Performances like this makes me wonder why I should even try this genre of music…
Tag Archives: music
So much gear, so little time
I already have more than enough pedals, especially reverb and delay pedals, that I don’t need more.
But damn it, I really, really, really want the Boss RV-6 and DD-500. It seems that when I really shouldn’t get more gear, I want gear the most. I’m not even saying these pedals will inspire me to write more and better music, but I can see both being very useful. I’d even trade in my beloved RV-5 for the RV-6.
Getting back in the swing of things
It’s been too long since I posted something. Though I have released a new album and have another one on the way.
I’m still planning on doing a guitar ambient project soon. Something totally separate from Rural Citizens Band. This video I found tonight has kind of reignited the desire to do something like that:
I’m really impressed with that Jazzmaster copy. I’ve wanted a Jazzmaster since the early 90s when I noticed the guys in Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Dinosaur Jr, Television, Placebo and Swervedriver used them. I’m not usually one to buy a guitar because Gitah Player X used them. And in some ways I avoided using one because they’re so ubiquitous in the indie rock scene (especially among the louder bands), but damn it, I really want one. And those copies can be had for around $250 (whereas a Mexican JM will run you about $800). I just wish that company also made Jaguar (in both single coil and HH configs) because I could buy all 3 for less than the cost of one Fender Mexican JM.
Anyway, I plan on blogging more here. I can’t excuse my laziness. Not that anybody is reading this anyway.
Good grief, more recommended music!
The Living Sleep released a new album this week entitled Remnants. I’ve given it a few listens and I’m really enjoying it. It’s more of a piano based work, kind of like the “Into The Blue” single they released a few years ago.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Into the Blue at first. I thought it was pretty, but the lack of guitars put me off. Also, to release one single song after a three year silence was disappointing. But mainly because Losing Today is one of my favorite Bandcamp discoveries and “We Were Infinite” is an ambient guitar classic to me.
But this full-length album is really great. It is a massive leap forward for the band and something I highly recommend. Not only that, but Losing Today was released in 2010, and you can’t expect them to be the same band they were half a decade ago.
While I’m recommending new music…
The new Swervedriver (!!!) is out and it’s amazing! First album of new material in almost 17 years.
Called “I Wasn’t Born To Lose You” and it can be downloaded at the usual suspects.
Always loved the Swervies, even though I prefer their earlier works. This album sounds like it could have come between Raise and Mezcal Head and that’s a very good thing.
New album by David Tagg
One of my favorite ambient musicians, David Tagg, released his first album in almost two years yesterday I’ve given it a listen and it’s really excellent.
It’s called Personal Debris and I highly recommend everybody go download it ASAP.
New XR1300 album!
I’ve been without a proper blog for so long, I forgot to mention that XR1300 has a new album out!
It is called La Giardino di Gigli Rosa and it’s all kinds of awesome.
As with all of my music, you can download it for free at the links above.
Oh, and new RCB drone track coming next month.
EHX effectology
Wow, I can see this could get expensive very fast…
Electro-Harmonix (aka EHX) is most famous for creating the Big Muff Pi pedal, one of the very first fuzz pedals ever made. But they also manufacture dozens of other pedals, all of them much more expensive than their famous fuzz box.
Effectology is a list of crazy sounds you can make simply by using EHX products. Naturally, you can create these same sounds using other products that are much cheaper. But this is a really awesome idea. It’s great to see that EHX cares enough about their product to take the time to do this.
Here is but one example. How to play Kraftwerk’s Autobah on guitar:
More companies should do this.
Good eBow guide
I never could get my eBow to work right. Or maybe I was never patient enough actually practice it. But this video is fun and makes me want to try again.
Satire for the snowy weather
More pedal suggestions
I’ve stated earlier that I find it absurd to spend $500 on a single pedal. Nothing against the people who make them (or buy them), but I still find this crazy, especially when you can buy 4 midrange pedals for the same price and experiment with them.
I buy most of my pedals used on eBay. So as long as they work, I don’t care really how they look. In the past year I bought a Boss BF-2 for $40 and an OD-2 for $50. Both pedals are long out of production and the current version costs 3x that amount. Both are kind of beat up looking, but that just adds to their charm. They sound great and do what I want them to do.
I’m finding it more and more that cost is less important than utility. Admittedly, I bought both of these pedals because famous people used them. I know Rachel from Slowdive had the OD-2 listed on her pedal board. I’m interested in getting a Boss HM-2 soon, mainly because Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher used them on all the classic MBV albums. Also, if I ever want to do death metal, I can get that Entombed sound with this same pedal.
I’m also less concerned about digital and analog pedals. Some people refuse to buy digital pedals, but that’s nonsense. Even if you have a tube amp (as I do), sometimes digital pedals are the only way to get certain sounds.
I guess if you play blues and country where your dry tone is important it might make sense, but in more experimental genres like ambient, noise rock and shoegaze, I find it less important. In the case of ambient the less dry signal you have, the better, so “tone suckage” is really a non-issue.
Lately I’ve had good luck experimenting with pedal placement. I have a Hardwire RV-7 pedal at the front of my chain, followed by the Boss OD-2, followed by a Boss PS-3 with a TC Hall of Fame at the end. I run it into my Fender Hot Rod DeVille on the dirty channel (with the fuzz turned pretty low) and the presence knob on 5 and the reverb knob cranked up. It’s kind of shrill and trebly at times (probably because of the single coils in my Strat), but I’ve also learning to experiment with tone knobs on both my guitar and amp.
In more traditional forms of rock it’s unheard of to place your overdrive after delay or reverb. But again, in experimental music, it’s best to place your pedals wherever you get your desired sound. This ain’t Nashville.
Basically I plan to muck about more with pedals and tone before buying an 8 track digital recorder. I have one picked out, but I’d rather wait to buy it. My stuff isn’t good enough to record yet (I’m sure there is a joke in there somewhere), but the more I prac and the more I experiment, the better my sound is getting. I don’t want to sound like another Brian Eno or Kevin Shields or Rachel Goswell, I want to sound like me, dammit.
Shoegaze guitar tone chasing
Four videos from YouTube. The first one is better viewed on YouTube, because it has important links with pedal settings, etc.
Obviously, shoegaze (and its mellower cousin, dream pop), are close relatives to ambient music. A bit more aggressive, but definitely something that has influenced my own music, and will influence any future ambient guitar music I make. These tutorials help me to understand how to get my desired sound better. And like I said before, to help differentiate my own sound from what everybody else is doing.
Song for a Saturday morning
I really love XM radio. Sometimes I get tired of the way they play the same old shit all of the time, but sometimes they deviate from the norm and bring you something totally new and refreshing.
I had never heard of Michael Stearns before. I had assumed he was a new artist, since he does fit in nicely with many of the modern day ambient composers. But it turns out this song is over 30 years old! Whodathunkit?
I really need to buy this whole CD. And probably the rest of his discography as well. I feel the way about this song the way I do Eno’s “Discreet Music” and Burzum’s “Rundtgåing av den transcendentale egenhetens støtte”