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The Early Covers

by Belle-Skinner

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1.
2.
I slept all day I woke with distaste and I railed, and I raved That the difference between the sprout and the bean it is a golden ring, it is a twisted string. And you can ask the councillor; and you can ask the king; and they'll say the same thing; and it's a funny thing: Should we go outside? Should we go outside? Should we break some bread? Are y'interested? And as I said, I slept as though dead dreaming seamless dreams of lead. When you go away, I am big-boned and fey in the dust of the day, and in the dirt of the day. And the Danger! Danger! Drawing near them was a white coat, and Danger! Danger! Drawing near them was a broad boat, And the water! water! Running clear beneath a white throat, and the hollow chatter of the talking of the tadpoles, who know th'outside! Should we go outside? Should we break some bread? Are y'interested?
3.
Wake up feeling good Go to bed frequently lost in the wood A soldier's tale of soul winning love No drunken stuff spewing out of my mouth All over now out Birdsong in the night The sound drags a net through the twilight Emptiness in computors bothers me These are the seas in our minds We make our own confine in time
4.
Samson 03:09
You are my sweetest downfall I loved you first, I loved you first Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth I have to go, I have to go Your hair was long when we first met Samson went back to bed Not much hair left on his head He ate a slice of Wonder Bread And went right back to bed And the history books forgot about us And the Bible didn't mention us And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once You are my sweetest downfall I loved you first, I loved you first Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads But they're just old light, they're just old light Your hair was long when we first met Samson came to my bed Told me that my hair was red Told me I was beautiful And came into my bed Oh, I cut his hair myself one night A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light And he told me that I'd done alright And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light Samson went back to bed Not much hair left on his head He ate a slice of Wonder Bread And went right back to bed Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one And the history books forgot about us And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once You are my sweetest downfall I loved you first
5.
His father was a drinker And his mother cried in bed Folding John Wayne's T-shirts When the swingset hit his head The neighbors they adored him For his humor and his conversation Look underneath the house there Find the few living things Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead Twenty-seven people, even more They were boys with their cars, summer jobs Oh my God Are you one of them? He dressed up like a clown for them With his face paint white and red And on his best behavior In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all He'd kill ten thousand people With a sleight of his hand Running far, running fast to the dead He took off all their clothes for them He put a cloth on their lips Quiet hands, quiet kiss On the mouth And in my best behavior I am really just like him Look beneath the floorboards For the secrets I have hid

about

These are songs I recorded in 2014-5, when I was first starting to record myself, as a learning exercise. I didn't know what I was doing. I was just experimenting, so when I finished them I put them out and forgot about them.

This past winter I revisited them, and because it had been a long time, I got the rare experience of listening to oneself as if listening to another person - without criticism, just for enjoyment's sake. I realized that I really liked them and wanted to release them properly.

So I got them mastered and remixed (by Starling Studios), and set to analog tape (by Onlyness Analog), and then distributed like my other releases.

For me they're sort of a time capsule, because I think in some respects my voice and mannerisms have changed - so although I do still perform some of these songs, I will never sing them this exact way, and I think that's sort of special.

There's also a spirit of playfulness in the way I naively approached the recording process - not knowing anything, having no stakes in the game, and just going by instinct.

And in the same spirit of playfulness, I included this discovered cassette recording of myself as a teeny creature singing what may be my first ever recorded performance (you know, to put the truly "early" in "Early Covers"). My mother is practicing flute in the background, and sometimes the completely disparate melodies coincide, which is funny.

In the end I say in Russian to my mother: "and now, and now mama, play the songs" - which is probably the best way to introduce an EP, in my opinion ;)

Anyway, I hope you like them as much as I do - enjoy!
--

Original Artists:

Sprout and the Bean - Joanna Newsom
A Soldier's Tale - The Good, The Bad, & The Queen
Samson - Regina Spektor
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. - Sufjan Stevens

credits

released October 16, 2020

Mastered by Jason Brown of Starling Studios in Saratoga Springs, NY
Tracks 2, 3, 4, mixed by Jason Brown of Starling Studios

Analog tape engineering by Rick Spataro of Onlyness Analog in Albany, NY
Cassette to digital transfer by Rick Spataro of Onlyness Analog

All instruments and vocals performed and recorded by M. Brosgol of Belle-Skinner
Harp-to-guitar (Sprout and the Bean) and Piano-to-guitar (Samson) arrangements by Belle-Skinner
Track 5 mixed by Belle-Skinner

Artwork by Mila Kapustina milakapustina.com

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Belle-Skinner New York, New York

Belle-Skinner is an indie-folk artist from upstate NY/Bklyn who mixes mid-century pop with fingerstyle contemporary folk, and then makes you cry.

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