More post-punk from me: "Motorcade" by Magazine.

[Bubba po]

I was just going to post this link to RayC as he's a fan, and this band is pretty obscure to most of you crazy kids, but I thought I might as well put it up anyway to see what you make of it.

The song is about the assassination of JFK although the lyrics are quite subtle.

I believe all that I read now
Night has come off the corners
Shadows flicker sweet and tame
Dancing like crazy mourners

The man with the hotdog sells lemonade
Someone over there needs first aid, while
Me and the rest of the world
Await the touch of the motorcade

No one finds time to turn a blind eye
You can't be too careful nowadays
My friend says "Listen...
To the stupid things they're making you say"

Here comes the motorcade
Moving so slow and hard
Like a snake in a closet
Holding sway in the boulevard

Here is your man
All faces turn unanimously
The small fry who sizzle in his veins
In all security

In the back of his car
Into the null and void he shoots
The man at the centre of the motorcade
Has learnt to tie his boots

In the back of his car
In the null and void he sees
The man at the centre of the motorcade
Can choose between coffee and tea

In the boulevard - the motorcade holds sway

As usual, my son is on drums and I'm doing everything else.

Sorry! The MP3 didn't upload!



Update with tweaks:

 

[TripleM]

I like the tone of everything. Except maybe the bass, which I thought was a bit too sterile - lacking some woof.

But I thought everything else was cool sounding. I have a couple of nitpicks on levels. I thought overheads were a little too loud. I thought the vocal was a bit too soft, but after you lower the overheads, they might be sitting just right.

But really I can't find much wrong with this. OK a bit too much verb and flangy stuff. But that's personal preference.

Ooo just caught small pops at 3:44, 3:47 and 3:49. A couple more shortly after that. Are they part of the kick's attack? Not sure, they just start happening at 3:44.

 

[Bruthish]

I have no clue as to who "Magazine" is....but I like this. I think everything sounds nice and separated. The bass is coming through clearly and everything has space. Your son did good on the drums too. I especially like the sound of the toms at the beginning. Good job Bubba

 

[Schwarzenyaeger]

There's a pop at 1:38, 4:28/29, 4:47, 5:08, 5:29, TripleM heard a few too.
Around the 3:20 vocals need compression or should come down. They come up so far that they seemingly lose their reverb for a moment.

 

[Bubba po]

There's a pop at 1:38, 4:28/29, 4:47, 5:08, 5:29, TripleM heard a few too.
Around the 3:20 vocals need compression or should come down. They come up so far that they seemingly lose their reverb for a moment.

I'm not sure what "pops" you're hearing - I definitely don't hear them, either on my monitors or my 'phones. Is the kick a bit "slappy"? I dunno, everything sounds spot on to me, this time.

I'll have a listen to the vocal volume tomorrow, I've had a couple of beers now and one's judgement goes off a bit usually after that.

 

[Armistice]

I'm not sure what "pops" you're hearing - I definitely don't hear them, either on my monitors or my 'phones. Is the kick a bit "slappy"? I dunno, everything sounds spot on to me, this time.

I'll have a listen to the vocal volume tomorrow, I've had a couple of beers now and one's judgement goes off a bit usually after that.

I can hear them. The first one's the most obvious. Otherwise sounds pretty nice (as far as I can tell on my "Beats powered" laptop) - timing seemed just a touch ragged at the start but settles into the groove. Cool song. Haven't heard it for years... Noice.

 

[rayc]

Bub,
Cool as...
That's really as close as a cover should come.
My ONLY nit would be that on couple of occasions you've rushed the lovely little keyboard flourishes.
BUT that's me looking for something to point to & prove I listened.
A superb song to start with.
The bass tone is a perfect for for the track - & modeled on the original.
The reverse verb stuff sounds grand.
You've made a great job of the guitar in particular.
One of their most powerful tracks - anthemic for we little punk/new wave/post punk survivors.
Floorboards, Motorcade & Shot, in no particular order, are a very powerful statement of the power of the band and should be in every home!
GREAT job. There're probably recording issues etc I've not noticed as I'm swept up by the song but is as it should be.

 

[Bubba po]

I can hear them. The first one's the most obvious. Otherwise sounds pretty nice (as far as I can tell on my "Beats powered" laptop) - timing seemed just a touch ragged at the start but settles into the groove. Cool song. Haven't heard it for years... Noice.

I went through the track just now and edited down every kick drum peak that seemed way louder than the average. There were peaks at most of the points that have been picked up on - at others there was the odd bass guitar peak. Looking at the bass I only had a 1.5:1 compression ratio on it as I compressed it more on the way in when tracking. I upped the comp on the kick and the bass guitar to 3:1 and it seems to have worked. I have to say though, my monitors didn't pick up on them, or rather, didn't accentuate them enough to hear the problem. They are excellent at picking out high-mid stuff, though - such as the attack on tom-toms. If any of them are too loud it sounds like somebody hitting formica with a wooden spoon!

Also, I know about the song taking a bar or two to settle down when the main beat comes in but I couldn't bring myself to try to quantize it as I know I would've cocked it up. I'll just have to make sure I get the best performance possible when tracking the drums in future!

Bub,
Cool as...
That's really as close as a cover should come.
My ONLY nit would be that on couple of occasions you've rushed the lovely little keyboard flourishes.
BUT that's me looking for something to point to & prove I listened.
A superb song to start with.
The bass tone is a perfect for for the track - & modeled on the original.
The reverse verb stuff sounds grand.
You've made a great job of the guitar in particular.
One of their most powerful tracks - anthemic for we little punk/new wave/post punk survivors.
Floorboards, Motorcade & Shot, in no particular order, are a very powerful statement of the power of the band and should be in every home!
GREAT job. There're probably recording issues etc I've not noticed as I'm swept up by the song but is as it should be.

Thanks so much, Ray - it means a lot. I'm not a natural keyboard player, so it's no surprise to me that I've been a bit ragged on the keyboard trills!

 

[Armistice]

Also, I know about the song taking a bar or two to settle down when the main beat comes in but I couldn't bring myself to try to quantize it as I know I would've cocked it up.

I think there's one guitar chord I'd move, and it sounds like it'd be easy enough. I don't think the rest of it's worth worrying about... gives it a live feel...

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I'm not sure what "pops" you're hearing - I definitely don't hear them, either on my monitors or my 'phones. Is the kick a bit "slappy"? I dunno, everything sounds spot on to me, this time.

I'll have a listen to the vocal volume tomorrow, I've had a couple of beers now and one's judgement goes off a bit usually after that.

I can hear the one at 1:38 pretty clearly. They sound like mp3/compression artifacts. Are you not hearing them on the original file or the soundcloud link?
There's a lip smack at 5:28 too.

I thought post-punk was supposed to be less groovy and more like Refused?

 

[Retrohazard]

The reverse reverb on the vocal gets tiring. I like it at the beginning of each line but think you should mute it after that and use a similar sounding regular reverb for the rest of each line.

Nice tempo change. Very well done.

This is a very cool song but not exactly what I expected as a "post punk" song.

Great job.

 

[ShanPeyton]

I think this sounds great. It's a pretty nice spacious mix and everything sits pretty nicely in it's own little space. Great job. I listened to the updated track and if there are clicks or pops i can't for the life of me hear them at all. I don't know the original song at all so i can't comment on that so much.

....more like Refused?

Totally off topic, there is a new refused coming out this month or next. Pretty cool.

 

[Bubba po]

I think there's one guitar chord I'd move, and it sounds like it'd be easy enough. I don't think the rest of it's worth worrying about... gives it a live feel...

I did that - good spot!

I can hear the one at 1:38 pretty clearly. They sound like mp3/compression artifacts. Are you not hearing them on the original file or the soundcloud link?
There's a lip smack at 5:28 too.

I thought post-punk was supposed to be less groovy and more like Refused?

Well, the sort of post-punk I like tends towards slightly gothic, dramatic, even progressive influences. Magazine are a band apart, though.
Regarding pops and lip-smacks, I went into the DAW and studied every track for peaks and found nothing. Seriously, I even considered posting a screenshot! What I did next was to listen to the kick drum track on its own and found a few culprits - it seems that my son was occasionally putting a few "grace notes" in on the kick which were very light. What was happening was when that was combined with the gate you sometimes got the click without the thump! I think I've sorted it now.

The reverse reverb on the vocal gets tiring. I like it at the beginning of each line but think you should mute it after that and use a similar sounding regular reverb for the rest of each line.

Nice tempo change. Very well done.

This is a very cool song but not exactly what I expected as a "post punk" song.

Great job.

Thanks very much, Retrohazard. Perhaps the special effect is a little prominent - I'm too close to it to be sure. Maybe it's because I want it to be heard I've been a little unsubtle with it?

I think this sounds great. It's a pretty nice spacious mix and everything sits pretty nicely in it's own little space. Great job. I listened to the updated track and if there are clicks or pops i can't for the life of me hear them at all. I don't know the original song at all so i can't comment on that so much.

Totally off topic, there is a new refused coming out this month or next. Pretty cool.

Thanks a lot, ShanPeyton. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with my ears, because even when I'd tracked down the possible culprits they seemed to be far too small to be of any detriment. Weird. Perhaps it's a bit like that picture of the blue/black dress that is also white/gold?

 

[Armistice]

What I did next was to listen to the kick drum track on its own and found a few culprits - it seems that my son was occasionally putting a few "grace notes" in on the kick which were very light.

I hope you looked at him very sternly and said, "Son, you're a disappointment to me and your mother..."


Never thought of kick grace notes before. I may regret you telling me that...

 

[Bubba po]

I hope you looked at him very sternly and said, "Son, you're a disappointment to me and your mother..."


Never thought of kick grace notes before. I may regret you telling me that...

LOL. I tied his feet to the bedstead and thrashed them with a metre ruler.

Perfectionist as you are, I wouldn't go to the trouble of programming them. As you can see, they can be a bit of a pain in the arse.

 

[NotThatBright]

Forgive me if you wanted this thread to die, I haven't been able to get to the clinic in a while. If any members of THE MAGAZINE are still alive, they either are extremely flattered that you've taken such painstaking measures to record their songs better than they originally did, or they're pissed off about it. The closest thing I ever listened to that sounds like this is TSOL, but this has that British vibe that I always knew existed in some bands but never experienced. I like the sound of all the instruments, even the subtle flanger or whatever the hell it is you have going on with the bass. The only thing that I'd personally criticize with the mix is that around 3:02, when a solo kicks in, it struck me that the drums sounded too loud compared to everything else. Keep in mind that I tend to like my stuff guitar-heavy, and I don't have proper monitors. So this is likely something for a learned recorder to ignore.

I heard the lip smack at 5:27 that VHS mentioned. You gotta hydrate if you're going to record under the influence. One to grow on. Rock on, limey! Cheers.

 

[kindafishy]

Drums don't seem to be in the same space as everything else. Just a sense I am getting.

Went to the well too many times with the backwards reverb with the intro drums. Same with the main vocals. I like it, but I think it would be more effective if it was used more sparingly.

Nice playing. That bass is ripping.

The doubled vocals is another area where I feel it would be more effective if it was done less.

I am not familiar with the original, but this sounds great. I like the song and the playing, recording and mixing are very good. There's a bit of room for tweaking the mix from a subjective perspective, but overall, I think this is really well done.

 

[Bubba po]

Drums don't seem to be in the same space as everything else. Just a sense I am getting.

Went to the well too many times with the backwards reverb with the intro drums. Same with the main vocals. I like it, but I think it would be more effective if it was used more sparingly.

Nice playing. That bass is ripping.

The doubled vocals is another area where I feel it would be more effective if it was done less.

I am not familiar with the original, but this sounds great. I like the song and the playing, recording and mixing are very good. There's a bit of room for tweaking the mix from a subjective perspective, but overall, I think this is really well done.

Ok, thanks.

 

[StuGort]

That's got good energy. I like the mix balance and the tone throughout. The two chords kind of wear on me though. The tempo change helps with that.