12.31.04

Best of 2004?

Tom Waits: Real Gone
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Nick Cave: Abattoir Blues / the Lyre of Orpheus
the Wire
the Office
Macha: Forget Tomorrow
Hot Snakes: Audit in Progress (and live)
pretty much everything connected to Tape Op zine
Desert Sessions
Eternals: Rawar Style

Until I think of something i've forgotten.

See you in '05!

12.20.04
Recording the Oranges Band in their house down on Toone St. in beautiful downtown Canton, right by the dog park where I take Doc Bob every morning. Roman from the Oranges bought an old MCI 1" 8-track and we're doing the whole recording on it, bouncing down as needed. It's all very old-school. Or maybe "no-school" is a better term. And a little bit reckless since we're using all old used gear that has no verifiable history - there's no record of the hours on the tape machine, the Allen and Heath console we're using just arrived the day before we started, with no manual, so we're learning on the job which routing options actually function, and how ... I know where my mics and preamps have been, but I have been putting them in harm's way for sure (the C-12 hit the floor the other day with no noticable effects besides the cosmetic - the gold grille has a little Salvador Dali flavor now). I keep thinking we should archive to ProTools as we go (I even set up the computer for about 2 hours tonight), but that's just not the idea here. I haven't done live drum mixes to 2 tracks since the bad old days of the Jawbox basement demos. I told Roman he's bringing me face-to-face with my fear of commitment. Which is probably a good thing. As Duke Ellington famously said, "if it sounds good, it is good." And it does sound good. So I guess we're with the Duke on this. Actually, it's refreshing as hell and I think if we (and the tape machine) all survive the process, it's going to be a cool as shit record. Very often a band will have one member who is the "secret weapon" that brings a special talent or personality that elevates the whole project; I think the Oranges might be a whole band of secret weapons.
In other news, I think I'm close to committing to a studio space of my own here in Baltimore. When that happens for real, I'll plaster it all over these pages for sure.
Get merry -
J

Soundtrack:
Kristin Hersh "Strange Angels"
Oranges Band "The World and Everything In It"
Eternals
Superdrag
Bach cello suites

12.14.04

Long time no blog. It's just after 1AM here at Jarvis in beautiful downtown NYC. One song left to mix for Nakatomi Plaza. I am feeling pretty crispy ... but optimistic. Tomorrow (later today) I head back home. Then day after tomorrow begins the Oranges Band's new record, which we are recording at their house on their new old MCI 8-track. Hung out with Roman the other day and heard some demos which blew me away ...
I love it here in NYC, just wish I was seeing a bit more then the inside of this studio. I mean, it's a nice studio and all, don't get me wrong ...

These are the things I love:
Ted Leo live at Bowery Ballroom Saturday night - the encore anyway, it's all I got to see
Clutch "Slow Hole To China" and new demos (especially that Talliban song)
Jesus Lizard "Down"
the Rahim recording from last weekend
Superdrag "Head Trip in Every Key"
the Broker Dealer song I found on the web last night
Googling all my old Art Center friends' names and finding out they're actually famous
the unexpected longevity of "Bond-Related Noise"
Eternals live at Talking Head last week