Ornament & Crime

Last updated
Ornament & Crime
Self - Ornament and Crime album cover (vinyl re-issue).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 25, 2017
RecordedEarly 2001 – January 8, 2004
Studio
Genre
Length37:56
Label El Camino Media
Self chronology
Super Fake Nice
(2014)
Ornament & Crime
(2017)
Singles from Ornament & Crime
  1. "Grow Up"
    Released: June 2003

Ornament & Crime is the fifth studio album by American pop rock band Self. Originally planned to release in late 2003, it was later delayed and completed in early 2004 before its indefinite shelving by the folding of DreamWorks Records into Geffen Records. The album leaked multiple times after its cancellation, followed by the release of its B-sides as Porno, Mint & Grime (2005) and a band hiatus until late 2012. El Camino Media later announced an official issue of the album on vinyl and CD, which was released on August 25, 2017.

Contents

Upon release, Ornament & Crime was met with favorable to mixed reviews. It was praised for its instrumentation and compared to Self's debut album Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995), but sometimes labeled as more commercialized than their recent efforts. The song "Out with a Bang" appeared in various films, including Evolution (2001) and a Guinness World Record -awarded Team Fortress 2 machinima.

Background

In September 2000, Self released their fourth studio album, Gizmodgery , through Spongebath Records, who had published or co-published the band's entire discography up to that point. [3] Spongebath was shut down in 2001 due to a lack of sales and major label interest, though Self maintained a distribution deal with DreamWorks Records. [4] To be closer to the label, the band moved from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Los Angeles, California. [5] Lead member Matt Mahaffey subsequently began writing Self's next album, planning a rock approach harkening back to their debut album Subliminal Plastic Motives . [3]

Writing and production

The first song recorded was "Out with a Bang", appearing in the 2001 sci-fi comedy film Evolution . It was written for its ending after a meeting with director Ivan Reitman. Absent from any soundtrack album, the song could only be heard in the film. [6] The song "Emotional" was produced second as Self began sorting through a collection of 35 demos for the album. Four were recorded through two weeks in late July 2002: "Insecure Sober", "Grow Up", "No One Knows You", and "Hellbent", with an Anna Waronker duet planned for the former. Further sessions were done in late September for "Coming Over", "Can't Go On", "The Pounding Truth", and an unnamed fourth song. [‡ 1] Throughout the album's development, various stylistic changes were requested by DreamWorks due to the label's desire to present Self as a modern rock band comparable to Weezer. Its lyrical content was attenuated and keyboard components were stripped back, described by Mahaffey as "a love letter to KROQ". It approximately cost $650 thousand to make the album. [2]

Mahaffey prominently used Pro Tools during the recording process of Self's fifth album, limiting analog use for drums and some guitars. [3] While producing it, the band titled the project Ornament & Crime after a Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles clothing boutique of the same name near their recording studio. The album was originally scheduled for completion in September 2003, but was delayed to March 3, 2004 to accommodate for newer material. Multiple videos detailing the recording process were uploaded to the band's website during this time. [1] On November 11, 2003, DreamWorks Records announced the sale of their company to Universal Music Group's Geffen Records for $100 million ($171 million in 2024). [7] Ornament & Crime was finished on January 8, 2004, [8] followed by the sale's finalization the very next day. [9] Geffen's executives believed that the album would commercially underperform, cancelling it and leaving Ornament & Crime indefinitely unreleased. [10] [11]

Porno, Mint & Grime

Between late 2001 and early 2004, various songs recorded for the album were scrapped, including some recorded for the DreamWorks animated film Shrek 2 (2004). These were compiled into a compilation album titled Porno, Mint & Grime (2005), a soundalike of Ornament & Crime. Shortly after the death of guitarist Mike Mahaffey a few weeks later, the band entered hiatus, [12] playing a tribute show on September 10, 2005. [13] It would be the band's final release until their reunion with the extended play Super Fake Nice (2014). [14] The Duluth News Tribune retrospectively compared the compilation to Psalm One's Woman at Work series, citing a wide range of style and genres. [15]

Release

Cover artwork used for the album in leaks and later by Self prior to its official release. Self - Ornament and Crime album cover (unreleased).jpg
Cover artwork used for the album in leaks and later by Self prior to its official release.

Promotion and leaks

Self released small snippets of the upcoming album on their website in mid–2002, after the release of their compilation album Selfafornia (2001). [‡ 2] In May 2003, Self updated their website with branding to reflect Ornament & Crime, featuring a red fingerprint embellished with the band name. [16] The song "Grow Up" was released as the album's sole single later in the year, issued by DreamWorks in partnership with Streetwise Concepts and Coke as part of a sampler album. After Ornament & Crime's delay was announced to fans, a demo version of the album was leaked online on the blogging website LiveJournal in mid–2004. Unofficial track titles were applied by fans, leading the song "How Can I Make You Happy?" to be known as "Mermaid". Mahaffey initially hesitated to acknowledge the leaks, encouraging fans to wait for an official release. While it remained unreleased, the album was only legally available via streaming on Self's Myspace and YouTube channels. [1] Fan artwork by Rafe Heltsley was created using the band's website graphics, which received widespread circulation and was thereafter used by Self to represent Ornament & Crime's unreleased version. A second unmastered version of the album was later leaked on the peer-to-peer network LimeWire. [16]

Official release

In 2017, Mahaffey began composing the score of the animated television series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , co-developed by Andy Suriano. [17] During their partnership, Mahaffey selected two of Suriano's illustrations published in 2008 and adapted them into cover artwork for his album, adding the title as text on top. [16] On June 9, independent record label El Camino Media opened pre-orders of Ornament & Crime, announcing a summer release date. [‡ 3] The album was officially released on August 25 as a limited-edition vinyl, alongside a re-issue of Porno, Mint & Grime. [18] Autographed copies of both albums were sold as ticket bundles for WRLT's Ellison Place Street Festival. [19] Since its release, Self has stagnated on music output and had little presence online. [20]

Reception

Stephen Trageser of Nashville Scene praised the song "No One Knows You", describing the combination of rock styling and catchy hooks as a standout of the band's discography. [18] Gabe Besecker of Woof Magazine noted its simpler instrumentation as more focused, commending the stripped-back style. [12] Gerald Dih of AudioPhix highlighted "How Can I Make You Happy?" for its adaptation of Madonna's "Material Girl", comparing the album's style to the band's debut, Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995). He additionally complimented other songs' lyricism and vocal performances, but found it to lack the quirk present in Breakfast with Girls (1999). [1] In a separate review, Dih lauded the song "Out with a Bang" as a "high-energy alt-rock anthem", describing its intense guitar bridge as fit for TikTok trends. [21]

Use in media

"Hi Kitty0706 fans! Very sorry to hear of his passing. My name is Matt. I wrote, produced, and sang this song. I'm glad you stopped by to listen to it."

Matt Mahaffey (@mamorymoog) [‡ 4]

The song "The Pounding Truth" was used in commercials promoting the third generation Chrysler Sebring, [1] while "Out with a Bang" is featured in the intro of the Team Fortress 2 machinima Team Fabulous 2 by Kitty0706. [21] It garnered over 17 million views by February 2016, receiving an award from Guinness World Records for being the "Most watched Team Fortress machinima on YouTube". Kitty0706, whose real name was Colin Wyckoff, passed away on January 25, 2015. [22] Mahaffey shared his condolences on a reupload of the track on YouTube in 2021, thanking viewers for listening to it. [21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Matt Mahaffey, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hellbent" 3:09
2."Emotional" 3:27
3."Insecure Sober"
2:23
4."Pathetic Song" 3:21
5."How Can I Make You Happy?" 3:13
6."Can't Go On" 4:05
7."Coming Over" 4:03
8."No One Knows You" 2:43
9."Grow Up" 3:22
10."The Pounding Truth" 3:18
11."Out with a Bang" 3:32
12."L.A. Radio"
2:27
Total length:37:56

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album’s liner notes. [23]

Musicians

Technical

Release history

Release dates and formats for Ornament & Crime
RegionDateFormat(s)LabelRef.
VariousAugust 25, 2017 El Camino [18]

See also

References

Secondary sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dih, Gerald (April 26, 2025). "Lost Self album finally drops after 13-year delay: Is it worth the wait?". AudioPhix . Retrieved April 26, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Higgons, Keith; Calhoun, Geoff (November 16, 2022). Episode 310 - Matt Mahaffey of sElf - Breakfast with Girls. Abandoned Albums. Event occurs at 19:50. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Harkey, Scott (September 11, 2000). "Self / Interviews". Silent Uproar. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  4. Graves, Seth (July 14, 2011). "A decade after the demise of Murfreesboro-based Spongebath Records, members of the Spongebath family talk about what went right, and what went wrong". Nashville Scene . Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  5. Swann, Travis (July 10, 2011). "The little label that could". The Murfreesboro Post. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  6. Murray, Noel (June 7, 2001). "Self Promotion". Nashville Scene . Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  7. BBC (November 11, 2003). "Universal buys Dreamworks Records". BBC News . Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  8. Heisel, Scott (August 27, 2014). ""We never broke up, but we got burned out"—Matt Mahaffey on the return of Self". Alternative Press . Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  9. Newman, Melinda (January 24, 2004). "DreamWorks Keeps A&R Staff". Billboard . Vol. 116, no. 4. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 5. ISSN   0006-2510.
  10. A.S. (2005). "Matt Mahaffey - Biography". MComet. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  11. Cross, Steve (December 2, 2004). "Former Murfreesboroian Matt Mahaffey talks about fame, 'Shrek' and Los Angeles". The Tennessean . p. 4. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  12. 1 2 Besecker, Gabe (December 11, 2023). "sElf-Indulgent: A Retrospective on the Band That Started Matt Mahaffey's Career". Woof Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  13. Ross-MacLeod, Brad (August 9, 2023). "sElf - Mike Mahaffey Tribute - Exit/In Nashville 09/10/2005". YouTube . Retrieved June 10, 2025.
  14. Anthony, Christopher (August 12, 2014). "sElf: Super Fake Nice [Album Review]". The Fire Note. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
  15. Duluth News Tribune (May 4, 2010). "Quick Spins: Rusko, Drew Danburry and Psalm One". Duluth News Tribune . Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  16. 1 2 3 Dih, Gerald (June 30, 2025). "5 classic albums that deserve way better cover art". AudioPhix . Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  17. Paulson, Dave (October 11, 2018). "Matt Mahaffey: the Nashville music genius behind the new 'Ninja Turtles'". The Tennessean . Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  18. 1 2 3 Trageser, Stephen (July 20, 2017). "Elliston Place Street Fest Celebrates 46 Years of Evolution in Music City". Nashville Scene . Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  19. Strassberg, Dan (May 8, 2018). "2017 Elliston Place Street Festival Lineup Released". MusicRow . Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  20. Cusson, Kate (September 12, 2023). "Every Shrek Soundtrack Song, Ranked". MovieWeb . Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  21. 1 2 3 Dih, Gerald (June 9, 2025). "5 indie songs that deserved to go viral on TikTok". AudioPhix . Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  22. "Most watched Team Fortress machinima on YouTube". Guinness World Records . February 21, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
  23. Ornament & Crime (Media notes). Self. El Camino Media. 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. Howe, Brian (July 3, 2007). "Metric: Grow Up and Blow Away". Pitchfork . Retrieved July 16, 2019.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. "Ornament & Crime Instrumental snippets (2002)". YouTube . June 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  2. El Camino Media (June 9, 2017). "13 years in the making, sElf's Ornament & Crime is finally coming this summer!". Instagram . Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  3. Self Music (February 6, 2020). "Self - Out with a Bang - Ornament and Crime". YouTube . Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2025.