Category: Blog

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Hey friends,

I just started working on the next episodes of The Misguided Guide to the Origin of Everything – the new show I’m working on with Thu Tran & the Winty Crew from Food Party. I loved the way the pilot turned out – check out the teaser above – but I feel like everyone stepped up their game for these next episodes. Keep your fingers crossed that they’ll be coming out sometime soon!

The Pterodactyl record is coming along well – we’re finishing the last bits of tracking, and Frank Musarra (Hearts of Darknesses / Trey Told ‘Em) has started the mixing process.  We were able to get some great performances, and the overdubs and arrangements took things to whole new levels.  Everything sounds huge and melodic and weird – I’m mega psyched!

They’re playing Tuesday March 8th at the Parts & Labor record release show in Brooklyn before taking off to SXSW.  Check out tour dates here:  http://panacherock.com/artists.php?id=105

In the meantime, I mastered a record for my friend Anthony from Chicago and his new project Natural Harbors.  I enjoyed his last EP (under the name of Arctic Circle), but this really caught my imagination – great beats, inventive production, catchy melodies… the works.  I’ve had these songs stuck in my head since I started working on them.  Keep an eye out for the record later this year on Positive Beat Recordings.

Also, my good friends the I Ching Quartet have posted their discography online to download for free!  I worked on three of these records, including the newest one These Dreams, of which I am particularly fond/proud.  Check them out: http://www.ichingquartet.com/discography/

Thanks for stopping by!

TTYL,

schenke

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I’ve spent the last two weeks with my friend Jesse and the rest of the (awesome) dudes in Pterodactyl, recording their new record. Pterodactyl has put out records on Brah/Jagjaguwar and Deleted Art, and appeared on a split with one of my favorite bands Oneida.

All the basic tracking is done – we did two days setup in Jesse’s loft and another in their practice space, getting all the basics down.  (The photo to your left is the M train passing by Jesse’s window)  We’re working on overdubs and vocals now – always an involved process, but nice at your own pace.  Frank Musarra – from Hearts of Darknesses and Trey Told ‘Em (with Gregg Gillis/Girl Talk) – will be mixing the record in a couple weeks, and I’ll be doing the final mix/master after Pterodactyl’s SXSW tour with Parts and Labor.

The material is really exciting, taking their abrasive noise-pop from Worldwild, steeping it in the more melodic psychedelia experiments from last year’s Arnold’s Park EP, and steering it directly into Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.  You guys will love it.

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That’s right, folks.  Scrappers, the documentary by Brian Ashby and Ben Kolak about scrap metal scavengers in Chicago, made Roger Ebert’s year-end list… and I had the pleasure of mixing it!  Check it out:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/01/the_best_documentaries_of_2010.html

If you live in the Chicago area and haven’t had a chance to see it, there’s another screening next week:

Scrappers @ Doc Films
Friday, January 21, 7pm
Max Palevsky Cinema, Ida Noyes Hall
1212 E. 59th St.
$5
Followed by Q&A with the filmmakers
http://docfilms.uchicago.edu
Sponsored by Fire Escape Films and the Center for Latin American Studies

In other news, we just spent a day recording voices for the second episode of the new show by Thu Tran & the Winty Gang.  There was much laughing.  The pilot turned out amazing, I can’t wait for people to see it…. more news as it develops.

Also, I’m also working out the details to record the new record by Pterodactyl this winter.  Righteous!

ttyl, schenke

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Let’s hear if for 2011!! I’ve already had some friends and my sister in from out of town, been to both the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, and been to Fat Albert’s warehouse twice!!  Plus, I’m starting of this year right, finishing up a couple of amazing projects.

First is the record I began a whiiiiiile ago with James Elkington (of the Horse’s Ha, the Zincs, and more) and Nathan Salsburg (solo artist and head of Twos and Fews).  It’s an album of instrumental folk songs played on acoustic guitars in the style of Bert Jansch, Leo Kotke, and John Fahey.  We’ve been working on this off and on, getting together to record in my old living room in Chicago when Nathan was in town, and adding overdubs and field recordings here and there as I’ve mixed.  It’s been a pleasure working on this record, and I can’t wait for the world to hear it. I have my fingers crossed that it will take less time to release it than it did to make it!

The other really exciting thing I’ve been working on is a new television pilot with some of my pals from the Food Party crew.  I’m not sure how much is under wraps, but I can say that if you were a fan of Food Party, you’ll be right on board with this one.  We’ve been going nuts with the sound design – it kinda blew my mind to hear all I had done leading up to the holidays – and the art is pretty out of this world.  Check out this clip from an old Food Party episode to get the gist of things:

 

porridge sequence in FP4 from Thu Tran on Vimeo.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

xo, twoeyes

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WOWEE!!!  The reception to the new Girl Talk record has been phenomenal!  If you haven’t gotten a chance to listen to it, head over to the Illegal Art site and check it out: http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/

Both Pitchfork and the Onion AV Club gave All Day great reviews – full of praise and very astute.  Check them out too:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14899-all-day/

and

http://www.avclub.com/articles/girl-talk-all-day,48376/

Before I go any further, check out this wicked photo spread my friends Thu and Josef made for Flaunt magazine (see sick image on your right):

http://flaunt.com/features/112/eating-out

I’ve been keeping busy since, going down to Tennessee for Thanksgiving, and tackling a few other mastering jobs in between.  Illegal Art – the sample-addled record label that brought us Girl Talk, Steinski, and Deconstructing Beck – has a new release coming out soon by People Like Us called Welcome Abroad.  It’s a dizzying collection of classic pop tunes, javanese lullabies, marching band standards, and probably a million other things I missed blended into a staggering series of bizarro sound collages.  Coming soon.

The other big project was an anthology of 80’s Nashville recordings compiled by my friend Jason Henn (formerly of Elephant Micah, the Red Queen Hypothesis, et al).  Entitled Always on My Mind – The Ronnie Henn Story, the album traces his Dad’s journey through the Nashville studio system in the mid-80s as he attempts to make good on a contract signed at the Hoosiers premier, so crazy it must be true.  Ronnie’s baritone croon graces all sorts of country standards, from classic ballads like “Always on my Mind” and “Crazy” to more upbeat banjo thumpers like “Rocky Top”.  This CD will be distributed through the Numero Group, which is great news!  Read more about this crazy trip Jason’s Kickstarter page for the project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/468130542/always-on-my-mind-the-ronnie-henn-story

Other tidbits: mastering a single for Brooklyn-based Special Envoy; finished mixing the I Ching Quartet record These Dreams, to be mastered at All City Mastering in Chicago; and some other exciting stuff I’ll talk about next time.

until then,

twoeyes

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Go to the Illegal Art website to download the new Girl Talk album, free of charge: http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/

All Day is the new 71 minute epic by my buddy Gregg Gillis.  This is the third record I’ve mastered for him, and I had the pleasure again of assisting (along with his Trey Told ‘Em partner Frank Musarra) with technicalities throughout the process.  It was cool to watch the album take shape, and I can say with authority that a great deal of time and effort was put into getting the album just right.

The finished product combines the scope of his marathon live shows, the hyper-glitchy editing from his IDM upbringing, and some original production flourishes to finesse the album into a bold, unmistakeably “Girl Talk-y” artistic statement.  I’m psyched.

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Well, here I am, right down the street from Mr. Kiwi’s.  I jumped ship on Chicago last month, and moved out to Brooklyn with my lady.

So far, it’s been great, although Food Party didn’t get renewed for a third season.  Luckily, I’ve had plenty of hangtime with those guys, including an opening Thu curated at the Showpaper Gallery.

SOUNGS just had it’s second release – a new 7″ by the one and only Daniel Francis Doyle.  The single is called “There Are Two of You”, and you can pick it up on the SOUNGS website or from Dan on tour.  Stay tuned for more news on SOUNGS, including a new website, more releases in the archives, and a new album by Hearts of Darknesses!!

So now that I’ve got my studio setup here in Brooklyn, I’ve been working on wrapping up mixes on the new I Ching Quartet and James & Nathan albums that I recorded in Chicago.  I’m such a proud papa on these ones, I can’t wait from them to drop.  I’ve also been doing some mastering work for a couple Chicago-based bands – Dumpster Babies and Wild Jesus.

And there’s more cool stuff coming up in the next couple months!

xo,

twoeyes

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Hello Again Summertime!!!

Just got back in town from not-so-blustery California, where I was celebrating my good friends’ wedding.  Now it’s hot as balls all over again.

I’ve been keeping busy with a lot of recording this summer.  Both the I Ching Quartet and Jim Elkington/Nathan Salsburg records that I mentioned last time are in overdub/mixing territory.  I’m really pleased with both so far – while they’re very different records, both have a very natural, tactile feel that I’ve striven for many many times, but never quite captured as well as on these recordings.  Stay tuned, we hope to have both records completed by the end of the month.

I also did a couple days of recording with the group El is a Sound of Joy.  They’re a seven-piece free-rock band from around town, alternately droney and balls-out aggression.  We did two days of recording at Experimental Sound Studio, and got about 7-8 hours of material to sift through.  Look out for an album from these sessions on New Ruins.

If you haven’t heard of Trouble in Mind Records, time to get wise.  They’ve put out an amazing run of 7″s from the Fresh and Onlys, Co-co-coma, Ty Segal and more.  I’ve started doing mastering for some of their releases, starting with the upcoming Personal and the Pizzas 7″.  Three songs of Ramones-y crooners, delicious.

I’ve got much much more to tell soon!!!  Pro Gear, Pro Attitude, y’all!

p, schenke

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Aaaahhhhhhh…. summer vacation, still hasn’t lost it’s charm for me.

We wrapped up season 2 of Food Party a couple of weeks ago, with equal parts relief and sadness.  This was one of my favorite projects I’ve been involved with, and easily the most fun job I have ever had.  Beat that, NASA!!

Season 2 is restarting this coming week, for all y’all that missed it the first time around.  Tune to IFC every Tuesday at 10 PM and/or 3 AM EST for two episodes.  I promise it only gets better and better!

I’ve also been busy playing with Mittens on Strings, doing our last few shows before calling it a day.  We put together some hand-printed copies of our new untitled EP (available to stream on our myspace page), and have been jamming some new shit in the practice space.  Our next show is Wed July 21st at the Empty Bottle with the awesome Yellow Fever from ATX.

So in addition to sun and fun, here are a few things I’ve been keeping busy with:

  • starting a new album with perennial favs the I Ching Quartet (super dreamy this round)
  • resuming recording the acoustic guitar duo album with Jim Elkington and Nathan Salsburg (fucking incredible, truly excited about this one)
  • mastering an improvised free jazz recording for Anthony Poretti (also of Spirits of the Red City)

I’ve got plenty more cool shit in the pipeline too, just hang tight.

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Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working with my friend Chris Hefner on his film The Pink Hotel.  It’s a beautiful feature-length piece, shot in B&W on Super 8, very dreamlike in a David Lynch/Guy Maddin kind of way.  And it debuts tomorrow – Friday April 9th – for a one-off screening at the Music Box!

Chris spent I don’t know how long (months?) on the sound design, and brought it all over to me to mix and “make it sound like a real film”.  Chris and I met hanging work at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, and I’ve been a fan of his work since he gave me a DVD-R of shorts, but he really blew me away with this one.  We went over to the Music Box last night for a midnight test screening, and I’m really pleased with what we’ve done.   I’m really looking forward to for tomorrow night.

Other than that, been working on Food Party.  This week, Thu was stuck in a time warp…..  The new season starts Tuesday April 27th on IFC!  Oh, the anticipation!