Cubest005

there's a thin line between mantra and mania and cubest 005 treads that line, airing some of the cube orchestra's lengthier excursions. i've taken the hatchet to them, often halving their lengths, but curbed my instinct to keep chopping, allowing them time to breathe and dissipate

there's something to be said for tracks sounding fresh when isolated like this. by the simple act of selection and order each tune comes alive in its new place, so editing down felt too much like interference and it is my hope that listeners enjoy each journey, wherever it takes them ...

cubest 005 is for the listener. here are some 'sleeve notes' to accompany the tunes

Jump to Download link ... Back to Cubest series ...

gleaming dream

2014 11 12 - Yoni: Percussion; David Insua-Cao: Percussion; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Percussion, iPad; Ollie Owen: Guitar, Effects; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards

beginning with david's weird swirl round the head tube communicating to the cosmos, drawing out jangly guitars and ramon's trumpet in fanfare. david's playing the drums too. come to that, so am i, pumping the ambient feedback through my echo pad. i love the way this track slowly opens into a glorious anthem, drops out with the swirly thing, then quickly finds a latin rhythm to round off with. when i tell you the original is nearly 18 minutes long you can appreciate what whittling it down to nearly 8 minutes required

cuneiform supplication

2014 11 26 - Nick Warlow: Percussion; Nina Lifely: Recorder, Vocals; Oliver Kohll: Viola; Ghoufran Warlow: Piano, Percussion; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards

featuring atmospheric vocals by nina lifely, ghoufran's piano guides us through the trees. oliver's viola makes some great noises, while ramon spits on his trumpet. here and there i provide percussion, but the tune has its own path so i let it go and wait for another chance to contribute. the section where the recorder kicks in is particularly spooky

cough up

2014 11 19 - Ghoufran Warlow: Piano; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Ollie Owen: Guitar; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards

when we play at bluescreen events we're usually ready and playing long before the audience is let in and it often leads to a fresh approach, having warmed up at the preceding orchestra session. it's nice to focus on less in the mix, just two guitars in harmony and a vocal washed in reverb. i did very little editing on this track, it deserved being left to itself

faux jangles

2014 12 10 - Dani Landau: Sax; Sonia Moore: Clarinet; David Finch: Sax; David Insua-Cao: Percussion; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Jon Shepherd: Bass; Ollie Owen: Guitar; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards

one of our more lively excursions, it features great drumming from david, driving it forward, encouraging ramon to let rip on the trumpet. so nice to hear. we're all having fun and you can hear it. sterling guitar work. it's a powerful track

mantra l

2014 10 25 - Steve Watson: Guitar; Dalila Rabih: Vocals; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals, Keyboards; Oliver Kohll: Viola, Piano; David Finch: Flute, Sax; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion; Jon Shepherd: Bass; Ollie Owen: Guitar, Effects, Percussion; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards

recorded at a live event, marcus' hawaii-50 party, which is what the L in the title refers to. it's early in the evening (we played for 4.5 hours) and again, ollie and steve's guitars are in sync, providing ramon with a platform for his mantra. david inserts some sax here and there, then switches to flute in a later section. it's nice to have the drums mic'd up for those punches. i did little editing here, the track's pretty complete as is and builds brilliantly to its climax

wild song

2014 12 03 - Aziz: Beatbox, Vocals; David Finch: Sax; Dalila Rabih: Vocals; Ghoufran Warlow: Clarinet, Piano, Percussion; Bertrand Lesca: Harmonica, Percussion; David Insua-Cao: Percussion, Dulcimer, Glockenspiel; Jean-Michel Maheu: Acoustic Guitar, Percussion; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, iPad; Jon Shepherd: Bass; Ollie Owen: Electric Guitar; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards

from a lively session, this is what we ended the evening with. dalilah draws us quickly into a jerky rhythm, with some nice work by marcus on keyboards and beatboxing from aziz. it builds and builds and then typically drops out, only to build again into total mania, dalilah's cries getting wilder and echoed by dave's sax screams. it sounds like gridlock at rush hour, getting crazier, breaking up and falling apart beautifully

this is a departure from my usual remit, to shorten the track as much as possible, and i hope these six tracks stand together as a cohesive collection
- keef chemistry