Sage Francis
Self Fighteous
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 19014
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| PRE-pre-emptive hype for my "Human the Death Dance" |
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I have finished recording and mixing my new LP, "Human the Death Dance."
As the album stands now it is 55 minutes long and although some people complained that A Healthy Distrust was too short (about 45 minutes in length.) I'm hearing some grumbles from Epitaph that the album might be too long. I want it to be something people can digest in one sitting. Not something you have to break up in 3 parts just to hear the whole thing. But I think 55 minutes is a good length. Perfect for an hour long road trip. heh. I don't know. Shit is crazy right now. I'm trying to finalize the record so that I can get going on the artwork. There are a couple hold ups in the business world. meh. I'm proud of every song, I just want this album to work as a whole. It's a good mix between dark and fun. Maybe too dark. I dunno. Maybe needs more light. We're working on it still. If they think it's too long I have to take a step back and consider the possibility. As it is, I am way too attached to these songs to have any a perspective I can trust at the moment. This was a problem I had with some previous releases as well. I need to just sit on it for a little while and make sure it is what it needs to be.
The reason this album won't be coming out until May is because Epitaph, and any label really, requires four months of set up time. Once I get this record to them mastered with art work and all the ball starts rolling. If I was putting this out on my own, it would come out next month and it would sell 20,000 by the end of the year. If I was incredibly lucky. With all the work Epitaph plans on putting into this record, I suspect it will break the 100,000 point, which is something I have never done. Fingers are crossed. The material on this album is strong as hell. I have to say...there are Personal Journals moments...there are Hope moments...there is ONE Healthy Distrust moment...and the rest is probably the stuff I will be most remembered by.
I'm trying to work out a 26 page booklet full of writing and sketches. This would include lyrics, stories and background info on all the songs. If there's enough space I would like to include lyrics that didn't make it onto the album. That way I won't be sitting on a bunch of lyrics until the next album comes out. They haunt me. They yell at me in the back of my brain. "Hey...Hey...remember us?? We've been waiting here for 5 years you fucking slouch."
I did want to give more on this album than I did on the last album.
The one song I removed for sure is the Survived Another Winter track with Prolyphic and Reanimator. The song needed a little more work than I could give it with my time restraints, and by removing it I've stuck to my non-rapper cameo tradition as far as my proper releases are concerned. If the song was in top form by deadline time it definitely would have made the cut. Instead, it will be appearing on the Prolyphic and Reanimator album.
Another song that Epitaph has suggested that I remove is the Ode to 2005 track. Not only because it's already been released online, but because it doesn't match up in terms of overall sound compared to the other songs. However, that was the first song I recorded for this album and all the other songs evolved OUT of it. It's sort of the mother song of the album, and I don't want to remove it. It anchors a nice mellow 3 song period of the album before the energy picks up for the final 3 songs. Not only that, but there's a Buddy Wakefield sample that appears on the end of it that applies to the song and perfectly transitions into the next. I gotta keep it.
Buddy Wakefield helped tie in many parts of the album with a poem he has titled "Human the Death Dance." He wrote it and performed it for us once the album was finished, and without him hearing anything I had done yet, much of what he talks about synchs up with what's happening on the record. This is the kind of stuff I rely on when I am in last minute territory. Chance. Chance worked out for us in many ways.
as it stands now:
I have an intro track that is a montage of my kiddie songs (cerca 8 yrs old-13 yrs old.)
The following song is called "Underground for Dummies", prod. by Odd Nosdam. It's the first time I've worked with him since the Eviction Notice song on Personal Journals. This song chronicles my rise in hiphop and how it all worked out. It is not veiled with poeticism...it's just a straight up account of how things happened and how an underground artist is able to utilize any and all opportunities presented to him in order to rise up. This song also addresses the color issue in hip-hop, which to this day seems to be faux pas subject matter.
Civil Obedience follows this song. The fastest song on the album. I've performed it live a couple times. When I performed it in LA a guy passed out in the front row. I blame the funkiness of this song. He tried mouthing along to what I was doing but without proper breath control there's no way you can survive a track of this sort. The beat was provided by a UK producer named Mr Cooper. Reanimator does the cuts. This will most likely be a single and I would love to do a video for it.
The next song, Woke Up This Morning, is what Epitaph has suggested the first single be. It features Jolie Holland on vocals and fiddle, and the beat was provided by Buck 65. It is very gritty and bluesy, and the story I tell is tightly wrapped up at the end. Everyone I've played it for is really into the vocal interaction between Jolie Holland and I. This song also features the harmonica stylings of Nathan Harrop. Incase you don't keep a close diary of my life, he is the guy I took on the Fuck Clear Channel Tour and he left without notice 3/4 of the way through. He flew home because he was having big troubles with his partner. He got married to her and they had a kid. She just left him. He started talking to me again and when I heard that karma came back to pwn him in the ass I felt like I had no place to hold a grudge. He adds something very subtle but significant to the overall sound of the song. The song ends with Jolie saying, "What you want with a woman who won't do what you say?"
shit...this explanation is getting long. I will follow up some other time. Plus, the next song relies on the business matters between Epitaph and New Line Cinema. So when that deal goes through I can continue with the break down.
whoooooo,
Sage Fancis
www.strangefamousrecords.com
www.knowmore.org
Last edited by Sage Francis on Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:41 pm |
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jehu
Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 8530
Location: B'ham,Wa |
hot damn, im estactic. this is phenomenal. thanks for the breakdowns & the inside scoop!!! |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:57 pm |
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MP3D
keep em closed, ladies.
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 2489
Location: myspace.com/DOPHIUS |
i dont like getting my hope ups too high, but i have a feeling this might be the greatest hip hop record in the last ten years.
i cant fucking wait!!! |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:03 pm |
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mizterie
Joined: 12 Mar 2004
Posts: 4547
Location: the ether |
dude, mr. cooper is fucking awesome. i can NOT wait for this album. i hope to god it's out by april. i pray, i go against all of my beliefs and i pray. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:51 pm |
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icarus502
kung-pwn master
Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 9776
Location: ann arbor |
This is the best Sage Francis-related album yet. Seriously. Wow.
Quote:
I have to say...there are Personal Journals moments...there are Hope moments...there is ONE Healthy Distrust moment...and the rest is probably the stuff I will be most remembered by.
I'd say more than one AHD moment. But, yeah, this is the album it's all been leading up to. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:03 pm |
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Sage Francis
Self Fighteous
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 19014
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to make it clear, Icarus is one out of very few people who have been shown the whole album. Out of fear of this album being leaked I will not be showing anyone else.
As for AHD moments, I think Hoofprints in the Sand is the only song that seems like it could have been on AHD, due to its social commentary. Everything else on Death Dance is of a personal nature.
I'm really glad you like it. I think the writing and the song variety definitely out does any previous release. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:18 pm |
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Stumbleweed
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 9227
Location: Denver |
Sage Francis wrote:
to make it clear, Icarus is one out of very few people who have been shown the whole album.
What a lucky kid. And judging from his reaction, I'm definitely going to dig this album. All of your recent tracks that you've put up have been awesome, so I'm really hyped for this one. And another Odd Nosdam beat makes me happy. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:22 pm |
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BrokenRecordStore
Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 600
Location: Berkeley |
How are you handling being edited* (in terms of album length, tracklisting, etc.)?
Changing this to "editing process" since obviously these are not decisions made without your input. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:28 pm |
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Sage Francis
Self Fighteous
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 19014
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I'm more of an editor than anything else.
People can thumb their noses at me for respecting a label's concern that an album might be too long (I'm not saying that has happened, though one comment I received on myspace implied that.) But will these same people also thumb their noses at me for the multiple verses I had to remove from various songs to make a songer better through consolidation? How about the songs I have written but decided not to apply to this record? You know...editing is an important part of quality control. So I am fine with the editing. I just want to make sure the songs that are the heart and soul of this record end up getting used, and that's stuff I will not be swayed on. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:36 pm |
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BrokenRecordStore
Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 600
Location: Berkeley |
Sage Francis wrote:
I'm more of an editor than anything else.
People can thumb their noses at me for respecting a label's concern that an album might be too long (I'm not saying that has happened, though one comment I received on myspace implied that.) But will these same people also thumb their noses at me for the multiple verses I had to remove from various songs to make a songer better through consolidation? How about the songs I have written but decided not to apply to this record? You know...editing is an important part of quality control. So I am fine with the editing. I just want to make sure the songs that are the heart and soul of this record end up getting used, and that's stuff I will not be swayed on.
I'm a firm believer in the value of editing and process as conversation, but I wondered what you thought, having moved from self-publishing to a label. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:46 pm |
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Sage Francis
Self Fighteous
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 19014
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almost the same exact process, except now I have some people whose opinions I respect weighing in. Ultimately, anything I say is what goes. There's a part of me who wants to remove the fun songs and just keep this whole thing completely dark and morose. The other side says, "fuck that shit...do more upbeat shit and get some more fun stuff rolling." But one of the things that keeps me balanced is creating an album over a long period of time where I go through multiple emotional states. If I was to record this album a couple months ago...and fit it all into a week...it wouldn't represent me very well. It would represent a very fucking pissed off and hurt dude who saw no humor in any situation. The person who inspired those emotions doesn't deserve an album in her honor though. I've given enough of myself. You get...maybe a shout out in one song. Hope ya likes it. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:50 pm |
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BrokenRecordStore
Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 600
Location: Berkeley |
"But one of the things that keeps me balanced is creating an album over a long period of time where I go through multiple emotional states"
I think this way of working might be one of the few non-business justifications for upholding the LP standard in an age of digital distribution and Ipod shuffling that I've heard. Unbalanced, too-much-in-the-moment concerns aside, have you ever toyed with the idea of concept EPs. The format's been around for ages, but rather than being used as music's answer to the novella or short story, it often just reproduces the LP's anthology approach in miniature. On the marketing side, most every other medium's been slowly swaying toward (or at least experimenting with) packaging content in smaller bits. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:09 pm |
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2b
SHAKESPERIAN ACTOR
Joined: 29 Aug 2003
Posts: 4583
Location: A stain by the bay... |
Great, now I'm going to hide all of this in the back of my mind until May so I can be excited to hear this new material without the anxiety. |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:27 pm |
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Jared Paul
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 3017
Location: www.MySpace.com/PrayersForAtheists |
human IS a death dance;
this shit is hard!
poopy with muh flesh lance |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:54 pm |
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Bandini
WIZARD APPRENTICE
Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 4535
Location: jerk city |
between talk of a "dark" album and the new sweatshirts, I think you're gonna finally lose the emo moniker and start being called "goth rapper Sage Francis" |
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:06 pm |
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