Experimental but Song-Like: 'Simply So Little Time'

Song: Simply So Little Time

Session Date: Friday June 29, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Ibanez electric guitar, Vox AD15VT amp

Log: An attempt at using my new amp's delay. Lots of cutting, copying and pasting here.

Lyrics: There is only a phrase in the sand / Are you stuck in the middle / Of something falling out of your hands / There is simply so little / Time / That's why you should make the best of the rest of your life

Just Another Imperfect Beatlesque Song: 'Fighting Snakes' (Bonus-Track: 'The Swinging Stellabirds')

Song: Fighting Snakes

The Swinging Stellabirds

Session Date: Tuesday June 19, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer; PC using Audacity; Behringer C-1 condensator mic for instruments; semi SM-58 mic for vocals

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Squier bass (new strings!), percussion

Log: Wrote the song yesterday and recorded it, but the first session crashed and the second was bogus. So I did it all over today. I think it's not so bad; a beatlesque song. The lyrics are inspired by my preparation of a sermon on Numbers 21:4-9. I've been editing the vocals heavily to straighten up volume-wise imbalances. Used an 'anechoic room simulator' on the verse vocals with a large room. Recorded the chorus vocals with boosted hi frequencies; then edited the sound with some classic LP equalization; then pushed it through a hi-pass filter..
Yeah, it's a lot of work.
'The Swinging Stellabirds' was the aperitive.

Lyrics: I don't know how / I could ever trust you again / 'Cause I am hardly innocent myself / I don't know who / Could ever clean up this mess / When will we ever get some rest at home / But you need Jesus in your heart / To fight the snakes that bite your heal / Only he can heal you / But you need Jesus in your veins / 'Cause there is comfoprt in his blood / You need a blood-transfusion / Your pain is no illusion / I don't know how / I will ever love and be loved / I find that my wells have all dried up / I don't know who / Could ever wake 'n shake me up / Misery will never stop, they say / But you need Jesus..

Semi-Taperecorder to Taperecorder Songlet: 'Seed'

Song: Seed

Session Date: Friday June 8, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII, pC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic for guitars, semi SM-58 mic for vocals

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar

Log: This is an attempt to do some taperecorder-to-taperecorder-like recording. When I was younger, so much younger than today, I used to record that way. It was an effective way at beating perfectionism: I used to overdub everything so many times that making mistakes was no longer an issue as you wouldn't hear it in between all the overdubs anyway.
So, for this song, I recorded some six semi-identical guitar-tracks and ditto vocal tracks. Did some ping-ponging here. It sounds... Well, not as quirky as the real thing, but quirky it is, no questioning.

Lyrics: It is too warm today / To be afraid of distant wars / The sun is spoiling our heads / And wealth has made (up [Hollandism]) our beds / There's babies everywhere and / Mums who care about their / Brand-new families they / Wish to do a better job / And we're still childless we are / About to enter a new world / At least we hope that we will / We know we're ready for life / You put us together, didn't you / Say that you had our seed in mind / We know we can't do it / Only you..

Another Impressively Simplistic Ditty: 'Knick-Knackery Peace'

Song: Knick-Knackery Peace

Session Date: Tuesday and Wednesday June 5 & 6, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic, PC using Audacity

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, shaker, eggs, Ibanez electric guitar, VoxAD15VT amp

Log: Another improvisation that grew into a song. Not an easy birth, this one.

Lyrics: Don't gimme / No knick-knackery please / I see a swarm of bees / Failing to find the flowers of peace / They suck the nectar of disease / Hey now, seems like you're struggling / Just to find a place to be safe / Hey now, seems like you're smuggling hope from the cradle to the grave / And the thingies aren't quite what they seem / Are we living in a dream? / Everything has a price and everyone wants reliable lies / Happy money, happy food and neuro-sorcery / For a happy-snappy mood / Hey now... / Razor-edge coins fall from the clouds inside your head / The fire in your loins could drive you home until you're dead

Lo-fi is cool-fi: Five Brand New Songs!

Songs: 1. Deaf & Dumb & Blind
2. Called for the Job
3. Morning Zombie Needs to Pray
4. The Will That Didn't Work
5. Laughing at the Juncture

Session Date: Tuesday and Wednesday May 30, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII and PC using Audacity

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Ibanez electric guitar, Vox AD15VT amp, Squier bass, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic, eggs, shaker

Log: Decided to start recording some real lo-fi sh*t right on my Tascam. I only have a 90 minutes tape left, which is not good for quality (you need 60 minutes). Sixties weren't available anymore. What the heck. I want it to sound bad. Lo fi is cool fi.
Did these songs yesterday and today. Just improvising, guitars first and then the vocals. Juts mixing it down on the Tascam and then recording it on my PC. Added no digital effects, as far as I remember.
O yeah, the guitar amp is new, as well as the electric guitar. I bought them with the money my parents gave me for finally finishing my studies. My Godin Radiator is gone now. This Ibanez is the sh*t. The amp ain't too bad either, though a bit over-fancy.

Lyrics: Deaf & Dumb & Blind:

I'm so afraid that maybe I will die / Without blooming up into the sky / Without being whom you had in mind / Without seeing / Deaf & dumb & blind

Called for the Job:

Haven't you called me for the job of saving / Haven't you been true to the life that you've given / Haven't I lied to myself and to you / Haven't I died to the world to be your son?

Morning Zombie Needs to Pray:

I wake up and feel like a zombie again / I'm glued to my bed, Sister Sleep is my friend / But I know her older sister is Death / I get up and head for the shower / I shoot at ideas as the water comes down / Get dressed and I eat so I know I won't faint / There's no way to beat the new day / Man, I need to pray 'cause I long for you

Laughing at the Juncture:

Listen to me and dust the moon / Wipe off the cheese and cry / You had a fight for eleven years / And lost every natural high / Go blow the trumpet, they will see / You never chose thsi hour / Clappin' and jumpin', let them be / First we all need a shower / 'n All this rivalry, it's only good for adrenaline / Too much too high for me / I just need food, please no channelling! / There's so much left that we can count / We need to take a break / There's so much lost that could be found / We must stop being fake

It Began with Alternatively Tuning a Rattling Guitar: 'Between Death and TV'

Song: Between Death and TV

Session Date: Wednesday May the 23th 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Old ragged acoustic guitar, Squier bass

Log: Oh boy, does that guitar rattle. Anyway, lo-fi is lo-fi, and the question is: are you willing to go all the way with me? Did some percussion with my bare hands on this one. Guitar was in alternative tuning.

Lyrics: Well, I think that I am wrong /As I tell every hurt to get lost, oh! / And all options have been thoroughly discussed / I didn't come here just to watch TV and die / And release some kinds of tension in between / Neither is this a commercial enterprise / Well, I think(/know) that I am wrong.. / Couldn't we get a new morning?

Spaced Out Synths: 'On the Verge of Going Nuttiebops'

Song: On the Verge of Going Nuttiebops

Session Date: May 17th 2007

Recording Gear: PC using Audacity

Music Gear: Tuareg 2 (freeware tracker with in-built synths)

Log: Played around with software synths.. Results are completely random and completely cool. Almost.

Lyrics: -

Semi-Disco: 'Are You Hungry, Nino?'

Song: Are You Hungry, Nino?

Session Date: Monday & Tuesday May 21-22th, 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar, Squier bass, Yamaha RY-10 drumcomputer

Log: A jam that rather quickly grew into a song. In the end you hear my wife asking: 'Are you hungry, Nino?' and our cat affirming her question with heartbreaking intensity.

Lyrics: Gonna find another reason / To hide inside myself / Anticipate the orange season / Gonna cut the world in half / And all this juice is gonna make me / Be a prisoner of fun / And all these bombs are gonna shake me / Leave me searching for the pun / Now I know that I'm too late/ I have to pay back what I ate

Sunday Afternoon Vibes: 'Henry & Cinderella'

Song: Henry & Cinderella

Session Date: Sunday May 20th

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer (what's new?), PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic

Music Gear: Takamine acoustic guitar

Log: A quicky. Tried to add some space guitar after the basic two guitar tracks and the two vocal tracks - didn't succeed, just left it like this. Not pretending to be anything special.Those I often like the best. Has a peculiar quality about it - the quality of earlier four-track-stoned-on-a-sunday-afternoon recordings. Not that I'm stoned, far from it. Won't touch that shit again, preferably. Might go to hell if I do.

Lyrics: I sailed the seven seas / And hoped that you would find me in a dream / I could find no release / I looked behind the screens of plastic trees / And plastic minds / Lying in the grass with you / Are we through / With the games that aliens play / And they do / Try to fool / Henry Hunter and Cinderella Drool

Toy Instruments Out of Pandora's Box: 'P-Box Ditty'

Song: P-Box Ditty

Session Date: Saturday May 19th 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer, PC using Audacity, Behringer C-1 condensator mic, semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Kawasaki toy keyboard, toy trumpet, Takamine acoustic guitar

Log: This is typically a song born out of despair. I bought a one euro Kawasaki toy keyboard which turned out to be hardly functional. The keys were so stubborn that for getting the bass and higher keys together I had to record two tracks. I played a passionate piece on a little toy trumpet and threw a bunch of reverb and delay over it. Played a rythmic acoustic guitar bit which serves as a bass as well. Wrote some lyrics, recorded two vocal tracks.. There you go.

Lyrics: Will you raise up in the sky a new breed of clouds to follow me / Will the end come to the world and wake up dead parts of me / Coming to swallow me, coming to make me see, coming to open up Pandora's box / Coming to chase the sea - there's the moon! / I feel dead but I must live cause I'm alive ain't I / He has touched me and I cried cause I was all hurt by / Stinking fish I kept as pets behind the cellar-door / But they krept under my bed and made a lot of noise

Video of 'You Belong to Me' Performed at the 5th-of-May Gig

Song: You Belong to Me (audio extracted from camcorder)

Log: Here we are, P o r c u p i n e, risen from the ashes. This song was one of the songs I recorded for my first demo in 1995. The lyrics were inspired by a friend of mine, Jelmer van der Leij, who asked me if I couldn't write a songtext with the lyrics 'As the flowers bleed in heaven'. Well, I could.
The song, though most often performed alone and acoustic, suited the band real fine. The last time we played it was some ten years ago, but it surfaced immediately when we got together again. Rocks.

Lyrics: As the flowers bleed in heaven / You belong to me / As the hours fail to severe / You belong to me / Up in the sky / She looks at me / I whisper Love / For you and me / She aks me Why / We cannot flee / And I sing: You belong to me

Melodic Mystery: 'Travelling through the Night with My Lungs Full of Cosmos'

Song: Travelling through the Night with My Lungs Full of Cosmos

Log: I was restless. Instead of sitting in a chair and biting my nails (a very non-productive way of coping) I wrote a song about travelling through the night with your lungs full of cosmos. Somehow, it was like having a bowel movement, or like giving birth. It all came very naturally. I like the song, I think I even love it. I like the melody and the atmosphere. It doesn't sound quite as what I had in mind or as it sounded when playing and singing on the couch. But I still love it.

Lyrics: Yearning for your silence / Leave the hairy violent home / On the road I'm dead, I / Bite my nails and head for Rome / I still hear the ringing / Telephones are singing songs / Night is bringing thrills and / Summer fragrance fills my lungs / I am still so weary / Feel alone and very old / Hear the television / Whispering magician's gold / Outer space or sea, it's / All the same to me today / Wake me with a kiss so / I can win the quiz and pay

Prayer and Soft Rock or a Kind of Gig-Evaluation

Song: Prayer

Log: This one was taped rather quickly, using Audacity and Tascam 488 MKII as a mixer if I remember correctly, just before taping 'Risk Unspecified'. It's short and nice if you ask me.

By the way, the gig was 'great'. My hands were shaking but the audience was pleased. Our drummer needs a beer infusion on stage next time. If he ever gets it I want an audiologist to tour along with us and a 90 decibel limit on stage and before the stage. Let's be the first band that rocks softly.

Lyrics: Will you be with me forever / I can't live without your blood / Will you give yourself forever / I want you to be my God!

Recorder Frenzy and Neat Prog-pop: Rebel Clowns and Rebel Semi-gods & Desultory Speech-machine

Songs: Rebel Clowns and Rebel Semi-gods & Desultory Speech-machine

Log: RC&RSG was a desperate attempt to use the recorder in a recording. It was finished on the 4th of April.
I made Desultory Speech-machine today and yesterday. It was a lot of work, but I'm not really satisfied - I think the vocal style is a bit overdone.

Lyrics: Rebel Clowns and Rebel Semi-gods:

I see the stars / The evil wars / Schemes of self-destruct / Reluctantly I take your hand / 'cause you are God / You blow my mind / With the way that you still love / Your rebel clowns and rebel semi-gods / You break my heart / Just like I asked you to / But I'm holding on / To all that isn't true / Show me your eyes / In the beggar-junkies' lies / The fierce innocence / Of a homeless child

Desultory Speech-machine:

Detribalized and detoxed / I am young, I am boxed / A diskette with a lost code in mint condition / They have asked me to win /And I know where to begin / I will feel every starburst through competition / Have I told you that the crowds are lost and they must be entertained at any cost and they must wear / Blindfolds, so they won't see / The blood of their brothers and sisters and children and mothers and fathers and others / Remarkably rearranged / I am old, I have changed / A dispute without warning or superstotion / They have pushed me up the stage / In a colorific cage / I'll be free from every thread of wrong ambition

Het optreden op 5 mei: de setlist en nieuws

De setlist van 5 mei, de Lawei te Drachten (13.00-14.00 uur, gratis!):

* Little Fly (klassieker; zeurderig liedje over het doden van een vlieg)
* A Farmer's Son (enthousiaste, bluesy, melodieuze en swingende ode aan de besluiteloosheid; Hendrix-invloeden)
* One Heck of a Lot (één van de eerste liedjes die ik schreef; poppy en stoer, klinkt als een kruising tussen de vroege Bryan Adams en Hendrix)
* Indian Girl (betoverende zwijmelhit over Pocahontas)
* Your Good-Times Novelette (logge britpop met gepassioneerd apathische zang)
* She Leaves, She Opens the Window (lyrische, intense ballad met tokkelgitaar en lijzige zang met lang aangehouden noten)
* Botherbugger (poppy en raar; pet-shop-boys-achtige zang in de coupletten; op holgeslagen gospelfunk in 'r refrein)
* Johnny Go to the Loo (punk met een knipoog naar het middelbaar onderwijs)
* Filling Out Coordinates (alt.country hit)
* The Final Flattening of Proudheart Hill (verpletterende gitaarballad over lijden en vergelding)
* I Need Your Love in Dangerland (dampende, melodieuze pop-rock)
* Beyond the Age of 8-bit Computers (kort, melodieus met typische staccato-baspartij)
* Blame it on the Amalgam (tikkeltje jazzy en gestoorde rock)

en als toetje:

* You Belong to Me (swingende gitaarriffs, zang knipoogt naar Eric Clapton)
* The Blood Dried Up (het ultieme beatlesesque swingende gitaarpopliedje over de effecten van de liefde op het darmenstelsel)

Sicco, Gerben en ik hebben ondertussen op maandag 9 april voor de eerste keer geoefend voor het optreden. Arme student als ik ben heb ik alleen maar waardeloze rotzooi, dus gelukkig mocht ik in Sicco's muziekwinkel gitaren en spullen uitzoeken. Gerben kwam helemaal uit Zeeland die dag. Sicco en Gerben hadden elkaar al zo'n 2 jaar niet meer gezien en waren bij het weerzien als twee jonge honden die dolblij tegen elkaar opspringen.
Bij Sicco thuis in de geluidsdichte ruimte van zijn muziekschool hebben we van de namiddag tot een uur of half tien in ieder geval het hele repertoire kunnen doornemen. 's Avonds haalde Mieke chinees, wat best erg lekker was, op één bakje na dat gevuld was met een vlezige substantie die rook naar de bacterieregen van een niesbui van een vreselijk zieke verkouden hond.
Tijdens het oefenen sloeg af en toe de meligheid behoorlijk toe, wat de sfeer natuurlijk slechts ten goede kwam. Gerben stond af en toe zo wulps te swingen dat ik mijn stembanden bijna niet meer onder controle kon houden.
We zullen zeker nog twee keer moeten oefenen, en met de krappe agenda van Gerben en mijn kaakoperatie er tussendoor wordt dat wat lastig.

De set is echt een hele mooie, chronologisch opgebouwd, van 1995 tot nu. Er zit van alles tussen, van een lange lyrische ballad ('She Leaves, She Opens the Window') tot nog geen anderhalve minuut durende pretpunk ('Johnny Go to the Loo').

We schijnen buiten te spelen. Wellicht is er aardig wat volk op de been. Wij hebben er wel zin in. Laat de Canadezen maar komen!

Meite U treedt op in de Lawei Drachten van 13 tot 14 u. op bevrijdingsdag!!!

5 mei aanstaande speel ik op het bevrijdingsfestival in de Lawei in Drachten, 's middags van 13.00 tot 14.00 uur in de foyer. De andere artiesten zijn Armand (van 'Ben ik te min') en Ernst Langhout. Blijkbaar is mijn status ondertussen mythisch genoeg om tussen dergelijke oudgedienden mijn opwachting te maken. Wij (zie onder) zijn de openingsact; Ernst Langhout speelt geloof ik van 14.30 tot 15.30 uur en Armand van 16.00 tot 17.00.

De legendarische drummer Sicco Kloosterman is reeds bereid gevonden om zijn medewerking te verlenen. Ook de al evenzeer legendarische Gerben Duisterwinkel heeft verklaard zijn bas tijdens dit evenement te willen beroeren. Daarmee is de complete line-up van het oude Porcupine aanwezig!

De organisator van het festival, de legendarische Teunis Spits, vroeg mij om 'singer-songwriter dingetjes' te doen. Ik ben van plan klassiekers als 'Indian Girl' of zelfs 'Little Fly' te gaan spelen, en nummers uit mijn 'kale periode' zoals de britpop-kraker 'Your Good Times-Novelette'; maar natuurlijk ook de nieuwere nummers die op dit weblog verschenen zijn. Wij zullen op verschillende momenten van de set waarschijnlijk ook een weinig rocken.

KOMT ALLEN! Het festival is gratis en met een beetje geluk regent het de hele dag op 5 mei, zodat je echt geen alibi meer hebt om niet te komen.

Heavy Revealing Weirdness: 'Risk Unspecified'

Song: Risk Unspecified

Session Date: March the 5th-6th 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII; PC with Audacity using Tascam as mixer; Behringer C-1 condensator mic; semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Epiphone EP-10 amplifier; Johnson DEQ2 distortion pedal; Squier strat; Squier bass; eggs, shaker, Yamaha RY-10 drumcomputer

Log: I finally did some ping-pong-recording on the Tascam. Played a Squier over a cheap amp using a distortion pedal; put the C-1 (condensator mic) in front of the amp. Jammed a bit and knocked some riffs together. Played a couple of guitar tracks. The bass: same recipe, heavily distorted. Added the RY-10 drumcomputer - as always played manually - through the amp as well. By this time I recorded these six tracks to the last two tracks of the Tascam, track 7 and 8. This way I could reuse track 1 to 6. Added some percussion; eggs, shaker. . Wrote down some lyrics and sang a couple of tracks. There was some jamming at the end of the track. Now I transported the whole thing to PC, using Audacity. There I continued: I added some singing to the last part of the jam at the end of the track. I also took some sound fragments and added them at strategic places. I've developed a fascination for reverse sounds so I use some in this song as well. The russian sounding guy is me reading my own prose. I finally wrote some more lyrics for the jam at the end and did the vocals.
For the final mp3 I export all tracks to one wav file, use limiter and compressor on this wav and then export it as an mp3. That's the way I work usually.
Of course, I've still left out numerous details like panning and stuff.

Lyrics: I've encountered dangers / I can't specify / Flew right through a black hole / Thought that I would die / Oh, what's this journey got for me? / Oh, I dive and I float low / Search for the merry mind I once owned / I wanna give my life to you / ..... / You build your temple inside / Of my heart / And I start / To see the things that you hide / From the ones that refuse / To be used / By their maker / And accuse and excuse / I wanna give my life to you / May my old double mind be ruined

Music vid for 'Goal-miss-bearer'

I made a music vid to 'Goal-miss-bearer'! Click the 'play' button and enjoy.

Jamming Along: 'Driving West'

Song: Driving West

Session Date: Saturday the 3th of March 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer; PC with Audacity; Behringer C-1; semi SM-58 mic

Music Gear: Takamine Spanish guitar with steel strings; eggs; shaker; Squier bass

Log: Jamming along.

Lyrics: And as wild as I go / I want to show you, oh, that I matter! / And I'm a child moving slow / I love to fantasize in bad weather / I am the bridge that controls / The traffic driving west to the city / I hear the thunderclouds roll / But I sing my wee little diddy

Dreaming Away with Background Schlagers: 'Let's End This Conversation'

Song: Let's End This Conversation

Session Date: Saturday the 3th of march 2007

Recording Gear: Tascam 488 MKII used as a mixer; PC with Audacity; Behringer C-1 condensator mic

Music Gear: Takamine Spanish guitar with steel strings

Log: My neighbours are radio-pirates. On Saturdays, I hear a huge hum on my equipment and the kind of music that is supposed to cheer you up but makes you wanna throw up. Nevertheless, I managed to record a song.

Lyrics: Let's end this conversation, dear / It is leading to nowhere / I feel that there is bitterness / In my heart and I just don't care / I wish I could change into /A royal frog and kiss your lips / I wish that I could look into / Your weary eyes and touch / Your fingertips