Edition limited to 200 copies, Red Vinyl. Originally self-released in the mid-1990s, Some Songs by Donald McPherson is a cornerstone of New Zealand’s outsider music tradition. This Planam edition brings together the original album and bonus tracks from the ultra-limited Decap (1995) and The Trees (1996) lathe-cut 7"s, offering a comprehensive portrait of an artist whose work is as unguarded as it is inventive. McPherson’s songs are marked by a rare blend of lyrical honesty and sonic experimentation. His bare-boned, hyper-sensitive pop compositions are set against a backdrop of spontaneous sketches and lo-fi textures. The songs are filled with wit and wonder, often embracing awkwardness and vulnerability with a disarming sincerity. The lo-fi production only heightens the intimacy, making the listener feel as if they are privy to private moments of creation.

These tracks are humble and hopeful, awkward and embracing, fragile and bold. McPherson resists the trappings of conventional songcraft, instead embracing the chance to express everything he feels, no matter how raw or unpolished. This perspective results in music that is both deeply personal and universally relatable. With its inclusion of rare bonus tracks and a limited edition pressing, Some Songs is an essential document for fans of outsider music, folk, and lo-fi experimentation. It stands as a testament to McPherson’s unique vision and enduring influence within the experimental community.

"The first time I heard anything about Donald McPherson was when my friend David Muir told me excitedly about this guitarist from Ravensbourne who could play really beautifully properly but also just as wonderfully wrongly. I first heard him playing a rare live performance in Dunedin in about 1997. It remains one of the most heavily self-deprecating sets Iive ever seen. Abandoning songs halfway through, Donald couldn’t contain his belief that his efforts were worthless & that he hadn’t practiced as much as we were idiots for listening. He made a good show of appearing not to care but the quality of the few pieces of music he did play showed a personality and idiosyncratic natural ability that could only come from the most meaningful places. And he was totally right… we were idiots tolerating any old shit, just as he was an idiot for being so ridiculously good.  Donald is most well known for the free range guitar instrumentals of his "Bramble" CD (Metonymic) and the "Vinegar & Rum" (Bo Weavil) collaboration with Tetuzi Akiyama, but its his 1994 album "Some Songs" (self-released in a edition of 20 Lathe-Cut LPs) that his friends & fans hold in the highest regard.
 It sparkles with beauty, wit and wonder and it crumbles under its own self-sabotaging cynicism. Lyrical flowing folk melodies with playful irritations and grafted on textures, Bare boned hyper sensitive pop songs and scrambled spontaneous sketches. Donald always sounds to me like he is resisting his talents as they are too embarrassing, but at the same time embracing the chance to express everything he is feeling no matter how awkward or humiliating it may be. It seems like such a crippling difficult perspective to create from but “Some Songs” always sounds playful, honest, humble and hopeful to me! " Stefan Neville