DIARY OF AN ALBUM
Once the promotional duties for the Electro Shock Blues album wound up at the tail end of
1998, Eels frontman E holed himself up in his basement to plot the follow-up. During the
writing and recording sessions for the new album, however, one thing soon became apparent.
I realised at a certain point we were making two different albums, E explains. Some
of the stuff was very loud and dark, and then the other stuff was kind of pretty and simple and
sweet, and I decided that I wanted to focus on that for now and put the heavier stuff on the
shelf.
WRITING THE SONGS. JAN-FEB 99 : CHATEAU E
Writing began in earnest with E collating samples, gathering together sounds and experimenting
with instrumentation in his basement.
I make a point of going for instruments that dont feel comfortable. If the guitar is
your main instrument, your hands are going to go where theyre comfortable, and you end up
writing similar types of songs. So if I want to play guitar, Ill go over to maybe the
auto-harp or the clavinet and put through, say, a guitar box to find a new sound thatll excite
me.
Keeping everything plugged in and ready to use during writing sessions, this musical
Aladdins cave coped with every conceivable whim.
I have a few different guitars, each one with a different sound. I have a regular
guitar, a baritone guitar I sometimes use as a bass, an electric banjo and guitars with
Nashville tuning, using the high strings from a 12-string guitar, so you get a high, pretty
sound. As well as all this, Ive got a Dobro steel guitar. I have different sounds for the
many mood swings that I suffer.
MAIN RECORDING SESSION
MAR-MAY 99 CHATEAU E
Having already laid down a few basic tracks at the Bomb Factory in Burbank, California, the
rest of the album was recorded in the basement, with E producing.
Its ironic, because I really didnt want to produce this record. Theres too much
responsibility. But I ended up doing it - no one else could. Or would.
With engineer Wally Gagel manning a Pro Tools system, all of the recording was done
straight on to computer, an event that E considers ironic: Its the most non-computer-sounding
record weve ever made.
Long time co-conspirator Butch Norton stepped in to add his rhythmic flair to
proceedings. Using Es battered Sixties Slingerland champagne-sparkle kit, the equipment and
recording technique was rudimentary, but effective.
The best money I ever spent, E confesses, was on a Neumann U47 which I bought from a
newspaper ad. Its an amazing microphone, you can record drums with just that if you have to.
I just set it up in the room, used a couple of BBC mics and that was it.
As Butch explains, nailing his part wasnt a conventional process, either.
E will be sitting with a microphone, Ill be wearing my headphones and hell be
talking to me while I play the drums. Hell be telling me, OK, here comes the chorus, get
ready. 2,3,4OK, give me a big crash right here. Wed rush a few takes like that until hes
happy.
Butch, however, wasnt the only person keeping the drum stool warm at these sessions.
Tiger in my Tank also shows off Es skills with the sticks.
Were a band of drummers, thats my main instrument really. On Tiger in My Tank, I
played the drums with toy drumsticks. Theyre really small. They look like pencils but the
sound is really big.
A LITTLE HELP FROM REMS PETER BUCK
Grant Lee Phillips of Grant Lee Buffalo and REMs Peter Buck were also on hand to help, with
the latter offering his assistance after a chance encounter with E at one of Neil Youngs
annual Bridge School Concerts.
The funny thing is, all the bass on the record is played by people who dont really
plat bass, E says. Grant played most of it, Peter played some of it. Peter also played piano
and 12-string guitar. It was great, hed be working all morning with me and all night with
REM.
When it came to recording Es vocal, the method was again surprisingly basic.
It was recorded very dry, theres usually no reverb and not much else either. On I
like Birds, Tiger In my Tank, A Daisy Through Concrete and Flyswatter, the vocal has a
crispy sound to it. Its very over driven, but not to the point where it sounds like that
cliched megaphone sound. I was just singing a guide vocal into this crappy mic I use for
talk-back - I liked the way it sounded, so we stuck with it.
Disciplined daytime working hours and a desire for a spontaneous sound meant that
progress was swift.
I dont spend a lot of time on anything. I try to capture the moment. Ive never spent
more than one or two days recording any song. The only break in recording was taken for me to
clear out my parents house in Virginia. I wrote Estate Sale with Peter straight after to
memorialise the moment.
MR ES BEAUTIFUL BLUES GETS ADDED
Mixing songs as soon as they were recorded, Grace Kelly Blues, Packing Blankets and
Jeannies Diary were among the first completed. Recording carried on into a third month, so
it was hard to tell exactly when the work was over.
There was no defining moment when we stopped recording. The last one to be completed
from the record was Mr Es Beautiful Blues, which came well after the record was finished, E
explains. I was happy with the album the way it was, but the record company insisted that it
be on there. I didnt want to change the record, so I said, OK, put it on as a bonus track,
separate from the record, and that, finally, was the way Daisies Of The Galaxy came out.
Written by Daniel Hopkin, Melody Maker Mar 29 - Apr 4, 2000