L’eclipse Nue – the making of the new album, Part 3

Last weekend I went into the studio again to record vocals for three more songs.

I have also been recording scratch tracks ahead of time, so that I can use the studio time more efficiently.

I am getting closer to completing the first round of vocal recordings. Then I will begin to edit and mix everything. At that point, if anything seems lacking in any of the vocal tracks, I will go back to the studio and re-record them.

I am writing this on a Wednesday morning. Very sleepy.

-End

L’eclipse Nue – the making of the new album, Part 3

Last weekend I went into the studio again to record vocals for three more songs.

I have also been recording scratch tracks ahead of time, so that I can use the studio time more efficiently.

I am getting closer to completing the first round of vocal recordings. Then I will begin to edit and mix everything. At that point, if anything seems lacking in any of the vocal tracks, I will go back to the studio and re-record them.

I am writing this on a Wednesday morning. Very sleepy.

-End

L’eclipse Nue – the making of the new album, Part 2

In the early afternoon, I did a couple of hours in the studio, recording vocals for two more songs: “Swallow a Handful of Life Support” and “Cesium Dreams.”

At the end of the session, when I was packing up my equipment, I accidentally dropped my mic pre-amp on the floor.

Not good.

I hope it’s not broken. I’ll have to check it later.

This evening, I’ll go to a show at Soup.

-The end.

L’eclipse Nue – the making of the new album, Part 1

This afternoon, I loaded up my MTR, some SD cards, microphones, pop filter screen, pre-amp, and headphones, and I took the train to the studio to record some vocal tracks.

There are many things that I can do at home. In such an old apartment, however, with such thin walls, it’s tough to record vocals. In the apartment, I can really only record the most quiet vocal tracks, or scratch vocal tracks.

For noisier stuff, I have to head to a studio.

I booked a small “vocal room” at a studio in Nakano for a few hours. When I say small, I really mean small. There was a tiny vent, leaking in a bit of cool air, but nonetheless the room was hot and stuffy.

I drank a couple of beers to stay loose, and to recreate the “live” vibe as much as possible.

 

The songs which I (think I) completed were:

1. Vertigo, a Dry Mouth, and Regret

2. Bread for My Princess

3. Inside a Glass Eye

4. Plastic Bags

5. Slave to Your Secret Fetish

6. New Uniform

7. When I Was In The Hospital

 

By the time I had finished, I was thoroughly spent.

The heat, the multiple takes, the alcohol…. After the third track, I was already hurting.

The last three songs I worked on, “Slave…,” “New Uniform,” and “…Hospital,” all had preexisting vocal tracks which I had put down in the apartment weeks ago. Those tracks were comparatively mellow to what I was doing in the studio today, but they helped me get things done more quickly than would have been possible otherwise.

I got through the first 4 songs somewhat quickly, as I have performed most of them live many times at this point.

 

So, today I recorded the vocal tracks for 7 songs, out of a total of 20 that I’m working on.

I haven’t made a final decision on which songs are going to be on the new album. I have a basic idea, but I’m going to wait until after I’ve recorded everything and have my rough mixes prepared.

The following is a complete list of the songs I am working on, in no particular order.

1. Theme [This song is instrumental, and I have already performed it live on a few occasions.]

2. Vertigo, a Dry Mouth and Regret [I’ve performed this one live many times.]

3. Bread for My Princess [I’ve performed this one live many times.]

4. Inside a Glass Eye [I’ve performed this one live many times.]

5. Plastic Bags [I’ve performed this live once.]

6. Infected

7. The Lines Don’t Lie

8. Swallow a Handful of Life Support

9. Alec’s Ascension

10. Operation [Instrumental.]

11. Slave to Your Secret Fetish

12. New Uniform

13. Blood Splattered Platform

14. Cesium Dreams

15. Funeral at the Factory

16. The Accessory

17. Sad Clown

18. (Military) [Tentative title.]

19. Till the Sun Comes Up [Tentative title.]

20. When I Was in the Hospital

 

Things I learned today in the studio:

1. I think I might like my cheap mic more than my (slightly) more expensive mic. I’ll have the final verdict on that during mixing later.

2. I’m going to book shorter recording sessions going forward. I made a reservation for 2 hours, 2 weeks from now. I would have liked to have done another session next weekend, but I’m going to be busy next week.

3. Beer seemed to have a somewhat positive effect on my performance.

 

“There Are Some Things You Shouldn’t Do With Someone You Love”

This is the submission by L’eclipse Nue for the Connection Cassette Compilation Project – 2012. This compilation project is being organized by Hal McGee.

Thank you to Darklaw for transferring the L’eclipse Nue track to cassette.

The song is called “There Are Some Things You Shouldn’t Do With Someone You Love.”

I sent the cassette in the mail on Tuesday, May 1st.

press play

===start message===

Can’t sleep.

Have to wake up for work in 45 minutes.

L’eclipse Nue is recording a new album.

L’eclipse Nue wants to perform in Kansai.

===end message===

大沼志朗 + Kiyasu at Cafe Flying Teapot (Ekoda, Tokyo – 7/10/2011)

 

This is 大沼志朗.

 

And this is Kiyasu.

 

 

On Sunday evening, these two drummers tore up Cafe Flying Teapot in Ekoda. The only criticism I can make about that amazing performance is that I wish it had been longer.

I was already familiar with Kiyasu’s work of course. I have been a fan of his band, Sete Star Sept, for years. He performed solo at the first Psychic Menagerie event back in April, and I (as L’eclipse Nue) performed at Sete Star Sept’s event back in May.

But I think this was my first time to check out 大沼志朗, and I was really impressed. I’d like to see him perform again.

As some of you already know, Kiyasu is a very busy man. In addition to Sete Star Sept, Kiyasu regularly performs with Kiyasu Orchestra, and countless other sessions, solo performances, etc.

To any Americans who might be reading this, Sete Star Sept will be doing a U.S. tour (and 1 date in Canada) this summer, and I highly recommend that you check them out.

Here are the Sete Star Sept tour dates for North America:

Sun, August 14 – Buffalo NY
Mon, August 15 – Toronto Canada
Tue, August 16 – Pittsburgh PA
Wed, August 17 – Baltimore MD
Thu, August 18 – Washington DC
Fri, August 19 – Philadelphia PA
Sat, August 20 – New York, NY

European people, you are in luck, too. Here are the dates.

Sat, September 17 – rostock (germany) – confirmed
Sun, September 18 – kiel (germany) –
Mon, September 19 – hamburg (germany) –
Tue, September 20 – groningen –
Wed, September 21 – rotterdam (holland) – confirmed
Thu, September 22 – gent, belgium – confirmed
Fri, September 23 – koln, (germany) –
Sat, September 24 – weimar (germany) – confirmed
Sun, September 25 – berlin (germany)

So, as you can see, Kiyasu will be out of the Tokyo area quite a bit over the next few months.

This summer there will be a distinct lack of Kiyasu in Tokyo.

So, Tokyo people, you won’t want to me Kiyasu’s rare summer performance at Koiwa Bush Bash on July 21st, 2011. He’s playing in Kiyasu Orchestra, which also includes my good friend Darklaw on keyboard.

And yes, L’eclipse Nue will be there, too.

■7/21/2011 – at Koiwa Bush Bash

■Open19:00/Start 19:30

LIVE:

KIYASU ORCHESTRA

PLUGDEAD

HEARTLAND

NANRAKA

L’ECLIPSE NUE

1000 yen in advance / 1300 yen at the door (plus 1 drink order)

 

Jah Excretion live at Cafe Flying Teapot (Ekoda, Tokyo – 7/10/2011)

If you like noise and/or experimental, ambient stuff, and you weren’t at Cafe Flying Teapot last Sunday (7/10/2011), then I’m sorry, but you missed out.

Several great underground artists were there at this under-the-radar event.

The line-up was:

SACHIKO + 福岡林嗣
いちろう（ex.ゆらゆら帝国）
Jah Excretion
大沼志朗 + Kiyasu
スズキジュンゾ

So, here’s a picture I took of Jah Excretion during his set.

You can listen to him at his myspace page.

You can also get his CD-R, “On the Road,”  from the Polish micro-label, Somnolent Shelter Records.

You will definitely want to check out Jah Excretion on 8/25/2011 at Cafe Flying Teapot in Ekoda, Tokyo.

Click here for the map.

As you can see on the flyer, it’s going to be Jah Excretion, Facialmess, Naoto Ogawa, Illinois, and L’eclipse Nue (yours truly). The door charge is cheap, and the line-up is priceless. Don’t sleep on this one.

Self Deconstruction live at DOM Studio (Koenji, Tokyo, JP)

I was hanging out at DOM Studio last night at the Cosmo event. I was checking out my friends, Darklaw, Naoto Ogawa, Kiyasu Orchestra…

I also saw Self Deconstruction for the first time, and they were really good.

I tried to take a few pictures on my cell phone, but the room was dark, and packed with sweaty people, flailing around into one another.

So, this is what you get.

Caffeine, songs, skeletons, cesium …

CAFFEINE

I spend a lot of time on the train. I used to sleep during commutes quite frequently, but for some reason, not so much these days.

Still, I’m tired. I think I drink too much coffee. I have trouble staying awake without it.

SONGS & SKELETONS

I’ve been working on a lot of new songs. I am excited about some of them. But they are mostly just skeletons now, not finished.

It’s a little difficult to know if I’m going in the right direction. Obviously, I’m close to these works, so I have a limited perspective. My hope is that when I finish, you will find the new songs to be even better than what I’ve done previously.

I’m getting closer.

Right now there are around 20 skeletons in development. I believe there will be more.

I intend to choose, with some assistance, only the best tracks for my next album. That’s the process of editing and revision. Unbeknownst to Darklaw, I intend to employ him in this capacity.

My songwriting process these days consists of construction, dissection, and reconstruction. I compose basic melodies and sounds that get caught in my head, record them, and then set about altering and/or arranging them.

This process typically takes several months at the very least, as it takes time for ideas to gestate and develop.

Lyric writing sometimes happens concurrently, but a lot of it happens towards the end. It depends on the song. Generally I have a basic idea from the beginning, and then the details come later. But sometimes it’s all after the fact. Still, other times the lyrics play a large role in dictating the rhythm or melody of the song. At any rate, there are many steps of revision.

CESIUM

These days, I worry about cesium, water, and vegetables. I can’t read kanji, so I can’t read the labels (if any) on food which sometimes detail the place of origin. Little appears to be being done to safeguard the population in terms of food and water contamination. This despite the fact that levels of radiation exceeding the government’s limits have been found in tea leaves grown in Shizuoka and Tokyo. Not to mention the children in the area of Fukushima who have tested positive for internal radiation poisoning.

Clearly, the legacy of this disaster will be a burden to be shouldered for generations to come.

And still, useful information is scarce, and politicians maneuver and bicker with one another without doing much of anything.

It’s difficult for me to understand how their heads aren’t already on stakes. Me being the barbaric outsider.