hello.music round eight — Cost of Things

hello.musicGreetings friends… it is Sunday early evening and I have spent a majority of the snowy cold weekend inside reading, writing, composing, recording, mixing, mastering and then rerecording, remixing and so on and on and on. But by my calendar widget, we have less than 3 days to finish the album in a month as part of the RPM Challenge.

I will save my reaction and pep talk for another post but needless to say its been incredibly fun, challenging and all encompassing to put the music first for the first time in a long time.

Here is yet another song I created today while taking a break from mastering other things. I was talking on the phone and picked up the guitar. While talking a started playing this chord progression. It sort of just came out which is strange for me. Within an hour I had it written and tracked and another hour later it was mixed. Not so sure about the lyrics yet…but this song is all mood. Pretty proud with how it all came together so quickly.

So without further ado… the first mix of Cost of Things.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/CostofThings_v1.mp3]

NPR Song Of The Day: The Sea And Cake, ‘Crossing Line’

The Sea and Cake's Everybody is out now.
The Sea and Cake’s Everybody is out now.

Once again, here’s a short piece about The Sea And Cake’s song “Crossing Line,” from its new album Everybody, for NPR’s Song of the Day. Read the essay and listen to the song here.

Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: The Sea And Cake, ‘Crossing Line’

hello.music round seven — I Am the King of Sad Retorts

hello.musicHere is I am the King of Sad Retorts version three.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/IAmTheKingOfSadRetorts_v3.mp3]

Okay…I finally penned some lyrics and tracked a really rough melody and harmony for this song last night. I think the song will be okay once I refine the words and make the melody clearer, not mumbled and not cracking. But the basic shell I think is there. I really wish I had a female singer to duet with this…but maybe I’m just defaulting into the Tweedy\Gibbard mode that I was trying to get away from on this song. Thoughts?

To hear past version of this song and\or discussion and lyrics go here.

The Arcade Fire Play In A Church

For five days last week the Arcade Fire played to sold out, yet intimate audiences in New York City’s Judson Memorial Church. Though I didn’t go, I certainly have been scouring the web and listening to the various songs they played from their new album, Neon Bible.

A few resources to catch up on the action:

Listen to a stream of Saturday night’s show as webcast by NPR’s All Songs Considered …or download the full show. You can also listen to Bob Boilen’s interview with the band, fan interviews before the show and a watch a slide show gallery with some great photos.

Stereogum’s review

The Onion AV Club blog review

Download a quality audience recording of Friday’s show

It seems the highlight for many people was the acoustic (kinda) performance of “Wake Up” that was performed in the crowd.

[youtube]Kbjf7OcpCio[/youtube]

After listening to a majority of the Friday and Saturday night’s shows, I have to say this band is on the cusp of peaking. These gigs at the church could very well be the last intimate experiences audiences will get with this band for some time. But the music here is more solid and revelatory than ever. Hearing the new songs in the live context mixed with the old, made me love the new album even more.

What once was a scrappy energetic performing band falling short in imitating the greatness of their album, is now a band who accentuates and even surpasses that greatness.

Aryn saw them at the genesis of their career right around the time the first LP came out in 2004. I cannot wait to try to see what they bring when they hit D.C. in a few months.

hello.music round seven — Black Moths

hello.musicI recorded the majority of “Black Moths” around New Years this year but I’ve been tweaking things here and there ever since.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/BlackMoths_v2.mp3]

Not really sure what to do with this and I feel a bit constricted by the bad drum loops, the weak low end (no bass). But I think there is a lot of potential for this guitar rock song. Reminds me of something My Morning Jacket would do. I remember it being nice and slow and cathartic when I originally dropped some of the guitar parts down.

All those years of trying to play cleanly and articulate in jazz settings and school has finally maybe gotten me here where I just want to rock out and play with feedback. Someday I would like to combine the two sides of my brain: the feedback side and the rational jazz side.

This would sound great with Greg laying down some old school 70’s rock drums (ala Bonham)… definitely sounds like a great live song. Maybe Greg can help out with this one as well when he does some drums for “Look Out.” With SEVEN days left we have a lot to work on. Let the countdown begin for the RPM Challenge. Should be fun.

hello.music round six part III — Look Out

hello.musicThis looks to be a prolific week for me. I worked on quite a few things that have potential. Now I just need to focus and finish these items off. How are you guys coming with your projects?

I still really want to do the RPM Album with this month’s EP but if we’re running short on offerings I think we could probably do something of a greatest hits of the Jan & Feb EPs for that.

As for this here is yet another song I’ve been working on. The hardest part with this one has been mixing and mastering… I’m working heavily with Live to make the instruments sound good. As you will hear, it’s still a work in progress.

Here is Look Out version two

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/LookOut_v2.mp3]

…and I hope to have version three mixed sooner than later and I’ll update then. The mixing needs a lot work..and some levels and panning and maybe even redo the vocal tracks. Thoughts?

UPDATE 2\21: Here is Look Out version three

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/LookOut_v3.mp3]

You might be able to tell that the mixing is slowly coming together. It’s not so muddy and the volumes are getting better but I’m still learning so cut me some slack? I am hoping Greg can track some real drums on this to help gain some intensity more naturally. Thoughts on this one coming together?

hello.music round six(ish) — Tea For the Tillerman

Last night I was playing through some songs by Sufjan Stevens and Cat Stevens and came across a song that I really enjoyed playing. I know the hello.music project and even the RPM Challenge we are taking part in this month is supposed to be original material, but I couldn’t help doing a cover of this short little song that closes Cat Steven’s album of the same name.

Not sure I am really adding a whole lot to this and it might still need some work, but it really is fun to play and sing… and it’s only 45 seconds so stick with me. Here it is…

Tea For the Tillerman version one.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/TeaFortheTillerman.mp3]

Thoughts?

The Police return…

Normally the Grammys mean nothing to me (see also: irrelevant posturing and pulse-less) but I tuned in to see the return of one of my favourite bands, The Police. Sadly I just missed their short performance…but just caught it now on YouTube. Pretty great if you ask me. And if the rumours are indeed true of a reunion tour we might get to see more of them.

I usually stay away from paying attention to these reunion tour nostalgia acts but the Police certainly make it hard not to at least consider the large pricetag. Is anyone out there remotely interested in seeing the Police? If so, how much would you pay to see them live? Would it even be worth it?
[youtube]6sHXCs84iJc[/youtube]
Side note: Stewart Copeland has the same drum mannerisms and posture as Greg. Take a look… I swear he even sort of looks like Greg. If you squint.

UPDATE: Well it’s official.

hello.music round six — There You Are

hello.musicNo progress on “I am the King of Sad Retorts” this week. In fact no vocals that I recorded did I actually keep. So here is a new base of a song:

There You Are.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/ThereYouAre.mp3]

The title is meaningless really since I have no words yet. Nor do I know what I want to do with this song. A bit repetitive but maybe has potential with some words and other instruments. Thoughts?

Thoughts on Songwriting…

notebooks.Maybe because it was cold or because I had long day at work or because of that huge delicious lunch. Suffice to say, nothing productive came out of my two and a half hour long recording\writing session last night. Nothing. It just wasn’t happening and when that’s the case it’s always best to just walk away and do something else. The chords progressions weren’t coming together, the melodies simplistic and unmemorable.

And the lyrics? This has always been my weak point. I think it has something to do with my difficulties in hearing lyrics and words when I listen to music. Don’t get me wrong, I love that aspect of pop and rock music but it takes me longer than most people I know to hear the words, and therefore the meaning. I know people who can hear a song once or twice and already be singing along. But I simply hear the melodies and harmonies and phrasings more clearly.

I think because of this fact, my lyric writing can be anemic. I have been ‘studying up,’ so to speak; reading some of my favourite lyricists and looking at their styles and techniques. But also trying to always carry a small moleskin notebook with me in case a phrase comes to mind. But after two or three years now of focusing on this stuff, I still feel my lyric writing borders on cliche, illiterate and clumsy at best. The best will make an intimate personal sentiment feel like a broad universal statement. It can be such a fine line though.

Am I too hard on myself? Probably. But I think that drive to make myself better at music also translates to the lyrics. The next few weeks of hello.music I will probably try to spend more time on the lyrics and vocal melodies and less on the intricate harmonies and layers of overdubs. A simple melody and poignant line stands out much longer than studio techniques. It will be an interesting challenge.