More individual tracks from Green Grow the Rushes Grow…

"Penthouse Window" was arranged by Max Stoffregen. I gave him a simple demo with a click track and the vocals you hear below. I think Max is a major bad ass, this was a big turning point for me and foreshadowed my collaboration with Magik*Magik Orchestra.

Clarinets from "Penthouse Window"
-All played by Ben Goldberg (that mf-er can play)

Piano from "Penthouse Window"
-Played by Max Stoffregen

Vocals from "Penthouse Window"
All the background vocals are recorded 25-50 cents slower on the MM1200, then brought up to speed. I love that as it has a slightly different forment, and it seems to brighten the sound and tighten up the delivery.

Use as you like.
Piano and clarinets tracked by Scott Solter at Tiny Telephone.
Vocals tracked by me at home.

Here’s the link for all uploaded tracks so far.

Minna Choi and I in the Fantasy Studios A room, photo by Autumn de Wilde

—

Earlier this week, NPR’s All Songs Considered premiered the White Wilderness opener, “Sea Salt” and noticed something slightly different.

That expansion is Minna Choi and the Magik*Magik Orchestra. For the first time in his career, Vanderslice has chosen not to partake in the hours of agonizing studio wizadry he is so acustomed to. Here are nine new and wildly impressive JV songs captured live over just three days in a unique collaboration with the Orchestra, a collective of classically trained musicians in the Bay Area led by Choi as artistic director.

Listen to the All Songs Considered podcast here.

Listen to “Sea Salt” here.

White Wilderness is out January 25 in the US.
 
The Magik*Magik Orchestra have a comprehensive mastery of classic performance and repertoire, but also have a full appreciation of the aesthetics of indie and underground music. Choi arranged and conducted White Wilderness with 19 members of the Magik*Magik playing strings and horns, vibraphone, pedal steel and piano, an assortment of reed instruments, and much to JV’s benefit, the voice of Minna Choi singing backup at key moments throughout the album.
 
Recorded in San Francisco, White Wilderness was produced by John Congleton, whose resume includes albums by St Vincent, The Walkmen, Explosions in the Sky, Bill Callahan and many more.

White Wilderness tracklist:

Sea Salt
Convict Lake
White Wilderness
The Piano Lesson
After It Ends
Overcoat
Alemany Gap
English Vines
20K

Bay Bridged: Dissecting the Song, By Aaron Sankin

Hell yes.
Photo by my hero Elizabeth Weinberg

Live at Pirate Cat Radio, July 24, 2010
Set List:
1. Promising Actress
2. White Dove
3. Too Much Time
4. Time To Go
5. White Plains
Interview at Tiny Telephone
I think it’s super well done, thanks Elia, Cian and ONM!!

Amazing.

I present to you my new EP, Green Grow The Rushes.

1. Thule Fog.mp3
2. I’ll Never Live Up To You.mp3
3. Pony Express.mp3
4. Streetlights.mp3
5. Lay Down.mp3
6. Penthouse Window.mp3

320kbps mp3s + artwork + lyrics and credits

Uncompressed WAV files + artwork + lyrics and credits

This is a free digital download. We’ll print vinyl early next year.

I am super proud of this record! It features: Ian Bjornstad, Carla Kihlstedt, Daniel Hart (St. Vincent), Matthias Bossi, George Ban-Weiss, and Ben Goldberg (who plays all the clarinets on “Penthouse Window”). Jim Eno from Spoon produced and engineered “Lay Down.”

Just reposted a few things that were missing from the huge server switch when we updated the web site:
–Pixel Revolt User’s Guide

–Pixel Revolt Recording Diary

–Life and Death of an American Fourtracker

–Time Travel Is Lonely Recording Notes

–Keep The Dream Alive lyrics by Simon Evans

I asked, you delivered. These names are so interesting to me, I had to post them. We owe it to history.
The back story: I’m trying to open a new studio early next year, so I asked for suggestions related to my current studio, Tiny Telephone.

This is the best list since our "2008 name the Vanderslice band" contest.

Tiny Telephone 2: Electric Boogaloo
Crazy John’s Recording Emporium
Wee Walkie
keitai studio (Japanese slang for mobile phone)
Analog Station
Ray’s Boom Boom Room
monster megaphone, puny pager
"Vandersplice."
McMusic Hut
The Switchboard
Bandwidth Limited
This Guy’s Garage
Petite pachinko
Phonographic Ecstacy Transmission From The Chasm of Dead Souls
Rotary Recordings
Tiny Binary
I’m partial to ‘Ethylene Point’ or ‘Neophyte Inlet’ as they’re both anagrams of Tiny Telephone.
DynaTAC
the switchboard
JVT&T
phonebooth
touchtone
1992 honda prelude (jv: this one is excellent!!)
Cups and String

24-hour Porn Kingdom
Patch Bay Bay

Mini Megaphone
one wrong number

heidi vanderslice

Strange Door (that’s technically TT-related, right? 🙂 )

Telephone Telephone Revolution

The Binary

lil baby dial tones

Ring Ring

64k modem

Whistle Work

Heebie CBs
JamBox

Cute Cuticle

The 424

mini ninja

Lazy Marvin’s House of Ultimate Noise (jv: Marvin is our studio cat)
Tiny Telegraph
Heuristic Meat Box
tall telegraph
infintesimal iphone
Sloppy Hi Fi
Inconsequential Ham Radio
Mid-size dot matrix printer
Magnetic Mojo

Huge iPad

mini téléphone

Ham Radio Central

Front Row

chirp house

Wilco

1/2 bath recordings
the dollhouse

Cans and Strings Studio

Los Estudios Telefono Diminuto — Dos

Tiny TARDIS

Free Long Distance

Hiney Smellophone

Tiny Tunnel of Love

Tiny Num Sounds

Big Pager Studios

Tinny Telephone

mini megaphone

The Patchbay

Proustian Pager
The Internet
rotary dial club
baby beeper
the bat[wings] cave
Susstudio
tiny phonebooth
Edison’s Folly
Twisted Pair
Guitar Center (jv: I love this one)
CB Set
The Magik Telephone
Moderately Sized Morse Code Machine
Pony Express
Uncanny Valley
JV Phone Home
shrunken ear machine
Zach Morris sized cell phone
Home Phone Studios
Micro Messenger
Nano Noisebox
Petite Pinger
Motorola StarTAC
small smoke signal
shrunken semaphore
mini morse code
Two Cups and a String
communication cellar
stellar cellar
Maximum Mobile. But people might think you’re a sketchy Cricket retailer
Busy Signal
The Phone Booth
The Answering Machine
Tiny Alexander Graham Bell
Mini Megaphone
I think you should go another direction and call it Homeslice.
puny pager
slight semaphore
Micro Cell
Enormous Earpiece
Massive Carrier Pigeon
teensy tele
baby booth
Vandy Camp Studios
Tiny Telephone Line 2
Pitiful Pager
Baby Receiver
diminutive carrier pigeon
Slightly Larger Telephone
Mini Gramophone
Itty Bitty iPhone
Mini Microphone
Diminutive Digiridoo
Moderately Sized Morse Code Machine
Big Ass Smoke Signal
Enormous iPhone