As Kim slides the bottleneck across the strings of his bouzouki, it screams an unearthly sound more akin to a beast from the deep calling out in challenge, than some kind of folk instrument. Plugging the bouzouki through a distortion box and delay pedal we think, not for the first time, the recordings we have available online don't really reflect the full range of music styles The Cracked Man is now producing.
Yes, some of our music is distinctly acoustic with a bluesy or folky feel to it, as represented by our first EP, but some is harder and rockier or even a bit psychedelic.
Time to put some more tracks online to give a fuller flavour of The Cracked Man.
Although we are currently developing our debut album, the completion will be some way off yet - and at that point, the tracks will have many more instruments than just the 2 we use when playing live. So we set up in Marcus's living room and did a "live" recording to a bunch of microphones and recording equipment.
So as a taster for what to expect if you can come along to any of our gigs, or a flavour of what we sound like if you can't, below you will find 4 tracks - Moving On, Zero Energy, Footprints in the Sea, and Demon on Your Shoulder.
Original foot-stomping, spine-tingling, brow-twitching, cheek-spasming, tea-dunking music that will leave you breathless but deeply satisfied
Video Soundtrack - The Cracked Man and Dance Beats...
When Kim's not playing the bouzouki in The Cracked Man, he fills his time being a professional photographer.
Recently he was doing a fashion shoot with a small team of models, hairdressers and makeup artist, and a textile designer, but also managed to get a couple of friends to shoot some video footage.
After editing the video together, Kim decided it needed a punchy piece of music, possibly with a dance beat.
Rather than grab some nondescript generic piece of music from somewhere else, he and Marcus decided to run a beat behind the track Zero Energy (now, Zero NRG), and re-edit it to fit the video which was less than 2 minutes long.
Here's the result!
Recently he was doing a fashion shoot with a small team of models, hairdressers and makeup artist, and a textile designer, but also managed to get a couple of friends to shoot some video footage.
After editing the video together, Kim decided it needed a punchy piece of music, possibly with a dance beat.
Rather than grab some nondescript generic piece of music from somewhere else, he and Marcus decided to run a beat behind the track Zero Energy (now, Zero NRG), and re-edit it to fit the video which was less than 2 minutes long.
Here's the result!
Fundraiser for MOOL (Massive Outpouring of Love - D&G Refugee Action)
The Cracked Man recently played at Auchencairn Village Hall, along with Under The Hammer, to help raise funds for MOOL (Massive Outpouring of Love) - a local organisation dedicated to helping refugees by "organising the collection and delivery of supplies and human kindness to those in need at home and abroad. So far, we have helped locally, and in Calais, Lesvos,Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Hungary and Jordan."
We were delighted to be a part of an event that raised £750 for such a deserving cause.
Just before we started our set Kim handed his camera to his friend, photographer Allan Wright and asked him if he could attempt to grab a few shots of us playing. Below are some of the ones he got.
Not bad for a landscape photographer...
Thanks Allan!
We were delighted to be a part of an event that raised £750 for such a deserving cause.
Just before we started our set Kim handed his camera to his friend, photographer Allan Wright and asked him if he could attempt to grab a few shots of us playing. Below are some of the ones he got.
Not bad for a landscape photographer...
Thanks Allan!
The Cracked Man Video Diaries #5 - Demon On Your Shoulder
Continuing our exploration of the possibilities of going beyond the live performance restrictions of only 2 instruments and one voice as we record our album.
After the fun intro mentioned in episode #4, we got carried away developing the rest of "Demon On Your Shoulder" into a major rock 'n' roll scream-fest, but somehow lost "The Cracked Man" in the process. So we stripped it back and started again to see if there were other directions we could take it in...
After the fun intro mentioned in episode #4, we got carried away developing the rest of "Demon On Your Shoulder" into a major rock 'n' roll scream-fest, but somehow lost "The Cracked Man" in the process. So we stripped it back and started again to see if there were other directions we could take it in...
The Cracked Man Video Diaries #4 - Demon On Your Shoulder
Continuing our exploration of the possibilities of going beyond the live performance restrictions of only 2 instruments and one voice as we record our album.
In this episode we make Kim's bouzouki sound big.
Really Big.
REALLY REALLY BIG!
Turn your volume up to 11...
In this episode we make Kim's bouzouki sound big.
Really Big.
REALLY REALLY BIG!
Turn your volume up to 11...
The Cracked Man Video Diaries #3 - Moving On (again)
Continuing our exploration of the possibilities of going beyond the live performance restrictions of only 2 instruments and one voice as we record our album.
In this episode we look for different "drone" sounds to run behind the music. In addition to hunting down a shruti-box sound, Marcus nicks an idea from Steve Hillage...
In this episode we look for different "drone" sounds to run behind the music. In addition to hunting down a shruti-box sound, Marcus nicks an idea from Steve Hillage...
The Cracked Man Video Diaries #2 - Moving On
We've discovered as we've begun recording for The Cracked Man debut album, the arrangement of each of our songs goes through changes as we explore the possibilities of going beyond the live performance restrictions of only 2 instruments and one voice.
Continuing to document some of the changes, here is the 2nd of our short Video Diaries and is to do with our song, "Moving On", where we discovered the one bodhran rhythm Kim knows worked quite well in the climactic section of the song. Apologies to anyone who plays bodhran professionally and is cringing at his technique.
Continuing to document some of the changes, here is the 2nd of our short Video Diaries and is to do with our song, "Moving On", where we discovered the one bodhran rhythm Kim knows worked quite well in the climactic section of the song. Apologies to anyone who plays bodhran professionally and is cringing at his technique.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)