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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:04 am
by LeeT
CraigGrannell wrote:
LeeT wrote:I'll meet you back here in 2006 to have a listen! Good luck...
Looks like it could be sooner than I thought, too—I have almost an hour of "nearly finished" material already, and I'm well into a totally different vocal style, which is much stronger (and, yes, double-tracked). Way more electronic (and more "me"), too.
I'll look forward to hearing some of that - Have you got a name for the project?

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 5:08 pm
by CraigGrannell
It'll still be released under the Project Noise moniker, but I've no idea just yet what the album itself will be called. The track listing (not yet ordered) is likely to be:

Midnight
Up for hire
Assist/persist
Reportage #1
The way we are
Theme from Project Noise
Betrayed
Urbanisation
Headliner
Crowds and dreams
Guidance
No return
Laid to rest
Smokescreen
Generations
90 miles per hour

Lots of immediate and reactionary lyrics/concepts on this one, too.

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:39 pm
by CraigGrannell
LeeT wrote:I'll look forward to hearing some of that - Have you got a name for the project?
Well, things are cracking along now, although I think it'll be early next year before the album is finally done. However, it now has a title ("Listen to me"), and a couple of Zzap! forum exclusive preview tracks (not finished mixes, but most of the way there) can be found below, along with their lyrics. It's definitely quite a diversion from what I was doing previously (no guitars, for one)...

BETRAYED - download mp3
Thoughts of mine, so plain to see
Precious art or facsimile?
No-one laughs and no-one cries
Their words are betrayed by their eyes

I said I wanted to be you
You said there's nothing to do
I said I wanted to be here
You said there's nothing to fear
I said I want to believe you
You said that I didn't need to
I said...
You said...
We said...
I want to believe you

I have a pain, a tear in my heart
About a dream -- when will it start?
Another year, they disappear
The words are difficult to hear

INSIDE OF ME - download mp3
I said no way, no way, no way!
I said no way, no way, no way!
You'll never get a piece of me
You'll never get inside of me

Inside of me, inside of me
Inside of me, oh no
You'll never get inside of me
You'll never get inside of me

Turn on your TV screen
Turn on your TV screen
On your TV, turn on
Turn on
Turn on your TV screen

Inside of me, inside of me
Inside of me, oh no
You'll never get inside of me
You'll never get inside of me

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 6:54 pm
by LeeT
Sorry its taken me a few days to post about the songs - Been a bit hectic...

The second song ('Inside Of Me') stands out as being the better one - Both songs remind me of early Depeche Mode (and my girlfriend asked if the second song was New Order (she wasn't aware of what I was playing).

'Betrayed' suffers (for me) from seeming to be a bit too long (although it is only 3:05 it does seem longer) and there's something a bit odd about the vocals (though the quality of singing is better). I think the vocals on that song need to be made totally 'vocoderised' (if you know what I mean) as your natural voice doesn't suit being under the other vocal track.

Obviously the pieces will fit more naturally into the whole album and I still think the tracks are very good. They are certainly catchy without comprimising into some kind of 'radio hit' version.

Keep up the good work!

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:56 pm
by CraigGrannell
Thanks for the (generally positive!) feedback. I can't say I see early DM in this myself—early DM was pretty twee, whereas I think the PN stuff has more of an edge. If there's something early 1980s that bears comparison, I'd say it would be pre-Dare Human League (i.e. before the band went shit) and early OMD (which clearly influences some of instrumental stuff on the album—but then you haven't heard that!).

The New Order thing is a comparison I get a lot, probably due to my love of Joy Division (which obviously heavily influenced NO), and probably because the band is a well-known electronic act, although I'd say NO is generally more laid back than me musically. The thing I'm kind of going for is more in Fischerspooner/"punk electro" territory, I guess.

I'll have a play with Betrayed's vocals and see what I get. I think there are about three or four overlaid tracks there, and I was pretty happy with how it turned out, but I do see what you mean about the contrast between the "low" and "high" part.
They are certainly catchy without comprimising into some kind of 'radio hit' version.
And that's definitely good to hear!

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:11 pm
by andy vaisey
Thanks for sharing those!

I actually prefer "Betrayed" (sorry LeeT!) and it kinda reminds me of a "raw" Lightning Seeds / Ian Broudie sort of sound, albeit a bit more "dancier".

Agreeing with Lee, some of the vocals seem a bit low in the mix. Other than that, very enjoyable!

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:32 am
by CraigGrannell
Thanks for the kind words. That's the first time I've ever been compared to The Lightning Seeds, though. It feels kind of strange.

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 12:29 pm
by LeeT
CraigGrannell wrote:Thanks for the kind words. That's the first time I've ever been compared to The Lightning Seeds, though. It feels kind of strange.
:lol:

Remember the final Lightning Seeds album where they went 'dance'? Talk about like mixing oil with water!

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 1:19 pm
by CraigGrannell
I can't say I do. I have one Lightning Seeds album (Pure), which I picked up for about a pound some time back. I've always been of the opinion that the band is rather inoffensive, but that you probably only need one album by them, because it's all pretty samey. If they went "dance", mind, I guess that opinion might be a little on the "wrong" side!

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 1:30 pm
by andy vaisey
CraigGrannell wrote:Thanks for the kind words. That's the first time I've ever been compared to The Lightning Seeds, though. It feels kind of strange.
It's not really a comparision - it's just that something in the Betrayed track vaguely reminds me of the keyboard sounding melodies that were the mainstay of Lightning Seeds songs.

And there's nothing wrong with the Lightning Seeds! *Great* band to see live - happy, bouncey music!! 8)

Betrayed has been played more than a few times now through my speakers!! 8)

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 1:46 am
by CraigGrannell
andy vaisey wrote:It's not really a comparision - it's just that something in the Betrayed track vaguely reminds me of the keyboard sounding melodies that were the mainstay of Lightning Seeds songs.
Ah, fair enough. It's actually kind of interesting how many bands my stuff has been compared to over the years. Often, each individual track reminds someone of something different, but then tracks are often inspired by different things. Oddly, when one of my demo CDs was reviewed in the dearly departed Making Music, the reviewer said how much like U96 I sounded (and suggested that my listed influences were therefore wide of the mark); at the time, I'd never heard U96, but after investigation I found I rather liked some of the act's stuff.
And there's nothing wrong with the Lightning Seeds! *Great* band to see live - happy, bouncey music!
The Lightning Seeds are a band that I can't bring myself to hate, despite the fact I probably should. Their songs are often a tad bland and light, and it's all a bit samey—qualities that usually puts bands on to my "never listen to again" list. However, they know how to pen a decent pop song, and therefore they're a good, solid, fairly melodic and inoffensive pop band. "Pure" is a long-time favourite of mine, actually.
Betrayed has been played more than a few times now through my speakers!! 8)
Well, if you like that one, I can pretty much guarantee you'll be well up for at least one other track on the album, Guidance, seeing as it's in a similar space (although the words of Guidance are rather more cutting). It's a strange album in some ways—Rob's 3-minute thing earlier in this thread actually led to some of the arrangements being streamlined, leading to a CD with the largest number of 3ish-minute tracks on that I've ever done. Some of it's quite alt-pop, although I've also integrated a number of early HL/OMD-style instrumentals, too, which I'm really very happy with.

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 2:33 pm
by CraigGrannell
Aaaand, Lee's influence has also led to the earlier album being remixed in its entirety, with lots of new vocals. Three remixed full tracks can be downloaded from http://www.projectnoise.co.uk/ — and a CafePress shop is on the way in a few weeks should anyone want a CD (at the moment, I'm burning CDRs for purchases).

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:59 pm
by Iain
Total necro.. yet again. Tiding up the forum leads me to read some great old threads.

Craig, did you ever release the "new" album you were working on, e.g. the one with Assist / Persist? No mention of it on the Project Noise web site.

Just listened to Assist / Persist again, great tune.

Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 1:32 pm
by CraigGrannell
Iain wrote:Total necro.. yet again. Tiding up the forum leads me to read some great old threads.
Craig, did you ever release the "new" album you were working on, e.g. the one with Assist / Persist? No mention of it on the Project Noise web site.
Just listened to Assist / Persist again, great tune.
Oh, man, this just reminds me of how long I've been working on this. But, no, it's not out yet. I need another couple of days to sort out mixing/mastering (something I'm rubbish at).

For what it's worth, Assist/Persist now has a remix, intended for a digital single: MP3 here (unmastered).