Friday 15th February 2008

Exhausted by the re-remix of Don't Think I'll Sleep Tonight. It's supposd to be a fresh, innovative take on the McMullan classic, pairing Grilly's impeccable programing with a melodic vocal. Instead it's turning into the dawn chorus, and not in a good way.

Thursday 14th February 2008

Some songs deserve to be recorded live, with cheap gear, mixed on headphones late at night, whilst speeding on coffee and red wine, with all the mistakes left in and the best takes lost to memory. Chino Necker (live) is a Steve: From Fragment creation; designed to scare the dog and rattle the Colerabbey light bulbs. We've never played it the same way twice, and I know that Brian would argue that version 0.9, which was slower and had a Kaoss Pad solo, was more exciting. But by the time the song reached the laptop, we had whittled it down by over a minute, and the Kaoss part had been ditched. The lyrics are culled from bits of dialogue in an episode of The O.C., as well as the commercial break (an Actimel add prompted the "stomach's good bacteria," line). This was take number two, recorded in Portrush during the summer of 2006.

Wednesday 13th February 2008

My Attorney singer seeks lessons.

Tuesday 12th February 2008

The repaired Kaoss Pad arrived today, helpfully upended and then dropped from a great height onto my doorstep by the UPS courier man. It survived intact; cue a Kaoss Pad duet. I may have to make a Kaoss Pad album, under my MC SCSSI-SCART Lead moniker, using nothing but samples of amp hiss modulated so much that they resemble a thirty piece orchestra.

Responsibilities such as booking a tour, cleaning the kitchen and going to the Post Office meant that I took refuge in the labyrinthine catacombs of St. James' Infirmary Revisited's percussion tracks. I've gatecrashed the song with a white transit van, smashed the shop front glass window, loaded the display into the back, and driven off at high speed. Such production approaches make me very anxious: it will be won or lost in mixing. For now, here is the backing track, minus the saxophone.

Monday 11th February 2008

Rebecca and I dabbled with some bells and tambourine percussion on December's Burning. We had to track it in the dark since the lights in my room interfere with the microphones and have to be switched off during recording. Bec's floor tom part (not featured here) will definitely make the cut, though I'm less sure about these shimmers.

Sunday 10th February 2008

A request from my landlady to do the dishes prompted more work on my flipside take of DJ Gallow_Slutt's diseased remix of McMullan's Don't Think I'll Sleep Tonight. I've added a few vocals and a Kaoss line, but intend to add filter sweeps and arpeggios.

Saturday 9th February 2008

Byker Bridge is finally finished, and ready to be sent to NARC Magazine for their CD compilation of local musical talent.

Tuesday 5th February 2007

Went to see a rather special gig this evening: Trumans Water supported by fellow Portland, Oregon two-piece The Bugs, with our very own Shin Jin Rui kicking off proceedings.

The Bugs were stripped down, funny, hard on the ear at first, but soon revealed a slightly manic edge that quickly grew on you. I especially liked the way the singers' voices complemented one another, the constant swapping of instruments and the mangled lyrics about mix tapes and Steve McQueen.

Trumans Water were messy, loud, slap dash, at times dazzlingly precise and restrained, thoroughly brilliant. What they lacked in tightness (the drummer had only been with them for nine days) they made up for in warmth toward the audience, who increasingly got into the whole thing as the set progressed. Although there was only a small crowd of thirty people watching, we bayed for an encore and they rewarded us with three more songs.

On the way out I bought everything by everyone.

Monday 4th February 2007

Sunday 3rd February 2007

Patrick came over to Wallsend Wastelands to track some violin for Bec's Of You Somewhere. Bec and I were both impressed with his novel use of the instrument: instead of a straight part, he used taps, slides and shimmers of the bow to create some really unique sounds. A lot of editing awaits.

Saturday 2nd February 2008

A new mic-ing technique was employed this morning: I placed a solid state cardioid in front of the guitar on the fifteenth fret as usual, but then put the valve RV15 over Adrian's head, facing down directly towards his hands. The results were really fresh and plucky. I'll be sampling this and building a monster out of it.

Friday 1st February 2008

The Cumberland Arms was good enough to let My Attorney use their upstairs room for recording, a snip at twenty quid. We were enlisting the talents of Stuart, formerly of Carter Manoeuvre, to do drumming duties on Kilterhead and Capital City. It was cut and shut, live and full of bleed, but I was really pleased with the sound. It helps when your drummer is a pro, and his kit costs over a grand. Andy and I also discovered the roll-top organ in the corner, which was plugged in and played extensively. During the sessions we ate six Cream Eggs.