id
int64 5.11k
4.34M
| gender
stringclasses 2
values | age
int64 13
48
| topic
stringclasses 40
values | sign
stringclasses 12
values | date
stringlengths 2
18
| text
stringlengths 4
790k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3,176,411 | male | 33 | Engineering | Aries | 10,May,2004 | The below can also be achieved by editing the frequencies.c file found in libs/libmythtv/ and changing the frequencies for the channels with off-channel frequencies. Download the following urlLink patch file and apply it to the frequencies.c file by typing patch . After patching you have to recompile mythtv. |
3,176,411 | male | 33 | Engineering | Aries | 10,May,2004 | For users in holland, I've figured out how to tune the PVR250 with test_ioctl and Teletext. Here in the Netherlands, cable providers provide us with a frequency table where one can find how to tune your TV set channels to frequencies. This table can be found on the teletext pages of the provider. In almost every city this table is different, so we have to tune our TV sets whenever we move to a different city (or sometimes even a different street!). This is a short example of such a frequency page (example from Almere Buiten): Zender Kanaal MHZ Freq Nederland 1 11- 216.00 Nederland 2 6+ 184.00 Nederland 3 7+ 192.00 Etc. I've figured out that when you multiply the last number (MHZ Freq) by 16, you get the right frequency to use with the test_ioctl command. For example nederland 1: # bc 216 * 16 = 3456 # test_ioctl -r tuner=0,freq=3456 Will get you tuned to channel nederland 1. urlLink Frequencie overzicht Delft |
3,176,411 | male | 33 | Engineering | Aries | 10,May,2004 | urlLink Mailing List Archive: RE:Burning to DVD (saving MPEG clips) |
3,176,411 | male | 33 | Engineering | Aries | 10,May,2004 | This is just a simple howto on creating dvd's from the mpegs created buy a PVR250. Either captured in mythtv or by hand. You will need the following software installed on your system. Avidemux2 mplayer (for the mplex program) dvdauthor dvdrecord mkisofs urlLink this script chmod +x dvdcreate.sh Now lets get onto the business of creating a dvd. Open the mpeg with avidemux2. Edit the file the way you want and save it as DVD-PS, using whatever file name you prefer IE... mymovie.mpg Now use the dvdcreate.sh script like.... sh /path/to/script/dvdcreate.sh /path/to/mpeg/mymovie.mpg /path/to/mymovie (this last part is created when the script is run, but you still have to give it a path and name) That is all on line. Replace /path/to/... with your respective paths. Notice that the last part has no extention, it is a directory that contains the dvd video structure. mkisofs -v -dvd-video -udf /path/to/mymovie > /path/to/mymovie.iso dvdrecord -v -eject -dao -pad -data driveropts=burnfree dev=0,1,0 (replace with your acual device) mymovie.iso After the burn is complete you should now have a dvd that playes on most any dvd player. |
3,754,841 | female | 13 | Student | Sagittarius | 27,June,2004 | last night i had a dream-call it more of an adventure.. it was at my house, except that my house was like, haunted..old and spooky and stuff...unexplored ...my siblings and i had this quest.this house was a mansion belonging to a dead person...cobwebs here and there, you know, the usual spooky ambience,but it was that dark, we could still see things clearly. we were supposed to look for small cicular things..like the ones with magnets at the back, the ones you ue for small board games.they were in purple, bright green, blue and pinkish-red. whenever we found one hidden in a nook or cranny we had to move them forward,just lift them up and move them,a secret opening would be formed on the ground..there would be some small object hidden in that opening.there was'nt any main reason for why there were clues, but anyway, we took them..we split up, my brother and my sister went together, my mum(she suddenly appeared) and i went together. there was once when we unveiled this piece of cloth and millions of black ants started crawling about..i got freaked out, and screamed(cause i'm afraid of ants). them after a while the dream ended. it was really interesting going about, finding those things.there were many antiques, cobwebs, lots of furniture..it was as though someone had left those clues for us, that we were destined to get every single clue. if i were really have to embark on an adventure like that, i'll go for it-as long as there is'nt anyone to harm me. maybe you may have found this really dumb...but well, a dream is a dream, and it comes to you without you having to call it...and well, sometimes you'd just have to embrace it! |
3,754,841 | female | 13 | Student | Sagittarius | 25,June,2004 | yayy! all alone at home..sometimes it can be boring though...my life is boring...that's why right now i don't know what to type.i'm a flop at html so my blog would probably dull.. my dog skye ran away yesterday and wandered all the way to the row of shops near the main road...that's a LONG way actually..then when he was returning back he stuck his friendly nose at the gate of another's dog's house and got bit on the nose.blood was oozing out by the time he was brought home..he also wandered into the empty porch of a house on the way back...he's a curious fella, always trying to be friendly, but he does'nt know the outside world enough, the cruel, harsh world. 'Life's dirty. Life's unclean you know. It's birth, it's sex, it's the intestinal tract. One big squishy, unsanitary mess. It never gets any cleaner either. You know, dust to dust, worms crawl in, worms crawl out, right? Even though we know that, we still walk the walk, we still live the life. We're like a bunch of little kids. Little kids, you know, we jump in this big old pond of mud and we're slapping it all over our face, rubbing our hair all down our backs and we're making these glorious, gooey, mud pies. That's us.' |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Še štiri dni do vstopa Slovenije v EU! MMM. Proslavljali bomo!!!!! S kolegom sva začela nov projekt, ki pa je še trenutno skrivnost. Zelo aktivno pa se učim gtkmm programiranje. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Že cel teden me je veselje. Namestil sem si slackware 9.1 in naložil dropline gnome 2.6. Moram rečt da i vse dela, kot bi moralo delati. Res čudovito. Poleg tega je izšel gcc 3.4. Ima kup novosti in preizkusno novost - 'precompiled headers'. Zaglavja so že prevedena, kar pomeni hitrejše prevajanje kode :)) Odločil sem se, da bom pri l4xml uporabljal garbage collector. Moram ga še samo vgraditi, kar je pa teoretično zelo preprosto. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Dolgčas ... Pa še dolgčas ...... Posodobil sem stran :). Novi članki in celo spremenjena uvodna slika. Doživel sem veliko srečo, saj je izšel GNOME 2.6. Kar hitro kompajlat! Sicer se pa ni nič dogajalo. Se je pa nekaj časa dogajala debata med Miguelom de Icazo in Havocom Penningtonom(dva pomembna tipa pri GNOME projektu). Debatirala sta, ali naj bo GNOME jedro v naslednjih verzijah napisano v drugem jeziku in kerem. Konkretno je bilo govora o Javi in C#(oz. .NET). Miguel je podpiral C#, Havoc pa Javo. Slednji je tudi predlagal, naj ostane tako kot je oz. naj se raje uporabi nek bolj odprti jezik. Konkratno C++. Jaz sem pravtako za slednje. MOJE SOŽALJE GNOME TEAMU ZA IZGUBO TREH IZVRSTNIH GNOME HEKERJEV! VSAKA JIM ČAST!!! |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Pogledal sem si en dolgi filmček, ki kaže dva Microsoftova razvijalca Avalon in XAML tehnologij. Stvar je precej zanimiva. Gradnja grafičnih vmesnikov preko mešanja XML dokumentov in C# programov je zelo domiselno. Nekaj podobno XAML je sicer že. Imenuje pa se XUL, ki ga uporablja Mozilla.org. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Zadnje dni sem bolj len. Malo preizkušam Hans-Boehm garbage collector. S Slackware sem res zadovoljen in še vedno delam v C/C++, kjub močnim pritiskom .NET optimistov ;) Naprej se še učim GTKmm programiranje. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | I'm done with the School for this year. Now I can finally do some work. I have to create myself a plan. I think I will investigate a little l4xml and do some gtkmm coding. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Wow. Im pretty amased how much people are using c#. Some news is out that Sun will open-source Java. Now that's great news! In other, nothing new has happened. I must start to code now, really I must. Still have some work to d with l4xml. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | For now on I will post in english so all the world get's my message. I will also post some pictures that I have made with my cell phone. I am thinking to begin some GNOME hacking but that's kinda hard becose GNOME is written in C and gtk+. But I know only GTKmm and not GTK+. Muust find some GNOME projects build with GTKmm. Also sown a MSDN TV movie that shows some cool XAML and Avalon features. Windows Longhorn will bi pretty cool. Maybe I'll use it but still be a Linux developer :--) |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Well, I have opened a discussion on the s-linux forum about .NET, mono and stuff. Mainly, all the participians agree that .NET is dangeorus and good. I rather program in C than C#, althought C# is a very interesting language. I played a bit with socket programming. Trying to write a small IRC client. But it fails to register to the IRC network. Really don't know why. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | I'm working on a graphical tool for adding/removing users from a mysql database. The GUI part is nearly complete. Now I'm coding the database part. An official site will be soon available. |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Finally I have my own Linux server. It can be accessed through different domains: napsy.mozirje.net, sfinga.no-ip.com (the orig. server name), luka-napotnik.no-ip.com. It's an old mashine with somehow defective RAM so the kernel goes often in panic. Monday I will start my summer job as a gtkmm programmer :) In other news lately I played a lot Enemy Territory. Great game! And Monday I thing I'm gonna to buy myself a big, jucy PIZZA!!! |
2,271,105 | male | 17 | Technology | Capricorn | 21,July,2004 | Today I played a little with gtkmm. Now I know how communication between different windows goes. It's so simple ;). I am working on the team project. I don't have a name right now but it has something to do with XML-RPC and project management :--). First I have to write the basic operations like task adding, editing and deleting. Then it's time tor saving functions, etc. When I'm done with that, I'll do the 'real bussiness'. Like sending rpc commands to a remote server, sharing XML documents, opening remote XML documents, etc. What am I doing now: have some problems refreshing the TreeView widget. But I think I already know what to do. But now it's time to sleep. ZzZzz ... |
3,567,093 | male | 25 | Accounting | Libra | 12,June,2004 | It has been a week since the passing of President Ronald Regan. Seven days have been filled with bitter sweet moments and memories as this nation says farewell to one of our heroes. These are grounding moments of reflection for the country and for us as individuals. They give us pause for self-evaluation and they provide for us a window of insight into the impact one man can have on the world. True heroes are rare. Ronald Regan was one of my heroes. Regan contributed heavily to the image I hold in my minds eye of what true leadership looks like. It has been a privilege to be reacquainted with much of those images over this past week. His departure from public life left an empty stage upon which he has returned for a final farewell to a nation that loved him. Those who aspire to great things are lucky to have lived after Ronald Regan. He left for us a clear example of the value and importance of passionately working to improve the world. Reflection on Regan's life yields to those who are searching, a sure way in which to affect lasting and valuable change. I believe the late President would have advised those of us who are planning to lead this country forward to chiefly and genuinely care about our fellow man and to passionately pursue those things that are righteous and true. The political stage needs more candidates who have the strength to do so. Regan's strength and the example he set should be a model for us all, it demonstrates the impact of living a life of true purpose. Let this lesson be one which resonates within our hearts and inspires us to do the same. |
3,567,093 | male | 25 | Accounting | Libra | 07,June,2004 | On the advice of author Hugh Hewitt I’m starting this BLOG. Expect a new voice on a number of issues. I can tell you with confidence that the majority of my postings will have some type of business spin on them. So who is Dan Summers and why should you care? I’m an avid entrepreneur, finance specialist and graduate of Babson College. I bring drive and raw ambition to the plate and I will take efforts to insure that the items I post in this arena (BLOG) are insightful, accurate, captivating, and valuable to you, the reader. Feel free to comment and send feedback on what you read here. Life is an educational process and we can all benefit from exposure to other thinkers and their critics of our own ideas. I will do my best to bring my “A” game, I ask only that you take efforts to do the same. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Ok get this, I call Apple and the laptop is back in action. Joyus beyond belief I rush there and pick up the laptop. I am told I have maxed the bitch out. Upon returning home, I go and transfer a ton of files to the tower computer, which is pretty much maxed out as well. Everything works in it ecxept of course for Cubase. I'm just happy to have my baby back. Then I go out for a few hours come back, and around about midnight, while moving some files out of it, it crashes again. I almost crapped myself with disgust. Of course this happen when I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow and LA on Tuesday. I can't win. I'm off to apple literally right now. Bastards. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I'm off to Chicago this weekend to lend a hand to Jared as work continues on the new Chemlab record. I havent seen Jared in a year, so that will be great, and any excuse to see the Cracknation family is a welcome one. This record is coming along nicely, I might add... The hard-drive in my laptop decided to take a dive yesterday, but luckily I had mailed all my work on the album to Jason (Novak, my dear friend of cracknation.com fame, and producer of the chemlab album) before all this crap went down. I would have been in MUCH worse of a mood if it wasnt for Ash consoling me and then Signficiant Other coming home and getting me out of the house for Tapas (thanks G) and a trip to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Fortunately, any pending music work, including a remix of Pigface, was already finished or stored in my home computer. Fate of said laptop to be determined tomorrow. rrrrrrr. Last night, I went to see the play SALOME, starring Al Pacino, with everyones favorite college graduate, The Kidd. Pacino was hilarious and Marisa Tomei topless was worth the price of admission. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Welcome to MOGworld... |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Focused (read: the boring process of burning cd's) at the moment on the next aggression EP for THESE MILLION NIGHTS, which by the way, is my all time favorite aggression song. Ash's single mix so far is really hot. Lotta warmth to it. Remix kits are going out now. We've got the British , we've got the Russians, we have a few New Yorkers, and maybe even some midwesterner's remixing. And to top it off, we have a cover picture from Iceland. You can't get more international than that. Maybe it will come out this year. Maybe ;-) F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | My former neighbor John Cale has a new EP out called '5 Tracks' which I believe is a precursor to a full length album due out early next year. This is great stuff. Anyone who is interested in something different, interesting and catchy should snag this. He's a tad grumpy in real life (he once almost kung fu kicked Chris Connelly), but he's a fantastic musician, who, like his former bandmate Lou Reed, seems to improve with age (not counting Reed's dumbass Edgar Allan Poe thing). 'FRAGMENTS OF A RAINY SEASON' remains one of my all time favorite CD's. Many moons ago, Chris Link made Dr. Fury and I go see Cale at NYU while he was touring for 'FRAGMENTS' and to say it was one of the best things I ever saw would be selling it way too short. I've seen the man perform dozens of times since and he never ever once failed to be incredible. To my knowledge he hasn't peformed here in NYC for quite some time, but when he comes, it's an absolute must see. I have asked some of my other MOGpac members to post on this board about their likes/dislikes of all things music/film/books etc, cause honestly, I am bored reading myself. We all have such diverse tastes that I'm sure anyone who reads this as it progresses will wonder how we all haven't killed each other yet. In the meantime, I have started preparations for the new aggression remix EP for THESE MILLION NIGHTS. Remix kits are finally going out. I'm hoping to get a few Russians on this one, cause the Russians, you know, GET IT. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Acumen brought the pain to NYC and the way I am feeling this morning, the pain has been brought. First off, thanks to The Significant Other for putting up with the madness even though she had to be at work at 7am this morning. She probably doesn't read this, but she is appreciated. Having 5 guys crash in our tiny pad is not the most logical or easy. Because of the graduation party for Ciao Baby and his sister, S.O. and I were late for the acu-gig. We missed the DJA? set, but got the full brunt of the rawk. I was quite pleased with the set list, especially since they played my old favorite, fuckface, which came out around the time the acumen/aggression (back when it was me and PH) pally-dom started. Such memories. I think. Anyway, the new songs are good and despite the lack of the ILC material, I was happy to see them for what they will never understand was a good and appreciative crowd for NYC. Also, I remain a huge fan of the Acumen rythmn section. Dan Brill blows my mind on drums and I'm not just saying that because he was sporting an aggression T-shirt onstage. He's no Robin though, but someday maybe he can try to be as good ;-).... It was nice to see some familiar faces, like the kids from the message boards and thanks to Aaron the Pak for buying Irene and I some drinks. It took him 7 years to get around to it, but he did it, even though he is from a town made fun of on Sex In the City. the shock of the night was running into Charlie from Form, who just moved to NY from Dayton (Charlie and his bandmate Paul did a great remix for us on our newest single). And to Charlie, also, thanks for the drink. Late night drinks were had locally, which of course led to the usual debates/discussions/rows, etc. and which of course leads to the one thing men need in the morning..Egg bitches. You can email Jason Novak about that one. And now, a round of apologies.... First, to Matt Gentile. Acumen played 'Gun Lover'. I was told they weren't going to. Forgive me. it was good. Second, to Ryan 'The Sarcastic Bastard', who drank sour low fat milk in my house. I can't feel THAT sorry for Ryan as he CHOSE to be the merch guy for Acumen. That's masochism enough. No wonder why he's drinking whiskey at 11 in the morning. Ok, gotta clean this place up now. rrrrr. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Back from another trip to LA...saw Saintface last night at their biggest gig to date at the Mercury Lounge. Though they might argue, the gig was a success. Good crowd, band was tight, Peter's voice was in fine shape. They have new song called 'There Is a Room' that is really solid. However, someone needs to convince my friend Peter Saintface to record a goddamn album already. The man has 4 albums worth of songs and only has 1 EP out. Leaving these gigs without having the songs at home to listen to makes me freaking mental. The person who convinces him to record an album gets a free drink from me (and Dorigen)... Going back and forth with Jared on the new round of Chemlab demos, which I have just received. It's getting there. I think the record is at that point where it's a few weeks away from being great (and finished)...Jason/Jamie are now on tour, which gives Jared some time to go and record some more vox and think about changes, etc. I'm a big fan of this album. I'm gonna try and do some last minute synth parts before Jason and co. come to stay at MOGworld when their tour hits NY this weekend. In other news, the hypefactor live experience is currently being pondered...Since there are only 6 HF songs, I'm throwing around eclectic ideas from the days of MOG past. Kudzu Rail anyone? Live wresting at MSG next week, TWO nights in a row, God Bless you Matt Gentile. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Still out of it from the Chicago trip. Lotta work, too little sleep. I was literally in the studio till the cab picked me up from the airport. Jared seems happy with the results, which obviously is a good indiciation of where this is going. Meanwhile, Significant Other and I saw FINDING NEMO, which is quite good and touching. I was surprised by its 'adult' issues (death, single parenting, handicaps, etc.). I admit I got a lil choked up and S.O. found herself crying every 5 minutes. The animation is blow away. I still like MONSTERS INC. better. Off to LA tomorrow for 10 days. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Almost 3am here in Chicago...tired, beat, exhausted, and all things like that. Day two of Chemlab sessions have gone extremely well. We just spent the last few hours recording Greg 'Slo' Hand' Lucas on the guitar. He's adding that dirty chem guitar sound that the kids love. Jared jumps for joy. Jamie, Jared, and I took a section of a song omitted from the album and turned it into some chemlab goodness. Maybe it will make it onto the album. Jared's voice is in fine shape, he's two songs and a few overdubs away from wrapping the vox up for this beeyotch. Phrase of the day is 'Velveteen Pouch'. Don't ask. Crackhouse is always a fun place to hang out and work and the Novak/Brittion clan are excellent hosts who take good care of their guests. And yes, the new Acumen record is as dirty and nasty and as hard as Jason promised. My poor ears. Good friends, good times, good music being made...home tomorrow. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | A brief hypefactor update: I spent the past two days writing choruses and tracking guitars for two hype songs, although I cannot tell you which ones because I haven't a clue about song titles yet. I can say with certainty that one of them is not the track mentioned earlier by F.J.: 'They've Just' ('They've just... what?' I ask.) I have a feeling that one may be rejected, or removed and used as a new track in its own right, but we shall see this weekend. One element of the new recordings that diverges wildly from 'The Distracted Lover' is the amount of production and layering going on in the songs, especially in terms of the live instruments. For one track - a slower, funkier number with a brooding verse - I layered seven tracks of guitar on the chorus alone, from acoustics to 12-strings to a harmonized six string. This practice, while complex, thickens up the sound, adds texture with multiple instruments and incorporates new melodies into an otherwise straightforward riff. After I write the basic tune for a track, I put on a pair of headphones and listen to the song on repeat, searching for gaps in the part that can be filled in with new melodies and riffs. The listener will rarely be able to pick out an individual part when listening to the completed track, but each contributes to the melody, however subtley. I am in the middle of writing a retrospective of urlLink 'The Distracted Lover' recording sessions for the urlLink hypefactor Web site , much of it focusing on the creative process and the progression of each song. To jog my memory, I listened to the record on repeat while writing, and I am amazed at times by the sonic simplicity of the entire EP, both to its benefit and detriment. During the 2001 sessions - my first major undertaking as an engineer and songwriter - we rarely multitracked any individual instrument more than twice. While this was not a conscious choice (and more a product of our own inexperience), it ultimately complimented the song structures, which were simplistic to begin with. This time around, however, everyone in the hype gang is striving for something less obvious: melodies up front, but bolstered by highly experimental production. Sound design in particular has become a major part of the process, with F.J. leading the charge. While I am on the subject of musical sophistication, I have a few words about urlLink Gustavo Cerati . First, this is a man whose production values have grown exponentially throughout his career, and never once at the expense of solid songwriting. If you listen to his most recent solo work - urlLink 'Siempre Es Hoy' and urlLink 'Bocanada' - you will understand what I mean. The songs have infinite sonic depth, layering part upon part upon part, and always to the benefit of the basic melody. Were there a Frederick Law Olmstead of music, Cerati would be it; his simple, engaging songs rarely belie the great technical sophistication behind their creation. While watching Cerati live at Webster Hall on Wednesday night, I was amazed that his band - two keyboardists, a female singer, a bassist and a drummer - succeeded in replicating a great deal of that complex production live. Every effort was made to properly play the album live while also adding new sounds and melodies. The moody 'Bocanada' material was notably elegant as Cerati and band completely recast those tracks in a rock framework. I cannot wait for the bootlegs of this tour. Viva! |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | All you have to do is read my previous Cerati review and apply it to last night here in NYC, with a few noted changes: 1. You would think with the amount of money Webster Hall rakes in thanks to the millions of tourists, Long Islanders and Tunnell People they bring it weekly, the could turn on the freaking aircon. 2. Crowd was MUCH better than LA, a rarity in NYC. 3. Cerati thankfully didn't play the rap song from his album, which would have sent Ash home screaming bloody murder. 4. He altered the middle part of his set to fit on some more reworkings from his previous record Bocanada. Ace. I'm glad Ash and B got to see this so they have a good understanding as to where I am at in my head musically. Meanwhile, Chemlab should be done as I type. Looking forward to the final mixes, track order, etc. Now the fun beings. Web site and merch are discussed with Louche And finally, back to HF2, which has been itching at me. Lots of new plug ins, courtesy of Ash for me to play with in Cubase. FUN. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Lots of catching up today... Chemlab is in the home stretch. It's down to a few days, for real. Jared is at work with the Crackers to tweak and settle on a tracklisting. My views on that are in. In the meantime, the powers that be at the label have given the album a big thumbs up after hearing the bulk of it. Now the business begins, so it's emails and phone calls the bulk of the day. OXIDIZER is now slated for either the third or fourth week in October. There is initial discussion about a track appearing on a compilation, though that's not confirmed. It might possibly end up being the machine porn epic SCORNOCOPIA or the in your face rollercoaster rocker PULSE (aka WHITE ROOM BLACK NOISE though we're not sure which title to use yet). I've asked Ash to get involved on an aggression remix for Chemlab, not just because I know he would do something incredible, but because I'd love to see Ash get his hands dirty in the machine world for a bit. I need to get him hooked back to a computer and away from guitars just for a bit. Defcon Gilez (my pal and promoter of our UK extravaganza in 01) informs me the band he manages, Needleye, are remixing the aggression and could have something in a few weeks. These guys are hard and nasty. They are hurrying to wrap it up because have just drafted in a producer of some noteriety, also a friend of mine (and well known to industrial fans around the world and known especially to my advisor/lawyer/agent), to produce their new demo. I can't say who though! I'm a man of many secrets, sorry. the only reason I get to hear this stuff (and keep my day job) is because I'm good at keep it secret. It's no secret that Cerati is tomorrow night! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Back home at last...But I would like to vent against Apple and their hardware for a moment. How the HELL could they make a laptop battery that lasts only a few hours? This obviously was not designed for the bi-coastal types such as myself. Thousands of feet in the air, somewhere in the middle of the US today, I was in full swing on a new HF song called (at this moment) 'THEY'VE JUST...'. It has some haunting acoustic fingerpicking by Ms. Emmett, some broken beats courtsey of Baby B and Ash, and some melodic bassness from yours truly. Simple and moving. Anyhoo, I was just hitting my stride with the song , and the damn battery runs out. Time FLIES. I was so pissed. Luckily, S.O. was on hand to make sure the flight attendants provided me with enough tea to last the rest of the flight. Apple, you can make a 30 gig freakin' Ipod, why can't you make a 4-5 hour battery? Douches! Because of my bicoastal travels, Louche and I miss each other via Email today. He is in Chicago handling 'the details', which I think is the nice way of saying 'the record label bullshit'. There are certain matters that need my attention, I'm told. I had a stop-over in Cleavland and while I honestly have no clue as to where Cleavland is in proximity to Chicago, I was tempted to just say fuck all and head over to Cracknation. But honestly, I am glad NOT to be part of 'the details'. Jared informs me that the thing I was concerned about in my previous MOGblog update is not the case, but I await the full story. I think there is some last minute manuevering to throw some more on the album, which has a firm cut off in the can deadline of...um...'sometime this week'. It all depends on how much 'wiggle room' there is. Look, if it makes the album better, go for it, I say. In the meantime, I am told Inivisible is quite 'hot' for the new Chemlab album, now all they have to do is promote the shit out of it and treat it like the event it is. This album is a blockbuster and the second Summer of Hate is upon us (even though the record comes out this fall). I have agreed to do a remix for my pals in K-NITRATE. However, I will not be remixing K-Nitrate, but will be remixing their side-project Audio War, which I have never heard, but I am sure is loud and nasty. Could be good! The Russians have sent me a note letting me know they are hard at work on thier aggression remix. I am salivating for that one cause I think it will be amazing if they do it the way I think they will! I have come home to find Cerati tickets waiting for me. He plays here in NYC on Wed. Thank God! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | It’s no secret that I have a tendency to exaggerate a bit, hence the origin of the name Hypefactor (though that’s for another time). However, I am not exaggerating when I write that the seeing the Gustavo Cerati gig here in LA last night was a life changing experience. Lv23 (who redefines DANCE FEVER), Bradley J. Fox and I were all were blown away. I wont get too deep into it, but quite frankly, the man is a genius. He has an uncanny ability to write incredible and emotional songs that perfectly marry modern electronics to rock instruments and pop structure. It was a flawless 2-hour performance .The Palace here in LA has a REALLY large stage, so Cerati was able to take full advantage of the space. He was enthusiastic and animated and seemed to genuinely enjoy himself. He is such a thrilling musician to watch and is an incredible guitarist. You can’t help but be drawn in. He’s retained most of his excellent band of young musicians from the last tour (including his multi-talented sidekick, Falvius) and they were incredibly tight . Together, they were able to push the current songs to new heights while redefining the old songs to fit the current Cerati sound. It also helps to have a very young and hot back up singer (who I’m told is Cerati’s MUCH younger girlfriend…brilliant) to make sure the lads pay attention. It’s also the first time I have seen a drummer almost as incredible as mine. Everything about this show was first class and the music, as always, was inspiring. These guys are used to playing arenas in other parts of the world, and the entire presentation and dedication to perfection reflects that. Lv23 went to soundcheck and confirmed our belief that Cerati is a TYRANT when it comes to making everything sound perfect. He even went up to the soundbooth to mix certain things himself when he was unhappy with the mix. Unfortunately, there is one thing that Ash will hate in the set, and I intend to ask him to get me a drink or something at Webster hall next week when I know this particular song is about to start. For someone who has been in the business over 20 years, Gustavo Cerati continues to evolve and in my eyes, can do no wrong. In the same way seeing Revenge in 1989, the Sisters in 1991 and Ministry in 1992 effected me so significantly at 20, Gustavo Cerati defines the musical path I choose to make in at 30. In other news, Oxidizer has taken an interesting turn and might possible have a last minute guest appearance. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with this move, but we have to see how it plays out. Jared might be in Chicago by the time you read this sorting through everything. When talking to the producer today, I complimented him on the programming in a song called SCORNOCOPIA, a song I thought I had nothing to do with the writing of. He then informed me that it was I who did the programming that started the song and the melody was mine. This instance of me forgetting something like that is not an isolated incident. This happened I think on the first HF CD as well. I would walk into the studio and say “man, I love that, good job!” and then be told I did the part a week before. Do I have musical Alzheimers? Shit! F P.S. I wish I had seen Dave Gahan in NYC just to have something new to argue about with your Saintface Comrades ;-) |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | As an addendum to my comrade Matt's post about Saintface, via the American Heritage Dictionary... wan·der·lust n. A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [German : wandern, to wander (from Middle High German) + Lust, desire (from Middle High German, from Old High German. See las- in Indo-European Roots).] |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | One of the common denominators among the members of the MOGpac is that we are drawn to new music by performers who have been at the game for the better part of twenty years. The music industry being what it is in 2003 - and excuse me for being that guy who believes there are fewer and fewer significant new artists being promoted in this age - much of our discussion revolves around performers from the 1980s and 1990s that are still releasing solid recordings. There are risks involved in this practice, namely, severe disappointment (example: 2002's 'Release' by the Pet Shop Boys.) But there are plenty of veterans out there writing material that is passable, charming, even brilliant ('Music of the Spheres' by Ian 'Auto Tune' Brown.) Dave Gahan, the Depeche Mode singer-turned-solo artist, is no slouch performer or singer. But 'Paper Monsters' - his solo debut recorded while on hiatus from the Mode - proves that Dave can write a convincing pop album on his own terms. So convincing, in fact, that Martin Gore would be a dunderhead if he relegated Dave to the vocal booth on the next Mode record. Based on 'Papers Monsters' and Dave in concert - Matt and I had the pleasure of seeing him at the Hammerstein Ballroom yesterday, along with a severely intoxicated crowd - I would go so far as to argue that the solo Dave Gahan delivered what Depeche and bands of their ilk should have been doing for the past six years. The record is dark and intoxicating, the show is rowdy and defiant, and the whole package is cast in the form of stunning songwriting and production. Dodgy lyrics aside, Dave on record is everything only hinted at in modern Depeche: brooding ('Hidden Houses'), romantic ('Stay'), sage ('Hold On.) It works alone with a bottle of red wine, or when your S.O. is in for the evening. To stunning effect, 'Paper Monsters' live is exactly what it should be: a rawk 'n' roll show. The uptempo numbers are booming, raucous affairs with Dave dominating the stage, while the album's moodier tracks are steamrollers, slowly building to a crescendo. Much like Al Jourgensen of Ministry, Dave's newfound physical and mental health grounded the show - he looks alive, youthful, energized - and his band feeds off the energy of a 41-year-old man convincingly acting 21 on stage. To be noted: Dave even managed to enrich Mode standards - 'Never Let Me Down Again,' 'A Question Of Time,' 'Personal Jesus' - that have had the life beaten out of them by retro radio, DJs and the band themselves. The dancefloor reinterpreted by a rock band. Synthpop this was not. The watershed point of the show, however, was the second encore: Mode classics played on stand-up bass, acoustic 12-string guitar, acoustic drums and keyboards. Suddenly, 'Enjoy The Silence' didn't sound dated anymore. Regardless of what you think of 'Paper Monsters,' Dave deserves credit for single-handedly reinvigorating his band's back catalogue. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I'm burning new Chem-Mixes now again. Ive been through more blank discs than I own CD's this week. I can't write any more about how much I love this album, cause it's all I write about. i want you all to have it... Today, Grandpa Al makes Grandpa Factor's day when he writes on his website: 'WE START ON THE COCKS AND MINISTRY CD'S IN THE STUDIO STARTING AROUND AUG.15 (PRE-PRODUCTION) WE HAVE CONFIRMATIONS FROM: OGRE, GIBBY HAYNES,CHRIS CONNELY, LUC VAN ACKER, AND OF COURSE, PAUL, LOUIS, MIKEY, MAX, REY, AND MYSELF. WE ALSO ARE GETTING LUXA PAN RECORDS UP AND RUNNING TO RELEASE A LOT OF THE OUT OF PRINT STUFF. (PAIL HEAD, 1000 HOMO DJ'S, OLD COCKS, ACID HORSE, BLACKOUTS ETC. ETC. ETC.)' I just literally had two conversations with two different people about how they should be doing this shit. Well done Al! Cerati tomorrow. It's gonna own like no other. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Unfortunately, Raw at the Staples Center didn’t happen last night, but after a Looooong weekend at the San Diego Comic Con, I need all the rest I can get. 70,000 people and half a million square feet of Comic Con over the course of 4 days can be very draining. Poor S.O. has to deal with a ton of new toys and such in the apt, but I made sure that some of my purchases were NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS related (it’s like her favorite film EVER). For you genre film buffs, you may have read about a fan-film called BATMAN: DEAD END, which had quite possibly the biggest non-studio buzz at the Con. It was all over the net that this was the “best Batman film ever made” and that perennial fanboy demi-gods Kevin Smith and Alex Ross gave it their stamps of approval. A still leaked to the Internet looked just like Alex Ross’ interpretation of Batman. Naturally, my curiosity was piqued, so I set out to see this alleged “masterpiece”. Well, needless to say, it was quite the letdown, not because it’s bad, but because it is basically a costume/monster/fx reel for some commercial directors, not an actual three-act film. It’s like a student film with an unlimited budget. What they don’t mention is that it’s Batman vs. Aliens vs. Predator and an excuse to show-off the crew’s talents as a creature shop. I found it laughable, honestly, though the hundred plus fan boys and girls cheered as if Jesus had risen from the grave in front of them. Snooze. My suggestion is to buy the animated MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN DVD later this year to get a good Bat-fix. However, if you want to see DEAD END, check it out at: http://www.theforce.net/theater/shortfilms/batman_deadend/ Finally got around to start working on Hypefactor today. The process is slow and I don’t see it picking up in it’s pace, really. We’re writing some very complex stuff and the bulk of my time is sorting through the many different guitar and bass parts to see what works best together. It’s a fun process, especially when you have such a rich amount of material to choose from, but it’s certainly time consuming. Also, I don’t want to rush this one; I want to be able to make sure I deliver a solid first round of arrangements. In other news, the latest (and almost last) round of Chem-mixes has come in from Cracknation. This was the biggest bulk of new mixes in quite some time, so there is quite a lot to absorb. What’s most interesting about these new mixes is how the crackteam has pushed the machine rock envelope to a new level. The record is very warm, but chock full of machine manipulation. It’s gotten into that weird twisted cyber territory…and I mean that in a good way. Jared is flying into Chicago this week to wrap it up with the boys. I, however, will remain in LA before heading back to NYC next week, which is smart anyways, as too many cooks in the kitchen at such a crucial point could be counter-productive and quite honestly, based on what I have heard so far, I don’t think I could add much as they seem to have it nailed. For the record, I played a recent rough version of the album for my lawyer/agent/advisor who back in the day was an advisor and trusted confidant of the lab and she was blown away by Oxidizer’s “chemlab-ness”. This is a huge vote of confidence, cause if it sucked, or didn’t sound like Chemlab, she would be the first to tell us. Cerati in 2 days. Too good. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | My 'lovely underage girlfriend' and I were the sole MOGpackers to represent the most recent Saintface show on Saturday day night. The gig was held in what used to be known as the 'the Cooler' on 14th btw 9th and Washington (sidenote: my only memory of the Cooler was an AFI gig I was supposed to see there in November, 1999. I was so anxious for that show as it would have been the first time in two years that i had seen them. Unfortunately, I never made it to the show. I had gone home after work and was halfway out my door when I received a phone call from then recent ex-gf, who since is being referred to as 'the hussy'. She started a fight and held me up just long enough to have to miss the show. I then had to resort to seeing AFI the following night in SUFFOLK COUNTY at a biker bar. That's a whole other story. But upon seeing how small and nicely set up the COoler is, I was angered all over again...feeling 21 again...something that my lovely companion cannot claim.). The space is set up in a very cool way. Decent size stage that is rather low to the ground, couches and stools in the actual performance area; a separate bar area (yes Frank, they had Stella); and a totally separate lounge type area. Very cool space. My companion and I got to the venue at 11.30, just to time to catch the last two songs of the final support act, The New Years. I have to say - I liked them. Their look definitely needs polishing (bass player was sporting a sleeveless t (surfer style) and an eyebrow ring), but the sound was pretty good - hipster rock with more of an edge and even the occasional post-hardcore drone. I look forward to checking them out again. For the main event, Peter Saintface made sure he wouldn't remember it. Aside from that the band was tight playing mostly new tracks probably heard at the Mercury Lounge gig a few weeks back (by the by - they're back there in August - on a Saturday night. Well done!), and included one entirely new 'under-rehearsed' track. I wish I could describe it for you but I'm too tried. The set overall was very good eventhough I don't get to hear my faves from back in the '00. One lighter point of the evening: two Poontang girls made an appearance along with some Dutch dude who was there to have 'fun!'. No names, but when Peter sang a few words and pointed to one IP gal, she swooned hardcore. When the same happened to me, I felt overwhelmed with wanderlust. Dave Gahan on Wednesday night. Looking forward. Scary thing about this show: I checked ticketbastard.com this morning and tix were still available on the floor of the Hammerstein!!! Crazy, but he apparently plays some fun stuff, so I am excited. 'til the end' M. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I waited a few days before posting this, but the other night my lawyer/agent/advisor and I ventured to an obscure part of California called Costa Mesa to see the reunited original 5-piece Duran Duran in what was supposed to be their first US show in 18 years (unfortunately they threw in a club gig in LA the night before, thus making this the SECOND gig in the US in 18 years). It is no secret that Duran Duran are the first band I was ever a true fan of quite possibly the most important band in my life. And perhaps, with the exception of Skrew, believe it or not, I have seen Duran Duran more than any band. However, I never saw the original lineup as I was too young, so my first experience seeing Duran Duran live, was the NOTORIOUS era 3-piece line up at Madison Square Garden in 1987 (also the first for my lawyer/agent/advisor, though I didn't know her then!). For those of you old enough to remember, being a male duran duran fan in the 1980's was about as cool as being pro-hitler in the 1940's. Branded a 'fag', 'homo' or anything else for years as a teenager because I didn't love Motley Crue or Twisted Sister, I as Dan Hamill will attest, remained a loyal Duran Duran fan for 2 decades. And I never waivered once. So obviously this gig in Costa Mesa was important to us. I'm not even sure what my expectations were, but they were shattered and surpassed by the third song (mostly cause the sound blew until that point, but I chalk that up to being in an outdoor amphitheatre). I realized that at that point that for the past 18 years I have seen nothing but Duran Duran cover bands, cause THIS is the real deal. First, I was shocked at how good they look (always important), but nothing could prepare me for the incredible chemistry the original line up has and tremendous talent that the two members I had never seen perform, Andy and Roger Taylor, have oozing out of them. What they bring to the table is unbelievavle. It also no secret that to me John Taylor, co-founder of Duran Duran, is without a doubt THE single most underrated bassist of his generation (and inadvertanty inspired the 'Factor' name. Now reunited with Roger Taylor, his spirtual other half, the Duran rythmn section is second to none. I had been hoping since the day he left Duran in 1997 that John Taylor would return to the fold, and seeing him here made realize that he is the heart and soul of the band. And it's biggest fan. Every band needs that member who is unconditional in their love for the band. I can relate. They played the hits, they played album tracks such as NEW RELIGION and CARELESS MEMORIES with the energy that musicians half their age couldn't muster, and they played new songs that potentially rival the best of their back catalog. They also played some hits from their post Andy/Roger period and again, the two returning members added their own unique touches to songs such as COME UNDONE and ORDINARY WORLD that were fantastic. And did I mention how good they look? Back in New York recently, the VH1 'I LOVE THE 80'S' (I DONT love the 80's btw) poked fun at the alleged limited keyboard playing skills of Nick Rhodes, which only goes to show how stupid people are. Nick Rhodes pretty much invented the Duran 'sound'. When SAVE A PRAYER starts, and thousands of people swoon, who do you think created those synth sounds that tug at your heart and make you a big pile of mush? Genius. That I say Fuck You to the singer out of Def Leppard who wishes he had a quarter of Nick Rhodes' talent. Pour some sugar on THIS, you bitch. I don't wanna even get into the brilliance of Simon LeBon, who's voice has improved tremendously over the years and represents a lost generation of uninhibited, sexy frontmen who combine talent with charisma to cast a spell over their audience. He has charisma to spare and is full on. By the 3rd song I realized we were seeing something very very special. By the encore, my lawyer/advisor/agent said to me 'what MORE can they do?' and yet they do even more. These guys are playing for keeps and are very obviously determined to cement their legacy. I have never seen a band like this before. There is a reason this band has sold 70 million records. This isn't a comeback, this is something beyond that. It's not nostalgic. I don't know what this is, but this was one of the best gigs I have ever seen. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Literally. As I type this at 4:40 a.m. on Tuesday, I am burning discs of the new hypefactor sessions for F.J. to work on during his two-week California sojurn. This is the beauty of the modern home recording system - provided that he has the necessary files, F.J. can mix, modify and arrange any work we do in the studio while he is traveling or out of town. When flying, the majority of us sleep or watch 'Miss Congeniality' on the in-flight movie. The ever-efficient F.J., on the other hand, mixes. By the time he and I are both back in the same ZIP code, there will be a whole slew of changes and things will develop from there. Conveniently, I am off to Chicago tomorrow for a week-long holiday with a couple of the crew from school. I'll have copies of the new material along so that I can write more guitar parts at home, which will then be recorded and fleshed out in New York come the end of July. After Monday night's session, I began the tedious process of editing the new material and programming some drum loops. The synthetic drums are often the most difficult element to get right in a song's backing track. The reason: They must suit the song's purpose and be completely unique in tone and character. Dance music being, well, everywhere, the bar has been raised for rhythms because the tired ones are embarassingly obvious (hinting at laziness on the producer or programmer's part.) But the great ones - here I'll cite Telefon Tel Aviv, a current hypefactor favorite - stick in your head as much as a shimmering guitar hook. The time-consuming editing process is a significant departure from The Distracted Lover sessions at Sauna (my old apartment on Water Street at the Fulton Fish Market.) When F.J. and I met after pre-production in June 2001 to share our material, the arrangements of the five songs we chose to record changed very little during the next year. As a result, we only recorded what was needed - there was almost nothing in the way of extraneous takes or arrangement concepts. This time around, however, neither of us brought finished songs to the table at the start of the recording process. The six embryonic songs with which we are working emerged from hours of jamming in the studio, all of which was recorded direct to disk. As a result, a single song may have hundreds of takes and structural ideas associated with it, all of which will be picked through at some point. I have more to tell about Monday night's session, but I'll post about that after my flight and a belated Bastille Day celebration in Chicago. And for you squeamish types who never tried steak tartare, get over it! |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Guess, what? Today, I was invited to come play on my solo record. How cool is that? I get a call from Ash telling me he's going into the studio to work on my album and I'm more than welcome to come. Jesus, ok. Thanks for the invite (I mean that in good fun). As I type, Ash and Brandt are working on guitar parts for our more Cerati sounding track. Ash is giving us those dreamy e-bows that I love and Brandt is....Marring the song up a bit, if you know what I mean. I wanted this to be a rocker, but they are pulling it into a very cool direction. I, having recorded my bass and guitar parts for this particular tune, get to stare at some wrestling while listening to the lads record. The last time I did something similar, the song 'J-BAR' was written, so I am going with the flow. And the flow is quite good. An updated version of www.hypefactor.com is up and running. Check it out. S.O. and I had lunch with the legendary Paris Trout today. Paris is an ace Chicago soundman, road manager and basic jack of all trades. I first met him when he was an engineer on the aggression's FLOOD album, and he has since moved on to be an in-demand soundguy. Whenever he is in town, he makes a call and we hook up for a bite or a drink. I can't tell you how enjoyable his company he is. He's a great guy and I'm always happy to spend time with him. We urged him to get the Year of the Rabbit album, which is out tomorrow, and has been in constant rotation at MOGworld for a few days now. GET IT. I'm happy to report that PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN does not suck. it's good clean fun. Gore Verbinski, who also directed THE RING, is quickly becoming one of America's best mainstream directors. Hell of a director. The world of Chemlab is quiet today. The MOGpac reunion at the German Beerfest this weekend was very enjoyable and it was good to see the entire crew make it out (big ups to The Kidd for making it for a bit despite his bowel problems). Though I came home smelling like a homeless man, it was good to get the Pac gather on one big park bench at the retirement home to drink pitches of beer . Happy Bastile Day, and don't think we didn't have dinner at Les Halles tonight, cause we DID. mmmmmmm. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | The Chemlab artwork continues to shape up into something very special. It's been a big thumbs up all around. You'll see soon! In the meantime, more rough mixes arrive. This morning, via IM, Jamie and I review and discuss. We're on the same page, which is good. Because of the time difference, Jared will respond later. Almost there. Meanwhile, Jason's father in law, Russ, who is an excellent songwriter and a dynamic guitar player, came in to Cracknation to play over a Chemlab song called 'Force Quit'. He laid down a KILLER guitar solo that takes the song up to a new level. Russ comes from that Lennon/McCartney school of songwriting and guitar playing and he understands the ins and outs of a song. The stuff he plays swerves through this song like a bird. Well done and kudos to Jason for bringing Russ in. A rough version of www.hypefactor.com is back up and running. I have some new designs for it that should hopefully go up soon as well. Brandt should be appearing on here soon to give more perspective to all things Hype. I refuse to discuss my utter dislike for THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. Anna Poontang is responsible, though I would have seen the movie eventually. I'm dying to see PIRATES. Hopefully I won't be disappointed. Back to the mixes and then a mogpac reunion..at a retirement home. ;-) F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Well the guest stars SHINED last night, even though Ash forced us to record in the dark. Ash, of course, comes armed to the hilt with gear and Robin shows up being Robin, so you know it's going to be a fun evening. My only demand as 'boss' is that we lay down Robin's fingerpicking piece that I have been in love with. Other than that, it's free reign for anyone to do whatever they want. Ash JUMPS for the bass guitar. I'm not kidding when I say JUMP. So you put all these rockers in a room and what do you get? Soundtrack music!! moody, atmospheric soundtrack music. We wrote two songs, both of which sound like music for film, something I have been aching to do for sometime, but never really pursued. Ash's current obession is the bass guitar and his attention to it SHOWS, as he lends a unique rythmn to the material, which leaves me free to indulge in my Peter Hook fantasies, but at a new and subdued level. Robin is a master of the acoustic. Her fingerpicking piece, now titled 'They've Just...', is excellent. Brandt and I stared at each other a few times, knowing that we had something, new, special, different and excellent to add to HF2. When Ash is telling me to record strings, you know we're on a roll. I forgot how fun it was to sit in a room with a bunch of friends and just create music. And it helps that the music is amazing! Hopefully, this will be JUST the first round with these two... Chemlab artwork is rolling in and is MASSIVE. Like an idiot I first hated the cover image, wrote Jared to say so, and then an hour later I was in love with it and feeling like an idiot. Anyway, it fits the album perfectly and the guy doing this, Mike, at Burnlab is solid. The contributor to this album and the fan in me both now want this album DONE so I can just hold it and play it for my friends. I'm dying to give a copy of the Chemlab to the kidd and yes, even Mark Mohtashemi. F PS: Big ups to the Great Grendali for his hard earned SMACKDOWN 2 Ladder Match victory of the The Legend yesterday. It will go down in history as one of the all time great matches! |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Hypefactor day 3: Reviewed B's guitar work since the last session. SOLID. Because of new additions to songs, I had to go back and change or improve upon some of my previously recorded basslines. Started a new tune that now takes us into the Cerati territory I have been hoping to go into. There is a nice groove to this one and a great light synth line that meshes well with the live instruments. Makes you bop yer head as it goes along. Finally got my hands on a guitar instead of a bass for a change to write some leads. Had been dying to do that since THE MOTIVE. Great Wall was eaten. We have six songs in the hopper now. Tomorrow the guest stars arrive. I just realized you might not know who Cerati is. Go NOW to www.cerati.com. The man is a genius and an inspiration. Check him out. NOW. You'll thank me. Chemlab artwork decisions to be made this weekend. I'm excited to see the options. The artwork is being done by a guy named Michael who has an excellent website www.burnlab.com (no relation to Chemlab). In the meantime, the conversations now turn to tracklistings and where to place the sutures. The Deadline might get pushed a week to make sure everything is perfect. I think thats a VERY wise idea. S.O. has just made me tea. Sweet girl! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Jamie Duffy calls tonight to discuss Chemlab. In the almost decade I have known him, I don't recall him this excited about a project. He and I are rivet geeks to the end. We share that bond. I know. Needless to say the new mixes are coming from his twisted brain and deft hands, so my cup of tea is hoisted in his honour for a job well-done...(so far. the record ain't done yet). Today, i see the first print ad for Chemlab in Outburn. This shit is REAL now. Also in this issue is an ad for the aggression and Hypefactor. I'm sure it will take the label the same amount of time to figure out that Hypefactor is one word as they did realizing the Kidd is my younger brother. rrr Ash calls tonight to discuss Hypefactor. Ash, along with the in-demand Ms. Emmet, will bring much to the table this week. He updates me on Ass Cobra. I update him on HF and Chemlab. We express our mutual excitement for the Cerati gig on the 30th. I predict some great music to come out of the aggression's 'Power Station/Arcadia' phase. Matt Gentile posts the first non-F.J. blog entry. THANKS. Matt is correct, I did in fact throw a temper tantrum regarding a new STAR WARS video game, which is NOT for PS2, but for the dreaded X-BOX (christened by me that very night as a 'F**K BOX). Matt and his lovely underage girlfriend invite me to drink beer with them and old German people this weekend. Brandt IM's to say 'I'm laying guitars down for you bitch'. Now THAT is progress. Matrix's remix of the aggression song 'THE LION's DEN' gets airplay on CYBERAGE RADIO (http://www.cyberage.cx). Very exciting. S.O. goes out for the evening with the ladies. I stare at the Episode 3 WebCam. I watched them do makeup tests for Kit Fisto. You have no clue who that is, right? Oh I do! I love having a 5 year old cousin who, like me, has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things STAR WARS. Back to the studio for tomorrow for HF Day 3. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | This recent trend of exclusivity among game producers is REALLY beginning to irk me. I own a GameCube and an XBOX - why? because certain games come out on certain platforms. Owning the GC is key, however, because more obscure titles have been released (like Eternal Darkness) that are brilliantly fun and very challenging - it's not the juvenile machine most non-believers think it is (besides, how juvenile is the next Rogue Squadron). My good friend and fellow gamer FJ (PS2 owner, btw) and I enjoyed an evening last night filled with professional wrestling and a couple of S.O.'s and one G. Aside from a good match or promo or two, the highlight was watching the game ads and wondering which platform it was going to be on. the first was the aforementioned 'SW - Rogue Squadron' - exclusive to GC; the next was 'WM XIX' - exclusive to GC. The third was more exciting: 'SW - The Knights of the Old Republic'. The suspence was near painful...XBOX. FJ then let out a few unmentionables as he relayed his disgust with the platform exclusivity that is over taking the gaming world. We then got a few kicks because the red neck trucker game is available for all platforms - FJ was happy to see he got something. I send this plea out to the game companies and developers of the world...have a heart. don't make us spend more money than we can already afford to go out and buy the latest gear just to play ONE or TWO games. Make it a level playing field for the consumer. Don't be dicks. M. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | In between the new Hypefactor sessions (and until the new aggression remixes come in), my musical attention turns to Chemlab. Granted, my role at this point is cheerleader (and sounding board for Jared), but the focus is still on the music and giving my input towards making this the best possible Chemlab is a major priority. Being asked to work on this album has been like getting called up to the Majors after being in the Minor Leagues for a decade. Like Bull Durham (maybe). So I feel some pressure and I know, as my S.O. will attest, that this pressure is totally self-inflicted. The newest round of Chem-mixes came my way today and the progress is shockingly good. I’m so impressed by what is coming out of Chicago. The Cracknation crew, as producers, have really stepped up to what could be their best produced album to date (The last ILC record being my favorite thus far). As a musician who has written and performed on the record, I am happy with the results. Also, I am satisfied that these songs and sutures appeal to the massive Chemlab fan I have been for most of my adult life. Chemlab has a unique fanbase, and my concern is that regardless of how good the album is (and it’s REALLLLLLY good), the “kids” (as we call them) will still find fault with it because certain people are not involved or it doesn’t sound like 1994, etc. I’m shocked sometimes how hardcore fans of bands cannot accept musical evolution. I like evolution. I’m one of those people who likes Depeche Mode’s SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION more than MUSIC FOR THE MASSES and U2’s ACHTUNG BABY more than THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE (Robin will kill me for saying that). Growth is fun when it works like it did with those two Flood-Produced albums. Love and Rockets went dance, and went crap. The open-minded will love the new Chemlab. The fools stuck in 1994 can never ever be pleased. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | The first round of Hypefactor guest stars have been contacted and have agreed to pop into the studio this week to bring their unique stylings to the table. Knowing these first two guest stars quite very well and knowing what they are capable of, I'm psyched and honoured to have them come in. I stopped into the studio today to handle some Chemlab stuff (nothing major, just a few things Jared asked me to put together), and of course I had to pause to listen to this weekends musical results. I'm jazzed. Completely by fate and fate alone, my cameo at the studio today coincided with a delivery from Great Wall. An almost tearful reunion. Going back and forth with the Chemcrew about the mixing and now the bullshit associated with releasing the album (i.e. artwork, credits, publishing, yadda yadda) begins. I heard the instrumental demo of a song called ATOMIC AUTOMATIC and I'm particularly pleased with how it's sounding. VERY Chemlab, very heavy, very nasty. mmmm. Jason sent me an update from the CrackStudio to tell me Mr. Duffy's dirty little paws have gotten a hold of some of these songs. I don't think anything pleases me more than a motivated Jamie Duffy. As this record develops, my confidence in the production team grows. Chemlab is in good hands. And to top off the evening, I just found out that 88.7 WRSU FM, New Brunswick, NJ radio is spinning the track INFRINGEMENT from the Hypefactor EP. Nice! Should be a busy week. Lots of studio time planned. Maybe someone from the MOGpac will write as well ;-) F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Day 2 of the new Hypefactor sessions were again productive and successful. The rocker I mentioned yesterday has developed nicely. It now has a hard chorus and some sweet wah wah guitars. Upon reviewing the material so far, which is now up to 5 songs worth, I'm noticing a Joy Division undertone to it. Not in an obvious way, like say, with Interpol, but more in modern context. At the end of the day, we pinpointed what additions are going to be needed for these songs, and that is mostly some guitar work. Once that is done, hopefully before my next LA jaunt this month, I will then take the songs and begin arranging. While thinking ahead, I realize that we need to quicken the pace with the second batch of songs. I want it to move a bit faster in places. But this is all embryonic, but the melodies are strong and so far it's a real big step forward. It was fun just sitting there reading NME while saying 'yes' or 'no' to potential drum loops. Rough, innit? I am sickened by the news reports of terrorism at a rock festival in Moscow. I think it's no secret that MOGpac is very pro-Russia and the thought of such violence in that part of the world, especially after having just played there, effects all of us. The fact that this was an act of violence against kids at a rock concert makes this even worse. The day ended with G and I checking out TERMINATOR 3. I was shocked at how intentionally goofy it was. Arnold is given tons of one-liners, and most are quite funny, but it takes you right out of the drama. Its hard to take seriously. It's also Cameron By Numbers. It's entertaining, but it doesn't really add anything new to that universe. The Birdinator (as I call her), is just a normal hot blonde. Nothing special, so you never accept her as a threat. I see birds like this in LA all the time. When they introduced Robert Patrick in T2, he was unusual looking and you never saw these FX before. Now its just some actress and the same FX. They needed to find an otherworldly knockout who looks like no one else, sorta like Angelina Jolie when you first saw her. The one positive was that the guy who plays John Connor, who I believe is Nick Stahl, is a million times better than that crackhead Ed Furlong, who I doubt could have carried this movie the way Stahl does. The movie was fun for sure, but Cameron ain't losing any sleep. Though I am. Back to the Lab tomorrow. I think. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Since yesterday was Day 1 for the new Hypefactor material, I've decided to keep an ongoing journal about this record so a year from now I can look back and see what this album eventually started as and how much it either changed or stayed on course. Plus I want to see how scattered my brain really is when it comes to doing what I love the most, which is making music. Day 1 was very productive. Surprisingly actually. It was very casual and the ideas were flowing. The first Hypefactor record started from songs that either Brandt or myself had already written and we would play over what already existed. This time it was starting totally from scratch usually from a simple 4 measure drum or synth loop. Already the sound is different. We've got four tracks in embryonic form and they seem darker, a little depressing, though the last song we started working on was a rocker. I'm interested in seeing that one come together. Having not written on my own (i.e. not in a band atmosphere or with a producer riding me) in quite some time, it was a pleasure to just sit and play bass. I had spent the last year or so either just doing remixes, writing for Chemlab, or writing with the aggression in the rehearsal space (where Ocionic and Wedding Song were born), so I wasn't sure if I could immediately get back into the swing of writing for myself. However, I was more than ready and never really stopped for a second (other than the customary Wendy's break. thats when you KNOW I'm in the zone). I think it was the same thing for Brandt, who is a lot quicker of an engineer these days. I was jumping from bass to keyboards like a kid who needs ritalin and he kept up withour losing a beat. Today is day two. I'd like to think we can pump out maybe 2 more. Once we have about 6 ideas down, I want to start bringing people in to add over this stuff. I hear things and I'll say 'this needs (insert name here)' Last time, we didn't do the guest star thing till later in the process. This time, I want people to be in the early stages to help shape the songs. At the same time, I would like to have different people come in trigger a few new ideas. For example, Robin has guitar piece I want to lay down and Ash has an ambient piece I fell in love in when I accidentally downloaded it off his hotline account. I hope to bring in some non Mogpackers as well some OLD schoolers. We shall see. The other benefit to this is that the studio is down in my old seaport neighborhood, so I am looking forward to my reuniting with the greatest Chinese take out of all time, Great Wall. A wonderful thing indeed. More after day 2! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | It's a national holiday. Everyone is travelling or bbq'ing or taking it easy. Of course, I will have none of that as I am literally packing up the bass to get started on the new round of Hypefactor songs. Should be fun and interesting. Chemlab update: First from Chicago: Vocals are done and the album is officially in the mixing stage now. I think Mr. Duffy has gotten his hands on a few of the tunes so you KNOW good things are happening. From NY: I spent a few hours at Brandt's studio yesterday going through a cassette tape that Jared gave to me containing two full sides of old Chemlab demos from their East Side Sessions. There is so much incredible stuff on this mother. I immediately wrote Jared a threatening letter that we eventually had to go back to some of the songs that never saw the light cause there is a ton of good ideas on this that were never completed. Man, gimme some of the drugs they were on back then making this awesome music! As usual, I have gone out and bought far too many discs lately. Everything from new Ogre (really good), Hate Dept (snooze), Type O Negative (a good return to form). But nothing and i mean NOTHING beats the long awaited live album from Primal Scream, called 'Live in Japan'. This Japanese only release is without a doubt one of the best live albums I have ever heard and I can't stop listening to it. if you are even remotely a fan, this is worth seeking out. As a hardcore fan of this band, I am blown away. I saw them earlier this year and loved it, but this disc surpasses that by a million times. It's one of those rare albums that makes you wanna go and be in a band. Incredible. In other incredible news, the GENIUS that is Gustavo Cerati is doing a rare tour of the United States this month. To say there are happy faces in the MOGcamp would be an understatement. I'm seeing him in LA as well. DONT MISS HIM. What a trip to LA this is gonna be: the reunited Duran Duran, The San Diego Comic Con, Raw at Staples center (thanks AL), and Cerati, plus Brad Cramps bachelor party. oh yeah, I will work too ;-) Have a good, safe holiday, kids. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Spent the bulk of the working on two things: 1. The new HF track SOLAR (now jokingly called SOLARIS in my computer). Took a long time to get into this track because I wasn't familiar with a lot of the tracks (mostly Summer Douche's 200 guitar tracks) and I needed to sit and listen to Ash's loops which are REALLY cool. I would say I spent a good 8 hours on this one. My initial version was over 8 minutes long, but as of this moment it's just under 6. I'm going to sleep on it and then decide if any more changes are needed. Then we'll commit it to mp3 and pass it out to the Factor Corp for further development. This song cries for the vocals of Peter Face. 2. Chemlab art and other business things pertaining to OXIDIZER, it's follow up, and a new F.J./Jared collaboration that I hope becomes the project I do after HF2. I have been quiet about Chemlab as of late, mostly because it's now just a matter of waiting for the record to come out. There is a lot of activity behind the scenes. I'll learn more perhaps when I'm in Chicago this weekend for Bradley J. Fox's wedding (S.O. and I are stopping at Crack Central to see the 'family' on Friday night) I am obsessed with the MTV show NEWLYWEDS. That Jessica Simpson is a nightmare. I just turned 31 years old as I wrote this. Blog Blog Blog. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | We ventured to Brooklyn last night to check out the Sigur Ros/Bjork show. First off, I am a dead sucker for anything in Coney Island as I spent a lot of good times there as a kid. Of course we had to get us some Nathan's Hot Dogs. I hadn't been to the Coney since I beat the poo out of John Darryl Sparks on the beach during the recording of ALTAMONT, so that's quite a ways back. For the record, I'm not a violent man, but Sparky provoked said beating and Former Aggression Vocalist Turned Important Screenwriter cheered me on approvingly (and HE later smacked around John Darryl Sparks for worse than I ever did. Again, provoked) So we got to the baseball field just in time to watch Sugar Rolls. I don't think it's any secret that I am not the biggest fan of this band, but I am loyal to Iceland so I decided to give it my full attention. Over the years, there have been several cases in which a band I didn't like on record totally won me over live. Fortunately, I am happy to say that this was the case with Super Ross. I totally understood after the first song why people liked them. First off, their musicianship is stunning. The arrangements are bizarre and the approach to performance is unique. Anything goes with these guys, and they have an amazing string quartet to that adds tons of emotions to the songs. And that's just what this band is, pure emotion. The singer is a beast who is able to bring these songs over the top. The songs build and build, oftentimes to a beautiful climax. Anyway, really good stuff. I was very very impressed and happy to be proven wrong. For some reason, I have never been able to connect with Bjork. I have always appreciated her and her work, but I never went out of my way to get her albums, nor have I ever seen her live (I think I saw the Sugarcubes once), so I welcomed this opportunity to see her in action. Again, like her opening act Salmon Roe, I was really impressed, especially with the set up that included a string section, a harpist and guys with laptops (I think, it was hard to see from where we were). I cannot believe that voice comes out of that midget. Again, the emotion of the songs was intense and the occasional pyro and firework helped punctuate some of the big moments (wonder what Ash thought of those!). The bulk of the set consiseted of very dramatic songs focusing on the strings with broken beats (am i right, Ash?) Towards then end, they broke out the dance beats and really got the crowd really hopping. I would like to have seen a more diverse set, combining the dance and the dramatic songs throughout, but honestly, it's a minor complaint. Time flew quick and now I can understand why Bjork is such a phenom (as we say in wresting). My only other complaint are the hipster morons who were at this gig. I would not be surprised if Ash killed someone, cause I was that close. Hipsters need to GO, despite my girlfriends enjoyment of making fun of them (I can't blame her). This show honestly should have been like in Carnegie Hall or something, not a baseball field in Brooklyn. But Icelanders and Hot Dogs are a solid mix! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | One thing I forgot to mention in today's post: For some time now, F.J. has been clamoring for a song on the record that embraces the vibe of Gustavo Cerati's ' urlLink Artefacto .' I've had a riff kicking around for some time, and while working on it today I think I found what he is looking for. More on this in the next two weeks... |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | As of 5 p.m. today - Saturday - there are enough guitars on 'Solar' to injure a small animal. So much for minimal. Honestly, though, I could not help myself. The track captured my imagination right off that bat in a way that few do. It has a slow, funky shuffle - ' urlLink When The Levee Breaks ' meets ' urlLink A Northern Soul '-era Verve - that lends itself to all kinds of psychadelic jamming. I layered echo-drenched 12-string parts, harmonized e-bows, wah-wah'ed funk lines. Had I the time or money for urlLink draw , this would be the track to which I would smoke. I even added an extended track of urlLink theremin , which previously made an appearance on the ' urlLink Theme From J-Bar .' Now poor F.J.'s job is to sort out the twentysomething tracks of instrumentation. My realistic expectation is that half of what I recorded will be wildly altered or removed altogether, but that is OK. While I enjoy jamming and layering parts on these songs, ultimately everyone on this record subscribes to a 'song first' mentality. In other words, if the part does not work for the song, it goes. Plain and simple. This working method also happens to be F.J.'s strong point as an arranger. I have never known him to discard a part that helped a song, and at this point in our long working relationship, I have the utmost trust in his discriminating ear. If something gets cut, it happens for a reason. The process of arranging and cutting is also eased by the fact that there is little to no ego about individual parts among the members of this project. In all my time working on hypefactor, I have never known someone to piss and moan about their part being cut from a song. Well, there was that one time that all of F.J.'s bass parts were removed, and he went on a bender that ended with him capsizing his sailboat during the urlLink Fastnet race. But that's another story altogether... Speaking of guitar parts, on Thursday night Ash played some sweet parts on a urlLink Gibson ES-330 in between bouts of programming. His playing really stands out, and he clearly has an instinctive ear for a good hook. Like me and urlLink Johnny Marr , Ash takes many of his cues from urlLink The Cure's Robert Smith , a fine guitarist who has never quite received his due as a player from urlLink the rock elite . Perhaps it was the urlLink hair ? |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I had chosen not to post about last nights session as I felt Brandt captured it almost perfectly. Almost. What he states below about my 'directive' to keep the new song 'minimal' is in fact, 150% incorrect. If you read below, my intent with the song, and I remain quite clear on this point, is that the GUITAR playing in the song should be minimal, not the song itself. I feel the key to this song is to keep the amount of guitar tracks down to a minimum. if anything, if I had wanted to keep the song 'minimal', the last person I would allow near the song is Ash. Anyway, I would like to reiterate that Ash was a freaking CHAMP last night and my 'let it flow' approach to producing this track brought out the best in these two chumps. If I thought something sucked or I had a better idea, you KNOW they would have heard from me. (Of course you know, fucking Brandt has 200 guitar tracks now thinking in his underage brain that the 'minimal' thing is out the door. Just wait till I arrage this sucker.) And yes, watching Ash watch the monster Brock Lesnar beat the living hell out of the one-legged Zack Gowen was priceless. In other news, I finally defeated the PS2 INDIANA JONES AND THE EMPEROR'S TOMB. Overall, I loved the game, though I didn't love all the supernatural shit at the end. However, that is applicable to the franchise and the makers of the game are to be commended for another great game that was totally worth the price of admission (thanks to the former high school classmate turned college roommate turned comic book expert buddy). Former high school classmate turned college roommate turned comic book expert buddy has shown me a preview of the upcoming BATMAN game, but before that, I think STARSKY AND HUTCH is going to be the next big addiction, or most certainly the new SMACKDOWN game. The big letdown of the week comes from my hero Jackie Chan who, with THE MEDALLION has single handedly killed the 'Jackie Chan Genre' by going against everything that made it great. The film is horrible and sends the asian action film back 20 years thanks to the utter disregard for EVERYTHING that makes Jackie Chan films great. Shame on you Jackie, Sammo and director Gordon Chan. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | F.J., Ash and I had an extremely productive evening in the studio yesterday, and all four or five hours of the session were dedicated to the recently-unearthed 'Solar.' If you read or recall my belated post yesterday, I was quite apprehensive about this session because of F.J.'s directive to keep the song very minimal. While I am a fan of minimal recordings, I am not a fan of recording minimally. I like records that use many layers to sound mammoth — the whole greater than the sum method of production — and also those recordings that are multi-layered but are mixed in a way that emphasizes sparseness and empty space. I knew my natural inclination to take up 13 or 14 tracks with guitars alone was going to create problems on this song. Well 'minimalism' promptly went out the window yesterday, and we have Ash to thank for it. While F.J. watched urlLink a one-legged wrestler get the crap kicked out of him on national television, I cued up the track for Ash and he pulled up his urlLink loop library . It should be noted that the man is a connoisseur of electronic sounds as well as a fastidious producer. His taste in programming - rhythm programming in particular - calls for an obscene amount of creativity on the artist's part, and his own work always exceeds these high standards. As he plowed through loop after loop, we knew we had something good going on. The track's density grew exponentially in the next two hours, with Ash adding everything from funky rhythms to a brilliant synth line that is similar in tone to NewOrder's introduction to ' urlLink Crystal .' Midway through his computer-based jam session, I picked up a guitar and started jamming along to his wall of rhythms. It was like having a live drummer in the room. I quickly worked out five or six parts for the verse and chorus, and F.J., like a wise producer, sat back and let it happen. The tune really came together for me last night, and Ash's rhythmic instincts and F.J.'s hands-off production technique were the elements that allowed it to happen. All around, a brilliant evening. I was quite elated today to find urlLink 'The Distracted Lover' listed on Amazon.com . While this is far from earth-shattering, I am extremely gratified that the CD is available so easily. Both F.J. and I have some rather esoteric musical interests, and we are all too familiar with the arduous process of tracking down records by bands with little to no distribution and promotion. Now if some kid listening to college radio in Trenton hears 'The Sweetest Soul,' he won't need to jump through hoops to track us down. Nice work, urlLink Tinman . Less than one week until urlLink Duran at Webster Hall . in the meantime, F.J. and I were browsing eBay for urlLink Power Station tour jackets ... |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Brandt is a young douche who is paying $300 to see Duran Duran. That I respect. While he is quick with the wallet, he is slow with the posting F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | As you will probably note, F.J. beat me on my last post by about 10 minutes. Hence, I now look foolish for bragging about the fact that he hadn't posted yet. Again, shit. And yes, wouldn't you pay $300 to see urlLink this ? |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | For weeks, if not the entirety of the hypefactor sessions thus far, F.J. repeatedly insisted that he recorded a moody piano part for a song dubbed 'Exist,' one of four or so that are quite well-developed at this point. The issue came up every time we listened to monitor mixes in the studio, and F. never hesitated to make a snide comment about my having deleted this brilliant part from the song, thereby ruining the entire album. And for as many weeks, I insisted this was a load of bollocks. 'Exist' emerged from a demo of a song I attempted with another band about seven years ago that I modified drastically in August 2000. I have a lot of pride invested in the track, and I knew there was no way I would have lost a part for this song were it as amazing as F.J. recalled. Well, I was wrong. But only about 40 percent wrong. While sorting through files on the computer before my trip to Chicago last week, I came across a Cubase file called 'Stay' that I thought was nothing more than a drum loop I programmed last summer. Again, I was only partially wrong. It was indeed a galloping drum loop I wrote the summer before, inspired by the vintage techno of the urlLink NewOrder-Chemical Brothers collaboration 'Here To Stay.' But I had forgotten about the fact that, during our first or second session of the summer, F.J. and I slowed it down to about 90 b.p.m. He added bass... and piano. Shit. To say F.J. was pleased would be a slight understatement. He is right - the riff was pretty good, and we built on it last night by adding some synth parts and guitars. I was told that Pink Floyd was my inspiration, and we also worked out a chorus riff that hugged the minor key piano and bass parts nicely. I know already that the track will be a struggle to complete. My natural instinct as a guitarist and producer is to take a urlLink Phil Spector 'Wall Of Sound' approach to recording, and I will have to resist the impulse to layer guitar upon guitar and effect upon effect with this track. I am sure that F.J. would rather he told this story first, but I beat him to the punch. But the way I see it, he has me to thank for the fact that we found the song in the first place. Of course, I am also the one who ' lost ' the track all those weeks ago. But normally he would have been up at 8 or 9 a.m. writing this. Too much ' urlLink Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ' the night before, perhaps? Pick up the slack, F! |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Dropped into the studio last night. Had no agenda really, I thought originally we were going to have Robin and Ash in there, but both bailed. Speaking of Ash, he handed in a rough draft of THEME FROM PROPAGANDA and I am quite happy with the results. I think it’s off to a really solid start and has achieved what I was hoping to have on this album, a good house track to serve as the centerpiece. Besides some minor mix notes as well as a few structure ideas, this track is well on its way. It was a perfect first track to listen to in my new Ipod (THANKS IRENE!) Anyhow, got to the studio and Brandt unearthed a track we started last month in the initial sessions and then somehow was forgotten. It consisted of a drum loop, enough basslines for a verse and a chorus and my long lost piano that I thought I had done in the song EXIST. I had been ranting and raving for the first month of this album that I had done piano somewhere and it was lost. Needless to say, it was nice to be justified that I am not crazy and we now have our eighth song for HF2. We re-recorded some of the bass that I wasn’t 100% on and then I threw down some sci-fi strings that Ash will hate. Brandt played some sweet guitars, and I tried to steer him toward a “less is more” approach to this song. the results were akin to David Gilmour meeting Richard Ashcroft. Atmosphere is the name of the game for this tune, which now has the working title of SOLAR. We’re back in the studio tonight, hopefully joined by ash and possibly Young Oscar Hess aka The Kidd. He’ll be the first person outside of the core four to hear the work in progress. As evidenced by his work on FLOOD and THE DISTRACTED LOVER, the Kidd is the person you want to have come in and give you a fresh perspective on the material. Besides being my alleged younger sibiling, he is the only man I know besides me who has seen Marisa Tomei’s boobs in person. It’s a unique bond to share. I hope he makes it. Had a long catch up session with original MOG member and former aggressioner Chris Link, who is impressed I have several of his F-11 songs in my Ipod. Link is a talented musician who I learned tons from in my formative years. Also, he got me into stuff like John Cale, Lou Reed and other cool stuff when we were young at NYU and I am forever in his debt (though I got him into Nick Cave!). I have invited Link to get in on HF2 while we are still writing. I’ll see him in Chicago next week and we will discuss further. Further to an entry below, after tons of Duran Duran fans crashed the ticketmaster server during the internet pre-sale, I got crazy lucky and was able to purchase tickets to see the Durans at Webster Hall on my birthday next week. Normally I would brag about this and poke fun at my comrades who didn’t get tickets, but I got VERY VERY lucky and without Matt Gentile telling me the tickets were back up, I’d be watching THE MEDALLION on my 31st birthday. VERY VERY VERY lucky. Fate maybe. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Post blackout, Danny Boy, S.O. and I braved the hipster nightmare that is Piano’s to check out the glam man known as Saphin. First a little back story: A few years ago, while killing time at Luna Lounge, Danny Boy, Tom (excuse me, THOMAS), and I stumbled across a band playing what sounded like the soundtrack to VELVET GOLDMINE (The best soundtrack for the worst movie). Intrigued, we watched their entire set. The singer, who is Saphin (nee Jeff Saphin or JEFF) had the best elements of Ziggy-Era Bowie (including costume changes and a dressing room “tent”) and the band itself was INCREDIBLE. They had a guitar player who out-Bauhuas-ed Daniel Ash, a drummer who looked like he belonged in 25 Ta Life and a bassist who could best be described as an Israeli New Romantic. And this worked!!! And of course, they looked fantastic, so totally different, yet it all fit. This was one of those special bands in which you knew that if one element was different, it would flat-out suck. Together, these guys rivaled any major label band out there. Glam is a delicate beast to do properly and these guys tamed it and in my humble opinion, modernized it. Danny Boy was even E-mailing Saphin to make sure they would play their now classic I’M NOT GAY. Let me tell you, you have to be an amazing band to get someone like Ash to listen to songs like SEX IN THE NAME OF GOD and DAYGLO HALO. Nuff Said. They, like Saintface, became the band to see, and we were all huge fans. And then, at one gig, JEFF announced “he” was going away to record an album and would be taking some time off. We were sad, but we couldn’t fault him (hopefully them) for wanting to make a record, at least now we could have the songs on CD! Plus, you could always surf their site, where you can learn all about JEFF, but really none of the other guys, which was annoying. Brandt ran into the guitarist, Evan Evangilista, one day in a train station and he ran away when approached. Then Evan started showing up in a band called Essex. Not a good sign… Well, who knows what happened in between, because they did the record, and it was mediocre (and a total rip off, ask Matt Gentile, who, like me paid something like 30 bucks for a cd-r of this album). I don’t know if JEFF fired the rhythm section of they walked or what have you, its not my place to speculate as I don’t know the circumstances, but the record reflected none of that wonderful band we followed around for a year or so. Like Saintface, the frontman is the main driving force, but unlike Saintface, the band was made the frontman a star. No offense to my friends in Saintface, but the Saphin band had a unique chemistry straight off the bat that was tight and fierce. The songs were GOOD, but GREAT when that band played them. Saintface luckily has great songs (and not enough on CD, PETER!). Then JEFF started playing again, but acoustically, which I didn’t go see as I am loyal to that band, then new band members started appearing on the website, and I wrote them off immediately. Then the decision was made to check out the all-new live band JEFF had assembled on Saturday night…It started off promisingly enough, as Saphin, in orange jumpsuit, went into the crowd offering people chips. And then the band played… Well, S.O. didn’t make it through the first few songs, and quite Frankly, I couldn’t blame her. JEFF has a really good keyboard player (who actually adds to the material), a really decent guitarist, and a solid drummer, but that’s the problem. They’re all individually solid, but they are NOT Saphin. And to add insult to injury, Evan Evangelista was playing BASS. What the hell is that? It’s like Mick Ronson playing bass for Bowie. You don’t want the great guitar player who defined these songs playing BASS!!! UGH. The new guitar player lacks the style and substance of Evan. He is a power chord guy, and he can rock out, but the point is, Saphin is not power chord rock. I want Evan, not some guy who looks like Matthew Lillard. The problem is, these guys are good, REALLY good, but they have to compare to the previous incarnation, which was magic. Maybe they will develop in time…though probably into something different, and not something I would find interesting. And what can I say about JEFF. He was once a glammed up androgynous alien half-breed that exuded irony like none other. Now he just seems pissed and looks like he wants to be in Interpol. The sexy innuendo is replaced by angst and it doesn’t suit those songs at all. He did show some signs of life during I'M NOT GAY, but it was too brief. Honestly, he appears to be an egomaniac, and I hope he didn’t piss off the other band members or did something stupid like fire them cause then I would be REALLY pissed at JEFF. The costume changes are there but the fun is gone. Are Essex any good? F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | En route back to NY finally. Because this LA trip was so hastily put together, I flew out of Long Beach, which is a timewarp to the old tiny airports of the past. Think CATCH ME IF YOU CAN with high tech security and you get what I’m saying. Even had to walk out to the tarmac to get on the plane. LOVE that (see previous Iceland/UK 2001 photos). Flying Jet Blue for the first time. It’s quite humourous. They have Direct TV on the flight, with about 15 channels. Of course one of them has to be VH1 Classics and I am immediately drawn to the Power Station’s SOME LIKE IT HOT. Speaking of which… I’m obviously doing something right as the Durans have decided to play a club show at Webster Hall, which is 7 blocks away from us. And when are they playing? August 27th, my birthday. Now all I need are tickets. Agent/Lawyer/Advisor and I went to check out 16 Volt the other night in LA. Well, we tried to. Because she was late to dinner, thus making me and former aggression vocalist turned important screenwriter wait forever to eat, we showed up at the venue at about 9:45. Eric Volt was kind of enough to guest list me, and his website and the ticketmaster site said “9pm” on it, so we expected to sit through some opening acts. At the door, the start times were listed and it read “16Volt 9:00-9:35” (or something like that). Um, WHAT? Who the hell actually performs on time on this planet and who makes tickets to a show available via ticketmaster for a band that is only going to play for 35 minutes? I can only assume this was a label showcase thing. So, sadly, no Volt. We then saw SWAT, which blows immensely. This was one of those days where you just couldn’t win. Two words: Los Angeles. Some things l learned from the VH1 classics today. The 80’s BLOW and Madonna was a crap dancer. But Debbie Harry was AMAZING. Ash has yet to deliver the mix of THEME FROM PROPAGANDA because of a pet related problem in his apartment. I am scared to ask for futher details, but the word “fleas” was used during a phone message. I spent a lot of time listening to the other current demos and remain quite happy. I’m too tired and frazzled to think about anything other than being home, having a nice meal with the lovely S.O. and getting back into the PS2 Indiana Jones. I’ve missed some wrestling too. (it’s a shame that 20 minutes after I typed this, the power went out in the northeast, WHILE I was in the air…that’s a whole other story for another time) F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Saw Year of the Rabbit again with S.O. the other night at Mercury Lounge. We stood right at the front and just smiled the whole time. Put simply: they're GREAT and play excellent rock and roll. It was fun seeing them after having heard the whole album. They opened their set with a cover of The Cure's 'PLAIN SONG'. That right there earns my respect. Afterwards, it was a quick stop at the Pub to catch up with Pater and then an Indian meal with my agent/lawyer/advisor/houseguest. Yes, I ate Indian food. S.O. is trying to make me more diverse. It's working... Well the long awaited package arrived from Cracknation containing the next two Cracknation releases: Acumen Nation's 'LORD OF THE CYNICS' and a final yet unmastered version of the (extremely) long awaited and anticipated Chemlab album 'OXIDIZER', which as you may have read, I worked on a bit ;-) Here are my brief thoughts: 'CYNICS' is the best written and produced Acumen record to date. The whole key to this album is Jason wisely making the most out of his new rythmn section, Dan and Eliot, and writing with them as a band. Their welcomed presence is very obvious in the material and the album is more akin to the live Acumen experience than any previous album. Also, Jason is finally singing more (something I had been nudging him to do for some time) and his grasp of melody is fantastic. the songs are catchier than the last album and the last song, CAPSULE, is a fantastic and soulful tune. Production is Cracknation standard, meaning its aces. I look forward to getting further into the album. 'OXIDIZER' is tougher to review because of my closeness to it. I co-wrote some of it, did a lot of sounds for it, and have been extremely passionate and vocal about this record for a long time. i can't review it. I am in love with 90% of the album and the other 10% I like but that mostly has to do with certain choices that were made for the album that I don't agree with, but thats real nitpicky stuff (i.e. 'oh i would turn the guitar up here' etc) and thats what happens in a band. 90% is a super figure. My curiosity about public reaction to the album is quite strong. I'm sure some fans will love it and others will not, and probably for the wrong reasons. They have to accept that this is 2003 and not 1995. This album is a full success and the hidden track on OXIDIZER will make the old schoolers happy! Meanwhile... Last night, S.O. and I saw the film SWIMMING POOL, which was quite good. I feel a certain member of the aggression, known for his love of the part of the female anatomy called the BOOBS, would like this movie, as it has a young woman running around without a top on quite a bit. Anyhow, I'm glad we saw this instead of SWAT. Ash is in Boston visiting relatives, but informs Brandt that he will have an mp3 arrangement of 'THEME FROM PROPAGANDA' for us late tonight or tomorrow. Brandt intends to have some rough versions of the other songs for me on MP3 before I head back to LA tomorrow night. Hopefully this will happen and I will have a lot to study on the plane. What a great solo album? I'm home packing for LA and playing the new INDIANA JONES video game on mp3 while everyone else works on the songs. HAH! winner. Seeing Saintface tonight...more later maybe. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I spent the bulk of Tuesday knocking another song into shape. I did some weird stuff with it, and basically what has come out of it is that we now have what we think is the album opener... Last night, B, Ash and I gathered, mostly so Ash could hear the current arrangements and we could toss around idea for the next batch of tunes. Ash likes the arrangements, and everyone's comments are more 'the song needs...' and less 'I hate this' (In fact that never comes up). Concepts, thoughts, etc. are thrown back and forth. Ash is going to take the more acoustic oriented stuff and really mess around with them a bit. I created some atmospheric stuff for 'THEY'VE JUST...' and he will clean that up and build from there. I am confident in what he will come up with. From the discussions recently, it has been my intention to do a song that was more dance oriented. I'm not saying techno, but something that was more loop based, more groovy, etc. Cerati has an uncanny ability to make great dance music that doesn't seem out of place on a rock album and this is really inspiring, especially since my roots in music are electronic. When in Russia, the MOGpac spent an evening in a house club called Propaganda, which was very inspirational for Ash and got me more interested in trying music of that type (and now infamous as being the place where Danny Boy Hamill lost his coat check ticket, thus keeping us in the club till they closed one night). Anyway, I think doing something like this has been in the back of my head as well as Ash's for some time now. So the three of us formulate a plan that would involve Ash bringing lots of his gear into the studio and we would sort of 'jam' a song out electronically. However, this is put on hold when Ash plays a series of loops out of his laptop that B and I go mental for. Immediately we pick up guitar and bass and start to jam along. And what do you know, a few hours later we have tons of parts for a new song. Instead of using the studio computer that runs Cubase, we recorded straight from the mixer into Ash's laptop, where he is running the program LIVE, which he swears by and is excellent for this kind of music. This song is now called 'THEME FROM PROPAGANDA' and will probably end up as the centerpiece of the album. It's the 7th song written thus far and we were lucky that the stars were aligned last night and we wrote a VERY cool song. Ash is going to arrange it as he would one of his club tracks and I have a vague idea for a vocal melody that might work in an Underworld/'THESE MILLION NIGHTS' kind of way. We left the studio quite jazzed. Ash also has come up with a GREAT idea for a guest vocal spot. I'll be getting on that invite right away. Tomorrow, I should be writing about the final Chemlab mixes and the new Acumen album should they actually arrive (JASON!) F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Taking the streak even further, I cruised into the studio on Sunday to check on progress there. I played my new arrangements and received an enthusiastic thumbs up for the first four songs. B then played me some new guitar parts for a rocker called 'Clean Up' (this is NOT the final title, I'm just sick of typing 'the one where I play bass here and he plays guitar here', know what I mean?). I was dead into these guitars and demanded I'd be given the parts immediately to go arrange this tune. B complied and when trasnferring the songs from laptop to laptop, my powerbook takes ANOTHER DIVE!!!!! Angry beyond belief, I dropped everything and ran to Apple. Got soaked in the rain as well. So I get to Apple and lo and behold all I did was hit one wrong button and everything was fine. But man was I pissed. But man was I happy to learn nothing was messed up and I was able to go spend a nice evening with S.O. and the nice people who raised me. We have the agent/lawyer/advisor staying with us, but while she is off doing legal things and S.O. is working, I was able to arrange 'Clean Up' and E it over to the studio, where B sang its praises. He would tell me if it was crap, so I am quite pleased. Note that Hypefactor.com is now running with news and the 'Making Of The Distracted Lover'. Worthy reads. Pictures soon I think. I gotta get this beard on film, you know. Ash and I talk via IM yesterday. He was messaging me from an airport in Florida, where he was able to wirelessly connect. How I don't know, cause i don't think it was via his cel phone. I am kinda scared of how he did that, yet I am impressed and ponder all the time I could save at LAX and Newark with that ability. Ash is into the HF2 material and we plot some new ideas based on things I have discussed previously with him and B. MP3's are exchanged for inspiration and reference. I am still scared of his ability to connect to the net in the airport... I will try to maybe get to one more song today, if I feel it, and we might gather The HF Corp. this week to review what we have at this point and maybe work on new stuff. Chemlab is being mastered this week by Dave Suycott of Machines of Loving Grace and Stabbing Westward. He's got some good ears on him, so I am confident the final product will sound massive. The label has the artwork and hopefully this will be in production quite soon. I can't wait to hear the final mixes! I'm sure you can't either...it's worth the wait! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | During my recent West Coast jaunt, I couldn't get focused on the HF2 material, mostly because the Chemlab mixes were rolling in and it was hard to switch gears. I've written music long enough to know not to force myself into doing anything or it's just gonna suck... I usually have to wait for the songs to call out to me... Well, today I got that call and finally got my ass in gear. I started at 8am with the intention of doing the Audio Warfare remix, but the next time I looked, it was 3pm and I had arranged four HF2 songs. I'm REALLY happy with what I've put together. The bulk of the time was spent filtering through what's been played and picking out the best takes to use. Luckily, the talented people who have been playing on this record have given me a lot to choose from and work with. I then went out for a stroll that ended up being several hours. I had to force myself to get something to eat, find out what's going on in the world, and listen to new CD purchases without distraction. Some of my time was spent with Peter Saintface, who I always have time for. We caught up on all things HF and SF. They are far along with the recording of their new EP, however, after their gig this coming weekend, Peter is off for 2 weeks in Paris. Poor guy ;-) Of course, the lightbulb went off in my head to steal some of his bandmates to come write with us while he is away. He likes that idea. When he returns, he's going to come into the studio to hear what we have. I went back home and went at it a few more hours, mostly polishing what I had done today and starting the arragement for one more song. Unlike the old days, this would normally be declared as the final arrangements, but this stage is more for us to figure out what else is needed in each song and what we have to do to flesh everything out. It's a true work in progress. Also, I'm taking into account that live drums are going to go over these songs as well. Thank God I have an amazing drummer... I might go into the studio to hear what Brandt has done with some of the guitars and to give him a feel for what progress I have made here at MOGworld. There's no deadline yet, so we can really take our time and do it right. This evening I finally explained to the label that Hypefactor is ONE word, not two. What a productive day! Oh and I cooked too! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | After seeing a really good film called DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, starring Audrey 'My eyes are bigger than your head' Tataou, the S.O. and popped into Kim's (her fave record store) for some late night CD shopping. Usually Kim's is a bit hipster for my taste, but last time we were there I found a flyer for the Cerati gig, so I thought maybe lightning would strike twice and I would discover something interesting. And sure enough i did, and I picked this up, which they had just gotten in: 'BE-MUSIC: COOL AS ICE: LTM are proud to present a compilation of stone classic old school 80's electro and dance cuts produced by Be Music, the tag used by all four members of New Order. The tracks were largely produced between 1983 and 1984 for release on Factory Records and Factory Benelux. Some tracks marked were co-produced by Be Music (Bernard Sumner) and DoJo (Donald Johnson, of A Certain Ratio). Nyam Nyam and the Be Music Theme were produced by Peter Hook, and Life and Thick Pigeon by Steve Morris and Gillian Gilbert. Several of the tracks, including Love Tempo, Looking From A Hilltop and Cool As Ice remain influential club classics, and have been extensively sampled and bootlegged. Several years before the great house explosion, with their own Hacienda club still empty every single night, yet way (too far?) ahead of their time, four guys and a girl from Manchester produced a whole bunch of pure sonic magic which made waves worldwide. The album has been digitally remastered and runs for 74 minutes. The set will be available both on CD and as a limited DJ friendly double vinyl set. The vinyl version will be limited to just 1000' Well I'd be lying if I told I had ANY clue as to what the hell this was so I snagged it and am listening to it now. It sounds a bit dated, but is quite good and it all comes across as a testing ground for New Order's music around this time. There are tons of sounds and programming nuances that later appear in some of New Order's classic material from this period. It's all very electro, very 80's club friendly and very very influential. It's a fascinating document of a lost yet important period of a legendary band's career. Plus there is a cool tune at the end that Peter Hook did. Also, according to the liner notes, Johhny Marr makes an uncredited cameo on one the Sumner-produced songs, hence the early stages of Electronic! However, this is for hardcore New Order fans or 80's club kids only. So keep that in mind... Meanwhile, work continues on the HF website. The news section should be going up soon and we've written a very extensive 'Making of THE DISTRACTED LOVER', similar to my 'Making of FLOOD' over at the aggression site. I had to admit to slacking on the tunes a bit, but fear not, I'm getting back into the swing of things. Also, I have to start work on the Audio Warfare remix, and I'm happy to say, unlike most songs I remix, I quite like this tune and there is a lot of fun material in it to mess around with. Jared is probably just back in London as I type. I don't know the results of the final day, but everything seemed to be going well. I think the artwork went into Caroline yesterday and the music has to be in on Monday. I'm going to try and call over to Cracknation this weekend for an update. Ok, time for tea and remixing... F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Little B has the flu, so the studio is basically contaminated. Thus our Tuesday studio event was out the door. Sissy boy. However, news comes Mattagement that both HF and the aggression have received reviews in the newest issue of Outburn. THE DISTRACTED LOVER, which received an 8 out of 10, was a well written review in which I felt the reviewer gave it a fair shake and actually knew what the hell he was talking about. Most shocking was that his favorite track on the CD, PIRATED, is in fact my least favorite. Meanwhile, the aggression's DEVIATIONS ep got a 6 out of 10 from some reviewer who seemed more hellbent on classifying everything in a genre as opposed to actually getting into details about the music. While the reviewer is very kind to FLOOD as an album, it's shocking at how the two reviews differ. One is well written and really gets into the guts of the CD while the other sounds like some bored kid trying to explain something to a pal in the dorm room. Anyway, its fun to hear opinions like this, especially when they're good. Of course, right when we get reviewed, the label doesn't have an ad in sight for any of these records. No one in the MOGcamp is shocked. Via the wonderful world of the Internet, Ash has delivered his parts for the second half of the track we call TWO BASSES. As a joke, I call it TWO BASSES THIN. If you get that, you get 10 points. Anyway, I am due in DC this week so I want to take this track with me to really get into it. The first half is slow, this new half is faster. The key to this will be to make a solid transition between the two. I see this at the moment on the second half of the album. (I write that simply so a year from now we can compare where the track actually ends up) I close the evening reading about Raymond Watt's new project, which is called, and I love this...WATTS. My dear friend Marc Heal appears on this I think. This will give the Kidd and I much enjoyment as we love all things Raymond. I hope it's good. I hope I don't have to order it from Japan. I hope it's awesome. Meanwhile, Bryan Black is going to put out the long-awaited Haloblack album THROB soon. I'm curious how that album will be received by the kids. Louche slipped it to me a while ago. I dig it, its really well done. However, it is not fast, not hard, but unique and interesting. I can hear the douche coldwave kids (not you, Aero) complaining. But kudos to Bryan for expanding his palette. It's a tough sell of a record though. The only thing Coldwave I'm digging thats new is Christ Analogue's new one. That's a hot album. Watts will probably be awesome. Hopefully F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Early AM call at the studio yesterday for us to review Robin's guitar parts from earlier in the week and alter NEW SONG to fit those parts accordingly. Quite happy with the track and it's new rockier vibe. Also went over my newer chorus basslines for EXIST, which I'm not as happy with, mostly because they conflict with the hook-bass I had previously written. The Hook-basslines are better and have to stay. Not sure what I'm going to do here yet, but one I idea I have tossed around is having Ash play bass over this part for a different feel. That might do the trick. Then we settled down to handle basslines for 1956. Tough track and because its faster and rockier than most of what we have been doing, it took a long time for me to get the right feel for it. Also, this record is going to be as 'live' as possible, meaning, we're trying to get the human element of having someone play consistantly over a song as opposed to taking a measure and cutting and pasting repeatedly. To get into the feel of the track, we put on some Primal Scream tracks that i would play along to. Once we felt I had the Mani vibe cooking, I got to work. The song is in three diverse parts, one is the very hard , the other is a synthy dance section (the verse) and the last is is a melodic string part (the chorus). So I had to play three different basslines that encompassed three different moods. I think what we got down works and should set the tune in motion. It's hot, rocky, and dirty. As everything should be. We've started scouring through books and such for art inspiration. I'm going to be doing the art on this one so we're are throwing some ideas around. I want to do a photo session with everyone to get that vibe. Maybe this can happen tomorrow night if we can get everyone together. I'm thinking Anton Corbjin, but I always think that. I just need some photos to get the ideas flowing. Besides playing the new Hybrid album non-stop (and not just the tracks with Peter Hook on them) I am really into the new UNKLE album, which is quite good and features a Stone Roses reunion of sorts with Ian Brown and Mani on the same track. Also digging the Manics for some reason this week. Over the next month or so we should be checking out some great gigs including: Spiritualized, Death Cab For Cutie, Twilight Singers and of course, Saintface. We're going to see the MAN Izzard on the 11th. HAPPY DAYS. As for Chemlab, I am at a loss and have no idea what is going on. Frustrating! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | With Ash unable to make it last night, the spotlight focused on Ms. Emmet, who, while brought in initially to be the aggression’s first and only drummer (and quickly became my favorite member of the aggression), has become quite the impressive guitar player in Hypefactor. Because of changes made to the track she initiated, THEY’VE JUST, we re-recorded her guitar parts and tried different variations of it (i.e. acoustic and electric guitar takes), so we have lots to play with. As always, her focus and desire to see things come out perfect is a blessing. Once that was out of the way, we recorded her playing some Noel Gallagher style rock guitar on NEW SONG (obviously, just the working title), and by God did she turn this song into the rocker I was envisioning. Robin’s a really talented musician and my intention will be to make sure she is never underutilized. And yeah, she’s my favorite member of Hypefactor, too. Between Robin, Ash and B, I feel quite fortunate to have all these talented people working on my “solo” album. We loaded 1956 in the computer, but because of our Robin-centric evening, we will get to this song during out next session, but everyone seems pretty hot for it. Back in the other musical universe, our friends in Dubsinth back in St. Petersburg Russia have handed in their remix of THESE MILLION NIGHTS for the forthcoming aggression EP. Yura, aka Atom Fear, has really delivered a great, slow, moody, and cinematic remix that will fit very nicely on the final CD. Awesome work! Sino, from Japan, informs me his remix of DREAMS TO DEATH is finished. Hopefully, I will be able to write about it shortly. Also, Cyanotic, an industrial band I know from the Midwest, wrote to tell me they should be delivering a remix on or before 10/1. Of course, my musical Alzheimer’s has kicked in and I can’t remember what track I gave them. Anyway… Danny-Boy informs me I missed the NYPDBLUE season premiere. I must really love this album to forget such an important event. But there is no more important television event this year than the 24 season premiere on, I think, October 28th. I need TIVO. Immediately. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I'm saddened to read reports that 16 Volt have called it a day. Once upon a time, it seemed as though Eric and co. we're going to be the break out stars of that scene we were all once a part of. The Kidd, Mark Mohtashemi and I were big fans of this band, especially during their Skin/LetDownCrush era, which I think many feel was their peak. Those two records are classics and really had a unique sound and feel to it. During this period, Eric did an awesome remix for us of CROSS, which is on our second CD. Later, they assembled what I felt was going to be the 'dream team' with Krayge Tyler, Mike Peoples, and Servo, and while it kicked ass live, I felt Supercoolnothing was a bit of a let down (no pun intended. While I loved the songs, I felt it was too metal for my taste, though i find myself going back to it every now and then. I don't know the circumstances of thier break up, but I know they had recorded new material via a demo deal with Capitol or some major, which I can only assume fell through. Also, Jason was telling me how he had been talking to Eric about an Acumen/16v double bill. I guess that's off, but it could have made for a hell of a swan song. Now I double regret our showing up too late to see them in LA last month. I think 16V had a few more good albums in them. Perhaps later down the line they can bring it back. In the meantime, I hope this doesn't stop Eric Powell from continuing to make music. He's an extremely talented dude. In the meantime, about a year or so ago, the aggression began demo'ing songs for what might have been their next CD. the material was quite good, but debate ensued as to weather or not these were aggression songs and they are currently in 'limbo'. A song or two from the 'Fernwood Terrace' sessions will probably end up on the Ass Cobra album, but one of those songs, titled 1956 will now be appearing on the Hypefactor record. I'm REALLY excited about this track, which is very Primal Scream, and appreciate Ash signing off on it. We'll work on it tomorrow night. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Quick Pit Stop in the studio yesterday for some bass overdubs and retracking some older parts to fit the current scheme of things. Quite frankly, it was too nice out to sit in the studio too long. We did some stuff, fixed some tracks and went CD shopping at Rebel Rebel. Of course we spent too much money (Brandt in particular), but it was worth the hit as the purchases between both of us (new UNKLE, Hybrid featuring Peter Hook, and Muse's new one) were all winners and now blasting loud on the Ipod. The vision for the rest of the album becomes clearer. A track written in the aggression camp might defect to HF2 if I can get Ash to sign off on it. If so, we're going into Primals territory. More when I know. S.O. and I spent last night at college galpal turned publicist to the stars 30th birthday party last night. Though these things are normally not my scene and despite the former TV star turned Batman pulling a no show even though he RSVP'd (and much to the relief of S.O. and the birthday girl who are afraid of that combo), it was fun to see my estranged pal Amidala dancing in the same room with Jean Gray and Chuck Barris (who can dance like a mother). The title of this entry says it all and you can credit that quote to Danny Boy. Though we did make it to San Genarro this afternoon, I am sad to miss beer fest today though I enjoy the company of my very small relatives (and should be home in time for some PPV). F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Booted out of MOGworld for a girls night, I made my way to the cage last night to review our work with Link as well as address the outstanding needs for the album as it stands. It mostly became a night of fine tuning and bass overdubs. What I like about the brisk yet leisurely pace of this album is the ability to have some perspective and really focus in on things. Recently, Ash was pointing out something he felt was lacking in one of the songs and then added that he wanted to make sure everything was at the highest level it could be. Sometimes that requires throwing whole parts out (like we did with the verses to SOLAR) or sometimes it requires going deep into the song, listening to every individual part and either adding or removing something, which we did last night by creating a new chorus bassline for EXIST. Long, hard work, yes, but rewarding when you get the desired results. A new song is brewing, I might have mentioned this somewhere. I think Brandt's working title for it is BITTER PARTY OF ONE or some gayness like that. Unlike the other songs on the album, he's written guitars, keyboards and such first and then I'm throwing basslines down. We did something similar on KIEKO'S LAST SMILE on HF1, but that was mostly because I hated the tune initially and was indulging him. Of course, it ended up being one of the best tracks I have ever been a part of. Anyway, the parts he has so far are quite good and he keeps throwing bits and pieces of this new tune at me each time I show up. I play bass and then I never think about it again. Then when I come back, I hear where he is at with it, and I dig it. Watch, this one's going to be a keeper. With the exception of one track, which I need parts from Ash for, the next week or so is in Brandt's hands for guitar overdubs, so I get to breathe a bit (though I doubt I will). We spent hours last night figuring out where new guitars need to go or where current ones need to be changed. The rest of the evening was spent, almost in frustration for me, trying to figure out what the album is missing at this point. We have 8-9 songs, and I would like to see it end up being 11 songs plus the hidden track previously discussed. Therefore, there probably needs to be one last round of writing and I'm going to spend the next few weeks or so figuring out what else I would like to hear on the album as well as coming up with some interesting approaches to writing said material. My intention is to be ready to record drums by 10/1. Well, have you see all this wonderful publicity for the Chemlab album? (read that as sarcasm). I've got The Cure's TRILOGY DVD on. Forgot how good an album Pornography is, though I like Ash, Tom and Matt's version of 100 YEARS much better ;-) F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | From an E-mail from Peter Saintface yesterday when seeing if he wanted to hang out: 'Hey F, Afraid I have a SF recording session slated...looks like this EP is actually becoming an LP' About time. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Former MOG founder and aggression superstar Mr. Link came to town, sax in hand, and though we had a short amount of time with him, it was very productive. Ash came in as well for this special occasion, and with Brandt, the 4 of us were able to hammer out a newly designed verse for SOLAR, which needed the revamp. Link plays some sexy sax in it. Its very deep now, more the album closer I was hoping it would end up being. We then did an improv jam, totally over 10 minutes of the four of us playing to a click. Very light, very jazz. Look for this song, now called CHATTING BIRDS, as the hidden track. Last but not least, we recorded tons of Link just playing sax for future use. Lots of incredible material to go through. We then had a fun pac/poontang meal and drinks. Great stuff. ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO was entertaining, but see LOST IN TRANSLATION immediately. NOW. Go. The Links, Danny-Boy, SO and myself checked it out tonight and its wonder ful. I love Scarlett Johanssen. She's a heartbreaker. In the theatre was the guitarist from Interpol with the muttonchop sideburns and let me tell you, he LIVES the gimmick. All I'm saying. Here's some product placement... http://cn.rockdell.org/cracknation/attachments/IM000448.JPG Thanks, Pally! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | The Factor Corporation gathered it's division heads at the cage last night. The Head of Engineering decided to show an hour and a half late, which gave yours truly, the CEO, the opportunity to have a nice drink at Les Halles downtown with Deputy Douche. Later we were joined by General Rabinowitz and I gave them a sneak preview of the new Chemlab, which they liked and appreciated. A good test. Anyway, once we all got up to speed on where all the songs are at, we went back to those earlier acoustic tracks the four of us recorded some time ago. They hadn't been addressed since the initial recording. Well, one of them, which we just call TWO BASSES (obviously wont be the final title) has now morphed into a really cool trip hop track that suddenly goes dance. VERY cool loops from Ash and then Robin and I recorded some additional guitars and bass, respetively. B wrote some new stuff as well that he will be recording in the coming days. Suddenly this track has a whole new life and a new vibe that I am very into. We then addressed THEYVE JUST, which will remain a sparse, acoustic based track (I think). Robin went mental (for Robin) and was pissed a certain take of her guitars wasn't used. I think she hit Ash at one point, even though this is really something I did. Anyway, we found the part and will be putting it in. I promise, Robin! I think Brandt has a track or two to add to this one and then I will take another pass at it. Very moody piece, very romantic and fits real well on the album. Lastly, we tackled SOLAR, which we all have problems with. Everyone has pin pointed that the problem lies in verses, which are not as full developed as the choruses. People were a little hesitant to make comments cause I had done the arrangement, but I was fully in agreement with the comments made and am determined to get this song up to speed. Brandt had some guitar lines that I think I totally missed that will work on improving the verses. This weekend, the idea will be for me to write an entirely new bass line and get some sax in there. I see this as the album closer. The song is there, we just need to develop more. A lovely trip back to the Gramercy area with Robin, the ass grabber. She expressed to me how much she she enjoys working with HF, but also misses the aggression. As Batman used to say in the old TV series: 'Poor Deluded Child'. All in all, it was a very productive evening! On a side note, America loses two great icons in Johnny Cash and John Ritter. Rest well, men. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Today is 9/11. I am happy to be alive and be the luckiest fucker alive. To life. Drink up. F PS: Christian Bale is Batman. inspired choice. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | While the asses cobraed yesterday, it was back to the Birdcage (the new name for the studio) to work on the Audio Warfare remix. As I'm sure you can figure out, the track is pretty hard, and quite honestly, the remix is even harder. I think my friend Christian Nitrate will approve. Needleye delivered big time on their remix of the aggression's MY WHITE NOVA. It's a stormer and does what I like best with remixes, uses a lot of the original song for the listener to know its a remix, yet adds so much of themselves to it that it becomes interesting and original. They manipulated a vocal that original said 'you were so goddamn pretty' to sound like 'you were so goddamn prissy'. Hilarious. Kudos and thanks to Gilez and Needleguys. The remix reminded me of why I originally wanted to be in a heavy band. However, now with half the EP now, I find myself in that position that I HATE more than anything, which is nagging the other remixers to hand theirs in by the deadline. This is even harder when you have people remixing in places like Japan and Russia. When I was watching over 12 or so remixers for PURE LIQUID EGO, I felt like the bigggest asshole in the world trying to get people to finish, especially since they were working for free. Hate it. I do like nagging Jamie Duffy though...he deserves it. ;-) It's interesting that while I am chin deep in the Hypefactor album, I find myself going back to listening to very hard music. I'm loading the Ipod with old v23, Schwein and of course, old Chemlab. I think this is a yin and thing. Ash was recently disenchanted with one of his many musical projects and I explained to him that we all have different moods and the music we do reflects that. That's why now, in our Power Station/Arcadia phase, I feel a longing for the aggression and that kind of music. Eventually. Right now, I have Chemlab to keep me in that vibe. The evening ended at the pub celebrating S.O.'s birthday with half of poontang and half the pac (in the form of G and the Kidd). The evening included cameo's from Bing and MURRAY! Good times, though we send good thoughts out to our dear friend Dorg, who had a bit of a spill earlier in the day and is in rough shape. Much love to her. And now...brunch. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Regarding a collaboration between Duran Duran and Gwen Stefani, Guitarist Andy Taylor said: ''It also has to work musically. We're not just going to bring someone in because they're Gwen Stefani ...' Le Bon quipped: 'Oh, I would!' Genius. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Took a brief pit stop into the studio last night for a few hours to fix up Solar. Some parts previously laid down needed to be re-recorded to fit in the song properly. When arranging, this happens. So of course a simple piano part now is three tracks of three different ideas that I will sort through today. Once this minor tweaking is done, I'll E it over to the studio, where B will prep it as am MP3 for the 'Corporation' (as I call it) to hear. I have a good vibe about this song. We had the Latin Grammy's on, hoping to get a glipmse of Cerati, who I have a feeling didn't bother to show, despite being nominated for Best Rock Album (I think). Meanwhile, Brandt presented some parts for the new song he mentioned earlier here in the blog blog blog. Despite it's Thrill Kill Kult rip off strings that might need tweaking, I quite liked and laid down a quick bassline. I struggled for a bit to come up with more and decided not to push it and wait till B lays down all his guitars. His parts for this are good and I'm looking forward to playing with this one. The new Twilight Singers EP arrived the other and day and all I can say is: Greg BY GOD Dulli, you have been sorely missed. Welcome back! Dan Hamill has taken a full week of work off just to listen to this three song EP. Can't miss this one and the cover is sweet too. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Blog blog blog. Dear Bloggie... Just got back from the Bradley J. Fox nuptuals in Chicago. Good time and good to see former aggression members as well. I think we have Mr. Linq locked in for an appearance on HF2. He has the demos and was digging them quite a bit when we parted ways. He and Nina should be popping into MOGworld next week. Came home to find the 24 marathon in full effect. Needless to say, I am a big 24 mark and was suckered in immediately as was Mr. G 70 blocks away. The new aggression remix EP takes shape. Needleye has finished their remix and it's on it's way. I don't even know which song I sent them! SINO from Japan has agreed to do a remix and Brand't is getting the parts ready as we speak. The Russians have finished one and have asked if they could do more! Can't complain about that. Saw the family Novak while in Chicago for a fun evening. It was good to be there in a non work situation. Which of course meant Jason and I went straight into the studio to listen to the Crack works in progress. With the Novak kids asleep, the grown-ups fast-forwarded through the much discussed MTV awards. The Madonna/Britney thing was a snooze, but Jack Black is a genius. Anyway, I thought the Duran Lifetime achievement award was a great idea on paper, but was executed poorly. Still, to see them on TV was great...and speaking of the Durans... On the 27th, my 31st Bday, some of the crew caught Duran at their intimate gig at Webster Hall and by god was it incredible. Please refer to my previous post from the gig I saw last month and apply it here, except 500x better, which quite possibly makes this my favorite gig of all time. it was a shorter set, but we left that gig drained and amazed. I was also glad to see that the last gig wasn't a fluke and these guys mean it. Just see any recent review in the NY papers and you'll see. Amazing. Spinning the new BRMC CD at the moment, so far, they have avoided the sophomore jinx. So far. Chemlab's drop date is supposedly the 3rd week of October. I designed a Chem Tshirt that hopefully some of you will be wearing soon. A new project with Jared (not Chemlab) is in the planning stages and should be the project I segue into after the recording of HF2, though bough projects might run simultaneously. Brandt tells me I have some work to do on SOLAR. I like the sound of that! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Back again from another Saintface gig last night, this time an early show at Mercury Lounge. Solid as always, and some of these new songs, including the set closer, are great dance tunes. However the gig was too early and quite, ahem, Frankly, I think they are playing around town too much. They should be out there less while their album is in progress. It will build anticpation and they would have better turn outs at the gigs. PLaying too much gives people the opportunity to skip a gig because they can always see them 'next time'. The aggression would play gigs like events so if you missed it, you were screwed (that doesnt always work either, but hey). As for the Saintface album, I predict this album will be quite good and worth the wait. Peter again is cryptic when asked about certain songs being on the album. He should be when I'm around, I guess! I met with with both Peter Saintface and Michael Saintface tonight to discuss the new Hypefactor album. I also took the opportunity to finally give them the HF2 demos. Brandt got a bunch of songs into better shape so I could give them to the guys. They seem excited and Peter in particular seemed really keen on getting into it. I hope they can be a big part of this. As mentioned above, new HF demos are now circulating amongst the core crew. I had purposely stayed away from listening to the tunes for a few weeks so I would be fresh eared when hearing these new roughs. I'm happy to report I am still loving this bitch and want very badly to get back into this record tomorrow. We're ready for live drums! Ill be posting less mostly because Former High School Classmate turned College Roommate turned Magazine Writer got me the new Smackdown game for the PS2...what can I say other than THANKS! three words: Cerati. Remix. Album. I ran straight to Ebay and got this 2cd bitch from Argentina. I cannot wait. And the day begins.... |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Been crazy working on Chemlab. Jared is off to Chicago today for the remaining details and then he is off on the Pigface tour. I've been sorting through the new mixes, dong notes and also doing some last minute sound design work for the EP. Fingers crossed no one at INV screws this up (no offense to everyone there, im just anti-labels today, keep reading). The mixes are dirty and more Chemlab than Chemlab. It's harsh and I like it. Luckily, the songwriting is really solid and the music itself is excellent, so its just a matter of mixing and getting it just right. Mr. G and I caught Paul Weller the other night at Town Hall. It was an acoustic set and he was joined by Gem Archer of Oasis. I don't own any Paul Weller albums (mostly because G owned tons of it when we were roommates), but man do I want to now that I have seen him. The man is energetic and the songs were excellent. Gem is a shockingly good guitarist and really added a lot to it. Amazing. G's review of the gig can be found in the title heading above... Today I received a fan letter from a guy, Timo, in Germany. He had heard the aggression on various comps and such and wanted to buy 'everything', but Tinman hasn't returned ANY E-mails to him. Horrible. I am so furious that I wanted to give this kid every record I have ever done. Sadly, Tinman hasnt returned any of MY emails and I have no cd's either. So i pointed him in the right direction and he is very appreciative. Timo is dead psyched for Chemlab. Me too, pally. The season premiere of 24 was last night and WOW did it deliver. Jack Bauer: Heroin addict!??!!! I can't handle how good this show is. I have the Kiefer Madness like there is no tomorrow. This is the best show on TV in the past 10 years i think. Since AMERICAN GOTHIC, a lost classic featuring Gary Cole. Back to the grind, kids... F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Hello again, everyone (all nine of you.) I know it has been some time since I posted here, and you have missed my impersonal musings terribly. You feel neglected. But I swear I will not let it happen again. There are simply too many thrills and wacky misadventures in my life at the moment, and I would be remiss were I to spare you any of the gory details. So here it goes: hypefactor: part deux I spent a fair amount of time working on the new hypefactor record during the past month, although I was distracted in recent weeks by school, real life shite and some other musical projects. Most of the guitars are tracked on nine songs, however, and I plan to wrap up writing, production and rough mixing on most of the material by the end of this week. There are also two new songs waiting in the wings - 'Bitter Party Of One' and 'Down To Brass Tacks' - that, for the most part, have yet to be tackled by the team. Both originated from guitar parts I wrote while messing about on other songs, and while they are shamelessly poppy and breezy, I am hoping they make the record. The plan now is to tackle them once we are well underway with tracking live drums, which everyone wants to see happen this month. My fingers are crossed. We took a bit of a hiatus from work at the Birdcage in late October because F.J. was compelled to make one of his usual pilgrimages to Los Angeles. I gathered Ash and Robin for a session last Tuesday, however, where we reviewed some old parts (such as new guitars for the chaotic 'Solar') and listened to some works in progress. But the bulk of our brief session was dedicated to 'Two Basses Thin,' which had become a thorn in my side as of late. The song started during one of the June or July sessions with a basic acoustic/bass guitar motif jammed to inifinity, and was later expanded radically when Ash developed a slew of loops for a chorus. The result was somewhat messy in that we were left with two distinct sections that seemed incompatible, the tension between the two exacerbated by F's dense, seven-minute arrangement. The complexity of the thing had me both concerned and flummoxed for some time, and I found myself unable to write anything resembling a workable guitar structure, despite some excellent contributions from Robin and F.J. in the choruses. The writer's block concerned me enough that I called in Robin and Ash to help me jam around the parts some more and see if the two sections could indeed be linked. At first, Ash also seemed put off by the arrangement, describing it as a 'mess.' I am not certain that he left the studio any less skeptical. But after an hour of playing, we tracked some lovely new E-Bow parts of Robin's and a new bass part of Ash's that seemed to make the transition more seamless. Having those two playing with me also gave me a much better handle on the chord structure, and I have now tracked a bunch of parts (on top of the 40 or so already there) that attempt to blend the verses and choruses melodically. I hope everything else thinks it works, because I still am not certain. We shall see at the end of this week after I have fleshed things out a bit more, assembled a working mix and circulated MP3s amongst the gang. While I must leave now to write a paper about stress - in Portugese, no less - I will post again tomorrow in greater detail about some other recent work, including the hypefactor and Chemlab remixes, recent gigs (Spiritualized, Echo and The Bunnymen), record purchases (John Cale, Twilight Singers, Suede) and the continuing saga that is the hypefactor sessions. Until then, cheers. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Here I am. Been ill since my return from LA and have a houseguest in the form of Bradley J. Fox, so time is at a premium at the moment. We saw MYSTIC RIVER last night which was solid, but marred by a few flaws and an unncessary final 7 minutes. Also, Sean Penn has fallen into Pacino/DeNiro mode where he is starting to become a bit of a gimmick. Tim Robbins however, was quite good. Anyhow, been using the sickly free time to just chill with S.O. and to also catch up on the mad rush of Chemwork that needs to be ready for the Pigface tour and the subsequent release of Oxidizer in January. Jared's been great in asking my opinion on things (like approving artwork and such) and I've been hectic doing the art for the new T-Shirts as well as for the new limited edition 'MACHINE AGE EP'. I've been really hands on with this release, working with Jared on sutures for it as well as the aggression (remember them) contributing a remix to the project. I did the remix, but then had to run to LA, so Brandt really took the reign and really brought it home. so kudos to him cause he saved this one. It's hot and the only place you're going to get 5 of the 6 songs on this bitch. The final track listening has a new song called BLACK SNAKE VOODOO HISS, two sutures, two ESM demos, and the remix of BINARY NATION we did. Hopefully Invisible will get this ready in time for the Pigface tour. Speaking of which, make sure you go to the NYC show, you might see yours truly onstage if all goes as planned. While I was gone, Brandt took the downtime to flesh out some remixes of DISTRACTED era HF tunes. Quite simply, they are AMAZING and when done, will be made available for all to hear. IN a perfect world, the new album would have a bonus disc with the DISTRACTED EP plus the remixes. A special edition if you will. Not light we ever signed a record deal for that anyways... We have tickets to see Death Cab For Cutie tonight, but I might give my ticket to out friend from poontang who's apt went on fire and her ticket is now lost. She is a bigger fan than I am and I think this would make her happy. Back to the grind this week. Now that the Lab stuff is just about out of the way, I'm aching to get back to the HF2 stuff. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | LA's been a whirlwind of early morning and late evenings. Despite what it seems like, it aint all glamour. Spent some time visiting the set of the movie we've been working on for years that features The One in his next big genre role and co-stars with My Current Favourite Female Actress Who Lives Near The Pub (who I paid money to see in her new movie this past weekend). I could watch her run out of an SUV and into a bowling alley for HOURS. And I did... Meanwhile, my free moments are spent helping put together this Chemlab EP, which I am doing the artwork for and having my two cents as to what should go on it. I must say I am digging the artwork, I've been having some great bouts of inspiration. Lucky. Jared better keep the title I came up with for this. Also, if he has them ready in time, you'll be wearing Chemlab T-shirts of my design quite soon. I have a sun tan. Horrible. Embarassing. Though I got it while doing the AIDSwalk here in LA this past weekend with S.O.'s sister. Nobody walks in LA, so this was quite entertaining and moving at the same time. But the tan. jesus. I think I may have forgotten to mention that the night before I left, we saw Spiritualized. Thanks to G owning LET IT COME DOWN, I am a recent convert to Jason's music and I regret missing their last tour (which BRMC opened). I love the epic and orchestral aspects to the music and I think his lyrics are quite funny. They have a new album, AMAZING GRACE, which is their stripped down rock album, and while I like it, it lacks a lot of the things I love about his music. The live show, unfortnately, reflects that new album and while his band is tight, he sits to the side and just plays without emotion. This totally took me out of the show. I'm not saying the guy has to be a showman, but stand up for chrissake! You're not Robert Johnson. Dude, come on. Get up. lazy Sod. The Factor Corp. minus the CEO gathered in NYC last night. Maybe B will get the courage to post what went down in the studio while I wasn't looking ;-) Just get me home. Quick. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I haven't forgotten you, I've been in LA doing the things that I guess I do. I spent a lot of the plane ride here working on the lyrics for a song now entitled THE MORNING AFTER THE LIFE BEFORE. Meanwhile, I have music to work on, but there has been so much material recorded recently that it's jamming up my sweet laptop. Speaking of which, I've worn the battery down to the bone so I stopped by Apple to grab me a new one and doubled the RAM in this bitch so it moves a bit faster. Feels good. Spent a lot of time here with my friend the Famous Comic Book Writer who just gets better and better and is doing amazing job writing my all time favorite title TEEN TITANS. He is so good and such a sweet guy. We spend every Wed I'm in LA buying comics and hopefully we will be collaborating on something big in the future. He also has a cool wife and a very cool office which he shares with another cool comic writer you all read. Meanwhile...for Mark Mohtashemi and a few others who asked, here are your answers on THIS: 'Greetings, wireheads: Jared here. This is just a quick posting to explain why the CHEMLAB record’s taking so damned long to hit the streets. Jason and Jamie and FJ and I (along with a few other key noisists) had a fantastic, spring-wound, deepcut-groove time writing and tearing apart the trax that make up OXIDIZER. It’s a great record, very much in the vein of BURN OUT, while not imitating it. It updates and mutates and at its heart is a detonator coil set to go. I’m really proud of it and everything that’s brought it this far. I want to make sure that all of Jason, Jamie and FJ’s hard work gets shown off in the best possible way, with the most power. However, everyone on the project felt that it got rushed at the end and needed more than we could give it at the time. It was a tough call but we’ve decided to bring in a second producer, Julian Beeston, to work with us on finishing off the record. This means that the record won’t be coming out until January but when it hits the streets, it’s guaranteed to be a multi-layered sonic beast even more improved by a second drag through the mixing desk. To compensate somewhat for this disappointing delay, I’ll have copies of a limited edition EP with me on the Pigface tour. It’ll have a few trax on it that you might be interested in - a couple of trax from OXIDIZER, as well as two from some EAST SIDE MILITIA demos which I came across recently. The demos feature Geno and the late great William Tucker - very different versions than on the album, and they sound amazing! Also, the official CHEMLAB web site will be up and running by the time I start the Pigface tour on November 5th. Be warned, it’s going to be in a state of mutation and freak-out for quite a while, shifting a lot as new discolorations are revealed. Check it out at www.hydrogenbar.com OXIDIZER couldn't have happened without Jason, Jamie and FJ, and come January, I hope you’ll all agree that it was well worth waiting for. In the meantime, thanks for your patience. Now hold still: here it comes... jared' A lof this was news to me, though now I'm hoping the remix in progress (now in the hands of Ash) makes it to the new EP. Timing is an issue and we will bust ass to try and get it on there in time. For the record, we (as the aggression, remember them?) are remixing the track BINARY NATION, one I co-wrote and play on, and is quite in the vein of BURN OUT AT THE HYDROGEN BAR. You'll dig it. Here is my comment on the EP from the Cracknation website 'The EP should be interesting. There's a ton of stuff from JCPS that they never used that I compiled for Jared some months ago off a beaten up old cassette that will be on this thing. I'm curious as to what he will pick as there is some crazy shit (and honestly, there is some stuff that would have REALLY made that album a lot better, including alternate takes and such, as well as tunes they never finished)' Anyway, everything is cool and I am driving a convertable here in LA, which is another story in itself. Forgive me, but it's time to eat at C'Brea, my favorite place to eat in LA. F PS: Stu Hart, legendary patriarch of the famous wrestling family, passed away today. Owen, I'm sure is waiting in that ring in the sky waiting to thrown down with his pop again. Bless. |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | So Mr. G and I reunited to see KILL BILL yesterday. While I think I liked what I watched, I have to say overall, the film was disappointing. It lacks the cleverness and wit of Tarantino's other work. What I have always liked about his movies was his ability to put a new twist on American pop culture and make it ironic. In fact, that was the framework of his films and I believe the key to his success. However, by using Asian Cinema as his template, he is unable to get you invested in the film. And as some of you may know, I'm a 'bit' of a fan of Asian Cinema and let me tell you this, KILL BILL is more of an homage than it is a parody. It's not ironic, it's not clever, and there's really nothing cool about it. The ending blows too. I think if it had been one lone 3-4 hour movie, I could have been satisfied. Then the rest of the day and evening became quite British and here's why... 1. G, S.O. and I had fish and chips for dinner from A Salt and Battery on Second Ave. This is quite possibly the best fish and chips in the City, though I am somewhat partial to the pub. Poor G had to miss the last crucial minutes of the Yankees so we can meet Matt and Jax and something called Dougie at... 2. The EDDIE IZZARD show. Holy shit is this guy a genius. For years I had no clue about him other than he dressed up like a chick and then one night in London Jared and his wife played me some of Izzard's videos and man is he a blast. Anyhow, this was our first time seeing him live (and matt's 50th time or so), and it was worth the hit. The man has an uncanny ability to seemingly make throaway jokes only to go back to them later and make them funny as hell. During his set he tackled everything from Racisim, cavemen, super heroes, transvestites, the planet mars, dentists, horses, fighting, air flight, did the worst yet funniest Christopher Walken impersonation ever and even made a funny joke about 9/11 (based on the fact that the rest of the world writes their dates with the DAY first and not the month, thus 'everyone was wondering WHAT exactly happened on November 9th!). Brilliant. The vibe we left with was so good. I think I was beaming from the laughter! After a quick pit stop at the Tom aggression Birthday gathering, G and I met up with the Kidd, Ian Broon, and poontang to check out... 3. Saintface. Live. Taking a break from doing their album, the lads put on an entertaining rock show featuring all the ass shaking hits we love. They had a few technical snafus, which is always expected, but this is band which much confidence and energy and the tunes to back it all up. Later, I spoke at length with Peter Saintface about the album and while he told me which rockers are going on the refuses to tell me which ballads are being recorded for fear that I will 'pursade' and I am one of the few people who can 'sway' him. I am honoured to say the least. Things are looking up for this band and hopefully the album will be in all our grubby hands sooner than later. He and Michael Saintface both asked about HF2 and wheels should be set in motion upon my return from LA. And now, a lazy day F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | In the wake of the recent rythmn section shake ups in Ass Cobra, which I'm sure is going to lead to some nasty shit amongst the MOGpac, Ash and Robin made their return to the Birdcage last night. Ash was hyper, Robin was not, so I knew they were both in the proper frame of mind to work. On the way down to the studio, I played them the new versions of 1956 and TWOBASSESTHIN. Both were met with enthusiasm. Everyone seems pleased with the direction the album is taking, but we all realize there is still work to be done. Oh yeah, and for the 4,000th time, we listened to Ass Cobra's DETROIT, which has supposedly taken 6 months to do. I was happy to see B's friend Kid Who Looks Like Kid From Witness All Grown Up in town and chilling. He is quite fey yet handsome and I think because of that he pulls in tons of chicks. I was happy to find he had bought some chocolate donuts. He is quite thin and can live on these things. He watched MR SHOW and realized it wasn't that funny after all... B and I had an agenda for these two and we put it in effect immediately. The first big decision was to cut almost 3/4 out of SOLAR and start from scratch. No one was happy with the song, so instead of talking about it for hours, we decided to just get rid of everything that was problematic and go at it again. Even I, who normally is adamant about keeping things, felt this made sense. I think the crew were a little surprised how agreeable I was. I'm not sure yet what this means for Link's sax parts, which concerns me a bit Robin has been playing too much guitar lately, so I felt she needed a bass in her hands. I challenged Ash to stop playing guitar like a jazz half ass and to rock out a little bit. B sat in the corner, I think with a guitar, its hard to tell when Bat-Ash needs the lights off everytime we work. Ash and Robin switched back and forth between bass and guitar and the results were awesome. It took a really long time, which is kinda uncharacteristic for us, but it was worth it as we got the necessary parts to work with. Thanks to these two, we have a good verse and a really nice melodic bridge that (and I didn't say this to Ash at the time) sounds like The Cure. During all this, I sat with a laptop, checking E-Mail, talking to a few folks online and looking bored . In reality, I'm jotting down ideas for arrangements, occasionally a lyrical idea, and listening VERY closely. Sometimes I'll just spring up and say 'THAT'S IT!' or 'NO NO NO'. Anyway, B will have to lay down his stuff (also quite good) and get all this to me before I leave for LA on Tuesday so I can hammer it into shape. After that, we'll figure out where this tune stands, but I think it's in really good shape. It was late, but I wanted to flesh out EXIST because I just wasn't happy with the bass in the chorus. And you know its serious when it's ME playing the bassline I don't like it. At this point I was kinda tired, but I recall Robin laying down a lot of bass for me to play with. I also think Ash threw down some guitars. Overall, it was a evening serious success. It wasn't like our usual sessions where the magic happens immediately. This was more about getting deep into the guts of two songs and mining the gold out of them. It's not easy. Robin referred to is as 'unproductive', though I countered that it's quality, not quantity, and Hypefactor got some real serious quality out of the kids last night. My immediate task ahead is to work with the new stuff discussed above and to tweak 1956. I have written some lyrics for the song, which are actually the first for this album and now changes need to be made accordingly. In the meantime, the decision has been made to not write any more for this album until we have the live drums over the tracks. When we have that, we will then make the next round of creative decisions. I am hoping we can spend November getting the drums into shape. Then we will assess what we have and then go from there. I'm not putting any time restraints on this one. I want it perfect. And perfect it shall be... F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Hi Ashley: After an early breakfast this morning with my old pal the famous Martial Arts Cinema historian/Author (who hated KILL BILL by the way), I decided to stroll through Times Square in search of inspiration for my mom's Birthday gift. I hadn't been up there since G, Matt and I spent an evening with Wrestling Superstar Who Used to Be Shinobi. Anyway, I am a die hard New Yorker, to the end hopefully, but there is some weird shit in Times Square. Based on my experience today, I would like to tell you that we live in a world in which: 1. Robert Evans has an animated series about his life (that's actually a plus). 2. Posh Spice shills for hip hop clothing. What the FUCK. 3. Why is my agent/lawyer/advisor spending money for me and my girlfriend to see 'A Boy George musical' that is also a 'Rosie O'Donnell production'. This is BROADWAY? Where are the actors? 4. Jason Patric on Broadway. Nuff said. And no, he's not an actor, he's a method half ass. 5. And to make it worse, he is 'acting' opposite Ashley Judd. 6. Bubba Gump Shirmp Company opens on December 6th. I'll be at Sardi's thanks. This is all I can think of it. It was too much. I hate myself. Anyway, I ended up getting mom tickets to see Hugh Jackman looking crazy disco gay in THE BOY FROM OZ. and yes, I'm going too. Dan Hamill just told me 'Moms love singing fags'. I would have agreed with this, but Jackman IS Wolverine, so he's tops in my books. My 'celebrity' sighting was Robert Sean Leonard who looks like my relative who married a woman to cover the fact that he loved men. There's nothing wrong with that! Stop it! Gay is OK. Where the hell are the real stars! Anyway, this sent me packing right into the Virgin Megastore where they expected me to spend 30 bucks on the new John Cale album. Luckily, Amazon UK has it for like 14 bucks. Screw you Branson. I ALMOST bought the new Interpol single cause it's the Arthur Baker remix, but its just two song. Lousy. Luckily I came to my senses and ran home, where I now have to go meet my former student, Edward, who is a nice guy. Two more remixes have arrived: The first one comes all the way from Japan. SINO, who you can read about in the new Industrial Nation, took an interesting approach to DREAMS TO DEATH and made it a nasty machine dirge. It's very simple, but effective and fits in real nice on the EP. In the meantime, the lads in Cyanotic delivered their remix of THESE MILLION NIGHTS and have taken a drum n bass approach to it. Solid. I'm really happy with it and it gives us something we don't have yet on the record. One thing I have learned from all this is that Tom's vocals remix really well. Remixers love the smooth vocals. Meanwhile I am working on a remix for a band you all know and love but are curious as to where their new album is. I am just as curious to be honest with you as I thought I would have it by now. Who knows. I'll get back to you on that. Also, I'll report back tonight or tomorrow after we get the crew together at the studio. Lots happening with HF. Till then... F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Despite my being distracted by Dan Hamill's discovery of classic wrestling on channel 70, the vision of the new Hypefactor album became significantly clearer with a whirlwind editing/arranging sessions yesterday at the Birdcage. With this session, two songs, 1956 and TWOBASSES took massive shape and now have the structure and guts they need to become excellent songs. I heard B's new guitar parts for 1956 yesterday and was really happy with them. As usual, there was a lot to listen to, and this actually led to my editing new sections of the song just based on his new guitar parts. This song is a stormer. Meanwhile, he was really into my weird arrangement for TWOBASSES, which is basically two songs now, and I think we are going to treat it as such. the first half is acoustic/electro and the second half is a Stone Roses-esque dance jam. But each part uses elements from the other. I'm REALLY psyched. If all goes well, we should have the album laid out and ready for live drums in the next few weeks. of course, Ash will come in this week and kill the buzz by wanting tons of stuff changed (I mean this in a good way). Meanwhile, S.O. and I caught up with Mr. G and we saw SCHOOL OF ROCK featuring the genius that is Jack Black. This movie is hilarious and makes the best use of the Jack Black gimmick, taking it to new heights. What made it even more interesting was watching these kids rock out and they knew how to really play. I'd be curious to see how they cast this movie (something, I'm sure for the DVD). Then we met up with members of poontang and sang Verve and Robbie Williams songs till the wee hours at the original MOG hang out O'Hanolans. And now the best news of the morning: Revenge/Monaco album announced LTM are pleased to announce a deluxe 2xCD reissue of the sole album by Revenge, the electro/hard rock hybrid fronted by New Order bass player Peter Hook between 1989 and 1992. Following the release of Technique in 1989, the four members of New Order spent time apart to pursue other ventures. Always intended as a proper band rather than a solo project, Hook was joined in Revenge by Chris Jones and Dave Hicks, and later by David Potts, who would remain with Hook as part of Monaco five years later. Indeed in some respects Revenge can be seen as a dry run for Monaco, who went on to deliver a top ten album and single in 1997. One True Passion was first released by Factory Records in June 1990 and spawned a trio of singles, 7 Reasons, Pineapple Face and Slave. Given free reign to indulge Hook’s leather-trousered rockist instincts, the OTP material welded hard rock to dance beats, with a lyrical focus on sin and redemption. The artwork was just as contradictory, combining sleek Peter Saville typography with softcore imagery by Suze Randall. The band toured like bastards, and in January 1992 delivered the excellent ep Gun World Porn, which offered a more laid back, intimate feel. Deleted after the messy collapse of Factory in late 1992, One True Passion has now been retooled and reconfigured by Hook and Potts, and comes with a full-length bonus disc of rare remixes and unreleased songs in demo form. Standout tracks include 7 Reasons, Deadbeat, Big Bang, State of Shock, Pineapple Face and Jesus I Love You. All material has been carefully digitally remastered. The set contains over two hours of music, and the booklet includes sleevenotes by Joy Division/New Order biographer Claude Flowers. I feel it appropros that in the middle of my second CD exploring these very influences that this retrospective is announced. Mega! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | In DC for a few days. For the first time since S.O. lived here when we were wee kids in love, I took Amtrack down. However, thanks to some travel experience, was bumped up to first class, which was a delight. The tea was always handy, just like on Continental's first class flights, but the difference here is that a. you can use your cel phone and b. they have outlets for each seat, which for a guy like me who seemingly has become physically grafted to his laptop, is a blessing. This is a far cry from the last time I was on an extended train ride, which was in Mother Russia (see theaggression.com tour diary for details), however, the Russian dining cars are the BEST (right, Matt?). Therefore, the 2 and a half hours on the Acela Train gave me time to work on the HF2 song TWOBASSES, which I have mentioned previously. It's a tough song with a lot of parts, so the bulk of my time was spent figuring out how to mesh the very fast part with the very slow part. NOT easy, but I made some headway and thus I am looking very forward to my train ride back to NYC (hopefully) this afternoon to get deeper into it. I think, and this is for those in the corp. reading it, I'm going to add little noises and such from the faster part and pepper them throughout the slower part for continuity. I sound like a chef. Anyhow, I am staying at the Willard in DC. Fancy-ass hotel. Awesome. My lovely S.O. would dig the hell out of this place. But historically significant because it is the bar where Ulysses S. Grant would drink. All the politicians who wanted his ear would hang out in this lobby to wait for him to get him to sign off on things while he was wasted on rye. Hence, the term 'lobbyists'. How cool is that?! That's your history lesson of the day. The kids in Cyaontic wrote me to say their remix for the aggression EP should be done today. I'll report on once they send me an MP3. In the best news of the week, former aggression vocalist turned important screenwriter and his Mrs. have had their long-awaited baby, a girl, who's name, at the moment I don't know how to properly spell, so I will refrain from trying. Needless to say, it's not F.J. Everyone is in good health. The Mom called me and she sounded like she had just come back from shopping, while the Dad sounded like he just did 4 tours of duty in Iraq. Hilarious. Bless! I have no doubt that S.O. is currently shopping for MORE for this new child, as my lovely girilfriend has bought more clothes for this baby than I have in my closet. But hey, kids are awesome. I get my lil cuz's on Sunday! On the run. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Last night, at a hotel in lower Manhattan, I met the man who influenced me to pick up a bass guitar when I FIRST met him 12 years ago. It's no secret here who this person is, but needless to say he was a total gentleman who was funny and sweet. This brief conversation totally justified my musical existance. We discussed Hypefactor, bass playing and Gibson Thunderbirds. When he asked for a CD, I was floored. Kudos go to Irene (for giving me the last copy of Distracted Lover we had in the house, so I didnt have to rip down my framed copy), G (for coming along so I didn't look like a stalker), and B (tipping me off about the DJ set). It gets better as said bass hero is performing tonight here in NYC. What a great moment. Thanks, Hooky! Meanwhile, lyrics are bring revised and honed for HF2. I've been taking advantage of free moments during the Turkey break to focus on the written word. Yesterday, I shot some lyrics over to B and he came back with some positive feedback. Jazzed, by that, I began arranging what is now called OUR FAITH (title to change, though I hated calling it BITTER PARTY OF ONE). I have a decent intro and verse, so this morning I'll work on the choruses before being beaten by a 5 year old AGAIN (no complaints though!). F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I write this with a headache a mile wide, so bear with me. With Irene off on a girls night (which I'm told was quite hilarious), I made my way back to the studio to with the intention to remix Saintface and work on a song Brandt's had cooking for quite a while now called BITTER PARTY OF ONE (That title won't last, I promise). However, Ash decided he had to buy his cats gourmet dried fish, so he wasn't going to make, thus that meant no remixing as he had the Face parts. Rrrrr. Thus, we decided to work on the new song.. It took Brandt FOREVER to load this song and all the parts up and I was bored out of my freakin' mind. When he did get the song up, I have to admit I wasnt nearly as pleased with the track as I was when I heard it many weeks back. So a lot of deconstructing went on. The first thing to go were Brandt's strings, which sounded way the hell too much like TKK. Brandt let his Wax Trax fascination get the best of him with this song. I had played some bass awhile back which I thought blew, so I spent a lot of time writing new parts. This took a long time, but I was able to write basslines for the verses and choruses, though the chourses went through a few revisions as the day went on. At some point during all this, Brandt received a phone call from Ash, saying he was coming by 'in a half hour' to drop off the remix parts and I received a phone call from my old pal Jamie Duffy (on tour doing sound for Saves The Day) saying he also was coming by 'in a half hour'. Its interesting to see what 'in a half hour' means for these guys as they didnt show until many half hours later, and hours apart from each other. Anyway, there was no way Jamie was going to hang out with us and not play, so after he spent 3 hours Instant Messaging people, we put a guitar in his hand and DAMN did he take this new track to the next level. He played the most UN-Jamie like guitars I have ever heard (I mean this in a good way). He played some 12 string as well as some E-bow and really added some sexiness to the track. I just left him and Brandt alone to make this track happen. Now the song went from Wax Traxy to sounding like Soda Stereo. This is good. Damn good. Then it became the industrial This Is Your Life as the three of us had a big dinner discussing everything under the sun about Jamie's and my past in the world of machine rock (as we call it now). Some funny stories were told and I think Brandt got a kick out of hearing a lot of the behind the scenes stuff that has happened to us over the years. And yes, Jamie confirmed the atrocity that was the aggression hotel destruction incident. Brandt was shocked that that story was NOT exaggerated. Then it was drinks long into the evening at KGB bar, which was a good choice as the drinks are strong and priced reasonably and the place isnt overcrowded. Like Russia. I think. All in all, a fun evening. Thanks, Kid! F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | The Face made their Knitting Factory Debut last night for an early show opening for someone called My Favorite (who have a bit of a following, I'm told). Well, I'm happy to report that Saintface was in excellent form and played a very 'hyper' (Irene's word) and 'Spirited' (G's word) set. As a musician who knows the band members well, I could tell that they were having a VERY fun time on there. The music was tight, the band was loose. That's how it should be. Plus, they closed with an oldie called YOU BELONG TO ME, which confirms my suspicion that it's popping up on the album. Right, Peter? I would like to add that Saintface have fallen into an old aggression trap. With the aggression, every gig was 'the last gig ever' and we'd play a month later. Saintface's gimmick is 'last gig of the year' and they play a month later. December 29th will be their third last gig of the year I think. Love it. And yes, Peter, that was me who yelled 'Disco'. Sorry. I wouldn't do that if they weren't my favorite band. Had a nice round of drinks after with my girl, G, brandt and Peter. Good times. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I miss you as well. But here I am. Pigface, featuring Jared, came into town the other night. It was dilemma for me as we had tix for the Twilight Singers, who I dearly love, but I wanted to see Jared. Irene and I had a great sushi dinner with Jared, who I am always happy to see and have fun with. That was the highlight for sure. As for the gig, the crowd was dead, the venue blows and quite frankly, I feel like Pigface, other than as a promotional tour for Jared/Chemlab, is a dead topic at this point. Touring so soon after the last tour and touring the same market behind KMFDM (who I skipped intentionally when I found out they weren't playing Pig songs) was a huge mistake. Jared is a sole frontman and better off on his own and hopefully this tour at least gets people interested in Chemlab. I was invited to get up and sing CODIENE GLUE AND YOU with Jared (who treats me like a superstar, thanks), but legendary tampon jingle writer Siebold tried to boot me, obviously not paying attention to the fact that I was invited up. Kids stormed the stage, not helping with the confusion either, so eventually, I just sorta walked off the stage cause it was going nowhere. Maybe it was because the aggression was so much better than Douche Dept. when we opened for them. Just saying. And Curse Mckay? Thanks for the water. Dick. Honestly, between us, I was nervous about going up, as this has been my scene since I was 18. Plus, I hadn’t been onstage in awhile. I was onstage maybe 2 minutes, tops. Irene and Matt were very protective of me post-leaving the stage as I guess I looked a bit frazzled. So my appreciation goes out to them. So while I’m thinking it was a humiliating experience, kids from the gig have been E-mailing me they loved the chaos. Go figure. Anyway, post gig vibes were low, but thanks to a well-placed Text message from Mr. G, I was able to run down very quickly to catch the last hour of the Twilight Singers. Greg Dulli, fat and drunk, sang the new Outkast song and then played a bunch of Afghan Whigs songs. He was a mess. He talked non-stop. He doesn’t seem long for this world. I’m happy I saw this. I went to bed a happy boy. The next night was back to the studio for some HF loving. THEY’VE JUST, the first song written for the new album, finally got the attention it deserved and is now a sweet, atmospheric song. Lotta soul to this one. Very pleased with it. 9 songs now for HF2. Speaking of HF2: the new tentative album titles is EXIT STRATEGIES. You can figure that out on your own. Last night, Irene found a great Vietnamese bistro for us to find solace in during a massive rainstorm before I headed over to the Coral Room to meet Ash and Brandt for the free Telfon Tel Aviv gig. This gig was nothing sort of EXCELLENT and the band impressed us with their ability to use live instruments instead of solely relying on a computer. Top notch, excellent music. Then I ran into Mike Burnlab, who did the artwork for the new Chemlab record and is a really good guy, so that was a nice surprise. The evening ended at the Gramercy where Ash, Brandt and I had a very productive and positive discussion about all our different musical adventures. I left this summit quite jazzed and quite optimistic for the upcoming material. I wish everyone I worked with in music was as dedicated as these two (and Robinowitz). Saintface tonight. More then. F |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | I am going to be in some deep shit with this... Jackie Chan in talks with government to construct a Jackie Chan village in Hong Kong over the next ten years by Wu Chi Ming 2003.11.17 Jackie Chan took interviews with a few Japanese newspapers the other day, and revealed plans to cooperate with the Hong Kong government to construct a village (the Jackie village!) in ten years time. The village could have a Jackie Chan museum and a movie themed park. Jackie Chan's 'Shanghai Knights' opened the day before yesterday in Japan. But because he was hard at work on 'New Police Story, Jackie was unable to promote the movie in person. But he still attracted a large number of Japanese media who arrived in Hong Kong to interview him. He accepted interviews from 'Sports Daily' and 'Sankei Sports' and disclosed his planned construction of the Jackie village in Hong Kong. Each part of the facility [would be world class.] Jackie Chan said, '...I plan a Jackie village! Besides having a movie themed park, we could have a theater, a [sports area?] and a Jackie museum. Jackie had originally had this idea on his mind for several years. He said, 'Although Jackie Village is still in the planning stage, there has already been four or five meetings with the Hong Kong government. The final plan isn't in cement yet, and I can't disclose details. It was a secret! There are still a lot of plans for the project. Moreover, from the beginning until now it's been about two or three years. I believe in order to complete the project it would take ten years!' A few years ago there were rumors of plans to construct a Jackie Chan museum in Yokohama, but the plan was stopped. Now Jackie has regained hope. http://www.the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20031117/img/c21117_big.jpg |
4,192,173 | male | 27 | Technology | Pisces | 10,August,2004 | Sorry, been buried. But here I am for your stalking pleasure. Chemlab is literally consuming my life. This is not a bad thing. Tons of work, E-mails flooding in and lots of new interest in my musical world from the kids. The Chemlab message boards are a lot of fun so far. Hopefully, no jackasses will go and ruin it. Thanks to this new exposure, a few aggression/HF cd's are being bought up and the talk of the chat boards is the new Chemlab 'MACHINE AGE' EP. Jared is out on the road with Pigface now selling it as well as the new T-shirts (can't wait to strap one of those on!). Finally, my copies of the EP arrived today thanks to the very nice Mike at Invisible and it sounds super. I think for a limited edition tour only item, this is the perverbial bomb, as they say. I'm not 100% happy with the way my artwork was printed, but I have little to nothing to complain about. Its the first official Chem-release in years and I got to be a part of it. Now, onwards to Oxidizer in January...and beyond. Hypefactor is no less busy. Tackling the song THEYVE JUST, now which has gone from moody acoustical thing to mini-Cure epic. Love what this is turning into. Its the last song to be developed before we being tracking drums. LOTS of inter-corp discussion about the drums, etc. Thats a new challenge for us as we have never directly recorded live drums for one of our projects before. It will certainly be educational. Ash has laid some of the groundwork for this with the Cobra's, but I think we're gonna do some really great stuff in the next few weeks. Robin's ready for this. I know she will come through big time. Also, Brandt has updated the news section of the site, so check that our and LEARN, asap! Meanwhile, the aggression (remember them) have been informed by the label that the THESE MILLION NIGHTS EP is on the schedule for early 04 (to capitalize on the chemlab association, I'm sure), so I've started prepping the art for it. We're not sure if it's going to be in a slim jewel case (like DEVIATIONS), which is my preference, or in a regular CD5 case, so as soon as I know, I can go full out on the art. the cover is ready. I'm looking forward to getting back into that world for a bit. I think the label has a few of their artists doing some remixes for this, so we might end up with maybe TEN remixes on this mother. Quite the bang for the buck. And no, i will not comment on Paris Hilton. Now back to Cerati F |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.