It's called "The Smell of New Plaster, Your Awakening." It's not the most harp-heavy album ever, but it deals with a thematic arc that I feel is very relevant to the blues. I use elevated language to make the subject matter my own -- it's a way of problematizing and commenting on the blues and folk tropes that we all hold dear. You can download it for as much or little as you like if you feel the urge (you can type in 0$ into the "name your price" box), and you can listen without downloading. I really do just want feedback regarding song composition, lyrics, harp playing, guitar playing, recording, mixing, etc. I do it all myself, so...
Great! Really liked it! Love that Thom Yorke-ish singing. I have listened to it twice on my way to work. I'm on my phone now but I'll try to give you more feedback later after I download it to my pc. ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
wow! I swear, every time someone comes out with the Thom Yorke comparison, I get this little jolt of warmth. The fact that you listened and kept coming back means a lot to me. I look forward to hearing any critiques you might have.
Your music is different from what I listen to but i wanted to give you some feed back. Your lyrics are very deep, I couldn't relate, but you are quite the poet. I liked the rhythm on tracks #3,6 & 7.Very good guitar playing. Very good harp playing. A few timing issues on the lead parts. I don't see how it relates to the blues but you should be able to find a receptive audience for your style of music. Best of luck to you, it takes a lot of balls to put your work out there to be critiqued .
I just had a listen. First off, I'd like to just say that it's good! I hear it more in the indie-folk trope than anything else. Reminiscent of Fleet Foxes and Iron and Wine. As a whole, I think that it's better than most of the stuff in this oeuvre, but I have to admit that the genre isn't one that I identify much with to begin with.
I think you fall into the same trap that many of the bands in this genre also fall into: the songs all start to sound the same after a while. This isn't a bash on your songwriting abilities (which seem quite developed to me!), but rather that the tonal areas you are working with in are quite narrowly defined. The standout tracks (for me) were track 3, where you threw in some country-blues flavor on the rhythm guitar, and track 1, because of its interesting rhythmic sensibility. The opening guitar riff on track 6 also stood out (sounding very much like some of the great pentatonic guitar sounds coming from West Africa), but the rest of the song was quite similar to the bulk of the tracks.
Now, is this similarity a good or a bad thing? I'm not the one to answer that question. If I had to, I would say "It depends". It is attractive to certain audiences (the aforementioned bands seem to do quite well!), but will likely turn off others. But that's the story with any music!
Finally, I would like to reiterate that I thought it was pretty good in general, and I wish you the best success with it, and future ventures!
PS. I second CapnKen's comment about the deepness of the lyrics, but IMO, that's actually one of your strongest attributes, and I'd like to see it featured more prominently in the mix (it's hard to hear what you are singing sometimes) ---------- == I S A A C ==
Your lyrics are really cool strings of words that don't really say anything meaningful (to me at least). The lyrics are enjoyable on a level divorced from meaning--but that got old for me fairly fast. Please don't take this comment as a slam--I'm just giving MY impressions--and I'm pretty stuck in my own boring ways.
There is some kind of slight acoustic distortion of the lyrics that makes them hard to understand--I had to read them. I think this might be a little bit of reverb from the walls of the room--draping some sound dampening around the recording space might help that. It can also be just as simple as getting your mouth closer to the mic--and adding a pop screen.
I recently added a couple of better quality mics with pop screens to my gear that I think help a lot with clarity of lyrics.
You get a very nice acoustic sound from the guitar--I especially liked the slide guitar effect on (I think) track 3 or so. Some times the guitar seems a little forced--like you are working too hard at it--a couple more times through for practice can help that.
Whatever you are doing for rhythm section works nicely and is tastefully applied.
As a home recording, DIY buff myself, I'd be very interested in reading how you lay this music down--the order of recording, the kinds of gear used--especially about how you did the rhythm track.
Overall, I think it is a good job--just maybe a little too intelligent for a dumb ass like me. . . ----------
Again. Really liked it! Contrary to Isaacullah this is my cup of tea. First song is really good opener. The rhythm is nice and vocals and lyrics are great match. I like that way of putting down a rhythm as background and add vocals on top without being stuck in the rhythmic motif. The lyrics are profound and surrealistic conveying very strong pictures. "Slake the thirsting in my feet"
Also like the line about Ovid on a rocking horse. With the Mother motif earlier it sends chills down my spine.
Love Plaster too. Do you have a small pitching effect on your song there or is it your singing? Doesn't matter it's damn good. Third track is where I'm not totally hooked. I think that the rhythm guitar in the start is off somewhat. Rushed. The harp sounds kind of forced. Like you are playing a bit too hard and bit too far from the mic. I don't know if you really are but that's what comes up in my head when I hear it. The phrasing is crazy but goes in hand with your vocalline so that's ok. It's kind of chopped in parts. Not really flowing at all and maybe that's intentional but imho it clashes with the rest of the song and the slidy guitar. Vibrato/Tremolo is a bit rough too. Do you use much hand vibrato?
I liked "Birds, and their machinery of Escape".
"The Hills last night" is the best song imho. I didn't care for the way you tempoed up first time through but second time it was just right. The retardation at 1:58 or so is crazy good. The harp on this track has a lot better sound, simplfied phrasing and fit the song a lot better.
"City Elegy" wasn't my favourite. Just didn't tickle my fancy I guess.
Then a great outro with "I Won't Be The Myth That Stiffens Your Unwilling Joints" Fleet foxy stuff and a very nice sound in that.
Thanks for the songs. I really like that "pay what you like" thing. Did the same with "In rainbows" and paid the same amount too.
Oh lastly. Have a listen to this:
Audio is soso but it was the only one I could find on that track on YT. Its called Her, the city with the (former) band loosegoats. Be well! ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Last Edited by on Jan 24, 2012 1:22 PM
Really nice. I'd agree that the lyrics are kind of hard to pick out. A little to much warble on the harp for my taste- it doesn't sound organic, maybe it's the fast pace you are warbling at- especially at the end of each snippet, and maybe a little less volume on the high range for the harp in 'First to Wince...'(or maybe my headphones are up too loud).
I'd agree that maybe, for an album, there should be a little more variation from song to song, but I'm not sure how many people listen to all the songs from an album in order anymore in these days of auto-shuffle.
Hey everyone. I'll address your feedback one at a time, but before I do that, I just want to say that I appreciate the time you all took to listen to my songs. I'll be sure to do the same for you in the future. Anyhow -- onward to business.
capnken: Glad you dug the lyrics. I agree that there are timing issues -- especially at the beginnings of songs. I find that as I settle into the groove more, the timing improves. I haven't yet found a way of getting around that, but I've got a few ideas about tweaking my recording process a little bit. Aside from the blues influence on a few of its songs, this album deals with the blues by way of narrative arc: the loose stories told by each song are very impressionistic, foggy, and jumbled renditions of various pastoral blues and folk tropes that recur time and time again throughout both genres.
isaac: I appreciate the fact that you set aside your musical preferences and listened to this with a neutral ear. I notice myself starting to sound the same sometimes! I'll be changing gears for a while now, getting back into a post-rock mindset. I'll also get back into electro-fusion. Regarding the mix: that's got to be the worst part of DIY recording. I think that I'm going to start using a dynamic mic (maybe an sm58 if I can scrape up the cash) for vocals, because my condenser mic (a kel hm1) picks up so much breath that it's hard to achieve clarity. The guitar sound is so much clearer in comparison that the vocals won't sit in the groove well at all if they're any higher in the mix.
Oldwailer: While I'm disappointed that my lyrics didn't achieve universality, I'm not surprised. I'm a poet by trade, and my song lyrics normally emerge from a line that I've discarded fro a poem. While I do songwrite with a vague goal in mind, I don't operate with the same kind of discipline and attention to the reader as I do in a poem. To fully discuss recording process, we'd probably need another thread, but I'll let you in on a little trick of mine: doubling and tripling tracks. That way, you can put an effect (say, a touch of reverb) on one of them, and then lower it in the mix so that it just adds flavor to the dry, minimally compressed main track. I do this both with vocals and with guitar (I do it on harmonica, but only when it's over a midi track). That might be the distortion that you're hearing, but I think it's more likely that it is the room I record in. It's a dorm room at a university, and is all bare plaster walls. I've got a really cheap pop shield, but I'm on a very limited budget. Regarding percussion: there was only one track wherein I used percussion, and that was the first one. For that one, I just clapped my hands. Seriously. All other percussive elements are part of my guitar playing (I play guitar in a way that greatly resembles clawhammer banjo playing, and, on top of that, I like to slap the strings and the head of the instrument). One way to accentuate the percussive elements of your playing is to boost the low end on a doubled up track, so that it sits subtly in the mix.
Pistolcat: Thanks for the purchase, man! The 3rd track is in 5/4, I believe, so that was what caused the 'chopping' that you described. It was that quarter note between the typical 4/4 blues bars that I was playing on slide guitar and harp. It helped my vocals, though -- gave me time to breathe. I'd definitely like to record that one again sometime in the future. City Elegy is in memory of Clarence Clemons, so I was trying to get that early Springsteen Asbury Park vibe -- I suppose I just didn't quite pull it off. I was going to transcribe a Clemons sax solo (I was thinking either Badlands or Jungle Land) onto the end of it (with a powerbender), but it would've messed with the segue into the album's outro. Also, that band is really good. hey combine a whole slew of influences, but their sound is their own. Really cool. Also, I definitely rely on hand vibrato more than I should.
nacoran: The harp is mixed weird in "Last To Wince..." I don't even know how it happened, but it definitely grates at high volumes, and then sounds good at low volumes. Where do you usually cut off the high end on your harp tracks when you apply pass filters? Also, less warble. Got it. I'll be back with more attempts before you know it.
I really enjoyed that. It's funny, it does remind me of some kind of fusion of Led Zeppelin on their folkier stuff and Radiohead! It's definitely all yours though.
It also reminds me of an old friend who has since moved back to Maine, but that I was roomies with in Austin. He is a total poet in his use of language, and the lyrics paint a visual and emotional snapshot of a point in time and experience.
He loved my stuff which surprised me. I always thought of myself as a simple hack rodeo clown in comparison that could churn out an obvious hook once in a while, but his stuff was so heavy!
I dig your music, I like the lyrics, singing, harmonica. I'm always glad to hear something that sounds different from the average sound that gets posted on our forums.
I agree it feels kinda Thom Yorke in sound and a bit in lyric. Was he one of your inspirations for this sound (which is a good thing even though I haven't dug an album from him since ok computer though some of hail to the thief was cool & I really dug a b-side from in rainbows that wasn't even on the album, lol)? Who else inspired you to make this music?
I like that you are charging what others think is worth to pay, I think that's a great way to go to sell music, movies, & games in digital format. Out of curiosity, would you be willing to share the key for each song?
----------
~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Steven Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Shanester: both the radiohead and led zep comparisons are very flattering. Thank you! And you should totally reconnect with your friend, get some songs out. I'd listen.
RyanMortos: I'm really glad you liked it, man. Regarding influence, Radiohead has never been a huge example that I look to, even if I like their music. In terms of blues, I was listening to a lot of Robert Belfour and R.L. Burnside as I made this album. I don't know if it shows or not. Tonally, I love J.J. Milteau's harp playing, and try to emulate it when I do this type of music. Same with Brendan Power. For folk, I'm sure you all can tell I love me some Bob Dylan. My biggest influence, though, both lyrically and musically, is definitely The Tallest Man On Earth. He's this short swedish guy named Kristian Matsson who sounds like a cross between Howlin' Wolf and Dylan, and I think he's the best folk guitar player in the world. I love Dave Van Ronk and Woody Guthrie, too. I was listening to early bluegrass as well -- Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Roscoe Holcomb. For indie folk, I delved quite deeply into The Horse Feathers, Iron and Wine, The Bright Eyes, Frank Turner. For straight up rock, I was getting ideas from Joshua Tree era U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade, The Gaslight Anthem, Wintersleep. I'm not sure of all the keys I played in due to the alternate tunings, but I can check when I have time and update this thread. I CAN tell you right now that I used a D harp on "Last To Wince Gets Out Alive," a G harp in "The Hills Last Night," and an A powerbender in "City Elegy." Hope that helps!
