Stripped to the Bone

A song written by my good friend Dylan Jones, as performed by my band - the Goddamn Handclaps.

Our version of it has a rickety sort of twang to it that was not present in the mean Tom Waits-y version that Dylan used to perform.

Also, this version is sort of a result of a game of musical telephone. The other Handclap, Stewart, who sings lead, has never heard Dylan's version of the song - he's only heard MY version of it, and I haven't heard Dylan's version in nearly 10 years.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by dirtdirt (11 comments total)

Great song. The backing voices sound a bit "dry", so to speak. Like they "die" short after they start, if they were re-recorded in a room with a bit more natural reverb, I think it would suit the song very well.

I don't mean to point out the bad in it, nor do I mean it in a bad way. I only say it 'cause the song is great and feedback like that might be useful. In any case, cheers for the song.
posted by micayetoca at 11:20 AM on January 15, 2008

thanks for the feedback!

I agree that the backing vocals are too dry. Our rig is pretty feeble and unportable (nice combination, eh?) and we hoped that we could squeek by without much 'verb on the backups. Bummer to hear but good to know that we were wrong. We'll seek alternate means to that end.
posted by dirtdirt at 11:36 AM on January 15, 2008

I agree with micayetoca that a little more natural reverb on the vocals would be great for a nice roomy song like this, even if it is lo-fi. Just a little, though -- this song has a nice rough quality I'd hate to see lost. You have a very nice singing voice, dirtdirt.
posted by melissa may at 1:24 PM on January 15, 2008

Well I kind of overniced there. Sorry about that.
posted by melissa may at 1:25 PM on January 15, 2008

Well, thank you Melissa May! Although, it's my bandmate Stewart who has the nice singing voice. Unless you mean backing vocals!

As a band we are hampered by the fact that we like the roughness that we get in recordings, and are paralyzed by fear of killing that when we try to tighten up individual parts.
posted by dirtdirt at 1:44 PM on January 15, 2008

Whoops, Stewart does sounds good (but so do you back there).

Not to get highbrow but I think of roughness as an aesthetic choice, not necessarily a byproduct of how much time you spend refining parts. I try to tighten the hell out of things until they are practically nerve memories and once that happens I can loosen back up again, confident that no matter what direction I take it in I've got it whipped. I hope that makes sense, because whoever said writing about music was like dancing about architecture was talking exactly about what my brain does when I try to be articulate on the subject, especially about process. That is why I tend to comment a lot less than I listen. I really liked this, though.
posted by melissa may at 2:11 PM on January 15, 2008

kinda the playfulness and wonderfulness of david bromberg plus the playfulness and wonderfulness of the presidents of the united states of america. so playful and wonderful. and i loved it. thanks.

ps. yeah the new-lofi sound of this definately gives it a lot of charm. sounds like something someone played, y;know, in front of a microphone that someone i know might own.
posted by es_de_bah at 8:56 AM on January 16, 2008

on profile check preview:
more songs please
posted by es_de_bah at 8:57 AM on January 16, 2008

I like this a lot. Great job!
posted by edverb at 8:01 PM on January 16, 2008

Yea, more songs please!
posted by snsranch at 4:12 PM on January 17, 2008

Agree about the production tips here, and would also add that some EQ might not hurt on some of the instruments. The song is certainly good and I like the vocal peformances a lot. Fun guitar twang.
posted by edlundart at 6:46 PM on January 17, 2008