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So I say to myself, "Well, they'll like this one. At least they'll
be able to find a way into this one."
As time goes on, I notice the pattern - I've been aware of it
for a while now, at least since Workbook. Every other record,
the brighter songs seem to win out. It's not a real conscious
effort, it's just been that way for some time. It makes it easier
for me to understand the end result, and how much effort I'm willing
to put into explaining the songs.
I've been talking about the last record for a few weeks now, and
it's starting to make sense. I was talking with a writer from
Ireland about the hubcap record, and he said something about not
"getting" into it as much as other records I've released. I suggested
to him that it might take some time to find the way in, to find
the keyhole to peek through, but that if he keeps revisiting the
record every now and again, it'll open up someday. I think it's
one of my favorite records ever, despite the fact that it was
a selfish record. It didn't avail itself to people easily, and
I don't think it was supposed to. In hindsight, it's interesting
to see which pieces of music made the final cut. There was at
least 2 more records worth of work to pick from, and another 8
hours of snippets and ideas that didn't make the final cut. At
the end of the day, each record is a small group of snapshots,
all taken by the same author, yet filtered and assembled in a
certain way at a particular moment in time. (Any record can look
quite different from the processes that led to the documenting
of that particular period.)
Back to the new record. A few things come to mind, possible explanations
of what the record means to me. First, I feel this one is more
for the general listener, and I came to that conclusion much sooner
than I normally would. I think I let go of this one about 4 days
into mixing, whereas with Copper Blue, it took a few months after
mastering to get over it being my record. The hubcap record, there's
small parts of it I'm still figuring out. Second, it's quite likely
that moving back to NYC had a lot to do with the outgoing nature
of the record. I think I have less "reflection time" in New York
than I had in Austin, and it's all about being on the street again,
instead of driving most everywhere.
Other stuff - the end of Sugar, the "why no press" last time,
last electric band tour. Quick versions for future reference:
The end of Sugar - First show, Athens, Georgia, March 1992. Last
show, January 1995, Sendai, Japan. File Under: Easy Listening
written too quickly, Bob tired of touring and talking, David feeling
like an absentee parent. Easy enough. Three albums, lots of B-sides,
plenty of live dates, generally a peaceful parting of the ways.
"Why no press" - Real simple: I wasn't in very good spirits, I
had very little to say about myself that would have been pleasant
or useful, so I stayed away for the better part of 1996. I guess
I should have tried to sell some records - whatever, I didn't
hold a gun to anyone's head to put it out.
Last electric band tour - Maybe I should be putting that in gigantic
bold flashing neon letters, like LOANS or WE BUY GOLD or something.
I've been doing this (electric band touring) for the better part
of 19 years, and I'd like to move toward something that doesn't
disrupt my attempt at having a life, separate from my career,
for chunks of 4 months of time. So, this will be the final time
around with an electric band, and then I'll figure out other ways
of performing live. Don't now what they are yet, and I doubt I'll
think too hard about it until after this year's touring is complete.
There's other reasons why this will be the last electric band
tour, but that's the one that comes to mind right now.
I could go on about specific songs, but I'll wait until they've
fully sunk in. Some of them are very simple and forward, others
are a little more complex, a couple of them don't mean much of
anything at all. I like them enough, it's a nice pack of songs.
The best batch yet? Probably not. Better than most? Probably.
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