Winterpills main man, the beloved genius that is Philip B Price has started putting up the promised collection of archive albums, all remastered and remixed with more to follow soon. It's all wonderful stuff.
Vitamin (1988)
Recorded at home in Woodstock, NY, fall 1988, on a Tascam
PortaOne, with a borrowed Linn drum machine.
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
https://philipprice.bandcamp.com/album/goodbye-bambi-manor-1989
A burst of melodic anxiety recorded during the break-up of a marriage and the break-up of my first band (Memorial Garage), this collection of 4-track recorded songs became a template for how the next few years would unfold for me creatively: work fast and loose, first takes are best, smash as many instruments onto a track as you can, lo-fi is the real-fi, who cares if the drum machine sounds ridiculous. i think it’s a pretty beautiful mess. it still hurts to listen to. its the first real howl of the loss of innocence. It was self-actualized on cassettes with hand-made & xeroxed inner sleeves
"Bambi Manor itself was an old resort hotel, clearly
visible from Rt. 87 in upstate New York. That summer of 1989, it burned to the
ground. Album recorded in Woodstock, NY.
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017
at the Boomerang Ranch, Hadley, MA.
Mastered by Dan Richardson.
E (1990)
A song cycle mostly conceived in a dream about a Greek statue that rides around a mythical decaying city on a motorcycle, while a dictatorial being known simply as E hovers menacingly in the sky. The narrative is barely suggested, but it's behind it.
Fun fact: track 6 is a Miracle Legion song I heard on a friends mix tape around 1990 and I immediately went home and recorded this cover, not even knowing who the band was, really. Years later, the songs author, Mark Mulcahy, became a friend and Winterpills recorded the exact same song, this time as a full band, for the compilation "Ciao My Shining Star".
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
True Moisture (1990)
This album was made back-to-back with E. I was getting to be
a better engineer. I was living in a small apartment in Keene, NH with my
daughters, working a day job as a reporter for the local newspaper, going to
planning board meetings and writing weather copy.
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Tender Skelter (1991)
Recorded in 1991 in Gilsum, NH.
Around this time I reconnected with my college friend and
fellow Frank Baker student Smoki Thoreau (nee Claudia Friedlander), and I began
my lifelong exploration of the male/female vocal dynamic. Which was a great
discovery to me with my particular Irish tenor, usually stuck in one emotive
gear. Smoki sings on several songs here; also contributes bass clarinet and
recorder.
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Show & Tell (1992)
Both this and Tender Skelter were recorded at a housesitting
situation in rural Gilsum, NH. "Fail My Test", "Vaster Than
Charlotte" and "Girl In Landscape" are co-writes with Jonathan
Lethem.
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA.
Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Roped (1993)
Philip writes: "Like Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, I
conceived of one side rock, the other side acoustic. I didn’t stick to
it." Recorded in Keene, NH.Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the
Boomerang Ranch, Hadley, MA.Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Harpies (1994)
By now, The Maggies were a going concern. This was the last
full album before I began writing almost exclusively for the band; (some of the
songs were used by the band on the Dance For Daddy EP). I had sold my trusty
Telecaster (long regretted) and bought a Dan Electro Silvertone (long
sold)." Keene, NH.Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Duct-Tape Tight (1999)
The five-year gap between Harpies and Duct-Tape Tight marks
a fertile period in the life of The Maggies, but many songs did not make the
cut, or were tried and rejected, or simply were never recorded. This album is a
collection of the best of those. Keene, NH - Northampton, MA.Remixed by Philip,
in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch, Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
13 Songs For Right Now (2002)
Philip: "A real line had been crossed by the time this
album was made. Maggies split. My father died. Long-term relationship ended.
Custodies regained. Atmospheres strafed by meteors. Towers collapsed. The tall
ships began turning back from the new world." Easthampton, MA.
Notes: "Waiting For Summer" was written/recorded
when all these songs were, but unfinished and left off the original CD. The
song "A Tall Man", which is from the 1990 album, True Moisture, was
added instead. That song is now back on True Moisture where it belongs.
Philip says: "This whole album was originally released
in a somewhat unfinished, rushed state - after The Maggies split, I was so eager
to get something out that I pulled this collection together and pressed it up.
I was also headed out on tour with John Wesley Harding and needed something to
represent what I was doing. I've never liked how unfinished the original
version of this album sounded. So, now, I have gone ahead and finished it.
Mostly that means instruments were added, and bass parts that were originally
cheap keyboard bass were replaced with real bass guitar parts, etc. And it was
properly mixed on much better gear. Other changes too.
"To me, now, it's sounds as it should have at the time.
Purists can keep both versions of the album and argue about it forever. To me,
this is the real version of the album."
Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Honey In The Chemicals (2003)
Philip: "13 Songs and Honey were made in one big rush
of writing and recording during this 2 year period. In my mind they aren’t
really separated from each other; more like a 2 chapter novella.
Much like 13 Songs, this was another unfinished-sounding album
to me. Not as rushed as '13', but i was eager to follow up on what I thought
were the weaknesses of '13' that this one was almost as hurried. More ambitious
and cohesive, but still frustrated me.
Like I did with '13', I've added real instruments where
there were previously shitty synth basses and inferior drum samples, etc.
Remixed on much better gear. Arrangement ideas fleshed out that were just
hinted at before. This to my ear is the real version of the album."
Recorded in Easthampton, MA. Additional parts Hadley, MA at the Boomerang Ranch.
Come Through This (2004)
Unreleased songs; all written and recorded right on the cusp
of the birth of Winterpills. Almost a lost Winterpills album, without
Winterpills. Still coming from the same well of the last two. Northampton, MA.
Remixed by Philip, in 2016-2017 at the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA. Mastered by Dan Richardson.
Plus there's six volumes of Winterpills demos to delight
https://philipprice.bandcamp.com/album/winterpills-demos-vol-1-orchard-street-blues-2004
Winterpills Demos Vol. 1: Orchard Street Blues (2004)
Original demos of the songs that became Winterpills' first
self-titled album. Mostly recorded in an apartment on Belanger St. in downtown
Northampton, MA, around 2003-2004.
Winterpills Demos Vol 2: Hating The Hand (2006)
Demos for Winterpills second album, The Light Divides.
Recorded at home on Belanger St., Northampton, MA, and the Boomerang Ranch,
Hadley, MA.
Winterpills Demos Vol. 3: Treetops In Flames (2008)
Winterpills Demos Vol. 4: My Dead Moonbeam (2010)
Demos for the album Tuxedo of Ashes.
Winterpills Demos Vol. 5: Though Its Flowers Are The Fewest
(2012)
Demos for All My Lovely Goners. Since we engineered that
album at home, many of the final Winterpills versions were literally built on
top of these demos. Had to do some scraping away to get at the demos underneath
but there they were. Fortunately I saved versions of everything.
Note: Originally Goners was going to be a solo album, as I
had fleshed out most of these songs pretty fully by myself. The once the band
got hold of them they began to change and the story shifted. There were 3 songs
that didn't make it onto the Winterpills albums; I am including those here.
Winterpills Demos Vol. 6: Counting The Compound Eyes (2016)
Demos for Love Songs (2016). I've included a couple
different versions of Celia Johnson.
http://artintodust.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/i-remember-thinking-first-time-i-heard.html
1 comment:
Fantastic News
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