Lyrebird

I bought one of these birds on the black market yesterday for $5,000...

Criminal Karaoke

Band: JigGsaw
Album: Criminal Karaoke
Date: 2006
Music: Ratatat
Lyrics: Mark JigGsaw
Artwork: Mark JigGsaw

Download: Click on album art (or www.filesavr.com/criminalkaraoke)

Track Listing:
1: Selling Feelings (originally called "Seventeen Years" by Ratatat)
2: Liquor Store (originally called "Lex" by Ratatat)
3: Are You Alone In Heaven? (originally called "Tropicana" by Ratatat)
4: Silent Christ Fight Song (originally called "Gettysburg" by Ratatat)
5: Write This Song A New Chorus (originally called "Kennedy" by Ratatat)

Summary: I used to have a cassette tape of Ratatat's first record in my car, and I would play it blasting down Lakeshore Drive on my way to see friends in Chicago on the weekends. In 2006 they released their second album "Classics" I bought it instantly. I remember walking around town carrying a CD player and wishing there were vocals to sing along to. So one night after a long evening of hanging out with friends and drinking at the bar, I came staggering home, plugged in my Roland digital recorder and hit record. When I awoke the next morning, I had this strange EP that was basically me making up my own lyrics to already complete songs. I don't think I've managed to improve on Ratatat's stellar compositions, but it is interesting to hear.

The JigGsaw Archives

Man, I moved into this new apartment, unpacked all my stuff and found a ridiculous amount of demos and old music that I thought was long left for dead. We did entire records in the early zero's and never released them (mostly for good reason but some of it's tolerable). I'm gonna see if I can get some of these old school jams mixed and post them online.

Sing On Our New Record!!!

Make Beats Not War

I bought this machine the other day. All of my belongings are in boxes in a new apartment but as soon as I'm unpacked I'm gonna turn on this new machine and make some beats.

I started a Twitter account. I'm not sure what to say. So far I've only got two exclamation points. Why are we updating each other about what we're doing every minute. It seems unhealthy. "oh, my friend Kristen is driving to Michigan and my friend David is taking a shit." Meanwhile you spent the last 25 minutes reading about what other people are doing and those people spent the last 25 minutes on their Twitter accounts updating their virtual-selves and missing out on what was actually happening to them.

The Bird EP

Band: JigGsaw
Album: The Bird EP
Recorded: 2006 Bluebox Studios
Mixed: Jeff Wardell
Mastered: Big Bass Brian
Music: JigGsaw
Lyrics: Mark JigGsaw
Artwork: Andy Dixon

Download: Click on album art (or www.filesavr.com/thebirdep)

Track Listing:
1: We've Got Guns Now
2: Dance For Me
3: Don't Waste
4: Lemon Drops
5: A Church With No Name
6: Alaska
7: Now Hiring Graveyard Servers

Summary: I thought this was going to be the last album we'd ever do. Clint our drummer (and dear friend) let us know that he needed to leave the band after we recorded this EP so he could spend more time with his family. We weren't sure what would happen to the band after that. It was the four of us; Hayden Cler, Michael Hicks, Clint McGraw and myself and I approached every part of the song writting like it was the last thing we'd ever do. Within a year we had played Warped Tour, done a couple of tours and a show at CBGB's before it closed, MTV played us on a couple of their shows and we were lucky enough to work with Jeff Wardel and Big Bass Brian for the first time. I think 2006 was my favorite year with the band. "Oh, what a beautiful day to die".

Zero Generation

Band: JigGsaw
Album: Zero Generation
Recorded: 2004
Released: 2005
Mixed: Adam Schmitt
Mastered: Adam Schmitt
Music: JigGsaw
Lyrics: Mark JigGsaw
Artwork: Rachel Carns

Download: Click on album art (or www.filesavr.com/zerogeneration)

Track Listing:
1: Mars
2: Mona Lisa's Mirror
3: Holly Brown
4: A Fair Warning To An Under Age Lover...
5: Pretty Pride
6: Houses Burning
7: Zero Generation
8: Breathe
9: Swimming In A Sea Of Alcohol
10: Bottles Of Voodoo

Summary: Clint and I started recording this at our house with the idea of having our friend Adam mix it for us. But I didn't have enough microphones so we recorded the drums and some of the vocals at Adams house. The subject matter is both bizarre and desperate. Topics include: my neighbor, the terraforming of Mars, long-distance relationships, and a satire about the Iraq War. We were a 3-piece when we started this thing (with DJ Demoss on bass) but I had written so many parts for these songs that we needed another guitar player. DJ switched to guitar and we asked our friend Mike to play bass for us.