Dear Daniel, by The Ballet

Dear Daniel

by The Ballet

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	1.	Dear Daniel 00:48
	2.	Catalogue of the Original 08:05
	3.	Artist Statement (short) 02:16
	4.	Artist Statement (long) 05:20
	5.	Learning to Love the Normal Amount 05:32
	6.	House on Fire and Learning to Breathe Underwater 05:33
	7.	Advanced Search Terms 02:44
	8.	Advanced Search Terms (alternate) 01:52
	9.	The Thief of Mirrors - Intro 01:21
	10.	The Thief of Mirrors - Swilling Lemonade 01:55
	11.	The Thief of Mirrors - Task of My Mask 01:55
	12.	The Thief of Mirrors - Shrinking Box 02:07
	13.	The Thief of Mirrors - Dear Taxpayer 01:25
	14.	The Thief of Mirrors - Outro 03:23
	15.	The Thief of Mirrors (alternate) 00:54
	16.	The Collector 08:26
	17.	Bouquet of Mirrors - The Orphan's Litany 00:57
	18.	Bouquet of Mirrors - The Lady with a Head Wound 00:56
	19.	Bouquet of Mirrors - The Swan 01:17
	20.	Bouquet of Mirrors - The Hostage 00:49
	21.	Bouquet of Mirrors - The Catfish 00:58
	22.	Kitty (demo) 03:10
	23.	The Face of Everything (gay secret remix) 03:27

about

I first met Daniel Barrow on an internet listserv in the late 1990s. We were penpals for a decade before we met in person; he was living in Winnipeg at the time, I was in New York. We mostly emailed and IMed, but once in a while he'd send an illustrated letter or thoughtfully curated package in the mail. Daniel is an exceptional story teller -- in everyday life as much as in his work -- and his correspondences were filled with lurid tales of romance and lust, deception and revenge, with bizarre characters and surprising plot twists, stories almost too outrageous to believe. I regret that I had little to offer in return, save for the occasional musical gem on a mix CD.

I started writing scores for Daniel's videos and performances before we'd met in person, maybe even before we'd spoken. He'd usually give me some kind of direction, something like, "the music a delusional and foppish country bumpkin would think was elegant and refined." Sometimes he'd send other songs for reference: commercial jingles, creepy children's music, soundtracks from obscure made-for-television movies or campy slasher films. I'd never really paid attention to "background music" before, and didn't know what I was doing, but I figured it out -- more or less -- as I went along.

The scores are tracked in chronological order:

Catalogue of the Original (2004)
Artist Statement (2006)
Learning to Love the Normal Amount (2008)
House on Fire and Learning to Breathe Underwater (2010)
Advanced Search Terms (2012)
The Thief of Mirrors (2014)
Bouquet of Mirrors (2019)

Also included: 1) "Dear Daniel," a song I never finished, 2) a demo version of "Kitty" (featuring Daniel), originally released on the Annika Records compilation "Your Wanderful Parade," and 3) a remix of "The Face of Everything" -- inspired by Daniel's performance of the same name -- originally released on a 7" record with his book "No One Helped Me."

credits

released May 16, 2020

All songs by Greg Goldberg. This album has not been mastered.

license

about

The Ballet

gay nerd band
2005 - present

discography

Come Back

Jun 2020
Dear Daniel

May 2020
Time Machine

Jul 2013
I Blame Society

Jun 2013
BEAR LIFE

Nov 2009
Mattachine!

Jul 2006

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