Here's the deal (read: excuses):
Most of these songs were recorded in the early 90s, and digitized and uploaded in the new millenium, here. In those ten years, the source tape quality has deteriorated, and well, frankly, we're all much better musicians than we were back then. I mean heck, Durkin's got a PhD now.

In addition, even back in 1994 or so, these songs were recorded on next to no budget. Most of the Evelyn Situation songs below are incomplete and unmixed, and/or one of the vocalists was suffering with the plague but due to studio schedules we had to plug along. The Jay's Booming Hat stuff was all done on four-track, usually in one take after just one or two rehearsals. So, proceed at your own risk, and please don't take it as an accurate representation of any of the contributors' talents.

With that said... Click here to download:

Songs from old recordings by The Evelyn Situation

The Evelyn Situation: Adam and Eve.   Danielle Franklin singin' the lead. This isn't mixed fully... (Recorded at Hillside Sound, Englewood, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: Building a Fire. This was recorded live in a fabulous, dark church. I'm very proud of this performance, even though the sound quality faded over the years before I had a chance to digitize it. (Recorded at First Reformed Church, Upper Montclair, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: Fruits and Vegetables.   I do love the lyrics to this song; they're a good time (click the linky below to see the lyrics). (Recorded at First Reformed Church, Upper Montclair, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: Halloween.   I frikkin' love this song. Awesome lyrics, catchy as hell. Donna rocked out on this in every performance, but sadly for this whole recording session she had a horrific head cold, poor thing. She's singing lead here. (Recorded at Hillside Sound, Englewood, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: I Wish I Was You.  Danielle Franklin is singin' the lead. (Unmixed.   Recorded at Hillside Sound, Englewood, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: Secretaries and their Bosses / Coffee.   Everyone gets a crack at singing lead on this one! First, the very ill Donna; Second the yes-shes-purposely-trying-to-sound-stuffy Danielle; and on the Coffee section, Jill. Interesting tidbit: Durkin morphed this song's middle "Coffee" section into a new song called Coffee/Coffee Retrograde, which The Industrial Jazz Group, played the heck out of in 2005-2006. This recording here is the original, full Evelyn version, however. (Recorded at Hillside Sound, Englewood, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: The Job Song. Jill Knapp and Donna VanderGaag singin' the lead; Danielle Franklin on the kazoo. This song has also been retooled by the Industrial Jazz Group, but this recording here is the Evelyn original. (As mixed as it was gonna get. Recorded at Hillside Sound, Englewood, NJ.) The new version of The Job Song has is going to be released on the next Industrial Jazz Group album, called LEEF, due out in March. If you want to hear the song, check out the IJG myspace page. I think you'll be shocked at what a 15-piece big band can do to an already awesome tune. (In the IJG version, Jill sings the whole tune.)

The Evelyn Situation: The Piano. I love this song, especially the way the word "cemetary" is arranged as it comes out of the bridge. Gives me chills every time. Donna VanderGaag singing the lead. (This version is as mixed as it was gonna get. Recorded at Hillside Sound, Englewood, NJ.)

The Evelyn Situation: The Hands of Time.   The song that will haunt Andrew Durkin. Three chords of 17-year-old poetry, yet it got the most requests for airplay and tissues. Simple proof that corn sells. (Jill Knapp, vocals; Andrew Durkin, piano.) (Recorded at Odyssey Sound, Long Branch, NJ)

The Evelyn Situation: They. Paul wrote this tune, and it's really neat. It's very, very Paul. :-)   (Jill Knapp, vocals; Andrew Durkin, piano; Paul Badalamenti, guitar. Recorded at Odyssey Sound, Long Branch, NJ)

The Evelyn Situation: Winter This was recorded at our last gig ever. Sound quality is bootleggy, but you get the idea.   Jill Knapp on the bottom, Carolyn Schneider in the middle, Danielle Franklin on top vocals. Andrew Durkin, acoustic guitar; Paul Badalamenti, electric guitar. (Recorded Live at Java Jack's in Bethehem, PA.)

Lyrics for the Evelyn Situation stuff can be found here, since our diction is pretty horrendous.

Jay's Booming Hat Stuff

Jay's Booming Hat was an experimental studio band comprised of Andrew, Jill, a 4-track recorder and a delay pedal. We home-released a CD called Gruel on the now-defunct Superpickle Music Arts label.

Jay's Booming Hat: Gibbous Moon (Demo Version) (Jill singing lead, Danielle Franklin also singing in there.) This was recorded as part of the "Folk Band From Hell" project in my apartment complex's clubhouse in Arizona. It was done in one take.

Jay's Booming Hat: Driving Man Jill singing lead, Andrew as the little tap dancing guy. :-) This was recorded in Arizona, probably in Jill's workplace breakroom after midnight some time. The whistlers (Mark Kooy [lead whistler], Jeremy Moskowitz, Danielle Franklin and Jeff Davey [backing whistlers]) recorded their part in Jeremy's old apartment. Gotta love a portable 4-track.

Jay's Booming Hat: Sharks (Jill singing all vocals) I really dig the harmonies on the chorus of this tune; they're fun. We never did figure out what to do with the bridge; that's unfinished.

Jay's Booming Hat: You're Late (Jill singing lead; Andrew as the "late guy voice.") Durk said that he got the inspiration for the kooky "late guy voice" from the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry describes the voice of his girlfriend's bellybutton. I was very proud that I contributed to the lyrics of this song. Originally, the last verse had a line that said "...were killed in a freak accident playing golf one day." But I changed it to "playing cards one day" because it just struck me silly (but then again, doesn't everything?).

Jay's Booming Hat: Don't Walk Alone Late at Night Without a Pal (Andrew Durkin, Mark Kooy, Jeff Davey and Jeremy Moskowitz are singing the manly part, and Jill is crooning in the background.) This tune was written as a 30-second public service announcement as part of the Superpickle Music Arts release "'Til Someone Loses an Eye."

Jay's Booming Hat: Nosepickin' (Andrew Durkin singing lead; Jill supplying teeny bits of BV). Durk recorded his voice and then sped up the tape during mixdown to give him that "lad of four" sound. This song cracks me up. "And you'd be pickin' yours right now if only you could..."

Other Bits of Ancient History

Brooklyn Ferry: Starving Artists (1993) I guess we were called Brooklyn Ferry back in 1993, who the hell knows. What I do know is that this song is just me and Durk; he's playing piano, and I'm singing. So teeny wee are we! :-)   I remember we were struggling to get the right vibe on this recording; we couldn't figure out where to go with it. There was a weird energy in the air that night and both Andrew, Ernie (the recording engineer) and I were feeling a little out of sorts. We took a little break-- Andrew went outside, and I went back into the vocal booth to zen a little. When Andrew returned from outside, he stuck his head in the booth and announced, "Hey Jill, it's snowing." I looked outside and it was really coming down; there was probably 2" on the ground at that point. There was something magical about that snow. After that announcement, I got this vocal. I love the imperfection of it... to coin a Durk-ism, my voice "falters," and there's a realness to the imperfection which captures what he was going for in the piece.

Area Code (201): Paramaribo (Jill singing lead, Jodie DiMinno singing BV, Durkin playing keys, Joe Bergamini playing drums.) I don't know if we had a band name back then, but the oldest band name I can recall is Area Code (201), so that's what I'm going with. This tune, Paramaribo, was written and recorded in 1990-- I was 19 and Durk was 21. Paramaribo, in case you're wondering, is the capital of Suriname. I think, even after all this time, this song still stands up nicely; I always really liked this one. Admittedly, there was a poorly executed a cappella thing in the middle of the instrumental, but thanks to the miracle of wave editing, I chopped it out. Please pardon the resulting 6/4 measure... :-)

For Butch:
The Contents of the 1988 New Jersey All State Chorus CD. (I know you only wanted tracks 7-10, but hey, this stuff isn't copyrighted, so let's go nuts.)