more from
Paradise of Bachelors
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Life, and Another

by Mega Bog

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    + Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty matte board jacket; insert with lyrics and credits; and high-res Bandcamp download code.
    + N.B.: Vinyl LP release date is Aug. 27, 2021 (CD/digital release is July 23, 2021).

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

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    + CD edition features gatefold jacket with LP replica art and insert with lyrics and credits.

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

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    + Get both physical audio formats in one low price bundle.
    + Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty matte board jacket; insert with lyrics and credits; and high-res Bandcamp download code.
    + CD edition features gatefold jacket with LP replica art and insert with lyrics and credits.
    + N.B.: Vinyl LP release date is Aug. 27, 2021 (CD/digital release is July 23, 2021).

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

      $30 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    All purchases also include full LP and CD album artwork and insert, including lyrics and credits.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9 USD  or more

     

  • CD+book-PoB-056
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    + Get both the CB and limited-edition book in one low price bundle.
    + CD edition features gatefold jacket with LP replica art and insert with lyrics and credits.
    + A limited-edition Life, and Another photo and song book (perfect bound, foil-stamped cover, 64 full-color pages, 300 copies only) featuring images, songwriting and studio notes, collages and texts by Erin Birgy, and drawings by Zach Burba, designed by Joel Gregory, is available, while supplies last, exclusively via Paradise of Bachelors.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Life, and Another via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • LP+book-PoB-056
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    + Get both the LP and limited-edition book in one low price bundle.
    + Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty matte board jacket; insert with lyrics
    and credits; and high-res Bandcamp download code.
    + A limited-edition Life, and Another photo and song book (perfect bound, foil-stamped cover, 64 full-color pages, 300 copies only) featuring images, songwriting and studio notes, collages and texts by Erin Birgy, and drawings by Zach Burba, designed by Joel Gregory, is available, while supplies last, exclusively via Paradise of Bachelors.
    + N.B.: Vinyl LP release date is Aug. 27, 2021 (CD/digital release is July 23, 2021).

    Includes unlimited streaming of Life, and Another via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • LP+CD+book-PoB-056
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    + Get all three physical formats in one low price bundle.
    + Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty matte board jacket; insert with lyrics
    and credits; and high-res Bandcamp download code.
    + CD edition features gatefold jacket with LP replica art and insert with lyrics and credits.
    + A limited-edition Life, and Another photo and song book (perfect bound, foil-stamped cover, 64 full-color pages, 300 copies only) featuring images, songwriting and studio notes, collages and texts by Erin Birgy, and drawings by Zach Burba, designed by Joel Gregory, is available, while supplies last, exclusively via Paradise of Bachelors.
    + N.B.: Vinyl LP release date is Aug. 27, 2021 (CD/digital release is July 23, 2021).

    Includes unlimited streaming of Life, and Another via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Photo and Song Book (PoB-067)

    + A limited-edition Life, and Another photo and song book (perfect bound, foil-stamped cover, 64 full-color pages, 300 copies only) featuring images, songwriting and studio notes, collages and texts by Erin Birgy, and drawings by Zach Burba, designed by Joel Gregory, is available, while supplies last, exclusively via Paradise of Bachelors.
    + Watch a preview: youtu.be/54TtzYbGHAc

    Sold Out

1.
Flower 02:35
Deceiving time 37 hours you’re in front of me I guess I know a lot about you Anyway You think you’re funny I don’t get it And as darkness adheres The slit of light that is my eye There is a word piquing my era Voice of a blue tenderness Was once a voice in my head So take me for the music Take me for a human The flower of the song We saw you walking Past the terrible movie We saw the movie, too, And kept moving Like I said, I lit up The blade in my purse Has gone green So, I’m going #knifefree So you’ll be my friend In the wind I’ve had it somehow But I want to live So much more in the situation Where I have always been worthy My love Where believe in, believe in My love I have a need, I can meet it My love So take me for the music Take me for a human The flower of a song Any fool who sleeps or dreams Can find me The flower of a song The flower of a song
2.
Someday I hope To forget What I was for Let it dissolve Like an artichoke Being gutted Around its spine I make a plan To see you The week An offer known I couldn’t keep But it’s sweet To see me Circle the garden With a rake Once again We lose it Moni, take me Moni, take me To the wood To sit in something Wicked Stirred Again Moni, take me Moni, take me To the wood To find What’s wicked And pure Again Little movements Rock me Have I been awake Before? Station to Station 222 times And the person I thought I was singing for Is the person To leave behind That’s it That’s just it All I’m left with are my lines Once again We lose it Moni, take me Moni, take me To the wood To sit in something Wicked Stirred Again Moni, take me Moni, take me To the wood To find What’s wicked And pure Again
3.
Most of it’s gone My feet in the lawn Looking back To the glow of a note And once you have me Will you let yourself feel it Or will you be writhing Impenetrable probe When I am the grass licker I’ve got a bad coat Makes me miss you ’Cause I’ll never know heat The way that you wrap me You said it was easy But I couldn’t breath Back at the Loch Ness Harpies flew in screaming Wanted to meet me For I’ve yellow poppies Growing in my shadow Those are the things That seem to scare you The Weight of the Earth On paper Hand it out Close to thick The velvet water beneath us Is sneering Called us idiots Because in the middle There’s two feet of silence Of something that’s love-like And wants to live I tamp it down Pretend a child Let my tongue lap up Whatever’s more wild By fearful definition I think I’ve renamed it The picture of your hand The center of my mantle The Weight of the Earth On paper Hand it out Where are my girls?
4.
Crumb Back 03:14
Walk back into my place I wrote you a letter saying To come back into your space Where it takes me in, too Walk back into my place I wrote you a letter saying To come back into your space Where it takes me in, too Dear companion How would it feel To place your slippery hand On a thought I had About the stone in my hat It leads the feather Though the sand Gentle person Leaning Loving In patient time That patient person leaves me (That gentle person leaves me) Gentle person Leaning Loving Impatient time That gentle person leaves me (That patient person leaves me) Alone Well, I don’t know you Really But I’m an ear For you Would have hoped you’d guessed What my mind held That goblet Out for you So walk back into my place I wrote you a letter saying To come back into your space Where it takes me in, too
5.
Butterfly 02:50
Once, again Another memory It takes me so long To become less angry Don’t show me The place where you Get empty Just like to know you are there You are Soothed Because for me That’s the masterpiece Between you and me We’ll find relief The books Led me out And into China And off the earth To watch it blur I imagine Your hooks took you To Alaska If tonight goes weird Well, I’ll chase after ya You followed my dreams Several years of aging That’s my masterpiece Now will I be pulled Across the table The parts of me who are dead Make us fluid And stable You’re a good friend And I am, too Forgot the reason I brought you here By mistake To put your face (Face) Into my life (Life) Pull you all the way out Like a Butterfly Please fly It’s alright Please fly
6.
A moth flew up in the blue while you played And died Let me tell you about the dream There was your life And another I didn’t bother to Give it a ring Even psychically I laid it down To the palm Of a person I saw let me lay down And smoke Smoke til I choke Sent it away Said, “never mind, fuck it Sometimes I think of you” And sometimes Might be always Depending on whose pen is Ring-a-ling Tinnitus carries on shimmering absolutely nobody’s name I watched a show after Watched my Nerves die Tongue in whatever you’re drinking A human I really love says They’ll cry If I keep going Found my peace in the corner mirror Looking upwards There was your life And another I didn’t bother to Give it a ring Even psychically Well, yes I imagine these things Must be the taste Of everyone I know Lined with a pain I’d hope to outgrow I’d like to help you with me But Look There’ll always be beauty Once you turn back Towards the gate There was your life And another I didn't bother to Give it a ring Even psychically
7.
Smell of wintergreen Chewing gum In a Coach leather bag You gave me Mom found Curb sale What an amazing Two dollars Woke up in less pain Though the lips scream Seems to mellow With a good night’s sleep Always sleeping To function Who aches like this? Oh, the reason why I’m here Isn’t anything How could I have known? Little dumbfounded Writing the letter Doing the dish I found on the counter Coffee stain, too Oh, the decaf gets the worst of you Six in the morning This is nothing Try to see people In the spiders Chasing you I leave you alone Because I need company Oh, the reason why I’m here Isn’t anything Keep it up He didn’t die for me Or anybody Maybe was smoking Maybe was nothing Maybe you died To be more free Maybe you died To jump into something Smooth
8.
Cut It’s over She’s turned around Beagle in the cloud Crown of light Is glowing Has every man In this white lake Read the letter from the monster And said, “Well, that’s okay Today I defiantly put my bare foot In the snow” Because, here I haven’t aged since I was four years old Same joke Safe from the edge Of facing a woman Who’s had it up to here In being treated like an irritant Instead of the Beautiful daughter You birthed You let him Stick her and run The damning dart Look back in shame With your own son And when I ask you To go easier on her You run out Mumbling, “how dare you, How dare you”
9.
Darmok 03:19
10.
Adorable 01:13
Roll me over ’Cause I’m adorable I’ve never been a human But I’m a good friend
11.
12.
Obsidian lizard Little blue belly Puffin’ on a rock Look behind you, Mallory Where did it go? Man, turn down Your radio The big cat rips At the meat between the worlds An area of wrath is the being You are you forget You will remember you are healed Debbie Dubai Debbie Dubai I open my mouth I close it again There was no raindrop Telepathy of dreams Nice legs, for a human The part of the waking self remains That smell Makes me water, water, here Obsidian lizard Little blue belly Puffin’ on a rock Look behind you, Mallory Where did it go?
13.
Mother Much of what I should know Kissed off But let me go I guess this is a reality But did you mean it? Young Purple rocks This is the hardest stuff Planted my heels Bumping the beetles into jars Before a black tea Interesting music Ants all over red I got in my head game Of guessing But I’m here I’m shown I’m here I’m shown Farther into washing I find fear Counting others’ clockworks Well, I tear Pull pants down Because what’s in there? Because what’s in there? Because what’s in there? You’re 30 And scrutinized The blimp of a moth Look in her eyes
14.
Ameleon 05:20
Watch me roll An office chair Out the door To the balcony See the pink Of an old Madrid Hand off the lid And the lava of the drama Smothers it On the verge Healthy body Human mind Seems to blind me Driving open-top and scared To believe That it’s always me I’m one in Ameleon Let it be Under the forming rock I see a grinning face Left by the heat Does it want me? Who called for me? And what’s their name? Bleating sheep out In the open field Cues come in to moan Follow the tiny footprints Back to where you’ll sleep Unless you go alone But then, how would you know You’re wanted Ameleon You are wanted

about

Album page: paradiseofbachelors.com/shop/pob-056/
Artist page: paradiseofbachelors.com/mega-bog
Other options: smarturl.it/PoB56

ALBUM ABSTRACT

The magical Mega Bog returns with another fantastical off-world transmission, the most sophisticated, exploratory, and accessible statement yet from surrealist songwriter and avant-pop prospector Erin Birgy. Featuring James Krivchenia (Big Thief), who co-produced, and Zach Burba (iji) among its cast of vibrant players, Life, and Another bristles with painterly technicolor surface textures while plumbing fathomless depths of feeling.

ALBUM NARRATIVE

On Life, and Another, Mega Bog (the world-inhabiting moniker of song-animator Erin Birgy) tends a succulent garden full of plants that the unwitting passerby might mistakenly perceive as extraterrestrial, but which are in fact very much of this Earth. Departing from the humid Holodeck spider plant nursery of previous record Dolphine (2019), Mega Bog’s new album brings us back to our home planet, into the rarefied air pressure of a dried-up desert valley where its fourteen songs were written and scattered like stones in the landscape. But true to Birgy’s alchemical writing practice, these bright stones simply refuse to blend into their arid environment, each one a precious gem chiseled by the anti-capitalist geologist’s hammer to reveal the impossible, dazzling life that inheres under the dusty exteriors of both the northern Nevada of her youth and the rural New Mexico of the album’s birth.

Cohabiting with Life, and Another’s co-producer, engineer, and percussionist James Krivchenia (Big Thief) in a small cabin near the Rio Grande off of NM State Route 68, Birgy found herself often alone, suspended between their separate touring schedules. In these silent time passages, Birgy experienced a complete loss of self amid the expanse. Frequently thinking about death in the middle of nowhere opened a familiar black hole of troubling projections, and any desire to find freedom or remain positive continued to fold back into self-destructive thought and fear. Strange long days were spent pacing the property with a rake, befriending ants and spiders and struggling with the instinct to poison them if they ventured into the home. Comfort was occasionally found in internet reruns of Frasier and Star Trek Deep Space 9, texts on the ethics of terraforming and space colonization, and Ken Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. Over time, a budding interest in mindfulness, attachment theory, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and rage gave way to new productive brain processes. These creative juices followed Birgy on the road and into subsequent lonely bedrooms as the songs continued to flow. New, northern landscapes, like the woods and rivers outside of Seattle, Washington, provided further inspiration during odd sublets in the area. Dark as everything may actually be, Birgy always manages to stay with trouble and conjure the extraordinary resulting music. 

Life, and Another stages a semi-fictionalized drama in the community theater of the interior self, with scenes of collective longing at the bowling alley, disputes over a distended memory outside the bar, and the solitary circling on the patio, looking out over the yard in stubborn awe. These memories, from both past and future, bubble up throughout the album and present their characters as new entries into the Mega Bog Book of Symbols. In “Station to Station,” an artichoke, the decadent indulgence young Erin learned to steam for herself, is gutted around the spine. In “Weight of the Earth, on Paper,” named after the collection of memoir tapes by the artist-warrior David Wojnarowicz, poppies sprout in Birgy’s shadow and scare her companion, while harpies circle above Loch Ness. Fantastical visions beget inherited family traumas that taunt withering romantic relationships. A deep faultline connects the record with the work of Wojnarowicz, who, in the years before his death in 1992 (twenty-nine years and one day before the release of Life, and Another), recorded in his tape journals a series of moments of rapturous solitude in the deserts of the American Southwest, carried from dream to dream by real and imagined friendships with human lovers, horses, scorpions, clouds, and the occasion cruiser. 

Recorded over several sessions in various studios—the Unknown in Anacortes, Washington, Way Out in Woodinville, Washington, and Tropico Beauty in Glendale, California—Life bleeds with instrumental contributions from longtime and new collaborators, including Aaron Otheim, Zach Burba of iji, Will Segerstrom, Matt Bachmann, Andrew Dorset of Lake, James Krivchenia of Big Thief, Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, Jade Tcimpidis, Alex Liebman, and co-engineers Geoff Treager and Phil Hartunian. The group’s temporary re-imagining of exoplanetary life together carries this collective imagination through its architecture, which, if you try to grasp it too tightly, will only appear to you all at once, afterward, instead of moment to moment, station to station, through the house into which Birgy and her friends have invited us.  Listeners know by now they can trust Mega Bog to continuously lead them into deeper and wilder, spiritual pop territories. Skittering piano glissandos, haunting psychic background voices, and tequila-inspired improvisations creep and crawl over the dark-night-of-the-soul rock and roll dreamscape, before vanishing to make way for invocations of quiet clarity and living-breathing instrumental passages. 

This is how the record takes on its picaresque, non-anthropomorphic epic story bag shape. Imagine that Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Wim Wenders’s film Until the End of the World, and Bucky Fuller and June Jordan’s speculative architectural redesign of New York City were episodes in some larger, yet-to-be-written Canterbury Tales of imaginative, necessary life on the planet. Mega Bog etches its chapter here, transforming the brutal heaviness of the world into the collective struggle of living.

KEY POINTS

+ Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty matte board jacket; insert with lyrics and credits; and high-res Bandcamp download code.
+ CD edition features gatefold jacket with LP replica art and insert with lyrics and credits.
+ A limited-edition Life, and Another photo and song book (perfect bound, foil-stamped cover, 64 full-color pages, 300 copies only) featuring images, songwriting and studio notes, collages and texts by Erin Birgy, and drawings by Zach Burba, designed by Joel Gregory, is available, while supplies last, exclusively via Paradise of Bachelors. Watch a preview: youtu.be/54TtzYbGHAc
+ Featuring James Krivchenia (Big Thief), who also co-produced and engineered the record, as well as Zach Burba (iji) and Meg Duffy (Hand Habits).
+ RIYL Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, Slapp Happy, Kevin Ayers, Bridget St John, David Bowie, Cate Le Bon, Aldous Harding, Big Thief, Hand Habits, Yoko Ono, Nico, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken Liu, David Wojnarowicz, Wim Wenders
+ Album page/details/acknowledgments: paradiseofbachelors.com/shop/pob-056/
+ Artist page/tour dates/links/back catalog: paradiseofbachelors.com/mega-bog

credits

released July 23, 2021

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Mega Bog

contact / help

Contact Mega Bog

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Mega Bog recommends:

If you like Mega Bog, you may also like: