Wrongside by Question Beggar
Wrongside is a rough one. It may be a beautiful loser of an EP, cut away like gristle from the sirloin of last Fall's Wa-Ta-Oo-Ga, a misfit toy. (Wow, that is some metaphor mixing. Even for me!) The backstory is, Wa-Ta-Oo-Ga was supposed to be a full album, kind of side A and side B, with this EP being side B, but the two sides just didn't hang together. 5 songs on A about being stranded and five on side B about employment gone wrong. Wrongside is literally a wrong side.
There's no libretto for the story, but, to my mind, the story of this concept EP happens as snapshot moments of a job loss. 1) The reveal that the boss is a psycho. 2) Upon this revelation, the employee sadly concludes they'll have to start looking for a new job—AGAIN—because the work situation is worsening. 3) The firing begins with the sudden-but-expected appearance of the HR lady to terminate the employee. 4) The employee laments their misfortune, and how things have gone so wrong. 5) Anger and resolve move the employee to walk out gladly, to find a better opportunity.
I don't know that Wrongside is even a lovable mutt, like my album, Guest. The beats on Wrongside are plodding and tortured. The guitars bleat painful distortions. The synths and strings are mournful. The lyrics, depressing and dispirited. My artist must have been seeking a purge from the previous years of good jobs gone bad and 10 months in the wilderness of unemployment.
Even the innovations are unsightly, with excerpts from actual recorded performance reviews and firings in my past. They're unsightly to me, at least. I struggled some with the decision to even release Wrongside. In the end, I concluded it was at least an example of the artist letting fly with honest expression and no concern for listener approval. I think it is that, at least, but, in an age of AI perfection, that's a lot.
I finished the mix for Wrongside after completing the mix for Wa-Ta-Oo-Ga in late October of 2024 and shelved it immediately, so I could hear it with fresh ears in late December for the writing of these liner notes. My verdict? It's going to be wildly unpopular. Secretly, I like to believe that every release I've made may have found its way to the consciousness of at least one soul who needed to hear exactly these songs. If that's so, it's a going to be a highly unique soul to appreciate this offering. I'm not sure I even want to hear it again.
The instrumentation was the same basic arrangement as Wa-Ta-Oo-Ga: the Gold Tone Resonator 3-string bass, the Les Paul Studio 3-string guitar, and the Korg WaveDrum for percussion. I put down the bass first—with all the accompanying synths and pedal effects—to a drum machine pattern. Then the guitar. Then the percussion, then cut out the drum machine, then slowly, lowly, added it back. The dialogues were played off my phone right into the vocals mic. It's inconceivable that any of the parties recorded there will ever become aware of their inclusion for all of history on a Question Beggar album, much less be honored or distressed.
And, of course, no liner notes would be complete without a word about the cover. The art is taken from a poster—Ha! Remember them??—I did in 2022 for a live show at Pearl's Cherokee Lounge in Arlington, Texas. At one point in my graphic art travels, a shop I was working for was cleaning out their cabinets and were throwing away CDs—Ha! Remember them??—from the late 90's of clip art. See, it used to be marketing departments and ad agencies would subscribe to services that would create cheesy clip art and send it out monthly. The woman covering her eyes was a prime example and I messed with it slightly in Photoshop. Using that art was a random choice, mostly. I guess she could represent The Corporate Angel of Death.
So there's my overall review. An unpleasant surprise to me, Wrongside. Still, I figure every artist should be more proud of their failures than their successes. It takes real growth to fail spectacularly. I hope that's what I've done here.
QB. 13 January, 2025.
Tracklist
| 1. | Psychoboss | 5:19 |
| 2. | New Job Again | 4:10 |
| 3. | Corporate Angel of Death | 6:27 |
| 4. | Wrong Side of the Sun | 4:38 |
| 5. | Tip on Out | 4:40 |
Credits
Produced, Engineered, mixed and mastered by Question Beggar at Therisno Studios, Watauga, Texas. Words and Music by Question Beggar, excepting "Wrong Side of the Sun" words by Question Beggar and Bart Tschirgi, music by Question Beggar. Three-string bass, 3-string guitar and percussion by Question Beggar. Vocals by Question Beggar.
License
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. See the Creative Commons website for details.
Out of the rubble of vonHummer, Claxton Kent arose, and from the ruin of Claxton Kent, Question Beggar stood erect, raised the fallen banner and continued the work of Heavy Skiffle. Still playing the 3-string bass, tapping his faithful Wave Drum with one foot, Question Beggar chunks along with dark, witty lyrics sung in coyote yelps and pleasing no one but himself, apparently.