Well, gang, it’s finally finished: the newest single from Bloom, called “See the Light.” I slaved over it, as always, but this time I had production help from Simon Knight and Johnny Helyar (as well as moral support from Daniel and Todd). It’s a song with a groove and a heart, and I hope you like it.
“See the Light”
Words & Music by Ben Gott
Produced by Ben Gott, Simon Knight, and Johnny Helyar
Everyone knows the way I feel inside
And everyone knows that cryin’ ain’t right
Everyone tells me that they’ve walked this mile
But baby they don’t know how I feel inside
You and I
We know the things we’ve got surround us
I can see the light
Somebody talked to me the other day
Telling me what I can and can’t say
Giving advice I had to turn away
Isn’t it nice to think it’s okay?
You and I
We’ve made our bed, we’re gonna lie
And I can see the light
Everyone knows the way I feel inside
(You and I)
And everyone knows that cryin’ ain’t right
(We know the things we’ve got surround us)
Instruments include: vocals, Danelectro bass, Rickenbacker 12-string, Ibanez electric guitar, loops, percussion, sampled Rhodes and Hammond organs, and so much more. Mixed by Ben Gott. Mastered by Ben Gott and Simon Knight. This MP3 may be shared freely.
His recent post in Chalkhills about the current record company practice of mastering music too loudly has cleared the cobwebs from my brain. It now explains why, although I love listening to “Stupid Girl,” I can only do so about once every month. Simply put, modern music is mastered to be LOUD (think “Photograph” by Nickelback), and our ears and brains can only take so much.
I’ve tried fixing this problem, called “hot mastering,” with my own song, “Oh Yeah.” Here’s the waveform of the song before I turned the volume down, so to speak:
You can see, if you click on the thumbnail, that there’s a huge amount of blue space in the middle and that the peaks — the stalactites and stalagmites of the sound, if you will — get cut off. There’s just nowhere for the sound to go.
Now here’s the new version. First, check out how it looks:
Notice that there’s still some blue in the middle. But, this time, notice that the peaks aren’t cut off. There’s more room for the sound to breathe here.
I don’t know if I’m doing it right (Simon, any ideas?), so you be the judge:
I pulled out my copy of Todd Rundgren’s 1973 album A Wizard/A True Star on vinyl tonight because I was feeling in the mood for some analog love. While perusing the sleeve, I came upon Todd’s handwritten note at the bottom of the insert. (You can click on the image to see the full-size message.)
!IMPORTANT NOTICE!
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but due to the fact that you can only put so much music on a piece of plastic before you start to loose [sic] some of the sound, and due to the fact that I havce exceeded what is considered the practical norm by at least 6 or 7 minutes per side, you will probably want to crank up your Victrola as loud as it will go to get the full enjoyment contained on this here L.P.
Thanx
Contrast this with the “note” on the bottom of the modern compact disc:
FBI Anti-Piracy Warning: Unauthorized copying is punishable under federal law.
Stephen Jones/Babybird is going to release some marvelous madness soon with a new album, Death of the Neighbourhood. The first single is called “Cokeholes” and it takes the lyrics to Jones’s little-known song “Quaaludes” and mixes them up a bit.
Mixes them up a bit? It’s the strangest hip hop song in Babybird’s catalog, and that’s saying a lot. It’d make a great single, though!
Here’s the video. It makes all the “real” gangsta rap songs about drugs look precious by comparison. Lyrics are below the embed.
The cocaine makes me sneeze
The botox on my double cheese
I got $129 for sneakers
Now I’m walking ’round like Jesus
Got three stripes on my leg
And a black tick on my knees
Got a straw stuck up my ass
Going “Where’s the coke? Where’s the coke?”
Boom boom boom, sha la la, where’s the coke?
Who got the coke? Yeah, the kids got the coke
Boom boom boom, sha la la, where’s the coke?
Who got the coke? Yeah, the cops got the coke
Yeah the kids got the coke
Yeah the cops got the coke
Yeah the cops got the kids
Got quaaludes in my milkshake
Afrikaans on my Benz
Got a three-point cross on the fireplace
And a gun sight on my lens
Got $1500 for a nose job
Got six for a double chin
Gonna sail my flesh to Mozambique in a wheelybin
If you click on the above image, you can read an advertisement for a newfangled “compact disk player” in Sears’ 1983 Christmas catalog. What is perhaps most interesting, especially as pundits are beginning to decry the end of the CD, is the fact that what cost $589.99 in 1983 would cost $1,188.23 today. Intriguing, no?
I had planned to spend New Year’s Eve and the first day of 2008 at Paul and Jackie’s house. I arrived there at about 3:00 on Monday afternoon to find Jackie preparing for the party and Paul, sick as a dog, Dysoning the basement. The crowd came and we had a great time, but when Paul went ot bed at 10:30 (so unlike him!), the rest of us called it quits, too.
I found myself driving home at 11:00 on New Year’s Eve. It was creepy; no one was on the road.
Fortunately, I had satellite radio to keep me company. My favorite XM channel, Fred, was finishing up its 2,044-song “Fred Essentials” countdown. I made a silent promise to myself that whatever song was playing at the stroke of midnight would be my song for 2008.
Just as I took the on ramp to 91 south, the clock ticked from :59 to :00 and I heard a very familiar sampled guitar. My song, it turned out, was “With or Without You.” I’ve always liked “Where The Streets…” better, but who am I to argue with fate?
The next four songs didn’t disappoint, either. Combined with U2, these are going to be my touchstones for the new year. I couldn’t ask for a better list!
