Somebody Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed This Morning

Laura’s Blog Entry

Apparently Neil’s allergies have put him in a murderous mood today. Best not to cross him.

New episode out tomorrow. Hope it’s Thanksgivingy enough for you!

And on that note – Happy Halloween and good candy gathering to you!

Waiting for the Postman

Laura’s Blog Entry

And he better get here soon or I am going to do something drastic. Like whittle down some chopsticks to be the proper size to work on the hat.

But before I play with knives, here’s the finished bath mat:

Yea! I started this on vacation and now it is fitting that it is finished when there is no vacation in sight. For a very long, long time.

Join me as I buck up. Maybe this video will help.

At a Standstill

Laura’s Blog Entry

Time for a knitting update, don’t you think? I’ve finished a couple things and am poised to start a few more. First of all, I did a couple of scarves for Christmas for my nieces.

I used the pattern Ska Scarf from the book Pretty in Punk. They are super easy garter stitch scarves. It was fun choosing the colors. I used Lion Cotton-Ease, a yarn I love working with. Colors used were (top) cactus, stone, taupe, and berry and (bottom) lake, terracotta, taupe and lime.

Upon finishing the scarves I found myself projectless. I can’t tell you the feeling of panic this caused! I have two projects I want to start, but after furious swatching I found that I needed some smaller needles. And I couldn’t just buy what I needed in the store. Horror of horrors! I quickly placed an online order, and should get them in the next couple of days. But until then, I’ll just have to dream about making the following:

Neil’s Christmas Hat

This is a pattern from Knitty.com. Cooler than crap if you ask me. Because once you rock the Mohawk Hat, you need a skeleton, too.

Secondly I am going to try my hand at a pair of mittens for Mari. Hand. Mittens. Get it?

Of course I didn’t have the right size needles for this either, so they were added to the online order. This pattern booklet came from the lovely Random Nicole, and she also showed me the skeleton pattern. She is all kinds of awesome.

To tide me over until my tools arrive I may just do a bit of experimentation with amigurumi, the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. Check out this example of Star Wars amigurumi. Ah, the possibilities are endless! I will now slink back to my laboratory and begin cobbling together plans for certain electronic British trio. Muh-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Depeche Mode Friday

Laura’s Blog Entry

There are a couple of new interviews with members of the band where they discuss the new record and the tour. This one with Dave is short and sweet.

Here’s a link to a Martin and Fletch interview.
The site isn’t in English, but under the video window choose the one that is called “Depeche Mode – intervija ar Arti Dvarionas.” The interviewer is slow to start, but the rest of the interview is worth it.

And here’s one from the archives. Conducted by a Blond Scottish Minnie Mouse. It is Martin and a bit of the Alan Wilder, for those of you that still lament the loss of Mr. Wilder. Oh Martin, you’re rockin’ the wardrobe and the hair once again, you devil!

Welcome to Gothy-Music-Land (Part 7): The Sleep

Neil’s Blog Entry

There have been many developments around our new record… the first of which is the announcement made by Laura’s blog post last week that we will be including a cover version of Depeche Mode’s “Blue Dress” on the album. The album version will be a little bit different than what we played on our podcast a while back. We’ve re-recorded the vocals and I’ve tweaked the mix quite a bit. As we mentioned on the podcast, this was the first thing Laura and I recorded together, so I’m glad that it will have its place on the album.

Secondly, we finally have a name for the album… and for the band! Laura and I went round and round deciding on whether or not this new album will be a “Neil Smith” album. I’m not the only one on the album this time around. Laura is doing vocals and Dave Eberhardt is playing guitars (along with additional guitar work from Tony Miracle and Will Crewdson). It didn’t feel right putting out this release in my name only. And after many, many discussions we have named our music project The Sleep.

The album itself will be called Never in a Million Years. It has been mentioned to me that the music is rather dark – go figure – but, in my opinion, it has a great vibe to it.

The artwork for the album is from a photograph called “The Way We Come Undone” by Julia Trotti. I found Julia’s photography on deviantART, and she has graciously allowed us to use her photograph for the album. Go check out her other work on her website.

Lastly, we are working on the last song. It’s actually the fourth song, but we’ve been saving it for last. The vocals have a lot of overlapping elements and it’s going to be a much more involved recording process, so we have a bit of rehearsals to do first.

In the meantime, we will be working on setting up a website for the album, making sure we have the proper legal papers all signed in blood, and other miscellaneous pieces to the pie.

So, all that to say it won’t be too much longer now. We’re all very excited about the album and how it’s coming together. We can’t wait for you all to hear it.

Still with no pithy catchphrase,
Neil

Literally Funny

Neil’s Blog Entry

Someone has made a literal translation of the A-Ha’s “Take On Me” video from the ’80’s. This is very funny. Well worth the watch! Especially the bit about the pipe wrench… Does anyone remember the pipe wrench?!

Also, a literal version of Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels:”

The One About the Blue Dress

Laura’s Blog Entry

As many of you may know, Neil and I are working on an album. You may also know that we are including one cover song, Depeche Mode’s “Blue Dress,” alongside all our original songs. It is a very special song to me and was the first song we ever attempted using my vocals.

“Blue Dress” has always been one of my favorite DM songs and to be honest is really one of my favorite songs of all time. It is the perfect example of a simple lyric, combined with a killer melody. Layer on a mysterious emotional component and BINGO! You’ve got an amazing song.

Well my relationship with “Blue Dress” has gotten strained the past couple months. During a recent illness I lost my voice for quite an extended period. And when it came back let’s just say things were just not the same. The vocal range I had worked so hard to master for the song was gone. My vibrato was gone. Overall my voice was weak and sounded really disappointing. As I am a determined sort, I jumped back in and started working on the song like I had when we first started trying out vocals.

Guess what? It ain’t nearly as exciting the second time around. It’s all fun and games when you have no deadline looming ahead. But we are down to the last two songs, and as soon as these are done Neil can finalize the mix and send it out to be mastered. The pressure of knowing that I was holding things up was pretty intense. Neil was very low-key about it but I knew it was taking FOREVER.

Well last night we gave recording another try. It was rocky, but we got down some acceptable takes. I just refuse to skimp on this song. If I don’t feel it’s the best I can do, I will not put it out. This is especially true because it is a DM cover.

Mercifully, Neil could reuse the extensive harmonies we recorded on the demo and I didn’t have to redo those. It was just the lead vocal we needed to capture, using the microphone we’ve employed for the rest of the album.

It is a huge relief to wake up today and know that I have that one done. I reserve the right to tweak something if I don’t like it in the final mix, but I didn’t notice anything that stood out upon the first listen.

OK, now I’m nervous. I better listen again before I fully relax. I’ll be back…

If Only

Laura’s Blog Entry

Neil made me this video the other day. I know he’s not native born, but what say we bend the rules? At least our leader would always have good hair. And I’d listen to him talk for hours, but that’s just me.

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Nbsujo1M4&altl=Hpsf

The Speckled Bird Café

Laura’s Blog Entry

Neil took me out on a little lunch date the other day. We’d been hearing nice things about The Speckled Bird Café, located in Norwood, so we decided to give it a try. First of all, they have one of the most beautiful websites I’ve ever seen. Really lovely.

We enjoyed a very nice lunch there. It is a funky, cozy little spot.

The menu is very “mom and pop” – they have a selection of salads and sandwiches. Plus they feature a soup of the day, a seasonal salad and a specialty sandwich. I had a delicious panini with ham, herb ranch and cheddar. Neil stuck with the grilled cheese. After lunch we had the perfect treat – chocolate gelato.

It was a teeny little bowl that was perfect at lunchtime. You can get larger servings if you’d like.

I look forward to going back some evening to hear live music, eat dessert and try some of the herbals teas. And sit in the safe – the building must have been a bank in a former life and they’ve turned the safe into a seating alcove. It looks comfy.

Maybe we’ll see ya there!

Mari-isms

Mari:” There is only one-infinity-ith of a chance that it will snow before October 31st.”

Education dollars at work right there.