[ni'k]

everyone knows that the skaters are the shit and if you don't like them then you are not cool. everyone knows that cool people live without electricity and eat only dark rye bread for months in seclusion channelling the ghosts that lurk inside old vhs cassettes with howling and the rattling of sticks against radiators in order to position chakra stairway energy into edward's new age panther emporium thus releasing transmissions of spherical vibratory space composed from space of image's lack of phyiscal existance reflecting boner angel cathedral's hallowed vision avatar allowing paraphysical material to be captured as slurpy pizza boner thus materialising mystic energy crystals into the symbolic realm of james ferraro's bank account.

but what i want to know is what kind of effects are being used on this album.

like on the 5th track were they speed everything up and the vocals speed up too... is that being done after the fact or are they using effects pedals to manipulate it as they play it live?

please tell me so i can buy whatever equipment they use and contribute some more releases to that great sub genre of noise called skaters rip off.

and not just this album, but techniques to make this kind of noise in general would be appreciated.

[Toilet & Bowels]

Loop Station maybe, around that time (5 or 6 years ago) every other drone/noise/psych band or musician was using them

[ni'k]

thanks man

[ni'k]

maybe this will do as thanks

[atsonicpark]

Didn't they just record it all to tape, and hold down the "play" button on the tape halfway, and record it back to tape, to get that sound? I do that all the time.

Alternatively, take the faceplate off a tape machine and control how the tape plays with your fingers.

Anyway, finally heard this release, it's dope.

[ni'k]

ha probably

[Toilet & Bowels]

I think it was Maths Balance Volumes I saw who played a set using only 2 walkmans with the buttons pushed halfway and and a couple of mics they were graoning into. It wasn't the best thing I've ever seen.

[coolchip]

Dark Rye Bread is their first record right? Dan from Trader Joe's used to play with them. He's got a big ol quarter inch real to reel machine, that could be the time manipulation that you're talking about.

[the ikara cult]

I dunno what it is about Ferraro, i love the idea of what he does, but the releases ive downloaded i havent been able to buy into in full (Marble Surf, Last American Hero) though he does good stuff with video

[jimbrim]

Give Clear and On Air a go, they're a couple of his best in my opinion. The thing with Ferraro is that due to the vastness of his output, you're likely to come across a couple of duds before you find something that really resonates.

Marble Surf isn't his best release, but I quite like Last American Hero, especially this video

[the ikara cult]

Originally Posted by jimbrim

Give Clear and On Air a go, they're a couple of his best in my opinion. The thing with Ferraro is that due to the vastness of his output, you're likely to come across a couple of duds before you find something that really resonates.

Marble Surf isn't his best release, but I quite like Last American Hero, especially this video

Yes, i love that video, its the main reason i started listening to him. He seems to be at his best when he applies his music to the moving image.
He actually released a VHS movie recently, i dunno if anyone here bought it?

[jimbrim]

Yeah I did actually! The whole film consists of cut ups of fight and action scenes from various films from the 80's/90's. Something you would totally expect Ferraro to make, but by no means something I would be in a rush to watch again haha.

[the ikara cult]

I will give Clear and On Air a stab.
I hope he sticks to his walmart mania concept

[Gulasch Noir]

I finally discovered a bit of James Ferraro's output, for example "discovery". I like it. What should be next? Anybody in the mood to help out? Only 1 - 2 releases please.

When it comes to dark rye bread, track number three is my favorite one. It's pretty powerful.

[the ikara cult]

On Air is, it turns out, pretty good, so go for that. The guy continues to baffle me, i dont know what he's trying to tell me, but when he gets it right he can be brilliant. I guess it depends which parts stick to your prefontal cortex and which parts slip off.

[Gulasch Noir]

alright, i will. I think my favorite skaters release is gambling on opha's shadow. One of the few CD-Rs I have. Pretty different to what he solo is doing, though. Thanks for the answer.

[SONIC GAIL]

I thought this thread was about skaters

[the ikara cult]

I got Far Side Virtual yesterday, and its completely, utterly confusing. For one its a clear Vinyl LP with production values that suggest it would be better suited to a CD, and it has an Iphone on the front cover.

He kinda sounds like a jingle writer who's been asked to produce a series of tracks to soundtrack a corporate video, with the remit that he needs to appeal to as many different people on a very low level as possible (a sitar sound pops up here, a vagguely new age bit there), but has instead ended up getting sick of it and peppering it with his own weird indulgences.

I could probably write about this all day. This album is definitely taking the piss on one, or maybe several levels, and i love it.

[jimbrim]

It certainly is an odd record. I think one of the writers in The Wire summed it up nicely by saying that it's likely that Ferraro made the record whilst laughing through a bong smoked haze, or something along those lines. As much as I like Far Side Virtual, it's a shame that a lot of new listeners will be introduced to Ferraro through that album (due to it getting record of the year in The Wire, as well as other end of year lists) as I don't think it's his best work really and I think there are much better starting points. His new Bebe Tunes mixtape is even weirder to me, and I still can't get my head around that one!

Whilst this is a Skaters thread, I have to say that I picked up Spencer Clarks new one - 'Fourth World Magazine - The Spectacle of Light Abductions' and it's a fantastic record, really into it. Plus I'm looking forward to the new collab with Mark McGuire - http://www.pacificcitysoundvisions.com/

[the ikara cult]

"Your Sushi is being prepared by top chef Gordon Ramsey"

Slowly but surely, this album is becoming one of my favourite things. Its like if Patrick Bateman carried on and made it into the 90s