NEW - How Could You ? (Pogues magic dust mix)

Some of you may have caught my recent " A Distant Tower" collab with Tom ( if you didn't - it's prolly still lurking on the page 2 of death if you're interested !) Anyway, during the to and fro of that one I sent him this other one that  I'd been working on for a while for his opinions and he very kindly offered to sprinkle some of his magic DT dust on the mix for me. Not only that, but he managed to rope in Tony Wood to play some lead guitar bits for me too, so I guess I could sub-title this one as Two Distant Towers. So, here's the result...........

How Could You ?  (soundclick)

or if you prefer...

Soundcloud version

Any feedback good or bad much appreciated as usual.

Sounds sweet! Nice guitar work!

This works all around, great mix, sound and construction...

Janet - thanks for listening - I was trying for a differnet sound here - a bit more attitude if you like, which I find hard to do convincingly, but Tom thought it sounded "cool" and I've learned to trust his ears more than my own.

Scotty - thanks for the ears - I thought you might enjoy Tony's lead guitar parts - he really added another dimension, especially on the outro section.

Freddy - funny you should mention XTC as Tom picked up that kind of vibe too. Not intentional on my part - my only connection with them is that I used to live just down the road from them when they were at the height of their fame, but to be honest I wasn;t that bothered by their music - guess some of it must have sunk in somewhere though !
Not sure which particular vocal effect you are referring to, but the main vocal is just two different vocal tracks, one sung lower, both doubled up and panned l / r with the VX64 Band Pass Delay Bounce preset then bussed thru cakewalk studioverb2 Piano Hall, Large preset, with the room size dialled back a bit. Tom used a couple of plugs I don't have and can't remember the name of on some of the BGV ( kind of a telephone / stutter type thing ).

Listen - thanks for doing as your name suggests - I'm glad you like the mix - I thought Tom did a really good job on this. It's not drastically different to the first version, but all the little bits he added / tweaked really made a difference and Tony's lead guitar ws the icing on the cake.

Notnat - thanks for the compliments - and compliments indeed coming from you - although credit must go to Tom and Tony for your particular mentions. Great guys with great ears and creativity and a privilege for me to hang on to their undoubtably talented shirt-tails for a while !

Nicely put together.
 

i agree, some fantastic unusual guitar work in this, it's always cool to hear something which isn't just chords. very 80s/90s UK influence, you even got the riff and sound effect from Grange Hill in at 1'09! vocals are excellent and i like just where you've put them in the mix.

good use of different synths, not sure about the middle 8, but i'll let it slide as the main song is so damn good!

interesting piece Paulo. Like the guitar work. It all seems to have a liverpool vibe. I think it would be cool to hear a George Martin type mix on this (4 track emulation).

mgh - thanks for listening again - grange hill lol ! I knew I'd heard that before somewhere ! That's actually one of Tony's bit's so in his defence I don't suppose he has ever heard it and just played bits that he thought would contrast the other guitar sounds. It took me a listen or two to get used to the mid section as it is the point where Tom's mix really takes over from my original version, so it threw me for a while too, but it didn't take me many listens to decide that his version was right and to go with it. And you're right about the chords thing - it is nice to hear some lead guitar in my work for a change - I've never been able to produce anything lead wise that sounded convincing, so I tend not to bother,  so it was a real bonus for me to have that extra dimension.

Vicente - thanks for listening - being a great played that you are it's nice to hear you liking the guitar sounds. Tony certainly did a great job of augmenting the basic chord backing I'd done with his lead parts and other little touches.

Tim - thanks for stopping by and positive comments. A compliment in itself from someone of your standard. Maybe I'll try your pared down mix idea one day, interesting idea, but for now I'm kinda happy with Tom's mix especially seeing as how it's way better than my previous effort.

Inthorns - Thanks for listening an commenting. 80's huh ? I get that a lot, so you're probably right - there's no denying my 80's child roots - kind of ingrained now I guess, but that's ok by me. I'm glad it got you into some involuntary movement - I don't do many tunes that get people that way, so it's nice to hear. Mix credits go to Tom, he took what I had and just made it come more alive somehow - must be witchcraft or something !

Paulo,
Nice job on this. Lots of things going on in the mix made it a interesting listen.

Now this is a song that caught my attention right from the start , theres not much I don't like about your song except its GREAT !

Nice song .

Radio

Mark  - praise indeed - thank you so much. Tom did a great job of making this all sit right - liberally sprinkled with his magic dust and Tony's lead and little noodly bits really finished it off nicely.
Sometimes I agree with you re the vox - esp on the chorus, but the consensus among those who I have played it too is that this is the best my vox have sounded in relation to the mix, so I'm kind of reluctant to change it at the moment.

Bruce - thanks for stopping by and commenting - glad to have kept you interested.

Strummy - glad you dropped in on this one - I almost sent you a PM suggesting you do so as I thought this might be up your street, but didn't wanna look desperate for listens lol ! Glad you liked - I like Tony's lead on the outro more with every listen.

Radio - thanks for listening - instant attention grabbing was the here aim so glad that it worked that way for you. Thanks for the compliments.

Equality - not seen you round these parts for a while - thanks for listening and your positive comments. Tom did a great job with the mix on this, so credit to him for that. Want more ? Well, can't say for sure just yet, but watch this space...........

nice tune...

This is cool: the verses sound like Morrissey. The choruses are offbeat and interesting. Guitars sound terrific, and really well balanced. Vocals are a bit mid heavy and could stand a cut there. Loved that classic DT weirdo break at 2:08.

Great song and mix!!

I liked those subtle delayed bgv's..really nice touch.

Tony's 'Hndrix style tones' are very evident on this.

Paulo..yer vox sound good man!!

This tune just grooves/rocks along nicely.

Larry

Marcos - thanks for listening and commenting - glad you enjoyed.

ebabes - thanks - glad you liked

Warren - Thanks for the nice comments - Funny you should comment re the vox - there is a lil bit of Tom in there, but there's also a bit of me doing my best Tom impression that I put in afterwards that I don't think he has even has noticed ! :)

James- Thanks. I think. I'm not what you'd call a Morrissey fan, but I think you meant that as a compliment, so I'll take it as one ;)
Interesting is good, so thanks for that -I'll have a look at the vox - I did put a couple of tracks in after Tom's mix, so prolly my fault there . Yeah DT weirdness - gotta love it !

Dave - thanks for the ears and compliments - glad you liked .

Larry - thanks for the listen and comps - it really means a lot to me that all these people who produce such quality work take the time to listen to my efforts and that Tom and Tony were kind enough to jump in and give it that bit extra . Glad you enjoyed the ride.

Tony - Thanks for checkin it out - always good to have your ears.