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not Great

by Dave Ruder

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1.
The biggest lobsters are the oldest lobsters  The biggest lobsters are the oldest lobsters  Chiton? How do you spell chitin? Accumulating time and accumulating size Accreting mass like a dwarf star But they’re now growing small Cause the water’s warm in Maine Where there’s no beaches but it’s fine If you want a beach go to a barrier island But don’t build anything permanent  Don’t build anything on a barrier island Because the oldest buildings aren’t the biggest buildings Not in the era we live in But the biggest lobsters are the oldest lobsters  The coldest mobsters are the...? The biggest lobsters are the oldest lobsters and maybe their claws are asymmetrical? (AD LIB)
2.
CHORUS: Ever wonder why that people always tell you that the world is full of applied brontology? I have the thunder and I’m coming around the corner. I’m looking at you with the thunder and I aim to deliver it The wind whips in front of me to tell everyone “here comes thunder” and it is immense. The wind, the thunder, my drum that I play to rain down the thunder. The thunder hits your mouth and then the thunder hits your eyes. CHORUS For some reason I have hit you with the thunder You see different, everything is dazzling and I’m still playing this drum for some reason But no wait / lightning, comes up from the ground Thunder is just air moving around Thunder wouldn’t hit your mouth before your eyes You close your eyes, you’ve gotta move towards something real towards grounding CHORUS 
You want to You need to expel this thunder feeling You need something real in your body, so you go to the DMV but at the DMV they’ve padlocked the box with the money to pay everyone’s salary 
and the old manager who has the key didn’t wear her glasses and she keeps trying to walk into a door that is actually the wall, not a door at all 
so the DMV, which seemed so real, is closed down, everyone’s wincing 
and this is how your body is now 
and also, hey chiropractors don’t exist? or are fake? you forget one more crack of thunder snaps you awake on top of the layers of thunder stuck in your body is the remembrance that it’s so difficult to prepare for anything and it’s difficult to have a body and the world is full of applied brontology You’re doing curls, you’re exercising to make your arms stronger Yes, here in a park, doing curls in public So everyone can see, can see your preparation but you’re under the trees, so the people in helicopters won’t see you Your curls are pearls for birds and helicopter pilots. You are immense and you can pick up mountains with your arms or anyway commercial products derived from the mountains and where am I with that bag of thunder? Was that a drum, announcing more thunder, or was it just construction sounds relating to the products derived from mountains? You decide to listen to your curling arms, rippling with thunder of their own Did you ever wonder why the world is full of applied brontology?
3.
Pious Rious 03:52
We cannot approach ourselves We can’t say the word “shit” in public We’ll come to it directly We can’t talk about ourselves because we might not exist We got erased while watching old movies The heroes were stupid Archetypes ever-present and unavoidable So we taped them over With reruns of Shee-ra This time I’ll be Skeletor And if we exist our name is Dragan Don’t let us speak to you or touch you Because then you might not exist Better to burn everything down to component parts and find ourselves through free association And don’t cry about it Actually, better to cry about it C'mon baby, let's do the twisk
4.
not Great 02:20
It’s a hard one to accept but it could be possible not to feel like a shitty version of myself all the time in fact that might be better to not feel shitty in general I mean mentally and physically so… I mean the world gains nothing When I’m feeling pain If I don’t take an aspirin Just take the fucking aspirin, Dave The world gains nothing If I flagellate myself With no productive end in mind Just to go through the motions Today would be An okay day Make that a real good day To cut myself A little slack Or like a lot of slack
5.
This is where I come from, this is what passes for culture, etc
6.
Well I’ve seen the lights go down in Massachusetts And I’ve seen the lights go down on the Irish Sea I dreamed about the lights that shine New South Wales Somehow, these lights just won’t go down on me I’m just trying to stay alive but I don’t know why When it’s dusk on the street, I’ll catch a fleeting glimpse, It must be him, I run to take him in my arms But the lights were playing tricks on me, and I just hugged a cop Is this feeling ever gonna stop? I’m just trying to stay alive but I don’t know why We were once four brothers And if I had my druthers We would’ve stayed Up on that stage Forever With the lights so bright But when you look out It’s all just empty Lost my glow, lost my way, now I’m on my own Got nowhere to be, I’m pushing peas around my plate I’ll bide my time and wait until that precious day When the lights shine on me and it’s time to meet my fate I’m just trying to stay alive
7.
To the stranger who comes into our home Strips the blanket and the sheets Looks at the fabric underneath Me, outlined in yellow cause I’m a sweaty guy yeah I’m a sweat guy at night on the left side of the bed He lays down and measures himself in the sweat angel To the right of the sweat In the middle of the bed Rust & brown & orange colored Your monthly project A palimpsest an oval ‘pon an oval ‘pon an oval Alone in a strange home Looking at abstract art Really innovative materials and like, what’s your process? Who us? Slowly painting in our sleep A document of more than 3000 nights, thanks for for the feedback. It’s not a gallery though Did you really come here just to look at this?
8.
Cosplay 03:09
Cosplay, do your job Don't wear sandals Out in public ...mostly it's okay Cosplay, do your job
9.
Lisa Sushi 04:21
10.
Potato Party 01:51
Maybe I'll put this one line here... [Or] the au gratin When I go out I dress myself in denim In blue denim And I have certain expectations How did they get here? We can't say. [Or] the au gratin tater tots This is not some clown operation Try to take yourself for real Make direct eye contact with every passing stranger You can be the pony at your own potato party

about

not Great, the fifth full length album from Dave Ruder, is a collection of songs that elicits laughter and tears side by side. The bizarreness of being a flesh and blood human in the 21st Century is silly, scary, and boring all at once.

Since his last full length solo release Qualms Rectified and its “mature, wisened treasure trove of perfectly arranged horns, woodwinds, bowed strings & restrained guitar” (Cassette Gods), he has stayed busy with other projects. not Great marks the 55th release from Gold Bolus Recordings, the label Dave founded and has run since 2013. Dave is also a member of the Varispeed collective, known for their performances of Robert Ashley’s work; of the “riotously unpredictable” (The New Yorker) multi-media group thingNY; and “spaced-out and hypnotic” (The Brooklyn Rail) rock quintet Thee Reps.

Most of this album’s music was written in 2019, and Dave had initially planned to record this album live in Spring 2020. After getting COVID in March 2020 and finding afterwards his pre-existing hand and wrist troubles were worse than ever, a more gradual and cautious approach was needed. All the players recorded themselves at home, and Dave’s ability to play instruments became more and more limited. After getting COVID a second time in January 2021, he could no longer play guitar (Jonah Rosenberg stepped in for the one guitar part Dave didn’t finish). The lyrical focus on the fallibility of bodies and of striving to not be in pain became even more pertinent.

Unlike all of Dave’s previous albums, not Great maintains a consistent sound world throughout. Dave’s voice sits in a nest of strings, Rhodes, and guitars, a few winds, and a pinch of synth bass and drums. Dave has long existed somewhere between the poles of pop songwriter and experimental composer, and he continues to make these distinctions unnecessary. The album has songs with simple verse/chorus structures (“To Stay Alive”) next to others that are built more like sectional art songs (“Love Song in Linens”). Tracks like “Cosplay” and “Pious Rious” have asymmetrical structures and shifting chords that vary from section to section.

Lyrically, not Great lives on the edge of a dream world. “Pious Rious” struggles with extracting your identity from the cultural archetypes and ephemera you’ve encountered, and eventually capitulates with the invitation, “come on baby, let’s do the twisk” [sic]. “Biggest Lobsters” is fuzzy but resolute – certain in its wisdom to not build structures on barrier islands, but unsure about one’s bodily odor. Similarly, “Cosplay” and “Lisa Sushi” describe people being called back to the reality of their jobs while they muse about their footwear, or about going vegan. “Applied Brontology” and “Potato Party” might well be dreams of ponies, thunder, blue jeans, or surveillance.

More somberly, “To Stay Alive” imagines Barry Gibb, or any other survivor who is both lost and impatient, years into their grief. The album’s title track, a sort of post-it note left on a mirror, is a prescription for someone clearly in pain, but just now considering the idea that it would be okay if they got better. One of the album’s themes, as stated in “Applied Brontology”, is that it is very difficult to have a body. The album’s title comes from these feelings, and many post-COVID months of answering honestly the commonplace question, “How are you?”

The album was given sonic coherence in mixing by Stephe Cooper (Cloud Becomes Your Hand). Guest performers include Dave’s frequent collaborators Karen Waltuch (75 Dollar Bill), Isabel Castellvi (thingNY), Andie Tanning (Object Collection), Sam Morrison (Thee Reps), Kyra Sims (NY Neo-Futurists), Jonathan Zorn (Jack Anger), and Jonah Rosenberg (Daniel Carter).

Gold Bolus Recordings // GBR055
www.goldbolus.com

www.daveruder.com

credits

released November 12, 2021

written, arranged, & produced by Dave Ruder

Dave Ruder - vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizer, drum programming, clarinet
Isabel Castellvi - cello
Sam Morrison - Rhodes
Kyra Sims - horn in F
Jonah Rosenberg - rhythm guitar (track 3)
Andie Tanning - violin
Karen Waltuch - viola
Jonathan Zorn - synth bass (track 5)

recorded by everyone at home
mixed by Stephe Cooper
mastered by MP Kuo @ MPKRecording
art by Dave Ruder

thanks to Lynn Levy, Jeff Tobias, to David Goodwin & Gelsey Bell for inspiring song titles, and to Shayna Dunkelman & Travis Just, Ivan Kureav, Jack Reilly, Paul Pinto, & Cory Bracken

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about

Dave Ruder Brooklyn, New York

guitarist, clarinetist, vocalist, computer music maker, collaborator, composer, songwriter, interdisciplinary artist, manager of Gold Bolus Recordings, et cetera, et cetera

member of thingNY, Varispeed, & Thee Reps

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