From Blown Speakers '24
A rough mix of an old chestnut from '03, for you, my friends
Whenever there is time off on the road I want to go into a studio, for a number of reasons. First, a day off on the road is not really a day off. You’re still stuck on the road, so for me I’d rather keep busy. We don’t live in the same city anymore so it makes sense to work whenever we’re together. It’s cost effective, it’s a good use of time. When I was on tour with Neko there was a day off in Charlotte, NC, so Joe and I drove down to Mitch Easter’s studio Fidelitorium to record for a day. And that’s how you become friends with one of your teenage musical idols. So you see, being active on a day off reverberates outward into the universe, it brings good things. Yes, I know, spending the day in a hotel with the covers pulled over your head also works. We all live many lives.
On these day off recording sessions, I usually have tracks with me, demos I’ve been working on to a click track. Sometimes I’ll start from scratch with an idea. After all the original ideas have been explored, if there’s still time left, sometimes we’ll run through our old songs. We’ve been on the road, we’re in fighting shape. This song I have posted is a product of one of those days.
‘From Blown Speakers’ is from the New Pornographers album Electric Version. Some of you may know that. All of you? It is said that you never finish a record, you just stop working on it, and I’ve always felt that way about Electric Version. More than any other record of ours, I listen to it and think of what I’d like to change. I will always be inside of it, I will never be a listener. What are you gonna do? It just is what it is. This version might seem very similar to the casual listener, but a lot of things were changed on the fly. Changes I felt free to make because why not? The original version is always there. It won’t be replaced. When you’re there in Minneapolis, where ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and ‘Warehouse: Songs And Stories’ was recorded, deep in the heart of Nicollet Ave, just next door to the old Twin Tone offices, all bets are off. Grant Hart wrote a song about the place. 2541. Well, it was about the place next door. Close enough. So I changed the tempo of ‘Blown Speakers’, changed the key, added a couple things, removed a couple things. Made the changes to the song I’ve always wanted to make. I mean, butterflies are free, so why aren’t we? You know? We recorded it in late 2019 and I didn’t think about it for years. A fun day off on tour.
The best part of this version is the rhythm section. I tried to focus on the drums and bass because Joe and John really nailed it. It’s not really mixed, I don’t do their work justice here. More turning up than tasteful EQ and panning. Needs more Kathryn and Neko, but for the moment the easiest play was to focus on my lead vocals. Use what you’ve got! I think it’s in a decent place.
When it's done, it will be on the compilation that I currently call 'The New Pornographers Story'. Songs from throughout our career, reinvented or maybe just re-jigged slightly. If you're following my posts, you've already heard a rough mix of a track from that future album: the "rock" version of 'We've Been Here Before'. Though I have a better version of that one that I’ll post here soon.
The plan is to make exclusive very limited vinyl, with bonus songs only available through this Substack, and why not let you all hear it as it progresses? There will probably be an edited version for wider release but the real version? The complete version? That's just for all of you paid subscribers, at some point next year. There are some fun ones in the works. Bejar seems to be on board for some of it but you know how it is with him. Like trying to give a cat a bath. And getting Neko into the studio? Don’t even get me started. She says she doesn’t like Xmas so I’m thinking maybe I’ll try to get some Xmas day vocal recording done with her. You have to think outside the box in this band.