Category: Music

Announcing the GLAND OPENING of The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets official online store – DEAD SPACE GOD CENTRAL.

Now you can get Thickets vestments, CDs and periphery all in one place.

AND

We’re kicking it off with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: The Thickets One-Of-A-Kind, Artsy-Fartsy Charity Prize Pack (TTOOAKAFCPP) which contains:

• a copy of our new CD “The Shadow Out of Tim” autographed by the band*
• a custom made, one-of-a-kind Thickets t-shirt**
• a full complement of five buttons, including the Big Robot Dinosaur, SpaceCorp, and The Math Song (Y=X/5) button, plus stickers.
• dozens of back issues of The People of Innsmouth, the official fanclub newsletter.

* (released in Spring 2007)
** (no black or dark shirts; Toren will work with you to design the shirt of your dreams/nightmares!)

All proceeds go to Vancouver’s Heart of the World multi-disciplinary arts facility – trying to raise half a million bucks for a down payment on the theater! – www.foxtongue.com

GO GET IT! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170068682216

(package may be delivered in conjunction with the release of the CD, depending on your location or shipping choice).
visit the online store at http://stores.ebay.com/Dead-Space-God

FOCUS!

One of my favourite moments from the sessions was when Warren was recording his bits for one of the songs and he totally missed his mark on one bit. Why? He started reading the Exclaim! newspaper on the control board.

My other favourite part was Mario being dressed down by Andrea, Brodie’s assistant. Yesterday we spent way too long agonizingly trying to direct Mario to alter his guitar solo in “Nyarlathotep” so it didn’t sound the same as the solo in a couple other songs. Finally after too many do-overs to count we got something we were all happy with – or at least Brodie, Andrea and I were. This morning Mario was in the recording room and said “I still need to go back and finish the solo for Nyarlathotep” to which Andrea hit the talkbalk button and stated boldly:

“NO YOU DON’T. IT’S DONE.”

Today, after finishing up Mario’s many flourishes, we laid down some keyboards, all of which I’m sure will be replaced, scrapped or all of the above. Then we did some rough mixdowns with no vocals. Over the next few weeks I’ll make sure I’ve got all the vocals 100% ready to go so that when Brodie comes back from his holidays circa the 15th we can snap to it. We’ll do that over the course of a few weekends, including a trip to Chilliwack for Merrick’s sake and to get Jordan in on some extra percussion, and then we’ll be mixing in early February.

Mario brings his family.

I screw around with keyboards

Brodie does it better

A staple of rock. Speaking of staples, each day’s dinner in the studio was a delicious float in a parade of ethnic cuisine. Today I treated everyone to Uncle Fatih’s pizza. Yesterday I treated everyone to Indonesian. The day before that I treated everyone to Sushi. Day before: Indian (butter chicken!!). We almost went in for Himalayan tonight but we started too late.

And now, we are done at Profile Studios. Say goodbye, Profile Studios. Goodbye.

This morning we finished off the last few tracks. We worked on drums for Theme to An Earthquake and Return to Melanesia, some of which we may use, some of which we may not.

Then it was Merrick’s turn for bass do-overs and pickups.

Today’s dinner was from Green Lettuce, the Chinese food prepared in an Indian style. Tasty!

The picture behind Jordan is a giraffe. Remind me to explain that later.

Here is the control room

This reverberator is beautiful! It looks like it belongs on the dashboard of Spaceship Zero.

 
The boys in the band!

I was taking photos of the drum kit and the various microphones that went with them, and this shot turned out accidentally artsy.

Look at that handsome Greasy Spawn toque Mario is sporting! Don’t you want one now?

He came to rock. Sometimes that’s all you got.

I learned that Nomeansno recorded “Wrong” at this studio, and that we are the last band that will record here before they move to a new space. Ooooh, deep!

The bed tracks begin! We ended up completing the beds for most of the songs, we are officially ahead of schedule. And now, the visuals (sans audio):
Jordan, thinking I’m taking a snapshot rather than a movie, poses:

Guess what Warren is talking about and you could WIN a big prize package courtesy of The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets!

Thickets:

Merrick plays bass guitar.

Brodie makes the noises nice.

To prevent Mario’s guitar noise from leaking into Jordan’s drum mics, it is covered with cozy blankies. It’s a rock fort, not to be confused with the cheese, roquefort.

Skids in the band.

Wise of whoever put that on. Because it’s no longer in print and it’s my favourite album of all time.

Last night I walked around looking to see what food sources were in the neighborhood, and I found an Indian place and grabbed a couple menus. I had planned today’s dinner fully 24 hours in advance. Butter chicken for everyone!

The studio is quiet now…until tomorrow!

Okay, thanks to Joe I can now fix this entry!

Tonight we set up the drums for recording “bed tracks” tomorrow. Bed tracks are apparently drums often with bass and sometimes guitar. We’ll be recording a “scratch” vocal track as well, which means it is not the final vocal track. Mostly it will be so that we can perform the songs as we would at practice…so that everyone can hear everyone else, though we will all be in separate rooms (some with windows). Here is Mario rocking out in one such room. No, there is no sound for a very good reason. My camera phone has no mic.

And now, photos:

Mario plays the guitar

Jordan plays the drums. there are 15 mics on the drums.

There is beer on hand

Brodie mixes the stuff

El Candido.

All this snow is really wreaking havoc with the Thickets schedule. We were supposed to have 4 practices before our recording date on the 9th, but so far 2 have been cancelled due to weather. Thinking about the possibility that I can’t get out and back on the upcoming Sunday and Tuesday brings dark fear into my fleshy heart. There is still more work to do before we hit the record button. My brother, who lives on a mountain in Chilliwack, is snowed in. Don’t tell my mom, but his pipes are frozen so he’s got no water and his truck won’t start. Even if it did getting up and down the mountain is a precarious venture.

Snow is a pain in the arse, but it is pretty.

The trees aren’t used to the weight of snow! Watch your head.

Skis in the park

This tree was full of robins enjoying berry snow cones.

Wow! Look at the huge snow drift on that building!

A few hours before I realized I have another cold.

And by world I mean my computer.

Air: Kelly Watch the Stars
Akira Ifukube: Main Title (A Capella) King Kong
Artie Shaw: Concerto for Clarinet Part 1 & 2; Someone’s Rockin’ My Dreamboat
The Beatles: Across the Universe, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Lady Mondana
Beatsteaks: We Have to Figure It Out Tonight
Beck: Lazy Flies
Billy Joel: Movin’ Out; Don’t Ask Me Why; Goodnight Saigon
Billy May: Music to Watch Girls By; Mission: Impossible
Bjork: Isobel
Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath; A National Acrobat; Sabbra Cadabra; Looking for Today
Cake: Meanwhile Rick James
Carter Burwell: Miller’s Crossing End Titles
Chick Webb: A-Tisket A-Tasket
Chixdigget: Spanish Fever, Born in Toulouse
CKY: Flesh Into Gear; Plastic Plan
Colin Hay: Maggie; Overkill
Desert Sessions: Nenada; Avon; A#1; Rickshaw; In My Head; Subcutaneous Phat
Dread Zeppelin: Hotdog
Duke Ellington: The Five O’Clock Whistle
Eagles of Death Metal: Speaking in Tongues; So Easy; Already Died
Elton John: Daniel
Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Prt 1; ; Do you Realize
Frank Patterson: Danny Boy
Glenn Miller: In the Mood; I’ve got a Gal in Kalamazoo; American Patrol
Hall & Oates: I Can’t Go For That
Harry Belafonte: Day-O
Heart: Barracuda
The Ink Spots: When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano; To Each His Own; Your Feet’s Too Big; With Plenty of Money and You; Maybe; Mama Don’tAllow
Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills
John Williams: Duel of the Fates;
Joseph LoDuca: Building the Deathcoaster; Army of Darkness End Titles
Leroy Anderson: The Typewriter
Leroy Holmes/The Muppets: Mah Na Mah Na
Louis Jordan: Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens
Mark Mothersbaugh: Hardest Geometry Problem in the World; Ping Island
Married to Music: Blame the Accident
Masters of Reality: Doraldina’s Prophecies; John Brown; Domino; Ants in the Kitchen; Bicycle; 100 Years of Tears in the Wind; T.U.S.A.; Rabbit One; The Moon in Your Pocket; Lover’s Sky; Brown House on the Green Road
Men At Work: It’s a Mistake
Metric: The Police and the Private; I.O.U.; Hustle Rose; Succexy; Combat Baby; Wet Blanket; Dead Disco
Millencolin: No Cigar
Monty Python: Money Song
Nomeansno: Brainless Wonder; Stocktaking; Big Dick; Rags and Bones; Oh No! Bruno
Basil Poulodouris: Anvil of Crom; Riddle of Steel; Thology; Mountain of Power Procession; Orgy/Kitchen
The Police: Does Everyone Stare; Too Much Information; Next to You; Truth Hits Everybody; Message in a Bottle; Regatta de Blanc
Postal Service: Such Great Heights
Propellerheads: History Repeating
Queens of the Stone Age: Infinity; Tangled Up In Plaid; Little Sister; I Never Came; Someone’s in the Wolf; The Blood is Love; Regular John; Avon; If Only; How to Handle a Rope; Mexicola; You Can’t Quit Me Baby; Give the Mule What He Wants; Monsters in the Parasol; You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar; No One Knows; First it Giveth; The Sky is Fallin; Go With the Flow; The Bronze
Quincy Jones: Soul Bossa Nova
Radio Head: Palo Alto; Paranoid Android; Let Down; Karma Police; No Surprises; Lucky; (Nice Dream))
Raymond Scott: Powerhouse; Toy Trumpet; Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals; Twilight in Turkey; The Penguin
Reggie and the Full Effect: Girl Why’d You Run Away; What the Hell is a Stipulation
Richard Cheese: Closer; Come Out and Play
S Satoh: Son of Godzilla – Kamakilas
Sesame Street: Capital I; Lowercase N
SNFU: Fate
Soggy Bottom Boys: I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow
Spider-Man 1969 TV show music
Spongebob Squarepants Closing Theme
Star Trek Fight Music
String Tribute to Tool: Sober
STYX: Mr Roboto
Supergrass: Moving; Born Again
Tenacious D: Tribute: Wonderboy: Kyle Quit; Friendship; Karate; Rock Your Socks; Master Exploder
Tom Waits: Jockey Full of Bourbon
Tony Martin: I Get Ideas
Weakerthans: My Favourite Chords
Ween: Mister Richard Smoker; Roses Are Free; Voodoo Lady; What Deaner Was Talkin About; Don’t Shit Where You Eat; Voodoo Lady; Transdermal Celebration; Chocolate Town; Gabrielle; Golden Eel; Cold Blows the Wind; Buckingham Green; Stay Forever;
Weezer: No One Else; Surf Wax America; Holiday; Island in the Sun
Wojciech Kilar: Hunters Prelude
Xavier Cugat: Say Si Si; Brazil; Hully Gully