Track listing for 'Cryspace'

SIDE A
Lost and Found
The Consequence of You
Raleigh
Just Like Heaven (Cure)
Providence #3
Everything's All Right!* (J. Moran/E.P.)
Just Between You and Me* (April Wine)
Candy Says** (Velvet Underground)
Winter Losses

SIDE B
Berlin Wall*
Wall St. Girl
Cryspace
Any Way That You Want Me* (Troggs)
You Don't Know Me and You Won't See Me (J. Moran/Beatles)
Good as Gold
Something Happened*
The Only One (B. Bragg)
Blue Moon* (Big Star)
RUOK?

Bonus tracks: Indian Summer (Beat Happening)

All songs written by E.P. except as indicated
Vocals, ukulele, guitar, accordion, keyboards: E.P.
*Vocals: S.M.
**Vocals, ukulele: A.P.
Produced by E.P. except **produced by A.P. and E.P.

Psychic Envelopes announce free download of entire 'Cryspace' album

October 18—The new Psychic Envelopes album, Cryspace, will be available for free download, a spokesperson for the band announced last night. "All of the tracks will be available at some point over the next few weeks on the band's Myspace page," he said. "Currently, 'Berlin Wall,' 'Winter Losses,' the demo version of 'Something Happened,' and the cover of 'Any Way That You Want Me' are up, and the selection will change every few days until all the songs have been offered."

Although most of the tracks have been put on the page before, the group promises to include demos, covers, and other rarities. The "entire Cryspace experience," according to the spokesperson, "consists of 20, 22 tracks, maybe 25." It's "open-ended," he added.

"We're very excited," said E.P., who had been hovering around the proceedings incognito, dressed like a fumigator.

Watch this space for a complete track listing.

Right through the heart

From the archives: E.P. on P.E.'s "Raleigh"

I should explain that my iPod has no volume control, so if a song plays too loud, I can either fast-forward to the next track, or take off the headphones until the noise subsides.

"Berlin Wall"

"Berlin Wall" was the final song recorded in the same late August '07 session, featuring crystalline Sarah vocals and yielding "Everything's All Right!," assorted covers, and "Something Happened."

Q: What's the story with the music?
A: The backing track had been composed many months earlier, featuring two ukuleles, two keyboard lines, and a completely different melody and set of lyrics. (The only bit that survived is the bridge.)
Q: Anything else you want to tell us?
A: The male vocals were rerecorded in mid-October. A snippet of guitar was added to the coda as well.

"I can't be summed up in your 50 words or less"

Jumping off "Everything's All Right!," their quasi-collaboration with Team Knucklehead, the Envelopes return with a quick 'n' dirty cover of T.K.'s classic "You Don't Know Me"...and barely pause to breathe before following it up with an abbreviated version of the Beatles' "You Won't See Me"!

"Everything's All Right"

NEW YORK—The Psychic Envelopes have released their new single, "Everything's All Right!"

The Envelopes cowrote "E.A.R." with Team Knucklehead back in 1994 (some sources say ’93) in an apartment on West 105th Street.

The song was forgotten for over a decade. Earlier this year, while the Envelopes were cleaning out the closet, they found a notebook containing some intriguing scraps: "I keep yelling at you, 'We don't have to fight.'"

Memory kicked in; those days on 105th Street suddenly came to life. The Envelopes recalled that these scrawls had eventually become a song, but it was never recorded, and no complete set of lyrics could be found.

Team Knucklehead was contacted and was able to dig up a (dot-matrix) printed copy of the words, including chords, which the Team had typed out upon returning to Little Rock back in ’94. This was enough to enable them to piece together and record a version (hopefully soon to be officially available on the Team Knucklehead Myspace page), on which the Psychic Envelopes duet version is based.

The only other song written during that session—now over a dozen years in the past—is "Mr. Wrongchange," a poignant air about never having the right number of coins when making a purchase, forcing Mr. W. to break large bills and tote the correspondingly heavier change around town.

"Everything's All Right!" features the vocals of new Envelopes singer Sarah. Also up on the Myspace page for a limited time is another rare P.E. cover: "Any Way That You Want Me," by the Troggs.

We've got it covered

For a limited time at the MySpace page, the Psychic Envelopes offer two super-rare covers: a duet version of April Wine's barely bilingual ballad "Just Between You and Me," and a ukulele'd take on a classic VU tune. Plus the Hellerific double-header "Good as Gold" and "Something Happened."

Something and everything

AUGUST 30—Psychic Envelopes have added a new singer to their lineup and recorded six new songs—three covers and three originals: "Something Happened," "Everything's All Right!" (cowritten with Team Knucklehead), and the uke-driven synthpop duet "Berlin Wall."

The first is available for a limited time at the MySpace page.

It is rumored that the Envelopes will try to write more songs that share titles with Joseph Heller novels.

Who are the Psychic Envelopes?

Excellent question!

Find out more, and listen to tunes, at our Myspace page.

Recordings to date (2007, earliest to latest):
"The Only One" (B. Bragg cover)
"Good as Gold"
"Raleigh" (Inflatable Fun Guys cover)
"The Consequence of You"
"Lost and Found"
"Winter Losses"
"Wall St. Girl"
"RUOK"