Leaves (Plus) by The Imaginary Friend

Originally released on the Bad Jazz label as a 7" 45, the two songs that comprised what we (although I'm not sure who exactly "we" were/are, as every reference to this record calls it by its A Side or as "the single on Bad Jazz") called 'Leaves.'*

"On Satsuma Road (A Song for Dan)" went through multiple mixes before the version that ended up on the single came into being - a little tweak here, mix down to minidisc (yeah, remember those?), another tweak there, mix down to minidisc, with an occasional cassette made for the all-important "car stereo test." There is an out-and-out "shoegaze" version of this song, which never quite was completed, as it seemed that by 1996, that particular aesthetic was akin to footwear that one had outgrown (but then, judging by the previously forgotten Converses and Campers that re-work themselves into our wardrobe, old shoes do make comebacks). The Dan to whom this song is dedicated is the fellow who brought us together. And he also runs a damned fine record store.

The B Side was a cover of "Glastonbury," written and originally performed by Rodney Allen, recording artist for the Subway label and member of the Blue Aeroplanes. Again, multiple iterations of tweak, mixdown, tweak, mixdown, car test, etc. We did find an alternate mix that definitely had more guitar in the works, along with some ping pong delay, and more reverb. Soaked deeply in reverb.

The other extra track included here is a version of the Sugargliders' "Theme from Boxville," a hauntingly dreamy tune originally included on their "Ahprahran" single.

All this stuff was recorded and mixed at home on a minidisc four-track (evidently were quite the early adopters of Sony's ATRAC algorithm, despite the lossy compression and the obviously proprietary format).

* Actually, after further investigation, the only person who remembers this record as 'Leaves' is HK. Not even a folie à deux in this case.