Put down some vocal tracks today. I got a bad cold on Sunday. I hardly ever get sick which makes the timing of this excellent. There are two other times when I was sick doing vocal tracks: MC Duncan’s Dog and Pony Show and The Polyphonic Spree’s Together We’re Heavy. You can tell I’m sick on the former and can’t tell anything on the latter since it was backing vocals that were barely coming out. I didn’t want this record to have sick vocals but I did them anyway. Some may be kept and some are definitely being thrown away.
Less
More
Brad's gear and the Hamilton baby grand
The piano tracks were put down today. I hit some rough spots but I’m pretty happy with the takes. Someone left a copy of The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, so I read that between takes.
The night before we recorded the tentatively titled song “Werewolf” without a click track, giving the song room to breath. It was the only song that we recorded the piano live with the band. The other songs were recorded to a scratch piano, since the baby grand can’t be put into an isolation booth. For “Werewolf”, the drums were moved into the scratch piano’s booth and the baby grand was used in the larger room. The results were excellent and it felt as if we were recording as a family.
After the piano tracks were played, Brad played a guitar track on “Pageant Parade” and a Farfisa track on “Look at Me”.
I got a little stir crazy in the studio. Walking in the rain a few blocks helped clear my head. I think this is going to be a really good album.
We recorded yesterday at The Bunker in Brooklyn. Basic tracks were laid down for most of the album. Ron is playing drums with a glomus tumor under his left thumb. He won’t have it removed until after the session is complete. He’s also playing with a pinched nerve, causing muscle atrophy on his hands. He’s like the Hulk when the Hulk is David Banner with a glomus tumor under his thumb.
Pictures are currently up on my Flickr site and Facebook.
We’re going back in today. We will be putting more pics up on our Twitter page.
Going to the studio today to record the next .357 Lover album.
In a ditch next to my home I found an old body being eaten away by vultures. Vultures are cool to look at. I can easily watch one have dinner on a dead raccoon. But not a human. While shooing the vultures away with my rake I noticed that the body was still alive. Carelessly, I threw the body over my shoulder like a sack of dog food as the threat of the vultures seemed greater than the threat of a back injury. My bad.
Inside, I put the body on the couch and called 911 and then retrieved a glass of water. Cradling the body’s head, I served the water to the mouth. The body coughed and color began to come back on the face. Through the blood and hair and grass, I saw a woman. She was pretty.
She said, “Thanks for the water.”
Then, she handed me a subpoena and said,
“You’ve been served.”
She left and I finally opened an old Christmas present that was a vhs set of the series, Are You Being Served? I ordered pizza and a 2-liter of coke. Good times.
I’m recording today with my band, .357 Lover. Just vocals for the demos. It’s coming together really well. The demos will be sent to the studio as a map for the real recording which begins on Sunday. Then, we’ll be recording through most of March. When everything is finished, it will be released on vinyl, with an option for a download.
I’ve been working on Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle. Here is a recording I did of “Auf dem Flusse” with David Fairchild on piano.
Auf dem Flusse
When I was in the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, we did a show in Ohio. After the show, Baby Dee invited the Fabulous Miss Una and me to stay at her house. She was living with her folks as they weren’t doing well. I’d only heard stories about her as she was in the Bindlestiffs before me. We stayed up late as she and Una caught up and then she gave us her bed. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized she slept on the floor of her dining room and was getting up at 5am to do her paper route. She’s a wonderful soul.
If you’ve never seen Baby Dee perform, then I suggest you do so. It’s haunting whimsy.
Those performing this show include myself along with Andrew W.K., Corn Mo, Aimee Curl, Little Annie and Paul Wallfisch, Curtis Eller, Mathew and Sarah, Phillip Raya and Lila (Rima Fand’s choir) and 9 year old Frannky Lou Hightower from Kansas City.
The show is February 4 at 7pm.
More info
Speaking of Andrew W.K., here’s the Lover backing him up one day in Denton at Kittenpants’ birthday.
We finished our residency at the Knitting Factory last night. It was a triumph of fun. Now, we move our things out.
http://www.theendofirony.net/2010/01/357-lover-concluded-their-residency-at.html