Off To See The Elephant
Supplemental Document for When Your Heartstrings Break
This is the full, detailed packet of information about the recording of Beulah’s second record, When Your Heartstrings Break. I hesitate to call this “supplemental” to my chapter “I’ll Fight if You Want Me to Fight,” because this contains a TON more information than that chapter on the subject of this record. The session log was inspired by the great book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, by Mark Lewisohn. The following information, therefore, is probably for geeks only…
Recording Session Log for When Your Heartstrings Break, May-September, 1998
Recorded at the Art Explosion, 2425 17th St. SF, CA unless otherwise indicated.
Saturday, May 2, 1998: “Sunday Under Glass,” “If We Can Land A Man On The Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart,” “Matter v. Space” (version one, later scrapped): Drums (Steve St. Cin).
Drums were recorded by giving everyone in the room a pair of headphones and then plugging in various other band mates directly into the board to guide Steve through the drum parts. It was like we were playing live. Or not. In any case, today was all about the drums. I used a bass drum mic borrowed from Dave Sanner for the kick (AKG D12 I think), a Shure SM58, and an AKG 4033 for the overhead mic on a large boom stand. I had the mic pretty much in Steve’s face, pointing downward at an angle roughly pointing to the rack and floor toms. Finally, I had a pointlessly placed 58 wrapped in a towel underneath the floor tom pointing up. In most cases, this track was erased as space needs dictated.
I remember being nervous about this session the most. Listening to the drum tracks by themselves was excruciating. I felt like a failure. Once we started layering things, I began to feel better.
Monday, May 4: “Matter v. Space”: Attempted “drum machine” sounds on Yamaha Keyboard, later scrapped (Bill Swan). “If We Can Land A Man On The Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart”: Bass (Steve LaFollette).
I have been using this cheap Yamaha PSR-75 keyboard ever since Beulah began doing live shows. It’s a toy, but it does the job. #39 is the drum sound, and I attempted to do a drum intro by hand. If we were smart, we would have laid this down first. Unfortunately, we would end up re-recording the song because the intro’s tempo began slow and sped up into the song, since Steve began it with a drum roll that we ended up not liking later. It didn’t matter, because I was not entirely happy with the way I micd the kit for the first day of drum tracks. St. Cin was present this evening while we pondered over the drum roll intro. At one point during the “drum machine” fiasco I heard a strange noise in the room. I looked around and saw that St. Cin was asleep on the floor behind his drum kit, sawing logs. He is the only person I know who can fall asleep anywhere, anytime he wants. This gift comes in handy on the road. I wish I had it.
Wednesday, May 6: “Sunday Under Glass”: Melodica at intro (Swan), Casio Keyboard at intro with Melodica (LaFollette).
Acoustic guitar was also tried, but later scrapped. Pat and I also did a first attempt at the guitar lick with the keyboard “vibes” at the exit of the song. This was also scrapped, because we didn’t like how it sounded. Stevie and I did our melodica intro to “Sunday Under Glass” on this day, perhaps the first “good” day of recording.
Friday, May 8: “Sunday Under Glass”: Epiphone rhythm guitar, mic without amplification (Kurosky), Guitar riff at end (Pat Noel), Keyboard “vibes” at end (Swan).
One of the reasons this record would later be noted for its lack of “rock” qualities is because we didn’t use a lot of amplified guitars on it. During the “wild west” section, Miles hammered on his Epiphone Dot (a cheap version of a Gibson ES-335), and I probably just stuck an SM57 into the F-hole and jacked up the DBX 166 compression. Pat’s guitar was amplified, however, and we gave his part a second go. We added reverb and compressed it quite a bit. Pat thought it still sounded a little thin. He may have been right, but I felt ok with it at the time. I did my fake vibes through a tremolo pedal also, a bright idea that took longer than one might expect. Live I used to turn the volume of my amp up and down to replicate a vibraphone, since my amp doesn’t have tremolo, but multiple takes of this in the studio proved to be more strenuous than masturbation. So, I found the wisdom to use a different amp.
Sunday, May 10: “Matter v. Space” (keeper version), “Score From Augusta”: Drums (St. Cin).
On the previous Thursday night, I had a long chat with Robert Schneider on Miles’ advice and gathered some tips on recording drums. It turned out to be a nice “pep talk.” I came away with three things. The first bit of advice was to use the CAD mic for the snare, and point it towards the side of the snare, just off to the left of the snare “hole.” The second bit was to place the overhead mic (40-33) on a boom mic, and point it down towards the snare, at about eye level right in front of Steve’s face, as close as possible to him without getting in the way. I was concerned about getting a lot of sibilance from the cymbals and this trick helped. Robert had told me that, contrary to what might seem logical, the further up and above the cymbals that you move the mic, the louder and shrill the cymbals become (to a point, of course). Finally, Robert shared his philosophy of removing certain EQ levels, “scooping them out with a big ice cream spoon.” I seem to remember reading about this very same bit of advice in Guitar Player Magazine five months later. I believe the 3000K range is one of his targets, and also 500Hz, I think. I forget the others. I didn’t follow this last bit of advice. Instead, I followed my friend Rick McKay’s advice when he showed me how the board worked in ‘94, backed up (I think) by Josh Hecht, my instructor at SF State for recording classes I was taking around the same time, which was to record “flat” with no EQ. You can always take out EQ later, but if you record without a particular frequency, you can’t put it back in later. The drums we recorded on Sunday afternoon was done on this advice, and the results were much, much better. It felt like a pretty big turning point.
Monday, May 11: “Sunday Under Glass”: Bass, redone (LaFollette), floor tom and hi-hat at intro (Swan), Roland keyboard swoops (Noel), Penny whistles during swoops (Miles Kurosky).
We had a little fun tonight doing the penny whistle with the keyboard track. We also discovered a way to create “fake” reverb for this god awfully dead room without using a cheesy cheap reverb unit. We stuck a mic inside the bass drum of one of the other drum kits and it made a nice resonant sound. Food for thought for later.
Wednesday, May 13: “Matter v. Space”: Bass (LaFollette), Roland keyboard “woo woo woos” and “bews” (Noel). “Score From Augusta”: Fuzz bass (LaFollette), “Carnival” Casio at end (Noel), short wave radio noises at end (Noel).
Pat got a hold of this short-wave radio somewhere along the way and the thing had been sitting in the practice space a while, so we found a bunch of weird test tones on it and stuck it on a track. Miles said that, under no circumstances, were we going to keep the parts that had Morse code in it, as it would have “made us sound like Van Halen.” As it was, we ended up keeping the bit just for the end of “Matter,” and then I heard those same tones/noises being used in a Live 105 commercial a few months later. Ah, well, too late to turn back now.
Friday, May 15: “Matter v. Space”: Fake sitars, compressed electric guitars w/ no amp (Kurosky/Swan).
Miles wanted a sitar or eastern type sound for the guitar riff in “Matter,” and, after many different amp sounds, we finally settled on miking hollow body guitars directly again, same concept as 5/8, only with much more mic level volume and compression. We didn’t even finish it that evening, as it took me 2 hours to realize I was using the wrong mic. I was scratching my head, wondering why the guitar sound wouldn’t get any louder and then….. “Oh.” Some recording genius.
Sunday, May 17: “Matter v. Space”: Fake sitar drone (Kurosky/Swan), guitar through smallstone (Kurosky), Vox organ (LaFollette), helicopter keyboard (Noel), guitar riff at intro (Kurosky).
I came in early and set up drum mics, prepared to do “Aristocratic Swells,” but apparently Miles and my signals crossed. He wanted to finish up “Matter.” Miles whipped out his cheap Russian copy of a smallstone pedal and threw down another guitar riff, and then we had to re-do some of the sitar sounds as I taped over the track. Miles rode me a little bit, and I was “set off.” That’s two fuckups in a row, the sign of a pattern? I was afraid Miles, and the others were going to think so. But we moved on. Pat continued adding his Roland Juno keyboard sounds he had been using for early live pre-record versions of these songs, and Miles added another riff. We had made the move from 8 tracks to 16, and it was amazing how quickly we adjusted and managed to run out of room for our parts. Hence, I had to put different parts into the same track. I would be more careful from now on not to tape over stuff.
At this point we took a break from recording to do a mini-Northwest tour. Here were the dates:
5.21.98 San Francisco: Bottom of the Hill w/Creeper Lagoon
5.23.98 Portland: Satyricon w/Creeper Lagoon, Sunset Valley
5.24.98 Seattle: Velvet Elvis w/Fuck, Creeper Lagoon
Highlights:
Free Motel 6 in Redding after Pat called them to complain about rowdy kids with no supervision in Arkansas on the way home from Fall ’97 tour.
Spitting beer all over Ian Sefchick of Creeper Lagoon. Someone told a funny joke as I was taking a gulp of the suds, and out it came.
Beulah spell check: Satyricon in Portland had us listed as “Bella” and one of the local papers had us listed as “Bulla.” We changed booking agents after that, and this would never happen again, right? The rock industry does not always attract the best and brightest.
Elayne (Pat’s wife) almost got into a fight with an obnoxious chick while watching Fuck in Seattle. I forget why, but we were ready to back her up. Miles was wearing earplugs and missed the whole thing.
Spent the van drive reading “Complete Beatle Recordings” by Mark Lewisohn, which got me fired up to return home for more recording, and also helped inspire me to start a studio journal.
Wednesday, May 27: “Score From Augusta”: Acoustic guitar (Swan), big muff fuzz guitar (Kurosky), clean guitar at intro (Swan). “If We Can Land A Man on the Moon…”: Guitars (Swan, scrapped), Percussion (Swan?).
We had returned from our Northwest tour, and I was psyched to get back to recording after reading the entire Lewisohn book in the van, but Miles was in a bad mood because he had just read Beulah’s first “bad” review. That set the tone for the evening, and not a lot was accomplished.
Friday, May 29: “If We Can Land a Man on the Moon…”: Nylon acoustic rhythm guitar, later replaced (Swan), “Mick Ronson” guitar (Kurosky). “Matter v. Space”: Yamaha Keyboard “drum machine,” played manually on the keys (Swan), “Boom Box” drums, aka extra track of drums by miking headphone mix of real drums (Swan).
Today marked our first dance with “Queen Bitch.” Miles asked me to analyze that Bowie tune a couple of months earlier to see if I could replicate the Mick Ronson guitar sound on it. He had done some reading on it, and what he had read said that it was recorded using Ronson’s Marshall setup, but it sounded to me like there was something else, like a wah pedal open and fixed at one point. In addition to that was an acoustic guitar doing basically the same rhythm. Well, we didn’t have a Marshall amp, so we did as best we could by using the wah pedal. This may have been one of those examples where I should have thrown all general recording advice out the window. What I mean by that is the advice to record everything flat without EQ. In this case, the Ronson sound was a bit too flat and dead sounding, or “muffled” as Miles put it. Robert was able to crispen it up later in the mix, but Miles and I both view this early attempt as a small failure. In hindsight, the part still sounds good to me. I finally got the “drum machine” intro down for “Matter,” so there was a minor success as well. Some may notice that it sounds like someone playing the “drums” on the keys manually. I had to do it that way to keep it in sync with the tempo of the intro which, while better than the previous take, still fluctuated. About the nylon acoustic part, I played it to the rhythm of the drums and Miles told me it sounded like “Nirvana.” He wanted me to play it straighter, so, mockingly, I played it straight as a board and did my best “Devo” pose. “Perfect,” Miles said. We’d do it over later anyway for tracking/bouncing reasons.
Sunday, May 31: “Sunday Under Glass”: Trumpet w/ Harmon mute (Swan). “Man On Moon”: Roland keyboard swoops, choruses (Noel).
This was a rough day for Pat as he got all the way over to SF from Oakland before realizing he forgot to bring his keyboard power cord, so had to drive all the way back, and all we ended up using the keyboards for on this day was for a small “wow-wow” keyboard part during bits of the choruses. He was already hung over as it was, he said. It was a bitch to get this swoop in sync, and while tempers were not flaring, there was quiet tension. Only Beulah would take the time and labor extra hard to get this sort of thing right manually. I annoyed Pat even more by telling him to “let me do it” after he was struggling with the swoop, but I didn’t fare any better. This would have been a perfect part for ProTools, had we had it.
Wednesday, June 3: “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand,” “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Drums (St. Cin).
This session was the beginning of one very big hit and one even bigger miss. Emma B. would prove to be our anthem for this record. The intro to “Emma B” was derived from the live version we used to do for “Slo-Mo for The Masses” off of HWS, with the chords altered slightly, so this one was easy for us to track as we were very familiar with it. Not so “Calm Go the Wild Seas.” The version we tried here dates back to a loud rock version Miles and I did for our very first recording session for “Handsome Western States” in October of ’95. It stunk then and would prove to stink worse here.
Friday, June 5: “Warmer”: Drums (St. Cin). “The Aristocratic Swells”: Drums (Swan).
We stuck a mic inside the bass drum head of another drum kit for “Warmer” in a desperate attempt to get some natural sounding reverb on the drums. It was tag-team St. Cin/Swan behind the kit this evening.
Saturday, June 6: “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Wah guitars, intro (Kurosky), keyboard bass (Swan), main keyboard line, throughout song (Noel), “wop wop” and “buzz” keyboards during intro (Noel), big muff guitar riff, second half (Kurosky), fuzz bass (LaFollette), clean bass (LaFollette).
So far, Emma B. was sounding pale in comparison to our live versions of “Slo-Mo.” I was beginning to show some strain from recording this record, and Miles had “the talk” with me the following morning. He asked me why I was disagreeing with every suggestion he would make, or why I would get upset over having to do a part over again. The transition from our little 4 & 8 track low key sessions for HWS to the rigid timetable of “Heartstrings” was not an easy one for me at that time. Some of that has to do with where I was emotionally, but I don’t think the blame could rest only on my shoulders. Perhaps my standards for a good take weren’t high enough, but I felt Miles was a little obsessive, wanting to make sure the level of the guitar for the first verse was exactly the same read on the LED meter for the second verse, for example. I would overreact, and there’s your formula for our reputation of an antagonistic relationship. It was really as simple as that. We were not communicating well during this period.
Monday, June 8: “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Hand claps, four tracks, bounced (Kurosky/LaFollette/Noel/Swan), Tambourine (Swan).
Before we began, we visited Tiny Telephone studios for the very first time to drop off our borrowed 40-33 mic and to scope out the place for our 8/1 session. Then we went back to the space and failed in our attempt to recreate a fluttering sound that the Beatles did in one of their outtakes of “Tomorrow Never Knows” for this song (see anthology 2). I forget where we were going to put it, but Stevie thought that the sound was created by using a rotating Leslie speaker out of a guitar amp slowed down by recording with the tape really fast (when you bring the tape speed back to normal it sounds lower…see, I’m a miracle worker). We tried doing this using tape speed manipulation and a smallstone guitar pedal and failed miserably. We put “Emma B” aside for the moment and would concentrate on a new song for the next session.
Wednesday, June 10: “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Scrapped sessions, working on loud heavy metal guitar with snare drum next to amp and above mic to get a “hiss” sound (Swan/Kurosky), keyboards (Noel).
Sessions like these remind us why we are not a conventional rock band. We don’t do the “Live 105” sound well. This day was the beginning of the end for the hard rock version of this song. I thought I was clever by sticking a snare drum next to the amp right on top of the mic to get a weird buzz saw noise, but this version of the song could not be helped.
Friday, June 12: “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Trumpets (Swan). “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Bass (LaFollette), guitars (Noel/Kurosky/Swan), both scrapped. “Warmer”: Bass (LaFollette), fuzz bass (Kurosky).
When I tracked my first trumpet for “Emma Blowgun,” it sounded thin, like the whole of the recorded version of this song so far in comparison to the live version we all harbored in our heads. Then I added a double, and the song suddenly came to life somehow. The trumpet sounded like Herb Alpert! It was what Miles (and I) wanted it to sound like. This little addition proved to be a turning point for our perception of the song, and fortified our beliefs that a recorded version of a song does not necessarily have to sound the same as the live version and vice versa. Then we moved to our albatross, “Calm Go the Wild Seas,” and labored over that one some more.
Sunday, June 14: “Warmer”: Vox tremolo vibes (LaFollette), fuzz organ (LaFollette), rhythm guitar (Swan), snare overdub intro to choruses (Swan), tambourine (Kurosky), backwards guitar riff for verses (Swan).
Warmer was turning out nice, lots of low fuzz from the bass and the organ. This was a good day for Stevie, who also added the Vox tremolo for the chorus. After that, we labored for the rest of the day over a “Backwards” guitar riff. This one was a pain in the ass. I had to track how the riff was supposed to be forward, then fast forward the tape to the end of the reel, turn it around, then play along to the scratch as it sounded like backwards. Then we’d turn it back around, listen to it, be unhappy with it, and try to smooth it out some more. We were trying to get the backwards “sustain” sound without the “sucking” sound, which meant I had to be careful not to “pluck” too hard when playing it. Easier said than done. But we did it.
Monday, June 15: “Warmer”: Tambourine, chorus (Swan); “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Rhodes piano (Swan), Casio (Swan), Asian guitar riff (Kurosky), all aborted.
We decided to get rid of the “heavy metal guitars” for Calm Go, and tried in vain to use keyboards instead, maybe make it more “new wave,” I don’t know. Poor Stevie lugged a heavy Rhodes piano, borrowed from Dave Sanner, for this session, ultimately scrapped. We put it aside for now.
Wednesday, June 17: “The Aristocratic Swells”: Fuzz bass (Kurosky), Velvets rhythm guitar (LaFollette), George Harrison accent electric guitar for bridges (LaFollette), acoustic guitar, choruses (Swan), hand claps (Kurosky/LaFollette/Swan), shaker, choruses (Swan); “Warmer”: Tambourine, chorus, redone (Swan).
I came in a little late, and Miles & Stevie were already there. Miles was bumming out about “Calm Go” and I commented that we should consider scrapping the song altogether. So, Miles and Stevie went to work laying the foundation for “Aristocratic Swells.” We used this crappy “Melody” guitar a lot, this song included. Pat bought it somewhere at a rummage sale. There was something about that sound. Miles then had a light bulb for “Calm Go the Wild Seas.” We would try a new version, slow and subtle, quiet with no drums.
Friday, June 19: “Calm Go the Wild Seas,” Version 2: Click track (Swan, scrapped), Scratch acoustic guitar and vocals (Kurosky), tremolo Vox organs (LaFollette), trumpet with Harmon mute, chorus (Swan), finger chimes (Kurosky/LaFollette).
“Calm Go the Wild Seas” had its transformation on this day. I would not be present for most of the sessions, but I was there at the beginning for the foundation of it, first by trying a click, then abandoning it and having Miles playing acoustic guitar and singing as a scratch track for all else to follow. Stevie added his nice Vox organ parts. We used tremolo (and ran into a problem with it, as was discovered later), and then I tried to make an unconventional muted trumpet sound. One Mic was placed underneath a ride cymbal, and I played my trumpet with the mute directly into the cymbal to try and get a resonance. This little subtlety was lost in the final recording, a.k.a. it didn’t matter. Pat showed up around that time, and seemed bummed that he didn’t have anything to do. These sessions seemed to fall squarely on Stevie for most of the musical contributions. And he was about to take over the reins of the tape machine for a week or so.
Since I left for vacation to Rochester, NY on June 20th, notes for the following week were from the track sheet, and phone conversations while I was gone that I could recollect as well as after the fact comments by others.
Sunday, June 21: “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: “Asian” guitar (Kurosky), surf guitar (Noel).
While I was out East in the sweltering heat and humidity, Pat & Miles concentrated on capturing an Asian sound to set the tone for the new version of “Calm Go.”
Monday, June 22: “Warmer”: Harp (Carolyn Engelmann).
Carolyn was our first guest musician. I never did meet her. Miles and Stevie ended up with a harp sounding different than what they expected, and I think it took some prodding to get a sound they were happy with. If I were to guess, she was probably resistant to “dumbing down” the instrument and wanted to showcase some semblance of virtuosity. We would experience this problem again with other guest musicians, most notably some of the string players. Stevie accidentally taped over the final four bars of one of the harp tracks, and Miles was a bit bummed about that when I talked to him on the phone later that week. Shit happens. I’ve done it plenty of times.
Wednesday, June 24: “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: “Gong” cymbals (Kurosky), Sarangi, two tracks (Peter Altenberg); Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand: Tablas, doubled (Altenberg).
Peter was guest number two, later to reappear on Cello with the first group of string players a month later. When I came back to listen to these tracks, I could only imagine what the instruments looked like (until I looked them up). It was a magical sound, and I wished I had been there to record them. Miles also used a ride cymbal to make a “gong” sound.
Friday, June 26: “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Flute (Margaret Moore). “Sunday Under Glass”: Flute (Moore). “The Aristocratic Swells”: Guitar riffs for choruses (LaFollette).
Margaret was Stevie’s ex-girlfriend. I had only met her once. She had to pick us up somewhere because the car we were in had died, but for the life of me I cannot remember the context. Stevie also came up with the very catchy guitar riff for the chorus, which I have since adopted for all of our live shows. Since Steve is the only one who knows how to play bass well, the rest of us ended up playing his parts done on other instruments, and this riff is one of his catchiest ones. Stevie had a huge stamp on “Aristocratic.”
Sunday, June 28: “Warmer”: Bounced harp tracks together (Swan). “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Casio “bell” riff for chorus (LaFollette), guitar riff doubling “bell” part (Swan).
I returned to the space on this day and took inventory of what was recorded while I was gone and bounced the harp parts together. I neglected to remove DBX while bouncing, which can be heard if you listen closely to the beginning. There is a “pumping air” sound in the harp tracks due to the fact that the DBX was doubled in the bounce. If you’ve ever compared the sound of a cassette being played with no Dolby, and then play it in Dolby “C,” you might know what I am talking about.
Monday, June 29: “Warmer”: French horn (Ana Pitchon), Trumpet (Swan). “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: French horn (Pitchon).
Ana began her brief stint as a guest member with the band here. She was a friend, indirectly, of Stevie’s. She played for the Redwood Symphony at the time and was a little ill at ease on this first day due to the deadness of the room. The horn didn’t sound quite right, no resonance of a large concert hall, just a smelly room with shag carpet that was 85 degrees with 95% sweat humidity. There was another problem, more of a technical one for me. Stevie notated one of the parts in another key. He transposed it in an easier, less “pitchy” key (for the instrument) with the idea that I would slow down the tape. I never did get the speed quite right, so the horn is sharp next to the sarangi. Oh, well. If I were to have done this over, I would have recorded her in a room with hardwood floors and high ceilings with the 4033 and the CAD in separate spaces, and I would have suggested playing in the key to the song.
Friday, July 3: “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut,” “Silverado Days”: Drums (Swan).
More drums for yours truly. We ended up having to repair “Silverado Days” later, and the tempo was a bit erratic. Stevie had quite a bit of frustration playing piano along with this one on 8/1 for that reason. I apologized more than once.
Sunday, July 5: “Comrade’s 26th”: Drums (Swan). “Man on Moon”: French Horn (Pitchon).
The dead acoustics in the practice space did not really bring out the best sound from the French horn, and there were other problems to contend with. There was one note that Ana played which the microphone would not pick up as loudly for some reason, a real head scratcher. I ended up bouncing her track with my trumpet track later, having to ride the fader all the way to the top for that one note. I forget which note it was, but I guess it must have had something to do with the room, or maybe the note was of an exact frequency that the mic, for whatever reason, would not pick up. It was not phase since we only used one mic.
Monday, July 6: “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut,” “Silverado Days, “Comrade’s 26th”: Bass (Lafollette).
Wednesday, July 8: “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut”: Fuzz acoustic guitar (Kurosky), clean rhythm guitar (Kurosky), electric guitar riffs, doubled, bounced (Kurosky). “Silverado Days”: Clean electric rhythm guitar (Kurosky), acoustic rhythm guitar to double (Swan).
Laying down rhythm guitar tracks has never been that inspiring, especially to Miles. “It’s almost as boring as recording bass,” he said. On later recordings, we would learn to add at least a few of the flourishes in order to make us feel like we were onto something different. We’re not a good guitar rock band. There are plenty of those bands out there who do it way better than us. Anyway, I was a little tired that night. I had just begun to take on new responsibilities at the day job, and it was interfering with my concentration in the studio. We would do better on Friday.
Friday, July 10: “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut”: Tremolo guitar, verses (Kurosky), more acoustic guitar (Swan), jingle bells (Swan).
Miles added some atmospherics and things suddenly sounded much better. Once the jingle bells were tracked, the song became a classic (if I do say so myself).
Sunday, July 12: “Silverado Days,” “Score From Augusta”: Accordion (Ben Osheroff). “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Guitar, choruses (Swan), Vox organ during chorus, redone (LaFollette).
Ben Osheroff is a friend of a former band mate of mine, Rick McKay. We brought him in to play accordion. Ben seemed a bit nervous at first, but by the end he seemed to loosen up a little. When Miles asked him to write down his name for album credits, he put down “Benjamin Distasteful,” but Miles wasn’t having any of that. Also notable on this day was a Kurosky OCD moment for “Calm Go,” where he kept hearing this “low popping” sound on the original Vox part during the chorus, so we re-did it, removing some of the tremolo, which appears to have been the culprit. Probably a loose wire somewhere in that thing. At the time I was ill-equipped to handle the OCD issues, but in hindsight I realize that Miles’ ear for extraneous noises is valuable to have, especially for mixing. There’s a danger in sterilizing the performance in the quest for the “perfect” track, but I probably overstated that argument at the time, which, as I recall, led to one of our many pointless circular arguments. By this point in time, I was beginning to grow weary of wearing the “engineer” hat. I just felt that there could have been less pressure and anxiety over small popping noises that would not be heard once the record was mixed and mastered. But the anxiety was probably more mine. I felt like Miles was being a bastard at that point in time and I wanted to kill him. He probably thought I was being a whiny ass bitch, and I know he wanted to kill me.
Sunday, July 19: “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Tenor sax (Ben Riseling), trombone (Jeff Swartz), clarinets, doubled at end (Riseling). “Man on Moon”: Tenor sax (Riseling), alto sax (Swartz). Trombone at beginning was tried and later scrapped. “The Aristocratic Swells”: Tenor sax (Riseling), alto sax (Swartz).
Today was a horn day. Ben & Jeff first played with us on my song, “S.O.S,” one of the b-sides on the “Small Cattle Drive” 7 inch. They are old pals of Stevie’s in his former cover band, “Shitty Shitty Band Band.” The original idea for “Man on Moon” was to get the sound of a marching band, but adding trombone in a padded room to overdub trumpets and saxes around it did not work. Ben has continued to work with us, both in the studio and for live shows, though his dance moves are a bit difficult to watch in stage. Jeff would play with us one final time the following evening, as he didn’t seem comfortable working with us, nor I him. It didn’t seem like he was handling the pressures of recording and doing multiple takes well. He did well when being tracked along with Ben or me but seemed ill at ease when being tracked alone.
Monday, July 20: “Score From Augusta”: Trumpets at end (Swan). “Warmer”: Trombone (Swartz), trumpet (Swan).
This was the last Beulah session for Jeff Swartz.
Wednesday, July 22: “Score From Augusta”: Violin (Tracy Hankins, later scrapped). “Silverado Days”: “George Harrison” accent guitar (Swan). “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut”: Acoustic guitar for break (Swan), air organ, break (Noel), electric guitar riffs, doubled, break (Swan).
Most of this session was spent recording an amplified violin by a woman named Tracy Hankins, who was, I think, in the band Zmrzlina, if I am not mistaken. We didn’t end up keeping it. We also struggled with the bounce of my guitar riffs, as the harmony part sounded dangerously close to “Feelin’ Groovy,” so I buried it in the bounce.
Saturday, July 25: Anne Mellinger’s House, SF, CA. “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand,” “Silverado Days”: Strings (Bierenbach Quartet).
We set up the board and tape machine at Anne Mellinger’s house, a nice hardwood floor apartment with a lot of light, resonance and high ceilings. I set up the 4033 directly in front of the group, aligned in a semi-circle in the living room, which was about twelve feet high and angled down about forty five degrees by a large sun roof. The other mic was the CAD E100, and I positioned that one lower, about 4 feet high and pointing towards the cello players. We kept the stereo mix for these sessions, and the results were pretty astonishing for a home recording. It sounded fantastic. Wallace Harvey had this clever way of making his violin sound like a European ambulance passing by the window. I’m just glad Pat wasn’t there, as he has a low tolerance for shit like that. Music geek misgivings notwithstanding, this session was probably the most memorable for me. More than any other one day of recording, the work done on this day would shape people’s perception of Beulah and this record. Stevie’s hard work writing the scores played a pivotal part.
Monday, July 27: Anne Mellinger’s House, SF, CA. “Sunday Under Glass,” “Man on Moon”: Strings (Bierenbach sans Kleinberg).
Tonight’s session was not as productive. We would end up re-recording all of the strings for “Sunday,” and the choruses for “Man on the Moon” with three of Ana’s Redwood Symphony friends in St. Cin’s kitchen a month later. The feel wasn’t right for one of the parts, and there would prove to be some kind of technical problem on the other one, but I forget what.
Saturday, August 1: Tiny Telephone Studios, SF, CA. “Warmer”: Piano at intro (Noel/Swan). “Score From Augusta”: Piano (LaFollette/Noel). “Silverado Days”: Piano chords (LaFollette), piano tinkles (Noel). “The Aristocratic Swells”: Piano at choruses (Kurosky). “Man on Moon”: Baroque piano at ½ speed (LaFollette). “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Piano, verses, 2nd ½ (Noel). “Comrade’s 26th”: Hammond organ (LaFollette/Noel), Rhodes piano (LaFollette), Xylophone (Swan, stolen from Noel, who came up with the part but was taking a dump).
We went into Tiny Telephone to record piano and organ. We figured since John Vanderslice basically gave us one of his Audio Technica 4033s to record the entire record with, the least we could do was show up for one day so he could put our name on his list of clients. No, this was a good workday, we got a lot done, and the atmosphere was like night and day compared to our practice space. This familiarity helped us in our decision about where to record our next record, which would be here.
Monday, August 3: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Comrade’s 26th”: Rhythm guitar (Kurosky), gated spacey guitar (Swan), bendy electric guitar (Swan).
Today we began recording at Steve’s house. We had planned to come here to begin doing vocals in August and finish the record mid-August. Now we were behind schedule and would finish a month later. The main purpose to record in Steve’s rock room was to find a more comfortable space to record vocals, but we hadn’t finished all of the music. Ironically, much of the music to be completed was for “Comrade’s,” which would end up being scrapped, as the song was shortened into a short instrumental medley during mixing or mastering.
Wednesday, August 5: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Comrade’s 26th”: Acoustic guitar (Kurosky), sampled and treated sitar sounds (Swan). “Man on Moon”: Acoustic nylon guitar, redone (Swan).
We lifted some sitar sounds from one of those stock sound effect records and put it into “Comrade’s.” I had to change both the speed of the tape machine and the speed of the turntable to get it in the right key, and we treated it a bit, making a composite of maybe three or four tracks, which I bounced together in one track. That was fun. Information about the records we used for this remain classified. We obfuscated it in fear of getting sued. As if...
Monday, August 10: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Comrade’s 26th”: More sitar samples (Swan), guiro (Swan). “Silverado Days”: Drums re-done (Swan).
We found another sitar sound sample today, this one on a CD. I couldn’t get it to the key of “A” like the other one, since I could only change the tape speed, not the speed of the CD as well, so I just stuck it in the key of “D,” and it worked for the part. I also finally repaired, as best I could, the damage I did to “Silverado Days” on drums by re-recording them at Steve’s house.
Wednesday, August 12: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Comrade’s 26th”: Trumpets, end (Swan), tambourine? (Swan). “Score From Augusta”: Attempted violin part during bridge to replace earlier violin, also scrapped (Swan).
Violin just wasn’t happening in the bridge. The original part (which we scrapped) was basically rudimentary whole notes on the root notes, D, G, A, G. It sounded like shit after we added everything else, plus why should we add an extra name to an already long list of guest musicians for such an inconsequential, four bar part? I tried in vain to improve on it but ended up sounding like a dying cat. We ended up replacing it on 8/14 with the manic electric guitar strumming, both at regular speed and at super high speed (recorded at 15ips, pitch adjusted).
Friday, August 14: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Matter v. Space”: Re-did trumpets at beginning. (Swan). “Sunday Under Glass”: Trumpets, choruses, re-done to pitch after strings (Swan). “Score From Augusta”: “Fast” guitar parts during bridge (Swan), tambourine and shaker (Swan).
When we recorded the first group of string players for “Sunday,” I made a note to re-record my trumpet eventually, as it was sharp. This is a common error I have had over the years recording trumpet, pinching a hair sharp. As for “Matter,” we had originally brought in John Peters, another one of Stevie’s friends from the “Shittys,” to accompany me on trumpet for the beginning of “Matter v. Space.” I was aiming for a bright brassy sound, a la Perez Prado or Esquivel, but once we added everything else, it sounded out of place, so Miles suggested that I redo it in a mellower way over at Steve’s. It turned out to be better for my ego anyway, since we did a dumb thing by just listing what the extra musicians played on the album credits, rather than a by-song synopsis. If we had listed John Peters on trumpet, people would have thought he played all of the trumpet on the while record, which would have pissed me off. It was bad enough that we’d get asked about all of the extra musicians on the record anyway. Besides the Lewisohn book, that was another reason I decided to put these notes together. We would credit John later by including him on “The Coast Is Never Clear” (where he got paid) and for two live shows, Noisepop 2000 and 2001. Sins of my stupid ego were officially atoned.
Saturday, August 15: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Man on Moon,” “Sunday Under Glass,” “Matter v. Space”: Clean up tracks (Kurosky/Swan).
Since Robert Schneider doesn’t have an automated board, Miles felt it would be a lot easier to mix the record if we cleaned up each track in the places where there was no performance, breathing, clicks, pops, etc. Tonight was the first night devoted to this. I hated having to do that, we were wasting precious time that we needed to record things like, you know, the lead fucking vocals. If I were in charge, we would have run through all of the tracks to clean any extra noises on the very first day of mixing, with no one else in the room. On this night, I danced with disaster a couple of times, coming dangerously close to erasing actual performances. It didn’t help to have people looking over my shoulder while doing this. It was a needless layer of stress added to an already stressful timeline.
Monday, August 17: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Comrades 26th,” “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand,” “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut,” “Calm Go The Wild Seas,” “Warmer,” “Score From Augusta,” “Silverado Days,” “The Aristocratic Swells”: Clean up tracks (Kurosky/Swan).
More of the same. Fuck my life.
Wednesday, August 19: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Lead vocals, later scrapped (Kurosky).
On to the vocals (finally)! We didn’t quite get them right. Miles was experimenting with different ways of singing it. Live, he belts it out, but the recorded version of this was more subdued, so “bratty” vocals seemed out of place. We layered them and left this song satisfied that they were done, but Miles revisited this song the following week.
Friday, August 21: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Score From Augusta”: Lead vocals, later scrapped (Kurosky).
Well, we had done vocals on this day for “Score,” but ended up re-doing them on Sunday. Suffice to say it was another one of those sessions where Miles called the next day and said it was “all crap,” and that we needed to do it over. I guess I was taking it too personally, but Miles doesn’t always communicate in a pleasant way. I was getting tired and I just wanted “this goddamn fucking record to be done with already.” I used that phrasing to him in one of our arguments, but I forget if this was the one.
Sunday, August 23: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Score From Augusta”: Lead vocals (Kurosky), backing vocals, verses “in our chest,” etc. (Kurosky/LaFollette/Noel), backing vocals “armies wait,” etc. (Swan).
Pat and Stevie joined for backing vocals. Mostly keepers on this day.
Monday, August 24: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Backing “ooh” vocals, later redone (Swan).
I came into this session confident I could nail the three part “ooh” harmonies for “Emma,” but I wasn’t hitting them. Beer seems to affect my sense of pitch, and I probably had one or three too many. With a refrigerator in the rock room, it was all too easy to crack open another one. I also didn’t take one headphone ear off, a technique that helped. I was used to doing vocals with both headphones fully on. Miles suggested that I try what he does, and I have never gone back to my old method since.
Wednesday, August 26: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Lead vocals (Kurosky). “Sunday Under Glass”: Backing vocals (Kurosky/Noel/Swan).
Friday, August 28: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Matter v. Space”: Backing vocals (Carlos Forster/Swan), bounce backing vocals (Swan). “Warmer”: Backing vocals (Forster/Swan).
I first heard Carlos Forster’s voice on that Future Farmer’s compilation that we contributed our worst song to. Not long after that Pat joined the band and he & Carlos were good friends, so we all became friends with Carlos eventually. Miles probably became friends with him last, since Pat & I defected to play a couple of gigs with “For Stars” back in March of ’98. I wasn’t cut out to be a drummer, though, so I became the latest in a long line of “For Stars” drummers to spontaneously combust. Oh, by now that was truer for me during these sessions, and this day singing harmonies with Carlos was a welcome break from the normal tension I felt. In my brief stint with “For Stars,” Carlos was impressed to find someone who could sing harmony parts higher than his melodies, and we sang well together here also, though the parts were more for the background (ooh-wah-ooh, and so on).
Saturday, August 29: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Man on Moon”: Drums for intro (Swan). “Score From Augusta”: Trumpets at intro (Swan), backing vocals in same track (Kurosky).
Miles was set up in the kitchen doing “da da da da da” while I did trumpets for the intro of “Score.” You’d have to listen pretty closely to this track isolated from the rest of the music to hear it though.
Sunday, August 30: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Man on Moon,” “Sunday Under Glass”: Additional strings. Cello (Victoria Owen), violins (David Silon, Deborah Simon). “Silverado Days”: Lead vocals (Kurosky).
Strings were re-done for the chorus of “Sunday Under Glass,” and all of “Man on Moon.” The original strings were kept for the fadeout at the end of “Sunday.” These new strings were recorded in the kitchen by Stevie. I was not present for this session. By this time, I had begun to “wig out” and requested rotating some shifts.
---------------------------------------
I should note that somewhere in here we brought in David Silon and Ana Pitchon to attempt a “Marching Band” intro for “Man on Moon” intro but I don’t have notes as to which day. I believe they came in before David later returned with Deborah and Victoria to do strings (8/30), and I redid drums at the intro on 8/29, presumably to change the nature of that section. It was a weeknight, because David had to commute all the way up from San Jose after work. My copies of the track sheets do not indicate when, nor does my journal account for when. However, Miles has the original track sheets. Two factors contributed to finally giving up on the “John Philip Sousa” intro. The first is that we would have needed to get a large ensemble to do it, in a big “band” room. My recording attempts and overdubbing made it sound, as Pat put it, like a “6th grade band.” The second reason is the Minders had just put out their record and opened with a marching band. Not only did we decide to scrap JPS, but we also decided to put “Man on Moon” on the album last, rather than first.
Editor’s Note 2024: The intro to man on the moon was me on drums, trumpet, and La Follette on bass, and in the mix in Denver we used Robert Schneider’s “Space Echo” machine, with me manually twisting one of the oscillator knobs – and it was used for a recurring segment on the David Letterman show at some point long after this record was released, but for the life of me I can’t remember the segment now, or when it was aired.
---------------------------------------
Monday, August 31: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Sunday Under Glass”: Lead vocals (Kurosky). “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”: Backing “ooh” vocals re-done (Swan 3 part/Kurosky on top).
We re-did the ooh vocals, no alcohol this time. Miles also did a nice job adding a 4th harmony on the top. I think this was the first time he added a harmony part to a pre-existing vocal on one of our recordings, but I could be wrong. Previously I would usually wait for him to track his part and then harmonize to him. One of the great things about Beulah, as Pat has mentioned since, is that we all have learned a great deal about harmonies.
Wednesday, September 2: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Calm Go The Wild Seas,” “Score From Augusta,” “Comrade’s 26th,” “Sunday Under Glass”: Lead vocals (Kurosky).
Recorded by Stevie. I was not present at this session. Miles finished up some of the bits and pieces for lead vocals that he either wished to change or had not yet completed.
Friday, September 4: St. Cin’s House, Richmond, CA. “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Bounce vocals (Swan). “Score From Augusta”: Backing vocals, “armies wait,” re-done (Swan). “Comrade’s 26th”: Backing vocals, “na na na na” and “dad dad dad” (Kurosky/Swan).
Today was the last session at St. Cin’s. In our bio for “Heartstrings,” Miles suggested that Sheila had “kicked us out” of St. Cin’s house. “The facts were never really established.” It is because it wasn’t true. Steve was the one who pulled the plug on it. I think the spark to that was on 8/26, when we stayed in there later than usual. I recall him coming down into the rock room around 11:30 after being woken up by something we were doing.
Saturday, September 5: Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, Berkeley, CA.
I am not sure what we did on this day, but I think I did trumpet for “Man on Moon.”
Sunday, September 6: Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, Berkeley, CA. “Ballad Of The Lonely Argonaut”: Lead vocals (Kurosky), backing vocals (Forster/Swan). “Calm Go The Wild Seas”: Lead vocals (Kurosky), backing vocals (Forster/Swan).
I fed Miles’ vocals through a guitar amp for some of the “Ballad” vocals, and he was set up in an isolation booth in one of the classrooms. I think Miles also did his “I will be the king” vocals by cupping his mouth into the mic, but my memory fails me.
Monday, September 7: Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, Berkeley, CA. “Matter v. Space”: Lead vocals, bridge (Kurosky), backing vocals, “confetti falls” (Kurosky/Swan).
Wednesday, September 9: Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, Berkeley, CA. “Man on Moon”: Lead vocals (Kurosky).
This last day began with a bit of difficulty, Miles not liking how he sounded singing in a “rock” voice but was ultimately happy with it. The very last thing we did was the last thing you hear on the record: “I’ll fight, if you want me to fight.” Miles noted it was the first time he sang with a little vibrato and sounded like a “crooner.” That last bit took one take. It had enough of a world weariness in it that could only come from being very tired after four months of recording. We did it ourselves! It was not easy, and I almost had a nervous breakdown by the end, but the record only cost us about $3,000 – half of that was the purchase of the tape machine. We would return to Lindamood-Bell one final day to do the Japanese bonus tracks “All Points North,” and “Sunken Treasure,” and I would do my trumpet parts for “Silverado Days” as well as Miles doing lead vocals for “Warmer” and “The Aristocratic Swells” with Robert in Denver, but 9/9 was essentially the last day of recording of When Your Heartstrings Break proper. Well done everyone!
Mixing
Pet Sounds Studios, Denver, CO, by Robert Schneider, assisted by Bill Swan and Miles Kurosky.
Sat., Sept. 12: Robert soldering a circuit board connecting ¼ inch jacks to connections hard wired to the board.
Sun., Sept. 13: Sunday Under Glass.
Mon., Sept. 14: Score from Augusta, begin Calm Go the Wild Seas.
Tue., Sept. 15: Complete Calm Go the Wild Seas, Matter V. Space.
Wed., Sept. 16: Man on Moon (Main).
Thurs., Sept. 17: Man On Moon (Intro), Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand, Main and Intro separately.
Fri., Sept. 18: The Ballad of The Lonely Argument, trumpets for Silverado Days (Swan).
I left for Paris 9/19 for my sister’s wedding on the 26th. The remainder of the songs were mixed the following week. Miles also completed lyrics and recorded the lead vocals for “Warmer,” and “The Aristocratic Swells.” I do not have information on what was done on which day.
Mastering
The record was mastered in LA on two separate occasions in October or November 1998 by John Golden. Miles went down with Pat on the first occasion, and possibly Stevie. Then Miles went down a second time to make adjustments. The going cliché about mastering is that you always have to go a second time. That would prove to be true for our next record as well with Greg Calbi, who is widely respected in the industry, yet still not immune to that rule.
Discography
Band:
Miles Kurosky, Steve LaFollette, Pat Noel, Steve St. Cin, Bill Swan.
Additional Musicians:
Carolyn Englemann: Harp
Carlos Forster: Backing vocals
Margaret Moore: Flute
Benjamin Osheroff: Accordion
Ana Pitchon: French horn
Ben Riseling: Tenor sax, clarinet
Robert Schneider: Backing vocals
Bierenbach Quartet:
Peter Altenberg: Cello, sarangi, tablas
Mark Franchitto: Cello
Anneliese Gomez: Viola
Wallace Harvey: Violin
Jason Kleinberg: Viola
Anne Mellinger: Violin
Cynthia Wigginton: Violin
Redwood string players:
Victoria Owen: Cello
David Silon: Violin
Deborah Simon: Violin
Song Credits
Score from Augusta
Kurosky: Lead vocals, backing vocals, fuzz guitar, sample at beginning
LaFollette: Bass guitar, fuzz bass, piano, backing vocals
Noel: Casio keyboard, piano, backing vocals
St. Cin: Drums
Swan: Trumpets, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, backing vocals
Benjamin Osheroff: Accordion
Sunday Under Glass
Kurosky: Lead vocals, non-amplified electric guitar, penny whistle
LaFollette: Bass guitar, Roland and Casio keyboard, string arrangement
Noel: Electric guitar
St. Cin: Drums
Swan: Trumpet, melodica, keyboard vibes, hi-hat & floor tom at intro
Peter Altenberg: Cello at end
Mark Franchitto: Cello at end
Anneliese Gomez: Viola at end
Wallace Harvey: Violin at end
Jason Kleinberg: Viola at end
Anne Mellinger: Violin at end
Margaret Moore: Flute
Victoria Owen: Cello
David Silon: Violin
Deborah Simon: Violin
Cynthia Wigginton: Violin at end
Matter vs. Space
Kurosky: Lead vocals, electric guitars, fake sitars, backing vocals
LaFollette: Bass guitar, Vox organ
Noel: Roland keyboards, short wave radio
St. Cin: Drums
Swan: Trumpets, keyboard drum machine, fake sitars, backing vocals
Carlos Forster: Backing vocals
Emma Blowgun's Last Stand
Kurosky: Lead vocals, fuzz guitars, hand claps, backing vocals
LaFollette: Bass guitar, fuzz bass, hand claps, string arrangement
Noel: Roland keyboards, piano, hand claps
St. Cin: Drums
Swan: Trumpets, keyboard bass, tambourine, hand claps, backing vocals
Peter Altenberg: Cello, tablas
Mark Franchitto: Cello
Anneliese Gomez: Viola
Wallace Harvey: Violin
Anne Mellinger: Violin
Cynthia Wigginton: Violin
Calm Go the Wild Seas
Kurosky: Lead vocals, “Asian” guitar, gong cymbal, finger chimes
LaFollette: Vox organs, finger chimes, Casio keyboard
Noel: “Surf”guitar
Swan: Muted trumpet, electric guitar, backing vocals
Peter Altenberg: Sarangi
Carlos Forster: Backing vocals
Margaret Moore: Flute
Ana Pitchon: French horn
Ben Riseling: Tenor sax, clarinet
Jeff Swartz: Trombone
Ballad of the Lonely Argonaut
Kurosky: Lead vocals, electric guitars
LaFollette: Bass guitar
Noel: Air organ
Swan: Drums, acoustic guitars, backing vocals, jingle bells
Carlos Forster: Backing vocals
Comrade's Twenty Sixth
Kurosky: Lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, backing vocals
LaFollette: Bass guitar, Hammond organ, Rhodes piano
Noel: Hammond organ
Swan: Trumpets, drums, xylophone, guiro, sitar samples, backing vocals
The Aristocratic Swells
Kurosky: Lead vocals, fuzz bass, hand claps, piano
LaFollette: All electric guitars, piano, hand claps
Noel: Piano
Swan: Trumpet, drums, acoustic guitar, shaker, hand claps
Ben Riseling: Tenor sax
Robert Schneider: Backing vocals
Jeff Swartz: Alto sax
Silverado Days
Kurosky: Lead vocals, acoustic guitar
LaFollette:Bass guitar, piano, string arrangement
Noel: Piano
Swan: Trumpets, drums, electric guitar, backing vocals
Peter Altenberg: Cello
Carlos Forster: Backing vocals
Mark Franchitto: Cello
Anneliese Gomez: Viola
Wallace Harvey: Violin
Anne Mellinger: Violin
Benjamin Osheroff: Accordion
Cynthia Wigginton: Violin
Warmer
Kurosky: Lead vocals, tambourine
LaFollette: Bass guitar, Vox organ, fuzz organ
Noel: Piano
St. Cin: Drums
Swan: Trumpet, electric guitar, tambourine, snare overdub, piano, backing vocals
Carolyn Englemann: Harp
Carlos Forster: Backing vocals
Ana Pitchon: French horn
Jeff Swartz: Trombone
If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart
Kurosky: Lead vocals, electric guitars
LaFollette: Bass guitar, string arrangement, baroque piano solo
Noel: Roland keyboard
St. Cin: Drums
Swan: Trumpets, acoustic guitar, drums at intro, backing vocals
Peter Altenberg: Cello
Mark Franchitto: Cello
Anneliese Gomez: Viola
Wallace Harvey: Violin
Jason Kleinberg: Viola
Anne Mellinger: Violin
Margaret Moore: Flute
Victoria Owen: Cello at end
Ana Pitchon: French horn
Ben Riseling: Tenor sax
David Silon: Violin at end
Deborah Simon: Violin at end
Jeff Swartz: Alto sax
Cynthia Wigginton: Violin
Track Sheets
Lyrics
Score from Augusta
In the room wallpapered with pages of your letters
that you once sent
We wrestle with our bodies that wash like untamed rivers
against your shores
And armies wait in their secret places
that gently twist around your bed
The south will be spared
of bullets flying fast from her eyes
with confederate fire
We etch our names in candles they're heart shaped and they flicker
inside our chests
And ghosts of our brethren spin tales which are hidden
much like ours
Of brothers fighting in holy fields
where their new loves come
and their old loves go
And they just wilt
like Spanish moss with dew in her eyes
weep tears for our lord
And for the ones he spares
when they've lost their way it's off off off with their heads
And the whores he loves
and the lepers he claims that he can cure
cannot compete
with those humid summer days that we would share
Sunday Under Glass
The scenery rides by
just like floats lost in a parade
where the palms and tumbleweeds sail
right past the homes they stretch and they fade
rolling like movie credits
far beneath the clear skies
How wary does the west carry
so many sights yeah let's see the sights
slow prayers with no answers
must go somewhere filed away
and the wild west is a slow pan
and the sunshine is fake
and the ocean is just painted
on a backdrop downtown
The miniature sprawls blur
from the set lights and the heat
where the summer’s passed with charades
right where the sidewalks crack and they meet
just like a sad sad actress right before her last scene
How wary does the west carry
so many sights yeah let's see the sights
slow prayers with no answers
must go somewhere filed away
And the wild west
is a slow pan and the sunshine is fake
and the ocean is just painted
on a backdrop somewhere
downtown
Matter vs. Space
Nose down, what'cha gonna do when
the party's fading and your makeup starts to smear
your only scene is a grand entrance
silver screen is another brand new year
In a sea of talcum powder
kids swim & they lose their color
Clock strikes twelve, say don't ya
feel so well, yeah
As the confetti falls, confetti falls
timed with your tears, slow down
no one wants to hear
about your hardwood floors
In stalls of the magic markers
boy and girls come and go like coats of paint
All you've got is a pretty name, you're
sure to be killed off in the very first scene
On the porch with the smokers
party talk gets much older
Clock strikes twelve, say don't ya
feel so well, yeah
As the confetti falls, confetti falls
timed with your tears, slow down
no one wants to hear
about your hardwood floors
Emma Blowgun's Last Stand
Goodness knows it’s been a wonderful run
the autumn lakes where the children are swans
Your mother's convictions and your father's predictions
don't seem so insane
They laugh and say your treasures are fake
but don't throw it away
And you've been framed with a beautiful name
and you've been saved but you lost your head
with halos and praise, your trinity saves but three's a crowd
You flirt, you drink, you can't stop your winking
at the boys at the bar
All you need is a gun and a car
a country song if you don't have the heart
With cowboys and Indians and their palsy dominions
where the highway's not far
When all you know your shadow's a ghost
don't let it scare you away
Calm Go The Wild Seas
Everything's all right
it takes a strength beyond strength to smile
I'm missing you like hurricanes
I'd give them names but their waves keep rolling on
and on and on and on
my sails are tattered they're worn bone thin
I will be the king
all I need is the comfort of the stage
smile and take a drag
laugh and say we're only having fun
I watch the minutes pass
from under the umbrella you left
the winds are dying a slow death
Cut my heart out but it's still beating
on and on and on and on
my sails are tattered they're worn bone thin
You will be the queen
You will be gilded by the sword
My prints are unique
You've been touched time and time again
Ballad of the Lonely Argonaut
Half by sea
through the isthmus or the cape they're roundin'
Overland
follow the shallow ribbon of the Platte
And El Dorado waits
like an avalanche
And the boys are off to see
the elephant
How does it feel
to roam this land like Harte and Twain did
How how how does it feel
a thousand miles closer to hell
Overland
they pass Scottsbluff
and across the basin
Half by sea
they follow the coast and through the gate where
gold is coated with gold on the languid hills
where they wait for hours and hours
cool gray ladies from Shirley's letters cheer
and they sigh for hours and hours
The luck of the roaring camp
and how they taunt
the outcasts of the flats
and their poker face
cannot hide the fever of the children’s crusade
slow slower than slow
days fill into one another
gold is coated with gold on the languid hills
where they wait for hours and hours
cool gray ladies from Shirley's letters cheer
and they sigh for hours and hours
Comrade's 26th
Bomb bombs away
So much safer than a loaded gun
and I won't blink
'cause you're softer than a sharpened blade
and I need you and you need me
The Aristocratic Swells
Hey mister for real, sir
We're in it for fun
And have you heard the news, sir
We're in it for free
And with a kiss
Yeah we'll be so sure
We'll put a laugh track on for you dear
A million and one excuses
The homes are full of spies
We're all over waiting
We're in it for fame
And hey so call a nation
Repeat the same themes
Devil takes a bite out of this here land
Every hour on the hour
A good kind of suicide dear
The adjectives they
Fall next to pageants
For those who never placed
For those who come in second
A mistress all your life
Our lullabies will never move
you to tears
and jokes that bounce
right off you
Fall next to pageants
For those who never placed
For those who come in second
A mistress all your life
Our lullabies will never move
you to tears
and jokes that bounce
right off you
like dirty words
And anecdotes that we share
Been told before
Our destination still unknown
Silverado Days
Me and I
yeah we're going your way
sound the trumpets and open the gates
no angels there to greet me
they can't breathe and they won't see me
And I’ll do I’ll do
But a little won't help you now
I’ll do
I was a kid and you were my hero
bathed in rhinestones
and brand new chinos
I was young, drunk and easy
we would duel but our holsters were empty
And I’ll do I’ll do
But a little won't help you now
I’ll do
Along the wayside
gonna change our names
they're easily replaced
it comes on heavy like a symphony
at the cinema
'Cause even though
we don't mean what we say
we throw our words
like bombs and hand grenades
Arms are waiting like a monument
it comes and goes in time
with highway signs we post along the way
we wonder where they've gone
'Cause even though
we don't mean what we say
we throw our words like bombs and hand grenades
Warmer
Okay fine
when she starts to sway
the floor is blacker than the sea
She says oh well oh well you'll do just fine
just spin and drift and try to stay in time with me
pretend those castors rolling are your feet
Boys are staring and they wait for dances
in lines as long as country miles
The girls’ voices drift like anesthesia
and their smiles can last for days and
On and on
when we go to sleep and wake to another brand new day
She says oh well oh well you do just fine
just dream and wish and try to close your eyes
think of me
pretend that we're both older than we seem
Boys are staring and they wait for dances
in lines as long as country miles
The girls’ voices drift like anesthesia
and their smiles can last for days and days
Lost cause kids are okay
now they wouldn't be long
sticky sweet and quite insane
so so insane
If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart
I'll fight if you want me to fight
I'll laugh if you want me to laugh
and cancel out the sun
I will I will you know I surely will
'Cause all we need is a pretty song
If you wanna sing
tell me what you wanna sing and I'll play
yeah I'll play
speed it up we'll slow it down
if you want we'll change the sound
we'll play yeah we'll play
anything that you want
all we want from you is a word or two
And even though we don't show
we cast our nets like missionaries
if we sell out oh well
our only fan will be changing costumes
and you'll see it's much the same so sing our songs
and for applause we'll get up get up
If you wanna sing
tell me what you wanna sing and I'll play
yeah I'll play
speed it up we'll slow it down
if you want we'll change the sound
we'll play yeah we'll play
anything that you want
all we want from you is a word or two
I've been worth a ton
And I've been worth
I don't need you now
the words you write
make my heart race and stop then just quit
Yeah we'll do anything that you want
So please don't go and break our hearts (yeah yeah, etc.)
I'll fight if you want me to fight
All songs written by Kurosky except "Sunday Under Glass" by Kurosky/LaFollette
All songs ©1999 published by Golubsi Music and Sony / ATV Songs (BMI).
i never thought of those parts sounding like a sitar on MvS... i always thought it was a harpsichord.