It may be you playin’, but it ain’t necessarily what you played.
Line Noise? What Line Noise?
by Tim Rideout
It all sort of came together by this magical accident - initially, this was supposed to be a demo CD to get gigs. If somebody told me I’d be releasing a second CD in the space of a year, I’d say they were crazy. I’d say it now, even.
We started off with no ulterior motive for making any kind of songs; it was just jamming, rehearsing, experimenting. Then, the tracks started to take on a life of their own, twisting and turning into mantra-like groove-oriented ambiences that would eventually become "Ambient Pastiche.
But if you think you need Neves and Neumanns to crank out a kick-ass sounding CD, think again. I mean, we had them in studio, but we didn’t use them for this record, because the basic tracks were recorded as jams. The point is, it’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it.
Most of this album was recorded by qualified professionals (that’s Goran Petrovic) on semi-professional gear (that’s my crappy board I brought to rehearsals to monitor through). Experimental tracks, jams and rehearsals were recorded live to CD or to protools through a Mackie board with a hum and a Behringer ’eurorack’ with a hiss.
After we realized, “hey, this is a pretty decent sounding demo - let’s make a record,” these tracks were transferred to computer, sorted, tweaked, Frankensteined to hell and back and then sweetened and arranged with only a few overdubs. The result is a technically and sonically pretty impressive result, offering further proof that ’it may be you playin’, but it ain’t necessarily what you played..’
The Less We Practise, the Better We get...
The creative process for these compositions was very particular in that it was a non-premeditated collective effort. What you are hearing is actually the fruits of nearly a year’s worth of jams, rehearsals and on-the-fly recordings by myself, Rob and Goran. The raw source material was tweaked and overdubs added to get the really cool-sounding recording you hear. The funny part is, it doesn’t sound at all like an experiment. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe we created the core of most of these songs on the spot.
In the end, the experimental nature and fun vibe of what we were doing was what was important. I sure couldn’t have done it without the Team of people helping me, and of course, Goran and Rob, who are a total pleasure to work with. We really didn’t give a shit that there was a hum or a hiss or that Rob (Roy, the bassist) laughing when he heard the “Mister Atari” sample for the first time. Luckily, we had the technical chops to clean stuff up in the end, but the magic of this record really lies in the fact that we were having fun and had absolutely no freaking clue what we were doing - and didn’t care.
JUST THE FAQs
This is Tim’s second album and was released almost exactly a year after his debut cd
this album is totally independently produced and sounds amazing and slick
it’s a hybrid of electronic music, loopy bits, filters, sequences and *live instruments* (bass, drums, guitars and vocals); Tim calls it “live ambient breakbeat R&B-country-jazz-lounge electronica”
Tim will be plays the tracks live with his crack band “The Ride,” comprised of himself on drums, sequences and knob-twiddlin-bits, Goran Petrovic on guitars & FX and Rob Roy on bass.
Tim claims that “DJs play records – musicians make records for DJs to play” and challenges anyone to debate the meritocracy on which the dj
DJ
Not to be confused with “musician” or “talented artist”; plays music by inserting small hydrocarbon disc in digital player or analog turntable; manipulates sound and media in alledged “performance” of music, often using a laptop or other pre-recorded source; post-millenium equivalent of drugged-out rock star, but cooler and with better drugs; most musicians are envious of the DJ because he actually makes a living while they still deliver pizza or work at the music store; gets more chicks than drummers
’s current notoriety is built
Tim claims he is *not* a DJ
DJ
Not to be confused with “musician” or “talented artist”; plays music by inserting small hydrocarbon disc in digital player or analog turntable; manipulates sound and media in alledged “performance” of music, often using a laptop or other pre-recorded source; post-millenium equivalent of drugged-out rock star, but cooler and with better drugs; most musicians are envious of the DJ because he actually makes a living while they still deliver pizza or work at the music store; gets more chicks than drummers
(our research indicates that he used to be back in his McGill residence days, and is in denial of his “wannabe dj” state)
Tim thinks that the artist-entrepreneur needs less artist and more entrepreneur; ie “making a record is easy; selling a record is not”
The CD is on Tim’s own label, “Electric Salmon Records” and distributed by SOPREF/ LOCAL Disribution
on the album release date, it was Tim’s birthday again; he was one year older than Christ
there was Tim’s Mom’s yummy zucchini cake at the launch
