Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

thoughts

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I’m one of those people that always whines about needless clutter on albums; does that piano really make sense there? Did they really need another backing vocalist? But, at the same time i wince when i hear extra goodies piled on for what seems to be just the sake of piling them on, i do appreciate when some spare instrumentation is used to really bring out the flavor of a track. I feel myself stuck somewhere inbetween … i can justify everything on “Under My Skin” as being warranted, but some of the fooling we did with “Never Say Goodbye” just feel like clutter on a good arrangement. What did i always envision for that song? Backing vocals, sure, but randomly strewn throughout the verses, or just on the chorus? And, is a piano totally unacceptable? At this point, of the two i’d say the piano fits better with the track … all i did tonight was decide what to keep from the vocals and piano – i’ll ultimately decide if either one gets used tomorrow.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/03/2868008/

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The awful part of this situation is that it’s all the fault of our own stupidity for not having a second tape ready to be seuged up to the exact second we needed, so now we have to do it the idiot’s way. Ugh. This is why, ultimately, i am meant to be a recording artist and not a recording engineer. Also, the more digital, the better, that’s what i say.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/03/2860902/

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One thing i’ve started to notice after relistening to both of my previous demos as well as the 7-hours of audio i’ve got lying around on my computer is that my songs always lack momentum when i first play them. Sure, i’ve established a rhythm, but i’m more concerned with singing the melody well for the first time that i am with finding the frenetic pace that suits the song the best, and it shows: “Bridge,” “Deadweight,” “Under My Skin,” & “Lost” are all noticeably lacking in momentum in their early recordings. However, what they do clearly possess is a sort of naive take on the melody of the song that i can never retrieve; certain inflections become locked in after the early performances of the song, but if you catch one of the early ones you catch what my first songwriter instincts were before ease of performance and repetition takes over. The question is: which one is more desirable? Is the naive melody just me figuring out where a song needs to go, or is the gaining of momentum just my tendency to race faster and faster as i get more comfortable? Maybe there’s some sort of middle ground where a song should be recorded for posterity; even slow songs like “Crashing” have picked up several beats per minute since first recorded, and i’m not sure if i can slow them down enough for this record. [for proof of this momentum stuff, listen to a Trio with “Lost” in it, and then go listen to “Lost” at AMkitchen. Trust me, i’m not imagining it…]

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/03/2857422/

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Ugh, the insides of my legs and my poor abused collar-bone hurt like hell, and i’m not entirely sure if it was the fault of our mad late-nite bowling excursion, or of my extended hours as a singer-songwriter today. Either way: OUCH!

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/03/2851333/

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Damn, that post took about as long to get right as “Under My Skin” did today. Obviously my brain is fried… or perhaps we tripped my “perfectionist” switch at some point today. If that’s the case, someone really ought to turn it off. (postscript: Of course, in classic fashion, none of the changes i made to the post are there anymore, and i’m not making them all over again. So much for that perfectionist theory…)

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/03/2851180/