Saturday, November 21, 2009

Ode to 1 Gold St

Sadly, this post marks the end of Floating Fish Studios Holy Grail Week.  I hope you've enjoyed the past week of "classic" audio and video from the FFS Vaults.  Some of the material was funny, some serious, some controversial, and some downright hilarious but I hope you found it all to be entertaining.  While raiding the vaults, I came across more rare material so be on the lookout for a future Holy Grail Week.  Until then...

I'm pleased to share with you Ode to 1 Gold St.  1 Gold St or as it was otherwise known, Der Palast des Goldes, was the house I moved into with MC2P4 and LTJTHC when I first came to the Philadelphia area in Fall 1989.  After the long and turbulent Vizator Summer, I was glad to be able to get back to some fashion of normal life.  

The three of us wasted no time in setting up a studio in the house and the rest, as they say, is history.  When not at school or working (which wasn't very often), I was busy learning how to use all of the equipment we assembled in the studio and spent hours composing music.  Our set up was pretty small but, looking back, that turned out to be an advantage.

As evidenced in this song, taken from the final day of recording at 1 Gold St in the Summer of 1990, MC2P4 and I pulled out every bit of sonic might from the gear we had.  This majestically thematic improvisational jam was our final farewell to 1 Gold St.  Shortly after, we were off to Pottstown PA and the creation of Floating Fish Studios.

Friday, November 20, 2009

FFS Blog Hits 100!

This entry marks the celebration of my 100th Floating Fish Studios Blog post. I started the FFS Blog back in June (2009) as a way to let people know that FFS moved, share pictures of my new house/studio, and to keep everyone up-to-date with the latest FFS news.

Since it's inception, the FFS Blog has done all of those things but it has also expanded to cover much more. It is now an important platform for releasing previously unreleased audio and video from the FFS Vaults, an outlet for sharing sordid tales and backstories from the FFS universe, and even a way for me to embarrass myself with pictures and stories from my youth.

Though preparing/creating new blog posts is very time consuming, I'm having fun doing it and plan to continue. However, I would like to find out what you, the reader, watcher, and listener, think of the blog. Feel free to post a comment or send me an e-mail to let me know.

Here's to another 100!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Any Questions? - Numan (Madonna's Puss)

Floating Fish Studios Holy Grail Week wouldn't be complete without the inclusion of this song. Numan (Madonna's Puss) has always been one of our most talked about performances. It's one of our earliest song ideas and was never officially released.

Recorded in Fall 1989 at Der Palast des Goldes, this song's music is completely overshadowed by MC2P4's indignant, humorous, and evocative lyrics. One moment he's singing about the trials and tribulations of corporate life and, in the next breath, his topic has changed to being about seeing your mom in bed.

I'll simply leave it at that and let MC2P4's lyrics say the rest.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Any Questions? - Scrape The Pus (Live)

Tonight's Floating Fish Studios Holy Grail Week entry is an "insensitive" one.  To protect the innocent, I've altered the image of the protagonist in this story and, instead of explaining the back story of the song lyrics, I'll simply say that they were inspired by a medical procedure and a Ho Magos comic (aka Kenny's Cartoons).  I challenge the listener to try and decipher the blasphemous words.  Those in the FFS inner circle know the story well so you need no explanation.  

This live, improvisational jam was recorded in 1991 by the three member line up of Any Questions? which consisted of Ttam Troll - Vocals, MC2P4 - Synthesizers/Samplers, and LTJTHC - Electronic Drums.  Musically, this is one of our most inspired improvs.  After months of nightly improvisational jamming during and after the first Gulf War, we had become a very tight and cohesive unit and it shows on this track.  The song intro slowly pulls the listener in before erupting at the 1:48 minute mark with a barrage of electronic drums, synthetic warfare, and vocal shriekings.  The sonic terror that ensues is some of our finest music!

All that's left to say is...

"This is your dance remix!"

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Any Questions? Power Trio

Floating Fish Studios Holy Grail Week continues with a live recording from The Any Questions? Power Trio (pictured above in 2004 from L to R - LTJTHC, Ttam Troll, and MC2P4) .

In Spring 1990, we (Any Questions?) converged on P&G Studios to work on new demo ideas.  Up until this point, we had only been working with programmed electronic drum machine parts but the larger studio setting afforded us the opportunity to set up a full acoustic drum kit.  We took advantage of this and recorded a series of songs featuring LTJTHC on acoustic drums.  What makes these recordings so rare is the fact that they are the only ones ever made by Any Questions? to have acoustic drums.

Taken from the Live With Two Mikes session, on this track you'll hear LTJTHC's ride cymbal charged drum performance setting the groove for MC2P4's slithering Moog Bass synth line and Ttam Troll's relentless Peter Hook-style electric bass soloing.

I hope you enjoy this previously unreleased track!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Any Questions? - Oil In The Gulf (1991)




We start off the Floating Fish Studios Holy Grail Week with some absolutely "classic" raw video studio footage. Only the FFS inner circle will realize the full "classic" nature of this but, hopefully, everyone else will at least be entertained and amused by it.


This chemical-fueled video studio footage was shot at FFS II shortly after the end of the first Gulf War in 1991. MC2P4's lyrics for this song were inspired by the fiery oil rigs that littered the Kuwait desert and sprayed their precious crude all over everything and everyone. His one-man, one take performance was captured by Brian "Who" Black and has long been hidden in the FFS vaults.

The audio for this song was recorded shortly before the video shoot and was our first (and last) attempt at multi-track recording using the Ensoniq ESQ-1 tape sync feature. As you can hear, the angular and disjointed music has a visceral, jerking quality that can't be blamed solely on the "altered" sub-humans that recorded it.

For the collectors out there, here is the original never-before-released audio recording for Any Questions? - Oil In The Gulf. Enjoy...

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Holy Grail Week!

It's Holy Grail Week here on the Floating Fish Studios Blog.  I was tied up last week in the corporate world and was unable to post my usual number of blog entries so, to make up for that and to mark the push to our 100th blog entry, I plan to celebrate this week with "classic" and very rare audio and video from the FFS archives.

Get ready...