Comments on: star shapes

star shapes

es_de_bah — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:00:14 -0800

This is a song i've been trying to put together for a year or two now. It uses my usual punk + x formula, where here, x = rawhide. The second half is big, noisy, and was tons of fun to make. I"m kinda fond of the lyrics Hope you enjoy. lyrics inside if your heart's shaped like a star then you could keep adding on corners but the more that you add well the harder it gets to keep track and this is a warning don't look for answers, it's the questions that sustain you on this long shit broken road because man is a toy that broke himself trying to figure out how he works don't talk shit on the job if you can't live without the perks name the things you'd die for it's like a camwhore's christmas list drunken ballpoint love notes cover your arm to the wrist one foot over the line one foot keeping time with the collapse so you've got your sacred task to defend the over-rated and we can joke and tease but fuck at least well you can keep your story straight so you're sucking off the zeitgeist and if that works for you, you know i'm glad but it just don't work for me because my heart is like a star-fish with sucker cups for arms you can cut one off and it will grow back but sometimes it grows back wrong your pep-rally scars got the floor tonight the evenings been commandeered i know that you had a hard time coming up i know that. I just don't care and i sure wish i could give you come credit i just don't know why you're putting so much effort into holding these elaborate concerts for the skeletons in your closet

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 06:40:32 -0800

Awesome. I like it a lot, and I think the reverb you used int he voice was perfect for this song.

The song sounds a bit under rehearsed, but of course, with punk+rawhide that is not a problem at all, and it certainly keeps with the charm that the song has.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:34:01 -0800

Nice! I'm just wondering, how did you record the main guitar?

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:07:52 -0800

everything outside the drums and the synthy sound was recorded into the line-in on my computer using a mid-90s camcorder for a microphone. effects were added using fruityloops, and I unfortunately lost the original tracks after the first mix down, so the reverb is a little heavier on everything than I'd like.

as for under rehearesed, micayetoca, I'm a little interested to know what you mean. i do try to keep my guitar playing a little loose and improvy so as to give the track more off a real band sound. and I am a huge lofi fan.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:43:04 -0800

Ah (nice use of the camcorder mic). I like the sound of the guitar a lot. I've gotten it a few times by plugging a distortion pedal (with the distortion turned almost all the way down) straight into the board, but that leads to a lot of EQing madness/boredom, so I don't do it as much unless I'm sure that I want that exact sound.

As for losing tracks, I'm sorry. I've done that so many times (computers dying is mostly why) that I've just started making copies of everything if it's a new project. Of course, that takes time and space...

Nicely done, es_de_bah.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:32:52 -0800

I didn't mean it in a bad way. The part at the start, where you sing the first couple verses, sounds pretty tight. It's actually when you make the stop for the "one foot over the line
one foot keeping time with the collapse" line that it sounds a bit more sparse.

It doesn't sound bad, it actually sounds as if five guys were in a room learning a new song they just wrote, and they don't do the stops with they same "firmness" as someone who has played the song for a long time.

It does sound like a band, and I too like the lo-fi sound it has. To be fair, I don't think it would be easy (or necessary) to make those stops tighter, as it is hard enough to record a song with so many stops by yourself. Again, it's a really cool song.

By: ORthey

ORthey — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:32:26 -0800

This is a lot of fun, es_de_bah. I like the guitar a lot (especially that rollicking solo!)

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:20:20 -0800

Hey man, I am a huge lofi fan never sounded so bloody effing good.

Ha, I dream of making epic works like this. Big kudos!

By: erikgrande

erikgrande — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:52:16 -0800

I enjoyed the lyrics, especially the "elaborate concerts
for the skeletons in your closet" bit.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:08:13 -0800

I like the overall sound of this, sorta like you're hearing everything from behind a gauzy curtain. In that sense it actually reminds me a bit of Daniel Lanois' excellent production for Dylan's Time Out of Mind, which happens to be a big fave sound of mine! A real appealing murkiness. So I don't think it's too much reverb at all, on the contrary I think that's a big plus.

One other comparison came to mind: the half-spoken, declamatory, doubled vocals at the "because my heart is like a star-fish" part instantly reminded me of Blows Against The Empire-era Jefferson Starship. Vary Paul Kantner-y. Also the sonic quality of the extended outro: acoustic guitar strums plus psychedelic carpet textures... I really think you were channelling a particular late-60's/early 70's San Francisco aesthetic here. Which is also very cool in my book. Ever hear Blows Against The Empire, by the way? Cause this mirrors its sound and aesthetic to a great degree, and I'd be interested in knowing if you were consciously going for that, or if it's more of a coincidental thing.

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:17:03 -0800

i suppose I'll have to give it a listen, flapjax at midnite. thanks for the props on my murkiness. I've been trying for a while to compensate for my lack of polish in as tasteful a way as possible. i'm glad that it seems to be working.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:23:00 -0800

Yeah, definitely check it out, es_de_bah! Part of it resides in your soul whether you know it or not! I also notice that the piece is called "star shapes", and wondered if that wasn't perhaps a nod to... Starship. But with all this talk, please keep in mind this is the VERY FIRST Jefferson Starship record we're talking about, not the hideous embarrassment that Starship eventually became.

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:30:37 -0800

i have to admit quick internet research had made me worry. i've yet to come across anything off of "blows," but jefferson airplane has always kosher in my book, and definitely has a nice dirty feel, so i look forward to checking early starship out more.

the 'star shapes' name was actually new. it was originally called "on paper" and is prolly going to be called "scratch ticket salad" when i play it live.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:38:06 -0800

i've yet to come across anything off of "blows,"

Check it out. "the melting acid fever streaking through my mind..."

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:41:34 -0800

thanks again flapjax. there's nothing like getting in-depth feedback from one of your mefimu heroes.