Harrisonville

A song I made a while ago. Thought I would do more to it. But after listening to it many hundreds of times since, it's now one of my favourite things I've made. And I don't think it needs any more tinkering.  :)

Listen to Harrisonville...

or download Harrisonville.mp3 (15mb)

I've often listened to it while working, as it provides a catchy consistent drone of beatsy pop fuzz under whatever I'm working on. Great way to block out the noise and chatter at a cafe while hipsterfying your life on your laptop or iPad. It makes me feel good. Hope you enjoy it too.

It's called Harrisonville because George Harrison put a capo on the 7th fret when playing "Here Comes the Sun", and I thought I'd try something with the capo on 7, and this is what came out.  :) Thanks George. You were a real winner.

Features my own creation, the Fuzboz pedal, recorded into the Korg CR4  cassette recorder.

Tambo

Tambo is a jam-band I put together with a bunch of friends.

The idea was to throw off the weight & commitment of being in a "proper band".

Tambo existed for us to improvise in a jam space, and that was it!  

No gigs.  No rehearsals!

The magic happened in the moment.

No trying to re-play past songs, or perform like a human playback machine.

Tambo was a tonic against these things, and was purely inspired by good times for us as friends and musicians.

At the time (and still!), I was loving the music of acts like Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, Beastie Boys instrumentals, and blaxploitation soundtracks.

You can listen to the YouTube playlist

 

Or the Bandcamp album

 

"Fearless Faceless Cowboys" was the third jam session, and I thought it came out the best overall, and made us all smile from ear to ear.

Even many years later I'm very proud of it and enjoy listening myself!  

I enjoy listening to it much more so than listening back to my other bands' painstakingly recorded albums!

It's one live jam session recorded to 4 track cassette, and mixed a day later straight from the 4-track, through a string of effects running through the AUX sends. Enjoy.

"Crim Crimeny" - Dubby Copicat

If you need a dubby journey into the somewhat paranoid subconscious of Murray's Collingwood lair, look no further... You have found it here, complete with tape delay, piano, and yes, flute!


Listen to Crim Crimeny Dub...

or download Crim Crimeny Dub.mp3 (13mb)

I dusted off the Yamaha 4 Track recorder, and recorded this little piece, not really knowing where I was headed once again.  Started with 606 drum beat through my Copicat IC400 Varispeed, for a dubby beat.  Then added Piano through the Copicat delay, then Guitar with Foxx Fuzz Wah, then finally, Flute through Copicat.

A flute I bought from up the road for $90 on Smith St.

Where Are We Going?

Listen to Where Are We Going?...

or download Where Are We Going.mp3 (6mb)

I dusted off the 4 Track recorder, and recorded this little piece.

Featuring the voice of Denis V Smith, 

from the Northside Christian Centre, Bundoora,

from an old cassette I bought at an op shop in Coburg.

4Track: Longman Funk

I recorded this four track song using the Fostex X28 that I found in the attic. I'm sure Murgatroyd wouldn't mind me using it.

Listen to Longman Funk

or download Longman Funk.mp3 (5mb)

I recorded my friend Damo playing drums, then played the keys and bass over it.


Now I'll admit that I can't really play the keys, but I have fun trying!  I love genre pieces, and this one most certainly is one of those...  


Inspired by the likes of Interstate '76.  Thanks Damo!  Sweet drumming!

4Track: Miasm & Clavbassics

After stumbling upon Murgatroyd Humpadink's tape machine, I decided to investigate further.  Being a musician myself, I thought I'd try doing some four track recording myself.


Listen to Clavbassics (Solid BBoys)

or download Clavbassics.mp3 (5mb)

I made purchase of a Yamaha MT120 via the ever fruitful eBay...

...and laid down some Roland 606 drum beats, runnin' 'em in nice and hot.

...then added some Nord Electro clavichord, and Gonzales bass.

Once I was happy with the bass and clav, it was time to mix the song.  
I sent the AUX output to a Biyang Triverb and my Line 6 Echo Park.
I also messed with the tape speed on the fly.  I basically wanted to expose myself to the sorts of things you can do when you're using a totally analog bits of gear, instead of tapping and clicking away on a computer.


After spending a bit of time in the digital multitracking domain, it was really nice to use an analog desk with hands on all the faders, panners, and auxiliary sends.  


I did a bunch of mixes of each of the two songs, trying different tape speeds and effects during each mix.  Here's two versions of "Miasm" below...


Listen to Miasm (Monolith Burgers Eating Lounge)

or download Miasm (Monolith Burgers).mp3 (5mb)


Listen to Miasm (Welcome to my Echo Den)

or download Miasm (Echo Den).mp3 (5mb)

4Track: Humdrumbles

Recently I found a secret attic in my home.  Inside it I found a wooden chest.  Inside that I found an old four track recorders.

Inside was a box of tapes and some old photos and things.  The machine had apparently belonged to Murgatroyd Humpadink, a musical researcher and archivalist.  I found this photo.

This was the only piece of music I found on the tape...

Listen to Humdrumbles

or download Humdrumbles.mp3 (5mb)