percolated albini
steve albini i think has helped many musicians in one way or another, whether you like him or not.
his most "known" contribution to wayne's world has been the (in)famous article first published on maximum rock and roll, 1994 i think it was. according to the wiki, i was wrong, it was 1993 and the mrr publication is a reprint. wiki iz information nazi. i read the mrr article back then and it has inspired me a lot. the system has changed a bit now, and the budgets a lot, but still worth a read. if you don't understand what he's saying, i recommend you study, since it is useful.
what i'm trying to say is that beyond the core element that is yourself and your band, anybody or anything beyond that, in core principle, all that they can do is help amplify your ideas and music.
of course, they can mix their own ego and convenience and really fuck it up for you as well (aka, a lot of "managers", "agents" and "a&r" people "hey i got that radio interview for you, it's live at 5am!!!!"). they may not be ill willed (but often ignorant), but still be harmful. your art is important, but so is your livelihood. if you want to do what you want on your own terms, plan it, think it through, dude.
and no plan is ever perfect. there is always going to be some compromise, but hey, this is society. this is where people you trust come into play. as your operation becomes "international", there will be more hurdles. legal bs, cultural differences, monetary exchange rates, taxes, toilet seats in all shapes and sizes, coffee/tea that comes pre sugared with milk in a can, etc. but this is part of the fun. the world is different. it's getting closer but it's still different. enjoy it, embrace it. in these situations, all i can suggest is to be curious, courteous, well mannered and patient. the more distanced or isolated you become from your "pod", simple, human gestures and will become a lot more important, like to say hello or be courteous to a local helper, for example. also try to think outside of your box. your world/your culture is not the only one that exists on this land. believe me, i am bi-lingual/cultural, i know. that's 2 out of what, a few hundred? certain terms do not exist in one language or vice versa. how do you relay that sensation to another medium? how do you make a person aware of your intentions without invading them? not easy, innit.
i'm starting to shift, will probably reflecy more on cultural things another day, it is not an easy subject. oh, i am well aware of being borderline rude in a japanese context (challenging boundaries is often regarded as "out of place", whatever).
mr. steve albini.
if you think about it from that perspective, pretty true.
CAUTION, EXTREME GEARHEAD CONTENT. DO NOT EVEN SCROLL IF YOU'RE NOT INTO "KIT" or "EQUIPMENT".
here's the wombles. watch this and go away if you're not into gear.
and since i found it, barabara dickson. feeling sick now?
still here. ok, i've warned you.
GEAR SECTION
so i finally heard what the harmonic percolator sounds like. hmm. so it's a single ended amp. aha. kinda like a fender champ then. inneresting, inneresting......... i wonder if jxx and jxx have one?? it does sound pretty useful as as a "tobi dougu" which literally translated would be "tool to fly". a more considered translation would be "freakout tool". muso japanese, 201.
then i found another clip on the percolator. what he's saying makes total sense to me. it behaves like my fuzz face, i can't plug pedals before it, since it starts to behave very erratically (unless i want that sound). booooring, innit.
then i found the website to the clone people. barge concepts. so they out a switchable buffer in there. i'm all for HIGH QUALITY buffer amps, cos it makes regular guitar sounds more sexy, but in the context of fuzz boxes, which it's main intent, i reckon, is to make a fuzz, a noise, i don't see the point. like hendrix didn't have a buffer with his fuzz face, neither did keef on satisfaction with the maestro fz1, and i reckon jamc didn't use much with the shinei boxes.
there's a demo here, but the guy demo'ing it isn't convincing, at all. not that i would do a better job, but. come on, make it sound dirty.
fyi, i have talked to mr. albini on the phone only once so i would not count as one of his japanese friends that would milk this pedal to make a career out of. those peeps would be playing at places like super-deluxe in nishiazabu or 20000v in koenji or some arthouse reception, or they would be in osaka. high freq resonances make me want to go to to the loo. i hate strobe lights too, pikachu. a strobe light is also a "tobi dougu".
this is pretty fookin' great. i was actually looking for lulu.
this is the video that made me think "those blinking lights on that mixng desk is SEXY"
fyi, i think the desk they had at polar studios (abba hq) was a calrec at this point and the featured vocal mic is a pearl stereo model. i am not ashamed to say that i love abba.