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File under: PsychNoise-Rock

Motorpsycho

Blissard

Label: Rune Arkiv

Format: 4CD box

Genre: Experimental

In stock

€24.00
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This 4CD luxury set is the second installment in an ongoing series of Motorpsycho re-issues that started with Timothy´s Monster in 2010. In a 2011 poll Blissard (released in 1996) was voted the 25th best Norwegian album of all time by 100 Norwegian artists, making it the third most highly rated Motorpsycho album on the list after Timothy´s Monster (which came in at 13) and Demon Box (placed at 21). There's no doubt that Blissard is one of their most experimental and alien albums. As Tommy Olsson points out in the booklet, Timothy´s Monster was a tough act to follow, and Blissard was a tough record to make. It all started with night sessions in Trondheim in late 1994 with Helge "Deathprod" Sten as engineer and co-producer; the working title was When the World Sleeps. Nobody seems to know exactly when and why these recordings were dropped, but a European tour and new songs written as two-guitar pieces were probably key factors. After a couple of festivals and a short European tour in the summer, Motorpsycho decided a new studio environment was needed after years spent at Brygga Studio in their hometown of Trondheim. It was a well-rehearsed unit that headed for Stockholm´s legendary Atlantis studio with the intention of making a "hi-fi" album, something that would prove difficult considering the band's previous sound ideals. Long sessions and various problems put a strain on things, but they managed to record 11 songs in an exhausting week. Mixing was completed the next week. Rodeløkka Studio in Oslo was the next stop for re-recordings and overdubs; they even changed the key of The Nerve Tattoo and re-recorded all of its parts, except the drums, before finishing and mixing seven songs with Ulf Holand at the controls. The final album would consist of these seven songs, one Atlantis mix, an ambient guitar-loop piece by Deathprod, and a four-track recording from the initial Trondheim sessions. Released in February 1996 to all around positive reviews, it won them their first Norwegian Grammy. In addition to the original album this box set gives you two full albums of what could have been, a unique insight into the workings of this amazing band. Disc four is a selection of B-sides, rehearsal tapes, and studio doodlings never meant for release but still relevant in this context. Twenty-two tracks are previously unreleased.

Details
File under: PsychNoise-Rock
Cat. number: RACD110
Year: 2012
Notes:
Issued in 4 individually printed card sleeves in a clamshell cardboard box with a 24-panel double-sided insert with a poster on one side and credits on the other, and a 32-page booklet with extensive liner notes and detailed recording information about all the tracks. 1-01 to 1-10, 4-01 to 4-04, 4-06 to 4-08 were mastered by Audun Strype at Stryke Audio, December 1995. 2-01 to 3-11, 4-05, 4-09 to 4-20 were mastered by Helge Sten at Audio Virus Lab, August 2012. Transfers, editing and PQ coding for 2-01 to 4-20 by Helge Sten at Audio Virus LAB August 2012. Blissard Vol. 1 - The Original Album recorded at Atlantis Grammofon ab, Stockholm, September 25 - October 9, 1995. Engineers: Pieter 'Pidah' Kloos & Helge Sten. Additional recording/overdubs at Rodeløkka Studio, Oslo, October 27-29, 1995. Engineer: Rune Jørgensen. Mixed at LydLab, Oslo, December 5 - 10, 1995. Engineer: Ulf Holand. "Fool's Gold" recorded on 4-track in Nürnberg, May 1994 by HMR & BS. Mixed at Audio Virus LAB in Trondheim, 1995. "Nathan Daniel's Tune From Hawaii" recorded & mixed at Audio Virus LAB in Trondheim, fall 1994 by Deathprod. Tech note: All sounds and loops created by manipulating a 1956 Danelectro U2 guitar through a Roland 201 Space Echo. Recorded and arranged with an Akai S1000HD sampler and an Alesis MMT8 sequencer. Blissard Vol. 2 - When The World Sleeps (The KiT Sessions, 1994) recorded at KiT (Kunstakademiet i Trondheim), December 1 - 6, 1994. Engineered by Helge Sten. 2-05 to 2-07: overdubs and mix at LydLab, Oslo, February (2-05, 2-06) and April (2-07), 1995 by Ulf Holand. 2-01 to 2-04: mixed at Audio Virus LAB, Oslo, August 2012 by Helge Sten. Vocals for "Flick of the Wrist" recorded in Trondheim August 2012, as there was no more room on the original 8-track multitrack tape to do it back in the day. "When the World Sleeps" recorded straight to an Akai S1000HD sampler at the Audio Virus LAB, Trondheim, fall 1994. Additional overdubs recorded at KiT, December 1994. "7th Dream" is essentially a 4-track homerecording by Bent. This was recorded in his living room late summer 1994. Additional overdubs recorded at KiT, December 1994. Blissard Vol. 3 - The Pidah Mixes recorded and mixed at Atlantis Grammofon ab, Stockholm, September 25 - October 9, 1995. Engineered by Pieter 'Pidah' Kloos and Helge Sten. "The Wheel" recorded at VPRO radio, April 12, 1994. "Pale Day": Deathprod's third and final vocal performance with Motorpsycho was recorded at the Audio Virus LAB by him alone. Adding another layer of otherness to the Motorpsycho universe, this shows what an extraordinary broad palette the band had to draw from at this point in their career. Tech note: Recorded and arranged with an Akai S1000HD sampler, Alesis MMT8 sequencer and a Roland 201 Space Echo. "Heaven and Hell" was recorded in Pidah Kloos' Void studio in Eindhoven on an offday in May during the 1995 spring tour. "Sterling Says" was played and recorded by HMR and BS at Snah's place, October '95. Mixed by Deathprod at the new, improved Audio Virus LAB, Oslo, March 1996. Words by Matt Burt, drum solo by some unknown hero, but taken from a cassette we bought off an Indian restaurant in Tønsberg. Analog distortion is a beautiful thing! 4-09 to 4-14: Previously unreleased work sketches recorded on Gebs old ITT cassette player or Tandberg 1200X reel-to-reel at the Dora rehearsal room. These tapes have not been stored under optimal conditions and were never intended for release in the first place, so the recording quality is somewhat lacking. We hope that the musical contents justifies their inclusion and that these demos may shed som light on the process leading up to the recording of Blissard. "Never Judge" begat "You Lied", "Manmower" and "The Nerve Tattoo", "Silver Tongue" included bits that later ended up in both "Stalemate" and "In the Family", "Dave Gave Up" sired "The Nerve Tattoo" and "Baby Jesus", and "That Dying Breed" donated parts to "'Drug Thing'" and "Stalemate" as well. "Baby Scooter" and "In the Midst of All That" were simply forgotten... 4-15 was recorded at Endless Sound, Oslo, February 27, 1995. 4-16 to 4-20 recording date: 08.10.95. 2-05: Previously released on the [m=31550] EP [1999] 2-06 and 4-06 to 4-08: Previously released on the [m=31558] EP [1996]. 2-07 and 4-01 to 4-04: Previously released on [m=31568] EP. 4-05: Previously released on [url=https://www.discogs.com/Motorpsycho-Alice-Cooper-Mad-Sun-Nobody-Likes-Me/release/2901955]Musical Tragedies #13: One Third Of The Three Hundred Ninetieth Psychotic Tragedy (MT-323)[/url]. 4-16 and 4-17: Previously released. [m=521055], Subtopia x-mas gift 7" [1996], and the [r=267843] box set, Rune Grammofon RCD2036 [2004] 4-18: Previously released as a secret track on the '[r=1931928]' part of [r=777181] [1997]. 4-20: Previously released as secret track on [r=779556]. ℗ + © 1996 / 2017 Motorpsycho / Rune Grammofon