Black Star (MJ Live Aid w/jgurner) by ledebutant
Genre: Alternative Rock
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Keywords:
MJ Live Aid (3), Please don't tell Adam Ant we stole his drums (1), jgurner (5), sucking on the reverb pipe (1), thank you Midge Ure (1), relax (33), people in the 80s were highly melodramatic (1)
Description:
Our entry for the MJ Live Aid Challenge. Coming in just under the wire at 11:59 on Sunday night. Hope Mr. Geldof is still awake! More song page completion in the morning when my brain isn't so tired.
In the meantime, please have fun playing spot the 80's Song References (tm). I'm so happy to finally get to work with Joe. He's one of my best friends in the whole world and it seems crazy that this is the first time in three years we've managed to do a project together.
However, if he ever makes me mix Adam Ant Drums (tm) again, I will have to do him a bodily injury.
In the meantime, please have fun playing spot the 80's Song References (tm). I'm so happy to finally get to work with Joe. He's one of my best friends in the whole world and it seems crazy that this is the first time in three years we've managed to do a project together.
However, if he ever makes me mix Adam Ant Drums (tm) again, I will have to do him a bodily injury.
Lyrics:
He went awaybut promised he'd return
more fool me
because he said the same to her
He walks alone
pockets full of birds
I wear them around my neck
their wings become a shawl
Black star falling from the sky
this is what a heart looks like when it dies.
Only he and I
mean anything to me.
His warm hands on my body,
the way he breathes my name.
The ice grows thicker
on the window pane
the daylight brings
a cold, empty silence
and a cold grey sky,
and a black star,
falling.
Black star falling from the sky
this is what a heart looks like when it dies.
Hardware:
Joe: MacBook, Les Paul, Yamaha 5-string bass, M-Audio Keystation 49e, M-Audio Mobile PreLisa: Rode Nt-1a running into my completely awesome brand-new Presonus FIREBOX (and I want to marry it!!!!) Sony MDR-7506's and Event ALP monitors for mixing.
Software:
Garage Band, Logic StudioYou must be registered and logged-in to comment.
jiguma
Ummm - I spotted the Adam Ant reference :)
ledebutant
I think it's the headband.
BTW, this is the first vocal I've done with my new interface since the death of the Behringer, Neil. It's really worth the dosh, Neil. I'd never go back. I feel as though I'm really getting my money's worth out of my Rode now, too. This song may not be the best demo because of the piles of period-authentic reverb I had to slam on top of the vocals, but the signal is so much better and has lost all that sibilance I was getting before. It's also completely noise-free. (You must get one!)
Anyone who is waiting for vocals from me can now rest easy that they will be coming now that I have an interface again and have met this deadline. Yay!
The Infinites
Great intro - guitar is clean and clear over the cool rhythm section.
Lisa - your voice almost has a European feel, maybe like English isn't your first language kinda accent. It's different for you. You guys sound like you might have headlined the gig - then we all join you on stage for Let Be or something of that ilk...!
Really great song. Well produced - nice effects. Subtle & smooth, with a hint of menace at the spoken part.
5 string bass - how cool is that?!
Love it.
Jim
Feter
this is amazing ...great great singing ..what a guitar
work here ..I dunno anything about the 80s here ...but
this sounds incredible ..the drums pattern just so so
authnetic ..as the bass made all the back beat boomins
this i sterrific my freind wonderfull colab ,...more
more ....Thnx for sharin !!!!!!!!!
HenriROGERsoloandbands
The chord progression is quite classic , creating
an interesting vocal melody like you did over it, is great .
The sounds of the backing and the playing are very good .
Really gorgeous. Your vocals are shining beautifully over the great sound bed. Amazing guitar work and backing drums.... Your vocals are really fine, one of the bests ever heard! I love it.
Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi
Ed Hannifin
Yes, I do.
I also love the chiming, slightly distorted guitars and the about-to-tip-over drums... And the vocal, can't forget the vocal...
Congratulations on the Presonus.... And on a fine collab...
Ed
zallaz01
I was seriously expecting crowd noise at the end of the track, it drew me in so much, it sounded 'live', cool stuff!
drakonis
Mmm... nice dark depressing lyrics, sung with gritty abandon... love Joe's guitar work, really fits... and Lisa, your singing is quite different from your usual fare, more languid... not sure if I like it better, because, although it seems a bit more powerful, it also sounds more "mainstream", and you begins to lose your "ledeb" characteristic charisma. Hmm... I really like the lyrics and feeling of hopelessness this brings, the music is wonderful, great mixing job! Love my (saffire) firewire interface too.
ttfn,
Drakonis
guitapick
...in sound...the whole tune...love the chorus...
Peter Bauckham
you're in fine vocal - that new interface/Rode combination sounds fabulous. Love the song - and Joe's guitar sounds are terrific - I was never really in to Adam and The Ants - but always liked the tribal drumming!
Excellent post you two!
Peter
aclarke
Oh how I love these harmonies.... and that chorus just sends shivers up my spine. Your lyrics are so poetic and descriptive... and I'm somewhat jealous. Love that you let loose to some degree with that great sounding voice!
Joe- this is a very cool, driving beat. Guitar was perfect for this... really excellent all the way around. (downloaded too!)
Great collab, you two!
Jim Bouchard
Vocals certainly sound fantastic. I'm not sure about the Adam Ant Drums, they sound sort of like Adam Ant Paintcans to me. Not the most fantastic drum sound, iow. Maybe a call into PV would have been warranted. Love the clarity of the guitar lead!
ledebutant
Yeah, the drum sound is something I really struggled with. Joe crafted a very specific Adam Ant-style sound for the drums, but it required boosting a lot of the frequency ranges by about 12dB, which, for me, made getting the levels really tough and also made it hard to get room for the other instruments. I worked hard with EQ to get space for everything, but I can hear now that even though I tried to keep the snare bright, that it didn't work out. If I hadn't been trying to post this before the Sunday night deadline, I would have massaged them a bit longer.
Few people know this, but Adam Ant went in to the paint business after his star faded. Or was that prison?
dajama
The drums work very well, I think, and the vocal is outstanding. Great dark, lyrical picture you've painted, and brilliantly complemented by the guitar. Joe, you set this on fire with that guitar! The mood is very 80s - moody and cool and sure of itself. Magnificent job. Nicely done to both of you. Kudos. Peace.
ledebutant
Thanks, David. Glad the paint cans are doing it for you, :)
Vic Holman
when the 2 of you would get a tune out together. This is really nice!
Joseph's style is very self evident... and of course since he's an 80's guy, this makes for a natural set up.
Great vocals Lisa, that should go without saying. The chorus really blows me away!
ledebutant
Really you were wondering? I hadn't realized people here knew what good friends Joe and I are, but I'm happy people do. It's definitely a natural set-up. I'd say a good 15-20% of my conversations of Joe are centered around 80's pop-culture. The other day he called me from a little trip he'd taken over to Memphis, all giddy and said, "You will never guess what just came out on DVD!" and my brain's computer banks did a little calculating and blurted out "Square Pegs?!?" before he could even tell me. And then we did squealing. We're dorks.
lavalamp
Really cool intro. Your voice nice as ever. Interesting change in direction. That's what I like, you mix up your styles often.
Very cool song,
LL
ledebutant
Thanks, David. Joe's cool music really pushed me in a new direction this time and it was a lot of fun.
egobandit
I like the singing alot the firebox sound very cool. I dont know about the 80's but there is a song by genesis called more fool me.. Enjoyed thanks
ledebutant
I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, Tim. So, an extra reference, then.
Thanks!
VicDiesel
This has a grand design to it that drags the listener along on a stream of music. Good stuff. Sweeping vocals, sweeping guitars.
That said, I hope you didn't open your set with this. It kinda takes its sweet time to get going. The guitar solo that start at 0:25 has a meandering, Jerry Garcia quality that is great if you have 4 hours to yourself, but not if you only have a short set in a multi-artist event.
ledebutant
We had to go this route, Vic, it was our only hit (in Romania) and our guitar player is Geldof's cousin, so he had us by the business end of our trousers. :-)
I'm glad you liked the song.
..During the 80's I HATED 80's music. Now that we're in the 21st century I find much of it VERY appealing!
This is a wonderful throw-back to that era. Love your vocal as always, and the guitar riffing over those doubled drums is simply excellent...soooo atmospheric!
A new classic this!
be well friends!
bud
guitars - bass - drums and production. Did I leave anything out? I hear Siouxie and the Banshees a bit - and I love it.
cthayes
I hear some U2 and Cure in there. Great job guys...and nice, emotional vocal!
rsorensen
cool song. quite unorthodox, but good unorthodox if that makes sense :)
mikkinylund
Without mentioning any particular references; they're all there... The vocals are impressive to say the least, and lyrics fits the concept of the song. The bass and guitars are also very, very well constructed and performed. This is to me one of my favorites posted at MACJAM's. I would do the drums deeper sounding, that's the only thing I could see change. Thank you!
gregd
I don't know, I think that paint-can drums were kind of the punk-new wave aesthetic. It works to my ear. This has a Blondie or synthy Cranberries feel to me. It's catchy for sure.
The spoken interlude sounds a little hot in the mix to me, but otherwise it fits nicely in the tune. The whole instrumental sounds a little bit murky (perhaps it's that "period-authenic reverb?), but that goes with the paint can aesthetic, I think. It all works well together.
I like hearing how you can go from punk to electro-dub-hip-hop to new wave to.... It's totally cool.
Another keeper.
-g
dolby
...very 80's! Like about a million 7" singles I've got filed away in boxes in my mums attic. There's a raw punk/new wave feel to this and your voice is a bit Souxie & them Banshees, I think. Funny how we can now use all this modern technology to make songs that sound like they were recorded in shoe boxes (like the original new wave records were!)
p.s. I like your voice on this - it's great that you try different styles - neat, neat, neat!
Phil
illuminati
Hope the courtship is still going great. This song really reminds me of an 80s band, though I can't for the life of me pin it down. Maybe I'm making it up and you and jiguma just recreated the 80s (despite the warnings of the particle physics community and several court injunctions). The drums do distract me some, not because of the sound so much as a quirk of the rhythm. There's a lurch in there that stands out, especially when it's a feature. Lisa, your voice at the end is scary haunting and full sounding. I can't fail to mention the guitar work as it is solid throughout, reminding me of Bernard Butler of Suede (who have a song called Black Star if I'm not mistaken, also.
lengold
collaboration - great sounds and vocals.
Cheers
Len
This is my first vsit to your song pages and I know it will not be my last.
This is amazing music and you also have an amazing voice.
Thank you for sharing your fantastic music.
Peace Dee.
And all credit to Joe too. An amazing collab.
renecalvo
compared to you the poets seem lazy.
ledebutant
Interesting, because I thought I'd bought these lyrics at an 80's cheese shop. :-)
dirigent
Awesome vocals, great arrangement. Superb almost epic track, fantastic sound, I love it! Bravissimi !!!
estellie
what a vocal performance, Lisa! And Joe, wow great guitar work (not that I have much to say in that department).
Packed with a lot of emotion. Can't go wrong with that. I love it!
paul f. page
...add my two cents to all of the other comments (which I generally share):
1)Vocals are wonderful; harmony is, well, stunning, and used judiciously to great effect. (One crit: difficult to understand what you are saying without the lyric sheet.
2)the band is very hot, percussion being superb...as are the lead guitar fills.
You've got a powerful song here that is recorded well and that maintains an integrity of structure from the first to the last note. Glad I heard this...and thank you for sharing it.
Peace.
Paul
ledebutant
...add my two cents to all of the other comments (which I generally share):
Thanks, Paul for the positive words and the constructive criticism, too. I agree with you about the audibility of the vocals. This is the first song I'd recorded with my new firewire interface and I realized a few weeks after recording this that when I had plugged my mic back in and gotten everything set back up again, that I had put my mic into the stand backwards and was singing into the wrong side (I have a Rode Nt-1a which does have a right and wrong side). It explained why I had such a terrible time mixing these vocals, as well as why they're not so clear. I'd really love to re-record this some time now that I've figured out the problem.
So, you're absolutely right. There was an issue with that vocal track. I'm happy you liked the harmonies because that's an area where I typically struggle. Thanks!
Pete_NB
Great song Lisa. Forlorn and wailing. Excellent production as per usual and good interplay between the vocal lines in the chorus.
My only nitpick is at the very end when the guitar does the buildup. The vocals almost sound nonchalant compared to the accompanying intensity. Of course, that's just opinion and I could be missing something that you were shooting for artistically there.
caroline
a very appropriate song for me today lisa - thank you for your wit and talent - thank goodness you and joe finally got a collab - you'll be welcome in my garden anytime - i'm serving green tea at the table!! big loves xoxo
ledebutant
It breaks my heart to think of your heart falling from the sky. Tell me where he is and I'll go and kick him with pointy shoes.
saymme
You sound SO cool Lisa !!! KUDOS to You Both !!!!! TX : )
jie
thanks for bringing back memories of the eighties when i had more hair{ ah the mullet} nice song well produced and sang etc. thanks for sharing
PaddyNavinCaryatid
... All About Eve - slightly gothic feel, super vocals remind me of Julianne Regan at her best. The mix is spot on and I love the paint cans. So many layers, so much going on yet all in its place.
One for my iPod.
Paddy
Drew Kopr
I love the guitar sound! Great vocals as always. Excellent production and writing.
musicmitigation
It has a Mono in VCF quality to it, nice. Your hip hop song is cool too. Enjoyable music too listen too.
blindsidedpoets
Stunning!
I came here as your setup of mic/presonus/vocal style was said to be similar to ours (my daughter for the vocal part :) ). But what a surprise to hear this. Wonderful song, fantastic vocals!