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Posts
- Jan 23, 12
We've ended up recording almost all the drums for the album at this ruined church by the sea. It doesn't have a roof but has still got a great lively sound to it which is hard to achieve in outdoor locations. Depending on what song we were doing, we would move to different parts of the church and position the microphones further or closer to the kit. This song is still a bit of a work in progress but I reckon the grooves that Greg has brought to the table are helping to move it in the right direction.
x
- Oct 18, 11
It's been a while since I last wrote here, but not due to lack of activity. We have been pressing ahead with this album that's being recorded entirely outdoors, and it has brought us to some superb musicians and a number of interesting locations.
Dara Stewart delivered a punch to the belly with his double bass performance in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park, while curious Japanese tourists asked for photos. With Herculean effort, my friends managed to drag my piano outside allowing me to record a few takes before the rain came. My Dad, my brother and his kids invited me along to a barbecue at Aberdour beach, where I promptly whipped out an accordion and laid down a quick ditty. Tim, Marcus and Phil ventured to the top of Calton Hill in Edinburgh and delivered beautiful brass and horn performances in the shadow of the National Monument. And in the next couple of weeks there's glockenspiel, Rhodes, synth bass, vocals, drums...
There are a few photos and videos kicking about on this site and of course, all these excursions have been added to the map of recording locations that can be found here.
We're hoping to have most of the recording done in the next few weeks before winter sets in and before my wife gives birth to our first baby :)
Thanks.
Dan
- Jul 21, 11
HaarFest is a cracking wee music & arts festival organised by Fence Records and taking place in and around Anstruther and Cellardyke (in Fife).
We're delighted to be part of it, playing on the Thursday night with Geese, Jonnie Common and King Creosote. KC, along with Jon Hopkins has just been nominated for a Mercury music prize thanks to their amazing Diamond Mine album so it's a real privilege to be sharing the stage with him.
It's really best if you can get along to the whole thing because the line up is brilliant, featuring the likes of James Yorkston, The Pictish Trail, Withered Hand, FOUND, Kid Canaveral and a DJ set from the aforementioned Jon Hopkins.
It's running from Thursday 11th August until Sunday 14th August and tickets for the whole festival can be bought here.
Tickets for just the evening we're playing can be bought here.
It's going to be total aces. Come along.
Dan
- Jun 01, 11If you're in the area, this is just a quick note to say that we're playing with the Fence Collective this Sunday night at the Oran Mor in Glasgow. King Creosote, The Pictish Trail, Withered Hand, Kid Canaveral and others will also be playing and it looks set to be an ace night.We're delighted to be part of it and would love to see you there! More info can be found at the Fence site and I believe there are a handful of tickets left.By the way, the outdoor album recording project is going really well. Feel free to check out the photos, videos and growing map of locations where we've been recording.Lots of love.Dan
- Apr 29, 11
- Apr 19, 11
I don't know about you but I've often considered the ill-fate of bandstands. A public concert venue in a park? Brilliant idea. So when we were asked to play at the bandstand in St. Andrews, it wasn't difficult to agree to.
We're playing this Sunday afternoon as part of the On the Rocks festival, along with Amy Rayner, Kyle Cuthbert, Sarah Banjo and Julia and the Dragoons. It kicks off at 3pm. If you're a Fifer, come on over, it should be fun. - Apr 11, 11
Recording an album outdoors in Scotland has its ups and downs. An unusually long and cold winter has made it pretty difficult to get out into the 'studio' and it has taken unexpected trips to Uganda and Australia to provide any real opportunity to record new material.
But this weekend, everything changed. Sun, shorts, sunglasses, two excellent singers, a ruined Abbey and inspiration from Steve Reich - all combined to produce a very fruitful recording for a new song we're working on. - Apr 04, 11
My friend Alastair MacGregor puts his hand to various instruments and along with Greg Bell, has been helping to write the arrangements for the album we're working on. He's in Australia at the moment so took the opportunity to record some bass lines at this spot overlooking Sydney opera house. It adds another dot on the map of places we've been recording, which you can check out here. - Mar 31, 11
Had a lovely time playing at Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh last night. Very attentive crowd and some great acts. Particularly enjoyed Open Swimmer's set and am loving this song of theirs: http://soundcloud.com/eliandoz/open-swimmer-sugar-bowl-1
- Jan 18, 11
I've just come back from spending a very pleasant Christmas in Uganda with my parents. My recording equipment made it through airport security (a small victory these days) so I was able to spend some time working on the outdoor album recording project. More details to follow but in the meantime, here are some photos.
- Jan 06, 11
The M8 was closed with drifts on the road
The lorries lay down, made angels of snow
Cars formed a conga but nobody danced
All the brains and the fingers had no freakin’ chance
Of getting to work, but there was no point
The blackouts remained, the panic was taut
And up in the sky the silver iodide
Lined every cloud high, made every cloud lie*
The lines were all down, the days were all dark
Lives undone and chaos was sparked
The cables installed along ocean floors
Is where we had lived too long for sure
Animals scoffed “Inadequate beasts!”
As digital kids fought over feed
There were fires on the ridges in no time at all
Weirded out voices and bangs on the door**
So we took a boat and sailed it for years
Attacked every month by monsters and fears
Through pestilent storms and cauldrons of sea
Till one day at last the doldrums we reached
Silence of calm. Stillness of sea.
Absence of wind. Banquet of peace.
I sit and write, watch you and the child
I catch a smile, I think we’ll be fine.
* Reference to cloud seeding -a form of weather modification that manipulates the fall of precipitation using substances such as silver iodide.
** Reference to a quote from 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. - Nov 25, 10I stepped out the front door this morning to find that snow had fallen on our street for the first time this winter. Call it a coincidence but I also decided that today would be a good day to bring back my Christmas album from its inverse hibernation. For those of you who missed out last year, The Fat Man and Baby Boy is my humble contribution to the ever increasingly strange world of seasonal songs.Once again, the packaging of this CD is a little bit special. Each sleeve has been individually letterpressed by hand (thanks to Ryan Hannigan), folded and wrapped in jute twine (thanks to my friends), then numbered and signed (thanks to my hand). The CDs themselves were professionally replicated and are a lovely bright red colour with a shiny star.You can get your copy here.At the time of writing there are only 230 left...Merry Christmas!Dan
- Oct 28, 10
I'm planning to record an album entirely outdoors. On rooftops and rowing boats, in forests and high streets, mountains and quarries, ruined churches and beaches, car parks and peat bogs. Anywhere, really.
I first had the idea while on a trip to Sierra Leone, but quickly realised that it's one thing to daydream of such a plan whilst in the tropics and quite another to actually attempt it back at home in Scotland. Nevertheless, I think some part of me took perverse pleasure in the thought of having to make a real physical effort to complete this project. My favourite works at most galleries are those that not only look beautiful but must also have required a particularly generous portion of excursion. The exploding shed at the Tate Modern in London. The huge tapestries at the Alcázar in Seville. Besides, it would be good to get out more often. Most of us (myself included) can easily go through a whole week and spend just a few short hours outwith the confines of buildings and vehicles. That would have to change if I was to complete this project. But thoughts of self-betterment (bordering on downright masochism) weren't all that were on my mind. In an age when it seems anyone can produce an album in their bedroom I was also interested in re-exploring the relationship between music and the environment in which it is created. What happens to a recording when you have no control over the surroundings? What anomalies and accidents may occur? By working outdoors I would surely be closer to finding out. What about noise?! What about fidelity?! Certainly, the protesting perfectionist in me would be severely challenged by this project. However, the music we listen to on our cheap iPod earbuds is constantly being assaulted by the sounds of our surroundings. Why not creatively introduce all this 'noise' at an earlier stage? Most of all, the idea sounded fun and stupid in equal measures and these are my favourite kind of ideas. Dan - Sep 23, 10
So we've got a few gig's coming up...
Friday 24th SeptemberSupporting The Scottish Enlightenment for their EP launch. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.Tuesday 28th SeptemberSupporting Chasing Owls at the Roxy Art House, Edinburgh.Saturday 2nd OctoberSupporting Aberfeldy in Aberfeldy (!) at the town hall as part of Aberfeldy's brand new festival.Thoroughly looking forward to all of them, especially as all of us (the full band) will be playing. Hope to see you there.Dan - Aug 30, 10
In the last few months I have been working on some re-imagined versions of songs that my friends have written. Some Of My Friends' Songs seemed like an apt title for the project and today sees the release of the first three track EP to be birthed from this idea.
The project started when myself and David Moyes from The Scottish Enlightenment decided it would be a good idea to record a version of a song by our friend Craig Rennie for his thirtieth birthday. Knowing the recording wouldn't be on a 'proper' release was remarkably freeing and created a perfect opportunity to try out ideas that had been bubbling under the surface for a while. Combined with the fact that both the writer of the source material and the collaborator were close friends made the experience very enjoyable and one that I was determined to attempt again. Two more songs followed, taken from the growing list of eclectic compositions my friends were creating. Pascal, by The Scottish Enlightenment provided the opportunity to use a deck of cards as a rhythm section and see what an analogue synth bass line and an accordion played the wrong way sound like together.
It's available for free here.
I used the song January Light by Kilmory Day Trip (who I'd met when recording their EP a few months earlier) as another chance to collaborate, on this occasion with longtime friend Alastair MacGregor. Time signature changes, a battered Juno and the sound of suitcases being slammed shut seemed to take the piece suitably off the beaten track. Accompanying the EP is a beautifully written and hilarious short essay on the pitfalls of attempting 'cover versions'. Written by Craig Rennie, the man whose thirtieth birthday inspired the project, the essay is included with the download. It can be viewed on its own here. I see these three songs as the first-fruits of an ongoing project I hope to continue over the following months and years, as and when time and inspiration leads. Presenting these songs as surprise gifts to their respective authors was a great joy. I hope you also enjoy listening. Dan - Jul 27, 10
Had an ace weekend at the Big Tent Festival. Made me proud to be from Fife. Highlights include King Creosote's jumper, Brazil! Brazil!'s backflips on stage, Tunng's musical statues, a seminar on the future of forestry in Scotland and the film The Yes Men Fix the World. Superb.
- Jun 07, 10
The first of our world tours. We even got a caravan with grapes and stuff. Honestly though, we had a totally ace time. Very hospitable people, fun gigs in a stunning setting.
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Photos
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Videos
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Tweets
- @donaldkthomas thanks man!
- Recording drums at a ruined church by the sea (with Greg Bell): http://t.co/NHB1AwKeJan 23, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @JimmyDowds sounds good!
- @calamateur not sure... I saw them only a couple of months ago at the Grand Ole Opry- excellent. Defo see the others though.
- Four ace Celtic Connections gigs: Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Hidden Orchestra, and Bonnie Prince Billy.Jan 12, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- As part of this outdoor album I'm working on, I really need a good cave or the like to act as an echo chamber. Any suggestions?Jan 10, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- December! Christmas albums! Here's one I prepared earlier: http://t.co/floQcS15Dec 01, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @stiffinho Sarah was so hoping for a binary birthday for our wee one (today's the last for 100 years) but we were just a wee bit early!
- Raining and blowing a gale but we're out recording drums never-the-less http://t.co/4KNaGedm
- Holy moly! These guys are good! And they're up a hill playing on one of our songs - http://t.co/POrhvjU2Oct 27, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Just ordered the new Ghostpoet and Bjork albums on vinyl. Mmmmm...
- @kdwriting @nathanparmar The limited edition copy is good but the vinyl package is a steal - 3 vinyls, 2 CDs and 1 DVD for £25! #inni
- Saw Sigur Ros' new film Inni in Edinburgh last night - utterly superb & totally different to Heima. Thanks @kdwriting for getting us in!Oct 25, 11 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Alan Partridge: 'I'm pretty gung-ho about cod liver oil' http://t.co/E9PhhEcy via @guardian
- Up at the National Monument in Edinburgh recording some beautifully performed brass. Plenty of polite onlookers. http://t.co/6bs928gG
- @NicoTriay @sonarzone I've heard he's good looking too...
- @ScottishEnlight ended up using the other one up at my bro's. Went well though!
- Piano recording in progress: http://t.co/Rx9JGGNU
- Recording piano outdoors today...
- Out recording double bass in the park. Went well and the Japanese tourists certainly seemed entertained. http://t.co/f3dtTn9o
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Posts
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About
- I'm planning to record an album entirely outdoors. On rooftops and rowing boats, in forests and high streets, mountains and quarries, ruined churches and beaches, car parks and peat bogs. Anywhere, really.I first had the idea while on a trip to Sierra Leone, but quickly realised that it's one thing to daydream of such a plan whilst in the tropics and quite another to actually attempt it back at home in Scotland.Nevertheless, I think some part of me took perverse pleasure in the thought of having to make a real physical effort to complete this project. My favourite works at most galleries are those that not only look beautiful but must also have required a particularly generous portion of excursion. The exploding shed at the Tate Modern in London. The huge tapestries at the Alcázar in Seville.Besides, it would be good to get out more often. Most of us (myself included) can easily go through a whole week and spend just a few short hours outwith the confines of buildings and vehicles. That would have to change if I was to complete this project.But thoughts of self-betterment (bordering on downright masochism) weren't all that were on my mind. In an age when it seems anyone can produce an album in their bedroom I was also interested in re-exploring the relationship between music and the environment in which it is created. What happens to a recording when you have no control over the surroundings? What anomalies and accidents may occur? By working outdoors I would surely be closer to finding out.What about noise?! What about fidelity?! Certainly, the protesting perfectionist in me would be severely challenged by this project. However, the music we listen to on our cheap iPod earbuds is constantly being assaulted by the sounds of our surroundings. Why not creatively introduce all this 'noise' at an earlier stage?Most of all, the idea sounded fun and stupid in equal measures and these are my favourite kind of ideas.Dan
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Contact
- Feel free to drop me a line at dan@danlyth.comOr if your own mailbox is looking a little empty sign up to my irregular mailing list here.
