shaping some soundz

Slowly slipping into some kind of shape as far as the new sounds and songs are coming. Originally I had in mind to do a quite acoustic recording with the wooden twelve string and some bass xylophone ( kind of like a deep wooden Marimba sound but less tinny at the edge of the tuning). I was listening to some Harry Belafonte records which had this minimalist instrumentation and vocals recorded with great mics in big rooms. I wanted more voices and vocals. Then I started to rehearse the songs with Clare Moore and then Stu Thomas and then with Stu Perera. The more the whole band pitched in it got stronger. Turns out we might be doing a twin guitar , drums, bass, rock album. My kinds of songs though. Plenty of jazz styled voices and inversions in the chords. Might do two versions of a couple of songs as they could benefit from a different instrumentation and tempo. I’ve also been experimenting with electric twelve string guitar on these band sessions. A friend in Mt Gambier handed me an IBANEZ ARTIST series 12 from the late 70s or early 80s. He said I was to "take it away and have fun with it". ( I interpreted this as loaning it for a while). It weighs as much as a bass and the tuning is volatile ( going both sharp and flat at will on a couple of strings) but the SOUND is BIG. Like a Les Paul twelve. Played it at a couple of gigs and it sits so well with Stus Rickenbacker six. I had to keep tuning it though and , personally, I can’t stand to see musicians constantly staring at their tuners during and after every song in a performance. So I searched for a more reliable twelve electric and got myself one. An OLP. Its like having a Telecaster style 12 and it holds the tuning. We are starting to play a lot of these new sounds and songs live and I am really excited about it. When you perform songs live it seems to require an intense focus and concentration that a hundred rehearsals could not give you. It burns the arrangements into your mind and you get used to the form and can afford to play around with points of stress and dynamics within the songs. I want to put the songs to tape after that.
Went to see Pavement play in melbourne and enjoyed the night immensely. I ran into a couple of them at an airport in Adelaide and we got talking. I also learned they were wanting the MOODISTS to play at ATP in Minehead in MAY 2010 but were told we weren’t really operating . Hey, someone could’ve asked!
I had both my twelve string guitars as they had been getting set up for me. I couldn't leave the one my friend lent me in the car so I carried it with me. Went to meet a friend in a Melbourne bar. (The Carlton Hotel in Bourke st) and the dumb bouncer told me to put in in the coat check area. There was not enough room to take your "baggage" into the pub. I debated the issue for a half a moment and then left to go to a more civilized joint. Security staff run the world . And they are as dumb as fuck! I carried my guitar with me to the gig. We joked that I could stand side of stage a la the final scene of Spinal Tap, waiting to be invited on for a jam......

Pavement are very nice people and the show was full of the kind of freaked guitar playing I really love. Gees, the percussionist talks a lot. Of. And why isn’t Stephen Malkmus dead centre stage? Just some thought! They are a real cast of definite characters. A strange group dynamic I hadn’t seen before. An event horizon, a promising void at the centre (created by Stephen Malkmus' ambivalence / avoidance toward it) that some members try to fill. People love the wilful irrationality of it all. Very post punk in all ways. All through the show, despite themselves, they got locked in a groove and it was great.Stephen Malkmus has charisma, great tone on his guitar and in his voice and lyrics. And great moves. Very loose and fluid. And thats for a fellow who is always painted as to be ultra white. Hell, as a unit, they have it. Or is that had it? Seeing as they're back together in a van for a year I guess thats more of the present tense.