Album Notes

Stone Cold Blue is Bernie Bernie Headflap's 2003 full length CD featuring 17 original songs!

Something evil happened to the music industry in the early nineties. Bands with true creative genius like They Might be Giants and XTC were neglected by their labels and as a result took years to release new material. Bernie Bernie Headflap's Alan McCabe, a rabid fan of these bands saw how these bands were treated and decided the music industry was no place for his musical vision. So he built a modest studio in his basement and the latest result of his efforts is the jam-packed 17-song Stone Cold Blue.

If you are a fan of the clever and unexpected, the quirky danceability of artists like Beck and Cake, or the inventive fun of home recording enthusiasts like They Might be Giants then this CD is a must for your collection! Headflap tackles a lot of ground here, in all seriousness, but sometimes with tongue planted firmly in cheek. For example the song "Got to be Joking" uses a clever play on words to drive home a serious point about how to keep your perspective in life, and it does it all to a funky beat you'll want to dance to.

This CD is brimming with homemade goodness.

Okay. So Stone Cold Blue will not be winning any technical sound awards. It is a one man project done in a home studio with modest resources. But the freedom of working alone meant there were no men in suits looking over McCabe's shoulder constraining his creativity, reminding him he had to stick to the expectations of one certain genre. That's exactly the type of thing he was trying to avoid in the first place!

Here's a particularly insightful review done by a friend, who happens to be a well respected, professional freelance music journalist:
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Ah ha! I think this might just very well be the perfect example of the merits of desktop recording. This is obviously the creation of a sole, omnipotent soul able to perfect the "one man performing multiple layers of sound and dialogue" game. It must be a mighty fun game for Mr. McCabe, but I also read an underlying much more serious secret message, a plea if you may, for collaborating musicians. This is a creation that lives and breathes for the streets, for mass consumption, yet one man cannot pull off this feat alone. The menagerie of possibilities behind the curtain, creating such a wild yet cohesive compilation of songs is one thing; to take this show on the road, other players, many other players are surely required. This is music that deserves a band, a label, a home; the 'Flap in singular form will continue with or without others but for the world's sake let's hope the 'Flap multiplies to more members than the Polyphonic Spree. The possibilities are endlessly possible; will it be "quirky college band superstars" or "well-respected groundbreaking underground talent" or "this millennium's Talking Heads"? Without further ado, go to the 'Flap website, listen to the music for yourself; as no descriptive or comparative words will do the recordings the justice they justly deserve.
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On the fence still? Okay, how about this: here are the lyrics to the song on Stone Cold Blue about which Alan os most proud. The songs is called "Dustspeck Blues". Please forgive the non-poetic appearance of the formatting, but perhaps it captures anti-sentimental approach that McCabe takes to songwriting.

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The universe is 13 billion years old Ten billion years later life appeared on earth I'm told Think of all that time Think that humankind Has only been around for 100,000 years blows my mind To stop my brain from reeling I turn on the Superbowl Where the kicker claims that God helped him to score the field goal The crowd goes nuts He does a little dance And I'm still left to deal with my own insignificance So my question is does God pay attention that close To everybody's life And do you then suppose It intervenes sometimes and for something so small As the flight path taken by a ball?
Chorus I want you to feel the dustspeck blues just like I do Doo doo doo doo de doo I want you to feel the dustspeck blues because I do Doo doo doo doo de doo
For my second verse I'll try to limit my scope When I get too much perspective man I start to lose hope Sing a little song Do a little dance Do the best I can to try and change my circumstance Everybody wants their shot Everybody wants to shine Are you here to be a superstar well then son get in line A million singers tryin' all at once to be heard Makes it awful hard to understand the word There I go again with the numbers and the stats I thought that I'd decided that I had enough of that Now add to my list of weaknesses "can't stick to plans" And I'm still tryin' to deal with my insignificance
REPEAT CHORUS_
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There. If you've read this far, you must be at least a little interested... but there's something holding you back? There are hundreds of thousands of struggling artists out there asking for your money. Just by the fact that you are on this page means you are aware of the independent music world and you probably know that supporting all the acts you want to is impossible and so... how to choose?? Sometimes, simply liking the music is not enough. Just who becomes the celebrities of tomorrow is a decision that people should put some REAL THOUGHT into. If you would like more info on why Bernie Bernie Headflap is an especially good choice for music lovers to support, drop the band a line using the email link above a bit and to the left and you will receive an interesting reply.