Songs and Shovels
Jim Robertson
| Num | Title | Length | MP3 | Sheet music |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Side: | ||||
| 1. | Carrie Nation | 4:43 | ![[MP3]](../images/music-notes-17x19.gif) |
![[PDF file]](../images/pdf-icon-18x18.gif){kind=icon} |
| 2. | QWERTY!@#$%^&* (We Hate it When Our Machines Become Successful) | 2:40 | |
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| 3. | Coolidge Porn | 3:56 | |
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| 4. | (Rosie) | 1:19 | |
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| 5. | Dead American Heros | 3:18 | |
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| 6. | Occupied | 3:38 | |
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| 7. | American Sunset | 4:28 | |
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| 8. | Sloan Valve Co. | 6:16 | |
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| 9. | Larry's Vagina (Live Dub) | 2:12 | |
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| Away Side: | ||||
| 10. | Motorcycle | 5:35 | |
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| 11. | Vincristine (Oncovin) | 5:32 | |
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| 12. | My Room / Alice Said | 6:14 | |
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| 13. | Hazel Eyes (Ode to the Accountants--Benjamin 5 and Kinsey 3) | 4:13 | |
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| 14. | 150 Miles | 7:41 | |
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| 15. | Garden State Building | 4:55 | |
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| 16. | Alice Said (Reprise) | 2:19 | |
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Download album as a zip fileEvery MP3 file includes artist, title, album, and date info as well as album cover art.
Digital re-release notes
Jim released his 2nd cassette "album" of original demos in late 1993. Jim released this digitized version in Jan 2016.
Album notes
All music and lyrics written, performed, recorded, and mixed by Jim Robertson, execpt as noted below:
- OCCUPIED Tom Rosko -- additional vocals
- LARRY's VAGINA (LIVE DUB) Written by Jim Robertson, Tom Rosko, and Anthony Marchese. Jim Robertson -- bass guitar. Tom Rosko -- drums. Anthony Marchese -- guitar. Voices sampled/stolen from Larry Marchese.
- VINCRISTINE (ONCOVINE) Tom Rosko -- additional vocals and arranging.
All songs written between August 1990 and August 1992 and recorded and mixed between May 1991 and December 1993. The tape is a companion to Jim's first tape -- LONE SQUIRREL "Sundays, holidays, and other days" -- as it completes the release of all the songs written or completed during his Tallahassee years. The songs aren't meant to be perfect, final versions, but rather demo versions.
All music and lyrics written by Jim Robertson. Copyright 1993 by Jim Robertson. Cover photo "Dig for Victory." Copyright Imperial War Museum, England. Inside photo: unknown local newspaper, circa 1973.
This tape is for promotional use only; not for sale. This has been another Oaktree Music production. Jim Robertson c/o Oaktree Music. 841 Willow Ave., #2, Hoboken, NJ 07030.
Retrospection
Looking back in 2017 at this is a bit of a walk down memory lane. Some good ideas; some poor ones. Some good execution; mostly poor execution.
CARRIE NATION was an attempt to write a "harder" song, because feedback on my first album (Sundays, holidays, and other days) was that it was a bit "wimpy." I think I was listening to a lot of Husker Du's These Important Years -- it seems a blatant ripoff.
QUERTY was a self-inflicted songwriting challenge. "OK, Jim, the next 3 chords you play will be a song, and the next thing you rest your eyes on will be the lyrics." Somehow Ant, Tom, and Lars liked it, and The Fords recorded an improved version for their self-titled cassette "album."
The only thing interesting about COOLIDGE PORN is the instrumental bridge and outro.
Up until now, most of the songs I wrote were on an unplugged electric guitar (not owning an acoustic guitar). And, most songs were recorded more of less as I would play them live on the unplugged electric guitar. (ROSIE) was an experiment to write something with more of an eye towards the final production. As such, the song wasn't developed beyond this sketch. I guess "the tracks" I'm singing about could be railroad tracks or music tracks.
DEAD AMERICAN HEROS was another one of my drone songs. I guess it's a commentary on the willfully ignorant mythology of heros and icons.
The first line in OCCUPIED references R.E.M.'s 7 Chinese Bros., and the outro of the song quotes Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way, while the rest of the song is sort of riffing on the idea that one can be "occupied" by one's "occupation" (i.e., carrer or job).
The chords to AMERICAN SUNSET were actually written in Ithaca, NY, in spring/summer 1989. I have a crude demo version somewhere with Todd Tibbets playing bass and his girlfriend Christina playing violin. When I finished the song a few years later, I kept the bass line and recreated the violin line on the keyboard.
SLOAN VALVE CO. is a strange song that really could have used some editing. Somehow Adam likes this song.
LARRY'S VAGINA was written during a The Fords jam -- with Jim leading the way on the bass. For some reason, Jim "sampled in" some snippets of conversation in the outtakes of Larry's demo cassette. The "Larry woke up with a vagina" sample can be heard at minute 2:42 of track 23 of Lar's Little Trees ... and small shrubs tape Lar's claimed he was relating a Mad Magazine story. Who else's voices can be heard in that outtake? Tom Stafford? Bob Perst?
MOTORCYCLE was the first song I wrote on the keyboard, rather than a guitar. It's a song about self-meditation.
VINCRISTINE (ONCOVIN) is another strange, overly-long song. I wrote this after working as a labratory technician in the oncology department at CHOP (The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) for 11 months in 1989 and 1990.
I learned the A/g chord from an Elivs Costello songbook and wrote MY ROOM / ALICE SAID around it.
HAZEL EYES is probably one of the better songs I've written. It was written about the LGBTQ community in Tallahassee in the early 1990's. The song went on to be performed (in slow versions and fast versions) by other bands I've been in -- including The Ford, alt.sex.dentist, and 3rd Gear. It was nearly "born" fully formed. I came up with the chord sequence and the lyrics just came pouring out of me line-by-line. It was written in five minutes.
150 MILES was inspired by the works of Richard Saul Wurman and Edward Tufte. I was also at a point where I was trying to make new chords by just changing one finger on the fretboard. Somehow Rosko ended up loving this song. In retrospect, it could have used some editing.
GARDEN STATE BUILDING was inspired by being on the roof of Lar's Hoboken apartment in Dec 1990 or Jan 1991 on a return trip from my "Tallahassee exile years." The guitar drone in that song was inspired by the 1991 British indie song "Drive That Car" by Kitchens of Distinction. I distinctly remember thinking the song complete, but then adding a final guitar solo or "color" track on my Yamaha 4-track and stumbling across the phrasing during take 8 or 11. I was in the kitchen of my apartment at 127 Washington St., Apt 3, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Somewhere between Sept 1, 1992, to Aug 31, 1993. I think Lisa walked in at some point and said, "why the FUCK do you keep playing the same guitar notes over and over?!?!" Of course, I had rest of the tracks in my headphones and could hear how majestic it all came together. She had no idea.
Come to think of it ... the drums in the Kitchens of Distinction song sound like the drums of PEARL -- yet I don't think I had the Kitchens album when I recorded PEARL. I think there were several early 1990's indie songs rocking that very particular drum beat at the time.
Also, in my songbook (Latitudes and Longitues [PDF]), I misspelled as lyrics as "ether," but I really meant "aether." I just realised this misspelling 23 years later. It makes a difference.
Regretably, ALICE SAID (REPRISE) does not stand the test of time. I think I was going for another anthemic song to end the album -- like PEARL and TALLAHASSEE.
From the perspective of 2017, this is clearly a "sophomore" albumn. Best songs are HAZEL EYES (which was so "pure" that it could be done slow-and-blues or fast-and-post-punk) and GARDEN STATE BUILDING (which is probably elevated by the guitar drone).
Some other songs had their moments in the sun -- QWERTY, ROSIE, DEAD AMERICAN HEROS, OCCUPIED, 150 MILES -- but I think my songwriting and production craft still needed maturing.