_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 OK, I had a mini-party for me at CD Baby recently and picked up two ace CDs -- Cottonmouth DN's Dopecore and Clatter's Blinded By Vision. Here's what I think of the latter after listening to it 2+ times thru. It rocks, and rocks hard. This duo, our LDL pal clatteramy on bass and vocals and Joe Hayes on drums, is fantastic. Guitars? They don't need no stinkin' guitars, dammit!!! (Well, just a bad-ass Rickenbacker bass guitar sent thru a complex system of amps, cabs, etc. -- which Amy has laid out for us in some post sometime long ago... ). Really, these two fill out the sonic spectrum very nicely and are tight. Currently my favorite tracks are "Nevsky Prospekt" (sung in Russian!!! -- right, Amy? When'd you learn Russian?! ), "Black Karma," and "Choke." All of these tracks have riffs that stick hard to the brain like a quality hangover (really, that's meant to be a good thing) and hooks that don't let go. "Nevsky Prospekt" in particular has mad bass riffin' and chordal mayhem and tasty usage of effects (overdrive and wah? auto-wah? envelope filter?), which is complemented and accented oh so well by Joe's syncopated drums. It's probably my fave track on the CD. I also dig the closing tune on the CD, "Forgive'n'Forget" (in 12/8, I believe). It is truly the perfect closer to the CD, and you'll understand when you listen to the tune all the way thru to the end. Amy's vocals are strong. Great sound. The overdubbed harmonies are nice as well. I haven't listened enough to really discuss the quality of the lyrics, but there's nothing immediately off-putting or unlikable about them. There's definitely lyrical substance, but I've got to listen more carefully to pull it out. Additionally, the recording sounds terrific -- very professional, great quality. Props to Clatter and their engineer for making it sound so good. I would love to hear Clatter play live, because I'm curious to see and hear how Amy either manages to reproduce the sound of the recording or recreate the songs for live performance. (Any comments about this, Amy?) More projects like this emerge and our brethren over at the Guitar Forum will be closed down! Great stuff. Y'all go visit CD Baby on-line and buy it... . . . . . . . ...What? You're still here?! I said to go and buy the Clatter CD! spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Wilburn Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 I agree. Nevsky Prospekt is great. I've been dying to cover it, but I'm afraid my Russian's more than a little rusty. I also love the opening song, Just Like You. Four String Riot the myspaces, we hates it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clatteramy Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Wow, I don't know what to say!!! Thanks for the very kind words, Willlie (and Thomas!) -- definitely a morale booster on a day when we've got a lot of dull band business to do. Makes me want to run right out to the studio and start playing! Unfortunately I've been without a voice for four days (darn virus I picked up over the holidays) so won't be singing any time soon. But hey, as long as I can play bass, who cares, right?! Our big goal when recording this CD was to keep the overdubs to a minimum so that we could reproduce everything ourselves live. We do play to a sequencer, but that's pretty much just the harmonies -- it sounds really cool to have the harmony parts fly in out of nowhere! Everything else we do with effects and electronics. If you haven't seen it already, you can check out a video from one of our shows at our web site: www.clatter.com. It's hard to see much since the image is small to keep file size down, but might give you an idea of what things look like. You can also hear the harmonies come in at the chorus. We're planning to put together a DVD this month with lots of live footage and photos. Yes, that's Russian in "Nevsky!" I have degrees in French and Russian, back when I thought I'd have a real job like a normal person. I guess it's coming in handy after all! Thomas, just wing it -- no on will know the difference! www.clatter.com MySpace YouTube videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogrick Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Originally posted by Sweet Willie: [QB]I would love to hear Clatter play live, because I'm curious to see and hear how Amy either manages to reproduce the sound of the recording or recreate the songs for live performance. [QB]I'd recommend this to anyone if they are anywhere near (or not-so-near) to you. The live performance tops the CD, and besides, you just can't meet enough nice people and Amy and Joe are all that. Beware the lollipop of mediocrity; one lick and you suck forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clatteramy Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Oh, heck, Dan -- thanks! For all of you who don't know, Dan drove all the way from La Junta to Denver, CO. How many hours was that? Talk about nice!!!! www.clatter.com MySpace YouTube videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr M Pulsive Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 I told ya, Willie! I agree with everything above. Clatter rocks, most definitely. And they absolutely kill live. -Mike ...simply stating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_dup2 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 I'm going to catch their live act on the 24th in Tampa. Will try to get a copy of the CD then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.