Descriptive

I admit I was supposed to write this post days ago, but I am back to editing drums for Exit Strategies and keeping everyone up to date went on the backburner for a few days. So please excuse my poor sense of timing.

But as FJ wrote yesterday, while he cavorted with industry types in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the Factor Corp. board met at Birdcage to hammer out the foundation of the band's first new song in seven months. The recording was planned at my encouragement, and I admit it is nonsensical to dive into a new recording while we are waist-deep in edits and overdubs for the full-length. That being said, the fans will be treated to a new hypefactor release this year before the album - I'll leave it up to FJ to fill in the details when he sees fit - and we wanted to include something exclusive. This track will most likely be it.

The directive for the song, per FJ, was to compose something emphasizing electronics rather than guitars. Guitars drive the melodies and rhythms of Exit Strategies, with few exceptions, and we both thought it would be clever to do something radically different here. A number of structural ideas and potential "blueprints" for the tune were bandied about via IM before F left for Los Angeles, and the general consensus was to fashion a pop song whose melody and atmosphere are driven by rhythm loops and synth melodies. I refined some structural ideas further while listening to some NewOrder b-sides from their Get Ready era, both of which were synth-based tracks recorded during that band's otherwise rockist period.

And as always happens with this band, plans and ideas rarely materialize as intended, and for the better. The core of Robin, Ash and I were joined by Ass Cobra bassist Charles LaBarbara the evening of the session, much to Robin's surprise and delight (as she and Chaz get along swimmingly). Ash and I cued up some loops we had prepared in Ableton Live, while Charles played bass and Robin played synth drums on her Roland electronic kit... a first for us. As Charles' funky bass part came together, however, both Ash and Robin drifted toward guitars, and they recorded some dark, chordy progressions of which I am quite fond. Ironically, no electronics (aside from the basic loops and Robin's drums) were tracked that evening. Not what I had intended by a long stretch, but the result felt right.

I took that direction one step further the next day while jamming along to Robin's drums and Charles' precise, machine-like bass line, which will probably form the verse/chorus structure for the tune. Their playing had such unexpected drive to it that I tracked some acoustics and a brisk, zingy electric riff in a few hours of inspiration. I also pulled in a lot of new loops from a prep session I had done earlier in the week, many of which may stay pending FJ's arrangement overhaul. As I wrote to F today, the song is only 10 to 15 percent of the way there, so it could be a reggae song by the time we are wrap it up next month. But the song in its current form has far more verve than I anticipated, and I am thrilled with the direction it has taken thus far.

A substantial part of the song's feeling derives from Charles' bass part, which I think is one of the best things this group has committed to tape in some time. There are countless studio moments - Ash's guitar riff in the bridge of "Exist," FJ's bass in "Clean Up," Robin's drumming on "Solar" - where I thank my lucky stars I play in this band, and Charles' performance on Wednesday was of that quality. I, for one, hope (and think) this will not be his only appearance on a hypefactor recording.

The last time I posted I promised to say something about ex-industrialist Chris Connelly's new record, Night Of Your Life, which came out last week. FJ and I had the luxury of digesting a pre-release copy of this album for a matter of months, and after listening to the finished product I still believe Connelly has not recorded anything this brilliant since Blonde Exodus, if not Shipwreck. This feat is all the more impressive considering that those records were recorded with full bands, while producer/longtime collaborator Chris Bruce and a keyboardist are Connelly's only accompaniment on Night Of Your Life. Bruce, a wildly talented multi-instrumentalist and member of Seal's backing band, deserves a huge amount of credit for providing the lushness this batch of tunes required. Given hipsters' penchant for singer-songwriter types these days, I will never understand why "Stella Stand Up And Take Your Man" is not a massive hit. Other than a certain record label's penchant for blowing goats. Oh, and the cover art, all of which was shot in Scotland, is sublime and worth the price of admission alone.

Edits and overdubs continue this week, and if all goes well vocals start on one or two songs next week. Stay tuned.