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Dropped The Camera
A 4-track tape collaboration between the UK and the US.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
Liner Notes
This song came from an actual 4-track cassette, and this one started in Great Britain, before coming over to the United States. The contributors are listed in the order in which they added their parts and no one knew what the final song would sound like. Please check out songs from these artists! 😀
Tape 17 (UK -> US)
Track 1 - @vomvorton[archived] (GB - Bass guitar)
Track 2 - @elesimo[archived] (Cali - guitar)
Track 3 - @nancyrost[archived] (Wisc - lyrics/vocals)
Track 4 - @zecoop[archived] (Mich - drums)
Lyrics
A long way from half Moon Bay Around the world halfway He always kept the world at bay He seemed to like it just that way Froze impressions so they'd stay An arm's length away But then his armor fell away He dropped the camera in the stream He crossed the border, lost the frame He dropped the camera in the stream He is free and, free and strange All the faces he'd portrayed Turn to him, return his gaze Unscripted and unmediated Intense and untranslated Senses flooding unabated He notices he's afraid Afraid and so alive He dropped the camera in the stream He crossed the border, lost the frame He dropped the camera in the stream He is free and, free and strange
Comments
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The interplay between the guitar (@elesimo) and bass (@vomvorton) are really impressive to me. Well-built tune.
These four track challenges are one of the many great things about FAWM - totally love the concept! You've collectively created something quite dark and moody here. So the bass guitar (which is one of the highlights!) went on first and the drums last? Blimey! Nice job everyone.
This is great! I love the production! All the performances are great and come through really well. This is just excellent.
What a wonderfully strange song. Really like the lyrics and the way the vocal, in fact the whole song, is shaped by that dark, earthy bassline. Terrific idea for a challenge, well done to everyone for pulling it off!
Ooh 4 track time. So bummed we couldn’t sort out our Tascam probs soon enough. Next year hopefully. Cassettes have such a warm quality. Drums...last? Wow.
Great collab! I'm super impressed that drums came last, just as a practical thing... it all fits together so well, with very natural dynamics shifts, you'd never have guessed. Nice job @zecoop! @vomvorton and @elesimo, I really like the solid driving bassline and the sort of meditative echoey guitar layer built on top of it. @nancyrost The long strings of same-ending rhymes really help build a moody hypnotic feeling!
Such an ethereal sound (and lyrics). I love the language here ("unscripted and unmediated" among others), and the chorus is interesting vague and descriptive at the same time. This is lovely.
4-tracking across the universe! This has great atmosphere to it. The minimal 80s indie feel in the bass and guitars is great and gives amazing space to the song. It kind of reminds me of the early Sundays stuff, but even darker, and this lends a real gravitas to the lyrics which already feel very mysterious. Who was this person and where did they go? This is probably the best mix I've heard on a 4-track challenge. Fantastic stuff all of you!
Ah I love the vibe. That bass riff is so infectious and beefy. The guitar interplays beautiful. Drums are ace too, and the vocal to top it off! Everyone is so restrained - in this situation I'd always be so tempted to go full throttle and just ruin everything, heh!
Love the sparseness of the arrangement, it reminds me of Warpaint a little. Hard to believe this wasn't jammed out in a room! Really moody and evocative vocals too!