Tuesday, May 31, 2011

This Is Not A Picture



The fourth album by the Little Guy. Like all Little Guy albums, this one started with a simple rule; one member would come up with a simple 2, 3 or 4 chord progression. Without any discussion, the band would improvise. The only additional rule was that after each cycle (8 bars, 16 bars or whatever), each member would have to play something different (eg switch from strumming to soloing, change the bassline etc). After recording the first tracks, more were overdubbed. Almost everything was a first take and there was no looping or sampling, although some parts were removed from the mix. The weird sounds are mainly from an old Roland 2H-2000 synthesizer and a 1970s Sankei Stereo Entertainer. There are 9 tracks on the 1-hour album.

A video for track 6, 'Verabschiedet', can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPD-QmzL4c8 A video for track 4, 'I am Not Disillusioned or Disappointed' can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4dMw0beh_k and http://vimeo.com/22645928

The album can be downloaded from iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon and most other digital retailers. Compact discs can be purchased by clicking the 'donate' button to the right.

The album cover and other artwork is by artist Stephen McFarlane.