Squirrelier Than Earlier Album Release

It's finally here! The first time I wrote about an album of new material was in January of 2013 when I recorded the title track. Two years of turd polishing and now I can unleash it on the public.

STREAM or DOWNLOAD HERE

One thing that really annoys me is when an eighties band puts out a new album that sounds nothing like they did back in the day. Sure, you expect the sound to evolve, but the essence must be there. I made tremendous effort to create a Vladimir album that sounded like what you would expect it to be.

You'll recognize similar themes, but I'm not a teenager anymore. That said, I guess a midlife crisis is only a few degrees away, am I right?

The thirteen songs are split into two "sides", each under 22 minutes long. This is a hat tip to the days of vinyl and the 46 minute cassette tapes I was so fond of using in the eighties. My hope is that the money I make off the downloads can be used to make physical copies in the near future.

I want to thank my sweet, supportive wife for encouraging this project and offering insights. I dedicate it to the memory of T.V. Silvia and Eric Ericson, both of whom supported this dorky kid with the goofy songs--may their memory be eternal!

 

It was 25 years ago today...

For a brief period Vladimir's Universe expanded into a four piece band. Rev. Fritz Kingpin (Freddy Fortune) on bass was from a band called the Covingtons, and Stubbly McUnster (Tim McHugh) on drums had been in Cats in the Basement. I guess we were kinda a "supergroup" of Ypsilanti talent. On guitar was a kid we called Rockboy (David Harrison Horton)--I say "kid", but we were all kids at the time. We did a few open stage nights, one recording session, then 25 years ago today we played our first headline gig at Cross Street Station in Ypsilanti. You can hear this line-up on "Underwear Sometimes" from the 25th anniversary album "This Machine Eats Bacon".

My mentor T.V. Silvia (R.I.P.) called this short-lived ensemble an "Ersatz rock band" which I thought was a compliment until I looked up what "ersatz" means. I'll let you decide. I remixed all six songs and put them into a zip file in my Dropbox and you can download it for free! http://tinyurl.com/lmrewfn

Mezzanine Cashews

When I left Ypsilanti for San Francisco back in 1991 it seemed like a good idea. As far as personal growth and experience goes, heck yeah, but musically, not so much. One tape appeared and one live performance, but when I left San Francisco in 1992 I didn't want to be Vladimir anymore.

Over the next 17 years I wrote poetry and recorded under various names but these songs deserve to be called Vladtrax. Maybe Hegel was right that something in its passage into other only joins with itself. Download all 19 songs now from Noisetrade.



   

Do What U Can

I have a daughter who turns 17 in April. She lives with her mom 2000 miles away and I haven't seen her in a long time and she doesn't want to talk to me. She said that the song "Perfect" by Simple Plan sums up how she feels. I wrote and recorded this song as a response and apology.

When I was a perfectionist I tortured myself if things didn't come out as planned. My life was full of stress because I tried to control the uncontrollable. Sometimes I just didn't have the resources to do what I wanted. Finally I learned this key to living a happier life: Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are. That's all we can expect from ourselves and others.

Is it too late to tell you I'm proud of you?
Or will you just stand there rolling your eyes?
I'm man enough to admit to my mistakes
so I wrote this song to apologize
I thought I was a gardener pruning his prize rose tree
instead I left you feeling like an amputee
I never expected perfection
Do what you can with what you got where you are

I had to leave but I never gave up on you
I know it made you angry, confused, and sad
no matter how far away or how old you get
You're still my daughter and I am still your dad
in my imagination you're still a twirling little girl
but you've become a smart and confident woman of the world
I never expected perfection
Just do what you can with what you got where you are
That's all I ever expect from you

    

I've Got a Bomb

The first Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories began on 9 December 1987. The previous day an Israeli army tank transporter crashed into a row of cars containing Palestinians returning from working in Israel killing four Palestinians and seriously injuring seven others. Hundreds of Palestinian laborers returning from work witnessed it and soon rumors started that it was an intentional retaliation. Protests included civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti, and barricades. Most media coverage showed the contrast between demonstrators with stones against heavily armed Israeli troops.

Since I was in topical song mode at the time this complicated issue called for a naive response. That response was the bluesy "I've Got a Bomb". I recorded the version found on "This Machine Eats Bacon" in my bedroom. I thought my parents were out of town, but my dad came in and interrupted after the second verse.

You better look out
because I've got a bomb...

I've got a bomb
I've got a bomb
I've got a bomb on your front lawn
I've got a bomb

I've got a tank
I've got a tank
I've got a tank on the West Bank
I've got a tank

I've got a plane
I've got a plane
I've got a plane so don't you complain
'cuz I can do anything that I want
I've got a bomb

I killed a little kid
I killed a little kid
I killed a little kid so I could move into your neighborhood

Your Kid Got AIDS

Another "topical song" as Phil Ochs called them. This one was inspired by a story about the Ray family from Florida who had three hemophiliac children that contracted AIDS through blood clotting medicine. It was similar to the story of Ryan White a few years earlier but the neighbors were even more reactionary.

Pediatric AIDS first came to the public's attention because of Ryan White, a hemophiliac that contracted AIDS through a blood treatment back in 1984. Doctors reassured people that he was not a risk to other students, but since AIDS was not understood at the time parents protested his return to school. His situation showed the public that AIDS wasn't just a "gay disease" and the media exposure helped the public understand HIV better. Though given only six months to live, Ryan lived five years longer than predicted and died in April 1990, one month before his high school graduation. Here's an interview with Ryan from 1986. 



You would think that by 1987 people would be better informed, but the Ray family of DeSoto County, Florida found out otherwise. The Ray children, two brothers and a sister, were all hemophiliacs who were thought to have become infected with the AIDS virus through contaminated blood-clotting drugs they were being treated with. The parents took the school system to court to force it to admit their children and a federal judge ruled that they be admitted to school. Neighbors protested and attacked the family. Finally a "suspicious" fire started in the children's bedroom destroying their house so they decided to leave town. You can read the original article HERE.

This has been called the best Vlad song ever by music critics. OK, by one music critic. Well, RMC works for a radio station and he can be critical sometimes. But he was just articulating what I'm sure is obvious to anyone who knows my music. With "Your Kid Got AIDS" my songwriting took a new turn--it had a point, it was carefully crafted and executed. It told a story rather than just being clever and provocative.

The version found on "This Machine Eats Bacon" was recorded in my bedroom with overdubbing done by bouncing between tape recorders through a mixer. I was listening to folk music at the time so you may notice a hint of "Greenback Dollar" by the Kingston Trio and close harmony inspired by the Everly Brothers.

you live in a nice suburban home
but somewhere down the line
things went wrong
your kid got sent home from school today
the neighbors said you'll have to move away
because your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's bound for expulsion
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground

education is what they lacked
because you can't get AIDS from casual contact
you can't get AIDS from someone while you play
and you can't get AIDS just because your friend is gay
and your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's bound for expulsion
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground

the junkie got AIDS 'cuz a needle he did share
his friends ignore him
and his family doesn't care
a kid got AIDS 'cuz a condom wasn't worn
and a baby got AIDS on the day that it was born
but your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's bound for expulsion
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground

the parents try to get your kid expelled
they put your family through a private hell
they march around in a little picket line
a rock comes through the window
the phone rings off the hook
the woman at the market
gives you a dirty look
because your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's marked for execution
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground
and they did burn your house down to the ground

    

Underwear Sometimes

"When I was a youth, much youthier than I am today..." I probably wrote this song after reading Lawrence Ferlighetti's poem "Underwear". I owe much to the Beat Generation writers that I read so much of in high school. When I lived in San Francisco, I would see him at a coffee shop in North Beach up the street from his City Lights Bookstore. Never had the courage to speak to him, but we nodded politely at each other once.



The version you'll hear on the 25th Anniversary album "This Machine Eats Bacon" features the four-piece Universe I mentioned in a previous post. I later added the keyboards to give it a fuller psychedelic sound for the only post-Ypsilanti release "The Hot Melting Ones vs. the Pleasure Goddess" in 1990.

When I was a youth much youthier than I am today
I had a pair of polyurethane pants
and I thought that God lived in the sky
trembling shaking hands with relatives
fifth floor second floor
are you possessed by evil?
why did you set my shoes on fire?
restless parasite drifting in the sea of life
tell me, did you find your sould this time?
I know that I can't read your mind
but I can see your underwear sometimes
although I cannot see your face
underwear makes the world seem like a better place
I can hear things in my mind
small children and sirens
a big band plays "That Old Black Magic"
stretch your hands into the darkness
you will find a naked body
when your conscience goes on a vacation
is there anything to take it's place?
hopeless terrorist
she doesn't know what she wants from this life
it's just a place to be absurd