Close the curtains, switch off the ‘phone and prepare to lose several hours of your life.
Legendary Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich has launched a new website and it’s awesome. I tried to finding an equivalent British superlative, but I couldn’t ! “Awesome” is the only word for it.
The site is called From The Basement and features exclusive live performances (all shot in gorgeous HD) of artists like Beck, Fleet Foxes, Eels, Gnarls Barkley, Iggy And The Stooges, Jarvis Cocker, Jose Gonzalez, P J Harvey, Queens of The Stone Age, Sonic Youth, Sparks, Super Furry Animals, The White Stripes and Radiohead themselves, all produced by the inimitable Mr. Godrich himself.
I love this video – it sums up so many things that are true and important about music to me.
But how does it work ? How do we know exactly what notes Bobby wants us to sing, even though the only clue we have is which way he’s jumping – and how far ?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – if you’re not using Twitter yet, you need to be.
Today @popsong3_0 sent me a link to the fantastic video above. Links like this are what Twitter is all about, for me, and I thought some of you would love to see it, too.
Watching the video reminded me of some of my own favourite Chapman Stick moments – but before that, in case you’re new to this particular instrument, here’s the one and only Tony Levin (surely the world’s coolest bass player ?) introducing it himself:
If this video doesn’t make you want to own your own analogue synthesiser, nothing will !
David Vorhaus will forever be part of my own musical history for creating the album “An Electric Storm” as part of legendary band The White Noise – along with Delia Derbyshire, of “Doctor Who Theme” fame. This mad, tuneful collage of tape loops, analogue synths and sound effects was released in 1969, and provides proof, if you needed it, that the Beatles weren’t nearly as cutting edge as they thought they were.
Taken from the fantastic DVD “Classic Albums: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon“, this clip has loads of great things for audio geeks like me to enjoy, including (probably) the first time a band ever played to a tape loop (and how the loop was made), another great example of double-tracking (this time on a guitar solo) and a superb illustration of how quite extreme-sounding delay and reverb (on Gilmour’s vocal) sound great in the context of the whole mix.
The DVD has been in the Production Advice Bookstore since I first set up the site, and is strongly recommended viewing for anyone interested in writing, recording and mixing.
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