We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

An American Album of Familiar Music (2017 Remastered​/​Expanded Edition)

by Orchidales

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
I saw a girl, I'd met before I saw her through my window Her hair was gold, she walked alone I saw her through my window She smiled at me, undoubtedly I had to let her know too far to reach, too scared to speak instead I let her go I saw a girl, I once longed for I saw her through my window and I could see, she was happy no longer was she alone alone x4
2.
Seventeen 03:15
When I was seventeen life was so fun I never thought I'd live to be twenty one when I was eighteen I had a sharp tongue I never thought I'd reap the seeds that I'd sewn When I was nineteen I started doing drugs I hung around with some wannabe thugs I never thought that I would make it this far but now I'm older, you know I wanna go back, oh you know I wanna x4 Now I see that those days are long gone The friends I once had have all but moved on I never dreamed that I would make it this long But now I'm older, you know I wanna go back, oh you know I wanna x4 (Repeat chorus)
3.
Electro 02:28
I'm alive don't put that death on me electronica is making me unfree it's cold and it's slow and it rots away my brain I think, I think I might just go insane electro, electro, electro electro I should've lived in the 1950's 2012 I'm drowning, drowning I'm gonna shake the walls with my scream You can have the club and the fake ecstasy said, you can have the club and the fake ecstasy you say you're ready to dance don't even know how to dance You're only using your hands Not even breathing with yer dead fish feel in my hands (repeat chorus) electro, electro, electro, electro (Written by Dave Sea/Dave and the Strange)
4.
Come with me, I'll show you how I'll take you out on the town Drink whiskey 'till we run out Get so high you won't come down down down Come with me, and you will see How it feels to be free Your feet won't touch the ground and you'll be above the clouds clouds, down (lead) clouds, ground
5.
Ghost World 03:09
I've been nodding out so long that I don't know Are we bound to stay, or are we free to go? Nauseated, and I've never felt so low I planned to leave but never even showed I'm out of reach, but never out of touch I won't agree, but can do if I must I don't see what everyone else does Hope the reason finds us I'm an atheist, and proud to let it show If God exists I pray he doesn't know My favorite is everything I loathe I can't forget it, so I let it go let it go... (Repeat chorus)
6.
Blue Moon 02:18
To be young in June To be free from all And we drank Blue Moon 'Till the break of dawn of dawn sleep all afternoon And await nightfall Then we continue Where we left off Left off
7.
Emily 03:06
Emily, she takes you by your hand Says she wants you to be her man Then she is gone, before you know Emily she sends you mixed signals You wanna know just how she feels But she is gone, before you know Gone before you know x2 Emily, you've got her in your hands But she slips through just like quicksand and she is gone, before you know Emily, the guys all adore her She tells you that you're the one for her then she is gone, before you know Gone before you know x2 (Lead) Gone before you know x2 Emily, you've got her by your side Don't think you're not like the other guys Cause she'll be gone, before you know Emily, you'll swear she's your lover 'till she leaves you for another and she is gone, before you know Gone before you know x2 Before you know x4
8.
Ophelia 03:51
See the way I've tried to Lead the way, I'll guide you I love the way it lasts for hours I love the way you're mine to, mine to lose Never did want to find out why You build me up to bleed me dry It's never your fault babe, I'm always wrong Whenever you're far away, you're right at home And I cannot sleep away the nights alone I'll be just fine I'll be just fine See the way that I do You never even tried to I love the way it lasts for hours I love the way you're mine to, mine to lose Never did want to find out why You build me up to bleed me dry It's never your fault babe, I'm always wrong Whenever you're far away, you're right at home And I cannot sleep away the nights alone I'll be just fine I'll be just fine (lead) Mine to, mine to lose Never did want to find out why You build me up to bleed me dry It's never your fault babe, I'm always wrong Whenever you're far away, you're right at home And I cannot sleep away the nights alone I'll be just fine I'll be just fine
9.
No Name #7 04:03
Whenever I need to tell you, the words are hard to find I've spent weeks in this room, searching for all the lines I don't mind if I lose, it happens all the time All the time (I'm) over my head x4 whenever I need to tell you, the words are hard to find Scratch and bleed, what else to do when you're alone and high Am I mean, am I rude, or are you more than kind? (I'm) over my head x4 Whenever I need to tell you, the words are hard to find...

about

Ah yes, yet another CLASSIC Orchidales remaster.

Not even gonna lie, the first time this album hit the internet (and whatever CD-R's I could find laying around) in November 2013 it sounded like absolute shit. I was living in DC at the time, strung out and scrambling to release a follow up album, and the end result was not good. Much like the first album, I was around 22 - 23 at the time and didnt know what the hell I was doing (this seems to be a recurring thing)... only difference was, I was now living far from home and being consistently careless about well... pretty much everything. Needless to say, the big city swallowed me AND my little album whole.

To be honest, I couldn't even stand to listen to this record until I started remastering it, which actually proved to be more exhausting than the recording process itself. To make sure everything was done right, I started from scratch (scrapping all of my previously saved "work") and spent a good year or so trying to get everything to sound how I originally intended it to back then. This remastered/expanded edition is the end result.

Its nowhere near perfect, but anyone familiar with the original release will immediately notice a huge difference. Everything is now in stereo (with the exception of "Through My Window" and the demos, which unfortunately couldn't be altered due to the master copies being on cassette), and that annoying/unnecessary compression has been lifted in order to give the tracks room to breathe.

I tried my damndest to fix some of the muddier basslines by tinkering with the EQ, and fixed the clipping that previously marred some songs to the best of my knowledge. The tracklisting has been rearranged to give the album a better flow, and Yvette (who also appeared on the cover of the original, 2013 release) was nice enough to lend another one of her photos to us for updated cover art.

In addition to all that stuff, I've included THREE previously unreleased bonus tracks (hidden, but available upon download). The first is a demo of "Blue Moon" from sometime around Fall 2010, when I was just finding my footing as a musician, and the other two are demos of "Above the Clouds" and "Emily" from the same cassette/time period. If I'm not mistaken, my buddy Sam Mitchell played drums on the latter.

With ALL of that said, I hope you guys enjoy these remasters... whether you're already familiar with the album or just now discovering it. I want to give a big thank you to Lane, and everyone else who got me off my duff and back to working on music. Oh, and of course you guys on bandcamp for listening/downloading. I'm personally a lot happier with this record now, and I hope some of y'all will dig it too.

- John

credits

released June 13, 2017

(Originally released November 5, 2013)

- All songs written by yers truly except for "Electro", written by Dave Sea and originally performed by Dave & The Strange.

- Tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 were recorded between February and October 2013 at the Playhouse in Washington, DC. The rest were done back at home in my bedroom between 2010 - 2012.

- All songs were recorded using a Fostex MR-8 (with the exception of Through My Window and the bonus demos... which were done on a Tascam 488 MKII) and mastered using Sony Acid 7. The only thing I used the program for was adjusting the levels of each instrument... no pitch correction, quantization, or any of that bullshit. Enjoy.

John O'Donahue - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Slide Guitar, etc, etc.

Cover photo: Yvette Yser

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Orchidales Belmont, North Carolina

"...three dudes from Belmont who finished high school a few years back and, well, didn't leave. Their surfy, trash-fi translation of Brian Jonestown Massacre well reflects the kind of nihilistic, hard-drinking slumming that takes place among the young and disillusioned - as do their rowdy, equipment failure-plagued live shows." - Corbie Hill, Creative Loafing ... more

contact / help

Contact Orchidales

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Orchidales, you may also like: