Ross Cooper's blog

The non-adventures of Ross, Sally & Boo

Time Now

Worked on a new song recently. It's not really finished, but I like the sound of it so I figured I'd put it out as is, and update it in the future as it gets more complete. Lots of guitars, and freakin' chimey bells! It doesn't get any better then that ;-)

Beautiful World (Colin Hay cover)

Last weeks Colin Hay show got me hooked on a bunch of his songs. This morning I worked out the chords to "Beautiful World" and enjoyed playing it so much that I thought I'd make a quick recording of it to test out the studio Im putting together. It's just me & my ej200 acoustic, which if Im honest was always my favorite combination - must record more acoustic stuff like this!

If you want to hear the way better original version, its on Colin Hay's album "Going Somewhere" (here on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-world/id65116418?i=65116242)

Tigers In The Night

Last Friday night I saw Colin Hay (songwriter & frontman of Australian band 'Men At Work') playing an acoustic gig in Cave Creek, AZ. It was a great show, and he's a fantastic songwriter & singer - man would I kill for a voice like that! 'Gathering Mercury' from his new album of the same name has to be one of the best songs I've heard in a while. Also did you know he's actually Scottish, not Australian?

Anyway, after getting to bed around 1am - long drive home! - I wake up at 4am singing a song. I had the chords & lyrics, everything! So I had to get up & write the words down, and figure the chords out. Here's a first pass recording of it - crank it on some good speakers :-)

And yes, I must have been dreaming about William Blake... :-)

A Little Something to Get Me Going

Started messing around with that "Tele Shimmer" loop from last week, and ended up going in a completely different direction with it. Its still only a minute long and completely unfinished, but man it got kinda funky with some big beats, groovy bass, and a vocal effect that kinda reminds me of Matthew Sweet...probably because I was listening to him this morning :-)

Oasis' Wonderwall (& the MXL R144 ribbon mic)

I've always been tempted by 'ribbon mics' but never able to afford one, until now - the surprisingly affordable ($99) MXL R144. So I decided to put it to the test by recording a quick song - one take for acoustic Ovation 12 string, 1 take for Fender Strat, and a 1 take vocal. I know Oasis' Wonderwall pretty well so decided to cover it. Results below...

World of Misery

Haven't really done much recording since I moved to Phoenix, but a new house with lots of space led to some new music gear purchases, and some recording over Christmas. Here's the first of a bunch of songs I've written but never recorded, called 'World of Misery' - cheery huh? :-) Its a pretty simple song, with just a Strat and SG playing through a Blues Deluxe amp, and a sexy 6-string Ibanez bass through an Acoustic amp, all mixed through Ableton Live & SSL!

Looking for some new music?

OK it's the last day of 2009 so I thought I'd share a few albums (well mp3 downloads) that I'd discovered over the last year...

If you're looking for some relaxing ambient chill out music, check out Lemongrass "Ambient Land" EP or Kiln "Dusker" both of which are great for playing in the background while you're doing something else. If you want something a little more in your face, check out The Fireman "Electric Arguments" (yes, Paul McCartney does electronica too!)

Favorite finds from abroad include the wonderful Miss Li "Dancing The Whole Way Home" (intelligent funny Swedish vaudeville pop!), David Byrne and Brian Eno "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" (nice to see these guys working together again, and the best David Byrne album in a while IMHO), The Kooks "Inside In / Inside Out" (a great album from a pretty young English band), The Fratellis "Here We Stand" (another great new-ish English band). My absolute favorites right now though are Snow Patrol "A Hundred Million Suns" (the best thing to come out of Ireland since U2 many decades ago) and Elbow "The Seldom Seen Kid" (the best thing from my old home town of Manchester for a long time). Honorable mention's go to Liam Finn "I'll Be Lightning" (Neil Finn's (Crowded House) son Liam proves that talent really does run in the family with this great album - makes me wish I lived in New Zealand!), Radiohead "In Rainbows" (worth the album price just for the stunningly beautiful track "House of Cards") and The New No 2 "You Are Here" (George Harrison's son, obsessed with old 60's TV show "The Prisoner" and the post 9-11 western world - scary!)

And finally, the Americas. Want to listen to a great American bar band? Check out The Hold Steady "Stay Positive" (start with the song "Sequestered in Memphis" and if that's your thing, feel free to buy everything else they've done - I did!), Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson "Break Up" is surprisingly good, I hadn't listened to either of them before. Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey "Here And Now" has some of the best harmonies since The Jayhawks, while The Weepies "Hideaway" is full of angelic girly vocal goodness and some great melodies. If youre more into rap check out Lupe Fiasco "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" (especially the great 60's throwback track "Daydreamin' (Featuring Jill Scott)").

That's all folks. Have a great New Year and see you in 2010 :-)

Fender

Lately I've been selling off a lot of my old music gear from the Mellotone days, and using the money to set up a new minimal solo recording rig. The sound I'm getting is great so I thought I'd stick out a quick demo mp3 :-) This is a mexican made Fender Strat going through an Apogee One into Ableton Live 8 running on a quad core 27" iMac. All amps modeled by Native Instruments Guitar Rig... I'm hoping this will turn into a song at some point, but for now it's a nice little sound montage.

NEW: Added some bass, organ & indian instruments - ooohhh ;-)

Tomorrow

Written & recorded by Ross Cooper.

About: A song that I've had written for a while, but only just around to recording - spurred on by a few new gear purchases that had to be justified by actually doing some recording! Ended up being one of my favorite mixes I've ever done, nice and loud with a nice separation between all the instruments. Lots of layers of vocals, guitars & hammond organ - always a winner :-)

Lyrics: Doesn’t matter what you think you know, if you don’t know where you want to go Tomorrow. Doesn’t matter what you think you’ve seen, if you don’t remember where you’ve been Tomorrow. And I’m here to tell you Don’t give up on the past. # Doesn’t matter all the books you’ve read, if you don’t understand a word they said Tomorrow. Doesn’t matter all your hours in church, actions dictate your worth Tomorrow. And I’m here to tell you the bible’s not the only book in the world # Doesn’t matter what you say, it’s who you help along the way Tomorrow. You have to learn that what you do, effects the world, not just you Tomorrow. And I’m here to tell you Don’t be a douche-bag oh no