Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.
I got my old Orange amp fixed with a view to selling it, as it's just been taking up cupboard space for the past 5 or 6 years. It's also big and very heavy, and nearly puts my back out just moving it to get at anything. So to the local amp repairman it went. But as soon as I got it back I needed to check it was alright, which also meant having to get new strings for the electric guitar which was also gathering dust and cobwebs. Before I knew it a quick check had turned into a few hours of rediscovering the old sounds and settings, going on a trip back in time. Not the original intention at all, but a couple of recordings came out of the reacquaintance, of which this is the first.
And now I can't bring myself to sell the amp.
Stranger's eyes (terracotta mix): Download the mp3
Photo by sjliew, creative commons
Meta (instrumental mix): Download the mp3
So I decided to break out the brass samples and give Meta a revisit. I prefer this instrumental version to the original vocal version, but then that's often the case with something new and hot off the press.
The four Spanish songs, incidentally, are Spanish-language rather than from Spain. They're by Silvio Rodriguez (Cuba), Victor Jara (Chile), Ali Primera (Venezuela) and Congreso (Chile). Two might not make the cut, two definitely will, but either way I hope something'll see the light of day soon.
Organillero: Download the mp3
My first and only synthesizer was a second hand Yamaha bought a few years ago, destined for cameo appearances at gigs and studios with a band I was in at the time. It had a couple of hundred presets but the only standout one was a warm, crackly organ. The synth eventually broke and went to the knackers yard (via a Greek restaurant keyboard player), but the chord sequence used on this track remains from the times I used to mess around with it in my room. The organ makes a woozy nod to Sparklehorse, though the guitar with a retro reverb setting ended up adding an unexpected echo of Shine on you crazy diamond.
Photo by A30 Tsitika, creative commons
Cuatro: Download the mp3
I was given a cuatro in Venezuela by my friend Hernán, who surprised me with it on my 21st birthday. It hangs on a wall most of the time now and I got it down for this one. I was taught the basics by a bloke called Migail who used to always carry one with him round Carabobo university. The joropo music it's associated with always reminds me of another friend Omar, who was from the plains where it originates, and his sparring partner Miguel who introduced me to lots of Latin American music including Silvio Rodriguez, for which I will be eternally grateful. We had a memorable weekend in Omar's village once which included an outdoor party that got "stoned off" (the host's ex-boyfriend in disruptive mood), a vivid cock-and-hens based explanation of local morals from Omar's Dad, and some serious inter-village fighting late on, broken rum bottles and all, that was remarkably forgotten about down at the river the next day.
If this track was real música llanera it would have a harp, maracas, a 6/8 time signature and possibly a wailing, borderline grating vocal - but it has none of them (though I did look unsuccessfully for the right kind of harp sample). You're guaranteed to hear the music - very loudly - if you ever get a bus in Venezuela, especially in los llanos. The vocal numbers are best avoided early in the morning, though the instrumentals can be lulling
Photo by Liz Henry, creative commons
Meta: Download the mp3
Revisited a couple of years later, slowed down, cut up, and orchestrated in reason
And lyrically turned into a more suggestive and sinister song of a honey trap, with the leaky old gas fire now central
(with apologies to Meta)
Jara: Download the mp3
A guitar line taken from another song, and turned into the heart of an instrumental
The slightly muffled, haunting sound of the classical guitar bringing back memories of the first time hearing a recording of Victor Jara
Photo by antitezo, creative commons
Maypole: Download the mp3
Perhaps it's the extra day added to the weekend, and some kind of leisure- or drink-derived cabin fever.
But either way, the third time it happened that was it, more than a coincidence. Future May bank holidays would never be the same.
Photo by aprillynn77, creative commons
Bécquer
diera con gusto los mejores años,
por saber lo que a otros
de mí has hablado.
Y esta vida mortal... y de la eterna
lo que me toque, si me toca algo,
por saber lo que a solas
de mí has pensado.
An achingly familiar expression of longing
Timid in the flesh, unabashed in letters
A stray recording of a voice on an old radio
An introduction to the great Andalucian romantic poet
Photo by gusuval, creative commons
Benito
The name carries associations with bendito (blessed), bandito (bandit), and a favourite Terry Allen album, via Mexican president Benito Juarez. It roughly translates to Little Benny too, which I stuck with for no other reason than it makes me smile
This was recorded on a classical guitar played into a 4 track, then unleashed in Reason with the zeal of the neophyte
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Recent Comments
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dafunk said:
you managed to blend the eastern and western sounds well mulberry - very tranquil and calm production that you should... read more
on Mulberry Harbour - Strangers eyes (terracotta mix) -
Mulberry Harbour said:
yeh, and the Meta mix was a bit of light relief really from some covers I've been working on, an... read more
on Mulberry Harbour - Meta (instrumental mix) -
karlos said:
[this is good]so this is why you have been so quiet - you've been busy making music read more
on Mulberry Harbour - Meta (instrumental mix) -
funkcartel said:
added another track of yours to the calmer playlist - i was sure u wouldn't mind! read more
on Mulberry Harbour - Becquer
thanks for the add to calmer coma mulberry - it's appreciated and it's great to find you are still recording read more
on Across the Sea