In The City's Arms

by Black Sugar Transmission

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about

“An impeccably sequenced double-album, “In the City’s Arms” is the soundtrack to a NYC summer– shiny, sweaty, glistening, and propulsive – a brisk, headphoned walk through lower Manhattan at dusk, heart thrumming, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun dips behind you.” - Color Is Its Own Reward

“An absolute triumph, which leaves you with chills and puts a glitter bow on a labyrinthine aural orgasm.” - Music-Survival-Guide

“[Andee Blacksugar] has updated the relevance of grunge, glam rock, electro pop and jazz metal in one big swoop. It's a grand gesture, a 24 course meal of bravado and his magnum opus (so far).” - Here Comes The Flood

In The City's Arms was written & recorded in summer of 2015 and winter of 2016 in Brooklyn NY at Casa Blacksugar (except the live drums - special thanks to Andrew Dickson for recording Matt Farley's tracks!)

All songs copyright 2016 Andee's Vault Music/SESAC

Mixed by Andee, mastered by John Pisani
Photography by WaXenVine
Design by Inside Wide

THANKS: All the musicians, Tracy Harris, Fractal Audio, Eventide, DiMarzio, Taylor, Atomic Amps and YOU.

LEMMY BOWIE PRINCE


Dedicated to Alisa B

credits

released June 21, 2016

CREDITS:

MACHINEGUN SUN
Andee: voices, guitar, drum & synth programming, noises, gabber
Keith Robinson: drum kit

CALIFORNIA TIME
Andee: voices, programming, guitar
Thomas Hutchings: tenor sax
Jimmy Lopez: electronic percussion & ambience

NINA SIMONE
Andee: vocals, guitar, bass, programming
Joanna Choy: vocals
Keith Robinson: drum kit

PUZZLE
Andee: vocals, guitar, bass, programming, Pocket Piano
Keith Robinson: drum kit

CITY SONG
Andee: vocals, guitar, bass, programming
Joanna Choy: vocals
Matt Farley: drum kit
Jimmy Lopez: percussion

ANGEL IN FRONT OF ME
Andee: voices, guitar, bass, programming
Matt Katz-Bohen: added synth, arpeggio solo

LAST TRAIN
Andee: voices, guitar, programming
Keith Robinson: drum kit
Leon Gruenbaum: Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheee Peeee

ALL YR HEROES ARE DEAD
Andee: bass, vocals, guitar, Pocket Piano, percussion, programming, melodica
Shannon Conley: additional vocals
Thomas Hutchings: tenor sax

FOLLOW THE BLACK CAR
Andee: voice, guitar, bass, programming

EVERY BLESSING
Andee: programming, guitar, bass, vocals
Mike Hansen: drum kit
Dave Smith: additional melodic bass
Jimmy Lopez: percussion

IN THE CITY'S ARMS
Andee: vocals, melodica, programming, guitar
Jimmy Lopez: percussion and ear candy

LOVE WON'T HEAR YOU SCREAM
Andee: voices, guitar, Pocket Piano, programming

UNKNOWN>FAMILIAR
Andee: singing, guitar, bass, programming
Keith Robinson: drum kit

SPILLING FROM THE WET MOUTH OF HELL
Andee: guitar, bass, vocals, programming
Matt Farley: drum kit
Thomas Hutchings: tenor sax

DEAD ON
Andee: programming, bass, guitar, vocals, percussion, noises
Matt Farley: drum kit
Thomas Hutchings: tenor sax

YOUR BELL NEVER RANG
Andee: voices, guitar, bass, programming, human beatbox, percussion, Pocket Piano
Matt Farley: drum kit

FAIRIE SPRING
Andee: 12 string acoustic, Strat, percussion. singing, programming, bass
Jimmy Lopez: percussion

ANCIENT WISHES
Andee: programming, vocals, bass
Joanna Choy: extra vocals
Jimmy Lopez: percussion

CITY SONG 2
Andee: guitar, bass, programming, voices
Shannon Conley: extra voices

PALE NON-SOULS
Andee: la-las & other singing, guitars, bass, programming
Keith Robinson: drum kit

FLASHBULB DISEASE
Andee: Pocket Piano, voices, programming, guitar, vocoder
Joanna Choy, Shannon Conley, Nelson Faro DeCastro: additional vocals

WAR CRY
Andee: fuzz & Particle guitar, voices, programming, Pocket Piano, radio
Keith Robinson: drum kit
Adam James: bass
Thomas Hutchings: tenor sax

SWIPE RIGHT
Andee: loops, percussion, programming, samples, vocals
Jimmy Lopez: additional sound design

STUCK IT TO YOU
Andee: 12 string acoustic, vocals, programming, melodica

SAY NO TO AUTO-TUNE

tags

tags: electronic electro glam metal pop post-punk Brooklyn

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Track Name: Machinegun Sun
her eyes could outshine the sun
sheets in the windows, hand on the gun
so the gravediggers march
the searchlights poke
the motherland's machete hands
and helicopter oaths
the murderers and baby eaters
extend their feelers
her blood on dogs' noses
the target is chosen

her eyes could outshine the sun
she carries no flag
she waits for no one

her eyes could knock down the sun
(the machinegun sun)
her eyes could tear down the sky
(the bayonet sky)
her soul could could swallow the seas
(and the air is diseased)
her eyes could outshine the sun
Track Name: California Time
clear 'cross the rooftops, sawing time
cold as a bed spring, subliminal crime

lost in heaven on California time
stuck in heaven, miles from the ticket line

you don't know the first thing about love
you want a walk in the park
this place is suicide - nothing but time
that place is diseased - leave it behind
the death of the mind

lost in heaven on California time
stuck in heaven, miles from the ticket line

...they came for you in the night
but you were all out of fight
Track Name: Nina Simone
you keep on ruffin' me and kickin' me yeah yeah
you keep on ruffin' me and kickin' me yeah yeah
you keep on prickin' me and stickin' me yeah yeah yeah
you keep on ruffin' me and kickin' me yeah yeah
you keep on ruffin' me and kickin' me yeah yeah
you're always hittin' me and quittin' me yeah yeah yeah

somebody murdered the sunshine
they mutilated the skyline
i'm falling away to starry graves

you keep on huggin' me and kissin' me yeah yeah
you keep on huggin' me and kissin' me yeah yeah
your love comes like the winter winds of death
and it seems to happen overnight
one minute everything is alright
the next we're finished and the new day is a threat

somebody murdered the sunshine
they mutilated the skyline
i'm falling away to starry graves
you keep on kickin' me yeah yeah
you keep on stickin' me yeah yeah
i'm falling away to starry graves

somebody murdered the sunshine
they mutilated the skyline
i'm falling away to starry graves
you're always kickin' me yeah yeah
you're always stickin' me yeah yeah
i'm falling away to starry graves
Track Name: Puzzle
hey!
the tools are in charge, you know, you know
the fools are at large, you know you know
i'm pressing my muzzle to the corners of the night
i'm giving the muscle to everything with a pulse in sight

so pick up the pieces
i'm a puzzle, readjust me
and give me a purpose in this dreary soup
of humanity
dust me in angels, will you dose me, comatose me?
they're overproduced and uneducated
and i hate it

it's all going nowhere and it's going very slowly
the people outside are so busy
eyes are empty
the evening is wasted, you know, you know
but these are the spaces
'tween the stories and the glories

so pick up the pieces
i'm a puzzle, readjust me
and give me a purpose in this dreary soup
of humanity
dust me in angels, will you dose me, comatose me?
they're overproduced and uneducated
and i hate it
Track Name: City Song
messenger boys on speed
sepia days in dogtown august
doo-do-doo-do-doo
yellow cabs on broadway

the crack of yr shoes
to back avenues
the tracks are on fire
there's a breeze on the side-streets
blue eyes, green eyes
the rats and the rich all walk side-by-side

smoke machine in the dark
boombox dancing, nightly trespass
doo-do-doo-do-doo
strobe lights in the front room

the crack of yr shoes
to back avenues
the tracks are on fire
there's a breeze on the side-streets
blue eyes, green eyes
the rats and the rich all walk side-by-side
Track Name: Angel In Front Of Me
hands tombstone still
heart drained of will
jetliners fly over
death ocean-size

judges sell our children
so draw the blinds
futures overruled
live by the golden ruse

she floats like an angel in front of me
face white like a spotlight at night
this moment will freeze in the hourglass
white flags will slice up the nights

hands tombstone still
heart drained of will
jetliners fly over
death ocean-size

wicked are the headlines
so draw the blinds
til we split the sky
with human dynamite

she floats like an angel in front of me
face white like a spotlight at night
this moment will freeze in the hourglass
white flags will slice up the nights
Track Name: Last Train
you say i'm gone
i say death won

the wild-eyed dogs of summer
the thunderclaps at midnight
the miracles of zero
untouched by circumstances
the letter home at xmas
to death beyond the windows
the dagger heels at doorsteps
all swallowed down forever

you took the last train
down the fire drain
(shot through the flawless and hollow, set fire to all the tomorrows)
you took the last train
through the glass pane
(cold is the flood of your engine, float in a suicide ocean)

you say i'm cold
my dreams untold

the generous and vacant
the stalled trains at the station
away from all potential
the simple and provincial
the hammer and the flower
the walls are creeping closer
the dagger heels in bedrooms
a cherry mouth forever

you took the last train
down the fire drain
(shot through the flawless and hollow, set fire to all the tomorrows)
you took the last train
through the glass pane
(cold is the flood of your engine, float in a suicide ocean)
Track Name: All Yr Heroes Are Dead
thunder in the foxholes
shrapnel for yr buttonholes
no way i'll get outta bed
it's all true just what they said

all yr heroes are dead

moon across the desert
death should be ashamed to come for you
(distant sirens)
the mountains still need climbing
bells that still need chiming
(raise yr white flag)
Track Name: Follow The Black Car
ooh you want to drink the starlight
aah my passion is survival
ooh the armies gather in the quiet night
aah the mutilation of a dream

ignition and we follow the black car
the butcher's alive in the bell tower

ooh we're crushed flies in the windowsill
aahh, and still the trains arrive on time
ooh and the dead are everywhere now
they talk of love and you believe it

ignition and we follow the black car
the butcher's alive in the bell tower
ignition and we follow the black car
transmissions arrive from the blackstar
Track Name: Every Blessing
where do all the hard drives go
when they die, is there a hell?
who will judge floppy disks
when they join the hereafter?

my microcode failed me
my server's wrath spared me
my microcode failed me
motherboards sleep with fishes

seka shindokyo mahikari bukkyo
yudayakyo, jukyo, vaisravana, shiva
bahaikyo, soto, rinzai, kamikaze
haruki murakami, shinichi hisamatsu

seka shindokyo mahikari bukkyo
yudayakyo, jukyo, vaisravana, shiva
bahaikyo, soto, rinzai, kamikaze
haruki murakami, shinichi hisamatsu

don't think for a day
you will have your way
you may as well pray
to the pirates in the bay

you want the kiss of the viper?
well just hold out your hand
god gave you every blessing
that you'll never understand
three cheers to allah
and your mothers and brothers too
if god gave you all the blessings..
bye bye!
Track Name: In The City's Arms
white night, raising a black flag
under the vapor trails
killing all the sorrow away
ritual medication
in the city's arms

no one's counting so it's your fountain of youth
when you're older and it's all over, this will all diffuse

all night searching for beauty
love is transmutable
killing all the sorrow away
ritual ruination
locked in the city's arms
spilling all the sorrow away

beach hair straight from the ocean
to this abandoned space
killing all the sorrow away
ritual deviation in the city's arms

no one's counting so it's your fountain of youth
when you're older and it's all over, this will all diffuse

all night searching for beauty
love is transmutable
killing all the sorrow away
ritual ruination
locked in the city's arms
spilling all the sorrow away
Track Name: Love Won't Hear You Scream
wake up now my sweetheart
death is at your door
swells under your floor
rise up now my lover
there's no hope for you
your number's overdue

vipers under your bed and in your head
(whispering)
eyeless faces on you turning to screws
(watching you)

wake up now my sweetheart
death runs through your door
bred for the matador
rise up now my lover
from your blackened dream
it don't matter what it means

vipers under your bed and in your head
(whispering)
eyeless faces on you turning to screws
(watching you)

rise up now my lover
from your blackened dream
don't matter what it means
love won't hear you scream
Track Name: Unknown>Familiar
she came to life in a cavity
and everything was sick and splattery
she grew accustomed to the dungeons
wealthy bankers came to get some
she got the tattoos and the swivel hips
while staring over the precipice
so hey kids let's go have some fun
at the expense of some other one

dial the phone, we're right in the neighborhood
beer buzz on, we need a sloppy rendezvous
what's unknown is better than familiar
somethin' gonna kill ya
some come on LET'S GO

we're all born into conflict
to walk the edge of a bottomless pit
the baby eaters and the murderers
the insincere and the amateurs
living out of focus
everything is hopeless
so throw it -
your caution to the crocodiles

death is just the motivation that i need
take a hard pull
better times are guaranteed
what's unknown is better than familiar
something's gonna kill ya so come on LET'S GO

dial the phone, we're right in the neighborhood
beer buzz on, we need a sloppy rendezvous
what's unknown is better than familiar
somethin' gonna kill ya
some come on LET'S GO
Track Name: Spilling From The Wet Mouth Of Hell
murderers' eyes narrow down on you
soft and stealthy fingers are tightening the screws
(stars shine brightest in hell)
we are all the sickest, the lowest of the earth
(take my word)
termites in the walls, fattening the herd
(over under sideways fucked up)
spilling from the wet mouth of hell

(reptile rodent insect lawyer
billboards spotlights vultures)
spilling from the wet mouth of hell
Track Name: Dead On
backfired actions creeping up on the shoreline
chain reaction crawling out of the water

time, you're dead-on, dead-on time

you want the full-time access,
you get the full-time spies
slithering up your phoneline
the men with camera eyes
bow down, my warriors -
history's at the doorstep

time, you're dead-on, dead-on time
Track Name: Your Bell Never Rang
Ah, vous êtes le gémissement, pas le bang
vers le bas dans votre [ creux ], vous le savez bien -
votre bell jamais sonné

you hide in the corners
in the basements of the world
button-eyes in a paper face
the upper-lip eternally curled

aah - you are the whimper, not the bang
down in your cell, you know it well -
your bell never rang

your mind is a death camp
gang rape in the funhouse
vomiting oceans of suicide up into outerspace
but your letter home won't be read

aah - you are the whimper, not the bang
down in your cell, you know it well -
your bell never rang

aah - all of the whimper, none of the bang
down in your cell, you know it well -
your bell never rang
Track Name: Fairie Spring
i found you in a fairie spring
i tuned you in and i lost everything
you buzzed around my ears at happy hour
i dreamed away in a poison flower

and now i'm hooked up to an I.V. cloud
my apathy would make you proud
i don't suppose you'd want to cut me down
and let me hands and feet kiss the ground

i found you in a fairie spring
you took me under your wing
you buzzed around my ears at happy hour
i floated off in a poison shower

and now i'm hooked up to an I.V. cloud
my apathy would make you proud
i don't suppose you'd want to cut me down
and let me hands and feet kiss the ground

you've wrapped me in a cocoon
i let you feed me with a spoon
you sing to me in my final hour
i passed away in a poison flower

and now i'm floating in a deadly space
i think i've found a better place
my blood won't carry you anymore
i've left you stranded on the shore
Track Name: Ancient Wishes
ancient wishes delivered to the night
follow the moon on summer vacation
we're hooked up to the sky

shattering all decisions
shattering all designs
crackling in the heavens
the universe unwinds

civilizations come and go and
the sun won't always rise
every king in every nation
can wash out with the tide

prayers rejected, carried to the sea
every dream a scrap of papar
scattered in the breeze

shattering all decisions
shattering all designs
crackling in the heavens
the universe unwinds

civilizations come and go and
the sun won't always rise
every king in every nation
can wash out with the tide

shattering all decisions
shattering all designs
crackling in the heavens
the universe unwinds

civilizations come and go and
the sun won't always rise
(all was drowned into the sirens)
every king in every nation
will wash out with the tide
Track Name: City Song 2
and it's 92 murderous degrees
posters on the platform selling bad tv

low tide summer nights
bottles break in alley fights
don't browbeat us
with yr bright ideas

and the sirens whine
and the heat's unkind
while a dog is sleeping
in a chalk outline

falling up standing down
stand yr ground
you're stoppin'/friskin' half the town
and that's why we don't want you around

low tide summer nights
bottles break in alley fights
don't browbeat us
with yr bright ideas

falling up standing down
stand yr ground
you're stoppin'/friskin' half the town
and that's why
(don't police us)
we don't want you around
(we don't need ya)

low tide summer nights
bottles break in alley fights
don't browbeat us
with yr bright ideas


falling up standing down
stand yr ground
you're stoppin'/friskin' half the town
and that's why
(don't police us)
we don't want you around
(we don't need ya)
Track Name: Pale Non-Souls
well hey hey hey
you turned it on now
the cold blowing winds of death
the dark taste in yr mouth
you know it's over
in yr room full of summer dread

ooh the sharks have come now
to pull you under

now the sky is running out
and yr mind is breaking down
pale non-souls are wandering
while yr fear is flowering

well hey hey hey
can't run away now
even the music's diseased
the air you breathe is gasoline
your life was so obscene

ooh the tigers who roamed yr dreams
just rang the doorbell

ooh the sharks have come now
to pull you under

now the sky is running out
and yr mind is breaking down
pale non-souls are wandering
while yr fear is flowering
Track Name: Flashbulb Disease
gaze into the lens with eyes that never smile
we've got a self-esteem emergency at the 9/11 gift shop
so focus and shoot, we're fruit about to spoil
trophy wives with dragon breath
please restore the luster to our chandelier heads!
we'll make all the papers in the shadow world
so cover up the cracks and the crevices

here's 300 angles of my tuesday pout
a photo gallery of my cardio workout

kids from good homes in angsty drag
the lives of dilettantes are carefully curated
yet another selfie for public enjoyment!
destined for a chilly reception

ooh celebrity dust-up, a clickbait circle-jerk
mental disorder
brought to you in hi-definition desperation

flashbulb disease

who broke the internet?
the pursuit of shallowness WILL be televised!
hashtag blessed, we've got full-time access
to graphic discomfort and a sea of vomit
in an widening crater of available bandwidth!
bumper sticker flag waver carbonated salivated lubricating
tinderbating
static in static out
static in, static out

a soul malnourished, i'm starving for likes
feeding tube to the satellites

clapping tuxedos
celebrity dust-up, a clickbait circle-jerk
bouquet of light
full-blown twitter pornado, come on!

flashbulb disease
Track Name: War Cry
the roofs are littered up in satellites
the streets are flooded in a telephone massacre
a sewer river of humanity
spill conversations to the databases in the sea

i hear a war cry
guns on the shoreline

he's at the bottom of a bottle, drowned
she's got a week of lipstick
on her barracuda mouth
they're gonna make 100 babies
the water's running out and everywhere is rabies

so pull the lever on the slot machine
oooh
the pimps butchers and the drama queens
screw yr ears

death in the pipeline
dancing on fault lines

i hear a war cry
guns on the shoreline
Track Name: Swipe Right
this is futility
dreams turn to tragedy
worn down by striving
fiercely ignore the pain
swipe right - you know too much
life is indecency
death camps, black blood
give in to
give into institutions

twilight is suicide
slow-eyed cops are watching us
swipe right - you know too much
swipe right - you know too much
Track Name: Stuck It To You
the people who give
always will be taken away
dream all you like, it's cold rain soaking the grave
never believe the teachings of their leprous minds
promises turn to coffins in due time

they stuck it to you

fractions of us populate in overdrive
pick your lane: salvation or suicide?
assholes make the rules and sell you
panic on the news
all the wrong angles
magic is mangled

they stuck it to you
they stuck it to you and you