Δαι μουσικές (daeman's tunes)
- Thread starter daeman
- Start date
...
Καλοστρατιά στον Τζον Λορντ, σαν συνέχεια εκείνου:
Wring That Neck - Deep Purple
Οι It's A Beautiful Day ανταπέδωσαν τον δανεισμό:
There's a funny story about the album, too. Any other band, upon learning that they were cruelly robbed by competitors, would probably have sued Deep Purple to death. (Arguably, had they done that and won, today LaFlamme would probably be making more money off Purple albums than off all of his own catalog!) Instead, It's A Beautiful Day opted for the "eye for eye" principle: they took a Purple instrumental - 'Wring That Neck' - and appropriated it for themselves, replacing guitars with violins and renaming it 'Don And Dewey' (in honour of a couple 50s' musicians whose surnames I don't really remember*). And it worked! Dave's violin tears through the melody just as ferociously as Ritchie's guitar used to do. I mean, technically it doesn't rock as hard, of course, although guitarist Hal Wagenet does get a brief chance to shine with some flashy work, but it's got a great 'soft stomp' in these guys' hands anyway.
*Don "Sugarcane" Harris & Dewey Terry
Don and Dewey - It's A Beautiful Day
Καλοστρατιά στον Τζον Λορντ, σαν συνέχεια εκείνου:
Wring That Neck - Deep Purple
Οι It's A Beautiful Day ανταπέδωσαν τον δανεισμό:
There's a funny story about the album, too. Any other band, upon learning that they were cruelly robbed by competitors, would probably have sued Deep Purple to death. (Arguably, had they done that and won, today LaFlamme would probably be making more money off Purple albums than off all of his own catalog!) Instead, It's A Beautiful Day opted for the "eye for eye" principle: they took a Purple instrumental - 'Wring That Neck' - and appropriated it for themselves, replacing guitars with violins and renaming it 'Don And Dewey' (in honour of a couple 50s' musicians whose surnames I don't really remember*). And it worked! Dave's violin tears through the melody just as ferociously as Ritchie's guitar used to do. I mean, technically it doesn't rock as hard, of course, although guitarist Hal Wagenet does get a brief chance to shine with some flashy work, but it's got a great 'soft stomp' in these guys' hands anyway.
*Don "Sugarcane" Harris & Dewey Terry
Don and Dewey - It's A Beautiful Day
...
Ε, μια που έβαλα τους Deep Purple από εκείνο το φεστιβάλ, να το και όλο.
Δεν κάθομαι να βάλω το πρόγραμμα παρακάτω με τη σειρά που εμφανίζονται στο βίντεο, δεν προλαβαίνω τώρα.
Bilzen Jazz and Pop Festival, Bilzen, Belgium, 21-22-23-24 August, 1969
THE PROGRAM:
Shocking Blue - August 22, 1969: Venus + Interview
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - August 22, 1969: Big Shot. You Done My Brain In. Hello Mabel. Urban Spaceman. Quiet Talks and Summer Walks. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles. Canyons of Your Mind. Trouser Press
Taste - August 22, 1969 : Blister on the Moon. Sugar Mama
Moody Blues - August 22, 1969: Tuesday Afternoon. Have you heard (Part 1). The Voyage. Have you heard (Part 2)
Soft Machine - August 22, 1969: Moon In June
Marsha Hunt & White Trash - August 22, 1969: Interview. My world is empty without you babe
Brian Auger & The Trinity - August 22, 1969: Interview. Pavane. I Just Got Some
Steve Shorter & Tilly Set - August 22, 1969: Move On Up
Deep Purple - August 24, 1969: Wring That Neck. Mandrake Root
Humble Pie - August 24, 1969: Shakey Jake / I Walk On Gilded Splinters
Life - August 24, 1969: Baby Please Don't Go
Blossom Toes - August 24, 1969: Stargazer
Bοnus material from Bilzen Jazz 1968:
The Move - August 24, 1968: Sunshine Help Me
Roland and the Bluesworkshop - August 23, 1968: Roland's Blues
Ε, μια που έβαλα τους Deep Purple από εκείνο το φεστιβάλ, να το και όλο.
Δεν κάθομαι να βάλω το πρόγραμμα παρακάτω με τη σειρά που εμφανίζονται στο βίντεο, δεν προλαβαίνω τώρα.
Bilzen Jazz and Pop Festival, Bilzen, Belgium, 21-22-23-24 August, 1969
THE PROGRAM:
Shocking Blue - August 22, 1969: Venus + Interview
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - August 22, 1969: Big Shot. You Done My Brain In. Hello Mabel. Urban Spaceman. Quiet Talks and Summer Walks. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles. Canyons of Your Mind. Trouser Press
Taste - August 22, 1969 : Blister on the Moon. Sugar Mama
Moody Blues - August 22, 1969: Tuesday Afternoon. Have you heard (Part 1). The Voyage. Have you heard (Part 2)
Soft Machine - August 22, 1969: Moon In June
Marsha Hunt & White Trash - August 22, 1969: Interview. My world is empty without you babe
Brian Auger & The Trinity - August 22, 1969: Interview. Pavane. I Just Got Some
Steve Shorter & Tilly Set - August 22, 1969: Move On Up
Deep Purple - August 24, 1969: Wring That Neck. Mandrake Root
Humble Pie - August 24, 1969: Shakey Jake / I Walk On Gilded Splinters
Life - August 24, 1969: Baby Please Don't Go
Blossom Toes - August 24, 1969: Stargazer
Bοnus material from Bilzen Jazz 1968:
The Move - August 24, 1968: Sunshine Help Me
Roland and the Bluesworkshop - August 23, 1968: Roland's Blues
...
Sheik wha? Sheik ha? Ha! :glare: Sheik Yerbouti - Frank Zappa
1. I Have Been In You 0:00
2. Flakes 3:33
3. Broken Hearts Are For Assholes 10:15
4. I'm So Cute (Edited Version) 13:58
5. Jones Crusher 17:07
6. What Ever Happened To All The Fun In The World 19:55
7. Rat Tomago 20:30
8. Wait A Minute 25:46
9. Bobby Brown Goes Down 26:19
10. Rubber Shirt 29:09
11. The Sheik Yerbouti Tango 31:54
12. Baby Snakes 35:50
13. Tryin' To Grow A Chin 37:41
14. City Of Tiny Lites 41:12
15. Dancin' Fool 46:44
16. Jewish Princess 50:28
17. Wild Love 53:45
18. Yo' Mama 57:56
Frank Zappa -- Lead Guitar, Vocals, Arranger, Composer, Producer, Remixing / Adrian Belew -- Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Bob Dylan impersonation / Patrick O'Hearn -- Bass, Vocals / Terry Bozzio -- Drums, Vocals / Davey Moire -- Vocals, Engineer / Ed Mann -- Percussion, Vocals / Tommy Mars -- Keyboards, Backing Vocals / Andre Lewis -- Keyboards, Backing Vocals / Napoleon Murphy Brock -- Backing Vocals / Randy Thornton -- Backing Vocals / Peter Wolf -- Keyboards, Butter, Flora Margarine / David Ocker -- Clarinet
Sheik wha? Sheik ha? Ha! :glare: Sheik Yerbouti - Frank Zappa
1. I Have Been In You 0:00
2. Flakes 3:33
3. Broken Hearts Are For Assholes 10:15
4. I'm So Cute (Edited Version) 13:58
5. Jones Crusher 17:07
6. What Ever Happened To All The Fun In The World 19:55
7. Rat Tomago 20:30
8. Wait A Minute 25:46
9. Bobby Brown Goes Down 26:19
10. Rubber Shirt 29:09
11. The Sheik Yerbouti Tango 31:54
12. Baby Snakes 35:50
13. Tryin' To Grow A Chin 37:41
14. City Of Tiny Lites 41:12
15. Dancin' Fool 46:44
16. Jewish Princess 50:28
17. Wild Love 53:45
18. Yo' Mama 57:56
Frank Zappa -- Lead Guitar, Vocals, Arranger, Composer, Producer, Remixing / Adrian Belew -- Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Bob Dylan impersonation / Patrick O'Hearn -- Bass, Vocals / Terry Bozzio -- Drums, Vocals / Davey Moire -- Vocals, Engineer / Ed Mann -- Percussion, Vocals / Tommy Mars -- Keyboards, Backing Vocals / Andre Lewis -- Keyboards, Backing Vocals / Napoleon Murphy Brock -- Backing Vocals / Randy Thornton -- Backing Vocals / Peter Wolf -- Keyboards, Butter, Flora Margarine / David Ocker -- Clarinet
Costas
¥
Η καλή μου τύχη μ' έκανε να πέσω πάνω σ' έναν Έλληνα φωτογράφο που, 1976-7 μεριά, έχοντας μόλις έρθει από Νέα Υόρκη με τις φωτογραφίες του των αλήστου μνήμης Δίδυμων Πύργων και με λαμπρούς δίσκους στο σπίτι του, μ' έκανε να γνωρίσω τον Steve Reich. Την άλλη μέρα μου τηλεφώνησε και μου είπε ότι η έκδοση της Deutsche Grammophon (Drumming κλπ.) που με είχε θαμπώσει υπήρχε στη Λέσχη του Δίσκου, αν ήθελα να την αγοράσω. Αν ήθελα, λέει;....
Εδώ, κάτι για τους λάτρεις του φλάουτου.
Εδώ, κάτι για τους λάτρεις του φλάουτου.
...
One Giant Leap (What About Me) - Mothers, Don't Cry
music track: Duncan Bridgeman / top line & lyrics: Ramata Diakité, Miles Solay
Electric & accoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, drums & programming: Duncan Bridgeman, Jamie Catto
"We travelled around the world collaborating with the most happening musicians, authors, scientists and thinkers we could find to explore the unity in the diversity." Bridgeman, Catto
The Miao tribe (vocals) Yunnan, China
(29/03/05) We had another two sessions booked the next day. We were going to an artist's studio to do the work. I was a bit dubious but it looked like it might rain, one thing which is very hard for us to deal with. We drove out of town. Through some
industrial landscape and pulled up at one of the maddest places I've ever seen. The place was huge with lots of domes which made up the buildings and mad sculptures everywhere. There were a couple of themes repeated over and over. One was these small metal pots a couple of feet high with faces dented into the top if them. All individual. Thousands of metal legs everywhere. Giant spiders and a female Buddha. Once inside the buildings it got even weirder. We chose to do our sessions inside the main hall. There was a kind of stage with hundreds of the little rusty pots with faces like an audience. The brickwork of the Dome was incredible. It must have taken the guy years to put this together. I'm not sure how we got access because it was obviously not open to the public. Oh yes, in the garden was a giant bath that looked like a scorpion with the shower in the tail. Very dark, but very brilliant. I was introduced to the artist and he made no attempt to connect. I congratulated him but got no response, just a little nod. He was actually the first Chinaman I'd met that was not really friendly. We set up the gear and told Sam that he had just been awarded Location of the Year. We set them up in front of the tin audience and as soon as I said action in they burst with incredibly strong and shrill voices. It’s the kind of sound that usually gets me running to the hills but this lot sounded fantastic and the acoustics of the room were gorgeous. Sam was warning us that the artist was dropping hints that it was getting late so we quickly got the girls outside to do some of their dances. Lovely stuff, especially in the mad location surrounded by huge spiders and disembodied legs. Again we left after sunset very happy.
Ramata Diakité (vocals) Bamako, Mali
(04/12/04) Eric our fixer introduced me to Ramata in the lobby of our hotel. I listened to Ramata's CD in the lift up to my room. It sounded great, very powerful. When she arrived I played her one of the tracks and she just burst into it straight
away and it sounded great. I burnt her a CD and said we'd be at her place in the morning. Off she popped and we did indeed turn up the following day. She lived south of the Niger in a really weird but quite affluent area. It’s basically a building site with half of the houses finished and lived in. Her house was lovely, a small courtyard where we recorded the vocal and once again the splendid 70's styling that is still huge in Mali. Ramata rocked and I had a great vibe with her husband who was totally knocked out when I gave him a set of radio headphones to wear. I noticed between takes that he had his turned to 10 (the way I do) which is VERY loud. We did a second take on the roof, which was great, with a view across loads of other houses. By the end of the take all the roofs had people watching and about 20 people had gathered outside in the street below and they all burst into applause. We then had to rush away really quickly because we had a 10:00 session back in town...
Miles Solay (vocals) New York, USA
(16/03/06) I met Miles Solay from the band Outernational at the “Bring The Troops Home“ Gig we did with Michael Stipe. He seemed like a bit of a revolutionary, revolutionary hat and revolutionary goaty. We exchanged numbers and next day he came to the hotel. He was cool. We really hit it off and he understood what I was doing and gave me more phone numbers including Boots Reilly who I'd been trying to find since last time we were over, suddenly there he was on the end of the phone. Said he could get me to Eugene Hutz too! My God I'm a lucky fella. He went off with a CD and we arranged to meet when I got back from Atlanta. We did a fantastic session with him rapping in the middle of Canal St. The sun was shining brightly from one side and then reflected off a glass building on the other side and it looked like we'd spent $1000's of dollars on lighting. His rap was really cool... he’s my new best friend...
Yoshida Brothers (shamisen) Tokyo, Japan
(07/03/05) Everyone had a little fantasy about being in Tokyo. Unfortunately we arrived and me and Ben and Josh got very sick. We'd worked very hard in India and I think we'd hit the end of our reserves. We had a couple of days taking it easy to try and recover. The only thing we had to do was a couple of meetings to sort out the music sessions. When I'd been listening to all the Japanese music that had been sent to me I'd struggled to find anything that might suit 1GL. One artist I'd been intrigued by were the Yoshida brothers. They play an instrument called a Shamisen which is a traditional three string Japanese instrument. It is a very thin and twangy sound. On the sleeve of the CD they looked like two young pop stars, but the music is only Shamisen with no other arrangement and they play their instruments like Jimmy Page. So off we went to Sony music to have a meeting with them, their manager, their A&R man, their engineer, and several other people who I'm not sure what they do. First thing is they put on the track which they wanted to play on and Jamie and I sat between them and off they went riffing away like true heavy metal heroes only with this little twangy sound. It sounded great. The meeting then lasted about another hour as we discussed every tiny detail of the session down to the stools they were going to use. Their big concern was about the sound quality. I'd already had many emails from them before we arrived and I kept reassuring them that I was up to the job, but still they insisted that their engineer be present with his microphones (six of them!) and also we would have a top studio on hold if the location sound was not good enough. This was my first introduction to the Japanese attention to detail. (16/03) Wednesday at long last is Yoshida brothers’ day. We got to the location and it was right in the middle of town next to the Prada building. The theatre was very strange. A replica of an ancient Japanese theatre plonked inside a concrete box on the 7th floor of some strange tower block. It looked very cool though. To walk on the stage you had to wear those special little slippers called Tabi that have a separate place for your big toe, feels very weird. The brothers turned up with the manager, the engineer, a couple of record company executives and obviously a few more unmentionables. I found out that in the last couple of months it’s gone mad for them because they were featured on a beer commercial, that explained why Sony were so keen. At first they didn't want to wear headphones for the shoot. We showed them loads of really cool shots of people wearing the headphones like Rokia Traore in Mali and the band of musicians in Rajasthan etc and they agreed. We then had to persuade them that we wanted to shoot immediately and not do a soundcheck. The studio was still on hold and the engineer was not breathing down my neck but he was keeping an eye on me. It took the brothers about an hour to get into their Kimonos. This Japanese precision thing is growing on me. Everything we see always looks brand new. All the instruments that people bring out look like they have just been bought that morning. In fact the whole of Tokyo looks brand new. Never any rubbish. All the neon signs work. When the brothers eventually appeared they looked brilliant in matching kimonos. We sat them on the stage and I spent a little more time than I usually would moving the mics around and checking things and made sure all the cables were perfectly arranged. I really wanted them to see that I cared and was doing everything possible for a good sound. We did the first take and they were brilliant. Perfectly synced with the backing music I was feeding them. The moment of truth. I played back the take sitting at the Roland, slightly nervously adjusting things while behind the brothers and all their entourage listened to the sound coming out of my tiny Bose speakers. The Shamisen has no bass frequencies at all and the problem in recording it is that the attack sound is very loud and tends to mask the sound of the note underneath. So I'd close mic'd on each instrument and then put the Stereo Rode mic about three feet away between them for general room sound. I try not to use EQ (treble, middle and bass frequency control) when I'm recording because I like to get as close as I can to the natural sound of the instrument. If I need to change the sound from listening either on headphones or through my Bose speakers, I move the mic to get the sound I want. I can then add EQ later when I'm mixing it in with all the other instruments. At the end of the track I sheepishly looked round to see what the verdict was. Thank God I got the thumbs up and the engineer was dispatched and we did a couple more takes and the Brothers really loosened up visually and were rocking out. The younger brother shaking his head like a speed metal guitarist. Each take though was sonically identical. Unbelievable precision. Now the twist in this little tale is that when you put the Shamisen they played through a fuzz box it sound really really amazing. A proper rock out. They are going to freak when they hear the final record it could change their lives, we'll see. Thank God they signed the release form...
Miss Honda (vocals) Aizu, Japan
(11/03/05) Next day we had our first music session arranged. A traditional Japanese folk singer, a Miss Honda. I was feeling a little bit better but not much. We drove up into the hills to a little studio and we met with the singer and her producer. John had given me a CD of her singing and to be honest I wasn't sure where the hell it would fit, it was very obscure to my ears. I thought folk music meant ordinary people could sing along! I guess it’s all about reference points. They played me something they had worked on over the rocking part of the Love track and it sounded incredible, from another planet all together but perfect! I said lets do both songs only to be told that it was the same song. Ah yes, I knew that... Nothing had really been added so far to rocking track, it’s still in demo form. It’s my attempt at a Talking Heads homage but all the Japanese artists are choosing it as a favourite. It will probably end up being our Japanese single. There was a lovely vibe in the room and we got a lovely shot out in the snow with some beautifully bare and sculpted trees behind her. It did sound really good, strange. When I asked her to do something really gentle over the intro she went into a different realm, a different sonic universe opened up. Me and Jamie grinned a lot at each other because it really sounded like "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and that can never be a bad thing. Every place we go to in Japan I have to take my shoes off which I'm fully in favour of, except that my feet get freezing cold. I must remember to take some warm socks with me to the next session. Oh yes I love Green tea. I haven't had any coffee for ages...
Dongara (Kodo Drumming) Tokyo, Japan
(12/03/05) Next day we had our first big music session back in Tokyo. The Taiko Drum group led by Tetsuro Naito called Dongara. I wanted to do the session inside to make sure I got good acoustics for the huge drums. We booked a rehearsal room which we could black out so it would composite well with other drum sessions we'd done like Tambuco in Mexico. We arrived at ten and the room was filling up with unbelievable drums and gongs and other typically Japanese percussion. We'd also booked a mime artist to come for the day. His name was Masa and as we watched him warm up it was obvious he was really good and Jamie took him out for an hour to shoot for the different themes while we set up. Before we got stuck into overdubbing on our music I asked them if they had a piece they could perform for us so I could see what they were capable of. When we finally had arranged all the performers into a shape we could frame and got the lights we'd hired set up right, they launched into their piece. As you would expect the precision of their playing was faultless and the effect was very unsettling in that weird traditional Japanese way. They had chosen two tracks that they wanted to play on. The first one was to be track 27 which Tambuco had played on. Tetsuro had written charts out for everybody. He had arranged all 11 minutes that were on the mix I had given him. I had to explain that the arrangement of the song could (and will) change according to what parts we get. We boiled the arrangement down three minutes which included all the parts he had and started recording. It wasn't that good really and I kept trying to get them to up the energy a bit. I kept chipping away until about 11:00 pm and I got some really great bits that will shoehorn into what I need (there were actually a couple of brilliant bits), but when I got to bed that night completely exhausted I had that funny unsatisfied feeling in my tummy and the slight smell of fear in my nostrils.
Kishan Rivan (vocals & violin) Udaipur, India
(25/02/05) Straight after we did another session with a husband and wife duo. It was in the middle of the day now and we were really cooking. They were so sweet though. They'd been waiting all morning for us and as the husband spoke a little English he understood what we were doing and also locked in solid as soon as I fed them the track. Lovely vibes...
Καλά ταξίδια σε όλους! :up: :)
One Giant Leap (What About Me) - Mothers, Don't Cry
Electric & accoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, drums & programming: Duncan Bridgeman, Jamie Catto
"We travelled around the world collaborating with the most happening musicians, authors, scientists and thinkers we could find to explore the unity in the diversity." Bridgeman, Catto
The Miao tribe (vocals) Yunnan, China
(29/03/05) We had another two sessions booked the next day. We were going to an artist's studio to do the work. I was a bit dubious but it looked like it might rain, one thing which is very hard for us to deal with. We drove out of town. Through some
industrial landscape and pulled up at one of the maddest places I've ever seen. The place was huge with lots of domes which made up the buildings and mad sculptures everywhere. There were a couple of themes repeated over and over. One was these small metal pots a couple of feet high with faces dented into the top if them. All individual. Thousands of metal legs everywhere. Giant spiders and a female Buddha. Once inside the buildings it got even weirder. We chose to do our sessions inside the main hall. There was a kind of stage with hundreds of the little rusty pots with faces like an audience. The brickwork of the Dome was incredible. It must have taken the guy years to put this together. I'm not sure how we got access because it was obviously not open to the public. Oh yes, in the garden was a giant bath that looked like a scorpion with the shower in the tail. Very dark, but very brilliant. I was introduced to the artist and he made no attempt to connect. I congratulated him but got no response, just a little nod. He was actually the first Chinaman I'd met that was not really friendly. We set up the gear and told Sam that he had just been awarded Location of the Year. We set them up in front of the tin audience and as soon as I said action in they burst with incredibly strong and shrill voices. It’s the kind of sound that usually gets me running to the hills but this lot sounded fantastic and the acoustics of the room were gorgeous. Sam was warning us that the artist was dropping hints that it was getting late so we quickly got the girls outside to do some of their dances. Lovely stuff, especially in the mad location surrounded by huge spiders and disembodied legs. Again we left after sunset very happy.
Ramata Diakité (vocals) Bamako, Mali
(04/12/04) Eric our fixer introduced me to Ramata in the lobby of our hotel. I listened to Ramata's CD in the lift up to my room. It sounded great, very powerful. When she arrived I played her one of the tracks and she just burst into it straight
away and it sounded great. I burnt her a CD and said we'd be at her place in the morning. Off she popped and we did indeed turn up the following day. She lived south of the Niger in a really weird but quite affluent area. It’s basically a building site with half of the houses finished and lived in. Her house was lovely, a small courtyard where we recorded the vocal and once again the splendid 70's styling that is still huge in Mali. Ramata rocked and I had a great vibe with her husband who was totally knocked out when I gave him a set of radio headphones to wear. I noticed between takes that he had his turned to 10 (the way I do) which is VERY loud. We did a second take on the roof, which was great, with a view across loads of other houses. By the end of the take all the roofs had people watching and about 20 people had gathered outside in the street below and they all burst into applause. We then had to rush away really quickly because we had a 10:00 session back in town...
Miles Solay (vocals) New York, USA
(16/03/06) I met Miles Solay from the band Outernational at the “Bring The Troops Home“ Gig we did with Michael Stipe. He seemed like a bit of a revolutionary, revolutionary hat and revolutionary goaty. We exchanged numbers and next day he came to the hotel. He was cool. We really hit it off and he understood what I was doing and gave me more phone numbers including Boots Reilly who I'd been trying to find since last time we were over, suddenly there he was on the end of the phone. Said he could get me to Eugene Hutz too! My God I'm a lucky fella. He went off with a CD and we arranged to meet when I got back from Atlanta. We did a fantastic session with him rapping in the middle of Canal St. The sun was shining brightly from one side and then reflected off a glass building on the other side and it looked like we'd spent $1000's of dollars on lighting. His rap was really cool... he’s my new best friend...
Yoshida Brothers (shamisen) Tokyo, Japan
(07/03/05) Everyone had a little fantasy about being in Tokyo. Unfortunately we arrived and me and Ben and Josh got very sick. We'd worked very hard in India and I think we'd hit the end of our reserves. We had a couple of days taking it easy to try and recover. The only thing we had to do was a couple of meetings to sort out the music sessions. When I'd been listening to all the Japanese music that had been sent to me I'd struggled to find anything that might suit 1GL. One artist I'd been intrigued by were the Yoshida brothers. They play an instrument called a Shamisen which is a traditional three string Japanese instrument. It is a very thin and twangy sound. On the sleeve of the CD they looked like two young pop stars, but the music is only Shamisen with no other arrangement and they play their instruments like Jimmy Page. So off we went to Sony music to have a meeting with them, their manager, their A&R man, their engineer, and several other people who I'm not sure what they do. First thing is they put on the track which they wanted to play on and Jamie and I sat between them and off they went riffing away like true heavy metal heroes only with this little twangy sound. It sounded great. The meeting then lasted about another hour as we discussed every tiny detail of the session down to the stools they were going to use. Their big concern was about the sound quality. I'd already had many emails from them before we arrived and I kept reassuring them that I was up to the job, but still they insisted that their engineer be present with his microphones (six of them!) and also we would have a top studio on hold if the location sound was not good enough. This was my first introduction to the Japanese attention to detail. (16/03) Wednesday at long last is Yoshida brothers’ day. We got to the location and it was right in the middle of town next to the Prada building. The theatre was very strange. A replica of an ancient Japanese theatre plonked inside a concrete box on the 7th floor of some strange tower block. It looked very cool though. To walk on the stage you had to wear those special little slippers called Tabi that have a separate place for your big toe, feels very weird. The brothers turned up with the manager, the engineer, a couple of record company executives and obviously a few more unmentionables. I found out that in the last couple of months it’s gone mad for them because they were featured on a beer commercial, that explained why Sony were so keen. At first they didn't want to wear headphones for the shoot. We showed them loads of really cool shots of people wearing the headphones like Rokia Traore in Mali and the band of musicians in Rajasthan etc and they agreed. We then had to persuade them that we wanted to shoot immediately and not do a soundcheck. The studio was still on hold and the engineer was not breathing down my neck but he was keeping an eye on me. It took the brothers about an hour to get into their Kimonos. This Japanese precision thing is growing on me. Everything we see always looks brand new. All the instruments that people bring out look like they have just been bought that morning. In fact the whole of Tokyo looks brand new. Never any rubbish. All the neon signs work. When the brothers eventually appeared they looked brilliant in matching kimonos. We sat them on the stage and I spent a little more time than I usually would moving the mics around and checking things and made sure all the cables were perfectly arranged. I really wanted them to see that I cared and was doing everything possible for a good sound. We did the first take and they were brilliant. Perfectly synced with the backing music I was feeding them. The moment of truth. I played back the take sitting at the Roland, slightly nervously adjusting things while behind the brothers and all their entourage listened to the sound coming out of my tiny Bose speakers. The Shamisen has no bass frequencies at all and the problem in recording it is that the attack sound is very loud and tends to mask the sound of the note underneath. So I'd close mic'd on each instrument and then put the Stereo Rode mic about three feet away between them for general room sound. I try not to use EQ (treble, middle and bass frequency control) when I'm recording because I like to get as close as I can to the natural sound of the instrument. If I need to change the sound from listening either on headphones or through my Bose speakers, I move the mic to get the sound I want. I can then add EQ later when I'm mixing it in with all the other instruments. At the end of the track I sheepishly looked round to see what the verdict was. Thank God I got the thumbs up and the engineer was dispatched and we did a couple more takes and the Brothers really loosened up visually and were rocking out. The younger brother shaking his head like a speed metal guitarist. Each take though was sonically identical. Unbelievable precision. Now the twist in this little tale is that when you put the Shamisen they played through a fuzz box it sound really really amazing. A proper rock out. They are going to freak when they hear the final record it could change their lives, we'll see. Thank God they signed the release form...
Miss Honda (vocals) Aizu, Japan
(11/03/05) Next day we had our first music session arranged. A traditional Japanese folk singer, a Miss Honda. I was feeling a little bit better but not much. We drove up into the hills to a little studio and we met with the singer and her producer. John had given me a CD of her singing and to be honest I wasn't sure where the hell it would fit, it was very obscure to my ears. I thought folk music meant ordinary people could sing along! I guess it’s all about reference points. They played me something they had worked on over the rocking part of the Love track and it sounded incredible, from another planet all together but perfect! I said lets do both songs only to be told that it was the same song. Ah yes, I knew that... Nothing had really been added so far to rocking track, it’s still in demo form. It’s my attempt at a Talking Heads homage but all the Japanese artists are choosing it as a favourite. It will probably end up being our Japanese single. There was a lovely vibe in the room and we got a lovely shot out in the snow with some beautifully bare and sculpted trees behind her. It did sound really good, strange. When I asked her to do something really gentle over the intro she went into a different realm, a different sonic universe opened up. Me and Jamie grinned a lot at each other because it really sounded like "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and that can never be a bad thing. Every place we go to in Japan I have to take my shoes off which I'm fully in favour of, except that my feet get freezing cold. I must remember to take some warm socks with me to the next session. Oh yes I love Green tea. I haven't had any coffee for ages...
Dongara (Kodo Drumming) Tokyo, Japan
(12/03/05) Next day we had our first big music session back in Tokyo. The Taiko Drum group led by Tetsuro Naito called Dongara. I wanted to do the session inside to make sure I got good acoustics for the huge drums. We booked a rehearsal room which we could black out so it would composite well with other drum sessions we'd done like Tambuco in Mexico. We arrived at ten and the room was filling up with unbelievable drums and gongs and other typically Japanese percussion. We'd also booked a mime artist to come for the day. His name was Masa and as we watched him warm up it was obvious he was really good and Jamie took him out for an hour to shoot for the different themes while we set up. Before we got stuck into overdubbing on our music I asked them if they had a piece they could perform for us so I could see what they were capable of. When we finally had arranged all the performers into a shape we could frame and got the lights we'd hired set up right, they launched into their piece. As you would expect the precision of their playing was faultless and the effect was very unsettling in that weird traditional Japanese way. They had chosen two tracks that they wanted to play on. The first one was to be track 27 which Tambuco had played on. Tetsuro had written charts out for everybody. He had arranged all 11 minutes that were on the mix I had given him. I had to explain that the arrangement of the song could (and will) change according to what parts we get. We boiled the arrangement down three minutes which included all the parts he had and started recording. It wasn't that good really and I kept trying to get them to up the energy a bit. I kept chipping away until about 11:00 pm and I got some really great bits that will shoehorn into what I need (there were actually a couple of brilliant bits), but when I got to bed that night completely exhausted I had that funny unsatisfied feeling in my tummy and the slight smell of fear in my nostrils.
Kishan Rivan (vocals & violin) Udaipur, India
(25/02/05) Straight after we did another session with a husband and wife duo. It was in the middle of the day now and we were really cooking. They were so sweet though. They'd been waiting all morning for us and as the husband spoke a little English he understood what we were doing and also locked in solid as soon as I fed them the track. Lovely vibes...
...
Επειδή εκεί πιάσαμε τον Μπόουι και το διάστημα, Space Oddity για την Μπέρνι:
1. Space Oddity- 0:00
2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed- 5:17
3. Don't Sit Down- 11:29
4. Letter To Hermione- 12:11
5. Cygnet Committee- 14:47
6. Janine- 24:22
7. An Occassional Dream- 27:47
8. Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud- 30:48
9. God Knows I'm Good- 35:40
10. Memory of a Free Festival- 39:01
Best of Bowie (2002) Disc 1
1. Space Oddity 0:00
2. The Man Who Sold The World 5:14
3. Oh! You Pretty Things 9:09
4. Changes12:20
5. Life On Mars 16:09
6. Starman 19:53
7. Ziggy Stardust 24:09
8. Suffragette City 27:30
9. John, I'm Only Dancing30:57
10. The Jean Genie 33:39
11. Drive-in Saturday 37:45
12. Sorrow 42:20
13. Diamond Dogs 45:13
14. Rebel Rebel 51:21
15. Young Americans 55:55
16. Fame 1:01:11
17. Golden Years1:05:26
18. Tvc15 1:08:56
19. Wild Is The Wind 1:12:29
Το δεύτερο δισκάκι δυστυχώς δεν παίζει στην Ελλάδα.
Επειδή εκεί πιάσαμε τον Μπόουι και το διάστημα, Space Oddity για την Μπέρνι:
1. Space Oddity- 0:00
2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed- 5:17
3. Don't Sit Down- 11:29
4. Letter To Hermione- 12:11
5. Cygnet Committee- 14:47
6. Janine- 24:22
7. An Occassional Dream- 27:47
8. Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud- 30:48
9. God Knows I'm Good- 35:40
10. Memory of a Free Festival- 39:01
Best of Bowie (2002) Disc 1
1. Space Oddity 0:00
2. The Man Who Sold The World 5:14
3. Oh! You Pretty Things 9:09
4. Changes12:20
5. Life On Mars 16:09
6. Starman 19:53
7. Ziggy Stardust 24:09
8. Suffragette City 27:30
9. John, I'm Only Dancing30:57
10. The Jean Genie 33:39
11. Drive-in Saturday 37:45
12. Sorrow 42:20
13. Diamond Dogs 45:13
14. Rebel Rebel 51:21
15. Young Americans 55:55
16. Fame 1:01:11
17. Golden Years1:05:26
18. Tvc15 1:08:56
19. Wild Is The Wind 1:12:29
Το δεύτερο δισκάκι δυστυχώς δεν παίζει στην Ελλάδα.
bernardina
Moderator
...
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1. Five Years
2. Soul Love
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Starman
5. It Ain't Easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang Onto Yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1. Five Years
2. Soul Love
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Starman
5. It Ain't Easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang Onto Yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
One Good Man
As good as you've been to this world
To love somebody
Work me Lord
Dear landlord
Piece of my heart