Thing a Week 41: Seahorse I was thinking about how with…
Thing a Week 41: Seahorse
I was thinking about how with seahorses, the males are the ones who carry the fertilized eggs until they hatch. And then of course I started thinking of a sad seahorse, whose female had left him alone to care for the kids – AGAIN. I’m pretty sure this is not actually the way things really are for seahorses. But if it was, you know, this song would make sense.
I can’t believe we’re on Thing a Week V.
PRESENT DAY JOCO SAYS: Goink! Thing a Week V? Apparently I still hadn’t done the math to figure out the factors of 52. Ten is not a factor of 52, that’s sort of obvious. I guess I was just thinking that albums were ten songs long? Which they’re not. Who knows!
I keep reviewing the other blog posts chronologically close to the original Thing a Week one, and around here is where I can recognize the beginnings of me becoming too busy to blog properly. I was falling behind on everything, and it has stayed that way ever since. One of the first things to go was my ability to keep on top of things that people were sending me – stuff they made, stuff they noticed that was cool or stuff they found that was about me. Early on when I wasn’t getting much of these, I had the time to lavish attention on them in a way that they deserved. I still find it remarkable that anybody cares, and I still treasure every little drawing, video, story, half-pony half-monkey monster that comes across my radar. Unfortunately if I spent as much time studying and celebrating them as I wanted to, I would: 1) have no time to make music, and 2) be absorbed into my own ego so completely that the heat from my self-love would explode our solar system. Lately I’ve been so busy falling behind on things that I don’t even have the mind space for Twitter – TWITTER! Who doesn’t have time for Twitter?
But hey, listen to the mix on this song would you? Not too shabby. Drum loop that’s not too egregiously out of place, those lush vocals in the chorus (the patented JoCo doubled, hard-panned SPREAD (not actually patented, or mine)). What’s nice about it is that it hangs together as a whole really well – usually I can hear all the little individual parts sticking out, but this sounds pleasantly cohesive to me. Bassline in the verses: aces. Edie Brickell tremolo guitar in the left channel: you’re welcome. And my favorite, the little rush at the end of the chorus, which I think is a guitar strum run backwards.
The song is pretty. A fine melody, maybe not a lot of meat in the lyrics. I was consciously trying to write simply, to write Hemingway lyrics. I remember thinking it would be a challenge to use all one-syllable words. Of course by making this about a Seahorse, I failed out of the gate, but it was a nice guiding principle. And it’s sweet, if a little fluffy and inconsequential.
The bridge shares some DNA with the B-section of the verses from “I Crush Everything.” I can’t remember the precise details anymore, but I think I remember that line about the waves above going up and down trying to sneak its way into “Crush.” Or maybe it was the other way around? Either way, two songs about sad sea creatures:they’re bound to sound like siblings.
You can find more info on this song, a store where you can listen to everything, and also other stuff at jonathancoulton.com.
Many JoCo News Items
Hello fans of JoCo news item updates! Here are some for you.
Artificial Heart (the new record):
Waiting on the mastering folks right now, but it’s done from my end of things. Shooting for a release date roundabout the end of August/beginning of September, but waiting for a couple of last minute things to happen before I announce any actual date. I’m really excited about it – working with Flansburgh was fantastic fun and incredibly fruitful. I think you guys are going to like it.
I will be doing presales as soon as I can get that ready, most likely sometime in August. I’m working on a kinda sorta premium superfan pack that will contain a bunch of extra exclusive goodies. The CD packaging and all those extra goodies are being designed by friend, design genius, and crazy person Sam Potts (http://www.sampottsinc.com). It’s going to make for a very smart looking package of stuff. I’m not even going to call it a package of stuff, I’m going to call it an EXPERIENCE, because that’s what it is. More on this soon.
JoCo Cruise Crazy 2 (the new cruise):
We quietly launched our new Scarface-built booking site on June 17th and were immediately overwhelmed with bookings. The first 250 sold in a few hours, before we even had time to figure out what was going on and promote it to anyone. Soon after we sold through our inventory of cabins, and have been waiting for gears to turn and checks to clear so that we can get more inventory up and for sale. That is happening very soon. (I know we’ve been saying that for a while, but it has always felt true – all I can say is, we’re closer to it now than every before. Believe!)
Confirmed talent onboard includes me, Paul and Storm, John Hodgman, David Rees, Paul F. Tompkins, and MC Frontalot, with plenty more yet to be announced. It’s going to be a ton of fun. Watch our various blogs and twitter feeds for the announcement about when those new cabins will go on sale, and get yourself a seat PRONTO!
Touring (the new touring):
I’ll be doing a few of my own shows, as well as an awful lot of opening for They Might Be Giants over the next few months. A complete list follows, and details and tickets for all shows can be found on the shows page. Here are a couple of highlights for you, and then a list that nobody will care enough to read all the way through.
A Smaller Boat – on August 19th I’m playing a show on The Jewel, which is apparently a boat of some kind. It’s a band show, a rock cruise in the East River starring ME.
PAX Prime – it’s confirmed, I’ll be at PAX again this year the end of August, playing with the band. Wouldn’t it be great if I could sell you the new album that weekend? What a smart business thing that would be for me to have planned.
Dragon*Con – for the first time ever, I’ll be there. Please be gentle. On Friday the 2nd I’ll be with the band at my favorite Atlanta venue, the Variety Playhouse for the incredible ALBUM RELEASE PARTY, where history will be made. Paul and Storm will be there too. I’ll also be playing acoustically as part of a larger on campus evening show on Saturday night, plus a couple of panels and things. I will also slay a dragon.
Opening for They Might Be Giants – I’m a fan, you’re a fan, listen, these are going to all be great shows. July 29th at the Williamsburg Waterfront is a free show with me on acoustic. July 30th at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park is the same, except it isn’t free or in Williamsburg. The rest of the Giants shows in September and November will be band shows all. I hope you like rock.
Complete list of shows that involve me:
July 29 Brooklyn, NY – Williamsburg Waterfront with TMBG (acoustic, free show!) – http://bit.ly/join-us-brooklyn
July 30 Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony with TMBG (acoustic) – http://bit.ly/join-us-asbury-park
August 19 New York, NY – aboard The Jewel, under the stars on the East River (band) – http://tktwb.tw/qii5ci
August 26-28 Seattle, WA – PAX Prime, merch boothin’ it, big show, etc. (band) – http://prime.paxsite.com
September 2 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse ALBUM RELEASE PARTY with Paul and Storm (band) – http://bit.ly/kFAulc
September 3 Atlanta, GA – Dragon*Con, location TBD, with Paul and Storm and others (acoustic) – http://www.dragoncon.org/
All the rest of these are band shows opening for TMBG:
Sept 8 New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place – http://bit.ly/join-us-new-haven
Sept 9 Great Barrington, MA – Mahaiwe Theater – http://bit.ly/join-us-great-barrington
Sept 10 Concord, NH – Capitol Center for the Arts – http://bit.ly/join-us-concord
Sept 11 Norwich, VT – Upper Valley Events Center – http://bit.ly/join-us-norwichvt
Sept 13 Ithaca, NY – State Theater – http://bit.ly/join-us-ithaca
Sept 14 Pittsburgh, PA – Byham Theater – http://bit.ly/join-us-pittsburgh
Sept 15 Rochester, NY – Harro East Ballroom – http://bit.ly/join-us-rochester
Sept 16 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom – http://tktwb.tw/join-us-cleveland
Sept 17 Detroit, MI – Majestic Theater – http://bit.ly/join-us-detroit
Sept 18 Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection – http://bit.ly/join-us-grand-rapids
Sept 20 Cincinnati, OH – Southgate House – http://ticketf.ly/join-us-cinci
Sept 22 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue – http://bit.ly/join-us-indianapolis
Sept 23 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre – http://bit.ly/join-us-chicago
Sept 24 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant – http://bit.ly/join-us-st-louis
Sept 25 Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom – http://bit.ly/join-us-tulsa
Sept 27 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom – http://bit.ly/join-us-nashville
Sept 28 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel – http://bit.ly/join-us-asheville
Sept 29 Richmond, VA – The National – http://bit.ly/join-us-richmond
Sept 30 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts – http://bit.ly/join-us-philadelphia
Nov 4 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot – http://bit.ly/join-us-slc
Nov 5 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory – http://ticketf.ly/join-us-boise
Nov 6 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory – http://ticketf.ly/join-us-spokane
Nov 8 Vancouver, BC – Venue – http://bit.ly/join-us-vancouverbc
Nov 9 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo – http://bit.ly/join-us-seattle
Nov 10 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom – http://bit.ly/join-us-portland
Nov 11 Arcata, CA – Van Duzer Theatre – http://bit.ly/join-us-arcata
Nov 12 San Francisco, CA – Fillmore – http://bit.ly/join-us-san-fran12th
Nov 13 San Francisco, CA – Fillmore – http://bit.ly/join-us-san-fran13th
Nov 16 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues – http://bit.ly/join-us-anaheim
Nov 17 San Diego, CA – Belly Up – http://bit.ly/join-us-san-diego
Whew.
Thing a Week 40: SkyMall Ah, the joys of travel. I actually…
Thing a Week 40: SkyMall
Ah, the joys of travel. I actually enjoy browsing the SkyMall – never mind the delicious array of products for the person who already owns all the world’s products; the copy alone is worth the price of admission, which is zero, since Skymall is free. Look into it.
PRESENT DAY JOCO SAYS: Um, excuse me, that is a fantastic intro – that little McCartney bass riff right before all the other instruments is CANDY. I was bracing myself for this recording to be not so good, but it’s pretty decent actually. Maybe a little too busy an arrangement, but I’m not quite sure how I pulled off such a totally believable guitar rock thing. I feel like that was an ongoing struggle through that year, one of my weaknesses that the process really hammered on until it was much less of a weakness. I think that by this time of the year I had figured it out pretty well. And hey, check out that bridge! The lyrics there crack me up, it’s an interesting but not jarring little harmonic shift, and the arrangement hits all the right spots for me with the delay on the vocal and the washy wall of sound.
I could have skipped that guitar solo. It’s not terrible, but it’s also not necessary. If I were to do this one today I’d take the bridge through some kind of fall apart moment and break the whole thing way down for the start of verse 3. I’m a fan of the verse 3 break down.
I also wish for a little more depth in the lyrics. I mean, the thing is about a guy who likes SkyMall, so I guess what are you gonna do? I fell into the trap of “list of ridiculous SkyMall items” in verse 2, but I’d say that failing is mitigated by the line about the Santa in which (in my mind anyway) the guy is talking to himself in the voice of SkyMall copy, as if he’s fallen completely under its sway. It’s a subtle thing, but I like it.
Really what would be excellent is if I could have gotten to a little more emotion. This guy’s on the road all the time, and he’s obviously got someone at home that he misses. “O’Hare is nice this time of year” is a pretty sad line when you think about it. And judging from my breathy vocal performance in that verse I was trying to convey a little sadness there. And I find a LOT of tragedy in the first line of verse 3 “I love you best when I’m away.” But all that gets swept away by the joke that the real reason he’s excited to get home is that he can’t wait to get his hands on the wine-holding bear statue. Honka honka! Again, the song is called SkyMall, it’s going to pull you in that direction pretty hard.
I don’t think I had a ton of travel under my belt at this point in the year, so maybe I hadn’t found that particular source of sadness yet. I had started doing a little touring, and of course having done long stretches with Hodgman on his book tour I had a taste of it. I always try to keep my tours as short as possible, because long trips tend to make me miserable. It’s a combination of highs and lows – the incredible rush and joy of playing for a crowd of people, alternating with large chunks of time waiting around, driving in vans, or counting Tshirts in crappy hotel rooms. It’s weirdly dehumanizing. I sometimes feel like pieces of my personality start to fall away – I go off twitter, I fail to contact friends that I have in town for the standard, unsatisfying rushed meal and catch-up conversation. And of course I miss my family and my home and all my stuff. SkyMall really isn’t that much of a comfort. I wish I were still young enough to just do drugs all the time – I get why that’s a thing in the rock and roll biz.
In September I’ll have a new record out and will be opening for They Might Be Giants for a stretch of over three weeks. That’s the longest I will ever have been out, and I’m curious to see to what extent I go to pieces. I’ll have a lot of company of course – my own band, plus all the TMBG guys who I know pretty well, so I’m certain it will be really fun. TMBG are serious, hard-working road warriors, and some of the people in that band have been dealing with long tours away from family for years and years, so maybe I’ll pick up some tips (or perhaps a couple of these).
You can find more info on this song, a store where you can listen to everything, and also other stuff at jonathancoulton.com.
Nobody Loves You Like Me
In the UK I did a song from the new record called “Nobody Loves You Like Me.” A few people have been asking about the technology – it looks like what’s happening is that I’m singing into a microphone and fiddling with my iPhone and something weird comes out. That’s an accurate technical description, but here’s a little more detail.
The microphone goes into my laptop through an audio interface. The laptop is running Ableton Live. I’ve got an audio track in there that’s listening to the mic input and running a plugin called The Mouth. That plugin does a lot of awesome things, but in this case it takes the audio and um. I don’t know exactly what it does. It sounds to me like it’s taking the audio input, and using some algorithm to retune the input to a single pitch at several different octaves, the relative volumes of those octaves being determined by the frequency content of the input. You know, robot voice. Kind of a vocoder I guess? But more juicy. I’ve listened to just the 100% wet effect, and it’s almost like it’s carving out space for whatever the input note is – it’s like you can hear the shadow of the melody as it shifts up and down the octaves.
Anyway, put that all in a box and say the effect is weirdifying the input and outputting a repitched copy of what I’m singing. That pitch is determined by midi messages. So I also have a midi track in Ableton Live. The iPhone is running an app called TouchOSC which is sending OSC data over wifi to an app on the laptop called Osculator, which is set up to translate certain OSC messages into midi note events, and then sending those events to the track in Ableton Live, which is then routed to the midi input of The Mouth on track 1. I’m playing a little onscreen keyboard, and that changes the note that The Mouth plays when I sing.
I am also texting three wives and two girlfriends at the same time!
Hope that explains it. It’s probably more than you wanted to know, huh?
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