Amazingly, after being so quiet for so long, I have released two albums in one week. Here is the latest:
It’s called In the Morning: The Songs of Babybird, and I’ve recorded it over the past few days. Here are the liner notes from the digital booklet:
I first heard Stephen Jones’s music at the listening station in Tower Records in San Francisco, California. I think it was in March of 1996, but I can’t be sure. What I can be sure of, however, is the impact that that album, Ugly Beautiful, and all of Stephen’s other work—past, present, and future—has had on me as a musician and as a person. From his lo-fi roots to his hit single, “You’re Gorgeous,” to his most recent album, the lovely Between My Ears, There’s Nothing But Music, Stephen has managed to create songs that are joyful, whimsical, contemplative, and heartbreaking—often in the same track!
These songs were recorded between 23 and 25 March of 2008. The only instruments I used were my voice, my acoustic guitar, and my electric guitar. There was no metronome. There was no Auto-Tune or pitch correction. With the exception of a few backing vocals, there were no overdubs or “do-overs” of any kind. I sang from my heart, like Stephen does. My covers aren’t perfect—there are bits I flub or notes I just don’t hit—but I’d like to think that my labour of love comes across as I intended it: a heartfelt-appreciation for one of my favourite singers.
Syd Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock, Laurie Anderson…There are so many musicians whose unusual take on things and sense of style makes us re-think the world around us. But what Stephen does is different from all of these other folks. He makes us re-think the world but also makes us glad to be in it. I am grateful to him and to Babybird fans the world over for reminding me why I play—and listen to—music in the first place.
—Ben Gott
Bridgeport, Connecticut U.S.A.
26 March 2008
You can download a 50.7 MB .zip file with the album as high quality, DRM-free MP3s, a digital booklet, and a .jpeg of the cover art by clicking here. Enjoy! Here’s the tracklisting:
Cornershop
Bad Habit
CFC
Steam Train
Wave Your Hands
Man’s Tight Vest
Hatesong (bonus track)
You can download my new album, Bloom, by clicking here. The link will lead you to a 66.9 MB .zip file of all the songs (as high quality, DRM-free MP3s), a digital booklet with lyrics and other information, two promotional photographs, and a Podcast entitled “How Bloom Came To Be.” (Download a .jpg file of the cover art here.)
Here is the track listing:
Gangsta Rap (Gott)
Oh Yeah (Gott)
Everybody Move It (Thompson)
Old Town (Gott)
Drive (Ocasek)
See the Light (Gott)
Bee-Line Kind (Gott/Culnane)
The Last Song (Gott)
I’ve been arguing recently about the ubiquity of Auto-Tune. Simply put, it ruins songs. Of course, because record companies don’t seem to care about actual songs these days, they’re using Auto-Tune in the studio and hot mastering everything to oblivion. Consumers don’t care; why should they?
Here’s an example. Take Janet Jackson’s awful new single, “Feedback.” The Auto-Tune makes it, to my ears, unlistenable:
The vocals come in at about :20. There is no singing here. Ms. Jackson’s vocals are simply being manipulated up and down.
Compare that to this, a song from 1995:
There is no Auto-Tune here. All we hear is Ms. Jackson’s voice, on key and supporting itself. Hell, even when she misses a note (at 3:18), she makes it part of the song: “Oh, didn’t quite hit the note — that wasn’t such a good time.” Part of the reason for this is that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wouldn’t have let her anywhere near Auto-Tune during that period. But the other part is that the use of this dastardly plug-in reaches far and wide…even to crappy bands like Nickelback:
This Auto-Tune is less evident, but it’s still there. (Listen to the “unclench” in “unclench your fists.)
2) Download an MP3 file of “Old Town.” To download to your PC, right-click and choose “Save Link As…” On a Mac, Control-click and choose “Save Link As…” If you just want to listen, click the link and the MP3 will open.
All of these MP3s are, as usual, high quality and DRM-free. You can download other songs from Bloom—actually, you can download pretty much every Ben Gott song ever recorded—by visiting the “Music” section of this website.
* = If you’re interested, the “Living Room” demo was recorded straight to the internal microphone of my iBook. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but Night of the Living Dead is on MUTE in the background (hence the “Living Room” moniker). Can you hear zombies? Or, like, sense them?
The second demo version, craftily entitled “Demo #2,” is the track I sent to Simon Knight for production advice. Thanks, as usual, Simon!
Here’s the obverse, which includes lyrics. Click on the small picture for a bigger version:
The new single is called “Old Town.” It will be released on this website on Tuesday, March 11th. Keep checking for updates!
Here’s the cover art. The photograph is from the Library of Congress’s Flickr pool. I did the design work in, oh, about ten minutes. Now it’s time for bed!
Sorry it’s been so long! Things have been wacky wild around here. I’m moving (two doors down) on March 14th, we’re smack dab in the middle of the longest stretch of school, and I’ve been fighting off some weird cold. So, there!
Today’s fun involved remixing Glen Phillips’s terrific song “The Spirit of Shackleton” from his new E.P. I added some drums, some synths, some guitars, and some backing vocals—because hasn’t everyone always wanted to sing with Glen? You can listen to it here. Thanks, Glen, for giving your fans the opportunity to play around with your tunes. This, record companies, is the future of music.
I’ve also reviewed Bob Mould’s District Line for kevchino.com. I’ll link to the review when it’s posted.
