1. August The Rapture Under Pressure (CD only)
2. September Glad To Be Here? / Assimilating / Lost, Drowned! / The Punch-Out / Slackjaw / Asleep At Last
   October Basement Pud
   November Squirrel Claws On Frozen Bark
3. December My Heart, My Head / Santa's Elves Are Getting Older / Just Across The Wall / Tape
   Remembering Things Done Under Pressure / Across The Wall
4. January Good Things Still
5. Oh Yeah? (CD only)

     In 1995, we all moved to the Grey Yonder, and we lived there for a year.  We learned all sorts of terrible things about people.  It was frightening to begin with, and then it got worse, until all the windows were covered with black garbage bags and we rode a bicycle around in the dark.  Somebody killed a bunny with a belt, and was attacked by her boyfriend.  Pud and Boner lived there too, and the Polkaroo visited and lurched around and scared us along with the rest of Loveco.  Mildew grew on the walls and the tub became slimey and the landlord wouldn’t let his daughter step onto the balcony.  I don’t remember everything we did, but “The Grey Yonder” was recorded during those first few months when everything was awful indeed.
     Special thanks to Detlef Burghardt (August guitar), Scott Irving (September bass), Jacqueline Laronde (Remembering voice), the Grey Yonder Rocket Organization (Scott, Russell, Chris, Ophelia & Adam).  More thanks to the knife, the banana, and the clean Q-tip!

    On the first night we arrived in "The Grey Yonder," a gang of frat boys in their underwear tried to break our front door down.  We lived with a woman who killed a bunny (with her belt) and felt that being beaten by her boyfriend "proved that he cared," a raver guy who didn't understand the concept of storm windows, and the miraculous "Hot Johnny 5-star."  It was an absolute nightmare sty, and we didn't attempt to improve it.  I'd wake up in the morning and find bananas in the toilet.  Scott set fire to the sink in order to kill the fruitflies before doing his dishes.  We found used condoms left by previous residents hidden in the crack between the bathroom sink and the cupboard.
    Ultimately, things degenerated to the point where there was grafitti on the wall (our names in Inuit), and there really WERE black garbage bags over all the windows.  Recording "The Grey Yonder" was a desperate attempt to make sense of it all during the first few months, when things felt particularly terrible.
    Subconsciously, this was in many ways inspired by Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, not in terms of musical skill, but in terms of developing a theme and letting it evolve over time.  It was the first time I had an effects processor to work with (a DOD delay unit).  As well, the tracks were mixed down, and then another two tracks added to lush-up the sound.  I like it an awful lot.
    To show that not everything was depressing, the cassette ended with a recording of us setting off rockets from our balcony in the middle of the night, which was a heck of a lot of fun.
    "The Grey Yonder" originally began with "My Biggest Fan," a track that later devolved into a series of remixes and was scrapped altogether.  It was the last thing ever recorded in the Blackhead/Whitehead bedroom.  Its basis was a sample from Danny Elfman's "Oogie Boogie," which was first used during a live show with AER, and then in an unfinished track featuring Detlef Burghardt.  This track -- the penultimate Blackhead/Whitehead recording -- was finally finished off as a bonus track for this CD-R re-release ("The Rapture Under Pressure.")
    "Oh Yeah?", the other bonus track, is a brief glimpse at one of the many sample tapes compiled over the years.  With reverb.