Living where we do, it’s uncommon for many tours to end here and to have two or more bands part ways, after several weeks or months on the road together – losing track of one another during the daylight hours and always catching up with each other at night, in whatever bar they happen to be playing. There’s usually some obstinacy and some set sabotaging when it does happen, not to mention the big super-group sing-a-longs. There’s usually disappointment that things are coming to an end, the curtain is slowly dropping from overhead as the guys drop hugs and shots, making sure to collect everyone’s cell phone number. There were reports that during this tour involving the Lovely Feathers, The Slip and My Morning Jacket, MMJ lead singer Jim James would be somewhere in the theater or arena just rocking the fuck out to The Slip’s version of “Baba O’Riley,” throwing his head and his mop forcefully around as if he still had his moon boots on. He ate it up. He loved hearing it every night and to see it end would be sad. The date before The Slip’s Daytrotter session recording happened in Champaign, Illinois, three hours south on the boring Interstate-74. It had been added onto the tour by MMJ as a gift to their crew. The Slip were heading home after the show, but made a slight detour to us early the next day. There was discomfort in doing this as a last day on a tour wouldn’t be what it is without a raging alcohol fest, where no bottle is left unopened. So it happened and we received The Slip feeling like 10 bucks. They sounded much better than that in their wolf and moose stocking hats. It was also out of this session that we met Drew Malamud, the director of Pop Montreal and the band’s live sound man, who invited us up to the festival this October to use his studio and record sessions. Having heard so many rad things about Montreal, we’re considering this. Watch out! – Sean Moeller

Song descriptions are on the way.
First song
The Soft Machine (The Slip) [5.37MB] [1753 downloads]


– original version appears on Eisenhower
The chords and melody of the body of this song were written spontaneously while testing my recording equipment. Sometimes its good to distract the part of your mind that ‘edits’ by diverting it’s attention (i.e watching TV and playing guitar). But once the song was there, I spent a long time with the lyrics. In fact, I didn’t have a satisfactory second verse until the day before recording vocals, and we’d been performing it for almost two years. Sometimes it’s good to record your music before saying it’s done. In the end, the song is still a mystery, but it seems to be an attempt, through the arrangement and lyrics, to give form to an otherwise shapeless entity, like people do with sound, or love, or memory….

Second song
Suffocation Keep (The Slip) [5.70MB] [1741 downloads]


– original version appears on Eisenhower
This song is characterized by its one-sided conversational lyric. It’s one person saying to their lover something to the effect of, “Isn’t it strange, given the timeless history of love and lovers, and the repetition of themes we’ve come to know so well, that I should still be surprised by the way we fell together, our near impossible meeting and consequent affair?”

Third song
Children of December (The Slip) [4.88MB] [1658 downloads]


– original version appears on Eisenhower
A bright, quadrachord rocker with syncopated lyrics and a healthy twist. An anthem for the underdog of birthdays and a reminder of the catharsis in letting things go.

Fourth song
Airplane/Primitive (The Slip) [7.50MB] [1731 downloads]


– original version appears on Eisenhower
This song is one of our more “composed” pieces. It has many sections and interludes that feature dueling guitar work between Brad and myself and some wacked-out drum beats. We actually played this song as an instrumental piece for a whole tour and then Brad threw some great motown-inspired vocal melodies over the top, and then lyrics were supplied by a great songwriter, Nathan Moore. It’s quite the collaboration, like an ice cream sundae that serves at least 10.

Fifth song
Baba O'Riley (The Slip) [4.70MB] [1820 downloads]


– unreleased
I think I wrote that song one morning when my alarm was going off – wait, maybe not. It’s vikingously fun to play on the drums either way and the kids love it.