King Kong Girio

Morgan Doctor - Other Life

Morgan Doctor – Other Life (Aporia Records)

This is the second CD that I got to work on for Morgan. The first was almost strictly a mixing job, this was a little more involved. Like the first, the sources for the tracks came from everywhere, Morgan collaborated with so many players, recording them in unlikely places, editing and organizing the parts and then handing them over so we could go through more of that process.

THERE WERE HORSES – this was mostly a mixing job with some minor editing. Clara Engel on vocals singing words from a found text. This one is a little more electronic in tone, but there are a number of percussion instruments to keep this from feeling too stiff. I’ve had the pleasure of working on several Clara Engel projects so this was a lot of fun to pull together.

COME SMILING BACK – a collaboration between Morgan, Ben Leinbach and Benjy Wertheimer. Like a lot of pieces on this CD, the trick for Morgan was to balance having so many colours without weighing down the track or the groove.

LIVE AGAIN – this one came with a guide bass track from Morgan for me to record over. We tracked that at my old place, The Electrical Room and added the Mellotron flutes at the Slaughterhouse. This is one of three co-writes with Tamara Williamson on this CD. Morgan has played with Tamara for years so it was interesting to hear them collaborating in this way.

SILVER CITY – an instrumental piece featuring string parts by Karen Graves and Alex Grant with plenty of backwards piano, treated audio clips, and electric and acoustic  piano. I believe this is one of several songs that have drums that were recorded at The Electrical Room when Morgan was in the early stages of the project. I played bass on this one also.

SHOW ME HOW – on this one (another co-write with Tamara). We recorded 2 bass parts before mixing. One is an arpeggiated bit (panned left) to counter a more solid line (panned right). We programmed a simple filtered drum loop to plop along with the acoustic drums.

REBEL – this one started out very different when I received the tracks from Morgan. The featured instrument was completely different. I think it was a found clip that was dropped into the piece, but never quite fit. We discussed using another lead instrument and came up with Christine Bougie on lapsteel as an answer. I’ve enjoyed recording Christine on several records, The Expos, Emma-Lee and some demos with Kirsten Jones. With ease she was able to help shape the piece into something cohesive.

A MOMENT TO GO – this was the first one that I worked on with Morgan. The process of mixing this taxed my older system. I’ve since switched to another computer/ another program to avoid the compromising that I had to deal with in order to accommodate the amount of tracks that I was given. Making sub-mixes of certain groups was tricky as Morgan was making subtle changes over an extended period. Many of the tracks were shaped over many sessions.

STARS – this began as a jam that I recorded in Morgan’s rehearsal space with Chris Gartner on bass. Near the final stage, I added bass for the chorus section. Another wonderful track featuring Tamara’s beautiful voice.

THIS DAY IS DONE – another drum track from the earlier Electrical Room session and my final bass part for this CD. This features a sparkling guitar line from Nina Martinez.

NAMSAN SUNRISE – This one was tricky for me as we mixed it in Cubase in a session that Morgan had started. I usually prefer mixing from scratch instead of parachuting into someone else’s session. We spent a good portion of time working on the sound of the vocal sample which was recorded by Morgan on location while she was abroad. When I listen to it now, I enjoy hearing the shift in tone from using a different software with another set of tools.

THE PASSING – on this one, Morgan, did some work with Paul Swoger-Ruston, a long time musical collaborator of mine and a good friend. Like a lot of the record, it was a joy to work with tracks from a lot of familiar musicians. I particularly enjoy the point (at about one third through) when the song shifts into a sadder tone.

BETTER PERSON – this track ends the record with more drone than the rest that evolves into a slow pulse – all sounding very slow-mo. And along with the rest of the record, this was one that I had to sit on, listening to the raw tracks repeatedly to find the focal point, or like Perry Gladstone says, the through-line. In someways, the drones are a bit more of a challenge. Although there were moments of delusion when I thought that I could do whatever my imagination felt was right, I would often get a thoughtful reminder that the real vision for this record was Morgan’s and she always steered it right.

www.myspace.com/modoctor

Kirsten Jones - Drive-In Movie

Kirsten Jones – Drive-In Movie (Maple Music 2005)

This album has had quite the journey. It began with heartbreak – not mine, mind you, and experienced at least one rebirth. I was introduced to Kirsten through our friend Paul Swoger-Ruston (who was also involved on this record). We had done some light recording at Jim English’s studio in Elora and then at Paul’s apartment in Toronto, but the project really began at my house with a meeting in the living room. Kirsten played us some songs on her acoustic and then we sifted through more material to fill out the list. Here, Kirsten chose Back To The Playground and Crumbs from my catalog. Both were demos done in the ska style and had to be altered greatly.

From here we prepped some guide tracks based on some references. What we didn’t realize was that we would have to re- imagine a lot of the numbers until we got it “right.” I don’t know if I want to go into those reference tracks, but let’s just say Kirsten’s tastes were broad and it would be a matter of trial and error before she planted her artistic roots. Make any sense?

We recorded the drums with Craig Lapsley in Ancaster at his cabin. With little guidance he blew through the songs in single takes marking the different sections with ease as if he’d been playing them for quite some time. After that we started the process of building the tracks. At the time, I was recording at home and there were great limitations, but with patience the songs took shape. We tried things out, for I Found You, I had Kirsten sing while lying down on the floor to push her to use more of her throat. We got to experiment with doubling/ tripling on Shadows and Lethargy. Somewhere along the line we came to a bump. Songs like Crumbs and Need You were sitting on muscular rhythm tracks and Kirsten was figuring out where she didn’t want to take the songs. I think the only reason Back To The Playground kept it’s Motown beat was due to outside opinions. So we stripped down the other two to guitar and voice, building only lightly (strings on Crumbs).

At this point, Kirsten wrote Bittersweet Grand Canyon, bringing clarity to what really got this record going in the first place. We created a version using some drum programming to build on.

Well, the process went on, chipping away until we had taken it as far as we thought it should go.

Then there’s the next phase, which is the record that most people know. Kirsten and I spoke when she secured a deal with Maple to re-release the record and decided to use this opportunity to make the album reflect who Kirsten was at that moment – or get it closer, anyway.

Bittersweet Grand Canyon – We scratched the original version, rented a pair of Neve pre-amps and a U-87 and tracked it in a day. Kirsten and I played the main guitars, percussion (tambourine skin) and Paul took the solo. Here, we capture the tone that we were looking for, both in the audio and the performance.

Shadows – Craig’s original brush kit tracks remained. The doubled vocals were blended more subtly. Paul on lapsteel bridge, Mary Simon on backing vocals.

I Found You – this would fall in the group songs wouldn’t get played live. Too muscular, too pop, but it does showcase some range. My biggest contribution would be creating the Beach Boys bridge with Paul. A fun exercise, but it came together when Kirsten made it sound “right.”

Lethargy – this is really Paul’s song. I wrote most of the second verse (lyrics), but it was only a variation on the first. Here we were able to create real atmosphere using the very light touches, ending with mellotron strings and tremolo guitar.

Need You – this would be the third version of the song. Live, it would go through more drastic changes. This was part of the Neve sessions that we did for BGC. Paul added the electric guitar. Again, this got closer to the Kirsten’s original intent. Added touches were electric organ bass, tremolo bass (faking a baritone guitar) and my best attempt at a backing vocal.

Back To The Playground – Kirsten helped restructure some of the lyrics so that it didn’t drop into that dark place that most of my songs end up going. I can hear her smile which is something I love about Kirsten, mind you, she usually makes me cry.

You Don’t Feel – the Maple release was a good opportunity to focus the mix so that the parts glued together a little more. This one features a lovely third take on the pedal steel by Steve Halloran, giving the track scope and darkness, seemingly effortless.

Might Have Been – Dave Azzolini added a loopy guitar line to the head which lifted the section. Kirsten’s layered vocals are delicious.We used the original mix for this one.

Crumbs – this is the stripped down version. This might be the original mix, too. Can’t remember. The violins were recorded at Kirsten’s apartment with Lindsey Hiiliard layering track after track. In the end, we just kept everything. She didn’t intend for us to use all the takes, but the parts connected beautifully.

So I’ll Tell You – our first try on this song was more of an atmospheric Lanois thing. In this version we peeled a bit of that away and pushed a more immediate approach. One of first songs that Kirsten ever wrote. I think.

Don’t Mind Me – this also went through some changes, but none that really altered the fact that it’s all about her vocal take. For a while this was her heart stopper at shows. She’s written quite a few more since this CD came out.

Put together on a shoe-string budget, this CD has proven to carry her all the way until now. Kirsten has more recently made an incredible record with Gary Louris (Jayhawks) and I had the honour of being a part of that, co-writing one song, playing bass and offering the occasional “mitch-a-chugga” guitar. What a pleasure.

Things are heating up! Well, I’m here in a concrete bunker, selecting takes on what will be a challenging, but satisfying recording project when all is said…etc…

Reading Gone With The Wind at such a slow pace that I’ve calculated that it’ll take 5 months for me to complete. I’m at 100 pages and right in the middle of a country BBQ. I’m praying for civil war so I don’t have to read about Scarlet O’Hara’s dresses anymore. Unfortunately, I’m in the process of reading other books at home, so GWTW is restricted to transit trips. My question is does it get better? Anyone?

Recently, Kirsten Jones was given the nod in a Billboard article. She is in the planning stages for her CD release show. We recently finished a successful video shoot deep in the bowels of Slaughterhouse 754 where I’m typing from right…now.

Emma-Lee has just won an Independent Music Award in the best Love Song Category for Until We Meet Again. A song that will no doubt serve as the link between Never Just A Dream and whatever musical concoction she’s working on… now.

OK, this weekend I posted a number of King Apparatus clips, home-made music videos, live bits…etc… And here they all are. This is a band I used to be in. These were among the least embarrassing videos. I’m still sifting.

People ask me questions all the time.

Mitch, did I sing in tune?

Mitch, did I play in time?

Mitch,do you think this is a hit song?

Mitch, what do you want in your tea?

Well, recently I was asked something that I CAN answer. What have you been reading? Let me tell you, I rounded off a great year consuming literature with The Book Of Negroes. After that I kicked off the New Year with Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters. Believe it or not, very different books. Recently finished Midnight Cowboy – I like reading about hustling now and then, but what do I do to match last year’s War And Peace marathon? Pulled out the big guns and started Gone With The Wind. I’m sure it could block a bullet if need be. I keep very close to my chest. Every book has a lip, the starter’s hump. How many pages? For me it’s usually about 30 – 75. If I can make it just over then I have no problem tearing through to the end. Not quite there with Magaret Mitchell’s epic. Right now it’s mostly giving me some exercise.

On the music front… finished off 2 weeks of Expos tracking. Will continue to sort through the takes to prepare for the next sessions in February. Some of them will be off on tour with The Cavaliers followed by an Expos Tour. Busy.

I’m coming closer to mixing time with Hear, Comes The Cavalry. Ooop, Josiah is here. Later.

I’d like to mention to artists who passed last week.

First, Lynn Taitt. A stunning guitarist from Jamaica who has been living in Canada outside of Montreal for a number of years. I had the pleasure of meeting him when he played on the Kingpins Let’s Go To Work CD. The band asked him to play on Johnny Rocksteady – and apt title for a Mr. Taitt to play on. He tracked the guitar where we were doing the rest of the album at Silent Sound, Montreal. A few takes through and he had “bubbled” from top to bottom. It went so fast that the band was still in shock. It felt like high school, passing notes in class. They asked me to ask Lynn if he could lay down a quick take on Last Train To Expo ‘67. So I did my best to ask him politely to stay a little longer even though he was only getting paid for the one track. He happily agreed and when I explained how the old cover song went he said “no problem, I played on the original.”

The remix is the first thing you here on my Myspace Mixed Tape No. 1. Listen for the muted bubble guitar at the top. We purposely made this mix so that we could feature the smaller pieces (like Lynn’s bubble) because the album mix was a wall of parts from top to bottom.

This may be good background.

Kate and Anna McGarrigle have been in my musical life since high school. I have just about everything they’ve released including a 12″ with some rare B-side. A staple at the home. It was my turn to act the school boy when I worked at Studio Frisson, Montreal, for several projects. So had the McGarrigles and their photos were taped to the wall. Don would tell me stories about their recording sessions. Nothing dramatic, just the kind of things I would expect to hear, but I lapped them all up.

Last week Kate died  so I’d like to share this clip of the sisters playing a French song of theirs (originally recorded in the ska style) that I absolutely love. Kate is on the accordion pumping the hell out of it every time she plays a lead line.

Lynn and Kate – R.I.P.

The Toronto Transit Commission has been slowly poisoning their ridership (if I can refer to us that way). How, you ask? Through tinny transmissions of classical music piped in on speakers unfit for broadcasting human speech let alone string quartets or god forbid, a harpsichord concerto. For some it’s just a mild irritation, like the smell in Warden Station’s men’s washroom, but to others it’s a form of noise pollution that threatens the very way (and why) we listen to music.

Remember this clip?

As you can see, this is not unlike getting stuck on a breezy platform in mid-winter waiting for an express shuttle while they clean another jumper off the tracks. Is this any place for what used to be consider works of art?

Spent a year (maybe more) working with Bruno Capinan. He came in to record a few stripped down songs and pretty soon we were tracking drums, cellos,  re-tracking older songs, importing horn tracks that were recorded on the other side of the world and so on. His album (Gozo) is finally out. The first video (Astral) is something I recorded with Bruno at The Electrical Room. The second video (Acalanto) was recorded a long time ago with his guitarist Brian. We mixed this for the video release only. Bruno’s passion and drive to take Brazilian music to new places has helped him transcend the kind of revisionist trends that are so tempting to follow.

Alright. In the last 10 days I’ve been forced to take alternate routes due to problems with the TTC. Last night’s detour was caused by a medical emergency so I don’t want to go on about how the Subway always breakdown, but there are some issues to address. The one I’m most concerned with is the Toronto Transit’s Plan B. The buses they send off to bypass the underground trains. Hard to  send off that fleet at a  moments notice, right? Perhaps the answer is to hire an elite staff of transit pushers. What am I talking about?

watch

Let’s stimulate the economy and shove some people into a tight space while we’re doing it. The transit will be a little less lonely.

A Part - Lo & The Magnetics

A Part

Lo & The Magnetics

Recorded and mixed by Claus Frostell

This was an important record for me to make. It was the third CD that I had done with Lorraine Muller and we’d become great friends which made it that much more fun to do, but also, it was an opportunity to stretch out as a writer. With the Kingpins, I’d begun strictly as a producer, but by the second project we did together (Plan Of Action) I getting involved in the writing process. This CD (A Part) was originally recorded as a Kingpins record and only changed names after it was mastered. The Kingpins line-up had been changing slowly over the years, but by the time we were doing A Part the band was no longer recognizable as such (except for Lorraine). This was meant to be a ska record like the rest except that we weren’t tied to some of the strict conventions of their earlier work.

In the beginning, Lo had spent a week with me in Toronto on a writing spree. It gave us a chance to come up with some solid song ideas to build on, as well as a number of rough sketches with little more than chords and hummed melodies to  static loops. On the second writing jaunt Lo brought Chris Raz (guitarist) and we continued the process. This time we filled in the blanks on some of the demos and began some fresh  ideas.

I haven’t gone back to those CDs (the original demos) in years, but I’m sure there are some truly embarrassing moments crammed on them. In the end we came out with 5 songs which ended up on the finished CD.

Insult and Battery – this features a bass figure than I’d written the song around. I was thrilled to have Dan Meier play Bass Clarinet along with this motif at the opening of the track, wish we found more spots for the instrument. Originally the lyrics were from a different perspective, but I changed it  to  first person on  t he day she recorded her vocals. The band arranged a pretty clever instrumental break as a bridge based on a series of offset shots. Wish I’d come up with them.

Fool On Impact – this was written a long time before. I’d actually played it on acoustic guitar for Lo when we were working on Plan Of Action. It didn’t make much of an impression (on my publisher either), but my recorded demo did a better job and it fit in with the tone that Lo was aiming for. Dan put together the horn arrangement, something the original demo didn’t have. First time I got to use the Royer ribbon mic. I loved it on the trumpet so much that I made Lo sing the outro figure through it. It was cool, but Claus had to EQ it in the end to make it pop out more.

Out – this one came out of the writing sessions with Lo. Chris came up with the eerie synth figure. We recorded a lot of the dub echo the day we tracked guitar and some when Dan came in to do a couple of passes of blurps and beeps on his synth. The lyrics for this one were inspired by the song, Push, by Dana Baitz from her album, Flower. That was my starting point. The final chorus features a soaring drum line that drives it home played by Mike Gasselsdorfer.

This Town’s Unbearable – this one was taken on by the band while on tour as the Kingpins. Lo contacted me to get the proper lyrics as she was making up lines. There’s a background counter melody “oooo” that Dan suggested in the refrain. It was one of the first 3 that we tracked and completed. I think this may be one of Lo’s favourites from the record. That may not still be the case.

Lude Behaviour – we added in some interludes to thread the CD together. Each member was to come up with one. Three of them managed to contribute. I love pop music, but I was happy to break up the song cycle with material that was more textural than melodic. This was Mike’s which he tracked during one of the later drum sessions.

Pull It All Apart – this is where the CD gets it’s title. Mostly demoed during one of the writing breaks. The opening lines were inspired by an interview with Sheryl Crow. Asked for some songwriting advice, she told the interviewer that you should never write a song with references to card playing as it was such a cliche. I took that as a challenge. This recording features more of Dan’s little counter synth lines. It was tough navigating the split in the band at the time. Dan wanted more Kraftwerk and the band wanted more Costello. Ironically the tide turned after the record was made, so I’m happy we kept as many of these ideas as we did. But I think Dan would have liked more of t hem to have made the final cut. ha. The rhythm section is one of my favourite parts of this recording. Russ Cooper and Mike sit in a special place here. Russ’s sound came from this lovely old Fender Precision bass that went through Claus’ Traynor YBA-3 head then through a small Marshall cabinet (single speaker) recorded at low level. The doo-wap backing  vocals were re-tracked through the playback speaker on the 2 track 1/4″ machine at Studio Frisson (the mixing studio).

Party Of One – another from some old demos that my publisher couldn’t care less about. Bitter? Liam O’Neil (the Stills) played the lion’s share of Hammond on this and was given some room to spread out at the fade. Some of Mike’s aux percussion parts were tracked in Chris’ apartment. Gave the cowbell this hard reflective sound which I love. Can’t remember if the neighbors complained or not. I think Dan came up with the organ counter line in the verses. More of the lovely horn section on this one.

Come On, Bring It Home – this song was an older one which originally was only a series of five verses. My publisher asked me to develop it further, give it a B section…etc… so I did. I came up with one, ripped out a demo (twice) and she said “whatever”. Thankfully, the band rearranged the grooves turning it on it’s head. The strings were arranged by Dan who also acted as section conductor for the quartet (recorded at DNA). Mike flips the drum groove in the chorus so that it’s out of step by a beat. Freak.  To create greater contrast against the chorus, the band abandoned the ska (verses) opting for droning atmosphere with a pedaled bass line and tom hits.

Fashion Victim – this song began during the writing week with Chris. Sat in the living room and came up with the verse line/ guitar lick. From there we developed the chorus with some melodic direction sketched out just beyond our opening vocal lines. I found it difficult to complete this one. I tried several times. So I sent the demo to Greg Crowe to flush it out. Greg sent back a completed version fully paved with harmonies…etc… He did a great job, but in the end Lo felt like the tone of the song had pulled away from what she wanted on the record. This meant that we had to re-write it again. Or die trying. Greg had filled out the story which began from our origianal lyrics. Now I had to re-write it taking cues from his words. It was very much down to the wire.On the night I should have been writing (as we had to track the vocals the next day) I went out drinking with Lo and Mike instead and ended up waking up with a blinding hangover. The session was postponed until later in the day when “the producer” was fit to show up. I had to finish the lyrics somehow, so when everyone went on dinner break I dug in. The most challenging part was the chorus. Greg was stuck writing lyrics to the plodding melody we’d given him. I abandoned that and chose to use it as a counter melody. I wish I’d thought of that before I gave Greg the task of using those notes. Sorry, Greg. I’d finished the bridge as the band brought in my take out. Just in time.

R2’s Rant – Dan Meier designed this baby. We cut this down on the re-master to keep the flow of the record, but it’s a good example of where his head was at.

Sooner Or Later – I had this idea when we did Plan Of Action, but couldn’t finish it. Lo wrestled the lyrics to the ground. We tried to juxtapose the dreamier vocal delivery with the sharp angular cuts from the ska groove.

Shipwrecked Heart – written as a substitute for You Won’t Say It which I wrote for Lo to sing, but was rejected. I wanted another softer personal number that felt roots-ier, so I demoed this one along with Insult and Battery. This features  some Mike G. percussion magic as well as a whole lot of Dan. He plays the bass clarinet mouthpiece using it like a reversed cymbal or suction pump. Listen to it with headphones – right side. On this track Dan played the Rhodes and tenor sax, as well. Originally, he wanted to use the soprano sax, so he took a try. I told him that it was a little too Wayne Shorter for the song, he returned with a “that f——g Kenny G has ruined the soprano saxophone!” That had to be said. The vocal pick-up was a very honest moment of a tired Lo in rehearsal. We kept it there because it fit so well with the melancholic feel of the song. The song title was taken from a fictional song that’s used in a Carl Hiaasen novel, Sick Puppy. During the course of the recording, Lo became addicted to reading his books and ended up writing him a letter while we were on our European tour.

Interruptions – a truncated piece by Lo. An homage to the mechanical noise in the building that would intermittently halt our recording.

Top 5 – one of the first that Lo and I completed. Inspired by the book, Hit Men.

Tachee – The French contender! And the only one I didn’t have a hand in. Perhaps the best song on the CD. We were getting close to finishing the project when Lo called me to say that she absolutely had to have a French song on the CD. The question was what song? I made few contributions to this one, but I can say that I suggested that they do this song (written by Lo and Krista Muir for a project they had called Glacee), I came up with the odd time fill idea connecting the different sections and last – not least – I played the one note piano line. Tracked at DNA. Mike G. used a coat over his snare to give it this near electronic sound. Krista sang on it with Lo taking the higher line.

Never Let You Down – the lyrics were inspired by Lo’s personal life. Nothing like other people’s drama as songwriting fodder. I wrote this as an alternative to Fool On Impact. Something fresher with less of a detailed demo to dictate the arrangement. In the end, Lo wanted both songs. The band was able to infuse more of themselves into this one.

Greatest Hits – Lo had some specific requests with this one and I tried my best to write it in one stroke, but it wasn’t to be. The original lyrics got much darker by the end. It was about obsession, being hooked on someone to the point of losing yourself completely. Lo didn’t want to go quite as far, so we spent an afternoon reworking the words, completely re-writing the last two verses. Dan wrote the string arrangement and he too had to work it over and over until it was right. It was a thrill to play this song live in Montreal on stage with a quartet for the release show. Other memorable moments for me, Mike’s percussion track and Claus’ treatment of the end vocal line which he piped into the stairwell of the studio and miked it up at a distance to capture the reflections.

The mix was done at Studio Frisson. Claus and I mixed Flashlight (Brown) – Running Season there. Lovely studio in Montreal. The tracking took place at Lo’s rehearsal space, DNA Productions, Espace Boomeko and Chris’ apartment.

www.myspace.com/loandthemagnetics