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Toth's Law

by James Toth

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Dear Joan 04:03
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Overpass 03:59
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Pity 03:22
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Jinx 03:48
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about

Wooden Wand
Toth’s Law

I apply the theory of Toth’s Law to my own work, though its basic premise might sound familiar to anyone who creates art of any kind. The central tenet is thus: the work of art over which one slaves, bleeds, and suffers will almost invariably be the least effective, least enduring art one creates. Crucially (and luckily), the inverse is also true.

Typically, the songs I write that most resonate with the people who hear them are the ones written while I’m waiting for M*A*S*H* to return from a commercial break, while the microwave popcorn is still popping, the songs I am convinced must already exist because surely someone has already written this obvious melody / phrase / chord sequence. These kinds of songs come too easily and too quickly, leaving me to conclude that they must not be of much value. Sometimes a song gets thrown away or neglected because it reminds me of another (better) song, or its lyrics seem underwritten or overwritten or trite, or the tune is too poppy or too catchy or too silly or too something. The line between steadfast notions of integrity and reckless self-sabotage is a thin one--or so I have been cautioned—but that's how I roll.

Sometimes, the omission of a certain song or group of songs from an album is less a matter of exacting standards than simple judiciousness. See, I think of every album as a fish tank. As anyone who has ever cared for fish can tell you, some fish simply don’t get along with other fish, and thus cannot coexist in the same tank. You may have two very fine, very beautiful fish, but if they’re going to kill each other, you must separate them. The songs on an album are like the fish: they need to get along. This is why merely believing a song is “good” doesn’t necessarily guarantee its inclusion on an album, because when songs don’t get along, the discord between them is audible.

Once I’ve gathered enough of these misfit songs, I batch them together at random and set them free into the world, usually via limited editions and smaller runs. The only thing the songs on these collections have in common is that they were written and recorded by the same person, on the same equipment, and usually (but not always) within the same decade. They are otherwise unrelated.

Toth’s Law is the most recent of such collections. The songs herein were all written and performed by me at home, often recorded the very day they were written. They are rife with the problems commonly associated with home demos: corny drum machines, lousy solos, syllabic placeholders where better lyrics might have gone, and other gaffes. That said, you will hopefully find them as easy to listen to as they were for me to write. I hope all of you like some of them; my guess is that none of you will like all of them.

If you do dig these songs, please pay what you can, and I will continue to make more. As always, thanks for listening.

JT / WW
Richmond, VA
June 2017

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released June 23, 2017

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