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i discovered the SHOW US YOUR JUNK! series on the EARTHQUAKER DEVICES youtube channel a few months back and what it does a great job of presenting is the gear used by musicians and producers in their studio setups.
obviously EARTHQUAKER DEVICES is a company and yes, their pedals are mentioned along with those of their "competitors," but what you learn very quickly is that the equipment on display is merely a canvas and that these producers, many of them prominent musicians from bands like SONIC YOUTH, DEVO, CONVERGE and DEERHOOF are the artists that contextualize these sonic textures in tapestry unique to their sound and aesthetic. if anything, the pedals here are useful in that they help bridge the gap between conception and execution. they are essentially a tool. but i have to say, there is equal if not vastly more time dedicated to non-EARTHQUAKER items in this series. just saying. much like RIG RUNDOWN goes after the gear setup of a touring musician, SHOW US YOUR JUNK! is dedicated to the recording setup, which in my opinion is far more interesting having spent time around my cousin who is a recording engineer in our former studio at the KREISCHER MANSION. everyone has their own technique and philosophy regarding what makes a compelling sound, which is a topic of endless fascination for me. how does the producer engage with the artist and bring about their creativity. what microphones, preamps, boards do they tend to use? what is the room ambience like at their studio? for me this series is a great introduction to what makes each of these producers tick, which only makes me dive back into their production discographies that much harder. maybe even make a radio show or two about them (cough, cough, KURT BALLOU and STEVE ALBINI, cough, shameless plug). by all means check them out below or watch the rest HERE. 
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THE SMART STUDIOS STORY (CONEY ISLAND STUDIOS, 2016) is documentary about the outwardly unassuming yet highly influential recording studio in MADISON, WISCONSIN, that was founded and run by STEVE MARKER and BUTCH VIG. the creation of the studio was at an interesting inflection point in american culture as there was a definite influx of underground HARDCORE and INDIE ROCK bands that were supported in earnest by college radio and a nationwide network of bars, VFW halls and small clubs not to mention independent promoters and independent record labels and record stores. what connected all these stakeholders in the scene was a sense of self-reliance and DIY ETHIC. maybe its simplistic to say that the puritan ethic of the midwest played a role in this community, but essentially this mindset led to an era of experimentation in music that was free of financial considerations, because none of this was supposed to go commercial. given that VIG was a musician (drummer in local bad SPOONER with future GARBAGE collaborator DOUG ERIKSON) he also had the added benefit of being able to listen and suss out the needs of a band, how to bring out their sound in a fun, experimental atmosphere. he was also able to know firsthand what worked and didn't work from a musician's perspective in "professional" studios. i think his versatility is underrated and part of his work ethic and gets lost in the shuffle when success for his production duties gained global notoriety.
enter NIRVANA and THE SMASHING PUMPKINS, the two bands whose albums NEVERMIND (DGC, 1991) and SIAMESE DREAM (VIRGIN, 1993) altered the landscape for VIG and the underground scene seemingly overnight with the inception of a financially viable ALTERNATIVE ROCK scene that was supported by commercial radio, promoters and the commercial infrastructure of corporate AMERICA. this allowed VIG freedom in choosing projects since SMART STUDIOS was now a destination studio and his services a known commodity. i think given that sea change it is to his credit that VIG along with MARKER and ERIKSON expanded their craft by utilizing technology and incorporating new techniques in their band GARBAGE. for me their incorporation of HIP HOP and ELECTRONICA elements into a new hybrid style are one of the defining sounds of the 1990s. the fusion of such is only that much more impressive given the cultural impact of his celebrated yet sonically more straightforward catalogue of ALTERNATIVE ROCK production work. its ironic that this embrace of technology is also what brought down the studio, as digital recording software on personal computers made this DIY ETHIC spread to a new prosumer base of musicians. the time had come to move on. my takeaway from this documentary is that good music can come from anywhere, no matter how far off the beaten path. SEATTLE, MINNEAPOLIS, PORTLAND. in this case WISCONSIN. innovation is a personal pursuit and must be met on its own merits. in many ways BUTCH VIG's career as an established producer was entirely a fluke of circumstance. on the other hand he was talented and was prepared to take advantage of opportunities when presented. makes me wonder what other crevices of the UNITED STATES or even the golbal scene have i not considered researching. where should i look next? because i'm always searching. 
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in his incredible memoir WORDS WITHOUT MUSIC (LIVERIGHT, 2015), composer PHILIP GLASS looks back at a life and career filled with music and attempts to make sense of it. now i wish to say straight off that this is one of the most thoughtful, erudite memoirs i have read in recent memory and that likely i will be returning to it in the future when i feel the need to think about the origins of the wellspring of inspiration and creativity. it goes without saying that this book is a must-read whether or not you appreciate 20th CENTURY COMPOSERS or classical music in general. just wanted to get that out of the way right at the beginning.
for me distinguishes GLASS throughout his memoir is both his intense discipline and his equally ravenous need to experience and understand cultures and musical traditions outside of his own. having left BALTIMORE to attend the UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO as a teen and then pursue composition at THE JULIARD SCHOOL, only to further refine his skills for two years with celebrated tutor NADIA BOULANGER on a FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP in PARIS, GLASS took his studies seriously and pursued them with dedication and passion. just as equally he followed his passion for musical traditions outside his comfort zone, especially INDIAN music (for which he took more than 20 trips throughout his life) as well as indigenous traditions in SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, BRASIL, MEXICO and the ROMA populations of EUROPE. for him, projects were an opportunity to further develop his ability to appreciate and understand unfamiliar traditions that potentially he could incorporate their technical innovations into his compositions. for me, it is this capacity that makes his work special, even if it may be hard to decode on a layman level. being a former ENGLISH teacher, there were capacities in my students i would have to build up, but ultimately the point of such was for them to utilize these new tools to find and articulate unique insights. GLASS talks about this edge of understanding is where innovation lies and i could not agree more. his compositions, like my classrooms, were spaces for pushing limits of understanding, even looking foolish in the process. my thought was always that if i did the same thing over and over again, that there is no progression, just brute repetition with no purpose. putting discipline to use only further opens us up to new understandings, or in his case, compelling musical landscapes hitherto unearthed and unexplored. i also appreciate his description of being in the creative moment. that the person who creates is not witness to their own creative process. GLASS would have people ask him why he put a note in a certain place or why he chose a certain tempo, and in all honesty he couldn't respond. this is since despite his great knowledge of musical composition and a variety of world traditions, when in that creative moment he is just responding on instinct. i found that compelling not only as an accurate description of my own experience when writing, but also as an interesting notion to put in a memoir concerning one of the most celebrated and dissected composers of the modern age. to take back music to an experiential phenomena as opposed to that which is academic and laborious studied ad nauseam is refreshing. just like the act of creation, when a listener hears music they are completing the process, the cycle. there is one passage in the memoir when GLASS asks a student what is in book of compositions. the student responded with "music." "wrong" he states, "its dotted lines on a paper." music is interpreted and created anew by musicians and composers who work in tandem with the audience to experience a composition. there is no ideal, platonic version of a piece of music. it is continually being reinterpreted. and for me that is what i love about music, art and literature. its fluidity of meaning given the context of time, geography and culture of its audience. again, i will return to this book in the future. could not recommend it anymore fervently. 
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check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO dedicated to the iconic SEATTLE ALTERNATIVE ROCK band ALICE IN CHAINS, a favorite of mine since childhood.
​ ​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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watch the latest streaming episode HERE of MAKE HER SPACE on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC as JEN chats with ALY STOFFO about GARDENING, SUSTAINABILITY and STATEN ISLAND!
​past episodes of MAKE HER SPACE as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like DEER GOD RADIO, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. ​and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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i can admit it.
KYLIE MINOGUE's FEVER album was legit great. like sneaky amazing. just wanted to remind everyone of that. can't say the same for her cheesy collaboration with ROBBIE WILLIAMS or her entire 1980s output, but FEVER was absolutely on point. just sayin. worth checking out again. 
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one reason i love having a radio show is that it gives me an excuse to investigate unfamiliar music genres really take a deep dive. not being from NEW YORK and having most of my musical education take place outside the country, NYHC was something i was tangentially aware of given the influence of the scene on other bands (BEASTIE BOYS, RANCID, METALCORE groups). around the time of the airing of this episode i had finished TONY RETTMAN's book (review linked HERE) on the subject NEW YORK HARDCORE 1980-90 (BAZILLION POINTS, 2014), which i highly recommend.
full disclosure: i am an admire of the NYHC scene from afar but by no means am i an expert or a participant. if you are looking for that, i highly suggest you seek out the WORLD ENRAGE SHOW on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC and specifically the memorable EPISODE with special guest LOU of SICK OF IT ALL. i had fun doing the show and the prep work for it. enjoy. 
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for some reason out of all the falls from grace that have occurred over the years during the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, the recent late-JULY photo opportunity with legendary NEW YORK YANKEES pitcher MARIANO RIVERA really hit me hard. yes i am a YANKEES fan, but this goes so far beyond that.
when i was living in VENEZUELA, i brought with me a pinstriped, nameless (as is the tradition), home YANKEES jersey emblazoned with the number 42. baseball is a religion in VENEZUELA and they are fanatical about it like the rest of the continent is about futbol. even though RIVERA was from PANAMA, VENEZUELANS took pride that a LATIN AMERICAN pitcher was so dominant on such a big stage. to say the guy was respected is putting it lightly, he was more folk hero. i remember when RIVERA was set to retire. unlike his equally legendary teammate DEREK JETER, who made his announcement before his last season and thereby was showered with praise and gifts at every game (yes, even BOSTON), RIVERA opted to avoid such an award tour and if my memory serves me correctly made that decision before the all-star game of his final season (roughly the midway point). rather than meeting with owners and media members at each stop, it was reported at the time that RIVERA sought out the people that worked at the stadiums like the janitors and food prep workers. he met with these people and thanked them individually by name for their years of service making the game possible. he did this away from the cameras and the media. reports were that he made lots of people cry. just the thought of having an unskilled, under-appreciated worker being thanked for doing a thankless job for many, many years by arguably the greatest pitcher of all-time on his final visit to their stadium... i mean how could you not love the guy. MARIANO RIVERA was my favorite YANKEE and arguably one of my favorite athletes ever partly because of such undisclosed efforts and charitable work. and now to learn that he supports TRUMP, someone who has done such damage to the rich fabric of AMERICAN SOCIETY, including LATIN AMERICANS. it just sucks. it really does. ugh. maybe PEDRO MARTINEZ really wasn't that bad after all. 
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R.E.M. BY MTV (VIACOM, 2014) is a pretty straightforward documentary cobbled together from, you guessed it, archival interview and performance footage of the band on MTV from throughout their career. the result of which is a surprisingly intimate narrative that for the most part is told in first-person from the band's perspective, as well as a sprinkling of record producers, record executives and the like.
the value of this documentary for me had nothing to do with their biography (of which i will spare you any plot summary), but rather the mysterious alchemy that was their songwriting process and how it was affected over time by external factors. in a sense their process was very pure as their was a communal ethic to their process. each brought in material and as a group they would mold it into shape. importantly this was concept was buttressed by the business decision to split publishing royalties evenly, which might sound like a boring detail but you'd be surprised how many bands have fallen by the wayside due to this important decision. over their career there was a sense of group ownership of their material which only deepened their trust in each other as financial incentives were not an issue. when i think of guitarist PETER BUCK and his sound it very much reminds me of what JOHNNY MARR termed in his memoir as a "anti-Rockist" approach. like MARR, he tends to have a RICKENBACKER sound that can be at times clean and precise in an almost traditional FOLK sense and then impressionistic with suspended chords drenched in reverb. with R.E.M. there is a definite contrarian streak throughout their career and BUCK's guitar approach reflects such. his use of mandolin on OUT OF TIME (WARNER BROS, 1991) and the incorporation of sounds based in electronic music on later albums in the wake of drummer BILL BERRY's departure being prime examples. fundamentally his work, along with the rhythm section sets the tone that singer MICHAEL STIPE reacts to in his lyrics and vocal approach. obviously STIPE is an iconic and celebrated singer who both popularized the COLLEGE ROCK / INDIE ROCK of the 1980s as well as helped usher in and very much participated in the ALTERNATIVE ROCK explosion of the 1990s. but to consider what it was he actually contributed is much harder to discern. its almost like the HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE in that the closer you look, the more you are missing the point. taking his cue from the impressionistic sound of his band, there is an intuitiveness to his lyrics and voice. he almost seems to revel in ambiguity, especially early in his career. songs were more about presenting an emotion rather than delivering an idea. the fact that songs are gender neutral only adds to this ambiguity. only after their initial run of albums did he alter slightly his approach to address the bigger crowds at their shows. what interests me about STIPE's career is how his writing and stage persona tackled this problem while maintaining his credibility. given his greater platform and the vapidness and skullduggery of dealing with the press, he consciously addressed issues he was passionate about including AIDS awareness, animal rights, gun legislation, LGBTQIA issues, etc. maybe this was influenced by his allies in PATTI SMITH, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, ADAM YAUCH, EDDIE VEDDER and KURT COBAIN, all who similarly fearlessly addressed such matters without fear of blowback, almost inviting it. some find this kind of outspokenness pretentious. some find STIPE's opaque lyrics in general pompous as well. as immortally stated in SPINAL TAP, "its a fine line between stupid... and uh, clever." luckily despite such external pressures, STIPE is the type that of artist that has a strong sense of self and follows his own trajectory. and for me that sense of purpose is the legacy of R.E.M. even years now after their breakup. they are a great example of not compromising artistically and being commercially viable. and that art vs. commerce balance is quite the tight-rope act. just the idea of listening to yourself is empowering. thats what i take from R.E.M. 
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THE ROAD TO UNFREEDOM: RUSSIA, EUROPE, AMERICA (TIM DUGGAN BOOKS, 2018) by YALE HISTORY PROFESSOR and celebrated writer of ON TYRANNY (review linked HERE), TIMOTHY SNYDER is without doubt one of the most consequential and depressing books I have ever read. at its core it deals with the philosophical underpinnings that have guided the development and exportation of the concept of UNREALITY as a weapon by the RUSSIAN government on their geopolitical foes the EUROPEAN UNION and the UNITED STATES.
the two main concepts SNYDER utilizes to explain this scenario are the politics of both INEVITABILITY and ETERNITY. essentially the post-WWII period has seen the UNITED STATES believe implicitly that market capitalism leads to institutions that secure democracy. this belief was beyond reproach and essentially gospel to which resulted in the assumption that such was inevitable. provide new markets and the corresponding political infrastructure will organically appear given time, it was inevitable. the politics of inevitability basically follow a narrative that a nation tells itself about how it got to where it is, that "the future is just more of the present, that the laws of progress are known, that there are no alternatives, and therefore nothing really to be done" according to SNYDER. VLADIMIR PUTIN and basically all totalitarian dictators deal with the politics of eternity, where "eternity places one nation at the centre of a cyclical story of victimhood. Time is no longer a line into the future, but a circle that endlessly returns the same threats from the past." in this situation there is no history. icons and events of the past are merely collapsed into the present at the behest of the leader. the body politic is infallible and pure, all problems are the result of foreign influence. this is book is basically the history of how PUTIN took his particular brand of RUSSIAN politics of eternity based on the writings of IVAN ILYIN and imposed them first on his people before testing it on the UKRAINE and later WESTERN EUROPE and the UNITED STATES. for me the most captivating takeaway of this book is just the brazen disregard for factuality in the lies RUSSIAN propagated worldwide during their invasion of UKRAINE. its dizzying to keep up with them which is essentially the point. the success of the RUSSIAN media echo chamber to define the situation to such an extent that foreign journalists from both the left (THE NATION, THE GUARDIAN) and the extreme right (FRENCH NATIONAL FRONT) bought in is truly devastating. the truth is that the UKRAINE was a democratically-elected sovereign nation that was seeking entry into the EUROPEAN UNION as a way of modernizing its infrastructure and ridding its body politic of corruption, but RUSSIA was able to convince governments and though-leaders worldwide that this was a regional civil war. domestically there was the lie that broadcast on state media that they were fighting fascism, when in fact they were fighting on behalf of a fascist. that UKRAINE wasn't a nation but part of a mythological NOVOROSSIYA, a "NEW RUSSIA. that foreigners were behind the deaths of RUSSIAN children and sought to promote their decadent values on the RUSSIAN populace. the weaponization of a fictional UNREALITY was later used in AUSTRIA, HUNGARY, FRANCE and ITALY to varying degrees but found its next prime target in the BREXIT referendum. it is still ironic that regions in the UNITED KINGDOM that garnered the most financial assistance from EUROPEAN UNION were the ones that voted to leave it, but that is the power of cyber-warfare and the creation of narratives to people that don't know their own history. its tragic. the weakening of the EUROPEAN UNION is a continuing geopolitical goal of RUSSIA and the UNITED KINGDOM played right into it. which bring us to TRUMP and the 2016 election. the story from here on out is familiar to anyone that paid attention to the MUELLER REPORT, but again what interested me was how this idea of promoting UNREALITY worked so well. that sense of purity and eternal victimhood played seamlessly into the conservative GOP worldview in the wake of a GLOBALIZED ECONOMY. it almost worked too well relative to other countries. our "exceptionalism" being defined by our own hubris at believing our own hype. and our collective gullibility in a weakened, corporate, un-diversified media culture that has been overturned by FACEBOOK and its lack of editorial principles. essentially in both form and function, our collective experience as AMERICANS has devolved more and more to the level of RUSSIA each of the past three years since TRUMP came to office. white rural TRUMP voters are okay with shorter, worse lives given that a minority somewhere in he country has it worse. its a shame what he has achieved by stoking AMERICA's unchecked legacies regarding inequality and racism. and speaking of which, this book puts the anti-historical and anti-science histrionics and narrative manipulations of TRUMP into a useful, comprehendible context. i recommend his book whole-heartedly as a must-read for any concerned citizen of western civilization. my hope is that it isn't too late and that we vote the bastard out. please vote. 
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click HERE for another episode of THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC where Reed and Vince are again live from Vince's studio in BROOKLYN to present another playlist of electronic music on their 59TH SHOW, the last one in JULY 2020!
as always, you can access all past episodes of THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW via the DEER GOD website as well as those of MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, DEER GOD RADIO and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG. ​and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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click HERE for NUTMEG's latest streaming CLASSICAL-ISH radio show under quarantine on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC where she presents a "world of contemporary Persian classical composers. I’m really enjoying Peyman Yazdanian among others. I’ll be broadcasting at home and lo-fi, eeking out something from my beater laptop but it’ll be cool."
and don't forget that you can also access other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and DEER GOD RADIO here at our website. ​and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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ACID DAD was one of the standout bands the we came across during the filming of our live performance series OFF THE M at NYC independent venues MARKET HOTEL and TRANS-PECOS back in late 2018/early 2019.
their is a sense of deja-vu when listening to modern ROCK N ROLL bands in general, where you can identify immediately what era or vibe they are going after, which only contributes to the sense that you've heard all before probably better. not with ACID DAD. when i listen songs like "Child," "2ci" and "Marine" i am transported. not really sure where, but it feels like when i first discovered films by DEREK JARMAN, GREGG ARAKI or PIER PAOLO PASOLINI in high school. its a world i want to return to as soon as i can. they are an INDIE ROCK group with a definite sense of melody and song-craft while maintaining an edge. like the first time i heard NIRVANA, i wasn't sure what the lyrics were about per se, but i knew they were genuine and authentic. ACID DAD's 2018 self-titled release on GREENWAY RECORDS is one of my favorite records in recent years. definitely can't wait to see what they produce next. 
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i was thinking the other day about how music serves as a soundtrack to your life and how certain artists literally follow you around.
for me that band is MASTODON. LEVIATHAN (RELAPSE, 2004) i was first became aware of MASTODON in college when they were out touring their album LEVIATHAN. the album was a loose reimagining of HERMAN MELVILLE's MOBY DICK along the lines of a touring band following their dream but wishing for the comforts of home. as an ENGLISH major, how could i not love a band interested in literature? i wrote term papers to that album. CRACK THE SKYE (REPRISE/SIRE/RELAPSE, 2009) i remember listening to CRACK THE SKYE while going through the months-long process of applying for PEACE CORPS when i was living and working as a long-term-substitute teacher at STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL in NYC. when i learned that i was accepted and i had a departure date (country to specified later), i immediately thought i may be going to the UKRAINE. so given this album's RUSSIAN monarchy theme, it was only too perfect as a soundtrack to my reading of ROBERT K. MASSIE's epic NICHOLAS AND ALAEXANDRIA book centered around the doomed TSAR NICHOLAS II and his family. the sound of it fit perfectly. plus i got to see them tour this album at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN on their tour with ALICE IN CHAINS and DEFTONES. i had floor tickets. beyond sweet. THE HUNTER (REPRISE, 2011) turns out i was assigned ALBANIA, not UKRAINE, and I was in the remote mountainous northern region of KUKES on the border with KOSOVO when THE HUNTER came out. for me this album recalls cold trips through serene mountain passages along dirt roads in the ALBANIAN ALPS where our ride would stop to allow wolf packs to cross the road. just epic. i hear it and i can still smell that mountain air. ONCE MORE AROUND THE SUN (REPRISE, 2014) somewhere between LAKE TITICACA and the AREQUIPA DESERT in PERU i was able to obtain this album by dubious methods when it released. before getting it i had just seen the SACRED VALLEY, MACHU PICCHU and COLCA CANYON with its centuries-old fields scalloped into the mountains with running streams below and hovering condors dotting the sky overhead. when i heard the album the first time i was going through the AREQUIPA DESERT (driest in the world) with severely chapped lips counting the vicunas wandering afoot untouched in the distance. the album fit the vibe of that country perfectly. EMPEROR OF SAND (REPRISE, 2017) i streamed this via youtube when it first released as i was en route to HA LONG BAY from HANOI during a trip through VIETNAM. when i hear it i think of ungodly traffic and dusty BUDDHIST temples carved into rock on elevated vistas. what a gorgeous country. MASTODON is an epic group and i feel fortunate that I got to experience their past few albums while in some pretty incredible places that more than lived up to the scale and scope of their music. i am definitely looking forward to their new release (whenever that is) which will most likely take place from an equally compelling locale: my car while driving down the GARDEN STATE PARKWAY. enjoy this DEER GOD RADIO episode on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC from a few months back pre-PANDEMIC dedicated to MASTODON. 
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when i discovered the band FAILURE in the 2000s when i was in college, years after their demise, i could not believe that i completely missed out on such a great band during their heyday. it made me reconsider my MOUNT RUSHMORE of great bands from that ALTERNATIVE ROCK era (JANE'S ADDICTION, FAITH NO MORE, TOOL, ALICE IN CHAINS, NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN, etc) to include one more. specifically the sounds found on their respective second and third releases, MAGNIFIED (SLASH, 1994) and FANTASTIC PLANET (SLASH, 1996) are HUUUUUUGGGGEEE.
almost PINK FLOYD-ish without the literary pretensions. just huge rock riffs with lots of space. in fact whenever i listen to their records now, even the releases post-reunion, i just feel like i am experiencing a defined space with lots of DEPTH and WEIGHT. its amazing that FAILURE mastermind KEN ANDREWS produced and mixed those records back in the 1990s. since their demise he has been an in-demand mixer that has worked with NINE INCH NAILS, PARAMORE, A DAY TO REMEMBER, TENACIOUS D, THE ICARUS LINE, JIMMY EAT WORLD, and M83 among others. started before the quarantine, he created a YOUTUBE channel where he goes over his mixing techniques and utilizes the FAILURE back catalogue as examples. even if you are not a musician or studio rat, just a fan of his band then this is a real treat. its next level that a dude that went the DIY route (even with regard to their stylized, futuristic music videos) was able to track and mix content that held up to professional standards of the time. its also cool to get a sense of his writing process, which is layered and methodical. if you haven't heard MAGNIFIED or FANTASTIC PLANET, please stop reading this and just go find a comfortable place and zone out on SPOTIFY for the next two hours. you can thank me later. 
thank you to FAILURE for retweeting out posting! so cool. |
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