‘The bird is not the metaphor.’ Parts 3, 4, 5 – and unplanned interlude.

Right then. ‘Blog lags behind life’ shock.

So – we played the Windmill show [part 3 of our recording preparation], and it seemed to go well. Certainly, we enjoyed ourselves. There’s some video evidence, which I have not seen, but which is apparently fit for public consumption. We’ll post the link, once its up.

From there, a week later, we picked up our ‘to do’ list for an afternoon in a cowshed somewhere near Milton Keynes [part 4], and spent a lot of time trying out the effects of different drum parts on ‘Bow down’ and ‘Things are sticky.’ Neither set of experiments are likely to be retained. And we edged slowly closer to some sort of shape for the end of ‘Horse you rode in on,’ which has been surviving live performances by the seat of its pants, but may need a sturdier underpinning if it’s to survive the scrutiny of tape. And Huw announced that he would probably have to move house at the end of the month. Oh dear.

A few days after that, and Huw confirmed that he would be moving house at the time when we had planned to record. So, in the way of all things Clamp, actual events may occur later than previously advertised. We are re-arranging our recording dates for September/October. We’ll keep you posted.

A week later [part 5], and we met up [without Huw, who was ripping out plasterboard and 100 year old electrics in preparation for the move, by this point] in the cowshed again. When we arrived, it turned out that they were doublebooked, and we spent the first part of the afternoon rehearsing in a kitchenette. This was kind of OK: I made everyone try out a group singing part for ‘Horse you rode in on,’ which we would never have got round to trying with the distractions of drums and volume closer-to-hand. It sort of worked. John – who has listened to the recording – tells me that it may sound ‘too grumpy’ to be workable. We’ll see. I enjoyed it, without being sold on it. Later – in the real rehearsal room – we figured out details on ‘Things are sticky’ and ‘Simple and easy’ [which finally has an end], and then spent hours playing one chord in two thousand different combinations, for the end of ‘Horse.’ Progress of sorts: Andrew and I know what each of us are doing, and in what likely sequence, without having forced the thing into some unrecognisable shape. Should work …

Later that evening, John tore a ligament in his finger, while catching the bass when his strap broke. So, he’s out of action for 6-8 weeks – which would have scuppered the recording anyway. Que sera, sera, etc.

Leave a Reply