Recent Album I Produced Getting Decent Reviews (MP3 Downloads Included) (1 Viewer)

[Vince Maskeeper]

Sweetheart
"art is dead is dead" EP
6 Songs, A little under 20 minutes.
emo/screamo/indie
Released Feb 7th

I've been working as a recording engineer on punk, indie and rock albums since I was 15 years old. While many have seen wide release (in relative terms, I think the biggest seller I've worked on to date still sold less than 20,000 copies)-- on most of the material I served primarily as an engineer while the band itself was serving as defacto "producer." I thought of myself more as a audio documentarian, simply capturing the sound as it happened without trying to skew or bias what the band was doing.

As a result, while i did enjoy helping to capture the music, I didn't take much excitement from the success or failure of the finished pieces.

Last year, in addition to serving as the physical engineer, I had the privledge of collaborating on an album in which I was able to give my input on aesthetic and musical choices and really shape the finished EP -- offering my ideas to create an album that would best serve the band. Although we were working with a budget of under $600 for the entire EP session-- I think we were able to make an excellent debut record that sounds pretty good.



And the reviews so far have been pretty favorable:



I think you can check out an MP3 preview from the label's site:
http://www.theperpetualmotionmachine...eetheart_6.mp3

Anyone interested in checking it out (if you're into louder indie/emo stuff with some screaming), I think it can be had for $6 or $7 postage paid from various mailorder places or the label itself:
http://www.theperpetualmotionmachine.com/releases.html
http://www.roboticempire.com/record.php?id=398
https://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=106854&


Oh, and while the album features only 6 songs, the space on the disc is not wasted as it also features 6 live video clips from the abnd's fall tour, playable in a computer.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I think I will give this a try!

 

[John Garcia]

Congrats Vince! Listening to the MP3 right now. My kind of stuff! Sounds pretty darn good, I'm going to order it.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Guys,

If you do pick up a copy, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the whole thing (and those that just D/L the mp3s as well). Again, I certainly don't think the album is perfect, actually i avoided fixing several performance "errors" in the digital realm specifically because I didn't feel such an approach really fit the ideology of the band.

But, for a debut EP from a young rock band recorded for peanuts, I think it is excellent sample of what this guys are going to be capible of in the future... I have heard some demos and read some fan comments on the new stuff they're playing live, and things seem to be moving forward pretty fast in terms of them developing a unique sound. I'm hoping to con them into coming to sunny LA to do a LP with me out here in LaLaLand.

Also, I noticed the official label site now has a second MP3 available for download, this one actually has vocals. This song is a bit more "obtuse" in terms of the noise breakdown in the middle, but I would say this is the most abrasive track on the album, so if this one doesn't turn you off, then you'll probably like the record.

http://www.theperpetualmotionmachine...eetheart_1.mp3

Track 6 linked above is called "I Truly Love You But I Cannot Sing..." and Track 1 linked here is called "Am I Saying Tight Too Much?"

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I did order it. I'll check back with what it sounds like.

 

[John Garcia]

They have almost a kind of early Deftones vibe to them. I like it. My daughter has recently discovered punk and I think she will like them too. This is the kind of show she would go see. The singer's not so polished, but I suppose that is OK for this type of music. I like the guitarists.

 

[Dan Mc]

Wow...that drummer makes my ears hurt, guess he doesn't suscribe to the 'less is more' philosophy. Punk is not exactly my thing, but I like the guitars on that first one. Sounds pretty good for a low-budget effort, congrats.

 

[Grant B]

It's great that you put that kind of thought behind it. Even great records like 'Live at Leeds' have the little screw ups that don't take away fom it.

So do you ever listen to Steve Jones on indie 103.1? I love his show, never phony.
Steve talks about his colon, stealing guitars and cars & the little he still remembers about the pistols and plays things you'll never hear again.

Glad it's working out for you, I fled Ohio in 79 and never even considered going back
Grant

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I am listening to this now. And I am grinning big time. The mix is dense but clear. It does kind of have a loose, analog sound. If that makes any kind of sense. As far as the music, it has some Fugazi in there, some Jawbreaker, and one other really strong influence I can't recall at the moment. Wait:

Sunny Day Real Estate!

I have been taking a few more chances on new stuff lately (and getting lucky too, namely Seaworthy and Elbow, both from a 2 year old Tower Pulse magazine!), and this is a winner too.

The problem? Too short!

Vince- Any other suggestions?

 

[Grant B]

Kevin if you are that in need of something to read, you can have mine when I am done

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I was behind on some of my reading material. I'm still bummed that Tower no longer publishes Pulse. I got turned on to a lot of stuff by them.

 

[Chris Tedesco]

This is suprisingly good for a 600 dollar budget. Nice off beat tunes. The drummer definately has talent, but he might want to tone down slightly. Not volume-wise, it just seems too busy.

Singer reminds me a bit of the singer from The Used, not bad..touch of Fugazi.

Good stuff