Well, for once I turn up the later to the party than JP! The last two days have seen a whirlwind of IML activity in The Aquarium.
First off I managed to record and produce Dre's vocals for Dan's infectious and vibrant samba track. She's done an excellent job, and for someone with no experience of songwriting and little experience singing, she's done annoyingly well considering she nailed takes straightway, hitting all her notes and harmonies bang on. Given how long it takes me to lay a down a vocal I was despairing at what a walk in the park it was for Dre which I could only temper by constructing the theory that, like that beloved Disney girl, she leads a double life as a professional pop star, probably as Vanessa Paradis. I now feel immensely comforted. I had a lot of fun producing it, adding some classic pop tempo-synced delay and a totally irresponsible dirty latin-jazz guitar solo that somewhat harks back to The Universals days though not quite as frenetic and squealing (apologies Dan, I hope it doesn't offend too much!).
I had grand plans for my submission - an acapella masterpiece meditating on the life of Archimedes. It was to shake the foundations of the acapella movement, besting the likes of McFerrin and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I was to make millions from a lucrative advertising deal with a sanitaryware company. But when, all of a sudden, the deadline was only two weeks away, I attempted a spectacularly half-assed prototype and promptly canned the idea. McFerrin's on top for now.
So instead I settled for something simple. I came up with a chord sequence and then sat down in front of a microphone with my guitar and wailed something over the top of it, half words, half drivel - the musical equivalent of automatic writing I suppose. I was pretty pleased with what came out and set about finding a suitable theme. I knew it would have to be freak because what I'd recorded had a personal, intimate feel and was emotoinally charged; an ancient Greek would have been have been too distant. So I browsed the human marvels site and found a few contenders (like Grady Stiles the Murderous Lobster Man) but when I happened upon Julia Pastrana the non-descript I figured she would be the best fit. An apparently well known story, she was a hairy lady with monkey like swollen gums. She married her handler and was reputedly madly in love with him whilst he reputedly only married her to protect and exploit his investment. She died days after giving birth (the child died within hours) and he sold the corpses whereupon they were embalmed and and ended up being exhibited around the world. Apparently Julia has still not been laid to rest.
I was uninspired lyrically and with the deadline looming, I turned to Nick 'Give Us a Kiss then Mister' Osbourne, a master of words for whom an appearance in dictionary corner is long overdue. He kindly agreed so I sent him my wailing prototype and in but a few days he produced a beautiful set of lyrics. He incorporated a few of the words and phrases that came out in my automatic singing which was a nice touch. I recorded the vocals yesterday and ended up contorting myself in Thom Yorke fashion and wailing like a hound into the microphone. I had to wrestle with myself not to go over the top in the delivery, I think I just about won. Hopefully it will come out pretty well balanced. Just need to mix it now before submitting (yes, I've been a naughty boy and missed the deadline again).
This IML album has totally crept up on me so I'm enjoying the fact that I won't have to wait long to hear it. This time I'm definitely abstaining from listening to any of the other tracks before it's all finished and released though. No really I am.
You can now listen to Ancient Greeks & Circus Freaks.
