…that this site hasn’t been updated in, like, forever.  That’s because I’ve moved pretty much everything over to Facebook.  So why don’t you click on the “Contact” tab at the top of this window and come on over?

I will be performing “Remember Brian Wilson” and “Oh Yeah” at Friday night’s benefit concert.  Click here for more information about the show!

Here’s a lovely lost gem from Roland Orzabal:

Bob Dylan, on hot mastering:

You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them. There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like—static.

Bob Dylan’s new single, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”:

Record companies, your EPIC FAIL absolutely astounds me.

After a very short wait, really, my new album, Class Dismissed, is now available on iTunes for the bargain price of $5.94. Enjoy it!

Just taking a break from music here to let you know that I’ve scanned the brochure for the range of 1982 Volkswagen Quantum models (sedan, wagon, coupé) and posted it online.  Click on the cover below and you will be transported back in time.  To download the entire thing as a .zip file, just click here.

It’s appropriate (but entirely coincidental) that the stock license plates in all of these photographs are New Jersey’s old blue-and-white style markers, as my parents bought our 1982 Quantum GL wagon (with power windows, cruise control, and crank sunroof) at Jack Daniels Volkswagen in Fair Lawn, N.J. My father used to call it “the first luxury car” they ever owned, which is amusing, inasmuch as it had a whopping 74 bhp and was relatively non-luxurious (except for those beautiful velour seats, the smell of which used to make me carsick).

I suppose that, compared to dad’s previous work-related vehicles, this was quite a top-of-the-heap production.  The Quantum replaced a 1980 Chevy Malibu wagon (which my father drove into a pond) and was replaced, in 1989, with a gold BMW 525i which is still going strong to this very day.  (And who can forget the 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser, which we bought from A1 Toyota in New Haven, and that I drove throughout high school?  No one, that’s who.)

For the next week—from Sunday, February 22nd until Sunday, March 1st—I will be donating 100% of the profits from CD and digital sales of Class Dismissed to the Darius Goes West Foundation.

Buy Class Dismissed at CDBaby!

Darius Goes West is an organization founded by some incredible folks out in Athens, GA to promote awareness about Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the number one genetic killer of children worldwide. You can find out more about the organization and about its namesake, the amazing Darius Weems, by visiting their website:

Darius Goes West

I am donating a portion of the profits to DGW anyway, but for the next week, that “portion” will equal 100%. So head on over to CDBaby, one of the largest sellers of independent music on the web, and buy a copy or download the MP3s.

Buy Class Dismissed at CDBaby!

In preparation for the release of Class Dismissed on CD on February 10th, I’m proud to announce the release—right now—of If I Do This, Will It Change?, a huge, career-spanning retrospective of nearly all of my songs recorded from 1996 until 2008.

While not everything is represented here, this is most of it.  Covers?  Check.  The albums Education in Reverse, Roomful of Losers, The Paine Road E.P., and Bloom?  Check.  Song sketches, unreleased demos, and more?  Oh, most definitely check.  There’s even an eight-page set of liner notes on each of the songs.  I’ve never released anything like it—and I never will.

And it’s free.

That’s right.  If I Do This, Will It Change? is available as a free download from loquaciousmusic.com.  You might want to click on the link below and then go, like, do your laundry or something, because this is a BIG file.  But just think: when it’s done, you’ll have almost every Ben Gott song ever recorded.  And you now have three weeks to listen to them before Class Dismissed hits the streets!

“If I Do This, Will It Change? (1996-2008)” | (309 MB ZIP file made up of 68 MP3 files and 1 PDF file)

Welcome to Class Dismissed, my new album!  It will be released on CD on Tuesday, February 17th!

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Darius Goes West Foundation to help to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Read more about DGW by clicking here.

Check out the Class Dismissed website
Visit my MySpace page 
Become a fan on Facebook

Ben Gott
Class Dismissed

The Words Were High
(Words & Music by Ben Gott)

No matter how hard I try, I can’t figure out why
Is it something wrong that I?…
I flip to the other side to start the show
It was 1985, and I didn’t know

If I knew now everything that I knew then
The words were high

Just give me a bass drum and synthesize
A powerful backbeat—I won’t pass it by
Some jangling guitars and harmony
Just trust the beat and it will set you free

But if I knew now everything that I knew then
The words were high

So leave your bags and stay
And let the noise surround us
Where nothing’s found us
Well, that’ll be the day
I’ll be singing “Perfect Way” for you

No matter how hard I try…

Produced by Ben Gott & Simon Knight
All instruments and programming by Ben Gott
Cello arrangement by Simon Knight

(It’s Always) About You
(Words & Music by Ben Gott)
Listen to an early, rough sketch! 

Any time you call, I’ll answer the phone
I’m waiting alone, waiting for your call, girl
And anytime you fall, well I’ll pick you up late
And we’ll go on a date—but that’s not all, girl

Ooooo…
It’s always about you, babe

(Spoken)
Baby, don’t you know?
You’re the only girl for me

Everybody knows you’re the lady for me
Part of the family…
…Well, you could be…

And everywhere I go, girl I’m thinkin’ ’bout you
What are you gonna do?
C’mon and be my honey

Ooooo…
It’s always about you, babe

If you could see what you’ve done to me
I’m the luckiest guy in the world
Baby, you and me living happily
I understand you’re scared, but there’s one thing you should know…

(Spoken)
Baby, I told you there would never be another girl like you
You hold a very special place in my heart—you’re the only one for me
I think about you every day, and I dream about you all night
So listen…uh.

(Improv until end)

Produced by Ben Gott & Simon Knight
All instruments and programming by Ben Gott
Thank you Jimmy and Terry

Remember Brian Wilson
(Words & Music by Ben Gott)

When I was young, I’d go on up to my room
Whatever it was, I hoped it was happening soon

(Chorus)
It’s only the way
It’s only the only way
It’s only the way that we’ll get through

Whenever I’m sad, I do these things that I do
You might find it strange, but baby, strange might find you

(Chorus)

Now I hear a different sound:
It’s the sound of wonderful…
It’s the sound of happiness…
It’s the sound of electric guitars in your basement…

Now that I’ve found you, everything is in bloom
This song is worth singing, the sun rises up with the moon

(Chorus)

Produced by Ben Gott and Simon Knight
Additional input from Mitch Friedman
All instruments and programming by Ben Gott

I Know the Words
(Words & Music by Ben Gott)

One single text message drops from the sky
Ten million e-mails go flying by
We flew out to space in a red rocket ship
Made out of pixels and megabits

(Chorus)
Well, I’ve drawn a line from my head to my mouth
I know all the words, but I can’t spit ‘em out

Swimming deep under the ocean I found
Miles of cables laid under the ground
A message of hatred, a message of love
The messages float to the surface above

(Chorus)

The wireless cards and the radio waves
Are sending out messages miles away
But a ring of the bell or a knock on the door
Just leaves me confused and as scared as before

And I wonder
Oh I wonder
What it’s like…

I thought that I loved you, I thought you were mine
…Until we got talking in real time
The things that you write and the things that you say
The things that you do, they seem miles away

(Chorus)

Produced by Ben Gott
All instruments and programming by Ben Gott

Old Town
(Words & Music by Ben Gott)
Listen to the demo! 

Way down in an old town
I met a girl, she turned me around
At night we’d dance, I’d watch her face
The spinning room, the pounding bass

Way down in an old town

The night was dark, the streetlamps cried
Lights glistening like the light in her eyes
I asked my girl if she’d be mine
She said, “It’s too late now—you’re out of time”

Way down in an old town

I left that town soon after that
Forgetting her, not looking back
But last night on my t.v. screen
I saw my girl, my dancing queen

Way down in an old town

Produced by Ben Gott and Simon Knight
All instruments and programming by Ben Gott

Improv 6
(Music by Ben Gott)

Produced by Ben Gott
Piano by Ben Gott

Credits

Produced by Ben Gott & Simon Knight
Recorded, engineered, and mixed by Ben Gott at Kenwood Studios, Fairfield, Connecticut
Mixing assisted by Mitch Friedman & Johnny Helyar
Mastered by Brian Lipski at The SoundLab™ at Disc Makers, Pennsauken, New Jersey

All songs written by Ben Gott

Cover concept & photography by Ben Gott

Thanks to Simon Knight, Mitch Friedman, Jim Smart, John Relph and the entire Chalkhills crew, Dean Zemel and Andy Allsop (my earliest fans), Daniel Prendiville, Robert Schaufelberger, Johnny Helyar, Kate Greene, and my students—don’t pack up until the bell rings! Thanks, mom, for the Al Jarreau when I was 10 and thanks, dad, for pretending to like Faith.

This album is dedicated to Green Gartside.

A portion of the proceeds from CD and digital sales will be donated to the Darius Goes West Foundation. The foundation works to help to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the number one genetic killer of children worldwide.  To find out more, visit www.dariusgoeswest.com.

©℗2009 Loquacious Music. All Rights Reserved.

http://class.loquaciousmusic.com
ben@loquaciousmusic.com

There are six original songs on my new album, Class Dismissed.  Here are some of the stories behind them.  (I’ll write a new story every few days until the album’s release, so keep checking back for more.  And don’t forget: you can hear a preview on my MySpace page or can become a “Fan” on Facebook!)

1)  “The Words Were High”—After releasing Bloom, In the Country, and Live from the iSight Studio: Volume One, I found myself in a bit of a songwriting rut.  Sure, I didn’t write Stephen’s songs, and, sure, I didn’t write all of the iSight songs, but still!  Recording and mixing is hard, too!

Anyway.  Rut.  Check.  I had written a few songs in the interim, but not much.  I also wasn’t sure what direction I wanted the new album, called (at least on my computer) “New Album 7,” to go in.

Then, one weekend in October, I woke up on a Saturday morning to the sound of rain.  A lot of rain.  Rain rain rain rain.  It was cold and rainy.  Blech.  I had planned to do so much—go outside!  See the sun!  Plant corn!—but I couldn’t because it was raining.  So, instead, I decided to brave traffic and go to the Apple Store in Stamford.  I had been wanting for a long time to buy the GarageBand Rhythm Section Jam Pack; I needed some new drum and bass sounds, and I was too cheap to actually buy an electronic drum set.

After a trip to the Apple store and a few moments with the “Install” DVD, I had tons of new drum sounds.  As I sat at my keyboard, staring down at that blank black-and-white canvas, I thought to myself, Okay, so now what?

My usual songwriting method is to wait for the melody.  The melody always comes first.  It doesn’t matter if I’m in the shower or driving to work or doing whatever—if a melody rears its head, I try to capture it for posterity.  On this rainy day, sitting at the keyboard, I couldn’t think of a melody.  I couldn’t think of anything.

Then I thought of Randy Newman.  Hmmm.  That’s an interesting one.  I’ve never had a “maybe I should write a Randy Newman-esque song” moment before.  Maybe it was the rain?  The gloom?  The piano?  I didn’t know.  All I did know is that, once I hit the chords, my notes started to roll and a song began to appear.

The first few lines came first: “No matter how hard I try, I can’t figure out why.”  Okay, I thought.  That’s fine.  But what is this song about, really?  Lost love?  I still wasn’t sure.  I knew it was going to be a slow, rainy tune, but about what, exactly?

Then my brain went GRPHTPFHTPGFFHTPH! and spat out this phrase: “the words were high.”  That’s it!  I thought.  I’ll write a song about Green Gartside!

Green is the brains behind the band Scritti Politti, whose 1985 album Cupid & Psyche ’85 was the only CD—the only CD—in my car CD player for an entire four months last year.  I didn’t listen to anything else.  The songs were perfect, the synths were perfect…the whole goddamned thing, really, was perfect.  Green’s songs didn’t seem to follow any particular logic other than they were funky, they were beautifully produced and mixed, and they were as catchy—even catchier?—than anything I had ever heard before.  While I was still at my old job, I had even reviewed the album for Blogcritics as the beginning of a series of new looks at old treasures.

But what did I have now?  A Randy Newman piano phrase and a song about a British synthpop pioneer?  How did that make any sense? 

Maybe that’s the point, I thought.  Maybe it’s not supposed to make sense.  A bit of an anachronistic pop tune, perhaps.  There’s nothing wrong with that.

The recording for this one came easily, with Simon adding the cello bit at the end.  I decided to put the keyboard bass in instead of playing a real bass—again with the anachronisms!—I cleaned up the mix on Logic, and now “The Words Were High” will be the lead-off track.