good neighbours

all in between again

If you have read Yesterday's post, I may come across as being a bit too frustrated and over-critical about 'All in between'. Didn't mean to offend anyone and hope I haven't. I still think Saturdays recording's no good. But hey, shit happens. As I said: we've got a lot of different versions to pick our parts from. We've just got to get our focus back. What is this song about? How do we want it to sound? Difficult questions, but I do believe we're nearly there.
Tomorrow is February 1st. We're going to start the new month with something good on our weblog. Willem van Veldhoven has made an incredible mix tape and he wants to share it with you!
Worth checking out too: (Chris) Clark's new video. The song from last years 'Body Riddle' is called 'Ted'. A great name by any standard.

back to mine (2)

in between versions

Last Saturday I admitted to feeling a little confused about 'All in between'. I feared the supposed-to-be-Afrobeat groove of the song would make us sound like a Salsa band. Well, I think it does. Listening back to last Saturdays rehearsal room recording I hear a stiff and sloppy, third rate Salsa band on drugs. Believe me, that sounds a lot more interesting than it is. I can come to only one conclusion: 'All in between', at this point, is a mess.
We've now got about twelve or thirteen recorded versions of the song. The cresendo (more and more and more) approach of the final version actually works. Bits and pieces of various recordings are great. We'll have to find a way to make these parts a whole. Combining the right drum with the right guitars, the best bass line with the best keyboard parts... No one ever said it was gonna be easy.
There's an early version of 'All in between' on MySpace.

illumination

anxiety rises

Been working hard today. As we've only got a few rehearsal sessions to go before recording some new tracks, tension grows. So does our enthusiasm, which is good. No worries about 'Umbrella' or 'Morninghead' (the song formerly knows as 'Gentle'). Both songs sound beautiful. Better than ever. A first effort to play 'Illuminate', a little dub reggae tune I wrote last summer, went really well too.
'All in between' (no new name for that one yet) has got us a little confused. We're not sure if the Africana-inspired drum is really what we're after. Could be great, if it's afrobeat. Could be salsa though. Which of course is bad.

back to mine (1)

pidah

Last Friday night a Spider James delegation met Pieter 'Pidah' Kloos in Eindhoven to discuss our forthcoming collaboration. A few of us had met the man before, he mastered our first EP back in 2003. I wasn't there myself but it seems the guys had a nice chat; discussing (our) music in generally and the to-be-recorded Spider James tracks in particular. We're looking forward to going back to The Void and start working, especially after Saturday's rehearsal. Mister Rob van Uden was back behind the drums after an absence of more than a month and we were happy to have him back. Indeed, we were on a roll. It really made me feel confident about going back to the recording studio. As for our work in Eindhoven next month, I'm curious to see if the cultural clash of the ever so arty ambientfunk of Spider James and the 'big rock' production of Pieter Kloos (Motorpsycho, Peter Pan Speedrock, Suimasen) will lead to an interesting sound.
Postrock anyone?

mad professor

joyeux anniversaire!

Chestit rodjen den, sun yat fai lok, hyvaa synthymapaivaa, lá breithe mhaith agat, eid milaad saeed, a freilekhn gebortstog, gratulerer med dagen, voharvod mubarak chuy, bil hoozho bi’dizhchi-neeji’aneilkhaa, suk san wan keut en ne gelukkege verjoardach!
That’s a Multilanguage-Happy-Birthday to our man, WJP ‘softpop in your face’ van Veldhoven. Enjoy the mussels.

go with a smile

promises

We had a good laugh when 3voor12 Arnhem/Nijmegen added Spider James in a list of regional bands that are promising for 2007! It certainly is a nice gesture. But why? We've been around for ages. Not that anyone ever noticed. That's not suprising, considering we've only been on stage once or twice in 2006. We haven't got any real plans for gigs in the coming months or so. Even worst, we turned a few offers down lately. Have they heard we're making a great album? I don't think they know. Apparently someone likes us at 3voor12! We'll hold that in mind.

77

everything in its right place

It's been a long day of hard work at the Silvox Studio for JL, Ted and myself. Our aim today was to find the right structure for 'Charm'. We've come a long way, we wouldn't have without mixmaster Caspar Falke by our side, as our technical guide and musical ally. Hopefully all the different pieces are in its right place now. You never know, that's why we need to be a little cautious for an early judgement.
Again, we enjoyed our meals at Cafeteria 't Smikkeltje, the traditional way for Spider James to close the day when we're in Silvolde. The ride home was good too; driving fast, listening to middle of the road seventies softrock (Fleetwood Mac's Rumours) at a high volume, appears to be a damn good way to start your Saturday night. Enjoy yours.

van der westen

sheer beauty

It's always nice to look back at your favorite albums of the year - we all like charts and lists, don't we. As Patrick already mentioned: The Roots, Phoenix, Beck, Thom Yorke and TV on the Radio are some of my 2006 favorites. I would like to add the albums of Midlake (the melancholic Trials of Van Occupanther), Los Lobos (as good as ever on The Town and the City), Boards of Canada's subtle Trans Canada Highway and the re-issue of Eno and Byrne's 1980 masterpiece My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
The artist whose work really hit me this year was the Duth jazz bass player Eric van der Westen. His albums - Naala and Rush Hour - are wonderful. Both albums aren't new releases (they're respectively from 1999 and 2001), but I discovered them only last summer. Sheer beauty...

future legend

senior citizen

Today is David Bowie's 60th birthday. This makes him the coolest sixty year old on the planet. We're fans, his music - especially the stuff from his Berlin-period - is a big influence on our current work on 'Charm'; just as 'King James' was obviously inspired by Bowie's 1975 hit 'Fame'. To go even further: Ted and Rob have come up with a beat for 'Make a move' that shows more than a little resemblance to 'Boys keep swinging' . If that ain't true love.

del kinky

morning glory

Didn't I mention Spider James should write a song called 'Head'? Well, the funny thing is, we already have one. We've spent hours yesterday working on a soon to be recorded new version of 'Gentle', a song we already released in a candlelight piano version on EP01, four years ago. We were never too happy with the result, that's why we've chosen to do a re-run.
'Gentle' was originally called 'Morninghead' when I wrote it. I changed the title because 'Morninghead' seemed to have an oral sex connotation. We'll probably give the songs its old name back. It's just a fantasy word, and anyway, we've already got a song named 'Del Kinky'. We're just a sexy band. Can't help it.
check out the old skool version of 'Gentle' (EP01) @ www.spiderjames.com and keep listening to 'Del Kinky' at myspace

the good or the bad?

blur out, heads in

Being a huge fan (and I'm talking gigantic here...) of Blur, I was really looking forward to Blur re-uniting with Graham Coxon for a new album. According to a Pitchfork report yesterday, there are no such plans. There isn't even a new Blur LP in the making. What a bummer. But Damon Albarn is a hard working man, he'll keep me happy. This month sees the release of his latest project, The Good, the Bad and the Queen. If the album is as good as the singles, it'll be brilliant.
Okay, no more Blur, from now on I'm going to put my hopes on two other nineties icons, Radiohead and Portishead. Is this head thing a coincidence? Time for Spider James to write a song called 'Head'... But wait, isn't that a dirty old Prince song?

alphabetical

wishes

We, Spider James, wish you all a very good 2007. Be sure to make it a great year!
For us, 2007's already looking good. We are looking forward to going back to the studio to finish our work on 'Charm' with Caspar Falke. In February we'll be recording some material with Pieter Kloos at The Void. More on that later.
Love, SJ