You Would Be Happier If You Stopped Lying to Yourself

I recently finished a record I had not intended to finish for at least another two or three months. I know it is finished because each piece defines specific interests I had been working with and does so in often beautiful, challenging and/or humorous ways. I had been toying with the idea of an “electronic” live-improvised recording since January of this year, and began work on the project in earnest in February.

After a distracting explosion of creative activity, an explosion when I should have been sleeping, mostly…I recorded roughly 45 minutes of additional material and suddenly found myself with piles and piles of possible product. After some editing (trimming of false starts, or stopping a piece right before it started to lag), I concluded that the record was complete. All that was left to do was master the recording. This took rarely any time or effort, as many of the tracks were performed “live” with similar concerns for decibels and peak avoidance. After some mild track compression/limiting and vague volume adjustment, I closed the book on the recordings and breathed a strange sigh of relief.

The record is what I would call an electro-acoustic record featuring either live input or loop/sample recordings of real instruments, edited, twisted, manipulated, and forced into evolution by the technology interacting with it. The technology was tweaked and defined by the composer/improviser (i.e. me).

It must be noted, however that much of the final performances were benefited from pre-designed tools and a very creatively supportive digital working environment. The program itself was that from a company calling itself “Plogue Art et Technologie;” the program carrying the name ‘Bidule.’ I have mentioned this program before in my blog, but this post is meant to officially declare ‘Bidule’ as the sole product used in processing and performing this music. When my initial working demo-period ended, I immediately purchased the light version.

Certainly samples from previous recordings were also used, and these samples were recorded on whatever technology that provided the capture. Everything on this record was coaxed out of the samples/loops and instruments live and recorded straight to two-track stereo.

And now about the record itself, enough about the process for now.

The record is called “You would be happier if you stopped lying to yourself” and like my other instrumental records is not released under some sort of moniker, but my own name.

Here is a tracklisting…

1. Canadian Rockees
2. Medicine
3. Piccolo Sample
4. You Would Be Happier If You Stopped Lying to Yourself
5. Sunset Through Trees
6. It’s Not Really the Mustard I Wanted, Honestly
7. Hydrate Level 4 Please
8. Piccolo Sample (reprise)
9. Rainin’ and A-Rainin’

The record (in hard copy form) will only be available for sale through the Grammy Hall Records and Mike Vasas websites in small numbers, possibly 25 CDs like “January Songs.” The record will be available for purchase through Itunes in unlimited numbers for a significantly cheaper price.

Because of the Beasts of Burden release, and the Early Minor Quintet record (or records), “You Would Be Happier If You Stopped Lying to Yourself” will be released through Grammy Hall Records most likely in November or December, despite being completely finished, mastered and ready for production right now.

Extended Info…

Canadian Rockees

An extended sound piece designed to be experienced in a large auditorium fitted with surround sound speaker systems and all sorts of interesting environmental panning. Unfortunately, two-track stereo will have to do. Hazy, unfolding slowly, the piece really captures everything environmental I love about ‘Bidule.’ The second word in the title is purposefully spelled in that manner.

Medicine

For those who follow mikevasas.com closely, this piece will seem familiar, although it has been tweaked and re-performed since appearing in my audio diary. Simple harmonic states breathe into the sound-bed rather than appearing too quickly.

Piccolo Sample

I hope people find this piece funny, because it should be. At once squawking and then mellow, the piece was tentatively entitled “duck attack” until recently when I witnessed an extremely disturbing animal encounter on the freeway with smalls birds and giant semi tractor-trailer.

You Would Be Happier If You Stopped Lying to Yourself

The title track is a focus on rhythmic repetition and the listeners’ ability to perceive subtle change, and the improviser’s ability to value repetition.

Sunset Through Trees

Slow reduction is the name of the game on this track. Imagined this song as I drove from Lansing-area to Detroit-area watching the sun blink on and off (through trees of course), eventually I started wondering if one could notice this blinking at walking speed.

It’s Not Really the Mustard I Wanted, Honestly

Implied rhythmic elements vs. actual redundant rhythmic elements was the focus in this piece, but I also spent a long time creating the almost seemingly randomly shifting drone and piano parts that surround the piece. Dark and moody in the way post-modern teens get when their parents buy the wrong mustard.

Hydrate Level 4 Please

A short little ditty that features my sampled vocals processed as a bass line. Too much coffee and a mute button also creates strange effects. I think it’s a fun little bit.

Piccolo Sample (reprise)

A groove, some slippery noise, a rejected and failed trance synthesizer, and more odd woodwind bleeps. This one features the same start-up patch as the other piece on the record with a similar name.

Rainin’ and A-Rainin’

Like Sunset Through Trees, only one chord is used throughout this piece despite its many inversions. The organ settings were pre-recorded and then processed down multiple octaves, EQed so not to blow out your subwoofers, and then musically allowed to move at its own pace as the piano is run through a massive delay unit (much akin to January Songs). The title is a reference to one of my late grandmother’s statements about the weather when she had aphasia. I worked out this piece during a rain that lasted for almost 2 weeks.

recording update.

yes, the infamous record update. the tracking of the record is 100% finished. that's correct. 100% finished. finally. After almost a year of on and off sessions (we started recording in August), all the instruments have been hypothesized, re-thought, improvised, deleted, edited, granularized to the point where we are prepared to accept our decisions and hand the files over to Kevin @ Elpop Studios. The files have been transfered, and in the next week Kevin is going to route everything to the mixing board, add compression to some instruments and voices, and basically begin mixing the record. On Tuesday the 30th, I will return to Elpop and provide some feedback to his mixes, and within a few days the rest of the band will check everything out. The record is slightly dense, instrumentation wise, so making the record flow with human hands will make all the difference.

Tracks on the record include Cross the Border, Early Departure, Slavery, Shells, Rescue Team, Selfish Circles, Saints and Sinners, One Day, Makeshift, and newest songs to the pack and recent favorites, Bread Beard Read and New Regime.

We've tried our best to keep the instrumentation interesting beyond the usual guitars, pianos, drums, bass and vocals. Instruments that have made it to the mixing stage include mandolin, harmonica, hammered dulcimer, my favorite electric pianos (wurlitzer 200As and fender rhodes suitcase), hammond organs, farfisa organs, analog synthesizers, tuned bowls, vibraphones, marimba, pump organ, glockenspiel, handbells, synthesizer drones, harpsichord, tack piano, random and purposeful noise, a little kid's keyboard that has been 'circuit bent,' classical guitars, acoustic guitars, and an entire army of additional percussion with goofy handclaps to boot. And it all adds up to a pretty typical sounding record...with just a bunch of random shit thrown in.

I am very excited about the reality that the record is close to finished. We can see the finish line. But, mixing is no easy task. The fact is, a record can be made or broken during the mixing stage, and I know the record is in good hands...and I'm excited to finally see the record into the hands of the listeners. At that point, the record is no longer mine, or the bands, it is YOURS. Expect the record finished within the next few weeks, and once it's mastered, expect a full album stream through mikevasas.com and hopefully through myspace. The record will be available for purchase via ITUNES, CDBABY, The Grammy Hall Records website, and indie record stores. There will be no huge record-promotion or tour. We are relying on people like you to tell others about the record. Expect it available for purchase in July...streaming before then. Tell everyone to check out the streams...the record is yours!

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Let's do a little newsflash lifting.

Nearly 40 years after the jump, an escaped prisoner was caught and is awaiting extradition to California. The crime, which was committed just under 40 years ago, in the 60s, was a robbery charge that left him in prison for 5 years to a possible life term. Ironically, the prisoner spent most of his life outside of jail, and is being sent back, nearly 40 years afterwards. The man, who assumedly is in his late 50s or even older, did not comment for Reuters.

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Madonna still has relevant social impact, Madonna says.

In an attempt to express emotions and not be sensational, Madonna hung herself on a cross while wearing a crown of thorns, compared Bush administration icons with Hitler, Bin Laden and Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, and also found an unobvious connection between oral sex and President Bush. Madonna also sang songs, original and written by others, according to Reuters.

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Record reviews? No way. Thoughts? Maybe.

Moha! All Music Guide has this to say about the record...



Yea, that much. I picked up Moha! on a whim from Flat Black and Circular not knowing what I was getting into. Every once in a while I find it enjoyable to take a chance with music purchases, not because I want something obscure, but because I do believe surprise can exist in record purchasing. It said "noisy jazz" so I took a chance. Noisy is an understatement...noise rock meets jazz improvisation meets bloopy bleeps... Cockmachineglow.com had this to say about the record;

"I hear snark everywhere: loose washes of guitar that drown out the drums; flailing, incessant percussion that feasts on plaintive feedback; snorting rock rhythms that emerge out of the chaos. But neither is this album a showcase for two excellent musicians competing for screen time. As these two musicians sonically explore the same jokes they often find themselves transcending humor to arrive at the ideas that tether it."-Mark Abraham...

The record is funny. That's what I love the best about the record. That's what impresses me the most. I enjoy the entire process that obviously occured, but I love the sounds, I love the style and the humor of the recording. I'm not totally sure I would listen to it all the time, but like a good movie that fits a certain mood, it isn't meant to be background. You can't fall asleep to it.

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Yea, so that's it today. I'm out.

eclection.surprise.younglions.tracksandtraces etc

I've picked up a few records since I last spoke about music aquisitions. Let's do a breif rundown. Some of these records I've had a for at least a month, some only a few days, so the point of this is to continue perpetuating the axiom that everybody thinks they are a critic...in some ways it's true. Everybody deserves an opinion, some base their thoughts on hard evidence with a set of guidlines for aesthetic appreciation. Many just use their rationality skills they learned in freshman philosophy class to back up their gut reactions, unexplainable opinions, and embarassingly weightless attraction.

These people are the true enemy because they pretend that somehow their learned experiences have led them to having the right to be a better critic than someone else. Both have a gut reaction, but it is this gut reaction that is considered bad taste if not backed up with some sort of rationale that includes references to extremely obscure music genres, sarcastic labeling of other listeners and/or the ever-present immediate correction of an inaccurate word use when describing music in public sphere. I love all types of music, am fascinated with less-than-popular styles for various reasons, but I am saddened by the old-boys club that is record collecting and the way people act towards others.

The thing is...most people who love music have done this more than they want to admit. The question is whether or not you care about your own issues or whether you just want to look at everybody else's. I guess this is common outside of music too...anyway...

Eclection by Eclection (1968). I came across this record in the used bin at a local shop and decided to take a 5 dollar chance on it, turns out it was the most rewarding purchase i've made in a while of older music. Released into the atmosphere of "Sgt. Pepper..." and assumedly "Piper at the Gates of Dawn," the record plays like a slightly tranquilized, hallucinogenic trip with your hosts the Mama Cass and her cronies. The music benefits greatly from the tastefully ornate orchestral arrangements that remind me of the first two tracks on Nico's first record (of which both songs were also used in The Royal Tenenbaums). The harmonies are especially enjoyable, although at first the mystical lyrics were a bit too distracting for me. Certainly a product of its time, the record is still an informative expression of the psych-folk-rock scene; an orcestrated splatter painting of great female and male leads and unicorns. Not a lost classic, but certainly a wonderful listen.

Tracks and Traces by Harmonia 76 (1997). I was shocked to find this record in the bin as well. I had heard of the record, a collaboration between Harmonia and Brian Eno, heard of its historical significance and its supposed history that found its way onto shelves over two decades after its recording, but I certainly never expected it in the bargain bin at FYE, let alone only a few inches away from that Eclection record. The record is a gem. A true, understated, lost classic. The music seems classic and forward-thinking all the same. And Eno sings! Harmonia's other releases are brilliant, lush, homogenous grooves, but this record has that but also some of the implicit creative wandering that I love about Eno's best work. As the rumor goes, Eno thought Harmonia was one of the best ensembles ever, and this work should have been further developed for more records. I would buy them.

Surprise by Paul Simon (2006). Eno's been in the news lately but not for something like Harmonia 76. No, Eno's jumped on board to do some sonic landscaping (shrubber?) with famed, acclaimed, lauded, and hated, unhip, self proclaimed boxer Paul Simon. With the release of his last few records, especially the critically-disclaimed "Songs from The Capeman." Often misunderstood, Simon is still tending fertile musical and lyrical ground, but his flowers are growing more and more cubist every release. The fantastic previous record, "You're the One," seemed drenched in spacey-folk-pop textures which for many meant an old man trying to be Chris Martin. I think many critics missed the boat with "You're the One" and it seemed obvious to me, even when reading press releases about the collaboration with Eno that Simon was headed for a mixed bag of support and hatred. Eno never has seemed to care what he was doing in a public-appreciation sense, so I didn't expect a concession from him. What we all found with "Surprise" is a record where an established songwriter tries a bunch of new ideas, extends ones from previous records, and basically puts out one of his most elaborate records in a long time. His songwriting has always seemed to be growing more and more opaque, but on this record he pulls out the best of both worlds, relaxed flowing melodies and through-composed pop melodies. The record IS produced really bright, clean and shimmery throughout...in this regard it reminded me of Eno's recent foray back into pop structures with "Another Day on Earth." Backlash on this record attacks the lack of oompf, the baby-boomer's aquisition of electronica, and the basic way in which the record just feels like 'nothing.' But then again these critics love Art Brut. I'm sure I've misspelled things so far in this post...I'll get made fun of for that.

Young Lions by Adrian Belew (1990). For those who don't know...one of the most underrated musical geniuses of our time, Adrian Belew is a quirky songwriter, singer and guitarist who's been involved with art-rock elite for over 20 years. Most people who love off-axis art-funk-prog, will know Belew in either his solo work, as a member of King Crimson, or the Bears...and most snots will point out that the did the whacky solos on Talking Heads's landmark "Remain in Light." This record was "mainstream," I suppose, but didn't really have singles that would've charted too high in 1990, despite the presence of Jareth, the Goblin King, who was playing one of his alter egos, David Bowie. The record seems closest to "Remain in Light"-era sounds, but the inclusion of some proggier elements, some great singing by Belew and Jareth make for a singular record and my favorite Belew record that I own...I don't own the infamous rhino record that everybody says I need to check out, but at this point "Young Lions" is my favorite.

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Finishing my end of the record today!!!

Concert Report: Sigur Ros and Amina May 11, 2006.

May 11th was the one-year-to-go date for my wedding with Amanda.

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The show took place downtown at The State Theater, which is a great place to see a show. It seemed in even better shape than the last time I saw a show there, but for that show I was in the balcony, and this shows floor seating probably meant I just appreciated the stage better. We were probably about 15 rows from the front if "row" is the proper word to use when there are no seats. The first act took the stage silently after the background music was quietly tinkering away in a kind of buffer-sampled ring. The audience was jovial but reflective, and the majority of the audience quieted down almost immediately when they entered stage left. The opening act, called Amina, is the string/multi-instrumentalist ensemble that has been touring with Sigur Ros but performed their own brand of post-classical music. In this case, laptops, singing-saws, music boxes, glockenspiels, xylophones, analog synths, and their respective string quartet instruments were all used in one fluid performance. The women of Amina moved from instrument to instrument, only retaining control over their stringed instruments. It may be possible they trade those too, it was hard for me to see what was going on on stage because a couple and their friend (all of which probably loved thundercats, dungeons and dragons, anime, and talking about inaccurate the movie versions of the lord of the rings series was) found their way in front of us, decided to dance and move about, make out, and talk about "lasers bouncing around the room to the songs."

I was most moved by the way Amina did their thing, incorporated modern elements of sound production in with traditional musical instruments. It wasn't post-rock really. It was classical avant-garde music being playing in a rock setting. This is different than the way Sigur Ros played, which was much closer to post-rock esthetic...rock instruments throughout, kind of inching toward a classical esthetic. On their records, it's far more pronounced, but live Sigur Ros is a spacey-rock band.

And that's not to downplay Sigur Ros's ability to entertain the self-actualized and reflective types. The band totally snagged the audience, with the exception of the middle earth trio...everyone stared blankly as they performed climax after climax of high pitched alien blissfests or terrorballads.

I've always liked Sigur Ros since Doug played them for me a while back, but as each album was released, the band seemed to be defining new territory. Their breakthrough was much more of a rock and noise affair, ( ) seemed to be focused and silence and space, and the new record seems most interested in lighter but stronger textures that include more obvious song structure. What this meant for their live set was a good cross section of conceptual-vibe being splattered across the State Theater. Some songs seemed unbelievably mellow...I was endless impressed with their ability to do practically nothing and get the audience to pay attention and not just drink PBR and compare tattoos...

They ended with the final track on ( ) which was a ball of catastrophic noise and anxiety. When the silence appeared after the piece ended, I realized that the show presented an old axiom I've heard before...absence of noise is only pleasureable when noise is present at some point. Without extreme noise, a frame of reference, all noise, no matter how beautiful, becomes worthless. It is the movement that makes noise music.

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I was sad, though...I didn't see any weeping faces.

back from the e-dead for real...no seriously...

Last post on April 28 seems like ages ago. Let's give an update, shall we?

First and foremost, I am back in Dearborn for about 50 more days. Just enough time to unpack all my stuff, organize it, stare at it for a few days, and then pack it all back up and return to East Lansing. In all honesty, the reason I am posting today, and probably will continue posting from now on is that I am all unpacked and organized as best as I can be...so I have the time and mental resources to post here...for the next 50 or so days...until I have to move again. I am returning to East Lansing, to a new room in Owen Hall, to continue, or shall I say finish off my masters degree. One more class. Conducting with a few choral experts at State...I am intimidated with the class, but I am excited to devote my time to it. After that, I'll get a week or so off and then it's off to student teaching at Everett High School in Lansing (I may actually get more time off, if Lansing Public Schools is at a point in there contracts where they will be returning to work after labor day as is the law now).

This past weekend, I walked at MSU commencement as a summer session graduate, and also was around to support Amanda as she graduated...it made for a very long day of constant action/music/speeches that took place at the Breslin center (besides a visit to the Quality Dairy to get a coffee, and to the car to eat some chips, we were there from 12:30 until about 9:30 pm). Now that the intensity of the day has worn off, it will be looked upon as a great day of moving experiences and realizations that the future is coming up quick. My hood thing, or whatever it is actually called, was constantly falling off to the side because I really didn't get the hang of how to attach it. But hey, it's a photo of me walking at my masters commencement so there it is. Bam.

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So what to do in the next 50 days? Spend time with my fiance, of course, who recently bought a Ford Taurus used and is now a cruising machine...the car not the fiance. We visited the Detroit Zoo on Tuesday, and it was wonderful. I am a big advocate for the Zoo, and am delighted that despite a scare recently, the Zoo isn't closing. We snapped some great pictures of our usual favorites...Camels, Chimps, Gorillas, Zebras, Penguins, Rhinos, Lions, the Guanaco Llamas, and my personal favorite, Capybaras!!

We always spend a while hanging out at different places, and in this visit we spent a little bit sitting in front of the coatis as they rummaged around for stuff. These animals are pretty cool looking and move around like they own the place, not so much in the concept of them walking around the zoo like the peacocks do, but they certainly walk like pimps within their own enclosures. It was a cool, quiet day at the zoo and the highlight of the week so far.

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Tonight I am going to see Sigur Ros at the State Theater in Detroit. I am excited for the show. Their new record has really grown on me. Certainly not a sleeper, the record was immediate and fit into their usual sound but included some new sounds and styles, the usual "evolution" record you'd expect. The thing is, it just fit into their sound so much, that I didn't really have any opinions about their new record one way or another. And that made me ignore it flat out. I just didn't see it as being that much of an improvement over previous records, or that much of a disaster from the previous, or anything...it just didn't do much for me initially. Just absence of emotion or attitude.

A few more listens and I started to really get into some of the more structured pieces that existed on the record compared to the last record "( )." That record is my personal favorite, despite being viewed by many as their most boring and depressing. For different reasons I enjoy each of their records, Von being the least enjoyable on different fronts including beauty, production, structure, etc. I do enjoy each record, but this latest one initially made me feel so blah, that I threw it away. It was good, sure...but so what... That all changed as I listened to it more often, until finally a few months ago it hit me that the record really was an accomplishment over previous works. The key to the new record, at least for me, is ease. The record seems easy, everything fits into their sound but isn't too forced into the depths of despair or the obvious go-for-the-gut joy that took on some of the other records. Plus, the inclusion of more distorted rock instrumentation helps a lot. So when my friend Doug asked if I wanted to "get my mind expanded" and see them downtown, the answer was "most certainly yes!" or more truthfully I probably said "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. oh yes. down dog."

Anyway, the show is tonight...tomorrow a report. Rumor is that people weep at the show. We'll see about that.

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Lastly, I feel the need to reassure whomever cares that the record is almost done on the recording end, mixing will take place starting on the 19th of May when I drop off the harddrive to Kevin @ Elpop Studios.

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Also, tomorrow I will go into great detail (whether you want it or not) about some the recent records I've purchased and what I think about them. Because, as you know, everybody thinks they can be an arts-critic. Yo Mammy.

Finally, a shot of capybaras. Because I love them.



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One more thing...when I'm in Dearborn, I'm on dialup because my parents don't have high-speed internet. This means be surprised if this blog ends up with crazy amounts of uploaded media...as it would take like 15 days to upload.