Sunday, November 11, 2007

if i wasn't going to europe.


i'd want to make a very ROOMY record. with gorgeous, open sounds.

i'd play keys, acoustic guitar, and then electric guitar if necessary, in that order.

i'd record a lot of my newer songs... a lot of the songs i played at the Thin Man show...
paper plates
the turnaround
pass that bottle down
don't need you
do you know my name
same scar
to know you
i do, i don't
right now
walter whitman
ghosts
good heart
let it rain
thinking 'bout god
messy mind
clara
lift this man up
the letter
carousel
don't follow virginia
psalm 151
i'd want the bass to sound very old school. definitely not modern sounding bass. i'm hearing that round, darker, muted sound from 60s soul records.

this record would groove. it it's own way.

hmmm...

there'd be female backing vocals on the record. perhaps my friend sara.

i'd probably pull in someone (or maybe more than one person) to fill in the "harmony instrumentalist" slot... guitar, keys, maybe laptop.

and a male backing vocal. maybe my friend ian and/or my friend jed.

i'd want to get the tracking done before christmas. mixed before saint patricks. cd release show before easter. i've decided that the most detailed one should get about recording schedules is to mention holidays, you see. any finer granularity is asking god to sneer at you and fuck with the project forthwith.

i'd probably do the overdubs at my house, in my studio, emmasaurus.

the drums would have to be done in a great room. don't know where. or with whom. again, i'd want the drums to sound open and gorgeous... definitely not "rock" or "funk".

at *this* point in the email, i've used the word "i" eleven times.

the focus of the record would be to simply communicate great songs as delivered by amazing performances from very cool people.

air. breath. voice. room.

that's key.

a balance between [production value / gloss that makes it listen-able over the long haul] and [that honest dirt / looseness that i love].

if i wasn't going to europe.

what do you think?

3 comments:

Margaret Shugart said...

I think it would be beautiful and a top seller. I think you'll still do it when you get back, and even better. You love to work with what's new, and you might be in a different frame of mind when you do it, but it'll be worth it. Great lineup, by the way- look forward to hearing "good heart," "let it rain," "thinking 'bout god," "the letter," "lift this man up," "clara," "i do, i don't", music to "carousel" and "ghosts" and the rest of "to know you."

Anonymous said...

i think europe will inform this idea better than anything and make it all the more ready upon your return. something to look forward to.

Anonymous said...

I like the vision. Now if you can just talk Daniel Lanois into producing it for you...