On this page you will find a selection of mp3 files, most of which are from the demo I made way back in 2000. The time between 2000 and 2007 involved very little songwriting for me (I was busy moving, getting married, having kids, working on an MBA, and trying to land and hold down a job that funded all of that). These tracks are available free of charge for your listening pleasure, but they are NOT public domain. I retain all rights to every bit of music on this page. Please don't steal from struggling artists.
If you would like permission to use any of the material here, send me an e-mail at chris+site[at]carpentron.com (replace [at] with @).
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The Eight Year War
Demo Album 2000
Songs:
Beyond the Limits of 4-4 Time
Calamana
Hider in the Darkness
There Is Profundity in Madness
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Everything on this album was recorded in the month of February 2008 as part of the annual RPM Challenge, something I felt I really needed to do and I'm glad I did. These songs are very roughly done due to the speed at which they were recorded. Some I hope to redo at some point. Others are about as good as they are going to get. |
Note: To download mp3s, right-click on them and save them to your computer. Left-clicking will play them on most browsers.
| 1. March of the Faker | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 2. The Magical Kingdom of Love | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 3. A Chance of Loss | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 4. The Legend I Was Meant to Be | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 5. Return of the Fire | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 6. My Sanctuary | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 7. You Smell Like Cheese | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 8. Biggest Bear I've Ever Seen | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 9. Part 33 | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
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Demo Album 2000
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I recorded this material over a pretty long stretch of time from the late 90s and early 2000, and finalized it in May of that year. It was the first decently mixed digitally mastered album worth of material I'd really put together, though some of the recordings had been done as many as four years before I compiled everything. The music on this album is the stuff I've been showing people for years. It's not representative of where I am now musically, but it shows where I've come from. |
Note: To download mp3s, right-click on them and save them to your computer. Left-clicking will play them on most browsers.
| 1. Looking for Something New | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 2. Existential Lullaby | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 3. Subcultural Identity Crisis | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 4. There Are Monsters | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 5. The Plutocrat | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 6. Progress | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 7. My Life Inside | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 8. All Falling Down | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 9. This Is Your World | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 10. Teeming Megalopolis | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 11. Interordinary Time Patrol | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 12. Anonymous Man | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 13. Mudboy | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 14. How It Feels | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 15. Here Lies a Man | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 16. Spider Theme 1 | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
| 17. Spider Theme 2 | mp3 | lyrics/writeup |
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1998
Here is an exercise in self-mockery. I have long had an affinity for playing with time signatures. That is, much of what I write does not follow the standard beat structure of contemporary popular music, which is based in 4-4 time (really that should be one four over another rather than "4-4", but I'm lazy). This whole song is in odd time signatures and the lyrics are all about how allegedly cutting edge such a thing is. Really, this is kind of an in-joke that I wouldn't expect more than a handful of people to get. That is why I've never really included it in anything before.
| mp3 | lyrics |
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2007
This is a song I wrote for my wife and presented to her in this form on our fifth anniversary. I wish I'd had more than about 6 hours to record and mix it, but if I wanted to record it without her knowledge that was what I had to work with. Hence, it is very bare. However, considering the limitations, I'm quite happy with it. "Calamana" is a neologism coined by my wife to mean something like "I love you," but expressed to a degree that cannot be captured by existing words. This is either excessively sappy or very romantic depending on your temperament.
| mp3 | lyrics |
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2000
This somber little tune was one I wrote for live performance. It is incomplete in terms of instrumentation, and it has been this way for years. I am putting it up here because I don't think I'll ever get around to completing it. I really like the dark mood of this. I wish my voice was good enough to do it justice.
| mp3 | lyrics |
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2007
This was recorded for Opus Cipher: The Prototype, which was the free demo album The Very Us Artists put out as a precursor to releasing their first album. The Very Us Artists is an intriguing idea from the inimitable mind of John LaSala and is something I encourage everyone to check out. I'm very glad to be a part of it. We release a new theme-based album for sale every few months that features original, never-before-heard work from a variety of artists.
As for this track, it was an amazingly quickly put together one, especially considering its length. I did not use any MIDI sequencing, which is a rarity for me, despite all the sounds being electronic. It's a high concept track that captures some of my more recent ideas, though I doubt I'll ever record another track that sounds much like this one. The concept for this album was "beginnings". Obviously I stretched that a bit.
| mp3 | lyrics |
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