Just watched the interview with Daniel in its entirety... whoa..my appreciation of the man and what he wanted to achieve with Neil on this album has just gone up 10 fold!! you've got to admire the dedication Lanois had to this project..i think sonics is here to stay..not on every record that Neil does in the future..but like lanois says..it has given Neil the imputus to explore new sound..just like an excited kid or a person that has regained their hearing after years in inaudible wildnerness..Neil loves change..Neil loves spontaneity..this marriage of sonics and Neil..I feel will be for ever present..as Neil continues to write rockn roll history. Long may strum Neil..long may you strum!!
The only sonics that Neil ever needed is 'Old Black' and a Fender Tweed turned up to 11. In the meantime, still looking forward to what Daniel Lanois can do with Neil and a band ... Crazy Horse?
An interesting track by track breakdown of Neil Young's album Le Noise by Daniel Lanois.
Among other gems, we learn the genesis of the album name and that Neil texts?!
“Every song has a message in it. It has power, it has significance, and i felt like i was entering the arena as I did when I was a kid… and I thought, ‘This is the man I want to work with right now,’” says Daniel Lanois, the producer of Neil Young‘s latest record, Le Noise.
Other quotes from Lanois interview:
– “Why did we get into this to begin with, as kids? We got into this because we love what somebody else did, we were driven by Rock ‘n’ Roll… because Rock ‘n’ Roll promised a message that maybe we weren’t getting in our own houses.”
– “The more we did, the house got more angry, and it started reverberating like a big speaker cabinet… and we got louder and he got more confident. I had my neighbors saying, ‘Is that Neil Young up there?’”
- “So we did four full moons… maybe two days before and a day after. Historically, Neil has written his best songs during that potent time, and he asked me if I would follow that as a ground rule… that we would huddle up at full moons.”
– “I felt there was something in him that had not come out yet in this stage of his life. In some of the songs that he came in with were good, but I didn’t think they represented the thing that I felt existed in him right now.”
From Daniel Lanois on producing Neil Young's Le Noise | MusicRadar.com by Joe Bosso: Over the course of four sessions ('brilliant, moonlit nights,' says Lanois), the record took shape, and it didn't take long for electric guitars to come out. 'Neil and I bonded over our love and enthusiasm of amps,' says Lanois. 'I have a great collection of Fender Tweed Deluxes from the '50s, and I think when I suggested pulling out an electric guitar or two, Neil got excited about hearing what those amps could do.'
According to Lanois, Young's late '50s Gretsch White Falcon was the bedrock of the album's electric sound. 'It's a really interesting guitar because of its split pickup, which allows the bass strings to come out of one amp while the top strings can come out of another. So already, without me trying to manipulate the signal, you get a really cool, unique sound out of the guitar.'
On the song Hitchhiker, however, Young's famed 'Old Black' Les Paul makes an appearance. 'That's some guitar,' says Lanois. 'Neil starts playing that and you go, 'Oh yeah, that's him!' It's got a meaty, grungy, gnarly presence, whereas the Gretsch has more midrange and clarity to it. Both guitars sound great through those Tweeds.'
Although Young is famed for his frenzied, minimalist solos, the guitarist eschews such fretboard star-turns on Le Noise. 'Neil plays brilliant solos, but they wouldn't fit the spirit of these songs,' says Lanois. 'This is a riff-based album.'
Once Young was finished with his performances, Lanois set about 'adding my sonics and seeing where the music took me.' Calling himself a bit of an 'old-school and new-school guy' when it comes to gear, the producer says one item is essential to his recordings: 'I still use my AMS Harmonizer. It's a late '70s box, but I consider it irreplaceable. It has a great VCO and a great reverb in it. I don't keep it at any fixed settings, however - I like to use it like an instrument.' [Image] Neil Young and Producer Daniel Lanois with Le Noise crew
"Track by Track of Le Noise with Producer Daniel Lanois"
10 Comments -
Um, just an `off-topic` note - raise a glass or two to John Lennon today as he would have been celebrating his 70th.
10/09/2010 11:15:00 AM
Ah yes. Makes me remember Neil singing "Imagine" at the 9/11 benefit. What a perfect song.
10/09/2010 11:32:00 AM
'yes'
10/09/2010 12:13:00 PM
Thank Jill, I am already at my third glass... wish he was still among us... he was the king!
10/09/2010 12:34:00 PM
....Yeah ....just imagine...
RIP JOHN
Neil... ya gotta play it live on the next 'twisted road' gig in respect!c'mon!.you loved the guy!!
hey, but we're only ya fan base, what are we to tell ya? lol
10/09/2010 03:26:00 PM
Just watched the interview with Daniel in its entirety...
whoa..my appreciation of the man and what he wanted to achieve with Neil on this album has just gone up 10 fold!!
you've got to admire the dedication Lanois had to this project..i think sonics is here to stay..not on every record that Neil does in the future..but like lanois says..it has given Neil the imputus to explore new sound..just like an excited kid or a person that has regained their hearing after years in inaudible wildnerness..Neil loves change..Neil loves spontaneity..this marriage of sonics and Neil..I feel will be for ever present..as Neil continues to write rockn roll history.
Long may strum Neil..long may you strum!!
thanks, doc
10/09/2010 04:23:00 PM
The only sonics that Neil ever needed is 'Old Black' and a Fender Tweed turned up to 11. In the meantime, still looking forward to what Daniel Lanois can do with Neil and a band ... Crazy Horse?
10/10/2010 03:48:00 PM
Chief,...don't you understand!
Whatever his fans want he'll do the opposite....can't you see my logic here! lol
Now he'll never use ol' black or play with the horse again once he reads your post!!...sheesh! lol
doc
10/11/2010 12:51:00 AM
BigChief - A tweed Deluxe's two volume and one tone knobs go to 12.
10/11/2010 09:51:00 AM
God, Lanois is full of himself.
10/13/2010 06:29:00 PM