Go download this new Smashing Pumpkins song for free, it is beautiful!!! It’s one of the songs Billy Corgan had me play on tour last year, performed live as Billy on acoustic guitar and voice, with Kevin Dippold on mandolin and me on acoustic violin. My violin lines have evolved for this final definitive recording, playing off the acoustic guitar’s melody lines to add a hook and counter melody to this beautifully produced song. Love it!
“A Stitch in Time” will be packaged with “A Song for a Son,” “Widow Wake My Mind” and an upcoming track called “Astral Planes” to comprise the first limited edition EP from the Teargarden package. The first EP, Volume 1/Songs For a Sailor, will be released April 20th.
Download here: A Stitch In Time
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Jonathan Wilson has the best smelling studio in the galaxy perhaps. No stinky drummer smells in his space at all, not a whiff of stale beer. Instead, it’s an elegant wood loft, with high ceilings, and it’s distinctly aromatic with pleasing sandalwood / frankincense notes. And the smell of hot tape, vintage BBC microphones and a nice warm Neumann high above my violin.
I was here today recording a song for Wil Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) was there too with his flugelhorn, not a word I get to use very often, so I’m going to say it again… F-L-U-gelhorn! And I ran into Gillian Welch on the way in, one of the finest female vocalists in this beautiful land.
A lovely afternoon, and a good strings day. I love the sound Jonathan captured with his special sensitive warm mics and lovely desk. Mmmmm.
Meanwhile, Julia Kent was recording my cello parts in New York for the movie soundtrack, and tonight I’m going to finish the mix with Henry Strange… then I’m heading out to San Diego ready to play a live show for a fashion show featuring Dies Van Noten, Donna Karan, Prada, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana and a host of fabulousness… (including Jimmy Choo shoes)
Time to pack the bags!
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Tags: bonnie prince billy, gillian welch, jonathan wilson, nate walcott, wil oldham |
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I’m super excited about playing strings for Imaad Wasif. His new album, The Voidist, came out on Tee Pee Records, home of spacey guitar rock bands like The Warlocks, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Ya Ho Wa 13. His biggest gig to date was composing music for Spike Jonze’s “Where The Wild Things Are“.
Imaad is a seriously talented, inventive guitarist, an intense vocalist, and strong songwriter. It’s heavy, psychedelic, intelligent music, with intricate harmonies and catchy melodies. Think Devandra Banhart meets Nick Drake, add some Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and a touch of Pumpkins, and it’s somewhere like that.
The music we make together is truly sublime. It’s one of those projects that seems greater than any of the parts individually. Transcendent.
Here’s us playing at Spaceland in Los Angeles on February 11…
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The Smashing Pumpkins released a new song from the album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. It’s called Widow Wake My Mind.
Billy Corgan wrote the track last year, and it’s one of the songs I played with him on the Spirits in the Sky tour last Fall. The musicianship on that tour was out of control, not to mention the high level of fun and happiness. The audience at those shows totally loved this song, and I’m sure you’re going to love this definitive produced version, which has my viola deep in the mix.
The Wall Street Journal wrote:
“The new song has mid-career Beatles-like feel, with a bright melody and expansive production.”
Spin, Rolling Stone and Kerrang have all given the song props, so check it out for free!
Download Widow Wake My Mind here.
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The Owls, one of two feature films I scored in 2009, has just been selected for the Berlin Film Festival. The World Premiere will be at the Cinemaxx7 in Berlin on February 18 2010.
I’m delighted, it’s a fantastic film. Part documentary, part fiction, it’s a unique piece of cinema in terms of format, and a deep and radical movie.
My score features generous amounts of strings plus other instruments, including horns, real drums, drum machines, vintage synths, bass and vocals.
This strings track is written for a daytime scene in the garden:
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Here’s a short piece of background music I composed for piano to accompany a monolgue. It’s meant to capture a reflective moment:
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This strings track is for a scene that the director wanted to add a little more tension to.
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I’m playing a couple of shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco with David J. We’re playing a collection of Bouquets, Wreaths and Laurels… which means to say, Love songs, Laments and Songs of Glory.
They’re beautifully aged, all played on strings, piano, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, drums and stand up bass. Think antique modern gothic, and you’ll be in the right mood.
Here’s a secret video of us rehearsing Bela Lugosi at a haunted mansion in San Francisco…
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For their Christmas appeal, ChildFund International commissioned this fund-raising television commercial for broadcast in New Zealand.
Composer Bella Erikson created the soundtrack, and commissioned me to arrange and record the strings. It was an emotional project to work on, as our brief was to convey the true sadness of this desperate situation while underlining the hope viewers’ donations will bring.
Formerly known as Christian Children’s Fund, ChildFund International works in 31 countries, including the poorest regions of the USA. They assist over 15 million children and their families without regard for religion, race or ethnic group, with the mission that all children have the right to love, laugh and hope without fear of abuse.
To donate, please go to http://www.childfund.org/
Thank you, and wishing you a very happy and healthy Christmas.
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I’m in the middle of a freelance downpour, rising for air to let you know what’s flowing. When it rains, it pours…
I delivered some additional strings for my friend Anton Sanko’s soundtrack for HBO’s Big Love, which by the way has a stunningly beautiful trailer that I recommend you watch by clicking here.
I’m completing something for Billy, who released his first song from the new Smashing Pumpkins album this week, which is deep and extraordinary (of course). Get your free download here.
I’ve been in the studio recording strings and an opera singer for six projects. Firstly, there are a couple of tracks for movie trailers, more news on them when there’s more information to share. But for now, imagine what happens when I’m let loose with the brief to make an epic string arrangement for a major movie release… Start small, get bigger, becoming huge, then ending massive, emotionally progressing from small to ginormous. So, two of them.
And then there’s string arrangements for two really lovely songs, one by Alexis Harte in San Francisco, and the other by Mark Abis in the UK. Alexis’ song is full of summer, light-hearted and carefree, and Mark’s is a moody, jazzy Parisian number, all coffee and cigarettes.
And of course one of the feature films I’m composing the score to deadlines on Sunday, namely The Owls. That makes seven projects I think.
Oh, and last night I played a show at Eve on Nemo, a beautiful new space round the block from The Troubadour, and on Friday I’m playing a show with Queen Kwong, who’s just been snapped up by Dave Navarro’s management company.
Come hear!
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Tags: Alexis Harte, Big Love, eve on nemo, Mark Abis, queen kwong, smashing pumpkins |
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Here’s a photo from the Eve show.
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Violinists are as geeky as the next musician, and one of the things that geeks us out most is pick-up systems. So you can imagine I’m geeking out today as I await my new Fishman V-300 pick-up for my acoustic metal violin, named Tristan. Tristan has had a few pick-ups in the sixteen years since he came into existence, and all of them have been piezzo bridge ones. The first was great for the time, but it was fitted with a little 1/8″ mini jack which always sucked a bit in terms of fidelity. When the day came that it broke, I decided to go with a tiny clip on microphone from Sennheiser, which I clipped onto the bridge.
Years later, and I had a new piezzo bridge fitted with a 1/4″ carpenter jack. I’d hoped it would be more robust, but it’s had to be re-soldered more often than I’d hoped. I’ve thrown in the towel, seen the light, and gone ahead and ordered a new Fishman V-300.
I’ve been very happy with the Fishman V-400 on my viola for a while now. It was fitted earlier this year, and came with me on tour with the Spirits in the Sky this summer. It was totally happy with the rigors of the bus, multiple temperature changes and jacks being pulled out of it a few times a day. Not a moment of solder unhappiness the whole time.
I’m confident Tristan will be pleased with his new V-300 tomorrow night. And this will give me the freedom to play live, secure in the knowledge that there will be zero ground noise and exceptional clarity and tonal range with no need to re-solder for many years to come.
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Tags: Fishman V300, Fishman V400, piezzo pick-up, piezzo pickup |
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