The International House of Dancakes

About fifteen years ago when we were hanging out in Austin, it came out that Disparition and I had both independently had the idea of writing musicals or concept albums about war from the perspective of those who were not fighting but were caught up in the middle of it. I don't know if anything ever came of his version, but mine has sort of languished in the back of my mind and in my "someday" projects folder since then. For mine I wanted to capture the feeling of helplessly watching the tide of it come for you, the heroic and awful things regular people do to survive in those circumstances, and the consequences that war leaves behind - scars on the landscape, scars on bodies, and the creeping realization that we are irreversibly changed by having lived through those events and what we did, or didn't do, to survive them. I think it might be pretty good, if I ever finish it. Anyway, this song was meant to be fairly early on in that story, when people are just trying to cling to those last few days or weeks of happiness before events overtake them. Just trying to burn into their brains the most vivid possible memory of what life is like when it is simple and good, knowing that it might not be either for a long time. I recorded this rough draft to see if I could shoehorn it into another project, but ultimately felt like it didn't fit. So for now it's an orphan from that war story, just sort of stuck out here on its own. Lyrics: Let us dream a while Here at the door to an uncertain future Let us dream a while Not knowing what tomorrow might bring There may come a day when we find ourselves looking back Grabbing this moment, and clutching it tight Let us dream a while, here on the edge of the night While the stars one by one come alight Let us dream a while Here on the shore of this angry ocean Let us dream a while Enjoying each other for all that we are There may come a day when we find ourselves looking back And count this the last time that we truly laughed Let us dream a while Let us dream a while Let us dream a while Oh, let us dream

This is a set of tracks that were initially intended as part of the soundtrack for a project that is now on indefinite hiatus. I liked the tracks enough that I decided to put them together and release them as their own thing.

This is a set of tracks that were initially intended as part of the soundtrack for a project that is now on indefinite hiatus. I liked the tracks enough that I decided to put them together and release them as their own thing.

This is a set of tracks that were initially intended as part of the soundtrack for a project that is now on indefinite hiatus. I liked the tracks enough that I decided to put them together and release them as their own thing.

Just a demo of something super melodramatic and depressing I've been working on. Lyrics: Some trivial mistake is keeping you awake mired in your feelings staring at the ceiling in the deep end of the night til finally you'd kill to have some kind of pill to break the circle that you walk in fidgeting and talkin' to yourself, all the time you keep saying that it's over over and over again you keep saying that it's over over and over again Turn off your TV Wade into the sea and beg the plankton to consume you you wait all afternoon to just melt into the waves but all you ever get is frustrated and wet so you wade back to the shore lay on the sand and start to snore until the cops chase you away why's it keep feeling like it's over over and over again why's it keep feeling like it's over over and over again it happens over and over and you're geting older and time's running out for you to get sober it's something inside you that just isn't right and you can't drown it out although god knows you've tried and why can't you just feel okay? maybe all you really need is someone to watch you bleed to worship and adore you and always reassure you that your pain isn't just in your mind but if you can sleep tonight maybe that will make it right and you can start evolving into the kind of person you pretend to already be online you keep hoping that it's over over and over again keep insisting that it's over over and over again

Just playing around with a jazzy progression and kept adding stuff until I accidentally reverse engineered it into Ben Folds Five.

This is one we recorded for Love Button's album Eat More Fruit, but ended up leaving it off the album for some reason I can't remember. Lyrics: They're coming now just like rednecks to Graceland They seem to think that I know what I'm talking about They think I heal them with a wave of my hand Well I do what I can, and it all works out Cuz they think I'm Jesus, and that's all right They give me money and they call me the Christ And they act like I know everything And the pay's all right, but the lying is the thing They're coming now like a moth to a candle They hang my head on every word I say I'm seeing death in every Christian face If they ever find out just how much I've betrayed them Cuz they think I'm Jesus, and that's all right They give me money and they call me the Christ And they act like I know everything And the pay's all right, but the lying is the thing They're coming now screaming "miracle, miracle" I'll have to tell them all that I'm not prepared One of these days they'll be coming with torches I've seen the future, and I'm not there Cuz they think I'm Jesus, and that's all right They give me money and they call me the Christ And they act like I know everything And the pay's all right, but the lying is the thing

Ainsley Seago suggested that we needed some Schoolhouse Rock style songs about what insect taxonomists do, with the hopes that maybe they will be more likely to be funded in the future. I bashed this track together and she did some drawings, and now there's a video you can check out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYSIhzb14QI

Try To Sleep by Dan Warren

Affirmations 1: All Is Good by Dan Warren

Introduction to Acupuncture by Dan Warren

The Wee Hours by Dan Warren