Strings Galore
Andrew Smalls building another layer of strings for “Simon Says.” Andrew is one of the first musicians who Jim brought in. And in a dozen or so passes he had totally transformed the landscape of the song.
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TV on the Radio on the Bus
Having experienced a fiasco in an attempt to track horns in Athens, GA—in fact, I emerged from that experience believing I may be suffering from a curse when it comes to horns in Georgia—I was forced to track my horns in a land where horns reside on every corner: Brooklyn. Today, I tracked trombone, trumpet, alto sax and clarinet in Seth Rothschild’s studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And not just any horn section, but the same horn section that appears on TV on the Radio’s new record. Yay for me. Yay for us. Yay for the big ole Greyhound Bus.
Speaking of buses, here they are tracking for “Meet You at the Bus,” among other ditties.
Michael Irwin
Thayer Sarrano Breaks Earth and Sky
Thayer Sarrano (Of Montreal) played the piano so hard on “When the Sky Breaks” that the frozen earth outside the door was seen to crack open.
Shoo Be Doo
Rebecca Van Damm and Claire Campbell (Hope for Agoldensummer) came up with lush backup vocals on “Old West Broad.”
Susan Playing Her Grandma’s Piano
Suny Lyons drove all the way to Savannah to record special things and people–things and people who don’t travel to Athens very well. Like Susan Falls (my favorite cultural anthropologist and, as it happens, my wife) and her grandma’s piano.
Jim White House Concert
We played and played and ate casserole and homemade pie with Jim White. We wish you’d been there with us.
Lyrics: “Kick + Holler” by Dare Dukes
Some kick and holler
And drop their suffering
Like a silver dollar
Into a Reno slot machine.
Lyrics: “From a Plane” by Dare Dukes
I measure the hours
in paper clips and fluorescent shadows.
The worker ant cowers
to carry out the will of his fellows.