Ha! how's that for a header title? anyway, i hope everybody had a great holiday time (take that, Bill O'Reilly) and happy new year to y'all...
here's a interesting link to my friend Mattias from sweden's website. he is a super talented musician and producer who has his own studio in Sweden and he has GREAT gear like 2 or 3 Mellotrons and an Optigan and it's rarer cousin, the Orchestron and here is great link to a movie of him playing with what is probably the world's first drum machine, the Chamberlin Rhythm-mate
Mattias is in a few bands but i first learned of him via his band, Nanook of the North. Mattias sent me a cd-r of this album and, pretty much unlike anything else i've ever had sent to me, it was great! so, i forwarded it on to Parasol records and they flipped and put it out. i was happy to help bring them together. i actually did something like that once before when back in the mid-90's i got to know Liam Hayes a.k.a. Plush and helped him hook up with Flydaddy records for his single "No Education/Soaring and Boring." the downside is i lost contact with him in, like, '98 and haven't talked to him since. he ended up going back to drag city after that single anyway...
so, everybody and their brother does a "Best Of..." list this time every year but since i can't remember much about what i listened to new this year, i'll just say for now that i really liked MOST of these albums last year:
SFA- "Love Kraft"
Sufijan Stevens- "Illinoize"
Devandra Barnhart - "Cripple Crow"
Broadcast - "Tender Buttons"
Paul McCartney - "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard"
and no, i haven't hear the new Burt Bachrach record yet...i'll let ya know...
Monday, January 09, 2006
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!
today is our daughter's brigid 1st b-day! by far, she was the best thing about this past year. yes, i am still feeling sorry for myself about the howard project dying! but things are looking up, as i am an optimist by nature. actually, doesn't EVERYBODY say that?
ok, i haven't talked about politics in a while here on the blog, and since there's nothing really new to report on the music front (though i may have a new song coming out on a japeanese comp. soon. i'll let you know when i have more info...) i have to talk about the CLEARLY illegal wire-tapping the Bush administration is using. ask yourself this question, dear reader; why would Bush not go to a court that has only rejected 4 gov. requests in over 4,000? it's starting to come out in some media that despite what the Bush said, they have monitored purely domestic calls. in other words, calls that are not coming in the the USA from outside or from the USA to other countries but rather, inside the USA calls! that's why they didn't go to a rubber stamp court for approval. because they knew even the FISA court wouldn't approve spying on domestic calls! and then it comes out that the FBI is spying on a whole bunch of groups that have one thing in common; they are on the other side of the poltical fence from republicans!!
this is the nixon admin. all over again except these guys are even more arrogant.
let me just leave you these two quotes and think about what this all REALLY means:
Sen. John Cornyn(R): "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."
Sen. Russ Feingold's(D) retort: "Give me liberty or give me death."
Thursday, December 15, 2005
The Winter of My Discontent
well, things are not going well for your old narrator here...
the john howard/witch hazel sound album is kaput. non-payment by the label is the main reason for it's death but it's also a little bit of back-stabbing by the various parties involved who are NOT members of the WHS. i think you will be able to figure it out...and yes, this marks ANOTHER project that looks like it won't be released, joining a Bill Fox
record i recorded back in '96 and the Laura Watling sessions from a couple of years ago...such is this business...
btw, i would also ask any of you who may not have already ordered the french version of the last WHS album, please DO NOT do so now. the record co. who put it out has changed management and i am not on good terms with them at all, so please boycott that release...
the good news is i am still at work on a new Orange Cake Mix album, supplying my usual over-blown arrangements on his songs. it's going quite well, actually and just a few days ago we added some great backing vocals to one of the songs. the singer was a new participant in the kevin coral universe by the name of Elizabeth Kelly. she's a VERY talented vocalist and keyboard player and we have just begun working together on
this project and have tenative plans to work on more things in the future for my Torrey Canyon collective. i'll keep you posted...
The Chamber Strings project has sort of taken on some new life lately, as kevin junior is back in the states and has expressed a desire to re-start the album sessions with me. things have been moving at a stop and start pace on this one but i will keep you updated. watch this spot, as they say...
happy holidays to everyone and here's hoping the new year is better for yours truly! ha! how's THAT for a self-serving greeting?!
-kevin
the john howard/witch hazel sound album is kaput. non-payment by the label is the main reason for it's death but it's also a little bit of back-stabbing by the various parties involved who are NOT members of the WHS. i think you will be able to figure it out...and yes, this marks ANOTHER project that looks like it won't be released, joining a Bill Fox
record i recorded back in '96 and the Laura Watling sessions from a couple of years ago...such is this business...
btw, i would also ask any of you who may not have already ordered the french version of the last WHS album, please DO NOT do so now. the record co. who put it out has changed management and i am not on good terms with them at all, so please boycott that release...
the good news is i am still at work on a new Orange Cake Mix album, supplying my usual over-blown arrangements on his songs. it's going quite well, actually and just a few days ago we added some great backing vocals to one of the songs. the singer was a new participant in the kevin coral universe by the name of Elizabeth Kelly. she's a VERY talented vocalist and keyboard player and we have just begun working together on
this project and have tenative plans to work on more things in the future for my Torrey Canyon collective. i'll keep you posted...
The Chamber Strings project has sort of taken on some new life lately, as kevin junior is back in the states and has expressed a desire to re-start the album sessions with me. things have been moving at a stop and start pace on this one but i will keep you updated. watch this spot, as they say...
happy holidays to everyone and here's hoping the new year is better for yours truly! ha! how's THAT for a self-serving greeting?!
-kevin
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Why i hate the music biz, chapter 742
oh, good god! why, oh, why does the music biz suck soooo badly? look at this story at the huffington post!!
so, the record companies don't have any production costs, except the cost of recording the album- and let's remember that on 'greatest hits' collections there is absolutely NO cost- and now they want to charge as much as they do for cd?? oh, how i wish the indies and itunes would get together and have albums for $9.99 and itunes will just tell the majors to go to hell! then the majors would all go to their own download systems and charge more per album and they would fail miserably! we must destroy this system/paradigm. it screws the artist and it screws the consumer and smarter people than i need to come up with a new model and put these bastards out of buisness...and the record co.'s wonder why people do something wrong like download music! when they do wrong to both artists and consumers. and yeah, sure, 2 (or 3) wrongs don't make a right but damn, i can understand while people do it!
working in the studio today some more on the john howard album. i really hope this record comes out soon and gets some good distribution because john's songs are great and people who've heard the rough mixes, including john himself, have been really over-the-top in their praise. and, since i'm not feeling humble today, i'll say that it's my best production overall; if for no other reason than the songs and arrangements are so varied...from glam rock (like bowie not like poison) to pure pop to electro-avant stuff... and i owe a lot to people like craig lisik, henry james and jason richardson for their help along the way of the recording of this album.
anyway back to work... oh yeah, i changed the settings so now you don't have to be a registered user to leave a commnet. so let the flaming begin!
-kevin
so, the record companies don't have any production costs, except the cost of recording the album- and let's remember that on 'greatest hits' collections there is absolutely NO cost- and now they want to charge as much as they do for cd?? oh, how i wish the indies and itunes would get together and have albums for $9.99 and itunes will just tell the majors to go to hell! then the majors would all go to their own download systems and charge more per album and they would fail miserably! we must destroy this system/paradigm. it screws the artist and it screws the consumer and smarter people than i need to come up with a new model and put these bastards out of buisness...and the record co.'s wonder why people do something wrong like download music! when they do wrong to both artists and consumers. and yeah, sure, 2 (or 3) wrongs don't make a right but damn, i can understand while people do it!
working in the studio today some more on the john howard album. i really hope this record comes out soon and gets some good distribution because john's songs are great and people who've heard the rough mixes, including john himself, have been really over-the-top in their praise. and, since i'm not feeling humble today, i'll say that it's my best production overall; if for no other reason than the songs and arrangements are so varied...from glam rock (like bowie not like poison) to pure pop to electro-avant stuff... and i owe a lot to people like craig lisik, henry james and jason richardson for their help along the way of the recording of this album.
anyway back to work... oh yeah, i changed the settings so now you don't have to be a registered user to leave a commnet. so let the flaming begin!
-kevin
Friday, December 02, 2005
TEMPUS FUGIT
i'm fairly sure no one is reading this blog, but on the off-chance someone is, i apologize for not posting in a month. it's gotten crazier than usual around here recently...
sent john howard new rough mixes and he loved them, so we're 75% done with that album. there has been some record co. weirdness as of late, so i don't have anything to tell you about a possible release date, but watch this space for further updates...
also, the chamber strings project seems to be back on after kevin junior has now returned from europe. he had been over there for almost a year, intially playing with nikki sudden on some dates, then doing his own shows in germany and italy and then meeting a girl, etc. but he is back now and ready to re-start our work on his new album. we had done some demos last fall that neither of us we're super-thrilled with; the songs are very good, it's just the performances weren't quite what we'd hoped. but hopefully we can get cracking on it soon. again, watch this space.
i've been reading this book on the brill building writers called "Always Magic in the Air : The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era and it's pretty good but not all that well written. it's not bad but doesn't have much flow...anyway, i was reading it last night and was struck by how cool gene pitney was. this a guy who wrote 'he's a rebel' for phil spector, sang many hits written by bacharach and david ( one of which, 'the foolkiller,' is a totally under-rated gem) and hung out and played with the stones back in the 60's. what a cool dude..
speaking of brill building stuff and spector, i have been listening to a new compilation called Phil's Spectre II: Another Wall of Soundalikes and it's pretty cool. i think i liked the first volume a little better but this one has some great stuff like: No Room to Cry - Dobie Gray,Habit of Lovin' You Baby - April Stevens, Nino Tempo and You Gave Me Somebody to Love - The Dreamlovers. the funniest thing about this comp. is how many people tried to rip off the righteous bros. and 'you've lost that lovin' feelin!' there's one song by a group call kane and abel that is complete knock-off of '...lovin' feelin'
ok, that's all for now but i'll be posting again soon so keep on checkin' back!
ciao!
sent john howard new rough mixes and he loved them, so we're 75% done with that album. there has been some record co. weirdness as of late, so i don't have anything to tell you about a possible release date, but watch this space for further updates...
also, the chamber strings project seems to be back on after kevin junior has now returned from europe. he had been over there for almost a year, intially playing with nikki sudden on some dates, then doing his own shows in germany and italy and then meeting a girl, etc. but he is back now and ready to re-start our work on his new album. we had done some demos last fall that neither of us we're super-thrilled with; the songs are very good, it's just the performances weren't quite what we'd hoped. but hopefully we can get cracking on it soon. again, watch this space.
i've been reading this book on the brill building writers called "Always Magic in the Air : The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era and it's pretty good but not all that well written. it's not bad but doesn't have much flow...anyway, i was reading it last night and was struck by how cool gene pitney was. this a guy who wrote 'he's a rebel' for phil spector, sang many hits written by bacharach and david ( one of which, 'the foolkiller,' is a totally under-rated gem) and hung out and played with the stones back in the 60's. what a cool dude..
speaking of brill building stuff and spector, i have been listening to a new compilation called Phil's Spectre II: Another Wall of Soundalikes and it's pretty cool. i think i liked the first volume a little better but this one has some great stuff like: No Room to Cry - Dobie Gray,Habit of Lovin' You Baby - April Stevens, Nino Tempo and You Gave Me Somebody to Love - The Dreamlovers. the funniest thing about this comp. is how many people tried to rip off the righteous bros. and 'you've lost that lovin' feelin!' there's one song by a group call kane and abel that is complete knock-off of '...lovin' feelin'
ok, that's all for now but i'll be posting again soon so keep on checkin' back!
ciao!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Old Stuff
well, we finally have got some of our equipment listed on the website (www.torreycanyon.net). it's a list of some of our cooler pre-amps first.
and that brings me to today's topic, old stuff. a great deal of our equipment at the studio is 30 years old and older. so, the internet has been an invaluable resource for finding out info about a lot of this stuff. in fact, thanks to newsgroups and forums, you can even talk to the people who worked with this stuff back in the day!
anyway, while reading things and in some instances, actually talking to these 'old-timers,' we have been struck by how dismissive they were of most of this old equipment. and that struck me because i've seen this tendency from other people of the pre-baby boomer generations. my parents have been antique collectors and dealers for over 30 years and they too have run cross this dismissive attitude towards 'old stuff.' well, we've come up with a generalized opinion that that is because they lived through the full-bloom of the 'space age,'so they were conditioned to get rid of the old and celebrate the new. now, all generations suffer from this to varying degress but it is most pronounced in the 'greatest generation,'IMHO...
so anyway, that my dime store psych study for today, kiddies! and yes, i maybe completely full of shite...
oh, the one thing that always seems to come up when talking to old-timers about this equipment is how come those records they made with this 'crap' sounded GREAT?? i get different answers to this one, as you might imagine...oh yeah, and my favorite dismissive comment about a piece of gear was a guy describing an EQ as 'the ringy type liked by people who read Tape Op.' haha! i loved that one...
and that brings me to today's topic, old stuff. a great deal of our equipment at the studio is 30 years old and older. so, the internet has been an invaluable resource for finding out info about a lot of this stuff. in fact, thanks to newsgroups and forums, you can even talk to the people who worked with this stuff back in the day!
anyway, while reading things and in some instances, actually talking to these 'old-timers,' we have been struck by how dismissive they were of most of this old equipment. and that struck me because i've seen this tendency from other people of the pre-baby boomer generations. my parents have been antique collectors and dealers for over 30 years and they too have run cross this dismissive attitude towards 'old stuff.' well, we've come up with a generalized opinion that that is because they lived through the full-bloom of the 'space age,'so they were conditioned to get rid of the old and celebrate the new. now, all generations suffer from this to varying degress but it is most pronounced in the 'greatest generation,'IMHO...
so anyway, that my dime store psych study for today, kiddies! and yes, i maybe completely full of shite...
oh, the one thing that always seems to come up when talking to old-timers about this equipment is how come those records they made with this 'crap' sounded GREAT?? i get different answers to this one, as you might imagine...oh yeah, and my favorite dismissive comment about a piece of gear was a guy describing an EQ as 'the ringy type liked by people who read Tape Op.' haha! i loved that one...
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