Gaming World Forums
General Category => General Talk => Topic started by: jamie on July 10, 2010, 01:28:20 pm
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Okay, my friends. I've been talking about this for ages and tonight...I did it. The album is finished! If you've liked my music before, then I think that this is similar but way better than before. I'm really proud of it. I don't think there is a bad song on this, because I took any that I didn't like off of it.
These are the album covers:
FRONT:
(http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/119/l_b69e50c4151442ff84b9b3ad469fd045.jpg)
BACK:
(http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/127/l_cca32e1fdb3a4332a63fac5415496c31.jpg)
That's the track list on the back in the correct or order, or the order I like best at least. In the download link I've included the two covers, and a text file of the lyrics since some people have asked me for them in the past.
DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ntmmeqquygl
If you aren't convinced you want to download a zip file of my album, you can look at my myspace page which has a couple of songs from this album on it right now: http://www.myspace.com/jamiesimemusic. Those songs aren't necessarily the best or anything, I like all of these songs. I will probably change the songs on the page in a while. Right now the myspace needs updating, which I'll do tomorrow.
I worked hard on this, and I hope it's something you guys enjoy. Tell your buddies about it if you like it. Share it around if you're generous like that, I don't mind about any of that at all. Please let me know what you think of it. I hope you like it.
Thanks!
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first post! :fogetcool:
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About freakin time, I'm gonna download it and then I'm gonna listen to it.
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third post heeeeeeck yeah :fogetbackflip:
no but yeah i'm downloading as we speak. we'll see if we ever see a braintape about this from me. quo vadis? que sera...
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yessssss its about time.
the new back cover looks great! getting this as we speak
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gettin dis
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getting this, will listen to it soon!
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Gave it a listen. It's another solid record, sir. Don't have anything specific to say about it at the moment. I liked the acousticy bits.
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I really like this. i'm on track 4.
the first track was best so far, but all have been fantastic.
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i'm gonna listen to it when everyone else is out this evening. you are my friday night of fun tonight!
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definitely getting this
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i like everything you do, so if you think this is your best work then I am squirming in delight
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my only problem with this as a whole is that the vocals seem to be slightly off-time in a lot of places, but even with that this is really really good, man.
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All I gotta say is - about time man! I've been checking your myspace every couple of days to see if you'd put it up for a while now. I'm not at home or on my own computer, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get it. Needless to say I'm looking forward to it.
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This was a nice surprise when I got my internet back. Will edit this post when I am done listening : )
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will listen to this after i finish listening to emily jane white for the first time (why didn't anyone tell me about her)! stoked to hear it though.
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I dig it jamie, I dig it. I dug a hole in it. I like the songs in the album.
I think you added some lyrics on one of the songs you sent me before, maybeways between walls I'm not sure. It made it sound like a remix because I've listened to it without them a bunch of times. I really like the Sick Riffage on Open Interior at 1:08 or so, that bit made me tab out of what I was doing to see what song it was so I could post about it, here I am posting about it. I dug it.
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Gave it a listen. It's another solid record, sir. Don't have anything specific to say about it at the moment. I liked the acousticy bits.
i thought this was a problem i had mostly solved. i know the audio quality is pretty low in some places but i guess that doesn't bother me all that much, but out of time singing is really glaring to me and i haven't noticed that much/any of it when i've been listening to this for gaping errors. maybe i could pull them a bit sharper, though.
thanks to everyone who is listening so far.
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you'll be fine (in a while) might be track of the year for me. i'm not even kidding. you have done such a great job with this album. i will post a track by track analysis as soon as i get time to but man well fucking done.
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i really like swells and the synapse. you did a really great job on this album and you've improved a lot since Killing the Kid, which I already enjoyed a whole lot. I still listen to some of those songs on my MP3 player.
As for syncing I think I noticed it was a little off on one of the first songs, but didn't really notice it at all after that.
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yes this is by far your best work yet. coming back to life was really great but this is boomtown mcfantastic.
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owowowooooopen interiooooooooooor
like I said on IRC, this album is amazing. you really did an ace job here!
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I listened to this in bed last night and it was really great! You definitely have a good musical direction going and you should keep going.
Perhaps invest some cash in some stuff to record your vocals or even just get chummy with someone who does that kinda thing (My mate works in a studio so he recorded me :D​) and you'd have a really professional sounding record. I'm not saying they were not good cause you have come a long way since the last album (which was also great) but you could be polished up to sound proper radio.
Keep making music man! My ears really enjoyed that.
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Something about your music makes it really good for repeated listening or at least I don't seem to get sick of it like I do with most music -- my usual way of listening to music is to find something i like a lot then listen to it non-stop till i'm totally sick of it and I never want to hear it again. I used Coming Back to Life as my standard work background music for ages and I've had this one loopin since I downloaded it pretty much. i hope you're already working on the next one
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Yeah I was telling one of my friends yesterday that this is perfect driving music.
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Put this in itunes last night and i think i've listened to it at least 3 times since then. It does sound strangely.. "urban" in parts, going along with the driving music comments. easy listening, too. It's a very good album jamie
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okay so i got round to listening to it in full tonight. jamie you have every right to feel especially proud of this, it's fantastic. the songwriting is really solid, i like the synthesised sounds you used and altogether it's quite impressive. the only area it really falls down on is production values and maybe some of the vocals could've done with a couple more takes but really these don't take anything away from it at all. good work jamie, best yet B)
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I gave this stinker a download and listened to it straight through. it's good! I'll listen to it again tomorrow and maybe write something more
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Thanks to everyone who is listening. I like reading these comments alot.
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I'm listening right now. Question: Track 5 is listed as "Monster" on the album art but tagged as "Mother"
which is it or is this INTENTIONAL
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sheesh... freud much?
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Hey Jamie, G mentioned you were going to put up a record soon and I stayed alert.
So I was excited when I found this thread.
I downloaded it and gave the record a spin and half.
First of all, you know I really respect your artistic ventures in general.
I think your strength comes in songwriting, you really show some vision, specially with the beats and progressions. And you always put thought on layering.
I appreciate what you've done with track 2 with the unusual beats, and my favourite track must be the fourth one.
Now, I had a couple of problems with the record.
Firstly, and this is the same problem I had with your previous record, I cannot listen to the record in one go, I'm on the fifth song and I'm already tired. And I usually listen to records from beginning to end. I think it lies mostly on your vocals, I find them very unidimensional. I think you do have a naturally good voice, I like it! But it is unidimensional, I feel it is limited and I feel a certain repetition in how you use your voice throughout the whole record.
It really reminds me of Elliott Smith's voice. A great voice, but at low doses. I cannot hear a whole ES record. It's too much, there are great songs but as a whole it bores me. This problem I found it with all your records, Jamie.
The other thing is the quality of the synths. I feel they are too cheap many times, like they came from a computer or from Sega Genesis. And man those slow synths and pads that you use really depresses me, makes me feel like I'm in a closed chamber and in damp atmosphere.
cheers
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that's probably a good point about my singing. i'm only just about comfortable enough to let my voice be a single track nowadays, i haven't thought so much about variety yet because i've been more concerned with keeping it consistent and not having tracks where i'm all out of time/out of key which there is less of on this album than before. trying to sing in different ways is probably an excellent idea to start thinking about now though. maybe on my next album i will do a big rap.
as for the synth stuff, i think that's half me using cheap vsts and stuff and half that's actually what i like sometimes. like the song spiders, the bass synth in that sounds cheap and old but that's what i was going for. ways between walls has a really basic synth sound, i liked that. i like to use stuff that sounds a bit more pro/new like some of the stuff on falling out of a body i think sounds pretty fresh n' cool i guess? but alot of the synth choices aren't so much me being limited as me liking those kinds of sounds. i'm glad you liked the beat on track 2, cos i liked that too. i want to start thinking about rhythm more because i've always used basic drum beats and they do get repetitive.
yeah, i guess i'm standing here, standing here as a MAN, and taking that stuff on board. i'm taking it like it was intended. thanks for listening to it and taking the trouble to tell me what you think, francis!
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I'm listening right now. Question: Track 5 is listed as "Monster" on the album art but tagged as "Mother"
which is it or is this INTENTIONAL
christ i am so shabby. the song USED to be called monster, then i thought mother was a better title. i am not calling my mother a monster by that title. the lyrics are told from the perspective of a kind of monsterous man and that's why it was called that, but then i thought 'when this guy gets caught doing all this horrible stuff, what will they tell his mother?' so i changed the title to that. the song used to be alot longer with me singing 'what will we tell her?' and stuff like that but it was kind of melodramatic and i didn't want to over do that on this album so i cut it out recently.
edit: also mother should be track nine?
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Perhaps invest some cash in some stuff to record your vocals
yip, thinking about that.
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I really like this a lot, especially the instrumental parts. I do like your voice, but I feel it doesn't sync up well with the instruments in some songs (Body Parts) to really match the high bar set by them. I would like to hear an all instrumental (like synths) album from you, I think it would be something I'd listen to on repeat for a long time!
edit: some songs the voice matches up better (falling out of a body) which is why I can tell the difference in the first place! I am still listening it is a good album.
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this is rude, but it's important to me.
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Man, you know I've told you this before on IRC but this is one brilliant piece of work. The recording quality is very high, especially considering the fact you did it all by yourself and recorded it at home. The first couple of tracks remind me of Elliott Smith's style (and similarly dark themes) and tracks like "trying to be" and "spiders" are just crazy good synth tracks.
If I had to really point to one thing that I like about this album, it's probably the way you did the OMINOUS SYNTH/VOCALS tracks. Just be careful not to drown your voice in the sound too much because you really aren't a bad singer.
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This album is still in regular rotation on my drives to school and elsewhere. I quite like the title track.
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I love your music! Keep up the wonderful work!
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I'll check it out soon- Hadn't noticed it before. Not tonight, however. Oh hell, why not...
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I listened to this right when it came out and made some notes but hadn't had time or energy to make a post. Now I do, here comes.
First of all, it's an excellent album. It has a really intimate feel to it, you have a good singing voice and obvious talent as a singer. Most strikingly it's an overwhelmingly melodic album. The not so nice side is that I didn't like many of the drum beats and rhythms. At some points there were also problems in the mixing and sounds, but considering this was home-made it was actually quite good. And most importantly, the sounds have your own style in them and they support the songs and your singing really well. You could have better quality cymbal samples for example, but that's kinda superficial compared to how great the synth sounds work with all those fabulous harmonies.
As to your singing, like I said your voice is good, you just sound good on the record, but in many songs, I would really like to hear some more boldness, strength and courage. Trust your voice, it's a good one, and go full steam ahead. Now in many parts I get the feeling that you're a bit afraid to sing. And with the beats, I would use some more contrast in the dynamics, really make some notes stand out and drop some others to the background as ghost notes. On some tracks the monotonous drive makes a good point (Mother), but at many points a more subtle one could have been better. Or maybe you want to deliberately keep the crude 80s drum machines style, so that it's a stylistic choice I just didn't get.
Something on individual tracks:
-I really like the first track, the hiphop beat and the etheral chord mat leaving a lot of space for the beautiful and fragile melodies, both on the piano and vocals. The guitar part also features one of the best vocals on the album.
-The third one could be a hit-single. Drums sound somewhat clumsy, but it has some really catchy melodies, awesome synth sounds and good singing.
-Living in Throws nicely breaks the synth streak, it's a good composition and the layered vocals work well. Really elliottsmithy, not in a bad plagiating way.
-I don't have much to say about Headache, it's not one of my favourites, but the chord progression in the beginning which keeps repeating later on is really, really, really good. Write a theme melody for it and I'm sure somebody will want to include it in their book of jazz standards. It keeps rotating hypnotizingly.
-Mother is really big change in style to nastier beats and riffs, but I really like how it still has the same strenghts; same great underlying atmosphere and awesome melodies. It's also one of the best songs structurally. One of my favourites.
-The Synapse is a really good one as well, it's very coherent and you sing it well. Maybe it's just that your a bit shy style of singing sits well with the acoustic guitar bits, but the vocals sounds best here and on the first track.
-I think Open Interior is my favourite on the whole album. It suddenly and surprisingly hits you with a really strong driving bass and the synth riffs even remind me of Pendulum's Hold Your Colour. Still it doesn't lose one bit of the fragile personality present on other tracks. The structure works, it's really well layered, the singing is good (some effects? they sound good) and again kick-ass melodies.
It's a very solid record, it keeps a theme and atmosphere throughout the album but has variety in styles, with songs like Broken Light (I'm loving that one) pacing it well. You know the way some indie bands want to appear as really apologetic and shoegazy, "I'm sorry I exist", but in reality end up sounding obnoxious and cheesy, making pop songs with whiny vocals? Well you actually reach that feeling they try to fake. I've already over-used these words, but fragile, intimate and personal really describe the album well. (That's just for the songs though, I can't say this or that about the lyrics. I'm horrible at listening to lyrics and can't really judge poetry in English.) Still at the same time it's catchy, light and adorably 80s. Your greatest strength by far seems to be in composing, whether it's dissonant distorted riffs, heavenly piano melodies or ambient pads, they are always interesting and musicality shows through at every point.
It's Pet Shop Boys feeling down.
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thanks alot for all that marge. the drum beats were something i was trying to work on for this, but alot of the songs were made a bit before i decided i wanted to improve that. as for the singing, i probably am still a bit embarassed about it but i am trying to get better at that too. thanks for all the other stuff, too.
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as for the singing, i probably am still a bit embarassed about it but i am trying to get better at that too.
I can't sing at all and never have, but I can imagine the embarrassed feeling really well, and I think it's pretty common too. Singing is always so personal (unless you run it through millions of effects and filters), a lot more so than any instrument. If somebody says you can't play guitar, it's just an attack at your abilities, saying you can't sing is more like an attack on your person. Or at least that's how I would take it.
What software do you use? FL studio and VST instruments?
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yeah fl and vsts exactly. that's another thing i want to try - using better software, and knowing how to use it more effectively as well.
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I like the built-in effects in FL but I always have problems finding decent instruments or other generators, other than drum machines. I guess you could do cool stuff with that Sytrus synthesizer but I can't use it and the learning curve feels really steep. It's nice for producing random weirdness, but it's usually not even the type of weirdness I'm looking for.
I've heard from some friends who study music that professionals mostly use Reason and then Ableton for live sets. I think they both work mostly as skeletons you build on with VST-stuff and recordings, so it's not a whole package like FL, and I can't use either.
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A good drum VST is EZdrummer if you can get a hold of it, I got the lite version free with my korg nanopad. faconshield uses the model up called "Superior Drummer" for his tracks. I guess the advantage of using EZdrummer is that is has different samples for subsequent hits of the same velocity (if that makes sense). It integrates with FL pretty well, I'd give you the key for my copy but you can only register it to one machine at a time (I think).
I listened to your album on the train again today. It has permanent residence on my HTC Hero ;D
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hi jamie here. just editing this post to sDUNG DUNG DUNG DUNG DUNG DUNG DUNG DUNG SUN