First of all, I don’t think you’re gushing at all. I think that Kristin is a great songwriter, and it’s a joy that she’s gone read/write/CC, both through her earlier 50 foot wave band releases and through this new project.

I remember when Throwing Muses came out (for me, they were kind of one of a “next set” of bands which followed close in time after a set of bands I loved, which just shows, in hindsight, how silly such a way of looking at music can be). I think it’s a huge advantage that a new generation of folks will “take up” Kristin’s music without all the baggage of a certain way people used to “look at” bands and how they evolved—a way fueled in part by the “need for the new” of corporate record release culture and music criticism. Perhaps in CC culture we can leave behind all that age-ist and trend-ist way of looking at things. But I’ll step off my soapbox now and go to your mix.

The chill-out phase of the first 2.10 or so really is a creative way to approach this. I like that you keep it melodic and fairly minimal. The music and the vocals here don’t always work perfectly. I don’t mean the sync per se, so much as the “feel”, and yet I like the notion of using chill-out electronica to contrast with the vocals, and I like the melody.

The theremin-like break which begins at 2.10 and runs to 3.45ish is really cool, but it lasts a bit long for me. I think that an intro based on this line and a shorter break might have been more fun.

The powerful section beginning around 3.45 or 3.50 really works well for me. It’s as much fun as the original song’s heavy riff. It might have even been fun to reach over to cash music at www.kristinhersh.com and grab some of the guitar stems, to filter them in there, but what you’ve got is really effective.

When you transition back into a chill-out mood, it works better, somehow, for me than in the beginning, though I can’t put my finger on quite why.

Overall, I’m left with a fondness for this mix, because it does so many things I’d like to try, and it’s not shy about trying a new approach out. Like you, I tend to enjoy process as well as the fact of creation (and I like the sudden whimsy of terming oneself a process theologian of sound). Yet here I think you’re right that the various ideas, each very interesting, could be put together a bit more seamlessly than this mix. Still, it’s anything but a “complete mess”—it’s a darn interesting listen. I think that it could benefit from a little trimming here and there, but it’s a lot of good ideas.

I had figured “slippershell” would be quickly remixed while “torque” would take longer to build. It’s interesting how it’s worked the other way. I’m glad you gave this one a go, and I’ll be interested to hear your next try.

I’m not much of a “mix to a melodic a capella” guy, being oriented to doing other things (and not being all that good at pitch matching). But these ‘pellas make me want to give them a go despite my meager skill set, and I’m trying to work out an approach. thanks for sharing these ideas, some of which are the type of fun things I would have wanted to try.

It is difficult for me to be objective, with both you and KH, but this is incredibly beautiful, lonely and sad, really really nice. My only complaint (and I heard this on the bare pellas) is you can hear, a bit at the beginning, the drum sounds of her headphones, but the fragile, smoky quality of the vocal makes up for this ten times over. I listened to the Real Ramona so many times a boyfriend threw out the record (long time ago) so I broke up with him.

Magnificent..!!!

Great.