Time Capsule

Recently, Ross found some of the "Adolph sessions", which were recorded November 7, 2004 in the big, bad studio at the Auraria campus by the one and only Chris Adolph. I can sort of make out the phantasmal backing vocals on the chorus. Those singers were Marie Litton, Joe Sampson, and "some dude from the DU recording school that was there helping Chris". This is the only existing track, which is complete with studio chatter during the solo (I'll bet that the talk back microphone was left on by accident--this seems to happen a lot). The others aren't complete, and Chris has misplaced the DAT tapes, so they never will be. It sounds pretty nice; I've got a couple of gripes, but no big ones. I'm glad that these recordings surfaced. That wicked Abby Road console sure did sound nice.

Hilarious.

I didn't know that this was being announced already. I'm stoked to do it again. It looks like we're going to have to eat candy canes and kick ass.

Red Cloud plans to put the old gang back together for a show later this summer
By Dave Herrera in Hearsay
Wed., Jan. 6 2010 @ 10:32AM

Just received word that Red Cloud (aka Red Cloud West), which has been on hiatus for quite some time now as its members devoted time to their other creative endeavors (Git Some, Bad Luck City, the Fire Drills, Ross Etherton & the Chariots of Judah), has plans to reconvene at some point this summer for a one-off show.

The revered live act, which features our own Jason Heller, will reportedly be playing its self-titled debut in its entirety with original bassist, Jeremy Ziehe (who now holds down the low end for Bad Luck City) in tow. If a single show doesn't sound all that noteworthy, you clearly haven't seen Red Cloud live -- or it's been so long you've forgotten just how epic the band can be. A date hasn't been set yet, but we hear that 3 Kings Tavern will most likely be the venue. We'll keep you posted.

The difference is that it won't be nearly as drunk. Sadly, I don't remember most of those shows. Those early shows were a hell of a good time, even if they were drunk and hairy and sweaty:

I Don't Know What I'm Doing.

I finally figured out DVD ripping, but I'm not getting the fiddle-dee that I'd like. Maybe there's a trick to YouTube that I don't know. If I figure this out, I'll "fix" it.

Lost And Found Three (this post actually took some effort)

I recently got into my head that I ought to do something about all of my digital music that doesn't have an artist tag. Over the years, I've had several knackered hard drives, so it's pretty amazing that anything is intact. I'm convinced that the ipod did some interesting stuff to some of the files. I found Smog's Forgotten Foundation among the mystery files. I also found some Big Black bootlegs, which are pretty great. The "auto-tag" function in Winamp is pretty good, but it doesn't help for King Crimson bootlegs, or some other unidentifiable cool stuff.

It did help out with a lot of strange stuff that I don't remember stealing/downloading--most of it seems to be relatively far-out stuff. I didn't bother to double-check to make sure that the software was right, though. Check it out (and let me know if I've got something wrong):

• Aphrodite's Child - You Always Stand In My Way (3:54) -- Reminds me of Roky Erickson with the painful-sounding vocals; I love the stutter bass line; this song should've had a cool change.
  

• Los Iberos - Corto Y Ancho (2:10) -- Finally, a song that I can relate to.
  

• The Blues Magoos - Sometimes I Think About (4:13) -- I dig the organ sound.
  

• Ways & Means - Make The Radio A Little Louder (2:15) -- big woofie low end; horns; lots of echo!
  

• Cassandra Wilson - Easy Rider (7:03) -- I dig the glissando bass. One of these songs doesn't belong (this one). It's nice to have some bluesy chill-out music in the middle of the set, right?
  

• Birmingham Sunday - You're Out Of Line (2:52) -- Lots of overdrive on the organ; groovy, man.
  

• The Zombies - You Make Me Feel Good (Live) (2:23) -- I think that one of my cousins married a zombie, but it might have been an animal. I can't remember. Something is wrong with the file, too, so it cuts off the ending of the song, apparently.
  

• The Tages - I Should Be Glad (2:21) -- Is that 12-string electric? I'm not sure, but this one fits in with most of the rest of these songs.
  

The Mighty Back-Catalog o' Tunes

I've been working through some old music to re-activate neurons that I might need someday in the future, and a couple of 'em just plain stupefy me.

It couldn't have been that complicated, since I wrote the damn bass line, but this one is really tearin' me up:

Red Cloud - Love, It's Not Working (Live 3/5/2004)

Seriously, though, sometimes it feels like I'm learning someone else's stuff. That was one hell of a band, back in the day, even if it feels like I'm talkin' bout someone else, now.

Wicked.

I really shouldn't have ever sold that '66 Bassman, which sounded really great amplifying anything. It would be perfect for BLC's low-volume practices. The Mesa is really too much amp for the practice room, so I'm thinking that I'll scale down with a small solid-state power amp/tube preamp setup (deja vu from the RC daze).

I was totally planning on using my SVT-IIp preamp, which sounds great but I've never really liked its active EQ. I've really become quite accustomed to old-school, passive EQ (like those found on my Mesas). I stumbled on this bad boy on the interweb, and had to do up a low-ball offer (no way in hell I'm going to pay $1350 for a new one).

Ever since I learned that the Alembic F-2B is basically a Showman preamp in a 19" format, I've wanted one. The best part is that it sounds cool and already has a (very) little rack rash, so I'm not going to be super upset if it gets some more. This one dates from sometime between 1974 and 1979, which is when the Alembic folks were housed in Sebastopol, California, in a renovated barn.

Now, I just need some tie dyed shirts and a liver transplant.

I've Never Been Home This Early After Playing A Show.

This one goes down as one of the best damn shows that we've played together. Peppered among the unsuspecting, inappropriately-dressed cougars, were some of our superfans (who've heard these damn songs enough times that they know what the mix is supposed to be). The superfans (something like the SuperFriends) said that the sound was great. As far as "monitors," it was way sweeter than a certain sandstone amphitheater that I can think of. Actually, it was just like rehearsal, except not in a boomy concrete room, and with freaked-out-looking watchers. We're often much better at rehearsal because we're comfortable. Shania gets to experience the best versions of everything.

Apparently (I played virtually the whole set with my eyes closed), a little girl made her way to the "stage," and was looking rather stunned, according to onlookers. I hope that it wasn't during the "fuck" songs. We've been trying with these last few sets to build up to "Stealth" and "Blood Trail" since every BLC + unsuspecting public is an experiment. Apparently, they had some truly terrible shows before I joined the band (the Ogden; the burrito place). I really want to play a chicken wire country bar (there's a term for that, but I can't think of it) with this band, as well as a real juke (we'll have to go to 'sippi for that).

I did, however, have one missed note. A dude was doing flash photography (odd since the lights were on), and it totally got me for a beat. I had one measure of bizarreness on "Stealth" when the hands were doing their own thing for whatever reason (I was thinking about this leg/foot/ankle pain). I got right back on it, and I don't feel that bad 'bout it since the rest of the set was damn good.

Andrew Warner is my favorite drummer to play with, period. After all this time (starting in 2002 with the OG-RC), we generally play pretty damn well together, but tonight was really really special for me. The rhythm section was on like donkey kong, and I think that the rest of the band grooved (far out, man) on that. I love that guy. I can't imagine playing better with anyone else. I do indeed use him to make it sound like I'm playing with power. He's probably my best musical buddy. It was a trascendental set, rhythmically, for me. I hope that he gets that. Somehow, we were completely on the same wavelength for the fills [our art (improvisation) is in the fill, a la Ringo]. I love that guy.

Great fun tonight, for sure. I'm so done.

A Sausage Fest (could be "Gothic Power Violence" v. JZ)

Recording was a hoot, and there was a lot of sausage eaten (seriously, no double entendre here). Dameon, Andrew, Greg and I did parts for two songs: "God Damn Sinner" and "Rebel". Both were a piece of cake. Shortly after we did our parts, some of Uncle Chuck's friends arrived (BLC is too punctual, usually). The female voices really filled the parts out nicely--you get punch from the male voices and clarity from the female voices. It could have been done in a handful of takes, but Chuck wanted some really thick sounds (probably to compete with those bad-ass guitars). This is going to be a great record. Of course, Eve got in on the action, and she doesn't stick out in the unmixed group (totally amazed me; she's a neat kid, even if she's taken to calling me ZEEHEE).

Margret brought more [Polish] sausage and [Polish] cheese and [Polish] beer. After bratwurst, I was waiting for someone to have an infarction. There otta be a law...

Greg introduced me to someone as "our amazing bassist and, now, organist." That was actually pretty cool, because I'm not amazing, but I've learned to take a compliment. Ray Manzarek I'm not, but I guess that once that comp drops (late September is what that email sez), I'll be the bassist/organist. It doesn't count if you don't do it live, though. I won't allow that to happen. I never really dug playing keys live, although it gives you a good place to hide when the sequencer goes berserk (MIDI is evil; don't get me started).

I heard some stuff from the RR show, too. It was Andrew's recorder that was stationed at the FOH desk. The mix was a lot better there than in the monitors, for sure. Besides the lush lush lush natural reverb (too much, really), it sounds pretty good. We're going to see if we can dry it up a bit with the SPL Transient Designer. It seems that there's no limit to signal processing these days. The Norse Audio God was explaining this "magic box" to me, and I'm stunned that one can manipulate transients' attack and decay so easily. I'd have to fiddle a lot with compressors and gating to remove excessive reverb, but this thing apparently makes it easy easy.

I Lied.

We actually recorded eight songs last Tuesday. I thought that it was seven, but, as a bass player, I rarely have to count past six, and usually four. So, I can't count to eight--oh well.

I got the rough mix today and it's lacking in several areas (when listened to on my bass-infested computer and car--on the 1970s Sansui, I can EQ the badness away). I have to keep in mind that these are mere demos and far from perfect:

• The songwriting and arrangements really work, though. We did a good job with Ross' songs. I'm so proud of us.
  
• If we can tighten up the bass track's low end and carefully tweak the midrange, we'll be set. I think that if I did a DI track and we used an in-phase room mic for the bass a way off, it'll fix my floppiness, which is the worst part of all of this (still not playing like I need to for a three piece, perhaps). Maybe some crap was done to the bass track unbeknownst to me--Greg did it right with a DI and a room mic on the 8x10" moderately loud with a touch of limiting on the DI (the UA 1176 plug in rocks). Maybe I just need to record with a different setup entirely.
  
• The drums weren't terrible, but again, the low end is really loose. There's virtually no crispness on the cymbals. I'd like to hear more of that. I want the snare to crack a little more, too. The percussion just ain't quite as tight-sounding as I'd like.
  
• The guitar actually sounds much better than I thought it would after listening to the playback. It could use a little bit more presence, but basically, it's cool.
• The vocals actually are great, and that's what I think that the magical one was shooting for. Sometimes, they sit in a weird place, but I think that's because it has a really smiley EQ curve (no mids) on everything else. There's a couple of places that ADT would be cool, or RDT as the case may be.
  

I'm trying to not let this bum me out at all. This isn't for real, after all. This is just for (fuckin') Ronny to figure out if the arrangements will work. I think that we've made impressive progress in two months. Mostly, it's production problems that have shown up, which is the whole point of pre-production, I think. Some of the improvisation is brilliant, though. I love it when things happen.

The new and improved 'Army of Stars' is really the best I've heard since Last Man on the Moon. Somehow, we managed a rock 'n' roll fine, which I didn't think that I had in me.

This new one is great, with a little bass-cut, man.

----------------
Now playing: Ross Etherton and the Chariots of Judah - Goodnight Everybody (5:01)

Hilarious Search Results.

I monitor the FEEDJIT Live nonsense, and I'm frequently amused by the search terms that get hits here. I'm confounded by my Laramie reader, especially. Whoever you are, you totally ought to email me, totally (I'm callin' your ass out).

My favorites are below (poetry, really):

• i accidentally drank dishwasher soap
• homeless guy named josh
• whores i've fucked in rantoul illinois
• galanti guitar wiring bypass
• what is "420 situation"
• vocabulary scramble for eyl
• black hoes
• alembic pickups magnet dimension
• formaldehyde endo paste banned in the united states
• ivory snow box with marilyn chambers and baby with finger in mouth
• wired black hoes
• tie dye grill cloth fender
• what is an apt comparison
• absorbine jr, king soopers

Busy Weekend.

I guess I'm supposed to be "tweeting" stuff like this. LRC says that I'm supposed to use that for "I'm taking a dump" type posts. I can do that here--why would I want to subscribe to something else for people who aren't savvy enough to use feeds and aggregators and whatnot? Oprah is doing it, so perhaps I will. Maybe someday.

Friday night was my amazing tacos and vodka. I've actually been a light-weight since my ancient Chinese secret. It's a lot cheaper to catch a buzz since my Lenten booze fast.

Saturday, I awoke to no snow aqui (where was the 4 feet, dude). I cruised down to LRC's pad--it was 'nother story there--big car-sized snow boulders in the road and shit. Lame.

I wanted to see a movie to get out of the rain. We missed Fast and Furious, and I actually wanted to see He's Just Not That Into You, because Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore are in it (hot chicks to me).

During the movie, I got a call back from dude who's bass I was interested in. I arranged to meet him later, after the kids were in bed.

We picked up the minivan of doom. The dumb asses broke a bolt off in the timing cover and replaced it for twice the price. I bit my tongue, because my Mexicans would've done it cheaper (free+parts) but it probably would've involved Bondo, a sledgehammer, JB Weld, or a die grinder (likely all four). The coolant that I smelled a couple of weeks ago was indeed a fucked up water pump--I called it but didn't press the issue at the time. Whoot to me for my nose diagnostic (when driving trucks, you have to use all your senses).

<bass nonsense>

I went to Aurora to investigate the bass. Indeed it was clean, with the modifications that are required to make a 1951 design usable with modern strings and amplifiers. I'm still lukewarm about the schoolbus bass (the color needs to grow on me still):



Dig that goofy strap con los conchos, hombres. That'll go away. It only requires Grover strap locks, and some of those white felt washers (I have a bunch of 'em 'round here somewhere). It has a modern bridge, a fret job, a decent case (with keys, of all things), a setup for heavy-gauge roundwounds (I'll have to fix that), an extra set of new strings, the original bridge (in the case), a Lindy Fralin ham-backer (I'm a believer in the Lindy's hand-wound creations)--the original single-coil pickup is also in the case. I was looking for a twangier toned bass, and this one delivers--I haven't fingered it out enough to use it for BLC yet, but it's tempting. We're doing just fine with the ultra-dark JZ tone on the orange one (with over-wound Lindys).

It was cool to get an instrument that I've had on my list, and meet another local player. None of my friends actually know much about bass guitars (everyone I know plays guitar, it seems). Certainly, my pals appreciate good bass tone, but how to obtain it is sort of mysterious to them. Along those lines, I love the title of this post, even if I think that it's lame to not do your own electronics.

</bass nonsense>

After picking up the bass, I went to Tito's show. I saw Spoke Shaver (Josh Cool's new band, not what I expected, but I need to tap his luthier skills for this damn Rick) as well as Lonesome Tommy and His Lovely Lushes (looking forward to a full-band at the Meadowlark). LRC got zapped by an energy vampire and wasn't coherent enough for any more, which was a bummer because the harmonium rock afterwards looked very very very interesting to me.

Today, I cleaned house and took it easy. Then, I went to rehearsal. We ran through the set for Saturday, and basically rocked. We haven't played together as a band in a non-writing or recording session in several months, and there was only one significant stumble (which we played through--Greg was distracting me--I fucked up a chorus on one of the "hits"). It's nice to be playing with a solid group that doesn't really get cobwebs. I think that the key is that we're focusing evenly on new material as well as old material for the show. The new, old, new, old format is great for the set. I'm so excited to play a 'real' show since our last three were "events." Indeed, this one is an event, too, it appears, but it's at our "home" venue. It's going to be fun.

<recording angst>

Apparently, my Hammond parts from Friday are going to be kept, even though I 'bout had a nervous breakdown recording 'em ('how the fuck am I going to get there from here'--it was totally slow-motion playing). It almost sounds like I had lessons, so that paid off for mom (truly a funny story), but it's so damn legato and liturgical that it's not exciting by any means. I'm holding down eight finger chords and paralyzed with terror while I await the next measure--it wasn't relaxed at all. I don't even know the names of the chords--minor sevenths with suspended fourths or something--I nailed the last chord, which is what matters for the song (is he going to beat her?). Tension and release and then, maximum tension (Gm + Gmaj, interpolated and arpreggiated, and lots of tremolo/vibrato on both).

</recording angst>

Cat Bite Fever.

The thing is, I haven't had a fever at all. The wound that has made me ill is a cat bite. It looks like a vampire got me:



Indeed it's totally infected and my lymph nodes are fucked on the right side of my body (I'm glad that I didn't let my previous doctor suck 'em out). Red, distended upper arm ain't a cool thing.

Apparently, she wasn't cool with her new diet. When I pushed her away and told her to go to hell, she snuggled up with me and then fuckin' bit me. Clearly, my feline companion required an attitude adjustment. Nitwit endured serious cat abuse. CALL PETA NOW. Essentially, she got picked up by the head during my "no biting" tirade. I did, however, slam her head into the bathroom door between five and ten times. She wasn't even making an attempt to get away...I'd slam her face-first into the door, and she'd sit there afterwards, waiting for me to do it again.

She's getting to be a mean old lady cat, for sure. I don't know why I should even care if she weighs forty pounds and has a heart attack.

She's been really sweet since the incident, and not as demanding. It seems that Nitwit is like your average girlfriend, and requires a regular beating to stay in line.

He Is Risen!

As much as I love Jesus (zombie worship is cool), it seems that Easter was a much more secular deal at my haus as a kid. It was way better than Christmas, because we got lots and lots of candy (which was verboten the rest of the year), gifts, and it was the beginning of Spring. I was horrified recently to learn that none of my friends grew up with an Easter tree, and (even more horrifying) that that don't have Easter trees for their kids (note that Nitwit doesn't have an Easter tree, though--it's tempting to put some ears on her for Easter, though). Ross informed me that Easter trees are a very German thing and he had an impressive one when he lived in Austria. I'm basically out of touch with WTF is my German heritage and what's normal. So, I had an Easter tree and bunnies and baskets.

Apparently, Ross is right, and the Germans take Easter quite seriously. This is awesome, even if the title is "Scary German Bunny Man":

Scary German Bunny Man
Uploaded by DiagonalView

I'm happy to have had that experience growing up. I really ought to explore my heritage a bit more.

Insert The Biggest White-Guy Afro Ever Here.

Damn...that's hilarious.

Or, the so-called "Wall of Sound." Spector changed everything as far as production goes, especially in country (he's better known for the pop stuff). This one has fucking castanets (and hand claps) and great drumming, which I've been totally desiring since the flamenco stuff came about. Glad that chick didn't get shot in the face.



This is one of the songs that I first danced to at a party (for the girl that I paralyzed in fourth grade's birthday party with her older sister and her pretty friends). It has a decent beat, seriously. And...castanets for us lacking the rhythm.

I don't dance, really, but I do move, if I'm moved. I don't even want to shoot women in the face because of the Spector--so much for my Judas Priest lawsuit, right?

Awesome Narrative.

A very west Texas tale. I love it. I would've done this if the opportunity presented itself.

Here (READ IT).

Here's How to Order, Man!

When I moved to Colorado 19 years ago (WOW), my belief was that this ad was associated with KILO in the springs. This and John Denber (who I love, even if I killed him with my Jedi powers) was what I thought that the CO was. The 'info' on this clip is great. It goes like this:

I found a VHS of this while cleaning out my boss's swag closet. It's one of my company's commercials from 1987. It's HILARIOUS.

It's True.

Here.

Empathy For This Dude

I totally lived in a stairwell in an apartment building in Boulder at one of my homeless points (age 16). The worst is being awakened in the middle of the night by a no ingles habla cleaning lady. From here:

Boulder man jailed for living on top of T-Mobile store's roof

By Vanessa Miller (Contact)
Originally published 10:54 a.m., June 24, 2008
Updated 07:28 p.m., June 24, 2008

A 25-year-old Boulder man is serving one week in jail after police discovered he’d been living on the roof of a T-Mobile store since December.

Luke Barrett pleaded guilty in municipal court to trespassing and obstructing an officer after his arrest Friday. The latter charge came because Barrett initially ran when police told him to put his hands in the air after he was seen jumping on top of the building at 1590 28th St., according to a Boulder police report.

An officer first spotted Barrett at 10:37 p.m. Friday, then called for backup and a fire department ladder truck while checking the building for signs of tampering and burglary, the police report said.

It said Barrett ran farther onto the roof but was arrested without further incident once responding officers spotted him, scaled the roof and drew their guns.

On his way to the Boulder County Jail, Barrett told officers that he’s homeless and started living on top of the building in December, according to the report.

“Luke told me he stays there because he is left alone, no one knows he’s there and his personal items are secure when he sleeps on the roof,” the arresting officer wrote.

Mike Dillon, manager of the T-Mobile store, said employees “kind of had suspicions that someone was living on the store.”

Cleaning employees and maintenance crews said on two occasions that they found and removed cushions, garbage and a sleeping bag from the roof, Dillon said.

“It’s a little awkward,” he said.

After All Three....

Perhaps the greatest rock moment of my life was when that funny-talker (this isn't a politically-correct blog) asked me to cease using my "Fog Pedal." This was VERY confusing to me, since I don't have such a thing (I will re-paint and re-label the LBP-1 now, though--I require pedal-painting tips ASAP, friends). Apparently, Osama took it upon himself to call the fire department in order to shut down our fog machine. They brought a real fire truck to do this, but gave up.

The set was nearly flawless, even if Osama's antics overshadowed it. Overcasters made an impression, either way.

The Bad Luck City's set was flawed from the get-go. Kelly's bow got beer-infested at a prior gig, and now it requires a re-hair. She requires a medal for five shows in a weekend. Kelly O'Dea is amazing. Perry had some amp issues, but, eventually, we worked, 'em out. That set wasn't horrible, but was rather pale compared to the night before. I fucked up for a two or three count which is completely unacceptable. I am the worst player ever. I had fun, though.

After a sweaty sweaty day, LRC and I played naked foosball, took showers, drank screwdrivers, ate cold pizza, and watched Pee Wee's Playhouse on DVD. It was the perfect end to a (nearly) perfect Saturday.