As per Greeny's request, we have "LoveBirds." This was originally nothing more than a Valentine's Day gift for my wife a couple of years ago, and I had intended this to be a song that no one but her would ever hear. But I decided to take a risk and post it on myspace (I say "take a risk" because when I first did this, I felt so naked and exposed posting such a personal song). Well, for whatever reason, many people have said this was their favorite song of mine. So I have decided to include it in my upcoming album, as track #1, in fact. In my opinion, it has some good qualities, but is not my personal favorite or my best work. It is probably my most simple finished song, but I guess sometimes simple is a good thing. I hope you enjoy it!
As always, your feedback is important to me and appreciated. ;D
Sweet guitar parts, a true musical wonder you have here!
Love it!
for the older brits here, lovebirds played a formative part of our personal development, i wont elaborate but you know what i mean nudge nudge,
that aside
this is a great song , have already checked out this and others at bosckos myspace site. this reminds me i dont know why of an american xtc, magic.
Bosko are you sure you are not British cos this is as good as 60's Brit Music gets
Well Done you certainly captured the vibe......
Brilliant! You make such beautiful music Bosko !!! It's so complex and simple at the same time and that takes a lot of talent to do!! I REALLY admire your work.
ok... I know you want feedback to improve yourself so I've listened repeatedly to this one ... on different sets of speakers ... and I have a really hard time coming up with anything to change. Personally I think you could narrow the stereo image of some parts. You have panned your guitars and keys pretty extreme and I find that a bit annoying when listening on headphones, but that is a PERSONAL taste. The only other thing (this is crazy .. it's so perfect ... why even bother) I think you have a rhythm-egg at the end thats panned the same way as the guitar, sonically I would place it in the other channal to gat those high-freq spread out .....
Now if that's all I can come up with I don't think there's much to worry about :) It's freaking brilliant !!!!
Hey, thanks, 0jimi0, ORH, 48, and Geir!
48, as I said before, I am British -- at heart and by ancestral descent. That should count for something. ;D
Geir, THANK YOU for all the kind words! :D You're right, I did ask for feedback, but I should've mentioned that this song has been filed under "No longer being fucked with (too tired to deal with it anymore)," so I won't be tweaking anything on this particular number, but I certainly understand and appreciate your points and will take them into consideration for future mixes!
If I could make a song sound half as good as this, I would be very happy. The fact that you want to continuously improve is a good thing. Keep pushing the limits of your songwriting, playing, singing and recording. You are inspiring me big time to try to reach a level like this sonically. It is a lot of work to craft something so wonderful. As for what to do different, I am thinking some more in the way of vocal harmony at the middle parts that starts at 1:00 may lift this one even higher. I like those guitar sounds!
Fucking Ace! ;)
What are mic you using for Vox?
This is such a beautiful song Bosko, your wife must have burst into tears when she first heard it.
I played a couple of your songs for a buddy of mine who is a big Flaming lips fan and he loves your stuff.
I can't wait til' your album is released so I can drive around town listening to it. So will it be a self-released album or through a label? Who's doing the final mix? You?
BTW, thanks for your comments on Further Fodder... I really appreciate it.
erik
How the heck did I miss this?
Wonderful.
You have some unexpected vocal lines (although not to Beatles fans) and great song structure. The thing that strikes me most, though, is the great yet simple melody that starts at 1:28. It requires restraint yet is so perfect.
Different song and different genre, but oddly, it reminds me of "Freeway Jam" by Jeff Beck. That melody is so simple, but you can't imagine that song any other way. I can only hope to aspire to write a melody of that stature down the road. Right now, I'm too busy going "weedly-wee" with my guitar playing.
Blooby
This is such a cracking track. I liked it straight away - it must be all the sixties / Beatles buttons it's pushing in my emotional response centre. And I'm glad you changed your mind about letting others hear it. I do know what it's like to have a song that's almost too personal to share, but those are often the most powerful ones that others can connect with too. Anyway, I love it. And so should you!!!!!
Bluesberry, thanks so much! You always have excellent words of encouragement for me, which I always feel are undeserved. But I certainly appreciate them! I agree, there should have been some harmony in some parts here, but as I said, this one's on the shelf and just waiting to be put on the album. If I open up this song for re-mixing and editing again, my head may explode. :o I am not 100% happy with the mix myself, but I just decided to put it away to avoid insanity. :P
Thanks, Flash! It's a Behringer B-1 condenser mic, the only one I use for vox. Another one of those "mid-range" pieces of equipment I tend to use. :-\ Or perhaps even low-end :-[ but it gets the job done.
indierik, thank you!! She did not burst into tears -- in fact, she laughed at how crappy it was. Haha, just kidding. She certainly appreciated it. As you know, I LOVE me some Flaming Lips! I am self-releasing it on my own little "fake" record label, Plaid Records. A word taken from the scene in "Spaceballs" in which they "go to Plaid." I am doing all mixing and also mastering each song on the Boss, but will send it to a studio for final mastering before I release it. It should be on iTunes and as many other digital sites as possible. Not sure if I'll be able to do physical CDs yet. I'd also love to put it on vinyl. Yes, "Further Fodder" is yet another great song by you! ;D
Blooby, thanks! Glad you like the little simple melody line in the middle and end. That is without question, Beatles-influenced. I almost think it's stolen sometimes, but I can't think of a Beatles song that this exact melody is in, so unless I get sued, I am sticking to "influenced by." Jeff Beck -- what an odd comparison, but a cool one. I love "Blow by Blow" and "Wired," his first two solo albums. "Scatterbrain" is probably my favorite song by his, mainly because of the intricate drum beat and time signature. That is one tough one to play for a drummer!
Thanks, Greeny! I posted this one just for you. :) I hadn't planned on throwing it up here, but when you said it was your favorite, I had to do it. I have said before that I always wished I could find a way to make my stuff actually sound like it was recorded in the 60s. I have not found and probably will not ever know the secret, and certainly have not achieved it in this production, but I think perhaps I have written a song that could possibly have been done back in the mid-60s. And that would be a first for me! I'll take it!
I have to keep remembering to come "down" here - this was a great listen! I liked the lone panned guitar that comes and goes and the synth solo caught my ear pretty good. The vox are astounding as usual - with stronger, less weak falsetto than Brian Wilson would do.
As you probably figured out, I'm into unique and refreshing. And this song is... You guessed it...
Excellent post,
Mark
Very cool song bosko!! - it is simpler than some of your other masterpieces, but sometimes less is more and this is MORE! Inspiring!
Thanks, launched! To hear that this is "unique and refreshing" is a true compliment! :)
Thanks, Satch! True, definitely my most simple song. Sometimes less is more.
Quote from: Bosko Schwartz on June 01, 2009, 10:08:21 AMI have said before that I always wished I could find a way to make my stuff actually sound like it was recorded in the 60s.
Me too! But I think (sadly) that those days are long gone. I mean, you'd need all the vintage guitars, valve amps, and most importantly, analogue gear to do the recording with. It's all part of advancement that we now have recording studios (in the case of the BR micro) pretty much in the palm of our hands. The irony is that George Martin would have probably loved to have the technology we have now! So I guess we're stuck with writing and performing songs to give them the right feel and vibe, and allowing the sum of our influences to show through. Damn, I'd love a hammond organ on some tracks though... !
Agreed, Greeny. George Martin would have loved the convenience, ease of use, and crisp, clean sound of the recorders we use. You gotta take the good with the bad, I guess. I can't afford and don't have access to all that awesome vintage equipment, yet I do have a pretty cool recording studio in my house. Who had that in 1966? Not many. Now, anyone can!
I have given up on creating an old sound, and instead I am trying to create a unique sound that is my own, but the sum of my influences (as you so eloquently put it), most of which happen to be old school. I will continue on with this quest and see where it takes me.
Everyone's encouragement and support certainly helps! ;D
Loved this one!
You sound really free in it!
Panning is cool!
Nice lesson in the lyrics as well!
Wicked cool J!
Most powerful Vox I've heard in your tunes!!!!!! Thats saying something as the words always mean soooo much!!
Peace
T(Osckilo)
Simple, melodic, and beautiful. Definitely a 60's feel to this. When making such an eloquent statement, keeping it simple and to the point is a wise decision. The jazzy drum figure in the middle breaks it up nicely. Very well done, Bosko!
Frank
Thanks a lot, Osckilo! :) It's nice to hear that about the vox, because I was pretty timid to post this one. I don't usually sing this high. Very personal tune, too, written to my wife. Kind of makes me feel naked to post something where I am so out there, so exposed! :o >:( :o
Thanks for the kind words, Frank! :) Yes, definitely my most simple song. But I am of the opinion that less can definitely be more sometimes. In fact, a lot of my other stuff can get pretty hectic and crowded at times, so it was kind of liberating to do something so simple. Paul McCartney's favorite tune that he wrote was "Here, There & Everywhere," and it's arguably his most simple as well. About the 60s vibe, this the only song I have done where I actually made a truly conscious effort to TRY to sound 60s. It doesn't sound like it was actually recorded in the 60s, of course, but it's about as close as I can get. ;D
I saw Blooby comment about various Bosko masterpieces on this board, so I thought I better come over for a listen. I really enjoyed this one, didn't get so much 60s as more Flaming Lips (as someone else said). I love the vox on this, you have a great voice and have recorded it well. The song is great as well, like the structure. I just found the rhythm guitar in the first part a little sharp/choppy on the first listen, the song really opens up later, but it does give it quite a unique feel. But overall it's hugely impressive and you certainly should feel proud to share your "nakledness" with us.
Off to listen to some more of your stuff now.....
Cheers,
Nigel
Thanks, Nigel! :)
Ha, "masterpiece," that's a laugh! :P
Surprised you didn't get much of a 60s vibe (that era is a huge influence and this is the one song I actually tried to make sound 60s), but any comparison to The Lips is a HUGE, HUGE compliment to me, so thank you! They are, without question, my favorite band working today, and although I love their early stuff, I think their last 3 albums are some of the best work any band has ever done. This gives me so much hope as an "old" (34) man trying to bust into the music scene. They are all well into their 40s, and instead of declining with age, like most do, they actually get BETTER with age. That's my opinion, anyway.
Thanks also for the kind words about my voice -- like many in this forum, I was once extremely discouraged about singing and it took me a long time to accept my voice as it is with all of its flaws, but I am slowly but surely starting to do that, thanks to comments like this. You're right about the sharpness on the rhythm guitar in the first verse; I have struggled with that as well, and I should've dropped the high EQ, but I have also recently learned (thanks to comments from my peers here in the forum) to keep songs on the shelf once they are placed there, because with my obsessive/compulsive nature, if I didn't force myself to do that, I would NEVER consider any music finished! ;D
Yes, it's funny about that guitar, it stood out to me on first listen and felt a bit prominent in the mix but as I have listened to more of your stuff I realise you can have quite angular rhythms in there, so it doesn't leap out at me so much now. But not a major issue, I think the track's good as it is.
There's a big Lips influence but you aren't aping them. The layered keyboards, the vocal sound, the off the wall concepts (alien abduction and weird space ships, Yoshimi and pink robots....) are all redolent of them but you have a very unique sound that draws in more influences and makes you different from them. Keep the rest of the album coming!
Cheers,
Nigel
fucking perfect-great tune guys
Thanks, guitarron! ;D I'm just one dude, BTW.
Bump!
OTD. John, where are you? what are you doing? When's the next album out?
For those who don't know, John Lathrop, aka Bosco Schwartz released this as part of an album, got into serious writing and buggered off. We haven't heard from him since. Take this as a cautionary tale. Music f*cks you up.