Mario here- I've missed a few days from the blogosphere but today I intend to make up some lost days. The studio was a busy the last few weeks and I got to record some great sessions with established musicians plus one new band. A couple of performances may have given some listeners flash-backs.
June 2nd - Aimee Mann
Watch or Listen to the Aimee Mann session here
Aimee Mann has been here a few times over the years and again she brought in some great players. If you get a chance to watch the video or see her live, watch the keyboard player. He manages to fire off sequences and play
keys and piano all at the same time and split his brain in three. They usually have two keys players but for our performance he was covering it all.
Watch Aimee Mann and her band perform "Miss Freeway"
Watch or Listen to the James session here
The Set-up for James was a little different. I had to put a small drum kit outside the usual isolation booth since musician Saul Davies was playing violin, guitar AND the small kit. Sometimes he played violin and hit the kick drum at the same time. With everything that was going on in the room, I ended up putting lead singer singer Tim Booth in the booth. And talk about pipes! Tim hit notes that most bands don't even attempt that early in the morning. On one of the tracks he holds a note so long that he must practice circular breathing or something aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhaaaaahhhh!
Watch James perform "Waterfall."
June 10th - Los Campesinos
Watch or Listen to the Los Campesinos session here
Los Campesinos is from a place you wouldn't expect, given their name...Wales. They filled the room with Casio keys, glock, violin, a mini Korg, guitars and drums; and they bashed away. Lead singer Gareth had me busy at the faders singing some very soft parts the some spoken parts and then going to a full blown abusing of the vocal cords. These guys are young and already touring the US and were on the way to a studio in Seattle to record their next chapter. Man I wish I was young again... aww forget about it.
Watch Los Campesinos perform "You! Me! Dancing!"
June 11th - Bajafondo
Watch or Listen to the Bajafondo session here
Finally in this installment, Bajofondo. The band, led by Gustavo Santaolalla, on guitar and vocals just amazed us all. I enjoyed the session not only because of the music, but because of the out of the ordinary instrumentation. There was double bass, violin, and the traditional to tango bandoneon (button accordion.) The music is a little electronic, (think Bitter:Sweet, but with a tango influence,) with several instrumentals. But these players were not messing around and are amazing performers that have loads of fun together as a collective. Gustavo Santaolalla has many producer credits and has worked with people like Julieta Venegas, Molotov, Juanes and Café Tacuba. His many awards also include winning Grammys for scoring Brokeback Mountain and Babel. He a song live for the first time which he wrote called Fairly Right. They ended the show playing some instrumentals that had the KCRW stafff leaving their desks to find the source of this tango-infused music that made you want to get up and dance.
Watch Bajafondo perform "Miles De Pasajeros"
Mario Diaz
KCRW Recording Engineer
Watch or Listen to the Mia Doi Todd session here
A few weeks ago, Mia Doi Todd performed hauntingly beautiful songs in our studio, from her latest album, GEA. With a classically trained alto voice, accompanied by sparse instrumentation, the session set a contemplative mood to start the day.
While small, the portable harmonium like the one used in this session, is quite loud. A reed instrument, that Mia activated by pushing bellows with her foot, is similar to the sound of an accordion but the dynamics are a bit more consistent. The harmonium has the look, feel, and sound of what might be considered an ancient instrument, but it is actually relatively modern, being invented in the mid-19th century as a way to bring an inexpensive organ sound to rural churches and chapels in the old West.
Mia uses it as a major 5th drone on a couple of her songs. -- shown here in D.
Setting the beats was Andres, with a personal take on using brushes for his snare drum. Actual paint brushes! Hey, it works.
Rounding out the trio was Miguel on viola, who provided commentary to Mia's melodies through well crafted counterpoint delivered with reverential subtlety. I pulled the mic back from the viola so it would occupy a space that wasn't too intrusive to the vocals. Both Mia's alto vocal and the viola sit in the same octave, so if the viola was too close mic'ed or direct in, it might fight, rather than support the song. The goal was to be close enough to get clarity from the viola line, but far enough away to hear the viola as a sort of calling from a distant lover.
Mia Doi Todd might be the most interesting singer/songwriter of this era that you've never heard of. Her music blends American folk with a hint of something vaguely eastern. It has a timeless quality that conjures both the modern and distant past.
Inspirational artistry with a truly eclectic flavor.
Ray Guarna
My Groups
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