Mixtape de Noël (1) : Fall In Love With The Light par The Garment District

Jennifer Baron, alias The Garment District, m’envoie parfois des mails, sans m’avoir jamais rencontré. L’époque. La musique. Quelque chose comme ça. J’imagine qu’elle regarde mon blog et j’aime bien écrire en me disant qu’une Américaine me lit et qu’elle fait de la musique, aussi. Et puis, l’autre jour, les gens de la Station Radar m’ont envoyé un mail disant qu’ils sortaient un 45 tours de Jennifer. Remixé par Sonic Boom, un de mes vieux héros.
A propos de cette rencontre, Jennifer m’a écrit ceci :

« I was very fortunate to have seen Sonic Boom and Spectrum perform in New York City when I lived there, on several occasions during the late 1990s.
Over the past few years, I met and talked with him at shows in Pittsburgh, most recently when Spectrum performed at The Andy Warhol Museum. We have a few mutual friends, and so last winter when I had the idea, I contacted him about doing the remix of Nature-Nurture. I could not really imagine anyone else remixing Nature-Nurture in particular, and I feel it was an appropriate match for his production talents and distinct approach to music and his vision for recorded sound.
It is an incredible honor and also a very moving experience for me to have « Nature-Nurture » remixed by Sonic Boom, one of my musical heroes. Today, when I listen to his music from the 1980s and 1990s, which is iconic to me, I honestly can experience it in new, fresh and tactile ways — with new dimensions uncovered and revealed. To me, his music is both highly personal and yet also other-worldly. Sonic Boom’s approach to making and recording music seems very architectural and spatial and his production can be both subtle and jarring — while simultaneously highly organic — and this is frankly the only kind of remix I could imagine being involved with for « Nature-Nurture. » It is difficult to not think of the remix format itself as something that can verge on the cliche today, yet when successful, what I love is that it can become a kind of communication sharing that is difficult to put into words. I suppose that is the very point of music.
Sonic Boom completed the remix for me in his New Atlantis Studios in England, and encouraged feedback and input from me during the process. When he was just about finished, and we were discussing the final few measures of the song, he suggested that I record a new part to replace what I had played on the original and to consider altering the style of the final melody. I loved the process of recording a new keyboard melody quite spontaneously late one night in my house in a different time zone from him, and having it just sit naturally within the remix he did. It was a very inspiring process. I love the fact that for Sonic Boom, a remix is about being respectful to the inherent aural qualities, textures and emotions of the original composition–it makes the concept of a remix so much more authentic and thoughtful. His production amplifies qualities and elements that already exist or that are hinted at, but somehow transforms them into a new sonic experience. It is not about slapping down a beat on something — or speeding up the tempo or altering a rhythm. I love that he in fact removed the snare drum and cymbal hits from my original, and created an even more expansive and highly textured sound.
I wrote « Miraculous Metal » after I released my tape Melody Elder on Night-People, and recorded it by myself in my home studio in Pittsburgh. It was very satisfying to be able to translate the song to a live performance during the 2012 VIA Music & New Media Festival, where I performed with a full band on October 2nd at The Andy Warhol Museum during an audio-visual showcase, opening for Julia Holter (http://youtu.be/IRpG1QXtcIM). I am psyched that the song has found a permanent home on vinyl, in the timeless format of the 45, thanks to Jerome and Fleur at La Station Radar.
To me, the three songs work together like a mini-EP.
« Vigor » includes an assemblage of audio snippets I recorded over several months’ time in my western Pennsylvania environment. I constantly document sounds that interest me–for whatever reason. Regional dialects, computerized voices–experiences in places ranging from public parking garages to public access television. I love putting these random fleeting and sometimes surreal moments and experiences of sound into new contexts that are permanently recorded. I also like exploring the intersection of the public and the private via sound communication. « Vigor » is special to me because it is a long distance collaboration with Kevin C. Smith, who is a circuit bender now living in Oakland, California. »

Et puis, elle m’a envoyé une mixtape, de Noël, dont voici le tracklist :

1. Music Box Theme: Burnt Offerings OST
2. Fallin’ in Love: American Spring
3. Daydream: Thorinshield
4. A Doppia Faccia (Instrumental): Nora Orlandi
5. Kill the Cobra: Bentley Road
6. My Mind’s at Ease: The Collage
7. Trivialities: Flower Power
8. Oh No: Condello
9. A Child’s Guide To Good And Evil: West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
10. I Have Been Floated: The Olivia Tremor Control
11. Leaves Never Break: Jake Holmes
12. The Orchids: Psychic TV
13. My Only Sun: Peak Twins
14. Touch The Stars: Spectrum
15. Im Garten Sandosa: Amon Düül
16. Transfer: Alessandro Alessandroni
17. Tomorrow’s Achievements: Harry Forbes
18. Cryin’ Inside: Mouse and The Traps
19. Two Weeks: Scott and Charlene’s Wedding
20. Blankets: Samantha Glass

La mixtape est par ici et The Garment District s’écoute par là. Joyeux pré-Noël.

• garment district
• musical heroes
• sonic boom