A Rock So Big I Cain't

by Josh Rude

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
An "Even Bigger" Edition. The complete ARSBIC album, plus the entire Australia EP (considered the final "side" of the album), as well as the 2023 "Time Won't Tell" digital single plus one hidden (shhhh!) extra remix on CD. A total of 43 tracks on CD, inside a four-panel digipak with full color print. We've added gloss UV coating to the print. CD package designed by Johnny Hartman and Josh Rude with additional artwork directed by JR. In shrink.

Please note this is a PRE-ORDER. Your disc is in the manufacturing stages and will be shipped by or around May 30, 2024. (Also, these images are for display purposes only and will not match the quality of the final print.)

Includes unlimited streaming of A Rock So Big I Cain't via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

shipping out on or around May 30, 2024

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1.	A Lumpy Intro [with Jerry Chamberlain] 00:06	buy track
2.	B.S.B. (Verse One) 00:26	buy track
3.	Hell (As It Were) 00:36	buy track
4.	Youthless 01:54	buy track
5.	A Rock So Big (Of Cain) [with Joshua Lory] 00:17	buy track
6.	Hoofbeats 01:10	buy track
7.	Let's Fly 01:33	buy track
8.	Leia Not Leah (Slight Prevenge) 00:36	buy track
9.	A Part Of Randy's Life (Pt. 1) [with Randy Layton] 00:35	buy track
10.	Misery [with James Clark] 02:03	buy track
11.	Leia Not Leah (One Theme Itself) 02:22	buy track
12.	China Shop / Right Needs Wrong 03:14	buy track
13.	Jamming With Emaline... And Gabriel Rude! 00:57	buy track
14.	The Message [with Steve Taylor] 00:05	buy track
15.	Leia Not Leah (Theme Two Itself) 00:23	buy track
16.	Arena Wars 01:42	buy track
17.	Dry Again [with Steve Dobyns] 01:27	buy track
18.	Sufficiently / Dawlia 01:59	buy track
19.	A Part Of Randy's Life (Pt. 2) [with Randy Layton] 01:40	buy track
20.	Don't Fight 01:26	buy track
21.	Australia 00:47	buy track
22.	Secret Handshakes Of Venus [with Michael Kenny] 01:36	buy track
23.	Union's On Strike 02:07	buy track
24.	Sometimes #19 [with Steve Dobyns] 00:38	buy track
25.	Tangible Temporary (End Of Side 2) 02:03	buy track
26.	Alive Again / The Happiest Days Of Our Lives 01:39	buy track
27.	Salsa Days 01:31	buy track
28.	Sad Rocks [with Michael Kenny] 02:18	buy track
29.	A Sample Of Chicken [with James Clark & Michael Kenny] 00:26	buy track
30.	First Time 00:43	buy track
31.	Second Message [with Steve Scott] 00:15	buy track
32.	Blue (Portuguese Phone App Version) 02:16	buy track
33.	Wizard's Universe 01:56	buy track
34.	A Rock So Big (I Can't) [with Randy Layton & Michael Kenny] 01:10	buy track
35.	Darkless Night 03:42	buy track

about

ARSBIC was conceived as a 3-sided LP, tackling (in three 16-minute parts) such lyrical questions as, "Have you ever thought about how Cain killed Abel with a rock?", "Can God lift this great big rock we live on or is it too heavy?", and "How many years can one person live on nothing but German bratwurst?"

"A Rock So Big I Cain't" is the proper debut solo release from intermittent multi-instrumentalist and garage rock recording artist Josh Rude, although he's been tinkering with guitars, pianos, synths and recording equipment for decades. 1998's eponymous The Masters of Ceremony recording was produced by Rochester, Indiana's Brent Evans (4th Street Studios and later Madison Music) and also featured fellow experimental musicians James Clark (Homunculus Algorithm) and Jace Hoppes (IXth Key.) A series of independent CD-Rs (as J*R) in sporadic coffee shop live events followed, with 2006's "Of Mice and Giraffes" ending Rude's recording streak (as garage rock group Stray Master with drummer Dirk Ton.)

Two career changes and two decades' worth of home experimental recordings finally result in the truly eclectic, sometimes esoteric but always exciting "A Rock So Big I Cain't", in which Rude plays nearly every chord, synth drum and flange effect. The real treat, however may be the appearances by industry veterans and friends Jerry Chamberlain (DA, Swirling Eddies), Steve Taylor (Chagall Guevara, Perfect Foil), Joshua Lory (Michael Knott, Cast The Dragon), Steve Scott and Randy Layton (Exit & Alternative Records) and others adding "chorus", context and commentary throughout the record in true Mothers-of-Invention-inspired-goodness, just for good measure.

At 48 minutes, there's not so much indie taffy here that one can't be hooked by repeated listenings. Dig in.

"Very much rooted in an avant-garde, noise, spoken word, sonic manipulation, a bit of rock zone - you know, if Negativland and Steve Scott and Steve Taylor got together. (Come to think of it, two of those have cameos here)...[This is] the kind of album that is very dense and needs close attention paid to it. It will reap rewards for the listener open to all this, and I don't think there's really an equivalent out there for this sort of experience that also engages on spiritual questions of a serious nature, but also a lot of humour and other topics maybe not quite so heavy to be enjoyed. Kudos for Josh on stepping out on a ledge and putting his musical soul out there. This from a guy who has delivered sermons and now, mail. Now this. It's all connected."
- Randy Layton, Alternative Records (Eugene, OR)

"Very unorthodox and random...[with] nicely done cacophony!"
- Jason Hoffman, "Whatzup" Magazine (Fort Wayne, IN)

"It is quite the trip – but one I think you will enjoy if you will give it a chance." - Matt Crosslin, Down The Line Zine

"Wow. Super experimental. Rock and Roll is alive!" - Steve Hindalong, songwriter/drummer/producer, The Choir/The Lost Dogs

credits

released July 14, 2023

Vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, bass, drums, programming, keys & synths, accordion, violin, phones (home & cell apps), composing, arranging, voice direction, sampling, recording, layering, producing, mixing, digital/analog/other special effects - Josh Rude

The Voices - Jerry Chamberlain, Neal Cloud Jr., Steve Dobyns, Michael Kenny, Randy Layton, Joshua Lory, Hannah Rude, Isabella Rude, Rebecca Rude, Steve Scott, Steve Taylor, Anonymous 1 & 2

Additional drums on "Misery" & "A Sample Of Chicken" - James Clark

Guitars on "Jamming" - Emaline Rude & Gabriel Rude

"Gratitude" by Tim Boden, used by permission, recorded live

Different mixes of the "Leia Not Leah" themes originally appeared on the "Leah Not Leia" film soundtrack, 2011 Karmic Courage Productions & Inverted Staircase Productions

Special thanks to Jon Hembree (appearance on the cutting room floor - sorry, Jon!), Imaginando Lda (for the DRC phone app), Thomas Johnson for the LNL Soundtrack inclusions, archive dot org for the public domain samples, all "the voices" for their apparances and clearances, Adam in Chicago for making it all sound so spiffy, and Rebecca Rude & the kids (love you forever.)

Jerry Chamberlain, Randy Layton, Joshua Lory, Steve Scott, Steve Taylor appear courtesy of themselves

Recorded by JR at various locations and "Kentrol Centers" from 2002-2023

Additional production on some material by Matt Scheerer for Basement Sound Productions, 2006

Mastered by Adam Stilson at Decade Music Studios, Chicago, June 2023

All material (C)2023 Joshua P. Rude and published by plunkewe (ASCAP) except "A Part Of Randy's Life" by Randy Layton & Joshua P. Rude and published by plunkewe (ASCAP)

Artwork by Stable Diffusion AI

Digitally released as a P-ROO Record, PR-101

license

about

Josh Rude Rochester, Indiana

Making Midwest USA independent and experimental rock music since the 1990s; opening up the archive for digital posterity since the 2020s. Active in collaborating with/assisting Randy Layton & Alternative Records (Eugene, OR) and ambient artist Steve Scott (UK) on 2010s social media. Founded Rochester, Indiana's The Masters of Ceremony. Musical influences include Frank Zappa, Beck, Guided By Voices ... more

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