Wooden Shjips
by With their improvisational, pyschedelic sound, San Francisco band Wooden Shjips are putting the proverbial finger to the formulaic output of much of the current chart toppers. We interviewed guitarist Erik “Ripley” Johnson recently. The album sounds analog – authentically low-fi in parts, nicely devoid of excessive pro tools frills. On what was it recorded and how long did the process take? ‘The album was recorded on a Tascam 80-8 recorder, with a Teac Model 5 board. It is an 8-track, 1/2–inch reel-to-reel machine from the 70’s or 80’s. We tried to keep the recording fairly straightforward. A lot of our gear is vintage, our amps are tube, so that contributes to the sound also. It probably took a few weeks from start to mix down. We didn’t have a continuous chunk of time to devote solely to this project, but we recorded it ourselves in our practice studio, so we were able to stagger the sessions’.
Is the San Fran music scene still as vibrant and vital as it was back in the day? ‘Hard to say what it was really like back then. But it certainly doesn’t match up to the romantic idea of the 60s scene. Obviously, times are different. Personally, I think it’s too expensive in San Francisco now to support that kind of full-on scene. However, there always seems to be interesting bands in the Bay Area. We’ve played with some great bands in the last year — Sic Alps, Howlin Rain, Ascended Master, Rahdunes — but I don’t have the sense of a cohesive scene. I think that may contribute to the diversity of the sounds. There’s no one San Fran sound’.
Great to hear the wah wah pedal in use in a contemporary recording. I thought it had gone out with the rise of the indie-shoegazers. Are the guitar effects used on the album old school pedals? ‘It’s a mix of old and new. There a number of great boutique pedal companies nowadays. It used to be you’d have to pay exorbitant prices for vintage pedals, which may or may not work or sound good. Now you can pay exorbitant prices for pedals that are new and work really well! On the album I use a Real McCoy Custom 3 wah, a new Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, and the “vintage” effects are an MXR Distortion Plus and Phase 100,and a Maestro Echoplex. There might also be some Big Muff on the guitar. Nash uses a bunch of stuff on the keys also: a Moogerfooger, and old flanger and analog delay, some other things. It’s a big soup of effects’.
There was a lot of improvisation in early Shjips gigs. Does the necessity to tighten that for an album recording change the musical outlook of the group at all? ‘Actually, we didn’t feel the necessity to tighten up for the album. That just happens naturally during the recording process. Mostly, I think, because there are so many technical chores to attend to while recording. If anything, we want to loosen up more for the recordings. We’re hoping to record more of a live sound for the next album’.
Listen to the Wooden Shjips track, Lucy’s Ride.
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Having played South By South West over the past couple of years, Golden Bear have just released a souped up new EP, Everest, which sees the Texan rock band playing together like they would at a rehearsal or a show. Says frontman Chris Gregory: ‘I was a little anxious about being able to approximate the sound of our live show in the first place, but I figured to hell with it-let’s give it a shot. And I’m glad we did. There were no endless nights of playing the same song 150 times, no overscrutinaztion, and in all honesty, no hitches in the plan whatsoever. It was loose, rowdy, and rewarding, just like our shows’. You can download the Golden Bear track, All The Stars [listen below], for free via the Music Download section in the third column of the Lost At E Minor site.
The Dark Was The Night compilation
The crew at 4AD, watching over perhaps the hottest artist roster of any independent label in the world, have put their collective minds together and come up with an album that holds every potential of being the finest release of the year. The formula is simple: you grab a batch of the hottest bands and artists around at the moment (take your pick from Arcade Fire, Yeasayer [pictured above], Bon Iver, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens; the list continues without the slightest dip in quality), throw in David Byrne for a touch of that priceless musical wisdom, quickly hammer together a few inspired duos, like Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst, or The Books and Jose Gonzalez, name it after a seminal Blind Willie Johnson track, and then get the brains behind one of the great bands of the last few years, The National, to produce it. Finally — take a deep breath — all the proceeds go towards the fight against AIDS. Dark Was The Night isn’t released until February 16th, but the scent on the wind is good. David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors’ opening track (listen below) is brilliantly fresh, while Yeasayer have channelled their wild spirits into a song textured as intricately as a Peruvian silk skirt, with a rainstick for effect.
The music behind the new Howling Bells album, Radio Wars
The last time I caught up with London-based, Australian band, Howling Bells, was in New York in early 2007 when they played a show at one of the many seedy Lower East Side bars. Since then, they’ve recorded a new album, the aptly named Radio Wars [listen to their song, Treasure Hunt, below], a remarkable follow-up to their 2006 self-titled debut. I checked in with guitarist Joel Stein to find out what music the four-piece had been listening to around the time the album was written: ‘The Byrds’ Eight Miles High always sounds so futuristic to me. It has one of the best guitar sounds ever and really moves me with its color and power. Every time I hear the Tortoise track, I Set My Face to the Hillside, I instantly get transported to the ocean. Beautiful! Joy Division’s Isolation is incredible. I love the intro keyboard riff, in particular (the keyboard was self-built). It expresses urgency and truth. And then there’s Neu!’s Hallogallo, a truly inspiring instrumental track that I always want to go on for longer. Its fuzzy guitars are so warm and vibrant. Perfect!’ Read frontwoman Juanita Stein’s Playlist of inspiring songs.
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