Topic: My band, Step Stevie Step...

[Stephen]

Your review surprises me, Knuck. I've mostly talked to those who have seen us live, and it's a completely different story -- you've obviously only heard the album; it's interesting to see your opinions. By that I mean, typically #3 is one of the least favorites, #s 1 and 10 are preferred. Thanks for the review, it's nice to see what others think.

[KnuckleBuckett]

I often find that the cuts have a profoundly different effect live.  Almost like they are different cuts by different performers.  Not always or with every cut, but often.  As much as I listen to recorded music, I rarely prefer the recordings over the live versions.  Odds are my cut by cut review would be very different live.

Another interesting fact is that recordng in a "live" studio versus a "damped/dead" studio environment also dramatically changes the performances.  Here I almost always perfer live studios.  I like the way they add thedepth and width of the room to the recording.  Created a far better 3D image IMO.

[hans]

I tend to agree. Perhaps it's just that as I've gotten older I've grown to appreciate 'the music' more. I find my favorite recordings are often live compilations. I've also noticed I like studio recordings that were recorded with the group all in one room (pseudo live studio takes). There's an energy to the recordings when you've got everyone in the same room that seems to feel less artificial as many modern recordings can feel.
I've got a rule in my humble home studio that everything must be done in a single take. You can have as many do-overs as you need and take the best one but I think that missed notes and such make a recording sound more interesting.

[KnuckleBuckett]

I agree.

The only thing that can on occasion mess up a live recording is too much crowd interaction.  Yuck.  I want to hear the artists not a mouthy, applausy, or sing-along bunch of goofs.  Once in a while it makes sense but for the most part I wanna pretend they aren't there.

Oh, a decent example of good live recordings might be the MTV Unplugged series.

[Stephen]

I'd really like to show you guys a live recording of us, but we don't have any. I think you'd be impressed. Amused, at the least.

[Stephen]

Oh, my gosh, we're in the iTunes store, coolest thing ever.

[hans]

Who needs a record contract? You're on iTunes!

Although non-drm free.

[Rob]

Although non-drm free.

Damnit.

*Orders from CDBaby*

[KnuckleBuckett]

Although non-drm free.

Damnit.

*Orders from CDBaby*

Ditto. 

[stealth]

My CD still hasn't arrived

[Rob]

DDD FTW Man!

[stealth]

Arrived the other day.  Already on my Sony Network Walkman.  Haven't had a chance to listen to it all the way through, but I like what I've heard so far.  You guys did really, really well in such a short space of time - there's the odd flub here and there, but it's a demo and god knows I've recorded some terrible sounding stuff before.  Archer is a great song - very catchy opening.  So is Stich.  Haven't had time for the words to have sunk in, but I'll hopefully get to hear it a few times over the weekend and will post more on Monday.

BTW I think you would really like Something For Kate from the sound of your music - check them out.

[Stephen]

I gave SfK a listen. Good freaking stuff, very catchy, very interesting. I like it.

[Stephen]

The band's rather done. Two of us are in Utah, two are in Idaho, and our drummer is in California. I've no idea how much money we get, though I'm sure it's far too low.