Planet of Sound

The following songs (except where noted) were recorded on a Tascam 424, which was a primitive analog 4-track audio tape recorder, unless otherwise noted. I highly recommend that you wear headphones for these as everything was mixed with that in mind.

The Eggcarton Zoo.
These songs were recorded between 1994 and 1998 as The Eggcarton Zoo, which was a cover project I did for fun, with Tom LoMacchio. We would both agree on a "favorite song of the moment" and try to bang it out within an afternoon. This way of working was really fun, and sometimes we made something wonderful, sometimes goofy, and sometimes just awful (but everything was so infused with enough sentimentality and charm that I can't truly tell the difference!).

Your Love Recorded in 1995, originally by The Outfield.

Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want Originally by The Smiths. We recorded this one with fancy schmancy digital gear in 1998 or so. By This time we got pretty good with the recording techniques - but I really miss the days of the Tascam.

Plainsong One of the last things we recorded in 1998 with our newer gear. Of course, this song was originally recorded by The Cure. Best song in the universe. EVER.

Crash Originally by The Primitives, with elements from The Cocteau Twins song Lorelei. I have no idea what made me think to meld the two - probably a dare by Tom. Recorded in 1998. Bitch, I was making Mash Ups WAY before you were born.

Vacation From the second Eggcarton Zoo cassette, featuring Tom's grand piano stylings. A Go-Gos classic.

The Caterpillar Better Off Dead. The Cure. How can you hate it??!

Secrets Another Cure cover (though this was our first) which features Tom injecting a little "Hanging Garden" into the bass line, and I chose to ape the live vocals, circa 1980, rather than the subdued but gorgeous lp version.

Secrets (reprise) Later on the cassette, it made a little reappearance. Class.

Fountain A PJ Harvey cover that uses that cool effects pedal trick - and was FUN to record and sing... and is awesome for the fact that we totally fuck up the ending.

Not Too Soon Originally by Throwing Muses - Anthony on Drums, and Gregg on Guitar. I maintain that this was one of the most successful and fun songs I ever recorded. 1994.

Oh My Lover Tom and I one quiet Summer night in 1994. We recorded this PJHarvey song with the windows open at like midnight - the neighbors probably hated us! A Tom and Jason duet - class.

A Thousand Hours Tom and I cover The Cure in 1998 on a fancy expensive digital 8 track. I really like this one a lot.

Jeremy Just me covering The Magnetic Fields in 1998 - fancy 8 track. Yay!

Bananafishbones This was just me and that digital recorder covering The Cure in, you guessed it - 1998.

Doe Gregg and I cover The Breeders in 1994. Da da. Da da. Da Da DA.

Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset Tom and I cover Modest Mouse at the same
Halloween Party... that's how cool we were - listening to MM in 1995 and
covering them in 1996. Take that.

Come on Eileen Tom and I cover Dexy's Midnight Runners in 1995. The kazoos
took hours to record, as we were laughing so hard.

Total Eclipse of the Heart Tom and I cover Bonnie Tyler, 1995.

In a World Without Heroes Tom and I cover Grenadine, 1994. I love what we did with this song.

The Palpatines
These songs were recorded between 1996 and 1998 as the Palpatines, which was a band I had with Josh, Jon, and of course, Anthony.

Rest of my Life I wrote most of these songs about girls in High School - a bottomless well of pop music material. Studio recording, circa 1998.

Styrofoam Just me...a song I wrote about collecting rare music (Belle and Sebastian), plus some made-up stuff for texture - 1996.

Forever Cure song that we covered - this is the studio version from 1998. "Forever" is a song that the Cure have never released "properly" and is one of those songs that you buy bootlegs for. Almost always played following Killing an Arab as the very last song of a last encore, Forever is always different. When I approached the band with this song as a cover, I sold it as "let's take all these versions I have on bootleg recordings from 1980 through 1996, and mash them up to make a super-Forever! So if you're an obsessive and attentive Cure fan, you'll be able to pick apart different "famous" versions that are all intertwined.

Forever This version is a 4-track recording from 1996. Like the Cure versions, ours were always different, too. I might like this version the most. Subtle Theremin use.

Dreams of Codine Anthony helped out on drums - everything else is me. About being high on painkillers after having a root canal. This was always my favorite demo - exactly halfway through, the song reverses on itself and the melody changes to adapt. (Ah, the days of flipping the Maxell XLIIs tape on the 8 track).

Tosche Station
A band with Gregg, Gustavo, and Anthony that played from 1993 to 1995.

Visit Me Gregg wrote this about losing his wisdom teeth. It has an OJ reference in it. I think we recorded this version in a studio in 1995 as the band "Tosche Station", with Gustavo and Anthony.

Eggcarton Zoo Inspiration: