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Post by ashcatlt on Feb 11, 2014 22:41:45 GMT -5
Some of the songs are eighteen years old. Some of the tracking was done eight years ago. These are the songs that we've played at every "big show" for the last three years because when I'm up on the stage with all lights on me and I'm really freaking loud, it's about the only thing I really want to say. This thing was supposed to have been released on 10/30/13, and I have refused to do anything else in the studio until it was finished. So now I can move on. I'm happy to discuss the particulars, and definitely interested in comments. Stream free or buy for cheap at Lorenzo's Tractor - What I Think I Am
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Post by JohnH on Feb 12, 2014 6:30:15 GMT -5
I listened to a couple of tracks, and liked them quite a lot. It's 'out there', but it's not inaccessible, just mysterious and sometimes surprising. But there's a structure to them, and, I picked up my Strat and played along.
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Post by ux4484 on Feb 12, 2014 10:16:05 GMT -5
I think these three songs are more cohesive than your August release. I really liked the beat, opening and ending of 'greatbigmine/drink this'. The opening rythym riff into the vocals is reminiscint of "The Kills" (one of my current favs). I laughed out loud at the Monkey truth, as I had a boss years ago in a mindless job who said: "I could replace you guys with monkeys" to which a torrent of replies lashed out, the main two I recall were "Monkey's throw s t at their handlers" and "Monkeys Die". I love when a song connects with me personally, this one did. Of the mix of interlude voices, the woman laughing and the guy swearing just hit me as sitting in a crowded bar trying to listen to every one. There is a droning tone around minute 19 that did go on a bit too long for my liking, it took away from the voices (sounded like feedback from a bass amp). 'What I think I am' is more driving, and again I really liked the driving beat and the slight hesitation to very dramatic effect in the vocals. I was listening at work (with earbuds) and the web player started playing 'Nothing/Not a mirror' right after 'What I think I am', I had to look at my phone to see it was not a segue. I need to revisit 'Nothing' as service calls started coming in steady for the rest of the night. I do have some questions: How do you do the overlapping voices live? Are they tracked? Are SOME of them tracked, and you do some live? Do you deviate much, or do the tracks keep you on task? Given your style I would imagine improvisation is a regular thing for your performances, but if you're using tracks does that limit you? While I'd have a hard time selling the wife or kids on it (my eldest might bite), I do like it. Just knowing it's by someone I 'Know' does make me more interested. The important thing of course is that you like it, and like doing it. Clearly you are driven to do so.
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Post by haydukej on Feb 12, 2014 14:19:29 GMT -5
Congrats on the finalization. Unfortunately, my first experience with this is at work with my economic earplugs, but even with that it was captivating. I think the mixing is quite well, with just enough overlap that you have to focus on what you want to listen to. Even with the structure that JohnH references, I'm not sure it'll push Sunless Port out of the #1 LT spot for me. Anxious to hear it some more with some real cans and the other three mystery songs.
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Post by ashcatlt on Feb 12, 2014 15:20:34 GMT -5
So, I'm at work and can't get too much into discussion right now, but I wanted to thank you all for listening and the kind comments. Also wanted to mention that the bonus tracks are basically just stripping away the actual songs to show off some of the weird stuff hidden underneath. Two of them have been listed on soundcloud, so if you've been following there or on FB you may have already heard them.
Edit rather than double post -
We don't even bother trying to sound like that live. I tried to get "the band" to do the bad trip section of "Mine" a couple times, but everybody's all embarassed and doesn't know what to do. I started out playing to a drum machine and synths controlled by a hardware sequencer (Alesis HR16 and MMT8, they shared a manual!) and did a couple shows with DAT backing, but I very quickly decided that playing exactly what was on the album every time I played the song just plain sucked. I guess I would call the recorded version the "definitive" version, but that's been done. If I - or anybody else - wants to hear that... Nowadays I can hear it just about any time I want from anywhere in the world.
I'd like to explore the other things that might be done with it. We play these songs on acoustic guitars at open mics, and we do abstract medleys of them at ambient music festivals. John probably noticed that the first two tracks (all 35 minutes of it!) is based on some really simple riffs off of Dm. We have this thing where we literally don't ever stop playing from the moment we hit the stage until our time is up (or the owner pulls the plug!). We've got like 18 songs in the key of Dm that all just flow one into another. Note that "Drink This" itself includes two other covers which can and often do run 7-8 minutes a piece. I try to tell the band which one I'm going to and actually rehearse the order, but... Being a "signal source" in LT is probably the most frustrating, but ultimately easiest, gigs in the business. "Here's the basic riff. I'll sing for two verses and just about anything could happen before, after, or in between. Don't mess up my transitions!"
The first verse of Great Big Mine is straight out of the episode of Friends with Fred Willard. The rest of it is Perry Mason, and the title comes from Gilligan. That song is 18 years old, and was on the fabled Ultimate Pleasure Machine album, which was just about ready for mastering when the 900Mb hard drive in the 166Mhz machine ate itself.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 10:38:02 GMT -5
Interesting work, typical Ash i'd say!
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Post by JFrankParnell on Mar 4, 2014 12:52:20 GMT -5
Haha! What. The. Fsck. I dig the sound of glass tubes melting on that one. But, prolly no actual tubes harmed in the making? Youre using modelers, I think?
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Post by ashcatlt on Mar 4, 2014 15:04:57 GMT -5
Haha! What. The. Fsck. I dig the sound of glass tubes melting on that one. But, prolly no actual tubes harmed in the making? Youre using modelers, I think? Yeah. The main instruments in "Mine" are the original V-Amp tracks. By the time it degenerates into the bad trip it's mostly PodFarm and "Drink This" is all newer PodFarm tracks except the distorted bass that comes through from the beginning. Pretty damn convincing, though, no? There was some actual hot tubes in the process though. Most of the main guitars on the album were tracked with something very loud and distorted in the room, shaking the strings, and producing real string (and some microphonic) feedback. For the earlier tracks it was a V-Amp feeding a 3.1 computer speaker system cranked beyond all sensible limits. For the newer tracks, though, I had the AC4 at absurd levels. It's one of the reasons it took so long to get done - I only have so many opportunities to be that loud in my "residential" studio! You might ask why I didn't just stick a microphone in front of the amp. The answer is simply that it wasn't the sound I was looking for. These aren't 100W monsters, and they won't give me the feedback I want without being distorted all to hell and back. It's a wonderfully horrible sound, but not really what I wanted for most of this. Aside from a couple of tracks which are obviosusly destroyed, I was actually shooting for relatively clean tones. There's some crunch and sizzle when I lay into things, but it retains some good clarity and note definition through most of it. Can't get that from a Rat cranked into an AC4 on 11, but if you turn it down to sound good, it doesn't shake the strings enough, which is part of what makes it sound and feel loud. But then I'm Nutz...
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