ShortScale.org

So, as a side break from our band Remi Greene that no one has heard of (the three rightmost gents in that header photo, with me second from right), the core three members have taken a little side trip into some more folky alt-country kind of shit. I played bass on most of these tracks, as well as some crazy E-Bow guitar and faux-theremin stuff and a bunch of percussion. I've lost track, really.

These are all completely unmixed and subject to massive changes and rewrites (with the exception of Rising Atlantis, which is on A Beautiful View from the Moon), and they were only put up so some of the other musicians we've recruited can grab them and follow along at home after rehearsal. I'm not sure why I'm sharing them really, other than to contribute something to the pool of genuinely creative music here at shortscale.

Enough chat for now, the crap is here: http://soundcloud.com/josh_ua/tracks (Cobascis may notice the name of his band as a tentative title for one of the songs, which I always thought was interesting because it's a road in some tiny town in Michigan near where our farm studio is.)

This isn't my favorite kind of music in the world to play -- some of my favorite bands are Mudhoney, The Melvins, The Kinks, The Zombies, Portishead, and Guster, to name a few -- but I really really enjoy working on complex arrangements. We've been working with a young guy that plays violin, and it's a real treat to have an actual classically-trained musician in our midst. I seriously still get chills when we play these songs and there's a violin a few feet from my ear.

I guess that's all. Enjoy, perhaps!

I'm just listening to some Remi Greene now and it's great. Like you (I think) I like to play/listen to more aggressive music, but I'm really liking the guitar arrangements and just the general sound of Remi.

Liking the xylophone/glockenspiel-type-deal on Wolcott.

Downloading the remi Greene Album for itunes-ing.

Good work!

I admire the multiple instruments and melodies on lots of your songs. I have a lot of trouble after I write the inital chords coming up with second guitar parts, etc.

Thanks man. The primary songwriter of the group, Josh, is the man mostly responsible for the bulk of the initial material, with me being the one that sits with him to work out a few changes here and there and add additional instrumentation. In my nearly 30 years, I've never found someone I work as well with. It's odd too, because we went to school together in grades 9-11 and never worked together musically, and I lost touch with him after grade 11. We met up again completely by chance, ten years later, and the rest is what you hear.

Just for reference, there was about two and a half years from the initial concept of A Beautiful View to the record release party; the new songs started about four months ago, and we've got three more songs to record.

cobascis wrote:I admire the multiple instruments and melodies on lots of your songs. I have a lot of trouble after I write the inital chords coming up with second guitar parts, etc.

The best thing for that is to find someone that shares similar musical interests -- or maybe, completely different ones -- and have a little back-and-forth. A fresh perspective on a lonely riff that's been in your head and hands for months is a great thing.