Moments on Eisenhower

[Caleb]

Now that we all have had a chance to listen to eisenhower.... I was wondering what your 2 favorite moments are musically on the cd. I think maybe we should limit it to the 2 favorite moments and 2 honorable mentions. Maybe track times will help, but if you dont want to get that into it its fine by me.

1. Airplane Primitive - After harmonica solo "So come with me on one last..." verse into chorus.
2. Paper Birds - The last part where he says "Your...." 20 something times.
HM: Panda in Space>Soft Machine - The transition
HM: Jam at the end of Life in Disguise

[tim]

first panda starting at the 1:09 mark and going 15 seconds into soft machine is probably my fav.

[francis]

i have to go with the beginning of paper birds (a.k.a. the original blue air). on the album, hearing it live, i just love hearing that bass line

[Colin]

1.
drums cut out
"when the lady finished crying i knew i had to say something to comfort her..."
and back in...
SO GOOD!

2.
midway through soft machine, the dropped rhythm for 5 or so beats that kicks back

[jpkuckens]

i'd have to say either when brad sings "along the way, yeah" on Should Fall, or andrew's first fill/into the chords on airplane...but those beginning soft machine chords are so satisfying

believe it or not, i dont enjoy the album version of the paper birds inntro (original blue air) because the drumming is much more of a mystery to me when its live, and i likes it that way

im about to upload some videos i took at narrows in arpil 2006 that illustrate that mystery...

[tyler]

the marimba on The Original Blue Air kinda kills it for me. it overshadows the bass too much, and doesn't really add anything sonically for me. sometimes fewer layers are better.

but as for the bests...

the second verse in Children of December (I hold every person I meet like a treasure...) with those subtle multi-tracked vocals.

The ending "ooohs" to Even Rats.

First Panda in Space. All of it. Although when the electroey part comes in and segues into Soft Machine, that's extra awesome.

and lastly, Paper Birds as a whole, even if I don't care for the way they recorded the intro. the rest of the song (the entire part tracked as 'Paper Birds' actually) is produced beautifully. even down to those two weird machine-like noises Marc makes at the beginning.

[Carl Crawford]

the banjo in suffocation keep always gets me. it's sneaky.

[Colin]

gotta agree with you on that

[booher]

I think the whole album is a moment in itself screaming: OVERPRODUCED!

But I think one song where the production is really, really good is the Soft Machine. But Even Rats has too much going on in it, especially compared to when I first heard it live at Northampton, MA. No white noise wooshing sounds or anything that just don't need to be there. And whatever happened to the lyric "If you can hear me now then you're half way there?" I liked that line, especially a lot more than the dandy in the sun bit.

I like the breakdown at the end of Life in Disguise.

But I don't understand the necessity for giving First Panda in Space and the Original Blue Air their own separate tracks and names. They're part of soft machine and paper birds if you ask me.

[Colin]

But I don't understand the necessity for giving First Panda in Space and the Original Blue Air their own separate tracks and names.

cus then youd always have to fast forward to get to the best part...

[hoby]

But I don't understand the necessity for giving First Panda in Space and the Original Blue Air their own separate tracks and names. They're part of soft machine and paper birds if you ask me.

Two words: "Ray" and "dio"

[Non-Fiction]

cellos!! cant wait till they can get a group on stage.

[Guest]

But I don't understand the necessity for giving First Panda in Space and the Original Blue Air their own separate tracks and names.

cus then youd always have to fast forward to get to the best part...

Hardly. I consider The Original Blue Air part of Paper Birds. I never heard it starting and thought "OH! That's TOBA!" I always thought, "nice! paper birds!"

I mean Soft Machine has evolved a bit over time, but still. I think if they wanted an intro to it, they probably should have kept it there in the song. It just looks like a way to BS how many tracks you have on the album to me.

[tyler]

But I don't understand the necessity for giving First Panda in Space and the Original Blue Air their own separate tracks and names.

cus then youd always have to fast forward to get to the best part...

haha, when I ripped Eisenhower onto my computer, I merged Soft Machine + in its intro, and Paper Birds + its intro. listening to just Soft Machine as its tracked is weird, the way it starts sounds like you are coming in right in the middle of a song.

[diesel]

But I don't understand the necessity for giving First Panda in Space and the Original Blue Air their own separate tracks and names.

cus then youd always have to fast forward to get to the best part...

haha, when I ripped Eisenhower onto my computer, I merged Soft Machine + in its intro, and Paper Birds + its intro. listening to just Soft Machine as its tracked is weird, the way it starts sounds like you are coming in right in the middle of a song.

is there a way to do this on itunes? if not is there mac software for this?

my fave moment (one of) is at 0:15 on airplane/primitive when it sounds like someone is pouring a nice cold beer in a pint glass. speaking of...