It’s out, and that brings about a nearly six-year chapter in our music to a close.

In late 2007, Matt and I were working on some new Five Star Crush demos, and found ourselves experimenting with some blown-out bluesy punk rock stuff during our down time.  We wanted a third member, Cory told us Drew was in the area and re-introduced us, and what eventually became Mars Lights formed.

We started recording the Sides in February 2009, and have been working on them ever since.  The last overdubs were done just a couple months ago; the Side 3 final mixes were made a week ago.

We’ve done other things, too.  Drew and I are 85% of the way through tracking an album as a duo.  He learned to play drums and record everything, turning Dark Satellites into an album, and then a full band.  Matt joined In Back Of A Black Car, and is having some other post-rock adventures we hope to hear more from.  I put a couple records out myself, mastered some others, and generally attempted to be a shark (keep moving), if a slow one.

As exciting as it is to share Side 3 with you, my strongest feeling right now is freedom.  We learned so much through this project – about writing, recording, playing, gear, mixing, mastering, communicating, design, and more – and that’s already reflected in the LP that’s under way, and will be even more in the projects that follow after.  It feels great to have reached this milestone, knowing some of the good stuff that’s on the road ahead (and not knowing some as well).

I hope you really enjoy Side 3, and all of the Sides.  Rock out.  Nod your head.  Air guitar/drum.  Be overcome.  Or just press play and make dinner.

-h

After all of my careful option-weighing and gear-lusting, I found a great deal on an Eventide Timefactor delay this week on Craigslist and just did it.

I started to dig into it last night, and already have fresh ideas for how to use it live. I’ll test it out on an old Mars Lights song for vocals this week.

The best thing about it is the dual delays, and the way they interact; they make the echoing so much more musical and unpredictable than single repeats.

Separately, Drew’s given me the final, final Side 3 mixes, and we took the cover photo a few nights ago, so that will be out in a week or two with four new songs, his mixing touch, probably our best production to date, and probably both our weirdest and catchiest material (separate songs :-) from the Sides.

In case you haven’t seen Drew’s handiwork on FB already:

I think he has a future in portraiture.

But with that, comes news; we’re getting together with Jim (MR 1986, UUVVWWZ) in a couple weeks, in the hopes that he’ll replace the giant spider.  I’m amped for that.

I’ll miss Spidey, though.

Going on two years late, here’s Hear Nebraska’s review of The Sleepover’s Believe The Honesty, Bro.  Long-time readers know that “Better late than never” is a fair summary of my approach to music, in spite of my best intentions.

We’re home from Ireland & the Isle of Man tomorrow.

It’s here.  It’s been there for a few months, but I haven’t said anything about it until now.

There are links to browse-able archives by author, category, and page, but the cool thing for me is the chronological list of posts (511 as of this one!  I meant to note the crossing of the 500-post mark.  Ack) going all the way back to our launch in fall of 2004.  Even just a scan of the titles is pretty interesting:

• 2013 January – That was a pretty good Ladyfinger show at the Riot Room
• 2012 December – I still like the visceral/mysterious axis
• 2012 July – It’s been almost a year since we were drumming in the carriage house; hard to believe
• 2011 August – The Sleepover at ARC in Omaha…
• 2010 December – Took CA to see Jimmy Eat World for her birthday
• 2009 October – “There is Something and not nothing”
• skipping ahead…  or back, really…
• 2007 February – The Shins in Lawrence, and the worst drive home ever
• 2006 May – First shows with Five Star Crush
• 2004-05 – All of the Minneapolis memories…
• 2004 September 21 – Liftoff!

What jumps out at you?  What were you there for?

Pedal voyeurism is nothing new around here, and it continues; after much searching, I think my delay narrowed down to a top contender.

Originally, I had been looking for analog delay, and was looking at the DMB Lunar Echo.  (Coincidentally, also the name of my favorite, long-unavailable, standard Boulevard brew.)  After Drew’s experience with a Keeley-modded AD-9, though (awesome on guitar, no good for vocal production or other studio trickery due to limited high frequencies), I started over, open to digital delay.

My criteria: good for vocal production (to duplicate what we do with Drew’s Fulltone TTE), ability to do both dirtier and cleaner echos, and bonus points for an infinite feedback switch.  There’s a ton of great stuff out there, and if I was just getting a guitar delay, I’d probably go with the TC Electronic Flashback.

But for tape sound, short of the real thing (more than a grand just to play ball, and a bear to maintain), I’ve got my heart set on the Strymon El Capistan.

Beautiful sound, so many knobs, super-clean tape (still tape-y, though) to nearly wrecked, plus infinite feedback; it has to be.  As soon as I need it for a project, I’m ready.

Paul Krugman linked to a talk by Alan Krueger on the economics of rock and roll compared to those of our country the other day.

…Many of the forces that are buffeting the U.S. economy can be understood in the context of the music industry. I have also learned from 25 years of teaching that the best way to explain economics is through the example of the rock ‘n roll industry … We are increasingly becoming a “winner-take-all economy,” a phenomenon that the music industry has long experienced. Over recent decades, technological change, globalization and an erosion of the institutions and practices that support shared prosperity in the U.S. have put the middle class under increasing stress. The lucky and the talented – and it is often hard to tell the difference – have been doing better and better, while the vast majority has struggled to keep up. These same forces are affecting the music industry. Indeed, the music industry is an extreme example of a “super star economy,” in which a small number of artists take home the lion’s share of income.

– Alan B. Krueger, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, from Land of Hope and Dreams: Rock and Roll, Economics, and Rebuilding the Middle Class

If we buy Krueger’s arguments, what are the implications for the majority of artists?

First, psychologically accomodate the results of the Salganik and Watts experiment on song popularity; luck and social snowball effects have much more to do with the popularity of one song or another than we commonly acknowledge. Artists can put their music in places where it might be discovered, but we can’t control what happens after that.

Second, due to rising income inequality since the late 1970s, most people simply have less money to spend on shows, recordings, and merch than they used to, and it’s getting worse.  Plus, musicians face more competition than ever for entertainment dollars.  We have to think seriously about what we ask listeners to pay, and provide low-barrier entry points.  For example: play a free show, give older albums away (or charge #1 or pay-what-you-want), or put a merch coupon on your website that can be redeemed at shows.  Also, make sure listeners feel great about the money they spend by putting on a great show, being available to talk at shows and online, providing good customer service at merch tables and web stores, and bundling bonuses like download codes with CDs and tees.

Support music in schools with your vote, and with any other political activity you engage in!  The decline in music participation among students from lower-income families Krueger shows is terrible.  These kids are our future stars, collaborators, and listeners.

Along with music in schools, a progressive economic agenda – a strong minimum wage, universal health insurance, progressive taxation, and so on – both supports musicians directly, and creates more potential listeners with the leisure time and resources to enjoy music.  In a divided, unequal, “super star” economy, who are your listeners?  No one.  You’re scraping by, and the few with the means to support your music don’t give a damn about you.

Finally, be satiable.  We’re fortunate enough to have the instruments and free time to make music.  How many of our great-grandparents were so lucky?  If you want more – better gear, more sales, bigger shows, nicer studios – build it.  The world doesn’t owe us artistic success in those terms.  Let go of the illusion that this is a meritocracy; that might be nice, but it isn’t reality.  Learn the game and play it how you like – here comes the Buddhist in me – attachments to illusions will only cause you, and those around you, to suffer.

Steven Hyden wrote a piece at Grantland this week called “Is Phish A Great Band?”  Ultimately, though, it’s not about Phish.

Let’s say it’s 50 years in the future, and you’re trying to figure out how and why pop music has arrived at its present permutation. Let’s also say that recorded music still exists, but no longer as a product that artists attempt to sell. Like other forms of devalued currency, recordings have flooded the market to the point of virtual worthlessness. But music fans are still willing to pay to hear a version of a song that doesn’t exist yet, and will only ever exist once. Because of this economic development, bands spend a lot less time making albums and devote the majority of their energy to honing their live shows. Over time, people gradually stop talking about fixed versions of songs and begin evaluating bands on their ability to perform and refresh their body of work. This creates a new paradigm for how we talk about music — pop historians start rating the Dead over the Beatles as the best rock band ever. Music is perceived less like film and more like theater or sports — as a venue for live events that lose their essential appeal if they’re not viewed in the moment.

[Emphasis mine.]  This is the context in which Phish is already, and undoubtedly, a great band.

There are other bands currently operating at least halfway under this model, too.  The Stones have been doing it since the early ’80s, more or less successfully, until this latest tour.  Other jam bands, like Dave Matthews Band and Widespread Panic, have followed this path, too, but I think the “body of work” concept is applicable beyond the jam genre.  A band that can consistently create a fresh, present cathartic or insightful experience with an audience could consider this route, whether they play metal, soul, punk, country, or anything else.  Jazz and blues musicians have, for the most part, always worked this way; having the album version of a song be the definitive one is the exception.  Even with Miles Davis, with his classic LPs like Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew, the groups he put together and the performances they gave rival the albums.

Pure pop musicians may have the toughest time transitioning to a “body of work” model.  Hits need to be performed faithfully, so keeping the hits fresh involves incorporating dance, stage shows, and other spectacles.  Remixing could work in small amounts, but I doubt it would work as a foundation for regularly reinvigorating performances; can you imagine Madonna going on a new remix tour every couple of years?

I’m not sure of the implications here for my own music.  I love making records, and the success of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories shows that there’s still some wider interest in albums.  Maybe Hyden’s story reminds us that the “body of work” path to success has never gone away; it may have receded a bit over the past 50 years, but is coming back as the web has devalued recordings.  Bands should consider it seriously.

Our lyrics for Mars Lights tend to be at least a bit abstract.  I still like to write the lyrics about something concrete, though, whether that’s a story, an image, or an extended metaphor.  With the latest batch of new songs, I’ve been using a little trick I first did by accident.  It may be obvious to you, or in retrospect, but it still might help.  I’ve been writing songs for years without  it, so maybe it’s not as conspicuous as it seems.

What I’ll do is write down the story, idea, or emotion I want the lyrics to be about in a plain phrase or two.  This focuses me on what I want the lyrics to achieve, whether that’s a bit of action in a story, or conveying a certain feeling.

For example, a couple of weeks ago I had a lyrical concept for a finished Mars Lights instrumental demo called “New Blooze.”  At the top of the page, I wrote:

 

solar flare apocalypse, like “99 Red Balloons”

 

That’s it!  Within an hour, the lyrics were pretty much written.  Here’s the first verse and chorus:

“Have A Corona”

 

I wouldn’t, I couldn’t modulate

I’d never, ever go all the way

 

Coming out of the sun, blue-shifted as I close in

Much fucking worse than bombs, back to annihilate

Your wave

I found a way in to the image that I liked, which was personifying the flare in the first-person.  So, rather than a lecture about existential risk, the song kind of opens up.  The story is there, but other interpretations are available, too; it could be a song about anger, using the flare as a metaphor instead of the main idea.  There are others, I’m sure.

I’m not sure why it works so well for me.  Maybe having the main idea down on paper frees my brain up to focus on the more poetic language needed for the final lyrics.  With the central point explicitly set out in front of me, it seems easier to dance around the edge of it, getting that somewhat abstract quality I like for Mars Lights without ending up with lyrics that are empty.

Will you try this technique?  How did it work for you?

My live blog of Moon Gazer resulted in some questions I wanted to ask Brandon, and he indulged me in the email interview below.

One thing I felt about the album is that it seems fully realized, like you recorded exactly what you imagined or intended or wanted. How do you feel in that area?

with this album i had some specific rules. i knew what i didn’t want to do. with the first two albums, i was obsessed with having as many different sounds as possible. with maybe only one or two consistent threads going through each tune. for Moon Gazer i kept a lot of the sounds uniform. like i might have the same guitar with the same effect going through the same amp through the whole song. i also was steering clear of the high-end sounds. less high hat and cymbals and such, and more emphasis on the bass and mids. i was looking for a warmer / darker sound. i also decided to let the album just be slow and creepy all the way through, instead of trying to throw faster or more sunny tunes in to break it up for variety. i think those things had a hand in making it seem more fully realized and cohesive. besides that, it’s possible that i’m just getting closer to whatever the Panda Face sound is.

What is your writing and recording process like? (This is something that fascinates me, because people’s processes can be so different, and I usually learn a trick or two.)

i usually wait till something hits me these days. like a chorus will just pop into my head or a vocal melody of some sort. or i’ll be messing around with the guitar or keyboard and a song will just kind of spring up. once i have a decent handle on how i want the song to go, i start right in on recording it. that’s when the obsession kicks in. i find a beat and starting layering on the sounds. i spend hours searching for the right effect or perfect melody. i edit tracks like a madman. i keep going till i feel like it’s complete and then mix it down. after that i wait for the next tune to hit.

It seemed to me like the guitar/synth sound balance tipped a bit more toward the synths this time out. If so, was there a purpose in that?

i think you’re right. “King of the Sun” is the 1st tune i’ve recorded that’s completely void of any guitars. it’s not something i did consciously though. Panda Face has always been me sort of riding the fence between the guitar rock that i’ve always been a part of, and the more pop, electronic, and ambient influences that i’ve gained over the years. it’s been slowly evolving and this time the synths finally won out.

What are you doing with this record? Shows? Art stuff? Second Life? Anything weird?

not any shows to mention just yet, but i do plan on getting out there and performing the album sometime later this year. for now i’m just trying to spread the word as much as possible via the internet, and through the local record shops, media, and radio stations.

Are there any films that sync up to this record?

not any specific films, but i did watch an awful lot of animation during the recording of the album. mostly the stuff from my youth like GI JOE, Transformormers, HE MAN, and ThunderCats.

What’s next for you, and for Panda Face, musically?

i’m pretty much always recording a Panda Face album, so there will definitely be more of those coming down the pike. already got a couple of new ones in the can. stay tuned …

Along with releasing Moon Gazer, Brandon asked me to write something about the album.  A review didn’t seem quite right, but what happened is that I ended up live-blogging my first listen.  -h

1 – Moon Gazer

• starts off with a block-rocking sleep-beat!
• it sounds like shooting sunbeams from one’s eyes is commonplace in this world
• love the space at the end of the first verse/chorus
• i feel like this is going to be my favorite panda face album

2 – Lofty Eye

• yeah, i think so!
• this feels like all the things i like about panda face – sweetness and creepiness, the vocal stylings, weirdness and pop… ness – all cranked up four notches at once
• i’ll have to ask brandon how his musical adventures since the last record – renfields, millions, burns – have influenced this, and what order all that stuff happened in
• really proud this is going to be on MFR. brandon just emailed me out of the blue, “hey, i have a new record out, will you post it?” that is exactly what i hoped MFR would be!

3 – King of the Sun

• ooh, i wanna dance a bit. i’m doing kind of an egyptian neck movement thing
• AND HE JUST SANG “EGYPTIAN FANTASIES…” we have some connection going on
• is that “cesearian?” probably, there was a roman thing, too. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck weareintrouble. i think i might get cut open, somehow.
• whew

4 – White Hawk

• i have been listening to brandon’s music since the blane “blair” EP, so, about ten years. i think we’ve only met once, and it was at a dark satellites/renfields show, and i’m terrible at hanging out at shows because i’m super-focused on my performance and my gear
• the sounds in this song are really cool, but the song doesn’t rely on them. i think brandon could make this work acoustic. that is a compliment. but i’m glad he didn’t, for this version, at least.
• another sort of unexpected, tight ending. i’m loving these arrangements.

5 – She Fell

• another great sound, that rubbery bass. it could almost be cheesy in someone else’s hands, but since it’s panda face, i know i’m going to end up hiding under a blanket, so it’s already kind of ominous
• sick deep filters, deployed very subtly. nice touch.
• is anything still sick when it’s cool? i don’t know. i might be out of touch. i didn’t start saying “snap!” until 2006.
• and i still do sometimes :-|
• this is def my fav panda face album. it seems fully realized; like brandon accomplished exactly what he wanted to, and i love hearing that. that’s what i always aim for, and only rarely, partially ever achieve.

6 – Mysterious Danger

• nice interlude. kinda british educational film strip-y. death is probably coming around the corner…

7 – The Down Low

• or not? this is funky and kind of twangy. two great tastes that i’m listening to right now together and they sound good.
• first line = perfect
• the little high keyboard on the chorus is making me laugh in a good way. with joy. that happens to me sometimes when a riff is just perfect and overwhelming. here, it’s like the musical idea is spot-on, kind of like something out of a ’90s Dre production, but it has this cracked kind of Pavement, played-it-wrong-but-left-it-in-whatever quality, too. both of those at once is magical.

8 – Lame to Try

• maybe we won’t die after all. i predict this will be a bit of a love jam.
• cool instrumental part under “i think you know exactly what we should do” (might have gotten the pronouns wrong)
• over the whole album, is this the least amount of guitar brandon’s ever had? might be. not good or bad, just observing. what guitar i’ve noticed has been well-deployed. and you know by now how i feel about the various synths.
• nice come-down ending