Natalia Clavier’s LUMEN is out digitally today Tuesday May 21st! Check it out on Itunes now, where it debuted at #1 on Alternative and Rock Latino chart! You can download the free single “Adios”(featuring The Echocentrics), a jammin reintrepretation of Turkish singer Selda’s “Yaylalar”, you can stream the record at KCRW’s site, but most importantly you can buy the damn thing and support good music. It will be in stores next Tuesday May 28th and you can get it there as well.
This record was a freakin blast to make, somewhat overwhelming in the scope of work but just an amazing musical experience, especially working with a talent like Nat. This record has quite the history, with a year or two of false starts and a few minor bumps in the road, but the fact that it sounds as fresh now as it did when we started a couple of years ago means it’s the real deal. Despite the obvious that this is a special record musically, it means a lot to me because
Nat was the first artist (a few years back now) to ask me to produce their record, so it goes down in my books as a sentimental one. I was honored to be a part of it.
Before I pontificate any further I have a long list of folks who “took their talents to South Austin” to make this the special record it is. The usual LOS suspects came through as per usual, my main man John Speice held down the drumseat for the majority of tracks, the rest of the Echocentrics crew rounded out “Adios” – Eddie Torres, John Branch (Juanillo also lent his slide guitar talents to “This Love”, Gerardo Larios, my brother from another mother Shawn Lee hooked up the mucho macho drums on “Trouble”, fellow Echocentric Mike Longoria killed the drums on unreleased (future b-side!) track “A Sign”, Nat’s husband and Argentinian renaissance man Federico Aubele was sending me lovely synth freak out tracks with 5 minutes notice, neighbor and frequent collaborator Peter Stopschinski rocked an amazing string arrangement on “Ready Now”, longtime homie from the Antibalas camp Ticklah helped me with co-production when I hit a wall on “Nada” with keys and general loveliness, piano on “This Love” was laid down in DC by the awesome Will Rast, super longtime homie Jeremy Bruch did his half man/half amazing bit on “Lumen” drums, Dj/producer extraordinaire Urusala 1000 got “Cantata” started in a direction beyond my ears, Nat’s brother Pablo Anglade lent his ears and perfect constructive criticism, Tomas Cookman and all Nacional Records let her vision shine through and Jeff Antebi and Waxploitation Records believed in Nat on little more than some demos we made. I filled in the blanks and produced, engineered and mixed over the course of two years while all the vocal tracking were left to the big dogs at Public Hi-Fi Studio – Jim Eno and Brad Bell. Erik Wofford at Cacophony Recorders mastered it to perfection and was oh so patient with my last minute freakouts. Hope I didn’t leave anyone out..gonna keep thinking on this..
As you can see it took quite the team and it’s quite the record. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. And thanks for the opportunity Natalia, let’s start the next one already….
Been doing a lot of cool ass recording work at LOS lately – some of it producing, some just engineering. As if I don’t see these dudes enough, been recording a lot of sessions featuring the Grupo Fantasma/Brownout horns. Just finished up some recording over SXSW with producer and super-friend Steve Berlin of Los Lobos for the new Deer Tick record he’s producing, along with Rob Cowell of Deer Tick. Other projects with the horns include sessions for White Denim, hip hop producer Reggie Coby and Camera Obscura, also via Steve Berlin. Keepin the engineering chops working and taking part in good music in the process is always a good thing.
Money Chicha getting ready to record our first EP this next week, really looking forward to that. Been working on a record with old Laredo homie Dante Schwebel (City and Colour, ex-Hacienda) and Patrick Hallahan (My Morning Jacket) with a little Jesse Ebaugh (Heartless Bastards) love and a few other guests, really killer stuff…stay tuned for more info on that. I’m also producing and mixing 3 songs for a new band called Como Las Movies (former members of Maneja Beto), really cool stuff, somewhere between analog synth madness and cumbia.
What else….David Garza record mastered and in the can for a June release date, Natalia Clavier (full post coming soon) record in the can out for May 28th, Dan Dyer’s record almost there. I’ve heard Daniel Johnston’s Space Ducks will finally see a physical release soon so I’ll update on that when details are locked down. There you go – I’m busy, sorry for the two month gap between updates. AQ doin’ work.
As 2012 is now so “2012″, 2013 will see many LOS productions. Natalia Clavier’s album (produced and mostly engineered by yours truly-with contributions from the usual suspects-detailed post to come with full credits) will finally be seeing the light of day via Nacional Records in late May. David Garza‘s album will also be out next summer on Cosmica Records. Both are some of my proudest moments, amazing pieces of music I was honored to be part of. A few other release dates are in the works for other albums and projects but at the moment not in stone.
In the process of also wrapping up my first collaboration with one of my heroes, the one and only Shawn Lee. Called the Electric Peanut Butter Co., our collaborative effort lies somewhere between “soft” psych and acoustic dusty soul, with Shawn himself stepping out for the lead vocals. Shawn and I have spoken about this for almost two years and in a matter of one email declaring “It’s Time”, about a month later the bulk of the record was done. Had a blast on this one, every new sound I get from Shawn makes me step my game up and the process of sending ideas over email only to have him turn them around in hours from his London studio is kinda some futuristic shit. Plus, the 6 hour time difference means he’s always working early in my part of the world, in my favorite time of the day-early morning.
In related LOS news, the mighty Grupo Fantasma has a 6th record now officially in the can. Produced by the legendary Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Diamond Rugs, etc) and engineered by Jim Eno at Public HiFi (with the occasional overdub at LOS), this one is big, bold and bad, check grupofantasma.com for more info very soon, expect a summer release.
(trivia-what doJim Eno, Jesus and Shawn Lee have in common??)
Check out the new single “Bad Trip” by psychedelic gospel group The Relatives out of Dallas, TX, featuring your boy on guitar. The group (40 years strong) is releasing their second album in almost 40 years this year, produced by aforementioned wizard Jim Eno.
Latin funk hearthrobs Brownout are getting ready to hit the road for a short run, download a few freebies and check out dates here, including an old unreleased track called “Business at Hand” written by Beto Martinez and a couple of mixes of Brownout jams by Greg Gonzalez.
Sorry for the lack of updates, been redefining the word GRINDING lately. Rest assured, things are cooking on 4 burners as per usual. In the meantime, check out my Tumblr which is easier to update as a microblog and I’ll leave you with some pretty studio pic “teasers”. Detailed update coming ASAP….
New song with Jazz Mills/New Echocentrics Remix EP
October 18, 2012Adrian
Recently had the honor of recording a song for Austin’s SIMS Foundation, which provides mental health services and more for Austin musicians. It is a cover of a song off French/Italian singer Nino Ferrer’s 1974 record “Nino and Radiah” called “Looking for You”. I had the pleasure of working with the amazing singer Jazz Mills (Cowboy and Indian), keyboardist/genius Graham Reynolds and the best all around pound for pound musician David Garza. The song is a promotional song you can buy or stream with all proceeds benefitting the organization. It is a great song (if i might say so myself! I didn’t write it!) and an even better cause, PLEASE support the organization or simply buy the song to enjoy it!
On that note, I am musical director for their upcoming Femmes for SIMS event. It features singers Nina Diaz (Girl in a Coma), Pamela Hart and Jazz Mills, backed by an all star band comprised of some of my favorite musicians-Graham Reynolds on piano, David Garza on guitar, Mike Longoria on drums, Wendy Simmons on bass. Stay tuned for more on this, you can buy tickets and read more about the event here. Also check out this awesome promo video….
In Echocentrics land, Ubiquity Records will be releasing a Remix EP, featuring remixes by Grant Phabao, Max Tannone and Mcpullish. You can stream the EP here….there is ONE brand new song at 2:30, called Pioneira and featuring horns by Todd Simon, drums by John Speice, guitar by Eddie “The Mexican Edge” Torres, and vocals by Tita Lima. Enjoy….
Dan Dyer, Grupo Fantasma/Steve Berlin
August 28, 2012Adrian
Been a busy summer squeezing in work between some Grupo Fantasma and Brownout touring, but I stay on my grind daily. This month had me begin work with Texas treasure Dan Dyer on his new record, handling both producing and engineering duties. As Margaret Moser of the Austin Chronicle said, “in a town full of guitar slingers, Dan’s a SINGER.” The mic don’t lie. This isn’t cosmopolitan retro soul, this is the sound of East Texas, West Texas, Central Texas, where country meets soul over some bourbon. On a short break from it until I get back from touring, but even in the early stages this one is shaping up to be quite the gem.
(finally have some real pics courtesy of Stevan Alacala!)
In LOS related news – At long last, Grupo Fantasma will kickstart the follow up to 2011′s Grammy winning “El Existential.” This will be the band’s first venture working with an outside producer (I won’t be producing it, sniff, sniff) and we’re honored to have the great Steve Berlin from Los Lobos at the helm. Sessions begin in September with Jim Eno from Spoon engineering and we’re diving in head first as soon as our touring wraps up. More info to come….
More quick updates: an album I helped mix for some friends from various projects and produced and led by Felix Pacheco called Cilantro Boombox will be available this month….read about it here. Began some mixing work for homies The Greyhounds. The Echocentrics will be releasing a new song and remix EP this fall on Ubiquity Records….speaking of Ubiquity – flagship artist Shawn Lee? yes, I’m a fan and lucky to be contemporary…collaboration? Very soon…do you like peanut butter? psychedelia? We do.
David Garza/Hard Proof/Brownout 7″
July 11, 2012Adrian
Putting the finishing touches on two new LOS productions this month. The first is the legendary David Garza’s new record which I have the honor of engineering and producing. Got ten amazing songs in the can with a couple of outtakes to boot. Loving this record…what started out as an experiment in minimalism has turned into something of an iconic Texas statement, as sparse and open as the roads of West Texas you can often find him on, but rockin as early T Rex meets, dare I say, White Album era Beatles? I don’t know…whatever, it kicks ass, I’ll spare you my weak attempt at music journalism. Some of the best songs I’ve ever gotten to play on, some of the coolest sounds I’ve ever gotten in my studio and our palette consists solely of what’s within it’s walls. Looking to wrap up this month and sharing some more about it.
Also finishing up 4 singles for local big band powerhouse Hard Proof. You may know them from one of the many bands they moonlight in…Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Calm Blue Sea, The Echocentrics, etc etc. The band is a beast, big, bold and bad, and we captured some of the magic at East Austin Recorders with my partner in grime, Sam Patlove, engineering. The collective talent of the band is off the meter and harnessing things like that can be a challenge with so many members, but my job is made easier when each musician is tasteful as hell. Look for some vinyl singles this fall!
Brownout has a new 7″ release on Kept Records….check out this preview on Okayplayer for “Flaximus” and “I Wont Lie”….stream my contirbution “I Wont Lie” here…
Stream “Flaximus”….
Just wrapped up a remix for my man in Paris, Grant Phabao. He’s done countless remixes for my projects with his hard roots sound. I gladly traded the favor for a song called “African Man”, stripped it down to its core and rebuilt it as a folk funk tune, with a splash o’ psychedelia.
Baby Atlas/Suzanna Choffel/David Garza
May 10, 2012Adrian
Been busier than ever this last month before a short hiatus this June (along with a few crazyshows) and a few ridiculously dope projects coming up. Produced a gang of songs for good friends Baby Atlas, tracked over at my buddy Rob Halverson’s Halversonics studio and mixed here at LOS. Had a few discussions with drummer Dave Carroll about musical direction pre-sessions – he had me at Latin Playboys. Done deal. The stuff is killer, can’t wait for folks to hear it. Sincere, soulful and understated, but they’ll play circles around you if they have to cause they can, fucker. Step off…stay tuned.
Cut a song with Austinite turned Brooklynite Suzanna Choffel during one of her recent visits back home. One day, one song, really one half day if you want to get technical, she’s the real deal. Beautiful tune, I’ve snuck it into some DJ sets (without her permission) and it prompts many visits to the decks asking what I’m playing, a good sign. Also recently began working on David Garza’s new album. What to say about these songs….well, we’re approaching it as if it were done on a 4 track….sort of (my 4 track not working at the moment). Raw, honest, sparse and intimate, with some good old fashion rock n’roll to boot. The man, the myth, been a pleasure having him rock at LOS. Lots more to come about this project….
In other tidbits, Brownout’s “Oozy” is out now! As is Daniel Johnston’s Space Ducks!
Also also, check out this feature on yours truly on Blurt Online.
Out this month! – BROWNOUT, FUNK ARK, ADRIAN YOUNGE
April 9, 2012Adrian
Lastly, Brownout drops their third full length LP on April 24th on Nat Geo Music. It was co-produced by myself and guitarist Beto Martinez and bassist Greg Gonzalez. In the meantime download this FREE EP of dub remixes of Brownout classics by ATX’s McPullish.
P.S. Waiting on confirmed ITunes release date for Daniel Johnston’s Space Ducks and will update.
SXSW 2012. It’s here. You can’t beat it so join it. As always, I’ll be running around like an idiot (this is the last year I promise to myself). Catch:
TUE MARCH 13th – Daniel Johnston “Space Ducks” release party @ The Belmont (Daniel Johnston, Built to Spill, Alex Maas of The Black Angels, more) *I won’t be performing but produced the album so I’ll be there for a bit to check it out. TUE MARCH 13th – OCOTE SOUL SOUNDS @ Ruta Maya – 11:30 PM (ESL Music Night) WED MARCH 14th – Music Panel with Adrian Quesada, Alex Maas, Jim Eno – Austin Convention Center – 5 PM WED MARCH 14th – BROWNOUT @ Kenny Dorham’s Backyard – 11 PM WED MARCH 14th – MONEY CHICHA @ Sahara Lounge – 1 AM THU MARCH 15th – BROWNOUT @ Roqlandia Party at GSD&M – 5 PM FRI MARCH 16th – BROWNOUT @ Papi Tinos – 5:30 PM FRI MARCH 16th – GRUPO FANTASMA @ Copa – 10 PM SAT MARCH 17th – BROWNOUT @ Lucy’s Retired Surfer Bar – 3 PM SAT MARCH 17th – BROWNOUT @ The Stage on 6th (Nat Geo Showcase) – 8:30 PM SAT MARCH 17th – GRUPO FANTASMA/BROWNOUT with THE GZA @ Haven – 1 AM
Recently had the honor of playing guitar on a new album by The Relatives, the amazing funky gospel group from Dallas, TX, now 40 years strong. Great session, great ATX musicians helping out, great shit all around. A few photos below:
