Spending Time on the Borderline

Spending Time on the Borderline
Studio album by Ozma
Released	May 6, 2003
Recorded	November - December, 2002
Genre	Power pop Geek rock Pop punk
Length	49:46
Label	Kung Fu Records
Producer(s)	Chris Fudurich Chris Knight
Professional reviews
Playboy link Allmusic link The Brand (A) link
Ozma chronology
The Doubble Donkey Disc (2001) Spending Time on the Borderline (2003) Pasadena (2007)
Singles from Spending Time on the Borderline
"Bad Dogs" "Gameover"

Spending Time on the Borderline is the third studio album and label debut by American rock band Ozma.

Background

Spending Time on the Borderline was the band's first full-length studio record not produced at Pop Squad Studios by Bruce Witkin. It was recorded with Nada Surf producer Chris Fudurich at Standard Electrical Recorders in Venice, CA, on a budget of roughly $45,000.

The album cover features images of three audio waveforms of the words "Ozma" "Spending Time" and "on the Borderline". These waveforms were recorded during a phone call between Daniel Brummel and Patrick Edwards.

Promotional release

Three months before the album's release, the band released a promotional CD containing the full album (albeit with tracks 9-11 rearranged).

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This promotional version leaked to the public early, leading Daniel Brummel to make a statement on behalf of the band:

What you are downloading is not the final version of the album, but the first master we did, which we later improved upon with a different masterer. I’m not sure whether you’ll be able to hear the difference in the better master or not (i definitely can), but there were also minor music & sequencing changes made. unfortunately, we had to release the first version to make deadlines for publicity in order get the album on shelves by May 6th; we knew it’d leak onto the net eventually... but we had no choice but to send our CD to journalists & press. they’re already writing their June issues. making this record was perhaps the most insane 2 months we’ve had to date, but I agree with pat in saying that we are satisfied with the final product overall. some days (unlike today, when I read the forum and saw our songs being trashed by people claiming to be fans) I’m even pleased. I think the first impression is important when listening to music, which is why I think you should wait until the release date to pick up a hard copy of the album we actually chose to release, final master & art & all. we spent a lot of time and energy throughout every stage of the recording, mixing, mastering & art direction to make sure we could at least “live with” every aspect of the final product, and honestly there are still lots of areas I wish this record was better... but I’m pleased with it and I think it represents where we are now in our creative growth (not where we were in February 2001). and while your first impression’s important, it’s not necessarily the one which will remain with you. most times when I get a new record by a band I already like, it doesn’t quite match the sound I’ve come to expect from that band. this is only natural. our perspectives on songwriting are continually changing and being influenced, and I hope you can appreciate the expanded, probably more imaginative methods of writing & arranging that this album employs. my only response to the whines of “Ozma forgot what made Ozma good, where’s the keyboard & lead guitar unison solos and the dorky clever lyrics?” is that we showed we could do that in the 21 songs on our first two records. we’ve toured on those songs for years and gotten bored with ourselves; to keep ourselves happy and excited about this band and music we have no choice but to grow. no artist wants to avoid progress, and even the most self-absorbed - who pretentiously think they’re onto something perfect, and try not to change - just wind up repeating themselves, with decreased effectiveness every time. in closing, check out this quote pat found, which was said by jack white upon learning white stripes fans had leaked mp3s of their record before the release: “I’m very sad at some of you for peeking at your Christmas presents before Christmas morning, can’t you wait? I can, well I do, we want you to have it when we want you to have it, it’s unfair that some get a taste and confuse others before they have the chance to have it for themselves, but the devil is at work here and you will pay for your impatience. this world of have it now, millisecond attention span and gross neglect for quality is getting old." - Daniel Brummel, [citation needed]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Spending Time"	Ryen Slegr/Daniel Brummel/Jose Galvez	Brummel/Slegr	4:02
2.	"Your Name"	Slegr	Slegr/Brummel/Galvez	2:31
3.	"Come Home Andrea"	Brummel	Brummel	3:58
4.	"Bad Dogs"	Slegr/Brummel	Slegr	3:07
5.	"Utsukushii Shibuya"	Brummel/Galvez	Brummel	4:57
6.	"Turtleneck Coverup"	Slegr/Brummel	Slegr	3:45
7.	"Gameover"	Slegr/Brummel	Slegr	4:13
8.	"Curve in the Old 1-9"	Brummel	Brummel	3:51
9.	"Restart"	Slegr/Brummel/Galvez	Slegr	5:01
10.	"Eponine"	Brummel	Brummel/Slegr/Galvez	4:14
11.	"Wake Up"	Slegr/Brummel	Brummel/Haden/Slegr/Galvez	3:41
12.	"Light Years Will Burn"	Slegr/Brummel	Brummel	6:26
Total length:				49:46

B-Sides
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Denise"	Brummel/Slegr	Slegr/Brummel	3:52
2.	"Utsukushii Shibuya (Japanese Version)"	Brummel/Galvez	Brummel/Miki Takesue/Star Wick	5:03

Personnel

• Daniel Brummel – arrangement, saxophone, strings, vocals, bass
• Ryen Slegr – guitar, synth, Rhodes, vocals
• Jose Galvez – guitar, vocals
• Patrick Edwards – drums
• Star Wick – keyboards, flute
• Chris Fudurich – producer, engineering, mixing, synth programming on 1, 2, 12
• James Barry – cello on 1, 4, 5, 8, 9
• Ezra Buchla – viola on 1, 4, 5, 9
• Shmedly – piano on 3, 8, 9, 11
• Rachel Haden – vocals on 5, 11
• David Moyer – baritone saxophone on 10
• John Ritchie – tenor saxophone on 10
• Gerardo Berdin – marching band percussion on 4

An Afternoon with Ozma

The Enhanced Edition CD features a bonus "behind-the-scenes" video, An Afternoon with Ozma, recorded and edited by Mickey Stern.

See also

• Ozma
• The Doubble Donkey Disc
• Pasadena

External links

• Spending Time on the Borderline on Bandcamp