A LONG time coming, the first Blood People ‘full length’ (a lot of classic albums are only 8 tracks long) is out! Stream it for now, vinyl in the new year. Some of these songs are years old, live standards, some of them are brand new, never heard before, but all of them sound like Blood People. Twas a pleasure to record and a dream to mix. There’s a decent amount of hardware involved. A lot of the weird delays are from my Roland DEP-5, and all of the theremin haunting is courtesy of Mr. Springy 500 series spring reverb. Mr. Springy on The Remin!
The new Beat The Smart Kids album is done, tentatively titled ’30 minutes or less’, a double entendre referencing the short run time and their propensity for ordering pizza. They’re waiting on the vinyl to release it in the new year, but wanted to get a single out before they made their <a href=’https://www.facebook.com/thefestfl/‘>Fest</a> debut. Listen to Bad Influencer on their bandcamp.
Whipped’s fourth EP, Bad Altar, is available in all the places, including bandcamp, where you can pick up a 12″ vinyl record, with our second EP, Future No Brainers, on the flip side. Two EPs for the price of one!
I’ve been playing bass for Still Alive for a few shows. I believe I am Still Alive’s 17th bassist. Our friend Eric did a decent stint as bassist (he preferred a six string) until he died in 2019. This song is a tribute to him.
The Beat The Smart Kids album, HOT DEATH, as well as being available on all streaming platforms, now lives on 45 rpm slime green 12″ vinyl. Head over to their bandcamp and grab one for yourself.
Some of the music I wrote back in October in Brighton for Extreme is finally up on their website. This is seriously the best I can do for a link. I really don’t understand why wordpress won’t let you html anymore.
The new Down I Go album, Aum Shinrikyo is now up on bandcamp. I had a nice listen to it on the train from Brighton on Friday, having heard it a million times over the last three years, but until now only critically. Now it has been released into the wild I could hear it in a different context, and actually enjoy listening to it.
It was a long process, given that we demoed it (obviously) and then rerecorded it in three different countries. Unfortunately the record label that was due to release it, and press it on vinyl, backed out at the last minute when the Czech pressing plant asked for the lyrics, to check we weren’t promoting the activities of a murderous cult. I’m bummed it won’t gain the legitimacy of a physical release on a record label, or reach any new audiences, but our loyal international diaspora of dedicated fans has already received it with enthusiasm, and I am grateful for their support.
It was the first record that I was properly able to mix with my hybrid system at Chuck’s, with all the important stuff like kick, snare, bass, stereo drum and vocal buses going through hardware, and a UAD LA-2 legacy plug in on almost everything else. I’m still ironing out the kinks, but it’s a joy to see those LEDs flash and those needles twitch.
Click on the picture of the needlepoint psychopath and have a listen.
The new Bossa IV album is out today, on all your streaming platforms, but more importantly on bandcamp, where you can give him money for it, just click on the picture.
Bossa IV is a one man band, which made recording during a pandemic slightly easier, even though Matt got covid so many times I made a beer called ‘Matt’s got Covid Again’ during one of our aborted mix sessions. It was a strong brown ale, if you’re interested.
I bought a second silverface Urei LA4 and wanting to rack them together, but also balking at the 85 dollar price tag of the rack ear/connector kit from Studio Electronics, decided to try and make my own using materials you could find at Menards (because I’m in the midwest, and I love to save big money).
I discovered many things on my journey, and thought I’d share them, in case you found yourself in the same situation. The short version? Yes, I did it for twenty bucks, but I’d actually recommend just buying the $85 kit linked above. The long version? I learned a lot about tolerances. You can measure the distance between holes on your LA4 as many times as you like, but by the time that measurement is pencilled onto the metal, punched and drilled, it probably won’t line up. You will need the following pieces of metal: a 1″ aluminium right angle for the rack ears (SKU#2279907), a 3/4″ aluminium flat (SKU#2279842) for the ear spacers, and a 22 gauge piece of 6″ steel sheet (SKU#2284109) for the connector pieces. (Menards doesn’t sell 2″ aluminium flat in 1/16″ thickness, and a 1/8″ piece will make the pair too tall for a 2u slot, so the 6″ plate is way wider than it needs to be, but it doesn’t get in the way of anything.)
You will also need a drill press, a hacksaw and a vice, a center punch, various drill bits, and a 1/4″ flat file, which I didn’t have, so I just used my Dremel. The hardest thing to do is make the oblong shaped hole on the rack ears. Obviously you just drill two holes and file down what’s left in between, but good luck drilling those holes (3/16″ apart) on the same plain. Mine ended up looking kind of drunk, as did the clearance holes in the spacers, and all of the holes on the connector pieces to be fair, but once it’s racked you can’t see any of it! Inconsistencies in how the Urei faceplate is attached to the chassis didn’t help matters, especially with my distant serials. I initially entertained the idea of using the excess material to make more kits and turn a profit on ebay, but quickly disabused myself of that notion. No one would pay money for the product I created. But it works, and while I was scrabbling around in there, I learned how to change the VU lamp. Watch it shine!
Chuck's Vegetable Stand 