March 17 + ~ "...the music of what happens" ~ Finn mac Cumaill
Spiral is now on Allison's music pages @
+ on CD Baby and iTunes and eMusic... and these sounds will soon be everywhere ( :
Here's a special video album of
Spiral:
the upward Spiral
...or further up the Spiral, as it
were.
(can I tag Trent Reznor in this note?!)
(turns out - no)
Finally, my 7th album is complete. Wait a
minute - did I say SEVENTH?! WTF?! The
reality of time and age starts to set in
when I count albums. I feel old lately.
(blame the event of last year's 10 year
high-school reunion - which I was unable to
attend)
Let's just say "new" album - ahhh. That's
better.
So, my NEW album, Spiral, is
finally out (digitally - the hard copy of
same is not to be completed til the end of
this week) and I am SO freaking excited
about this one.
All of those little ideas I've always had,
the little sonic bits and pieces that I've
wanted, the arrangements and orchestrations,
the instruments, were brought to life by
some of my best friends. Have I ever rapped
away to you the virtues of being
independent? Well if I haven't, I'm sure I
will. One of the greatest parts of doing
whatever I want (besides THAT fact in and of
itself) is that I get to work with people
that I actually LIKE.- nay, LOVE.
I was certain at the outset of this that the
next album had to be different - I just
wasn't sure how. I wanted big production
sound but as always have wee production
budget (meaning everything ends up being
mostly homemade - current technology lends
itself to this beautifully)
I had the wonderfully talented musicians,
and friends, on my side. Billie Woods, Dave
Baird, and Laurent Boucher. Check. We played
together, even went on tour. Remember that
whole thing with the UK. well, the stuff
after that was awesome. Check.
What's this? A cellist? Brendan Millbank.
Boo ya. Just happens to be my neighbour in
Nanaimo. Done.
Moving along...
Next question - how to capture?
I've been engineering my own albums for a
while now, learning as I've been going along
- so I was sure I'd be able to do a good
deal of it - though the perfection of, and
gear for, some certain sonic elements still
elude me. Enter the mix between myself and
Larry Anschell -
Turtle Studios super dude.
(has done mobile recording for Pearl Jam and
Alice in Chains - as well as countless
successful studio recordings - his studio
has an arcade!!!! SRSLY)
The combination of things was decided. I did
a lot at home, some already existed, I
travelled to some homes, some was live, some
was Larry - perfect for all the little bits
we needed. You know, Adrian himself caught
pieces of Dave's background vocals and all
of Brendan's cello.
And what about all those other strings I
want to hear in my brains? How the…?
After hitting wall after wall of
limitations, both financially and idea-wise,
finally, a breakthrough in the form of
Kayla Schmah - the ridiculously talented string
arranger and producer who I have known for,
oh... let's see... at LEAST 10 years. 11?
12? Do I really want to go there? Wasn't I
feeling old already? Let's just say we used
to sing Indigo Girls and Vonda Shepard
songs together on Salt Spring Island at
Summer Stock in some year that was still the
90's.
I was lucky enough to have Kayla offer to
shape the album in to something beautiful
and different altogether. She's sensitive to
all the sounds, and knew just what to do -
things I never would have even been able to
imagine - landscapes of sound I didn't even
know existed other than in Lord of the Rings
(sorry for the uber-nerdy comparison, it's
just that I REALLY REALLY love Lord of the
Rings) She made it so I didn't have to
listen to tiny little bits of things and
adjust their relative volumes. She's also a
new mom. I love her endlessly.
Finally, it was coming together.
What about art? Something different...
something new... something not my face...
(which is always beautifully photographed
and made to look really pretty by
Billie
Woods - she's
f**king awesome) (pardonnez-moi.
Enter
Tara Thelen - the painter of the
paintings used for this album's artwork.
Seriously? I can use these? Are you kidding?
I am so freaking lucky it's ridiculous. lol
After a lovely telephone conversation with
Tara and a bit of time deciding on which of
her many amazing paintings to use for this
album, we decided on "Look at Me"
and "I Found You".
Thankyouthankyoutha
Ok so what about layout?
Alix Whitmire - web-designer and cover art
designer for a great number of my albums and
all around amazing lady who is also an
incredibly talented knitter and lover of
fibres... She just always knows what looks
awesome, including Billy Argel's font, Ginga.
Seriously. I love the font. And Alix knows
just what to do with it- I can't wait to see
it in hardcopy, what with the metallic foils
and things with the mixes of colours...
YAYYYYY!!!!
I can't forget, too, Condor and John
MacMillan - who recorded tracks live way
back in the day that have found themselves
years in the future on this particular piece
- and soundboard operators the world over.
Add in everybody - add in everything - and
finally, the culmination, aurally, of what
I've imagined and wanted since I used to
listen to Counting Crows' August and
Everything After until I wore out
copies and copies of it from when I was a
pre-teen and well after...
I've got it. It's done. I'm pumped. I hope
you like it. Thank you to everyone who
helped me do this - and to Adrian du Plessis
for listening carefully again and again more
times than I ever could before my brain
would bleed.
Thank you.
Allison :)
next up, the Euro-tour in April... stay
tuned...
Allison Crowe's music in digital + physical formats ~ click here
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