Songs for Dustmites
| Songs for Dustmites | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Steve Burns | ||||
| Released | 12 August 2003 (U.S.) | |||
| Recorded | Various studios, New York in 2002 | |||
| Genre | Noise pop, indie rock, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 45:44 | |||
| Label | PIAS, Columbia | |||
| Producer | Dave Fridmann, Ed Buller | |||
| Steve Burns chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.8/10) |
| PopMatters | (favorable) |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |
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Songs for Dustmites is the debut album by American musician and former Blue's Clues host Steve Burns. It was released on August 12, 2003 by PIAS America and Columbia Records. The album was produced by Dave Fridmann, member of alternative rock band Mercury Rev and the producer of most of the albums by The Flaming Lips; and Ed Buller.
After quitting Blue's Clues, Burns, "in a position where [he] could do what [he] wanted", decided to collaborate with Fridmann and other members of The Flaming Lips. After receiving multiple offers from various record labels, Burns chose PIAS America. Songs for Dustmites is a pop/rock or indie rock album, and its lyrics are mostly about "science and love". It received positive reviews from music critics, although some of them believed that the album was only good because of his collaborations.
Before acting in Blue's Clues, Burns had been in many high-school and college bands. When he left the show in 2002 after working there for half a dozen years, he "found [himself] in a position where [he] could do what [he] wanted", he decided to become a musician. He worked on demos, rehearsing the songs over and over again, scared to show them to anyone. Burns began recording the album once he got a computer that could record and edit sounds. He recorded it in a trial-and-error way, until he believed it sounded right. Burns started making Songs for Dustmites after he "was obsessed with a picture someone had shown [him] of a dustmite fighting with a micro gear".
Burns later sent producer Dave Fridmann an e-mail introducing himself and sent the demos the day after Fridmann's son had a Blue's Clues-themed birthday party. Fridmann liked the demos, so he sent Burns to Tarbox Road Studios in Fredonia, New York, where they worked with The Flaming Lips member Steven Drozd. Mac Randall of The New York Observer hypothesized that the band decided to work with Burns because it was "too off-the-wall to resist." Burns stated of recording with members of the Flaming Lips that "There were definitely moments when I would run into the next room so I could giggle maniacally, jump up and down and clap my hands", calling the experience "a dream come true". According to Burns, "he and Fridmann gave [him] a lot of help in understanding the studio process, how it all works, how to take a musical idea and shine it up into a song". Ed Buller wrote to Burns, "sort of in disbelief". Burns suspects that Buller searched the Internet for Burns and downloaded his songs, "expecting to make fun of [him]", and was surprised that the music was not bad. Burns also met and worked with Mike Rubin from Murmur Music, saying that "some of the best work on the album came out of that relationship". Burns received numerous offers from various record labels mostly due to him making an album being a "ridiculous story". He chose to sign with PIAS Records after talking with Kevin Wortis of the label, saying he "was the first one who sat me down and said, 'This makes sense. I don't know why, but there is a thread of logic between Blue's Clues, the Flaming Lips and your record'."
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