Filed under: news, records | Tags: abbey road, all things audible, beatles, coldplay, james childs, listening sessions, parachutes, vinyl
For the 2nd time so far, some friends and I have had a night of what we are calling The Listening Sessions, where we meet at my apartment with the sole purpose of listening to an album start to finish with no distractions. The idea was that no one actually listens to music anymore for the sake of music. It’s become something to workout to or something you have on in the background while you homework. Also, with the advent of digital music and single song downloads, the album is becoming a foreign concept; listening to music, especially to entire albums as they were meant to be heard, is something of the past. So we decided to devote a night to sitting and listening to a whole record with no visual distractions. Almost like watching a movie, but with music.
The first time we listened to Coldplay’s Parachutes on vinyl which was a lot of fun. Listening to a real vinyl record makes music so much more tangible. You have to carefully place the record on the turntable and place the needle down. No skipping or rewinding, and you have to flip it over halfway through. It’s a very hands-on and interactive experience. It was also fun to pass the LP artwork around while we listened.
Then last night a lot more people showed up (Ben, Brentice, Jordan, Pri, and Tyler) and we listened to Abbey Road (on CD, the turntable wasn’t working..). This was a good one too – we passed around the Beatles Anthology book while we listened and learned lots of random facts about the album.
It’s a great time and something I really look forward to. Anyone’s welcome next time as long as they can sit still and listen for 45 minutes or so..
Filed under: gear, recording | Tags: all things audible, james childs, john leventhal, michael brauer, nickel creek, tenor guitar
As you know, lately I’ve been listening to a lot of John Leventhal (JL from here on out) production and I’m digging it. One interesting thing I read about JL is that he’s really not a fan of fancy studio gear and admits that outside of a few favorite pieces of outboard gear, he really doesn’t know much about the technical side of things. Rather, he is first and foremost a musician and enjoys the playing far more than the recording. While somebody like Michael Brauer collects gear such as compressors and delay units, JL has an impressive collection of instruments.
Just to name a few, he has standard acoustic, electric, high-strung, baritone, and tenor guitars along with lap and pedal steels, banjos, dobros, mandolins, bouzoukis, and tamburas, and then he has a bunch of percussion toys and vintage keyboards, organs and xylophones. Various combinations of these make it onto his records and they create lush layers of organic ear candy even if you don’t quite realize that they’re there.
Obviously, given my idolization of his sound, I’ve felt the need to start collecting instruments as well. This idea of mine is more long term as I’m somewhat hindered by a lack of cash and a tiny apartment. All that to say, one instrument has intrigued me the most and that is the tenor guitar.
This four-stringed beauty is smaller and higher-pitched than a standard guitar and can be tuned like a banjo or like an octave mandolin. It’s great for doubling other instruments and sits well when paired with a standard acoustic. To get an idea of how it sounds, listen to Nickel Creek’s “Can’t Complain” below (and excuse the cheesy music video).
Sorry for the long post, this stuff gets me really excited.
Filed under: artists, gear, news, records | Tags: all things audible, cd warehouse, coldplay, gibson j-50, james childs, john leventhal, marc cohn, michelle branch, rosanne cash, shawn colvin, the wreckers
I really hate when I get behind on posting but life has been crazy the past few months. We just finished moving and work has been incredibly busy.
Anyway, here are a few things I’ve been pretty into lately:
- John Leventhal production: The Wreckers, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Rosanne Cash, Michelle Branch… The man is a genius, I must meet him. He’s a great arranger and plays these very intentional counter-melodies that lead you through the songs. I can’t get enough of this stuff right now.. Do yourself a favor and listen to any of the records to the left.
- I saw Coldplay in concert last week which was an amazing show. I also found their Live 2003 cd/dvd for $6 and it’s a great show as well. As much as I liked Viva La Vida I hope they eventually get back to their roots and do something more organic. (photo courtesy of Josh Bain)
- Used CDs: well I’ve always been into these, but still. The other day I found 6 used CDs and that coldplay DVD for $30 at CD Warehouse in North Raleigh. Places like that are a gold mine. Why pay $9.99 on iTunes for files when you can experience the joy of digging through physical albums and finding what you were looking for? artwork and physical tangible music and it’s cheaper than digital.
- Gibson J-50s: One day soon I really want a good vintage acoustic guitar. My top choice right now is an old J-50, mainly because John Leventhal plays them and they sound awesome.
That’s all for now, but a lot’s happening this fall. A few projects I worked on are releasing and I’m getting to play out quite a bit, so stay tuned and thanks for reading.
