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Tall Ladders

by Trevor Nikrant

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      $8 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Wallet Gatefold CD. Design by Trevor Nikrant

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tall Ladders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

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  • Cassette + Digital Album

    3 Panel J Card, Smoky Tint Shell

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tall Ladders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
The sun was setting When I heard the priest, call off the wedding And he took all the wine And he stood up tall and said he was going to the beach Follow me if you think that you know something Follow me And the party of people became a crowd of faces (crowd of faces) And all their thoughts were written on a stone tablet (stone tablet) And one man completely turned into an electronic cigarette Follow me Somebody said hey everybody just cool down, you know any minute now, you’ll see, he'll come back and say he's sorry You know he's a friend of mine But his sister, sleeping in the storage room full of Christmas decorations, is thinking man, how come you know nothing? Follow me Some people left bound for the courthouse And some people went to that beach even knowing they were gonna drown And the catering staff started taking all the streamers down Follow me And I wouldn't leave I wouldn't go I wouldn't leave I wouldn't go I wouldn't leave~~ I know They’ll come around Follow follow follow follow me
3.
You could inherit a family disease from somebody far outta sight And you could have a career writing books about your famous fight And you could make up all of your reasons tonight You can fall asleep on the bus, leaning on the shoulder to your right And you can ride to the airport with your friend from last night Because he said he could give you a ride Well put me in the movies Put me in the show Push me in the pool and I’ll swim to the coast And that’s all I should need You could run for mayor of your favorite painting, the symbol’s in the dress You could work the same job for your whole life and never once make a mess And you could make up all your reasons, in jest You could skip all the seasons, to the end Well put me in the movies Put me in the show I saw the drain on the ocean floor And that’s all I should need Got too many voices Held up in choices Nobody knows My conscience was clear When it suddenly appeared Too late to run because it knows that I’m here But that’s all I should need
4.
Dead Skin 07:46
Goin out shopping, for a new habit For the collection, for the collection She’s been, stockpiling vanity for a thousand years In case the man disappears Just in case the man disappears Baby sister’s in the backseat trying to figure it out Don’t get caught without your bone, she shouts Just in case~~ She’s got friends in the business of doing things they don't really wanna do Smokin in the steakhouse by noon Smokin in the steakhouse in the non-smoking section They are holding their elections At a deep dark booth in the back, of the corner of the room And there’s your reflection Do you remember And all those memories convene on the side of the diamond road~~ All those memories convene on the side of the diamond road And you belong to those memories, you know that you do And they belong to someone, but it's not you It's not you She said I know, I know, I know I'm still young But I can feel the air as it’s leaving my lungs And that's where it belongs I'm still young But she says well I’d never go down to that music festival, oh those poor kids are just lost in the dark Yet she has arrived, in a heavy disguise and she's looking for a place to park Every night they come to see you in your dreams Every night they come to see you in your dreams~~ They say we are the spiritual leaders of your muscle memory and we're here But you won't remember us very clear They say we are the spiritual leaders of your muscle memory and we're here And you won't remember us very clear Dead skin / stayin in bed / dead skin / it's all in your head
5.
A man, in a hat Said I’ll show you where it’s at My resume, is stacked And I’m wearing my famous hat but I don’t have to prove Anything to you He took me, to the lab And made me a nametag with a pen He said our time, will soon end But you can help us my friend Can you give us a hand? We need you For our plan Cut your recipe, in half Unless you have another plan The reception out here is bad You wouldn’t get far, you wouldn’t last Unless you could run Really really fast So connect, your brain To the brain machine You’ll lose, your youth But we need it more than you do Now we may introduce Our youth To you I ran as fast as I could out of there
6.
Slow Notion 04:32
Contain your excitement We will get to you Empty your pockets please Okay? Thanks, you too Look at that harvest moon Thanks, you too Contain your excitement We will get to you The amusement park is named after someone you were related to How neat (How neat) Thanks, you too Thanks, you too Have a good one Okay (okay) Thanks, you too In the backyard with you By the corner of the fence A pile of failed revolutions Oh, I don't know Let me check my schedule in a week or so Maybe we can get something together My brother Thanks, you too
7.
Oh no, I don’t know What time it is Across the ocean How can you be a man living in this world When there’s no time But everything’s gonna grow as tall as the sky In the summertime With you and I Everything’s gonna grow as tall as the sky With you and I In the summertime I’m gonna see that summer moon At quittin time When we’re gettin high Just you and I Oh to be a man living in this world With no time I’ll be by your side
8.
You could miss it You don’t wanna miss it You could miss it You don’t wanna miss it So where is the future? Is it waiting outside undercover Friends and believers Get one last pass at each other You could miss it You could miss it Even if you were standing across the street I finally went down To get my last paycheck across town And the first leaf has already left the tree~~ Oooooo And how is your mother? Is she waiting outside with your brother Friends and believers We’re gonna have to wait for another We’re just gonna have to wait for another You could miss it Even if You were standing right across the street Oooo
9.
Tall Ladders 04:40
Every night At the same time Something floods the street And I start to float down, down, down And tonight a man stops to ask me He asks If I’d like to enroll in his night class I said how does it feel to get older? He said it feels like being touched on the shoulder And then everything changed The faraway bark of the dogs made my head turn to gold And behind his back I saw the wild, threshold Now I could finally climb over, finally climb home But that’s a tall ladder to be climbing at this time of night It took one, trip around the sun And a few swings of the bat Waiting here in the driveway till the feeling comes back Disturbed by the peace (disturbed by the peace) It feels so familiar Hear you can find out right over there But that’s a tall tall ladder That’s a tall ladder to be climbing at this time of night At the same time At the same time Down~~~ Disturbed by the peace hanging around Falling asleep in the dew Surrounded by all that there is to do I was disturbed by the peace (disturbed by the peace) Tonight I start to talk (tonight I start to talk) With the words that were written on the back of my neck all along

about

Trevor Nikrant’s Tall Ladders is a hall of mirrors. These songs take place on the thresholds of perception and reality for its varied cast of characters -- characters often entwined in existential crises fueled by one capitalist ideology or another. Climb the ladder and encounter the worlds of the misanthropic priest (“Christmas With Your New God”), the housewife on the brink (“Dead Skin”), the drain on the ocean floor (“Put Me in the Movies”), and ‘the brain machine’ (“We Need You for Our Plan”). Throughout this dark, funny, and surprisingly tender journey, Nikrant also appears as his own character, opening Little Windows to new meaning-making along the way. A sonic and thematic sequel to 2018’s Living in the Kingdom, these songs are conjured through a homespun recipe of two-track tape and antiquated digital technology, where Nikrant paints the tales with a flood of instruments, from trombones to bowed mandolins. The arrangements are wide, sometimes having been layered over the course of years as instruments come in and out of the house. Improvisation also guides the recording process, from note choices to the very structure of each song. The ensuing sounds provide a visceral frame for the album's equally layered thematic voyage, which culminates in the spiritual revelation of the title track.

credits

released November 19, 2021

written and recorded by Trevor Nikrant

with appearances by:
Lou Turner - voice on Panic @ The Cafe + We Need You For Our Plan
Dave Meyer - clarinet on Dead Skin
Ross Collier - gong on Panic @ The Cafe, Slow Notion, + Tall Ladders

mixed and mastered by Ross Collier

Dear Life Records 2021

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Trevor Nikrant Nashville, Tennessee

free-faulk noir-bop

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