Landings Unboxed! Grace Scheele joins Grab A Stack of Rock to talk about her debut cassette EP!

A blast (-off) was had yesterday, taking a look at Landings, the debut EP by electroacoustic harpist Grace Scheele!  It’s a concept EP about the Apollo 11 mission.  If you like science fiction, space, the moon, chilling, or not chilling, this cassette is for you!  Chromed plastic, sleek packaging, bonus tracks, what more could you ask?  And a small quantity is still available if you’d like your own copy!  You can get it at Bandcamp, and I’m getting a second copy while I still can.  Why?

  • Supporting independent artists is important.
  • Each tape comes hand-sealed in silver foil, with a sticker on the seam.
  • Cassette-only bonus tracks on the B-side!
  • Sensational packaging; chromed cassette shell.
  • Music that is truly out of this world.

Grace joined me on an impromptu short episode of Grab A Stack of Rock on Sunday afternoon, where she explained the creative process, the art, and other details.  Why cassette?  You’ll love the answer.  Also, find out what to do with an ornamental electric harp thingy if you want to have some fun with hacking!  Seriously!

Great little mini-episode!  Thank you Grace for sharing your time with us!

Pick up Landings on Bandcamp!

 

REVIEW: Grace Scheele – landings (2023 – side one)

GRACE SCHEELE – landings (2023 EP – cassette side one, and download)

I’m a sucker for a pretty tape.  This has to be the prettiest tape I’ve ever seen! Limited to 75 copies, I was very happy to participate in a Kickstarter from electroacoustic harpist Grace Scheele.  It’s called landings and, well, I think Grace says it best on her bandcamp:

“landings” centres on the real and imagined experience of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon; wielding bowed harp, electronic fx, and sampling from speeches, newsreels, mission audio, and NASA’s own interviews with those present at the historic newscast.  Ranging from the ethereally ambient to grinding, jarring industrial noise, the seven tracks across this debut EP represents an imagined journey into the darkness of space.

I’d call it a concept EP, based on that alone.  It’s a real listening experience, with elements that remind me of Pink Floyd, Star Trek, and War of the Worlds.  Some of the speeches and dialogue will be familiar, others will be novel.  There are sounds that, in my limited experience, I didn’t know you could make with a harp.  At 22 minutes, landings is easy to digest in a single sitting, and the download comes with a “gapless version” that enables just that.  The layers of harp, samples, and electronic sound build paint a sonic picture.  You can feel the tension of the launch!  I bet this sounds great with headphones.

The track “pomposity” has been getting some exposure, so if you only check out one track, try “pomposity” for a taste of what this is like.

Of course, the cassette itself will be fun once I have it out of the box, and will include three bonus tracks.  You know me and bonus tracks — Can’t wait to hear those!

I can’t wait until I get this tape unboxed, for which I will be joined on a live stream by Grace herself.  We’ll talk about the music, the artwork, the Kickstarter and of course the cassette itself.

Music like this is hard to rate, because I think it’s art, and what’s the point of rating a piece of art?  It either resonates with you or it doesn’t.  I find landings to be an innovative listening experience, unlike anything else in my collection, and I am looking forward to checking it out in different listening environments.  Headphones next, and then this summer, on the front porch of the cottage at sunset.

4.5/5 stars

Instaspam 2

“Alaye” is a code word in the scam community, meaning “powerful person”.  Instagram scammers from Nigeria use it to identify themselves to one another.  In the screenshot below you can see one person throw the word at me, and when I responded with the same, they admitted they’re a hustler.  This is the second such admission I received when using the code word.

You might also see a couple other words I used.

Stay safe online folks!

Youtubin’: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “The Rascal King”

When I feel like crap, the Bosstones can fix it.

Today is a stressful day full of appointments and difficult 401 driving. Wish us luck.

Audio From the Archives: Complete Unreleased 2006 Interview with BRENT DOERNER (Helix, Decibel, My Wicked Twin)

This interview, only my second after Eddie Jackson of Queensryche five years earlier, turned into a terrific text article on former Helix guitarist Brent Doener, called Cranking the Decibels.  I am very proud of that, and listening back to the full 1 hour 16 minute interview for the first time since 2006, I had a lot to work with.  Including some pretty cringey questions from me.  But Brent was more than generous with his time and we had a great chat that zoomed around numerous topics.

Highlights for me listening back today:

  • Brent’s heartfelt admiration for artists he loves and passion for music.
  • Clickbait road and studio stories about music legends such as Lemmy.
  • Tom Jones.
  • Brent taking apart his songs for us, explaining the structures and lyrics.
  • His influences from many genres.
  • A moment at 42 minutes and 30 seconds of Brent miming the drum part to his song “Billy Oxygen”.
  • Praise for his band which included Shane Schedler (guitar) and the late Ralph “Chick” Schumilas (guitar), and trying to woo singer/bassist Hills Walter into the fold.
  • Brent had a warm, open nature, never saying no to a question no matter how dumb, and he helped turn this interview into an extended conversation always circling around the love of music.

This interview was recorded on a Maxell XLII 110 minute cassette with one side change midway.  It’s long but unreleased in this form until now.

Youtubin’: PS Audio – High end heavy metal

Here comes Paul McGowan with a question for you audiophile metalheads!

As a non-audiophile, this will never be my bag, but it’s interesting anyway. “Wall of sound” – that’s what I want. He’s right that most of those albums are loud and compressed. Here’s how to maximize the sound of your heavy metal.

Youtubin’: PS Audio – Why audiophiles hate electronic music

The title of this video by PS Audio’s Paul McGowan is misleading. He doesn’t hate electronic music — at all. In fact PS Audio are releasing some on their label Octave Records. They key, says Paul, is “plenty of bottom end”.

I sure would love a tour of their listening rooms. Once in a lifetime experience for a guy like me.