Thanks for checking out our journal. This is where we post thoughts, articles, news, updates, interesting tidbits and anything else we can think of. Hopefully you will find something that tickles your fancy. xo xo
Well it’s time for another post in our exciting new ‘What We’re Listening To‘ series (seriously, wow.).
Today’s wonderous new band is from Oxford, England, and are called Stornoway after the Hebridean town on the Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecasts (apparently).
They have just released their debut album, Beachcomber’s Windowsill. On first listen I actually couldn’t stand the lead singers voice to be honest. It just seemed overly theatrical and forced! But, several listens later I keep on coming back for more. There’s something quite addictive about it.
The lead single and title track, Zorbing, has received quite a bit of play so I didn’t want to share that here. Instead I’ve chosen something at the more folky end of the spectrum – We Are The Battery Human, a sing-a-long anthem for the modern worker.
There is something really fantastic about the production on this album. It’s incredibly simple and stripped back through-out. Each instrument and voice is left space to breath. The music is often simply a platform for the lead singer’s incredible voice (not featured in the song above so much). The recording and mixing is pristine, a listen with headphones reveals a rich tapestry of detail hiding beneath the simple exterior. This extra detail is not more instruments or parts, it’s more like higher resolution. The closer you look/listen, the more you hear! It’s a relatively conservative mix and master (it’s positively quiet in the scheme of things) but it works brilliantly as a whole. It’s always a pleasure to listen to something that has been thoughtfully recorded to be sensitive to the songs and the band.
I highly recommend picking up a copy of the album. I’ve been biking and walking around on cold winter days listening to it and it is just the perfect accompaniment for the weather we’ve been having. Despite being from Oxford there is something about this album that wouldn’t be at all out of place in a weather-beaten cottage on the outer Hebrides or, for that matter, in a frosty New Zealand outpost town.
Well this happened some time ago and I meant to post it when it was exciting, current and super uber cool… but I didn’t.
BUT, back in May I took part in the V48 Hours Film Competition which was pretty fun. I was part of the Ruffell Productions entry and helped out with a spot of acting, location sound and some band recording/soundtracking.
It was the most relaxed 48 Hours shoot I’ve probably ever been on – we drank some gin and plotted on Friday night, slept a solid 8 hours and then filmed from 930am – 6pm! Beautiful. On the Sunday we convinced the Unfaithful to come into the studio and record a tasty (but adequately stupid) theme song for our short.
Our genre was ‘Sports Movie’ which was pretty fun, the character was Sydney Manson – a fabricator, the line of dialogue was “when you look at it that way” and the prop was a broken toy. Each team also had to use a dolly or hitchcock zoom somewhere in their short film.
Anyway, here’s our entry entitled ‘Hot Foos’ – let me know what you think!
PS – I might post up the full version of the Theme Song to Hot Foos at a later date too.
Okay. So we’ve been a little slack with the post writing of late (I wonder how many blog posts in the world have started with that sentiment?) so I’ve come up with a scheme to ensure more regualar posting.
What is this amazing scheme I hear you ask?
A series – that’s what. An ongoing series of posts about music that we’re currently listening to or finding inspiring. It might be because it has great production values, it could be the recording techniques used were particularly interesting, it might have been recorded at a particularly cool studio, it could be our friends, or it could just be a plain on great song that makes us remember that, at the end of the day, music has the power to change us and make us glad we’re alive.
Phew!
This first song in this never ending series is actually a bit of everything. It’s the opening (semi-title) track from Tunng’s new album called ‘…And Then We Saw Land’. The song is simply called ‘Land’.
There is a lot to like! Firslty, this is pretty much just a banging pop song. It rambles along with all kinds of musical instruments making an appearance including banjo which is probably the music buzz instrument of the moment. It’s got a kind of joyous carefree vibe that puts a smile on my beardy face and great pop hooks to sink your teeth into.
Audio production-wise I really like how different elements come and go from the mix/top of mind as you listen. All the instruments are almost painfully present and vie for attention. I think it’s this intense sense of presence (woah not a good turn of phrase if you have a lisp) that gives it that good-time-sing-a-long kind of feel. All the instruments are wonderfully recorded and this high production ethic shines through in the rest of the album too. Tunng are a collective of musicians (rather than a fixed band) somewhat like BSS and I think perhaps this eclectic approach to writing and recording means the there’s always lots going on, both instrumentally and vocally, but it works as a cohesive whole thanks to some very clever mixing.
Anyway, enough rambling. If you like it, go get it!
Busting your balls in the strangest of the ‘industries’
The older I get the more I understand that there really isn’t a ‘top secret’ formula or series of events that makes one band or musician more popular or successful than others. In my youth I thought there must’ve been some secret that all the top bands had that I just needed to find out ‘what’. It turns out that I was so far off the mark it’s not funny. Sure there are a lot of tasty ingredients that make up the ’success pie’ and depending on exactly what flavour you’re hoping to bake depends on ‘where’ you need to get your groceries.. so to speak (only mildly confusing I guess).
One particular ingredient that I believe is overlooked, especially within this ’sit-down’, sms, facebook digital age, is the lost art of pure and simple ‘hard work’. I know too many musicians (definitely me included) that take the easy road far too often. This is most certainly not the case with The Eastern. I mentioned in an earlier post that I believe the band is the hardest working band in the country and here’s how. Consider this:
In the last 2 years the band has:
- Written over 300 songs
- Recorded over 50 songs
- Released 3 EPs
- Released 2 Albums
- Toured the country 5 times
- Travelled over 80 000 NZ kms
- Toured the USA twice
- Played over 600 shows (averaging 4 or 5 shows a week)
- Supported and played with acts such as the following: Steve Earle, Jim White, The Old Crow medicine show and Fleetwood mac
- Sold over 2000 cd’s
- PLUS so much personal stuff that puts my achievements to shame.
What’s MORE amazing is that all of this was done completely independently, off their own backs, 5 members full time musicians, no publishing deals, no nz on air or creative nz grants, no record deal, no management.
Are they tired? Yes, of course.
Are they happy? Yes.
Can anyone do this? Sure if you’ve got the heart of a bear and the balls of a brass monkey.
Sometimes I think they’re all mad and it’s only a matter of time until one of them implodes, however most of the time it’s just an overwhelming respect I have for what they manage to get done. So, next time you see The Eastern playing in your hood make sure you pop in, buy them a drink and shake their hands, they friggin deserve it.
by thesittingroom on February 6, 2010 · 0 comments
The Eastern’s 2nd Album
The wonderfully talented Michael Edge-Perkins, and his gorgeous partner in crime ‘Sylvia’, joined us for a couple of nights in the wood cabin. While they were there Michael shot a bunch of great photos. Simply enjoy.
by thesittingroom on February 5, 2010 · 0 comments
Environment vs Vibe vs Acoustic Perfection vs Whiskey
I am a firm believer in not only creating a good ‘vibe’ for the band to record in but making sure the entire experience of recording surpasses anything they’ve dealt with in the past. There are many thoughts and theories behind the art of ‘recording music, capturing performances and making records’, and I have my feet firmly in the territory of ‘A great song + (a great performance + sexy vibe) = A great experience (to the power of a great recording)’. So with this in mind the compromise of perfect acoustics vs an environment where people were equally relaxed as they were focused and excited was a no brainer.
Personally it was also as much of a challenge as it was an experience. The wood cabin (named Kea Aura.. i know.. good eh) is simply gorgeous. Featuring a large open planned living/sleeping area with an exposed wood ceiling, I set up a bunch of room mics to capture the vibe. I then proceeded to place the band ‘in and around’ the room trying to use the bleed from each instrument to my advantage of a roomy feel for the other’s mics. That and the fact that the band don’t like using click tracks or even using many overdubs means that it makes for an interesting, exciting and challenging concept for all involved. I was so very much into giving this a good nudge as these days every other studio or engineer seems to be talking about beat detective tips, re amping tricks, the latest vst amp simulator or how to trigger their drumagog samples via wifi from their iPhone….please.
If there’s one thing I love about the Eastern it’s that they believe in themselves and their mission. Any mention of a click track or multi tracking (let alone Auto-Tune) will result in either personal pummeling or a 10 minute lecture as to why they don’t believe in that (now that’s a whole different discussion). Whether I agree with it 100% of the time or not is irrelevant but what I do 100% entirely love is that they stand by their mission and will see it through to the end of the project. This attitude and conviction has an ‘air’ of misfit to it which is not only down to earth and real, but very attractive to work, learn and live with.
The simple fact is: this band is ‘hands down, without a doubt’ New Zealand’s hardest working independent band (I will get into this in the next post). Even though they may not be the best musicians in the country, they are definitely the most passionate and hardworking of all the full time musicians I’ve ever met. They’ve had some of the best studios offer to record them or work with them (most of which are clearly FAR better at this whole game than I am), yet they politely turn these offers down. Why? They simply believe in growing a local community. As they grow stronger, we all grow stronger. Who else is ‘actually’ doing this? I mean, everyone ‘claims’ they’ll do this, ‘claims’ they’ll move away north, or tour the country and spread the word to help the local Christchurch music community….. but….. who is ‘actually’ doing it? The Eastern. And what’s better, who is actually doing it off their own back? Off the smell of the smell of the SMELL of an oily rag? The bloody Eastern.
And who drinks whiskey to keep them going?……lots of whiskey. The God damned Eastern.
by thesittingroom on February 4, 2010 · 0 comments
Give me a woody!
Ok, let me start by saying that in no way do I want the following posts to sound like a verbal or literal wank fest of the people involved, it is a legitimate and accurate description of the facts (with a little subjective offering thrown in for good measure).
Exactly 1 month ago today I took my well rested, over fed (xmas style) arse up to the studio simply to pack it all down in to a series of cardboard boxes and empty beer crates. I was preparing to take a mobile version of The Sitting Room away to record an album in a remote location, something I’ve wanted to do for a very, very long time. This particular location was a wood cabin located in a national park within Arthurs Pass near the Devil’s Punch Bowl. The cabin is surrounded by native bush, Keas, waterfalls and alpine smells (mostly pleasant) simply wonderful, bordering on perfect.
I can’t think of a single musician that wouldn’t be interested in the idea of recording in a secluded atmosphere with zero distractions and only one task at hand. In the wild, in the woods, no internet, no emails, no fagbook. It seems to good to be true, and more often than not it is as sadly most bands just can’t organise the time off. They’re too busy working their day jobs as accountants or internet marketers or retail fiends. Not the Eastern. The Eastern are the only band that I know in this country that are not only open to ideas like this but have the balls to make it happen, and not only just make it happen but make it happen off their own backs, oily rags, tea towels and tea cups. Anyway, it was a month ago today I arrived at this wood cabin and started setting up gear for The Eastern’s 2nd full length album and what would turn out to be one of the best experiences of my life. Stay tuned for a fistful of posts, thoughts and photos of the madness that ensued.
How do we know what to feel when we watch something? How much difference does music make in determining how we feel?
These and other questions we will attempt to answer in today’s….
AUDIO VISUAL EXPERIMENT
OK. How this is gonna play out is you need to first (like right now) turn off all sound on your computer. Put it on mute.
Have you done that? If the answer is yes, click play on the clip below and watch it.
Nice. Now turn up the sound on your computer nice and loud or even better put on some head phones or something. Then run the clip again.
What did you think? For me the difference was night and day. The audio made all the difference between it being a relatively boring or dry visual experience and an emotive, funny or intriguing one. I like how subtle the sound effects are and how much they add by being so quiet.
For me it was the music that made this a ‘positive brand experience’. It’s an interesting step from Google to move away from the kind of robotic, nerdy, geeky vibe they so often have, to a more emotive, engaging one. But what took it to that place was nothing to do with the visuals, it was all in the audio.
In a lot of ways, it is the audio that lets us know how we should feel about what we watch. Should we be afraid, happy, relieved, apprehensive, angry, upset? Audio is the cue we use to help us make sense (emotionally) of the visual experiences we have. It’s the difference between funny and upsetting, happy and sad or boring and engaging.
by thesittingroom on January 23, 2010 · 0 comments
It seems as though the world is turning faster and faster, I’m hardly able to keep up. Whether it’s the latest obscure indie music video that’s storming the web, the latest iphone app or even just the latest and fastest way to get weather updates, these days one must have a full time ‘ear to the ground/finger on the pulse’ technician giving daily debriefs on what’s happening in the world of the interwebs and techbiz land.
A month or two ago I got an iPhone. After the initial jizz fest of figuring out how I could not only streamline my workflow but more impressively do it from anywhere, things slowed down. To be honest most iPhone owners shudder in shame when they hear that I only have a handful of apps and most of which I never use. Shame on me, tisk tisk. I struggle to actually see the practical use for a lot of iphone apps so you can imagine my jekyl and hyde response once I saw Tim controlling Ableton live from his iPhone, I freaked out. How awesome was this? I was pretty syre that it could revolutionise recording and music performance? And so after a quick interweb search for anything similar for Pro tools, I uncovered this:
Now, I know it’s not an official release and it’s only working on Jailbroken iphones, but it got me thinking….
Why do we have this? Why do we need this? What has happened to us? Is this just another grossly unnecessary example of useless techno-landfill? Or am I missing the point and it’s potentially brilliant and maybe with more development the future of portable recording control surfaces?
