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Quintessentially Unreal (the early demos)

by JILL TRACY

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1.
conjuring #5 00:27
2.
Extraordinary (words and music by Jill Tracy) oh my dear, you runneth over with your cup of convoluted wares the aftermath is sinking lower the perfect pales beyond compare your garden's rushing to my head now your guise will leave no stone unturned I'm paralyzed by your concoction your sleight of hand keeps all my fingers burned I've searched the holy books and I've dog-eared every page I've stolen secrets from the sorcerer's own sage although a connoisseur of fine legerdemain I’ve just one word for you extraordinary you're open to interpretation like the trap door underneath your tousled throne and I’m engaged and I'm enraged and I’m enchanted with this little bit of magic I’ve been shown I've searched the holy books and I've dog-eared every page I've stolen secrets from the sorcerer's own sage although a connoisseur of fine legerdemain I’ve just one word for you extraordinary I've searched the holy books and I've dog-eared every page I've stolen secrets from the sorcerer's own sage I'm rendered speechless in my pretty little rage but I'll save one word for you extraordinary
3.
Between the Black (words and music by Jill Tracy) you're the enemy of the out because I let you in you're the foeman of the wide, my patience has worn thin you're the other half of evil because you're awfully good you're the sinister of sometime more often than you should you're the dark side of the quick, forever and a day you're a traitor to sacrifice with all you take away you're the fall of nothing cause there's always something more you betrayed the ceiling cause now you got me on the floor oh, I've been pushed to the front of the back I'm captivated but I'm caught between the black you're the rival of array, all broken into bits you're malevolent to the mend, it's something I can't fix you're estranged from always, cause it's never quite enough you contest immaculate, cause you'd rather keep it rough you're the enemy of the out because I let you in you antagonize the end just waiting to begin you're a traitor to sacrifice with all you take away you descend from sanctity with all the wicked tricks you play oh, I've been pushed to the front of the back I'm captivated but I'm caught between the black
4.
Hour after Hour (words and music by Jill Tracy) you live inside a clock I feel your hands upon my face choking on the aftertaste of Time and should the ticking stop just watch my heart disintegrate into these fragments you've embedded in your mind you're light years away but you're still mine most every day just a wicked master of horology if I reach out my hand I just get buried in the sand I'm suffocating could you spare the time to rescue me hour after hour I get caught inside the days it's like some broken fascination I can't make it go away hour after hour until the count is finally through more and more i guess what Pavlov says is true my life gets lost inside of you the numbers on the wall prove that the sky's is about to fall but maybe persistence will melt it all away we're all in the pursuit of chronologic absolute but please tell me could you simply count me out today? I could believe in athanasia but what if there is no hope at all? hour after hour I get caught inside the days it's like some broken fascination I can't make it go away hour after hour until the count is finally through more and more i guess what Pavlov says is true and I'm still counting hour after hour I get caught inside the days it's like some broken fascination I can't make it go away hour after hour until the count is finally through more and more I guess what Pavlov says is true my life gets lost inside of you
5.
Make It Burn 04:07
Make it Burn (words and music by Jill Tracy) what's the fascination with the flame I can sense something getting hotter again they call it an obsession orange, yellow and blue a little dose of friction another night's work is through make it burn let the fire ignite your mind just a slight indulgence is a crime you know you got your methods to illuminate the sky a little dose of friction takes you up so high can't quench your desire, a little passion for fire can't quench your desire, a little passion to make it burn an incandescent funeral pyre pyrotechnically inspired they call it a fixation keep the matchbook closed a little fix of friction combustion overdose can't quench your desire, a little passion for fire can't quench your desire, a little passion to make it burn
6.
Quintessentially Unreal (words and music by Jill Tracy) I kinda like the way you move me sleek and slick and upside down this blur of colors rushing through me but you can't utter a sound I kinda like the way you push me into a state of disarray let's conjure up a castle and we'll toss the key away I know what it means to be a dreamer I know what it means to be alone I know exactly how I want it to feel quintessentially unreal I kinda like the way you shiver and shake and quake and go away spin me a million miles an hour let's make some plans for yesterday I can chart the course of flights of fancy I'm immersed in ideality I know exactly how I want it to feel quintessentially unreal oh, I'm wandering again oh, who says you can't pretend? I kinda like the way you move me sleek and slick and upside down this blur of colors rushing through me and you got me face down on the ground I kinda like the way you pull me farther and farther away in the kingdom of the mind's eye I think we'll always stay this way I know what it means to be a dreamer I know what it means to be alone I know exactly how I want it to feel quintessentially unreal
7.
8.
You Kill Me 06:20
You Kill Me (words and music by Jill Tracy) I didn't mean to blow the lid off I didn't mean to strap you to a chair I didn't mean to scratch the surface I didn't mean to look down there I didn't mean to claw the corners I didn't mean to catch it on the sly I didn't mean to strike your fancy I didn't mean to wonder why but I know you like it like that it's closer than before I know you like it like that your faith is pressed to the floor I know you like it like that it makes it hard to breathe I know you like it like that you kill me I didn't mean to press your poison I didn't mean to drop the reins I didn't mean to hesitate, I didn't mean to fluctuate I didn't mean to stay the same asphyxiation the fix my stimulation why must it come to this? but I know you like it like that it's closer than before I know you like it like that your faith is pressed to the floor I know you like it like that it makes it hard to breathe I know you like it like that you kill me
9.
Anything at All (words and music by Jill Tracy) I'll pack up a suitcase and I'll hide inside your car I'll resurrect the memory and eradicate the fear I'll scrawl your name across my skin until it bleeds I'll ascend into your heaven while I'm treading in your sea I'll do anything at all I'll grant you the nine of cups on eleven rainy days I'll pull apart the lion's mouth and make him sing your praise I'll challenge the great Houdini to a remarkable escape I'll amputate the fingers upon the Hand of Fate I'll do anything at all just to get closer to you I'll melt the highest mountain and I'll grow to ten feet tall I'll slither like a serpent, bang my head against the wall I'll sojourn over quicksand, I will scale the great Abyss I'll shine the rings round Saturn, I'll roll stones with Sisyphus I will swallow up the ocean, I will bind the hands of Time I will join the cow over the moon like in that nursery rhyme I will excavate Atlantis and float with creatures from the sea I will consult with Nostradamus and change the course of history and I will spin around and spin around and set the Earth askew I will dig a hole to China in the hopes that we fall through and I will shrink into a teardrop just to drown inside your eyes a thousand things preposterous, but I'll try and I'll try and I'll try just to get closer to you I'll do anything at all
10.
Conjuring #6 01:11

about

This is Jill Tracy's 1995 first solo demo CD, the album the San Francisco-based pianist/singer said she'd never record. After all, she had just relocated to San Francisco from New York City, didn't even have a band yet, much less the budget to do a full-on recording.

But do to rabid interest in her stunning live solo performances, her provocative and imaginative lyrics, signature dark parlour piano and glamorous cinematic style, the requests from fans to "own these songs" became too great to ignore. Band or no band. Jill Tracy simply rolled tape alone over two days at Mobius Music in San Francisco and committed some gems to tape. No overdubs, no second takes, no punch-ins, no special effects, much of it improvised.

"Quintessentially Unreal" is how everything got started...

This album earned Jill Tracy two California Music Award nominations, SF Weekly Music Award, and attention from publications as diverse as Electronic Musician to Redbook. Atlanta's WRAS proclaimed it "one of the most brilliant albums ever received." It remained in the Top Five Phones at WRAS and subsequent college stations for over five months straight.

"When you hear Jill Tracy's lush, sultry voice and experience the spooky melancholy of her lyrics, you're hooked...you can't escape the haunting and seductive powers of her macabre torch songs. As you listen, your will is no longer your own."
ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN

"The best surprises are the ones that come completely out of nowhere. Here comes this chanteuse..., her hands deftly pouring over her piano and boom- we have brilliance. Jill Tracy commands your attention, her voice just dribbles down your back- to places you can't even scratch..."
MICHAEL OVERSTREET, WRAS-ATLANTA

credits

released September 20, 1995

words and music by Jill Tracy
engineered and produced by Christian Jones
graphic design by S.M. Steen

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JILL TRACY San Francisco, California

Jill Tracy will transport you into a seductive and magical realm far beyond the Everyday. The place where we wished we lived. A dark, elegant netherworld full of hidden passageways, wonder cabinets, and opium dens. Of monsters, marvels and mayhem. You know it’s not safe here; but with Jill Tracy as your guide, you’ll be in no hurry to leave. ... more

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