Denver

collaborationfilter: featuring the unbelievable Harvey Girls.

This is an old song I wrote about ten years ago, during a road trip from Mexico City to Denver. During the trip we were listening a lot to one Magnetic Fields tape, and I was "under that influence" when I wrote it.

However, one day during a band rehearsal I started playing the song with the guys in my band, and since no one else plays rock in the band, the song ended up sounding completely different.

Then here in MefiMusic I discovered and became friends with the Harvey Girls (sleepy pete and melissa may). We said that we should do something together, and then I thought that sleepy pete's voice would be perfect for what I originally wanted to do with this song. I asked, and they accepted. Unfortunately, due to technical complications, melissa may's voice is not in this one, but I won't lose hope to get her to sing in another song in the future.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by micayetoca (16 comments total)

One more thing: I just re-read that, and it sounds like sleepy pete only sang in the song, when he actually plays everything but the high-pitched stringed instrument, which is me playing a tres cubano. Credit where credit is due.
posted by micayetoca at 1:22 PM on March 5, 2008

Yay us!
posted by sleepy pete at 1:32 PM on March 5, 2008

Wow, this is so different from the original, and I feel like this is the 'right' one, or at least I like listening to it more.

OOooOooOOO yeah, with you...
posted by Corduroy at 2:27 PM on March 5, 2008

Just intonation pop! Nice!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:03 PM on March 5, 2008

What crazy sounds... that totally work together. I love it. Rockin.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:31 PM on March 5, 2008

During the trip we were listening a lot to one Magnetic Fields tape, and I was "under that influence" when I wrote it.

Sorry, mica, but we'll have to suspend your driver's license: DWIBTMF.*

Of course, that's 'driving while intoxicated by the Magnetic Fields'. You'll get your license back after 40 hours of community service or 40 hours of intensive listening to Howling Wolf.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:33 PM on March 5, 2008

Ha, yay, you guys! This is fantastic. Some of my favorite mefimu peeps jammin it out. Very cool.
posted by snsranch at 4:34 PM on March 5, 2008

Oooooo...acute case of cuban tres envy here. Nice.
posted by umbú at 4:49 PM on March 5, 2008

Howlin' Wolf as penalty? flapjax for president!!!!!!!!!! (if you win, then we'll have to decide if you rule Japan, the US, or everything from Japan to the US -and in that case, in which direction from Japan to the US).

And hey umbú, you wouldn't feel so envious if you had to learn to play it. Everyone who thinks "ah, it's just three sets of double strings, how hard can it be?" is in for a surprise. And also, you know that if you have tres cubano emergencies, you can always mefimail me and we'll sort it out.

Thx everyone for your words.
posted by micayetoca at 5:01 PM on March 5, 2008

...if you have tres cubano emergencies...

*imagines umbú with a tres cubano pegboard lodged in his ear and micayetoca rushing across the tarmac to board the first flight from Venezuela, with his crack team of tres specialists and a spare set of strings*
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:34 PM on March 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

¡Ayúdame! ¡Ayúdame!
posted by umbú at 8:07 PM on March 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Aargh, I was going to write something more last night, but our internet connection was out. Anyway, I love the tres in this song. I actually doubled the track and put a little delay on it to bring it out a bit more.

And it was great to work with micayetoca. He gave us a great song to go with.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:39 AM on March 6, 2008

I love Magnetic Fields and I love micayetoca and I love sleepy pete (no duh) so I am sorry I couldn't do more. I will definitely to do another song for you someday, especially if it's from the point of view of a girl who hates her ISP.
posted by melissa may at 3:25 PM on March 6, 2008

Great. You guys really captured the MF vibe but lent it something new, for sure.
sleepy pete is channelling Stephen there, but it doesn't sound comical like it would if I tried to sing that low; it sounds like sleepy pephen.
Really great job.
posted by chococat at 10:13 PM on March 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

Ha! Ha! Ha!! Sleepy Pephen is totally going to be my stage name when I form my one man death metal band*. That's great. I actually started to sing it higher, but it just didn't feel right.


*sometime in 2015
posted by sleepy pete at 8:26 PM on March 7, 2008

*also, it will be called Corpsey and I will dress in a giant Teddy Bear outfit with X's for eyes. Yeah, I've thought about it a lot.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:46 AM on March 8, 2008