Author: h

Cory and I have been bumming around southern CA for a couple days, and we played last night with Derek at the Ventura underground.  I told Cory as we drove to the gig that I was pretty excited; with the addition of the Ventura songs, I was finally feeling like I had a set of playable echoes music that would sound good acoustic.

It seemed to work, I started the night with almost an hour of songs from nickel, Be A Ska Rat, Ventura, a couple other new things, and Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.”  It felt good, and the crowd seemed to have a good time through it.  I haven’t felt this good about a set since I really wrecked someplace with Scott (I’d have to look at the show archive on howieandscott.com to tell you when that was).  Hopefully I’ll make the time to play more, buoyed by last night’s experience.

Cory and I overlapped, playing Sally M/S Ride’s “Headbone,” Shacker’s “Fully OK,” and Ventura‘s “Coast & Plains” together.  He followed it with a solid group of Beach-Puppy/Axeface songs.  Low-heat microphones meant that he was soft, and the audience responded with a consistent hush and increased attendance to songs like “Nature vs. Nurture” and “Where Did I Go Wrong?”

Derek slayed.  A mix of stuff from D-Rockets, The Ashtray Life, and even a Return song (“You’ve grown up like me / between the desert and the sea…”).  I’m the first to say that the Return is a musical force to be reckoned with, but it’s still a shame that Derk probably doesn’t have more time to spend in an acoustic setting.  I was thoroughly in to his set, sitting back and soaking it in.

We’ve made some new friends this weekend, and had a rad night of music and good times.  I’m really happy that MFR can host a night of our music with three different artists and three twisty twists on the acoustic sound.  -h

Today, I’m sure I’ve heard Bike’s new album as much as anyone else in the world, except for Nate.  I love it and I think there are some really interesting things happening with it from an aesthetic point of view, so I will share some of what I hear when I listen to A Wind I Can Lean In To.

1- “Someone’s at my door” – The title makes this a perfect start to a record.  When someone comes to your door, it’s the start of something; a day in the life, a night out, but something both fairly typical and potentially exciting, even life-changing.  Also, the track sounds like chiming doorbells.  If I could, I would re-wire my apartment’s doorbell to play this song, and invite people over just to hear it.

2 – 4- These songs all include a theme of loss: “Separation…”, a “Requiem”, and a child whose mother is gone.  What kind of beginning is this?  But there’s some sense of peace in the middle of the emptiness.  The background synth-slides in “A wind I can lean into” foreshadow “The horror!”.

5- At unpredictable times, in the middle of my day, I sometimes find myself singing “Doo doo doot-doo!” over and over.

6- “My blood, my bones” has become one of my favorite Bike songs.  It’s amazing to me how this song and “Requiem” can both be perfectly Bike, different-sounding as they are, and belong together like they do.  I wonder how this relates to “Song for a motherless child.”

7- Pure turbo-awesomeness.  Triumphant.  Exuberant.

9- Here’s a song where Nate’s acoustic side and synth side dovetail really well.  Lyrically it connects to the album’s theme.

11- Another synthesis, this time between electric guitar and vocals, which we haven’t heard in combination like this before.  I love the sort of circular/cyclical riff, the way its end bleeds back into its beginning an octave higher.

12- “This is where we die” – The title brings everything full circle, from beginning “…at my door” to an ending.  Musically, it’s like nothing else in the Bike catalog, and the warped piano conjures images of a long-lost, glamorous movie past slipping away; aging actress and again reel-to-reel film machine dying together.

Cory Alan wrote a [blog] a few weeks ago about making MFR mix CDs, and I’ve been pondering more seriously since then about what a MFR compilation might aim for.  A good mix should introduce everybody in an order that makes sense musically, and perhaps chronologically.  What if we took a song from every release, in reverse order; beginning with the newest?

(I realize that Lone Wolf, Robot Creep Closer’s EP, and Benjamin Axeface’s EP aren’t out yet… but for the future’s sake, let’s include them for discussion.)

I’ve done my list, and posted it in comments below (with a couple question marks).  The albums in reverse order are listed below, to help jog your memory.  I expect to actually burn a fair number of these mixes, so weigh in with your thoughts and ideas – if you like, you might even use the same (or a similar) list for your friends.

Axeface
R,CC!
Lone Wolf
A Wind…
Be A Ska Rat
XMAS
Sally M/S Ride
Lady Luck
Nebraska Verses
Furious Instance
D-Rockets
Gilmo
Creepy Eepy
How Is That Possible
The Dimly Lit Room
nickel
Knowing Her Best

:::OUR 100th POST TO THE MR FURIOUS [BLOG]:::

i was goofing around the Live Music Archive at archive.org last night, and found some good shows that you might be interested in streaming or downloading if you’re just hanging out.  there are tons of shows (Mike Doughty’s got 50 or so up!) but these are ones i’ve found are worth multiple listens.

Mike Doughty – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=29812
Ted Leo + the Pharmacists – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=32807
Elliot Smith – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=29761
Death Cab for Cutie – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=33834 (this may not be their best sounding show on the archive, but the setlist is very close to what they played when i saw them with Jim and Till in December)
The Frames – http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=34314 this was done by the band themselves, and is really great sounding)

you can brows the live music archive yourself at http://www.archive.org/details/etree

-h

First [blog] entry on the new WordPress system:-)

This weekend at St. Peter’s I hosted guest musicians Scott, Megan, and Erin; we spent most of the afternoon yesterday working on music for worship today.  Two original compositions and three unique arrangements rose out of collaboration among friends old and new; below is a piece-by-piece look at the music we made.  Scottie and I also warmed up with some acoustic h&s beforehand, including “Under My Protection,” “Where Will I Alight?,” “Wait, You’re Where?!,” “Blues, or Astroblue?,” and “Major & Minor.”  Q: Why do I like questions as song titles so much?

“St. Peter’s, Va, Mawu, Va” – My drum call with ScoMo was a combination of two rhythms; the first a medium groove for improvising to call the congregation into the sanctuary, then breaking into a furious step (get out the way, get out the way!) and the spoken Call to Worship with Jody in Ewe language.  The title means “St. Peter’s, come!  God, come!” – someday I’ll do an EP/album of drum music, and this is definitely going to the “SAVE” pile.

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” – Megan’s guitar arrangement of this traditional hymn placed the first and second verses in a new harmonic framework with a new melody; we all joined together for the third.  It’s a dynamic setting, the music flowing around and reflecting the lyrics; Scott (sax), Erin (viola) and I (djembe) were responsive to her lead and her voice.

“From The Cloud” – Scott’s new composition, written for this Sunday, reflects the day’s text (Mark 9:2-9).  From the sound of footsteps ascending the mountain, the transfiguration itself, and the voice that follows, he sets the elements of the story in a jazz/African context with saxophone melody and drum rhythm.  In a style similar to “At Its Rising” (on the MFR XMAS comp), Scott explores the intersection between composed and improvised elements of music; he writes sections/themes/melodies/rhythms, and some “glue” that holds them together.  For a performance, we dance through these sections/glue in a given order, improvising with their sound, length, intensity, etc. 

“Dear Lord” – Scott chose this Coltrane tune, and we set it in a slow gospel 6/8 rhythm, because of our minimal instrumentation (sax/drums – no piano, etc.) and because I’m not so much of a swing drummer (the original is in a steady swing 4).  I felt best about the 10:30 version; I was finally finding the right combination of space and sound to support Scott’s big sax tone.  Sidenote; the large acoustic instruments, tenor sax and djembe, sounded incredible in the sanctuary without amplification.  I wish my voice and guitar had that size sound, because I love playing without mics.

“This Little Light of Mine” – Funny story; we talked about doing this piece early last week, and decided on it Wednesday.  We didn’t decide who would lead it…  so on Saturday afternoon as we were putting everything together, we discovered that Megan, Scott, and I had all done different arrangements!  We settled on Megan’s, which included a great counter-melody (I need to learn that trick, M+E!) and complete with authentic ’80’s-style drum/vocal breakdown at the end.  “Everywhere I go, I’m gon’ let it shine…”

-h

So Robot, Creep Closer! is this newish crazy rock band that Tucci (from Shacker) and I are in, along with John, Gina and Jesse. We recently recorded a 4-song demo at Famous Remnants Member Matt Wisecarver’s house. We have yet to mix it (roads and tiredness have postponed it so far), but we’re getting that done on Sunday. Anyway, we here at MFR decided it might be kind of cool to give our loyal listeners a sneaky-peaky at how the process goes. It’s very intricate and complicated, so hold tight!

We showed up to Carver’s at like 1. We set up our crud while Matt ate Taco Bell and chain smoked, and then we did some tests with the mics to make sure that everything was sounding oh so hot. We recorded live, except for the vocals, because we’re not what many people would call a “tracking band” (PS, “tracking” means recording one instrumental part, or “track,” at time, rather than recording all of the instruments at the same time, or “live”). That’s because we rock so hard, when we try to track, people don’t know what to do, especially us.

We finally got the sound we wanted at about 3 (making good time for recording, which is a very tedious process) and got 4 songs cranked out pretty quickly. Everyone had headphones except for me, so I stood next to the wall that my amp was on the other side of, and tried my best to stay in time. We recorded four songs:

“Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh, No!”
“Just F*cking Forget It,”
“Dynamite Night-Life,” and
“I’m Bustin’ A Move!”

Needless to say, these all rock very hard. After we got the ‘struments done at 4:30 or 5 or something, we set up for vocals. See how complicated this is so far? I’m sweating. That’s the second time I’ve gotten all sweaty during a blog. Vocals are weird, because you can hear the song in your headphones, but no one else can hear the song, so they just hear you yelling the lyrics a capella (cappela? cappella?), and it’s like so embarrassing! Plus Wisecarver kept making me scream to test the mic. Plus I was like 6 drinks deep.

We ended up with a quality product, and we’re gonna post the sucker on MFR after it gets all done.

Have a good weekend!

-Cory Alan

This week I’ve written lyrics to two of the Ventura songs. They are subject to revision, and the titles are tentative. -h

“Lee’s Summit”

Six months out / settled in / frontier town, mission hills / time to change my heart enough to fit
Our / lonesome, crowded western state / teach me how to pray / not as a hero, as a father
No one wins / but we all play / like high school stars / …I quietly try to give the game away.

CHORUS (instrumental)

Who can speak / the language and / not feel a thing? / Silently, I saw it asking
“What / do you call / a love that mouths / the words / but isn’t ready for the living?”
I don’t know / it’s “not enough.”

CHORUS:
Say something wrong to me
Say something wrong to me
Create an excuse that I can hold against you / Not much but it’s not empty either
Say something wrong; justify me
Haven’t yet / I don’t think you ever will

“While I Was Moving About Flyover Country”

Hey, love, I heard you walking out
The February sun shines down
One year, your steps took, reaching me
Their sound was covered in the chill breeze

I know just what you’re thinking, time after time
What, love? What life we’re missing? What’s this “goodbye”?

How is our town and how are you?
Time’s tough; I haven’t come around
I’m scared my ears are getting worse
And I can’t find the words, but

I know just what you’re thinking…
What love?

It wouldn’t take ten minutes to write a fortune;
A horoscope. We’re authors of this best-seller
The Times prints us up; we’re translated to foreign languages
Our title, “Love, I Heard You Walking Back.”

How are you happy not to write?

I know just what you’re thinking…

A collection of things-happening, Cory Alan-stylee:

—-

This is what I think will happen with Tonight The Lone Wolf Rides Alone;
1. Open Columns
2. Talk Me Down (Shacker)
3. The Picture Song
4. Pushing The Envelope (JV All*stars)
5. America Votes
6. My Time (BLS / More Than Yesterday)
7. JCM
8. Hawaiian Bells
–
9.? Bonus Track I’m Still Debating

AND THEN two tracks that will appear only here on the MFR [blog];
“Coast & Plains” from the upcoming (with Cory) Ventura. I wrote the music and Cory wrote the words + melody, and it’s the first time we’ve really done that, so it’s pretty rad that I get to give you the first taste of it.
“Holy Moses” from the someday in the distant future (with Cory) new Sally M/S Ride.

Only on the [blog] because I would rather that nonchalant MFR listeners wait for the real version of “Coast & Plains”, and “Holy Moses” is a kind of oddity that I probably wouldn’t actually play for you if you came over one night (which is what Lone Wolf is supposed to represent).

—-

This morning I took some concrete steps towards new musical adventures, contacting a few different people in KC who had interesting opportunities. One is a new cowpunk/alt-country band, and I don’t know what kind of role I might have. One is a gospel band that needs a drummer. One is an indie band looking for keyboards of some sort. We’ll see what happens, but it feels good.

—-

New music in my life:

Congotronics 1, Konono No. 1 – This is crazy, amped-up African street-folk music. I pulled it from Pitchfork’s year-end list, and some others too – it’s something completely different from my usual, and I dig it.

Pixel Revolt, John Vanderslice – I love JV, and this is a great record. His production and lyrics, which are always turbo-colorful, are strong but not OVER-stated; they support each song well. After one listen, I’m ready to say that some of his best work is on this album.

Multiples, Keith Fullerton Whitman – Another from Pitchfork’s list. Very abstract, but my experience with it has also been very emotional. It’s music that most people won’t like – but if you’re somebody who gave Gilmo’s Points of Parallax even a second listen (I listen to it all the time) then you might get this.

Crusades, The Plastic Constellations – Awesome band, awesome record. These are Minneapolis guys, and they bring the pain with 10 massive shout-alongs that are three parts post-punk bombast, one part Rhymesayers, and one part Aerosmith. The whole album is about being knights and slaying dragons, except for one song where TPC admits that it’s not; it’s just that the mythical language of crusade is the only kind that feels right in describing their struggles in life. Beautiful; fun; get it.

Closing in on our 100th post…

The Lone Wolf sessions at Nick’s house yesterday and today have taught me a few things. It’s good to have a mini-“vacation” even if you never leave town. I’m not as good at playing my own damn songs (and other folks’) as I often imagine I am. Despite that, I’m a pretty good cat in the studio, able to analyze my own work well (not objectively, and often not as someone else would, but with an ear towards some kind of standard).

For close [blog] followers, I apologize that this post is late; I know how I feel when I go to read my favorite blog, and there’s nothing new.

I will be listening to the tracks I laid over the next few weeks, and deciding what to release, what to put here on the MFR [blog], what to try and re-do, and what to cut. “Open Columns” and “America Votes 2032” from nickel will show up, along with “Talk Me Down.” “Hymn…”, re-christened “The Picture Song,” is in at this point. A couple new tunes I haven’t really talked about will probably make it too. The only non-Lincoln band cover that sounds good is my Foo Fighters track (I’m really sad about another one not working… I may try it again, if I can’t do it I’ll tell you what it is so you can go listen to the record anyway). That one (Foos), and any other covers that I might potentially re-work, I would probably release as a limited number of downloads; after X amount of hits (100?) I would delete the file and it would no longer be legally available from me or MFR.

JT, I hate to tell you, but “Mable” just isn’t any fun to play without Scottie. It doesn’t click.

After a long weekend of playing songs in Nick’s spare bedroom, Bo Ling and bowling, Shadow, driving, college hoops, and a pot of my Italian soup, this lone wolf is home and for bed. See you-

-h

A little more than to weeks ago, just as I finished mastering Bike’s new A Wind I Can Lean Into, my main ProTools interface broke (this is a box that we plug microphones, instruments, and speakers in to – the midpoint between a guitar and the computer). After two weeks at the repair shop, I called to check up on it, and they told me they can’t fix it. I’ve got another shop to try, but it will still take a while, and in the meantime I’ve been writing a bit but unable to do any studio work.

But! I discovered a simple, old tape recorder in the church basement and started to get ideas. I borrowed an old tube power supply for my nice mic. I plugged it all together yesterday… and got lo-fi, tube-driven, beautiful roughness.

Also! Nick asked me to dog- and house-sit for several days next weekend while he’s travelling for work. Meaning a quiet, empty house – nobody walking around upstairs, no one for me to worry if they can hear me playing songs through the walls.

Result! is that I’m planning to record Tonight The Lone Wolf Rides Alone next weekend. I’ve been thinking about it for maybe a year, but just didn’t find the opportunity until now. It’s to be a solo-acoustic album of echoes songs and covers. Sort of like what you might hear me play, if you came over to my house and we were just hanging out after dinner or something. I have a tracklist in my head…

BUT IF YOU HAVE REQUESTS; ECHOES SONGS, OR COVERS YOU KNOW I KNOW, POST A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW!!!111 I’ll add them to the list of songs, and they could make the record OR maybe be posted just here to the MFR [blog], OR if they’re really bad but you love that song anyway, I could just email it to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111