The Really Good Pot Roast Blog

cranquis:

Yes, this is a musical version of my Medically-Correct Nursery Rhyme: 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

Yes, this is another collaboration/production by the ever-creative never-predictable always-talented band The Really Good Pot Roast.

And yes, that is Mrs. Cranquis and I making monkey noises like a pair of gibbering idiots (literally having to keep from awaking Baby Cranquis as we howl with laughter around the computer microphone in the dark of the night — I had to refrain from going full-on howler-monkey, for that very reason.)

This whole thing is full of YES. So enjoy.

Yes.  This happened.

And yes.  It’s awesome.

Rainy Tuesday (A Moment in Time) - Robert Rubin

Mark and I have been working on production for his album for a while now, and before that we were doing a bunch of production on some tracks we sent out to other folks who participated in FAWM as well as writing music for the next Pot Roast album, Mixed Signals.  It’s been a while since I just sat down and just jammed.  I just opened up the microphone and this is what happened.  I originally was going to live blog this one but I forgot to write blog posts as I went along, so there you go.  It’s been raining a lot here recently and you can hear that in the music.  At least I think so.

Oh yeah…  I remembered to tune today.  Always a victory.

NEW THING (Title Track from the new album by Mark Dabney - Out Now!)

There is a ritual. The Sacred Ritual of the First Track. It’s when you finally break down and buy or build a new system, and you want to put it through it paces. So you record your first track; a song that you know would have blown out your old system. Something you should would have made the soundcard from your old computer jump right the hell out of your old computer and smack you before retiring for the evening with a cup of decaf chamomile and some easy listening.

This song started life as a tech demo for my new system. It is a ridiculous collection of things I wouldn’t have even tried on my old computer. Some details:

• This song is 26 tracks in total.
• There are two concurrent drum tracks
• There is an 8-part vocal harmony in the bridge running various effects, all  just to push the system
• The main vocal is triple layered.
• The guitars are triple layered.
• I pitch shifted the twinned solo just because I wanted the computer to have to handle it.
• There is a LOT going on here.

This song hits like a freight train and doesn’t let up. It’s a fun, fast, punk-ish, new wave, industrial track. It goes until it doesn’t.

Thanks to everyone who listened to the album.  Hugs to those that downloaded it. BIG hugs to those that bought it.  You’re all awesome.

If you’ve done none of those things:  Clickypoo

-Mark

Down and Locked  (Track from NEW THING - Coming May 15th)

I wrote this song during 50/90 2011.  The 50/90 community offers songwriting tools to help nudge the muse into action. I used one called the Plot Spline that gives you a rough outline sentence to write towards. Here’s what I was given:

“write a song in first person (“i/we”) in which the main character is addressing the listener. the story takes place in the present, and the scene is a moving vehicle.”

And this is what I did.

More so, this song was my attempt at a TV on the Radio (David Sitek) / wall of sound feel.  The mix was really difficult during 50/90, and when it come up for consideration for this album, I almost cut it.  I couldn’t get it into shape the way I wanted. 

Then I gave it to Rob to try mixing. And he freaking nailed it.  

This is track 6 on New Thing.

I hope you enjoy it.

-Mark

Mark Dabney - Designed Mistake (Track from NEW THING)

Designed Mistake was the first solo song I wrote this past FAWM, and it’s the reason I put this album together.  Looking at a month of songwriting in the days before FAWM started, I wasn’t sure how I’d approach it, what style, what sound, what direction I wanted to go.  Then February 1st, I wrote this.

Rob and I have had discussions about what tracks to post here as previews for the album.  We originally crossed this one off the list because an early version had been posted here before.  But this song solidified the direction I wanted to go for an album.  It’s direction and sound is why NEW THING is happening.

I hope you enjoy it.

-Mark

New Thing, coming May 15th

Mark Dabney - Distance (First Track from NEW THING)

We’re less than 2 weeks out from the release of New Thing, and tonight I’m thrilled to debut the first track off the album. 

Distance

“Distance” started life during the 50/90 songwriting challenge in 2010. I was lucky enough to collaborate with EchoVoodoo, an awesome electronica and folk musician from Canada. He had a keyboard riff section he liked, and passed it off to me. I liked it so much, I wrote and recorded the rest of the song in an evening.

What’s here is a new mix and master by Rob. I really dig the work he did on this track to bring out the depth of sound.

I hope you enjoy it.

-Mark

New Thing - Coming May 15th