I Think He’s Dying,” and then she got creeped out when she realizes Catch The Reference? had recorded them the entire time.  I’m sure she’d be chuffed if one day she finds she’s on the record by a famed recording star.  This recording is integral to the mix “Batman & Robbin.'”  Made in early 2006. (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

5. “Caribbean Daydream (The Hammock Song)”
-one of the first recordings made for a the solo album, this track, done on a virtual keyboard, appears on the proper album in alternate mix.  This version is the straight, unmixed one.  Made in December 2008 or January 2009.

6. “Syd Barrett”
-this track is an echoed, delayed, and pitch manipulated mix of Catch The Reference? reading some of Syd Barrett’s Wikipedia article.  Recorded in February 2009, this track would be used on the proper album twice, once laid atop the mix in “White Winter February,” the other time  mashed with “That’s Berlin, Pop!” to make “That’s Berlin, Syd!”.  Reading about Syd, and listening to Barrett led live Pink Floyd recordings had some influence on Catch The Reference’s music at this time.

7. “Harmonica Groove”
-this is the result of the first day’s work on what would become “White Winter February.”  Made in January/February 2009.

8. “Foreign Affairs” (Kala)
-this is a sound collage made for the sake of making a sound collage.  Some tracks are feedback, others are from the virtual keyboard, but most notable is the use of Catch The Reference?’s mini radio.  This radio would go in his pocket with him everyday to 8th grade, and he would play it at lunch, to catch WAXQ 104.3’s “12 o’clock Beatles Block.”  He catches it again here, and the intro can be heard, along with host Maria Milito, and some of “Day Tripper.”  This track may have been made in  fall/winter 2008 or early 2009.  It remained forgotten for a while, before being rediscovered while compiling the album.  All memories of it only rushed back after playing it several times.  The track is credited to MC Kala in an incomprehensible tribute to Sri-Lankan singer M.I.A.

9. “Buzz” (Lana)
-the other “Maytag Live” sample used to make “Frozen Melt.”

10. “Mind Games/Outdoors On 71st/Last Day Of His Life/Hitting A Sign/Shattered/Dog Bark/William’s Dogs/Wild Life/Shaved Vish/Fat Kid/Sunday/Soft Window Breeze/The Saints” (Catch The Reference?, William Gerrard, with Mind Games by John Lennon, and The Saints a traditional arranged by Catch The Reference?)
-the first half of this set was made in early 2006.  Catch The Reference? captured on micro-tape himself and William walking home from Austin Street, a popular place in Queens. It opens with them singing John Lennon’s “Mind Games,” before recording of them talking as they walk down 71st street.  William talks about posthumous releases in a comical tone, before we cut to a malapropism of William’s.  We then get Catch The Reference? smacking a street sign on Union Turnpike.  Next, we cut closer to home, walking through Forest Park, where the boys sing shattered, and then Catch The Reference? impersonates a dog.  The next cut, and we are in William’s house, home finally, and we hear William’s dogs (Smokey, Foxy, and Lucky.)  The boy’s sing Wing’s “Wild Life,” and then Catch The Reference? makes an obscure and inside joke.  Before we round out the first half, we get half speed recordings of William.  He naturally did them in a high voice, but at half speed, sounds like a fat kid, getting humorous reaction.  The second half of this track comes some months later, and are atmospheric recordings of Catch The Reference? sitting at his bedroom window on a beautiful Sunday. You can here the 6 o’clock church bells, and Catch The Reference? plays some harmonica.  Following instructions included with it, he gets through “The Saints.”  (Coincidentally, “The Saints” was one of the songs The Spiders did,  as well as one of the Beatles’ first professional recordings.)  It is used at various points in “Batman & Robbin.'” (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

11. “Maytag Live” (Lana)
-this track, recorded in spring 2009, is a straight, uninterupted recording of Catch The Reference? brining various appliances to his computer.  It became the source track for many ambient tracks, as well as appearing in its’ entirity (at a slower tempo) in the \\\Maytag song “Permafrost.”  It was a Saturday morning.

All songs composed by Catch The Reference? unless otherwise noted.

All songs performed by Catch The Reference? except
2 performed by Catch The Reference? with Jonathan & Justin over here,
3 & 10 performed by Catch The Reference? and The Jester,
and 4 performed by Catch The Reference? and The Jester & Girls.

The Jester
-Peter Krow – guitar (3)
-William Gerrard – drums (3),  non-musical presence (4, 10)

tracks 1, 9, & 11 are performed under the psuedonym Tnuc Lana.

track 8 performed under the psuedonym MC Kala

Jonathan & Justin over here were asleep when “What Would We Do If Andy Warhol Was Here?” was made, and are step-brothers to Catch The Reference?

produced by Catch The Reference?