when death cab for cutie guitarist/producer chris walla set about recording his first solo album field manual he considered only one producer to join him, warne livesey. piers henwood, the co-manager of tegan and sara, whom walla had just produced, mentioned to walla that the british producer of midnight oil, matthew good band, the the etc. had recently moved to vancouver island.
'walla, 32, didn't need a tonne of convincing. diesel and dust , the 1988 breakout release from midnight oil (which livesey produced), is one of his all-time desert island discs. "it was one of those life-changing records for me. the whole soundscape of that record was so foreign and so alien to me, and is something that has stuck with me into my adult life in a really big way"', says walla.
'he moved... into livesey's... studio, the command centre. the two worked tirelessly with very little outside assistance (aside from walla, drummers jason mcgerr from death cab for cutie and kurt dahle from the new pornographers are the only musicians credited on field manual).' *
the album is out on barsuk records and is in stores now. and of coarse available for download.
* excerts taken from the times colonist article by mike devin
midnight oil reform
australian minister for the environment, peter garrett, returns to the stage for a day to join his old band mates on stage at the australian bushfire benefit. read the bbc news report here.
the set
last year warne produced the new album from victoria's dynamic beat combo, the set. the album entitled 'never odd or even' is a hit filled / high energy / emo / pop / prog / rock concept album about the end of the world. it is also very, very good. you can hear tracks for yourself on their myspace page here. the CD is out now and available on itunes and the band is currently on tour in canada.
mark hildreth
also in the can is the debut disc from actor, singer, piano player and songwriter mark hildreth. hildreth's music echos the sounds of such giants as elton john, stevie wonder and john lennon. the album, is entitled 'complex state of attachment' and is an r&b tinged collection of 10 songs about love, compasion and humanity. preview tracks at his myspace page here. mark is also appearing in the third season of the excellent hbo drama the tudors.
more....
acres of lions just released their new album 'working' through fierce panda. its available on itunes now and you can hear tracks on their myspace page.
warne just completed recording an ep by vancouverite singer/songwriter ben sigston called 'free now'.
the command centre just added a new toft audio atb24 mixing console as well as other great equipment. check it out here.
