2016 January 30, Saturday – Mars Lights at The All Star Rock Bar, Kansas City MO, with From The West, Electropossum, and Bone Spur. 7:30 PM, all ages, $5 ($8 for under 21).
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Mars Lights in KC Saturday
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Howwwlllllorrible Lyrics
While Drew’s over this afternoon, checking out my work mastering his new Dark Satellites record “Be Still,” please enjoy the track below.
I don’t know how many of you are familiar enough with late-period J.V. All*stars to appreciate this jokey butt-rock take on “Straighten Your Hair” (go listen!) but it is. spot. on. and just gets better as it goes on. It even includes a grunty metal “Ooohhhh!”
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The Best Music We Heard In 2015
Here is the best music we heard in the past year. Most, but not all, was also released in 2015.
Top 12 (in random order) (it would have been 13; Cory tried to list “1989” again!)
Baroness, “Purple” (2015) – Everything that was ever great about Baroness – huge riffs, dual guitar leads, shout-a-long anthems – raised a couple notches. Seeing them at Lawrence’s own little Jackpot was extra special. -h 
Major Games, “Major Games” (2015) – There are 80s parts, heavy psych parts, weird noise parts, and super-catchty parts all mixed together. Basically it sounds like the cover art looks. -h 
Kendrick Lamar, “To Pimp A Butterfly” (2015) – This record is really challenging, which makes it interesting that it’s as popular and lauded as it is. I initially loved “King Kunta,” which is the most straightforward track on the album, but the rest of it went over my head for the first 5-10 listens. I’ve gotten into Sigur Ros records faster than that. (Just kidding, Sigur Ros still confuses me!). Partially, the album is challenging because it’s all over the damn place, and at first, it’s hard to tell whether that way like “The Love Below” (this is a bad thing, because “The Love Below” sucks); or, if it’s diverse like a Streets record (this is enjoyable and positive). Presently, I have determined that Kendrick Lamar is one of the realest, most insightful, and introspective artists I’ve ever heard. When he talks about race, class issues, materialism, self-hatred, and substance abuse he’s so brutally honest that it scares me and gives me the chills at the same time. I’m still peeling back the layers. A highlight: On “The Blacker the Berry,” he says, “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street / When gang banging make me kill a n**** blacker than me? Hypocrite!” I’m still unpacking that one. -C 
Cosmic Ground, “Cosmic Ground 2” (2015) – These four 20-minute modular synth odysseys can transport me, comfort me, absorb me, or help me work on something else depending on the day. Wish I could remember how I ended up on this Bandcamp page; what a find. -h 
Bully, “Feels Like” (2015) – All summer long, driving home from band practice, blasting Bully with the windows down, no A/C, Alicia’s voice going from purr to scream, the band loosely ripping grunge-pop perfection; nothing better. -h 
Drake, “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” (2015) and other recordings – I listened to so much Drake in 2015. Partially because I needed something new; partially because my commute to work is much longer; mostly because people won’t shut up about him and I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. The most interesting thing about Drake is that he’s nowhere near as great as everyone says he is, and yet, I can’t stop listening to him. He’s not a dynamite MC (not even close). He’s not very complex. His rhymes are filled with bad jokes. His voice actually grates on my nerves. He’s got the Kanye ego without the Kanye talent. But, his music sounds like no other music I’ve ever heard, so I keep coming back. “Hotline Bling” is not a great song, and, I’ve listened to it more than almost any other song this year. -C 
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Emotion” (2015) – Every year, there’s some total bubble-gum pop record that I fall in love with. Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift… and now “Emotion” by Carly Rae Jepsen. It helps that Carly Rae is the real deal, vocally. But what really makes this record shine (aside from the fact that the songs are extremely well-written) is that it’s weird enough to be interesting. It has the same overall vibe as a Haim record, except for less gloomy and a lot sillier. The songwriters and producers seem to have gotten together and said, “OK, people like songs about love and sex, and they like big kick drums and 808 sounds, and they like ’80s staccato funk guitar, so let’s put it all together and make people flip.” -C 
Run The Jewels, “Run The Jewels 2” (2014) and “Run The Jewels” – These records are from 2014, so I am not going to put them at the top of my list. But, these guys pulled me out of a major music rut (thanks Howie!). According to Spotify, in 2015, RTJ was my most-played artist, “RTJ” was my most-played album, and my most-played song was “Run the Jewels” off of the album “Run the Jewels” by Run the Jewels. I was obsessed. I still am. And I’m still grateful that at 33, I can still get kicked in the ass by something new. -C 
Surfer Blood, “1000 Palms” (2015) – The first two Surfer Blood full-lengths and their “Tarot Classics” EP were instantaneously enjoyable. All songs were four-minute-long hooks that entered your head immediately and refused to leave. “1000 Palms” is their first record that comes with a learning curve. There are definitely songs on the record that are immediately great, but I didn’t love it right away like I thought I would. I listened to it off and on for months, and then one night, I randomly heard “Northwest Passage” on a playlist I’d made, and it finally made sense. -C 
Kacey Musgraves, “Pageant Material” (2015) – “Same Trailer, Different Park” was so perfect in almost every way that I thought Kacey might strike gold less often with subsequent records, but “Pageant Material” is everything I wanted it to be and more. The melodies are still impeccable, the lyrics are profound in a hokey sort of way, and no matter what kind of song is happening (twangy rocker about small town gossip, folk song about smoking a J and hanging with your boyfriend, or an upbeat bluegrass jam about being a cowgirl), she executes it to perfection. I am still waiting for the day when Kacey becomes the new big pop crossover sensation that appeals to almost any music fan. It can’t be long now. -C 
The Powder Room, “Curtains” (2014) – Like a sturdy, broken-in pair of boots The Powder Room’s pummeling rock reliably doesn’t waste anything. From riff to hook to breakdown and back, “Curtains” gets in and out and leaves me wanting more, even after months of near-daily listening. -h 
Doomtree, “All Hands” (2015) – MSP hip-hop crew bring it harder than ever, which is *extremely* hard. All tracks bang and flow forever. “Generator” kills me, if you need just a taste. -h Honorable mention
Best Coast, “California Nights” (2015)Waves x Cloud Nothings, “No Life For Me” (2015)
Selena Gomez, “Revival” (2015)
Beach House, “Depression Cherry” (2015)
A Is Jump, “Weird Nostalgia” (2015)
Blackalicious, “Imani vol. 1” (2015)
Brandon Flowers, “The Desired Effect” (2015)
Carla Morrison, “Amor Supremo” (2015)
Elder, “Lore” (2015)
Failure, “The Heart Is A Monster” (2015)
Halfwit, “II” and “III” (2015)
High on Fire, “Luminiferous” (2015)
Kowloon Walled City, “Grievances” (2015)
Monolord, “Vænir” (2015)
No Cave, “Eyes Brighter Than The Sun” (2015)
Sheer Mag, “II 7″” (2015)
Sleater-Kinney, “No Cities To Love” (2015)
Tame Impala, “Currents” (2015)
Torche, “Restarter” (2015)
Viol, “Deeper Than Sky” (2015)
Descendents, “Milo Goes To College” (1982), “I Don’t Want To Grow Up” (1985), “Enjoy!” (1986)
Joy, “Under The Spell Of” (2014)
Run-D.M.C., “Run-D.M.C.” (1984), “King of Rock” (1985), “Raising Hell” (1986), “Tougher Than Leather” (1988)
Sturgill Simpson, “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” (2014)
Excited to check out:
Leon Bridges
Fuzz
Joanna Newsom
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New Kibler’s Corner via HearNebraska
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Introducing the Kingman Anti-Drive
I breadboarded my first partly-original pedal design this afternoon, and it worked!
The Kingman Anti-Drive is a passive volume cut circuit based on the Kinman treble bleed. It’s designed to give guitarists a clean/clean-ish/cleaner sound when placed in front of a saturated amplifier or overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal. Unlike turning down the guitar’s volume knob (which results in a dark, bass-heavy sound) or the Kinman circuit (which is optimized for only one particular point on the volume knob) the Kingman Anti-Drive offers a customizable frequency response with controls for volume, treble level, and treble cutoff frequency.
It’s simple (three pots, two capacitors, and wiring) but really, really useful. My basic live pedal setup for Mars Lights is an always-on treble boost and a Bass Big Muff Pi for choruses and big riffs, but I’m planning to replace that with an always-on Catalinbread Karma Suture (Happy Winter Non-Denominational Snow Time to me) and the Kingman in front of it for verses and quieter parts. (See how it works kind of backwards? You kick it *on* for “less”/quiet parts/cleaner sounds.)
It was really fun to play around with the volume turned pretty far down, the treble level about mid-way, and the cutoff anywhere at all. (Adjusting the cutoff is effectively a mids control, varying from a cool mid-scooped sound to a fairly flat frequency response.) Once I got the circuit in place I played Stones-y riffs for a solid 20 minutes just for kicks.
I’m also breadboarding on a new rig. The briefcase* and mounts for power, input and output jacks, and potentiometers, lets me store and transport breadboarded circuits safely. This first draft of the Kingman will be making its way to Mars Lights practice next week for a bit of testing.
A first test run on Kingmen will be completed in the next month or two I hope. Once everything is worked out I intend to open a store on Reverb.com with the first products being my “Jack of All” DS-1 mod and the Kingman.
Nice to have something work on the first attempt after some months of experimentation, frustrated Googling, and spending money on parts I wasn’t sure I’d need.
If you’re interested in the Kingman and have my email address, please reach out; I’ll be ordering parts this coming week. If you don’t have my email, I’ll be sure to announce the opening of the Reverb store here.
* My old pedalboard, back to howie&scott days
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Two ALL AGES Mars Lights Shows Coming Up
2015 December 11, Friday – Mars Lights at Records With Merritt, Kansas City MO, with Red Cities (Lincoln NE). 8:30 PM, all ages, free show, buy records!
2016 January 30, Saturday – Mars Lights at The All Star Rock Bar, Kansas City MO, with From The West, Electropossum, and Bone Spur. 7:30 PM, all ages, $5 ($8 for under 21).
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Original Studio Gear
The list below was in a folder of stuff from Mom on my last visit home. It’s all the stuff Scott and I bought for our first home studio, and the core of which (the Digi 001 and a generic PC, which isn’t listed) I’ve used up to now.
I think I wrote it for my tax preparer in 2003 or 04.
It’s coincidental for it to show up now, as I’m halfway through buying a new core system (Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, new Mac, Reaper DAW) to replace ProTools and the Digi. A lot of music has passed through the old rig over the years, and I’ll do an appreciation post once everything is unplugged.
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DS-1 Lab Update
It lives, with thanks again to Jack Orman and Brett Miller. I’ve mixed their ideas with my own and as you can see, if you look carefully, I have six new component values working in the DS-1 lab. (They’re the ones on the tall, spindly legs.)
It’s sounding great; clearer, more responsive, gain range brought under control. At minimum gain it’s a barely-there overdrive, just a dirty edge to the string attack, and if less drive is needed you’d need to not start with a DS-1! At maximum gain I played Sabbath riffs for ten minutes. The distortion is amp-like without trying to be anything it’s not. That’s in keeping with my goal; to bring out the best in a cheap, widely available platform with the minimum effective number of changes.
I haven’t messed with the tone stack yet, but I have some ideas and it’s up next.
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DS-1 Lab
I spent the afternoon installing sockets for some components in a DS-1 pedal so that I can easily experiment with some mods, turning it into a DS-1 laboratory of sorts.
You can see the sockets well in the photo below. They’re the little black legs on the PCB that components can just pop into, instead of soldering components directly to the board. There’s a transistor labeled “Q2” close to the center of the frame; look to the right of that for two socketed resistors.
No component values have changed, yet; I don’t have a real amp at home to test things on, just a tiny practice amp that’s enough to let me know I’m passing signal :-) Video to follow once I figure out some sounds I like.
I socketed:
- R6 and R9 (input transistor bias and gain, respectively)
- R7 (opamp gain)
- Edit 2015 Nov 14 – C5 and C7 (different values than the MIJ DS-1s, as described by Brett Miller. I left C8 alone, though he includes it in his MIJ mod, because I like the cutoff frequency created by the stock MIT DS-1 value for C8)
- D4, D5 (the hard-clipping diodes), and C10 (low-pass filter)
- R16, C12 (the low pass filter side of the tone stack), C11, R17 (the high pass filter side of the tone stack), and R15 (in series with the high pass filter side of the tone stack, reducing its output)
- R18 (a resistor in series on the output; just cuts output, from what I can tell, though now that I type this I realize it may be part of biasing the Q7 transistor)
That amounts to two gain stages, the hard-clipping stage, three post-gain filter sections, and possibly the output level. I plan to jumper all of the socketed components from the output back to the first gain stage to hear what that sounds like, see what improvements can be made (likely the Jack Orman phat mod), and build back toward the output from there stage by stage.
I’ll be experimenting with various hard-clipping options as well, with the goal of finding a few good ones to put on a switch.
Good times, and no soldering iron burns today!
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Adventure Capitalists (Rob Spectre) EP Out Now
Stream and/or snag the debut EP from Adventure Capitalists (featuring Rob of Arturo Got The Shaft infamy) at https://www.adcap.biz/ and https://soundcloud.com/adventurecapitalists/sets/mvp !
Rob, James, and Business Cat have planted the flag of the geek rock revolution farther inside the neoliberal front lines than ever before, celebrating and skewering the dot com economy with equal nerve and verve. Check it.
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Check Out Headphone Surround
Bobby O called Headphone Surround the next big thing in audio the other week, so I had to check it out. Samples are up at http://www.robertmargouleff.com/. I’m unclear how the technology works, but it simulates something like a 5.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound system on standard stereo headphones.
A quick listen to the headphone surround mix of “Thank You” on earbuds didn’t jump out at me… until I listened back to the original stereo mix. Then, the original mix seemed two-dimensional and flat compared to the headphone surround mix.
The Eleanor Rigby sample is cool because it A/Bs the standard and surround mixes back and forth for you, allowing you to compare the two. You also hear the different points in the surround mix solo’d (left-surround, left-front, center-front, right-front, right-surround). I notice that the surround mix does sound spacier, not necessarily in a pleasant way. Maybe it’s achieved using some type of convolution processing on the “-front” sounds, placing them “farther away” perceptually in the mix.
The standard mix sounds dry in comparison (again, not necessarily a bad thing; it is, after all, how the artist originally presented the material). One slightly weird thing about the standard mix, in comparison to the surround mix, is that I notice how the standard mix seems to place the sound directly inside my brain, instead of spread out in front of me like the surround mix.
Drew checked it out, too, saying “I listened to Eleanor Rigby and strongly prefer the standard version.”
I don’t disagree. Remixing existing studio works into headphone surround doesn’t do anything for me. I can see it working for live material, though, and it seems like a cool tool for artists to create sound specifically intended for headphone surround in the future.
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Valiance Lyrics
Burning Days
Heard you walked again, though a hundred rides waited
(I) love the spirit, worry on the New-port winds
Those winds
Oh-oh, it’s hard not being alone on days that burnNever spoke of it, the strength is in the secret
Trusting not to ask; only that your heart felt sureDo you know? You were loved? You had me and so many more?
Would you have? Said yourself? You had your rock like Carly told?
Ever?Oh-oh, it’s hard not being alone on days that burn
Oh-oh, it’s hard to get the phone on days that burnTo The Infinite Boroughs
A little word is violent
An assumption of a war encourages division
What’s a fight without an enemy?
When we’re both the defense, and the foe?They mean the very best here, but their prayers were answered
Ours were not
What’s a battle that lasts for eternity?
Why use fighting words, just for the world?
It’s just the worldThe valiance and the victory
Is in the rasp of defiance, (ch-)ch-check it out:
“Grab your backstreet friend and get loud”Will you speak to me now?
When will you know?With a voice that’s rallying
To the infinite boroughs, ends of the earth
To the infinite earth
To the ends of the infinite earthWhen will you know the valiance and the victory
Cannot be in the fight?
They are only in the lifeThat 80s Feel
Say wait, wait, wait and imagine where the story goes
Oh, just be honest
We’re not the first to get caught when the money came
Oh, there’ll never be a lastPray, Sleepy, where’s that heart leading?
Tell me what we’re doingSince the weather got into the hundreds
Oh, I cannot shake
The feeling that this all is connected
To the big collapse, to a heart attackHey, Sleepy, where’s that ’80s feel coming, coming from?
Hey, Sleepy, where’s that heart leading?Hey, Sleepy, where’s that ’80s feel, tell me why we’re moving?
Hey, tell me what we’re doing? Sleepy?
Where’s that heart leading?N Racine
Get into a taxi, kid, don’t you give the fare a thought
Spend it while it’s worth something, while the snow is deep
Fifty of us you could call, half a thousand cabsIs it time, is this goodbye?
(You’re) going to hike it anyway, if I had to guess
Coming from the good life, we don’t let the cold get us
Scarves of every color made, hanging in your room; hanging in my roomIs it time?
Is this goodbye, is it time?I imagine the sound of your boots
I can hear you, hear you breathingGranted me the chance to ask, I halfway think you planned this end;
Valiant on N Racine, until the very lastHalf A Million And More
Give me leave, lift each other on
Secret’s in both the sparkle and the missionFly on from here
Today’s as far as I’ll go, keep on your ownThrough the black, think I hear a song
Half a million, minutes that I loved
Seasons of…Fly on from here
Today’s as far as I’ll go, keep on your own
I want to see your backs against the sun
And pressing on
Today’s as far as I’ll go, keep on your ownTimeless Shade
Hey, Valiance
Yeah, I’m coming; Doc says it is
How’d you hide it? In the wind?Aweigh-o-weigh, timeless shade, time is yours
I’m at work, got to go
Thanks for calling, I’ll see you soon
Keep your spirits in the room
And from vanishing
Calling you afterAweigh-o-weigh, timeless shade, time is yours,
I am yoursRole Of A Lifetime
Before the call ends my role comes clear
Still asleep you couldn’t ask, but I was agreedSomeone needs to listen close
Free the questions
Open to the momentsTell me all you want about the drugs; I won’t ask
I’ll attend your mind, your work, what you love, and
Reserve the fearI don’t look at the odds
Or the folders the nurses give
You’re not odds;
You are radiantGiven this hell, I adored playing for you
Deeper Than Blood
Those moments, deeper than blood
Her devils, when they come
UnbiddenWho’s wondering? Who’s worrying?
Her angels, …
All hours, compounded power, will scatter away
All hours, compounded powers, are washing awayPersisting, in some unknown
My pilgrim, when you goWho’s wondering? Who’s worrying?
I’m wondering, I’m worrying
I’m hurting, I’m healingA Last Exhale
Oh, the winter’s come and gone
Left a shadow breathing in me
Lost my care about the end
Can I breathe the carbon ’til I sleep?Having done what little’s mine
Finished out the role as needed
Oh, the weather is an empty stage
I can give myself the giftOf a last exhale
Oh, a last exhale
Get past the paleWould you say you feel it too?
Ringing emptiness of Abaddon?
Pulls the taste out of the world?
Leaves the dust that’s all we have to live onThere are days I cannot hold
There are mornings from the void of hell
There are nights I wish I had your place
Or at least the one besideWith a last exhale…
Oh, the winter’s come and gone
But the devils are alive in usBeyond The Veil
When the pain came
They said it was worth a look
Oh kid, what did you think?Like bombs buried in our guts
Suddenly life itself is repeating again,
Repeating againWhen the pleasure’s like a note that changes everything
A taste to bring the memories back
Clearer than they were
Remember that we put on some good shows
And loved like we knew, that our sound
Our sound was fadingLike the 7:30 plane
Oh, I’m dying for an hour, at your room and you could sayWhat have you seen beyond the veil?
What did you see beyond the veil?Through your eyes
I started to see beyond the veil
In your eyes
I started to see beyond…
