Monday, May 10, 2010

Excuses, Excuses

We now graduate from having a Burgeoning Blog to the next stage of blog-evolution: the Neglected Blog. And in only one month! We are quite proud.

There is good reason for the neglect, though! Jody and I have seen the end of a major project, as our dear friend James Mitchell heads to sunny California. I've worked closely with James on a metric ton of music for 5 years now, and I'm really sad to see him go. He was just accepted to one of the nation's most competitive art schools, so we are sad to see him go, but thrilled for his success.

All of our work so for has pretty much taken place in James' apartment. Until last week, his attic was home to a world-class studio. Over the years James has let us camp out up there, sometimes for weeks. He's definitely going to Heaven. But since we knew that the studio wouldn't be in Chicago forever, we've been in there working as often as we could.

So... what blog-neglect excuses have I given so far? Job ending, tons of studio time... Right! Also, I moved. AND, we're going to try and set up a smaller, but similar studio setting to the one James had. Here's Jody chilling in the new studio:



Green! Specifically, Peppermint Leaf Green. So says the paint can.

After a couple weeks of moving and painting, we're finally ready to take a breath and work on whatever we can while we assemble our studio. Currently, we have everything but a computer. It's pretty sad: in 2010, a studio without a computer is like a shotgun without zombies. Fun, but pointless.

During the last rotation in James' studio Jody and I wrote songs at the rate of about one every three days. A few of these songs have lyrics and everything, all waiting for that magic vocalist to enter our lives. In the last two weeks, we created 5 distinct, semi-finished works. None got more than three days' work, so don't judge too harshly.

<a href="http://thelivedebate.bandcamp.com/track/the-fisher-king">The Fisher King by The Live Debate</a>

<a href="http://thelivedebate.bandcamp.com/track/going-up">Going Up by The Live Debate</a>



Please, as always, let us know what you think, of the music, the studio, anything! Thanks for stopping in to see what we're up to. What are you listening to right now?

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

the H4N ZOOM



We have a new toy. It records on 4 tracks seamlessly and quickly, for up to a day if we need it to. The H4N is just a handheld recorder, but it's been great for gathering audio and recording practices. Here's a sample of a new song we're working on, recorded, mixed and bounced out an hour or two ago. Easy as pie. More on this new song in a future post. The audio is pretty great! So great in fact, that you can hear my crummy little piano bench and Jody's bass make some squeaking sounds in there. It sounds a little like two mice having a knife-fight.


<a href="http://thelivedebate.bandcamp.com/album/works-in-progress">Chicago (Chorus Clip) by The Live Debate</a>


The H4N is about the size of one of those boxes that you get your checks in. I love living in the future.

Also, here's a rare picture of Jody, circa 1984, using the H4N to bust ghosts.



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Saturday, February 27, 2010

No Songs Left Behind

By the time Jody and I rolled around to this "Great List" idea, we'd been friends for a few years. Music industry friends, to boot. That means that we've been suggesting music to each other over the past few years regularly. A lot of what we both think is "Great" in contemporary music is music we've been talking about before the Live Debate began.

So, to honor THOSE great songs, I just wanted to throw up a few. I haven't consulted Jody, but I suspect each song listed below would meet his standards for the List. It's been a few years for each, and I love them all still. What songs have you loved over the last two or three years?

The National - "Fake Empire" Jody and I love this guy's voice, and pretty much every inch of this dreamy, heartfelt song.

Bloc Party - "Signs" This song is just awesome. The saddest dance tune ever.

Bat For Lashes - "Siren Song" Can you tell how sentimental and sappy I am? I love music that tugs at the heartstrings, and believe me, this one really does.

Beirut - "In The Mausoleum" The songwriter/producer is the today's composer. In Beirut, I hear the music Bela Bartok would be making today. I love how amazing they sound, just in a living room, just jamming, just on a handheld camera... The ultimate in Do-It-Yourself, right? You have no idea how much I want to be at that piano in this video.

Radiohead - "Reckoner" How on earth do you pick just one great Radiohead song? As I was trying to, I started up "In Rainbows" and I'm almost at the end of the album now. I think Thom Yorke will be remembered as one of this generation's greatest composers.

Is that enough gushing for one day?

Monday, February 22, 2010

When I go to check the news...

...here is what I see:



Wonderful. It turns out that my state has no money.

Today, I played The Books for Jody.

We also rolled around to an obvious classic.


When you listen to it, think of us in poor, broke, mismanaged Illinois.

Friday, February 19, 2010

"Catch Fire" ending

Here is the ending that I was performing in the video, along with our first draft of the arrangement to go with it.


<a href="http://thelivedebate.bandcamp.com/album/works-in-progress">Catch Fire (ending in progress) by The Live Debate</a>

"Catch Fire" video 1

The first song we began our little adventure with is called “Catch Fire.” It’s a weird song. It starts off as stable, piano-driven rock. By the end, the song changes into something of a grand march, with horns blaring and cymbals crashing. The song is still a work-in-progress, and we’ll be posting videos and music clips as time goes on.

This clip is rated R for language. We beeped it, but you can totally tell.

The footage is all from the first week of January, when this project was just getting started. Hopefully the next time you hear the song, you’ll hear a longer passage of music and drums (maybe even vocals!). Let us know what you think!



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Saturday, February 13, 2010