8k words across 30 entries.

Jailbreak Vol. 1 Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube (playlist)

Robert J! Lake: (Bandcamp download blurb) captured 11/20/2011

You wake up locked in this album, completely alone.
It's legitimately terrible. You need a shower.
You wonder how your mother is. "You need more food," she used to say. "You look like a chihuahua."
And then she would watch Kenneth Branagh's Henry V on the highest volume setting on every TV in the house.
In hindsight, you're actually kind of glad she went deaf.

Robert J! Lake: (Bandcamp about blurb)

> Purchase entire album and see what happens.

The album can't exist!

>Wait, what?

You ass, Jailbreak never had a soundtrack! You're messing with the balance of reality itself, here.

Robert J! Lake: (Bandcamp credits blurb)

An album by
Robert J! Lake
James Dever
Perry Sullivan
Luke Benjamins
Mark J. Hadley
Nick Smalley
Andrew Huo
Paige Turner
Michael Guy Bowman
and Erik Scheele

featuring art by:
Robert J! Lake
Paige Turner
melodiousDiscord
and Ginnie Sea

album art by Robert J! Lake

more like failbreak hahahahahaah right

yeah

man

good times

Michael Guy Bowman: (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt) 9/30/2024

The long, long list on hsmusic.wiki reminds me that around this time I submitted something to the Homestuck Gaiden fan album for Jailbreak (Jailbreak Vol. 1) - this piece called "Mechanic Panic" is one of the first things I wrote for Homestuck and I submitted it as a last minute inclusion to the Jailbreak album which was helmed by RJ Lake

In retrospect I wish I had never, ever touched that album. I was not exactly dying to have this one released in any official capacity and it was basically just a leftover.

I don't know exactly what agreement RJ Lake who ran the Homestuck Gaiden project had made with Andrew Hussie but he led me to believe that this was sort of an innocent fan album that had been cleared by Andrew himself.

What I recall happening was that it was initially released for profit which was apparently not cleared by Andrew whatsoever. This put everyone involved in the very awkward position of basically having been involved in a copyright violation and Andrew was not pleased.

And correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure all the [UNOFFICIAL ALBUM] stuff was added after the fact.

So TL:DR by deciding to contribute a bonus track I had thrown together two years earlier on this album I was baited into a situation where RJ kind of blindly walked us into a scandal. The album had its pricetag removed and it was reiterated that this was a fan album and not an offficial release. But I think this did not exactly endear us to him [Andrew Hussie] in the long run and was a massive mistake.

(B. A. Baker) At the time I thought Homestuck Gaiden was totally hussie or at least whatpumpkin sanctioned

I think that was the issue

i actually bought jailbreak album it may still be visible on my profile on bandcamp

i think tomb of the ancestors was free from the start though and that was the last one

for normal fans thered be no way to know they werent official without the tag

even the land of fans and music had a toby fox song so i assumed it too was sanctioned

which made the 2012 contest more confusing

I basically think it was designed with the intent to look official, and do as little as possible to dispel those rumors. So we all basically got the book thrown at us

(Continued in Homestuck Vol. 10)

Fanfare Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, and Luke Benjamins: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Welcome to "Holy Shit, Sesame Street's YouTube was porned, and also I guess Jailbreak is happening".
RJ!: It's the album commentary, yeah.
Nick: This is... Welcome, this is me.

(Continued in Jailstuck (Intro))

Jailstuck (Intro) Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

(Continued from Fanfare)

RJ!: That was Nick Smalley, uh, I am Robert J! Lake, uh...
Jit: And... I'm Jit.
GFD: And nobody knows who I am.
Nick: That's GFD.
Jit: Yeah.
RJ!: Luke Benjamins.
GFD: Sup.
RJ!: And this is Jailbreak we're listening to right now.
Nick: It's a good album, man.
Jit: Yeah.
RJ!: It's a really good album, it's all chiptunes.
GFD: Almost.
Nick: Almost all chiptunes, I mean— RJ!: Mostly chiptunes. Nick: —some of us skipped out and cheated, you know, unlike me and GFD here, we were authentic.
GFD: Yeah.
RJ!: I don't know how to authentic chiptunes, I uh, made a compromise with myself that all of the sounds I used are going to be synthesized chiptunes. So, it's all not edited. It's all as chiptune as I can make it.
Nick: That's alright. I mean, things like this. It's pretty good.
GFD: I don't remember hearing this track before.
RJ!: This is one of the ones that I didn't upload ever.
GFD: Oh.
RJ!: This is Jailstuck.
Nick: That's totally fine.
GFD: I like this one.
Nick: It's got a cool vibe. Jit: Yeah, it's cool, I guess.
RJ!: Yeah, this is the intro, and then the next one is... what the intro leads into.
Nick: That makes sense.
RJ!: Mhmm.
Jit: Wait, wait, is this intro done now or...?
RJ!: No. Jit: I have no idea, oh, okay.
RJ!: You got— Jit: Yeah, I don't think I've actually listened to a lot of this stuff, or I've listened to it and then just kinda: you'll file it away without remembering any about it. So, it's like I'm listening to this for the first time too!
GFD: I only listened to the stuff that was in the Google Doc, recently. And—
Nick: Yeah, I haven't listened to it recently.

(Continued in Title Screen)

Title Screen Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

(Continued from Jailstuck (Intro))

GFD: [I only listened to the stuff that was in the Google Doc, recently. And—] —and from a long time ago, when I got a bunch of MP3s from everybody from the forums 'cause I can't the forums.
RJ!: Mhmm.
Jit: Oh man...
Nick: Is this still Jailstuck? Jit: I love this percussion.
GFD: Yes.
RJ!: What?
Nick: Jailstuck is forever.
RJ!: Uh, no no, this is after Jailstuck. This is the main title.
Jit: Oh. Nick: Okay. Press start to play... slash die.
RJ!: Yeah.
Nick: Man, [imitates beat of the song], this would go great with a pendulum song.
[laughter]
RJ!: Ah, it's not 174 BPM.
Nick: How much is it?
RJ!: Uh... it's 15-... it's 150, 160 something in that area.
Nick: That's pretty close, we could do it.
RJ!: Yeah, it's true. Jit: Yeah, you could just turn it up a little bit.
RJ!: Yeah, mash that shit up.
Nick: I could do it.
RJ!: [falsetto] This piece is a long time coming, augh, you don't understaaand.
Nick: It's me, pendulum, slam slam. That was a good song. GFD: Okay...
Jit: Oh no, this track is ending. RJ!: And now, we got— Jit: What's next? GFD: Wow, what?
RJ!: Now, it's uh... GFD. Jit: I hope it's not anything of mine.
GFD: It's mine next?

Logorg Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Ah, here we go.
Nick: Logorg.
RJ!: Logorg.
GFD: The first track that's not— Jit: Oh yeah, this one's great. GFD: —the first one that's not RJ.
RJ!: Yeah, I kind of accidentally became the album. Half of it.
Nick: Yeah, I know, because a lot of people didn't want to be on the album because, like "ugh, chiptunes are so bad".
RJ!: And I was just like, oh my god, I love chiptunes. It's my thing.
Jit: Yeah, I just never got back around to being bored of my own...
GFD: If, uh... You guys should listen to this one, the NSF, in VirtuaNES as well because it sounds pretty cool in that. For a lot of other [unintelligible]— Jit: "Virtual NES", what?
GFD: —I'm talking to the people who listening to us doing the commentary.
Jit: Because I don't what "Virtual NES" is. Tell me, GFD!
GFD: It's a NES emulator that also plays NSFs, and doesn't—
RJ!: It'll be in the extras. It'll be in the extras for the people listening, I'll have a link to it.
GFD: Yeah, yeah. It's one of the only NSF players that doesn't screw the song up because I like, used stuff you're not supposed to do in Famitracker— RJ!: He cheated. GFD: —to make it sound this way.
GFD: I'm a cheater.
Jit: Oh... Yeah, well, I doubt RJ actually made anything in Famitracker, so yeah...
RJ!: I have samples from Famitracker. GFD: Eeeh.
Jit: That doesn't count.
RJ!: Yeah, it does.
Jit: That's like "using a leaf" versus "sampling a leaf".

Elf Shanty Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Wait, whose song is this now?
RJ!: Uh, this is the only one that AgentParsec has in the album, this is Elf Shanty.
GFD: Oh, right! I forgot about this one.
Nick: That elf.
GFD: I remember this one, this is catchy.
RJ!: Mhmm. GFD: Do we have an NSF of this one either?
RJ!: Uh, I don't think he NSF'd this one, I think this is fake. I'm not sure though.
GFD: Oh... sad.
Jit: I don't know, that percussion sounds awfully familiar.
GFD: No, this sounds... this sounds like it was made in Famitracker. Can we get an NSF from him before we release the album?
RJ!: We'd have to talk to him, though. Um, I want to have released it today and we're burning the afternoon oil right now.
GFD: Let's see if you can find him, 'cause... for, I want NSFs for this.
RJ!: He's got a baby though, now.
GFD: [incredulous] He's got a baby?
Nick: Yeah, he does have a baby— GFD: What's he—? Nick: —don't you remember? GFD: What's he—?
RJ!: So, it'd kinda make things more...
GFD: What's he—? Jit: The baby's probably like months old by this point.
GFD: What's he doing making babies? He should be making music.
Nick: Don't you remember?
GFD: Great, so now we don't have NSFs.
RJ!: He was busy watching the Sesame Street YouTube, that's how it happened.
GFD: Oh. Oh, I see.
Nick: He was trying to figure out how, and then he watched Sesame Street.
[laughter] Nick: Topical!
RJ!: That's real family entertainment right there.
Nick: I don't know, this doesn't sound like something in Famitracker.
GFD: Yes, it does. (What are) you on?
Jit: Yeah, it does.
Nick: Fine, you win. GFD: And hasn't Parsec made stuff in Famitracker before?
Nick: Harlequin?
GFD: Yeah, er, wait... Jit: Aggrieve?
GFD: Was it him that made the title screen for Problem Sleuth?
Nick: Yes. GFD: Because that was in... that was in Famitracker.
Jit: It would make sense.
RJ!: Yeah, it's probably him. Nick: In fact, if it weren't for Parsec, I wouldn't be on the music team.
RJ!: Really? GFD: Really?
Nick: Uh huh.
GFD: How did he, you, the music team?
Nick: Because I heard the Problem Sleuth opening theme and I was like, I could do that.
GFD: Ah.
Nick: And then, I sent music to Andrew and then he invited me into the music team [unintelligible].
GFD: I don't even know how I got in. I literally have no idea. Jit: Yeah, me either.
GFD: I was just, sort of, there all of a sudden... And then I wasn't, waaah.
Jit: Well, you like, applied at one point, I'm sure.
GFD: Oh yeah, but I don't even remember if I put music in that email, actually.
[laughter]
RJ!: I'm here because Adghar...
Jit: Did the three of us like, "I can make music" and then you got in, and were just like "I'm not making any music, right now."
RJ!: I really wish I actually like, actively applied. I'm only here because, um, Adghar posted a bunch of people who were apparently like supposed... You know, music team candidates. Possible people. He listed me as um, "psychedelic rock".
Nick: Cool. Jit: Interesting.

Phantom Echoes Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Nick: I love this song, oh my god.
RJ!: Me too! Jesus Christ, it reminds me of Cave Story to uh, [unintelligible]. Is this done in PxTone?
GFD: No, uh, the percussion... Jit: It sounds like it was in PxTone.
GFD: Is the whole thing in PxTone? I thought it was like...
RJ!: This sounds a lot like PxTone.
GFD: Ah... that explains it.
Nick: It sounds a lot like it'd be in PxTone.
GFD: [imitating song]
Nick: Yeah, you don't get that uh... sine wave in anything but, like, PxTone.
GFD: Yee.
RJ!: It's... Ohhh my goddd!
[laughter]
Jit: Who made this one?
RJ!: This is, uh, [noises] vavoom! Adghar, right?
Nick: Yeah. RJ!: That's Adghar.
GFD: Yeah.
Jit: I don't remember him making stuff in ages.
GFD: The OTHER Andrew H. Jit: He's pretty old.
[laughter]
GFD: He made two songs for this one, didn't he? ...no, three. One is the bonus track.
Nick: This is Andrew Hussie's Asian doppelganger. [laughter]
RJ!: The one who plays violin. Jit: Yeah, the one that never actually like, makes hardly anything.
Nick: I agree.
RJ!: Well, he's still definitely around. I mean, he gave me— This is a fresh WAV.
Nick: Yeah, this is like hot off the presses.
Jit: Cool. Nick: [imitating newspaper machine noises] RJ!: Yeah.
Jit: I mean, I know he still hangs around and such, but...
GFD: I mean, he was definitely active for the "Doctor Space" thing that never happened.
RJ!: We can't talk about that, can we?
GFD: We can't? Nick: No.
GFD: Oh, okay. I never said anything.
RJ!: That's a tantalizing, tantalizing behind-the-scenes tidbit you all got there, guys.
GFD: Yeah.
Jit: Yeah, "Doctor Space" is just like Doctor...
RJ!: Never happened. Jit: In space.
Nick: It's an animated series like Dr. House, but it's in space.
[collective laughter]
GFD: I feel like that would be better than what we had it as.
RJ!: No more talking. Jit: Okay.

Assail Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Nick: I love this one.
RJ!: I love this one too. Hi, Jit.
Nick: Forget everything else, this song's the best.
Jit: Hi... yeah... it's like— RJ!: This is one of my favorites.
GFD: Jit, how did— Jit: It's like, god, this thing is so freaking old. This is before Dave had a fight theme, and I was like, "I'll try making one".
RJ!: I actually wish this was the fight theme over Beatdown.
Nick: Mmm.
GFD: Jit— Jit: I don't know, Beatdown was cool though.
GFD: How do you feel about— Jit: It's just like... RJ!: Beatdown, I like... I like Beatdown but... I like this more.
GFD: Jit, how do you feel about yourself when you listen to this?
Jit: Um... Nick: Probably the same way you feel about how you listen to your stuff.
GFD: I feel amazing.
Jit: It's like... I don't know, I think it could've been better 'cause Famitracker could do a whole lot more as evidenced by like, Pumpkin Cravings. But it kinda shows like my inexperience with the whole thing in general.
RJ!: But, I don't like Pumpkin Cravings as much as this.
Nick: I don't like Pumpkin Cravings. It's not my favorite. Jit: Oh you shut your face. You shut your face, RJ.
RJ!: It's true, though, this is awesome and I kinda... Like, I look at Pumpkin Cravings as this weird little, kind of off-side thing that's not as good as Beatfox's other stuff.
Nick: Yeah.
Jit: Have you seen the Famitracker file for it though? It's crazy.
RJ!: That doesn't make it good, that just means it has mental problems.
[collective laughter]
Jit: Yeah, I mean crazy awesome— RJ!: I don't care.
Jit: —I mean the music is just great too, it's like "Oh, great, this Jit guy, he's got a triangle"... No, it was like a square doing the bassline and some really sparse electronic... noise drums, and the other square doing the melody. And then the triangle comes in, and it's arpeggios!
RJ!: Oh my godddd, yes! Jit: Oh, woah!
RJ!: It's gorgeous, it's simple, but it's gorgeous. Jit: You got this crazy shit right there, I mean, Jesus.
GFD: It sets itself apart, it is, uh... I don't know what it is.
Jit: Yeah, I think this is like the first thing I ever made in Famitracker too.
RJ!: I've never made anything in Famitracker, so you're still beating me in that regard.
GFD: This is still better than the first things I made in Famitracker.
RJ!: It's...
Nick: Yeah, you tell me, this is like, way better than what I started out with.
GFD: RJ, haven't you watched my Famitracker tutorial yet?
RJ!: Haven't had the time, I'm more busy than... I'm busier than God. GFD: It's only... it's only an hour. It's only an hour.
RJ!: I know, and I'm busier than God as I just said.
GFD: God has all the time in the world, though. Literally.
Nick: Woah, what the hell was that?

Confrontation Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Oh, here we go.
Jit: This is— RJ!: [bad song imitation] Jit: —more Adghar. RJ!: Yeah, definitely.
Nick: So, what is this? GFD: Me and RJ were part, were inspirations for the song, a little bit. You can hear quotes from some of my songs that had never actually been out ever. Uh...
RJ!: Am I really an inspiration for this, because I was listening to it and I didn't notice.
GFD: Uh— Nick: Wait, what was the inspiration? GFD: —Andrew H. took like two really, really frickin' old tracks that I made a long time ago.
RJ!: He said it was Jade inspired and I guess, would that mean that there's some, um... Wait... I'm listening right now... I can't notice any uh, if there's some Beginning of Something Really Excellent in here.
GFD: Isn't it Gardener that's in here?
RJ!: That's what Beginning of So—, yeah, yeah. GFD: Wait. I don't know my Homestuck songs very well.
RJ!: Beginning of Something Really Excellent is the original, um, it's the same melody as in Gardener. Gardener is just the thing that Steve Everson took and he took mine, and put it to a fake bass sample.
GFD: Oh.
RJ!: Yeah... But it's the same melody, the original is Beginning of Something Really Excellent, but it's easier to call it Gardener so just do that. He gave it the name.
GFD: It was, oh, we skipped over that part already. The minor part back there was inspired by "eerie.mp3" if anybody remembers that from me.
RJ!: I don't.
GFD: No, nobody does.
Jit: I think I have that in my computer somewhere.
RJ!: You should give it to me so I can remix it.
Jit: I kind of store everything I ever download Homestuck and I put it in like a, in a folder on my computer.
RJ!: The Elf Shanty artwork is scaring me. Jit: It's some old stuff and there is that one song that Bowman made for the Crowsprite that never got used.
GFD: Awh... Anybody remember Mechanic Panic?
RJ!: Yes.
Jit: Yeah, I think I have that one on my computer too— RJ!: That didn't make it onto this album, sadly.
GFD: I know, it was one of the very first songs that I remember from the forums... when Andrew was like "Here, make a boss battle song."

Rising Water (Oh, Shit!) Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Nick: What is this?
RJ!: Here's Slunk.
GFD: Ah, yeah. Nick: Oh, Slunk...
RJ!: Rising Water (Oh, Shit!)
GFD: And unfortunately, we lost the Famitracker files, so we don't have an NSF of this one either. And we cry.
RJ!: Yeah, this art is really scaring me now.
GFD: Are you still drawing this? What are you drawing now?
RJ!: I'm still drawing— Elf Shanty. GFD: Oh. Oh, boy.
Nick: That silly... Oh man, this is a high quality clip.
RJ!: Isn't it?
Nick: Dude, yeah.
RJ!: The highest quality.
Nick: I didn't know you could actually mess up the quality on a NSF file.
Jit: Really, what? GFD: What?
Jit: I'm not sure what you're talking about, I'm not versed in... That stuff... Nick: Not like... music quality, I'm talking about sound quality.
RJ!: Yeah. Jit: Oh.
Nick: But hey, who's complaining?
Jit: Oh god, that frickin' rising water! [shivering noises]
Jit: Oh, dear god. RJ!: Oh, shit!
GFD: And then there was the glub at the end.

Moment of Pause Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: And now, what's this? What is this track? What IS this track?
RJ!: This is the pause theme. GFD: Oh, yes, this is the one you made—
RJ!: While mastering the album. GFD: WHILE you were mastering the album.
GFD: Yes, while mastering, because you needed a transition.
RJ!: And it wouldn't work, yeah. GFD: Ya weirdo.
GFD: Oh well, it's not as bad as me finishing... Eh, actually, no, it is worse than me finishing a song three days before the album, so what am I talking about.
Jit: Hey, I only put up like, my WAVs last night 'cause I was like, "uhhh, something going on with this?"
[collective laughter] Jit: "Oh, I should get my WAVs then. Here you go." GFD: Did you know this was being released today?
Jit: ...No? [collective laughter] Jit: Not really, no. GFD: Man...
Jit: 'Cause Radiation was like, "I think I'll hold it off until after the end of acts" and I was like...
RJ!: When did he say that?
Jit: He said it on the forums or something.
GFD: Well... RJ!: Wait, wait.
Jit: As if he was the one who was deciding when it went out too, was weird. GFD: Uh, well...
RJ!: Yeah, that's kind of... scary.
GFD: Well, that's not happening anymore.
Jit: Whatever... No, screw him.
RJ!: He says publicly, for the public record.
[laughter] Jit: Yeah. Screw Black too.
[laughter] Nick: Yeah, how 'bout that— GFD: Yeh. Nick: —Radiation, or should I say... mmMMMmGAYdiation.
Jit: Does he even have any tracks on this album?
RJ!: No, he does not have any tra—

Bars Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Oh, here's Bars. Here's Bars coming on.
RJ!: I made this. Yeah, I made this.
GFD: Yeah, RJ made this and I helped a little bit, except actually the whole song was me the whole time! You didn't expect that, did you?
RJ!: Why was that so funny to you? Jit: Was it really all you?
GFD: I don't know, it's hilarious, okay?
RJ!: I posted... I'm not even going to explain the joke.
GFD: Yeah, okay, it's just a joke, okay? Uh, yeah, this was the one I finished three days before this came out. 'Cause I'm like, wait, I have this song idea, I'm gonna make it. I still have two other song ideas that are kind of Jailbreak-y, but I just, I don't have time to do them. So, I'm just going to leave them for something else. Maybe my EP that I still want to make.
RJ!: Ooh, you should do an EP. GFD: I know. RJ!: I would buy it. GFD: I know. RJ!: I would buy it.
GFD: It's going to be like yours, five years in the making.
RJ!: Nice. Except mine's an LP.
GFD: Oh. Well... Screw you.
RJ!: Please do.
GFD: This is my favorite part. Jit: Is this...
RJ!: Yes. Jit: Is this the same song then? Or...
RJ!: Yeah, it's got a long pause.
GFD: Yeah. It's suspenseful, and artistic. I like silence in music.
Jit: That's not artistic—

Jackknive Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Jit: —oh, this is the new song, now.
Nick: The new song.
Jit: I still remember this one, it's not even called "Jackknife" on my computer. It's called, uh, what is it... "idea 6 chiptune".
RJ!: Well, it's called "JackKniVeFe" on the actual album.
Jit: Yeah, I'm not sure if you actually end it with "ve" or "fe"— wait, you're not actually calling it that are you?
GFD: He is. RJ!: No, I am. I am.
Jit: No, nonono no, put it as "ve".
RJ!: No, it's uh... I'm gonna write, read this out to you, letter by letter: "J-a-c-k-K-n-i-F-e-V-e".
Jit: But no... [laughter] RJ!: Yes.
GFD: That's what I told him, don't do that.
RJ!: Serious— Jit: No... RJ!: N— Yes. Jit: No! No no, you can't do that. That's not your decision.
RJ!: It isn't my decision? Well, technically, it is my decision, but it isn't my decision. If you really want me to change it, I will. That's what it is right now, though.
GFD: I think he really wants you to change it.
Jit: Yeah... No, it's just because... I was kinda of typing in all caps last night, so you can't really take... I don't think you should try to be taking anything I said last night in the doc very seriously.
Nick: Oh, we're going to. Don't worry.
Jit: I mean, I was like "AHH JIT'S HERE. I'M GONNA GO GET SOME COKE WHILE THIS STUFF UPLOADS, YEAH!"
RJ!: How HIGH were you?
Jit: I was... I'm never high. I'm just...
GFD: And then, you deleted my amazing poetry. You jerk.
Jit: That wasn't poetry. GFD: Yes, it was.
Jit: No, it wasn't. GFD: It was quality poetry.
Jit: Was not. [laughter]
Jit: I'll give you a quality poetry: "Roses are red, violets are blue... GFD is stupid, and so is poo." RJ!: "And fuck you!"
Nick: Woah!
Jit: No, you can't interrupt. RJ!: I co-opted on your god damn poetry into my own.
GFD: Shut... Shut.
Nick: I didn't realize this whole album was 42 minutes long.
GFD: It is. RJ!: You didn't?
GFD: We're not even halfway. Nick: No. I know...
RJ!: The scary thing is that half of it is mine, which means I wrote 20 minutes of chiptunes for this album.
Nick: I wrote two. GFD: The other scary thing is that this call has been going for like, two hours, fifteen minutes before we started recording.
RJ!: Yeeah, that's kinda bad. Jit: Yeeah.
GFD: Half an hour of that us trying to find us a safe failsafe before recording. Jit: Was not, you're just...
RJ!: Which we never did. GFD: No. I really hope Vegas doesn't crash.
Jit: I've sorta got one going, but I'm not sure how it's working.
GFD: What?
Jit: I mean, it's recording the music too. GFD: Oh.
Jit: So I have to have my music kinda low. GFD: Oh.
RJ!: I just realized I accidentally, like subconsciously drew this elf as Sweet Bro. [laughter]
RJ!: Oh, no no, it's Hella Jeff. Hella Jeff's the one with the 8^y mouth. Jit: Keep it! Keeeep it.
RJ!: I'm keeping it, no, don't worry. Jit: Good boy.

Intestinal Fortification Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Okay, wait, what's this one?
RJ!: Um, uh, this is right after... This is Intestinal Fortification. This is also Slunk.
GFD: Oh, this is also Slunk. Another one we don't have an NSF for. Oh, that percussion's nice.
Nick: I like it. RJ!: I like it.
GFD: This is the song that represents all the blood, and mud, and... stuff.
Nick: Woaah...
Jit: And all the poo [unintelligible]. RJ!: This has a genuinely terrifying art that he did for it.
Nick: But... huh...
RJ!: Because, for his art, um, for the album art he did for his own tracks, or her own tracks, her/his, he uh, she, um... The art Slunk did for the tracks is really like hyper-realistic. I mean, not hyper-realistic, but like, these scary realistic renditions of the Jailbreak characters doing the same actions.
Jit: What do you mean hyper-realistic? RJ!: Not hyper— Well...
Jit: I don't think I've actually seen... RJ!: It's not actually hyper-realistic— GFD: Now we're halfway.
RJ!: —it's actually kind of cartoon-y. GFD: We hit halfway.
RJ!: But, it's um... Relative to the stick figures in the actual comic, it's realistic, and it's terrifying.
GFD: Then Drillgorg, Drillgorg was amazing.
RJ!: It's like nightmare, nightmare-ish. It's yeah, then Drillgorg, uh um, Drillgorg is, [blubbering] It's good.
Jit: I don't think—
RJ!: I'll agree with that.
GFD: I still know how this song goes, even though I haven't heard it in ages. It is— Nick: Very memorable. GFD: —it is that. RJ!: It is. GFD: Yes, it is memorable.
RJ!: I like both of Slunk's tracks here a lot, in a completely different way from the rest of the album.
GFD: Yeah.
RJ!: They're both really, um... I don't know how to descri— I don't know an adjective that's perfect for it.
GFD: Slunk-y.
RJ!: That's perfect.
GFD: Exactly. And it's over.

Console Thunder Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: And now, this is the stereo track. He made this one in— RJ!: Stere—
Jit: Yeah, I just, I so suddenly noticed that.
GFD: Yeah, because RJ is... suddenly, this one's on a Game Boy... or something.
Nick: Heh.
Jit: Did Game Boy's have ste— GFD: They did! They had stereo, uh, sound. RJ!: Well—
Jit: I could never notice that 'cause, uh...
GFD: Yeah, the speaker had stereo sound. RJ!: They did have stereo sound. They in fact, it's advertised as such on them. Like, the Game Boy itself.
GFD: Yeah. Dot matrix with stereo sound. RJ!: As having stereo sound. Yep! ...but yeah, I cha—
Jit: How do you remember those things about a Game Boy, like were you playing games on them or were you just studying the manuals in games.
RJ!: It says that on the Game Boy itself. GFD: Right under the screen. Or above it. RJ!: Yeah, literally. GFD: Yeah.
Jit: Well, shut...
GFD: So, you can't really avoid that one.
Jit: [mocking noises] Yeah, you can if you're me.
RJ!: Clearly. GFD: Well, you're a dingus.
Nick: Woah... Jit: I'm not a dingus! Nick: Are you going to take that back? That's not nice.
GFD: No.
RJ!: Never call somebody a genius to their face.
GFD: No, I said dingus.
RJ!: You called someone a genius to their Skype.
Jit: He said dingus.
RJ!: I don't care. [laughter]
Jit: Oh, I just found a battery!
Nick: Woah. Jit: Thrilling commentary by Jit. I'm sorry, I'm just like, "Oh, woah, a battery."
RJ!: Let's talk about batteries for a while.
GFD: No! Jit: It's those little ones that you stick into laser pointers and Tamagotchis.
RJ!: For a lot of this album, I cheated because I'm mixing very different kinds of soundchips together. They're all 8-bit, but I have a Sega PSG here, along with a Nintendo emulation and a Game Boy emulation, like there's a bunch of different things for a lot of them.
GFD: Strange. I like the stereo sound here, even though it's not... uh... Jit: It's not appropriate.
Nick: It's not Kosher.
Jit: RJ, you're not supposed to be showing that sort of stereo graphic sound in here.
GFD: It's not straight-bit, that's the phrase I'm stealing from RJ. RJ!: I like... I liked yeah, how nobody said that about Phantom Echoes even though that was stereo too.
GFD: It was stereo? Nick: But that one was cooler.
GFD: It wasn't as... RJ!: [fake laughter] Yeah, it was. Actually, though, it is cooler than this one.
GFD: It wasn't dramatic about its stereo. It wasn't throwing it in your face. RJ!: That's true, all of my stereo tracks are very stereo.
GFD: Yes. [imitating song]
RJ!: Is it enervating yet?
Jit: I don't know... What's enervating mean?
RJ!: Irritating, but um, yeah. Jit: Oh, no. You can never be irritating.
RJ!: I'm irritating, I'm pretty irritating.
GFD: RJ is fucking annoying!
RJ!: It's true. GFD: But fucking irritating as what your Skype used to be.
RJ!: Yeah. GFD: But now, you're a gigantic fucking eye and fuck.
RJ!: For everyone who has added me on Skype, they already know that, but it's true.
GFD: Yes.
Jit: Awshi... Sorry, I dropped something. GFD: Because of the one time I went to chat you, and then your display picture was a gigantic eye and that's what I said: "a gigantic fucking eye and fuck."
RJ!: I actually... I know. GFD: Because it scared the crap out of me, okay? That thing was huge.
RJ!: It's just a—

Be the Other Guy Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Jit: —okay, wait, I don't remember this one, what is this?
RJ!: Uh, this is "With Bros".
GFD: Is it still going to be called that? Nick: "With Bros".
RJ!: Probab— Jit: Ohh, PerryBob.
GFD: He says [unintelligible] change the title. RJ!: Probably... I can change the title and I probably will, it was originally "With Friends", that's most likely what it's going to be but... I don't know.
GFD: It's going to be "With Friends" again?
RJ!: "With Friends Again", that's actually... No no, wait... I don't know.
Nick: How about "Be The Other Guy"? Jit: Man, you know, I wish Mannequin was on this album.
RJ!: Be The Other Guy is actually a perfect title.
GFD: Be The— Jit: Actually, now that I'm suddenly thinking about it, Mannequin should be on this album.
RJ!: Well, you can't change that now because the track list has already been mastered and finalized.
GFD: Hah! Jit: Yeah, I know. GFD: Hah.
RJ!: And we're commenting on it.
Jit: I am the master of being late, I've noticed this recently like, someone will tell me to do something or I'll be like "Oh, I should do this thing for someone" and then I won't get to it for months and months.
GFD: Ha, yeah, how lo— how old is that Jailbake thread that I made in the music enclave now?
RJ!: Probab— GFD: Which is still [intelligible] that you guys used apparently.
RJ!: Well, uh, I don't know how exactly how old it is, but a good metric is the fact that Andrew said that we were probably going to be releasing this album sometime in July. [laughter]
GFD: Oh, good times...
Jit: Yeah, really.
GFD: This is so catchy.
Jit: Oh, for some reason, I'm just like, looking through my desk while we talk. I don't know why.
RJ!: Multitasking! [song imitation noises]
Jit: Not really. Maybe it's just like a natural part of the... [song imitation noises]
GFD: I like this song.
Jit: What?
RJ!: I do too.
Jit: I like lots of stuff that PerryBob does.
RJ!: PerryBob and Tyler Deververver... Dedever... the Dever.
Jit: Dever?
RJ!: Mister Sburb.
GFD: Jit, I don't actually know how to pronounce your last name.
RJ!: Scheele.
GFD: Scheele?
Jit: What? Yeah, yeah, it's Scheele.
GFD: Interesting.
RJ!: But yeah, um... Jit: It's German, it's does—
GFD: That's not even a pronoun— Nick: Is it still Be The Other Guy?
GFD: This isn't, that's not even a pronounciation that I imagined while thinking about the ones it could be. Nick: I'm just going to assume this is still "Be The Other Guy".
Jit: What, were you thinking it was like "Ski-lee" or something?
GFD [unintelligible] "Skeel". RJ!: Have we decided then, this track is now called Be The Other Guy then? I like that.
GFD: Okay. I thought it was like "Sch-keele" or something.
Nick: Scheele. It's German.
GFD: Fine. You're German?
Jit: At least it's... Uh... I don't actually know.
Nick: The name is German. Jit: I think I'm more of Dutch nowadays, but old German.
GFD: Interesting.
Jit: Like, the name is definitely German, but I think my grandfather is Dutch.
GFD: Can you swear at us in German?
Jit: Uh... I don't think so. GFD: Aw...
Jit: I don't actually know much German at all, I'd like repeating lines from TF2 or something. [laughter]
Nick: [bad Heavy imitation] "Go ahead and cry, baby!"
RJ!: Yeah, Jesus Christ Superstar, this is scary art. Jit: That's a Heavy [unintelligible].
RJ!: What am I doing?
GFD: RJ, what are you doing?
Jit: Hey, Jesus Christ Superstar is... RJ!: No, I'm saying the Elf Shanty art is really terrifying.
GFD: Okay, uh... Nick: It should be.
Jit: Yeah, the elves are terrifying in Jailbreak, they aren't like the nice ones in Problem Sleuth. These ones are like "Hey, you want our help?" "Take this as a warning, and go away."
RJ!: No, I'm just saying I made this elf look kind of like Venom from Spider-Man. [laughter]
GFD: What? Jit: Oh, nice. I like that idea. GFD: No, I don't know how you did that, I'm trying to imagine this piece of art and I can't do it. My brain doesn't work that way.
RJ!: It's the tongue. Jit: It's probably an elf with the— RJ!: It has the Venom tongue.
Jit: Yeah.

Softbit Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Wait, what song is this? I've never heard this.
RJ!: This is Softbit.
GFD: This is Softbit?!
RJ!: Yeeah, man. Nick: [unintelligible] RJ!: I completely rechanged it, reworked it, whatever. Words.
GFD: Holy crap! This is really... this sounds like something from Cave Story now!
GFD: It IS from Cave Story, you just took a song from Cave Story and stuck it in the album, you jerk. Nick: I like it a lot.
RJ!: Yeah, I did, I'm sorry. Nick: Yeah, good job, now we can't sell this.
RJ!: Copyright Studio Pixekel. It's not like we haven't done that before. Nick: Pixekel? GFD: Pixel.
RJ!: Pik, Pick, Pic Skull. Nick: No, don't say it, don't say it.
Jit: Is this really from Cave Story?
GFD: No, it's not. RJ!: No, it's not actually from Cave Story. Jit: Okay, good.
GFD: Just like RJ actually made Bars. [laughter] Oh, wait... Man, it's missing all the oomph that it used to have. It's all uh—
RJ!: It's more... Nick: YOU'RE missing the oomph. RJ!: Softer than—
GFD: It's wimpier.
Nick: You're wimpier.
RJ!: It's softer.
Jit: Wait... this melody sounds familiar GFD: It does. RJ!: I wonder, is it because I wrote it?
[laughter] GFD: Why did you redo this song?
RJ!: I didn't like it before. GFD: Can you upload the old version as a bonus track, 'cause I liked it that way.
RJ!: OOOOKAY... GFD: Okay. Nick: No! GFD: Yes.
RJ!: But only because, I'm gonna call it: "Softbit (GFD's Surprise Mix)". [laughter]
Nick: "Softbit (This is Why I Changed it Remix)". [laughter]
GFD: Excellent.
Jit: I swear this sounds familiar, like it's a Homestuck track.
RJ!: Because it is a Homestuck track!
GFD: It is, it's the...
RJ!: It's, uh, it's a rearrangement of Softly from Volume 5 that I wrote.
Jit: Oh, okay... I hardly remember that track, unfortunately.
RJ!: It's okay, most people don't remember my songs. [fake sniffles]
Jit: I doubt most people remember my songs either, but I mean, Volume 5 was massive.
GFD: I doubt anybody LISTENED to my songs.
Nick: People listened to my song on Volume 5.
[song imitation noises]
GFD: No, you know what, nono, no, this is, like, this is one... The difference between your old version of this song and the new one is like, the old Cave Story soundtrack to the new one on WiiWare. That's the difference.
RJ!: That was mean. You're mean. You're being mean to me.
GFD: It, it's, it's, it is, that is how it sounds like, even some of the instruments sound the same.
Jit: Wait, are you saying this one's the new one or?
GFD: The new one.
Jit: Oh... you're mean. GFD And.— RJ!: That was mean.
Jit: I don't even know what the new soundtrack is, but, I mean...
GFD: It's okay.
Jit: It's like thinking about the new Spelunky soundtrack or something because I played the original and I played this great mod of it called "Tastes Like Spelunky". And then it's like, oh, there's a new one! And I'm like, oh great, will Buzinkai do the music? [growling] Nooo.
GFD: What just happened to your voice?
Nick: [imitating growl] Nooo. GFD: It sounded really scary on this end.
RJ!: It sounded like when I used effects with DigiTech, with my DigiTech vocalist.
Jit: That's just me, going all deep in voice for some—
[everyone imitating growl] [laughter]
Jit: 'Cause I mean. Oh, I dunno. I get this feeling that I don't actually know how high my voice is normally, but I can go pretty low.. 'cause I'm like, a bass, in choir speak.
GFD: My voice. My voice is just weird, I hate it.
Jit: Yeah, I hate my voice too. I tried to record some singing the other day—

Drillgorg Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Nick: Yes. GFD: Yes, here we go. Jit: Oh man, I love this, Drillgorg, yes! RJ!: Me too! Me too. GFD: Woo! This is all me!
RJ!: We're in the ending stretch of the album, right now. This is good. Jit: Are we?
GFD: TSN helped with instrumentation on this one.
Nick: And volumes. Good lord, the volumes.
GFD: Yeah, 'cause the percussion was kind of overpowering before.
Jit: Oh man, this one's Drillgorg.
GFD: Yes, yeah it is. Jit: I even remember the title, yes. RJ!: Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. I love this one.
GFD: TSN also had the idea for the lovely DPCM samples.
RJ!: That's perfect by the way, don't change a thing. GFD: I know.
Jit: I don't even know what that is.
Nick: Oh, the changing the echo?
GFD: Oh, Jit, you haven't heard the voices in this one yet?
Jit: No... what? GFD: Well, let's— RJ!: Um— GFD: We had to—
GFD: Hold on, everyone be quiet, it's coming up right now. [shush] RJ!: Okay. GFD: Let him hear it.
[lyrics kick in] Jit: Oh, yeah, I know this one. GFD: Oh.
RJ!: The atypical thing about this album is that, for the first time I think, the one who's not shoehorning voice samples in the album is not me. [laughter]
Jit: Hey, you do good things with voice samples though.
Nick: Shut up!
Jit: Well, let's see, who does shoehorn voice samples in? There's RJ, Bowman I guess, I can think of Radiation...
GFD: Mayor Maynot?
RJ!: Boner boner bo-bo bo-boner boner!
Nick: Yeah, that was cute. Jit: Yeah and also Gaia Queen, uhh, and then, [unintelligible].

Retrobution Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

GFD: Guys! Guys, Retrobution!
Nick: Yes!
Jit: Oh, man, the other great one!
Nick: It's the good one.
RJ!: Fucking hell that melody, Jesus Christ.
GFD: I helped TSN on this one, this time. A little bit of instrumentation, mostly the ending.
Nick: Mostly the ending.
RJ!: Nick Smalley on a Game Boy.
Nick: That's me.
[imitating song]
Jit: I can't even do cool stuff like this one anymore.
Nick: I was heading up— Jit: Did you make this in Famitracker?
Nick: Yeah, I made this in Famitracker.
Jit: Sweeeet.
RJ!: It's soooo pretty.
Nick: Really?
RJ!: You're pretty.
Nick: Oh, thanks. That's flattering.
[laughter] Jit: You're all pretty people.
GFD: Ah... except, except me. Jit: Pretty ponies and people.
Nick: I like how it slows down, it's my favorite part. Just this break.
Jit: Yeah, I've never been really dramatic like that with my stuff. I don't know, maybe I should try that out sometime.
GFD: My favorite part is the ending. 'Cause I made it. RJ!: My favorite part is the whooole fuckiiing sooong.
Jit: My favorite part is the arpeggios at the beginning...
GFD: Arpeggios! [imitating song]
GFD: You just have to say arpeggios a lot. Jit: Yeah...
RJ!: Arpeggios, arpeggi— d-yeah, I can't do that.
[imitating song] RJ!: That works, that works. That's cheating, though.
Nick: I know.
GFD: Here it comes. Oh wait, this is near the end. The climax of the song.
RJ!: Kick drum.
GFD: It's all bass heavy.
Nick: I like that.
RJ!: Me too.
Nick: Heavy percussion is the best part.
GFD: It was, it is DPCM percussion isn't it?
Nick: Yeah. GFD: Yeeaahh. That's good stuff.
RJ!: I wonder how AgentParsec will feel about this Elf Shanty artwork.
GFD: From here on, is where I help make the ending. Nick: I like the ending.
GFD: It used to be such a cop-out ending.
Nick: Yeah, it was. [laughter]
Jit: What, was it a fade out or something?
GFD: It used to, it would just do another slowdown and just sorta ended, but now it's this.
RJ!: Yeah, but now it's awesome.
["your mother" vocal plays]
[collective laughter] Jit: Ahaha, what?

(Continued in Game Over)

Game Over Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

(Continued from Retrobution)

Jit: I don't remember the "your mother" part.
Nick: That's the best part.
GFD: I just stuck it in at the end there and then TSN stretched it out hilariously.
[laughter]
Jit: Yoouurr mootthherr.
GFD: RJ, are you seriously going to do a bonus track by remixing the...?
RJ!: Yeah, yeah I am.
[laughter]
GFD: You're hilarious.
RJ!: Thank you, thank...

(Continued in Is This the End?)

Is This the End? Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

(Continued from Game Over)

RJ!: I'm also planning on incorporating "Your Bed", the Bowman video.
GFD: Yes, please.
Jit: Wait, the one, the "IN HELL" one or...
RJ!: No, no no no. GFD: No.
Nick: Is This the End?
GFD: No, not my YouTube Poop, it's the "Your Bed" video.
Jit: Ohh, the actual...
GFD: Yes. RJ!: Yeah.
GFD: Not one of my remixes. RJ!: By Bowman, yeah.
GFD: I should finish my other one.
Jit: So what track is this? I recognize it, but I'm not sure.
RJ!: Are you doing that on purpose? This is "Is This the End?"
GFD: RJ, you changed this track again!
RJ!: I just said, I said that too.
Jit: This track, "Is This the End?", this is the last track?
RJ!: No, the last track is "This is the End".
Jit: Oh, you cheeky bastard.
GFD: There's more stereo here.
RJ!: There is, yeah.
GFD: RJ. RJ!: So, from... Jit: [unintelligible]
RJ!: What? Nick: Woah... GFD: What?
GFD: I hate it when we all try to talk at the same time, and then nothing happens. Somebody say something.
RJ!: Oh. Jit: Yeah.
RJ!: Hi. My name is RJ. I made this track. I hope you like it.
GFD: I helped.
Jit: Did you do anything special with this track?
RJ!: Um, I... Stereo.
Jit: Why am I hearing samples that sound like someone going "pschwoo" or like, this sucking-in sound that's also expectorating and I'm not sure—
RJ!: That's the, um... It's an NES noise channel with a negative, like... I don't know, what do you call it?
GFD: This sounds different too.
RJ!: Pitch. It's less crowded so it's much easier to listen to and not painful.
Jit: You know, it's funny nowadays, because you can almost like... The two tracks, Is This the End and "The End", it's almost like Jailbreak is, or how it was. Because for the longest time, it just ended.
RJ!: Yeah, it's true. Jit: With the horse going in and going to sleep. But then we actually had a legitimate end when Andrew linked to it.
GFD: That is kinda funny, I never noticed that.
Jit: Yeah, so now it's like, oh, "Is This the End?" that's pre-updated and then, "This is the End", oh, the horse is going to sleep, okay. Nick: Oh.
GFD: Zero score. I tried to click "Do you want to play again?" and then nothing happened, and I was sad.
GFD: RJ.
RJ!: Yeah.
GFD: Aren't you so glad that I stayed up playing Doom and sent you a million voicemails to wake you up while you were fell asleep producing.
RJ!: Yes, yes I am, actually.
[laughter]
Jit: I wish I could do that to you. Just have your phone number and pester you.
GFD: I just called him via Gmail and then—
RJ!: You can have my phone number if you want it. It's not— GFD: It's in the— Jit: Wait, you can call people via Gmail?
GFD: Yeah, you can set do free calls to the US and Canada.
Jit: Oh my god, really?
[collective laughter]
Jit: I am so excited by this possibility.
GFD: I'm trying to call Bowman but he never answers. RJ!: I'm gonna put tiny... I'm putting tiny stars inside of the elf's eyes.
GFD: This track's pretty loud, for some reason. It just feels louder.
RJ!: Really?
GFD: Yeah, I don't know.
RJ!: I can turn it down before the album goes out?
GFD: Are you sure you're done mastering?
RJ!: I am done mastering but like, I mean, individual tracks can be... still played with a little bit.
Jit: Oh, listen to that filter!

This is the End Listen on: Bandcamp, YouTube

Robert J! Lake, Nick Smalley, Luke Benjamins, and Erik Scheele: (album audio commentary)

Jit: And now, "This is the End". Nick: Is this the end?
RJ!: "This is the End".
GFD: It's overrrr! Jit: This is really stereo.
Nick: That was good comments.
GFD: I wonder if anybody's going to get the joke in Drillgorg.
RJ!: I will drill your ass... GFD: Like how I will drill your ass is uh...
Jit: Oh my god, I suddenly get it! It's a reference to "Rosenblatt".
GFD: Yes, it's a reference to "Rosenblatt".
Jit: Oh... BroHoster, what a great thing that is nowadays.
Nick: Yeah, that's why I put it there. Jit: Just to have...
GFD: It's one of my favorite YTPMVs I've made. Jit: Wow.
GFD: I should just make an album of YTMPVs or something. Nick: [loud bumps] Ahh! GFD: TSN, what did you just do?
Nick: I killed myself.
[laughter]
Nick: There you have it, top notch quality commentating.
RJ!: Is this still too loud, by the way? Like, compared to the other one?
GFD: No, it's not.
RJ!: Ok, good. So maybe I'll just have to fix the other one then if it's painfully loud.
GFD: I like how we're doing the commentary, but we're still doing stuff for the album.
RJ!: Well, it's because the album's not completely out yet.
GFD: This is a really great release. RJ, how much sleep have you had working on this?
RJ!: Uh, one and a half hours.
GFD: My goodness gracious, no wonder your eye is so... RJ!: I'm to— I'm totally awake right now, actually. It's kind of incredible. I feel amazing.
GFD: You are an incredible machine, but— RJ!: I am a machine.
GFD: Let us all give thanks to RJ and his album that also a couple of other people helped with a little bit.
RJ!: That sounds more like my— oh wait, I can't talk about what album I was just gonna talk about.
[exaggerated gasping]
Nick: He must be some cool kid, trying to— RJ!: [sarcastic laughter] Yeah, I am. GFD: Such a cool kid.
RJ!: I'm the coolest. Nick: RJ's really cool kid. He should have an album.
GFD: Yeah.
RJ!: I should.
Jit: Yeah, everyone should have an album. Nick: RJ should have a cool kid album.
Jit: Nick Smalley, you should have an album.
RJ!: He's a pretty cool kid, too.
GFD: Yeah. Me and Nick should make one. RJ!: The coolest. I'M THE COOLEST!
Nick: Let's all make an album. RJ!: What is that from? Wh-wh-wh— Oh, no, that's Sonic the Hedgehog, isn't that?
Jit: Haha, what? Nick: Yeah.
RJ!: Yeah, that's Sonic the Hedgehog.
Jit: I'm not gonna have this... wait, is it done?
Nick: Yeah. Jit: No, it's not done yet!
Nick: That's— that's it!
RJ!: That was the end of the album.
GFD: It's overrrrrrrr!
RJ!: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Yep! It's over!
Nick: That was commentation...
RJ!: That was commentary on Jailbreak Vol. 1, by Jailbreak.
GFD: You're welcome.
RJ!: I hope you enjoyed it. Nick: [deep voice] I hope you enjoyed it.
Jit: Yeah, next time it updates, we'll make a Volume 2 all about that one update.
[collective laughter]—

Mechanic Panic Listen on: YouTube

LizaWithAZed: (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt) 7/23/2017

do you remember Mechanic Panic and did RJ ever get permission to stick that on Jailbreak vol I? Or did he just cram it on as a bonus track and never tell you?

Michael Guy Bowman: (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt) 7/24/2017

I let him use Mechanic Panic, it was maybe the first thing I wrote for hs. I really wish I hadn't ok'd it, Jailbreak was a nail in the coffin for us.

I was never clear on the status of the Homestuck for the Holidays album or any of those related projects. I spent comparatively little time on Skype and was out of the loop on a lot of stuff. I'm amazed I got as much music done as I did before 2011, I was still busy with other stuff.

LizaWithAZed: (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt) 8/17/2017

I love mechanic panic tbh

He didn't make it for the album, it was an unused homestuck track that the slipped on as a bonus track because it was chiptune

Michael Guy Bowman: (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt) 8/17/2017

this was something i wrote using a couple of 3xosc channels in FL Studio right when i joined the project, back in the "loops only" phase

not really super fond of it, but i like the beat at 0:26
it should have just been all that with a melody or something

Michael Guy Bowman: (Bowmantown Discord, excerpt) 9/30/2024

(Excerpt from album commentary)

The long, long list on hsmusic.wiki reminds me that around this time I submitted something to the Homestuck Gaiden fan album for Jailbreak (Jailbreak Vol. 1) - this piece called "Mechanic Panic" is one of the first things I wrote for Homestuck and I submitted it as a last minute inclusion to the Jailbreak album which was helmed by RJ Lake

In retrospect I wish I had never, ever touched that album. I was not exactly dying to have this one released in any official capacity and it was basically just a leftover.