Aaron Parks

This song is killer, you'd best listen to it.

Aaron Parks
'Nemesis'
Invisible Cinema
[2008]

Form & Folly (official release) - free streaming

Well here we are and actually more or less on schedule, a first on behalf of musicians everywhere. I would like to start by thanking the phenomenal talents of violinist Edward Hou, drummer Nick Hagstrom, and tuvan throat-singer Andrew Hallberg. Without their competent abilities, this Album would undoubtedly have been comprised of skillful monotony exclusively on the acoustic guitar. Secondly I would like to thank you, whomever is reading this. Without your intrigue and appreciation of the arts, I would have nothing more than some metaphysical thoughts stuck in the proverbial crevasses of my mind.


I have been playing music for a while now and had always thought about putting out a CD but struggled to find an idea that could stand on it's own to tie all of my songs together, giving the album a kind of pulse. One day in 2009, I realized that 3 of my songs, written roughly about the same concept(s), were related in both musical and archetypical ideology. It wasn't coincidence, but it was unplanned. The idea behind the 'Turquoise Trilogy' (which entails Lullaby for Turquoise, Copper Masts, and Eulogy to the Turquoise Dream ) was that we often idealize things for their near perfections; a.k.a. their preconceived forms. The songs depict a chronology of thought from idealization to realization, ultimately digressing to idealizing imperfections pronounced in life. This idea transcends the entire album, aptly named Form & Folly. Again citing the trilogy of songs, take a gem like turquoise and look for it's colors in other aspects of life. There is this dime store notion that you can pay for something as simple, intricate and full-bodied as turquoise, so long as you can look past the fact it has been marketed to you (Lullaby). Eventually I came to realize that I don't see a lot of gemstones lying around places, but still see the color turquoise; most frequently in rusted metals like copper (Copper Masts). The final part of the trilogy (Eulogy) depicts the death of perfect forms, while dawning the realization that the imperfections which make things 'near' perfect are more essential to facets of mankind than their ideological counterpart. There are a lot of tangent and circular ideas that branch off this one, which I tried to include in the album, but it's really whatever you make of it. Thank you again for your support,
Reid Beairsto
Alden.

If you want a copy of the album, please email me at aldenmusic@sbcglobal.net and I'll send you one for a reasonable, yet negotiable price. Also I will be trying to set up one of those online download sites where you name your price for the album and get the .mp3 codes: suggested minimum price is $5.


Alden
"Consciousness"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Consciousness (Acoustic)"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Opus Pocus"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Lullaby for Turquoise"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Copper Masts"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Eulogy to the Turquoise Dream"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"That One Chord Used in Mario '64, Yeah, You Know the Waterworld Chord"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Mainstream Amelia"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Dylan's Tune"
Form & Folly
[2010]


Alden
"Oregon (Song for my Father)"
Form & Folly
[2010]

Opus Pocus: Classical Music Discovers LSD.

This was one of those songs that I knew would have to turn into something different in the studio due to the instrumentation (just one guitar), so I wanted to go as far away from the old school classical 'norm' to get something almost utterly atmospheric, kind of like house techno-music... only not. Throwing away the classical and acoustic guitar, I picked up my homemade stratocaster, threw it into a heaping sack of pickups and started jamming until I found my sound and groove. BUT, it wasn't enough, there just wasn't any substance to the piece. That's when I came across a rusty spoon. As it turns out, a rusted spoon as a makeshift slide, run through a pre-amp, analog delay, and volume pedal makes a good impression of what would be the baby of a violin and one of those saw things. Its sustain is haunting.

Here is a 40 second sample of Opus Pokas.



40 second sample
Alden
"Opus Pocus"
Form & Folly
2010

Edward Hou. A Boss? no. A Fucking Boss? Yes.

Outtake on Mainstream Amelia.

Edward Hou
Alden
"Mainstream Amelia, outtake"
Form & Folly
2010

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Mainstream Amelia: the pre-release sample

Here's a tune that doesn't make any sense in all the right ways. One of my favorite tunes to play and it's always fun to see what soloists can do on it. This tune features Nick Hagstrom on drums and Edward Hou on violin. Here's a 40 second sample to the song.


Alden
"Mainstream Amelia"
Form & Folly
2010

Neon - Olde John Mayer Cover

One of my all time favorite tunes. This is off my old demo tape entitled, demo.

Alden
"Neon (John Mayer Cover)"
Demo
[2010]

Alden & M.O.E.

My new bestie is this kid, Mario Mccray a.k.a. M.O.E of Well Known Strangers, who is straight baller. He projects himself as experienced beyond his years and has some righteous flows. After he free-styled on a few tasty jams we set up shop and have been working on a collaborative EP called "Midnight Sessions"

So we put a couple pre-written tunes together to concoct the ambient rap sandwich that is "Roll with the Punches." Shortly after we recorded the second verse, Mario and I coincidentally met a blues singer while strolling and playing in downtown Appleton. Here is the rough track, minus drums.

Alden & M.O.E.
"Roll with the Punches"
Midnight Sessions EP
2010




here is a tune that M.O.E. wrote and we recorded and mixed quick in the beat shop. Beats courtesy of some other place.
M.O.E.
"untitled"
2010


Here's M.O.E. playing live.

Consciousness: Experimental or Acoustic. The debate.

Here are a couple tracks:

I got inspiration for consciousness when I was living in an apartment between something like 4 churches. I had heard an example of tuvan-throat singing a few weeks earlier and tried to put the two together. And no, it's not a very romanticized piece, and there isn't a IV - I amen in the piece, i swear. It ended up lying along the line of minimalist repetition and gnarly grit. Here is the original tune, "Consciousness (feat. Andrew Hallberg)" [2009]



Alden
"Consciousness (feat. Andrew Hallberg)"
Form & Folly
2010


On the Album, I'm doing an acoustic rendition and it ended up being a little more along these lines:
40 second sample



Alden
"Consciousness (Acoustic)"
Form & Folly
2010

Dylan's Tune: Pre-release rough draft

I'm on to you technology... here's a twangy tune for Dylan Summers.

Alden
"Dylan's Tune"
Form & Folly
2010