--music--

click for more info / to buy

"dreams"
3" CD EP
anonymous003

1. clouds and snow [lyrics][mp3]
2. lost + finding [lyrics][mp3]
3. devoted to change [lyrics][mp3]
4. where the horizons longing [lyrics][mp3]
5."dreams" [mp3]		 3:14
4:46
3:34
3:36
3:50

available on CD and digitally. CD's come in a limited edition of 100 letterpress-on-watercolor paintings.

"dreams" / sketches for imperfect
cassette split with -a
brown interiour music

1. clouds and snow [lyrics]
2. lost + finding [lyrics][mp3]
3. devoted to change [lyrics][mp3]
4. where the horizons longing [lyrics]
5."dreams"		 3:14
4:46
3:34
3:47
3:48

gravity music for five violins, viola, and real or imaginary 'cello
november 1, 2007, olympia, wa

gravity music for five violins, viola, and real or imaginary 'cello [mp3][score]

 

performed in the rotunda of the washington state capitol building by margaret, heather, jared, ian, mae, marit, and gabe on november 1, 2007.



SOLD OUT!

before my ghostly eyes were closed EP
3" CD (2006)
anonymous002

1. before my ghostly eyes were closed
2. all my thirst cannot be met [mp3]
3. dearest [lyrics][mp3]		 5:44
5:01
3:36

a small collection of contemplations and a letter, before my ghostly eyes were closed is a document of moments cast as monuments to the passing of time.
all songs were written and recorded in austin, texas in the slow summer months of 2006. an opportune visit from New Orleans multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nealand resulted in the melancholic bed of tones on which the title track and 'dearest' rest. each copy comes with beautiful hand stamped artwork designed by eric sarai.

[click to download]
[large cover image]

first songs from red river
digital EP / letter pressed CDR (2006)
anonymous001

1. did i choose? [lyrics][mp3]
2. time stretched like light [lyrics][mp3]
3. from the mountain to the ocean floor [lyrics][mp3]
4. hundreds of times over[lyrics][mp3]
5. walk away[lyrics][mp3]		 3:07
3:56
4:43
3:49
7:27

recorded on May 3, 2006 after a long day of manufacturing signs. three songs written since i'd moved to austin, (did i choose? was written and recorded on the same day!) and two older ones that i'd been unable to put the finishing touches on for quite some time. . . years even. . . . . enjoy!

now available on CD! email me for info or come to a show. info at benkamen dot com

[buy from SHINKOYO]

so the light came / to contain numbers
limited edition CDR (2005)
SHINKOYO 011

1. eighty-four [mp3]
2. so the light came / to contain numbers
3. six
11:44
14:34
21:55

available from shinkoyo. a collection of pieces for disklavier (player piano) and electronics. michael gallope plays on 'six.' first released in 2005. each copy has handmade packaging. limited edition of 50. soon to be available in digital format. visit SHINKOYO for more info.

--related releases --

Polka Dot Dot / Ben Kamen
split cassette

1. hundreds of times over
2. tin bees
3. left alone
4. vertigo
5. up all night
6. devoted to change

originally released for a west coast tour, this collection of recordings is now available through seattle's alligator shoes cassette label. the songs were recorded at the hall of the woods.


[available from SHINKOYO]

the music of SHINKOYO
limited edition white vinyl (2006)
SHINKOYO017

A1. Ben Kamen "Six" (excerpt)
A2. Skeletons & The Kings of All Cities "Giant Broom"
A3. Carsion Halegar Hart "Projections in 4D"
A4. 7ev3 "Raindrops" (Hittsburgh Bros Free as a Bird mix)
A5. Peter B. "Don Sallo"
A6. Fashe Mello "White Whales"
B1. Sadjeljko "Flowboat"
B2. Stefan Tcherepnin "Motor Lodge Dance"
B3. Sejayno "Papal Procedures, 1st Stage Bardo, 2nd Stage Bardo"
B4. 70x7 "Village Dance"
B5. Doron Sadja "Sotto Voce VI"
B6. Zeljko McMullen "Like Mountains"

[buy from SuperDaughter]

superdaughter and ordinary grampa - pony tracks
limited edition 3" CD (2006)

1. finster
2. lemonade stands
3. give in
4. energy you've been saving [mp3]
5. what you ate, drank
6. yerba maté girl		  

recorded with super-underground folk duo superdaughter (summer + catfish) during the first week of march 2006 on an intentional community in virginia. features remakes of three classic superdaughter tunes and a new one each from summer, catfish, and ben (grampa). check out all of superdaughters' amazing records! special guest kassia arbabi of the vulgar bulgars plays violin on tracks 1 & 2.

-- misc mp3s and scores --

{}

some assorted tunes

wrapt like a blanket (demo) [mp3][lyrics]
--
you will unravel every misunderstanding [mp3]
while you are away [mp3][lyrics]
sleep, dreamer of dreams [mp3]

some assorted tunes for you to listen to. a demo from spring '06 in OH, and three older tunes from london 2004-5.

[Photo courtesy of the British Council]

assorted scores and mp3's of instrumental musics

Gravity Music for Two or More Pianos [score]
Gravity Music for any Ensemble of Pitched, Mobile instruments [score]
Gravity Music for Five Violins, Viola, and Imaginary 'Cello [score]
0.2005.1.19 [mp3]
seven orbits [mp3]
seconaphim [mp3]

photo is from a rehearsal of Gravity Music for any Ensemble of Pitched, Mobile instruments, Bogotá, Colombia, April 2005.

photo from red river, 4-june-06
-- lyrics --
DID I CHOOSE? listen
--
did i choose to sing these blues or did i choose you? i don't know!
i'm buried in quilts in my southern room pretending i'm somewhere cold.
i could write some words and sing a song and jump off all my bridges.
or go back north to where my love might lie to where all my blood is flowing - t'wards comfort and fear.
the softest and the sweetest kiss, like butterflies, i'll miss, now that i'm alone.
and the winter coats that i've brought along just hangin' there like dead men to warn me off.
i didn't choose to sing these blues and i didn't choose you. no no no no no.

TIME STRETCHED LIKE LIGHT listen
--
i've been thinking all the things i'd say if outcomes had no place in it.
well, i would take your name to these tree green hills.
would it make me feel at peace to have you by my side?
"will you come out of your protective shell?"
"will you lie beside me?"
"will i be let down?"
yes i am leaving, yeah, i'm gone.
but my mind's behind me, my mind sings songs, it's not moving on.
now the dawn has come, time stretched like light,
time fades the tattoos of my old blues, and my memories of you, they'll fade away too.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN TO THE OCEAN FLOOR listen
--
i've been making lots and lots of plans
i've been waiting for you to hold my hand
no, i'm not busy, yes, i've got lots of time.
"would you give me shelter?"
"would you tell me why only sadness comes from making love?"
"well even sadness, it comes from up above us."
"take me with you and show me where you go, give me shelter, and find me a new home."
i had a dream that i packed up all my things.
it was late in september and no one knew my name.
from the city to the distant shore, from the mountain to the ocean floor.

HUNDREDS OF TIMES OVER listen
--
i don't take advice, no i give.
i don't think twice, no hundreds of times over.
hundreds of times.
well, don't ask anything from me, cause i'll give ya'everything that you need, and i'll forget about my own needs, forget about my own dreams, forget about me, yeah i'll forget about me.
now i'm a blue jay lost in the green, green, green trees,
and it's a hundred degrees in the spring,
and this new town, it just might kill me.
i don't take advice, no i give.
i don't think twice, no hundreds of times over.
hundreds of times, hundred of times over
hundreds of times.
WALK AWAY listen
--
i'll walk away cuz i'm not gonna fight. but how can i stand up for what's right?
well these conflicts just reappear, have i failed to make myself clear?
well i won't lie, and i won't pretend that there's nothing about you that i would mend.
well either way i'm gonna measure my breathes, and every day i just learn i've so much left.
my angel! give me life and give me light and help me to stand up for what's right.
i won't lie and i won't pretend, cuz there's so much about me that i would mend.
WRAPT LIKE A BLANKET listen
--
motives wrapt 'round me like a blanket
crush't like the curve of the moon
reflect sunlight
sing the songs birds sing to calm you down
i learn like a chick how to make a sound:
beaks are whistling for lovers, wings are for leaving
crush me sea
WHILE YOU ARE AWAY listen
--
while you are away, i hope you have the patience to wait.
that "patience," you say that you "don't need."
but you need : the way that feels, and the way it would heal you to go.
but i ask all these questions that i know the answer to.

DEAREST listen
--
i'm tired of being restless, i think i'll settle down.
i'm tired of being lonely, but love don't make a sound.
when will i see you again, my friend?
while the days they pass before me, my skin it slowly greys,
why did god reveal your lovely face just to let it fade away?
sincerely,
benjo k.
CLOUDS AND SNOW
--
left the low elevation, towards the clouds and snow, to shave off your hair.
you're memorizing lines, you're hypnotized.
thought to chop the wood would warm your sould with everything you think that you have ever wanted
mmm mmm mm mmm
you're memorizing lines, you're hypnotized
i still can't stop my thoughts, i'm living in a terrible lie, waiting for my cloak to turn from black into white.
i'm so impatient
you're memorizing lines, you're hypnotized.
LOST + FINDING
--
dreamin', despite all of your dreamin' you still can't decide what you want.
cause the demons, oh, all of the demons appear to you when you wake up.
all the time lost from lying in bed, the dreams of sunlight you paint in your head
spend your whole life just studying letters, still you never learn a thing.
talking, keep talking and saying it, until it becomes your belief.
lost and finding you're not what you seem, treading against the measureless stream, as your beautiful dreams start losing their steam.
DEVOTED TO CHANGE
--
devoted to change, still i'm losing my way.
the circle of tracks i lay displays that in my mind, you're mine.
dug through the heart of the mountain, from the mouth of its' cave.
you're all i take to make me feel okay. do you feel okay?
was that you on the corner with your things in a bag?
are you waiting for the rain to wash you away?
the light in your eyes, disguised.
WHERE THE HORIZONS LONGING
--
i waited on a day that's vanished in the sand.
now i'll live where the horizons longing meets the land.
where things i dare not ask for, for their reply they'll wait, while i drive so far away.
i'll pass all of the signs that say "you should turn away!," to sit and watch this dangerous lake grow with rain.
i guess i'm waiting, just, waiting for your love.