GLIMMERY
OK, I admit I was still on Ile de Re days after I posted my last blog. I just wanted to throw everyone off the trail. It was a great week tho’. I wrote some new songs I really like, and have ideas for a few more. I ate lunch and dinner in a different place every day, which means something like 15 different restaurants. I ate oysters most days. I got the sun on my face; everybody was remarking how healthy I looked when I got back. In many ways, Ile de Re is my favorite place on earth.
And the contrast with Paris couldn’t be more glaring—in terms of pace of life, I have impression to be running on a treadmill at all times in Paris, just barely getting anything done but working my ass off to get that much accomplished; on Ile de Re I went to bed when I was tired, woke up when my body decided to wake up, and still managed to have a pretty decent feeling of accomplishment by about 9 each night. At the same time, part of the reason I can be so productive is that for the week on Ile de Re I had virtually no social life, no cinema, and no family, and of course I couldn't live without those things for long. No email access except for when I went out somewhere that had connectivity.
Among the things waiting for me when I got home was “Tomorrow’s Re-taken” a CD of remixes of tracks by Ian McGlynn; the CD includes my remix of his song “You Might Understand”. You can order it
here…sure!
Last night I had an aperitif with Xavier fr. Tahiti 80 and the artist known as Fugu, Xavier is my neighbor, and has a lovely little daughter just a little bit older than Aden; they were running up and down the aisles of our local café terrorizing the patrons (and their dogs).
Today I find myself listening to a blustery night in Brussels, I’m here with Dom who is visiting an artist she works with who is recording at ICP Studios here. Right away I noticed that two of my most beloved records from the 80s, OMD’s “Junk Culture” and Squeeze’s “Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti” were done here, plus venerable works like “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me” by the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen’s eponymous album. I’ve had a great time snooping around—the studio boasts what I think is the greatest assemblage of guitar effect pedals I have ever seen—borrowing DVDs to watch, etc. Dom’s artist, Berry, is very nice and although I haven’t heard the recordings yet (they were doing vocals today so it was a bit of a sensitive moment, I didn’t intrude) I’m sure they will have a great record and much success.
The studio complex has 4 studios—a lovely little tracking studio with an old Neve console, not dissimilar to the kind of console that “Touched” was recorded and mixed on; there’s also an SSL room, a room with a massive, newer Neve console and a preproduction soundstage that has a Telefunken valve console. They have a brutal mic collection and a swimming pool. Adjacent to the studio is a stack of apartments for the artists, and Dom & I have the top floor room, which is lovely as I can hear the wind slamming against the roof, I love to have a storm bursting harmlessly around us.
On that note I’ll peruse the IHT one last time and go to sleep. My tour begins in Sarajevo on Tuesday—see many of you very soon.
Love
KS
Brussels, BELGIUM
