Musicians post your current projects?

Question

As part of a recent effort on my part to get the musicians from R&P to record and share their work, I am starting a monthly post for musicians. Look for one of these questions on the first of each month.

so without further stalling, here are my recordings for the month:
http://www.last.fm/music/Wire+and+String/June+09
A friend of mine went traveling for the summer and lent me her mandolin, so this recording marks my first attempt at the instrument. I posted 2 versions because I cant decide which vocal I like better.

MQ: Musicians: would you post some of your current projects?

Everyone else: would you mind having a listen and offering any constructive criticism?

Answer 1

http://www.myspace.com/pinkmovieneonfishhead



In the past month, I have recorded about 50 or 60 noise 'pop' songs. Here is some of the lo-fidelity harshness. I am sorry for the generic quality of them. Maybe an Animal Collective rip-off. One reason for the 'fuzzy' quality is because all of it was just done on the spot, including the vocals, so I wanted the lyrics to be a bit unintelligble just in case I said something 'stupid' or 'ridiculous' during the "singing".



*mr. wildflowers: i did, did, did, d-d-d-did enjoy it. I'll probably go back and listen again. I do not know how you will take this, but the singing reminded me of a jeff mangum/phil elvrum/neil young mixture, which to me is a very, very good thing. yeah, i liked it....how redundant.



*wire & string: hmm..... different. I very much enjoy things that are different. I got the last bit of 'bike' played over a giant singing a campfire song, which is not a bad thing, to me at least; that's just what I saw when i listened to it. i did enjoy the vocals. quite clean.



*prof anger: have you ever resided near montreal? i cannot help but notice a bit of krug. I loved it. i wouldn't marry it, but i would definitely love it like a brother. i did listen to it three times. watch out, pitchfork (though you may not want that). How about stereogum instead? just a great song. And I guess that it is a plus that it is very catchy (whether intended or not). delicious.



*today: when I saw rock/metal on the page i had a bit of an "oh, great.....eh" moment (as metal and I go our separate ways when we encounter each other), but i was pleasantly surprised with it. it caught me off guard since i was expecting some sort of double bass, twin guitar, operatic extravaganza.



*this is 'krug'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Krug

Answer 2

almost missed your question

so what is up guys?



lookin forward to hearin your guys ****!!!



95% with the recording of my album i've just begun some real mixing and drum machine work it's gonna be a task for sure

but anyway this is another sloppy mix of a guitar and vocal song (i really wanted to put up a rocker but the drums are not even close to done )

i hope somebody listens to it (so late sorry)



http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=409954914



hey wire

i liked that song both versions i thought it really carried a lot of feeling especially the harmonica melodies nice work there

sounds like you were really shy about the vocals when

singing

i could not make out the lyrics you should post them



gibberish

i really liked on the grass it is so soothing

i think you should take some of the effects off your vocals the made the most of them sound very synthetic

props on comic text too



professor

a little more bass tone would have helped out there but i believe that too be a great song

what do you record with?



wildflowers

some interesting stuff there i think you fell a little short of actually realizing the full potential of the songs you guys are going to get better as i'm sure you've already noticed over the course of the year

keep on keepin on



bootygal

i couldn't find your stuff

Answer 3

I've been writing and recording some stuff with a friend for about a year now, we've finally put it up on myspace:



http://www.myspace.com/mixedwithrain



I like to think that some of it isn't too bad, but a few songs... Not so much.



edit

Yours is fantastic! The vocals are... Different. Not sure how I feel about them, but I think I like them.



edit again

Thanks very much, people, glad you enjoyed it! The Jeff Mangum/Neil Young comparison is a HUGE compliment, likegibberish.

Answer 4

Hi. Sorry I'm a little late. I kind of missed the boat I guess.

We actually got back into working on the band's stuff (which unfortunately the newest stuff we don't have any mixes yet), plus it ended up being a really busy month, but I do have a song that I wrote a little bit back that will be on the record if we ever get it done/it ever comes out.



I'm going to check out the other tracks after I finish the podcast I'm listening to. Can't wait to hear what this month has brought.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcEma_YvJok

(not sure what's up with the sort of slightly warbley sound to it, weird)



**************

Hi Wire,

Man, I like what you do. I like the sort of inginuity of it all. I liked the song, both versions. I think I preferred the second because, and I could be off the mark, it felt a little more personal in that tone. I'm not sure, either way I enjoyed it both ways. Cool tune man.



I'm trying to do the listen to Mr. Wildflowers, likegibberish and rabbit's, but my computer's version of flash isn't up to par for myspace right now and trying to update it is creating some sort of security issue with my work system. I know it'll get done, but I have to figure out how to make it work. It's totally lame.



***************

Hi Likegibberish.

Man, it's really cool that you dug it that much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the kind words (plus, I've always felt our music is more familial, not so much the marrying kind, I always say "Marry the Jicks, let Waking Up With Robots pick you up from the airport. It won't be romantic, but we'll be on time and bring you some coffee."). It's very flattering. Trust me, I'll take "look out Pitchfork" with a great deal of gratitude.

I've never been up to Montreal (though, even though I was never close to a "fan" I did have a bit of an affection for the Expos as a child). If you don't mind my asking, what is krug?

Thanks again man. I really appreciate it. I can't wait to get into your stuff (I really enjoyed what I heard last month).



*******************

Hi Rabbit.

Thanks man. I see what you're talking about. I know that there is something funny about how it dropped into youtube, and I think it cuts a little better in the more pure recording, but that's definitely something I'll going to give a listen for. Thanks a lot for the critique. I honestly appreciate it very much.

With this project, it's with a friend of ours who is an engineer whose recording and producing. He has a pro-tools rig.

Thanks a lot for giving a listen. Sorry I haven't been able to get this stupid flash issue resolved yet.



**************

Hi Wire,

Thanks man. I'm really glad you liked it. That's the song that I wrote sort of for my wife and about how much better she made my life. It's really nice and making me really happy that it's being received so well. Thank you very much for listening.



I've got to say though that I can take absolutely no credit for the production quality. We're working with an engineer who is a really good friend of ours, and he's a legit pro. The first track I put up, that's the level of quality that I can create, maybe a little better over time as the rust clears (I actually used to be pretty ok, not great, but I went to audio engineering school years ago), but that's on my friend. It's funny. The first record that we made in this band that we were in together he mixed half the record and I mixed half of it. As much as I was at the top of my game at that point and I'm proud of how I made the stuff sound, you can hear who did which ones pretty easily, and he's even come quite a long way since then. Anyways, I'm just rambling now.

Also, it should be noted that as much as I wrote the tune and if I were to hang out and play it acoustic it would sound like the same song that I wrote (although I learned my singing limitations and I would drop it a key), but it's got about 4 other sets of finger prints on it and all of that really made it what it is. Felt I should qualify that.

Answer 5

no jesus furs this month, i think. i dont know. wire: it's hip, it's fresh, it's groovy, bro. i feel like i always say the same thing. i dig the disjointed f-e-e-l of it --and your titles always kill me. frosted: stuff's too cool. 'indian requiem' is killer. if that's the inferior work, i gotta hear the glorious masterworks you have crafted. prof: stuff always sounds so professional. thats a pretty hip tune, man. again, i always say the same stuff about it being catchy and everything. but about 3:30 into it, that break in it was great. guitar solo or whatever and that feedback in the back with the buzzing noise. thats a really really cool outro. shotgun: yeah, what the heavy hands said. the vox on 'get in shape' are so raw, bro. they're killer. 'the silver standard' is pretty out there. sounds like it would be in a movie or something. yr the best girl group i know of today. im not a big fan of covers, but yours is classy and original. i really just used 'classy'. 'you from me' is pretty hip and, i think, yr best: the melody, instrumentation, everything. adam: i got the 60s garage feel to it, too. i liked 'california sun'--especially the start. but im not much of a metal listener. i can appreciate musicianship and everything. the show was pretty cool. thanx for asking. we were lame but the beets and fungi girls are killer. they all ate my mic.

Answer 6

I'm impressed... I really like the vocals on the first version. They seem to be mixed quite low on the second and are harder to hear, but I still prefer the rougher quality you got with the first. Really nice song.

Answer 7

My current project: http://www.TopList.fm