mrfuriousrecords.com – Dharmic *DUBS* out now!!

Month: October 2004

  • mr1986 AND MASTERING AS AN ACT OF DEVOTION

    Late summer 03, Kate and I tripped up to the Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln for a benefit show (I forget who exactly benefitted) because JV All*stars were playing.  We had been listening to their “Document the Fall” EP constantly, and I knew “Distance” had been out for some time but I didn’t have a copy yet.  After catching their set, talking to Eric for awhile, and picking up the full-length, mr1986 took the stage – a Lincoln band I’d heard about, but not heard.
     
    mr1986 – “music without vocals” – True, but the voice they possess shouldn’t be primarily defined by the absence of vocals as a musical element.  Songs like “Where Motion Is Rest” and “Adjust the Blinds” carry so much dynamic, wordless weight that singing would surely be a distraction.  At the show, I picked up their album “The Everbimes” and a homemade bootleg tape, hand-numbered by the band, that is essentially untitled but could be called “In This War” (from a phrase used in the background of the first song).  The sound on the tape is rough, but passionate, and it’s been a compelling piece of music for me.
     
    Last week I decided to put some music on my laptop, and instead of taking the tape straight in I dumped it into ProTools, and used Ozone to master “In This War.”  I didn’t do much, or spend much time on it – just some EQ to bring out some tonal fundamentals (especially in the bass, which was almost nonexistent) to hear the notes better, some tape saturation for a pleasant warmth & roundness, and I brought the overall RMS (average volume) level up.  It’s still rough of course (that’s part of its essence) but a good improvement I think.  I’d love to send a copy to the band, and maybe even talk about making it available through Mr. Furious Records, but their web presence is almost nil – mr1986.com hasn’t been anything for a year or more I think.  If any Lincoln scenesters have contact with mr1986, maybe you would help me get in touch?  “In This War” is a good testament to their power as musicians, and through the mastering have inserted myself by a fingertip at least into its story (I hope not in an unwanted way), and I’d love to share it.
    h

  • The Almighty's Blessing Of A New York Garage Rock Band

    I don’t remember writing “God Bless The Strokes,” which became the first echoes song (I didn’t know at the time it was the start of something new).  Scottie and I had bought the core equipment for our studio, and I’d been unpacking it and starting to fool around with it on Thanksgiving break 02.  The song just happened in a few minutes, which is not my usual writing style, the chime-y lead chords with the phrase “God bless the Strokes…” popping out like nobody’s business.  It was too much fun to play; I couldn’t get it out of my head.
     
    Naturally, with the new recording gear, the new tune was perfect material for testing everything out.  I set up my little gold drum kit with just an overhead mic, and made a quick drum loop.  Taking Cory’s (Shacker) old guitar through a fuzz pedal (Boss DS-1) straight into ProTools (I didn’t have an amp around – sinful) I tracked the first version of “God Bless The Strokes” in a couple hours with no bass.  That original recording was really lo-fi, of course, but it had spirit.  Enough that when I was re-recording the song for echoes’ “nickel EP”, I used the same solo I’d recorded that Thanksgiving.  That’s why it has such a dirty sound; it’s just Cory’s old Yamaha axe through a pedal.  I hadn’t tuned too carefully (or at all), so the whole track is 1/4 step flat or so.  What a headache when it came to re-recording for the “nickel EP”, but worth it to keep that solo.  I can’t play lead worth a damn, but there is just something about the way those notes and jangly intervals tickle my ear.  It always reminds me of the jams on Weezer’s “Only In Dreams” – “God Bless The Strokes” uses the same kind of chords in the same key, dancing around the tonic without hitting it.  Lyrically, what can I say?  The image of somebody feeling moved to invoke the Eternal Spirit to bless hipster bands-of-the-moment (in Nov 02 no less) just kills me.
     
    What poigancy it has must come from a grain of truth.
    h

  • Small + Small

    Every day we are sending out more and more music, which is the best news of all. THANKS to all who are downloading and sharing Mr. Furious with others through links, burning, file sharing, and the best thing of all – sitting your friends down and saying “You’ve got to listen to this!” (and proceeding to play echoes and Shacker… Hilary Duff doesn’t count).

    Bits of news include adding Cory Kibler (Shacker) as a contributor to the Mr. Furious [blog], and a significant update to the tech support page. Listed are some potential alternatives to iTunes for m4a-rocking; if you are using one of these programs, or want to test one (or all) for MFR, let us know; mr (at) mrfuriousrecords.com

    h

  • It feels better, thanks for the haircut

    So I was listening to the Echoes EP by my good friend Howie, and something else that I had been thinking about clicked inside my head and made me pretty excited about life in general (not the band, but you know, life, although I like LIG too). When I’m at work, and I’m spending my time making copies and filing reports and all of this, I always thought to myself, “why can’t I be part of some sort of musical collective, like Barsuk, or Saddle Creek, or even something as bare-bones as Elephant Six? Just a name or a “label” that I can be a part of and use instrumentally to get my music out there and available for whoever might be interested? Why can’t I be a part of something like that will distribute and promote what I’ve been working hard on for so many years now?” I have come to the point now where I know that the point of music is not recognition or fame or monetary compensation; it’s a kind of self-gratification. I mean, not in a sick sense, but when you write a song, it’s for you above anyone else. Even if no else listens, you still have that song for you, and it’s something exciting because it’s part of you out there, outside of your inner thoughts and feelings. But even further than that (bear with me, it’s been a rough, taxing weekend) it has to do with raw emotion in the form of notes, chords, harmonies, melodies and all of that, and the important thing about all of that is that it’s a pure form of human expression ideally, untainted and unclogged by want of money or fame or any of that.

    That’s why Mr. Furious is such a good idea in the first place. I mean, not because I think we’re any more special or worth listening to than other labels or whatever. But because it takes the whole negative side of music away from making music. I no longer have to rely on dreams of being a rock star or selling millions of albums or having people I don’t know look up to me and know my name. The thing that I now think of when I think of what I want to do with music is something first and foremost for me, but also for my loved ones who might care about what I do. I finally now see music as something non-profit and something that is there for the sake of itself. It’s a thing for and by us that is instrinsically good, as opposed to some sort of means to come by all of those things usually associated with the music industry, all of those things that cheapen what we’re trying to accomplish with music. I mean, after all, music is something done because there’s something inside of us, and the most fun, effective, honest way to get it out is to express it through notes and things. And we know this is something good and honest and true because we all like listening to music made by others, and it’s not because of anything selfish or superficial, it’s because something they are saying or because of the way they are playing notes that tugs at our heartstrings and reminds us why we are involved in this life in the first place. It feels like I am reaching a huge breakthrough, something I have always “known” was right but never really understood why, and now I do. Music is the one thing I can say that will never betray me, and now, by seperating it from capitalism, greed, strategy, marketing, fame, money, and all of those things, we finally have something pure, free, and for everyone. I finally get what Fugazi is talking about when they say they don’t want to profit from their music, but that they just want to be able to eat and have a warm place to sleep. So I say, spread the music around, and don’t worry about paying me, just keep spreading it around; your music, mine, whoever’s. Just get it out there for everyone and anyone who might want to listen.

    That’s all for now-
    Cory

    h

  • Voice

    Finding a real voice in music (or any other art) is what engages our aesthetic attention. An artist must say something meaningful, whatever it may be. It may fall anywhere from “Let’s shake baby” to “We are all fundamentally, existentially, disconnected from each other” to a sound-sculpture that transcends language, but it’s got to be there to open possibilities for aesthetic response. Works have multiple, and even mysterious meanings. Voice gives shape to the artistic “object” that is presented, and plays over us when we listen.

    A colorful voice is what I want to hear when I listen to music, and it’s what I try to put into mine.

    For example, h&s played with Westside Proletariat ( http://wsphardcore.com ) in Lincoln last year. I’m not a huge hardcore listener but I rocked, loving it, believing it, hearing their voice. Scott, plus the friends who came for h&s, left the club rather than hear WSP. I think for them, the aggressive presentation covered their authentic voice.

    Writing about the various musical voices taking part in Mr. Furious Records (h&s, “signs,” echoes, Shacker, and others…) will be happening. Struggling for a voice is important. It’s where real art happens.

    h

  • [blog]

    Today the Mr. Furious [blog] joins the ranks of millions of completely unread weblogs that populate the web. In the blog you can read about music – I imagine quite a bit of behind-the-scenes MFR stuff, things about the songs, and the occasional outside reference or review of something we’ve heard.

    If you don’t like reading the blog inside the MFR page, the full link is http://mrfuriousrecords.blogspot.com. -h

    h

  • Mic Check

    We continue to add things to Mr. Furious, and this blog won’t be the last (i.e. art & lyrics, shopping cart, NEW MUSIC). I’m imagining a space to tell a little about the music, the recording process, and what I’m working on in a given week; it takes quite a while to bring a project from the writing the first songs to releasing it. Often, it’s been over a year. signs.comets was that way. Knowing Her Best was close. The nickel EP was even longer – I wrote “God Bless The Strokes” in November of 02 as I unpacked the first ProTools equipment Scottie and I bought for the studio.

    This morning I bounced down a full mastered copy of Shacker’s Dimly Lit Room to check out on some different stereos, to see if it sounds finished. That will be the next thing up on MFR, maybe in a month or a little longer. We’ll have to take something down to make room for it, but you’ll think it’s worth it. See you,

    -h

    h