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• PRE-SUMMER 1995


• LATE COLLEGE
• SILENT BOB (1995)
• BEFORE (1995)
• MANCHESTER (1995-1996)
• MANCHESTER DEMO(1995-1996)
• BENEATH THE DUST (unreleased) (1995-1997)
• OXFORD ROAD (1995-1997)
• AFTERMATH (1996-1998)
• IN-BETWEEN (1997-1998)
• GOLD BENEATH THE DUST (compilation) (1995-1998)
• SILVER DUST (compilation) (1995-1998)


• POST COLLEGE
• FAIRMOUNT STONES (1997-2000)
• THE CHASM (1999-2001)
• CUBICLE WONDERLAND(1999-2002)
• FOOTPRINTS (2002-2005)
• DUST (outtakes collection) (1998-2005)


• CURRENT PROJECTS
• SEPTEMBER'S SHADOW - HOBSON'S JOURNEY (2004-2007)
• WALKING AWAY FROM WONDERLAND (2004 - 2008)

Although I sang songs into a Fisher Price tape deck when I was about 5, I began to really write songs when I was 13. Over the course of the next 10 years, the songs I wrote started to resemble music.

Before 1995, I wrote plenty of rock, pop, and experimental music, and I studied jazz and classical. Someday, I may comb through the wreckage looking for something worth resurrecting, but for now, I consider everything before 1995 as lost. A few recordings have survived, but they are almost all Yamaha cassette based 4 track recordings. A rare hacked together collection of the most listenable early 4 track recordings is owned by a few people as Classic Dave (on side 2 of the Silent Bob cassette). I'm not even sure if I have a copy of this, and I don't remember what was on it.

The second half of college was an incredibly fruitful time musically. Although most of the recordings from this period are far from professional quality, many songs stand up well.

• SILENT BOB (1995)
• BEFORE (1995)
• MANCHESTER (1995-1996)
• MANCHESTER DEMO(1995-1996)
• BENEATH THE DUST (unreleased) (1995-1997)
• OXFORD ROAD (1995-1997)
• AFTERMATH (1996-1998)
• IN-BETWEEN (1997-1998)
• GOLD BENEATH THE DUST (compilation) (1995-1998)
• SILVER DUST (compilation) (1995-1998)

From around 1993-1995, I was in musical limbo, recovering from my experiences at Berklee College of music. I spent a long time trying to write whacked out musical theater works, but I never finished any of them.

Then, in the summer of 1995, I was asked to play bass in a pseudo-punk band with guitarist Dan Goldstein and drummer Christian Kisala. Although punk was never really my thing, I joined up and the band eventually settled on the name Silent Bob, after a character in several Kevin Smith movies. We released one album with songs mostly written by Dan and I, and we played three gigs: a pig roast, a friend's party, and a CBGB's audition.

The album is a bit on the heavy side with a few punk influenced songs, something rare in my repertoire. I credit this band and album, for returning me to my roots, and accepting once again that three chords can make a song.

Tracks

1. Leisure
2. Gold Beneath the Dust
3. December
4. December Queen
5. Only Every Now and Then
6. Hungry Like the Wolf
7. Mirror Song
8. Babylon
9. pUNK aS fUCK

1,3,7- written by Dan Goldstein © 1995 all rights reserved
2,4,5,8,9- written by David W. Jacobsen © 1995 all rights reserved
6- written by Duran Duran

Silent Bob were:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar, Vocals
David W. Jacobsen- Bass, Vocals
Christian Kisala- Drums

1-6 Engineered and recorded by Chuck Scott at Knee Deep Studios
7-9 Engineered and recorded by Brian Wilson of NJ in Dan's basement

The experience of playing in Silent Bob helped me finally realize that I was a songwriter and not a composer. This realization resulted in an incredibly prolific summer. In addition to 5 Silent Bob songs, I wrote the songs that would appear on two other albums: Before and Beneath the Dust. However, I wouldn't actually record Beneath the Dust until 1997.

Before was hacked together on a borrowed cassette based 4 track in about 2 weeks. It is an acoustic record with melancholy piano songs like "In the Midst," bitter guitar ballads like "Beth," and powerful, percussion heavy, odd meter songs like "Crippled." If I ever have a lot of time, I'd like to re-record this record, but until then, it only exists in its current poorly recorded cassette form.

Tracks

1. Ship of Schools
2. Clueless
3. Shadows into Life
4. Imaginary Queen
5. Closer to the Man
6. Object Permanence
7. Never Tell a Soul
8. No Word
9. In the Midst
10. Too Much
11. Beth
12. Atrophy of the Mind
13. I Waited
14. I'm Going To Go Back There Someday
15. Crippled
16. Mysteries

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen during the summer of 1995
© 1995 all rights reserved
Except 14 from the Muppet Movie

Additional Musicians:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 3,13
Christian Kisala- Drums on 2,5,11,15

Recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zboth
Except for 2,5,11,14 recorded by Brian Wilson of NJ

In 1995/1996, I spent a year studying at the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. I brought my guitar along and wrote about 40 songs, most of which appear on two albums I recorded when I returned to America: Manchester and Oxford Road.

Manchester contains 18 of those songs and was recorded at Chuck Scott's Knee Deep 24 track studio. Styles range from synth pop like "Better than that," folk ballads like "Sunset," and straight ahead rock songs like "Numb." Some of the songs have an intentionally British feel to them. "Someplace I've Never Been" is reminiscent of the Cure and "Better than that" sounds a bit like Depeche Mode.

This album was only released on cassette, but I hope to put out a CD version at some point in the near future.

Tracks

1. Someplace I've Never Been
2. Error of Judgment
3. The Younger One
4. You Never Sheltered Me
5. Thanks for Being a Friend
6. Heather
7. The Road Where Honor Leads is not the Road to Glory
8. Illuminate
9. I Got Lucky
10. Numb
11. Sunset
12. Fragile
13. Journey
14. Summer of '91
15. Better than that
16. Enough
17. Invite the Statue for Dinner
18. Fourth of July

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen from September 1995 - June 1996 in the U.K.
© 1996 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Chuck Scott- Electric Guitar on 2,5,10,14; Guitar Solo on 2,14; Drums on 17
Christian Kisala- Drums and Percussion on 1-2,5-14,16; Vibraharp on 9,10

Recorded and Engineered by Chuck Scott at Knee Deep Studio/Conspiracy Theater from July to September of 1996

For promotional purposes, I released a four song version of Manchester.

Tracks

1. Someplace I've Never Been
2. Error of Judgment
3. The Younger One
4. You Never Sheltered Me

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen from September 1995 - June 1996 in the U.K.
© 1996 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Chuck Scott- Electric Guitar on 2
Christian Kisala- Drums and Percussion on 1-2

Recorded and Engineered by Chuck Scott at Knee Deep Studio/Conspiracy Theater from July to September of 1996

After recording Manchester, I realized that I wrote too many songs to record in someone else's studio, so I began to learn more about recording music myself. Beneath the Dust is my first attempt at recording my own music on anything more ambitious than a four track, but a few of the songs don't sound like it. To teach myself about audio recording, I dug out some songs from 1995 that I wasn't afraid of ruining and produced a surprisingly listenable record. I also included an old 4 track alternate Silent Bob take of the song "Gold Beneath the Dust."

Although this album has never been released on its own, half of the tracks were released with Oxford Road.

Tracks

1. World View/Miracles
2. You'll See Decay
3. Hindsight
4. Flowers for Algernon
5. Great Expectations
6. Trapped Going Around
7. On the Verge
8. Gold Beneath the Dust
9. Comedy/Tragedy

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen during the summer of 1995.
© 1995 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians: (Silent Bob)
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 8
Christian Kisala- Drums on 8

Recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth
Except for 9 which was recorded by Brian Wilson in 1995 on a 4-track in Dan's basement

After Beneath the Dust, I finally moved into the digital world and my recording skills began to improve. For Oxford Road, I dusted off 10 unrecorded songs that I wrote in England at the same time as Manchester, and finally got them to tape in 1997. The album is a neat collection of songs ranging from the wacky "Conversation Optional," to the Pink Floyd like "Captive Queen." It also contains some beautiful piano/vocal pieces like "Cobwebs and Decay," as well as "Vital Signs," which sounds disturbingly techno.

When the album was done, CD-Rs were finally cheap enough to produce at home. Since I could fit 74 minutes of music on the CD, I added the better half of Beneath the Dust.

Tracks

1. Conversation Optional
2. Towers Bend
3. Cobwebs and Decay
4. Vital Signs
5. Captive Queen
6. Alexander's Last Dream
7. Fearless Queen
8. Your Expectations
9. Vital News
10. X-Mass Song
    
    (from Beneath the Dust)
    
11. Hindsight
12. World View/Miracles
13. You'll See Decay
14. Trapped Going Around
15. Gold Beneath the Dust

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen 1995 - 1996.
© 1996 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 4, 5, and 15
Christian Kisala- Drums on 15

Recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth
Except for 15 which was recorded by Brian Wilson of NJ in 1995 on a 4-track in Dan's basement

After Oxford Road, I recorded Aftermath, a dark synth pop song cycle written in 1996. The songs are linked by melodies that pop up through out the cycle in different songs. There are some very strong melodies and wonderfully moody tracks hidden on this gem. Although some of the arrangements sound a little dated, the underlying songs are strong.

"Clarity" begs for forgiveness as it recounts tragedies, "... and the Band Played On" sounds a bit like New Order as it talks of AIDS, and "Parasite" has a wonderfully catchy melancholy feel.

Tracks

1. Aftermath
2. Clarity
3. Afterview
4. Homecoming
5. ... And the Band Played On
6. Parasite
7. Parade
8. Rythms
9. Julie
10. Midlife Crisis
11. Rock
12. Aftermath (reprise)
13. Moment of Truth
14. In the Park

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen 1997
© 1998 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 1-5, 11, and 12

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth

I finished up my college material with, In-Between. Written mostly in 1997 and finished in 1998, it is a somewhat upbeat and almost pop collection of songs.

Although some of my early work displayed a sense of humor, In-Between contained more obvious attempts at humor with "Life is Good" and "Where Does All My Money Go?" Where Aftermath was clearly a dark moody record, In-Between wasn't afraid to try pop music with tracks like "Something More" and "Someone Else's Life."

Tracks

1. Something More
2. Where Does All My Money Go?
3. Life is Good
4. Someone Else's Life
5. Catherine
6. The Price
7. In-Between
8. Ballad of Stacey and Danger
9. Sarah
10. Morning After
11. The Queen is in Your Head
12. When the Guns Grew Silent
13. Julie (acoustic version)

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen 1997
© 1998 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 2 and 7

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth

GOLD BENEATH THE DUST (compilation)

After I graduated college, I looked back at all my material and decided to make a greatest hits collection ... unfortunately, I hadn't had any hits. Nevertheless, I put together a compilation called Gold Beneath the Dust containing songs from Silent Bob, Before, Manchester, Beneath the Dust, and Oxford Road. I also re-recorded a few tracks from Before and included the unreleased "Zimri and Zepora."

If you knew me in 1999, chances are pretty good that I gave you a copy of this album. I used to carry copies around and just give them out to people I met. If you're not using an AOL CD as a coaster, check and see if it's one of my albums.

This album was formerly available from mp3.com. Lyrics are still available online.

Tracks

1. Only Every Now and Then
2. Conversation Optional
3. Numb
4. Fragile
5. Towers Bend
6. Worldview/Miracles
7. Better Than That
8. You Never Sheltered Me
9. Thanks for Being a Friend
10. The Younger One
11. Zimri and Zepora
12. Cobwebs and Decay
13. Sunset
14. Beth
15. Crippled
16. Enough

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen 1995-1997
© 1998 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 1
Chuck Scott- Guitar on 3 and 9
Christian Kisala- Drums on 1, 3, 4, 9, 13, and 16; Vibraharp on 3

Tracks 1, 3, 4, 7-10, 13, and 16 recorded by Chuch Scott at Knee Deep Studios
All other tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth

SILVER DUST (compilation)

Gold Beneath the Dust left out a few classics and didn't have any songs from Aftermath or In-Between. Therefore, I released a second compilation containing more tracks from my college years.

There aren't as many copies of Silver Dust as Gold Beneath the Dust out there, but a lucky handful have this compilation as part of their David W. Jacobsen collection.

Tracks

1. Catherine
2. Rhythms
3. Someone Else's Life
4. December Queen
5. Life is Good
6. Where Does all my Money Go?
7. Midlife Crisis
8. Parasite
9. ...and the Band Played On...
10. Illuminate
11. Clarity
12. Journey
13. Julie
14. Something More
15. pUNK aS fUCK

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen 1995-1997
© 1999 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Dan Goldstein- Guitar on 4, 6, 9, and 15
Christian Kisala- Drums on 4, 10, 12, and 15

Tracks 4, 10, and 12 recorded by Chuch Scott at Knee Deep Studios
Track 15 recorded by Brian Wilson of NJ
All other tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth

---

After college, my albums finally started to sound professional and the songs matured. I started performing live more often and effectively gave up on having a band. At this point, my songs started heading in the folk direction and I officially became an acoustic guitarist. Up until this point, I considered myself primarily a bass player.

• FAIRMOUNT STONES (1997-2000)
• THE CHASM (1999-2001)
• CUBICLE WONDERLAND(1999-2002)
• FOOTPRINTS (2002-2005)
• DUST (outtakes collection) (1998-2005)

Fairmount Stones grew out of my first year of post-college life disillusionment. It has some fantastic songs on it, but be warned, it's a real razor-fest. This is the most depressing album I have released so far.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I see now that a lot of these songs have to do with the inability to accept change. "Oxford Street" laments a friend who ruins his life, "Hope You Like the Flowers" takes place while watching an ex-girlfriend get married, and "Cubicle" is part one of a cycle of songs I would explore further on a later album.

This album is available at live shows.

Tracks

1. Fairmount
2. Oxford Street
3. Hope You Like the Flowers
4. Ferme La Bouche
5. Cubicle
6. Wasted Life
7. Portrait
8. Ridgedale Days
9. Fairmount
10. Graduation Day
11. You'll Burn More Than You'll Save
12. Fairmount Stones
13. Juxtaposition
14. Fairmount
15. Run
16. Fairmount
17. Fairmount
18. Providence

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2000 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Wuba- Drums on 2-5

Voices:
Evan Robb performs the service on 3
Quentin Twine and Mary Tiritilli play the parts of Michael and Jane on 3

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth
Except drums on 2-5 recorded by Wuba

The Chasm contains an eclectic mix of styles and moods about loneliness and disconnection. It is about the gap between people who are trying to connect. This album is one of my strongest and has an excellent balance of humor and pathos making it neither novelty nor suicide inducing. "Dry Spell" and "Vaseline" are funny crowd pleasers, "New Years Eve" and "Jacqueline" are wonderful pop, and "Jersey Summer" perfectly captures the melancholy of a summer's end.

The Chasm was the first album that I had professionally packaged and it received some very positive press. I still promote it, and it can be purchased at cdbaby.com and iTunes.

Tracks

1. The Moment
2. 10,000 Feet
3. Dry Spell
4. Always a Friend
5. Jacqueline
6. New Years Eve
7. Vaseline
8. Hard to Forgive
9. Torn
10. Julia
11. Obvious
12. Dalton Ames
13. These Things Happen
14. One More Beer
15. I'd Feel a Lot Better
16. Come to Me
17. Sneaking
18. No Lies
19. Summer Time
20. Jersey Summer

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2001 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Wuba- Drums on 2, 3, 4, 8, and 10

Voices:
Elizabeth Zeldin performs the part of Julia on 10

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth
Except drums on 2, 3, 4, 8, and 10 recorded by Wuba

Cubicle Wonderland actually contains two connected song cycles that both reflect a desire for a different life. The first part, "Cubicle in the Sky" (tracks 1-8), contains funny, yet poignant songs about office life. It is kind of like a musical combination of the movies Office Space and Startup.com with elements of Dilbert. The second part, "Wonderland Fades" (tracks 9-23), contains more serious songs about longing, restlessness, jealousy, and loss. For anyone yearning for a life beyond their reach (or seeking success in the arts), this may be cathartic... or it may make you slit your wrists.

Although very different albums, the Chasm and Cubicle Wonderland were mostly written at the same time.

Cubicle Wonderland is available for purchase at cdbaby.com and iTunes.

Tracks

1. Another Day, Another Dollar (Cubicle part 3)
2. Reorganization Time (Cubicle part 4)
3. Sales Meeting (Cubicle part 5)
4. Cubicle Cowboy (Cubicle part 10)
5. Proper Work Ethic (Cubicle part 2)
6. An Honest and Sincere Assessment... (Cubicle part 9)
7. Question (Cubicle part 6)
8. Great Cubicle in the Sky

9. Watching the Sunrise When You Haven't Slept
10. Every Suburb, Every Strip Mall
11. Wonderland
12. Burst
13. Moving Faster
14. View
15. Blinded by the Flight
16. Each Day Still Brings Another Day
17. I.N.A.S.A.I.L.
18. Allison
19. All Stops to Dover
20. No Plans
21. Burst (Reprise)
22. Closure
23. Happy Birthday (Epilogue)

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2002 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Wuba- Drums on 1, 2, 4, 10, 13, and 18

Voices:
Wuba- HR Representative on 2

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth with help from John Zollo
Except drums on 1, 2, 4, 10, 13, and 18 recorded by Wuba with help from Christian Schaaf

Footprints picks up where both the Chasm and Cubicle Wonderland leave off and deals with obsession and mortality. The Chasm dealt with not being able to tell someone how you feel about them. In Footprints, you tell them and they shoot you down. Cubicle Wonderland asked if there is more to life than toiling away at some job until you die. Footprints copes with the possibility that there isn't. However, most of the album isn't really depressing and it approaches these themes with novel and humorous perspectives.

Footprints is available for purchase at CD Baby and iTunes.

Tracks

1. Horizon
2. Welcome
3. Batteries
4. Sorry
5. Footprints
6. Cordelia
7. Sleepwalking
8. Destiny
9. Meaning Of Life
10. To Your Door
11. Park Slope
12. Postcard
13. You Only Want in from the Outside
14. Fragments
15. Epilogue
16. Immune
17. Christmas In Jersey City
18. Dance
19. Portland
20. Forgotten Songs
21. Famous
22. The Tide
23. Know Good Things

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2005 all rights reserved

Additional Musicians:
Wuba- Drums on 2 and 5
Brian Wilson of NJ- Percussion 3 and 10

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth.

Cover art by Kevin Colden

Dust collects unfinished and previously unreleased material from 1998 through 2005. It has three sections:

• Footprints Addendum (tracks 1-5) contains songs mostly written for the Footprints album that were not recorded with the rest of Footprints. After Footprints, I went back and recorded these songs for a limited edition EP. Rather than an independent EP release, I decided to combine the tracks with other outtakes and unreleased material as Dust.


• Snow in New York City (tracks 6-14) is a depressing semi-political song cycle written from 1998 through early 2001. Many of the songs were written the summer that I was in a car accident, fired, evicted, and sued. I was finally finishing up the recording when I was in another car accident in March 2001. I shelved the album because I felt it had too much negativity, even for me. In late 2005, I cleaned up the mixes a little and removed a few tracks.


• Outtakes (tracks 15-21) contains songs that were originally recorded for Footprints (tracks 16,17), Wonderland Fades (tracks 15,18-20) , or Fairmount Stones (track 21), but didn't make the final cut. They are included as is.

Dust is available for purchase on CD Baby and iTunes.

1. Gethsemane
2. Come Calling
3. Abdicate
4. Trust
5. Moving Song

6. America
7. The Stain
8. Trenton
9. Life And Death On The NJTP
10. News
11. The Children Are Our Future
12. American Loser
13. The Spirit Of Christmas
14. Main Street

15. The Act
16. Sunday Night Blues
17. The Chasm
18. Go Away 1
19. Houseguest
20. Go Away 2
21. In This Town

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2005 rights reserved
All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth

I'm currently working on several projects and looking into doing more collaborative works.

• SEPTEMBER'S SHADOW - HOBSON'S JOURNEY (2004-2007)
• WALKING AWAY FROM WONDERLAND (2004 - 2008)

Hobson's Journey was released under the band name September's Shadow because it is rather different from my recent work. It features less acoustic and more electronic sounds, there are numerous instrumental pieces, and almost half the vocal tracks are sung by vocalists KT Wills and Stefanie Seskin.

It contains two unconnected song cycles. "Hobson's Choice" (tracks 1-9) contains catchy, melancholy synth pop music with somber lyrics. "The Journey Home from Rexel 4" (tracks 10-18) contains instrumental works, several of which were original written for a video game.

The album is available for purchase at CD Baby and iTunes. You can listen to some songs on MySpace, and the band has a separate Web site at septembersshadow.com .

Tracks

1. I Sent the Letter
2. Reprises
3. Is There a Doctor in the house?
4. Never Felt Like Home
5. Familiar
6. The Cut
7. Hobson's Choice
8. If Only
9. Fading

10. A Bad Omen
11. The Homeward Journey Begins
12. Moving Slightly Off Course
13. Turbulence
14. Lost in a Hostile Place
15. Everything Falls To pieces
16. Thoughts of ...
17. The Stillness Before ...
18. A Turbulent End

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2007 all rights reserved

Vocals on 1 and 2 by KT Wills
Vocals on 2 and 6 by Stefanie Seskin

All tracks recorded by David W. Jacobsen at Zbokth

Walking Away From Wonderland is the follow up to Footprints. Many of the songs deal with losing touch as the years go by either with friends or former lovers. Some of the loss is humorously described in the form of break up songs where the narrator is happy the other person is gone. Others express longing for people, places, and times that are forever out of reach. However, not all of the songs adhere to this central theme and the album's content and mood vary considerably.

The album is available for purchase at CD Baby , you can listen to some songs on MySpace. It will be available on iTune and other online music stores shortly.

Tracks

1. Easier Said Than Done
2. Best Thing You Ever Did
3. Hello Sarah
4. Have I Told You Lately
5. Sandcastles
6. Abbi
7. Keys
8. Retrieve
9. Clapping on One and Three
10. ... By Sunday
11. Jealousy
12. Independence Day
13. Might Have Been
14. Return to Oxford Street
15. Broken
16. The Captain is Drunk

All songs written by David W. Jacobsen
© 2008 all rights reserved

Stefanie Seskin lead vocals on 8, backing vocals on 4 and 5
KT Wills backing vocals on 6 and 14
Brian J Wilson percussion on 3, 12, and 16
Luis Manuel percussion on 1,2, and 8
Tom Taggart cover art.