Mike's Web Album Dumpster
"I've suffered for my music and now it's your turn."
   -- Neil Innes, 1976

A stack of free web albums tracking the scat trail of my life in music. Amusing embarrassments abound.

Bandwidth donations via Paypal are welcomed with gratitude.

These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. You are free to share the work as long as you maintain the original attributions.
There is no permission for commercial use or derivative works.

M.Ace - The Sonic Six Sessions (1977)
Moog synthesizer juvenilia. Recorded at my high school, from winter to spring, 1977. A seventies synth freak's dream come true: turned loose, unsupervised, with a Moog Sonic Six synthesizer in the school's electronic music lab. Or described more modestly, a spare room where our music theory teacher generously set up his own synth for us to abuse. There's a lot of aimless noodling, some pretty nifty sounds.

Single track: Cthulhuoid Invocation (11MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (84MB)

M.Ace - Misspent Youth (1977-81)
A freeform assortment from my earliest surviving recordings, floundering around in various styles. I had been recording noises and music of sorts since childhood, but my pre-teen and mid-teen material went to the big bulk eraser in the sky long ago, so the story picks up here in my late teens. You've got spaced-out synth, grating avant gardisms, grinding noise, gritty punk, faux ethnic improv and Rolling Stonesy rock 'n' roll (huh?!). With Dean Sabatino on drums, along with other brave contributors.

Single track: Concrete [excerpt] (7MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (76MB)

Zero - Demo Tape (1980)

Only a month after deciding to can the cover bands and do "our thing," Dean and I pulled together this full album's worth of original material. Not only was this in our brief period of using the name Zero, but we also still had plans to add a bass player, and so I overdubbed bass or second guitar parts on most of the tracks. It was recorded on our friend Scot's 4-track reel-to-reel, and he added some bits here and there himself (along with some backing vocals by Dean's gal, Meg). Our punk & new wave influences were all over the place here, and sticking out awkwardly in every direction. Soon after this, we realized there were way too many bands out there named Zero or some variant, redubbed ourselves Narthex and began to find a sound of our own.

Single track: Randy Random (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (62MB)

Narthex - Project Gemini: 1980-1982

Rough basement practice room recordings by Narthex -- my guitar & drums duo with Dean Sabatino. This set is geared toward our harder and punkier songs, some of which also appear on the Duo-Phonic Sound System web album. See next entry for more.

Single track: Cleopatra's Needle (3MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (50MB)

Narthex - The Flipped Side: 1981-1983

More basement recordings by Narthex. This batch fills in our more flipped out tunes, presented in roughly chronological sequence. This provided additional material for Duo-Phonic Sound System, but if you have this and Project Gemini, you've got everything on Duo-Phonic, plus more. Or hear what we sounded like with good sound on our only studio album, Twin Cities -- available via CD Baby or iTunes.

Single track: Clean Up (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (105MB)

Hunger Artists - Cruisin' In Zargon (1982)

The Hunger Artists were a paint-peeling, noise-wreaking Narthex side project with our manager, Dave, joining in on vocals. It began as a free improv cartoon of hardcore punk, but things got weirder from there. Warning: this is ridiculously noisy stuff.

Single track: Stop It! (0.5MB)
Audio file of full album (41MB) / 300dpi graphics (4MB)

Ditch Devils - Say Hi! (1982)

A one-day, one-time-only side project. I believe the old term for this was non-idiomatic free improvisation. Sort of free jazz minus the jazz, or perhaps a sadly remedial version. Dean and I were joined by Dave on a toy synthesizer and Mr. Jody Bregler on drums and percussion. Say what you want overall, but between he and Dean, there's a lot of powerful drumwork to be heard here.

Single track: Test Pattern (2MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (87MB)

Narthex - Rivers & Deltas (1984/86)

Surprise. This is the secret Narthex album. Sure, we "broke up" in June 1983, but when Dean got his first cassette multi-tracker in 1984, we tinkered around and accumulated these tracks before the Dead Milkmen went full-time. In July 1986, we got in some finishing touches on a break between DM tours, and there you have it. What is it? It is basically instrumental in focus, with very little guitar, buckets of bass and a little help from our friends Stephen, Jeff and Simon. Somewhat self-indulgent, but we had fun.

Single track: Chinese Water Torture (7MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (41MB)

Mike Ace - Avocado (1984/86)

This was my mandatory (intentionally) wimpy acoustic solo album -- required after any band breaks up. Never mind that the lineup on here is exactly the same as the former band. I'm more or less channeling early influences ranging from the lighter side of the British invasion to Jonathan Richman to acoustic T.Rex. Though Writing On My Wall sounds surprisingly like a premonition of Baby Flamehead, in retrospect. This was recorded more or less in parallel with Rivers & Deltas, mostly in 1984, finished off in those few days in 1986.

Single track: Writing On My Wall (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (47MB)

M.Ace - 4-trackin'91 (1991)

By the end of 1986, I had switched over to the bass as my main instrument -- what I practiced every day, what I wrote my songs on. And, largely through barely touching it, I somehow managed to rebuild my guitar technique and change over to standard tuning. In late 1990, I got my first cassette 4-tracker, and promptly disappeared into the overdub universe. This draws from my 1991 recordings -- boiling down from three albums worth of backlogged songs, written from 1986 to 1989. The material wanders in style... post-punk, post-rock, post-pop, post-whatever. Somewhat directionless and eclectic to a fault.

Single track: Meaningless (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (67MB)

Motor Mantra - Möbius Strip Club (1992)

And so begins the parade of imaginary bands in my imaginary overdub world. Motor Mantra was conceived as my spaced-out dance band, and Möbius Strip Club is a monolithic chunk of trancey groove. No loops here, kids. The drums may be machined, but the bass and guitars are straight through, single take, live performances. Such determination.

Single track: Möbius Strip Club [excerpt] (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (67MB)

The Headspinners - Mental Revolutions (1992)

Next up, The Headspinners would be my new rock-ish band. The material is still ridiculously eclectic and post-whatever -- and probably a little too smarty-pants for its own good -- but the focus has improved while the feel has loosened up. The working concept here was to NOT practice and work out the material in advance. I played the songs just barely enough to get them written and then filed them away until the whole batch accumulated. Then I worked them up quickly in the recording process -- the idea being that this would make for more spontaneous results. Or something.

Single track: Golden Mole (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (65MB)

Tin Termites - The Strange Case Of The Tin Termites From Tulsa (1993)

The Tin Termites were my designated rock instrumentals band. You get some surf, some twang, some hot rod, some 'heavy' rock, and some just plain odd hybrids. Bitchen music for building hot rod model kits by. And a crowning finale for my dear old Musicman Sabre II guitar, which was usually superseded by a series of Strats on recordings to follow.

Single track: Asphalt Astronauts (1320) (3MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (59MB)

Thee Headspinners - Ensenada Buzz (1994)

I finally develop a more considered direction, trying to grow beyond mere cleverness to do something more elemental. This involves attempting to digest influences from the pre-war blues into a postpunk individualist sensibility, while also avoiding the dreaded blooze-rock syndrome. It is a mine-field fraught with peril. At this point, I am back to the guitar as my main instrument -- for play, practice and writing -- having rebuilt my technique one more time, centered on fingerpicking. Pickled Red Herring, below, amounts to a chapter two to this album.

Single track: 3 Bad Sisters (3MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (45MB)

Beateaters - Ritual Patterns Of The Loading Zone (1994)

Dean is back for a man versus machine all-percussion extravaganza. For the ground floor, I stuffed my drum machine to the gills with a huge, album-length program. We overdubbed two layers of Dean on top. That's a whole lot of hitting things with sticks. Part 5, our single track here, is one of the quieter sections.

Single track: Part 5 (6MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (55MB)

Hi-Fi 2059 - Interstellar Astrosphere (1994)

Real live computer music here. Cover story: Hi-Fi 2059 was the retro-future keyboard and electro-percussion duo of Saturn Six and "the lovely" Jamie Jet, with me as their humble producer. Reality: Jamie was my drum machine, and Saturn was my Apple IIc computer, running some random generation music routines that I cooked up. The beat is a modified tango, the notes are microtonal, and the hijinx go on for full album-length. Some people love it, and some people are driven up the wall.

Single track: Interstellar Astrosphere [excerpt] (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (63MB)

The Hydrogen Bonding Process - "gas" (1995)

Back in the mid-1970s, every weekday evening, I listened to WXPN's Diaspar program, featuring Krautrock, space drones and other 'out there' musics. It was the sound of the future, back when the future was still futuristic. This was my mid-1990s tribute to those days and those sounds. No keyboards, but lots of digital delay line loops.

Single track: Andrea Dorian (7MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (62MB)

Hi-Fi 2059 - Indonesian Amnesian (1995)

Saturn Six and Jamie Jet return with more computer generated music. This time around, the proceedings are less aggressive and more ambient, using scales and rhythms loosely based on Indonesian gamelan.

Single track: Indonesian Amnesian [excerpt] (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (58MB)

Headspinners - Pickled Red Herring (1995)

While those four albums of abstract experimentation went down, I accumulated another batch of reg'lar ol' guitar based songs. As mentioned, this is pretty much a chapter two to the Ensenada Buzz album.

Single track: On Reflection (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (47MB)

Motor Mantra - Disengaged (1995)

Motor Mantra returns with another big slab of space-groove. This piece goes with a series of differing sections rather than the monolithic chunk approach, maybe right, maybe wrong.

Single track: Disengaged [excerpt] (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (61MB)

The Headspinners - People From Planet X (1996)

So much for sticking with an artistic direction. On the morning of October 9, 1995, I was struck by the stray thought of taking the content of Ed Wood's classic film, Plan Nine From Outer Space and throwing it into a head-on collision with the structure of The Beatles' classic album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Within six days, these songs were all written, though the recording process took months longer. As things worked out, it's some sort of glam/garage/bubblegum rock 'n' roll album (mixed to mono!) which functions as a loving tribute to Plan 9 specifically and B-movie culture in general. It was not until much later that I realized October 9 was also John Lennon's birthday. Imagine that. Technical note: On CD the tracks run together as a continuous medley. Depending on your MP3 player, this may or may not work correctly in this format.

Single track: Lights In The Sky (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (50MB)

Siamese Syndrome - Castor & Pollux (1997)

Dean's back, but this space music epic may not be what you were expecting. We recorded this using our special Asynchronous Siamesing Process™. Which means? We recorded our parts independently, without hearing what the other was doing, having set only the key and tempo beforehand. When we finished up, we mixed our parts all together and this is what came out. Dean is on keyboards and percussion. I supply guitar, keyboards and percussion. Tangerine Dream's worst nightmare.

Single track: Castor & Pollux [excerpt] (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (51MB)

Exoteric - Disorientation (1998)

How many imaginary bands is this now? Exoteric is keyboard-based, non-rock and mostly instrumental. Some have described this set as sounding like a collection of "slightly off" movie soundtrack music. Library music for the illiterate?

Single track: Blind Alley (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (60MB)

Th' Headspinners - Ralakabomba (1998)

An attempt to evoke the spirit of 1950s rock 'n' roll without being ironic on the one hand or slavishly retro on the other. Results are mixed, but basically good-humored and girl-crazy.

Single track: Time's A-Wastin' (2MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (37MB)

Exoteric - Bellowing At The Moon (2002)

In early 1999, I took up the accordion. Don't laugh -- it's an amazingly complex and versatile instrument which does not automatically play polkas. Skipping over recordings made just for private documentation, this was my first serious batch of accordion tracks, bolstered simply with bass and drums. "Pan-ethnic mood music for busy listening" was my tag for this set, and that's a pretty good description.

Single track: Procession de Luna (6MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (54MB)

M.Ace - Fuzzhead Revisited (2003)

Before the online documentation, downloads and remixed 'lost' album, I had already made closure with my old Narthex days on this project: old Narthex songs remade in quieter and twisted-er arrangements. Some of these treatments flop, some are kinda cool. I hadn't done any singing for several years, and boy does that show. To be clear however, Dean does not appear here -- too bad.

Single track: The Collapse (4MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (47MB)

Ace-Sabatino Rehearsal Purgatory - 10/30/03 (2003)

Dean on drums, me on accordion. A raw and sloppy practice room document of first take run-throughs for a project that never developed. If you accept the tinny sound and plentiful mistakes, there's some fun stuff here. This recording is significant to me for a few reasons. 1) I never liked using drum machines (though they got things done), but this convinced me to never use them again. 2) It also convinced me that, even if fatally flawed, a live performance in a room beats an overdub assemblage any time. 3) In January 2004, my back went out, again, and I had to give up the accordion. Last dance document.

Single track: Tarantula Tears (5MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (36MB)

M.Ace - Steel-String Flat Top Sedition (2005)

I take it all the way down to solo acoustic guitar instrumentals. It's a far cry from Fahey or Kottke... I didn't have any real independent bass and melody happening yet, and the picking is way too hard (geeze, what was I trying to do -- snap the strings right off the guitar?). But, early steps on a new path. Recording technology-wise, it's a return to the days at the top of this page. Live to 2-track, down in the basement.

Single track: Wrought Iron Cobweb (3MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (52MB)

M.Ace - Frowning In Happyland (2007)

I can't believe how long it took to finish this project. Written from summer to fall 2004, this was my first real batch of words+music songs since 1996 (Ralakabomba). And in the meantime, I surely did build up lot of darkness that needed venting. These are a dozen acoustic guitar-based songs, with superb backing from Dean Sabatino on drums, Karen Schmidt on accordion, Chris Unrath on electric guitar for one song, and a cameo by Hugh Hamilton on crockery percussion. I cannot thank these people enough. But I can legitimately say: "Three years in the making!"

Single track: Samuel (6MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (78MB)

M.Ace - A Fretful Menagerie (2008)

Another batch of solo acoustic guitar pieces. Better recorded, better guitar, better technique (with more truly independent bass and melody), same old stumblebum execution. Well, three out of four ain't bad. Handmade mood music for worrisome souls.

Single track: Cemetery Dragonfly (7MB)
Zip file of full album + 300dpi graphics (116MB)

Watch this space for new music... someday.