Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee sets his sights on The Golden Country in his upbeat new indie-pop single — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
A preview of the veteran singer-songwriter’s upcoming full-length solo debut, The Golden Country is a sunny slice of nostalgic Kinksian garage-pop psychedelia, complete with a nimbly bouncing bassline and thumpy muffled drums, confidently strummy guitars and sleigh bell keyboards — all topped with wry Biblical lyrics and vocals that will make you look for Ray Davies’ name in the credits. But ultimately, like many a promised land, the scene might not be as welcoming as it seems at first glance.
“Golden Country speaks to a universal longing for something better during a time when everything seems to be worsening,” Badynee (aka CBVB) reveals. “It yearns for a world where mistakes are learned from, and wisdom and caution guide our actions. Despite the somewhat heavy subject matter, subtle humour is woven throughout the song, as seen in the playful retelling of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden and their being ‘red in the face,’ embarrassed by their newfound nudity — something the narrator plans on avoiding. Any hopefulness the lyrics might suggest seems to always be buoyed by some world-weary ‘I’ve-been-burnt-before’ wisdom.”
It’s a fine, satisfying treat on its own — but it comes joined by the louche lagniappe B-side Two Good Ears, which lures us away from the shiny warmth of Golden Country with promises of young love, only to escort us to a scene of romantic dysfunction and disappointment, set in the downstairs drug den of a downtown disco deep in the dark valley of the sordid ’70s. Two Good Ears, CBVB says, was written in response to seeing his daughter go through her first over-the-top ecstatic romance and its heartbreaking, dramatically dismal end. It’s the funkiest thing he’s ever recorded — although, to be honest, it’s about as funky as a wee spot of unsnorted cocaine beneath Berlin-based Bowie’s right nostril.
If it all sounds vaguely familiar, well, perhaps you’ve come across CBVB in one of his other musical alter egos. He got his first four-track and microphone at 14 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. 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 and 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 2023. He also put the finishing touches on a collection of 10 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, John Cale, Lou Reed, Caetano Veloso, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, etc. Additionally, he developed a newfound interest in jazz vocalists who perform original compositions, rather than tired standards, favouring artists like Michael Franks, Steve Kuhn and Carla Bley.
Sample the results of his labours by checking out Golden Country and Two Good Ears below, then venture to his website and Instagram to make your presence known.
