(track 16) from Pure Magic by Virgin Twin

This unlisted album-closing track comprises four elements:

1. Jon-Ross saying, “…flipping over the paper plate…” - This was edited out of the bridge of the original metronome-less rough demo for What It Means, in the process of making that demo usable as a foundation for the album track. (The paper plate in question is what he had the lyrics for the song written down on.)

2. Alone in a Crowd (piano only) – Alone in a Crowd is a song I wrote for Jon-Ross to sing, back when we were 14-year-old freshmen at Oak Grove High School. Although I’ve been somewhat embarrassed by the song, thinking of it as an immature early work by myself, the song meant a lot to Jon-Ross, and he convinced me we should record a version as a hidden track for the album. I recorded the piano part, more or less identically to how I played it back in high school, and J-R was to arrange and record the other instruments and lead vocals, passing it back to me for harmonies (and my lead vocal on the bridge). None of the other parts were ever recorded, and it didn’t feel in any way appropriate for me to sing it and make a full arrangement, but I felt compelled to still include it on the album as we’d intended, allowing the absence of his voice to be its own presence, under the circumstances.

3. Wooden Boy, Ian’s Playout – When our good friend Ian Ashworth recorded the blues harp track for the first half of Wooden Boy, he was aware we intended a different arrangement in the second half that would not include his harmonica, but for fun laid down a full-length improvised solo for the second half of the song, including an extended playout when the rest of the band stops, mainly as a treat for myself and John as we worked on finishing the album, but also with the idea in mind that J-R would have enjoyed it as well (which he surely would have). Therefore it seemed only appropriate to include it in some way, so presented here is the second half of Wooden Boy, with the lead vocal and lead guitar removed, and Ian’s wonderful harp track given centre stage.

4. Jon-Ross urgently whispering, “I love to play that thing!” – Discovered this during this final album process, on a recording of a 1994 close-mic rehearsal session, and it seemed like a fitting way to close the album.

Virgin Twin was the decades-long musical collaboration of the late, great Jon-Ross Habina and Edward Keller (a.k.a. Edward of Sim).