Painted Windows

Shortly after the release of the ALRN ep (which I still transpose as "ARLN", even though I know it's not correct now), Scott Miller moved from Sacramento to Davis, and Alternate Learning added bassist Carolyn O' Rourke and keyboardist Lynn Ross, and began plaing shows in the Sacramento/Davis area.

Eventually, original ALRN bandmembers Joe Becker and Scott Gallawa left the band due to "personality conflicts", replaced by drummer Eric Landers and keyboardist Byl Miller (no relation to Scott) replaced Lynn Ross, so by the time Alternate Learning got around to recording a full-length LP in 1981, there were no members remaining from the ALRN ep. For the next twenty years, Scott Miller would have a rotating cast of bandmembers, never making more than two records with the same cast of characters.

The Alternate Learning band that made the Painted Windows album (not to be confused with the band Tinted Windows, even though I confuse it with them)  featured Carolyn O'Rourke on bass, Byl Miller on keyboards, and Eric Landers on drums. All the songs were written by Scott Miller, and many of them (notably "Another Wasted Afternoon" and "Beach State Rocking", later "covered" by Game Theory on Tinker To Evers To Chance) showed Scott's developing talent as a pop songwriter.  Others like the title track and "Ulysses" showed that he was too ambitious and "Joycean" be constrained by any "pop" labels.   He would call himself an artist if he could make his meanings clear, but there’s a million things to think about when you’re cutting off your ear.”

Painted Windows could almost pass as a Game Theory album, if not for the lo-fi recording quality and slightly less accomplished musical backing. The drumming in particular is less than stellar, but everyone (including Scott)  sounds under rehearsed and over their heads trying to play Scott's complicated compositions.  Carolyn O'Rourke and Eric Landers also backed up a pre-Dream Syndicate Steve Wynn on the Fifteen Minutes single, which is now included on the CD reissue of Days of Wine And Roses, which also sounds like a talented songwriter with tentative instrumenal backup.  

Given the sketchy recording quality and iffy performances, it's not surprising that Scott Miller hasn't chosen to reissue Painted Windows, but it's worth searching out for SM completists.

The album was self-released in a limited issue, and original copies are impossible to find, but not as hard to download in this age when everything and anything is online. Follow the link from here that says "listen here", might turn up something that looks like a rapidshare archive of the album, way might still be active, who knows??

Even though there are very few sound recordings, there quite a few photographs of Alternate Learning in action. There are a bunch of ALRN photos at davis80smusic.com (courtesy of Robert Toren, who's photos and videos I'll probably feature prominently in this month's blog entries), including this one of a five piece Alternate Learning rocking out at Le Disque in S.F. sometime in 1980.