EDIT 13/2/2018: This album will be made available again towards the end of 2018. Until then, the download links (which hadn’t worked for years anyway) have been removed. Watch this space. Thanks, p.w.l. x
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So. The time has come. In winter of 2007, for reasons which have slipped from my grasp, I commissioned a group of musicians to each compose and record a song about the species Bathynomus Giganteus – better known as Giant Isopods.
Seventeen bands wrote seventeen songs, they e-mailed them to me, I made a tracklist, someone designed a cover, one band even made a video and then… nothing.
I have no one to blame but myself. Sure some of the bands dragged their feet with things, but in the end a combination of no longer being able to access a certain online community during the day, and the time it took to get certain things organised (plus recording ‘Fight My Battles For Me’) meant I never felt I had time to do the album justice. The plan had been to put it together and release it as a charity record, with proceeds going to the Marine Conservation Society. It never happened. I can only apologise.
So today, as long-belated attempt to make amends to the musicians who made some, frankly, amazing contributions to a very silly idea for a record, I have decided to just upload the thing so people can finally listen to it.
So here it is:
1. Paul Hawkins – Isopod (I can evolve)
2. Pocus Whiteface – Giant Isopods Ate My Well-Known Brand of Corn Chips
3. Pagan Wanderer Lu – An Isopod Is Cute In The Eyes Of An Isopod
4. Silence at Sea – Gladiators on Repeat
5. Plurals – What Know They Of Bathynomus?
6. Thee Merricks – Chitinous Tease
7. The Jaynes – Crusty The Isopod
8. Stealthtones – Nefarious Crustacean Confectionary Debacle
9. Little My – In Isolation Nothing Makes Sense
10. Werk – Giant Isopods Have Stolen My Gameboy
11. Jam on Bread – Isopod in my bathroom
12. The Silent Clothes – Hold it Together
13. Tom Lee – Two Letters Less Than The Apple
14. Time Space Repeat – Rise of the Giant Isopods
15. Meles Meles – Isopod Love Song
16. Ziggy Bolus & The Thomas Ferguson Band – Me, Myself and Isopod
17. Hello World – Vorarephilia
all songs are (c) 2007 the artists.
Every song on it is a triumph. What originally excited me about putting something like this together was how the hell anyone would react to writing about something so esoteric as what is, essentially, a huge underwater woodlouse. I turned away some perfectly good pieces of music purely because they were essentially instrumentals, I wanted to see what people came up with lyrically. Who knew someone would use Isopods as an analogy for a failing relationship? Or draw a link between them and TV’s Gladiators? Giant woodlice stealing your gameboy? Then there’s Tom Lee’s frankly baffling contribution. As I said already, every band on there rose to the challenge amazingly. I hope you enjoy the album. And I hope it was worth the wait.
I also urge you, if you enjoy the record, please make a donation to the Marine Conservation Society. Looking after sea creatures isn’t the most glamorous work going, that’s all the more reason to help them out. Do it whilst the record’s downloading!
Tags: Giant Isopods
March 5, 2009 at 09:33 |
Hurrah!!!
That video for any that haven’t seen it:
http://pocuswhiteface.com/videos.php#video_75
Cheers
Pocus Whiteface
March 5, 2009 at 12:28 |
I’m getting a ‘file not found’ on track 16. Is this my fault?
March 5, 2009 at 16:33 |
you don’t want to hear track 16.
March 5, 2009 at 17:58 |
Track 16 now fixed.x
March 11, 2009 at 11:29 |
These are the best songs about giant isopods I’ve ever heard.
March 14, 2009 at 10:54 |
It seems your bandwidth has been exceeded… which is a shame.
March 15, 2009 at 18:48 |
Any chance of bundling the MP3s into a ZIP file and sticking it up on somewhere such as Mediafire or Rapidshare?
April 13, 2009 at 00:15 |
Hi! A few years ago, I recorded an ep called ‘Isopod’ which also features a song with the same name and had a giant isopod on the cover and the inside sleeve. Last week, I actually encountered my first marine isopod in the flesh – hooray! Will download your compilation now and see how other people interact with one of my favourite creatures! 🙂
April 23, 2009 at 01:12 |
[…] who have put together a soundwavecarrier with ‘giant isopod’ tunes can be found here. the webocean address for the download of said music is here. downloading the sounds is free, but […]
May 27, 2009 at 15:26 |
[…] chips. The giant isopod album we’ve talked about before, although it beats me where it is, is now up online for you to listen to and download. So many favorites but Isopod Love Song is a […]
May 29, 2009 at 02:38 |
[…] I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this one, folks. But I give you the Dave Berry Oath: I Am Not Making This Up. Yes, behold: “Songs About Giant Isopods”. […]
July 2, 2009 at 05:35 |
THANK. YOU.
The dA music Forum and I were waiting SO LONG for this to come out. I applaud you.
January 5, 2010 at 03:24 |
[…] Rock me Bathynomus By Mike Bok At first I thought this was a joke, but it’s real, gloriously real. Musician and blogger Pagan Wanderer Lu commissioned an music album centered around the giant isopod, Bathynomus giganteus, as a sort of creative experiment. Seventeen, musicians contributed to the project, composing songs about life, love, and giant deep-sea crustaceans. Get the whole album, “Songs About Giant Isopods”, here. […]
January 19, 2010 at 05:57 |
[…] Isopod) unwisely features me trying to sing, and is the turd amongst many diamonds on the 2007 Songs About Giant Isopods compilation commissioned and curated by Pagan Wanderer […]
January 22, 2010 at 16:13 |
Hi Team Giant Isopod!
My name is Ellie and I work for Sea Life – we’d really like to see if we can help you get the album out there as I can’t say too much here but we really want to raise awareness about the Giant Isopods this year. Please could paganwandererlu get in touch on 01202 66900 and ask for Ellie in Marketing if you’re interested!
Many thanks,
Ellie
Ellie
April 4, 2010 at 00:39 |
What advice do you have for young couples?
June 17, 2010 at 02:25 |
“Songs about giant Isopods”
i was really pleased when i stumbled upon this album a few months ago. the ‘team isopod’ myspace came up when i searched for isopod images, as they are one of my favorite creatures as well.
all of the songs are fantastic; well made and extremely creative. the titles alone on these tracks are enough to add interest to any music collection (‘giant isopods ate my well-known brand of corn chips’, ‘giant isopods have stolen my gameboy’).
i especially liked the tracks ‘isopod is cute in the eyes of an isopod’, ‘gladiators on repeat’ and ‘nothing makes sense in isolation’. ‘me, myself and isopod’ is probably one of, if not, the strangest pieces of music i have ever heard, and it is fascinating. and all of the cheesy pop love song writers could take a lesson from the simple and honest “isopod lovesong’ – “you eat me up, and i don’t even complain, because i’m dead.”
thanks to team isopod for all the awesome music!
August 8, 2011 at 23:10 |
Any chance this is up somewhere on the web for download?
November 29, 2011 at 00:26 |
Your MP3 host seems to have gone belly-up. Is there another way I can find this album? I’ll pay…
July 21, 2013 at 08:40 |
I have read so many articles or reviews
regarding the blogger lovers but this post is really a fastidious article, keep
it up.
September 9, 2013 at 01:40 |
I also would like to download this album. I would even throw money at it. I think all our lives would be better if you made this album accessible again.
September 17, 2013 at 11:58 |
Likewise! I will also pay!
October 6, 2013 at 21:22 |
I agree with JNDonnelly, this should go on bandcamp really. I’d even pay money.
October 6, 2013 at 21:40 |
oh hang on! It’s up on Song by Toad still.
November 3, 2013 at 16:58 |
Alex, did you get the link to work? I had already tried it, and just tried again, but it appears disabled.
February 19, 2014 at 16:44 |
Is this album permanently unavailable now? I’ve just learned about the giant isopod and wish to hear songs of its glory!
September 19, 2014 at 22:12 |
Ok,when i hit the links for any track the only thing that i get is a link to sign up for a myflare account.since i never heard of them i thought was going to be a youtube type thing and album would be there,but doesnt seem to be and i just signed up for simething for no reason.so where CAN i listen to any of these ???
Speaking of..why ISNT it on youtube,even if just same slideshow of the critters for each song ??? Very dissappointed,i wanted to hear them 😦
January 5, 2015 at 17:57 |
Is it still possible to get a hold of this album? The wide world of arthropodologists want to know!
November 5, 2016 at 14:18 |
I would really love to hear this album!
May 31, 2017 at 15:52 |
Why is this not here anymore??? I desperately need to listen to it. Please help me. I’ve searched high and low.
June 28, 2017 at 23:53 |
http://www.rekwanze.info/ – They still have the songs up as of June 2017! You’re welcome!
July 15, 2017 at 20:31 |
Oh indeed. I join the many pleas for this music to be made available again! Otherwise, it slips from crazy obscurity into nothing at all.
The Library of Congress estimates that 75% of all silent films are lost forever- and you think that’s bad, it is estimated that 50% of all sound films from 1927 to 1950 are lost forever.
Please, if you still have the files, make them available. I may even put together a website dedicated for the purpose. Thank You! 🙂
November 29, 2017 at 01:00 |
[…] As I dug deeper I found this dude who got a ton of bands together and created a whole album about them. I’m not really sure why but I think it’s pretty funny. If you read the page he thought it would be a great success or something. Anyways you can check it out here! […]
January 31, 2018 at 01:45 |
Many moons later, and all the files have been lost to the mists of time. Any chance of a more permanent storage/download option? (I heard An Isopod is Cute in the Eyes of an Isopod ages ago, and can’t find it anywhere else)
February 13, 2018 at 04:05 |
The links lead to a 404- are these songs still up anywhere? I would love to hear them!
February 13, 2018 at 05:21 |
I found “An Isopod looks cute in the eyes of an isopod” on Tumblr, and this is what brought me here. I would totally buy it on Bandcamp, but seeing how this project is already a couple of years old I am not even sure if you will ever read this comment…
If, please know that this was an amazing idea! I will share it with all the friends I know that could be interested (and also those unfortunate ones who would probably rather not think about gigantic cute deep sear critters). I love giant isopods and still need them as a plushie in my life. Please spread the love! We need to protect the oceans.