The following is a review by the author of the album- Mistakes Make Music. Bolie Folke (his real name is undisclosed) was kind enough to let me post his biographical account of the recording below:

Today I made an album ready for the public to download using the one-man-band name of Bolie Folke. It’s a quick and dirty album birthed by pressure-induced creativity. It began with my rendition of “Jesus is a Mighty Good Leader,” a pre-war blues song by Skip James in the public domain. It was also covered by Beck Hansen. I took the song and played only one root chord over it with a bit of fingerpicking embellishments and seasonings to add some color. The harmonica was improvisation (you might be able to tell that I haven’t practiced in a while). As I pondered my spontaneous version of the song, I was reminded of a cool project that I found a long while ago called Album-A-Day from Crap Art (aptly titled). I went to the site and found out if I participated, then I’d be breaking one of the rules:

No ideas from before the chosen day! This means covers or reinterpretations are not allowed.

I decided I would go the journey anyway and I came up enough material to fit the other criteria. And the album is here to download and to possibly make a fool of myself. In fact, I have recorded many personal musical ditties and songs in the past usually within 3 takes, but never so much in a 24 hour period. The other personal recordings I keep privately on my computer for further development or reminiscing because they are more conceptually enjoyable and not fitting for people without my sense of imagination. One day they will be available when they have enough exterior substance that translates well outside my mind.

Sorry. Back to my album. If you have already forgotten the headline of the article, the album is called Mistakes Make Music. It was recorded and completed within about an 8 hour span (in 3 hours if you exclude the last 2 songs), using Audacity and basic recording equipment. Total time is 26:32 (21:11 excluding the cover); and there are 11 tracks appearing in chronological order. The quality is definitely raw but listenable, but lacks commercialized processing (lo-fi). All songs were either purely improv and written on-the-spot, or I prepared a chord sequence in less than the length of the recording time (except for “The Road”). I used only acoustical instruments and vocals. Any overdubbing was done blindly.

Download all mp3s (zip) or see the listing on the Internet Archive

Notable Tracks: ♫
Favorites- 1, 7, 8, 9, maybe 2
Humorous- 2, 5, 6, 8, 10,
Strange- 3, but pretty much all of them.

Song Details:
1. A Mighty Good Leader- This a country blues songs from the 1930s (maybe earlier) from Skip James (as stated above). I borrowed Beck’s vocal style but stayed true to the original lyrics. I like the bass tone of many vintage bluesmen. I don’t have a deep voice, but I tried to employ a lower sound here.

2. Crooked Pair of Eyes- If you know Beck, then you might think that I’m playing the next song off his album by the melody of the first few words. The lyrics almost hint at a quirky Beck lyrical style but that’s as far as I go. The song as a whole has more of a folk blues attitude with a typical chord progression of old-time country song. I came up with the chords in a matter of 30 seconds and the words came after I hit the record button.

3. Retractment of the Inchworm- This is the only song that had some digital manipulation. It might be described as free jazz fueled with deranged post-rock. I recorded a solo free of any musical restriction. Then I recorded a second track to be played on top of it. When recording the second track I had to subconsciously think of how it might sound because I was not able to hear the first track when I recorded. The end result was a bit thin, so I added an echo effect on the first track in the mix.

4. World Maker, Earth Shaker- On this one I decided to only plan the first chord and all remaining chords and words would be at the whim of my fingers. The result is unexpected resolve. As a byproduct, my voice is floating around looking for complimentary notes to land on. It starts out slow, but ends up building up and going in all directions. I had trouble singing in key because there was no key!

5. Dinosaurs From Detroit- I began with “I got news from Detroit that they won’t let me out of this place,” and the two chords (Dm, C). I came up with that about 10 seconds before recording. This is one of the sillier tracks.

6. (Yesterday) I Was My Friend- I prepared the first two chords and that’s all. Another silly song with surrealist lyrics.

7. Sundried Saloon (instrumental)- I decided to throw in an instrumental song with some syncopation. I figured I’d base things off of F#m with plenty of accidentals for good measure so that it wasn’t too organized. This was more of a structured improvisation than track 3. Fans of John Fahey, Leo Kottke, or Thelonious Monk might enjoy this song.

8. Saraca Sopiki Dipita- I almost forgot the ukelele! Not many people know I speak Hawaiian. I haven’t played uke in a while so I made up a progression before recording. My Hawaiian is pretty poor*, so it probably won’t make much sense for those who know what I’m saying.

9. The Road- This was the only track that actually wrote out the lyrics for. The fingerpicking was very minimalistic. This is probably my favorite song on here. Even though I did a practice run through before recording, I still made a few mistakes (Yay!). As I listen to it again, I can faintly hear my foot drumming on the floor.

10. I and Myself- I developed the three main mini-chords beforehand. We’ve gone our separate ways. Not much else to add.

11. Time Tied- I planned the chords with the intention of playing the last chord out of key. That way I would have to configure a vocal line that sat well with the fourth chord.

*Disclaimer: I don’t actually speak Hawaiian.