Album Finished

What a weird feeling. After working hell-for-leather for months and double hell-for-leather last week, I've more or less finished the album. I'm just waiting for a few days to let the mixes settle in, and then will have one last critical listen and do the fades and other little bits and pieces.

Apparently I've recorded too many songs for a vinyl album (there is 49 minutes of music!), so some of them will have to go on an additional CD, but that's OK by me.

I actually played one of the new ones at Scaledown on Friday, Almost There. It seemed to go down quite well. I'd intended to play London because it was the 20th Anniversary, and I reckon I played that at one of my very first solo gigs there 18 years ago. My fingers said 'no', so I played Temptation instead.

Scaledown is such a friendly club. Bettina and James were playing/doing poetry, and Jude did a set. there was a heavy metal chap, and Trombone Poetry. I wonder if he remembered playing a couple of gigs with Helen and the Horns? As always, the audience listened to absolutely every note and every word. Wonderful. 

I had a reminisce with Tim from Transglobal Underground about the Edinburgh Fringe Dr Calamari's Music Hall of the Macabre show we did, with Lester Square and a cast of thousands- well, thirty of us, anyway. I made a new friend, a woman who used to run a rock and roll record shop in Camden. 

Next up, an illustration for Laura Whitfield's poetry zine, and a remix for a Brighton band called Assistant, which I should have done ages ago.

And make the puppets for the album cover!

Men Fixing House

 

More Singing And Bits And Pieces

Oh Em Gee, I think I'm almost ready to mix! I have been very tired after a day out yesterday, but that seems to have affected my mindedness (as in 'absent') rather than my voice. I hope that I haven't deleted anything essential.

I did some more singing this morning, replacing some vocals that didn't have the right mood. I have been haunted by comments made about a certain singer that I'm sometimes compared with who was reported to sound like singing a telephone directory, but actually that's what I want! I've de-emoted one of the songs.

Every time I change anything the whole lot gets disrupted, but I do have a trick up my sleeve that I haven't used yet.

Oh, and just a bit of guitarring to add to a song, which I'll probably do tomorrow morning. I've discovered that radical mix decisions are best made just before I go out somewhere so I can't dither; it helps me be decisive. 

I chose a bass guitar take by Winston Blissett yesterday that radicalises the whole pretty song on the last note. 'Should I do this? It might be a bit extreme'. 'Yes', I said. And he did it. Of course it has to be there, extreme.

Some songs are fat and loud, and some are thin and quiet. There are a lot of different ways of saying a lot of different things, innit.

Train Staff, Blackpool with Out-Of-Service Sign Named Ken

 

Delivery Man Tries To Find Address; Spaghetti In Road

 

RCA Postgraduate Show And Making A Video

I am so infuriated by some political issues that I keep starting posts and abandoning them. Keep sane, keep sane...

So I have been twice to the Royal College of Art final show: once on Thursday with my Champagne Friend to see our friend Charlotte Worthington's wonderful textile hangings, and then again yesterday with Gina and her friend Nicole to... see Charlotte Worthington's wonderful textile hangings, and more of the exhibition. Second time around, I took a few photos of my favourite work.

Sandwiched between that was my youngest sibling's birthday party which took three and a half hours to get to, even though it's only about ten miles from here. Oh London, you irritating city!

And also in the sandwich was a rehearsal with Robert for Pop at the Lock, and the spontaneous video we made of Step Into England (last posting). Normally we do a selfie after our rehearsals but we were talking about the ghastly re-emergence of Mr Toad (you know who I mean), and decided to mime to our song instead. It was fun and serious, at the same time.

Step Into England

 

Singing Non-Stop

After and hour and forty-five minutes of singing (backing-lead-backing) it's time for a break. The voice is getting a little husky! I suddenly remembered last night about taking a break every 20 minutes from screen time, which hasn't been happening when I've been editing. No wonder it's been tiring.

Either today or tomorrow, I'll edit Winston's bass (he did about 5 versions) and also my new song lyric (3 takes) version. There's a peppy lead vocal to do, which probably should wait till tomorrow morning.

Man With Sledgehammer Bangs In Post

 

Bass Sorted

A long time ago I went to see a band called Bumble and the Beez; their lead singer (and bass drum and cowbell player) was Mykaell Riley, now a respected professor at the University of Westminster and one of the brains behind the current exhibition of British Black Music History at The British Library.

Their bass player was Winston Blissett, who went on to play with all sorts of people, and who is on a short break from playing with Massive Attack on their current tour. He's just been here, playing bass on one of my tracks. We had a really nice catch-up chat; we have a lot of friends in common. Apart from that he is one of the best players around, and has a signature sound and style that I can recognise when I hear him on any record. He came up trumps with beautiful playing!

That is it for guest musicians. Now, I have to do my lead vocals on a lot of the tracks, finish the words to the song with missing lyrics (I need literally three words but the right ones won't come) and record that, and then get down to final editing and mixing.

Not today! I am having a bit of a rest, then doing some drawing to wind down. It's so weird: the people playing or singing on these tracks have heard them, but not many other people have. Are the songs any good? I don't know at all. I think some of them are weird, and some of them are so ordinary they are almost middle-of-the-road songs, which makes them weird too.

The kitchen has been pretending to be a recording studio. There are grapes, pretzels and herb teas and the bathroom is spotlessly clean. What's for tea? Grapes, pretzes and herb tea, silly!

Marc Riley Plays Northbound Train By The Chefs

Marc Riley played the BBC session version of this song (link below) on his show last night. Dammit, it was one of the nights that I wasn't listening (post Covid fatigue still!) but I'll listen on catch-up later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7828dFlQvYM

Editing

I need to stop doing this- strolling past the laptop on the kitchen table, booting it up, and editing a vocal track before going out shopping.

It feels incredibly casual, but (I think) it works. 

I'm going to have to rewrite the lyrics of a whole song which was too overtly controversial, and there is still a song which swings like a pendulum from being a shoo-in to being a disaster. I'll tackle all that next week. I need some time out: the songs are playing constantly in my head and I lie awake at night and mix them, then come down in the morning and make the changes. I'm not sure that's a good habit.

Post-viral exhaustion has almost led to a personal lockdown, and it's time to force better social interactions. The good news is- I can smell coffee!!!

https://helenmccookerybook.bandcamp.com/track/wake-up

Backing Vocals Day

Yesterday was a day to tidy up my own backing vocals (I'm so looking forward to properly mixing this!) and today, Gina's coming to add her vocals to at least two of my songs.

I'm not used to 'being a studio'. I have snacks, sweet and savoury. The bathroom is clean, the coffee and tea canisters topped up. I have a selection of microphones (some microphones can be unnerving in their detail for a singer, and you get a better performance from a simpler one: different sound, but always useable).

Later, I'm hoping Terry Edwards' trumpet contribution will show up in my inbox. 

I'm resisting the urge to do any last-minute writing or recording. Once you unleash the songwriting fairy, a whole boxful of ideas comes flying out, and that includes for recording. I'm going to put my energy into fixing the difficult song I've already recorded, which runs all over the place like liberated mink whenever I'm not paying attention.

Pigeons, keep away. I don't want any more recordings of your flapping wings and hectic panic as you try to grab the bird feeder and gorge on the seeds that rightfully belong to the Sparrow Gang!

Singing

Hooray! After weeks, I can sing well enough to record! 

I did the most difficult song this morning, and another one which I may have to re-record tomorrow. It's such a relief.

The effing pigeons were at the bird feeder, and because I was so annoyed with them, my voice changed to an angry tone when I was dropping in a line, and I won't know till tomorrow if it's perceptible or not.

Early this morning, the sparrow gang put a baby sparrow in the gutter and started to feed it. I think it must have just fledged, and they were looking after it. There are probably chirps in the background of many of the vocal tracks, and possibly the odd wheezing flap of pigeon's wings. Don't tell anyone.

I may try another song this afternoon...

How strange and exciting to think that I'm going to be able to finish this album.

How sad that Francoise Hardy has died. I'm going to listen to her music this afternoon as well. She had a beautiful voice, and a beautiful songwriter's gift.

Legs On Tube Train (Seated)