Happiness

December 15, 2010 6:40 PM

A bossa nova Elliott Smith cover.

I've been on a digitizing spree from the cassette time capsule. This is one of the last recordings I made with my 4-track recorder ten years ago before switching over to laptop recording.

posted by umbú (7 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

This is cool... I dig the feel. There's something about the sound of a crappy 4-track that makes it even better, actually.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:23 AM on December 16, 2010


This is a genius cover.
Things I like:
1. Your singing, which is out-of-place for a jazzy bosso style, but works perfectly
2. That quick reverb which sounds like the " SMALL ROOM " setting on an effects unit from the '90's
3. Awesome Guaraldi-esque, plinky piano notes.

Did you grab the drums from an old João Gilberto track or something?
posted by chococat at 9:26 AM on December 16, 2010


Great job, umbu! This whole recording has a really unique sound. I love the intro so much. Glad you're posting your digitized tapes again, gotta add this to the playlist.
posted by Corduroy at 12:43 PM on December 16, 2010


Thanks, all. Yeah, I did have a little crappy reverb box to go along with my four-track way back when. Some of that sound also may have been the result of, well, actually recording in a small room.

I remember that I looped myself playing the drums. I was good enough to do a few bars of that bossa beat, but not good enough to keep it going for the whole song.
posted by umbú at 1:34 PM on December 16, 2010


I did the looping on this little boss 'Dr. Sample' that was one step away from being a kid's toy.
posted by umbú at 2:50 PM on December 16, 2010


For working this out with some earlier technology, this sounds really great. It almost has a "live" sound like in a club, which is exactly where I would want to hear this anyway.

*this is me wishing I could go visit Rio*
posted by snsranch at 7:10 PM on December 16, 2010


This works really well, and bossa nova completely justifies seventh chords by itself. Great ending, with each instrument taking turns bowing out.
posted by ignignokt at 4:42 PM on December 17, 2010


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