Kill-A-DJ

Headphone Safe Zone #61

2012-01-23T21:23:00.000-06:00

The Tragically Hip

Day For Night

Released September 19th, 1994

Tracklisting:

(all words by G. Downie; all music by J. Fay, G. Sinclair, P. Langlois, R. Baker)

Grace, Too

Daredevil

Greasy Jungle

Yawning or Snarling

Fire in the Hole

So Hard Done By

Nautical Disaster

Thugs

Inevitability of Death

Scared

An Inch An Hour

Emergency

Titanic Terrarium

Impossibilium

Who Did What:

Gord Downie - vocals

Gord Sinclair - bass, backing vocals

Paul Langlois - guitar

Rob Baker - lead guitar

Johnny Fay - drums, percussion

I don't generally like The Tragically Hip.

I know that, as a Canadian, I'm supposed to, but I don't.

There are a few reasons for this.

I suppose one of them is that they seem to suffer from the same thing that plagues all 'Canadiana high-art': an overwhelming need to seem as clever and as well read as possible, in order to try and comment on the human experience in a way that is hard to connect with unless you're a pretentious asshole - and if you're a pretentious asshole, odds are you're not really living the 'human experience', you're just living next to it and pretending like you aren't. For some reason, Canadians get really worked up about Canadian artists, but only after those artists have endured being ignored by Canadians and accepted in other countries. Basically, we're a fantastically stupid nation, is what I'm saying.

Another reason is the fans. A lot of times, if I don't like something, it's more to do with the fans of said thing, than the thing itself. And yes, I know that ultimately, that does more harm to me than anything else, and it's not fair to the object of adoration, but it's how my brain works. For instance, I didn't hear Miles Davis's Kind of Blue till I was 28, because when I was in high school and being introduced to jazz, every single, and I mean EVERY SINGLE person that was into jazz back then appeared to be (and was) a complete asshole. Oddly enough, many of those people are still assholes today, so it must've been something genetic and not jazz-related.

Fans of The Tragically Hip are a preachy bunch who will, at great length, try and explain to you why Gord Downie is the second-coming. Seriously. I'm generally wary of messiahs of any sort. I don't know, the guy just doesn't connect with me (more on this later). He spends a lot of time singing about southern Ontario folklore, and that is........ not my thing. I don't mind the music, but it's usually presented to me in a fashion that actually doesn't do it justice.

Case and point: Day For Night.

This is a damned good record.

I didn't pick it up till December, 1999 when I was home in Winnipeg for the holidays from my stay in Cornwall. I had heard the singles on the radio several times a day for 5 years at that point. Finally, after realizing that I really, really enjoyed "Nautical Disaster", I caved and bought this record.

Turns out, the whole thing is really good, and Downie avoids the aforementioned "I live in Ontario" tributes.

Unlike any other Tragically Hip record, Day For Night has a darker tone to it, an edge, that connects with me. Not only that, the entire thing flows so well. Even the non-radio tracks like "Yawning or Snarling" or "Emergency" are as good or better than anything released as a single.

This record was a soundtrack to a particular time. I listened the hell out of this album when I lived in Cornwall. It was on during every single roadtrip undertaken by my friends Rob and Pascal and I between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Prior to that though, many of the songs were backdrops to my teen years, particularly high school and the years immediately afterward. For some reason, a girl I worked with named Celina (Ihad a huge crush on her) used to sing "So Hard Done By" at work all the time. "Thugs" inspired many instances of hot-boxing my Honda Civic with the line "I do the rolling, you do the details"; you know, the way teenagers get about pot references (see: all Tom Petty songs).

I don't listen to this record very often these days, but hearing it now as I write this, I kinda wish I did. It's a really solid record form start to finish. And it has a dirty, fuck-you swagger that I can relate to now.

Remember when I mentioned how I could never related to Downie's lyrics? Well, there's a few instances on this record that connect with me, though none more than the track "Titanic Terrarium":

"Growing up in a biosphere,

with no respect for bad weather,

there's still roaches and ants in here,

so resourceful and clever.

Her great-grandfather saw the future,

didn't know nothing 'bout panic,

he certainly probably thought,

that it was unthinkable.

There's a trace o' mint,

wafting in from the north,

so we don't fuck with the 401,

it's bigger than us or,

larger than we bargained,

I guess it's just not done.

His great-grandfather worked for Goodyear,

he'd see the blimp on Sundays,

wonder what the driver knew

about making rubber tires.

Terrarium, O Terrarium.

There's submarines out there under the ice,

avoiding and courting collision,

an accident's sometimes the only way,

to worm our way back to bad decisions,

my great-grandfather was a welder,

he helped build the Titanic,

he certainly didn't think,

that it was unsinkable.

Building up to the larger point,

with an arrogance not rare or pretty,

we don't declare war on idleness,

when outside it's cold and shitty.

We stay inside and try to conjure the fathers of,

the injured and faking,

if there's glory in miracles,

it's that they're reversible.

Terrarium, O Terrarium."

Cryptic, yet somehow it captured exactly where I was at 21. I was living in something akin to a biosphere, learning to make airplanes miss. And all the while, I was freaking the fuck out about the future (which is still the case). I tend to panic when I become idle. I need tasks to keep from freaking out. For some reason, this song makes me recognize that, on some sort of macroscopic level anyway. It calms me. Dunno.

Anyway, there you have it. The only Tragically Hip record that I like. But I really, really like it.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #60

2012-01-17T00:09:00.000-06:00

Vangelis

Blade Runner Soundtrack

Released June 21st, 1994

Tracklisting:

(all music by Vangelis)

Main Titles
Blush Response
Wait for Me
Rachel's Song
Love Theme
One More Kiss, Dear (lyrics by P. Skellern)
Blade Runner Blues
Memories of Green
Tales of the Future
Damask Rose
Blade Runner End Titles
Tears in Rain

Who Did What:

Vangelis - keyboards, synth, programming

Others:

Mary Hopkin - vocals (Rachel's Song)
Dick Morrisey - saxophone (Love Theme)
Don Percival - vocals (One More Kiss, Dear)
Demis Roussos - vocals (Tales of the Future)

If you don't have this record, then I'll wait while you drop whatever it is you're doing, get your ass to Mars (wrong movie) and get this record.
Then I'll wait while you put it on, sit down with your headphones and enjoy the living fuck out of it.
Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest soundtracks ever made.
Ever.
EVER!
Here's why:
Many soundtracks, let's say most soundtracks, fall in to one of two categories; one, they are so bland and ineffective that you don't notice them in any way whatsoever; two, they are so obtrusive and poorly constructed that they make you wish you were deaf (I'm looking at you Mission to Mars, or everything Danny Elfman has ever done - seriously, it's like the guy is trying his damnedest to be as irritating as possible all the time).
Thankfully, every now and then, a soundtrack comes along that marries sound and image together in a way that augments both. Films like The Crow, Inception, Social Network, Ghost in the Shell, Hero, the entire Battlestar Galactica re-imagining all benefitted from great soundtracks.
Blade Runner is at the top of that pile.
Just like the film, there's multiple versions of the soundtrack.
This version, released over a decade after the promised release in the end credits of the movie, is considered the official one. In addition, it acts not only as a companion piece, but as a stand-alone record. If it weren't for the bits of dialogue scattered throughout the record, you wouldn't even need to have seen the film to enjoy the music (actually, my wife heard the soundtrack before she saw the film, and she liked it just fine, so there's that).
It features music from the film, and pieces that were written and recorded but ultimately left out such as "Wait for Me" and "Blush Response". The music is presented not in sequential order with the film, but in a way that makes sense for the record. Put it on, get lost for an hour. It's easy to do too, given the amount of space within it. Tracks like "Main Titles", "Rachel's Song", "Blade Runner Blues" and "Memories of Green" can and will drop you into a futuristic cityscape, rain-drenched and lonely. I had the great joy of listening to this record while wondering the streets of Tokyo. There wasn't as much rain as in the movie, but the look was the same, and it was easy to lose myself in the music for a while. The song "Blade Runner Blues" is easily one of the most evocative pieces of music ever composed for that very reason. It sounds like what a dystopian city sounds like to me; simply beautiful.
As an album of largely ambient music, it avoids the pitfalls of the genre by retaining a pulse. You can lose yourself in the music, but the music won't lose you. It builds a world, maintains it for the duration and keeps it interesting.
This record is really a precursor to any cyberpunk or industrial music that's come out in the last 20 years. Not stylistically, but in terms of mood, vibe, whatever you want to call it. Every good electronic or industrial record has had it (see Frontline Assembly's Tactical Neural Implant, for instance). Fun fact, the vocal line from "Rachel's Song" is used heavily in Future Sound of London's "My Kingdom" (another record worth checking out - I wrote about it here).
As I mentioned above, there's multiple versions of the soundtrack.....

Off World Music

Released sometimes in 1993

Tracklisting:

(all music by Vangelis, except where noted)

Ladd Company Logo (music by J. Williams)
Main Titles and Prologue
Los Angeles, November 2019
Deckard Meets Rachel
Bicycle Riders (music by G. Laughton)
Memories of Green
Blade Runner Blues
Deckard's Dream
On the Trail of Nexus 6
If I Didn't Care (music and words by J. Lawrence)
Love Theme
The Prodigal Son Brings Death
Dangerous Days
Wounded Animals
Tears in Rain
End Titles
One More Kiss, Dear (words by P. Skellern)
Trailer and Alternate Main Titles (music by R. Randles)

This is one of several bootlegs floating around the internet. It surfaced (along with 3 or 4 others) in order to fill the void left by the at-the-time-unreleased official soundtrack. It's basically the score right out of the movie, in the same order (ie: if it was possible to isolate the score on the dvd, this would be it). If you've seen the movie as many times as I have (ie: somewhere near in the range of obsessive and compulsive), you can put this on and relive the film in your mind. I didn't date a lot in high school.
The sound quality is decent compared to other bootlegs, and it's a more complete picture of the actual score than any bootlegs released prior.
That said, there is an Esper Edition of the soundtrack (specifically the Retirement Edition). Released in 2007, it has 6 discs and contains every sound made for, by, or within earshot of the film. I haven't explored that one yet, but I will at some point. For now though, the official score listed at the top is the go-to record for me.

Seriously, just do yourself a fucking favour and get this record. You will not regret it. It has provided me with countless hours of contentment, and I would hope it does the same for you.

Michael

At work

2012-01-15T12:11:00.001-06:00

and with the gun in my mouth....

2012-01-10T01:10:00.001-06:00

there's no comfort found in this anymore.
where i once could turn to it in times of need, times of trouble, it is no longer a haven.
it has become dull and indifferent, just like everyone else.
i am invisible here.
i am voiceless.
i am nothing.
music is dead to me.

Headphone Safe Zone #59

2012-01-10T01:03:00.000-06:00

Nine Inch Nails

The Fragile

Released September 21st, 1999

Trasklisting:

(all words by T. Reznor; all music by T. Reznor, except where noted)

Left:

Somewhat Damaged (music by T. Reznor, D. Lohner)
The Day the World Went Away
The Frail
The Wretched
We're In This Together Now
The Fragile
Just Like You Imagined
Even Deeper (music by T. Reznor, D. Lohner)
Pilgrimage
No, You Don't
La Mer
The Great Below

Right:

The Way Out is Through (music by T. Reznor, K. Hillebrandt, C. Clouser)
Into the Void
Where is Everybody?
The Mark Has Been Made
10 Miles High
Please (+ Appendage)
Starfuckers Inc. (music by T. Reznor, C. Clouser)
Complication
The New Flesh
I'm Looking Forward to Joining You Finally
The Big Comedown
Underneath It All
Ripe (With Decay)

B-Sides:

And All That Could Have Been (music by T. Reznor, D. Lohner)
Adrift and At Piece
The Great Collapse

Who Did What:

Trent Reznor - all

Others:

Danny Lohner - guitar (Somwhat Damaged, Just Like You Imagined, The Great Below, Complication), drum programming (Even Deeper), synth (Even Deeper)
Keith Hillebrandt - programming (The Day the World Went Away, 10 Miles High)
Jerome Dillon - drums (We're In This Together)
Adrian Belew - guitar (Just Like You Imagined, The Great Below, Where Is Everybody?)
Mike Garson - piano (Just Like You Imagined, The Way Out is Through, Ripe With Decay)
Cherry Holly - trumpet (Pilgrimage)
Steve Duda - percussion (Pilgrimage), violin (Ripe With Decay)
Page Hamilton - guitar (No, You Don't)
Denise Milfort - backing vocals (La Mer)
Bill Rieflin - drums (La Mer)
Willie - cello (La Mer)
Charlie Clouser - programming (The Great Below, Into the Void)
Kim Prevost - backing vocals (Into the Void)
Telefon Tel Aviv - programming (The Great Collapse)

As sprawling epics go, this is easily one of the best.
The first time I heard this record, I was living in Cornwall, Ontario. I purchased it the day it came out, hopped in the car with my friend Pascal and drove to Montreal for the night. I threw this record on for the drive. It's good for that (though it made Pascal uncomfortable - it's good for that too).
It really is a fucked up record in so many ways, and yet it is also a benchmark in artistic and sonic quality. While not my favorite NIN record, it is a reference point for my creative output in terms of the sound design, sequencing, atmosphere, etc. Every single time I've gone into the studio to make a Soul Killing Female record with Ryan McVeigh, both of us inevitably end up referencing The Fragile.
It's sort of an elephant-in-the-room kind of thing. I mean, it's got some phenomenal pieces of music on it, and it's easily on of the most original records of the 20th century. But it is hard to digest, largely due to its being a double-record (and it meanders, even by double-record standards). Reznor himself has stated as much, indicating that had he a chance to do it again, he'd have released it as a pair of individual albums. Sandwiched between two very focused albums, 1994's The Downward Spiral and 2005's With Teeth, The Fragile can kind of seem like a giant pile of mess on an otherwise uncluttered, streamlined path.
But it is a glorious mess.
The Fragile has its strengths and its weaknesses, but the strengths so far outweigh those weaknesses, that they're hardly noticeable most times.
For instance, the "Left" disc is a very focused collection of songs that fit together logically, and every piece of music is great. The "Right" disc is a little more scatter-brained and there are a few songs that seem like duds in the context of the rest of the record. Songs like "Where Is Everybody", "Please" and "10 Miles High" (left off the cd version) don't necessarily suck, but they do pale next to songs like "Into the Void", "Somewhat Damaged", "We're In This Together Now".... well, the rest of the record, quite frankly. The "Right" disc does have some incredible moments though, most notably the instrumental tracks, "The Way Out is Through", "The Mark Has Been Made", "Complication" and "Ripe With Decay", the latter being the creepiest thing I've ever heard put to tape. I fell asleep listening to this record once, and woke up in the dark in the middle "Ripe With Decay" in my headphones. I thought I had seconds to live as a demon looked down at me, ready to tear me to pieces. It was fucking freaky. I still get uncomfortable listening to the track, even in the light of day.
It seems like, during the 1997-1999 period during which The Fragile was being created, Reznor wanted to make a regular NIN record and an instrumental record, and then sort of jammed it all together. This kind of worked on The Fragile, though the balance was better on "Left" than on "Right". It would've been far more interesting (though most likely commercial suicide at the time) if he'd released a purely instrumental record of pieces from The Fragile.
The cover art is also my favorite of the NIN discography. While pretty much all the albums had cover art that suited the music contained within, The Fragile's artwork is just that much more suited to its sonic companions. With everything just slightly out of focus, and the logo half-hidden, it gives an impression of imperfection, and serves to convey the nature of the music (all of which has the feel of being not-quite-100%-in-tune).
On a personal level, many of NIN's albums have been released at precisely the right moments. They always occur at major turning points in my life. I know that many people experience this with many different artists. But for me, NIN (and for some reason Matthew Good) seems to know when stuffs gonna s'plode.
The pre-album single for "The Day the World Went Away" came out that July, one week before my girlfriend Alexia died. It was perfect timing in that, I found great comfort in that song over the two months between when she died and when The Fragile came out. To say that that song saved me would be a gross understatement; I listened to it several times a day, every single day for a while.
The Fragile marked the moment I stopped being a teenager and started being a real-live grown up. I was 21, living on my own in a different city, and taking a stab at a career in air-traffic management that I didn't really want to do, but got 'encouraged' to do (and I blame myself for not saying no to it, but whatev, it all worked out). In the year that followed Alexia's death, I moved to Vancouver, started seeing an old girlfriend (well, I guess by 'girlfriend', I mean 'girl I tried like fucking mad to convince to date me all through high school, then didn't talk to for two years, then ran into miraculously just before moving away, and then somehow convinced to date me finally'. That.). Said old girlfriend (referenced in other HSZ blog posts, but I'm too lazy to look them up) and I had one of those really, really, REALLY bad ideas otherwise known as the 'long-distance-relationship'. One of the only highlights of our time together was seeing NIN for the first time in 1999 on the Fragility 2.0 tour. Mind blown. Beyond that, seeing her took at least a decade off of my life.
Listening to The Fragile really helped to get through that time. Well, it did and it didn't. Due to the very insular and claustrophobic nature of the record, and given the giant pile of stress and depression I was under, and the fact that I spent 97% of my time alone, it probably wasn't that constructive to spend hours and hours and hours and hours with the headphones on listening to this record. But I did. So there's that.
In addition to all that aforementioned life-stuff, I also lost a grandfather, that 'career', the girlfriend, a few other friends, and whatever mental stability I ever had. It was a fucked up two years. So I guess it's fitting that a fucked up record would be the soundtrack to it (though honourable mentions go out to Strapping Young Lad's City, Matthew Good Band's Beautiful Midnight, Faith No More's Album of the Year, and Fear Factory's Obsolete for contributing to my survival).
There was a time I couldn't listen to this record, because I had so much shit tied up with it, but over the last few years, I've been able to distance the record from the experiences and just appreciate what a sonic beauty it really is. Even when it's not beautiful, it still is beautiful.
Apparently there's a 5.1 mix coming out this year. the very idea of somehow further immersing myself in this record gives me just a little bit of an aneurysm, but in a good way.
I'd also like to point out that, of all the NIN songs ever played live, the material from The Fragile, especially the instrumentals, somehow seems to come off a bit more intensely than any of the other NIN work. Dunno why that is. But it is. For reference, check out "Just Like You Imagined". Fucking glorious.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #59

2011-12-31T12:06:00.001-06:00

Dave Matthews Band

I can't put in to words how much I hate the Dave Matthews Band. But I'm going to try.
They hold a very special place in my life: I can remember the exact moment when I realized I hated them.
It was in August of 2000, I was living in Vancouver. I was biking from my apartment in Richmond to Stanley Park, on a borrowed bike that was too small and only worked in 10th gear.
Now, those of you who live in Vancouver, you know that what I just described is insane. Nay, stupid.
For those of you not familiar with the distance, here's a picture:

What the map doesn't show is the number of massive hills you have to climb to get downtown (sure, the ride back to Richmond is mostly downhill, which is nice because going the other way is probably less fun than being dragged down a gravel road behind a car full of overweight women discussing Oprah).
I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band live album Listener Supported. It was during the song "Jimi Thing". I was busting my ass getting up that first big hill after the bridge and I thought, 'this is the most irritating sound I've ever heard'. I turned it off. I can't remember what I put on instead, because I was just so incensed by the fact that I'd spent the previous 5 years listening to the Dave Matthews Band.
You really have to be a shallow motherfucker to relate to/enjoy this shit.
Now, there's lots of music that I don't connect with, but I can appreciate why others might like it (see: The Flaming Lips, Kyuss, Radiohead or Wilco). But the DMB (as they will hereafter be referred to) is just the most superficial of crap that its fans are quantifiably stupid.
So, why did I listen to them?
Well, their drummer, Carter Beauford was pretty cool back in 1995 when I was still getting the hang of the whole drumming thing. At the time his playing was fast and flashy, and I was too young to know that it was unnecessarily busy and didn't serve the music at all. In fact, I would fire him if he played for me now.
When I was 16, syncopated hi-hat parts were all the rage (apparently). The DMB was on the radio in Winnipeg a lot (songs like "What Would You Say" and "Too Much" from their 2nd and 3rd records respectively). I even went to see the DMB live twice in the same year (for some reason I didn't realize that they were simply my generation's Grateful Dead). Beauford was pretty fascinating live because he played really fast. I was a very simple person then.
So, being a drummer, and liking the drummer for the DMB, friends and family kept buying me DMB albums. Over the course of 2 years, I ended up with a half dozen drink-coasters.
Of course, it helped that, for whatever reason, girls everywhere went apeshit for the DMB. I can't explain it, but it did serve to lower my overall opinion of women in general. That said, I am guilty of using the vomity-sweet "Crash Into Me" in order to get laid when I was 18. It's like catnip for them (see above statement regarding the quantifiability of stupidity).
Since leaving the DMB behind in 2000, I've come to realize that it's not so much music but simple distraction for backwards-hat-wearing, abercrombe & fitch sporting, pot smoking, hacky-sacking, shiftless layabouts. If they listened to anything with any sort of emotional depth, it would cause them to look within themselves and they would see nothing. They would implode under the weight of their own unjustified self-worth (I'm looking at you Rob). I mean really, I know this'll seem somewhat hypocritical given it's taking place in the context of a rant, but DMB fans are some of the most judgmental sacks of crap it has ever been my utter displeasure to share oxygen with.
I think these 'people' like the DMB because they jam on one riff for fucking ever, and with their shortened attention spans, they don't realize that the song has gone nowhere, and Dave Matthews has just mumbled nonsense and Boyd Tinsley has played the same TWO NOTES OVER AND OVER on his goddam fiddle. Also, I'm just gonna state, for the record, Boyd Tinsley is the most vestigial of musicians. Seriously, if you got rid of that goddam fiddle, the music might even improve. He does the same fucking thing in every song. EVERY SONG!
The DMB is like a huge box filled with nothing but packing peanuts. There's nothing to find in there.
The DMB are doing humanity a disservice by trying to make it seem like life is good and everything is alright, and if you just get a little high and dance like a white person, everything will turn out alright.
But life isn't good, and everything is not alright. Not by a long fucking shot. That's not to say life sucks and that there's no point to anything; not even the DMB can make me that nihilistic. But the people who listen to the DMB have decided that there's no point to anything so they're just gonna get high and dance on the grass as though that's going to solve the problems of the world. They setting humanity back by 1000 years and then they have the gall to look down on anyone actually putting 'effort' into 'things'. I'm not saying you can't be happy, or have fun, or that those things are unattainable, but the insincerity and emptiness behind the DMB just makes what they do seem utterly gross. In fact, I would go so far as to state that the DMB are the embodiment of pure nihilism.

"whoa, chill brah!"

Wait, what? How did you get in here?

"you just gotta relax man, your aura is just so red."

Are you fucking kidding me?

"man, have you heard the tasty licks on disc 2 of Live at Red Rocks?"

Get out of my room.

"No man, it's so...... real, you know?"

That doesn't make sense. and why do you have a djembe?

"No, man, no it's so..... real, like he's speaking right to me you know, like right out of the speakers and into my brain, you know?"

You're high.

"dude, you gotta expand your mind, man, really push the limits of your perceptions man"

Here's a Devin Townsend record. When what's left of your brain has finished leaking out the side of your head, wipe the tears from your face and know that while you were unconscious, I took a shit on you.

Seriously, somebody kill these people.
I hate hippies.

KILL A DJ's 2011

2011-12-29T20:12:00.001-06:00

Work begins......

X-Files break

Kind of Red

I miss you, Buckweet

Farewell to Light demoes...

Mogwai oversees the process...

Utopia Mine (black)

Utopia Mine (red)

Landmines (blue)

Landmines (black)

Makin' shirts in the kitchen!

Music for Suicides (black & silver)

pedalboard

First performance of "Isolationism". Also, first time at The Park Theater

Covering SYL again...

This was just the funniest thing I'd seen all year....

Two days before tracking drums, I had a coworker take a chunk out of my hand...

Tracking drums for Kind of Red....

more drums.....

yet still more drums.....

My setup for Sorites Paradox...

Todd and Steve at Case Del Dog Shit....

Anion!

Grand Master!

Live at The Zoo with Jaymez (first show with Jaymez)

Chronobot at The Fez (in Saskatoon)

Chronobot

Zombie Sex Cult (Saskatoon - they wrote a song about SKF called "You Can't Mosh To This")

Quetzaqoatl (sp? - wicked drummer)

My feet at the merch booth in Saskatoon

Taking my daughter to see real, live zombies!

More zombies!

...... Yet still more zombies.....

Loading out for Napalm Death (in Brandon)

Loading in at the North Hill Inn (Brandon), opening for Napalm Death

Jaymez, my visuals guy, and all 'round pleasant traveling companion

Napalm Death

Jaymez and I raced beer bottles across the table during ND's set. The p.a. was absurdly (and joyously) loud

Photos of SKF live in Brandon by Ryan Brady

Cloudfight!

Kill All Humans

Robots by Marathon 1981

photos by Kert Gartner

Sorites hard at work on new material at Studio G

Yep.

Yep again.

Brand new, dog-shit-free rehearsal space!

SKF rehearsal

Todd tracks lead guitar on the SKF cover of the Posies' "Coming Right Along"

Christmas Supper.

SKF rehearsal, roughly 2 a.m.

See you in the new year!

- Michael

2011 In Review

2011-12-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

I discovered, or re-discovered, a lot of new music this year. Here's a brief list of the albums that have been blowing me away this year:

The Rolling Stones:

I've obviously known/heard the Stones my entire life, but I was always ambivalent towards them. For some reason, this summer, after hearing "Gimme Shelter", something clicked and I finally got one of their records. Maybe it's a '30s' thing. I dunno, but I love it.

Beggar's Banquet

Let it Bleed

Sticky Fingers

Exile on Main St.

ZZ Top:

Another band that I've known/heard my entire life. When I was a kid, I had Eliminator and Afterburner and played those cassettes to death. On a whim, after not listening to them for at least a decade, I went back and checked out their earlier material. To say I fell in love would be a massive understatement.

ZZ Top's First Album

Rio Grande Mud

Tres Hombres

M83:

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - this album gives me panic attacks because it is so fucking good

Tom Coffeen:

Young Man's Music -technically discovered in 2010, but I can't seem to stop listening to it

Shrinebuilder:

Shrinebuilder - easily one of the best records ever made

Paul Horn:

Inside the Taj Mahal - one of the coolest ambient works I've heard in my life

Steven Wilson:

Grace for Drowning - blew my mind on the first couple of listens, but I haven't totally wrapped my head around it yet, it's a massive record, it'll take a few more listens, but I did spend the first listen swearing up a storm in front of my wife and daughter over how unbelievably fucking good it was

Illusive Mind Gypsy Crew:

Pembina - it's not out for another two months, but I've heard it several times already, and this band has officially thrown down the gauntlet for me. I need to get way better at what I do to keep up with this guys

Deftones:

Diamond Eyes - easily one of the best records I've ever heard ever

Bonobo:

Black Sands - heard this one night in the background at Pop Soda's and was inspired enough to actually find out who it was

Ashley Pitre:

"My Friend the April Fool" - this is a track from the EP Old Songs About Island Boys, and I found it by following various rabbit trails. Haunting has to be redefined to include this piece of music. Her album is first on my list to buy as soon as I can afford it

Hans Zimmer:

Inception Soundtrack - this record moves me to tears every time I hear it, especially the closing track "Time"

OM:

God is Good - wow

I watched over 200 movies and 27 years worth of television this year. A lot of the movies sucked, but a few of them didn't. There's a pair of Spanish horror films, REC and REC 2, which were easily the scariest things I've seen since I first saw The Shining when I was 8. Other notables would be:

For TV, I watched the entire Stargate franchise. Atlantis was the darker series, but SG 1 was very entertaining, and I found myself missing the characters quite a bit if I went too long between viewings. Game of Thrones was pretty cool. Rome was pretty slow. Walking Dead is alright (not totally sold yet, but I'm still gonna keep at it).

I got back into reading, after not touching a book for the entirety of 2010. William Gibson's Bridge Trilogy was the first thing I picked up, back in January. Everything he does is great, and that trilogy was no exception. I read the bulk of the Fables comic series. Great stuff. Finally picked up my own copy of Battle Royale and enjoyed the fuck out of it for the 3rd time. I read a lot of biographies this year about the following folks/shows: David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Frank Zappa, John Coltrane. I read a really cool book called Metro 2033. I also finally read American Psycho.

I also got more into video games this year, playing the God of War trilogy. I don't game that often, usually just for a week straight, and then nothing for 6 months. But I'm actually eagerly anticipating new games for the first time ever.

I went outside a lot more this year.

That was nice.

I was very much a shut-in during 2010.

That's about it.

Not terribly exciting.

But you read this far, so clearly you're more bored than I am, so I'm glad I could brighten up your day.

2012, you'd better not suck as hard as 2011,

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #58

2011-12-19T08:43:00.000-06:00

Vince Guaraldi

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Released December 12th, 1965

Tracklisting:

O Tannenbaum

What Child is This?

My Little Drum

Linus and Lucy

Christmas Time is Here (instrumental)

Christmas Time is Here (vocal version)

Skating

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Christmas is Coming

Fur Elise

The Christmas Song

Greensleeves

Christmas is Coming (Alternate Take 1)

The Christmas Song (Alternate Take 3)

Greensleeves (Alternate Take 6)

Christmas Time is Here (Alternate Vocal Take)

Who Did What:

Jerry Granelli - drums

Vince Guaraldi - piano, organ

Fred Marshall - bass

Others:

Colin Bailey - drums (Greensleeves)

Monty Budwig - bass (Greensleeves)

This is the only album is Christmas music that doesn't make me want to blow my fucking brains out.

I hate Christmas.

I'm more of a Halloween guy.

Not for any religious reasons. I don't care one way or the other about the whole 'Christianity' thing. If it's what moves you, great, go for it. Have your holiday, enjoy it, be with the people you love, etc.

No, I hate Christmas because it was always the most stressful time of year in our house growing up.

For some reason, Dec. 1st hits and there's a biological trigger in peoples' brains that suddenly renders them self-centered in a pod-like way until the new year. At my house, the same thing happened, but combined with a lot of vitriol.

Christmas presents were abundant, yes, and that would've been great, but with every opened gift came a speech from my dad about how other kids didn't get that present. Being a sensitive kid, I didn't appreciate my gift so much as wonder why I was getting it and why it wasn't going to that other kid? I would spend Christmas day building Lego sets and feeling like a total shit because the world was unfair and I got presents and some other kids had to eat dirt. Or something. I dunno. After the 3rd or 4th pre-lunch rant from my dad, I sort of retreated into a Christmas cocoon in order to survive the rest of the day, which usually involved at least one near-divorce, a minimum of 5 guilt trips courtesy of my mother, and no less than 14 condescending explanations from my dad about why we were undeserving of the fruits of his hard work.

The Christmas dinner would start, the fulminating invective would fly, the turkey would actually be pretty decent, and I'd swear once again to never speak to those assholes ever again (a promise I, after 33 years of saying it, am finally making good on this year).

As a real live grown up, these days, like 'everybody else', I resent the commercialism, I hate venturing outside to make my way through the mobs of grotesquely unaware savages that populate our city, and I just can not stand Christmas music.

See, I figure, it should be like this:

Regardless of personal beliefs, take the day to get together with the folks you care about, be they family, friends, pets, books, video games, cookies, alcohol, whatev. Spend that entire day just chilling out and laughing as much as possible. Sure, it'd be nice if everyday was like that (and for potheads, it is), and I've accepted that life doesn't work like that, but it'd be nice if people could at least set aside their petty bullshit for a 24-hour period. But the pressure to do that on a SPECIFIC day is too much (I know most people have the same issue with New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day, and to a lesser extent Flag Day).

I feel that mainstream Christmas music is designed to trigger some sort of rage within us (it has to be that, I mean, I get violently angry every time I hear Celine Dion, or Anne Murray, or Michael Booblay, or Michael Bolton, or Christina Aguilerielkalrielera sing anything Christmas-related. I generally end up in my underwear, soaked in my own blood and tears, caked in the semen of others, trying to force as many Oreos down my throat as possible as I gloat over my recent kill of a store-clerk). There's something horribly insincere about that music. It should be classified as a weapon of christian mass destruction. There's a pun in there somewhere, I'm sure, but my breakfast is waiting, and I'm certain one of my self-rightious atheist friends will point it out for me. They're good for that, if nothing else (and it usually is nothing else).

The thing I like about the Charlie Brown Christmas album isn't that it has ties to my childhood (the fewer ties to that era, the better, I say). I don't feel any sort of nostalgia for it. In fact, I don't particularly care for the cartoon (despite agreeing with the show's over-arching message of anti-commercialism - buy my albums, by the way, links on the left-hand side - see what I did there?). I'm not anti-consumerism, or anti-capitalism, I'm just kinda grossed out by how........... obtrusive Christmas feels.

And the Charlie Brown Christmas record is 100% unobtrusive. Which is why I love it. The part of me that longs to actually enjoy the holidays takes great comfort in this record. As does the musician. The playing on this record is top-notch, from everyone involved (except the kids choir on "Hark! The Herald Angles Sing", which is, and always shall be my most hated of Christmas songs due largely to my mother singing it YEAR 'ROUND for reasons I shall never, ever seek to understand).

Due to the beauty of iTunes (and no, I never thought I'd say that), you can delete the only two offending tracks, the aforementioned "Hark", and "My Little Drum" (a variation on "The Little Drummer Boy" which is my second-most hated Christmas song...... actually, it would be tied with "The First Noel". Not to be seem completely negative, I do have a soft spot for "White Christmas", and not to leave it at that and seem like a racist, I also love "Silent Night". Moving on......)

The sound of of the record is muted, and in a way that makes Guaraldi's piano sound reminiscent of Bill Evans's playing on Kind of Blue. Soft, rounded sounds swirl gently through the room while this record is playing. There's nothing obnoxiously uptempo here either. "Linus and Lucy" is the closet thing to that, and it's such a fun song, that it'll put a smile on your face no matter which family member your gutting on the kitchen floor (note to my wife - if you buy "Lite" syrup ever again, I will fucking murder you).

Basically, if the holidays had one redeeming factor, it's this record. In fact, I vote we change the name to Guaraldimass, in honour of the birth of this record. Not to steal any thunder from Jebus, but he don't play piano so well.

Anyway, that's that. I am now full of french-ish toast, and I've got a whole season's worth of ignoring relatives and playing with my kid to get to.

From all the crazy over here at Kill A DJ, have a good holiday.

Or don't.

But if not, try and make it as drunk a holiday as possible and try again next year with this record on. It actually makes winter, family, economic decline, no heat, driving a mini-van with the front end duct-taped on, shopping, parking and getting fat seem.......... kinda fun, actually.

Michael

ps - for a comprehensive list of the worst that the holidays has to offer, check out this list from Regretsy here

Headphone Safe Zone #57

2011-12-12T07:46:00.000-06:00

Porcupine Tree

Deadwing

Released March 28th, 2005

Tracklist:

(all words by S. Wilson - all music by S. Wilson, except where noted)

Deadwing
Shallow
Lazarus
Halo
Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
Mellotron Scratch
Open Car
The Start of Something Beautiful
Glass Arm Shattering

B-Sides:

Revenant
So Called Friend
Half-Light
Mother and Child Divided

Who Did What:

Steven Wilson - vocals, guitar, bass (Deadwing, Lazarus, Arriving Somewhere But Not Here, Open Car), keyboards
Richard Barbieri - keyboards, synth
Colin Edwin - bass
Gavin Harrison - drums, percussion

Others:

Mikael Akerfeldt - backing vocals (Deadwing, Lazarus, Arriving Somewhere But Not Here), 2nd lead guitar (Arriving Somewhere But Not Here)
Adrian Belew - lead guitar (Deadwing, Halo)

Deadwing.
The black sheep of the Porcupine Tree discography.
Why?
Well, it's hard to pick a specific reason, so I'll ramble about it:
It sounds different. It feels different. It has a darker tone to it than any other Porcupine Tree record. That's saying something, because Steven Wilson doesn't write the cheeriest of musics.
And while every Porcupine Tree record sounds different from the rest, this one stands out as different from the overall 'vibe' that the band seems to emit.
Porcupine Tree usually feels 'blue' to me. But Deadwing feels 'green'. It feels less like urban textures, and more like wood and soil. It feels like an abandoned house out the countryside, left to rot in the rain, paint peeling, shingles flying away in the wind, foundation moving a little bit more with every season spent uncared for.
Even the band treated Deadwing as something special: it was mastered quieter than previous albums in an effort to preserve the highest dynamic quality of the music. It was the first (and still only) Porcupine Tree record where every single song (including the b-sides) were played live on tour.

I got this record immediately after returning home from my first tour. I had fallen deeply in love with In Absentia, and was wet with anticipation over the new record. I brought it home and sat on my bed, listening to every note. I remember dragging my then-fiance (now ex) into the room to hear "Glass Arm Shattering" because I couldn't believe just how fucking beautiful it was (is).
Deadwing became, inadvertently (as is always the case with records), the soundtrack to a crazy time in my life.
In short, here's what was up while Deadwing was on:
I moved in with my fiance (first time living with a girlfriend). We lived in a 2500 sq/ft loft in the 'arty' part of town, next to a punk bar. Not as glamorous as it sounds, but I do miss living there sometimes (though I imagine it would've been more fun with the right person).
I had just started recording my very first record, which would become Soul Killing Female's Utopia Mine. I was touring as a professional session drummer. I had started a new job as a journalist and editor. I got to see pretty much every show and movie for free for a while there.
I lost 70lbs.
Me and the fiance broke up.
I had my first one-night stand with a girl that I'd had a crush on for about year or so at that point.
I met my future wife.
I learned a lot about being with someone and being alone.
I skateboarded a lot.
There's more, but it doesn't matter.
Deadwing played alongside all that, and it fit. Many late nights, many sleepless nights. Many long days spent working towards that intangible 'future'. Many hours spent walking the streets at night, wondering about the hows and whys and whatnots.
Boring parties, drinking, an epic amount of pot, and even a little sex.
But also a shit-ton of hard work, education, and progress.
It was a transitional time (it's a transitional record), and I look back on it with mixed feelings. As I said, that time with a different person would've been a lot more fun, I think.
Musically, this record is heavy, but not as raucous as its predecessor In Absentia. And it's grander in scope than its successor Fear of Blank Planet.
It rocks, and it chills.
"Deadwing", "Shallow", "Halo", and "So Called Friend" are full-on. I spent many hours in the rehearsal space trying to nail Gavin Harrison's drum parts.
"Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" is one of the band's most epic tunes. A super-chill, but very dark build-up to an unreal metal section, and then an outro that will stay in your head for days. "The Start of Something Beautiful" is a slow burner. I didn't care for it right away, but it's grown on me. Same with "Mellotron Scratch". I love it now.
The aforementioned "Glass Arm Shattering" is easily one of the most epic pieces of sheer beauty I've ever experienced in any art form. It was nearly left off the record, and replaced with "Half-Light", and I'm eternally grateful that it wasn't.
That said, "Half-Light" is in a league all its own. The first time I heard it, I was walking home from a party, it was 3am and it was a bitterly cold winter. I had just finished explaining to my future-wife's then-husband why he should get his shit together and start treating her right, and thinking to myself the entire time that I should just kill him and take her for myself.
I did half of that.
The entire walk home had "Half-Light" on repeat, and I was drowning in what, at the time, seemed like an insurmountable regret and stupidity.
I can usually bring most music with me into the present, but Deadwing is firmly rooted into one part of my life. I put it on, and I'm back in 2005/2006. As a result, I don't listen to it much, but when I do, it's a trip. And I'm always glad I did.

Michael

ps - in addition, there's a great live recording entitled Rockpalast, which features, among other tracks, almost all of Deadwing including the b-sides. I recommend checking it out.

Headphone Safe Zone #56

2011-12-04T19:17:00.000-06:00

Tomahawk

Mit Gas

Released May 6th, 2003

Tracklisting:

(all words by M. Patton; all music by D. Denison, M. Patton, K. Rutmanis, J. Stanier)

Birdsong
Rape This Day
You Can't Win
Mayday
Rotgut
Captain Midnight
Desastre Natural
When the Stars Begin to Fall
Harelip
Harlem Clowns
Aktion 13F14

Who Did What:

Mike Patton - vocals, keyboards
Duane Denison - guitar
Kevin Rutmanis - bass
John Stanier - drums

I got this album in Vancouver.
I met a German girl.
Her name was Stefanie.
She was from.......... Flensburg.
Something like that.
Somewhere near Denmark.
We met at a party on an emu farm.
She was visiting Canada and wanted to see Vancouver.
I said I used to live in Vancouver.
We bought plane tickets that night and flew to Vancouver.
Magical.
Except that it totally wasn't.
Except for the emu farm part.
We spent an agonizing week in Vancouver.
The only upside was the trip to the record store.
Mit Gas.
Timing couldn't have been more perfect.
I listened to it a lot, because it was the only thing to listen to, because Stefanie wasn't interesting.
Mit Gas was interesting.
When I returned to Vancouver, this album was part of my snowboarding adventure soundtrack.
"Rape This Day" got me out of bed many times.
"Mayday" kept me from striking people in the face many times.
"Captain Midnight" lulled me to blissful sleep many times.
Solid album.
Fucking weird.
But definitely more enjoyable than Stefanie.

Michael

Hurry Up, I Wish I Was Dreaming....

2011-12-04T05:12:00.000-06:00

I haven't slept at night in months. I've seen at least a hundred sunrises this year.
Used to be, it was because I was making my way home from another night of boredom and discovery.
There's still some of that. Some stumbling home with the headphones on, oblivious, and fully aware.
But mostly it's just sleepless nights, spent staring out the window watching the sky go black to blue to orange to day.
It occurred to me this evening that very little has changed in life.
And yet everything has.
When I was a teenager, my life could be summed up by wonder and hopelessness.
As an adult, the same can be said.
Which is weird because, I never saw that in my parents. Maybe they felt it, but they never talked about it, or showed it. That said, they never talked about or showed anything. They were like that. And I turned out like this.
I guess I always figured that growing up meant that the wonder and hopelessness would coalesce into a nice, neat, beige neutrality.
In fact, each has remained at its respective pole and has simply intensified.
I sit here, unable to close my eyes, unable to dream, because I can't stop dreaming.
Nostalgia is a weird thing. I don't experience it in the sense that there's any particular time that I want to go back to. All the times have been roughly the same, but with more or less sex. Usually less.
But I find myself remembering what various times, eras, epochs felt like. I remember what being a teenager felt like, and it feels the exact same as 33.
I have no fucking clue what to do next.
I watch my daughter growing up, and I know she'll run into the same problem one day. I don't normally dwell on my past, largely because it was unpleasant, but I try to keep it handy for quick reference when dealing with the present.
I wonder if my daughter will experience the wonder and hopelessness as well.
I dunno.
When I was a kid, the biggest issues were dates, exams, video games, drugs, and getting the hell out of here.
These days, my friends are having miscarriages.
When the fuck did that start?
And yet nothing feels different.
I feel like there's a huge world out there, and that I'll never get to see it, yet I see it's glow over the horizon every day.
Life doesn't suck, but it sure is fucked sometimes..... most times...............
Am I wasting away?
Am I missing the point?
Or is missing the point really the point?
And my friends are having miscarriages.......
Someday I'm gonna die.
And the music I make will never be beautiful enough.

Michael

Record Building #32

2011-12-03T01:57:00.001-06:00

Wow, it's been a while. I've been that busy. But busy means progress, and progress means getting the music out to you, the viewer.
Er, listener.
I have a lot to update y'all on, and I promise to get this blog up to date over the course of this coming week. I've got shows to write about, recording to write about, touring to write about.

For starters, the Kind of Red record is about 85% finished. All that remains are guitar solos, and vocals.
As of today, all the keys/samples/programming is done.
I've also revised the running order for the album. I removed 2 songs, leaving a total of 9.

Here's how it stands as of now:

An Ode to Napalm
Kill This Melody
House of Leaves
Dis
Of Human Bondage
Isolationism
God of War
Napalm (Reprise)
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole

The songs "Herd Killing", "Rorschach", and the cover song "Coming Right Along" are all b-sides. I'm not sure in what format they'll see the light of day, but they will be completed, mixed, mastered, just like the rest, and released to the public at some point somewhere.

This cuts the running time of the record down from nearly 90 minutes to just over 60 minutes. A little more manageable.

The Farewell to Light EP is about 90% done, with only two tracks yet to be completed. Only vocals remain, and they'll be tracked before the holidays.

The tracklist is:

Saigon
Tiny Graves
Girls
Farewell to Light

That's it for now. Other than finishing the vocals on the EP, my biggest task ahead of me is prepping for the New Year's Eve show at Goth Night (Apocalypse 2012). It's the first time Soul Killing Female has played a 'holiday' show, ad I'm looking forward to it. I intend to premiere a couple new tracks at the show. We'll see. It entirely depends on my plan to transfer the entire SKF live set into Logic Mainstage. I'll be picking away at that over the next 2 weeks.

As I said earlier, I have tons to update you about, and I'll get to it this week. With pictures and video, even!

Michael

Sorites Paradox

2011-11-25T21:31:00.001-06:00

Hard at work

DJ Set #3

2011-11-12T23:22:00.000-06:00

November 12th, 2011, at After Dark:

KMFDM - "Ultra" - Nihil
Fear Factory - "Scapegoat (Pigfuck Mix)" - Fear is the Mindkiller EP
Mad Capsule Markets - "Wardance" - 010
Ministry - "Stigmata" - Land of Rape and Honey (by request)
Delerium - "Euphoric" - Euphoric EP
Daft Punk - "End of Line" - Tron Legacy Soundtrack
Cloudfight - "Quorra" - Kill All Humans
Nine Inch Nails - "Closer" - Closer EP
Frontline Assembly - "Resist (live)" - Live Wired
Type O Negative - "Day Tripper Medley" - World Coming Down

Headphone Safe Zone #55

2011-10-11T17:05:00.000-05:00

Pink Floyd

The Division Bell

Released March 28, 1994

Tracklist:

Cluster One (music by D. Gilmour, R. Wright)
What Do You Want From Me? (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson; music by D. Gilmour, R. Wright)
Poles Apart (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson, N. Laird-Clowes; music by D. Gilmour)
Marooned (music by D. Gilmour, R. Wright)
A Great Day for Freedom (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson; music D. Gilmour)
Wearing the Inside Out (words by A. Moore; music by R. Wright)
Take it Back (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson, N. Laird-Clowes; music by D. Gilmour, B. Ezrin)
Coming Back to Life (words/music by D. Gilmour)
Keep Talking (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson; music by D. Gilmour, R. Wright)
Lost for Words (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson; music by D. Gilmour)
High Hopes (words by D. Gilmour, P. Samson; music by D. Gilmour)

Who Did What:

David Gilmour - vocals, guitar, bass (What Do You Want From Me, Marooned, High Hopes), keyboards (Cluster One, Marooned, High Hopes), programming
Nick Mason - drums, percussion, programming (Wearing the Inside Out, Take It Back, Keep Talking, High Hopes)
Richard Wright - keyboards, vocals (lead vocals on Wearing the Inside Out)

Others:

Jon Carin - programming, additional keyboards (A Great Day for Freedom)
Guy Pratt - bass (Poles Apart, A Great Day for Freedom, Wearing the Inside Out, Take It Back, Coming Back to Life, Keep Talking, Lost for Words, High Hopes)
Gary Wallis - percussion (A Great Day for Freedom, Wearing the Inside Out, Take It Back, Keep Talking)
Tim Renwick - guitar (A Great Day for Freedom, Coming Back to Life, Lost for Words, High Hopes)
Dick Parry - saxophone (Wearing the Inside Out)
Bob Ezrin - keyboards, percussion
Sam Brown - backing vocals
Durga McBroom - backing vocals
Carol Kenyon - backing vocals
Jackie Sheridan - backing vocals
Rebecca Leigh-White - backing vocals
Michael Kamen - orchestration (A Great Day for Freedom, Wearing the Inside Out, Take It Back, High Hopes)

Imagine that Animals, The Wall, The Final Cut and A Momentary Lapse of Reason never happened. Imagine that Pink Floyd went straight from Wish You Were Here to The Division Bell. In that context, this album makes far more sense musically and sonically.
Coming out in 1994, it was pretty jarring, though decidedly less so than 1987's A Momentary Lapse of Reason (which, with the exception of a few great tracks, is still jarring to this day).
Pink Floyd always had a certain sound or feel to their records that was due largely to the technology of the 1970s. In the 1990s, Pink Floyd didn't sound like Pink Floyd anymore. Or at least, that's what I thought when I was 15 and listening to this record on a warm April day for the first time. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I put it on the shelf and didn't touch it for years.
Now, in my early 30s, The Division Bell has made its way slowly back into rotation and I'm finding that the record really does sound like Pink Floyd. Granted, it's missing the bite and venom of Roger Waters' vocals and bass playing, but the atmosphere of early Floyd albums is still very much present on this record.
One of the reasons I hadn't listened to it in quite some time was due to much of it being on the 1995 live album Pulse, which has been in heavy rotation in my stereo/headphones for the last decade and a half. I enjoyed the Division Bell tracks on that album and never felt the need to revisit the studio version until recently.
To me, The Division Bell sounds like a blending of 1975's Wish You Were Here and 1971's Meddle. Now, I get that that is a bold statement to make, but hear me out:
The Division Bell sounds lush and thick in the same way Wish You Were Here does, and it has the meandering experimentation found on Meddle. It just sounds like a more mature version of the band that made those two records. Lord only knows how utterly amazing the record would've been with Waters on board, but that still doesn't take away from the fact that this is one solid, solid record.
The opening track, "Cluster One" would've sat nicely in the setlist of a Pink Floyd concert from 1972.
"What Do You Want From Me", "Take It Back", "Coming Back to Life" are all straight-forward rock songs, with the latter featuring some of Gilmour's best guitar work (and that tone, holy fuck), with the exception of "Marooned", and instrumental track that DOES feature Gilmour's best guitar work since "Comfortably Numb".
Personally, though it isn't my favorite song on the record, I have to say that "Keep Talking" is the song that makes the case I stated above: this record really is a Pink Floyd record. The song is as close as Gilmour has ever gotten to reaching Waters' seething rage (imagine this song with him on it? goddam).
What I like most about this record are the spacier, mellower moments like "A Great Day for Freedom", "Wearing the Inside Out" and "Poles Apart". The outro guitar section of "A Great Day for Freedom" is one of the most uplifting pieces of music the band has penned since "Eclipse" from 1973's Dark Side of the Moon. "Wearing the Inside Out" features Rick Wright delivering a lead vocal in his terribly underrated singing style. "Poles Apart" is one of my favorite Pink Floyd tracks of all time. I love the guitar line, the lyrics, the trippy bridge section, all of it.
The album closes with one of the best songs from the band's entire discography, "High Hopes". An ambitious acoustic/orchestral piece, the song is undeniably epic and has a fade-out climax that will have Gilmour's guitar playing in your head hours later as you walk down the street.
While one can certainly make the case that The Division Bell is simply Pink Floyd-lite, you can't take away the fact that it takes all the best parts of what Gilmour, Wright and Mason did in Pink Floyd and distills it down to a record worthy of the name Pink Floyd.
So there.

Michael

DJ Set #2

2011-09-25T12:46:00.000-05:00

Sept. 24th, 2011, setlist from last night's Goth Night:

The Cure - "Burn" - The Crow Soundtrack
Machines of Loving Grace - "Butterfly Wings" - Concentration
Tricky - "Black Steel" - Maxinquaye
Fear Factory - "Cars" - Cars (single)
Nine Inch Nails - "Happiness in Slavery" - Fixed
Frontline Assembly - "The Blade" - Tactical Neural Implant
Marilyn Manson - "The Horrible People" - Remix & Repent
Noise Unit - "Other World" - Drill
Fear Factory - "Cloning Technology" - Remanufacture
David Bowie & Nine Inch Nails "Hallo Spaceboy" - Live Hate 1995 Bootleg
Ministry - "N.W.O." - Psalm 69

Michael

DJ Set #1

2011-09-24T12:44:00.001-05:00

Dj'd at Goth night on Sept. 3rd, 2011, here's the setlist:

Fear Factory - "Edgecrusher (Urban Assault Mix)" - Cars (single)
White Zombie - "Electric Head Pt. 2 (Sexational After Dark Mix)" - Supersexy Swingin' Sounds
Frontline Assembly - "Transtime" - Millennium (single)
Nine Inch Nails - "Ruiner (Version)" - Further Down the Spiral V.2
Stand Alone Complex - "Quorra" - Kill All Humans
Noise Unit - "Escape" - Decoder

Michael

Lazy Journalism

2011-09-23T03:24:00.001-05:00

I can honestly say that, when writing music, I never have anyone else's music in mind. When I write, the notes just fall out of me in an order that reflects whatever it is I'm going through at the time. I never think that I should change this or that because this or that band did it. I write exactly what I feel at the time and I leave it that way. I try to capture the moment, as it were. That being said, I don't live in a vacuum, and there's no way I could say with a straight face that other people's music doesn't have its impact on my brain. When the writing part is done, and the production part starts, that's when I begin referencing my vast record collection in order to get the sound I'm looking for.
There's been a lot of talk over the last couple years about my musical influences (which I'm generally flattered by). What has been shocking (well, maybe not so shocking) is the very tiny leaps people make in their brains in order to find a category for whatever it is that I do. Often times, people seem to miss the mark entirely (at least as I see it, everyone's mileage may vary).
For instance, people see the track title "Neurosis" and assume that I listen to the band Neurosis. Well I do. I fucking love that band. But that particular song was written and recorded 4 years before I ever heard a single Neurosis song. Tool seems to be another easy comparison for most people, and one that I simply do not understand. I mean, I love Tool, but again, I just don't see any similarity other than occasionally playing in drop-D.
Steven Wilson once lamented that his band Porcupine Tree got compared to Pink Floyd a lot in the early days, and he referred to that as 'lazy journalism'.
Well, I'm not complaining either way. At least people are taking a moment to listen to what I do. My main goal in writing this post is simply to discuss music I love and what I think may have influenced me. I'm always interested in what people hear in my music, even if I completely disagree in their assessment.
So, in order to put to rest any doubt as to what albums likely had the most influence on me whilst making Soul Killing Female records, here's a list of the records that were in my stereo, or in my headphones more than any others during the making of Utopia Mine, Landmines and Kind of Red/Farewell to Light respectively. Bear in mind this is by no means a comprehensive list, as I listen to 4 or 5 albums a day, pretty much every single day. This is simply a list of the most frequently played (generally speaking, more than twice a week, sometimes as often as every day).

Utopia Mine

Bowery Electric - Lushlife
Cinematic Orchestra - Everyday
David Bowie - Heathen
Deftones - Deftones
Filter - Title of Record/Amalgamut
Helmet - Betty/Size Matters
Massive Attack - 100th Window
Matthew Good - Avalanche
A Perfect Circle - 13th Step
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
Projektor - Red Wolf Glass
Strapping Young Lad - City
Type O Negative - October Rust

Landmines

Chroma Key - You Go Now
John Coltrane - Blue Train
The Cure - Disintegration
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
Failure - Fantastic Planet
Neurosis - The Eye of Every Storm
Pink Floyd - Animals
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Tom Coffeen - Young Man's Music

Kind of Red/Farewell to Light

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Devin Townsend - Addicted

Future Sound of London - Lifeforms/My Kingdom

Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas (and no, I'm not kidding, this is a great fucking record)

Kenji Kawaii - Ghost in the Shell Soundtrack

Ministry - Filth Pig/Psalm 69
Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood
Nine Inch Nails - Broken
Pink Floyd - Meddle/Animals
Soundgarden - Superunknown/Down On the Upside
Tom Coffeen - Young Man's Music
Hans Zimmer - Inception Soundtrack

So there you go. My take on influences. I'm curious to hear what you think about this list (taking into account that the vast majority of you haven't heard Kind of Red/Farewell to Light yet). I probably forgot one or two here or there; I was doing my best to remember those months-long stretches where I was writing and recording and not include everything from in between.
I will say though that I think the Deftones Diamond Eyes record has had the biggest impact on me in the last year. By far.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #54

2011-09-21T16:12:00.001-05:00

hHead

Jerk

Released September 1st, 1994

Tracklist:

(all music by N. Mintz, B. Canning, M. Bartkiw/all words by N. Mintz)

Remedial
Answers
Happy
University
Gipped
Jerk
Love
She's
Better
Stillborn
Will
Pimp
Stain

Who Did What:

Noah Mintz - vocals, guitar
Brendan Canning - bass
Mark Bartkiw - drums

I normally don't get particularly hyped up over Can-Rock. Most of the time, it's a poor-man's version of other countries' rock. In hHead's case however, the band manage to carve out a sound based on a unique combination of non-Can-Rock influences. Elements of folk, rock and punk (and even a little bit of funk, at least in the drum department) come together to create a strange but oh-so-enjoyable sound.
Jerk is a powerful record, but it's not powerful in the volume department. It's strength lies entirely in the dynamics of the music and the players. These guys can go balls to the wall one minute and then reign it in to a pin-drop whisper over the course of one bar; and not in that contrived Pixies/Nirvana loudQUIETloud way either. Tracks like "Remedial" and "University" are full on rockers, while "Pimp" is what grunge-doom would sound like if it was a genre. Songs like "Gipped", "She's", "Better", and, well, most of the record, are played with a delicate grace not seen since Jackie O.
One thing worth noting is that Mintz plays about 80% of the record with a clean guitar tone, and yet the songs come off as heavy because of the emotion and sincerity put into them. At times Mintz's vocals sound almost as though they're going to break when, from out of nowhere, he'll summon a a storm and bellow out lyrics of pain, loss, grief, disgust.
And while it's a pretty downer record, there's up moments, even humorous moments, in the songs "Remedial" and "University", both focused on education and the personal shortcomings that come with those experiences. The song "Answers" is my favorite from the record, and is an upbeat drive-along type song (I learned to drive along to this record, so I often associate with road-trips). The video for "Answers" featured the band eating buckets of chicken on a tour bus filled with senior citizens. Seriously.
Some of the darker tracks, such as "Gipped", "Pimp", "Stain", and "Happy" venture into pretty bleak territory without losing their beauty. In fact, this entire record, dark, light, heavy, light, fast, slow, it's all beautiful. Every single song is breathtakingly beautiful. That is something that this band did better than nearly any other. They wrote emotionally visceral music that could deliver with the force of an A-Bomb in complete and utter silence. hHead were able to do more with a single, clean strummed chord than most bands can do with a wall of Marshall stacks and a vocalist who sounds like he's pissing fire.
That said, there's still a lot of energy on this record. Jerk was the band's major label debut and you can hear their barely-restrained excitement in their performances (especially the drumming).
As an aside, I had the distinct pleasure of driving from Winnipeg to Toronto with a girl I'd just met (friend of a friend, I was helping her move on my way through to Halifax, long story), and as it turned out, said girl claimed to have been the person that got hHead signed. Her story was that, at a hHead show somewhere around Toronto (or next to it, there's like 1000 cities down there), she and a friend talked up the band to a label rep and they did such a good job, the band was signed later that week. I dunno. All I can say is, halfway through the trip, somewhere near Sault Ste. Marie, we got bored, needed to park the van, stretch our legs, and decided that streaking across the Trans-Canada highway in front of on-coming traffic was a good way to kill some time. Funnier story: I've streaked enough times to know how to do it properly, but said girl had not, so, upon reaching the far side of the highway, rather than continue on into the trees like some ghostly apparition, she simply stood at the roadside and waved politely. Many cars honked.
I digress.
Jerk is probably the best example of what indie-rock could've and frankly should've been before the genre ventured entirely too far up its own ass and became swaddled in pretentiousness.
Unfortunately, hHead got dragged under by label problems and fell into obscurity shortly thereafter, making only one more record, 1996's Ozzy (which I didn't even know about until 2003, thanks very much mainstream media).

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #53

2011-08-01T14:58:00.000-05:00

Faith No More

Album of the Year

Released June 3rd, 1997

Tracklist:

(all words by M. Patton)

Collision (music by J. Hudson, M. Patton)
Stripsearch (music by J. Hudson, B. Gould, M. Bordin, M. Patton)
Last Cup of Sorrow (music by M. Patton, B. Gould)
Naked In Front of the Computer (music by M. Patton)
Helpless (music by M. Patton, M. Bordin, B. Gould)
Mouth to Mouth (music by J. Hudson, B. Gould, M. Bordin, M. Patton)
Ashes to Ashes (music by J. Hudson, B. Gould, M. Bordin, M. Patton, R. Bottum)
She Loves Me Not (music by B. Gould, M. Bordin, M. Patton)
Got That Feeling (music by M. Patton)
Paths of Glory (music by J. Hudson, B. Gould, M. Bordin, M. Patton, R. Bottum)
Home Sick Home (music by M. Patton)
Pristina (music by M. Patton, B. Gould)

B-Sides:

The Big Kahuna
Light Up and Let Go

Who Did What:

Mike Patton - vocals, keyboards
Billy Gould - bass, keyboards
Jon Hudson - guitar
Mike Bordin - drums
Roddy Bottum - keyboards

This album gets a lot of flack from fans and press alike.
I'll never understand why.
I'm gonna chalk it up to the fact that, back in the beginning, most people associated Faith No More with metal. Many fans would cite Angel Dust as their favorite; certainly a crowning moment of manic cohesion. After that, they fired Jim Martin, and fans were never able to keep up. The 'metal' was gone. In its place was something more refined. Unfortunately, most fans fail to realize two key factors when dealing with Faith No More's discography: one, Jim Martin had almost nothing to do with Angel Dust, and two, the band moved on, which, for better or worse, all bands should. A side note: Martin (the guy that these fans want back because of Angel Dust), didn't even LIKE Angel Dust.
Album of the Year is hands down the best thing this band ever did.
Gone is the unbridled insanity of the earlier works, and in its place is a more sinister, dare I say mature, band.
The Real Thing and Angel Dust, while both great albums, come off as a early-20-somethings high on acid for the first time and freaking out about melting walls and alien brainscanners. Loud, obnoxious, mildly destructive, but ultimately harmless. Album of the Year is the same person 10 years older, 10 years wiser, and 10 years calmer. The new Faith No More has grown up and learned that you don't have to scream all the time to make a point. You can whisper and have it hit like an atom bomb if you do it right.
That said, Album of the Year has its share of heavy moments. The opener, "Collision", is a full on aural assault, as are "Naked in Front of the Computer" and "Got That Feeling". Other tracks, like "Stripsearch" and "Ashes to Ashes" (both of which are career bests for this band, or any other really) are far more subtle, making use of atmosphere to weigh you down slowly. "Paths of Glory" and "Last Cup of Sorrow" are somewhere in the middle, almost funeral dirge-ish. The track "Helpless" is one of the high points on the record, almost a power ballad, but ultimately a full-on rock song. "Pristina" is about as epic an album-closer as any band could want, almost a drone track, it has a cinematic vibe that will make you feel like everyone you've ever loved has died.

I also feel that, unlike their previous efforts, Album of the Year flows like a great album should. It also suits many moods. It's a fantastic soundtrack for snowboarding (especially "Got That Feeling" which gives you the adrenaline boost you need when conquering mountains). It works for chilling out in the dark at home. It works for going for walks at night. Road trips. Etc. Etc.

I remember, living in Vancouver and biking to work at 4:30 in the morning, the sky just starting to brighten in the east. The streets were completely empty, and plastic bags drifted lazily in the seemingly post-apocalyptic breeze. "Stripsearch" started up in my headphones, and for a while, I was the last person left alive in earth, and it was perfect.

I think maybe the reason that people didn't embrace this record is that it takes some digging. Instead of having everything thrown at you all at once, you have to apply a little patience and wait a second for the pay-off. I mean, the guitar solo in "Stripsearch"? Best guitar solo put to tape. No fretboard calisthenics, just a nice simple yet memorable melody (the same goes for "Ashes to Ashes").

Not enough has been said of Jon Hudson's guitar work. So I shall say this: Faith No More has had some stellar guitarists in their ranks over the years. Players like Dean Menta (King for a Day tour guitarist) and Trey Spruance (King for a Day album) are fantastic, high energy players. Hudson is able to duplicate that energy and hang back at the same time. It's an unusual balance, and one he should be praised for.
It's also worth noting that the cover art was eerily prophetic. It's a photograph of then Czechoslovakia's first president and is meant to convey the end of a golden age. The text on the coffin says "truth prevails". Fitting given this album's resurgence in popularity over the last decade.
As an aside, there's a limited-edition 2-disc version of the record out there containing a series of remixes, most of which aren't worth hearing. However, the second disc does contain a remix of "Ashes to Ashes" entitled "Automatic 5 Dub" which is just unbelievably awesome. I recommend searching it out on the interwebs.
And while I'm thinking about it, check out the videos made for the 3 singles, "Stripsearch", "Last Cup of Sorrow" and "Ashes to Ashes". All three are amazing (especially "Stripsearch" which is more mini-movie than music video).
In closing, I'd like to state that Billy Gould is the best bass player ever.

Michael

Record Building #31

2011-07-29T00:19:00.000-05:00

Deadlines fast approach and my grasp on sanity is tenuous at best these days.

Still, things progress.

Soul Killing Female

Kind of Red:

I've refined a number of songs, adding keyboard bits here, cutting out sections there. I've altered the tempo on "Herd Killing" to make it much slower. I've trimmed the verses of "Isolationism".

Something I learned a long time ago during my time as a newspaper section editor is that to make things work, you have to be merciless. It's too easy to get attached to a particular part or phrase or whatever, and it gums up the works. I've taken the same approach to my own music (at least since Landmines). After listening to the songs on Kind of Red everyday for the last 7 months, I've been able to hack and slash without too much fretting. But I've also heard spaces for harmonies, things that help fill the gaps to take the songs that extra step further towards the wall-of-crushing that I want them to be (wall-of-crushing is now officially trademarked by me, so ha!).

I've also decided to cut two of the songs altogether. The album itself is 11 songs, and they've all survived the culling, but I was also going to do 3 additional tracks while I had the gear set up. I had an extra song called "Demiurge" that I started the week before recording Landmines. It has stayed in my head this last year, so I figured I'd give it a chance. It's a really cool, heavily layered, very psychedelic song, but I don't think it's 'done' yet. I had a conversation with my wife tonight about how sometimes, creating can simply be done for creation's sake. I've never thought that way before. I've always figured, if I'm going to put time into it, it'll see the light of day at some point. This isn't to say that I complete every musical idea I have, far from it. I have dozens, if not hundreds of pieces here and there on various hard drives in my studio. Some of them don't grab me, and I leave them in digital limbo because I can't throw things out (I'm a musical packrat). I know when something merits time and energy or not. But in the case of "Demiurge", while it was fun to work on it, ultimately, it'll take time and energy away form the Kind of Red tracks, and I'd rather than didn't happen.

The same is also true of the cover songs. "Head Down" is being set aside for the time being. I may get back to it, I dunno. I'm not always that interested in learning other peoples' music. I'd rather write my own. That said, the Posies track, "Coming Right Along" is on the fence for me. I may still record it. It fits thematically with the record, as well as sonically. I'm meeting with Ryan to discuss it next week, so I'm gonna leave it till then.

Farewell to Light:

The acoustic EP starts tomorrow. Shane Barron is coming over to Studio G to begin tracking the guitars on the 3 songs. There'll be a fourth (I think) at some point soon, but we'll worry about that one later. For now, Shane has school coming up, and he and I want to get all this done before September so he can focus. In the meantime, I'll at least be able to get the bulk of the EP done. Depending on time this weekend, Shane and I may jam out an idea that I wrote a few weeks ago. If it turns into a song for the EP, great. If not, well, see my comments re: creating above

Stand Alone Complex

On the Kill All Humans front, I've been digging back into the pile of work. I added an 8th song, which is actually a remix of the song "Just Shy of the Ocean" by Soul Killing Female (from Landmines). It is tentatively titled "Robots Hate Water", but I'll probably change that at some point. I was initially thinking of just giving it away as a free download a few months ago, but I couldn't find the right time/method to do so. After listening to it repeatedly, I've determined that it fits musically with the material on Kill All Humans. I trimmed it down from 10 minutes to 8, but I may yet cut some more. I also started on a 9th song, but given that SKF has actual time constraints, it may be a while till I finish it (like, September or so).

Anyway, here's the revised running order:

There Are Wires Where My Heart Should Be

Quorra

Cloudfight (was called Remove)

Atmospheric Battle Pack

Watching the Fire I've Created Rain Down from the Heavens

Robots Hate Water

Light Cycles

Burn, You Fucker

That brings the album to 52 minutes, so it's getting near done. For some reason, 8 songs doesn't seem like enough, but we'll see what I'm at after song #9 is done. I also have a few other tracks in various states of completion, so I may end up with extras. Either way, this record is gonna be a step up from Music for Suicides, which I still regard as my creative peak thus far, so that's saying something.

Stay soft, pink and oily,

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #52

2011-07-25T13:52:00.000-05:00

Chroma Key

You Go Now

Released November 14th, 2000

Tracklist:

(all words/music by K. Moore)

Get Back In the Car
Another Permanent Address
Nice to Know
Luner
When You Drive
Subway
Please Hang Up
Astronaut Down
You Go Now

Who Did What:

Kevin Moore - vocals, bass, keyboards, programming
Steve Tushar - programming, additional guitars/keyboards
David Iscove - guitar

In 1994, in the midst of making the sheer perfection that was Awake, Kevin Moore left Dream Theater.
Following the split, one party went further and further up its own ass.
The other party formed Chroma Key.
For years, I would read/watch interviews with Mike Portnoy (now ex-drummer from Dream Theater), and he would always express his dismay that Moore wouldn't come back to join the band on stage for special shows. Portnoy would always rag on Moore for having left as though quitting Dream Theater was the worst thing you could ever do as a musician. Even on Dream Theater DVD commentaries, Portnoy would make disparaging remarks.
I always applauded Moore's decision to leave, as well as his adherence to that decision. He never looked back. After hearing Chroma Key, it's easy to see why.
You Go Now, Moore's second full-length solo album, is absolute gold-jerry-gold from start to finish. The production is far superior to its predecessor, 1996's Dead Air for Radios. The drum loops have greater dynamics and more groove, the keyboards have a little more atmosphere and the vocals carry more weight and have more impact than anything LaBrie has yet done in 20 years with Dream Theater (and I actually like LaBrie, so that's saying something).
This record has a film-noir vibe to it. It sounds like it would fit in the world of Akira or Blade Runner. It's a heavy album, but in a dark, more surreal way. It's not loud or fast. Nor is it particularly oppressive or claustrophobic. Like most great art, it creates a world, and, if you allow it to, it puts you inside that world. Thus far, Moore has written each of his records in a different city. You Go Now was written in Los Angeles. For some reason, that sums it perfectly to me, though I couldn't really say why as I've never been to L.A.
Tracks like "Get Back in the Car" or "Nice to Know" possess a dirge-like momentum, each one cradling an ominous air through out. Other songs like "Another Permanent Address", "Subway" or "Astronaut Down" are a little more uptempo, calling to mind the subways of New York or the bullet trains in Japan.
Those four songs are the main supports for the record. I between, are the more ambient instrumental tracks that really give the album its colour. "Lunar" is a piano-driven piece interspersed with dialogue from the Apollo missions. "When You Drive" is a down-tempo bass/drums piece with dialogue from a tape on meditation running throughout; totally reminds me of Massive Attack, but at the same time, complete different. "Please Hang Up" tells us that the old number, 9-1-1 has been changed to 3.
The title track is easily the most beautiful piece on the record. It makes me picture someone floating in orbit around earth, gradually sliding into the atmosphere and burning up.
Lyrically, this record sounds like it came at the tail end of a bad break up. Lines like "I can tell you're falling, it's nice to know" are sung in such a way that the vitriol comes off as almost sweet. I got this record during my summer of '06, and, along with several of the other records I picked up that summer, it remained in my stereo for several months, and is still a regular in my headphones. It was the soundtrack to my trip to Manhattan, and it fit perfectly. It featured prominently during my time in Thailand as well. It 's an album that really seems to suit being on the move.
Although, as I write this, the rain has just started falling outside my window and the sun is going down. This record sounds like that.

Michael

Record Building #30

2011-07-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in my studio for the 8th consecutive hour, bathed in my own sweat, trying to keep active in the crushing heat.
Here in Winnipeg the dog days of summer have come early. We're in the midst of a genuine heat wave. It's in the +40s (celsius to my American friends) with the humidity and it's been a real ball-buster. I've been trying to keep active in the studio, but I've also been taking a lot of time away these past few weeks.
On the personal front:
Weekend before last, I hung out with my buddies Howard and Jon from Arctic Circle. I drove out to Brandon and had what could only be described as a blur. Jon, as it turns out, is something of an historian when it comes to gear. I learned how to identify what eras my Zildjian cymbals are from, which was actually pretty neat. I can't wait to go back and jam with those guys. Soon.
I've been hanging out with my daughter a lot, mostly at the local splash-park (a splash park is exactly what it sounds like). Gwyn goes and plays in the pool with the life-guards and I sit off to the side and read. I just finished reading a biography on David Bowie which, though scant in terms of info from the 1990s (my favorite Bowie era), it was a pretty interesting read as I knew very little about his 1970s work.
Today, I started reading a biography on Marvin Gaye.
I've also been watching a lot of Stargate SG1. I'm currently halfway through season 7. Richard Dean Anderson is seriously one of the funniest people in the history of television. He has a very underrated comedic sensibility that I would describe as an Americanized John Cleese.

I've also been playing through the Final Fantasy series on my old SNES.

I finished IV last week and I'm now halfway through VI.

VII to follow.
I've been pretty burned out on music these last couple of weeks, so I've been doing what I can to distract myself.
That said, on the professional (ie: music) front:
As of yesterday, I've dived right back into the getting pre-production for Kind of Red done. This week I did the following:
I reprogrammed all the drums to more accurately reflect the drum parts I'd written/demoed on my acoustic kit a couple of months back.
I'm in the process of building my guide tracks for the studio. I programmed 8 today, and I've got 4 more to do.
I'm re-working the track "Herd Killing". After trying to play it live, I've decided it's way too fast, so I'm trying to find a nice sweet-spot tempo-wise to make the song more comfortable. I hope to have it done this week.
I've added some synth parts to the tracks "House of Leaves" and "Napalm (reprise)".
I had my first pre-production sit-down with my backing vocalist Natasha. She's the singer in a local band called the Mad Young Darlings. She'll be doing backing vocals on "House of Leaves" and "God of War". We're both excited to be working together, and I think it's gonna turn out amazing!
With regards to the acoustic EP, Farewell to Light:
I'm making charts for the guitarist this week, and we're getting together in two weeks to track the guitars.
I ran in to a bit of a snag when I thought I'd lost one of the songs. I've spent the last month looking for it on my various hard drives. I found it today, but after listening to it, I'm not happy with al of it, so I'm going to salvage the parts I like and see if they fit with a song I wrote on the way to Brandon a few weeks back. I'm really digging playing acoustic guitar these days.
That's about it.
So, to recap:
Farewell to Light recording starts July 29th.
Kind of Red recording starts August 14th.
Can't wait!

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #51

2011-07-18T02:20:00.000-05:00

Matthew Good Band

Beautiful Midnight

Released September 14th, 1999

Tracklist:

(all words by M. Good - all music by M. Good, D. Genn, except where noted)

Giant
Hello Time Bomb
Strange Days
I Miss New Wave
Load Me Up (music by M. Good, D. Genn, R. Priske, I. Browne)
Failing the Rorschach Test
Suburbia
Let's Get It On
Jenni's Song
Going All the Way
A Boy and His Machine Gun
The Future is X-Rated
Born to Kill
Sun Up, Running for Home

B-Sides:

Flashdance II
My Life as a Circus Clown
Pony Boy

Who Did What:

Matthew Good - vocals, guitar
Dave Genn - guitar, keyboards
Rich Priske - bass
Ian Browne - drums

Others:

Todd Kerns - backing vocals (Hello Time Bomb, Born to Kill)
Natasha Duprey - phone sex (The Future is X-Rated)

This album is a rock and roll masterpiece.
I got this album in September, 1999, when I was living in Cornwall, Ontario (yeah, I was surprised they had a record store too - they also have roofs and glass windows instead of the kind made of dead wishes). Having experienced Underdogs so thoroughly, I grabbed up Beautiful Midnight the day it came out. It was a time in my life when I needed escape, needed distraction, and Matthew Good delivered.
I hopped in the car, put the album on, and just drove around the eastern Ontario countryside listening.
I'll admit, I was thrown for a second by the cheerleaders chanting "K I C K A S S That's the way we spell success!". But when "Giant" kicked in, I was hooked. One of my happiest memories of the song is (disclaimer, this might be gross) of being in Victoria, having spent the night at a girl's place (nothing happened), she'd gone to work that morning, and I had slept in. I showered and lay on her bed in the sunshine with the radio on. "Giant" played in the middle of a set of great, great songs and the day was full of promise. It was one of the happiest days of my life, as it turned out (no sex, just a really nice day).
Beautiful Midnight is one of those albums that's best experienced as an album. More than just a collection of songs, the record is a cohesive journey. "Giant" is the sunrise at the beginning of a roadtrip; dropping into a halfpipe; falling in love. It's one of those moments where you're just going for it, consequences be damned. The song is bursting with energy and confidence and makes you feel like nothing could go wrong in the world.
Fitting then, that this record came out when it did.
This is the album that, for me, marked my transition from angsty teenager to confused adult. I had just turned 21 a few weeks prior, I had just moved out on my own to a new city, and I had just taken the first steps towards a real 'grown up' career (they were ill-advised steps, to be sure). Those are all exciting things, however, alongside that my girlfriend had died, I lost all my friends (for some reason, when you leave Winnipeg, Winnipeggers tend to get really bent out of shape as though you stepped out of paradise and peed on them whilst doing so), and I was going into a career that I had largely be coerced into pursuing. So, it was a chaotic time to say the least.
I read somewhere that Beautiful Midnight is a loose-concept record about Matt Good's 20s. Makes sense. The record was the soundtrack to my 20s as well (and continues into my 30s). There's a vibe to this album that really encompasses what it's like to be a new adult. The feeling that, while crazy shit is still the norm, now there's consequences. And not just party/drugs/alcohol-related. There's real decisions to be made. Friends begin to disappear, while new ones arrive. You change, physically, mentally, spiritually. It's funny, all those after-school specials made it seem like this stuff should happen in your teen years, but really, you're too stupid (I certainly was) too notice that these things are even happening.
I was always told that high-school was supposed to be the best years of my life. There were not. They were easily the worst. My 20s, however, while certainly containing their fair share of tribulation, were far more entertaining than my teen years.
The record takes the format of a day, from suppertime to sun-up the next day, with each song title being prefaced with an hour (ie: 5pm "Giant"). And it really feels like it. It could be the soundtrack to anything you might do that night and it would fit. There's a fearlessness to songs like "Hello Time Bomb", "Going All the Way"and "Load Me Up" (the latter being on the radio at 4am regularly when I would get up to drive to Whistler to snowboard for the day).
That said, it's not all fearlessness. There's the consequences. Songs like "I Miss New Wave" and "Born To Kill" are dramatic come-downs from the highs. "Born To Kill" is easily one of the best songs Good has ever written, particularly the symphonic crescendo that takes the album home.
Beyond just the simple highs and lows, there are more important moments of reflection. Songs like "Strange Days", "Suburbia" and "Running for Home" almost make you nostalgic for a time that hasn't happened yet. Like you're suddenly 60 years old and thinking back to when you were young and the Earth was round and aliens existed and Superman had not yet died.
"Strange Days" had a huge impact on me. One of the most beautiful tracks ever written. While the song's importance to me has morphed and remained relevant to me through the years, it will always take me back to when I was 22 and living in Vancouver and working insane hours in a job that was destroying me physically and mentally. I threw myself headlong into the job as a way to not deal with my girlfriend's death, but during the quiet moments reality would come flooding back and I'd have to face it for a time. "Strange Days" reminds me of those moments, sitting in my car, stuck in gridlock, driving back to my apartment after a grueling day spent being the recipient of verbal abuse, wondering why I was there, why I was doing this:

"Good morning, don't cop out,

You crawled from the cancer to land on your feet,

Are crazy to want this, even for a while?

We're making this shit up,

The reasons for being are easy to pay,

You can't remember the others,

They just kind of went away.

So you're driving, it's rush hour,

The cars on the freeway are moving like slugs,

When you drift off to wake up,

Do you always hit the breaks?

We're done lying for a living,

The strange days have come and you're gone,

Either dead or dying,

Dead or trying to go.

It's evening, you're tired,

You sleepwalk, a robot, out to the street,

Are you crazy to want this, even for a while?

You're driving, it's rush hour,

The cars on the freeway are moving backwards,

Into a wall of fire.

We're done lying for a living,

The strange days have come and you're gone,

Either dead or dying,

Dead or trying to go.

Good morning, don't cop out....."

Of all the songs that have meant something to me in my life, this was the most autobiographical. It describes exactly where I was, how I felt, what I was afraid off, what I wanted. The specifics will most likely bore the fuck out of you (if I haven't already), so I'll just say, this song gets me every time. And what's more, it keeps finding new significance as I continue through life. A great song.
The song "Suburbia" is a little more rooted in a particular time for me. Musically, it's a trippy song based on a drumloop with keyboard bass lines and almost psychedelic soundscapes all of which are carried by a mournful guitar line. This song always has, and always will make me think of Alexia (the aforementioned girlfriend). The first time I heard it, I was sitting on the hood of my car just outside of Cornwall, drinking a hot chocolate, think of her, and staring at the stars. The song took whatever stiff-upper-lip I had adopted about her death and stripped it all away. I broke down every time I heard this song for years. I had a ritual, every Thursday night while I was in Cornwall, after supper in the dorm I was living in, I would go out to that spot, drink my hot chocolate on the hood of my car, look at the stars, and just listen to "Suburbia" on a loop several times and break down. The catharsis enabled me to sort of rebuild my facade and face the following week. It was a rough time.

"You will come back within yourself,

You can be art when we melt,

and I will know what you were for,

I say we're leaving.

There ain't nothing here at all,

Another day, a week, the mall,

and baby if I was in demand,

you would be mine.

Someday, this place is gonna burn,

Is your whole life in there waiting?

Someday your head is gonna turn and you realize I'm missing,

Do you realize?

You will come back, convince yourself

You can stay alive and wait for me,

And I will know what this was for,

And I say we're leaving.

There ain't nothing here at all,

Another month, a year, that's all,

So you can tell them I'm coming and,

Hell's coming with me.

Someday this place is gonna burn,

Is your whole life in there waiting?

Someday their heads are gonna turn and they'll realize you're missing"

That song always felt like the conversation I would've had with Alexia back then if I could've had the chance.
"Running for Home" resonated for much the same reason, though moreso musically than lyrically.
This record really is just sheer perfection. It makes you feel young again, and old at the same time, and when I say old, I mean in a wizened, survivor sort of way.
Despite the heavy associations I have with Beautiful Midnight, it remains one of my all-time favorites, and a soundtrack to largely happy, or at the very least, interesting times. Whoever said high-school was the best years of their life obviously lost the plot somewhere around 19. For me, life has simply gotten more and more confusing, insane, chaotic, and ultimately more fun as I've gotten older. I'd like to say it's because I learned to discern good drugs from bad, but I'd be lying.
Well, that was a tangent.
What I meant to say was, if you like rock music, and you're alive and possibly trapped in some sort of glass case of emotion, I recommend this record over any other. It'll carry you through whatever you need it to.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #50

2011-07-11T00:24:00.002-05:00

Econoline Crush

Purge

Released 1994

Tracklist:

(all lyrics by T. Hurst)

Purge I (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, T. Ferris, D. Yaremko, G. Leask)
Out of Reach (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, T. Ferris)
T.D.M. (music by T. Hurst, T. Ferris)
Cruel World (music by T. Hurst, D. Yaremko)
Pssyche (Killing Joke cover)
Purge II ((music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, T. Ferris, D. Yaremko, G. Leask)

Who Did What:

Trevor Hurst - vocals
Robert Morfitt - guitar
Gregg Leask - drums
Tom "Hack" Ferris - guitar
Dan Yaremko - bass

Others:

Rhys Fulber - keyboards, programming

[FAIR WARNING - This post is really stream-of-consciousness as the records in question are from a rather tumultuous time in my life. As such, many memories came flooding back and I wrote them down as I remembered them. Don't like it? Start your own blog and do it better.]

Econoline Crush.
I have a love/less-love relationship with this band.
Yesterday, as I was revisiting these albums for the first time in probably a decade, I figured I'd rip them (and by association, myself) a new one, but as I'm listening to them now, I'm finding that I'm quite enjoying them. Go figure.
So.
The Purge EP.
I saw the video for the track "T.D.M." in the middle of the night on The Wedge. The Wedge was a show that played these things called 'music videos', back when the 'music television station' Muchmusic actually had much music on it. The video, a dizzying series of rapid edits of a performance clip grabbed me. In 1994, I was a year away from hearing 'real' industrial music like Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, etc. I'd heard Ministry, but only in passing, and my under-developed brain didn't know what to make of it all so it shut down (it does the same thing when confronted by beautiful women and math).
The first phase of Econoline Crush was a strange mix of industrial programming/keyboards, heavy metal drums mixed with Duran Duran-style beats, razor-wire guitars and a vocalist that sounded like a combination of Billy Idol, Simon LeBon, and a lounge singer. Somehow, it worked. Back in 1994, there was nothing like it. Listening back, it's still worthy of some praise for being ground-breaking, though, other than "T.D.M.", it's a little weak. The intro/outro title tracks are interesting and have some cool bass sounds, but Hurst's tentative vocals scrape away the ominousness and leave them feeling devoid of the emotion they were probably meant to convey. The rest of the EP is a Killing Joke cover, and two originals that, book-ending "T.D.M." the way they do, sort of pale next to the intensity of that track.
Like I said though, it was mind-blowing at the time, and should still be heard at least once.
Moving on........

Affliction

Released February 20th, 1995

Tracklist:

(all lyrics by T. Hurst - all music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Yaremko, except where noted)

Nowhere Now
Blunt (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Yaremko, C. Bryant)
Wicked (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Yaremko, T. Ferris)
Emotional Stain
Close (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Yaremko, C. Bryant)
Blood in the Water
Cruel World (music by T. Hurst, D. Yaremko)
Lost (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Yaremko, T. Ferris)
Slug
Sycophant
Affliction (music by T. Hurst, C. Bryant)

Who Did What:

Trevor Hurst - vocals, programming
Robbie Morfitt - guitar, programming
Dan Yaremko - bass, programming
Gregg Leask - drums, programming

Others:

Rhys Fulber - keyboards, programming
Greg Reely - additional programming

This is the record where Econoline Crush perfected their rock/industrial hybrid. Produced by Rhys Fulber (FLA, Fear Factory, other bands that don't start with F), the album is cleaner, more streamlined than its predecessor and contains a wealth of Fulber-style keyboards ad programming that give it a greater depth overall.
I saw the video for "Wicked" on Muchmusic, just like everybody else. I picked up this album on the strength of that song. And I liked that song on the strength of that little doppler-keyboard bit that transitions form the verses to the choruses.
Very specific, I know.
I have very specific needs.
Other than "Nowhere Now", which, along with "Wicked" form a pair of kickass cyber-metal anthems, Affliction bored the fuck out of me. Until today for some reason. I tried repeatedly, and I mean REPEATEDLY to get through this album from start to finish, and I could never do it. For some reason, as I write this, I'm really digging this album. I don't know what changed. I haven't slept in a while. That could be it.
It's a decent album. The songs are solid. No great, but solid. The track "Emotional Stain" has a killer pay-off if you can wait out the first 4 minutes (which aren't bad, just repetitive). Other tracks like "Close" and "Lost" show potential for greatness. The rest are good pop songs presented in an interesting way. I feel like Affliction shows a band on the verge of evolving into something amazing; the album always feels like it's just about to blow you away, but never quite does. Still, very cutting edge at the time, and a much better effort overall than Purge (which is how it's supposed to work, right?).
Then they met Sylvia Massey.......

The Devil You Know

Released June 17th, 1997

Tracklist:

(all lyrics by T. Hurst - all music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Yaremko, except where noted)

Surefire
Sparkle & Shine
Deeper
Hollowman
Home
The Devil You Know
All That You Are (x3) (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Sigmond, D. Binns, R. Wagner)
Burnt
Haven't Gone Away
Elegant (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Sigmond, D. Binns, R. Wagner)
Razorblades & Bandaides (music by T. Hurst, R. Morfitt, D. Sigmond, D. Binns, R. Wagner)

Who Did What:

Trevor Hurst - vocals
Robbie Morfitt - guitar
Ziggy Sigmond - guitar
Don Binns - bass, acoustic guitar
Robert Wagner - drums, percussion

Others:

Statik - programming

I hadn't listened to this record in a long time. I threw it on yesterday and I was inundated with memories long forgotten, which I suppose is the hallmark of great pop music.
The Devil You Know is immaculately produced, as is always the case with Massey (Tool, Machines of Loving Grace, many others). The production alone on this record is worth the price of admission. Massey makes drums sound better than anyone else. Don't know how she does it, but I would sit at her feet for the rest of my days just to absorb even a fraction of her talent.
Musically, the record is less industrial, less heavy, more rock and roll. The keyboards and programming are still present, but instead of Fulber's trademark string pads and synth lines, it's mellotron and very subtle loops. The emphasis seems primarily on Hurst's vocals, with the music really suiting his hard-rock/crooner vocal style. It works very well here.
I have so many personal connections to this record, it's ridiculous. Throughout 1997 and 1998, my life was intertwined with Econoline Crush in a way that was probably perverted and unnatural.
In no particular order:
I saw the band no less than 5 times over a 12-month period. I saw them on the side-stage at Edgefest in 1997, when Wagner was still drumming for them (and they had a keyboard player, but info on the band is sketchy at best, let alone on their touring members). I saw them open for the Tea Party a few months later at the Convention Center, again with Wagner on drums but sans-keyboard player (that was a hell of a show, performances from both bands were mind-blowing).
I saw them the following summer at a secret show at the airport in Winnipeg. They announced on the radio that if you were willing to do something crazy you could get tickets to this exclusive show. For some reason, I thought shaving my head was a good idea. So, I showed up at the radio station with a box of Gillettes and some shaving cream. Why I didn't bring electric clippers, I have no idea. I was young and stupid. Now I'm old and stupid, but I use clippers to shave my head. It takes 5 minutes instead of the 90 minutes it took that day at the radio station. Not to mention the many, MANY gashes on my skull. Hurst and Morfitt partook for a bit, but looked seriously uncomfortable the entire time. It took so long to finish the job that they actually delayed the show by 30 minutes so I could get there in time (they figured I'd suffered enough that I deserved to see the whole show). The airport show was the first time I heard "T.D.M." live, which was mind-blowing. They also had a new drummer (also shaved-headed) who was quite good - side note:
I sent in an audition cd with tracks form the only recording I was on at that time, my band Turner Brown's first (and thankfully only) album. Thinking back, I can understand why I was turned down. I still have the "thanks, but...." letter in my office from their agency.
That same summer, I saw them again at Edgefest. Later that fall, I saw them with Joydrop at the U of M, where they played their first headlining set (at least that I had seen). Hurst made the same "it's good to be ....... Home" joke at EVERY show before the band played "Home". It got a little stale, but then again, I was probably in the minority of people who'd seen them that many times that year.
Song-wise, this record has some really great tracks and some filler. "Surefire" and "Sparkle & Shine" are both excellent. I spent many hours drumming along to them in my basement as a teenager. I had a huge crush on the girl that played bass in the video for "Sparkle & Shine", largely because she was a girl that was holding a bass. That's basically all I need. Throw in knowledge of X-Wings and I'll pretty much marry her.
The track "Deeper" is one of my favorites form the band overall. It has a kick-drum sound that you can hear in your gut (..... that's right). Just a huge sound. The keyboard-bend in the background is what makes the song for me. Not sure why. I just love this track.
"Home" is a song that Turner Brown covered entirely at my insistence. The singer was so choked about it that, rather than complain, he just never learned the words in the two years we played it live. I liked playing it because it was a challenge to pull of the different drum loops all at once. I have a performance of it on tape somewhere where we play it 200% faster than the original and I still pull it off. It's a silly thing to be proud of. Like my Slave I that hangs in my studio.
The song "All That You Are (x3)" was on the radio every five seconds back then, and I got real sick of it real fast until, one day, the radio played an alternate mix with the real drums in it. Suddenly the song had balls to it. I've not been able to track that version down anywhere in the intervening decade, but I still look for it here and there.
The track "Razorblades & Bandaides" is by far the single best emotional roller-coaster, angst-ridden, break up song ever written. Hurst's vocal performance sends chills up my spine every time I hear it, particularly the very end when he hits that high note. Goddam, the guy can sing.
Oddly enough, I broke up with my first girlfriend while this record was in my stereo. We finally decided to end it as this song started up. I was insanely happy. As such, this song always makes me smile a bit (fun fact: this was the morning of that first EC show at Edgefest. I hung up the phone, noticed the irony of the song being on the stereo, then left for the show. I ran into a girl named Stefanie and had what could only be described as one of the best days in my entire life.
I was given a signed copy of the radio promo for this song when I got my head shaved. It seemed fitting, given how many cuts I had on my head, which reminds me of another uninteresting story:
The day of the airport show, I was late to pick up the aforementioned girlfriend and arrived to find her sitting on the curb crying. She got in the car, proceeded to berate me for not loving her enough to pick her up on time. She then noticed I was smirking like an idiot. I'd worn a hat to hide the new haircut, and when she grabbed it away from me, she was so angry that I'd shaved my head that she forgot all about my having been late. She dumped me a month later (via answering machine) because I was too immature (poopfart). I listened to "Razorblades & Bandaides" pretty much non-stop for several months after that to cheer up.
After that, I had two more 'run ins' with the band:
When I was in Anthem Red, I rehearsed upstairs from Hurst's band for several months at the corner of Furby and Portage. Then, when doing a session for CBC, the engineer became enamored of my playing and recommended me to the band (they took Brent Fitz). I did get a fair amount of non-EC related work from it though, so it all evened out I suppose.......

Michael

Queen of the Nutsack

2011-06-26T18:00:00.000-05:00

Soul Killing Female played last night at the Park Theater for the 3rd annual all-ages Metalfest.
I played the following:

Neurosis (Utopia Mine)
Isolationism (Kind of Red)
One Last Pathetic Attempt at Reconciliation (Utopia Mine)/In the Rainy Season (SYL cover)

I got a really good response during the set, and afterward lots of folks came up to say hi, shake hands, buy merch, etc. The new t-shirts went over well, and I sold at least one of each of the 4 designs. They'll be available via the online store whenever it is that CanadaPost gets back up and running.

I really enjoyed talking to everybody at the merch table last night and was really happy to see people digging the music. It's different, I know, but it's becoming apparent that that really might actually be a good thing!

Michael

Record Building #29

2011-06-21T01:55:00.001-05:00

Had pre-production session #3 tonight.

Tonight was largely a brainstorming night, trying to sort out how and where we're going to record this thing. The downside to being poor as fuck (and there is a downside), is that I have to McGyver my way through life, making anti-tank weapons out of donut-holes. Why do I need anti-tank weapons? Mind your business, that's why!

So, here's the official running order of Kind of Red:

Scorched Earth Policy/An Ode to Napalm (9:31)
Herd Killing (5:37)
(Kill This) Melody (7:21)
House of Leaves (8:20)
Dis (5:36)
God of War (7:02)
Of Human Bondage (5:48)
Isolationism (11:22)
Rorschach (All My Friends Are Lying Pieces of Shit) (6:49)
Napalm Reprise (5:30)
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole (5:38)

plus two covers:

Head Down (Soundgarden) (6:18)
Coming Right Along (The Posies) (7:20)

Also, the previously-named Jennifer Connelly EP has a real title now: Farewell to Light. It has 5 songs on it. It is primarily acoustic guitar, with some ambient keys. I'm calling it ambient-psychedelic-folk. Actually, I'm not calling it that because I find that the use of genre tags is indicative of limited thinking. I roll my eyes every time someone tries to HMV a band in front of me. It's tiresome.

Anyway, things are moving along. In an unanticipated burst of creativity, I wrote another SKF song, tentatively for the Last Transmission From West Broadway album. I'm trying really hard to NOT work on new music, as I am totally burned out from doing Soul Killing Female, Stand Alone Complex, and everybody else's records over the last 2 years non-stop. I just want to focus on Kind of Red (and Stand Alone Complex's Kill All Humans) till the end of 2012. THEN I'll start on new stuff. That said, I'm not good at taking direction, even from myself, so I find that in quiet moments, I'm considering how to release music in the future. I initially wanted the West Broadway album to be a double-record. I wanted this because, still thinking in terms of the physical limitations of cds, it would give me more room to experiment and push myself artistically; maybe incorporate things that I'd previously set aside in favour of a more cohesive musical statement, or for the sake of creating an identity for SKF. Now though, what with the options being far greater than just a few years ago, I'm thinking beyond the double-record approach. Maybe a series of EPs. I dunno. I'll think of something. I always do. Then I realize that that something was stupid, and then I think of something else. I repeat this process several times until I get something good.

Anyway, tomorrow it's back to show-prep. I'm performing two new songs, "Herd Killing" and "Isolationism" this Saturday. Musically they're ready to go. I'm still hammering out lyrics though. I may just play them instrumentally. We'll see.
And with that, I'm off.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #49

2011-06-10T20:06:00.000-05:00

Fear Factory

Archetype

Released April 19th, 2004

Tracklist:

(all music by B. Bell, R. Herrera, C. Wolbers, except where noted - all words by B. Bell, except where noted)

Slave Labour
Cyberwaste
Act of God
Drones
Archetype
Corporate Cloning
Bite the Hand That Bleeds
Undercurrent
Default Judgement
Bonescraper
Human Shields
Ascension (music by B. Bell, R. Herrera, C. Wolbers, R. Fulber)
School (music/words by K. Cobain)

Who Did What:

Burton Bell - vocals
Christian Olde Wolbers - guitars, bass
Raymond Herrera - drums

Others:

Rhys Fulber - keyboards, programming (Slave Labour, Corporate Cloning, Bite the Hand That Bleeds, Ascension)
Steve Tushar - keyboards, programming (Act of God, Drones, Archetype, Undercurrent, Default Judgement, Human Shields)

Archetype is my favorite Fear Factory record.
(pause for outrage)
Is that to say that it's better than 1995's Demanufacture or 1998's Obsolete? Is it better than 2010's Mechanize?
For me, yeah. Now, while Demanufacture and Obsolete hold very special places in my heart (and always will), and Mechanize was a brilliant return-to-form record, Archetype is pretty much everything I love about Fear Factory and none of what I don't.
This has nothing to do with who's playing guitar either. Dino, Christian, I don't really care.
What I love about Archetype is that a band so steeped in technology and rooted in mechanical precision finally manages to sound human. There's a punk element on Archetype that makes it stand apart. It really should've been the album to follow Obsolete; you can see Olde Wolbers's influence on the band and where he took it.
I'm not going to go over this track by track, but by each aspect of it that I like.
First off, the guitar playing. As I said, I like Dino Cazares, and I like Olde Wolbers. They're both great at what they do. But Dino's playing is almost TOO precise, and while I respect that, Wolbers's playing is a little sludgier which gives the music just that much more feel. Every single song on Archetype is groovy as hell. Which takes me to my next point: the drumming.
Herrera's playing has never really been the high point for me with Fear Factory, nor has it been a low point. It's just there. I'll admit to copping a number of his double-kick patterns over the years, but most of the time I find his drumming stiff and awkward. On Archetype, they didn't beat-detective the whole thing via triggers. As such, Herrera's human side is allowed to dominate the time-keeping, and dominate it does. Like Wolbers, Herrera's playing has just enough looseness to it that you could almost dance to Archetype, albeit very quickly.
Burton Bell sets the bar for melody-writing extremely high on this record. Every single song on Archetype is catchy and memorable. Which isn't to say it lacks any of the ferocity found on Demanufacture. Rather, balanced with some of his best clean vocal performances on record, his yelling vocals are just as catchy and memorable though no less intense.
The production of this record, handled largely by Rhys Fulber, is the best in the catalogue (though Mechanize comes damn close). Again, the looseness of the playing allows for space in the music which in turn allows the listener to actually take in the sounds and digest them before moving on to the next song. The keyboards are far more subtle than on Obsolete or on 2001's Digitmortal, and are far more powerful as a result. Tracks like "Archetype", "Slave Labour", "Undercurrent" and "Default Judgement" are backed up by some of the most haunting melody lines the band has ever conceived of. This is showcased in the track "Undercurrent" especially, as Bell's vocals and Tushar's keys intertwine to bring the song to an emotional climax that almost threatens to derail the remainder of the record due to its intensity. "Default Judgement" brings it right back though and the record carries on kicking ass.
The band really found themselves on this record, writing not just a batch of good songs and couple great ones, but rather, a solid set of 11 great tracks. Seriously, every song on here could be a single. Every damn one. "Bite the Hand That Bleeds" is new ground for the band, almost a ballad but still carried with enough force to level a city; "Drones" and "Act of God" as well. "Cyberwaste" is easily one of the best Fear Factory songs of all time; it's a tremendous shame that the band will no longer play any tracks from the "Wolbers Era", because it's 11 songs that have yet to be matched, and Mechanize was very, VERY good so that's saying something.
That said, most metalheads will disagree since things like keyboards and melodies are 'fuckin' gay'. Wait, who am I kidding? They won't be able to read this anyway.

Transgression

Released August 22nd, 2005

Tracklist:

(all music by C. Wolbers, R. Herrera, except where noted - all words by B. Bell, except where noted)

540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit
Transgression
Spinal Compression
Contagion
Empty Vision
Echo of My Scream
Supernova
New Promise (music by C. Wolbers, R. Herrera, M. Morton)
I Will Follow (music by D. Evans, A. Clayton, L. Mullen Jr. - words by P. Hewson)
Millennium (music by J. Coleman, M. Glover, K. Walker - words by J. Coleman)
Moment of Impact

B-Sides:

Empire
My Grave

Who Did What:

Burton Bell - vocals
Christian Olde Wolbers - guitar, bass
Raymond Herrera - drums

Others:

Billy Gould - bass (Supernova, Echo of My Scream)
Richard Ali - guitar (Supernova)

This record is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Suffering from And Justice For All syndrome, Transgression is an album of great music but piss-poor production. I mean, the production renders this record almost unlistenable. Why Toby Wright wasn't strung up and shot for this, I have no idea.
From the get-go, this album has frustrated me to no end. It has some of Fear Factory's most experimental and adventurous song writing hopelessly marred by some of the worst sound I've ever heard; it sounds like a collection of demoes rather than a professionally produced record.
When I first heard the pre-release single of "540,000 degrees Fahrenheit", it had that low-bit-rate watery sound like all shitty mp3s do. I didn't mind at the time as I was simply excited that there was more Fear Factory on the way; and only a year after Archetype. The song itself is awesome. One of my favorites form the band. Burton's vocal melody gets me every time. So when I bought the album during a misguided trip to Halifax where I got pink-eye and did hash for the first time result in my falling asleep on a toilet because I couldn't tell if I'd stopped pooping so I figured I'd just sit there for a long time under the impression that it had to stop at some point and then I leaned against a wall and fell asleep for an indeterminate period of time then woke up and went to stand up only to discover my legs were asleep and then fell forward hitting my head on the edge of the bathtub only to knock my self unconscious also for an indeterminate amount of time, I figured the sound on the record would be as good as that on Archetype.
I should've been worried when I saw that Fulber's name wasn't anywhere to be found on Transgression.
The most glaring issue with this record is the drums. The double kick is implied more than heard. It's like the didn't mic Herrera's left kick drum. You can tell he's playing it, but the drums don't have the clarity that they have on EVERY OTHER FEAR FACTORY RECORD INCLUDING SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE!!!! I have no idea if Toby Wright listened to a Fear Factory album prior to taking the job of producing Transgression, but if he did, he clearly wasn't paying attention.
Guitar-wise, Wolbers tries to cover a lot of new ground with different sounds, solos, etc. Unfortunately, much of it is buried under whatever that shitty-mp3 sound is that pervades the entire album (and no, I didn't download the record, it sounds like that on the cd itself).
The keyboards seems kind of tacked on as an afterthought, which is really disappointing given that they're an integral part of the band's sound. The song "Contagion" is a perfect example of this: it sounds like there's an orchestra playing underneath the band, but it sort of pokes through the wall of sound created by the band at random intervals becoming more of an irritating distraction rather than an accompaniment.
Then there's the cover songs. Fear Factory has been playing cover songs over the course of their entire career, most notably Gary Numan's "Cars" form the Obsolete sessions, and that's fine. The covers were always left as b-sides, with the albums comprised of originals. Here, they just kinda sit there like a pair of elephants in the room, while two perfectly good originals, "My Grave" and "Empire", dare I say two of the best tracks form the Transgression sessions, are left off. I don't know whose decision that was, but they should be buried alive alongside Toby. Seriously, "My Grave" is one of their best tracks, and it was a 'secret download'. It's also the only track that sounds like it was recorded and mixed properly. Makes me wonder if there's an alternative (ie: good) mix of the record floating around the internet somewhere.....
Now, the positive stuff:
A lot of the songs are really, really good. "540,000 degrees Fahrenheit", "Transgression", "Empty Vision", and "New Promise" all break new ground artistically. Odd-time signatures abound, along with more atmospheric guitars, and even more swing-feel tracks. "Spinal Compression" has a killer groove in the choruses that, quite frankly, I didn't think the band capable of. "Supernova" is almost a pop-song, but somehow retains enough balls to stay heavy. "Echo of My Scream" is a new direction, and while not my favorite track on Transgression, I applaud them for doing it. It sits perfectly alongside the rest of the tracks, acting as a pivot point for the rest of the record; the band usually saves the ballads for the end of the records. "Moment of Impact" is an awesome album-closer, despite the cheesy glass-shattering effect added at the end (I was called in to fix a similar problem on a different record recently - why do producers do that?)
Transgression could've been a great record. It has some really great material on it. Had it been given more time to gestate, it could've been born healthy instead of becoming one of those 'preemie' babies that eats sand at the playground. I know this will never happen, but if the band ever got the chance to revisit it and remix it (also, Metallica, the same goes for you guys), I think this record could be made great. That said, I did see the band on tour for Transgression, and the material really kicked ass live.
In the meantime, I say we start a movement to have Toby Wright tracked down and beaten soundly about the eyes and ears with a large brick.

So there you have it. The "Wolbers"-era. One awesome, one not so awesome. Both worth checking out.

Michael

After Dark

2011-05-31T04:13:00.000-05:00

The first Stand Alone Complex show of 2011 happened last Saturday.
If you weren't there, you were in the minority, because that place was PACKED!
My setlist was:

And the City Shall Burn
An Apology is the Last Thing You Need to Hear When You're Killing Someone
I Could Jump Out a Window
Burn, You Fucker!
There Are Wires Where My Heart Should Be
Quorra

This marked the official live debut of "Wires" and "Quorra". Both went over quite well. I managed to get a soundboard recording of the entire show, so I'll be making that 'bootleg' available at some point this week.
The new material is really a lot of fun to play live. People seem to dig it, especially "Quorra".
The show also marked the debut of my new banner for my keyboard stand. Do I have a picture of it? No. Of course not. Because that would be awesome, and I am far, faaaaar from awesome.
I am cute, however.
Anyway, the DJs of After Dark were incredible gracious and kind hosts, and I had a great time.
Even managed to fall back in love with the Silk Specter, but that's a story for another time.

Michael

Okay, seriously, when does it run out of ammo?

2011-05-31T03:37:00.000-05:00

So, my daughter didn't want to sleep tonight, so, I'm up watching Robocop.

And Robocop 2: The Coppening.

And possibly Robocop 3: This time it's digitally personalized, maybe?

I would say that these films fall under the category of sci-fi, in that, they're an excellent idea that has been poorly executed.

What is it about science fiction that attracts this sort of thing?

I love sci-fi more than I love air, but there's so little that's of any real value. And it's a shame because there is so much potential in the genre. So many great ideas, buried under shitty scripts, pathetic acting, misguided directing, and pointless special effects.

So, why do I love sci-fi at all?

Social commentary.

And also big spaceships.

Well, mostly big spaceships, but social commentary is a very close second.

And zombies. I'm gonna include zombie apocalypse-style films in the sci-fi genre.

I'm gonna use Robocop as a prime example of what disappoints me about sci-fi.

The trilogy centers on the premise that big business is taking over politics and directing urban renewal in order to capitalize on the gentrification of old, no-profit neighbourhoods. Sounds like something every major city can relate to. I know here in Winnipeg, there's been an on-going debate about the gentrification of the North Main area, as well as the Waterfront and parts of Osbourne Village. In all of these places, smaller businesses, older "character" apartments, and low-income folks are being booted to make way for condos, strip-malls and more condos. I'd like to think that this is largely being done to rid the neighbourhoods of undesirables, because, let's face it: there's a lot of sketchy types roaming the North Main area. It's just unfortunate in the extreme that they can't clean it up but still make it livable for the people who are working and fighting to keep their homes there. I know Vancouver was the target of controversy for this very thing leading up to the Olympics.

See? Robocop can be applied to your daily life.

What's disappointing about Robocop is that they ruin this perfectly golden opportunity to say something and instead bury said opportunity in gunfire and goofiness. It's a real shame because they could've addressed so many other issues, particularly the nature of technological development and how it pertains to the human soul; the nature of police brutality; the conflict between stopping crime and still remaining morally superior to the criminal; etc.

Instead we get a choppy "thank you for your cooperation".

It seems that most sci-fi misses the boat and simply goes for the militaristic flash n' dazzle escapism. And as fucking cool as x-wings are, they don't really solve anything.

So, in the spirit of my love for GOOD sci-fi, I give you my top-10 list of films that make an effective statement on the world today by placing us in the world of tomorrow. Or something.

In no particular order (except for Blade Runner):

1 - Blade Runner (1982)

2 - Tron (1982)

3 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

4 - Ghost in the Shell (1995)

5 - Alien (1979)

6 - Running Man (1987)

7 - Cloverfield (2008)

8 - Akira (1987)

9 - War of the Worlds (1939)

10 - Planet of the Apes (1968)

Discuss.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #48

2011-05-31T03:00:00.001-05:00

The Cure

Disintegration

Released May 1st, 1989

Tracklist:

(all words by R. Smith - all music by R. Smith, S. Gallup, P. Thompson, B. Williams, R. O'Donnell)

Plainsong
Pictures of You
Closedown
Love Song
Last Dance
Lullaby
Fascination Street
Prayers for Rain
The Same Deep Water as You
Disintegration
Homesick
Untitled

B-sides:

2 Late
Fear of Ghosts
Babble
Out of Mind

Who Did What:

Robert Smith - vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass
Simon Gallup - bass, keyboards
Porl Thompson - guitar
Boris Williams - drums, percussion
Roger O'Donnell - keyboards

Very nearly a Robert Smith solo album, this is easily the darkest album in The Cure's discography. Smith even kept a newspaper clipping about two teenagers that committed suicide together while listening to early Cure albums. He had it pinned to the wall in the studio during the making of Disintegration.
Dark as it is though, it's also stunningly beautiful.
On a professional level, I've encountered the same problem with Stand Alone Complex's Music for Suicides album: Reviewers have loved the music but are often confused about the title, given that the music is predominantly pretty rather than harsh noise. But that's just it. Depression isn't the sort of thing that brings to mind grinding chaos. It's just the opposite. There's a lush, enveloping atmosphere on Disintegration that is the exact place you'd want to be when you're at the end of your tether.
On a personal level though, I can say this record has saved my life more than once. I've regularly found Disintegration to be a source of happiness. There are times, certainly, where I've wallowed alongside this record, but it always brings me out of it and puts me back on my feet.
The Cure are a band that I'd heard here and there for years and years. I always enjoyed their music but I never picked up one of their records until 2006. At the tale-end of a summer based almost entirely on drinking, skateboarding and being generally sad and miserable, I went record shopping. I've covered some of those records in this blog namely Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and Failure's Fantastic Planet. I picked up Disintegration on the same day. I didn't get around to listening to it until I get back from New York City in September. I had purchased a ton of albums that summer (what else are you gonna do when you're bored, broke, single and depressed?), and it took me a while to get to this one for some reason. I remember putting it on as soon as I came in the door to my apartment. I listened as I unpacked, and when all was put away I poured myself on to the couch and listened intently to the remainder of the record.
It was one of those situations where it was the prefect record at the perfect moment. Disintegration was exactly what I needed then, and hasn't been far from my ears ever since.
When I went to Thailand, I listened to this record a dozen times, at least. One night, on a bus from Au-Nang to Hua-hin, I fell asleep to this record and woke up during the title track manic and inspired. I wrote a short story in a notebook that I carried with me (it can be read here).
Sonically, this record sounds like nothing else (though I tried my damnedest to rip it off on Soul Killing Female's Landmines record - not intentionally, mind you, but listening back I can definitely hear how Disintegration influenced the sound of my record). It has those huge swelling string pads that I love so very much. Gallup's bass parts are deceptively simple, carrying the music forward atop Williams' earth-shattering drum parts. Seriously, Boris Williams is one of my favorite drummers simply for the way he writes his drum parts.
The guitars are actually my favorite part of the record. Better than any mushroom, the dual guitars worm their way into your brain and take you away before you even know you've left.
The record is arranged in sections (at least, I think it is, I could be wrong). The first 3 songs are a pleasant intro, sort of a prelude to an evening. "Plainsong" has one of my favorite bass sounds ever. I never really appreciated the power of this song till I heard Ken Andrews's post-Failure band Year of the Rabbit cover it. It was HUGE!
The middle section of the record is the sound of evening pushing light form the sky and the chaos and confusion as real life, painfully more exciting than any fiction, takes over. This is the part of the record where threads are starting to unravel:
"Lovesong", the ubiquitous radio-hit, sits perfectly here, less a hit and more of a transition piece in the context of the record. This song always reminds me of skateboarding to work every Saturday and Sunday morning, before downtown traffic took over and the streets were pristine and full of potential.
"Last Dance" has one of the more original lead-bass lines ever set to music. "Lullaby", one of my favorites, has the most haunting guitar line as an intro, and then becomes a groovy soundtrack to childhood nightmares. It's another song that was always in my headphones when skating home from work.
"Fascination Street" is a song that, while I always liked, has really grown on me in recent months. It kicks the record into high gear and doesn't let up. Just when you think they can't add another guitar-based melody line, they find a way and make it fit. It's a very dense track, but still manages to retain the subtlety and grace of the rest of the record.
"Prayers for Rain" is another one that grew on me. It rained a lot in the fall of 2006, and I spent a lot of time listening to this record on my balcony just watching the rain blanket the city. This song always reminds me of that time. The song caps off the middle-section of the record; if "Fascination Street" is a consequence-free manic high, then "Prayers for Rain" is the moment when harsh reality sets in.
"The Same Deep Water as You" starts the final suite off with the sound of thunderstorms. I was listening to this record last week with a friend of mine, a metalhead form top to bottom (though by no means close-minded), and this track is what finally won him over.
The title track is my favorite Cure song ever. Despite it being 10 minutes long and essentially the same riff over and over, the band manages to add and subtract pieces from the song in such a way that it remains intense till the very end. This song contains some of my favorite guitar parts on the record (the synth-sounding part is the best. I've heard the song live without it, and it's just not the same song).
"Homesick" is the perfect follow-up to "Disintegration" in that, after the insanity of the preceding track, "Homesick" is the dejected walk home from what was likely a profoundly destructive night. Anywhere else on the record and it wouldn't have worked. But here, it manages to funnel the damage into something a little more easily carried. It closes out the third suite perfectly.
"Untitled" is, to me anyway, the epilogue. After the darkness of the first 11 songs, this one seems almost like a ray of sunshine. Not that it's an upbeat happy track on its own. It simply has an air about it like the sun coming up after a lifetime of night.
All in all, this is one of those records best heard in its entirety, start to finish. To me, that's the hallmark of great art. It requires study and contemplation. And like great art, Disintegration gives the listener something new with every spin. To listen to this record, like all great records, is to enter into a relationship. And as with any relationship, you get out of it what you put into it. When my metalhead friend first heard this record, he only got a few songs in and turned it off. When he finally heard the rest of it, he was blown away by how good it was. The important thing is not to be turned off by the potential for any pain or negativity caused by listening to what is, ostensibly, a dark and depressing record. In reality, it's an uplifting record and the soundtrack to a surprising number of happy times.

Michael

Shirts!

2011-05-21T17:09:00.000-05:00

Shirts!

My wife, Kami, and I started printing the first run of Stand Alone Complex shirts yesterday. Also, that is my kitchen. We have a fridge and stove and a counter top. We are real people.

This is the screen we used for printing. Also, that is our kitchen table. We found it in an alley and took it home because my wife is insane.

These are some of the first run. Also, that is my bed. That is where the action happens.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #47

2011-05-10T18:38:00.001-05:00

Vince DiCola

Transformers: The Movie Soundtrack

Released August 8th, 1986

Tracklist:

(all music by V. DiCola)

Unicron's Theme

2005

More Luck Than You Imagine

Attack on the Shuttle

Gone Fishin'

Autobot/Decepticon Battle

City Under Siege

Showdown

Death of Optimus Prime

Witness to a Funeral

Contest for Leadership

Transformation

Coronation

Destruction of the Outer Moon

Escape

Pursuit

Arrival on Junk

Unwelcome Visitors

The Matrix Survives

An Unexpected Friend

Destruction of the Inner Moon pt. 1

Destruction of the Inner Moon pt. 2

Ambush

Another Leader Dies

Rescue

All Hope is Lost

Unusual Allies

The Enemy Revealed

Seizure

United Against the Enemy

In the Belly of the Monster

Their Darkest Hour

Who Did What:

Vince DiCola - keyboards, synth, programming

Others:

I have no idea and really wish I did.

This soundtrack kicks ass.

I don't care that the keyboard sounds are firmly rooted in the 1980s.

The music is prog-rock instrumental madness at its finest.

When the first edition of the soundtrack came out, it only had three songs form the original score by DiCola: "Death of Optimus Prime", "Escape" and "Autobot/Decepticon Battle". Back then we only had cassettes and I wore mine out fast-forwarding past the hair-metal that, even at the age of 8, I realized sucked, just to get to this mind-alteringly good instrumental stuff.

Now, just to back up a bit, I need to explain my love of this soundtrack. I can do so in two parts. One, I loved instrumental music exclusively back then, often taking my favorite solo sections from Pink Floyd songs and mixing them together on tapes and leaving the original albums untouched for many years (I grew out of that phase). Two, I loved the Transformers. Every morning before school, I'd wolf down my cereal (probably with a Wilfred Brimley-esque sugar content), and rush into the living room to catch what I could of the cartoon before having to march off to school where, I should mention sadly, there were no Transformers. The show started my fetish for giant transformable robots. That, combined with my over-active imagination and desire to escape, pretty much made that show my be-all and end-all for a while (I grew out of that too....... sort of).

Since then, I've come to realize that it was nothing more than businessmen milking my parents for cash, but I also recognize the upside: I became exceptionally good at spacial reasoning.

But back to the music.

Regardless of the motivations of those behind making Transformers: The Movie, Vince DiCola made a score that hit me in every right way, and has remained among my favorites for nearly a quarter century.

I remember being so disappointed with the first edition of the soundtrack. It only had those three songs on it, and a lot of filler. When downloading became a thing, I was living in Vancouver, and during the copious amounts of free time during the rainy season I would scour the internet looking for concert bootlegs. One day I happened across more of the original score. This was pre-torrent days, so it was just one track at a time. Over the course of months, I pieced together large parts of the score, albeit in poor quality mp3s.

Fast forward a few years, and there's finally an official release of the entire original score, including pieces left out in favor of that aforementioned hair-metal, such as "Attack on the Shuttle".

I ordered myself a copy and have pretty much listened the hell out of it in the intervening several years.

Since there's 30 tracks on here (thankfully devoid of Stan Bush), I'll just cover my favorites so we can all get on with our days (there's robot toys to play with dammit!).

First off, the three tracks featured on the first edition of the soundtrack are all incredible. "Death of Optimus Prime" has these ambient keys underneath a mournful piano track that would fit the death of anyone, let alone a cartoon robot. "Autobot/Decepticon Battle" is a heavier track, one that I would actually like to cover one day with my own band; the epilogue piece, "City Under Siege" is just as good. "Escape" is probably my favorite form the entire score. The drum fills alone had a tremendous impact on my drumming. Not to mention the sounds of the drums themselves; this song made me fall in love with electric drums. It almost, ALMOST, borders on cheese, yet somehow skirts the edge and comes off as awesome; when paired with its epilogue, "Pursuit", it's even more powerful.

The track "2005" has one of the most fuck-yeah climactic builds of the entire score. I loved it right away in the film and I still love it just as a self-contained song. Makes me think of Ironhide in happier times before being shot to hell by Starcream.

"Unicron's Theme" has a bassline to it that could be (and likely was) a precursor to Nine Inch Nails' "Eraser". Not to mention the industrial percussion line featured heavily through out. This theme pops up several times over the course of the soundtrack. It has the ominous vibe of an inexorable march to one's death. The Unicron scenes in the film scared the shit out of me as a kid. One of my two biggest fears (3 if you count spiders) is being eaten; for the record the other one is being crushed. As such, the idea that Unicron could just come along and eat my planet (which is where I keep all my stuff) was immensely upsetting. And yet I used to watch that opening scene over and over.

The keyboard part at the beginning of "Unusual Allies" is one that I noticed right away in the film, and was one of the parts I hoped for the most when I heard the soundtrack was being released (I didn't hope hard enough, as I had to wait 20 years). I wish it had been developed into its own piece, because it has this swirling 7/8 hypnotic quality that makes me want to listen to it for hours.

Overall, the soundtrack has longer songs and shorter incidental pieces. While the shorter pieces are good, it's the longer songs that carry the album as each is given enough time to establish the musical themes in different settings, preventing the album from becoming monotonous. On this specific release (Till All Are One), the songs are arranged in the order of the movie. It's missing the three songs form the first edition of the soundtrack, but I added them in from that cd so I could have the complete score (minus the Stan Bush).

As I said earlier, the movie may have been a cash-grab, but the soundtrack was worth every penny. Like Vangelis did for Blade Runner, DiCola did for Transformers: The Movie. It's a soundtrack that stands apart from the thousands of interchangeable scores that litter Hollywood's landscape (I'm looking at you Danny Elfman). Not only that, DiCola's score stands on its own as a perfectly enjoyable album, just like the Blade Runner Soundtrack. The music was so integral to the film, that I can still hear dialogue in my head during certain musical passages (particularly Hot Rod saying "who cares, as long as it flies" at the end of "Rescue").

That said, it's just unfortunate that after having viewed the film as many times as I have, I can't listen to "City Under Siege" without getting a little upset over the deaths of Windcharger and Wheeljack. And yet, the creators couldn't see their way to killing off Blurr. Oh well. He's still a lot less annoying than Shia LaBeouf.

Michael

ps - if anyone knows how the drummer on this soundtrack is, PLEASE let me know! I've been trying to find out for 25 years!

Record Building #28

2011-05-10T18:28:00.001-05:00

So, after 4 months of trial and error (mostly error), I have finally settled on my drum setup for Kind of Red.
Initially, I was going to switch cymbals in and out for various songs, but as the realities of my budget begin to seep in (I have a budget?), I realize that I have to try and do as much as I can with as little as I can (generally how I go through life, really).
So, I've come up with a setup that gives me enough of a sonic palette to be interesting, and allows me to cover a lot of ground. As such, I'll be able to use the same kit for the whole record. Which is, oddly enough, the first time I'll have done that for Soul Killing Female. On Utopia Mine, I switched ride cymbals every other song, and on Landmines, I used 4 different cymbal combinations throughout the record. I've also been steadily decreasing the number of cymbals in my setup as I've recorded each album.
Utopia Mine - 10
Landmines - 9
Kind of Red - 8
My eventual goal is to make a record using only 4. One day......
So, it now falls to me to make my cymbal choices carefully so the drum parts don't sound monochromatic.
Here's what I'm using:

Drums:
Yamaha Beech Custom Absolute (black, that's very important)
I'm also making the switch from coated emperors to clear pinstripes on the top of the toms, while leaving the renaissance skins on the bottoms.
From left to right:
16 x 16 floor tom
12 x 10 rack tom
13 x 7 Akira Jimbo signature beech snare
22 x 16 kick drum
14 x 14 floor tom
18 x 16 floor tom

Cymbals:
Zildjian
16" A China Boy Low
18" K Dark Crash Thin
16" K Light Hats
20" K Heavy Ride
19" A Medium Thin Crash
22" A Swish Knocker
14" A Custom Hats
20" Oriental China Trash

This will mark the first time I'll have used the central hi-hat system, and Ryan McVeigh (engineer) is optimistic that it'll work out in terms of mic placement. We may have to move the cymbals on the left side of the kit a little bit to accommodate the micing of the rack tom, but it'll get sorted. Either way, the overall sound will be punchier and brighter than on Landmines. With Landmines, I wanted a very dry and dark tone on the drums, as I wanted everything on that record to have a natural, open sound to it. With Kind of Red, I want every single drum hit to feel like a punch in the face. Also, because the music is much heavier and faster, I wanted the cymbals to be able to cut through the wall of guitar that we'll be assembling in August. I figure this should work, even though I'm fairly certain that the 22" Swish Knocker will likely eat Ryan's soul come mixing time.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #46

2011-04-25T01:51:00.001-05:00

Tricky

Maxinquaye

Released February 20th, 1995

Tracklist:

(all songs by A. Thaws, except where noted)

Overcome
Ponderosa (A. Thaws, M. Topley-Bird, Howie B.)
Black Steel (Public Enemy cover)
Hell is Round the Corner
Pumpkin
Aftermath
Abbaon Fat Tracks
Brand New You're Retro
Suffocated Love
You Don't
Strugglin'
Feed Me

Who Did What:

Tricky - vocals
Martina Topley-Bird - vocals (Overcome, Ponderosa, Black Steel, Hell is Round the Corner, Aftermath, Abbaon Fat Tracks, Brand New You're Retro, Suffocated Love, Strugglin', Feed Me)

Others:

Alison Goldfrapp - vocals (Pumpkin)
Ragga - vocals (You Don't)
Pete Briquette - bass (Suffocated Love)
Mark Saunders - keyboards (Overcome)
FTV - guitar/drums (Black Steel)
Tony Wrafter - flute (Aftermath)
James Stevenson - guitar (Brand New You're Retro)

My friend Graham Potts introduced me to Tricky. Graham and I used to do a radio show together, based strictly on heavier music, metal, industrial, what-have-you. And for the year that we did that together, I introduced him to many albums that he'd otherwise never have fallen in love with. This worked both ways. Graham has the most eclectic taste in music of any person I know. He has no preconceived notions of genre or style. He just likes what he likes. As such, his record collection is bizarre, to say the least. But in that collection, there are many gems; gems I myself would not have mined had it not been for him.
Tricky's Maxinquaye is one such gem.
I first heard it in Graham's rusted-piece-of-shit pick-up truck sometime in the summer of 1997. Maybe 1998.
Either way, it was my very first taste of real live Bristol trip-hop. I was instantly hooked. There was something about the slow-motion chaos of the record that appealed to me. I've always equated this record with sci-fi, and I think the otherworldly structure of the songs is what leads my brain-math to that conclusion. That said, the sci-fi association is somewhat at odds with the organic and earthy sound of the record as a whole.
Maxinquaye sounds more natural and honest than most records in your collection. It's down-tempo electronic music, yes, but it's construction is so seemingly haphazard that it seems like the album is an accident. You hear it, and you never expect to hear it the same way again; a series of random chances caught forever on tape. Apparently Topley-Bird's ethereal vocals were all done in one take, with no pre-planning involved (indicative of how un-fucking-believably talented that woman is). It's as raw an experience as you're bound to have with your headphones.
Some songs, like "Overcome" and "Pumpkin" seem fairly thought out, but others like "Black Steel", or "Aftermath" or "Strugglin'" come off as barely-controlled mayhem. Which isn't to say that it's cacophonous in any way. It isn't. It's perfectly soothing. But there's a tension that reveals itself in fits and starts throughout the record. It's that tension, I think, that makes the record stand out from most albums from not only the trip-hop genre, but from music in general. Tricky's contemporaries Massive Attack and Portishead have been able to use tension to create beautiful music with an undercurrent of uneasiness. Tricky is able to do that, and take it one step further. Maxinquaye is his mellowest album, but take a listen to Pre-Millennium Tension, and tell me that it's the not the work of borderline insanity. The music on Maxinquaye is riddled with signs and portents of the paranoid soundscapes that were to come.
That said, it's still a kick ass album, from start to finish. "Ponderosa" and "Strugglin'" are acquired tastes, certainly, but the rest of the record will grab you right away.
For me, this record suits driving, walking, fucking, lying on the living room floor stoned or sober. It's an experience unto itself, you just supply the setting and the record will alter it accordingly.
The only downside to this album is that, from a musician's standpoint, it's too good. It's completely un-copyable. It's the sound of someone's mind; truly unknowable and untouchable. It makes me rethink my approach to music every time I hear it.

Michael

Record Building #27

2011-04-25T01:05:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but as I've said before, no news is good news. The more time between posts, the more work I'm actually getting done.

I took this last week off of music to work on my other job, T.A. for a local university. I had a pile of essays and final exams to mark, so I was pretty much confined to a chair for a week trying my damnedest to make out various peoples' handwriting. I learned how to spell a number of common words in a surprising number of ways. The level of literacy in the 18-22 crowd is astonishingly bad. I'm not trying to be funny or sarcastic; it's just really, really bad. I mean, I'm certainly no Hemingway by any stretch, but I'm doing a lot better than most, apparently. I blame it on texting.
Anyway, none of that really matters since you probably came here to read about music, not history exams.
So.

I started working on vocal parts for the Kind of Red album a few days ago. I took my gear out to Secret Rocket Base and got some rough lyrics done for "God of War". I have vocal parts roughed out for "Herd Killing", "Kill This Melody", "Dis", and "Rorschach" as well, though no lyrics as of yet. No panic though since for Landmines most of the lyrics didn't click until the day before recording the vocals.

I also worked on the drum parts some more. I'm starting to finalize my cymbal choices for each song. I'm going to be recording with the same drums that I used on Landmines and Utopia Mine, though it'll be my first time using the central hi-hat system on a record.

I've also switched the floor toms around, so, from left to right, it's: 16", 12", 14", 18". That way, I can do a descending-pitch fill without crossing over from one side to the other. Genius or lazy. You decide. But if the answer is 'lazy', keep it to yourself.

Today is Easter, and I had the house to myself for much of the afternoon/evening. I took this opportunity to get some more recording done. When I completed the demoes for Kind of Red a couple of weeks ago, I figured that was it. I was done. But there were a few bits and pieces left over from the demo-sessions that I still really liked. They were only left off because they didn't fit my vision for the record; it certainly wasn't a reflection of quality or anything like that. I found myself drawn to these pieces, despite really wanting to not touch a guitar for at least a month. I had creative momentum though, so I gave in and set to work once again.

The result is a 4-song acoustic EP, culled form the same writing sessions that produced the Kind of Red material. It's sort of a companion piece to Kind of Red. I found that I really needed something to counter-balance the intensity and seething vitriol of Kind of Red. The acoustic EP, as of this writing entitled The Jennifer Connelly EP, while no less dark, is decidedly less dense, and less unpleasant for me psychologically.
I demoed the 4 songs today. All acoustic guitar and vocals. I will have some piano on 2 of the tracks, and some synth on one other, but that's it. Pretty much just acoustic guitar.
As I said, the LP and EP will fit together, but they also stand on their own and may be enjoyed as such.

Now that the EP is roughed out, my next mission is to get the entire Kind of Red record tabbed out for the guest guitarist. Then it's back into Stand Alone Complex land for a few weeks. I'm still getting that whole Mainstage thing sorted out. I'm not sold on it yet. I may switch back to Ableton Live for a while longer.

Stay soft, pink and oily,

Michael

Record Building #26

2011-04-11T21:00:00.002-05:00

Busy busy busy.

Busy.

Last Monday marked the official start to recording Kind of Red. Ryan McVeigh and I holed up in Studio G and listened to everything I've managed to demo thus far (11 tracks). His initial reactions were largely positive, which is nice since he's going to be living with the album for 6 months.

Since Monday I've largely been hanging out with my daughter and prepping for the impending flood.

These are pictures of the Assiniboine River, right behind Studio G:

The trees mark the actual bank of the river. At a normal level, the riverbank would start on the far side of the trees you see here, and then slope down to the water (usually about 5 - 6 feet below the edge of the riverbank). This picture is facing east, towards downtown and the Forks where the Assiniboine merges with the Red River.

This is looking west from the same spot.

This is from the parking lot of the building next to us. Our home is the red building further back (and thankfully, about 12 feet higher). The red fence is put there each year to prevent kids from wandering into the water. That's about all the effort they put into this area however. No sandbags, and this parking lot usually floods. We're lucky though. The water usually doesn't come close to our place, though in 2009 it got just about level with our parking lot (which you can kind of see in the background in the upper-left).

Other than that, I've just been making an effort to unplug a little and go outside. Winters here are brutal as hell, so as soon as there's so much as a hint of warmer weather, everyone in the city freaks out and heads outside immediately. This conditioned response stems from the fact that the aforementioned warm weather usually lasts about 45 seconds. Today I got to roll the windows down on the van and blast Morbid Angel's Domination album as I meandered through midday traffic. It was nice. Also, it scared the teenagers that go to school near here. It also means I get to walk more, and I've put several dozen miles on my shoes already (a good opportunity to make my way through the Jesu discography).

All that aside, I've still been getting a lot of work done around here. I've put SKF on hold briefly while I start getting prepped for the Stand Alone Complex tour in June. I'm using Mainstage as my primary platform for live work now. I was using an Ableton/Reason combo, but I'm now using both of those as re-wire slaves with Mainstage. The primary reason for switching over is that I can now use the original sounds from both the Music for Suicides album and the Too Far Gone EP. I did both in Garageband (mostly), and till now I've had to sample the sounds I need (which is freakishly time consuming) and then import them into Ableton. This meant a lack of expression because I couldn't play with different velocities. Now, I can do that, and improvise, etc.

I've had to revisit all the original mixes in Logic and re-create a number of the backing tracks:

That's the original mix for "Spending My Days in a Decaying Orbit".

I spent all day today taking care of all of the backing tracks. I have a bank of 14 songs I can play for the tour, so I can change the set lists each night if I want. I'm using Ableton Live as a sampler and effect generator, so I cleaned all the old instrument samples out of the patches and just left the soundscape stuff. The next step is to re-build everything in Mainstage. Thus far, I've completed "I Could Jump Out a Window" and "An Apology is the Last Thing You Need to Hear When You're Killing Someone".

I'm going to be playing some new stuff from Kill All Humans as well, including "Quorra" and "There Are Wires Where My Heart Should Be". Ryan Hughes from Dead Romantic is going to join me on guitar for a few tracks too. Should be fun!

The learning curve has been straight up again, and it's been a little tedious, especially since I already have a working setup for playing Stand Alone Complex stuff live, but I really want to give this Mainstage a shot.

Once I get all the Stand Alone Complex stuff done, it's back to SKF. I have two shows this summer (leading up to recording Kind of Red), and I need to program some new backing tracks, and move all the SKF stuff over to Mainstage as well. My first show is June 25th, and I'm on tour till June 14th, so I need to get everything done before I leave.

Wow, I intended for this post to be brief.

Michael

Record Building #25

2011-04-04T01:24:00.000-05:00

Current tracklist for Kind of Red:

Scorched Heart Policy/An Ode to Napalm
Herd Killing
(Kill This) Melody
Alexia (was called House of Leaves)
Dis
God of War
Of Human Bondage
Akira (was called Neo-Tokyo is Burning)
Rorschach (All My Friends Are Lying Pieces of Shit)
Napalm (Reprise)
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole

That's subject to change, but for now I'm happy with it.
I meet with Ryan McVeigh tomorrow to officially start pre-production. Up till now it's all been demoing. I've been in my studio every day for 3 months and the results are looking pretty good. That said, the Shining-esque cabin fever has resulted in some soundscapes that almost make me uncomfortable enough to take them out of the album. Almost.
I also accidentally created a 22 minute drone track the other day. I'm using a segment of it to finish the album off, though I may release the whole thing one day. It freaks me right the fuck out.

This record is going to be something I'll be very proud of, but all the same, it has left its mark on me.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #45

2011-04-02T20:07:00.002-05:00

B-Sides and Re-sequences

I recently took all the b-sides in my record collection and integrated them into their host albums. I took several days, and the following list is what I have completed so far. I'll likely do a Part 2 soon.
(note: this list only includes studio recordings, no live tracks or remixes):

Deftones - White Pony

There were two b-sides, plus some covers recorded during these sessions. I put the cover songs into their own album, so they won't be dealt with here (especially since the Deftones record a LOT of cover songs). The ending to "Crenshaw Punch" flows pretty nicely into "Teenager", and "The Boy's Republic" was is the last song on the original limited edition version of White Pony anyway.

1) Feiticeira
2) Digital Bath
3) Elite
4) Rx Queen
5) Street Carp
6) Crenshaw Punch/I'll Throw Rocks at You (from the "Change" single)
7) Teenager
8) Knife Party
9) Korea
10) Passenger
11) Change (in the House of Flies)
12) Pink Maggit
13) The Boy's Republic (from the limited edition original pressing of White Pony)

Deftones - Deftones

This album only had one b-side, "Lovers", which was originally the title of the album itself. It was left off because Chino felt the lyrical content too obvious. I put it at the end because it has an 'ending-song' kind of vibe.

1) Hexagram
2) Needles and Pins
3) Minerva
4) Good Morning Beautiful
5) Deathblow
6) When Girls Telephone Boys
7) Battle-Axe
8) Lucky You
9) Bloody Cape
10) Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event
11) Moana
12) Lovers (from the "Hexagram" single)

Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist

There was just one b-side for this record, and I'm not 100% it was from these sessions. I put it last because it's an instrumental piano piece and flows nicely from "Riviere".

1) Hole in the Earth
2) Rapture
3) Beware
4) Cherry Waves
5) Mein
6) UUDDLRLRAB Select Start
7) Xerces
8) Rats! x3
9) Pink Cellphone
10) Combat
11) Kimdracula
12) Riviere
13) FYIHYD (from an unofficial release entitled B-Sides Vol. 2)

Dream Theater - Awake

The b-side for this record was actually written during the sessions for Images and Words, but re-recorded during the Awake sessions; it becomes readily apparent if you compare the drum sounds. It sits quite nicely between the heavier track "Lie" and the much lighter "Lifting Shadows...".

1) 6:00
2) Caught in a Web
3) Innocence Faded
4) Erotomania
5) Voices
6) The Silent Man
7) The Mirror
8) Lie
9) To Live Forever (from the "Lie" single)
10) Lifting Shadows off a Dream
11) Scarred
12) Space-Dye Vest

Failure - Fantastic Planet

There were two extra tracks from these sessions. One was a Depeche Mode cover that was featured on the For the Masses tribute album, and the other was on the Golden b-sides collection. This was a difficult album to re-sequence given that it was pretty much perfect as it was. That said, the cover song fits nicely after "Pillowhead" and flows into "Blank" as though it should've been there. "Wake Up" was origianlly put after "Leo", but I had to switch it around to accommodate the blending of "Leo" and "Segue #3".

1) Saturday Saviour
2) Sergeant Politeness
3) Segue #1
4) Smoking Umbrellas
5) Pillowhead
6) Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
7) Blank
8) Segue #2
9) Dirty Blue Balloons
10) Solaris
11) Pitiful
12) Wake Up (from Golden)
13) Leo
14) Segue #3
15) The Nurse Who Loved Me
16) Another Space Song
17) Stuck on You
18) Heliotropic
19) Daylight

Faith No More - Album of the Year

Two b-sides from this album, both released in Japan and just tacked on to the end. Since "Pristina" is an amazing ending song, I re-sequenced as best I could.

1) Collision
2) Stripsearch
3) Last Cup of Sorrow
4) Naked in Front of the Computer
5) Helpless
6) Mouth to Mouth
7) Ashes to Ashes
8) She Loves Me Not
9) Light Up and Let Go (Japanese bonus track)
10) Got That Feeling
11) The Big Kahuna (Japanese bonus track)
12) Paths of Glory
13) Home Sick Home
14) Pristina

Filter - Short Bus

Filter was hard to do because so many of their songs ended up on soundtracks in the late 1990s, and as a result, it's hard to tell where they fall. I went with pre/post Brian Liesegang's departure. The use of drum machine was my guide.

1) Hey Man, Nice Shot
2) Dose
3) Under
4) Spent
5) Take Another
6) Stuck in Here
7) It's Over
8) Gerbil
9) White Like That
10) Consider This
11) Jurassitol (from the Crow: City of Angels soundtrack)
12) So Cool

Filter - Title of Record

Again, iffy. One of these b-sides was tacked on to the end of the Japanese version, and one on the German release, in addition to having appeared elsewhere. "Can't You Trip Like I Do" was written with Liesegang, but I put it on here because, production-wise, it sounds too 'new' to fit on Short Bus. "Jurassitol" was also featured on the Japanese version of Title of Record, but it fit with Short Bus better.

1) Sand
2) Welcome to the Fold
3) Captain Bligh
4) It's Gonna Kill Me
5) The Best Things
6) Take a Picture
7) Skinny
8) I Will Lead You
9) Can't You Trip Like I Do (from the Spawn soundtrack)
10) Cancer
11) One (from the X-Files: Fight the Future soundtrack)
12) I'm Not the Only One
13) Miss Blue

Frontline Assembly - Millennium

There were two b-sides for this record, "Transtime" and "Internal Combustion", on the "Millennium" and "Surface Patterns" singles respectively. I actually committed a minor heresy and took a track off the album; the song "Victim of a Criminal" being a record-company-induced collaboration with a rapper named Che from P.O.W.E.R. It's just really weak and stops the album dead. "Transtime" fills the vacancy quite nicely. I just recently added "Internal Combustion". It was tough to find a good home for it because it's more dancy than anything else on the album. The segues that unite the entire record made it hard to fit extra tracks in, but I think these spots work pretty well.

1) Vigilante
2) Millennium
3) Liquid Separation
4) Search and Destroy
5) Surface Patterns
6) Transtime (from the "Millennium" single)
7) Internal Combustion (from the "Surface Patterns" single)
8) Division of Mind
9) This Faith
10) Plasma Springs
11) Sex Offender

Frontline Assembly - Hard Wired

Three extra tracks, including one non-album 'single'. Again, like Millennium, Hard Wired blends its tracks together pretty well. Also, it was hard to break up the uptempo Side A and the downtempo Side B, but at the same time, I didn't want to cram everything onto the first half of the record and throw off the whole balance. I'm listening back to it right now, and I think I've got it worked out.

1) Neologic Spasm
2) Paralyzed
3) Re-Birth
4) Replicant (from the "Plasticity" single)
5) Circuitry
6) Mortal
7) Modus Operandi
8) Transparent Species
9) Plasticity (from the "Plasticity" single)
10) Hydrogen
11) Barcode
12) Epidemic (from the "Circuitry" single)
13) Condemned
14) Infra-Red Combat

Helmet - Betty

There are so many extra tracks from these sessions, I know I'm missing a few. The vinyl version had 3 extra tracks, of which I can only find "Flushing". I can't find "Pariah" or "Thick". I've put "Flushing" in its original spot, and found homes for the rest.

1) Wilma's Rainbow
2) I Know
3) Biscuits for Smut
4) Milquetoast
5) Tic
6) Rollo
7) Lord of This World (Black Sabbath cover from the Volume Eleven compilation)
8) Street Crab
9) Gigantor (from the Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits compilation)
10) Flushing
11) Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath cover from The Jerky Boys soundtrack)
12) Clean
13) Vaccination
14) Complete (from the Johnny Mnemonic soundtrack)
15) Beautiful Love
16) Speechless
17) Disagreeable (from the Feeling Minnesota soundtrack)
18) The Silver Hawaiian
19) Overrated
20) Sam Hell

Helmet - Aftertaste

Just a Bjork cover for this one. "Complete" is featured on the Japanese version of the album, but it was recorded at the tale-end of the Betty sessions; the drum sound is a total give away.

1) Pure
2) Renovation
3) Exactly What You Wanted
4) Like I Care
5) Driving Nowhere
6) Birth Defect
7) Broadcast Emotion
8) It's Easy to Get Bored
9) Diet Aftertaste
10) Harmless
11) High Visibility
12) Insatiable
13) Army of Me (Bjork cover from the Music for Our Mother Ocean compilation)
14) Crisis King

Matthew Good Band - The Audio of Being

The song "Pony Boy" was recorded during these sessions, though left off for reasons unknown (at least to me). There was another song that was also cut from the record at the last minute, entitled "All Together". I just put "Pony Boy" where "All Together" originally went (since I can't seem to find "All Together").

1) Man of Action
2) Carmelina
3) Tripoli
4) Advertising on Police Cars
5) I, the Throw Away
6) Truffle Pigs
7) The Fall of Man
8) Under the Influence
9) The Rat Who Would Be King
10) Anti-Pop
11) Pony Boy
12) The Workers Sing a Song of Mass Production
13) Sort of a Protest Song

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

There were two songs from these sessions that ended up on soundtracks. One was "Burn", and the other was "Dead Souls", which ultimately ended up on the Japanese version of The Downward Spiral, tucked in between "Big Man With a Gun" and "A Warm Place". It fits quite well there. The trick was finding a place for "Burn". I think I figured it out.

1) Mr. Self-Destruct
2) Piggy
3) Heresy
4) March of the Pigs
5) Closer
6) Ruiner
7) The Becoming
8) I Do Not Want This
9) Burn (from the Natural Born Killers soundtrack)
10) Big Man With a Gun
11) Dead Souls (Joy Division cover from the Crow soundtrack)
12) A Warm Place
13) Eraser
14) Reptile
15) The Downward Spiral
16) Hurt

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

This album has three different sequences for its three different formats: cassette, cd and vinyl. There are only slight variations between the three, generally involving extra tracks, with the cd running order remaining the same throughout. I have tracked down all the b-sides and compiled a running order that takes into account both the cassette and vinyl versions.

1) Somewhat Damaged
2) The Day the World Went Away
3) The Frail
4) The Wretched
5) We're In This Together
6) The Fragile
7) Just Like You Imagined
8) Even Deeper
9) Pilgrimage
10) No, You Don't
11) La Mer
12) Adrift and At Peace (from the Still album)
13) The Great Below
14) The Way Out is Through
15) Into the Void
16) Where is Everybody?
17) The Mark Has Been Made
18) 10 Miles High (from the "We're In This Together" single)
19) Please
20) Please Appendage (from the cassette version of The Fragile)
21) Starfuckers, Inc.
22) Complication
23) The New Flesh (from the "We're In This Together" single)
24) I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally
25) The Big Comedown
26) Underneath It All
27) Ripe (With Decay)

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth

Apparently there's a huge number of songs on the cutting room floor for this record. I've found 3. "Home " is on the vinyl version, and "Not So Pretty Now" and "Non-Entity" were released later during the subsequent tours. I've put "Home" in its spot from the vinyl version, and the other two where I figure they fit pretty well.

1) All the Love in the World
2) You Know What You Are
3) The Collector
4) The Hand That Feeds
5) Love is Not Enough
6) Everyday Is Exactly the Same
7) With Teeth
8) Only
9) Getting Smaller
10) Sunspots
11) Home
12) Not So Pretty Now
13) Non-Entity
14) The Line Begins To Blur
15) Beside You In Time
16) Right Where it Belongs

Pearl Jam - Vs.

This band always writes 40 songs for each record and then only uses 12. When the band released Lost Dogs, they were kind enough to let us know which record each song was originally supposed to be on. As such, I have "Hard to Imagine" on here. I also have "Alone". Even though it was written and recorded for Ten, with Dave Krusen on drums, this version here was re-recorded with Dave Abbruzzese on drums, so I've included it here (also because it was on the "Go" single). I also put "Crazy Mary" on here, as it's on the re-issue.

1) Go
2) Animal
3) Daughter
4) Glorified G
5) Alone (from the "Go" single)
6) Dissident
7) W.M.A.
8) Blood
9) Rearview Mirror
10) Rats
11) Crazy Mary (from the Sweet Relief compilation)
12) Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
13) Hard to Imagine (from the Chicago Cab soundtrack)
14) Leash
15) Indifference

Pearl Jam - Binaural

This is the original running order before they switched it last minute to what we got on the official release. I didn't include "Hitchhiker", "Strangest Tribe", "Drifting" or "Sweet Lew" because, quite frankly, they are not my cup of tea. "God's Dice" was decent, but this sequence is so damn good that I haven't bothered to try and shove it in there anywhere.

1) Breakerfall
2) Insignificance
3) Evacuation
4) Sad
5) Rival
6) Grievance
7) Light Years
8) Of the Girl
9) Thin Air
10) Nothing As it Seems
11) Fatal
12) Sleight of Hand
13) Soon Forget
14) In the Moonlight
15) Parting Ways
16) Education

Porcupine Tree - In Absentia

I'm still missing two tracks, "Meantime" and "Collapse" (the latter was to be the album opener), but I've got everything else. I've put things where I thought they fit best. Steven Wilson may disagree. Porcupine Tree singles are always tacked on at the end of otherwise brilliantly sequenced albums. Sigh........

1) Blackest Eyes
2) Trains
3) Lips of Ashes
4) The Sound of Muzak
5) Gravity Eyelids
6) Wedding Nails
7) Orchidia (from the Futile EP)
8) Prodigal
9) .3
10) The Creator Has a Mastertape
11) Futile (from the Futile EP)
12) Heartattack in a Lay-by
13) Strip the Soul
14) Collapse Light Into Earth
15) Drown With Me (European bonus track)
16) Chloroform (European bonus track)

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing

Same deal as above.

1) Revenant (from the Deadwing DVD-A)
2) Deadwing
3) Shallow
4) Lazarus
5) Halo
6) Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
7) Mellotron Scratch
8) Open Car
9) The Start of Something Beautiful
10) Glass Arm Shattering
11) So Called Friend (from the "Lazarus" single)
12) Mother and Child Divided (from the Deadwing DVD-A)
13) Half-Light (from the "Lazarus" single)

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Another band with a pile of b-sides that were left scattered to the four corners of the world, thanks largely in part to record company neglect. I've grabbed what I could from these sessions and put it here.
That said, I don't have "Exit Stonehenge" or "Motorcycle Loop". The rest of the b-sides ended up on Down On the Upside. Fun fact. Also, I took out "Half".

1) Let Me Drown
2) My Wave
3) Fell On Black Days
4) Mailman
5) Superunknown
6) She Likes Surprises (Japanese bonus track)
7) Head Down
8) Black Hole Sun
9) Spoonman
10) Limo Wreck
11) The Day I Tried to Live
12) Kickstand
13) Fresh Tendrils
14) Kyle Petty, Son of Richard (from the "Fell On Black Days" single)
15) 4th of July
16) Blind Dogs (from the Basketball Diaries soundtrack)
17) Like Suicide

Soundgarden - Down on the Upside

There's a song from these sessions called "Christi" that's never heard the light of day. Also, there's a b-side called "Jerry Garcia's Finger" that I left off because it was largely just noise. I have the other two major b-sides though.

1) Pretty Noose
2) Rhinosaur
3) Zero Chance
4) Dusty
5) Ty Cobb
6) Blow Up the Outside World
7) Burden in My Hand
8) Never Named
9) Appelbite
10) Never the Machine Forever
11) Bleed Together (from the A-Sides compilation)
12) Tighter & Tighter
13) No Attention
14) Karaoke (from the "Burden In My Hand" single)
15) Switch Opens
16) Overfloater
17) An Unkind
18) Boot Camp

Strapping Young Lad - The New Black

Two b-sides and a cover, one of which, "C:Enter:###" was released on its own as a 7" in Germany for some reason. It took me four years to track it down, but I got it.

1) Decimator
2) You Suck
3) Antiproduct
4) Monument
5) Zodiac (Melvins cover from the European release)
6) Wrong Side
7) Hope
8) Far Beyond Metal
9) The Long Pig (European bonus track)
10) Fucker
11) C:Enter:### (German 7" release)
12) Almost Again
13) Polyphony
14) The New Black

Type O Negative - World Coming Down

3 b-sides that were released on the Least Worst Of compilation. I put 'em where I thought they ought to go. Took a few tries though. Also, I took out the ambient tracks.

1) White Slavery
2) Everyone I Love is Dead
3) Who Will Save the Sane?
4) It's Never Enough (from the Least Worst Of compilation)
5) World Coming Down
6) Creepy Green Light
7) Everything Dies
8) Pyretta Blaze
9) 12 Black Rainbows (from the Least Worst Of compilation)
10) All Hallow's Eve
11) Day Tripper Medley
12) Stay Out of My Dreams (from the Least Worst Of compilation)

Feel free to discuss the choices made here and list your own!

Landmines Lyrics

2011-03-29T23:38:00.001-05:00

Stains on the Sheets

time brings it round,
to here, we've been before.
pain keeps things sane,
and nothing save the stains remains

fate carries blame,
repeating every word.
your need keeps me here.
and hunger, take what's needed and leave

empty rooms,
empty glasses,
and empty beds.
open wrists fill empty lines.

and I will find away,
to burn this place and sanitize.
and nothing will remain,
save the stains.

empty rooms,

empty glasses,

and empty beds.

open wrists fill empty lines.

and nothing will remain,

save the stains.

Just Shy of the Ocean

grace is dead,

god machine,

daylight gone,

inside me.

head is glass,

light pours out,

shows the sin,

swallow blood.

pray for rain to wash me away.

day is done,

hands they shake,

take a drink,

close your eyes.

building walls,

mud and brick,

keep you out,

keep me in.

rage intent,

colours red,

blood infect,

blacken sky.

pray for rain to wash me away.

just shy of the ocean, we will be.

in your eyes,

I am shit,

all I have,

is the hope,

for redemption,

comes too late,

lift me up,

and carry me away.

just shy of the ocean, we will be.

Enter the Bloodstream

change,

reshape,

been different somehow.

build new face,

smile,

you love it.

blind on all sides,

head down,

don't notice at all.

time to ration,

every day is like the last.

flush it out,

the bloodstream,

to cleanse.

cells and tissues,

reshape my fate.

change.

reshape.

i've been thinking about leaving.

purify.

negate.

i've been thinking about leaving.

consume.

milligrams and mornings,

adds up to what?

breakdowns and night flights,

adds up to what?

consume.

when will this be better?

I can't tell you, 'cause I don't fucking know.

when will it be over?

It never is, and I don't fucking know.

consume.

building better chemistry,

adds up to what?

feeding this monstrosity,

adds up to what?

and you, you enter, consume.

10 Years

out of the distance,

the silence of friends,

the comfort of enemies,

the rapture of promises.

when it's all over and done,

and you're laid to rest,

ten years of bullshit aside,

I'm in pieces.

life-saving surgery,

a need to forget,

destruction in every,

moment you left.

when it's all over and done,

and you're laid to rest,

ten years of bullshit aside,

i'm in pieces.

one day i will grow wings and fly away from all this,

leave myself behind.

and ten years of bullshit aside,

i'm still breathing.

July

the summer bleeds onward and onward and sleep won't come,

dreaming of flying, of jumping, of being alive,

severing ties is something i've never tried,

the closer I get, the further I am from done.

it's alright,

you're not here,

I bleed out,

kill me.

Fifth Element's on the tv and I'm with you,

your distance and presence has taught me how not to care,

it's all in the timing, the nothing we share,

'cause self-destruction as art appeals to you.

it's alright,

you're not here,

I bleed out,

kill me.

bleed you out,

day's end,

one more time around.

cut you out,

day's end,

one more time around.

bleed you out,

day's end,

one more time around.

cut me out,

day's end,

one more time around.

Stefani Suicide

apart,

fall apart,

turn away,

know there's nothing left here,

you've won,

this is how it goes.

kill,

just to kill,

just for fun,

now there's no turning back,

and we're dead,

this is how we go.

away,

break away,

fall away,

and you're out on your own,

I'm not there,

to clean you up.

fuck,

just fuck it,

just take it,

it's how you live anyway,

day to day,

it's who you are.

cut your throat,

walk away,

watch you eat your young.

can you feel this?

no.

burn,

I will burn,

I will shed all my skin,

new within,

that is what I'll do.

bleed,

I will bleed,

I will bleed myself dry,

clean within,

that is what I'll do.

hide,

I will hide,

I will hide in myself,

in the black,

that is what I'll do.

run,

I will run,

I will run far away,

any way,

that's away from you.

cut your throat,

walk away,

watch you eat your young.

no.

absence make the heart grow fonder,

presence makes the heart grow weaker,

disease,

unease,

in me,

it's you,

I will find a way.

absence make the soul grow fonder,

presence makes the soul grow weaker,

disease,

unease,

leave it to me,

I will find away.

Utopia Mine Lyrics

2011-03-29T22:37:00.001-05:00

Neurosis

happy ever after,
doubt in everyone,
the mind is not a safe place
when all is said and done.
sleep is not an option,
head as full of right,
blaming all around you,
and everything is fine,
until you speak

it's not in what you say,
it's all in how you say it.
it means so much to me,
'cause I so need this

everyone's a player,
this game you orchestrate.
drown yourself in pity,
wrap yourself in hate.
spite a simple reason,
work it out in time,
no one here believes you,
and everything is fine,
until you speak

it's not in what you say,

it's all in how you say it.

it means so much to me,

and I still need this

brought this on yourself,

a simple kind of hell,

heaven is only a gunshot away.

force your will on mine

and you will find in time

that we can't carry you anymore.

it's not in what you say,

it's all in how you say it.

it means so much to me,

no matter why you said it

it's not in what you do

it's all in why you did it.

don't mean that much to me,

'cause I don't need your shit.

Hometown

begin.

drown me out.

fade away.

feel.

a way out.

no one here.

stay no more.

in this place I,

fade away.

border's edge.

flatland same.

frozen dead.

waste my time.

I wait.

pray.

for escape.

highway close me in.

Broken Sleep

this place got no comfort to be found,

it's all familiar ground,

there's nowhere left to play.

this life's just an ending story now,

love has gone away,

there's nothing left to say.

the past is cold and empty,

a mind change the world still stays the same.

drown my days in memory,

why hold out for something new to say?

it's all meaningless anyway.

this old house don't feel that much like home,

can see it in your eyes,

you turn out the light.

this street's just another place to be,

another place to die,

good times say goodbye.

the past is cold and empty,

a mind change the world still stays the same.

drown my days in memory,

why hold out for something else to say?

it's all meaningless anyway.

these dead fields are where we used to lay,

staring at the sky,

good friends died today.

history is never what it seems,

I'm not sure what it means,

but I know it's not the truth.

hold my hand and tell me it's alright,

and all we'll miss tonight,

the hope that died in you.

In Memoriam

I've trusted in an age where betrayal has become commercially viable.

And every friend that's lied to me has done so as a fashion statement.

One more step to the top.

And listening to them requires so much effort that talking has become an act of self-defense.

And being in this situation is so draining that leaving is making more and more sense.

I've surrounded myself with liars and advocates of hate.

And every injustice committed is applauded as a sign of progress.

And listening to them requires so much effort that talking has become an act of self-defense.

And being in this situation is so draining that leaving is making more and more sense.

Each breath is insincerity, conversation is a one-way mirror.

But I, I'm tired of watching you ignore me.

Indecision helps me to make you make more sense.

Most of the time I'd rather just think about it than face your intimate lack of interest.

And listening to it all requires so much goddam effort that talking has become an act of self-defense.

And being in this goddam situation is so draining that leaving is making more and more sense.

One Last Pathetic Attempt at Reconciliation

you're five steps ahead,

bring back the day when the same page applied to us both.

the words in your mouth,

clean as the dirt on your feet, and I'm gone.

the answers remain unchallenged, unquestioned, it always turns out just like this,

we're always the same,

two bodies, two minds concurrent and running away.

so what if we stopped?

dropped all our weapons, took stock of what's holding us back,

we're a solution,

each other an end to a problem begun when we met.

why we try at all?

meds aren't meaningful.

faith a pointless call.

it's nothing personal.

it's only an end.

mathematics aside, you just don't add up in my eyes, zero inside.

tears put out fires we started to see in the night.

and random relates the best that it can, it builds on the chaos within,

and nothing can stand,

in the face of your greatness the light that you shine as gone dead.

why we try at all?

meds aren't meaningful.

faith a pointless call.

it's nothing personal.

Parked Cars

to the people you once called your friends,

in them you're a means to an end.

a love that they once could provide,

has been left to whither and die.

you can't go back again,

no matter how hard you pretend.

there's only tomorrow, it seems,

a start to the end of your dreams.

there must be something more, 'cause I can't see

there must be something more, how you can be

there must be something more, completely sane

there must be something more, always the same.

from the mud lying active on sidewalks,

the freaks that inhabit the skywalks,

a look in the eye would reveal,

it don't mean a thing, it's just talk

there must be something more, 'cause I can't see

there must be something more, how you can be

there must be something more, completely sane

there must be something more, always the same.

the end of the day brings relief,

a hope that the next day will bring,

a moment of deep clarity,

like those left behind in sleep.

thoughts of what came before,

a desperate cry for the past,

and we can't go play anymore.

Headphone Safe Zone #44

2011-03-29T16:22:00.001-05:00

Tears for Fears

Songs From the Big Chair

Released February 25, 1985

Tracklist:

(all words by R. Orzabal)

Shout (music by R. Orzabal, I. Stanley)
The Working Hour (music by R. Orzabal, M. Elias)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (music by R. Orzabal, I. Stanley, C. Hughes)
Mother's Talk (music by R. Orzabal, I. Stanley)
I Believe (music by R. Orzabal)
Broken (music by R. Orzabal)
Head Over Heels/Broken (music by R. Orzabal, C. Smith)
Listen (music by R. Orzabal, I. Stanley)

B-Sides:

The Big Chair (music by R. Orzabal, C. Smith, I. Stanley, C. Hughes)
Empire Building (music by C. Smith, R. Orzabal, I. Stanley)
The Marauders (music by R. Orzabal, I. Stanley)
Broken Revisited (music by R. Orzabal)
The Conflict (music by R. Orzabal, C. Smith, I. Stanley)
Pharaohs (music by R. Ozabal, C. Smith, I. Stanley, C. Hughes)
When In Love with a Blind Man (music by R. Orzabal, I. Stanley)
Sea Song (words/music by Robert Wyatt)

Who Did What:

Roland Orzabal - lead vocals (Shout, The Working Hour, Mother's Talk, I Believe, Broken, HEad OVer Heels), guitar, keyboards, piano (I Believe), backing vocals
Curt Smith - lead vocals (Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Listen), bass, backing vocals
Ian Stanley - keyboards
Manny Elias - drums

Others:

Sandy McLelland - backing vocals (Shout, Head Over Heels)
Chris Hughes - drum programming (Shout)
Jerry Marotta - percussion (The Working Hour)
William Gregory - lead saxophone (The Working Hour, I Believe)
Mel Collins - saxophone (The Working Hour)
Andy Davis - piano (The Working Hour, Head Over Heels)
Neil Taylor - 2nd guitar solo (Everybody Wants to Rule the World), lead guitar (Broken)
Stevie Lang - backing vocals (Mother's Talk)
Annie McCaig - backing vocals (Head Over Heels)
Marilyn Davis - backing vocals (Head Over Heels), operatic vocals (Listen)

You think just because a guy likes Tears for Fears, he can't start some shit? I'll trace a chalk outline around your dead fucking body!
There.
Now that we have that out of the way, we may continue to discuss this absolute masterpiece that just happens to be from the 1980s (a decade whose existence I usually will not acknowledge).
My first experience with this album was the song "Shout". I was 7 or 8 years old, at my grandma's house and watching Superchannel (remember Superchannel? It was a whole channel that just played movies!!!!). For whatever reason, the song had been synced up to some footage of samurais engaged in combat (which, as it turned out, was mortal). One of the samurais got his head cut off.
Probably not what I should've been watched at 8 years old, but hey, my parents did there best.
Anyway, the song became a favorite, and its guitar solo ranks in my top 10 guitar solos of all time. Super simple, straightforward, but that's what makes it great.
Like everyone else, I heard "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" on the radio and liked it. I bought the cassette. Listened to it a bunch, and then got into metal. Songs From the Big Chair stayed in my music collection, but fell by the wayside for a time before being 'rediscovered' in my 20s.
I've since re-purchased it on cd and listen to it a lot more than I should probably admit to in front of metalheads.
But I digress.
I have to credit the film Donnie Darko for rekindling my love of Tears for Fears. The track "Head Over Heels" features prominently in the film and the song made its way into my iPod (along with the rest of the album). The lyrics to "Head Over Heels" are some of my favorite of all time, in that, they make me laugh. Seriously. I can't listen to that song with becoming instantly cheery and obnoxiously happy. I think it's the big, sing-a-long outro that does it. I'm one of those hopeless-romantic types that tends to get into trouble a lot because of it, and "Head Over Heels" was always part of the grander soundtrack to all that.

"I wanted to be with you alone, and talk about the weather.

But traditions I can trace against the child in your face, won't escape my attention.

You keep your distance with a system of touch and gentle persuasion.

I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much?

You're wasting my time, you're just wasting time.

Something happens and I'm head over heels,

I never find out till I'm head over heels.

Something happens and I'm head over heels.

Don't take my heart, don't break my heart, don't throw it away.

I made a fire and I'm watching it burn, thought of your future.

With one foot in the past just how long will it last? No, have you no ambition?

My mother and my brothers used to breathe in clean air, and dreaming I'm a doctor.

It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand, I feel so.....

And this is my four-leaf clover.

I'm on the line, one open mind.

This is my four-leaf clover.

One little boy, one little man, funny how time flies...."

That song is hilariously awesome. I always misheard the line about 'my mother's and my brothers...' and though it ended with 'I'm dreaming I'm adopted', which, at the time, I was quite regularly.
Other fantastic moments on this album are "The Working Hour", "I Believe" and "Listen". All of them were sleeper-tracks that crept up on me. "The Working Hour" has some incredible drumming and programming on it, not to mention an amazing vocal performance by Orzabal. "I Believe" almost brings the album to a standstill, before letting it pick up again; the a skater on a half-pipe hitting the apex of a jump. Same thing with "Listen". It's an Eno-esque soundscape with some trippy operatic vocals and synth pads that swirl and build taking the album out on a high note.
I'll admit that, while I love this album, I'm not all that into the rest of the band's discography (and yeah, I'm more than a little bit sick of the "Mad World" cover that got played TOO DEATH over the last decade). But Song From the Big Chair just seems to work. It almost sounds dated, but the quality of the songwriting really shines through rendering it timeless and enjoyable.

Michael

Headphone Safe Zone #43

2011-03-21T07:26:00.002-05:00

Rush

Presto

Released November 11, 1989

Tracklist:

(all music by G. Lee, A. Lifeson, all words by N. Peart)

Show Don't Tell
Chain Lightening
The Pass
War Paint
Scars
Presto
Superconductor
Anagram
Red Tide
Hand Over Fist
Available Light

Who Did What:

Alex Lifeson - guitar, backing vocals
Geddy Lee - bass, vocals, keyboards
Neil Peart - drums, percussion

Others:

Rupert Hine - keyboards

Presto is the sound of a summer evening. The kind when you were a teenager and everything, for better or worse, seemed limitless and endless. Between the passing traffic you could hear the buzz of the streetlights and the stars watched your every move. Despite having a sound that is as cold and crisp as arctic ice, the music found on this album evokes nothing but warm feelings for me; a sense of motion and anticipation, like clearing a curb while skateboarding or a first kiss with a new girl. A sort of breathlessness.
I got into Rush during the Counterparts era and worked my way backwards. A friend of my dad's lent me the entire Rush discography (a shopping bag filled to the brim with cds). Presto was an album that, lost in the shuffle of so many albums, took a long while to grow on me; though there were seeds planted even during the first listen. I saw the video for "Show Don't Tell" way back when, and I remember specifically thinking, 'goddam, I want a drum set like that!'. I liked the song too. My second encounter with the album was hearing the title track on the radio late one night. I'd just returned home from somewhere, it was a summer night, and I'd turned on the radio while getting ready for bed.
After that, I began to give the album itself a solid effort. Parts of it jumped out at me as I went. "Show Don't Tell" immediately made its way on to my play-drums-along-to list. "The Pass" was and still is really good. "War Paint" had its moments. "Anagram" and "Hand Over Fist" both grabbed me right away. "Superconductor" was easily my favorite at the time; it is still so much goddam fun to drum along to that I can't help grinning like an idiot every time I do.
Since then, the noticeable gaps began to get filled in with each spin. "Chain Lightening" became a favorite, as did the title track. Over the course of the last decade and a half, the entire thing has became a source of comfort and joy.
I'm not really sure why, given that there's very little in the lyrics to suggest it, but this album is very much a nostalgic trip for me. I don't really get all misty-eyed when thinking about my teen years, because, as is the case with most people, they sucked. Not many albums 'take me back', as it were. While there may be a moment hear and there, I generally associate music with the present and future. But Presto somehow manages to collect the few random happy moments of a youth spent bored out of my fucking mind and condenses it into an hour of beautifully complex yet focused music.
One of my favorite aspects of this record is that you have three of the most talented people on earth playing music that only hints at their ability, and in doing do, highlights just how incredibly talented they are. There's moments where they let loose; the intro to "Show Don't Tell" for instance, or parts of "War Paint". But then they show the restraint necessary to produce a piece of music like "The Pass". There's a subtlety to this record, both in the playing and songwriting that, taken in the context of their career (ie: coming after their freakishly busy albums Power Windows and Hold Your Fire), is simply stunning. It's a small wonder that this record is such a slow-burner. Even the band has stated they don't like it that much. They've gone on record saying that they feel the record could've been 'more'.
I disagree (though, as Neil once said, the band knows their music the best), in that, this album, if given the chance, really shines as some of their best work. I mean, take a song like "Available Light". Never played live, it languishes in the back catalogue. While they certainly wrote some great songs after Presto, they really hit a peak with "Available Light". The song is a slowly-building maelstrom of both musical and emotional complexity that almost makes all that came before seem childish. It's not my favorite song from the band, but it is one that makes me step back and view the trio with a healthy fear and respect for what they are capable of; the same way that I regard the ocean. It's beautiful but there are things going on beneath the surface that would rip you away before you even had a chance to hit the 'stop' button.
I was especially glad that the band brought the title track out for their most recent tour. Maybe their attitude towards Presto is growing too. My feeling is that the band put out an album that was 20 years ahead of its time and they, in that time and place, didn't realize what they'd done; just as I didn't realize what I had in my stereo upon first hearing Presto.
In a career that has left impact-crater-sized benchmarks across the musical landscape over the course of nearly 40 years, I feel I can say that Presto may not be the biggest crater, but it goes far deeper than anyone realized.

Michael

Record Building #25

2011-03-14T04:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while.
The process of making what is essentially a solo album is very solipsistic process and I tend to forget there is a world outside. Especially the way I've been going about it thus far. I've been starting work at around midnight, after the family goes to bed, and then I work through till 6 am. Sometimes I get a bit done here and there when the sun is up, but I've pretty much entirely been working at night. Nothing morbid about it, just a simple matter of no distractions. Still, I'm finding myself trapped, in a sense, in my studio sometimes. I get buried under the staggering weight of my own brain, and get caught up in rabbit trails of thoughts that I don't normally follow. Some of this has been productive. I've been doing a lot of self-analysis lately (naval-gazing), trying to determine why I think the way I do or feel the way I do about certain events, places, people, etc. I'm finding it to be somewhat helpful. Somewhat. Sometimes it's just plain unpleasant. And all this while trying to sort out delay pedal settings.
Basically, my head has been pretty far up my own musical ass and isn't likely to come out for a while.
Still, work continues.

For Soul Killing Female's Kind of Red, I have drums, guitar, bass and some keyboards done for the following tracks:

Scorched Earth Policy (An Ode to Napalm)
He(a)rd Killing (was called "Killing a Rapist)
House of Leaves
Dis
Of Human Bondage
Neo-Tokyo is Burning
Rorschach (All My Friends Are Lying Pieces of Shit)
An Ode to Napalm (Reprise)
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole

I'm liking that running order so far, however, I still have two originals, "(Kill This) Melody" and "God of War" to finish off. "God of War" has been frustrating me as I can't seem to get a sound that I like for it. I achieved a really clear tone on the initial demo from the summer of 2010 writing sessions, but I can't replicate it (despite using all the same pedals, bass and amp). "(Kill This) Melody" is also one that has been like a sliver in my eye, but I still believe it will work. That's been a fairly consistent element to this album. Unlike Landmines, where many of tracks just sort of flowed out unencumbered, usually achieving final arrangements in the first writing sessions, this album has been much more of a grind. Every song has been a real battle to hammer into to shape. This album is really making me earn it. That's about the best way I can put it right now. Kind of Red is making me earn every note on it. And I think that's actually for the best. This album is a whole new level for me in terms of songwriting, and it's pushing me to play at a level that I'm still not entirely 'at'. I mean, that's a good thing, to push oneself. That's who you progress. But it's been a slog. I've had to push my bass playing, my drumming, my singing to whole new heights just to get close to what I'm trying to achieve. I think Kind of Red will reflect that quite faithfully.
A few folks around here have heard the instrumental demoes, and so far "Scorched Heart Policy", "He(a)rd Killing", "House of Leaves", "Of Human Bondage", "Neo Tokyo is Burning", "An Ode to Napalm (Reprise)" and "Maximizing...." have knocked a few people back on their asses. "House of Leaves" is the one that everybody likes most though. It's my favorite too. Well, actually, that changes a bit every day, though "House of Leaves" is always #1, with the rest all in a revolving 8-way tie for #1.5.
This week, I'm going to be finishing up the melodic keyboards on the 9 songs listed above. I say 'melodic keyboards', because there's also a whole pile of samples and noises and atmospheres on this record that require an entirely different process than the melodic stuff.
I'm also going to start in on the covers. I have "Head Down" halfway finished, and I've got arrangements for The Posies "Coming Right Along" and America's "Horse With No Name" hammered out. I'm still toying with different ways to approach Zoe Keating's "Fern". I'm really tripped out by that song. The whole Natoma album, really. Some of the best work I've ever heard.
I'm meeting with engineer-Ryan in April to create a roadmap for how we're going to tackle this, so I'm trying to have the entire batch of 17 songs ready for him to hear by then. That gives me two more weeks to get 7 songs done.
I've also officially lined up some guest musicians to playing on the record. I'm keeping it under wraps for now, but I'm going to be employing a couple of guest vocalists and guitarists on a few tunes. I'm pretty excited to hear what develops. I'm pretty fortunate to be surrounded by such supportive and talented people this time out.
Oh! And I'm also going to be recording the drums in a completely unique setting this time out. Again, under wraps for the time being, but it's going to be insane!
In theory, all this starts in August, and will likely be done by February of 2012.
Mostly.

In the Stand Alone Complex camp, Kill All Humans has been resting a bit. Well, it's been listened to and dissected a few times, but I've not worked on it steadily since January. That said, once the Kind of Red album is sorted out in April, my intention is to get Kill All Humans fleshed out by the end of May. I have 7 songs mostly done:

There Are Wires Where My Heart Should Be
Quorra
Remove
Atmospheric Battle Pack
Watching the Fire I've Created Rain Down From the Heavens
Light Cycles
Burn, You Fucker!

6 more songs are waiting to be watered and fed. I've put 4 of the new songs online (can be heard at your left in the Kill All Humans player). The response so far has been entirely and overwhelmingly positive. I'm currently working on putting together a tour-launch show at the end of May, and I hope to try some of the new songs then. It is my intention to road-test as much of the new material as possible this June (while still playing lots from Music for Suicides and Too Far Gone). I'm in a position now where I have nearly 15 songs I could play live, so every night will have a different setlist for sure.
All in all, Kill All Humans sounds like Stand Alone Complex, but doesn't sound like Music for Suicides, so I'm happy. It's means I'm 'progressing-as-an-artist' or some damned thing.
Well, it's 4:29 am, and I've bored you long enough.
Or have I?

Michael

Record Building #24

2011-03-06T05:12:00.000-06:00

There's gotta be a better word for tired.
As of tonight, I have the following songs ready for tomorrow:

Scorched Heart Policy (An Ode to Napalm)
Killing a Rapist
Houe of Leaves
Dis
Of Human Bondage
Neo-Tokyo is Burning (was called "3092")
All My Friends Are Lying Pieces of Shit
An Ode to Napalm (Reprise)
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole
Head Down (Soundgarden cover)

In about 4 hours, I wake up, load the van, drive out to the rehearsal space, set up mics, pick out cymbals, warm up, and then track live drums for those 10 songs.
No problem.
So long as I don't fall asleep and flip the van on the way out. It's happened before.

It'll be nice to get out of the city for a bit, all by myself. If I need an extra day, I'll be going out on Monday too. I'll try and take some video to put up here, since my text is so utterly enthralling and all, and probably some pictures too.

Holy fuck, I am tired, but this album is going to be worth it.

Michael

Record Building #23

2011-03-04T06:30:00.000-06:00

Got lots done this week after taking a couple of days to collect myself.
I now have 7 songs demoed (as stated in previous post, this means guitar, bass, and programmed drums - some keys on a couple of songs).
They are (in something resembling an order):

Scorched Heart Policy (An Ode to Napalm)
Killing a Rapist
House of Leaves
Of Human Bondage
All My Friends Are Lying Pieces of Shit
An Ode to Napalm (Reprise)
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole

I tried to work on "God of War" tonight, but that song just kicked my ass. The issue I'm having is that, I managed to achieve a particular bass sound on the initial demo. However, I'm not certain what I used to get the sound. I think I plugged directly into the computer, and I used my Delay pedal, but beyond that, I don't know if I used Chorus, or my POG, and I can't tell if I used the Overdrive or the Big Muff Pi.
I attempted to track the song tonight, but I couldn't get the sound quite right. The song relies a lot on delay, and I can't get the clarity I need. It's all sounding too muddy and, well, just plain gross.
I tried programming the bass line, but for whatever reason, anytime you use a pitch-bend in Logic, the software goes bat-shit crazy and pitches the next section up just that much more until finally you're 4 or 5 steps sharp of where you want to be.
It's been a somewhat trying evening.
That said, my daughter woke up and came in to my studio to hang out at about 2:30 this morning, which was nice. She just chilled on the couch until about 4:00 and then fell asleep. She's been getting more and more interested in music. I haven't been pushing her, though it's hard to say that given that either my wife or I have music on 100% of the time in this house.
She's already decided she's going to form a band, and has named the band "Stinky". That's pretty much the awesomest thing ever, as far as I'm concerned. When asked what band she plays in, she will also tell you that she plays in Helmet.
Today I caught her air-drumming to Helmet's Meantime record. Proud moment indeed.

Anyway, Kind of Red is coming along. Today was frustrating, but overall, it's been a productive couple of weeks and I'm just happy to be back at it again. I have 4 more songs for the album proper and then 1 extra song and 5 covers to record. Then the actual work starts!

Oh, and for the record (punny), here's the final list of songs I will be covering during the Kind of Red sessions:

Soundgarden - "Head Down"
Massive Attack - "Everywhen"
Zoe Keating - "Fern"
America - "Horse With No Name"
The Posies - "Coming Right Along"

The Zoe Keating track is something I'm very much looking forward to from a drumming standpoint. Up till now I've never used any extra percussion on an SKF album. It's all been drum set. Well, if all goes as planned, there's gonna be about 20 different percussion tracks on "Fern". We'll see if I can manage it, but I'd like to get a taiko drummer on that song.

Uh oh, cops are outside my apartment again. 4th time this week. A few days ago, some drunk girl attempted to kick the door in of the apartment upstairs from mine. And when I say 'tried to kick in', I mean, she knocked things off of shelves in our kitchen cupboards, the building was shaking so bad. We are not earth-quake proof, I can tell you that much. I love my neighbourhood, but it can be a little too interesting at times.

Well, it's 6:25 am, and I have lots to do today, and my daughter will be up in 1 hour. Time to sleep!

Michael

Buckweet 1995 - 2011

2011-03-03T03:26:00.000-06:00

The official cat of Studio G, Buckweet, passed away on Monday. She was 16 years old.

She entered my life in 1995. My first cat, Badger died of cancer (the day that Pink Floyd's Pulse album came out - I fell asleep on the couch listening to it, with Badger curled up at my feet and when I woke up, she was gone. My dad had taken her to the vet to be put to sleep.) Buckweet was brought home the next day.

Badger was the family's cat, but she was mostly attached to my brother Rob. Buckweet was initially a way to cheer Rob up a little.

For whatever reason, Buckweet took to me. I was the only person who could take her outside (she was terrified of the outdoors for some reason). She slept in my room at the foot of my bed from the day we got her to the day I moved away. By all accounts, she was inconsolable after I left and started biting people. She'd cheer up for a bit when I'd come back to visit, but then would go back to being hostile after I left.

Buckweet didn't get along with the other cats. She wasn't very friendly towards other people. But she was a really sweet cat, and very loving once you got to know her. I felt like she and I were kindred spirits in that way. We were a team, us against the world, as it were. In 2008, my wife Kami convinced my parents to let Buckweet move in with me as a Christmas present. She was the best preparation for having a kid that I could imagine. When I came home from an 11-hour shift at work, she'd be right there at the door meowing hello and asking for food. I had to feed her before I fed myself, clean up after her, and get woken up in the middle of the night. By the time Gwyn came along, the transition was actually pretty smooth.

Buckweet took to Gwyn right away. Our other cat Mogwai is pretty hostile towards Gwyn, though to be fair, Gwyn does antagonize Mogwai to no end. Buckweet and Gwyn were buddies through and through. As a baby, whenever Gwyn would fuss in the other room, Buckweet would run and find me and start meowing like crazy, like a feline Lassie.

Buckweet spent most of her time in the last two years in my studio though. She'd curl up on the couch and watch me work on SKF or Stand Alone Complex tracks for hours at a time.

All in all, she was the best pet I've ever had, and the best friend I ever had. Always there to listen, and always there for a hug.

She will be missed.

Michael

Record Building #22

2011-02-27T03:23:00.000-06:00

I have become a vampire.
I can't recall seeing the sun at all over these last few weeks.
Not that I mind really. I just wish that it was still cool to be a vampire. Thanks for ruining that Stephanie.
I'm fairly certain that all girls named Stephanie should be shot into the sun.
But I digress.
Despite my keeping the schedule of the undead, or perhaps because of it, I have been uber-productive these last few weeks.
Working on Soul Killing Female's Kind of Red album has been an incredible experience. And I'm only at the demo stage. The music that has been taking shape is exactly what I need right now. Really heavy, really dense, really unforgiving, really cathartic. Really.
Really really.
Really?
Anyway, I have 6 songs 'done' so far, of a possible 18:

"Scorched Heart Policy (An Ode to Napalm)" - this will 100% for sure be track #1 on the record
"Killing a Rapist"
"House of Leaves" - this song will also 100% be on the record as it is currently the best thing I've ever done
"Of Human Bondage"
"Napalm Reprise" - will also be on the album for sure
"Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole" - also a definite as the album-closer

Wait, 18 songs?
I thought there was only 11?
Also, what's this 'quotation marks around the 'done' bullshit'?
Well, let me address that one first.
I've taken a slightly different approach to the demoing process. I used to build everything I could and then go back and edit. And when you put as many keyboard tracks on things as I tend to, the editing process becomes exceedingly tedious. So, I'm doing scratch-programmed drums, and then just guitar and bass. When that's done, and I'm satisfied with the arrangement, then I'll go about building keyboards.
As for the 18 songs, well, here's what I'm thinking:
The album, if I adhere to my personal rule of ~50 minutes/album, will only have about 9 songs on it. And I have 11 that are all serious contenders. As for the other 7 songs, well, they're not serious contenders, but they are really good songs. I'm fairly certain 2 of them will end up on album #4, but I figure, if I'm going to spend the time and money and energy and underwear recording everything, I might as well do absolutely everything I've got and then see what works afterward.
Also, on top of the 18 originals, there's 6 cover songs I want to record; not necessarily for release though. I just want to do it while we have the gear and hard-drive space to do it. The 2 that I've got the most developed are Soundgarden's "Head Down" (which is now nearly 8 minutes long), and Massive Attack's "Everywhen". I'll post about the others when there's more to post about. I haven't really worked too too much on the cover songs, since I've given the originals the highest priority.
Once all the songs are tracked and we've got rough mixes done, then I'll decide on the final tracklisting for Kind of Red. I may still do a companion EP which I've tentatively entitled Shades of Red. I was going to go with Simply Red, but I figured if you didn't know me by now, then you'll never ever ever know me. No you won't....... no you won't........

Also, it's official, I will be working with Ryan McVeigh again, this time in a co-producing capacity. I'm actually looking forward to that more than anything else. The guy is a pleasure to work with, and has one of those encyclopedic-knowledge-of-music brains where you can say "hey Ryan, you know that Frank Zappa concert from June 17 1974, at about 2 minutes and 47 seconds there's that weird sound in the background? I want the guitar to sound like that, but in a bucket of water". And he knows what I'm talking about. It's actually one of the few relationships I've had where I feel like the person I'm speaking to actually understands how my brain works. If he had breasts, I would marry him. Anyway, we're going to be doing pre-production planning sometime in March, and we'll figure out how and when and where we're going to record this beast.

As for Stand Alone Complex's Kill All Humans, I haven't really been in the headspace to work on it lately. I'll be posting the demoes I have done so far on Soundcloud over the next several weeks, and I'm re-building the live sets for the tour in June (TOUR IN JUNE!!!!! HELLO ONTARIO!!!). But in terms of creative inspiration, I gotta go where it tells me to. Quite honestly, this is the first dedicated batch of time that I've worked on SKF in nearly two years. I demoed the bulk of Landmines between March and June of 2009. So, it's about time I suppose.

Also, on an unrelated note, probably H#, I got to do something today that I've always wanted to do, but was afraid to ask. I got to do foley for live radio plays! We did Frankenstein and and a sci-fi one called Colony (written by Philip K. Dick, no less). Aqua Books, one of several thousand local bookstores hosts several thousand events a month, and one of them is a weekly live-rendition of classic radio plays. I've been into radio-dramas since I was a kid. My dad got me a box set of Mercury Theater tapes, which included Orson Welles's infamous broadcast of War of the Worlds. Seriously, some of the coolest stuff ever. Makes 3D seem kinda lame.
Anyway, it was a great time, and I hope to do it again.

Well, that is that.

I've been watching a ridiculous number of movies lately. It helps get me through to sunrise. Then it's parenting-time.
Someday, I may even sleep!
....................
nah, fuck it.

Michael

Record Building #21

2011-02-21T04:25:00.000-06:00

In a fit of last-minute inspiration, I forced myself awake and headed into the studio at 12:30 am.
It's now 4:16 am, I have watched the remainder of The Simpsons Season 6, the first Predator movie, and am now halfway into Predators.
And I am listening to the demo for "Of Human Bondage".
And I am feeling just a tad proud of myself.
When I worked on the song last night, I came up with an arrangement I liked, but the song needed something, and I couldn't figure out what.
Tonight I figured out what.
Now it has these huge stacked chords, 6, 7 notes deep, and it sounds like the planet is coming apart.
I even got lyrics done for the chorus.
All in all, despite waking up the entire family when I turned on the guitar amp (my daughter likes to adjust all the settings for everything in my studio when I'm not looking), it's been a pretty good evening.
One of those ones where inspiration just keeps on coming.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......................

Michael

ps - get to the choppah!!!!

Record Building #20

2011-02-20T01:45:00.000-06:00

I arranged and tracked guitar and bass for the song "Of Human Bondage".
I also programmed some demo drums.
All while watching Season 6 of The Simpsons.
And now I will hug some snakes.
Yes!
I will hug and kiss some poisonous snakes!

This song has a couple different time signatures in it, and some crazy transitions from section to section that even confused me. I managed to sort it out.
I've got some scratch bass, guitar, and some lead guitar tracked.
It's one of the two lowest-tuned songs on the album, utilizing the low-G on my 5-string bass. It sounds kind of muddy right now (not totally surprising) so I shall endeavour to clean up the super-low end.
Then I'll be in flavour country.
It's a big country.

The middle section will have a guitar solo. I haven't decided on keys yet.
This album is getting more and more epic as I progress. I feel like each song out-epics the previous one.
At the same time, I'm trying to make sure it doesn't get too monochromatic sound-wise. I don't think that'll be a problem, but it will determine the final tracklisting when I get to that.

Anyway, it's coming along.

Also, Jon Lovitz is one of the funniest people on earth.

Also, here's a snippet of what the cover art will look sort of like. A bit. kinda. maybe. Monorail.

Michael

ps - Monorail!

Record Building #19

2011-02-19T04:05:00.000-06:00

Under the watchful eye of the HAL 9000 computer, the Jupiter Monolith and Dr. Bowman, I arranged and recorded the song "House of Leaves" for the Kind of Red album.

It's probably one of the best things I've ever written. It's got a bit of everything that I do in it. It's got catchy melody, quiet bits, loud bits, lots of groove, and sludgy outro that will grind you into dirt.

I am excited about this album again.

I fell out of love with SKF for a few weeks. Most of it was stress over the one-man-band show. I was hating that I had to do things that way, and it was sapping my enthusiasm for it all. After that show turned out to be such a success, I kind of got my legs back. After a few days to decompress after the show (it was 3 solid weeks of working on the live set every single day), I found myself back in the mood.

I dug my wife's Marshall JCM 2000 out of storage and experimented a lot with guitar sounds. Proper guitar sounds. Up till now, I've been running my LTD Horizon (like Page Hamilton's, but black, that's very important), through my Yorkville 400 bass head. It stands to reason that I could quite get the sound I wanted. Using a real guitar amp, things came together much faster. Go figure. I don't know why I didn't dig it out sooner.

Anyway.

I'd still like to get my hands on a Telecaster for the clean parts. I may borrow one for the actual recording.

The Horizon has lots of balls and chunk, but the clean sound is a bit lacking. Still, running it through Logic's amp simulator, I got fairly close to what I wanted. I even found the Leslie Speaker plug-in! I had a minor classic-rock orgasm when that happened.

But I digress.

I just realized that it's 4 am right now, and I've been working in my studio for over 8 hours without a break. I shall take one now, and continue on more SKF in the morning.

Fuck me, it's good to be back.

Michael