388 Diehard: Kelley Stoltz

JRSIV

JRSIV

JRSIV Music Ltd.
All these posts about the 388 got me thinking about this guy from San Francisco, Kelley Stoltz. He is on the Sub Pop indie label and has had some really great reviews from Goldmine and Mojo magazines.

He records his albums exclusively to a Tascam 388. His music has been compared to Brian Wilson among others, but the sound of his records reflect the vibe of the 388 pretty well. Some of his songs sound like tracks from the 60's as far as the recordings go. And while some have a whole hard disk of plug-ins of analog emulators and vintage this and that, the 388 allows those who want real analog vibe to get it...really easily too.

Check him out at http://www.electriccity.org/
 
I just picked one song of his at random and it reminds me a bit of The Kinks. Not bad at all. I'll listen to more later.
 
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2001 "Antique Glow" Kelley Stoltz
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"Kelley Stoltz stumbles with a melodic drawl into a batch of creatively-recorded pop on Antique Glow. Recalling everything from the Beatles, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake to Beck and Wilco, this disc feels like a classic you've known all your life. There are shambling, energetic cuts and morose folkish laments, each memorable and bursting with great lyrics and sonic treats. And you won't hear a better sequencing of songs this year than the four that close this record out. Antique Glow was recorded by Stoltz, mostly in the bedroom of his San Francisco apartment on a Tascam 388 1/4" reel to reel with just an SM57. Recording at home allowed Stoltz to capture songs as they were conceived. "I've never had much success reworking things, redoing vocals and stuff. I usually find that the initial inspiration gets trampled or dulled by repetition." He notes though, "when writing and recording simultaneously, it's really important to keep good notes. Pay attention to the timer and what comes in when. That way you can cram as much stuff as possible on each track: percussion, harmony vocals or whatever in the spaces you have." After getting the majority of the album down on tape, Stoltz and the 388 went to Kevin Ink's Studio That Time Forgot. "Kevin's sonic janitorial skills were invaluable..." (Matt Mair Lowrey) Tape Op Nov/Dec 2002

Kelley Stoltz links:
KelleyStoltz.com
KelleyStoltzsubpop
KelleyStoltzMySpacePage
 
my understanding is he records on the 388 them throws it into a daw and adds additional stuff and edits in the box.

Maybe someone ( hi kelley) can confirm?

from his comments, i gather he is aiming for a mid-fi approach.

It seems to me that the whole "indie pop" esthetic is kind of a deliberate
downsizing of fidelity to match the holes in the jeans.

That's cool, and i'm sure the 388 is a good fit there.

not sure i'd pick this machine to record a string quartet.

anybody have experience with layering up quiet acoustic instruments on this machine?

i'd be wondering about crosstalk, hiss, headroom, depth of image.

At what point do you bump up against it's limits?

Maybe i'd be surprised?
 
Thanks for the links Shed. I love stuff recorded on the 388. It's like everything recorded on it sounds like it was cut in 1969...and that's not a bad thing, in the slightest! Warm, compressed...just beautiful. KillionSounds has a great studio band, check it out!
 
JRSIV said:
Thanks for the links Shed. I love stuff recorded on the 388. It's like everything recorded on it sounds like it was cut in 1969...and that's not a bad thing, in the slightest! Warm, compressed...just beautiful. KillionSounds has a great studio band, check it out!
Click to expand...

Yeah that KillionSounds stuff sounds great! I hadn't heard of them before, but they do some great work.

I'm very familiar with Stoltz and have two of his albums -- very good stuff.
 
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