tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65903171926189987822024-03-12T17:24:04.086-07:00dispatches from the panda roomshalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.comBlogger513125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-5320139943698419572017-11-15T11:03:00.000-08:002017-11-15T11:03:15.948-08:00diary 11.13.17- i'm just a villain<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-111317-im-just-a-villain%2F" frameborder="0" ></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. chariot- beach house- 'b-sides and rarities'<br>
2. the dream- widowspeak- 'expect the best'<br>
3. louise- acetone- 'acetone 1992-2001'<br>
4. if it's monday morning- lee hazlewood- 'requiem for an almost lady'<br>
5. gathering- the horrors- 'v'<br>
6. don't believe the fife- mogwai- 'every country's sun'<br>
7. thinking of a place- the war on drugs- 'a deeper understanding'<br>
8. televangelist- julien baker- 'turn out the lights'<br>
9. sugar for the pill- slowdive- s/t<br>
10. keys to the castle- oh sees- 'orc'<br>
11. special- angel olsen- 'phases'<br>
12. antiquity- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'son of a lady'<br>
13. water people- grouper- 'water people' 7"<p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/149383445@N05/37554593165/in/dateposted-public/" title="novemberdiary"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4534/37554593165_ecc056b3a4.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="novemberdiary"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-10566718495843298172017-08-22T13:26:00.002-07:002017-08-22T13:26:53.412-07:00diary 8.07.17- my mind and heart break<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-080717-my-mind-and-heart-break%2F" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. sirena- dirty three- 'ocean songs'<br>
2. mojave 3- lovesongs on the radio- 'ask me tomorrow'<br>
3. k.- cigarettes after sex- s/t<br>
4. play the game- beach house- 'b-sides and rarities'<br>
5. it all feels the same- tennis- 'young & old'<br>
6. lost in light- moon duo- 'occult architecture vol. 2'<br>
7. black and blues- the jesus & mary chain- 'damage and joy'<br>
8. so real- jeff buckley- 'grace'<br>
9. lift- radiohead- 'ok computer: oknotok'<br>
10. cigarette in your bed- my bloody valentine- 'ep tracks 1988-1992'<br>
11. around my smile- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'bavarian fruit bread'<br>
12. my truth- cocteau twins- 'four calendar cafe'<br>
13. distant sky- nick cave & the bad seeds- 'skeleton tree'<br>
14. warm- swans- 'the great annihilator'<br>
15. falling ashes- slowdive- s/t<p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/149383445@N05/36695164386/in/dateposted-public/" title="augustdiary(alt)"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4438/36695164386_ffda1130be_b.jpg" width="400" height="244" alt="augustdiary(alt)"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-25456678881578631982017-05-17T15:06:00.001-07:002017-05-17T15:06:33.878-07:00diary 5.17.17- the breath of god in my mouth<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-51717-the-breath-of-god-in-my-mouth%2F" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. happiness 6- tears run rings- 'in surges'<br>
2. always sad- the jesus & mary chain- 'damage and joy'<br>
3. first day of spring- the horrors- 'luminous'<br>
4. cross-town fade- moon duo- 'occult architecture: vol. 1'<br>
5. adversity- beach fossils- 'what a pleasure'<br>
6. don't know why- slowdive- s/t<br>
7. ladies don't play guitar- tennis- 'yours conditionally'<br>
8. caroline no- beach boys- 'pet sounds'<br>
9. seekers who are lovers- cocteau twins- 'milk & kisses'<br>
10. funeral pyre- julien baker- 'funeral pyre' single<br>
11. salt of the sea- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'until the hunter'<br>
12. swingin' party- the replacements- 'tim'<br>
13. fly on your wall- angel olsen- 'our first 100 days' compilation<br>
14. out to sea- minor victories- s/t<br>
15. out of reach- bardo pond- 'under the pines'<br>
16. i'm clean now- grouper- 'paradise valley' single<p>
<img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4177/33914235293_dc719144f5_b.jpg" width="400" height="244" alt="IMG_0613"></img>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-58686004953565148862017-03-30T17:27:00.000-07:002017-03-30T17:55:50.221-07:00diary 3.28.17- thee olde hellride<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-32817-thee-olde-hellride%2F" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
this playlist has been sitting on my ipod for about two years now- i went through a really emotionally raw period a few years ago where i got really lost in my own head, didn't sleep much and wrote a ton of very intense music while hanging around in bars. this is a playlist that i listened to when i would go on my pre-dawn commute every morning and it was perfected to the point where it began to recreate the way i was feeling during that time perfectly. when i say 'emotionally raw' i don't just mean sadness, there was a lot of happiness, fascination, self-discovery and intense beauty as well.
song- artist- album<p>
1. shallow- beach fossils- 'shallow' single<br>
2. summer holiday- wild nothing- 'gemini'<br>
3. despicable animal- wye oak- 'shriek'<br>
4. no exits- tamaryn- 'tender new signs'<br>
5. just like blood- sharon van etten- 'i don't want to let you down'<br>
6. make them kiss- thee oh sees- 'thee hounds of foggy notion'<br>
7. i only have eyes for you- the flamingos- 'i only have eyes for you' single<br>
8. damaged- primal scream- 'screamadelica'<br>
9. does someone have your baby now- mazzy star- 'seasons of your day'<br>
10. watch her disappear- tom waits- 'alice'<br>
11. children of a lesser god- tropic of cancer- 'restless idylls'<br>
12. summer time- ringo deathstarr- 'sparkler'<br>
13. when the sun hits- slowdive- 'souvlaki'<br>
14. tropic of cancer- panda bear- '... meets the grim reaper'<br>
15. some things cosmic- angel olsen- 'strange cacti'<br>
16. always forgetting with you (the bridge song)- spiritualized- 'the space project'<br>
17. silver soul- beach house- 'soirée de poche'<p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/149383445@N05/33705892766/in/dateposted-public/" title="ivoryhighstill6"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2878/33705892766_8fdccddf6b.jpg" width="400" height="244" alt="ivoryhighstill6"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-81331234244244847482017-01-29T12:41:00.001-08:002017-01-29T12:41:35.860-08:00diary 1.17.17- i swear it's the last time<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-11717-i-swear-its-the-last-time%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. intern- angel olsen- 'my woman'<br>
2. isn't it true- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'until the hunter'<br>
3. winter- the rolling stones- 'goats head soup'<br>
4. green lakes- tears run rings- 'in surges'<br>
5. fear of flying- bowery electric- 'beat'<br>
6. the poem- thee oh sees- 'an odd entrances'<br>
7. sea, swallow me- cocteau twins (with harold budd)- 'the moon and the melodies'<br>
8. strangers- marissa nadler- 'strangers'<br>
9. i'm a shoe- cass mccombs- 'mangy love'<br>
10. and dream of sheep- kate bush- 'before the dawn'<br>
11. folk arp- minor victories- s/t<br>
12. are you a hypnotist?- the flaming lips- 'yoshimi battles the pink robots'<br>
13. stormy clouds- the verve- 'a northern soul'<br>
14. headache- grouper- 'paradise valley' 7"<p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/149383445@N05/32442144752/in/dateposted-public/" title="januarydiary"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/263/32442144752_8da093c0ff.jpg" width="400" height="400" alt="januarydiary"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-33799446473941698032017-01-01T11:38:00.003-08:002017-01-01T11:39:26.073-08:00best of 2016<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fbest-of-2016%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
I didn't do the usual big production of listing and writing about my favorite albums of the year this year (as you probably noticed). Not sure why, it just seemed a little self-indulgent for the millionth year in a row. I still love compiling my favorite tracks of the year into a playlist- it usually says more than my useless ramblings. This mix also serves as an epitaph for my current turntable- it's always had a few quirks that have grown to become fairly big problems at this point. While making this mix the motor began a rapid decline and decay causing some pretty hilariously slow rips. Rather than invest more money in something that was falling apart fairly rapidly I bought a new turntable that should prove to provide more longevity. Here's to that free ION turntable that was given to me by friends in 2009 because they didn't need it. Thanks for the memories!<p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. give up the ghost- minor victories- s/t<br>
2. how- daughter- 'not to disappear'<br>
3. love is not love- cate le bon- 'crab day'<br>
4. sine wave sleep- tears run rings- 'in surges'<br>
5. treasure- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'until the hunter'<br>
6. i don't mind- psychic ills- 'inner journey out'<br>
7. adore- wild nothing- 'life of pause'<br>
8. better (for esther)- wye oak- 'tween'<br>
9. heart shaped face- angel olsen- 'my woman'<br>
10. dre- warpaint- 'heads up'<br>
11. the numbers- radiohead- 'a moon shaped pool'<br>
12. beached- julianna barwick- 'will'<br>
13. healthy moon- diiv- 'is the is are'<br>
14. people like us- swans- 'the glowing man'<br>
15. dollar days- david bowie- 'blackstar'<br>
16. 1959- hamilton leithauser + rostam- 'i had a dream that you were mine'<br>
17. dissolve- marissa nadler- 'strangers'<p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/149383445@N05/31884486862/in/album-72157676824480675/" title="IMG_0406hicontrast"><img src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/1/579/31884486862_fdfb77b584.jpg" width="400" height="244" alt="IMG_0406hicontrast"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-61683403402009497022016-11-19T09:55:00.002-08:002016-11-19T09:55:27.014-08:00diary 11.15.16- repeat our dreams to someone new<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-111516-repeat-our-dreams-to-someone-new%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. it's raining today- scott walker- 'scott 3'<br>
2. dirty water- the jesus & mary chain- 'stoned & dethroned'<br>
3. funnel of love- wanda jackson- 'right or wrong'<br>
4. liquid lady- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'until the hunter'<br>
5. landfill- daughter- 'his young heart'<br>
6. glass eyes- radiohead- 'a moon shaped pool'<br>
7. in a black out- hamilton leithauser + rostam- 'i had a dream that you were mine'<br>
8. those were the days- angel olsen- 'my woman'<br>
9. wildflower- beach house- 'depression cherry'<br>
10. hungry is the ghost- marissa nadler- 'strangers'<br>
11. sometime- diiv- 'oshin'<br>
12. what you want- my bloody valentine- 'loveless'<br>
13. life's an ocean- the verve- 'a northern soul'<br>
14. feel so sad- spiritualized- 'feel so sad'<br>
15. coming down again- the rolling stones- 'goats head soup'<p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/149383445@N05/30972127482/in/album-72157676824480675/" title="november"><img src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5799/30972127482_469844c35f.jpg" width="400" height="244" alt="november"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-1517298043183468322016-09-23T14:34:00.001-07:002016-09-23T14:34:47.660-07:00diary 9.16.16- i keep my visions to myself<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-91616-i-keep-my-visions-to-myself%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. anyway that you want me- spiritualized- 'anyway that you want me' 12"<br>
2. cherry chapstick- yo la tengo- '...and then nothing turned itself inside out'<br>
3. hot as day- wye oak- 'civilian'<br>
4. the traveller- beach house- 'thank your lucky stars'<br>
5. you wish you were red- trailer trash tracys- 'ester'<br>
6. under the sun- diiv- 'is the is are'<br>
7. janie in love- marissa nadler- 'strangers'<br>
8. boxing day blues- courtney barnett- 'sometime i sit and think and sometimes i just sit'<br>
9. only you- the warlocks- 'songs from the pale eclipse'<br>
10. adoration- cranes- 'wings of joy'<br>
11. crawl out from the fall out- thee oh sees- 'a weird exits'<br>
12. change your mind- the horrors- 'luminous'<br>
13. dreams- fleetwood mac- 'rumors'<br>
14. sister- angel olsen- 'my woman'<br>
15. the harbinger- julianna barwick- 'nepenthe'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="https://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/septemberdiary_zpsty4r0uid.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-77992116236460870362016-08-22T18:23:00.001-07:002016-08-22T18:23:30.304-07:00diary 8.15.16- every half-wit of distinction<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-81516-every-half-wit-of-distinction%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. tomorrow- daughter- '4ad sessions'<br>
2. shut up kiss me- angel olsen- 'my woman'<br>
3. candy girl- trailer trash tracys- 'ester'<br>
4. lonesome bulldog- the warlocks- 'lonesome bulldog' single<br>
5. sparks- lazy legs- 'visiondeath'<br>
6. half a person- the smiths- 'louder than bombs'<br>
7. keep on loving you- cigarettes after sex- 'affection' single<br>
8. bob in your gait- julianna barwick- 'the magic place'<br>
9. kim's caravan- courtney barnett- 'sometimes i sit and think and sometimes i just sit'<br>
10. nothing feels the same- marissa nadler- 'strangers'<br>
11. the night josh tillman came to our apt.- father john misty- 'i love you, honeybear'<br>
12. no dreaming- wye oak- 'tween'<br>
13. present tense- radiohead- 'a moon shaped pool'<br>
14. falling from cloud 9- lift to experience- '<br>
15. days of candy- beach house- 'pitchfork 2016'<br>
16. call the doctor- spacemen 3- 'forged prescriptions'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="https://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/polygonal300dpib_w_zpsm7axfauu.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-57289002366024259782016-07-29T10:23:00.000-07:002016-07-29T11:15:40.010-07:00recording blog: making 'deprivation'<iframe style="border: 0; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3012855112/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=0f91ff/minimal=true/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="http://shalloboi.bandcamp.com/album/deprivation">deprivation by shalloboi</a></iframe><p>
<a href="http://shalloboi.bandcamp.com/album/deprivation" target="_blank">‘deprivation’</a> was written and recorded very quickly—there’s only one song on it that pre-dates 2012. To put things into context it’s the sound of me building the band back up from the ashes. By the summer of 2011 the band was pretty much in its death throes—I was burned out, two of our three strings players had long distance moves on the horizon and getting everyone together to practice was increasingly difficult. Getting everyone together to record was even harder. In May I lost a job that I’d held for three and-a-half years and I started a new job after returning from a wedding in Kansas City. My new job didn’t have the set, flexible schedule that I’d been used to for so long and most of my time spent there was at night—I was working at the Drake hotel, which is not very mass-transit accessible. We had the last strings show in our living room on a night that many of our friends couldn’t make it—but the planning had been such a difficult puzzle to piece together that the deadline arrived before we could find a decent solution to suit everyone’s logistic obligations. Consequently barely any of my friends or family could make it, which was a shame as the show was very musically rewarding and emotional. Then there was a really nasty fallout with one of the former bandmates due to a few minor misunderstandings. After that happened I was so upset about the way the band had ended (after all, I’d started it from nothing while I was still in college and had given every year of my 20s to it) that, after talking with Stefanie about it, I decided to reboot the band and give it another shot as just a duo. What ended up happening was we booked a few shows in the fall and the winter of 2011 and another in spring of 2012. What was interesting about the period inbetween was that I hadn’t written a single song for about six months, which was atypical to say the least. The new job I’d gotten was taking a toll on me as well—slinging coffee in the richest part of town is not going to do your fragile self-worth or confidence any favors. Add to that the fact that my main emotional outlet had gone dormant and it made for an all-around dreary day-to-day existence. Once we’d rebooted the band I finally got an idea for a new song after a pair of shows in December.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/14-2-12" target="_blank">’14.2.12’</a>—This was written as a valentine’s day gift, which was something I’ve been known to do occasionally over the course of my relationship with Stefanie. It turned out beautifully—I hadn’t written anything in my favored open C tuning in far too long, which served as a fresh source of inspiration. I’d watched a documentary on the making of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=widmy3lqT_w" target="_blank">‘The Soft Bulletin’</a> by the Flaming Lips (which is my favorite album of theirs) and they were talking about how they recorded the drums for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs56ygZplQA" target="_blank">‘Race for the Prize’</a>—the loud, pounding drums were recorded with a single room mic and the quiet drums during the verses were done with multiple close mics. I’d never tried anything like that before, so I gave it a shot and was incredibly pleased with the results—it ended up giving me a lot of unexpected control during the final mix as well. I ended up using the bombastic single-mic drum treatment (which was done with a Shure KSM27) on many of the other songs on the record as well. I believe that I recorded a guide guitar track first that I played along with—drums, guitar, vocals and then a guitar loop. The vocals were doubled three times, I believe. I doubt that I had the patience to double them ten times, like I have in the past, and they have no effects. This was one of the first recordings where I used a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YoBbDZ1Trs" target="_blank">Boss PN2 tremolo/pan pedal</a> as an outboard effect—that pedal is all over the place on this album because it’s so versatile and it had been my most recent purchase (and one that I’d been after for about 10 years at that point). The final mix was done by running my Tascam 8-track through my ¼” 2-track tape machine and then into Audacity to make a digital final mix, which was something I’d started doing so that I could have digital mixdown files that retained a lot of warmth and detail. The version that I finally got to work was probably the third or fourth time I’d attempted it—the pan during the distorted guitars moves between two rate settings, which had to be done manually and then during the quiet verses I wanted the loop to do a simple, slow circular pan, so altogether there are three different pan settings that I had to physically maneuver while mixing. On top of that the distorted guitar on the source track wasn’t loud enough so I had to fade it up—it was sitting over two inputs for more separation as well, so I had to move two faders up while turning the rate dial on the pan up, then had to move the two faders down at a subtle rate when the distorted part ended and then move the rate dial on the pan pedal all the way down slowly enough that the change wasn’t jarring. It required perfect timing—when I listen to it I’m aware of the change, but got it to a point where it at least sounded subtle.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/daisychain-1" target="_blank">‘daisychain’</a>—This was the second song I wrote in January of 2012. I wanted something based around a very simple two-chord pattern. I recorded two versions of this song—the first was very long and a little plodding. When I record a new song oftentimes I find myself making arrangement choices as I’m laying down the guide track. I’ve found this usually helps to solve dynamic or arrangement problems that I’m unsure of while I’m working on a song—usually a split decision made spontaneously based on the song’s feel can save a lot of time and headache later on. The first version of this song didn’t go so well in that regard, so I recorded the second version—I made the song punchier and faster and cleaned up the dynamics of the ending. I tried a mix where the first version was sped up using the speed control knob and then faded before things got muddy at the end, but then I was losing the melodic guitar part that bookended the song so nicely. Since I was playing the guide track on a guitar I kept having to remind myself to play fast, so the speed changes more than a handful of times. I don’t think it sounds too jarring as the changes are subtle and seem to recur in patterns. Since I’d noticed I’d done this the first thing I added were the drums—one part was done with just the KSM27 room mic and the second was done with multiple close mics (a Shure D112 on the floor tom, a Shure SM57 on the snare and the KSM27 as a room mic). I was able to get them synched up easily enough and pull off the closest thing to a roll as I can do. Next I did three guitar parts—one was through a late 70s Fender Twin Reverb reverb channel with a Rat distortion during the loud parts and the other through the clean channel of the twin with reverse reverb from a Yamaha SPX90 during the verses and distortion with delay from a Boss DD5 during the loud parts. When we play live I split the guitar signal using both channels, but for some reason this doesn’t work when I record—I do them as two separate parts and then I’m allowed to make more mixing choices between the two different tones and control how they intersect. Plus it sounds fuller, richer and more texturally diverse. Since I do a lot of work with the whammy bar on my rhythm guitar parts (I usually use it to accent rhythmic points in a riff since there are a lot of effects that I use to render the chords sort of a formless wall of drone) it causes a sort of hypnotic effect to hear the two playing at the same time but using slightly different pitch bends. The third guitar part was the melodic lead part which splits the guitar signal between the reverb channel and the clean channel with reverse reverb and delay and some distortion during the solo part near the end. The solo part was something that I came up with spur of the moment while I was recording the first version. I hadn’t planned on doing anything of the sort until I got to that long middle section and my instincts told me to step on the distortion pedal and play a guitar solo and it sounded so awesome I did it on the second version as well. There’s also a clean vocal that Stefanie and I sang separately on the second version. I’d sung both on the first version and it’s tough to tell much of a difference. There is also a guitar loop made with the loop setting on the DD5 that runs through the entire song. Since it was one of the last songs that I mixed I left the guitar loop alone (there was a version with a slow pan, but it popped up so much over the course of the album that I had to leave it out of a few songs so it didn’t get annoying). As far as the lyrics go it’s a bunch of rhyming nonsense and a mildly pervy line or two—I probably made this song up while making sandwiches at work.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/wash-over-me" target="_blank">‘wash over me’</a>—This song has been around in some form for years. This version was written in 2010 and the lyrics were finished later on. I’d originally intended for it to have fully fleshed-out strings and be really huge and epic like a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh7hGOC8c4c" target="_blank">Spiritualized</a> song. Around that time I’d experimented with recording my voice over and over again at different distances from the KSM27 room mic and as different characters so as to approximate the sound of a choir—kind of similar to what <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnm-u4Xq9ag" target="_blank">Prince</a> used to do. I had a forced-sounding soul song that I first tried this effect on that didn’t quite work, but ended up trying it again on this song with a lot more success. I ended up calling it the ‘Tyler choir.’ It was time-consuming, but worth it—I had to come up with a three-part harmony with a few more close-harmonies within that as well. I did two voices in the lower register, three in a mid-range and then five in a higher register. It took about three hours. The rest of the track was a lot easier and it just revolves around a guitar with reverb that played the stark melodic chords on the verse and the melody during the breaks (which had the Boss DD5 delay added to it as an outboard effect), a reverse reverb guitar with delay from the DD5 and a Marshall Shredmaster during the loud parts that I recorded at an extremely high level using a method I used on <a href="http://shalloboi.bandcamp.com/album/down-to-sleep" target="_blank">‘down to sleep’</a> that involved pointing two amps towards each other with five mics at different points between them (a Shure Beta SM57, D112, a few SM57s and the KSM27 in the middle), an alternately-tuned bass part and a simple drum part. There’s also a textural loop that runs through the track and has some nicely-layered oscillating effects that I found on my BOSS SP-303 sampler. I don’t remember what the origin of the loop was or what I intended to use to it for (it might’ve been for a cover version that I was asked to do years and years ago), but I layered a few effects (a BOSS TR2 Tremolo, a BOSS PH2 Phaser and a Colorsound Wah/Swell for some decay) on it and recorded it through the Fender Twin, having it get louder and louder during the extended feedback of the middle section by running it through a Vox Over-the-Top Boost pedal that I’ve been using for years as a sort of mid-gain pedal live—it proved to be too much to run the loop through a distortion pedal.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/iridescent" target="_blank">‘iridescent’</a>—I wrote this song while I was riding my bike home from work on an obscenely hot summer day. I was listening to a lot of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApqO5Y33yQE" target="_blank">Rowland S. Howard</a> songs around that time. I started singing the lyrics while I was riding up a hill on Wilson over the Chicago river—when I used to be on swim team I would write songs while I was swimming this way—I’d sing whatever lines came to me over and over and over until I could write them down. If necessary I’ve had to sing a song to myself for hours—at which point I’ve had full verses memorized and arranged. This was that type of song. This was also the last song I wrote for the record and it was added almost as an after-thought. It was short enough to fit and solve some logistical problems and I liked it quite a bit so on it went. I’d just gotten a Line 6 delay pedal so that I could start building guitar loops while playing live and this is the first time I ever used it—there’s a simple ascending melodic figure that was made up of some bowed guitar, there are high pitch-bent accenting harmonies over the top and then I strummed the rhythm on the guitar strings and added delay from the BOSS RE-2 Space Echo later as an outboard effect to the whole thing. I built the loop, then played the acoustic guitar along with it. There was some bleed, but once the other parts were added it wasn’t noticeable. I’d never really intended for the song to have drums, so I added a reverse reverb guitar with a sharp pan that got loud and distorted (using the Rat distortion) at the end, a distorted guitar overdub that just had a black Russian Big Muff and reverb to smooth out the choppiness of the reverse reverb guitar and then I used the backwards setting on the Line 6 for a high melodic part—I was going to flip the tape over and record an actual backwards guitar part, but the backwards setting on the Line 6 had a quality to it that worked beautifully in its own way. The vocals were done through a Shure green bullet harmonica mic and a tiny Squier practice amp.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/mae" target="_blank">‘mae’</a>—When I started working at Metropolis I wrote a bunch of new songs and this was the first of that bunch. I was trying to write a song similar to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT3jq8HOUAc" target="_blank">‘Common Burn’</a> by Mazzy Star. I wanted something melodic and arpeggiated so the acoustic guitar was done first followed by a high electric guitar with delay—the chord progression demanded that I tune the low E string up to G so that the electric guitar could add a little more fullness to the mix since there’s no bass to fill in the low end. The first time I did the electric guitar I thought it sounded a little too shrill in places so I did another take on a separate input which was almost the same but still sounded a little flimsy and muddled. During a playback when I was trying to pick which one to keep I played them both at the same time panned to either side and they matched up almost perfectly while improving the clarity of the notes and leaving enough room in the mix for the vocals and the other instruments so I ended up keeping both of them. Most of my recordings are filled with happy accidents, but this one might be the title-holder in that category. In addition to accidentally duplicating a guitar part perfectly I’d wanted to have Stefanie harmonize with my vocal, the only problem was that my vocal was too high for her to do a normal harmony over. I’d just read an interview with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/magazine/sharon-van-etten.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Sharon Van Etten</a> about her use of close-harmonies and I thought that her explanation that she almost always heard two different melodies for nearly every vocal line was really intriguing so when it came time to record Stefanie’s vocal I did an experiment and had her sing her own melody without hearing mine. When we played the two together it was incredibly eerie how they matched up and how alike they sounded. I doubt anyone but us can tell who is who. There’s also a melodic 12-string guitar part with a bunch of reverse reverb and delay that floats through the mix like a keyboard part. If the string players had still been around I’d imagine I could’ve done a really nice arrangement for this one, but I’m still really happy with how it turned out. This is also one of only two songs on the record where Stefanie is playing the drums.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/ema" target="_blank">‘ema’</a>—Unsurprisingly this was the second song I wrote when I first started at Metropolis. I’d thought that this would’ve been a good b-side for ‘mae,’ so rather than think up a new title I just moved the letters around because I’m clever like that. It was one of those cases where the working title just becomes the actual title for lack of a better possibility. This song was the result of listening to tons of Sigur Rós while commuting really early in the morning—<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oltjAV37Gew&list=PLAA7F56AACB564726" target="_blank">‘Valtari’</a> was playing most mornings when I was headed to work around then. I wanted to try and do a song that was like one of those older Cat Power songs where she just plays one chord through the entire thing—this ended up being one chord for the verses and another for the choruses. I have a Fender Mustang that is often neglected as it’s been used as a back-up guitar since I got the Fender Jaguar—it used to be permanently tuned for <a href="https://shalloboi.bandcamp.com/track/wish" target="_blank">‘wish’</a> off of <a href="https://shalloboi.bandcamp.com/album/petals" target="_blank">‘petals,’</a> which we used to end every show with. It sits in its case and is usually tuned a step below standard tuning—it was usually used to play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp0sx_a4YNc" target="_blank">‘4am train’</a> when we’d play it live. Since I felt bad that I’d been neglecting it I wrote this song on it and recorded all of the parts with it as well. There are three parts—the Fender Twin reverb channel guitar with delay that plays the main arpeggiated figure, the bowed guitar that gets distorted at the end and then the melodic guitar that uses the Ronsound Trem-o-matic (which sounds like the Repeater effect that was included on many Vox guitars from the late 60s). The vocal was sung into the KSM27 room mic—which was propped up against a wall on the other side of the room, the drums use a disengaged snare sound and the entire song was built around that weird rhythm from the delay of the arpeggiated guitar. I did the drums second so that I’d be able to play the distorted guitars along to something I’d be able to hear, but I ended up getting really lost in the strong, choppy rhythm of the Trem-o-matic while playing them, so there are a few moments where they start to fall out of time a bit but that’s never been something I’ve shied away from before so why start now? We played this live once at a quieter show and it was surprisingly easy to play live, which I’d think wouldn’t be the case what with having to sing over a part in a really weird off-beat rhythm (every note is plucked on the upbeat rather than the downbeat) that’s completely different from the vocal line.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/ravens-eyes-are-blue" target="_blank">‘raven’s eyes are blue’</a>—This was written right after I started working at Metropolis as well. It’s a new type of song that I’ve been writing more of—like an argument with myself. My mind has always been exceptionally cruel to me, it can run off independent of every other influence and it gets stronger and stronger with time. This is the type of thing that results from a serious bout of insomnia (which I think I was the case while writing this, as well as the next song). I don’t remember how I started this one—I’m guessing that I did a guitar guide track, then drums, then two guitars and a guitar loop. There was a scratch vocal for the longest time. The drums were done in the same way as ‘daisychain’—one set was done with just the KSM27, the other with multiple close mics. I ended up panning them each to the side for some bigness via separation—which reveals a few mistakes. I’m not very good at drums, even a two-piece ‘kit.’ The guitars were done pretty much the same as ‘daisychain’ as well—a reverse reverb guitar with delay from the DD5 and distortion from the Rat and then a reverb channel guitar with just distortion and then a guitar looped from the DD5 that drones in A through the whole song. The loop is panned through the entire song as well. The final vocal was done in a really old-fashioned shalloboi-type way—back in the old days I used to run the vocal mic through my old guitar amp and run it back into the recorder through its headphone jack (it’s a mid-90s Fender Princeton Chorus) because I was always adding reverb to the vocals. Once the track was finished I noticed that it was a little plodding and slow and a little longer than I wanted it to be—on ‘deprivation’ I was trying to keep the running times shorter than six minutes whenever possible. To fix this I ended up changing the speed on the multi-track just enough that it was the speed I wanted while not losing the chunky heaviness.<p>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shalloboi/deprivation" target="_blank">‘deprivation’</a>—This one was done using a painstaking sub-mixing method. I was going to make an old-school shalloboi lush sample, which would involve recording a bunch of instruments to fill up the inputs on the 8-track, then mixing them and sampling them on a sampler, but instead I ended up creating a guitar guide track over which I recorded a ton of raw sounds that I then ran through amps and outboard effects—I have two guitar loops with a simple counterpoint melody that I ran through two separate pan speeds on the PN2 and the Fender Twin, one guitar where the strings are strummed behind the bridge run direct through the Princeton Chorus headphone jack with delay all recorded backwards and then there was also a keyboard drone that was run through some conflicting effects that caused some oscillations and mild controlled feedback. The whole thing was mixed, panned and run into my second 8-track with some outboard delay added (that’s right, I have two for this very purpose) onto two inputs with the guide track taking up a third. Once the sub-mix was done I came with up with some ideas for vocal effects—the verse vocals I wanted to be done around some kind of outboard effects, so were recorded clean, but on the chorus I wanted a reverse delay since it was just a bunch of ‘aaaahhhs’ so I had to record the vocal forwards, add some outboard reverb via what I call ‘the Lee Hazlewood trick’ where delay is added to the reverb signal (which is coming through the SPX90) rather than the vocal signal and then I had to flip the tape and re-record the vocal part playing backwards while adding another ringing delay. Once that’s finished and the tape is played forwards the vocal fades in through the reversed delay and then decays causing a beautiful, textured effect. Once that was done I did the main verse vocal clean, then the reverse reverb guitar with just the Rat distortion as I was going to attempt to add delay to the guitar as an outboard effect in an effort to make it clearer and increase separation since this was a very full mix. After that Stefanie added her harmony vocals clean and her drum part. I then added a split-signal lead guitar part that I came up with on the spot using the DD5, the Ronsound Trem-o-matic and some reverse reverb on one of the channels. When the track was mixed I tried a few different delays to add to the reverse reverb guitar and the vocals and ended up relying on the ringing setting on the DD5 I use so much live. Since there were so many effects used the few outboard ones that I used ended up highlighting the breathing room between the parts rather than making the whole thing sound murky and muddy. It was a challenge to master it properly, though—of all of the eight songs ‘deprivation’ was the one I spent the most time on because it was so different. Lyrically it’s about my constant sleep-deprivation and insomnia—there’s some really weird imagery mixed in there—I think there’s a line about the sunlight stinging my eyes like wasps or something really dramatic like that.<p>
While mastering ‘deprivation’ I was trying to capture a final sound that was similar to my bloody valentine’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5DTSh7pMwc" target="_blank">‘m b v’</a> album—loudness is sacrificed for massive low-end clarity. Because of this the final volume level of the album is fairly quiet, but there’s a lot of harmonic detail intact and as the album goes along it gets subtly louder with every track—the final two tracks are the loudest of the bunch as they should be—this is something that happens on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGXYmBkkwXc" target="_blank">‘Methodrone’</a> by the Brian Jonestown Massacre as well. You’re kind of forced to turned the volume up as the album pulls you deeper and deeper and then the last track is mastered the loudest so it hits you full-on whether you want it to or not.shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-39688186172373203472016-07-27T11:33:00.000-07:002016-07-27T11:33:18.751-07:00diary 7.18.16- heart just skipped a beat<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-71816-heart-just-skipped-a-beat%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. open- the cure- 'show'<br>
2. one thing- beach house- 'thank your lucky stars'<br>
3. elevator operator- courtney barnett- 'sometimes i sit and think and sometimes i just sit'<br>
4. you said- the horrors- 'skying'<br>
5. the twilight hour- still corners- 'creatures of an hour'<br>
6. youth- daughter- 'if you leave'<br>
7. tinker tailor soldier sailor rich man poor beggar man thief- radiohead- 'a moon shaped pool'<br>
8. same- julianna barwick- 'will'<br>
9. divers of the dust- marissa nadler- 'strangers'<br>
10. somnambulists- death and vanilla- s/t album<br>
11. nineteen ninety heaven- nothing- 'tired of tomorrow'<br>
12. drive- the stargazer lilies- 'door to the sun'<br>
13. man in a suitcase- thee oh sees- 'live in san francisco'<br>
14. finally, peace- swans- 'the glowing man'<br>
15. youreyesimmaculate- lovesliescrushing- 'bloweyelashwish'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="https://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/IMG_0363hicontrast_zpsyigqfxht.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-50731240518491557942016-06-20T14:46:00.001-07:002016-06-20T14:46:12.563-07:00diary 6.20.16- you hold it in your heart, the rest you leave<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-62016-you-hold-it-in-your-heart-the-rest-you-leave%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. out of this world- the cure- 'bloodflowers'<br>
2. nightclubbing- iggy pop- 'the idiot'<br>
3. drive in saturday- david bowie<br>
4. cry to me- solomon burke- 'the definitive soul collection'<br>
5. bells ring- mazzy star- 'so tonight that i might see'<br>
6. you won't be missing that part of me- melody's echo chamber- s/t<br>
7. blue boredom (sky's song)- diiv- 'is the is are'<br>
8. dive in- the horrors- 'skying'<br>
9. numbers- daughter- 'not to disappear'<br>
10. the unseeing i- death & vanilla- s/t<br>
11. no more honey- blonde redhead- 'barragan'<br>
12. how do you know?- cate le bon- 'crab day'<br>
13. coca-cola blues- psychic ills- 'inner journey out'<br>
14. she's so lovely- beach house- 'thank your lucky stars'<br>
15. depreston- courtney barnett- 'sometimes i sit and think and sometimes i just sit'<br>
16. lose yourself- black rebel motorcycle club- 'live in paris'<br>
17. heading home- julianna barwick- 'will'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="https://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/junediary_zpsbbkuxp5l.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-78848488351558343282016-05-22T20:32:00.001-07:002016-05-22T20:32:30.657-07:00diary 5.17.16- the moment that you want is coming if you give it time<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-51716-the-moment-that-you-want-is-coming-if-you-give-it-time%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. pictures of you- the cure- 'entreat'<br>
2. some kinda angel- mojave 3- 'out of tune'<br>
3. that's what my heart needs- otis redding- 'definitive soul collection'<br>
4. lady grinning soul- david bowie- 'aladdin sane'<br>
5. whenever- wild nothing- 'life of pause'<br>
6. september- pity sex- 'white hot moon'<br>
7. fortress- thee oh sees- 'fortress' 7"<br>
8. out of control- lush- 'blindspot'<br>
9. she's in the wall- hope sandoval & the warm inventions- 'isn't it true' 7"<br>
10. i'm a firefighter- cigarettes after sex- 'i.'<br>
11. daydreaming- radiohead- 'a moon shaped pool'<br>
12. waste of breath- diiv- 'is the is are'<br>
13. shallow- beach fossils- 'shallow' single<br>
14. still life- the horrors- 'skying'<br>
15. sparks- beach house- 'coachella 2016'<br>
16. new grass- talk talk- 'laughing stock'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="https://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/IMG_0034hicontrast_zpsqowiq2mt.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-3540027833670988342016-04-21T19:32:00.001-07:002016-04-21T19:32:40.551-07:00diary 4.21.16- sometimes it snows in april<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-42116-sometimes-it-snows-in-april%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
I had an April diary planned, but it was coming along slowly. This mix, however, came together very quickly. These are my favorite Prince songs mostly made up of the meager sampling of his albums that I have on vinyl (plus a little sidetrip into some tracks I only have on CD). I am pretty proud of it and it was definitely a very inspired and spontaneous compilation that is a tribute to one of my (and many, many) favorite musicians ever.<p>
song- album<p>
1. sign 'o the times- 'sign 'o the times'<br>
2. kiss- 'parade'<br>
3. little red corvette- '1999'<br>
4. when doves cry- 'purple rain'<br>
5. starfish and coffee- 'sign 'o the times'<br>
6. raspberry beret- 'around the world in a day'<br>
7. delirious- '1999'<br>
8. housequake- 'sign 'o the times'<br>
9. gett off- 'diamonds and pearls'<br>
10. alphabet st.- 'lovesexy'<br>
11. cream- 'diamonds and pearls'<br>
12. 7- 'love symbol #2'<br>
13. the beautiful ones- 'purple rain'<br>
14. purple rain- 'purple rain'<br>
15. sometimes it snows in april- 'parade'<p>
<img width="400" height="300" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/prince-beyonce_zpsknzsmorr.jpg">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-43666687299272371662016-03-31T14:06:00.000-07:002016-03-31T14:06:11.582-07:00diary 3.26.16- my hands are shaky, my knees are weak<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-32616-my-hands-are-shaky-my-knees-are-weak%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. stray- lush- 'spooky'<br>
2. new ways- daughter- 'not to disappear'<br>
3. i found the f- broadcast- 'tender buttons'<br>
4. avant gardener- courtney barnett- 'the double ep: a sea of split-peas'<br>
5. are you with me now?- cate le bon- 'mug museum'<br>
6. tv queen- wild nothing- 'life of pause'<br>
7. is the is are- diiv- 'is the is are'<br>
8. ballad of sister sue- slowdive- 'just for a day'<br>
9. sunshine recorder- boards of canada- 'geodaddi'<br>
10. ostinaut- wume- 'maintain'<br>
11. life on mars?- david bowie- 'hunky dory'<br>
12. cosmically aligned- widowspeak- 'all yours'<br>
13. the revolution of hearts, pt. i and ii'- helium- 'the magic city'<br>
14. elegy to the void- beach house- 'thank your lucky stars'<br>
15. moon song- my bloody valentine- 'tremolo'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/IMG_9830hicontrast_zpszzabhp0y.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-16250446112040783532016-02-18T15:09:00.000-08:002016-02-18T15:09:03.335-08:00diary 2.17.16- setting fire to our insides for fun<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-21716-setting-fire-to-our-insides-for-fun%2F&light=1" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. levitation- beach house- 'pitchfork paris 2015'<br>
2. accidentals- broadcast- 'work and non work'<br>
3. out of the woodwork- courtney barnett- 'the split ep: a sea of split-peas'<br>
4. valentine- diiv- 'is the is are'<br>
5. fukitol- the stargazer lilies- bandcamp single<br>
6. ocean of wine- helium- 'the magic city'<br>
7. greta- cate le bon- 'cyrk'<br>
8. crazy love- chelsea wolfe- 'abyss'<br>
9. on battleship hill- pj harvey- 'let england shake'<br>
10. spectre- radiohead- soundcloud single<br>
11. youth- daughter- '4ad session'<br>
12. dreaming of you- cigarettes after sex- 'i.'<br>
13. she's the one- the beta band- 'the three eps'<br>
14. blackstar- david bowie- 'blackstar'<br>
15. red room blues- pygmy lush- 'mount hope'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/februarydiary_zpsxbzcl9ii.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-6563599062212132332016-01-31T20:45:00.001-08:002016-01-31T20:45:21.594-08:00diary 1.27.16- distance into daylight<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=e8b7e9ca-0794-4515-a69c-a04d1fc05f11&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-12716-distance-into-daylight%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-12716-distance-into-daylight/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Diary 1.27.16- distance into daylight</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. dawn chorus- boards of canada- 'geodaddi'<br>
2. the be colony- broadcast- 'broadcast and the focus group investigate the witch cults'<br>
3. how- daughter- 'not to disappear'<br>
4. maggie says i love you- no joy- 'ghost blonde'<br>
5. snakedriver- the jesus & mary chain- 'sound of speed'<br>
6. how long have you known- diiv- 'oshin'<br>
7. penny sparkle- blonde redhead- 'penny sparkle'<br>
8. stranger things have happened (to you)- white fence- 'is growing faith'<br>
9. don't play no game that i can't win- beastie boys- 'hot sauce committee, part two'<br>
10. cosplay- panda bear- 'crosswords'<br>
11. cuckoo through the walls- cate le bon- 'mug museum'<br>
12. too close to home- carlton melton- 'out to sea'<br>
13. anonymous club- courtney barnett- 'the double ep: a sea of split peas'<br>
14. i woke up and the storm was over- tropic of cancer- 'stop suffering'<br>
15. black star- david bowie- 'blackstar'<br>
16. somewhere tonight- beach house- 'thank your lucky stars'<br>
17. dopamine clouds over craven cottage- star of the lid- '...and their refinement of the decline<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/february_zpsin6kztud.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-6820593546199345252015-12-31T14:38:00.000-08:002015-12-31T14:38:47.227-08:00best of 2015 mix<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=e1638aa4-ddb9-4b39-87a1-d36ec99d9e58&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fbest-of-2015%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/best-of-2015/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Best of 2015</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1) gentle- low- 'ones and sixes'<br>
2) levitation- beach house- 'depression cherry'<br>
3) cranekiss- tamaryn- 'cranekiss'<br>
4) everything new- no joy- 'more faithful'<br>
5) stop suffering- tropic of cancer- 'stop suffering'<br>
6) in a cloud- moon duo- 'shadow of the sun'<br>
7) to fall into your arms- thelightshines- 'we are the sun' split<br>
8) how do you sleep- chatham rise- 'we are the sun' split<br>
9) snakeskin- deerhunter- 'fading frontier'<br>
10) wheelhouse- kurt vile- 'b'lieve i'm goin' down'<br>
11) just like blood- sharon van etten- 'i don't want to let you down'<br>
12) let me be your light- the black ryder- 'the door behind the door'<br>
13) tropic of cancer- panda bear- '... meets the grim reaper'<br>
14) sticky hulks- thee oh sees- 'mutilator defeated at last'<br>
15) reality from dream- death and vanilla- 'california owls'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/IMG_9705hi-contrast_zpsckvbijfl.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-80699344458634921982015-12-29T23:56:00.001-08:002015-12-29T23:56:30.609-08:00best of 2015In an attempt to dial this back from previous years I'm just going to post my top 10 plus two others that I think deserve mention. I was going to skip doing my long drawn-out list this year since there are so many lists out there and most of them are uniformly the same. Since they've started coming out I've discovered that none of the records I selected for my list showed up in anyone else's that I've read and none of what's on their list showed up in mine, so therefore I figured it might actually be useful. My best of the year mix will still be posted next week.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/beach-house-depresssion-cherry-album1_zpscjwpizda.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BTO78FHIGCs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
1) Beach House—’Depression Cherry’ (Subpop)<p>
It was a long journey for me with this album, as it is with most new Beach House albums. Perhaps one of the reasons they’ve become my favorite new(er) band is because their work demands repeated listens. They’ve also entered a category with the Cure as a band whose music I find I can’t always fully judge until I’ve witnessed the songs in a live setting. A lot of what helped get this album’s hooks into me was seeing them play all but two songs from it at First Avenue in September. Since then it’s been difficult to get out from the endless loop of this album that I’ve subjected myself to. After the release of ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’ less than two months later I found myself listening to the two next to each other trying to figure out which one I liked better. While it’s difficult to for me to single out any Beach House album as being better than another (they all suit different situations and the overall quality of their albums as a whole is always very consistent) ‘Depression Cherry’ wins me over mostly for its hazy, emotional psychedelics and dreamy, aching drones. When ‘Bloom’ came out I remember talking about how I wish they would figure out a way to incorporate the haunting mystery of the first two albums with the glossy pop sheen of ‘Teen Dream’ and ‘Bloom’ and with ‘Depression Cherry’ I think they’ve done exactly that. They are my favorite band operating at peak form right now and I wish them all the success in the world.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/Low-2015-Ones-and-Sixes_cover_zpshh81p0lz.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Bt-vZ7OO3w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
2) Low—’Ones and Sixes’ (Subpop)<p>
When ‘C’mon’ came out in 2011 it was a new high-point in the band’s long history and a welcome, invigorated return-to-form that fulfilled promises that had only been hinted at in the band’s preceding handful of records. ‘The Invisible Way’ added some more dimension to their rebirth, but with ‘Ones and Sixes’ they’ve delivered in an even bigger way. It somehow marries the chilly spareness of the first three records with the wide-eyed lushness of ‘C’mon’ and ‘The Invisible Way’ while delivering a double LP that rivals ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’ (the most common candidate for the band’s best record) for sheer impact. Varied songs all exploring new territory and subtleties in their ability to establish a hypnotic mood paired with minimal production with just the right amount of grit. From the first bars of ‘Gentle’ to the cloudy fadeout of ‘DJ’ the album doesn’t let up for even a moment. It’s great to hear the band in such peak form 25 years into their career.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/pandabear_vs_tgr_zpshhjloghj.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9qgshAuvxxg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
3) Panda Bear—’... meets the Grim Reaper’/’Mr Noah’ EP (Domino)<p>
The chilly reception that this record received upon its release is very surprising to me. Most people that I discussed it with unanimously agreed—’I like it, beautiful production, but it’s still nowhere near as good as “Person Pitch.”’ For a brief period I rotated the two next to each other and found that ‘... Grim Reaper’ actually delivers on a lot of psychedelic abstraction that ‘Person Pitch’ could only hint at. Pete Kember’s (aka Sonic Boom) brilliant production is largely responsible for this fact—every sound is so carefully sculpted and placed, every mix so thick with layered detail and all delivered with way more clarity than is typical for an album this psychedelic and atmospheric. ‘... Grim Reaper’ is one of those records that practically creates its own universe. Where ‘Tom Boy’ often fell short both idea and songwriting-wise, ‘... Grim Reaper’ succeeds. On top of that the sessions for the album were so fertile and inspired that they yielded two companion EPs—’Mr Noah’ and ‘Crosswords.’<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/cover_zps3d2o8cca.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J0p3AiVkWzU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
4) Kurt Vile—’b’lieve i’m goin’ down’ (Matador)<p>
I was a little worried when I heard that Kurt Vile was doing another double LP—’Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze’ had some really great, extended songs, but as a whole it was really inconsistent and lacking in the focus that made ‘Smoke Ring for my Halo’ so great. When I put the first disc of three LPs on my turntable, though, my worry quickly melted away. Even the songs that I wasn’t that initially impressed with all ended up having something to offer, plus there’s a beautifully haunted quality to all of the songs here, even the self-conscious opener and lead single ‘Pretty Pimpin.’ It seems that Vile was able to carry the haunted quality of the Rancho de la Luna wherever he took the rest of these songs—there’s an amazingly consistent sound present considering the fact that the record was recorded in a million different studios on both coasts. Plus, drafting Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa is always going to be a good move.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/beachhouse_thankyourluckystars_800x800_zps4wlvay3r.png"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K5j238Qlzik" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
5) Beach House—’Thank Your Lucky Stars’ (Subpop)<p>
The announcement of this album seemed completely improbable. I couldn’t believe when it showed up on my doorstep. The night before I found myself unable to sleep until the digital files were available to download on Subpop’s website. How could they have already finished a new album? Would it be any good? Wouldn’t it just sound exactly like ‘Depression Cherry?’ As it turns out the album didn’t resemble ‘Depression Cherry’ much at all even though it was recorded at almost the same time—’One Thing’ seems close to ‘Sparks’ and ‘Rough Song’ seems like a more minimal ‘10:37,’ but the similarities end there for the most part. ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’ seemed to revive the haunting, mysterious vibe of the first two Beach House records even more than ‘Depression Cherry’—it didn’t seem too concerned with presenting anything with much mass appeal, either. What I find so fascinating about it is how it manages to carry the haunted early Beach House vibe without relying on any of the usual tricks that bands (including themselves) normally use to cultivate an air of mystery around a set of songs—there is less reverb on this album than on any other Beach House album, plus you can understand every lyric without referring to a lyric sheet. What’s more, every song seems to be written from a different character’s perspective which hints at some kind of overarching narrative. Somehow when they put all of the melodies, lyrics upfront and unadorned it had a similar effect to Grouper’s ‘Ruins’—it only made the mystery deeper and more resonant. While compiling this list I initially thought I should group the two albums together, but it seems to me that the two were so distinctive from each other that in a few years no one is going to be able to tell that they were released within a few months of each other, so it seems unfair to lump them together under the same umbrella. Two Beach House albums in a year? Probably the best thing to happen to me in quite a while. I would’ve been fine with waiting another two years, but now I have two albums to tide me over until the next one arrives.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/CF-055cover_1024x1024_zpsha6twfeg.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FLi1JClCxmo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
6) Thee Oh Sees—’Mutilator Defeated at Last’ (Castle Face)<p>
There it is—’Drop’ seemed like it was building up to something and this seems to be what it was. Brigid Dawson’s harmonies were great to hear again in the context of the LA-based iteration of the band that John Dwyer introduced on ‘Drop.’ When the album came in the mail from Castle Face about a month before it hit the shelves (there’s a label that it always pays to pre-order from) and I posted it on Instagram a random comment popped up on my feed—’”Sticky Hulks” is my SHIT!’ Yes, my friend. Yes, it is. ‘Sticky Hulks’ is the centerpiece for me of a vastly strange and out-there record even by Oh Sees standards—it’s built from a beautiful organ line that gives way to some growling and squealing fuzzy guitar lines from Dwyer followed by some varied loud/quiet dynamic verses laying hooks down like a breadcrumb trail back to the real world as it goes.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/black-ryder-door-behind-door1_zpstlreing6.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IAX26uB-pDY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
7) The Black Ryder—’The Door Behind the Door’ (Anti-machine Music)<p>
After four years in the making this album was delayed another two years by what I’d guess was label meddling—perhaps this album wasn’t typically shoegazey enough for Mexican Summer. It’s admirable that the band has taken up the mantle of putting this lovingly put-together album out into the world themselves and it seems to have worked well for them. The fact that they’ve been across the country opening for the Jesus & Mary Chain has been enormously helpful it seems—when I finally got to see the band after six years of being a fan they sounded immense and enveloping, which is a great way to put ‘The Door Behind the Door’ in context. These are some thickly layered songs rich with texture and sound floating in and out of the mix displaying some beautiful, emotionally powerful and complex content. I’m often complaining about what a shame it is that people are so put-off by emotionally rewarding midtempo music that addresses regret and longing because that tends to be why albums like this one fall between the cracks. I’m always arguing that music heavy with regret can prove to be surprisingly uplifting and hopeful—listen to ‘Let Me Be Your Light’ and try not to let that chorus tug at your heartstrings. Go ahead. I dare you!<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/Deerhunter-Fading-Frontier_zpspfds7wul.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CG6jk5Q90DA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
8) Deerhunter—’Fading Frontier’ (4AD)<p>
After the mild misstep of 2013’s ‘Monomania’ Deerhunter have returned to the sound they explored with 2008’s ‘Microcastle’ and made it somehow even dreamier than before. While it seems somewhat familiar it adds a lot of color to their pallette as well—’Ad Astra’ is a rewarding highlight as is the head-bobbing ‘Snakeskin,’ which is the best and most unique song the band have released in years. They’ve managed to marry their affinity for bubbling electronics and atmospheric guitars seamlessly on tracks like ‘Living my Life’ and ‘Breaker’ as well. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with these tracks live—hopefully it’ll be similar to the amped up versions that they unleashed on crowds of the ‘Halcyon Digest’ material.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/a0485998293_10_zps9mvc4kdq.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XIO2tvOJSqc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
9) Tamaryn—’Cranekiss’ (Mexican Summer)<p>
It took a while for this record to sink in for me—this theme of indie bands trying to resurrect the sounds of the 80s is starting to wear a bit thin for me and ‘Hands All Over me’ really grated when I first heard it. Once other tracks began to appear it seemed like it would still be worth giving this record a chance. I was a huge fan of ‘Tender New Signs’ and thought that it showed them beginning to take their ultra-dreamy version of shoegaze inspired sounds in an interesting direction so I got a little worried when I heard that Tamaryn was breaking from guitarist/songwriting partner/producer and moving in a more synth-oriented direction. As it turns out the results aren’t as drastically different as I’d initially thought and the title track hit the perfect balance of a more accessible sound that also built upon the work she’d been doing before. Dreamy guitars, vivid layers, up-front vocals and hooks. It’s difficult not to fall under its spell.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/Godspeed_You_Black_Emperor_-_Asunder_Sweet_and_Other_Distress_zpskfk1itgl.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gx5xHKbK-ws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
10) Godspeed you! Black Emperor—’Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress…’ (Constellation)<p>
This is about as concise and straight-ahead as Godspeed have ever been. ‘Asunder…’ builds nicely on the two-track ‘Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada’ EP from 1998. It’s more of a continuous 40-minute piece rather than a full-length album. It’s taken the drones from 2011’s ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!’ and incorporated them seamlessly into the two main movements. Finally ‘Peasantry or “Light Inside Light”’ is the most uplifting and beautiful piece of music they’ve done since the title piece of ‘Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.’<p>
<b>A Few Extras that Deserve a Mention:</b><p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/0004330251_10_zpscddlxo9v.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v0pQU9SaBos" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
Death and Vanilla—’To Where The Wild Things Are’ (Fire)<p>
Malmo, Sweden’s Death and Vanilla followed up their self-released, self-titled debut with a more pop-leaning offering on Fire Records this year. Usually written off as Broadcast stand-ins due to their retro-electronic leanings ‘To Where The Wild Things Are’ does a decent job of putting some distance between them and Broadcast (who, before singer Trish Keenan’s death in 2011, were written-off as Stereolab soundalikes—just a friendly reminder of how ridiculous that comparison seems now). There are some brighter pop moments (‘California Owls,’ ‘Follow the Light’) alongside some of their best reverb-drenched creepers (‘The Optic Nerve,’ ‘Arcana’ and ‘Hidden Reverse’). It leaves a stronger impression than their 2012 debut as well as their self-titled EP, but somehow lacks tracks as strong or instantly memorable as ‘Lux’ or ‘From Above’ which were released together as a single last year.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/918n1EuWiGL._SL1500__zpsxtjqdulj.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8PMy0MJPbvw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
Jessica Pratt—’On Your Own Love Again’ (Drag City)<p>
One of the reasons I made the effort to travel to catch Beach House on the first leg of their tour in support of ‘Depression Cherry’ was because they picked Jessica Pratt as their opening act. It seemed like the perfect night of music to me—she’s the type of singer-songwriter who I can listen to even when I’m not in the mood to listen to earnest, acoustic-based ballads. She also has one of those 60s-influenced tremulous voices that actually achieves a heartfelt effect rather than a grating, trite, overwrought affectation (as it does in so many warbly singer-songwriter’s voices in the 60s). During ‘Strange Melody’ she drops her lyrics and instead spends half of the song wordlessly singing the song’s complex, haunting and definitely strange melody and rather than make you roll your eyes thinking ‘Oh brother!’ it captures and holds your attention with an otherworldly quality achieved with nothing but a human voice, some hand-plucked acoustic chords and a little tape hiss. It has a similar effect to when Leonard Cohen starts his ‘na-na-na’s at the end of ‘Joan of Arc’ off of ‘Songs of Hate.’<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/0005362365_10_zpspwwpfkys.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ImcM9lu_MWw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
Carlton Melton—’Out to Sea’ (Agitated)<p>
If more jam bands sounded like Carlton Melton then the whole concept of jam bands would not seem as patently ridiculous as it widely considered to be. Admit it, the term ’jam band’ awakened an unconscious eyeroll. When I first heard 2013's ’Always Even’ it seemed to me that the band would be better suited to a double LP format, and ’Out to Sea’ is as much evidence as I would need to believe that my suspicion was correct. What's most impressive is when these tracks achieve an overlap of hypnotic beauty paired with some truly enveloping psychedelic drone and layers of sun-drenched feedback. Simply perfect!<p>
<b>A Few New Discoveries:</b><p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/cate_le_bon_mug_museum_1384346301_zpsfgk6pdvg.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TTNj5YHGaBw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
Cate le Bon—’Mug Museum’ (Wichita)<p>
I got curious about Cate le Bon after seeing her play guitar in the live iteration of White Fence that toured behind last year’s ‘For the Recently Found Innocent.’ After finding a few vinyl copies of 2013’s ‘Mug Museum’ and passing them by I finally got around to listening to the songs off of it and promptly began kicking myself for not having grabbed one. Naturally, after getting one and playing it to death I picked up her other two releases (2009’s ‘Me Oh My’ and 2011’s flawless ‘Cyrk’) despite vinyl copies of her albums suddenly becoming a pain to track down. It’s difficult to describe her style—it’s definitely a bit of a 60s influenced style of rock songwriting, but with a razor-sharp raw and minimal edge. ‘Cuckoo Through the Walls’ is the best example of her commitment to disquieting minimalism. My favorites on ‘Mug Museum’ are ‘Cuckoo…’ as well as the duet ‘I Think I Knew’ and the title track. ‘I Can’t Help You’ might be among the most perfect opening-track-as-statement-of-purpose songs that I’ve come across in recent memory.<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/a3376029829_10_zpsfigznqca.jpg"><p>
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WGqPUGqfnCA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>
Tropic of Cancer—’Restless Idylls’ (Blackest Ever Black)<p>
Speaking of a pain to track down, none of the many releases that Camella Lobo has released as Tropic of Cancer’s physical releases are available domestically, which makes ordering them and fiddling with currency conversions a necessity. Anyone familiar with the music on this record isn’t going to be surprised that I love it—dark, minimal, reverb-drenched guitars, atmospheric, hazy synthesizers, Lobo’s low croon and a fantastic drum machine loaded with Laurence Tolhurst from the Cure’s early ‘doom’ trilogy-era standard drumbeats (listen to ‘Faith’ if you don’t know what I mean) and those rambling, romantically bleak tracks that could (and often do) go on forever. It seems like it was made for those early morning commutes I spent so much of this year making. Lobo released the 3-song ‘Stop Suffering’ EP this year as well which takes a slightly brighter, more optimistic approach (well… relatively at least) and builds nicely on the excellent production presented on ‘Restless Idylls.’ While Tropic of Cancer has a huge discography mainly built on EPs I’m really hoping another full-length will arrive soon as doom and gloom this perfect is always best when it’s an immersive album-length and this lone album is so strong it just makes you want more and more and more.shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-20262017840140856632015-12-16T00:27:00.001-08:002015-12-16T00:27:47.844-08:00diary 12.14.15- stars for your shoes<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=dee5b451-6d84-4d46-8a61-124f1a2eb0bf&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-121415-stars-for-your-shoes%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-121415-stars-for-your-shoes/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Diary 12.14.15- stars for your shoes</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. christmas blues- bill murray- 'a very murray christmas'<br>
2. all the same- deerhunter- 'fading frontier'<br>
3. evangeline- cocteau twins- 'four calendar cafe'<br>
4. sugar fix- tamaryn- 'cranekiss'<br>
5. pulled muscle- superchunk- 'come pick me up'<br>
6. some time alone, alone- melody's echo chamber- s/t<br>
7. space song- beach house- 'depression cherry'<br>
8. here by the window- miranda lee richards- 'light of x'<br>
9. wild imagination- kurt vile- 'b'lieve i'm goin' down'<br>
10. (quicksilver daydreams of) maria- townes van zandt- s/t<br>
11. forevermore- holly golightly- 'slowtown now'<br>
12. sister water- speck mountain- 'some sweet relief'<br>
13. back, baby- jessica pratt- 'on your own love again'<br>
14. when you sleep- memoryhouse- 'yours truly session'<br>
15. far from me- nick cave & the bad seeds- 'the boatman's call'<br>
16. sunken treasure- wilco- 'being there'<br>
17. will the night- low- 'songs for a dead pilot'<br>
18. i'll be home for christmas- elvis presley- 'elvis sings christmas songs'<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/decemberdiary_zpspd1provq.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-72764147317633729532015-11-12T18:44:00.000-08:002015-11-12T18:44:04.210-08:00diary 11.11.15- breaking through the sea<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=5f95150d-654b-47ec-8942-2ceda71e13d7&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-111115-breaking-into-the-sea%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-111115-breaking-into-the-sea/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Diary 11.11.15- breaking into the sea</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. dawn- chatham rise- 'we are the sun' split 12"<br>
2. all yours- widowspeak- 'all yours'<br>
3. collection- tamaryn- 'cranekiss'<br>
4. overlit canyon (the obscured wingtip memoir)- lilys- 'eccsame the photon band'<br>
5. fold the cloth- cate le bon- 'cyrk'<br>
6. rough song- beach house- 'thank your lucky stars'<br>
7. spanish translation- low- 'ones and sixes'<br>
8. lately- memoryhouse- 'the years'<br>
9. marlene dietrich's favourite poem- peter murphy- 'deep'<br>
10. bad omens (no faders)- kurt vile- 'b'lieve i'm goin' (deep) down'<br>
11. hidden reverse- death and vanilla- 'to where the wild things are'<br>
12. ad astra- deerhunter- 'fading frontier'<br>
13. salka- sigur rós- 'hvarf/heim'<br>
14. terminus- unwound- 'leaves turn inside you'<br>
15. mulholland- stars of the lid- 'tired sounds of...'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/november_zpsblm4sq1r.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-86790792610246386312015-09-25T13:02:00.001-07:002015-09-25T13:04:24.887-07:00diary 9.16.15- going underground<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=10872f5d-e13e-4f8a-b7bc-ccd78895fdc6&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-91615-going-underground%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-91615-going-underground/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Diary 9.16.15- going underground</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. meadowsweet- chatham rise- 'we are the sun' 12"<br>
2. destroying angel- bardo pond- 'ticket crystals'<br>
3. the nail will burn (burn out)- loop- 'a gilded eternity' bonus 7"<br>
4. several girls galore- my bloody valentine- 'isn't anything'<br>
5. shadow of a doubt- sonic youth- 'evol'<br>
6. jet black- jawbreaker- 'dear you'<br>
7. laszlo- unwound- 'empire' box set<br>
8. lillian (won't you play drums)- white fence<br>
9. arcana- death and vanilla- 'to where the wild things are'<br>
10. crosswords- panda bear- '...meets the grim reaper'<br>
11. meditations on death- thelightshines- 'we are the sun' 12"<br>
12. mug museum- cate le bon- 'mug museum'<br>
13. barcarolle- tom waits- 'alice'<br>
14. i won't be found- tamaryn- 'cranekiss'<br>
15. 10:37- beach house- 'depression cherry'<br>
16. landslide- low- 'ones and sixes'<br>
17. another ballad for heavy lids- stars of the lid- '...and their refinement of the deline'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/IMG_9594hi-contrast_zps0mizevp1.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-77384805189016453192015-08-28T21:51:00.000-07:002015-08-28T21:51:04.577-07:00diary 8.26.15- tired of pushing my luck<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=ec460052-e98c-4263-85b9-bd8123e804e4&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-82615-tired-of-pushing-my-luck%2F&replace=0&stylecolor=ffffff" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-82615-tired-of-pushing-my-luck/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">Diary 8.26.15- tired of pushing my luck</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. pur- cocteau twins- 'four calendar cafe'<br>
2. sparks- beach house- 'depression cherry'<br>
3. into black- blouse- s/t<br>
4. shades of cool- lana del rey- 'ultraviolence'<br>
5. gun shy- widowspeak- s/t<br>
6. black postcards- luna- 'romantica'<br>
7. good fortune- pj harvey- 'stories from the city, stories from the sea'<br>
8. drip with honey- thelightshines- 'before the sandman sung'<br>
9. up too high- the jesus & mary chain- 'the power of negative thinking'<br>
10. no comprende- low- 'ones and sixes'<br>
11. i think i knew- cate le bon- 'mug museum'<br>
12. oh well, okay- elliott smith- 'xo'<br>
13. here- chatham rise- s/t<br>
14. fade out- loop- 'fade out'<br>
15. lover, you should've come over- jeff buckley- 'mystery white boy'<br>
16. come on, sleep- my violent ego- 'one day you'll laugh at the sad saga that was'<p>
<img width="400" height="400" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/augustdiary_zpsiryvyrpi.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-73859469694915210422015-07-16T23:13:00.002-07:002015-07-16T23:13:52.565-07:00diary 7.16.15- you're like a comet<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=b987f4d7-df87-42f4-a308-c995c0d93017&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-71615-youre-like-a-comet%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-71615-youre-like-a-comet/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Diary 7.16.15- you're like a comet</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. aikea-guinea- cocteau twins- 'aikea-guinea'<br>
2. dreams burn down- ride- 'nowhere'<br>
3. withered hand- thee oh sees- 'mutilator defeated at last'<br>
4. free the skull- moon duo- 'shadow of the sun'<br>
5. moon in my mouth- no joy- 'more faithful'<br>
6. the optic nerve- death and vanilla- 'to where the wild things are'<br>
7. take pills- panda bear- 'person pitch'<br>
8. higher than the sun- primal scream- 'screamadelica'<br>
9. be there- low- 'songs for a dead pilot'<br>
10. well i wonder- the smiths- 'meat is murder'<br>
11. since i fell for you- the sonics- 'boom'<br>
12. ballad of the golden hour- widowspeak- 'almanac'<br>
13. honey bee- superchunk- 'come pick me up'<br>
14. throwing stones- the black ryder- 'the door behind the door'<br>
15. all over again- sharon van etten- 'i don't want to let you down'<br>
16. formulas and frequencies- whirr- 'pipe dreams'<br>
17. be here now- loop- 'a gilded eternity'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/IMG_9474hi-contrast_zpsgppqzxao.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6590317192618998782.post-81278973818242546172015-05-29T17:00:00.000-07:002015-05-29T17:00:10.845-07:00diary 5.25.15- sometimes failure's alright<iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=37a284d3-894a-4282-b530-645a3b2cd152&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fshalloboi%2Fdiary-52515-sometimes-failures-alright%2F&replace=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 4px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 392px;"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/diary-52515-sometimes-failures-alright/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=resource_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Diary 5.25.15- sometimes failure's alright</a><span> by </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/shalloboi/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=profile_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;">Shalloboi</a><span> on </span><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=base_links&utm_term=homepage_link" target="_blank" style="color:#808080; font-weight:bold;"> Mixcloud</a></p><div style="clear: both; height: 3px; width: 392px;"></div><p>
I missed getting this one together in time for my birthday (which is usually when the May diary is posted)- there were just too many awesome songs piled up and on their way to me in the mail and I wanted to do another all vinyl-rips mix. To my moderate delight I have discovered that people are growing tired of vinyl. To this new development I shout a resounding 'YES!!!!!' I hope that the trend of the vinyl resurgence as hipster nonsense continues and will be delighted to return to the paradise of around 10 years ago when I could find almost anything I wanted on vinyl very easily and cheaply. I don't want to get my hopes up too high, though, after all summer is coming.<p>
song- artist- album<p>
1. sequential circuits- panda bear- '...meets the grim reaper'<br>
2. slug night- no joy- 'wait to pleasure'<br>
3. san francisco- foxygen- 'we are the 21st century ambassadors of peace and magic'<br>
4. some candy talking- the jesus & mary chain- 'some candy talking' ep<br>
5. i knew her, she knew me- coachwhips- 'bangers vs. fuckers'<br>
6. lupine ossuary- thee oh sees- 'mutilator defeated at last'<br>
7. fadeaway- moon duo- 'animal' 7"<br>
8. sullust- sway- 'the millia pink and green'<br>
9. flashback- whirr- 'pipe dreams'<br>
10. more alone- tropic of cancer- 'restless idylls'<br>
11. hunter- portishead- 'third'<br>
12. necessary distortions- death and vanilla- 'to where the wild things are'<br>
13. arc of a journey- broadcast- 'tender buttons'<br>
14. sweet comedown- the black ryder- 'buy the ticket, take the ride'<br>
15. umbilical- mazzy star- 'among my swan'<br>
16. rumination- bardo pond- 'amanita'<br>
17. swallowtail- the brian jonestown massacre- 'tepid peppermint wonderland'<br>
18. asunder, sweet- godspeed you! black emperor- 'asunder, sweet and other distress'<p>
<img width="400" height="244" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/shalloboi/maydiary_zpswyec42fs.png">shalloboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15579714998399351589noreply@blogger.com0