more from
Ear Candle Productions
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.

A Priori​/​A Posteriori

by The Granite Countertops

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      $10 USD  or more

     

1.
One day is so much like another They’re so much like each other It’s hard to tell the time. Lock up—lock down Mask up—in town Slack Slack—Zoom Zoom Rearrange—the room Killer germs—Big fires Bad cops—Big liars We live—on screens Quarantine—age dreams The news—is bleak Each day—each week Write songs—write posts Commune—with ghosts Repeats—reruns Small change—small fun We gave—you took We’ve closed—that book Big job—ahead Too late—for the dead Too stressed—too tense Peel off—defense Relate—restart Connect—your hearts Failed kings—destroy We persist—make joy
2.
My Own Blood 03:35
My own blood I have been swimming in my own blood Since time began for me Often I forget that oxygen leads Breathing is not something I do It just happens Like my blood swims through Carrying life force. My thoughts never rest Yet my critical thinking takes time out My mind is self-aware My heart self-motivated Such that I am. I am not you Yet I function the same In my moments I assess my brain’s functional My amygdala records all Just the same I will never forget Nor will I remain. We are the same My own blood and yours The rest is creative. We are the same My blood My own blood And your own blood Our blood They are the same The rest is creative. Make it up. Do it.
3.
A Priori 02:25
Movies and books Figures and facts Primary sources Prerequisite courses Do you know about A Priori? Knowledge stored in libraries Studies for test, examinees Stretching the brain beyond belief Magnificent documents! The Wayback Machine! Archive dot org! Knowledge for beings Tables and graphs Divide paragraphs Language to master Learning it faster! Elastic minds Scanning the shelves Authors reveal Sometimes they conceal Expanding and growing Punctuation flowing Grammar bestowing Insight is glowing Do you know about A Priori? Knowledge stored in libraries Studies for test, examinees Stretching the brain beyond belief
4.
Children of technology Forever lost at sea Everything is changing fast Because nothing is built to last anymore False problems with false solutions Roadblocks and arbitrary intrusions Today's innovations are tomorrow's trash It's old fashioned...it's all fashion Flash is dead Adobe shot it in the head And threw it all away What can you say? Machiavellian capitalist dreams Destruction brings new revenue streams Moving fast and breaking things Can't fly into the future till you buy new wings Disruption, corruption Destructive editing Here's the new thing You can't own it You have to rent it! Let's invent a new stock market Conjure wealth from mathematics Arbitrary valuation of symbols A new economy built on babble (And somehow it still manages to pollute the air) Here's a virtual bespoke object It's a hot collector's item You have to trust us, it's worth millions You want to know why? Because we said so. The future of ownership In a world where someone else Curates the culture you're spoonfed Streaming is so convenient until the stream dries up, as though nothing was ever there at all When they're digging through our ashes Will they find any uncleared caches There's no more memory Nothing left of you and me at all (Archeologist's nightmare) The business of creating new necessities And randomly deciding they're obsolete Children of technology With 50 kilobyte memories Laser focused on the shaky now Life is simple when you remember nothing I still have my old machine I'll keep it running as long as I can If something works I'm going to keep it I choose not to be a fickle sheep, thank you very much. (I mean it...)
5.
Catch 22 03:56 video
“That’s some catch”…“It’s the best there is” Catch 22, It’s up for review Damned if you don’t, Damned if you do It’s a double-edged sword: Catch 22 Sleepy village near San Francisco Has some catching up to do Not that they aren’t prolific But they’re caught up in their own Catch 22 It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere Could be chaos, could be true Best to open up, to glean it fair What do you do? Can we stick like glue? Major dramas competitive with fear Just trampling the truth Squandering and squeezing the life Out of your precious golden goose Watch cognition become superstition And recognition trapped in pulp fiction What to do is the deal, ‘cause we all can feel Thanks Darwin/Einstein, ‘cause the world is not flat! Some call it paradox, some call it insane The choices in logic, they no longer remain If it’s just you and me, babe, we both have to see More than two choices dissolve duality I reexamine my views nearly every day And every moment I mean just what I say 360 degrees, that’s the way I see And Catch 22, you know it can’t catch me Where meaning making connects indefinitely If you agree, we have a mutual reality Where meaning making connects indefinitely If you agree, we have a mutual reality.
6.
Father's Day 07:15
Hey now, ah ah ah ah, ooh yeah (etc) 50 years ago, 50 years ago, I was in Sunday school in Freedom, California Yes, that is really the name of the town Now they were undergoing a change of doctrine and regime Up to then for the last few years, it was very simple: Be a good boy, be kind to the poor Don’t fight with each other, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t kill And God will like you (“God likes me!”) Suddenly, there were all these brand new rules (Uh-oh, what rules?) It all involved: were you believing properly? Had you been born again? Had you taken in the spirit of the Lord? ‘Cause if you hadn’t done…if you didn’t say the magic words, Then nothing you did would count. Works without faith were going to send you back to Hell no matter what. (The opposite of Catholics). Then one man came in on that one Sunday morning and He laid it down for the Sunday school class and he said: “These days, fathers don’t play the proper role for their children. They don’t give their children any guidance. Reject that father because the real Father is in Heaven. (Spank me daddy) And you should obey Him! (Spank me daddy) He’s the only Father that counts!” (Spank me daddy) Mind you (spank me daddy in Heaven!) I did not have the greatest relationship with my dad (You and a million others) I didn’t agree with much of what he said (Who does?) But that day, I never felt like defending him more (What’d you say about my Dad??!) Who the hell is this guy to tell me my father is not my real father And I wanted a sky daddy to tell me what to do (discipline discipline) (no I don’t think so) It was a strange thing to teach kids (no I don’t think so no I don’t think so) Tell them their fathers are giving them too much freedom? (no I don’t think so) Fall into line with the “real Father” in the sky? (ain’t happenin’ here) But this is how you understand The authoritarian mind (The cruelty is the point, the cruelty is the point) Good is based on obedience. (The cruelty is the point, the cruelty is the point) If you are obedient you are good (The cruelty is the point, the cruelty is the point) And if you are not obedient you are bad. (The cruelty is the point, the cruelty is the point) So you can put any idiot at all in power (The cruelty is the point, the cruelty is the point) The most malicious, nasty, incompetent, incontinent, sadistic dolt If you put him in power (The cruelty is the point, the cruelty is the point) It is good to follow him It is bad to rebel against him. That’s how the authoritarian mind works And that’s what has got us here in America (and here we are). America, the land of the free Where you’re free to obey the good, righteous father. Creativity, independent thinking Critical thinking Understanding what’s around you Understanding of paradox (oooh paradox) Respect, care and attention Respect when respect is earned Otherwise respect someone’s humanity But don’t give them your obedience Don’t give them your allegiance. Anything else but that is useless, meaningless, unconscious Default behavior with no thinking. Are you free? Are you free? Or do you just use the word “free” like a magic spell? (The ability to deal with ambiguity is a sign of mental health)
7.
Lizard Brain 05:28
Hungry horny selfish scared I am the lizard in the desert I pop out of nowhere Dry, wide-eyed, and sunbaked With a small mind always on survival Hungry horny selfish scared I'm always darting To and fro beneath the shadows I'm in the corner With a quick forked tongue reaction Hungry horny selfish scared I got no filters I just spit and run in patterns Still like a statue Till it's time for a threat display Hungry horny selfish scared When I go out hunting Yummy flies are in my vision I always keep one eye turning backwards Scanning any threat behind me Hungry horny selfish scared I may be old but I'm not so wise I got no ethics in my eyes Hungry horny selfish scared Underneath your fur and feathers You've got lizards in your brains We show up when you lose your ground Watch you snap your tails Watch you break your chains Hungry horny selfish scared In your amygdalas lizards dwell So know your lizard and train it well 'Cause he's hungry horny selfish scared... Stay away...till I can get you.
8.
Strength and melody And rhyme Note by note No reliable silence On and after the beat It’s fluid One must trust the self. Oooooh.
9.
Time/Life 07:30
Time runs its unpredictable course Time is a finite resource Time's expensive and free We get one hundred years or one hour We get no guarantees Time sometimes speeds up and slows down Some say it comes back around But we're not informed We can guess all we like but we don't know if we get reborn I find as the hourglass is draining My patience is waning For any trivial crap... Life moves and it twists and it turns Everything grows, then it burns On a fragile film On the surface of one tiny planet we monkeys can't kill Life, counting emotions and years All our achievements and fears Sounds and smells and tastes If we left something awesome behind then it wasn't a waste. When my soul has packed up its boxes I hope to be conscious Long enough for a laugh.
10.
Overexposed reflections Dwarfed to containment Nuclear wastes attractions Electrodes explode sporadically Passionate colors, Unplanned, vaulted Producing, protruding Bulgingly grotesque Hard as glass, Unlike any other disturbance. See through mirrors Two-ways or more None that essence demands, Commands— Bulldozers gently floating In a sea of salt water, rustful. Slick, slick, sick, repulsive Necessary stripping Magnificent horrification, Now, Ow. Resonation…drumming sounds Impulsive shatterings Rhythmic surroundings, rhythmic resoundings Unwantedness, medicine woman. Threading, bare strings for playing Arthritic hands yearning, Sculptor crippled by need Ready and unactive. Wave upon wave, Re-enact re-entrance An unrepressed will. Shattering bullets Chiseled of revenge Ice splinters in the soul Melted in tears Wet with retouched love Unemptied by a tender mirror Unneeded no more. Recovering under exposure Rawness fakes strength. Survival, revival Swimming in a can of heat Air conditioning an expense Far beyond comfort. A bee sting healing the soul However resolutely, painful. S & M Sex and money Sadism and masochism Sin and madness Sick and melancholy Sam and Mike Sue and Sally Search and model. Repulse attractions Clever to the idiosyncratic mind Dwelling in the house of the lord forever. Love hate Hate love, need abuse Thwart use, tolerate a Muse Ontological conundrums Walk the dark side, crazy Revelations, your humanity. Increase, improve, validate, succeed Forget, prisoners of compulsion Remember guilt? Never enough. Unloveable, needing me to love you first. Love yourself…I am enslaved.
11.
Pissy Ants 02:24
Touchless crawlers scurry up and down my arms Brazen, fearless, through the house the hundreds swarm Terro Ant Baits, Ace Ant Roach & Spider Spray Holds them, then they're back another day Pissy ants Pissy ants Pissy ants We hate pissy ants! Seeking crumbs and sweet scraps humans leave behind Sending pheromones to their collective mind Queen is laying eggs in all the hidden places Give that queen a nice big dose of boric acid Pissy ants Pissy ants Pissy ants We hate pissy ants! Through the cracks, within the walls they send their scouts Creepy crawling up your legs and on the tables You can slow them down but they keep coming back How much does it cost to rent an aardvark? Pissy ants Pissy ants Pissy ants We hate pissy ants! Pissy ants Pissy ants Pissy ants We hate pissy ants!
12.
How do you know what you’re doing When you don’t know what you’re doing But then you do know you’re doing? Culture is complicated Until you realize we can be related Are you confused? Do you feel abused? Who is being used? Who’s not getting the clues? Are you blowing a fuse? Are you singing the blues? Win or lose—watching the news—you can choose If we get through this Let’s plant some seeds and watch them grow Try to crack the code and only cause distress Lighten up, let go, step out of the mess Get away from the story—don’t rehash or justify Be the one you want to love Be the surprise you want to see Be the present you want to open. This is the moment—and so is this one And so is this one—and so is this one What is so is so what. So what? In the sun, out of the sun Relax into grace in social space We’ll have it again—we don’t know when If we get through this Let’s plant some seeds and watch them grow This whole year is sitting like heavy smoke on our shoulders Take a bad joke and make it better If we get through this Let’s plant some seeds and watch them grow Transition! (It’s fluid!) Transition! (Just do it!) Transition! Transition!
13.
A Posteriori 02:42
Marbles and jacks Bicycles and skates Muscle memory How to relate A Posteriori Everything that life has taught me Experience and life lived well Our own story to tell Aquariums and zoos Buying new shoes Following how to’s Creating the new Shopping for staples Cleaning up the stables Riding a horse Directing its course A Posteriori Everything that life has taught me Experience and life lived well Our own story to tell Dancing and prancing In ballrooms. at beaches Keeping fresh love Within our reaches Self-motivation Driving Self-Esteem Completing our goals Making the scene A Posteriori Everything that life has taught me Experience and life lived well Our own story to tell Sitting for breakfast At quarter to three Still in our underwear How happy are we!
14.
Gales of laughter blowing through a windowless apartment filled with smoke We would hang out there for hours, mad and young and perpetually broke Now I smell the burning hills 100 miles away, it all comes back I’m not in disguise as anyone but I’m still putting on my mask. Some of us have taken care while others throw their weight around in crowds Spitting in the face of science while globules fly around in viral clouds You might call it natural selection but you can't rely on that We’ve been erring on the side of caution, keep your distance, rock that mask. Every day a crisis, every day a problem, every day a crime If you think the whole point is to keep us all off balance I've no doubt you're right A systematic drive to ruin everything and knock us off our tracks And none of this is new, the only difference is they've taken off their masks Obstacles spring up like weeds while holy men and healers lose the plot Mainline misplaced confidence in their grasp of what is real and what is not Skepticism turns to gullibility if you don't check your facts Contradiction for the sake of contradiction, down the garden path Everything we trusted and required is now designed to fall apart No more upgrades, planned obsolescence for the human body, mind and heart Simultaneous years of planning and neglect, oh isn't it a blast? We reject this shoddy hateful dumbass future, now begins the task.
15.
Now that we’ve passed through the worst We find ourselves feeling the thirst We felt all the stress And lived under duress Now we’re left wondering what to do first The kingdom has lifted its cowl Unmasking the cheek and the jowl Now all in the head Can be spat out and said In triumphantly unrestrained howl To lessen the chance of infection We sported essential protection Took tests now and then To verify when The virus can’t avoid detection. Tally ho! Now that we’re breathing more free We know what should not and should be We’re done throwing up our hands Now we’re making demands We’re not willing to jump in the sea 'Cause the sea is on fire! And there's smoke in there! Hey, who took my snorkel?
16.
Back to Harbin, we’ve been away so long Sun is shining, the leaves are blowing on the trees Blue water, makes my skin feel so sublime Happy people, everyone is wearing a mask Back to Harbin, the trees are sticks with vegetation growing up all around The chaparral has taken over again You can see gray lines of dead trees But it’s growing back And the mountain lions are free, and the bears And the roofs are green, and the people are serene (they are serene!) Back to Harbin, the stars are big and bright Back to Harbin, you can stay up all night Back to Harbin, the pools close at 2 AM They open again at 12 PM, but only on Alligator Day, which is on Tuesday The first Tuesday of the month Once a month And then the water is clean it’s so clean! There is a warm pool, it’s very big But not as big as the cold swimming pool There is a heart pool for little tykes and kids It’s 98 degrees so no one feels a thing Then there’s a hot pool, it’s 115 or maybe 113 degrees And your feet have to get used to it You have to go in 3 times up to your knees Then you hit the cold pool and freeze! Then you are acclimated to everything Everything, if it’s winter, if it’s spring, if it’s summer, if it’s fall You get your naked body through the processes Of every pool and all And if you reward yourself through the process You can walk around naked even if there is snow on the ground And even if the sun is so hot you’re sweating with a grin Harbin, we thank you for letting us back in

about

A PRIORI/A POSTERIORI is a moveable feast of sounds and ideas for the new roaring 20s.The Granite Countertops emerge from 18 months of sheltering in place with their sixth album of 16 all-new original songs about survival, knowledge, experience, time, life, sickness, health, and annoying insects.

J Neo Marvin and Davis Jones file status reports on remote life, feel the blood run through their own bodies, marvel in horror at the continuing madness around them, and serenade a hideaway with a dynamic range of surprising musical styles.

Former Puncture writers Patty Stirling (co-writer of several Catheads and Cannanes classics) and Peter Jones contributed to both the writing of the lyrics and the song performance for Aftermath Limerick.

FILMMAKERS: Key, Time, Tempo, Description added to each song for audiophiles, movie directors or whoever wants to use the music for an original film. We can remove vocals from soundtracks per deposits made on instrumental use per individual contract agreements.

(Special thanks to Love Haight Computers in San Francisco, without whom many parts of this album might have been lost forever.)

THE FIRST REVIEWS ARE IN! GET A COPY AND ADD YOURS.

“This afternoon I did what - unfortunately - not many are ever gonna do: I listened, uninterrupted, Grado headphones, all the way through, concentrating. I didn't follow the lyrics, I used the entire-album-uninterrupted option.

You two are onto something great and stylish here. The fun is apparent, the wordplay sophisticated and of a high standard, the soundscape rich and varied - a wide variety of well-crafted accompaniments. Of course, philosophically I'm on the same page, and can delight in the outré aspects of your presentation, lyrically and otherwise. A particularly engaging and accessible opening number I think. Really good flow down the tracks, with the interchanging vocalist thing, and some lush, cool ensemble vox stuff that is quite enjoyable.

Lots of moments titillated me. Had heard at least 3 tracks before on your threads, so all of it wasn't completely new. Several songs with chewy riffs I thought particularly strong, like Aftermath Limerick. I imagine I will gravitate to 5-6 favorite tracks emerging over time, but all-in-all very impressive across the board.

Considering all your groups down the years, you have a large body of work, and I don't pretend to know it all well, but A Priori/A Posteriori certainly impresses as perhaps up there in the oeuvre as a consistent collection of songs, promulgating your social conscience nicely, humorously but with teeth, which is certainly one of your main calling cards.

Very enjoyable...and you guys have earned full rights to be proud of yourselves! Well done!”

-Leslie Medford, The Ophelias

“In A Priori/A Posteriori, the Granite Countertops summarize 2021 for us, now that it’s nearing its end. As suggested by the album’s title, philosophy was used in an attempt to comprehend and adjust to the ongoing instability, or downright lunacy, of society’s shifting structure.

As demonstrated by the frantically busy title songs, Latin phrases a priori and a posteriori are used to distinguish knowledge based on either evidence or experience, Skeptical Catch-22 examines the paradoxes of daily life, while Transition Fluid uses a rollicking beat to dance through changes and make them happen.

Sweet pop rocker One Day is So Much Like Another opens up the beautifully produced album, revealing daily life under the all too familiar routine threat of covid. Talking Notes makes me think of a Cannanes song, it's so light and shimmery.

The organ and drums in My Own Blood make me think of the blood racing through my circulatory system. Father’s Day is an angry jam against authority. In Children of Technology, the line 'You can't fly into the future till you buy new wings' sums up the sheep mentality fueling the industry.

I love the gentle bossa nova ofTime/Life. It's absolutely lovely with the melodica jam hopping around in it.

Confusion of an Expressed Mind is twisted and haunting. I especially like the flutey hoots floating through the lyrics while the sitar twang and menacing beat make them pretty fierce!

Morbid waltz Lizard Brain, punky Pissy Ants, and the gentle acoustic Harbin Undaunted bring sounds of nature into your realm. The dirge-like, comical Aftermath Limerick and Year of the Mask II’s bitter rock statement are two more covid reviews.”

-Patty Stirling, co-founder, Puncture Magazine

credits

released September 28, 2021

J Neo Marvin and Davis Jones: Vocals and instruments
Patty Stirling and Peter Jones: Additional vocals on AFTERMATH LIMERICK

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Granite Countertops San Francisco, California

The Granite Countertops are dark, whimsical, tender existential action heroes J Neo Marvin and Davis Jones, exploring the outer limits of what a duo can create.

contact / help

Contact The Granite Countertops

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

The Granite Countertops recommends:

If you like The Granite Countertops, you may also like: