SUBTITLE: "Album Oriented Radio Experience"


PhD project board... 
https://trello.com/b/0MjNRH6b

The Mariner's Song Project

The Mariner's Song Project is a multi-volume compilation "box set" for Mariner's Song Complex Gin and its Canadian craft distillery in Campbell River, BC. Due to COVID, these recordings have taken place remotely between physical studio spaces in California and British Columbia. The resulting collaboration through Podstream Studios continues research in popular culture and the live music industry by Joel Flynn at Simon Fraser University's School of Interactive Arts & Technology from 2005-2011. 

Released in early 2021, this promotional EP from the Mariner's Song Project features "re-imagined" covers of late 70s and early 80s classic/prog rock songs that inspired UK record producer Ian McAvoy growing up and led him to – as THE Bruce Dickinson would say – "explore the studio space". What started with a Pink Floyd song has led to a double album's worth of material in just over a month (in COVID time, that is). Original instrumental and vocal versions can be found on his SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/ian-mcavoy

ABOUT THE "MAMA BEAR" EP: The instrumental tracks then were sent north over the magic of the internets in order to add vocals from the distillery's co-founder, Joel Flynn (also lead singer of Vancouver's The Naturals, and gameshow host of Rockaoke Live! as "Dr. RD Goulet, Professional Voiceman"). Writing a PhD paper on remote studios and media labs at the time, Flynn's initial interest was for a musical demo piece around online collaboration. One song would've done, yet here we are!

Flynn had also been designing another demo piece for a related paper on "digital ecosystems". For this, he had mapped it all out on a Trello board that reconfigured albums by Taylor Swift and members of the band The National into a 6-disc/12-side "digital box set"(https://trello.com/b/MOHT2OWo). So the idea of a box set that has a "prototype" album and a bunch of empty Trello cards had appeal, i.e. where future songs could go and be updated and reordered along with other info, images, and different recorded versions. If you want to check out what's going on "Behind the Music"... here's the Trello: https://trello.com/b/0MjNRH6b

Interestingly, Flynn's remote collaboration with a professional recording engineer stuck in his professional studio in California involved a USB podcasting mic and GarageBand to capture vocals from his mom's dining room. But the vocals were strong, the collaborations moved rapidly, and the scenic views of Campbell River inspired a marine theme that suggested a nice gin and/or rum drink for paring with a *theoretical* vinyl album. In other words, a prototype for a less-than-theoretical future listening experience!

ABOUT THE BOX SET CONCEPT: The idea for re-packaging this collaboration came from realizing that streaming services have destroyed songwriting royalties. So is making original music that has no commercial viability in today's music industry a wasted effort? But there are other ways to be creative in a post-rock n' roll era of brand-focused capitalism that includes polluted digital ecosystems, blind promotional channels, and programmatic social media advertising. Got lemons? Make lemonade. And add gin from your own distillery and sell it for a profit. Or something like that.

Instead, the two collaborators and co-conspirators decided to pull a "Reverse George Clooney" and start up a micro distillery FIRST and then use popular culture to promote the Mariner's Song™ brand as a way to sell their premium spirits. The target market here consists of the same vinyl album collectors that also have prized bottle collections for that perfect bottle of wine to sip while Dark Side of the Moon plays over dinner. The seven songs on the Promo EP can be considered "market research" in this endeavour.

So pour a drink, put the record on (headphones optional)and give it a listen to this latest compilation, "The Mama Bear EP" or check out the original prototype: https://soundcloud.com/podstream/experience-design-prototype-1

The Mariner's Song Project Promo EP

Lab experiments

Preview track from a forthcoming full length vinyl LP record that is currently in digital design prototype form (as part of the "Album Oriented Radio Experience" and "Box Set View" research projects). This is an unfinalized mix from March 2021 of music performed and produced by Ian Bruce McAvoy with vocals by Joel Flynn on the 1972 Steely Dan song "Do It Again" from the album Can't Buy a Thrill.

https://trello.com/c/QxEQsMbo

Do It Again (orig. Steely Dan)

Keystone piece for a PhD project in design strategy for branding and business development, details forthcoming...

https://trello.com/b/0MjNRH6b

Album Oriented Radio Experience / Design Prototype 2021.03.14

The Man With The Child In His Eyes (orig. Kate Bush)

https://trello.com/c/c4RXHgjR

Original song by Peter Gabriel (1977). Vocals recorded by J. Flynn in Campbell River BC, March 2021. Piano by Ian Bruce in San Jose CA. Dedicated to Lorraine Flynn (a.k.a. "Mama Bear") for another Easter long weekend where she can't have her regular group over for turkey due to COVID-19. A song will have to do this time, including her chiming clock bell in the mix! :)

"A song? At this time in the morning?"  – Doug Flynn, Fisherman's Wharf, Campbell River BC, July 5th, 2007

https://soundcloud.com/podstream/ipod-microphone-phone-test

Here Comes The Flood: The Mama Bear Mix (orig. Peter Gabriel)

Things We Do For Love (orig. 10cc)

https://trello.com/c/cIbqZQ1s

The Mariner's Song Project is a multi-volume compilation "box set" for Mariner's Song Complex Gin and its Canadian craft distillery in Campbell River, BC. Due to COVID, these recordings have taken place remotely between physical studio spaces in California and British Columbia. The resulting collaboration through Podstream Studios continues research in popular culture and the live music industry by Joel Flynn at SFU's School of Interactive Arts & Technology from 2005-2011. 

Released in early 2021, this promotional EP from the Mariner's Song Project features "re-imagined" covers of late 70s and early 80s classic/prog rock songs that inspired UK record producer Ian McAvoy growing up and led him to – as THE Bruce Dickinson would say – "explore the studio space". What started with a Pink Floyd song has led to a double album's worth of material in just over a month (in COVID time, that is). Original instrumental and vocal versions can be found on his SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/ian-mcavoy

ABOUT THE "MAMA BEAR" EP: The instrumental tracks then were sent north over the magic of the internets to add vocals from the distillery's co-founder, Joel Flynn (also lead singer of Vancouver's The Naturals, and gameshow host of Rockaoke Live! as "Dr. RD Goulet, Professional Voiceman"). Writing a PhD paper on remote studios and media labs at the time, Flynn's initial interest was for a musical demo piece around online collaboration. One song would've done, yet here we are!

Flynn had also been designing another demo piece for a related paper on "digital ecosystems". For this, he had mapped it all out on a Trello board that reconfigured albums by Taylor Swift and members of the band The National into a 6-disc/12-side "digital box set"(https://trello.com/b/MOHT2OWo). So the idea of a box set that has a "prototype" album and a bunch of empty Trello cards had appeal, i.e. where future songs could go and be updated and reordered along with other info, images, and different recorded versions. If you want to check out what's going on "Behind the Music"... here's the Trello: https://trello.com/b/0MjNRH6b

Interestingly, Flynn's remote collaboration with a professional recording engineer stuck in his professional studio in California involved a USB podcasting mic and GarageBand to capture vocals from his mom's dining room. But the vocals were strong, the collaborations moved rapidly, and the scenic views of Campbell River inspired a marine theme suggesting a nice gin and/or rum drink for paring with a *theoretical* vinyl album. In other words, a prototype for a less-than-theoretical future listening experience!

ABOUT THE BOX SET CONCEPT: The idea for re-packaging this collaboration came from realizing that streaming services have destroyed songwriting royalties. So is making original music that has no commercial viability in today's music industry a wasted effort? But there are other ways to be creative in a post-rock n' roll era of brand-focused capitalism that includes polluted digital ecosystems, blind promotional channels, and programmatic social media advertising. Got lemons? Make lemonade. And add gin from your own distillery and sell it for a profit. Or something like that.

Instead, the two collaborators and co-conspirators decided to pull a "Reverse George Clooney" and start up a micro distillery FIRST and then use popular culture to promote the Mariner's Song™ brand as a way to sell their premium spirits. The target market here consists of the same vinyl album collectors that also have prized bottle collections for that perfect bottle of wine to sip while Dark Side of the Moon plays over dinner. The seven songs on the Promo EP can be considered "market research" in this endeavour.

So pour a drink, put the record on (headphones optional)and give it a listen to this latest compilation, "The Mama Bear EP" or check out the original prototype: https://soundcloud.com/podstream/experience-design-prototype-1

FULL ALBUM: The Mariner's Song Project: Promo EP (April 2021)

mix 2 vocals recorded May 18, 2021

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights

Kate Bush's 1978 song "Wuthering Heights" is most likely the best-known creative work inspired by Brontë's story that is not properly an "adaptation". Bush wrote and released the song when she was 18 and chose it as the lead single in her debut album. It was primarily inspired by the 1939 Olivier–Oberon film, which deeply affected Bush in her teenage years. The song is sung from Catherine's point of view as she pleads at Heathcliff's window to be admitted. It uses quotations from Catherine, both in the chorus ("Let me in! I'm so cold!") and the verses, with Catherine admitting she had "bad dreams in the night". Critic Sheila Whiteley wrote that the ethereal quality of the vocal resonates with Cathy's dementia, and that Bush's high register has both "childlike qualities in its purity of tone" and an "underlying eroticism in its sinuous erotic contours". Singer Pat Benatar covered the song in 1980 on her "Crimes of Passion" album. Brazilian heavy metal band Angra released a version of Bush's song on its debut album Angels Cry in 1993. A 2018 cover of Bush's "Wuthering Heights" by EURINGER adds electropunk elements.

Out on the wily, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green
You had a temper like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy

How could you leave me
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you, too

Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window

Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine a lot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I'm coming back love
Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream
My only master

Too long I roam in the night
I'm coming back to his side, to put it right
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window

Ooh, let me have it
Let me grab your soul away
Ooh, let me have it
Let me grab your soul away
You know it's me, Cathy

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold

Lyrics by Kate Bush ©1979

Wuthering Heights (orig. Kate Bush)

Kashmir (orig. Led Zeppelin) - August 17, 2022

9) I Thank You (orig. ZZ Top) 2022-11-24, i.e. American Thanksgiving

Soundtrap project link: https://www.soundtrap.com/signup?ref=bf6bfa633f7f37440accf49e9acbdf3c

Lucky Man (orig. The Verve) experimental Jan. 7 Tom Jones vocal test (first take)

Lucky Man (orig. The Verve) Jan. 16 alternate test vox, less TJ

Null (18)

Prompt: “a crooner song”

https://www.udio.com/songs/gG11bqkMfKKFp7MChEJmSN

Sweet Serenade ext v2 (AI-generated, 2024/06/20)

Comfortably Numb (orig. Pink Floyd)

Angie (orig. The Rolling Stones)

OLD ADVENTURES IN LO-FI... 

Next to a small little cobblestone street on the edge of Vancouver's Gastown used to be a bunch of rehearsal spaces for local bands, with all the aesthetics, trappings, and varmints of a set from David Fincher's Fight Club. Matt Wilson, the ex-bassist from from late 90s Campbell River rock band halcyon days had a shared room here with his other band and in late 2008 suggested to former bandmates Joel Flynn (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Derek Lee (drums) to come on by and make use of the space. After the sudden passing of Flynn's father in December of that year, the ex-Riverite singer needed some music to work through the situation. He recruited two other ex-Riverites, his nephew Luke Schuss on guitar and Erin Lahay on piano/keyboards. 

To honour the infamous old singing fisherman - Flynn's father Doug, who had moved on to Fiddler's Green - the five-piece put together a bunch of mostly Irish-themed songs to play at a St. Patrick's Day memorial at the Media Club. The nameless group continued to get together and learn songs, some new originals and holdovers from the halcyon days era, but mostly just a bunch of cover songs that were fun to play. Borrowing Flynn's nom-de-plume of that he used for his digital media art experiments, the band played one other show at the Media Club in July of 2009, but never did anything else outside the walls and microphones of, ahem, "Cobblestone Road Studios". 

Of course, "studios" is saying a bit much, as it is basically a 15'x15' room with some randomly placed microphones. These consisted of either a Rode Podcaster or an iPod nano with a Belkin stereo mic attachment, which were later thrown together into multitrack Garageband projects. Yet this bare minimal approach did the lo-fi job and the Campbell River collective continued to play away in the space until it was closed down in early 2010. Some informal recording took place during this time, but was more note-taking and reference material for the band members than anything else. 

Later in the year, while backing up all these recordings to a new hard drive, Flynn ended up losing most of them when the brand new drive crashed within a  week (damn you LaCie!). File recovery software couldn't identify the Garageband files, and the old "throw the drive in the freezer" last resort couldn't get the drive spinning. The still nameless band never ended up finding another full rehearsal space, or play another show as a full band, while the lost Garageband recordings are still sitting unrecoverable on the busted LaCie (with the eye-catching design by Porsche). 

FAST FORWARD: While rummaging through discs, drives, and other piled up office stuff in early 2011, Flynn came across an old recovery disc from the busted LaCie drive. On it were some raw and rough mp3s taken during the group's rehearsals in 2009 that he gave a listen. With Erin now on a two-year 'round the world adventure, and the rest of the band still in limbo with other projects and a lack of a regular rehearsal space, Flynn decided to collect and coordinate some of these lo-fi recordings through a SoundCloud page, which has now been repurposed for Podstream Studio's uses.