This is the first collection of songs written by Brad Evans under the name of Blue Desert Savant. The first ideas were started around the summer of 2000 or so, though the only song from those early times to survive was Plant King. The rest of the tracks came into existence in late '03 and early '04, many of them written late at night in Brad's cement-floored Heber City bedroom with the green light on, or in his head as he cruised through Heber's streets delivering pizza.
Recording has always been Blue Desert Savant's biggest obstacle. Brad tried to do it himself from the home studio like Sandbaby and Surrounded by commaS, but found he didn't quite have the same precise musical ear that Kody, Matt, or Charles (Vaalo) had. The result was highly experimental, and really not all that flattering. While Matt was away in England, Brad tried to record in Blue Boots Studio with Charles, but never got very far. (The best thing to come out of these sessions was a version of Mirrorsphere where Charles put down a fine bassline and Kody played some fine keyboards. This version ended up being too fast, and quite a bit different than how the song had originally been envisioned, so it was eventually scrapped.) The effort with which Brad was most pleased was the guitar track on a recording of Breathing Sand in his grandpa's basement. It was done playing his Telecaster through a Boss bass overdrive pedal to a thirty-dollar pawn shop bass practice amp, with a web cam's microphone set next to it. Years later, Brad has found all of the old files for ZHB (including the dirty guitar track mentioned above, and the not-quite-as-dirty-but-just-as-tasty guitar solo Charles recorded for Down in the Dark), and is currently working to update, improve, rework, and otherwise complete the album. Perhaps in time for its 30-year anniversary, in 2033.
Track Listing[]
All songs written by Brad Evans except Down in the Dark, written by Mark Lanegan and Mike Johnson.
1. Down in the Dark
2. Breathing Sand
3. Mirrorsphere ('round the bend)
4. Negative Plane Theory (and its effect on modern man)
5. Insomnia 5 A.M.
6. Cometsong
7. Waking, Rising, Hypnotizing
8. Plant King