This album came from the flames of an album that was lost called Finest Hour. It was an album that was heavily inspired by King Gizzard, with their albums Made in Timeland and Quarters!, but specifically the former. Laminated Denim had not been released yet when we recorded Finest Hour. Every song was to be ten minutes long and the album was going to be an hour. We did just that, and then we lost it right when I was going to publish the album because of a very similar reason we lost An Alleyway to Your Nightmares. The SD card had malfunctioned and I lost several recordings that we had done in that I had done solo. It wasn't as bad as a loss that happened during the Alleyway sessions, but it was a very significant one. I struggled for quite a bit of time after that. When that happened, I gave up on this project. Little did I know that I would be experiencing something worse coming the next year, and it wasn't just a data loss. There would be a brief family fallout.
Wilbur had talked many times about wanting to attempt Finest Hour again. I didn't really share the same feelings for a while. I was dealing with an internal conflict. I didn't want it to seem like we were heavily relying on our influences. Of course, King Gizzard was always the main influence. They weren't the only ones, however, that have done restrictive or thematic timing with their music. I know that m a l i b l e : ( did it with their album Hex, which had every song ending in 33 seconds no matter how many minutes it was. Hell, the crux of Impossible Nothing's discography is ten-minute songs. When laminated denim released, I became even more apprehensive of redoing Finest Hour. Then one day I listened to Made in Timeland and Laminated Denim right after each other when I was outside, and inspiration went wild. I was ready to attempt Finest Hour again.
But I didn't want to use that name. Finest Hour was always a placeholder title. I never really liked the title; it was just something to use. I felt like the title was also forced. I needed to think of a better title. Finally, one kicked in. Six-Part Documented Breakdown. This title was influenced by two things. One was the band Lost Campesinos!, which is a childhood band. They have a series of five know songs throughout their discography that are in this catalog called Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown. This album has also become I Remember 2006’s most aggressive album. Often the songs would. Often, the songs would burst into a breakdown that would last minutes on end before coming to a “calm” coda. (One of the songs even ended up sounding like something off of Bleach by Nirvana, which surprised the hell out of me.) For all this, I felt that Six-Part Documented Breakdown was the perfect title for this album
A lot of the songs from the original Finest Hour recordings have been redone already. Most of them you can find on An Alleyway to Your Nightmares, coincidentally. Those songs being Piloting a Cloud, Titan and I, and Led Into the Woods. Another song recorded during the sessions was War on Identity. I remember writing this song the morning before a session when I was at Wilbur's house. Alas, the original recording was lost, but I saw a lot of potential for a story to War on Identity. It would end up becoming the lead single to a rock opera, The Obelisk God, which is an album I hold dearly. I love that album. In my opinion, it was a good thing that we lost that recording. What would later become War on Identity turned out to be one of my favorite songs I've ever made for I Remember 2006.
Two songs from the original Finest Hour track list end up on this album. Those songs being Waiting for Headlights and No One is Above the Law. I remember when we were recording, No One is Above the Law, it took eight minutes until any lyrics had popped up, and I did that on purpose. This version is not like that however, because it just didn't fit in my mind anymore. It was also the original closer for Finest Hour, which rings true for Six-Part Documented Breakdown. Waiting for Headlights was the second song in the original album but is now the opener. It is also the first time that a song fronted by Wilbur is an album opener for I Remember 2006. We also front three songs for this album. Waiting for Headlights, Fall of the Aerostats, and Hivemind are Bullara-led. Betrayal in the Cave, Joseph Jackal v. the State of the 2100’s., and No One is Above the Law are LaNore-led.
Yes, this album does continue the IR06 lore. Joseph Jackal v. the State of the 2100's., and No One is Above the Law continues the rivalry of Joseph Jackal and Russell Roundhouse, showing Joseph going further down the spiral, and Russell trying his best to protect the Jasra brothers from Beach Life Imbalance. Fall of the Aerostats continues the Venus story, describing a Venusian watching a Leaflet Sunshire aerostat crashing down. Hivemind continues the story of The Dream Song from all the way back to the Downfall of Reality.
The only song that adds anything new to the lore is Betrayal in the Cave. This song is about a few characters from another project of mine called Demon Keepers. It's from the perspective of Cain Oberaks, retelling a moment in his life when his brother Abel Chasmack left him in a cave-in. Yep, it's a twist on the Cain and Abel story from the Bible. Nope, I am still an Atheist and do not plan to change that. Cain details how he is found barely alive by Laylah Keywalker, and is taken in by Laylah and Gabriel Keywalker, two angels, finally finding a home. It is described later in the song that Cain and Abel were stuck in the foster system. Cain has no idea why Abel left him in the cave and has no idea where he went, nor does he care to know.
I want to thank Wilbur, my friends, my family, and everyone for sticking with me. My life has been really hectic recently.
-Rafe LaNore
Will’s Note:
A lot of this album is revisiting old concepts and lore-building. For example, Hivemind is a continuation of The Dream Song from The Downfall of Reality, Joseph Jackal v. The State… is a continuation of the stories of Joseph Jackal and Russell Roundhouse, Fall of the Aerostats continues the story of Aerostats of Venus, and so on.
Like all of our albums, this one was really fun to make. It’s also pretty cool that it’s exactly one hour long.
On my part, Black Country, New Road and black midi were huge inspirations for me in the making of this album. I really enjoy unconventional vocals as well as unconventional chord progressions and such.
I’d like to thank God, Rafe, Brenda, Brandon, Skyler, and Oliver.
I’d like to emphasize my thanks to Rafe as he’s been helping me realize a lot of things that are going on right now.
I Remember 2006 is a previously solo Indie Folk Rock project of Rafe LaNore, that now consists of Rafe and his friend,
Wilbur Bullara. Both are multi-instrumentalists that met back in 2021, and have been making music with each other ever since.
I adore King Gizzard. They are one of my biggest influences. The band is a big reason I delved deeper into writing (more) lore for IR06. And this album is important to the Gizzverse.
-Rafe LaNore I Remember 2006
I don’t even know what to say about this album. It’s one of the best pieces that exist. This is a seven hour drone album that I’m very influenced by. You must listen if you have the time.
-W. Bullara I Remember 2006
An emotional and existential masterpiece. This album means a lot to us. SWANS is our biggest influence as a duo. They mean a lot to us, and this album is an important to both of us
-IR06 I Remember 2006
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