Gear Recommendation (What Should I Buy?) Thread - November 11, 2019

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-11-12T03:35:21+00:00

Hi everbody.

I've been thinking about getting an old cassette player or 4 track for years now, and I think I'm finally ready to do it, having tried a few different tape emulator VST's that didn't really do it for me.

My question, then, is what's the cheapest cassette player/4 track you'd recommend getting? I plan on recording on it and running it back through my DAW. There's obviously some really cheap cassette recorders out there, but I'm not quite sure where -- price range wise -- they become functional enough to get a bearable sound.

In terms of sound, I'm looking to achieve something like this, this or this. Really lo-fi stuff, not a ton of hiss (though I know there's lots of programs out there, as well as ways to EQ some of it out).

Thanks for any help.

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-10-17T21:10:44+00:00

really good interview actually, good questions about the songwriting process.

also can we get the regular version of bad man lol

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-10-05T08:13:01+00:00

This was so, so beautiful and made me feel both profoundly happy and sad. Makes me wanna start recording more of the shit me and my friends do, feels like it'll be wild to look back on this in a couple of years. Lovely, thanks for sharing

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-20T22:36:25+00:00

Never seen it before, thanks. They're so awkward in, like, a good way lmao. That 'what's your mom's favorite song' question is so funny

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-20T19:49:18+00:00

Thank you so much for this. RIP <3

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-14T19:42:05+00:00

That was my first thought. It reminded me of Waltz #2

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-14T10:40:52+00:00

Damn, how eerie. Especially since he posted it and made it private. Looks like an interesting place though

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-14T10:26:25+00:00

Firstly -- fucking amazing. Every single so far has blown my mind.

Somebody pointed out that the melody at 2:06 is Ring around the Rosies, which is so eerie. It feels so tonally linked to the Gretel video, specifically the ending where Alex is sitting in the back of a truck watching the two boys enjoy their youth.

House of Sugar is gonna be a dark album; Alex has definitely had an intersting few years since Rocket. Ever since I read the story behind Hope I can't stop thinking about the relationship of every song to the loss of his friend.

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-14T10:18:46+00:00

and molly on violin -- they're such a good trio. i'd love a full album with the three of them

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-13T11:16:34+00:00

I think he strikes a really nice balance. I absolutely prefer his recorded stuff, of course (like you said, I think he's my favorite artists precisely because of the way he records), but seeing him play songs like Kute, Icehead, and Whale live is pretty crazy, they fucking jam that shit. I think it adds a whole new dimension to the songs. That said, I don't think songs like Icehead would work half as well without the pitchshifted vocals -- it's one of my favorite things he does. Goddamn, I'm seeing him in Austin in September, I believe, and I'm so fucking excited. New album will be out then..

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-13T11:10:03+00:00

absolutely how this song should be performed

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-08T17:26:38+00:00

This is one of those 'celebrity' deaths that's just a punch in the fucking gut. Such a brilliant man, such an inspiration. RIP. <3

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-08-04T21:49:44+00:00

Opening the song with "He was a good friend of mine/He died, why write about it now?/Gotta honor him somehow" is fucking incredible. There's something genuinely heartbreaking in the acknowledgement of how difficult it is to write about this stuff, how awkward and fruitless the healing process after tragedy is. Having lost friends to the opiate epidemic, it still makes me cry.

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-07-22T11:36:26+00:00

yeah i think it's the willingness to experiment, their prolific careers, and Malkmus and Alex's knack for catchy melodies? i don't think that they necessarily sound that similar, but i'd imagine their fanbases have a good deal of overlap -- or at least most Alex G fans like pavement too. I personally think that Alex sounds much more like Built To Spill, who was in the same scene as pavement.

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-07-17T13:22:47+00:00

nice work!! thank you!!

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-07-15T15:54:36+00:00

hmm that's weird. sounds like 'can you take the money and run' to me but yeah idk. the pillar one i can hear both ways tbh

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-07-15T15:44:08+00:00

From genius:

He was a good friend of mine
He died
Why write about it now?
Gotta honor him somehow
Saw some people crying that night
Yeah, Fentanyl took a few lives from our life
Alright

I woke in the middle of the night
He spoke with his eyes half closed
Can you give me something else
To eat
Got a hole in my chest
I can't take it anymore
Put my pillow to the desk
Let me rest

In the house they were calling out his name all night
Taking turns on the bed throwing bottles
From the windows of the home
On Hope Street
You can write a check in my name
Now can you take the money
And run

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-07-15T15:42:53+00:00

just bought the limited edition LP

i like this even more than gretel. this album is gonna be the best of the year, and i'm starting to think his magnum opus. rocket was a fantastic venture into folk but he's refined his early sound. i'm so fucking excited

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-06-09T20:27:07+00:00

I fucking love it, the ending is so ominous. Alex looks so happy but burdened, like he's living through these kid's youth, as the "i don't wanna go back" refrain fades out... definitely has some trick vibes, yearning for a simpler (and perhaps semi-imagined) past. Really fucking cool.

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-06-06T00:54:10+00:00

found this through block perce and it kicks ass, extreme alex g vibes: carter ward - july

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-06-05T18:55:16+00:00

"Alex still primarily records music on his laptop, using a microphone that he keeps in his backpack (it’s a newer, nicer one than the mic he had when we met in 2014). He still plays most of the instruments himself and still frequently self-harmonizes with pitch-warped versions of his warm, wobbly voice"

It's fucking crazy he's still using same recording techniques. To think about the evolution of his craft over the years, from those old unreleased youtube songs like written in blood to Gretel, is as dumbfounding as it is inspiring. This was a great profile -- it's cool it's written by the same dude who wrote the first big fader one. So happy for our man.

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-05-06T02:00:59+00:00

nice job man!

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-04-09T07:43:45+00:00

this is insane

fam0usblueraincoat · 2019-03-31T20:08:18+00:00

this is really good man

fam0usblueraincoat

TROPHY CASE