Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee

Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee (CBVB, at times hereafter) got his first 4-track and microphone at fourteen after raising the funds from the sale of stolen car radios. Note: Although these illegal profits were split 50/50, CBVB was only the lookout. Before he could even play an instrument, he fell in love with capturing any sound he could muster, whether it was drum-like table thumping, snagging snippets off the TV or radio, or experimenting with the primitive SK-1 sampler, turning the buzz of a faulty cable into an 808-like bass line. Bringing all these disparate audio oddities together on the multitrack was where young CBVB really blew his mind.

As his teenage years flitted away, Badynee teamed up with a few like-minded types interested more in making some sort of beautiful noise rather than writing proper songs. Together, they formed Asha Vida, a group steeped in improvisation and sonic exploration, that was at the crux of Detroit's radiant 90s Space Rock scene along with fellow underground luminaries like Windy & Carl, Majesty Crush, and Füxa.

CBVB used to joke that by 1999, he was going to stop making weirdo music and start up a pop group called 1999, a nod to his beloved Prince. This sort of happened, but instead, it was 2002 and he called the band PAS/CAL. This band was, by design, the absolute opposite of Asha Vida's devil-may-care approach to music-making. The devil in every little detail was all that mattered in the elaborate arrangements Badynee and his pop architects constructed. Pitchfork described PAS/CAL via an absolutely whirligig of musical reference wizardry, asserting the band possessed an 'Electric Light Orchestra baroqueness' and 'Of Montreal schizophrenia'. The songs at times had a 'Byrdsian jangle', were 'darkly XTC-like' or tapped into 'His 'n' Hers-era Pulp', and managed to bridge 'Stereolab and the Zombies' with, ‘arrangements to rival Jellyfish or Jon Brion.’ After numerous singles, EPs, and an oft-delayed full-length that damn-neared Chinese Democracy territory, the band called it quits as Craig moved to Chicago to bolster his 401k and raise a family.

Fast forward past jobs won & lost, births, deaths, graduations, first-love heartbreaks, braces on & off, bullies & besties, renting, owning, foreclosure, and owning again. During all this life stuff, CBVB quietly kept at it like the Wallace Stevens of rock ‘n roll, fitting songwriting in when he could during lunch breaks, before his wife woke up and after the kids were tucked in for the night.

Like so many others tethered to the floors of their homes during the pandemic, he found it to be a great opportunity not only to finish projects that never had enough time but also to finally tackle some new ones. He collaborated with his daughter Viv, a budding 20-something songwriter, aka “intellectual bimbo” to those in the know, that culminated in a quirky off-kilter EP of alt-R&B electro-pop released in December of 2023. He also put the finishing touches on a collection of ten new solo songs, where he plays most of the instruments as well as handling recording and production duties. Call it nostalgic, but over the last few years, he found himself digging for and channeling the sounds he heard when his wee lil' ears first pricked up to the radio and the records his older sibs were spinning. For this collection of tunes, Badynee has been particularly drawn to the music of the late '70s, especially the often overlooked solo albums by artists who were formerly part of popular groups or achieved greater success in the preceding decade, such as Alan Hull, Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin, Dion, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, Scott Walker, Donovan, Billy Lyall, John Cale, Lou Reed, Caetano Veloso, Joni Mitchell, McCartney, Lennon, Dylan, Young, etc. Additionally, he developed a newfound interest in jazz vocalists who perform original compositions, rather than tired standards, favoring artists like Michael Franks, Steve Kuhn, and Carla Bley.