Sunday 23 December 2007

Mark Mikel Cosmic Suprise 2007




1. COSMIC SUPRISE
2. THE RIDE YOUR ON
3. LOVESICK
4. GIRL IN THE WINDOW
5. ALL THUMBS
6. PERPETUAL MOUTH
7. SO MUCH LOST IN LOVE
8. LET'S GO GET HIGH
9. WHEREVER YOU ARE
10. SHE CAN FLY SO SHE MIGHT TRY
11. BACKWARD EVOLUTION
12. SLEEP HEAD AWAITS

Mark Mikel "Waiting for Buzz for Aldrin to come out started to drive me completely crazy around mid-May. I needed to escape into the studio and do something new. It's been suggested to me by many to do another solo album (my last one being 13 years ago) and with nothing else going on, I really had a good opportunity for the first time in years.I decided to record in an anti-Buzz way. That album was worked and re-worked as a whole for a couple of years. This time I'll just write a new song, record and mix it and put it away- not listening, re-evaluating or judging. Just move onto the next song until there's 12 of them.The first 3 songs were done in a week and I was having a blast. I haven't worked this way since before Love Is What You Want. Many nights I'd record until I dropped (usually around 5am). Jammi would bring me dinners and made sure I really didn't have to worry about anything else.This is the first CD that I've done where I played and sang every note. So it's kind of a vanity project I needed to get out of my system. I'm now really looking forward to recording with others again (especially Scott Hunt when he's finished scoring the movie he's been hired to do).I also, for the first time, didn't use any synthesizers, brass or sitars. I stayed pretty true to the "straight up" rock instruments. In the case of every song on Cosmic Surprise (exept for All Thumbs) I laid down the drums first while I pictured the rest of the arrangement in my mind. That's basically been my home recording technique since 1978I started recording on May 18 finished the last song on July 12th. I listened to everything and I thought it was okay. Jam snapped my pic for a cover and we decided to go ahead and make it available in our ebay bug vault.This will be available as a CDR version that I'll put together by hand -only until I can afford to press 'em."

Jammi “It was a great honour to hear these songs as they were done. Every time one was completed Mark would put it on a cdr and bring it home to me. Then he'd forget about the finished one's and start another but I listened to them every day! That was great! When the cd was complete, he asked me to burn him a cdr and put the songs in the order of my choice for his first listen. I can't tell you how wonderful it makes me feel that he kept the order I chose!”
Mark “It was interesting to do it that way. It was the closest I could ever come to listening to my own disc as if I just bought it. I told Jammi her sequencing was genius!”

Mark and Jammi

3 comments:

Jammi said...

This is great Mick, I love it! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

The songs on this CD are as good as on any Pillbugs record, and the simpler (but definitely not simple) arrangements really let the compositions shine. MAKE MORE, MARK!

-Gary

jay strange said...

have to totally agree with you there gary...cosmic surprise stands shoulder to shoulder with the pillbugs albums...it seems strange that only about forty people have ever heard it
mick