:::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

My blogs always seem to be a bunch of crud smooshed together in the semblance of some sort of bigger, more important crud. With that in mind, I’m totally going to make this blog about a theoretical mix CD of MFR songs, and there’s going to be ten songs on the sucker. This is off the top of my head, because if it weren’t, it would take me forever to think of what I’d pick and why. Without further ado, here:

1. Bike, “He Came to Steal Your Children”
2. Sally M/S Ride, “Headbone”
3. D-Rockets, “International Sign for Goodbye”
4. Echoes, “I Don’t Even Know how Right This Sounds”
5. Shacker, “Prove It”
6. Bike, “Eye of the Needle”
7. Echoes, “Open Columns”
8. Beach-Puppy, “Nature vs. Nurture”
9. Shacker, “Fully Okay”
10. Sally M/S Ride, “The Last Song”

Wow, that was tough! And let me make it clear that it does not include awesome furious instances like “Lunch by Yourself” or 12-O’Clock Fence, or the X-Mas EP, or any of that. And also, pretend that there are two secret hidden tracks right before track 1 and after track 10, and those tracks are “As Seen from Side A” and “As Seen from Side B.” Because it would freak people out and really show them what MFR is all about (freaking people out).

Anyway, I’m all sweaty. Who else has a possible MFR mix CD? The only rules are, there has to be 10 songs, they have to be off of official MFR releases (or not; it’s just that too many options freaks ME out), and the track order is of the utmost importance. LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!

Later, when I think of more crud to say, guess who’s gonna leave a comment explaining that crud? Exactly. My Dad.
Cory

It takes a long time for my projects to coalesce, from the time the first song is written for any given recording, to the actual release. In this case, I think “FedEx Overnight Conversions” was written in college, meaning perhaps spring 2003 (at least, not earlier – it could be later). The most recent, “Assassination Love Mission,” was finished last summer, 2005. The other three are from the winter 2004-05, after launching MFR, releasing nickel the autumn before, and moving to Minnesota.

To compare, Sally M/S Ride was almost four years from “A Come-On” to the release of Don’t Let Them Take Us ALIVE!.

The Ska Rat songs are shorter and quirkier than nickel‘s, on purpose. Looking back, all of them deal with the places where the world and its big ideas crash with my life. Recording-wise, there’s the addition of organ sounds (which mostly replace guitar leads), and a general increase in production quality and my performances in the studio; Be A Ska Rat is my first project that might tentatively be described as “tight” in the strict sense.

“I Don’t Even Know How Right This Sounds” – If you downloaded the live version from Furious Instance, you know this song is about aesthetic insecurity and quantum physics (there’s the crash). The art-process-part comes first, then the bridge adds the “observer effect” – collapsing probability waves into single actualized moments through acts of will. This song picks up from “Open Columns” – the off-beat chord rhythms, western-ish bridge – even the key of D-major.

“Corrupting The Youth” – Like Socrates (who is now 2-for-2 on Ska Rat songs/name-checks) with the youth of Athens, traversing the city and talking about what is seen is a great education. I’d do it from the bus, instead of on foot though. “It’s every man for himself” is an observation; is it also a criticism, or a proscription? The bass didn’t come through very well, but I love the crazy keyboard-mashes.

“FedEx Overnight Conversions” – What if I woke up one morning a conservative, Pentecostal, fundamentalist Christian? And then ran into a nice, progressive, granola girl, on whom I wished I could make a good impression? I’d write this song about it. FedEx implies suddenness; this conversion is like receiving an unexpected package. The other four songs use a “rock organ” keyboard tone, but this features a rotary sound (think Steppenwolf – though here it’s buried in the mix).

“Asassination Love Mission” – Sometimes there are inner struggles so severe they’re like warfare. There are things about body chemicals (from our evolved human nature? our brains? ingested?) that I try to put to death in myself for a cause of higher love. The “Come on and show me…” parts in the two verses are lifted, melody and words, from the Clash’s “Clash City Rockers.” I don’t understand why it fit, but it just did; when I was writing the melody, I came to that part and just sang it, very intuitive. The riffy ending-part with drums sort of point the way toward a future echoes thing, Poor devil.

“J. Cougar Mellensong” – Between JC and Tom Petty, this song probably should have been written years ago. But it wasn’t, so I tuned it down (to sing in the higher octave) and wrote it faster. I tried to make it under two minutes, but the guitar-ring took it over the line, and I liked the organ fuzz at the end. It’s kind of weird structurally in that is has a couple verses and a couple bridges, but no real “chorus”. This song is very fun to play, but gets out of control easily and sounds bad. Maybe if you’ve heard the Ska Rat one, if I play it live it will strike your memory and you won’t mind so much.