Death In Vegas – Help Yourself

DIY Record Production – Part 4: Equipment – by Ian Button, Oct 2009

This month I’m going to give you a run-down of the equipment I use, and possibly mention some that I wish I had. It’s probably taken a couple of years to collect everything – and I guess it should be pretty obvious that DIY recording doesn’t mean you don’t have to spend any cash! I use a mixture of budget and posh gear, as you will see………

Computer etc

I used to be PC through and through, but got a Mac when I started teaching. I made the transition pretty quickly. I got the most basic Mac Book, but with 2GB of RAM. It works fine. The only thing is there’s not a massive amount of hard disk space – and installing the whole of something like Logic would probably almost fill it right up. I use external hard drives, like the one above, for storing and transporting the recording projects around, and for the massive Logic library, most of which I don’t need. It doesn’t always work to open up the projects straight from the drive, so I usually copy the work in progress onto the actual Mac for the recording/overdubbing sessions.

Recording Software

I am currently using Logic 9 – I came to the software pretty late – Logic 8 was the first version I got in 2007, and already it had been made a lot more streamlined and user-friendly than older versions. The latest version has great new features for the live band recordist like me: an impressive amp/stomp box designer to rival the best 3rd party plugins, and a very intuitive system to edit and correct feel and timing in audio recordings e.g. drums.

I also have Cubase 5 installed, although I find I don’t use it much (after several years of working through different versions of Cubase on my PC) – that’s not to say it’s not just as good as Logic. The two packages seem to be ‘leapfrogging’ each other year by year in terms of new software and features, but essentially they do the same thing – the plugins and software instruments may vary, but for ‘live’ recording (using the software almost like tape) there’s really not a lot in it with the two current versions (perhaps Logic is a little ahead at the time of writing!)

Another package I use a lot is Reason

- not so much for programming or music creation, but for it’s great library of sounds (strings/keys etc) that I will use, via Logic & Rewire in production and mixing.

Hardware Interface etc

For this kind of multitrack recording I’ve got a Focusrite Saffire Pro 26I/O. It’s a firewire interface that gives you 8 channels of simultaneous recording (it actually has 26 ins and outs including digital etc, but in practice, for plugging mics in, you have 8 inputs). There are pre-amps on each channel so you can set levels easily, and there’s a useful software panel that comes up on screen to configure it all.

At home I’ve got simpler soundcards/interfaces which are useful for later overdubbing, and not so cumbersome/fiddly to set up.

The Edirol UA-25 was the first proper interface I got – it only records 2 channels at once, but is fine for individual overdubs.

I’ve also got an M-Audio Ozonic which is a combined 4 channel interface (only one mic input though) and a MIDI controller keyboard. Again quite useful for overdubbing and programming sessions after the initial live recording has been done.

Compressor/Preamp

My most recent, and most extravagant puchase of late is a Drawmer 1969 stereo compressor and preamp – I’d been reading a lot about recording through pre amps and channel strips etc, and I wanted to start to use that method myself. This unit seemed to be the one that suited my setup and needs the best. I wanted two channels rather than one, so that ruled out a lot of the channel strips although they all look pretty good.

I settled on the Drawmer and I’ve got it in a rack case with the Focusrite interface – when I am recording drums I can now run the overheads through one or both compressors, I can get a really good bass sound through the preamp and compress it on the way in, and for vocals too I can set up a nice compressed sound there and then and commit it to the recording early on – something I never used to do but am more confident about now.

I am also using the Drawmer at the mix/mastering stage, playing complete mixes back through it in stereo to add another bit of overall valve compression.

Speakers and headphones

For many years I used a pair of 1997 vintage Labtec computer speakers – I still have them and take them to sessions sometimes for monitoring. For a more professional approach, and at home, I have Yamaha HS-50M’s. They are self-powered and supposed to be modelled on the veteran NS-10. I think they sound nicer, and they have a few adjustment switches on the back to tailor their response for different rooms etc.

I have found them to be pretty accurate, transparent speakers for mixing etc….I seem to get consistent results and no nasty surprises when I play stuff elsewhere.

In terms of headphones, I have a couple of pairs of these Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro’s. Good frequency response, closed design, comfy to wear…..

Microphones

Let’s start with the cheapest: this is a set of Skytronic drum mics that came flight-cased, with cables, from eBay for less than two hundred quid. There’s a very respectable kick drum mic, four clip on dynamics, and two condensers for overheads.

You could spend a lot more on a set like this….or replace bits of it, as you will see I have done, but all in all this is pretty useable.

Next there’s some highly recommended all-purpose dynamic mics from Shure – the ones we’ve all seen and heard of everywhere we go, and really there’s no excuse for not having at least one of these.

The SM-58, SM-57, and the Beta 57 (a more directional version of the 57). I use the 57 in particular for snare drums, guitar amps…the other two for guitars, vocals, you name it really…..

It’s also worth mentioning here another dynamic mic I got recently – the Sennheiser E606.

It’s basically similar to a 57, but designed with miking guitar cabs in mind. It’s used a lot in live situations – you can even hang it down by its cable in front of the amp – something that’s not ideal for a conventional shaped mic like a 57 or 58.

As well as some dynamic mics, I’d also recommend adding a decent condenser mic to your setup as soon as you can. The first one I got was this Rode NT2000 – not too expensive, and does the job on vocals, acoustic guitars etc. I don’t usually take it out for live sessions, but mainly use it at home for overdubs.

I also decided I needed to get a good matched stereo pair of condenser mics, mainly to replace the Skytronic ones for drum overheads etc. I’d always heard that Oktava was a good make, and I got a pair of MK-012’s, again from eBay. They come in a case with 3 interchangable capsules (different polar patterns), and I have ended up using them for vocals, guitars, violin, piano, dulcimer etc as well as drums.

Don’t forget if you are using condensers to record vocals close-up, you will need a pop-shield.

Finally, a couple of luxury items: first is a vintage Grampian GR2/L ribbon mic – another eBay find, and packaged in a great jewellery box type case. I’ve really only used this as a single, mono drum overhead so far, but it works fine…it almost sounds compressed already (you have to be careful how you place these mics – they are fragile and DO NOT like phantom power!!).

Next there is the Electro-Voice RE20: this is the single most expensive mic I own, and my current favourite for versatility and quality combined. It’s a dynamic mic, but has a frequency response close to the best condensers (it’s used a lot in broadcasting). It’s also robust, doesn’t need a pop shield and can withstand very high sound pressure levels. So you can use it for pretty much anything – vocals, guitars & other instruments, and you can put it inside a kick drum!

Extras: Third Party Software

In addition to the basic music creation software, here’s what I use, and would recommend, in terms of third party plugins etc..

Native Instruments Guitar Rig: purists may scowl, but this (and it’s cousin Amplitube from IK Multimedia, not to mention Logic 9’s own brand amp & FX pedal simulator) is brilliant. Build your own custom amp, stack, pedals and effects. I use this from the outset in recording projects. To be able to tweak and modify guitar sounds as you go from recording to mixing is a godsend in my book. Use whatever amp simulators you can lay your hands on.

Apulsoft Aptrigga: one of the reasons I do not agonise over drum sounds at the initil recording stage, is that I know I will be triggering/replacing drum sounds later on. There have been various methods of doing this: a free plugin called KT Drum Trigger will create a MIDI note from peaks in a piece of audio, and you then assign an instrument to that MIDI track.

Recently I’ve been using Aptrigga, which fires off a sample (or layered samples) that you can blend in with your original drum sound. I will pretty much do this as a matter of course with kick and snare on everything I do, to some degree, to add more punch and clarity, or for more obvious effects. I’ve got a big library of drum sounds I can add in, from software instruments like BFD, to vintage drum machines, to acoustic kits, to hip-hop producers’ sounds.

It warmed the cockles of my heart to see that Logic 9 now has drum replacement/triggering built in as a one-click (almost) function – it works by converting audio to MIDI, and you get velocity information too which makes for very realistic triggered sound.

Izotope Ozone 4: this is a mastering plugin suite that I use a lot – inserted over my main outputs, often from an early stage in the recorings to gel the track together and get an impression of how I want it to sound in the end. I basically use the ‘Rock Master’ preset with a little tweak or two, and judge the amount of ’squash’ by using the input level so it’s not too extreme. Ozone also has presets for drums, vocals etc, which I’ve tried, but I tend to only use it on the overall mix these days.

So there you have it – I’m not saying you need to have all of this stuff by any means – hopefully it’s clear what is essential, what’s desirable, and what’s optional. Which reminds me, I said I’d say what was on my wish list.

Well, I guess…….an SSL channel strip maybe…or perhaps some kind of vintage Neumann mic – although I’d be too nervous to take it anywhere…….and some proper vintage AKGs for real Beatles drum miking – a D-12 and a D-19 please…..

Aunque “Dirt” y “Rocco” –ambos editados también como single- apuntaban mayor interés por la pista, el ochenta por ciento de aquel álbum buscaba regodearse en el dub electrónico. Pero las cosas han cambiado, y mucho. Richard Fearless ya no trabaja con Steve Hellier, sino que Tim Holmes se ha convertido en el otro cincuenta por ciento de Death In Vegas, provocando obviamente un sorprendente cambio de dirección. “The Contino Sessions” –increíblemente superior a su predecesor- apunta inquietudes similares, con electrónica de por medio, a las de los Spiritualized menos abstractos o a los Primal Scream más densos y menos directos: de ahí que Bobby Gillespie sea él mismo en “Soul Auctioneer”. Aunque tampoco se me vayan a sorprender con eso, porque ahí están Iggy Pop cantando en “Aisha” sobre un fondo de guitarras y sonidos sintéticos o Jim Reid en un “Broken Little Sister” que suena exactamente como deberían hacerlo JAMC si aún tuviesen sangre en las venas. Eso sí, mi favorita sigue siendo “Dirge”, con esa línea de bajo hipnótica que acaba marcando las directrices de un crescendo noise realmente apabullante.

Myspace

Absolute Zone a beau connaître quelques carences en terme de publication à cause de rédacteurs plus ou moins absents (qui n’a pas remarqué la disparition provisoire de Bigorneau?!), je résisterais encore et toujours pour livrer mes articles et remplir ce qui s’impose comme l’une de mes missions sur Terre : vous replonger la tête dans les années 90, une période à la richesse musicale hallucinante souvent reniée par les fanatiques des 60’s, 70’s. Un jour, les articles de cette série seront reconnus par tous et lus par des millions de gens, ou peut être pas. Mais qu’importe, vous lisez cet article et vous avez raison, car vous allez (re)découvrir un album magique, The Contino Sessions de Death in Vegas !

Né en 1994 tout d’abord sous le nom de Dead Elvis en Angleterre avant de devenir Death in Vegas, cette formation s’est faite un nom avec l’album qui nous intéresse aujourd’hui en 1999 pour de nombreuses raisons. Sachez que depuis, deux autres albums (Scorpio Rising en 2003 & Satan’s Circus en 2004) ont vu le jour, et qu’actuellement le groupe semble inactif pour ne pas dire mort… Ce qui serait bien dommage à la vue de leur carrière, et en partie de ce disque…

Un album qui délivre une claque dès l’intro, avec une chanson hallucinante : Dirge. Débutant calmement sur une simple partition de guitare entêtante, elle hypnotise immédiatement l’auditeur dès que Dot Allison pose sa voix lancinante qui ne cessera de charmer jusqu’à ce que la chanson explose dans un final électrique composé de guitares distordues et d’une rythmique soutenue envoyant la chanson dans des sommets psychédéliques. Une chanson si marquante que vous avez déjà pu la croiser dans une publicité Levi’s ou dans des films comme Le Dahlia Noir ou La Dernière Maison sur la Gauche récemment. Et si vous êtes déjà sous le choc, vous n’allez pas être au bout de vos surprises, le groupe déployant tout son talent au service d’une palette sonore riche, allant de l’électro au l’indus en passant par le dub ou le pop/rock. Ainsi tomberez vous dans une pure composition de trip/hop avec Soul Auctioneer dans laquelle Bob Gillespie (Primal Scream) récite sa prière morbide, accompagné de lourdes basses et de sonorités électroniques en distorsion. Si vous aimez les ambiances sombres comme celle ci, autant dire que Death Threat est aussi fait pour vous, la chanson étant assez déstructurée et s’imposant elle aussi avec son lot de samples torturés et une atmosphère grave. Alors que l’on pourrait penser que le groupe donne définitivement dans le sombre, il surprend à nous éclaircir avec Flying, planant rayon de soleil lui aussi hypnotisant mais sonnant comme une pause rassurante, avant de mieux vous envoyer en pleine tronche Aisha, impressionnant délire rock ultra psychédélique construit sur un très bon riff de guitare passant en boucle, secondé encore une fois par une rythmique quasi parfaite, le tout permettant à Iggy Pop d’envoyer son lot de paroles noires avant de partir en transe totale et d’enchaîner les cris assourdissantes et les beuglements irréguliers. Vint alors une seconde pause plus jazzy et quasi mélancolique, Lever Street, composant notamment un orgue assurant à lui seul l’ambiance d’une chanson à la composition ultra pertinente. Pour mieux continuer dans cette voie calme et quasi spirituelle, le groupe reprend un inédit des Rolling Stones avec Aladdin’s Story, surprenante balade donnant le sourire et sentant bon le Peace & Love et le Flower Power. Mais Death in Vegas aime jouer avec son auditeur et le prouve encore une fois avec Broken Little Sister, une chanson dont le titre pose immédiatement le ton et se caractérisant par un son gras au niveau des cordes et de la voix de Jim Read, donnant un côté ouvert à vif à l’ensemble. Enfin, le groupe termine sur la superbe conclusion Neptune City, sorte de pot pourri du son Death in Vegas, avec sa basse grasse et lourde, sa rythmique appuyée, ses samples électros et ses sonorités orientales. Un album aux ambiances multiples, qui vous emmènera sans vous ménager dans un fascinant voyage musical que vous réitérerez certainement avec plaisir à de nombreuses reprises… Alors n’attendez plus, et cliquez sur la pochette !

Xidius, qui reste à Neptune City

My new buddy Aziz, sent me a link to this project a week ago and while i love it, I wasn’t going to post about it b/c it’s already made it around the blogosphere, but then I went to see Paranormal Activity, last night (thanks)

which has made me pretty hyper aware of sounds all day. So I got to thinking about the Soundville experiment – which is Sony’s latest Bravia-esque advertisement, but this time about the art, science and engineering of sound and brought to you by Fallon, London and Juan Cabral (a la Cadbury Gorilla):

1 village, 805 participants, 13 musical artists.  Welcome to Soundville:

In March 2009 a small town in Iceland was filled with speakers.The Seyðisfjörður village was turned into an extraordinary sound-system for a week. Sounds by Richard Fearless ( Death in Vegas ) Mum, Bob Dylan, Toumani Diabate,  Roberto Goyeneche, Murcof, Federico Cabral, Guillemots, etc.

I went to the Soundville website to hunt for some more information; the site is simple, to not detract attention from the sound and leads with this quote, which I am digging:

If for one moment – just for an instant – the walls disappear and you imagine you are somewhere else, then you’ve experienced the power of sound.

For me, these “instances” are more natural and frequent when listening to experimental musicians like Sigur Rós, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ben Frost, Benni Hemm Hemm, Amiina, Jónsi & Alex, etc. Which makes Seydisfordur such a perfect setting for this kind of experiment.

I <3 <3 <3 <3 this project!  Sony must have done something right to get an entire (and very creative) community to participate in an advertisement.  Bravo.

Making of:

Test 1:

Test 2:

If you are in the mood for more art sounds, check out Pierre Bastien’s site.

DIY Record Production – Part 3: A Method (contd.) – by Ian Button, Oct 2009

In the last article I described how I set things up on location in a rehearsal room or similar space to record a band. Now let’s talk about the actual recording…….

Recording and overdubbing
Once I’ve got everything set up, plugged in and working, I usually do a quick ‘soundcheck’ of the individual instruments, and then get the whole band to play or jam for a minute or so of test recording, just to make sure the levels are set right, everything’s coming through OK etc, and I check it back through the headphones to make sure nothing has overloaded or clipped.

At this point it’s really up to the band how to proceed. In theory, once you are set up, you can just press ‘record’ and let the band play as many songs as they like. Extradition Order once went on to play 23 in a row!; other bands like to concentrate on one tune until they are happy they’ve got a good version, then move on.

If I’m not involved or playing in the band myself, I tend to leave it to them to judge how the take has gone: they know their material better than me, and very often I won’t notice the things they are not happy with! Of course I might sometimes make suggestions on how to approach the tune, different ways to play, arrangement things, but only if I feel it’s my place to do so. If you all feel comfortable together this stuff just happens naturally and easily.

Try not to record too many takes. You end up with too much material to wade through and put together. Decide amongst yourself and the band if a take is generally good and go with it, plus another for safety if you need it. You can also record sections of the song to use as edits, don’t forget.
I hate ‘dropping in’ – it’s something that can be done, but that I try to avoid, especially when I’m recording 8 tracks at once, and because of the monitoring situation. I’d much rather roll the track back and re record a large chunk of it again, or do a whole new take.

Depending on the band, you might want to record to some kind of click or drum beat as a guide. There are obvious advantages to this in terms of editing or comping takes together, adding programmed elements later, copying, pasting or replacing sections – but it’s not always possible, or comfortable, and it can take all the life out of a performance. Don’t be afraid to let everybody play naturally – subtle changes in speed & feel can be really effective and/or hardly noticeable. Remember too that you can easily edit/correct/tighten up timings, generate tempo maps from live performances etc if you know your stuff. Don’t assume you/they need to be tied to a click.

When you’ve got your takes you can decide there and then which is the best one, and start building on that – alternatively you might need a bit of editing time to put together a definitive version of the song.

Then you can start overdubbing. You’ll be aiming to get clean, nicely separate recordings of guitars, vocals, any additional instruments etc. You’ll possibly be replacing guide tracks with more considered versions. You might just be adding a blistering solo.
This stage is where you can really start to use the recording process for more than just capturing performances – you are starting to expand the band’s sound beyond just the sum of its parts.

I’ll often record more than one overdub at a time (gtrs + keys for example, backing vocals) both to save time and to keep some band interaction. And I definitely try and get a well recorded lead vocal down at this stage, even if it ends up as a guide. This part of the process depends on how much time you’ve got left – but remember the overdubbing can pretty much be done anywhere, anytime, now that the most involved and complex part (the live backing tracks) has been done.

I try and keep the whole tracking and overdubbing process as relaxed and fun as possible – I’d hope no one feels any pressure from me as some kind of heavy handed producer: I don’t want to be that. Apparently I have only got annoyed with someone’s playing twice in the last few years in a recording situation, which isn’t bad going I suppose! I like to let people try ideas out (instruments, parts, whole songs). Some amazing stuff has come out of throwing loads of bits onto a tune and letting it all combine into beautiful chaos (we did quite a lot of this on the Extradition Order album, and on the forthcoming Awkward Silences tracks like ‘The Beasts In The Upstairs Bedroom’).
Deep Cut, on the other hand, is a bit more about precision, patterns, dissecting and orchestrating different guitar parts etc……the main thing is that ALL of it is appropriate. And brilliant fun……

This could also be a good point to talk about double tracking.
I LOVE double tracking. Really obvious double tracking. On vocals of course, but also guitars, keyboard lines, even drums.
I’ll admit, the bands I work with have mixed views on this – I understand that to some people it sounds fake and unnatural, and it doesn’t work for everybody it’s true.
I’m happy to defer/compromise (Tom Mayne!), but I will always try and get some potential double tracking material recorded at the overdubbing stage, just in case – guide vocal or guitar parts can be used behind later overdubs – backing vocals definitely should be layered up. Don’t forget stuff like this – you can manufacture the effect later but it isn’t quite the same.

So, that is pretty much it for this piece on initial recording. It may be that at the end of a session like this you’ve got something totally finished, that just needs a mix – or it may just be the basis for a much more involved production.

In the next article I will give a run down of the equipment I use and/or want, and/or would recommend for a DIY producer……

La carrera musical de Soulsavers va donar un gir rotund el dia que Mark Lanegan es va creuar en el seu camí. Abans de treballar amb qui havia sigut el cantant dels Screaming Trees i una meitat dels Gutter Twins (recordem el disc que va fer amb Greg Dulli, Saturnalia), aquest duet de productors i músics del nord d’ Anglaterra havien editat únicament un disc, Tough Guys Don’t Dance (2003), seguint les pautes marcades per artistes com Death in Vegas o David Holmes, en un treball que barrejava ambients cinematogràfics, els ritmes downtempo i el soul. La sempre fructífera, creativa i artísticament parlant, unió amb Mark Lanegan, aportant la seva profunda veu, va aconseguir que en el següent treball, It’s Not How far You, It’s the Way You Land (2007), les perspectives del grup s’obrissin de bat a bat cap a terrenys mai imaginats fins el moment, facturant un dels millors treballs d’ aquell any. En el disc hi trobem tot el que havien apuntat en el seu debut però magnificat gràcies a la presència de Lanegan, qui participava com un memebre més del grup en la majoria de temes i firmava, juntament amb ells, temes de la talla de Revival, probablement el millor tema gospel que es firmarà en aquesta dècada, donant a entendre que la participació del músic de Seattle era alguna cosa més que una simple col·laboració.

En aquest nou treball, Broken, Lanegan també firma la majoria del temes juntament amb el duet, i es fan acompanyar per uns col·laboradors d’autèntic luxe: Mike Patton (ex-Faith No More), Jason Pierce (Spiritualized), Richard Hawley, Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) i el cantautor Will Oldham. Malgrat els noms, el resultat final no arriba en cap moment a les cotes emocionals del seu anterior treball, encara que té grans moments, com el primer single, Death Bells, on Lanegan i Gibby Haynes es reparteixen les parts vocals; o les dues versions triades per Lanegan: You Will Miss Me When I Burn, del propi Will Oldham, i Some Misunderstanding de Gene Clark, probablement el millor moment del disc.

El hàndicap que arrossega aquest Broken és la immensitat musical i emocional de l’excel·lent It’s Not How Far You, It’s The Way You Land, amb l’ arrebatador i brutal Revival que obria el disc.

Aquí teniu Death Bells:

Suggested new titles:
Heavy D and the Rotation
Heavy’s 5-Man Rotation
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Rotation
Rotations Are Heavy (apologies to L7)
CLT’s Tastemakery & General Condescension

Previous volumes available in the Heavy Rotation Archive (for the low, low price of a mouse-click).

Chemical Brothers – Private Psychedelic Reel
Last track off their masterpiece Dig Your Own Hole. A monumental build leads to all hell breaking loose and some masterful tweaking of builds and drops all the way thru. Named after the Beatle’s rumored “music to take drugs to” collection. The Brothers routinely close their shows with this headcrusher, which is truly best experienced live.

Two vids (album version and live video):

Death in Vegas – Aisha (featuring Iggy Pop)
Iggy joins the Richard Fearless production collective (sans peanut butter) to deliver some very dark lyrics about serial killers over the greatest cycled riff since metal lost all of its hair. Nothing subtle about this. Just great rocking fun, all huge riffs, killer drums and menacing vocals. Rock like rock should be.

Embedding disabled by fuckmook label executives. Please click thru.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOsonaQMy-E

Fischerspooner – The 15th
Electro-weirdos Fischerspooner take on a Wire track with some unexpectedly amazing results. Begone angular guitars! Make way for some perfectly lovely synth pads and vocal reverb. Beautifully done. Wouldn’t look out of place soundtracking some sort of heartsick montage in an ’80s teen romance flick or being belted out by everybody and their mother in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest (if that latest is Magnolia… it would seem terribly out of place in There Will Be Blood).

Hardknox – Fire Like This
You know this song. You just think you don’t. Once you click play, it’ll all come rushing back. Another breakbeat/big beat group from back in the early ’00s, when heady young record execs thought techno would take over the US. Needless to say, MCR, Nickelback, Limp Bizkit, Britney Spears, Black Eyed Peas, etc. Still, an enjoyable track that asks nothing more than to get your ass on up out of that chair, whether to bust a move or bust some heads.

Kitchens of Distinction – Quick as Rainbows
Those of you who grew up like I did (white, suburban, mid-30’s) will immediately be transported back to the MTV of yore, whose Sunday nights were essential viewing, what with 120 (fucking) Minutes playing the music you actually listened to. Chiming guitars, airy vocals, soaring synthwork. All this added up to college/alternative rock that actually was still the “alternative.” A gorgeous heartbreak of a song.

All files in one easy-to-abuse zip file: Heavy Rotation Vol. 13 (link opens in new window).

-CLT

[All music posted on Fancy Plans... is kick ass and too awesome to be contained. All music is also posted temporarily and, due to it's high level of ass-kicking, should not be distributed without a prescription and care should be taken while operating heavy equipment or dancing around the living room (clothing optional, but do remember that the blinds are open/kids are still awake).
Should you wish to have your brilliant artistic statement forced back into confinement, please email me at 2timegrime@gmail.com. Feel free to leave a comment, as that will probably be noticed sooner.
By all means, if you like what you hear (and you will), please support the totally rocking artist(s) by purchasing some music or heading out to see them live.]

DIY Record Production – Part 2: A Method – by Ian Button, August 2009

In the first article I spoke about my general philosophy on producing recordings for yourself. In the next two I am going to give you a few more details on the actual process I use for most of the bands I work with.
It’s worth noting at this point that I am going to be talking about recording bands i.e. more than one person playing at a time, and with some element of live performance, character or energy that it makes sense to capture.
A lone person laying down tracks one at a time is a totally different, and in many ways ‘safer’ proposition – read on and you’ll see what I mean…..
And I’m also talking mainly about gtr/bass/drums type bands – at least bands who have that as their basis, although of course the permutations of this lineup are very varied.
Finally, I am going to skirt over some of the technical specifics (types of mics/software/hardware etc) this time, as I will be dealing with equipment recommendations in a future article.

Where to record?
If you are self-sufficient in terms of equipment, and mobile, you can pretty much record anywhere. The most obvious choice for me and the bands I record is a rehearsal room – the good ones will be spacious, well-equipped with plenty of mic stands, extra mics & cables, teas, coffees, beers, chocolate etc. In short, a bit like what a recording studio has, but (usually) much cheaper. If the band are used to rehearsing there, even better.

Most of the recordings I’ve done over the last couple of years have been at Vatican in Mile End. It’s fairly convenient to get to, there’s parking, and a range of different sized practice rooms from the huge (for whole band stuff) to the compact (just done a day of Deep Cut guitar overdubs in this one). They also have an analog tape recording studio there, although we’ve never used it.
Outside the rehearsal rooms, I’ve taken the gear to numerous band members’ houses – in particular at the overdubbing stage (Awkward Silences vocals*/violins, Real Sound guitars, Deep Cut /Go Kart Mozart vocals etc). With Extradition Order and David Cronenberg’s Wife we have even been able to set up and record complete band takes in their respective ‘front rooms’.

The obvious advantage of doing it at home is that it’s free and there are usually no time constraints, but of course there could be issues with noise, particularly drumming.
Think about all the practicalities if you can. Consult with the bands about how much they want to get done, and make a plan for your recording day. Even though a rehearsal room is comparatively cheap, it’s easy to forget the clock ticking away and realise you’re running out of time – I’d always advise over-estimating the time you’ll need by an hour or two!

*NB Paul often records his own vocals & basic tracks at home and sends me the Garageband files to import into Logic. Jes and Lunch have both recorded and emailed me bass & guitar parts too. This cuts down the time/pressure factor of trying to get everyone’s parts recorded in one go.

Setting up, monitoring & spill
I don’t have multiple sets of headphones, mixers, acoustic screens etc – maybe one day I will get all this (and a big enough car/van to bring it all) but for now I (and the bands) have to get used to working in a kind of ‘open plan’ recording arrangement.

A few key points to remember: there will not be clinical separation between the instruments; not everyone will have individual monitoring or headphones; the band basically sets up and plays as though it is a rehearsal, and I record that.

This might sound amateurish and unfeasible, but stick with me, it works……..

It usually takes about half an hour to set everything up. Ideally I plug everything straight into my interface (8 channels), it gets recorded onto my laptop, and everyone hears stuff back through the PA in the room.
I can record 8 channels at once with the setup I’ve got, so depending on the lineup of the band, and what needs to be recorded/played together, I have to work out how many mics can go on the drums, gtrs etc.

Typically for an Awkward Silences live session, I’d set it up as follows:

1- Kick drum
2- Snare
3- Floor Tom
4- Overhead
5- Bass (straight into soundcard/preamp, get a sound using software)
6- Guitar (as above, or miked)
7- Keyboard (as above)
8- Paul vocal

We can sometimes juggle this a bit – if we can use a MIDI keyboard it frees up another channel for a second drum overhead.
For Paul’s stuff we usually like to get a live vocal take, because it’s often that we capture something in his performance this way that it’s hard to reproduce later. I am often happy to accept a sonically less than perfect vocal if the vibe or attitude of it is great. I try and make sure that Paul has a decent mic for these live takes.

Deep Cut’s latest basic tracks were laid down slightly differently – 5 mics on the kit, 2 gtrs etc:

1- Kick drum
2- Snare
3- Tom 1
4- Tom 2
5- Overhead
6- Bass (straight in)
7- Gtr 1 (mic)
8- Gtr 2 (mic)

For this setup we had Emma singing along quietly with a guide vocal (because the rest of us in the band needed it) through the PA but it wasn’t recorded.

This setup and track arrangement will depend, as I said, on the instrumentation, and how well the band can play the tunes without vocals or other elements.
Obviously the less that’s going on the better – if the drummer can play through all the tunes on his own, then you could put 8 mics round the kit if you wanted. You just have to sort out what’s needed to get the desired result.
Remember that drums on their own might get you a very clean recording but might not be as exciting as when the whole band are playing.

Which brings me on to spill….
Now, there will be some of this…..quite a lot actually, depending on how loud everyone wants to play. Of course, you may plan to replace a lot of the live take tracks with individual overdubs later. You may only be interested in getting a good drum take – but remember that spill works in all directions. You might think your only worry is the drums spilling down the other mics in the room, but more often than not, the problem will be vocals/gtrs leaking onto the drums, especially the overheads. If you are going to compress the drums at all, this will be exaggerated more.

So is this a problem? In the most severe case, that overhead will become in effect a ’room mic’ for the whole band. This can be quite effective blended into a mix. Even the ‘ghost’ parts you’ll hear leaking through can add something interesting.
If you are happy to accept this, you will learn to love the spill.

But you’ll see that a problem could arise if someone plays or sings something that’s NOT meant to be on the final tune. A mistake or a changed musical/vocal part may still be noticeable even when the correct overdubs have been done, so it’s always good to point this out to the band before you start recording.
You may also want to encourage everyone to play, sing or monitor at as low a level as they can, use conducting techniques and signals, position amps intelligently, and simplify playing in order to get the basic takes down and keep leakage to a minimum.

What are we trying to achieve?
Essentially, in these sessions I am trying to capture the raw materials – the essence of the performance, basic sounds, and possibly some alternate takes/versions.
I am not really concerned with what you might call ‘getting sounds’ at this stage. Maybe if the guitar sound is set and decided, we will record it with a mic in front of an amp and it’s basically there, but otherwise I like to have broad options for later. That’s the beauty of recording just the unprocessed sounds with an initial, temporary guitar or bass sound monitored using a plugin.
Likewise, recording MIDI keyboard parts means you can use software instruments to get the sounds, and change them later.

On drums too, I don’t labour over getting anything more than a basic, natural sound from the overhead(s) and a signal from the kick, snare & toms, because I know I can trigger and blend additional drum sounds more carefully later on to get the kit sound I want. I think I’ve got my drum sounds process down to a fairly fine art – although I’m sure there’s people who still can’t believe how easy I say it is, or how lazy I seem!

Another factor here is what you, the producer/engineer can hear – think about it: you don’t have the luxury of sitting in a separate control room and dissecting every sound in isolation. You are sitting in the same room as the band, and even with headphones it’s not easy to hear in detail what’s being recorded until you play it back. In a way you just learn to set the levels right, sit back, enjoy the songs, and trust that your gear is recording the raw materials you need.

When you play stuff back too, remember the sound that will come out of that rehearsal PA isn’t going to be a true representation of what you’ve just recorded – if you need to you could bring along a set of proper monitors to listen back through, for a better idea of the sound (headphones can help, but they aren’t a substitute for speakers) – but you are not really going to hear what you’ve got properly until you get it home and start work on post production and mixing. It’s probably worth explaining that to the band too…

So that’s the setup – it might sound slightly scary, slapdash, hit & miss, but to me that’s what makes it exciting! I always look forward to getting back home after one of these sessions, opening the projects up, having a proper listen to what we’ve got, and imagining the next stage……. That’s the point where I usually send a very pleased text to the band.

In the next article we’ll move on to managing the recording process, takes, overdubbing etc…….

Part Three

Other than seeing this putrid waste of film, my only regret is not seeing it during its theatrical release.  This way I could’ve at least warned others sooner of just how bad a horror remake can be.  I mean, I really didn’t dig Rob Zombie’s take on “Halloween”, but this movie takes it to a whole new level.  (Note: The rest of this post is riddled with spoilers of both the original and remake of “Last House,” so if you have any interest in seeing either, please do it before reading the rest of this.)

In case you were unaware, the original “Last House On The Left” was released back in 1972 and was the directorial debut of Mr. Wes Craven.  For it’s time, the film was extremely controversial, as it pre-dated scapegoated films like “Cannibal Holocaust,” “I Spit On Your Grave,” and most notably “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”  The story of two girls abducted, raped, and murdered by a gang of miscreants was not received well by many theater owners, who either banned the film entirely or cut scenes out themselves until they deemed it acceptable for their audiences.  It’s a miracle that a complete version of the film still exists.  To this day, almost 40 years from its debut, there are certain scenes that are genuinely difficult to watch.  Not necessarily because of the gore, but because of the overall sense of reality and seeing just how terrible people can be.

Now for as much as I love the original, I know that it’s not perfect.  Among other things, there are some really awkward attempts at comic relief that don’t fit.  Also, seeing as this was Craven’s first film, he wasn’t able to stifle his compulsion to include booby traps in the last act (also seen in “The Hills Have Eyes” and “A Nightmare On Elm Street”).  However, with “Last House,” Craven pushed boundaries as far as he ever has in his career.   If you’re gonna remake this film in 2009, you can’t puss out.  And that is exactly what this new version did.

Unlike the latest version of “The Hills Have Eyes” (which should serve as a blueprint on how to remake a film), the most recent inception of “The Last House On The Left” did almost everything within its power to avoid controversy and comfortably place itself in multiplexes next to Pixar films.  Here’s a rundown.

The Girls

In the original film:  The girls are put through both physical and psychological torture, forced into embarrassment and violence against each other.  Phyllis is sexually abused and meets her end after being repeatedly stabbed.  Mari is raped (in an extremely disturbing shot which only shows the faces of the victim and her attacker) and shot in the lake, dying shortly after.

In the remake: Phyllis is stabbed three times (one of the only effective uses of gore in the film) and is left to die.  Mari is raped (with mainly wild angle shots used, seemingly distancing the viewer from the reality and brutality of the scene) and is also shot.  Though unlike the original, she lives through the film.

The fact that Mari survives might be the biggest copout of all.  The whole point of the original was to not pull punches and show the dark side of humanity.  Also, killing off Mari halfway through the film, who was the main character up to that point, shocks the audience and makes them realize that anything can happen.  Off hand, I can only think of two other movies that do this (“Psycho” and “Hostel”).

The Gang

In the original film: They are seen as detestable people who maliciously kidnap these two girls to appease their own sadistic tendencies.  The only one with any conscience, Krug’s son, still is directly responsible for abducting the girls and winds up killing himself out of guilt.

In the remake: They are seemingly forced into kidnapping when they arrive at their hotel room to find the girls hanging out with Krug’s son.  The son is seen as an innocent who predictably “goes good” at the end of the film.

By the gang not having a premeditated plan to do what they do in this movie, the feeling of depravity is lost.  In some ways, you could justify the abduction as something they had to do to avoid being caught.

The Parents  & The Gang’s Demise

In the original: When Mari’s parents discover what the gang has done, they do not seek escape or help.  They immediately go for retribution, resulting in grizzly deaths for all of the culprits.  Sadie, the only female in the gang, has her throat slit.  Frank (AKA Weasel) has his penis bitten off by Mari’s mother.  And Krug is hacked with a chainsaw by Mari’s father just has the police arrive.

In the remake: Because Mari survives in this version, the parents find her near lifeless body and first try to get to a hospital.  It is only after realizing a clean getaway is impossible that they take their fitting revenge.

Once again, the new version tones down the brutality and the justification for it.  This caps off with Krug meeting his maker by having his head put in a microwave.  I’m not kidding.  They put his fucking head in a microwave.  This movie is supposed to be based in reality and they put his fucking head in a microwave until it exploded.  Why not just bring in Bruce Campbell with a chainsaw arm to perform the coup de grace?

My biggest beef with this movie is its lack of respect for the original.  It took a great film and just tweaked it until they had 110 minutes of footage that would sell enough tickets to turn a decent profit (which I sadly contributed to).  It would be like if they remade “Rain Man” and Dustin Hoffman’s character just magically stopped being autistic and everyone lived happily ever after.  Seriously, one of the last shots in the film shows the family on their boat heading to a hospital with Krug’s son aboard, almost to infer that the parents are going to take him in.  I can see the conversation now:

MOM SAYS TO MARI:  “Um, Mari.  Remember when that guy raped you and left you for dead and his son just sat there and didn’t help you at all?  Well….Meet your new brother!”

(Note:  Just one other thing that pissed me off about this movie:  About five or six years ago, I started writing a script for a “Last House” remake, just for fun. I had slight variations in mind and music picked out, among other things.   I only got about 15 or 20 pages into it when I found out it was already being remade.  I figured I’d stop writing it, and I lost it forever when my hard drive crashed a few months ago.  One of the songs I had picked out was Death In Vegas’s “Dirge.”  Well, guess what song plays at the closing credits of the new version?  Yup, motherfuckers!)

Ian Button is Paul Hawkins & Thee Awkward Silences’ drummer and producer, and has played for and produced various other bands too (most notably as the guitarist in Death in Vegas but he’s also been in Thrashing Doves, played sessions for Pete Doherty, Cathy Dennis and Brandon Block and has recently produced David Cronenberg’s Wife, Extradition Order, Deep Cut, 4 or 5 Magicians and more, and is working currently on projects with Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, and Go Kart Mozart…).  He also teaches music production courses at Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury College and Point Blank.

Over a series of articles he will talk about DIY production and home recordings.  We hope you find them useful.

DIY Record Production – Part 1:  A View – by Ian Button July 2009

Absent-mindedly scanning the 2009 Mercury Prize nominees in the paper the other morning, I noticed that one of the contenders’ biog/blurb seemed to be making a big point about their album being recorded ‘on a laptop in a shed’.

While on the one hand I’m glad to see that Sweet Billy Pilgrim are proud of their work and how it was made, I was frankly surprised that in 2009 their ‘DIY’ approach was worthy of such note (it was practically the only thing the feature mentioned about them). People have been making records ‘at home’ for many years if you think about it – from Les Paul’s early multitracking experiments in his garage, to Joe Meek’s hit-factory flat in Holloway Rd, to Daniel Johnston’s cassette recordings – artists and producers have been putting so-called ‘professional’ production values into perspective by doing it themselves. Some are being subversive, some are just being practical.

Over the years, a variety of acts have occasionally surprised/annoyed the traditionalists with releases that weren’t recorded…er… ‘properly’: Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska was recorded on a 4-track portastudio; The Cowboy Junkies’ Trinity Sessions used a single microphone and no overdubs. Ok, it was quite an expert/expensive microphone, but it made a point; Baby Bird was hailed as a bedroom genius; White Town got to No.1…the list goes on, with Bon Iver being one of the most recent artists to become famous for locking himself away in a hut with some simple equipment and coming out with an acclaimed album. I myself can vouch for the fact that much of Death In Vegas’ first album Dead Elvis was made in a bedroom, using some fairly non-standard approaches to recording guitars, editing, mixer controls way beyond safe settings etc etc.

But the point is that it’s the content on these recordings that matters – they were all accepted on their own particular terms. I’d like to think the same applies to the production I do now, for Paul’s stuff, Extradition Order, David Cronenberg’s Wife, Deep Cut and all the others (of which more in a future article).

No one took Springsteen’s album back to the shop because he hadn’t used enough tracks. Thankfully Radio 1 didn’t send Thee Awkward Silences stuff back and tell us to record it again.

Sure, there are nerds like myself who like to go on about how albums are made, and as producers/artists pride ourselves on attention to detail and doing what we think is right to make the best of the project, but the fundamental point and goal of any production, DIY or otherwise, is that we are able to make something convincing with whatever resources we have, or choose to use, and the consumer/listener either likes the result or doesn’t, but accepts it as a record alongside all the other records that have ever been made.

That attitude has always been there – I’ve had it myself for over 20 years, at the same time as working in countless projects that – for whatever reasons – had to do it the textbook (i.e. expensive, studio) way. I’m talking about making DIY ‘rock’ records (e.g. The Anthony Anderson Project), but anyone who’s been involved in making electronic/dance music will have been aware of that same production ethic for just as long.

The main difference between home and studio recording used to be sound quality (tape width, number of tracks etc). That issue is no longer there. Today’s technology and the accessibility of recording/production tools means it’s even more feasible to make a musical product independently/at home/cheaply/in any style, and send it out there into the big wide world and no one will know (or care) how you recorded it – they will judge it, of course, but it will be about how good your lyrics/chorus/haircut/bandname are, not your mics or reverb settings or whether you used Protools (thousands of pounds) or Audacity (free). There’s another issue here too: the current music consumer ethic and sales trends are going to mean that expensive recordings won’t make any sense for any but the most massive artists. It’s going to be no bad thing for us all to learn how to create our art quickly, cheaply and realistically.

Basically, the same thing applies to production as it does to playing/writing/performing – if you are confident about what you can do, and honest about what you can’t do, you will find a sound, an approach, and a way of working that will fit.

In the next article I’m going to go into a bit more detail about how I record Paul’s and all the other bands’ stuff, with a few suggestions for what you are going to need if you want to get started yourself.

Part Two

Este duo britanico muestra en sus discos una mezcla muy variada de estilos con colaboraciones de otros artistas y musicos en vivo. Su tercer disco es algo conceptual y esta basado en la pelicula de culto del mismo nombre de Kenneth Anger, la cual no he visto ni se de que se trate por lo que mejor les dejo el disco que si he escuchado y esta re bueno.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zjyqemy5jvt

Ian Button drumming

Ian Button used to be the guitarist in Death in Vegas and Thrashing Doves and nowadays plays drums and produces in Paul Hawkins & Thee Awkward Silences, as well as producing various other underground bands including David Cronenberg’s Wife (for whom he is also the bassist), Deep Cut (drummer again too) Extradition Order, 4 or 5 Magicians, Go-kart Mozart and more as well as lecturing and teaching music production at various colleges and universities including Canterbury Christchurch University.

Why are you in this band?

It was the first band to let me play drums, when I took them up after years of being a guitarist. When the idea was mooted that it should be a full live band (not just Paul solo), I think Paul expected me to go for guitar, but I really was trying to retire from that – at least playing it live. So I said I would only be in it if I could play the drums.

I’m also in it because it’s fun, good exercise, honest, uncompromising in many ways, and I love seeing the looks on people’s faces when we play.

I have, truthfully, never been in a band like it.

Do you actually have any idea why the band are called Thee Awkward Silences?  And what does the name mean to you?

I always thought it was just one of a long list that Paul tried out the sound of. The fact that what we do is sometimes quite ‘uncomfortable-making’ – seems to fit quite well.

And of course there’s the extra ‘e’. A long and involved tale that I won’t go into here.  But someone else might.

Suffice to say, I’ve never quite known why any of the miriad bands called Thee somethings use the extra ‘e’ –  did Billy Childish start it?……Or was it Orridge?

Anyway, in Yorkshire they call us T’Awkward Silences…….

How would you describe your first encounter with Paul/the band?

My first ‘encounter’ was reading a preview of one of Paul’s solo gigs, which happened to be the night after a gig I was doing (and reading the preview of). It was describing Paul’s songs, playing, delivery etc, painting a picture of this misfit unmissable tragi-comic genius. I found his website and myspace page, really liked the tunes and lyrics, and he had a message up saying he wanted someone to help him arrange strings for his songs. I sent him a message saying I could do it, and that’s how it all started……I think I did quite a bit of the music on the first tunes before we actually met in person.

Which Awkward Silences song do you relate to the most?

‘Alexander Martin’ I think. Not because I ever have done, or would do what the song suggests. But the concept of aliases, to whatever degree, is quite fascinating. I’d just watched all the (original) Reginald Perrins when I first heard the song – and that line just made me do that ‘yes, this is brilliant’ laugh…..which is what all songs should have.

I think this one was also one of the first ‘minimal/repetitive/programmed’ kind of songs that we did after the ‘We Are Not Other People’ stuff. It hasn’t yet been transformed into a full band song, so it’s in this kind of limbo, which I like.

Are your favourite Awkward Silences songs to play and favourite Awkward Silences songs to listen to the same thing?

Playing – I always enjoy ‘You Can’t Make Somebody Love You’ – it’s one of the oldest songs and comes in and out of favour, but it always seems to work – in my head it’s a mixture of Hello I Love You/Get Off My Cloud/ No Fun/ and a Who song they never actually did. Or perhaps that’s just the drums……..the rare ‘Bingo Little’ version used to be great too.

Listening – ‘Eddie The Eagle’…….I’m very proud of what we did on this one. Somehow we got just the right balance of Scott Walker epicness and scary West End Musical uncomfortability.

If the band ended tomorrow what would your fondest memory of it all be?

Backing up all the recordings properly. Twice.

How do you think the band will develop in the future?

I wouldn’t want to predict changes – like honing our playing or songcraft, or touring for a year to get ‘really tight’, or going reggae – although of course any combination of those could happen accidentally.

With most artists over a few albums you can usually trace some kind of progression (or demise, depending on your point of view), but I don’t believe you can predict, or judge it.

Lost in Translation

Saw a great film last night, I’m a little behind with films at times-after all Lost in Translation was released in 2003, eek! A great song in there by Death by Vegas called Girls- a lovely piece of music , an interesting relaxed soundtrack and a brilliant film!

I really recommend you watch it. It’s directed by Sofia Coppola and has some great camera shots in it! I’m a bit obvious to films, shots and angles but am being educated by Adam who appreciates it more than I do– it’s great learning though, I love spotting how something visually has been perfectly planned out and the creative result is mind-blowing. Other directors to check out: Spike Jonze & Chris Cunningham.  Cunningham directed videos such as Bjork All is full of love with the white robots, Portishead- Only You (WOW) and that random PlayStation advert from way back then- remember this?-  They’re category of their own! Jonze directed Adaptation another great film watch recently by me hehe, he has created videos for  Bjork, Fatboy Slim and Kayne West.

I guess if you are a creative person and are gifted with the ability to express you thoughts feelings and passing moments of genius through art, design, music etc: the creativity shown in others stirs the creativity in you. It’s an dancer appreciating and seeing the gift expressed in a well structured, perfectly arranged creative short film, or a writer feeling the creative heart behind an emotion drenched soloists melody.

A creative person does not just stay tuned into their own creative expression, this leads to us becoming stagnant and only expressing a small frame of the intended image. They spot it in every minute of their day and take those moments as if building a memory box and trim it to the collage they are piecing together.

Good read! Nice cover too!

My bus reading book at the moment is The Gift: How the creative spirit transform the world by Lewis Hyde- it’s an excellent book, not written from the perspective that creativity is a gift, not a commodity to be manufactured and sold but something that is crafted at and given away and is continuously being given away. It’s a great book, I recommend it as a good read, its not written by a Christian author but the concept and the heart of it is the same- It is a bit full on to read in an entire sitting but that maybe just my attention span  he he. So it is mark as my bus reading book so I read a chapter there and back from work.

H x

If I wasn’t so afraid of drifting out into the eternal abyss of space until the end of time, I would love to be an astronaut. If I were about to embark on a cosmic journey of some kind, this is the mixtape I would bring. Actually I’d probably just make a playlist on my ipod, I doubt any space shuttle is going to have a tape player in this day and age.

So I’m thinking of making a kind of narrative to run through this selection of songs, give it a beginning, middle and an end. The first few will be like the take-off, then leaving Earth’s atmosphere and shit. Then maybe some sort of emergency might occur where the engine falls off or something. Then an alien attack, their subsequent defeat and back home. Nerd alert!

The video for this song is pretty apt in terms of the context of the song. So it’s definitely going in. Arthur Russell is the balls. He played a significant role in the production and songwriting of some of the best disco songs ever, under the aliases Dinosaur L, Indian Ocean, Felix and Loose Joints. This song though, is one of his more curious, avant-pop ones.

ARTHUR RUSSELL – THIS IS HOW WE WALK ON THE MOON (from the album “Another Thought”)

It’s not really possible to have a space-travel themed playlist of songs and not feature Vangelis in some capacity. So here is a merging of two pieces from Blade Runner which I feel would be perfect for pissing it across the cosmos, maybe encountering an alien life-form, killing the shit out of it, and generally having the best buzz ever! Yes!

VANGELIS – BLADE RUNNER

I don’t really have much else to say about these songs, but I think they’re pretty much self-explanatory when they’re listened to. Just enjoy them you smelly little brutes!

DEATH IN VEGAS – SONS OF ROTHER (from the album “Satan’s Circus”)

OBLIO – EPICUREANISM

TORTOISE – MONICA (from the album “Standards”) www.myspace.com/tortoise

DOPPLEREFFEKT – MYON-NEUTRINO

THE DROYDS – ALL I EVER WANTED (PRINCE LANGUAGE REMIX)

MARVIN GAYE – AFTER THE DANCE (INSTRUMENTAL) (from the album “I Want You”)

Wow! Some journey eh? Bye!

5 Motive, 2 Worte; Kleinbild Digital; Pigmentdruck auf Büttenpapier, in einfachem Wechselrahmen; Foto je 17.2 x 25.7 cm, Endformat je 21 x 29.7 cm; 2008

Die 5 Bildmotive sind in einer geraden Reihe angeordnet. Die Reihe wird eingeleitet mit einem weissen Blatt auf dem klein das Wort „LADY“ geschrieben steht und abgeschlossen wiederum mit einem weissen Blatt auf dem sich das Wort „LUCK“ befindet.
Die beiden Worte geben Hinweise zur Arbeit, sollen aber auch dazu verleiten näher an die Serie heranzutretten um Details auf den Fotos zu untersuchen.
In meinem Tagebuch schrieb ich am selben Tag, als diese Arbeit entstand:
„Passing by some tracks of a crazy city or rather a mekka of our western capitalism at the edge of having to face a huge global change.“