Pastor

090605-tilton

This track was part of the all-night tracking session I talked about here. Rod’s vocals were recorded at 5 in the morning and the tired quality to his voice is kind of cool. At that time, none of the band, to my knowledge, was using any substance more volatile than caffeine provided by Jolt cola, so any kind of all-nighter fueled by cocaine was right out. One of the songs had to be the last one to get vocals and I think this one was a good choice.

The studio had a sweet microphone (Neumann U something or other) that had it’s own WWII looking tube pre-amp and the mic had a boom that looked like it could unload container ships. The microphone picked up everything in the studio and I believe there is an artifact early on in this song.

This was recorded very hot, which you can hear in the chorus. I’ve tried to minimize the buzz, but given the keyboard sound and the way the tape was saturated, increasing the volume to match the other tracks also increases a hint of overload. I’m not criticizing as much as I am letting you, the consumer, know ahead of time.

I believe the lyrical inspiration for this song was based on Pastor Tilton, a tele-evangelist.

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Direct download: Swim Herschel Swim – Burn Swim Burn – Pastor (MP3, 320kbps constant)

This is gonna be fun.

  • ThatOneGuy

    Neumann U-89… still one of the best, most sought-after mics. Iconic sound. Love it.

  • patatomic

    The highlight of this song for me are the two horn solos, especially the second half of Andy’s sax solo. Also, Matt’s muted trombone sounds fantastic. Something that set Swim apart from most ska bands was our horn section. Those boys could blow.

    Also, Kent’s thumbed bass line is pretty special.

    I cringe at certain times during this song as I can hear myself trying to play to the click. I remember this being one of our endless debates during this session. Merkley insisted that we use it insisting that Nirvana used a click. I was vilified a couple months later when I read an interview with Dave Grohl who stated that Nirvana never used a click.

    For all you kids out there, experience has taught me that when you record as a band/rhythm section that you should never ever ever ever use a click.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I pushed for the click as well, thinking it would make us “tighter”. I was wrong. I hear the click chase less than I did on Raygun.

      There was this interesting analysis about click tracks:

      http://musicmachinery.com/2009/03/02/in-search-of-the-click-track/

      Check out the variance on “Kashmir”!!

      Also, I agree with you about the Herschel horns. Matt and Andy could crank it out. Very few other ska bands we played with had horns as good. Stretch had some good players, but for sheer balls…

  • http://www.poprockcandymountain.com Amanda

    I love this band, mainly because you picked up on very sophisticated forms of music that you were influenced by and ran with it. Not many folks are willing to do that.

    Madness. I would still lick their shoes.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      Thanks!

      More to come.

  • linuxchik

    sorry, but are the links to the songs in the ‘listening’ section free? or do i need to get an account somewhere? when i click on play swim herschel swim radio it plays a video from some guys posing in pipes

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I try to turn off scrobbling while I’m working and listening to the tracks, so if you are trying to hit last.fm, you won’t hear the tracks until I post them here.

      The tracks are free. I’ll be releasing more tracks as I go. They are problematic as we recorded in two separate studios and the sonic characteristics of each are apparent in the tracks. I’m trying to find a happy medium so that one can’t tell a difference. It’s slow going, but I feel like I’m getting faster. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do most of the album in the next bit.

  • zakmehoffer

    There is an absolute dearth of soul in this track. The synth “hook” feels like a budweiser and cocaine hangover.
    Sorry – but keeps yer web hacking jobs boys.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      HAHAHAHAHA!

      I love the internet.