Cube Orchestra: Cubest015

Yet another agonising collation of tracks, the hit-list, the included, the rejects, the cutting, the re-cutting, even more cutting. Suffice to say, I wanted to include more from the three sessions involved, but it was all I could do to get these down to 40 minutes, so the others will have to wait until Cubest 016, or perhaps never see the light of day in edited form. Such are the 'politics' of self-selecting and editing

This collection gathers tracks from three sessions, all very different, though all with the same base of Orchestra Cube regulars (I use Orchestra Cube advisedly, to keep up a required level of pretentiousness). This is supplemented by the odd irregular member and occasional newbie, which always provides a freshness to our sound, not least because of the instruments they bring to the stage. Standing as I do beside the mixing desk, I've been enjoying routing instruments and vocals through the fx (I love fx), often keeping me away from my iPad, but I feel the trade-off has been worth it ...

I hope Cubest 015 has the balance of variety and cohesion that I aim for, mixing the traditional with the new ...

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

How Low Can You Go?

2015 06 24 - Jack Sibley: Mandolin, Piano; James Jarvill: Accordion; Rhodri Karim: Synthesizer, Percussion, Vocals; Ghoufran Warlow: Piano, Percussion, Clarinet, Synthesizer; Ollie Owen: Guitar; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion, Vocals; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Synthesizer, Vocals; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards;

With a mix of instruments, old-school accordion runs with accompanying synthesizer, it manages to have a traditional sound and bleeps. Ghoufran plays some lovely lines on clarinet, giving the tune its melody. There's piano and guitar in there, plus the occasional twang of the mandolin. I'm not sure I'm doing anything, except twiddling knobs

Engage Coffee Machine

Short, off-beat number with a sci-fi theme, provided by Jean-Michel, Marcus and Ramon on vocals, along with some space-age synth sounds. Marcus sums things up at the end

Best Stick To The Path

2015 06 17 - Ghoufran Warlow: Piano, Percussion, Bass; Chema Gala: Sax, Percussion, Vocals; Ollie Owen: Guitar; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion, Vocals; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Jon Shepherd: Bass, Guitar; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards;

Good bass and guitar line with nice drumming from Ghoufran, I think. I say that because I can hear Ramon on trumpet. Chema reinforces the lines on sax. The guitar breaks about two minutes in and gives space for piano. Jon alters the bass line here and there, giving the riff some variety, in a style Jah Wobble would be proud of. Ollie's guitar soars above the rest. Ghoufran adjusts the beat, bouncing the stick on the snare, then slows as Jon drops down the scale to a stop. It's a solid performance

Navajo

2015 06 10 - Sharleena Ray: Vocals; Ghoufran Warlow: Piano, Percussion; Chema Gala: Sax, Percussion, Vocals; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Jon Shepherd: Guitar; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards;

Jon's on guitar here with an insistent rhythm, nicely emulated on drums. It sounds like Ghoufran again, working his way around the kit and cymbals. Sharleena sets up some great vocal lines, which Chema echos on sax. In comes some slide guitar, getting dirtier, and the interplay is now between Jean-Michel and Sharleena. The beat tightens as Chema solos away, the guitar getting harder, Sharleena adding more and more vocals, not easily accomplished with a sore throat. Then suddenly it breaks into a faster pace, with us all going for it, eventually finding a riff provided by Marcus on piano. We're now playing some crazy hoedown number, peaking with some high slide guitar. Then it drops out, Sharleena's voice drifting to guitar feedback. Just when you think it's over, Marcus counts us back in and we finish with a flourish of madness and chaos. Very pleasing

Stand Off

Piano-based with a jazz tinge, the track is lead by Ghoufran, but you can also hear Marcus contributing and it's nice to have two pianos on the go. Jean-Michel somewhat randomly asks if anyone has a knife! There's some wibbly melodica effected with wow and flutter accompanying Ghoufran's piano lines low in the mix. The track finds its own path, the musicians reacting to whatever comes next. It's kinda jerky and good for it. The piano drops down the keys and the beat drops out a bit, as jerky as ever. I provide a couple of rather faint melody lines on melodica, then Jon's guitar emerges with a nice, up-beat riff and Jean-Michel joins in. It's a jaunty end to a jerky tune

Showing My Appreciation

Drifting, slow start with smokey sax from Chema, holding some lovely long notes, unwittingly providing the tune's melody to come. Marcus comes in next with the chords, the rest of us fiddling around the outside of the tune. Then that voice, deep as. It came from Jean-Michel's throat, something we'd not heard before. We get a bit out of sequence, but the tune holds together, Jean-Michel getting ever-creative with the vocals and Chema sometimes reinforcing the chords, sometimes soloing. Another nice ending. Our endings seem to getting pretty good

The Free Market Of The Beast (Part Two)

It was quite satisfying cutting the first nine minutes from this track. Yes, nine minutes. It featured some funny vocal interplay between Rhodri and Ramon, but had little to do with the second part of the track. This part. Drifting synth lines and clarinet start this off. Rhodri's pretty creative, sculpting the sound, while Ghoufran holds the melody. In comes some drums, then accordion, plus there's guitar and piano interspersed in the sound. Ghoufran's off, squeaking away, ever expressive. Rhodri adjusts the synth line a bit and melodica and guitar have a bash here and there. Five minutes in it changes to stabs, then there's some nice organ and drifting sound. You can even hear some mandolin, which was a nightmare to mic up. Ghoufran's clarinet sound gets experimental, toying with the echo, while the track holds the note, thinning out to just synth. Almost like we'd practised it

The Great Controversy Is Over

I saved this one for the closing track. There's some nice space in this sound, with sparse drums and lovely accordion playing. Ramon reads from a publication Rhodri brought in called 'Behold He Cometh', but twists the words to suit the performance, "From the Cube tonight, a pulse of harmony and gladness". You can hear that I'm twiddling the knobs on the vocals. It's a well-trodden musical path, but sounds soulful and has a good feel. There's subtle guitar work going on alongside the accordion, plus some nice modulating synth sounds. We carry on after Ramon's delivery, repeating the sequence, reinforcing it, and it's all rather grand, right up to the bleepy end

Cubest 015 is almost a full album, with tunes that your memory may find familiar, but never like this ...
- keef chemistry

Download the zip file here (8 tracks @ 320kbps = 93mb):
https://orchestra.cubecinema.com/downloads/cubest015.zip
(The files need to be zipped before download. This may take a while, so please be patient ...)

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