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Cheers to all the folks who joined us at the Wicko on Sunday evening and to Kel and Con on sound.

As we were driving home, Rosie and I were listening to a little Tangerine Dream.

In keeping with the current themes of mixing, remixing and because I'd like to share a little Calming Vibe, here's a great cover/reinterpretation of 'love on a real train'.

There's some crazy good talent out there on youtube. Me Gusta Mucho David!

Here's music to create calm in spacetime :-)

 EDIT -

 I felt like I had to post the original too. It's a beautiful piece of work. I've spent a bit of time watching videos of them live to see how they do the sequencing and it's some truly mind testing stuff.  

 And yeah it might be 1980's but it's been remixed and used by a current US Sci Fi Show.

Here's the current mix used on Mr Robot set to some beautiful HD train travel footage. Told you I was aiming for relaxing eh?

Chase the dragon came back this week. I was a little reluctant to put it in the player....err...I mean click the link and let VLC sort it out.

The song really affected me for a while there and was greatly comforting whilst we were on tour. 

I listen to the tracks on repeat for quite some time. I vary between thinking it's weird to do that and 'no that's part of the process'.

When you're editing, you may need to go over it so often you start to get the equivalent of Semantic Satiation - the feeling that the words don't really mean anything anymore.

I prefer to think of it like a carpenter or a sculptor running their hands along a piece of work, feeling for the rough spots.

There comes a point where it's smooth enough and any more whittling/fiddling is detrimental to the work. Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.

There's really not much to say or add to the mixes AJ has been sending us. I jokingly suggested we could have tweeted him our requested tweaks.

At the old 144 character limit :-)

I can't help but to contrast this against the post production on Kansas City Gold, which was beset by some genuinely tough technical problems, to the point where we had to re-record tracks.

For this album, the first mix tracks so far sound 'finished'.

To translate this into Intelligibility...

Mixing and mastering are usually done by two different people so that you get the benefit of a fresh assessment. 

Here's a pic I found that illustrates a little of the concept of the phases of raw recordings, mixing and then mastering.Ignore the MP3 part cos I disagrees. But anyway.

I'm not sure if in some way this pic isn't politically incorrect, but a small amount of error saves a ton of explanation. Girrl Power does not require makeup, but I guess glamour shots do? so confused metaphor...brain hurtings..

What I am attempting to convey is how close to finished these 'first' mixes are. They're arriving pretty much close to end state. Not end mixed state, end mastered state.

Which brings me to artwork and names. Why? It's my job. This job is activated in response to the imminent arrival of something that needs a Cover and a Name.

This is the 9th album, in internal parlance SC9, in likely catalogue number, SC1701, in Name...well...

I floated a few concept names out there as 'working titles' and I judge by Eye Roll how well received they are. 

Lovesong of the midwest?

 Ok. So no. How about 'Pyramids of the midwest'.

Theo had suggested 'FY', short for...an exclamation of exhuberance...but I think that's already been done and well...

But it got me thinking. FY. Fi.

Fee fo fum?

All right already.

So the name has to be part of the overall vibe, part of the 3 album cycle, reflecting the themes and vibes we found in the midwest over the last four years, using Iconography that references the place.

I have it! The water tower and the highway signs, good companions each.

And the mood for the times when we were there and recording/writing it?

FY indeed.

Ok great.

So I started working through the concepts.

I think the noun is better is better than the verb, so

Maybe black?

And here's Vladimir's fave

Maybe the shield and tower?

 Maybe shield no tower?

But yeah that's the working title now. 

Unless I change it.

Nah I like it.

You know what, doing this 1 new t shirt per gig thing is a pain in my....ideas.

Whose idea was..oh...ARGH

(sigh)

RIGHT!

This Sunday, our return to the Wickham Park hotel. 6pm.

Here's the t-shirt.

The colour is Night.

The theme is The Return of The Storm

LINK

WOOPS there it was. I wasn't kidding, these are up here until I take the link down and then that's it, no mas. Fleeting and esoteric. Yay.

I've been bugging Jerry to do a Aussie DJ Remix of some of our stuff for umm....3 years?

It was a 'let's do lunch' thing and we never got around to it, but this is 10th anniversary year madness!

As I was dropping the car off for repairs, I chanced to bump into Jerry and

Jerry has 9 albums (yes I am letting him hear the developing mixes on SC9) to choose a track from.

Due to Time/Change/Hard Drive crash, I don't have 'component' parts for all of these albums, but for some, I do. Esp the new stuff.

That gives DJ JK a few options:

- Sampling a song

- Remixing a song ('stems' permitting, meaning we'd have to have the individual component track data)

- Covering it (rebuilding the song with new instrumentation)

Dubcellar? Technocellar? Stormtrance? Housecellar?

Today is tomorrow's yesterday. Just ask Shelley