Beginning in 1996, Splintered Tree Records started putting out music encompassing various styles and eventually featuring many artists and projects that each made their mark on the world of music. The music has never stopped and new releases have been put out as recently as 2022. This page is dedicated to the amazing musical legacy that lives on to this day. Each release has a link to listen to each release on various online platforms. Enjoy the ride!
Splintered Tree
This collection of early songs featured the styles that would dominate this songwriter's sound and influences for many years to come. A unique blend of jazz, blues, folk, and rock was starting to coalesce on this album. This precious cassette-only release started it all!
Fallen Leaves
This intimate collection of songs was recorded during a time of profound transition. Moving from D.C. to S.F. to start a new chapter in life, Daniel took a month to record these song/demos directly to a Tascam cassette tape-deck. A very limited pressing was available at the time and made available to a select few listeners.
By far the most ambitious release to date from the Splintered Tree project. Many months were spent honing and refining the songs in the cozy Wheeler Street Studios and the production techniques and styles applied were starting to shape the sound of the songs to their full potential. A major leap Forward for Splintered Tree.
Drunken Monkey: DJ and producer with a long history of spinning wax since 1993. Arrived to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998 after honing his craft on the East Coast for a number of years. Highly focused on Hip Hop and Reggae styles while integrating the new movements in music; Drum & Bass being a particular passion. The entire mix series is listed below the official release list on this page. CHECK IT!
The first in a series of musical collections entitled 'Live Cultures'. These releases were a showcase of the talent that was working in Petri Disk Studios at the time of each volume. The musical output was stylistically diverse, highly creative, and a celebration of the spirit of collaboration that guided every release from Splintered Tree Records. The diversity of sounds included House, 2-Step, singer/songwriters, and Hip Hop to just name a few styles in rotation.
Continuing in the spirit of the first volume, Petri Disk Studios showcases the breadth and depth of musical talent that came through the doors at Splintered Tree Records recording studios. Featuring Hip Hop, Abstract Electronica, Drum & Bass, Songwriters, and Dance Remixes, Lippincott's production talents were in full effect at this time.
The Splintered Tree project get a full-time proper backing band with Jonnie Fojtik on drums and Ryan Waggoner on bass. Eventually the band takes on their own moniker, The Sweet Leaf Boys. Their sound is fun, upbeat garage rock to get things started on their debut 7" single. This was a vinyl-only release and appeared as the single for their upcoming full-length made available the next year.
The natural and un/natural result of mashing up so many genres for so many years in the studio, Mr. D's Projections expresses the fruition of almost all the influences that shaped Daniel Lippincott's vision for total creative freedom and control. While no major label contracts got signed, some very inspired and liberated musical inspiration was made into creative flesh. Top producers in the San Francisco music scene made huge contributions the new release and local media caught the buzz.
In their first full-length release, the songs were all pretty light-hearted and quirky in flavor. Lots of fun energy pervaded the album and a tongue-in-cheek lyrical and musical approach was the dominant feeling in Daniel Lippincott's songwriting at the time. Lo-Fidelity recording styles fit the tone perfectly in a consciously all-embracing aesthetic that was all part of the 'Sweet Leaf' package.
With a profound respect and Love for the Hip Hop music that was so inspirational to label founder, Daniel Lippincott, this album was a labor of Love that simply had to be. Performing as the MC, DJ and producer for the entirety of the album, the creative demands were huge and the shoes that Odd Man Out tried to fill were giant. Inspired by so many of the greats of ol' Skool hip hop and rap, this release was a deep homage to the art form, music, and culture of Hip Hop.
The Sweet Leaf Boys come back only once more in this full-length album. Their sound had evolved dramatically in the years since their debut and the rock n roll was heavier and moodier. Some of their punky attitude remained but the songwriting had shifted to darker matters and the music followed suit.
Orquestations for a Strange World
This two volume compilation of electronic compositions represents the definitive collection of Drunken Monkey's diverse production palette. Musically suited to soundtracks, meditations, psychedelics, this extensive collection offered the complete compendium of the producer's life-long explorations of sound.
Mr. D's Ballroom, Volumes 1 & 2
Drunken Monkey returns with a double-pack of dance floor friendly tunes that run the gamut of the his DJ styles and influences. House music, Breakbeats, Drum & Bass, and 2 Step productions fill out the list. This release coincided with the peak of Drunken Monkey's DJ career which took him all over the world. The production style appeals to the sample-laden pastiche approach that inspired him over the years. Over 2 hours of material all appeared in this release, and quite a few tunes were re-released on other labels as well.
This EP was the first in a series of collaborations that dominated the musical approach at Petri Disk Studios and Splintered Tree Records for the next 3-4 years. After the untimely demise of so many live projects, the energy went inward, back to the studio and producing for the joy of it! The EP appeared on Majitope's GardenHouse Records imprint and it offers an excellent mix of DJ-friendly electronic bombs, with mid-tempo cuts that bring live performance and electronic production together seamlessly.
All Night Prescription was the first collaboration attempted from remote locations. DJ/Producer/Writer David Levy was living in Portland at the time while Daniel Lippincott was living in Oakland. Althought the process took a bit longer then usual, the results were worth the effort. The two talented musicians created a beautiful blend of their musical strengths and created a sound uniquely their own. Combining the bluesy and soulful singing and songwriting from Daniel with Levy's electronic production prowess and keyboard finesse, the 5 song EP delivers a sonically dense yet catchy package of memorable songwriting and energetic tunes.
Chrys-Anthony (R.I.P.) was one of the most talented musicians that ever graced Petri Disk Studios and he gave 1000% on every song he recorded. As a singer he was on a level with the best. This collaboration with Drunken Monkey doing the production gave his voice lots of room to shine, with funky grooves, ethereal soundscapes, and poppy unforgettable songs. The release was a proud moment at Splintered Tree Records.
An all-out Disco barn-stormer, 'Check The Pie' brings the cheeky fun back to front and center. This song and the affiliated remixes would appear as the return of Mr. D's Projections after many years of radio silence. Remixes were provided by none other than Gavin Hardkiss, aka Hawke, and raised the temperatures on dancefloors around the world.
After 10 years of hiatus, the Live Cultures series returns with another stellar compilation of songs featuring the talented roster of musicians that have graced the studios in recent years. Stylistic diversity once again defines the undefinable output of Splintered Tree Records. The visionary glue that binds it all together are the production and engineering skills and techniques of Daniel Lippincott aka Drunken Monkey.
Back to back releases demonstrate the depth and volume of material being produced in Petri Disk Studios during this time. Every genre imaginable was represented in these two new volumes. Funk, Rock n Roll, Electronic dance music of various genres, B-sides, Out-takes, Remixes and so much more to enjoy and explore.
Mr. D's Projections come back with an incredible new collection of songs that brings up the energy and continues the musical tradition established a decade earlier: having a blast making music to live by.
