[mp3t track=”https://bendeschamps.com/MP3S/This_Is_How_We_Play.mp3″ title=”This Is How We Play”]
One of the stranger tracks I recorded for The Korea Project… not that any of them *weren’t* strange. We had to work hard to time that can opening sound! Had to be very authentic… good Canadian micro-brew… and, well, you can’t do another take until you’ve finished the first can… I’m surprised there are no out-takes from the session of us singing “Take Off (To the Great White North)”. I guess I turned off the recorder in time.

So take off, eh? Hoser.

[mp3t track=”https://bendeschamps.com/MP3S/Tatiana_Freeway.mp3″ title=”Tatiana Freeway”]

Before you ask, I have absolutely no idea what the title means. I just know that this song was a lot of fun to write and even more fun to play live, but I haven’t played it live in about 14 years. We certainly took the music seriously, but we had a huge amount of fun with the profound silliness of it all.
Kev Perry was the leader of the band, which I think started out called Cathode Ray Emission, and evolved to CRMission (this is before CRMs were a thing, I guess), before becoming Xoo, which continues to this day. We’re currently working on a Xoo spinoff project, which is to be more spacey, less rocky, but as always it’s a case of finding the time to pick up instruments!

Oh and please don’t forget to go to The Music Page and buy a copy of this and many other fine songs so I can afford some gourmet Kraft Dinner. Which is now officially just called KD. Sigh. I suppose some expensive Dijon ketchup is too much to ask for?

[mp3t track=”https://bendeschamps.com/MP3S/Rosetta_Suite_Part_3.mp3″ title=”Rosetta Suite Part 3″]
A tiny, dutiful voice in the black depths of space, cheerful despite the friendless void. And yes, Bill, you can also find parts I and II on the Music Page 🙂

[mp3t track=”https://bendeschamps.com/MP3S/Dream_Of_Rhonabwy.mp3″ title = “Dream of Rhonabwy”]
For a variety of reasons that I won’t trouble you with, I’ve been having trouble finding time to get into the studio and work on my own material, and the inspiration to come up with anything at all. But I’ve also had trouble finding some of the material that was in progress… and a couple of days ago I found the hard drive with the sessions I recorded last year with John Stadtlander. O frabjous day! So here is an oldish song, with a brand-new treatment, about a very old story indeed.

[mp3t track=”https://bendeschamps.com/MP3S/Decay_To_Truth.mp3″ title=”Decay To Truth”]

Hey look!  A NEW SONG! OK, so it’s not that new, as it was written in 1997 and recorded in 2001, by my old band CRMission (which remains extant as Xoo…) Anyway, a marvellous bit of gritty space rock, sort of a comet in the rough. I still love Ruth Harper’s interpretation of my lyrics (that’s right, I wrote lyrics! And they’re not about toilets!) and Kev Perry’s spacy, meandering guitar. That big crunchy bass sound was pretty excellent too… too bad someone stole my damn P-bass. Oh well.

[mp3t track=”https://bendeschamps.com/MP3S/Sandwich.mp3″]

So, you might wonder – especially if you’ve purchased a Patron Pack and are worried that I’m going to abscond with your money without delivering 50+ precious mp3s – where the hell have I been? No new song for weeks! Well, the unfortunate truth of being a producer & session player for other people (as well as wearing Numerous Other Hats) is that one’s solo projects tend to take a back seat. But never fear, I have some new compositions I’m working on at the moment, of a very spacy nature, as well as some trad material I’m just waiting to record with the right people (and next week we’ll have the whole band together, so that seems like an ideal time for a session…) But for now, I thought I’d give you one of the strangest tracks I ever wrote with James Clitheroe. The lyrics are a snapshot of his truly deranged mind, the music was some of the most challenging I’ve ever worked on, from a production and recording standpoint – and recording that mayonnaise sound, well, may I just say that was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever done in the studio, and I was sorely tempted to bury the microphone after the session. You’ll see why.

Today’s track is another one from the Korea Sessions – a song called “Lady Justice”, featuring Bon Jovi-esque whoa-ohs, big bad drums, and one of my favourite guitar solos I’ve ever done! Also some immortal and immoral lyrics by James Clitheroe, who is not a lady. Dude doesn’t even look like one.

A new tune for this week. Well, I say it’s a tune… it’s an ambient noise track, recorded back in 1997. Be careful with your speakers 🙂

New song! Freshly written yesterday! Heather and I were (like everybody else) very excited by the whole Rosetta mission landing yesterday, so we decided to write a song about it. Behold, the Rosetta Suite (parts 1 & 2). Don’t forget to swing by BenDeschamps.com/shop while you’re visiting, and if you have a moment to tell someone about this project, please do!

What, did you not think I’d have a new song this week? O ye of little faith. Just got this one mixed this morning 🙂 My voice is a little raw from the “singing” and my fingers are definitely cooked from playing upright bass.

So check out “How To Armwrestle A Tyrannosaur” – I hope it proves instructive.

If you have purchased a Patron Pack or All The MP3s, the song should be available for download in your account already!

Hmm. Since we had that T-rex here, I can’t seem to find Heather anywhere…