does it get better than this?

Well, i'm sure it can, and i hope it does, but i digress...

 

we started mixing the new record tonight.  Now, I'm a huge fan of the band The National, one of the best bands IMHO to come out in the past 10 years.  So when we decided to work with Greg as our producer, who engineered their last two records, i was psyched.  They actually recorded some early stuff at Firehouse 12, where we started doing drums (little known fact: the national sorta got started in new haven, or at least laid some groundwork there with one of the brotherly sets, as i used to see one of their old bands).  but that was long ago and i wasn't really into their early stuff for a long time, so that was just coincidence and it being the nicest room in new haven.

 

anyway, the reason for my excitement now is that we started the mixing tonight at Tarquin Studios, right in Bridgeport, which is where Greg works and the last two National records were cut, which i adore.  ok, cool, get to see the places and rooms that i saw in their DVD, great.  Get to meet the studio owner, who was the producer.  very nifty.  But the really cool fucking thing?  Apparantly the band was in there yesterday, and they had just finished mixing a new song "You're so far around the bend" that will be on some comp or another, and greg played it for me!  i got to hear new music from the national before it gets released!  and it sounds really really good.  very upbeat tempo & feel, comparitively, but still richly textured. 

 

the rest of the comp, from what i was told, sounds like a bunch of heavy hitters, and it should be really good.  benefiting AIDS, i think.  anyway, probably the closest I'll ever get to that band, so it was really really cool to be a fan tonight.