First Mix Of The Entire Album

Today I finished up preliminary mixes of every song on the album. A couple are just about done, other still have a long way to go. But still, it's a pretty big day.

The total running time, assuming we include all 13 songs, is 45:10. Not bad. Might even be a little high. I'm under the impression that most albums average 40 minutes. So we're doing good. Means there's room to cut if there turns out to be a stinker. But so far, I'm liking every song on the album.

Here's the final rundown of songs that we're mixing:

April
Girl #134
Above You
Big Tin Truck
Rockville
On The Road
Second Time Around
Armageddon Is Here
Bordered In Black
The Friend That I Once Knew
Bitter Break Up Song
Come My Way
Let Me Be Your Guitar Player


And let's take another look at this list, this time with notes about who sings lead.


BF - April
MM - Girl #134
BOTH - Above You
MM - Big Tin Truck
MM - Rockville
MM - On The Road
BOTH - Second Time Around
MM - Armageddon Is Here
BF - Bordered In Black
MM - The Friend That I Once Knew
?? Bitter Break Up Song
BF - Come My Way
BF - Let Me Be Your Guitar Player

That's 2 songs where we both sing lead, 4 songs where BF sings lead, 6 songs where MM sings lead, and one unknown. Bill has made subtle complaints about his being mixed out of the lead on Rockville, which could always change. I'm not married to a mix of ANY song, though I gotta say, I would consider some serious horse trading to be allowed the lead on Guitar Player. Not only do I love the song, but I am a fan of my performance. Yeah, I know, that sounds pretty lame, but the thing about the song is that the melody gives me a chance to sing in a wider range than I usually write for myself. so fun! I suppose I should count my blessings that Bill let me hijack 'Truck, as it's one of my favorite songs he's ever written.

Bill was originally talking about dropping "Above You" from the lineup. As of right now, I'm on the fence about it. I think it's a good song, but the recording leaves something to be desired. I dunno, it just sort of seems... wonky. I don't know how to describe it. First, my bongo playing totally sucks. It's all over the place, and is not very consistent. Second, my tambourine playing totally sucks. It's all over the place, and is not very consistent. See a pattern?? Vocally and guitar-ally, it's good, but that is sort of lost in the out of sync bongos/tambourine. I think it's a fun song, and it was cool to do the historical re-creation of the original recording, but it kind of smacks of amature hour when placed in the context of the other songs we've recorded. No disrespect intended to the author or performers on the song. This was simply a very early outing in our recording experience, and our lack of it sort of shows.

Anyhow, that's where we stand as of today.

Review

I was digging through some old emails today, and found this. I should have posted it a while ago, but here it is:

Matt Munson and Bill Fischer were rock-and-roll stablemates from Southern California quartet My New Invention, a band whose existence roughly coincided with the Clinton Administration and caused slightly less controversy and heartache – a shortcoming mostly due to the band's confined geographical range.



But during their spare time offstage, Matt and Bill enjoyed switching to acoustic guitars and hamming it up with wide-ranging songs, duets, and gimcrack instrumental blasts performed for friends, lovers, and folks just passing through. Over time these just-for-fun sessions evolved into a jokey "splinter band" that came to be called Black & Blue.



Now by some folks reckoning, that moniker is a bit mysterious, and Bill says he can't really remember how or when they chose it, but it might have been inspired by the execrable 1975 Rolling Stones album Black and Blue. Or, it could have been that shiner Matt received in a 1993 wherehouse brawl during his days as a shipping foreman. And then again, maybe it referred to the colors of those matching Fender Squier electric guitars the two axe-men played during the band's earliest days.



Whatever the original meaning, Black & Blue has come to represent an attitude, a devil-may-care indifference to the glancing blows and haymakers thrown around by fate, and a determination to suck in your gut and keep on singing those magical old songs – and some just written – anything so long as it's a fair piece of alright, that's got a good riff with a spring in its step, and a bittersweet harmony – like their new single, "Second Time Around." Yep, those are songs that sneak up on your troubles and club them like baby seals – with occasionally disarming honesty and and a good beat. That's Black & Blue, to a "T."



- Chuck Bacon, New Beat Monthly, January 2009