sorry no blogge yessaday
been “working” on new killer album
doing a song called wolfe
*
wolfe is mad
he cant run with the pack
things went bad
out the back
wolfe is sad
aw i dunno
crash his pad
out in the snow
its like a thousand little angels
on the point of a pin
theres no sense in describing
the place that hes in
its like a filigree diamond filched from a ring
just keep still and stop
howling
wolfe feels good
ah im not sure
if he could
anymore
wolfe cant see
ah thats no good
cant see the tree
for the wood
*
(lyrics reprinted by kind permission of sir dennis hog-wink
monopoly music 2006)
been working with electric guitars n mellotron
a mellotron is an instrument invented in the 60s
it plays back small loops of tape
its like a primitive sampler
jesus its all over every record from about 66 on
specially moody blues
genesis
the beatles n the stones
it has a keyboard like a piano
when you depress , say, a c key
a small loop of tape
of the selected instrument
will play a c note for 7 seconds
then it must needs rewind
and it cuts off
you get a certain technique working around that
it has strings
flutes
voices
trumpets etc
davy bowie went in for mellotron bigtime on diamond dogs
they have a very characteristic sound
and it adds instant “authenticity” to any olde song
like wolfe
theres 12 string guitar capoed at the 5th fret
in stereo strumming ferociously throughout
its a punky-glam kinda song
the bass pumps
the drums crash n wallop
then some television-y clean constant guitar figures
then some shoe gazery floating guitars
then some single notes that bend up n back a semitone
tim called that wolfcub howl
towards the end they come in in stereo
then some strings
some high strings
some low strings
then we find this string patch
that plays this weird little melodic loop
you depress the c note
and itd play this little melody
but the melody was made up of a number of strings
kinda harmonizing in some old1940s movie grab
a dah dah dah da da da daaah
it was real slow
i say to timbo
i bet this works
the song starts up
one two three four
bang!
i hit the c
the punk-glam song starts up
underneath it plays this unrelated string loop
et voila
my instinkt never fails me
it fits like some beatle string arranger on acid did it
all night long tim n i marvel at the trusting of the process
i just pick up the guitar n almost the 1st thing i play is perfect
trust the process
the ether is pouring this stuff down on us
dont resist it
oh its so easy
anyhow
then comes the vocal
i wanted a gruff in yer face vocal
so i go in there
with a special mike that can handle “shouting singing”
get right up close on it timbo says…like a live mike
he goes back in a fiddles around
when i start singing
my voice is whipped around in some kinda echoey thing
purrfect
the song sounds fucking amazing in the headphones
i belt out 3 or 4 versions
i do some doubles
where i try to sing along with the other voice totally wordperfect
it gives a thickness and a kind of chorusing effect
chorus effect is when two very alike things rub against each other nicely
and produce a silvery kinda sound
then i do a soft and melodic vocal
to throw in with the others
then timbo n i bang tambourines at the same time
tims got a little tambo with a “skin”
which he gets quite a complicated rhythm from
ive got an olde plastic tambo n most of the little bells’ve fallen off
im a great tambo player n i bang along enthusiastically
afterwards when we listen to it
tim turns them off
i’ll get some good ones outta here and stick em back in he says
he means he’ll sample a couple of in-time bits
and put it all thru the song
its a common process
you gain things
you lose things
by using it
but its much quicker than getting it right organically
muse : heaven forbid!
after that tim gets some harmony ideas
do whatcha like i say
im outta here
and i leave ‘im sitting there
figuring out some melodies with a guitar
my cd player is busted
so i begin the long silent drive back home
through the city n redlight areas
its raining a little
and i see the peoples faces out there hurrying about
today is nks n my wedding x
we are stretching the celebrations over 2 nights
last night was night one
nk gives me a little card with something v. nice in it
i havent got anything yet
but im up early today aint i?
see you gooseballs in the ethersoon
ttb