Spring/Summer 2014

4.14:: Eric John Kaiser & Kildjate Moussa Abadé/Tisdass “Paris – Portland – Niamey” EP

Former Group Bombino bassist Kildjate Moussa Abadé recently spent a month in Portland playing concerts and recording. Moussa is a Tuareg from Niger, and plays under the moniker “Tisdass“. I had the pleasure of recording these three songs with him and my friend, French/Portlandian musician Eric John Kaiser. Two songs are Moussa’s, with Eric playing lead guitar, and the other is Eric’s, with Moussa on lead. Guitars, vocals and calabash were recorded live, with some additional guitar overdubs. Mastered by Josh Powell over at The Map Room.

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4.14:: Houndstooth Tracking

Houndstooth was in Type Foundry with me for a few days in recently tracking the beginnings of a new record. We did basic tracks and guitar overdubs for 8 songs over the course of 3 days. Not sure when it will be done, but it looks to be a great record when it is. Producer Graeme Gibson, also the band’s drummer, will be engineering the overdubs and mixing.
In the meantime, here are a couple of songs from a batch we did a couple of years ago, released only on their Bandcamp page. Houndstooth’s Mike Yun did the basic tracks in his basement studio, and I did the overdubs and mixing at Type Foundry:

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4.14:: Warm Hands EP

Portland duo Warm Hands were in Type Foundry for a few days working on a four-song 12″ EP, set to be the first release on a new label Sinis. Some local remixers such as Apartment Fox, Mike McKinnon, and Matthew Quiet will be doing versions of the single “Ghost” to be released alongside the EP.

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5.14:: The Estranged Mixing

The Estranged were back in May to mix a few songs for an upcoming EP. The songs were all from our sessions last summer for their self-titled LP, released this past winter/spring in Europe and the U.S. Like the album, the songs were tracked with me, overdubbed by Maus over at Red Lantern Studios, and then mixed by me at Type Foundry.

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5.14:: Live Sound Summit/Studio Recording – FAIS

I had another run with the middle schoolers from FAIS (French American International School). My friend and co-conspirator Nalin Silva (Revolver Studios) and I did a couple of live sound seminars for the 7th graders over at Mississippi Studios, and I did a few recording days at Type Foundry with the 8th graders. There were 20 different groups recording a total of 25 songs from Friday to Sunday. Each group had an hour and fifteen to record their song. for many of them, these experiences are their first exposure to studio recording, and live sound in a venue. It was a blast, as always, introducing the kids to the studio process, and helping to guide them to a good take.

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5.14 – 6.14:: Girls In Trouble LP

I spent the beginning half of June hard at work engineering the 3rd LP by Girls In Trouble, a project by songwriter/performer Alicia Jo Rabins (Madoff Project). Producer/musician extraordinaire Karl Blau was in lending his ears, and will be mixing it up in Anacortes this month.

Here’s a little slice of life/string arranging from that session:

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6.14:: Sound for the Organization of Society “The Sun Opened Up” LP

Jazz octet, Sound for the Organization of Society, finally dropped this LP recorded with me at Type Foundry over a couple of days back in 2009. Two drumsets, bass, guitar, piano, keys and a bunch of horns recorded all live in the big room. Eight pieces in total, one by each musician. Includes Portland jazz luminaries Andrew Oliver, Chris Mosley, Kevin Van Geem and Mary Sue Tobin. Yeah.

Released by Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble Records, a Portland label dedicated to local original jazz. Space age cover by the prolific Dylan McConnell at tiny little hammers.

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6.14- 7.14:: EMA Tour – Western States

Late June – early July I went on the road doing sound throughout the American west with Portland-based Matador/City Slang band EMA. We were joined for most of the tour by New York-based, electronic whirlwind Mas Ysa.

June
23 Boise ID, US The Crux
24 Salt Lake City UT, US Kilby Court
25 Denver CO, US Lost Lake
27 Albuquerque NM, US Low Spirits
28 Phoenix AZ, US The Crescent Ballroom
29 San Diego CA, US Casbah

July
01 West Hollywood CA, US Troubadour
02 San Francisco CA, US The Independent