Awesome Sound
I found a tape cassette of improv horror stories I recorded and acted out when I was 9 years old. I cut the overly long tape down to 4 minutes and had it lathe cut into 7” record. I had so much fun making it that it led to the idea, during the Covid-19 quarantine, of making one-off vinyl editions of records never released. These are never for sale, never to be sold or distributed, they’re just for me because I like making things, this is an art project made with love.
Demons and What to Do
7” by Marc Calvary, age 9: On March 30th 2017 I turned 42, Douglas Adams said 42 was the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. I thought since I have no musical ability, it was the answer of how I could finally press a record, after which this inspired me to keep making records. I found a tape cassette of improv horror stories I acted out and recorded when I was a kid. I cut the 90 minute tape down to 4 minutes and had them lathe cut to 180gm vinyl as 7" records. This was the invite to the record listening party for Pulp Circus, and I doubt anything will be as fun to make. Yes, that's me at 18 mo. wearing my grandma's wig. Side A - Invitation & Instructions Side B: Demons and What to Do Limited to 50 copies as a Pulp Circus invite | Lathe Cut by tangibleformats.com | Cover image by my Mom, Jeannie Orloff | Text to Audio by Ella at acapella-box.com | Cover stock was 100lb Pure White Construction by mrfrench.com | Stamps made with Silhouette Mint | Audio recorded in 1984 on a Goldstar Tape Recorder
Caesar Demos Volume 1 & 2
12” Double Albums (2 Volumes): The Caesar Demos is a compilation album released digitally for free trading by Dean Ween in 2011. It contains a combination of demo tracks from Quebec and songs recorded for the album that were cut prior to pressing. I added a few tracks written during the time of these demos but not included in the official release, Mountains and Buffalo, and Argus (Part 2), as well as 4 tracks from the Quebec rehearsals. Each Volume has a 12 page 12”x12” booklet with more info, production notes, lyrics, and credits. I eat my little sandwich and it tastes like crap. Gonna learn to play the fl ute and kill myself. My original idea was to put all the songs from the Caesar Demos that didn’t make it to Quebec on vinyl and package it as a 7” box set. This involved scanning each of the covers to all the 3M paper games and then cloning over all the text to get clean copies of the covers to use for the albums. I was going to mimic the only actual 7” single released from the Quebec album, Tried and True / Mountains and Buffalo, but after doing the first one Pot Luck and Ooh Vah Lah, I didn’t like using the original fonts and switched it up with this font called Twice. This font gives you a lot of room to mess with the size and kerning and placement of letters so it’s more fun to work with. I got stuck when I realized too late, after designing 7 album covers, that it meant excluding That Man (From the Flatland) due to its length. I was going to have to rethink the whole project and redesign it. The only format that really worked was a two volume 12” double album. The new format proved to bring a whole new slew of problems, the biggest being that now it was too short and needed a bunch of other songs to fill out the last side. Luckily, I found the unreleased Quebec rehearsals on browntracker.net and it filled the album out perfectly. Two songs were added to bookend the official Caesar Demos. Mountains and Buffalo, (which mentions The Argus), even though it already had an official vinyl treatment, and The Argus (Part 2) which predates the album track. Neither of these tracks ever appeared on the Caesar Demos compilation although both were recorded during the making of Quebec. Splitting this up into 2 double albums gave me an excuse to show off all the covers that were made from the original paper games that inspired Smay Vision’s Quebec album cover, and gave me the opportunity to make not 1 but 2 inserts for the albums. The “By Ween” logo I created was going to be on every boogleg made, but in the end, I just kept it for this project. The 7” Pot Luck/Ooh Vah Lah is a recreation of the first Ween boogleg I made but using the styles I chose for this full project. These are probably my favorite 2 songs to listen to back-to-back on these demos. That’s why it got the cover to Thorns as the cover art, being the main inspiration behind the design for Quebec. I also used the blueish colors from the online version of Caesar’s album cover for both volume’s cover art, which is actually just inverted colors of Thorns... plus a little color adjustment afterwards. In addition to a handful of recordings that eventually made the album, the demos feature several alternate takes as well as a number of songs that have remained unreleased. All music by Ween | Art originally from 3M’s Paper Games for Travel & Leisure | Lathe Cut & Cover Printed by intheclouds.io | Not originally on Caesar* VOL1: A1. Mountains And Buffalo (2:48)* A2. Chocolate Town (2:48) A3. Pot Luck (2:27) A4. Ooh Vah Lah (2:50) A5. So Many People In The Neighborhood (2:26) A6. Linda (The Sexy Dancer) (2:52) B1. That Man (From The Flatland) (4:58) B2. Happy Colored Marbles (2:40) B3. Hey There Fancypants (2:08) B4. If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All) (5:44) C1. It’s Gonna Be a Long Night (Way Too Brown!) (2:46) C2. Oh My Little Country Cottage (1:36) C3. Among His Tribe (2:46) C4. Transdermal Celebration (3:23) D1. Captain (4:18) D2. Tried And True (4:24) D3. I Fell In Love Today (3:40) D4. I Don’t Want It (3:58) VOL2: E1. Ambrosia Parsley (4:36) E2. Zoloft (2:33) E3. Love Come Down (9-11-01) (5:43) E4. Alcan Road (3:36) F1. Don’t Let The Moon Catch You Cryin’ (3:30) F2. You Can Go Shit In Your Hat (Matt) (2:21) F3. Someday (3:35) F4. She Caught My Fancy (3:01) F5. Eulogy For David Anderson (3:09) G1. Things You Already Know (3:53) G2. Hello Johnny (3:56) G3. I’m Wide Open (5:17) G4. The Argus (Part 2) (3:14)* H1: Alcan Road (Quebec Rehearsal) (5:59)* H2: Ooh Va La (Quebec Rehearsal) (3:13)* H3: Transdermal Celebration (Quebec Rehearsal) (3:28)* H4: Tried And True (Quebec Rehearsal) (4:17)* “Well what can I say about this here, lemme see. The first thing that comes to mind is that all the while we were doing this we still had Claude Coleman on drums, he eventually got into a major car wreck and wasn’t around when it finally came time to make the “real” record. Instead the drum duties fell on me, Josh Freese, and Sim Cain for a couple of tunes. Almost all of this was recorded at our beach house in Holgate, NJ onto 16 track tape. A tiny bit of it was recorded in the garage behind Aaron’s house in Pt. Pleasant, PA. Some of it was recorded in the spare bedroom of my house in New Hope. Most of the tunes are just me and Aaron, with the two of us playing everything, with me on drums. The songs with Claude, Dave, and Glenn are pretty obvious. On just a few tunes we took what you hear here and cleaned them up and had Andrew Weiss mix them for the record after some overdubs. Dave sings on “It’s Gonna Be A Long Night”, this was days before he had surgery to remove polyps in his throat and his voice was really rough so we figured he was the guy for the job. This isn’t even all of the tunes that we ended up choosing from, just the ones I happened to burn to CD before we drove home from the beach every week. Hope you dig it for what it is.” - Dean Ween, 2011
A Little Bit Alexi$
7” by Annie Murphy, performing as Alexis Rose: I love the show Schitt's Creek, and I thought Annie Murphy’s (as Alexis Rose) performance of her hit song A Little Bit Alexis was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I quickly found out there was a full version released with real production and knew it needed to be the Side B to the original recording from the show. Side A: Show Recording Side B: Official Recording Cover Image by Vanessa Heins | Inside Image by Carlyle Routh | Song performed by Annie Murphy on the Canadian comedy television series Schitt's Creek | co-written by Annie Murphy, Nixon Boyd, and Menno Versteeg, and inspired by Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears.
Buenas Tardes Amigo / Amigo
7” by Ween & Sesame Street: In the book Ween's Chocolate and Cheese (33 1/3 Book 79) by Hank Shteamer there was this interesting little bit about the origins of Buenas Tardes Amigo and realized I needed to make this a record. “Despite the high level of musicianship on display in "Buenas Tardes," Melchiondo is quick to point out that there's nothing advanced about the song's inspiration. "Aaron wrote that from Sesame Street," he explains. "You know how Sesame Street has those little Spanish sequences? You know, they had Maria and a couple other characters and occasionally they would do that, and (Aaron) was watching it and they said, 'Hola means "Hello." Buenos Tardes means "Good Afternoon.'" And I think he just ran with it." Freeman elaborates I remember writing that song better than most for some reason. I had moved into my very first apartment by myself after some years at Brookridge Farm. I had my own big bed in my own big room and a TV to watch in bed as well. I remember it being the first time I had really felt like being a musician and artist was my calling and settling into the notion. I remen1ber it was a beautiful morning and I woke up hungover. I looked to my bed table and saw the bottle of Jack Daniel's from the night before. I leaned, turned on the TV and it was Sesame Street and a very white-looking and sounding puppet was schooling the other puppets on how to say, "Good morning," "Good evening" and "Good afternoon" in Spanish. I remember laughing really hard and almost throwing up - then the song came very quickly thereafter.” Side A: Buenas Tardes Amigo (Demo) by Ween Side B: Amigo by Sesame Street Spamela Hamderson designed by Ed Eyth for Muppets Tonight. Back cover images of both the gun wielding puppet and the Beer wielding puppet are from leosimports.com, amigo Written by Carol Hall for Sesame Street Inc., performed by Fran Brill (Betty Lou) and Jerry Nelson (Carlos), Buenas Tardes Amigo by Ween.
Cosmic Woman
7” by Christian Winter (Will Forte): If you haven’t already seen the Irish horror comedy EXTRA ORDINARY, you should. Will Forte plays a washed up one-hit wonder named Christian Winter (they call him “One-Hit Winter”) and in the film we get to hear some his chart-smashing hit Cosmic Woman. Online I found a full version of him singing the song and then lucked out when I found a cover of the song by the band, Babelord. I now had a song for each side, so I didn’t really have any choice to make this. Side A: Cosmic Woman Performed By Will Forte As Christian Winter From The Film Extra Ordinary | Recorded In An Irish Castle By Alan Scully Side B: Cosmic Woman Performed By Babelord, Babelord.bandcamp.com Art from the film.
Ween WTSR
Ween did a live performance in New Jersey on WTSR in January of 1992, when they were 22 years old. They did a lot of strange covers, songs they were still working on, and random experiments. I heard it one night and thought it deserved to be on vinyl, so I had one copy made for my project.
The Garden of Earthly Delights (Butt Music)
7” By Hieronymus Bosch and Amelia Hamrick: In 2014 Amelia Hamrick was with a few friends admiring Hieronymus Bosch’s 600-year-old painting The Garden of Earthly Delights and discovered music written on the butt of one of the many tortured people in the part of the painting which represents Hell. “Hey, guys, this dude has music written on his rear end,” Amelia said. “I’m totally going to transcribe it.” This is literally the 600-years-old butt song from Hell. Side A1: Amelia Hamrick Interview and Original Piano Composition Side A2: By James Spalink, based on Hamrick Transcription Side B: Kent Heberling’s Heavy Metal Tribute Kunst en Muziek door Hieronymus Bosch | Art and Music by Hieronymus Bosch | Kant A:1 Amelia Hamrick Interview en Originele Pianocompositie + Side A:1 Amelia Hamrick Interview and Original Piano Composition + Kant A:2: Lute, Harp en Hurdy-Gurdy van James Spalink Melodie gebaseerd op de transcriptie van Amelia Hamrick + Side A:2: Lute, Harp, and Hurdy-Gurdy by James Spalink. Melody based on the transcription by Amelia Hamrick + Kant B: Kent Heberling’s Zwaar Metalen Eerbetoon + Side B: Kent Heberling’s Heavy Metal Tribute | Trattatello font by James Grieshaber + Scroll by Nchendio via istock.com | Hamrick photo by Bryan Terry + Audio interview by oklahoman.com
Scants & You!
7” Doom Patrol Read-A-Long Book & Record Set: After I made the Steele & Stone Doom patrol record, I watched the Scants Episode and knew this, and the Summoning song would be a great record. Plus it gave me a chance to make a Read Along Book and Record Set like I had as a kid. I posted this to r/doompatrol and the mods removed it. Side A: An Educational Guide to Scants Side B: Kipling’s Summoning Images from doom patrol S2.E7; Dumb Patrol | Scants created by Gerard Way and Mike Allred | Doom Patrol created by Drake, Haney, & Premiani with revival by Grant Morrison & Richard Case | Thanks to all those that brought it to television.
The Brown Beatles
7” by Ween: Being a both a Beatles and a Ween fan I thought it would be fun to make a record of all the Beatles songs Ween has covered. These 4 were the ones I could find. If there are more out there, I’ll make a 10” next time. Side A, Track 1: Boys (New Hope-Solebury High School Talent Show, 1988) Side A, Track 2: She Said She Said (Axis: Bold As Boognish) Side B, Track 1: Hey Bulldog (Unknown Live Recording) Side B, Track 2: I’m So Tired (1.23.88 City Gardens, Trenton, Nj) All songs by Lennon and McCartney, except boys by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell, originally performed by the Shirelles | Cover versions by Ween | On Boys: Dean on guitar, Gene on bass, Christina Serino on drums, and Scott Lowe on vocals | Cover and Side B photos by Beatlemania | Side A photo from after the talent show, 1988
Mutilated Lips
7” by Ween: I made stickers recently that spoofed the classic Sea Monkeys comic book ad, the stickers are for sale, but I wanted to apply the work I had done to a record since it took so long to create. It was an obvious fit to have Mutilated Lips be the chosen song because of the line “Accepting Only Fresh Brine.” Side A: Alternate Version From Live In Chicago Side B: Live On MTV’s Oddsville, 1997 Sleeve printed by theprintgroupnj.com | Sticker printed by stickerapp.com | Caricatures shown not intended to depict actual Artemia or Boognish | Copyright © 1978 Transcience Corporation U.S. Patent No. 3,675,966 | Original art from a 1978 comic book advertisement by Joe Orlando, manipulated by The Carbon Based Mistake.
Three Arm Sally
7” by Three Arm Sally (The Inevitable Backlash): Jason Pargin (Originally David Wong) writes a series of novels called John Dies at the End, and the first part was made into a movie by Don Coscarelli. In the movie you get to hear a song, Camel Holocaust, by John’s band Three Arm Sally. In the novel they mention lots of other songs, but there are only a few songs recorded by The Inevitable Backlash performing as Three Arm Sally. I took the songs I could find, as well as the version from the movie and listed them along all the other songs mentioned in the novel. Side A1: Camel Holocaust Side A2: Gay Superman Side B1: He Never Left Side B2: Camel Holocaust (Movie Version) Cover artwork from uncredited art by the official mp3 only release by Hegemony Records | All songs written and performed by The Inevitable Backlash performing as Three Arm Sally | I once knew a man... actually I made that up. 1, 2, 3, 4!
Steele & Stone
7” by Doom Patrol: I’ve been a fan of Doom Patrol since issue 19 when Grant Morrison took over the book. Having a Doom Patrol television series was always a dream of mine, and the wait was worth it. The show is truly bizarre. I posted this to r/doompatrol and the mods removed it. Side A: Steele & Stone Theme Song Side B: Pure Imagination by Dorothy Spinner Doom Patrol created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, & Bruno Premiani and series revival by Grant Morrison & Richard Case. Additional thanks to all those that brought it to television.
Silent Night
7” by Ween: I decided Ween needed an X-Mas album, and since there weren’t any available to buy because they never made one, I went ahead and made my own. The original boog-less cover image of Krampus didn’t have a credit, but I found it on the internet at www.wall.alphacoders.com | The original boog-less Krampus on the record labels were from an antique postcard, no credit was available for the artist | Music by Ween, Gene Ween, and The Dean Ween Group Side A: Silent Night by Ween Side B, Track 1: White Christmas by Gene Ween Side B, Track 2: X-Mas Day by The Dean Ween Group
Pot Luck / Ooh Vah Lah
7” by Ween: Quebec is often my favorite Ween album. However, I may like the Caesar Demos even more… In a perfect world the Caesar Demos would have had an official release and Pot Luck and Ooh Vah Lah would have been the 7” single for the album. So now it is. Side A: Pot Luck By Ween Side B: Ooh Vah Lah by Ween Cover based off the only official single from Quebec “Tried and True / Mountains and Buffalo.” | Original design by Smay Vision using art from the Thorns paper game by 3M | Songs by Ween
Bumblebees
7” by Ween: He stung me forty-seven thousand times on my head, but I always wished for that forty-seven thousand and ONE MORE time… in the form of a vinyl edition of Bumblebee Part 2. But it’s only available on the CD version of God Ween Satan, so I made this. Now I have it on vinyl. Side A: Bumblebee Part 1 (Live In Switzerland, 1990) Side B: Bumblebee Part 2 (From God Ween Satan) Cover art from ZU_09 via istock.com | Insert printed by theprintgroupnj.com | Songwriters: Michael Melchiondo & Aaron Freeman © Downtown Music Publishing
Excerpts from The Cat’s Cradle
7” by Ween: I love all those outtakes from The Cat’s Cradle DVD, while putting this together I realized that most of the outtake clips were from an hour long radio show Ween did on WTSR Radio in Trenton NJ on January 10th, 1992. Too long for a 7” record. This is just excerpts, just the 3 songs they featured on the DVD. I’ll be making a full album of the entire WTSR Radio show at a later date. Side A1: Ween Covers Listen to the Music by The Doobie Brothers Side A2: Shalom Absalom by Ween Side B: The Goin’ Gets Tough from the Getgo by Ween Insert printed by theprintgroupny.com | Cover based off original design for Ween: At the cat’s cradle, 1992 by Aaron Tanner | All songs by Ween, Browndog music (BMI) | Gene Ween (vocals and guitar) | Dean Ween (vocals and guitar) | Bass and Drums (Yamaha digital audio tape deck) | Ed Wilson (second guitar on Shalom Absalom) | Audio taken from Live at The Cat’s Cradle: Vera (Groningen, Netherlands 10/31/91) | WTSR Radio (Trenton NJ, 1/10/1992) | Statches (Columbus, OH 3/6/92)
My Own Bare Hands
7” by Ween: I love the album “La Cucaracha”, and this is arguably one of the best tracks on the album. It’s a goddamn anthem. It’s a ridiculous misogynistic parody, the character in it screams bravado and machismo, but in reality, he’s just going to be having another evening with his own lonely bare hands. Side A: From The Album La Cucaracha Side B: Live From Bonnaroo 6/13/10 (With Secret Track Learnin’ to Love) Mutant Mad Scientists by Ivan Nikulin via istock.com (I tried to hire him to do a commission piece of the cover crab as a cockroach instead, but he declined the offer as he was too booked up) | Blockhead font designed by John Hersey at Adobe Fonts | All songs by Ween
I Like You
7” by Ween: I was in Costa Rica years ago and stumbled on this outdoor market. There was this little lonely girl playing in the park with her stuffed animal and I quickly took a picture. Later I heard this song in my head while going through images from the trip. Side A: I Like You (The Live Brain Wedgie! / Wad Excerpts) Side B: I Like You (Ween II Axis: Bold as Boognish) Cover Image by Marc Calvary | Back/Interior image by steverts from istock.com
Argus International
7” by Ween: I read what Deaner wrote below and then found the Argus International on Google Earth, I liked the story and thought it would make a cool 7” with The Argus (Part 2) as side A, and the Official Argus on side B. Luckily I found a recording of the first time Ween ever performed The Argus live, so that was the track I used. The first version of “The Argus”, we did this on a 4-track at my house. Up the street from Claude’s house on route 31 in Hopewell, NJ was this very big rundown factory with this crazy, almost satanic symbol on the face of the building, and the name of the place was ARGUS INTERNATIONAL. That’s what started it all. I always liked this song, and the other Argus on Quebec. Glad this floating around out there. This version came way before the Quebec “Argus”. - Dean Ween, January 3, 2015 Side A: The Argus (Part 2) Side B: The Argus (First Time Live) Image from Google Earth | Live @ the Orange Peel Asheville NC 09.12.2003. Recording by Chonkmonkey | Music by Ween, songs in order of creation.
The Long Beach Island Tapes
12” by Ween: I ‘ve heard reports about how it was stolen from their car and traded around and no one wanted it released for the longest time. But goddamn if this isn’t a great collection of songs, even the ridiculous “Get Your Boobs On” gets stuck in my head all the time. I love this album and really wanted to do it justice, so I made a copy for myself. Side A: Side B: Cover Image by vectortatu via istock.com.
Craters of the Sac
12” by Ween: Craters of the Sac was an MP3-only album release, until now. It wasn’t on vinyl, and I wanted it on vinyl, so I put it on vinyl. I took creative license with the cover art, but that sac is still Deaner’s. From Wikipedia: Because Elektra Records released Paintin' the Town Brown, which was intended to be Ween's first online independent release, Dean Ween leaked the album to the Internet in 1999. "Put the Coke on My Dick" and "Monique the Freak" came of the Mollusk sessions of 1997. "Suckin' Blood From The Devil's Dick" originated from the Pandy Fackler tape from the late 1980s.] The tracks "Big Fat Fuck", "How High Can You Fly?" and "Monique the Freak" later appeared in slightly different forms on Ween's 2005 compilation Shinola, Vol. 1. The album cover features a close-up photo of Dean Ween's scrotum. Side A: Side B: All the audio tracks are from browntracker.net | Don Graffiti font by Don Marciano | Photo of Deaner’s sac, by Deaner | All songs by Ween.
WAH2
12” Double Album by Ween: In 1997 Ween were guests on the German music program Wah2 (Wah Wah), if you haven’t seen the full show, you should. It’s full of great clips of the boys talking about their music and just screwing around giving the band fake names and making up stories, plus they play a bunch of songs live on the show with Gener saying “A Wah Wah Exclusive” each time, which cracks me the fuck up. I watched it for the first time late at night and afterwards almost immediately started to gather screen grabs to use for the artwork for this double album. Side A: Side B: Side C: Side D: Images & Audio from Wah Wah (Wah2) German Music Program, July 15th, 1997, | Music by Ween, except Jet Net by Boredoms
Dirty Money
7” by Ween: I picked Dirty Money to turn into a vinyl record because it’s the only digital single listed on Discogs. This was released as a digital track through iTunes and on Ween’s website, just a little gift to fans, a Shinola Volume 1 bonus track/outtake. I tried something different this time by getting a picture disk made. It was during the COVID-19 Pandemic, so it took over 6 weeks to get it. But here it is in all its glory. The sleeves I had printed separately because the company I used only does plain covers and that’s boring. Side A: Side B: Sleeve Printing by theprintgroupnj.com | Images by imagedepotpro via istock.com | Originally released by Chocodog Records (CDR1008) in 2005 as a digital file only | Dirty Money by Ween
In Progress | Ween Live Box Set: The Met Philadelphia 12/14/19
12” Vinyl Box Set x5 Albums + Extras by Ween: This is still in progress, as it’s the biggest entry to this project to date. This was my partner’s first Ween show and I couldn’t believe how lucky she was to get to hear this set, it was amazing and may be my favorite live show of all time. I decided if I was going to do a massive box set, this would be the show. I bought the show poster, and on a whim, I reached out to the artist, Ravi Zupa, to see if I could buy a high-resolution digital version. I told him what I was planning, and he loved the idea so after signing some paperwork promising not to do this for profit, and make only one copy, he sold me the file. I took his poster and spread out the elements across the five albums and the box, as well as lots of goodies a great box set is just supposed to have; a sheet of Ween blotter paper; a custom COVID-19 Ween mask; lots of stickers; and a cork record mat, by the time this project is complete I’m guessing there will be more stuff added. Track Listing: Additional Credits: Programs used: Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and I learned the basics of Adobe Audition to format the recorded tapes of the show uploaded to browntracker.com by Rich Cuiffo into one seamless track per album side.
Golden Cassettes by Ween
Actual copies of these early cassettes are too expensive and rare for me. So, I made my own copies in GOLD. All Original designs are by Ween, recreated from scans and photos online by Marc Calvary. 1. The Crucial Squeegie Lip is the first Ween recording released by Bird O' Prey Records in 1987. Dean and Gene were both 16 at the time of the release of this tape. Side A: Side B: 2. Ween II Axis: Bold As Boognish is the second recording by Ween on Bird O' Prey Records released in 1988. Side A: Side B: 3. Prime 5 was released on Bird O' Prey Records in 1988. It’s a greatest hits compilation collecting tracks from their first five homemade cassettes: Mrs. Slack, The Polish Lightbulb Joke, Mike Banks, Kim Tulio, and John Ward. Side A: Side B: