Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
So, where at you today?
I am at my friend Stacy’s house in Austin, TX. It’s raining like crazy outside.
How is the tour going so far?
Pretty rad, thanks. We had a lot of fun at our Austin show last
night. The Donkeys are sounding really great.
Tell us a bit about the recording of “Etiquette?”
Some of it was recorded on a computer in Seattle with Jherek Bischoff from The Dead Science, some of it was recorded at Pan American Studios in San Francisco with Jason Quever from The Papercuts, and some of it was recorded on my cassette 4 track at home. It was very much a piecemeal endeavor.
How are most of the songs written?
A lot of the Etiquette songs were written a Korg EM-1 monophonic sequencer/drum machine and piano. The lyriics were written in a stenographer’s notebook in black ballpoint pen. Jherek and Jason helped with some of the arrangements and we roped in our friends to play somne freaky instruments.
What were some of your influences on you during the recording?
Instantly one will notice a similar sound to Arab Strap.
I played Sly & The Family Stone, Vince Guaraldi, Mulatu Astatqe, and The Pet Shop boys for Jherek and Jason as sonic references. Jherek and Jason themselves were probably the two biggest influences, though.
I have the Arab Strap record that starts with “It was the biggest cock you’d ever seen.” What a great first line. I like that guy’s voice a lot and I like their spare arrangements and production but they weren’t really a reference point for Etiquette, honestly. People have ever accused me of sounding Scottish on some of the songs, which I don’t really understand.
“Don’t They Have Payphones Where You Were Last Night?” sounds like one of the
saddest things ever. What was the inspiration behind that track.
I started writing that song in 2000, back when people still occasionally used payphones, and it took about six years to feel like it was finished. Sometimes you just have to steal the contrabass intro from an instrumental from a Charlie Brown Christmas Special to feel like you’ve really accomplished something.
On “Scattered Pearls” who is the female vocalist on the track with you?
Jenn Herbinson. We have been friends for about nine years. She is one of my favorite singers, although she mostly just sings in the car. We do a pretty mean karaoke duet of “Hunger Strike.” She sings the Chris Cornell part.
How did you end up getting on to Tomlab records?
Tom wrote me a letter and asked if I wanted to let him put out a record. I liked the Tomlab sleeve design a lot so I said yes. I am very shallow.
What do you find more enjoyable, playing live or recording?
I think recording because it doesn’t require finding and putting on my shoes.
Any other bands out there the people should be listening to?
No, they really should just stick with Casiotone.
What hopes or goals do you have for the band in the long run?
I just want to keep making records that are a little better than the
last one. That’s pretty much it.
By John Siwicki
Arab Strap – Ten Years of Tears
Arab Strap have left us with quite simply an essential compilation. When it comes down to it, is it ever worth owning a greatest hits album? Well, Arab Strap have put enough bsides, mixes and alternative versions of there songs to warrant a purchase for everyone. The album really gets off with “The First Big Weekend.” It is the tale of a weekend in the summer. It discusses indie discos, trains, insomnia, the Simpsons, and not remembering. Just have a read at a sample of the lyrics “I couldn’t sleep again that night, thanks to some seriously disturbing nightmares…Matthew says I should cut down on the cheese” so indescribably brilliant. Apparently, it is a true story of what happened to Adian one weekend. We get a live track from their first ever gig in “Gilded” a taste of a rare track in “I Saw You” which, was record for the bands first proper Peel Session. A bold rending of “Packs Of Three” and “Rocket, Take Your Turn” has a slightly dance beat behind the boys and it gives it a slightly odd and uncomfortable feeling throughout the song. “The Shy Retirer” the first single from “Monday at the Huge and Pint” and my first Arab Strap single. It features one of my favorite lyrics ever “You’re more than just a photo album, you’re more than what some people let you know and if we ever make it home, I’ll tell you all the things that shaped me thus.”
We are treated to the bside “The Girl I Loved Before I Fucked” again another testament of how well the bands songs were written. Aidan goes from wanting to be friends with an old love to wishing an STD on her. The album finishes off fittingly with “There Is No Ending” off “The Last Romance” is a fitting end for the band and no better way to go out. There is something here for everyone, the casual fan and the hardcore fan. If you have never heard of Arab Strap please buy a copy, you will not be the same after hearing the bands songs. I just wish I didn’t find out till almost the end. We will leave you with a lyric from “The Shy Retirer” “Look at us just stand and stare, look at them just pose and pout, and we’ll all be standing here until the pigs chuck us out.”
By John Siwicki
The Fall – Reformation Post TLC
26th studio album and what seems like the 300th different lineup you never really know what you will get when a new Fall album arrives. After 2005′s very friendly “Fall Heads Roll” three members quite the band on the US tour and now the band is made up of Mark E Smith and his wife, Elena, with Tim Presley and Rob Barbato (of Darker My Love), Orpheo McCord (of The Hill) and Dave Spurr (of Motherjohn).
The new lineup has two bassists. So the album sounds a bit dirty at times. But after a few listen you realize this is perfect for Smith’s unique vocal delivery. “Reformation!” is where the new lineup really shines. It is hypnotic and slightly scary at times. “Fall Sound” could this be a snag at the critics. “The Wright Stuff” has Elena take the vocals with her Germany accent and the song seems to be about a train journey. “Das Boat” is a mind numbing 8 minutes of drone and submarine sounds. It makes you want to see the film “Das Boot” after.
“Reformation Post TLC” is full of variety and it seems to be a fresh start for the band. “Fall Heads Roll” was quite an accessible record (songs were used in a commercial) that such a strange record needed to be made.
By John Siwicki
Willy Mason – Save Myself
I have always been a fan of Willy’s song. I find them to so gentle, honest and charming. In the “singer/songwriter” world it is hard to find someone who bursts with such qualities. ‘Save Myself’ is the first single to be taken from Willy Mason’s new album ‘If The Ocean Gets Rough’. It is a step up in the songwriting for Willy and it just has huge hit written all over it. It is one of those that after hearing it you will just find yourself spontaneously singing it. Well done Willy, we love you.
By John Siwicki