Torque
This song was written under water.
On my last tour, our bus broke down and left us stranded in Idaho for a few days. When my band members and I finally arrived at a hotel, we were at first too dirty and disoriented to mind that we were either trapped in our rooms watching bad t.v. or trapped in the hotel lobby with sports fans and evangelist types. It got old fast, however and so did living on complimentary apples from the front desk.
I took refuge in the pool where it was quiet, swimming laps for days. Under the green, hyper-chlorinated water I began to time trip back to a winter night at Logan airport where I sat on a bench in the cold for hours, waiting to be rescued, as I was doing now. This is how songs work; they take your life stories and mix them up because, like old relatives and unconditional lovers, they really don't care about getting it right, they just care.
When Mudrock suggested we throw a KH solo song down for CASH during the recent 50FootWave recording session in LA, I knew this was the song. Rob Ahler's emotional drumming is somehow wintry, Mudrock's production anthemic without pretense.
In order to reduce file sizes, we've made the mix stems available as lo-res mp3s as well as the normal (but huge) WAV files. Soon, I'll be posting what someone called "sample packs" -- short clips from each of the stems, to make remixing a little easier. Not this month, but soon.
I want to take a second to thank you all for your comments, your financial support and especially the time, effort and creativity shown by those of you who have chosen to post remixes on my "-RW" page. It's been a great first month.
Torque is here.
On my last tour, our bus broke down and left us stranded in Idaho for a few days. When my band members and I finally arrived at a hotel, we were at first too dirty and disoriented to mind that we were either trapped in our rooms watching bad t.v. or trapped in the hotel lobby with sports fans and evangelist types. It got old fast, however and so did living on complimentary apples from the front desk.
I took refuge in the pool where it was quiet, swimming laps for days. Under the green, hyper-chlorinated water I began to time trip back to a winter night at Logan airport where I sat on a bench in the cold for hours, waiting to be rescued, as I was doing now. This is how songs work; they take your life stories and mix them up because, like old relatives and unconditional lovers, they really don't care about getting it right, they just care.
When Mudrock suggested we throw a KH solo song down for CASH during the recent 50FootWave recording session in LA, I knew this was the song. Rob Ahler's emotional drumming is somehow wintry, Mudrock's production anthemic without pretense.
In order to reduce file sizes, we've made the mix stems available as lo-res mp3s as well as the normal (but huge) WAV files. Soon, I'll be posting what someone called "sample packs" -- short clips from each of the stems, to make remixing a little easier. Not this month, but soon.
I want to take a second to thank you all for your comments, your financial support and especially the time, effort and creativity shown by those of you who have chosen to post remixes on my "-RW" page. It's been a great first month.
Torque is here.
posted by Kristin at 9:37 PM
27 Comments:
This is a beautiful song, Kristin.
Your music speaks to me in a way which that of few other artists does.
Radiohead, Elbow, early Doves, Pink Floyd and yourself. You all have the ability to write songs that creep under my skin and touch my soul.
Thank You.
Oh, and I'll be remixing shortly. :-)
Thank you for continuing on in the crazy business they music.
"Torque" is stunningly beautiful. I am listening to it for the fifth time in a row and I can't get enough. This doesn't happen often.
The idea of CASH Music and forming a read-write community around it is brilliant. I love the fact that we, the fans, can share our thoughts and art with the artist who inspired us. Few artists choose to have such form of contact with their fans and I'm glad you are one of the brave ones. I hope CASH Music is a great success!
I haven't donated yet because of some problems with transferring money abroad I don't really understand, but I am going to do so as soon as I work everything out. This is the first time I can't wait to pay for something I can have for free ;).
Yikes! I don't think Torque's mix can be improved upon. I tried playing around with it, but any tampering inevitably took away from the dreamy, hazy feel of the song.
I've posted a slight re-do. I put some cello off the top, then used reverb and echo to try to accentuate the "underwater" feel of the song.
Hope it works.
Thank you guys for the sweet words about this song.
I hope I haven't made a "remix-proof" song...That would suck.
oh, better minds than mine might be able to remix it.
I just think the existing mix creates the perfect atmosphere...like Kashmir by Zepplin...or Listerine by you.
Thanks for this. It really makes coming into work today worthwhile. As soon as I get straight with my mortgage company I am subscribing.
Aside from the song, which is great, the larger idea behind all of this is fantastic. When I hear the "music industry" complain about fans stealing from artists via downloads, I wonder why more isn't done to understand these "thefts" are, in fact, notes of appreciation.
The point is thinking in new ways to turn such sharing into a beneficial business model for musicians. Of course, it does require fans to truly show their respect by donating in order that artists can continue to work.
Perhaps this is the beginning of one way for music to continue to put music in listeners' ears and food on the tables of musicians' families.
Chucky...I think your dreamy mix is great. Sometimes less is more.
Eric and "T"...thank you for the sweet words.
Love,
Kristin
Thanks Kristin!
I gave it another try (just uploaded it). I shortened the violin beginning and tried to do some sonic gymnastics at the end.
I first read about your new approach to marketing at Lucas Gonze's weblog. I had been aware of Throwing Muses and your solo work, but I was not really a listener--in the way that one knows any of a dozen bands at any given time that, if asked, one would say "oh, they're good", but not actually buy their music or be very conversant with the inticacies of their work.
My own tastes these days run to electronica-based forms like ambient or chill/downtempo music, whether I am a listener or a music-maker.
Yet I am a big believer in Creative Commons sharing, and in the self-directed payments system.
I co-own a netlabel, which offers Creative Commons free music. Just a few weeks prior to CASH music's debut, I'd been to see Issa (nee' Jane Siberry) play during her swing through Texas, and found myself impressed with how she has worked her own self-directed plan.
I am still not sure if donationware releases are in themselves an economic engine, or if the release method is instead
a great way to ensure distribution to build a fan base useful for concerts and licensing opportunities.
What I am sure about is that I enjoy it when "Slippershell" comes up on my mp3 player shuffle. I enjoyed it so much that I just donated to and downloaded the mp3 of "Torque" and look forward to adding it to the rotation.
I am also pleased that you are going to upload "sample packs" for easier remixing, as this is a real benefit for those of us who like to sample into synths and create songs rather different than the original "root" song.
I have not checked your formats for this song, but it might also be useful if you uploaded just the a capella vocal track (the 'pella)
for remixers. It is not my own passion, but some remixers prefer
most of all to write completely new melodies to just the vocals.
I am a regular contributer at ccmixter.org. If one of your future 'pellas were uploaded there with a profile that led one back to CASH's page, then I'm guessing you might increase your fan base further.
I'm very impressed with what you are about here. We're all feeling our way in this new era of music sharing, and time will tell what works best and what won't work best. I believe you're on to a strong beginning here, and I wish you every success.
I suppose the answer to the question "do Creative Commons releases ever help one attract new people who will actually pay for one's music?" is "well, at least one" :).
best, robert
Chucky...nice!
Robert...Thank you for your comments and we'll have a profile up at CC Mixter asap. Your story makes this idea of our seem like a success. And there's still lots more/different coming from other CASH artists.
It's great that your music is so freely available for remix. What a great experiment! I'm downloading the Torque stems now and may well post my humble effort one day.... or maybe not :-)
I think it would be nice to be able to download only specific stems (I'm not actually familiar with the term "stem" btw but assume it means "track" from a multi-track recording).... I have an idea in my head right now that would largely if not exclusively use the vocal track from Torque (whether this idea ever makes it out of my head into a more tangible form remains to be seen!).
Torque is lovely btw... thanks. I just subscribed too so I look forward to the coming months greatly.
All the best
Martin
A fan since 1987 :-)
I like the explanations for the songs.
After reading the paragraph the feelings from listening to Torque changed to very specific feelings: Being lost or stranded in the cold helpless. Which I found when several hours in when locked out of my house at age 13 in a Chicago winter), I self evaluated and reflected.
I first heard the song before reading the paragraph on it. and some of the feelings did over lap. :)
I have yet to hear the remixes.
I can't wait to download the wav's.
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Kristin:
Thanks. That's great if you go the mixter route. The only newbie error to avoid is the newbie error of posting fully remixed tracks. It's always best to post only 'pellas or samples and not fully remixed songs. It will be exciting if the 'pella for one of your upcoming releases ends up posted there--and fun to see what remixes you draw
Hi there, Kristin!
I'm going to have to gush here - I'm a huge, huge fan of your music. You're one of the people I'd love to meet most in the world... Seriously, "University" is one of my top-five desert island cds. Maybe "Limbo", too. Which makes you , yes you a potential 40% shareholder in that coveted collection. BTW, I'd never heard of Throwing Muses when I bought "University" (my first TM cd), I just thought to myself, "How can any crap band have a cd box look so good?" I bought it on the spot and have been a devoted fan since. Managed to convert a few people, too!
Anyhoo, moving on. I'm thinking of subscribing to your new venture, CASH. It's just such a bargain. And, I know the money is going to you!
One question, though, and the point of this post - would it be possible to have some RSS feeds available? Not just for tour dates - I'd like to instantly know when your blog/news/hairstyle/etc have been updated.
Thanks for your time!
PS: for heaven's sake come tour in Hamburg, Germany. Would not miss it for the world!
gurdonark...thanks for the advice, -- I'm only going to upload pellas for now. I'm curious as to what will happen too.
Lars...thank you for the sweet words, 40% is a lot! You can subscribe to the RSS feeds of this blog and of the tour dates and message board at ThrowingMusic.com And CASH will include more and more RSS feeds as time goes on.
Love,
Kristin
At the risk of having yet another fan question in this thread, I'm wondering if there might be a selection of the top remixes, or a fan vote.
I'm really impressed by much of the work so far, especially mixes like Sleepershell by Northsea.
'Pellas now available:
http://ccmixter.org/media/people/kristinhersh
Thanks everyone!
Dear Kristin,
Very interesting what you say about being rescued by a song. Many music lovers have been rescued by songs in their lives, but you were rescued by a song you still had to write yourself.
In this case it must have felt as if it came floating by, I suppose. And somehow, as a composer, you knew it would. Like so many of your songs must have come to your rescue in the past. We can hear them on your albums. And after they rescued you out of the water, 'just because they cared', you recorded them and let them rescue us and care for us too. I think 'Torque' is another fine example of the way this works. Thanks very much for all that.
Sander Grootendorst
Sander...thank you.
I'm no music expert, but Torque is in 3/4 time is it not?
It's part of the reason the song has a waltz-y feel.
Anyway, if I am right, it's something to keep in mind if you're doing techno or other types of remixes where you're adding in beats.
Great CASH songs so far. Well worth my hard earned cash.
Come play in Denmark again soon, the gig in Aarhus last march was great.
Chucky...Yes "Torque" is in 3/4...sorry, should I have mentioned that?
Simon...thank you! We had an amazing day in Aarhus...and can't wait to come back.
No problem...you're not required to tell us what the time signature is,. We mixers are supposed to figure it out.
And I love different time signatures.
Now if we could get something in 7/11, that would really throw off the techno fans.
:-)
Buzz is the first song I heard of Throwing Muses.(it was the music to a skate video in 411 video magazine.) So for a long time I'd hear Buzz and think of 360 flips.
Kristin: Do you have any songs that are in the musical direction of the album Limbo coming up for read/write? A dream question perhaps.
Thanks for coming to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Can't wait for the next song.
peteZ
Very cool remixes you guys!
peteZ
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