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Post​-​Truth and Bird Feeders

by Van Goose

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    A special edition package that includes a translucent blue 12" vinyl w/ a full color printed inner sleeve containing lyrics, an 11"x17" album cover poster with a one of a kind drawing by the artist behind the album cover - Van Goose's 5 year old son, Ollie.
    The poster will be shipped folded to fit the album mailer.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Post-Truth and Bird Feeders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Black 12" vinyl LP w/ a full color printed inner sleeve containing lyrics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Post-Truth and Bird Feeders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A special edition package that includes a CD w/ a full color printed booklet containing lyrics and an 11"x17" album cover poster with a one of a kind drawing by the artist behind the album cover - Van Goose's 5 year old son, Ollie.
    The poster will be shipped folded to fit the album mailer.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Post-Truth and Bird Feeders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $17 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Compact Disc in a jewel case with a lyric booklet.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Post-Truth and Bird Feeders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

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

      $9 USD  or more

     

1.
Snake Eyes 03:48
Snake eyes still stare through the window Street lights whisper behind your back Stroll fast, keep loose It’s a different feeling Snake eyes all over the neighborhood Ringing twice on the acid phone Take a peek at the known influencer Crossing town with your epic hair Refresh, refresh, refresh the page Evergreen to the bible belt We keep spreading the disinformation When they tell you you should make amends Refresh, refresh, refresh the page Snake eyes still stare through the window Street lights whisper behind your back Stroll fast, keep loose It’s a different feeling Snake eyes all over the neighborhood
2.
I can see straight through my eye but it’s so intense, it’s too intense, it’s too intense All is but changes and changes are changing so get with it, I get with it Safe on the dad rock boat and everyone is sleeping It’s happening, it’s happening, oh no no, it’s happening A phone call from Jacques, he’s been dead for the past seven years, I should have known It’s the happy nest, it’s the happy nest of the depressed middle age chumps I cannot swim so I cannot jump but I gotta jump I’m gonna jump tonight I’m drowning, I’m drowning with a stupid hat This is my revolution I can see straight through my eye but it’s so intense, it’s too intense, it’s too intense Safe on the dad rock boat It’s happening, it’s happening Oh no no, it’s happening
3.
Hard Right 03:55
Light is slithering up on Lorimer Remember how the mornings used to feel You walked barefoot to the store You didn’t seem to care Broken Flowers Have we lost the way Now all the trees, they speak in shame Do they know we had a dream we dreamt in Lorimer Long reaching arms of the animal invisible and altering our minds All the tangled roads lead to that February night when you opened up my eyes Underwater Life is striving It wants to stay and wants to leave Unaware of our dream, it ends and it begins Long reaching arms of the animal invisible and altering our minds All the tangled roads lead to that February night when you opened up my eyes Light is slithering Up on Lorimer Now all the trees, they speak in shame
4.
I am searching for the man in the bottom He must stop the electronic interaction He writes comments till his fingers bleed Typing hate words on a board with buttons An Amazon deal from a 3rd party seller If it hurts then it hurts then it hurts then it hurts us It’s a city of preachers but love is a homeless I’m standing in the rain with regrets and no reason It’s February 5th and all I could think I wanna be a fly on the wall in Mar-a-Lago In the hardware store a Qanon wife She greets me hello hello hello Her husband Fred is really into fishing but he spends his time on 8kun.net They like to sit on the porch in the twilight hour sip a tea full of tears of a liberal daughter and son She tells me there are only two things on my mind Post truth and bird feeders There are only two things on my mind Post truth and bird feeders Hahaha I am searching for the man in the bottom He writes comments till his fingers bleed In the hardware store a Qanon wife She greets me hello hello hello Her husband Fred is really into fishing but he spends his time on 8kun.net They like to sit on the porch in the twilight hour sip a tea full of tears of a liberal daughter They like to sit on the porch in the twilight hour sip a tea full of tears of a liberal daughter and son She tells me there are only two things on my mind Post truth and bird feeders There are only two things on my mind Post truth and bird feeders Post truth and bird feeders Post truth and bird feeders Post truth
5.
Where is Claire? Where is Claire? Down the rabbit hole She fell down Where is Claire? Where is Claire? Down the rabbit hole She fell down Down the rabbit hole Where is Claire? Where is Claire? Down the rabbit hole She fell down She fell down How to break the devil they come day and and night and saying we don’t do enough drugs How to break the devil they come day and and night and saying we don’t do enough drugs How to break the devil they come day and and night and saying we don’t do enough drugs
6.
Modern Times 05:53
The days are gone The money spent unwisely These are modern times for you For you The gap is wide and friendships like distractions, draining Turn your head and hide till the end of the summer Under the layers, under the layers The days are gone The money spent unwisely These are modern times for you For you False intentions, bail me out Even I know my error counts Guilty pleasures and intimacy must be found in this big town The night is trusting, the people reach out If its still moving then we cross no line And those deep emotions False intentions, bail me out Even I know my error counts Guilty pleasures and intimacy must be found in this big town The night is trusting, the people reach out If its still moving then we cross no line And those deep emotions
7.
Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? It’s getting hot, I found a trick, I got a plan As long as I know Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Or is this a scam or a trap? As long as I know that you’re screwing me over I’m ok with that, I’ll turn around Where are you from? Where are you from? You have an accent and so the assumption is that you don’t have complex feelings, you don’t have complex thoughts You’re simple, you buy milk, you brush your teeth You go to sleep Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands, making a mark in this world They’ll wipe it with bleach in 25 minutes Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands? Are these my hands?
8.
9.
We fell into an ocean In chains and rolling waves of pain The blue is more like purple The salt, the salt, running through the skin There’s someone else inside me It whispers spells in my head Run, run, now stop, cover your eyes and then run again Run, run, run till the end Into the storm Oh my, oh my First young then old First young then old First young then old First young, first young There is no road There was no hold Other than my hand Will not let you go You’ve seen my worst And I saw yours Lets get high, love lets get high, love

about

I spent a year diving into, observing and archiving the darkest corners of the internet during the strangest year in recent history.
I was driven by the urge to understand the digital ecosystem and its ability to alter and mold people’s perspectives so efficiently.

​Basically asking my self, "how the fuck did we get here?"

In a way, watching other people go down the rabbit hole became my very own rabbit hole.
After climbing out of my hole, feeling emotionally charged, I went into the studio to write and record Post-Truth and Bird Feeders.​

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It would be a stretch to say the movie Hackers was based on Shlomi Lavie's life, but he was a big part of that burgeoning community in the '90s. Aside from being able to write clean and compelling code in several languages, the singer/multi-instrumentalist ran a bulletin board system (a.k.a. BBS) of like-minded computer programmers looking to trade loose ideas and the latest software over their creaky dial-up connections.

"I wasn’t causing any damage," Lavie says of his cyberpunk phase. "I was just a kid enjoying the thrill of entering some company’s computer. But one day, someone I knew very well had his house raided after doing some really dumb stuff (shutting down a university’s computer system for a couple of days just for fun). That was when I decided to unplug my modem and move onto my next interest — music."

​At first that meant lots of practicing and playing with local bands in Lavie's hometown, Haifa. A few years later, he moved to Tel Aviv and began to pursue music professionally alongside the avant-garde band Habiluim and such acclaimed Israeli musicians as Berry Sakharof, Arik Einstein and Yehudit Ravitz. Other Notable work included a gig with Dan Aykroyd and a loose recording session with Ryan Gosling and local musician/producer Rona Kenan.

Once he wrapped that formative chapter, Lavie decided to leave Tel Aviv behind for Brooklyn, where he launched the electro-punk experiment Dolchnakov Brigade, landed a longtime gig in Marcy Playground, and split his time between session work and producing such up-and-coming artists as Hank & Cupcakes, Radiator King, Yula Beeri and Yael Kraus.

​Lavie's main creative outlet is Van Goose, however, a solo project that might as well be a full-bodied band. While its dance-rock debut, 2019's Habitual Eater, leaned into mirror ball melodies and high beam hooks like a lo-fi LCD Soundsystem, its long-awaited sequel (this fall's Post-Truth and Bird Feeders LP) embraces a slightly more alien sound of paranoid android pop. One that's rooted in months of research and his own alarming firsthand accounts of today's highly toxic internet.

"I've toured a lot over the years — from small rural towns to big cities," says Lavie, "so I was already familiar with this country's different lifestyles and perspectives. However, it feels like the gap in perspectives and narratives of reality has widened to an insane degree in the past few years. The spectrum of what people consider the 'truth' is this perfect opposite image where down is up, and black is white. It feels like people live in alternate realities while occupying the same physical space."

Translating bitter message boards, twisted conspiracy theories, and seemingly endless social media spats into airtight post-everything anthems proved difficult initially — at least until a light bulb went off and Lavie realized that "I am a drummer before anything else. And when I drum, I have a direct line into my emotions."

​To bottle all of this up beautifully, Lavie slipped into a flow state of seamless drum takes, and layered all sorts of other instruments on top intuitively — a bass line here, a lyric there, a blast of erratic beats and prickly synth parts.... You know, the usual.

​"With this album I felt much more confident to follow my vision without second guessing myself," explains Lavie, "and went deeper into finding exactly what I’d like to express without worrying about how it might be perceived."

​A big part of this progression was Lavie's recent move to a rural part of Pennsylvania, something his family was already considering in the year leading up to the pandemic. Now that their neighbors are raccoons, foxes, deer, and opossums, Lavie feels both isolated and inspired. He is as likely to lose himself in locked grooves and lean chords as bird feeder breaks and the gnarly textures of an evergreen tree.

​These new circumstances also pushed him to take a far more DIY approach than ever before. T That goes for everything from self-produced standouts like "Snake Eyes," "Modern Times," and "Are These My Hands" to the album's deceivingly simple cover art. Turns out it was originally drawn by Lavie's young son Oliver and tweaked in Photoshop to represent the two diametrically opposed sides of a stick figure society not unlike ours.

​To hammer its central point home, Lavie also designed an interactive website that represents the rabbit holes of information we often find ourselves diving into online,
whether we realize it or not.
"The irony with this album," explains Lavie, "was that my obsessions with watching people go down the rabbit hole became my own rabbit hole. In this day and age — with the power of AI and algorithms — each and every one of us can be a potential victim of disinformation and brainwashing.

He continues, "Learning how the information we consume molds our perspective made me more understanding and patient towards people with different perspectives. I might get in trouble for saying this, but I am no longer triggered by someone who spits disinformation just because they were misinformed. I see them more as victims."

credits

released September 2, 2022

Eamon Lebow - guitars, saz, acoustic lap steel.

Dylan Keefe - bass guitar on 1,3,5,6,8(ending).

Shlomi Lavie - vocals, drums, synths - ARP Axxe,
Korg Monopoly, Baldwin Discoverer, Korg Poly-Ensemble S,
Univox Minikorg 2, MFB Synth II.
Bass, guitar, mini guitar, Omnichord OM-84,
Thomas Bandmaster 55 drum machine, MAXIM MDS-1000 drum
synthesizer, Synare PS-3 drum synthesizer, Roland SPD-S.
Percussion - Ebmpapst gas blower, cowbells, tambourine,
castanets, shaker, seed rattle, triangle, ghungroo.

Recorded, mixed and produced by Shlomi Lavie at Cardboard Queen Records.
Mastered by Chris Longwood.

Cardboard Queen Records 2022

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about

Van Goose Brooklyn, New York

Van Goose is the moniker of long time producer and multi instrumentalist Shlomi Lavie.
His sophomore album, Post-Truth and Bird Feeders, was released on September 2nd, 2022.
linktr.ee/vangoose

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