Reviews and view: Part 1a - 0001

Okay, here are a few reviews. Sorry there aren't more, and sorry it's taken me so long, and just sorry. Also, I fixed a few things in my songs and reuploaded them for anyone who hasn't listened to them yet. Find them at http://toddkevin.bandcamp.com/

Onto the reviews!!

AUTUMN BLUFF - Lovesick Lullaby

Great track. Very polished, very accessible, very sexy. Really feeling that guitar. Mostly though, all the vocal tracks and vocal reverb and vocal panning are all excellent. I even disagree with Dan in that the occasional autotune artifacts are fine and fit the style completely. The only thing I would say production wise is maybe lose that wide-panned background sound during the chorus that is creating what on first listen sounds like crazy bad connection pops. Oh, also, unlike some others, I'm a huge fan of the vulgarity. Keep it coming.

FAV LINE: "... this beat and how I write it. Like when I put it down and when I lick that clit and bite it."

CLOCK SYSTEME - Droides

Stellar concept with all the voices and typing sounds. Would have easily been my favorite track from the "Hackers" soundtrack. Did anyone see that movie? Angelina Jolie was hot in it. Anyways, the dialogue throughout is engaging and humorous. Nothing beats computers having sex with each other. All the different variations really grabbed my attention. Really got into at 4:37 with the distortion. Loved the funkyness at 7:08, and the comedown starting at 10:13 with all its wackiness and effects. I could see parts of this on a Flaming Lips album. Overall, great job of keeping it fun and interesting throughout the whole piece. Not an easy task.

FAV LINE: "You filled my castle full of mischief."

FIVE MINUTE FANCLUB - TONGUE-TIED & TWISTED AND OTHER FAVOURITES

Okay, let me just say I really like this album. It's solid in construction, simple and understated, darling and fun. I've been into this kind of music a lot recently and I've think you've got some really good tunes here. "From the bottom of a whiskey bottle" is delightful. Occasionally on this album the behind-the-beat lyrics are a little distracting, but on this song they fit perfectly, due mainly to the fact that it makes you sound a bit drunk. The whistling solo is also perfect bc I'm a fan of the ideology that if you can't get it perfect then you must destroy it. Same with the lil hiccup cuts at 2:00, 2:55 and elsewhere, which I can only assume is your attempt at a slight skip in the record (or they're just sloppy copy and paste cuts, either way, nice.) Let's see, overall, love me some banjo, some slightly off-color vocals, some found percussion, and some down-home soulful sentiments. My only other critiques are that the guitar part in Mary-Ann sounds way too much like Bright Eyes "At the bottom of everything" and that the low BG vocals on "Tongue-Tied" is way too loud. Other than that, hell of a job, son.

FAV TRACK: "The Secrets That They Keep"

LOBSTER SHANTY & THE CRAB RANGOONS - Tremendous

One word: tremendous. These songs are so well done, so tight, and so damn funky. Also, crab rangoons are delicious. Umm, let see, highlights. The choruses here, while they could occasionally use a little variation every know and again, are catchy as all get-out. As with any good funk tune, the bass and drums here hit the spot just right. Then they blow it up. All in a good way. Overall, I'd say you've got a career here if and when funk makes its triumphant return. Bootsy Collins, get the funk out the way, Lobster Shanty is in town, bitches!

FAV TRACK: "Mr. Porcupine"

Sorry, I'm super slow at this. More to come later.

Brown reviews part 1. Drunk.

OK, this opening bit has been added post event but just to let you know, everything below was typed up live whilst listening to the tracks, quite drunk and very tired, with no post-editing. I'm not trying to defend anything I've written, I just though you might be interested in my gonzo approach to this reviewing task. more to follow tomorrow. OK let's go back in time and get drunk together...

AUTUMN BLUFF - Lovesick Lullaby
Lovesick Lullaby
Lovely beats, very smooth voice. Nice to hear an organ as well, we don't hear enough organs these days. Sweet production.
Round about 1 minute in, that's some fast talkin', and was it really one take? Impressive stuff. Lotsa fun. Great production, I know I said earlier it was sweet (ie great), it's also great (as in great).

Five Minute Fanclub - TONGUE-TIED & TWISTED AND OTHER FAVOURITES
Mary-Ann Is Having A Baby
I love this opener, love the live sound, and the spirit of the lyrics and performance. Yee ha so far. 1:54 key change, bring it on. I want to dance. I really want to dance. I love it. I want to kick my heels in the air and dance. 2:51 I'm at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, good work. Great work!

Tounge-Tied & Twisted
I always dig a track that starts with a loose jangling groove, great. By this stage I know that I'm in safe hands, the style is locked, and the tunes are cocked (like a gun that is). This a lame ear-based observation, and I don't mean to take anything away from this great music, but it would have put the icing on the MP3 to hear some violin. At this stage I also want to know of this is a single multi-instrumentalist or a collection of instrumenters. This would be good live.

The Sun Is Only Shining At Me From The Bottom Of A Whiskey Bottle
"I woke up in the afternoon today", this is a lyric which I adore. I wish though that the next line had been "I tried to push the choke and PULL the throttle". But then I'm a dad, which gives me the licence to tell dad jokes (which in the UK means bad, lame, pun-based jokes). There's this thing in these tracks which I'm starting to adore, the punch in click between sections, I genuinely love them, this is soulful stuff. Get in, record, get out. That kind of technical thing really captures that. Is this intentional crackle on this track? Whether yes or no, it's got it going on. Viva la difference.

Cold Ground Blues
Hi piano. Good to meet you. 0:50 this is a lovely sonic cocktail, I'm a big fan of the building .... hang on 1:20 there's more, this is smashing, FILL MY EARS! This reminds me a bit of Cake, though with less compression. Also, I've got a banjo upstairs, I'd be interested to know how this banjo was mic'd, I like it. I think this track sounds sonically wider/bigger than the others and that's great, I love albums with lots of different sh*t going on.

No No No
Yeah! More different sh*t! Rocking. You've got a fantastic voice, it's really working beautifully with this whole line up. I've just taken a look at the cover art whilst reviewing, it all fits. This is the complete package for sure. But I'm scared, the artwork implies a copyright of 2010? Is that right? Can that be right? Get in with the rim shot and the badda da badda da floor tom, nicely done. Did you double track the drumming or just pan/mix it really well? Good effort anyway to get live drums on the track. Great ending as well.

The Secrets That They Keep
YEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, there IS some violin! I've got a big smiling face right now. What a great way to finish. Your lyrics are grand. This song is incredible, I love the sentiment.  It's all over, bravo. I really enjoyed that.

Lobster Shanty & the Crab Rangoons - TREMENDOUS
Funky Express
Ha ha. Fantastic to name check Record Time, we should do that more often. This is some tight shizzle. Oooh, digging the groove. You should check out the Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show on 6 Music in the UK. I love the intermittent ring tone that pops in. I am now sitting on the funky express, and I feel like I'm being treated to a first class journey courtesy of LSATCR. 2:30 I like this potted history of funk via a train journey, I'm excited to hear this metaphor extended ... IT HAS BEEN EXTENDED. Good work mofos! Yes. 3:47 HA HA, I love this end.

Mr. Porcupine
Mein Gott, this music reminds me of being 17 and wearing a blue safari suit whilst performing live in an acid jazz band with fellow IMLers Jim Smith, Greg Dean and Rob Fisher. Man, happy days. It's good that this track explores a recurrent question of scientists of the natural world, how does an individual with external spikes place a specific wider spike inside a consenting individual's wider spike station?

Gimme A Sign
Oh shit. Those bongos (or congas), my hands used to actually bleed. In fact Jim Smith (who has my congas at the moment) can vouch that to this day the skins are stained with my blood. My hands used to bruise so bad from bad conga technique that the bruise would travel up from the palm to the topside of my hands. Anyway, great to hear some skins being slapped. "Don't deny your heart's pulse" good stuff comapdre (sic).

Logan Bradley - HzlHrst
The Bathing of Pallas
I'm into this. I've been listning to lots of Jim Guthrie recently and this is putting my in this vibe, or more specifically, Swords and Sworcery. Nice mix of spoken word and synths. It's over, nice way to intro. Good stuff.

From The Coast.
Cracking drums. I'm nodding my head a lot. 0:40 I love the percussive nature of the full mix. 1:08 synths? brass? it's a great addition. At the risk of being a lame music journalist, I'm thinking TV On The Radio, with bigger balls. 1:55 WICKED! JUST WICKED! 2:06 YESS. this is the real shit. Fantastic. Right, I have to confess, though this is a live blogging drunken review, this is the point when I pressed pause (and by this I mean, I had to pause because I wanted to write so much about THIS bit of THIS track that I wouldn't have time otherwise). That was a fantastic journey, and I am an absolute sucker for that style of cutting, beats etc. Brilliantly done. And great to hear it with real vocals and guitars. Excellent. Right, I'm unpausing and going back in.

Tinned Hide
Nice switch to acoustics. Like I said earlier, I'm a sucker for albums with variance. 1:06 OK, it's clear that this is some really great production, it's really all sitting together really nicely. I really like the drum (programming?) on this track, some really nice unpredictable rhythm patterns.2:15 great drop.

At this point, I really need to go to the toilet, and I was out very late last night so I need to go to bed. Logan, I can't wait to hear the rest of this. It's possible that the next segment of my review will be performed sober.

So...many...reviews

Here are my reviews! This week (the week after RT) has been one of the busiest weeks of my life, so I apologize if I don’t go way in depth – I’ll do my best!

***

Autumn Bluff – Lovesick Lullaby: Cool, straightforward pop track. I love the ending. Awesome production from David as expected. Reminds me of late 90s, post-NSync boy bands. Like um, BBMak, or something, except I don’t recall them having electronics. But the little guitar licks in there definitely gave it a retro vibe for me. I’m trying to phase Autotune out of my own recordings (I used NONE on Grenadine), so it was easy for me to shake my head at some of the little autotune artifacts, but I have a strong feeling David doesn’t really give a shit, and that’s the Record Time spirit!

Lobster Shanty – Tremendous: I’ve talked to Joe a little bit about this one already, but overall I’m most impressed by it’s authenticity and uh…lack of irony? This is pure, uncut, Colombian funk. I appreciated the extra percussion in the 3rd track, and all the little electronic embellishments. Definitely a big achievement recording this in two programs, with two artists on two different schedules. Also props as usual to Joe for his 6th record time…the only one with 7 being yours truly!

DJ Cleveland – Tessie : Keeee-yoot

Five-Minute Fanclub – Tongue-Tied and Twisted : Maybe it’s just cause I talked to Eric throughout the week, but to me you can really hear the hard work that went into this one. I think his album and mine have a lot in common – we really pushed ourselves toward a really specific goal, but you can still hear “classic Eric” every once in a while. To me, “Mary Ann is Having a Baby” is the obvious standout – you come up with a title like that and you barely have to write a song. The 50s ballad towards the end was my favorite part of the album…and I’m not sure if they did that specifically, but it seems like it was pulled right from the Avett Brothers playbook. I also have to note that I chuckled at the low vocal notes in “Whisky Bottle” – Eric, you’re a tenor after all.

Logan Bradley – HzlHrst : Logan and I have so much in common, yet our musical “philosophy” really couldn’t be more different. We seem to both enjoy a mix of traditional and non-traditional elements, but start from opposite ends of the spectrum and move towards the middle (me being the traditionalist and him being the experimentalist I sometimes wish I was). But anyways, this album is sweet. I particularly liked it because I know it was even more rushed than usual – I can deconstruct it a little better than his others because there’s not quite as much going on. Usually Logan’s stuff just totally baffles me, in a good way – this one shows his “human” side, if I may be cliché. My favorite track is definitely “Without a Murder.”

Clock Systeme – Droides: A true electronic voyage from Barney and Will – I love the concept and it sounds like you guys had lots of fun. I like it because of its true Record Time spirit – very random and without regard to anyone. I’m not sure what else to say about it…but it might be the best production I’ve heard from Barney, and I would like to hear more clock systeme.

Mike Weber – Morning Waits for No One: All I know is Mike found a keyboard! I have, of course, followed Mike’s artistic progression for a long time, and this album is really weird to me. It’s got a very neutral, almost a little dark mood to it. It’s like he’s right on the edge of a new sound, but I’m not sure which element is really going to take over on his next record, whenever that may be. I think the title track is by far the best…I’m not sure if I’m just imagining this but it seemed to have a really interesting progressive structure. And I liked all the extra percussion. I remember when Mike used a Nalgene bottle in our dorm room because he didn’t have a set of claves. I wonder if that bottle made its second appearance here?

Todd Kevin – Jejune Oeuvre: I like his band name because, while Todd can be a last name, Kevin really can’t. This is a weird-ass album. It’s like The Avett Brothers played by, no offense Kevin, a schizophrenic. And not in the way that the music is really all over the place, it’s that the vocals are just slightly wacky, animated quality, where I could see Kevin playing this and talking to himself in a padded room somewhere. I guess, like the most “pure” Record Time albums, I like this one because it doesn’t seem to be made for an audience. I hear a little Randy Newman too, actually, especially on “All These Days.” I also like “You Dog…” And like someone else said, 37 minutes…whoa.

Andrew Miller – Paroxysm : I’ve heard this piece about 1000 times coming out of Andrew’s room. It’s awesome and one of his best. General Grievous would be proud.
Michael Joiner – Sister: A cute song, unless I am missing some kind of ironic thing going on in the lyrics. I enjoy the very insistent organ.

Intraphase – A Boy and his Demon: Nice and ambitious, which I always like. Reminds me a lot of Pain of Salvation, which used to be one of my favorite bands. It’s a big achievement to use real drums on record time, so props for that. I also liked the use of sound effects (I use em on everything). And hey, blastbeats! Nice, man, real nice.

Christian Lyon – Young Man EP: Cool, very modern sound. Great production, great vocals, great everything. Really tasteful use of keyboards…really tasteful everything. Literally the only thing I really care about is vocal melodies, and you’ve got that down for sure. I don’t have a lot of specific things to say about this one, because it’s fairly straightforward stuff, but I really think this EP is a standout in RTVII. I really hope you come back for RTVIII!

DonkeyDonker – Henry VIII: I have to admit, I never listen to music like this, know nothing about it, and so can’t really say much about it without sounding stupid. But I guess I’ll say this…I’ve never heard an “ambient” album that’s so…in-your-face? (Unless you count Sunn O))) which I guess I do). I’m really not sure how it’s supposed to be listened to. But the production is great, I like the variety, and I like the eventual “payoff” of the beats towards the end. Definitely a unique album in the group, so I hope you return for VIII as well!

Jiva – The Atma: Zakk is pretty much an engineering prodigy as far as I’m concerned – obviously there’s always room for improvement, but his passion for both the process of recording and for learning in general is gonna make him pretty much unstoppable. Because it obviously sounds great, and because I’m jealous I’ll go with some actual criticism – next time I’d like to hear some real tight composition, as this stuff is more “jam”-oriented. I’m kind of anti-sampling these days, as it’s hard to tell who’s the real deal…I know Zakk is, and has been learning some serious theory, so I want to hear it in action!

Jonathan and Jason – The McWaffle: Not sure what to think of “The People’s Champion.” I’m pretty sure Jason is Christian, so I’ll assume this is just a fun play on some of the ridiculous Christian music out there. Dancing in the Rain is pretty straightforward pop, but I love the voice – must be Jonathan, as I don’t think I’ve heard it before. I know Jason will be back next time…just keep it up!

V. Mel – One Minute Rave: I will only remark upon the genius of mixing two synth patches at different tempos (starting at 0:06). It’s profound, really – in our lives, how can we dance when there are two songs playing at once? Do we take life at the slower tempo, or the faster one? Indeed, no matter the choice, our lives amount to little more than a One Minute Rave.

The DuPage Amiable Society – A New Fall : Cool minimalist indie…congrats on 7 songs! The autotune is a little distracting for me, but otherwise this is a nice collection of tracks…don’t have a lot to say about it! Just keep making music and developing your style…I think this record is a good jumping-off point.

Ben X – XE : Not really familiar with this style, but as I said with another record, I enjoy that sort of randomness/thrown-togetherness that I think should be present in all Record Time albums. This album has really quirky mixing (in a good way), that makes me think it would sound crazy on huge speakers – there’s not really a focus on any one instrument…makes for a pretty unique sound, I think…but again, I’m pretty ignorant on this type of stuff.

F.E.A.R. – Night Terror – Even crazier than Dennis’ last one (on RTV I believe?). Total atonal chaos. The obvious comparison is Nine Inch Nails, but this is ballsier, and I think more interesting than Trent’s recent stuff. I really like one specific sound in here – it sounds like a choir or something, but I doubt that’s what it is. I dunno. It’s cool.

James Danger – Sentiments and Romances : I’m not sure WTF this album IS…but I really honestly love it, or at least the general idea of it. People often talk about various styles having a sort of “drunken” or “hangover” vibe, but it’s usually pretty forced…here, it actually applies. I’m not sure if that’s anywhere close to what you were going for, but that’s really what it feels like to me. The few times I’ve gotten a little tipsy in my apartment and picked up a guitar, most of the time I forgot to actually play anything. And when I did, it basically sounded like the first 2 tracks. Good, weird work.

Kris Eckman – The Devil & Isaak : MESHUGGAHHHHHHHHHHH! Sorry, couldn’t help it. I like the last track best by far…lots of variety, and I enjoyed the denser mix towards the beginning. In general, the guitar really should be doubled, but eh, who cares. I actually really liked the acoustic sections – I don’t think I’ve really heard anyone put djenty and folky stuff side by side, but it works. And in general, I think it’s a really colorful album…reminds me of myself in a lot of ways, and by myself, I mean Devin Townsend, because I basically just copy his albums one after another. Anyways, great work, and a really huge step up from your last one.

Oberon – Self-Titled: This one actually came as sort of a breath of fresh air, given the order I’ve been listening to everything in. I was like, “Oh hai chord progressions.” I am really impressed you were able to do 4 polished tracks with real drums and everything. We get a lot of weird stuff in Record Time, partially because it’s ideal for experimentation, but mostly because writing weird stuff is easier. Writing really solid pop songs is tough, and it’s even tougher doing it with another person. I don’t have a ton to say about the music itself, as it’s not really my style, but I think it’s a really big achievement, and hopefully you guys made some strides in recording this. Production-wise it definitely has a high-quality demo sound (which is impressive in itself given the time frame)…you guys should use these songs to get some gigs!

Paul Marquissee – Journey’s End : I know this album represents a ton of work (Paul strikes me as somewhat of a workaholic), and it shows. Totally unique, great production, interesting compositions. I like tracks 3 and 4 the best, as they’re a little more “hooky” and I’ve only listened to the album once. I only wish we could have heard more of Paul’s vocals, after reading about them! This album, like many others, seems like a mashup of influences I’ve never heard. I guess that’s the key to originality. And great job Kylene…this isn’t just Paul Marquissee, you guys need a band name!

Pigeon – Crooked Legs: This reminds me a LOT of Jim O’Rourke, who I listened to quite a bit for a short time. Really cool chords and great vocal melodies (and harmonies!). I like that you stuck to just guitar and vocals, whether out of choice or necessity – makes everyone else’s albums look pretentious. There is definitely something special about your writing…would love to hear it with slightly tighter production.

Aaron Webster – Sex Affairs of Ghosts: This EP is awesome. Track 3 may be my favorite piece of RTVII. Never heard anything like it. Hopefully this does not offend, but to me this is the kind of stuff that I would turn off 9 times out of 10, but when I’m in just the right mood, there would be no other choice. “Ghost Wife” is the best, obviously because it’s the fastest. I think you could go faster, and I hope that you do.

Connor Boyle - Equestrian EP: Great titles. And I like that Connor has a really consistent and specific style going. This is one of those albums that really embodies the Record Time spirit...seemingly random elements and pretty raw production...I love it. Not much else to say about this one, unfortunately!

Strange Battery – Grenadine: Please, for the love of God, don’t judge me on this album.

***

Overall I think the theme of RTVII was...hard work. A lot of us have jobs now, and have a quarter of the time we used to spend on recording. But somehow the quality keeps getting better. Hope you guys had at least a little fun!

Logan - Actually posting reviews instead of making empty promises

Alright, here we go. I am leaving no stone unturned here (except for Connor Boyle. I'm really sorry man, my internet has slowed to dial-up speeds and it would have taken me 10 hours to redownload volume 3. I'll definitely check it out!). I think getting feedback is the second best part of this process, so I wanted to make sure and give everyone a fair shake.

But before we get there. If you liked my album but thought it had too much dynamic range and didn't cause enough ear bleeding, I remastered it and put it up on my bandcamp. Ch-ch-check it out: http://loganbradley.bandcamp.com/album/hzlhrst

And one final piece of business. I gotta brag. This was my most productive RT week yet. I created a t-shirt design for a family ALS walk the day before RT, started building the RT website Sunday night, did my RT submission, worked the 40 hour work week, did my album art, mastered Aaron Webster's RT songs, did the cover art for Andrew Miller's RT submission, and then promptly finished the RT website the Tuesday after RT week. Woo...alright. I feel better now.

Enough bullshit. Let's do this.

Autumn Bluff – Lovesick Lullaby
Super clean sound. You definitely hit all the right marks of this style, including a mandatory but quickly-passing mention of the clitoris. Did you construct the song from previously existing loops or put it all together with samples and recorded material? Either way, sounds great. I enjoy the outro remarks.

Clock Systeme – droides
This track is filled with great textures and standout moments. It definitely works best when its playing in the background. The repetition lets it sink back, but then the music will jump to the forefront with some really neat bits. Once again, gotta ask. Are these mostly loops or did you sequence/record/manipulate most of the sounds? I especially enjoy the stereo clicking that begins around 1:20.

DJ Cleveland – Tessie
Neat. I get to do graphic design for a living, and one of my favorite techniques to sneak in when I can is halftone patterns. I also like the stylized take on chromatic abberation and of course the adorable dog. More art next time I say.

Five Minute Fanclub – Tongue-Tied and Twisted
Overall awesome sound. The banjo in the first track has the perfect middle-of-the-room sound to it. Just the right amount of slap. Mary Anne is a sweet song. Haha, love the quick switch to Doo-wop. No no no has a great travel vibe to match the lyrics. You said you had some issues with getting a drummer, but I think you still got some solid rhythmic ideas down. Improvised percussion works really well with this style anyway. Like the clacking in The Secrets They Keep; works perfectly. Love the low-gain electric guitar sound in The Sun is Only Shining...I think you and I have the same amount of whistle ability. This track has a nice light hearted feel despite the depressing lyrics. Love, loss, and alcoholism are fun again! And finally, like I said on the 'book (I hope that catches on) Tongue Tied and Twisted is exceptionally solid. I'll agree with Paul, the first set of background vocals would benefit from being set further back in the mix, but it still sounds great.

Nice stuff man. Two thumbs up.

Lobster Shanty and the Crab Rangoons – Tremendous
Man, it actually feels really nice to have a song welcome you to Record Time. The production on this EP is perfect. Great punch on the low end, clear but subdued guitars, and vocals that sit comfortably on top. Nice job on that alone. Songwriting wise, awesome once again. My exposure to funk is pretty limited, so I may be wrong, but this definitely sounds like some solid funkin to me. If anyone says otherwise, funk 'em in the bunt with a groovy lick. Seriously though, great job. I have no criticism.

Logan Bradley – HzlHrst
Hipster album title, pretentious opening, apes the DC sound too hard.

Mike Weber – Morning Waits for No One
I always look forward to your albums Mike. Last RT was without a doubt my favorite of yours, but it is nice to hear you back to the more contemporary stuff. Opening is beautiful, I love well distorted drums. Candle March is a great duet. The vocals have a refreshing rawness to them. Morning Waits...nice synth with the right amount of drive. I imagine these are drums tracked in your studio? They sound great, I like the double tracking technique. Scarecrow's Song has a Mineral feel to it. Nice slapback on the vocals. Fitting outro. You always have great vocal melodies and this album is no exception.

Strange Battery – Grenadine
Ooh, I got to sneak preview this one. Suck on it Record Timers. Almost every song feels familiar from the get go in the sense that you hit the style and the classic melodies so well that it taps into all the songs I heard in Disney movies and sang in choirs. When I started Grenadine for the second time in the last few days, I immediately remembered the hook so that's a testament to its catchiness. Watch Out is some serious hobo-ghosts-trying-to-steal-the-last-bottle-of-whiskey-but-never-quite-getting-it-and-then-getting-scared-when-the-cartoon-lady-sees-them-and-screams music. Nice. Great reverb on the organ on Horsies. The Knight and The Princess rot my fucking teeth out. You owe me teeth. Family Band got me to chuckle. I want to hear how Chuck clicks a single spoon by itself. Production is great. I think you made the right decision not purposely degrading it. Whey 2 Go.

Todd Kevin – Jejune Oeuvre
Great vocals. You're voice reminds me of the Maps & Atlases vocalist. Tons of character. Nice amount of humor throughout the record. Evelyn McHale has a great vocal line. Solid song. Just Going gives me a beautiful old south vibe. A little Fleet Fox like. I like the turn at 2:20. Late in life tone changes are always welcome. Production wise everything is there. I'd say throw some reverb on the drums and push them back a bit. The guitar could definitely use more low end, but that's always really tricky with acoustics. Vocals are nice a crisp and mixed well. You've got a unique sound, keep it up!

Andrew Miller – Paroxysm
I think this might be the most realized track I've heard from you. I don't know that there is anything that would need to be change before this could show up as a film score. I know you were going for a Rite of Spring vibe, and I think you got really close. The drum hits just need to be more violent, but the score itself hits all the right notes. It actually sounds like a mix between a Star Wars prequel score and the Rite of Spring, which I believe was pretty much your intention. Another good one Andood.

Christian Lyon – Young Man EP
Very relaxing. Nice mix. Good guitar sounds. Has that Explosions in the Sky feel, with the vocals I get a Logh vibe. Nice vocal arrangement on Young Man. Crisp, clean vocals with the slightly darker lyrics. Basic Beats didn't catch me quite as much, but still a nice track. All around a pleasant listen. I look forward to hearing more.

Donkey Donker – King Henry VIII
A good collection of soundscapes. They all have a good sense of build. The first two tracks would feel at home in a film set in space. I like the drums in Get Down, but with drums comes a very apparent sense of time, so this track seemed to drag a little. The filter on the drums in Bridges helps to add some progression to the track. Overall I think these tracks would work wonderfully with the right visual media because they're so vivid even on their own.

Intraphase – A Boy and His Demon
The vocals kind of remind me of Scissorfight. I think the vocals are a little too high in the mix. The guitar could stand to come up and if you double track the guitars they'll have even more impact. I like the drum section at 3:50. The reverb drenched piano is nice. The shredding at 9:45 sounds great. A 12 and half minute concept song is super ambitious, so kudos to you.

Jiva – The Atma
Really beautiful stuff. Jiva has some great dynamics. Love the various filtered drum sounds. Great guitar sounds. Nice pluckiness in Balance. Love the strings in Ascension. I wish I had more to say, but it's all really beautiful. I have no real critiques. It straddles the line between post-rock and shoegaze with some other nice elements for good measure.

Jonathan and Jason – The McWaffle
Definitely getting the contemporary church service vibe from Dancing In The Rain. The opening vocal melody actually reminds me of the Proud To Be An American song by Lee Greenwood. Good mix. Vocals may be a little hot, but not by much. Maybe a bit more of a build to the end with one huge hit would have sent the whole thing home that much more, but it still sounds good. People's Champion gives me a chuckle. I hope that's not entirely unintended. If so, disregard that. Mix is good again. Guitars and strings could be a little louder. Good on you for doing two very different tracks.

Michael Joiner – Sister
Cool keyboard melody. Vocal style is nice. I like the double tracking. Mix is good. Lyrics are strange, and that made me listen to them more carefully. The stranger the better. Neat. Keep them coming.

The DuPage Amiable Society – A New Fall
Has a nice preciousness to it. The synth stabs in Goodbye are a little high in the mix. I like the open to I Can Only Hope. Synth is a little loud again in Thoughts From Bed, but I like the synth itself. I like the ending of Goodybe Pt 1. The Pedro The Lion cover makes sense and works in the album. Nice. Long Drive Home is a fun song. Overall good sound. Congrats.

V.Mel – One Minute Rave
A man(or lady) of his(or her) word! My cat dropped E and chewed on his pacifier to this track, so it worked! Nice short song. Come on back.

Ben x – XE
I haven't listened to much techno or house since I was much younger, but these tracks seem to move a lot more than most of what I've heard which is great. I like the rhodes sound in IHOD. Cool vocal sampling in Robot House. Nice chill drum sound in Simple Dub. Overall I'd say you set up some good chunks, but each track would do well with more contrast. I was just hoping simple dub would explode at one point, but then it wouldn't be as simple and relaxed so maybe not.

F.E.A.R. - Night Terror
This is cool. Reminds me of John Carpenter's synth scores for his early films. The searching synth lines definitely have that Halloween vibe to them. I know there's a whole scene dedicated to this sound, were you going for that? If not, you should check it out. I don't know off the top of my head any of the artists in that style, but this track would fit in there comfortably.

James Danger – Sentiments & Romances
Nice feel. I like the reverb soaked percussion in the first and second tracks. Nice transition into the field recording. Good use of samples in Setting yourself up. Nice atmosphere going from The Curse to From Where. A good collection of tracks that do a nice job of telling a story.

Kris Eckman – The Devil & Isaak
You've got that Meshuggah feel going on. I can hear the tone you're going for with the guitars, but there's a bit too much gain which causes a fizziness on the high end and leads to the can-of-bees issue a lot of high gain sounds run into. Also, if you double track all the guitars and pan them stereo it'll help to define the notes that much more. That said, its not the production that matters, it's the riffs. You've got some good riffs. I like the break we get in track 2, makes track 3 that much heavier when it comes back in. Nice outro on track 3, neat panning echo on the guitar. I like the environment you're setting up in track 4. Good melodic bits. I like the mix of electronic sounds with the guitars in track 5. Cool stuff. Very ambitious.

Oberon – Self-Titled
Nice mix. Everything is pretty even. Vocals are a little dry, but they still work. Has a Jack Johnson, John Meyer vibe...I think. I'm not very familiar with the more bouncy acoustic rock sound. The third track chorus definitely reminds me of Nightmare of You. Check out Bang by them if you haven't already. Truth has a good low down feel. Nice and smoky. Good job.

Paul Marquissee – Journey's Edge
Nice processing on the vocals in Secrets. The track has a little bit of a build, but there's not much of a payoff at the end. Still a pleasant listen. Cool open for On The Edge. Much more contrast in this one, I like it. Nice panning in the open to Shake Your Windows. Drums sound good. Vocals too. Ends somewhat abruptly, but that's cool. Nice thick layered sound in One Last. Very big sound with a nice taper at the end. Nice to hear you push into some more contemporary spaces while keeping your style in tact.

Pigeon - Crooked Legs
Cool atmospheric sound. Vocals fit well with the guitar sound. I like the guitar lick around 2:45 in Buildings. Everything feels like its emerging from or sinking back into noise, in a good way. The album feels pretty cozy and warm overall. Nice big end to the EP.

Aaron Webster – Sex Affairs of Ghosts
Pure madness. I crushed the ever living shit out of the first and last songs, only because I wanted the production to match the musical ideas. The first track is so circular. I really like the way the string synth is accentuated by the other towards the end of the track. Cool spooky piano sound in the second track. I like the swelling and cutting synth sound. Nice skipping feel at the end. Third track is another brickwall of sound. This track brings the Genghis Tron feel. Even though its a whirlwind of notes, there is that main riff that is immediately recognizable. Nice job man. I was pleasantly surprised when this showed up. Look forward to your next one.

Pulling a Mike

Just wanted to say my reviews are forthcoming as well!

-Dan

Nick's Reviews

What's up all,

First off - many thanks to Dan for continuing to challenge artists to do what we do best and CREATE. Record Time forces me to grow musically and allows me to walk away with something I'm proud of.

Secondly - congratulations to everyone who participated!

Here's a few thoughts on a few albums that have caught my ear so far:

Strange Battery - Grenadine

Dan, you managed to have me thinking, "damn, why didn't I think of doing a Neo-Vaudville album, complete with kazoos and tap-dance solos." This continues to show your versatility. Beautiful melodies... beautiful harmonies... just really fun and well thought-out. "Mabel and Me" is really bittersweet. Not sure who's perspective it's written from - probably her husband?... makes me think of my grandmother, though! I dig that it's open to interpretation. Overall, great stuff man, really enjoy it.

Autumn Bluff - Lovesick Lullaby

I really dig this tune, man. Came off a bit plastic and canned to me at first, but the vocal's got soul and confidence. Sounds like Justin Timberlake was hangin out with Boyz II Men and then called Snow up to rap the last verse (all in a good way!). Great job, sounds professional and clean, and I've enjoyed coming back to it.

Eric Sherman - Tongue-Tied & Twisted and Other Favourites

Really cool album. "Mary-Ann Is Having A Baby" is my favorite. Great vocals and harmonies. Could use a bit of EQing and compression to clear things up, but that's all part of the charm. Overall, great stuff, man... consistent tunes, great vibe.

clock systeme - droides

Love the piece! Super fun to listen to and really addicting. Shows a great prowess with sampling, MIDI, etc etc. How did you create and/or find the voices? I love the guy's voice... sounds like John Lennon with a Transylvanian accent. Dig the typing sounds... like you're typing into Microsoft Sam before each line haha.

Jonathan and Jason - RTVII

First tune is touching and well-executed. Great harmonies, cool synth parts in the end. Totally lost me with the second tune, though. Comes off kinda satirical to me, and I don't think that's what you're goin for...? Either way, good job and congrats.

That's all I got for now. Good job again to everyone!

Comming Soon.....

Reviews comming soon. I only just this morning noticed that all of the music was up so I haven't gotten a chance to listen yet. But I will.

Reviews -- Part II

Todd Kevin--Jejune Oeuvre (Ou Muerte Suicide)

I have to say, I was tempted to stop listening after the first song. I'm not a big fan of profanity for the sake of profanity. The first song reminded me of Afroman's "Because I got High" but it wasn't funny. That being said, I stuck through it and found the rest to be interesting and well written. You have some nice musical ideas. It's not exactly my cup of tea but I enjoyed it for what it is. Also, congrats on getting 37 minutes of music created! Great job!

Autumn Bluff--Lovesick Lullaby

This was produced well and had some potential to have some catchy sections. Having a more memorable hook in the chorus would really help. There were parts where I almost started to remember the tune, but as soon as I stopped listening, it was gone. It starts off feeling a little like 90's hip-hop, not that that's a bad thing. I started to get a little bored with it around 2:34... Also check the synth at the end. I'm not sure if you're using a sampled synth or something like a synth in reason... There are some really harsh clicks that pan randomly right and left. It's a little distracting. The vocals are nice and smooth and just right for this genre of music.

DJCleveland--Tessie(artwork)

I like the artwork. Is this for a fictitious micro-brew?

Five Minute Fanclub--Tongue-tied & Twisted and other Favourites

First, I want to say that I wish these had been labeled as to the order they should be played in. I played them in alphabetical order, so I hope that doesn't skew my interpretation too much.

I really dig this album. The banjo in "Cold Ground Blues" adds a nice rustic/Appalachian feel that I've been really into lately. The 50's "doo wop" section in "Mary-Ann" kind of cracked me up because of the jump from the uptempo folk stuff prior. The beginning of "No No No" reminds me of the Monkees. "The Secrets That They Keep" made me want to get my violin/fiddle out for the next RT. It's a nice touch. "The Sun is Only Shining at Me from the Bottom of a Whiskey Bottle" Hey Johnny. A little depressing, but great Johnny Cash tribute. "Tongue-tied & Twisted" is probably my favorite on the album. Only thing I would change is the mixing of the background vocals. They're too in your face and compete with the main vocal. Push them back in the mix and it will be great!

This is probably my favorite thing I've heard from your RT submissions! Keep it up!

Andrew Miller--Paroxysm

Exactly what I've come to expect from Andrew Miller. Great action music. It may be 4 minutes of music, but the quality is excellent! Great job!

Jiva--The Atma

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm really into non-western religions, specifically Hinduism and Buddhism. I try to meditate every day. This album is fantastic.

I think you really nailed each of these Hindu concepts. "Mantra" starts off subtly and grows into a spaciousness that pretty much encompasses what a mantra should be. "Jiva" seems to glow with the joy of being alive. It feels a little "Coldplay-y" at times, but that's ok. "Balance" definitely evokes a feeling of balance within oneself. There are times, especially at the end, where it feels as though the balance is being pushed on, almost falling. That is the nature of achieving balance in our lives though. We always have to actively strive for balance. I enjoyed "Atma" though it didn't quite fit with my Atman. Your Atman is obviously different than mine. I feel that you had some trouble exporting "Ascension." There were a lot of pops and skips in the music. Possibly encoding errors? The musical ideas fit right in with the idea of ascending beyond. The violin is a nice touch. "Enlightenment" is quaint and pretty, though the high bells were getting a little grating by this point.

Great job!

DonkeyDonker--King Henry VIII

"Epic" certainly lived up to its name! The beginning certainly is epic! Love how the beats build up in the middle and die out. Love the big wash effect.
The way "Epic" and "Burdens" develop over time is fantastic. The sound just washes over you in an undulating wave of sound.
"Grave Theory" is slightly different from the previous two. The rhythmic background is hypnotic when combined with the pulsating waves of noise.
"Oceans" is a little cliche. It's an ocean soundscape.
"Get Down and Move it Around" was a bit loud. I understand placing it after "Oceans" but that was so relaxing and gentle that this heavily distorted loudness overpowered it and erased any sense of peace the listener had achieved earlier.
"Bridges" was a bit too long. I'm usually a fan of using drones and repeating and changing simple motivic ideas... But only when they create interesting and new patterns or effects. This just seemed to drag on forever, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't skip parts of it.

I really liked the overarching flow of the entire album. The "epic" beginning with the peaceful middle section, leading into the HUGE dance-ish piece to the long wind-down.

Hope to hear more from you!

V.Mel--One Minute Rave

Great first foray into music! Keep working and learning!

Jonathan and Jason--The McWaffle

"Dancing in the Rain" great melody, structure, and lyrics. With some tweaks, I could hear a big christian artist doing this. Some of the phrasing doesn't do what it should. Vocals going up instead of down.

"The People's Champion" is much different than "Dancing in the Rain." You don't quite have the voice to do the rock thing.

Definitely like the ballad, not so much the rock/rap Linkin Park/POD thing.

Great 2 songs though!

Christian Lyon--Young Man EP

"Waves(Calculation)" very pensive and slightly hypnotic. It's hard to understand the vocals at times.
"Young Man" reminds me a little of Iron and Wine. Folky.
"Basic Beasts" is my favorite from this 2-song EP. The ethereal female vocal is really eerie. Like the other 2, the vocals are buried and unintelligible at times (bass notes on the guitar cover it up. Some EQ would go a long way to clean it up).

Great musical ideas. Keep it up!

Intraphase--A Boy and His Demon

I'm not the biggest fan of the growling vocal style. BUT, this is very well done. Spooky and musical. Just in time for Halloween. Great job!


That's it for now. I'll get to the rest of them sometime tomorrow!

Reviews -- Part I

Strange Battery--Grenadine

"Mabel and Me" was a little bittersweet feeling, yet humorous at the same time.
"Grenadine" really made me chuckle with the old time piano and the over the top lyrics well done!
"Watch Out"-- perfect timing for Halloween. Definitely reminds me of those old Halloween songs (for some reason it reminded me of Napoleon XIV's "They're coming to take me away")
"Ice Cream Man" Fantastic! If only corporate America marketed healthy food the way they market their ice cream.
"Horsies" Spot on with the carousel music!
"The Knight" very melancholy. Is the character wishing he weren't the knight in shining armor?
"The Princess" flows very nicely from "The Knight." I'm really liking the way you're tying everything together.
"Chuggin" really cracked me up with the Kazoo.
"Family Band" Hilarious!
"All of the Pasta" is an instant Italian restaurant classic.
"Long way Home"
"Sneaker Shoes" Very impressed with your tap skills. I took tap lessons for a few months in high school and could never get passed "rat-a-tat-tat"...

Overall: I really enjoyed this album from Strange Battery. The combination of humorous interpretations of vaudville-esque music with the melancholy ballads really sent it over the top for me.

Lobster Shanty--Tremendous

Overall: Great grooves and funky beats! I'm not a huge fan of funk because it tends to all sound very similar, but I enjoyed this. Also, was the innuendo in "Mr. Porcupine" intentional? Porn music guitars with a "pokey porcupine?" Just saying.

Logan Bradley--HzlHrst

"The Bathing of Pallas" is right up my alley. I love the text being read. I'd love to see it expanded upon more.
"From the Coast" Totally dig the ending of this one!
"Tinned Hide" The chorus is really emotional. The intense instrumental parts really make it seem like the vocals are begging for relief.
"Without a murder" is really cool. The electronics at the beginning create an anticipation for the guitars to come in. The delay on the guitar sounds a little U2-y.
"Collared Coward" I was really into it and then the bar scene came in and confused the crap outta me. It makes sense with the story though. Just broke the music up, which I guess was your point.
"Crossroads" Love the ostinato and how you cover it up and make it feel that it is changing and detuning. I feel like this could be turned into a longer, more minimal piece. The changes occur too rapidly for my tastes.
"Aint my baby no more" makes me feel like I'm downtown Nashville. (Except better playing and singing!)

Overall: I had a lot of fun listening to this, and anticipate listening to it a few more times to see if there's anything I missed or misinterpreted. Also, your album cover is killer!

Mike Webber- Morning Waits for No One

"Song 1" is a nice, feel-good, electronic introduction.
"The Candle March" I love the feeling of uneasiness and the light humor at the end.
"Morning Waits for No One" The lyrics are great! I particularly like the juxtoposition of "reckless and alone" with "cautious and prepared."
"Scarecrow's Song" I like the overall feeling I get from this song. However, all of the parts starting at 2:33 create a really jarring chord that I don't feel goes with the rest of the music.

Album cover makes me hungry.

Clock Systeme--"Droides"

I really liked the way this started off, though I started to get bored after a while. When the dance music came in, I kind of shut off. Not really my thing. The ending was really nice with the angelic plagal cadence coming out of the noise.This would benefit with a video to go along with it as well. The female voice reminds me of "GLaDOS" from Portal.


Lots of music to listen to an review and I'm hungry! Be back later with more thoughts!

1st batch of reviews

I'll be working through everything eventually, but here are a few to get everyone started anyway. Sorry, these aren't going to be in any particular order.

Intraphase/A Boy and His Demon - This was really creepy at parts. For real. Using sound effects to link everything together was an awesome idea, and really added to the whole storytelling aspect of this. I love how everything flows here, really. From the knock on the door and on, it never loses your interest. Gnarly solos and riffing, and I love the start-stop blastbeats on the drums towards the end. The drum and bass part around 3:30 is sick. It reminds me of Tool, especially how the bass sounds. I love how this tortured music eventually just turning into a big ball of noise before cutting away to that last piano part. Awesome work on the keyboards all throughout. Everything sounds so cinematic. Dope job, you guys.

Strange Battery/Grenadine - This is really awesome, Dan. How you manage to write all of these perfect melodies is beyond me. I didn't know music could make me miss an era I never lived in. When I lose everything and everyone, when my life is broken beyond recognition, I will listen to "Chuggin'" and still giggle like a little girl. "The Knight" & "The Princess" are just gorgeous. Thank you so much for this album. I loved every minute of it.

R. Aaron Webster/Sex Affairs of Ghosts EP - This is chaotic and crazy, but once it locks in, it's tight. I like how the drums are constantly shifting, sounding like a disco beat that transforms into a metal groove that morphs into anything it wants because go to hell. The melodies here remind me a lot of 80's era Zappa. They have that bouncy, frantic sound. This was awesome, no filler at all, just straight chaos with a nice dash of pretty right in the middle.

Sorry guys, I'm getting too tired. More tomorrow.

Music is up!

http://www.danwaldkirch.com/recordtime/albums.html

GO GO GO GO GO!

I'll be posting a batch of reviews later on tonight. I didn't review last time, but I'll be able to this time.
Getting to hear all this stuff is seriously the coolest part of recordtime. Let's hear it for collective creativity!

Intraphase's "A Boy and His Demon" wrapped up

Well, it's finished and sent in. I was definitely a fun project for me personally and I will look forward to them in the future. This go-around seemed to flow smoothly from our collective mind to a finished product. There were things I would fix but every project is like that. It nice to just let it go.

We condensed the six tracks that divided the story into one single track since there was enough sound effects to connect them and tell the story. My personal favorite is what would of been the last track. It has a great vibe going into it. But overall the album is only 12 minutes long so give it a listen!

We had been talking about the story behind the album for about a month prior to writing anything. In doing this we had mention to a friend and local film maker that we might like doing a short film to go with the music. We're going to begin planning phases for that very soon. Hopefully have the video on YouTube in November. If you're interested please find us on facebook. We'll be keeping everyone update there.

Anyway, I've had a great time. I can't wait to download everyone's music! Happy listening

Reflections On Tiresome Speed Composition

After taking an extra day to mix, and then another to correct a botched uploading attempt, Record Time VII is finally in the bag and I'm generally pleased with the results of "Jejune Oeuvre," my 37 minute opus to mental health problems. This is only my third time participating, 2nd time finishing. Because sometimes I'm a punk.

This time around I bit off way more than I could chew, settling on the cheery concept of murder, suicide, and the absence of God, hopefully set off by the juxtaposition of dark subject matter against slightly upbeat pop music. And before you go putting me on suicide watch, just know that the genesis for all the mental health and suicide songs came about in part b/c of Nevermind's 20th anniversary and me recently watching Mel Gibson's "The Beaver." Which I recommend. And lets be honest, as musicians, we all have to be a little intrigued by the subject considering self destruction took some of the greats. Also, screw you, it's art, stop judging me.

Now for what I learned this time around. My biggest lesson came when I spent the first 5 days trying to write concept songs, struggling, then scrambling to get all the songs recorded in 2 days. (Track 8 I'll admit was written months ago, but fit the concept too well to omit). In my opinion, not giving enough time to the recording, mixing, mastering process is the biggest drawback due to not de-essing, losing the beat often, keeping terrible first takes, etc.

Ok, gear. So after leaving BSU last year, and having yet to upgrade my personal studio to anything resembling professional, I decided to go the opposite direction, attempting to get decent sound out of the least amount of gear. My set up: a laptop, garageband (GB), acoustic & electric guitar. That's it. No preamps, no mics (except the onboard mic on the laptop). GB drums, GB loops, GB effects. With all that said, I think the songs make acceptable demos, but nothing more.

I don't know. What do you guys think? Can't wait to listen to everyone else's stuff, the best part of Record Time in my opinion.

Todd Kevin

The Morning After

So, it's the next day.
I finished editing/recording at about 11:45.
converting to mp3s at 11:59.
Submission at 12:10 or so.

"The Devil & Isaak"
I. The Swamp (5:55)
II. A Meadow of Scrap Metal (1:29)
III. A Deal of Wits (3:01)
IV. Into the Complex (2:06)
V. Isaak Awakened (9:40)

And after a well deserved beer, a great nights sleep, and a fresh listen to the recording in entirety, I feel great about it. I felt like at times I had to make sacrifices. I came down with a cold this week. I had wanted to use harsh screaming vocals, as I've finally learned how to do them properly. However, after one hour of wretched sounding nasal-barks, I realized it just wasn't going to happen. So I decided, "to hell with it. instrumental time." and this ended up being a blessing. Not having to focus on lyrics made the music flow so much better. The total runtime is 22:10, which I wasn't happy about at first, but I remember parts of my last recordtime submission that drive me crazy because it was time filling material without a lot of depth. There are slow parts to this album, yes, but slimming down the time and leaving out filler material has, I think, let the riffing and crashing come through in a much heavier way.

What I'm saying is, sacrifices I had to make ended up making the album a lot stronger, and I'm proud as shit to be releasing this. I can definitely call it my heaviest, loudest, most cacophonous recording yet (though there are some pretty parts as well), and that's sick. I really really hope you all like it. I'm really looking forward to hearing everybody's work this time around, especially the newcomers to the event. I hope everyone had an awesome week.

Dooooone!

Done and sent!

I didn't get quite as much done as I had originally wanted, but for the amount of time, I'm pleased with the quantity and quality. I got a total of 4 "songs" completed. 3/4 have vocals with one electronic piece. The songs really pushed me hard. When I write I think/hear more textures and timbres. Even when I listen to other songs, the lyrics are NOT what I'm listening to. The chords, synths, instruments and how the voices are meshing are what draw me. It isn't until the 4th or 5th time listening to something that I even hear the lyrics. So, my process of writing music and then lyrics was a bit odd. My music tends to have odd phrases and structures that don't lend themselves to lyrics.

I'm really proud of "One Last." I sang the main 9 part harmonies and my wife sang the lead on top. The harmonies were processed like crazy with waves tune (mainly to mask my awful singing, but also to give it the autotune effect) then sent to an INSANELY HUGE reverb. Very Ethereal sounding. I beefed up my "oohs" with some tenor samples from the EWQL choir library. Some synths, subtle guitar... purty.

I also particularly like my instrumental. It didn't take me long and it's somewhat cliche, but that's the point. It's my "tribute" to On the Run by Pink Floyd.

I noticed that my lyrics are a little deep/political... Mostly about corrupt politicians and businessmen.

Secrets is about how the government/business wants you to tell them everything about yourself and give them your hard earned money while promising you things they never deliver on.

On the Edge uses samples from the Occupy Wall Street movement, along with some anti-war, and anti-big business protests from around the world. (Also a reversed cell phone conversation my wife and I had). The piece is basically about how we're on the edge of a collapse.

Shake your windows is about the inner struggle we all face day to day. It's pretty self explanatory and was one of the easier songs to sing/write.

One Last deals with death and what might happen when we die. It was a little morbid though. The day after I wrote it I learned of Steve Jobs death.

OMG, I Actually Made Something!

Hi, Record Timers!

I didn't want to post anything until I had something concrete, so that's why I'm making an appearance so late in the game.

I am in no way a musician or a person with musical talent (my Spring 2008 submission is proof of that).  My very patient boyfriend showed me the basics of GarageBand, so you will probably recognize loops, etc.

I initially was going to create a song that popped into my head a few weeks prior, but I couldn't find beats that fit in time with my lyrics.  Instead, I created a music piece using the beats that got stuck in my head while browsing.  This is an experiment in what sounds cool to me, without relying on lyrics to drive the song and keep my interest.  The goal of my song is to GETCHU OUTTA YO' SEAT and the album art supports this by making you feel like you can't stay in one place.

Please enjoy One Minute Rave (technically 00:01:12), with advice and audio mastering by Kris Eckman and cover art by me.

And good luck to the rest of you!  I look forward to hearing what you've come up with.

Almost there

Welp, it's almost done. Recorded drums, bass, and a bunch of other instruments yesterday, but still tried to keep it pretty minimal. Perhaps too minimal...perhaps not.

I wrote a pretty fun song Friday night. I wanted at least one song in a minor key, and went with something inspired by my favorite ride: the Haunted Mansion.

Here's a barbershop version -- wish I could have done mine a capella but I didn't want to embarass myself.



Also did a little "carousel" piece, and a song that will require me to tapdance. I practiced for about 10 minutes, and obviously I'm great.

Now to lug out my new tube mic and find a kazoo...see you on the other side!

Dan

Lobster Shanty - Status Update

So much funk, so little Record Time.

Terribly excited about our 3 tunes. Having a wonderfully creative, exciting, and happy Record Time week so far.

hmm.

I love concept albums. Love them. I read an article on Cracked.com once that discussed how, since we live in such a fresh hit single world these days, the idea of the concept album has been lost. True and untrue. While they may not be as popular in the public eye anymore, there are still plenty of great bands that still choose to do concept albums (Mastodon, Noah & the Whale, Ancestors, Queens of the Stone Age, The Flaming Lips, Anathallo, Black Tusk, Acid Mothers Temple, to name a few). There's no better way to capture the emotions of a story or manifesto than through sound. No emotion can be evoked by words, touch, or smell, as well as it can be through sound.

So basically, this is totally totally a concept album. I write a lot of jokey, non-serious music in my spare time, but for a musical project that I'm actually taking seriously, I want there to be more to it than just cool noises. So I've been wracking my brain trying to think of a good story for this album, and I finally have one to tell.

It's a journey of a man who has been stranded in isolation, "unfit" for socialization in a world ruled by technology. In his struggle to survive in the wild, as he is nearing his final breaths, the Devil appears before him, offering limitless power. The man accepts, and his journey to destroy the machines that left him for dead continues. As the souls of millennia of dead begin to influence the man, his powers become more evident. Eventually, he infiltrates the compound of the largest digital data storage on Earth and unleashes his true power, the power of an eternal humanity, destroying the data and himself in the process. As his soul drifts away, he realizes he is not dead, but rather, has transcended reality and perception to become one with the universe around him, more human than ever before.

Anyway, yeah, that's it. Since I won't be narrating the album, the lyrics will not be nearly as overt (but they WILL be in English this time). I'll probably do a fancier, more detailed write-up of the story for the liner notes, but that is the story I've decided on.

What are ya'll writing about?

Vox to Rock Spock's Sox...

Finished what I find to always be the most demanding portion of Record Time: Vocals. Vocals are also my favorite part of the process. I like seeing how they can develop in a matter of moments when dubbing over other parts of a song. For me, playing them back with the rest of the mix is satisfaction in its purest form, like a fresh light bulb gently screwed into a socket that's switch is left on, instantly blinding and illuminating the musical ideas that you had conjured up in your head after several days of writing and recording scrutiny.

Of course, most melodies and vocal lines don't turn out to be mind blowing or the foundation for a new cult...but when you're in the moment, it doesn't matter. It's just finally a relief to have expressed something, or nothing.

So. Vocals are done. Yeah man!...moving on.

Intraphase's concept EP update

Well, it's done. The music is at least. We got together and wrote and recorded the entire story in two days. We thought sure it would be at least 20 minutes.. 12. It turned out to be 12 minutes long. Notably I still need to track vocals and do some sound design but 12 minutes??

It was interesting getting to the place were we could record. You see, I'm in the process of building an actual studio in my garage but I'm out of money. We really wanted to play it all together so I worked out isolation boxes for my guitar amp and the bass amp. It wasn't cutting enough of the drums out of the guitar microphones.

We needed to dampen more sound in this room with zero wall coverings. We're talking about a metal building with spray insulation and wall frames a foot from all the external walls. So, we got creative with empty boxes and duct tape and built a wall around the drums. It seemed to cut back on the high end and transients and not to mention it just made the entire production a bit more classy.

We recorded it as 6 tracks but in listening back it sounds like 3 or 4. It is a story so it all flowed together nicely. The track list:

1) A Boy and his Demon

2) The Forest

3) The Piano

4) Tell Me a Story

5) You Can Do It, Again

6) The Fire

Looking forward to making some time this weekend to finish up. More Later

Mike Godlove

guitarist for Intraphase

Hooray Music!

(Disclaimer: My work computer doesn't have spell-check on it, so my true ignorance of the English language may shine through...)

Record Time VII has been wrought with challenges for me so far. On top of the usual 40 hour work week, the band I am producing is wrapping up their EP, so a lot of my free time this week is being eaten up by that. Also, the Mrs. and I just moved into a new appartment a little over a month ago and the "music" room (which is really small to begin with) has been more of a "storage" room, as we are still organizing and moving stuff around. And on top of that, my trusty old laptop bit the dust a couple weeks ago, so I am now on a new computer which won't support my old version of Pro Tools. Reaper is an easy program to use, but there is still a learning curve to it and composing/recording isn't as fluid as I'd like it to be. Add to that the usual hinderances, such as intermitant midi keyboards, electronically induced noise creeping in through my interface, lack of owning a bass guitar, etc. and it sure makes for a tough week.

Thems the breaks, however, and I am still managing to get some music done, although certainly not the full 30 minutes I've hit (or been close to) every other time. So far, I have 4 songs, clocking it at around 11 minutes. One of those songs iwill probably ve extended by another minute or so, and I think I have one more song in me (maybe...) so I think I can hit the 15 min mark.

Sonically, this album will be a bit unlike anything I've done before, primarily because it will have absolutely zero electric guitar on it (well, my last RT album didn't have any guitar on it either, but I don't really count that album). Hopefully it will not disapoint!

Mike

quick update

the guitars are all DJENT SQUEE DJENT DJENTDJENTDJENT SQUEE SQWOO DJENTDJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT
while the drums are all TUCKA-TUCKA-TUCKA-TAHTUHTOM-TUCKA-TUCKA and the electronics go DOBOOP BIPBIPBIP.

Mmmmhmmmm. Also there is a killer keytar solo.

edit: sup haters.

Double Digits

Hit the 10 song mark today. It's looking like it will be 13 songs, but strangely enough only 20 minutes or so. I'd like these songs to be polished, even though several of them are solo piano or piano and vocal.

I didn't do any work last night, on account of the girlfriend's birthday. Today I decided it would be a good idea to do something like the whistling part of Steamboat Willie.



I sort of did it...just made a little 45 second instrumental. Might cut it because it's sort of worthless as it is now...but once I try some more instruments I might change my mind.

I actually ran into an interesting situation on my last song tonight. It's gorgeous, probably one of the best melodies I've written. It was meant as a sort of Disney ballad, a la "When You Wish Upon a Star," but turned into something totally different. The only problem is, it's just one verse, and only about 1:04. It's absolutely screaming to be made into a 4-5 minute song, and it would be easy, as it's just piano. To have it end where it does is just heartbreaking, and my mom is gonna be pissed. But I think it'll add a really weird intensity to the end of the album.

Did I mention this is gonna be a weird album? I'm honestly not sure what this one says about me. Like my kids' album last year, I don't think I've really heard anything like what I'm making. Probably because I decided to parody a style I have no idea how to write or play in. This album is making me feel weird. Long live Record Time.

Picking up steam

So I worked all of today on writing the rest of the lyrics for the song I posted about yesterday, the other sections, and adding instruments (synth, guitar, basic percussion). I'm pretty happy with the lyrics. Minus 2 lines that are, as my wife puts it, "a little hokey." I'll probably rework them before she gets home tonight.

I'm planning on writing 1 more song with vocals today, recording all Kylene's vocals tonight and mixing it all tomorrow.

Her parents are coming for a visit this weekend, so I'm not going to have a ton of time on Saturday and Sunday to work on it... Maybe a little time Sunday afternoon.

Here's another screen cap to show you all what I was up to today...

Drums??...more like...DONES!

After a repaired kick drum head, exchanging a shabby snare batter head with my rack tom head, and what seemed like endless revisits to get my kick pedal feeling right, I finished 3 drum tracks tonight. I have to admit that I feel a bit rusty on the drums, as I have been primarily playing guitar for the past year or so...

But, I think all the tracks groove really well, and there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a nice rhythm holding down the fort.

I was able to mic my drum kit in only two places due to my lack of recording resources. I have an sm57 as an overhead, and some kind of "who knows what" kind of mic about 3 ft. directly in front of the kick drum. This setup has typically served me well to get a nice round, lively sound, out of my kit. So, if you're in a jam, only have 2 microphones to work with, I recommend this configuration. Maybe someone has a better alternative, but I've been satisfied with this method.

Although not all the gear in this picture is being used, I snapped a picture of my recording lair. It's fun to see what people have to work with. I'm fortunate enough to have a rehearsal space where I can go and work on things without disturbing the neighbors!

Lots of vocals

I decided to write a piece using vocal harmonies as the principal driving force. It's fairly minimal with vocal parts coming in and building some pretty stellar chords. Pulsating oohs coming and going, panning left and right... Right now I have about 9 layers of vocals, double tracked for the first "A" section... I have to go through and double track the "B" section tomorrow, write the "A1" and bridge sections, and then figure out how to end it... Maybe end it with a completely new unrelated section...

Here's a screen cap from my work so far... I'm pretty excited about it. Also, the synth I made for this is pretty stellar as well. I think that might be my word for this piece... Title maybe?

Lobster Shanty - Status Update

Funkin' so hard it'll make ya liver quiver.

Lessons learned so far:

-- Funk is hard

-- P-Funk is so much more brilliant than they sound

Synthetique

Good afternoon chums. I've been putting a couple of hours in each day to Record Time this time round having ducked out last year (pathetic I know). I'm working with a fellow Intercontinental Music Labber, the mighty Will Betts. We're recording separate tracks which we're hoping to combine together in a glorious union of ludicrous French dance music salad. So far so instrumental apart from a smattering of synthesized voices courtesy of my iPad. I used it to improvise and record lyrics whilst listening to one of the tracks. Quite a handy trick for speed composition but don't expect any deep meaning from any of it.

Me and Will are definitely in it for the giggles, so we hope you enjoy what we end up with, whatever that may be. Thanks for having us on board anyway, we're both from the UK, any other UK-ers out there? Bon apetit everyone, look forward to hearing all your efforts once the week is through.

Oh, and did anybody else discuss band names and artwork before starting on the composition process? I think both of these things are KEY.

Status Report!

Hello! So I've been working on this album each day after my classes get out and after about ~14 hours I have 4 songs, a total of about 18 minutes. It's a soft, ambient album to relax to.

Today will be fun, I have a female vocalist coming to sing, and I'm setting up all the mics to record the miscellaneous sounds like shakers, tambourines, and rachets. The music is having more of an electronic element in it than I originally anticipated, which is welcomed.

Can't wait to let you guys hear it all! Until then, here is the second song I've recorded so far, http://soundcloud.com/shield-and-sun/song2 . This is the most upbeat out of the four so far and it's more of a jam.

Pretty

Day 2 was a smashing success. Wrote 3 songs and even had time for a drive into town for some ice cream.

I'm at 8 songs, 14 minutes, but I'm going to cut one of the songs. It's too goofy, and the rest of the album is turning out to be very quaint and beautiful -- the song in question would take people out of it.

I wrote a weird little piece that's a cross between an Irish lament, a cowboy song, and some kind of gospel thing. I think it'll give the album a slightly modern edge, which I think it needs in order to stay interesting.

I also wrote a really straightforward ragtime song last night, which is going to require a kazoo. Anyone know where I can buy one?

The one I'm most proud of, however, is a solo piano piece, which is currently called "The Princess." It's very old-school, 1950s Disney, a little like "Once Upon a Dream." I'm actually surprised I was able to capture a sound that specific -- Disney songs are so untouchable that I never thought about what gives them that distinct sound. Turns out it's all about those diminished chords. It's only about a minute but I think it'll really add a cool touch. I tried to play it more "classically" but I'm just not that good, so it's basically just a sketch of a melody. Hmm...melody sketch...animation sketch...maybe more little themes for old cartoons? *writes that down*

I am pretty psyched about the group we have this time around -- it really seems like we might get a big bump in participation. If you recall, we had 23 albums last time around...I don't want to say I'm hoping for 30 but...I am hoping for 30.

And hey, anyone know of any good tape saturation plugins? I don't want to use a vinyl plugin, as those get old REAL fast, but something much more subtle could be nice.

Progress Report

I've decided to call it an early night (1:30 is early) because I'm getting so tired I feel drunk. I've been up till 3 or so each night and waking up at 7 to get back to it before class and work, which eats up a lot of my day. But enough about that. Here's how things are coming.

So far, I'm really really pleased with how this is going. Since I moved to a small apartment with not-so-thick walls and ceilings, I decided to do all of the electric stuff through direct input. This decision was a real bummer at first, but after a few days, I feel like I've got the guitars sounding even better than they would have if they were being mic'd with my crappy "stack." I don't want to give too much away, but I can definitely say that this album packs a punch. Several, actually. It's the heaviest material I've ever recorded, by a long shot, but there is a lot more to the album than just heaviness.

Conceptually, this album juxtaposes nature and technology. To what end are the means of scientific progress? Is there truly a great difference between organic and bionic? What are we doing to our sense of humanity by pushing forward as relentlessly as possible?

TL;DR i am writing devil music about computers, but keeping it psychedelic.

At the time of writing this, I have roughly 13 minutes of music done.
Good night, everyone. Laptop and recording interface, I will see you again in a few hours.

Alright, alright, alright...

Lobster Shanty is groovin'. Nick and I have 3 tracks more or less set in stone. Progressions, melodies, etc. Now we need to perform the parts, and schmooze them over to get everything to gel. But, I'm very optimistic on how things are shaping up.

Change of plans

Not huge changes of course... I just can't sing... I mean I can carry a tune... Just can't perform well as a singer. SO... I'm going to rope my wife into singing instead!

I've been trying for a few hours to get my vocals to sound halfway decent, and the only way I could get it to fit within the songs I'm writing is to autotune the crap out of it (though I'm using waves tune... better plugin imo) to take out the real performance aspect... And even then, I'm not very good at enunciating my words when I sing.

Weird

I am off to a strange and somewhat uncomfortable start. But I have a lot of music. 4 songs, 7:20, two with completed lyrics. The good news is this is turning out somewhat like I expected. The bad news is I'm not sure how many more songs I can write in this style without them sounding identical. But I still have some tricks up my sleeve.

I'm thinking I may shoot for 12-15 songs, rather than 30 minutes, as these ragtimey songs are fast and packed with lyrics, which takes a lot of time. But who knows...I've never had a RT album of less than 25 mins, and I'd rather not start now.

So far I have a song about Kiddie Cocktails, a very pretty song about dating an elderly woman, another song about a certain television star, and one whose subject is yet to be decided. It's gonna be a weird album.

Off to a decent start...

Nick and I have a schedule that we made, and so far we're on schedule. We have about 2.5 songs so far...still in rough form, but more or less there.

One of the songs is going to turn out great, and I think it will be easy to work on. The other 2 seem like they may be a bit challenging, but I think they'll get there with a little more effort.

Another 1:40am post. Woot!

Day 1 Recap

So, I got a lot done today. I wasn't among those that started at midnight last night so I got up with my wife at 6 this morning. One song is more or less done, and I'll be working on some lyrics tonight. I'm not too happy with the vocals I recorded today, so I'm going to go back and redo them tomorrow. I can sing, but my enunciation is a little sloppy.

Also, I would love to get a little discussion about lyric writing going. How do you all go about writing your lyrics? Do you write lyrics first, then write the music or music then lyrics? Do you get a basic idea, write the music, then add lyrics.

I've been writing the music first then writing lyrics. It's a little more difficult for me because I HATE cheesy lyrics, and I'm a big fan of abstract lyrics, but I'm trying to avoid cliche's.

We're Here!

Wah! It begins!

Eric and I are really excited to be back again for Record Time VII. Last go-round's theme was "Chicago" and we used a mix of field recordings from around the city, ridiculous pop songs about newsrooms and job-searching, and a couple of hip-hop tracks featuring our free-styling friends.

This year's theme focuses around the idea of "white trash." Just some gritty, down-home tunes played by (hopefully) a bunch of random friends and fellow musicians. I'm expected to learn the spoons..........,and Eric is incorporating his old, banged-up banjo. I'd also personally love to get my hands on a washboard.

So far Eric's sketched out some ideas on guitar/banjo, and we've each written lyrics to our songs "MaryAnn's Havin' a Baby" and "Secrets They Keep " (respectively).

ALSO: we're SO excited about our recording space! We moved into a new apartment over the summer that came complete with access to the abandoned "coach house" on the back of the property. We moved over there last night, and here's a little bit what it looks like:

(From outside) (Tools. :) ) (More tools.)

(Eric's throne.)

Yawn...

First night is over. 3 a.m. and I am only making passing glances at the tiredness i know this week will bring.

GO GO GO!

So...it's 1:40am East Coast here...riff one has been conceived. The funk lives.

I can already tell that work is going to suffer this week...

T minus 2 hours...

Are you guys as pumped as I am? I have had RTVII in the back of my mind since the last one. Since then, I've recorded a hip-hop EP and a totally ridiculous grindcore album, both of which allowed me to learn some new recording techniques and get all of the musical silliness out of my system. Now, it's time to get serious again.

Since the last RecordTime, I've been practicing incessantly to make this effort every bit better that I could. My last album was a big washy mixture of stumpy riffs in odd time signatures and crispy, panning electronic noises. While I was really proud of myself for what I had accomplished, I knew that it was just a start in that realm of sound.

SO, this album will be somewhat similar to my last one, insofar as it will be a wide array of sound, from dark heavy heavies to light pretty pretties. But this sound will be FAR more straightforward and driving (less like The Mars Volta, more like Judas Priest).

What to expect: A story about a young man trapped in an increasingly technological world. As the technology encroaches, something inside of him grows stronger. A deafening power soon to be awakened. To unite with the machine, or destroy the whole system.

Good luck everybody! (especially those of us who are chomping at the bit and starting at midnight)

Finally!

I've been looking forward to RTVII since RTVI ended. I had such a fun time, and I learned a lot from the process. I've been having a hard time deciding what I'm going to create this time around. I've been doing a lot of orchestral writing for some video projects here in Nashville, so that's kind of where my mind is right now. I've gotten to the point where I can sit at the piano and come up with something pretty quickly, so I want to challenge myself with something completely different.

I was a Mercy Lounge last night doing a cartage gig for the synth player for The Long Players, where they performed Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. I hadn't listened to Pink Floyd in a while, and hearing it live gave me a new perspective on it. The energy in the crowd along with the virtually flawless interpretation of the album gave me chills.

So, I decided to attempt an album, not necessarily paying homage to Pink Floyd, but definitely tipping my hat.

I've also been listening to Active Child's new album You are all I see and have been entranced by his haunting voice, hip-hop beats, and epic ambient harp.

So, my plan is to create some sort of ambient psychedelic rock/hip-hop album. I might throw in an electronic composition similar to Pink Floyd's On the Run to tie sections of the album together. I definitely want it to be an experience similar to DSotM.

I have no idea what my subject matter is going to be, but I'll think of something.