Toren Atkinson

Stewie is going to be helping (read: doing) with the layout for the album, which is a relief because I know he is a crack shot and reliable, not to mention close at hand for the beatings. Jordan had the idea of doing the cover as a photo of the pocketbook parody, which is a good one. Taylor will be the official photographer for the project, and Mike Jackson is going to be taking on the role of Dr. Timothy Vess – the protagonist in the narrative for the album, for the purposes of liner photo. I got the mixes from Brodie finally last night, and I have been listening to them in the living room, on the computer, & at Stephane’s. There are a couple things that bug me but I think I may just be over critical of my pitch. Hopefully! If Brodie is happy with it then I must trust his professional opinion. Regardless I think it will be a kickass album of ROCK.

from a few days ago:

We are mixing at Hipposonic Studios on East 3rd and Ontario. Only Jordan had time to make it in besides myself. Many of the songs on this album is going to be quite rich. Many layers of guitars and we’ve played around with a lot more instruments than is customary for a Thickets album. We’ve got melodica, keyboards (which we had previously done only on “KABLAM!” I believe), and shakers, tambourine, and even some guiro (AKA scrapyfish). We even have some robot drumming a la the “techno” music that many are known to enjoy.

“Theme to an Earthquake” is a capella plus drums (and short).
“A Marine Biologist” is full force, with very rich layered vocals and guitar.
“Blackout” is Brodie’s favourite song, and Andrea’s least favourite. It’s a rocker, for sures.
“No Way” is a little simpler and is our only “fade out” song on the album. Lots of cowbell.
“Strange” is a rock tune with a bit of keyboards.
“Return to Melanesia” is a capella plus percussion. Something completely new for Thicketdom.
“Cultists on Board” has a melodica solo.
“A Need-To-Know Basis” also has some melodica and some keyboards.
“Ride the Flying Polyp” is so ridiculously fast to play that it hurts – plus it’s all falsetto.
“Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know” is a deep, rich son of a bitch, blasting forth with three part harmonies. It’s the longest song at about 4:50 if memory serves.
“Sleestak and Yeti” is a Thickets song.
“Downtown (in the Cenozoic)” almost had keyboards but we duplicated it with roboty guitar! One of my two favourites on the album.
“Nyarlathotep” has finger cymbals, guiro, shakers, tambo, and so much more! And it’s in Middle Egyptian. My other favourite.

On Sunday we had some appropriate TV viewing – they were showing Planet Earth: Ocean Deep on CBC. We weren’t mixing “A Marine Biologist” (I think it was “A Need-To-Know Basis” but there’s nothing like the vampire squid to get you in the proper head space for a Thickets album. Of course you can’t have sound on the TV while you’re mixing so I had to do my own David Attenborough. We celebrated Chinese New Year on Monday with me bringing a box of Chinese baked goods like egg tarts, lotus buns and Chinese donuts to the studio. We put the ‘fat’ back in “gung hei fat choy.”

“I never say this – but I really like the subject matter of this song.” – Adam at Hipposonic Studios, in reference to “A Marine Biologist.”

I have more photos but it’s bedtime. I will give you this:

You remember these covers from the old 70’s editions?

Well here’s the rough draft for the cover of “The Shadow Out of Tim”