May 22, 2009
“There are dreams left empty and blank. . .”
I’ve been listening to the first Flipper album non-stop for the past week. Ted Falconi’s guitar playing is like magic wrapped in fuzz. The rhythm section is lumbering, but solid. The lyrics should be juvenile, but are actually pretty affecting. I have loved this album since I first heard it years and years ago. Anyhoo!
This month, I spent a few days in the studio with The Angelus and their producer, Josh Pearson, tracking a new LP. They’ve been kicking around for a long time (I recorded their EP back in 2003), and after a few line-up changes have finally started working on a full-length. We tracked 8 songs in 3 days, and will return later this summer for overdubs and mixing.
Next up was a session, tracking and mixing 7 songs for the great White Drugs. They too have been around a while, and put out a fantastic album in 2007 that got some glowing reviews. Their previous recordings were 4-track, beautifully blown-out and overloaded, and I think we achieved a nice balance between that sound and a fuller studio recording.
The actual recording was pretty typical (close mics on the drums and ambient mics on the floor), but we added a distorted omni mic in the middle of kit, and used a mono overhead (Coles 4038 ribbon) through a Universal Audio 1176 compressor. Jeff and Christian, the guitarists, are obsessive about their tone (between them, there were probably 15 – 20 boutique fuzz pedals). Their rigs sounded incredible from the get-go, so I mic’ed the guitars with Royer R-121’s through John Hardy preamps. It sounded absolutely ripping through the studio monitors.
I mixed the songs to an old reel of Quantegy 406 1/4″ tape, an older formulation that compresses and distorts wonderfully. We also sent the stereo mix through a pair of Distressors, adding additional grit to an already-overloaded mix. We even got done a few hours early, leaving me time to get home and play with my new puppy.
So much other stuff has happened, but this is already too long. I’m headed to Spain on Monday for a week of shows with The New Year. It also looks like I’ll also be out on the road with David Bazan later this year. But for now, I’m gonna go ride my bike before the weather gets worse.