listen

Some tracks from Transmission:

  • God Help Me - a modern interpretation of a kyrie eleison. Lyrics by j. Snodgrass, vocals by RC Laird.
  • Canticle of the Sun - based on a poem written by Francis of Assisi in 1224. Lyrics by j. Snodgrass, vocals by Dara Centonze.
  • Thirteen - a setting of the 13th Psalm in Persian trope, plainsong, and indie rock. Lyrics by j. Snodgrass, vocals by Galeet Dardashti and Dara Centonze, backing vocals by RC Laird and Warren Bloom
  • The Stranger - a Eucharistic prayer (kind of). If you listen closely, you’ll hear a preface, salvation history, sanctus, memorial acclamation, and the Lord’s prayer, but I also tried to include all my soap boxes about how Jesus has been misappropriated as a tool for oppression. Lyrics by j. Snodgrass, vocals by Dara Centonze.

Some tracks from Rotation:

  • Incarnation - A classic hymn, the text is a paraphrase of the Liturgy of St James, arguably from the 1st Century, with 17th Century French Carol. Mary Bragg is singing, Yoel Ben-Simhon is on oud, Katie Down is on flute, Stephen Hoevertsz is on guitar, and Troy Messenger is on oboe. The original carol, by the way, is not in 7/4. I did that.
  • Misconception - A fabulous intro of a Moroccan Eliyahu Hanavi leads into this song by j. Snodgrass. This is the first song I’ve ever written in 10/4 (although the honkey tonk section breaks into four for a while). If you can’t guess from the title, this track is from Rotation. It is sung by RC Laird with oud and Moroccan chant by Yoel Ben-Simhon and guitar by Stephen Hoevertsz.
  • Preparation - one of my first collaborations with j. Snodgras, this is our take on Palm Sunday. RC Laird is singing and Stephen Hoevertsz is on guitar.
  • Adoration - this song is a pairing of a 13th century prayer by Thomas Aquinas and a 17th Century French Church Melody. Mary Bragg is singing and Stephen Hoevertsz is playing guitar.

Other work:

  • Kyrie Eleison - A haunting arrangement of a Russian Orthodox Chant. I am playing didjeridu, and RC Laird is singing lead.
  • Moth - two music loops from Moth, the cell phone game that won the 2006 Mobile Game Mosh. There’s a lot of MIDI, but remember that cell phones don’t have much room for audio files

  • Citroen C4 - a demo soundtrack to a commercial. The animation was done by The Embassy Visual Effects