The Sun-Less Trio - Vanishing CD/Cassette/Lathe Cut 10"
The Sun-Less Trio is a group out of Omaha lacking easy category. Their light sounds and satire float like blue skies. Their dark jazz influenced progressions are often as cold and moody as the films that project behind them. It's a retro-modern approach that often borders 60s/80s. Dynamic, from full blown fuzz to fluffy as a pillow. “Through blackened night fell on this trail" to arms “waiving like a willow". From Pipers to Painters. From Karate to Fugazi. Suddenly Rowland. E.A. Poe. Any resolve requiring repeated reads.
Sessions. were primarily hashed out to 2-track live in the December of 2022. Additional vocals and sounds in Spring of ‘23. Thread those tape machines holding on by a thread. Any perceived anomalies are in fact present, tape hiss, wow, flutter, dropouts. Strange panning and phasing. Oh there's some 12AX7 hiss? We meant to pipe in some rain tone anyhow. Oh the overhead mic cut out? Here's some percussion printed right over it. Oh the tape ran out? We love that blipity blap sound. We leave room tone between songs. Backwards flipped tape, Q-Sound, mics in the hallway out on the tiles…embark on multiple listening adventures; cassette, record, CD, download. With any luck one will prove true to your aural aesthetic. Listen, listen again and notice.
Recording Styles and Techniques. Most of your favorite albums from 1966-69 were recorded with 8 track machines, this is no exception. Our sessions are typically the result of recording to tape, 2 track live (desk mix L/R) plus 2 tracks of room mics. An additional 4 tracks may contain expanded instruments, some as many as 4-5 instruments each track. You move the faders, you make it work. Some songs are simply recorded live and mixed with vocals later, others contrastly orchestrated in overdubs. There's certainly no method to the creative process. Still, we realize each and every seed of a song branches into it's own complicated and Hobbes-esque-hair pulling life form in which one cannot control. You'll perceive tape anomalies, hard faders & 4am mixes. Not for those cringing upon distortion. Not for those who pooh pooh tape anomalies. It’s an idea, make the idea work.
Architecture. From guitars, pedals, amps, rotating speaker cabinets...every sound is meticulously custom sculpted (if not completely custom made). Instruments from the 60s & 70s. Maybe a dozen microphones we'd built. The tube mic pre's are vintage '60s reconstructs, mixing with reworked ’70s channel strips, discreet w/passive inducting EQ. Mix with faders. Yes it sounds better. Ragged '80s tape machines, so what? Cable's capacitances tested and thrown out. Lathe cut records, handmade by Audiogeography, one at a time. CD's: highest available quality thermal lacquer, slow burn. 24/96 to 16/44.1 (for CD) via recapture (no downsample or dither, it sounds better). Hand inked art. Many things grow out of our control but we do detail what we can.
Songsmith. We’ve been traveling all our lives, out there searching take my hand, take my hand. Sing that sing along, a long highway. Rest your weary head, somewhere to be found, it’s always somewhere to be found if you look. Somewhere over the rainbow.
Art. IJS. Beautiful charcoal and line drawing formats. Rubber and linoleum cuts. ARB. Inking.
ANT095 hand made, lathe cut 10" record, 33 & 1/3rd R.P.M.
A1. The Vanishing (6:55)
A2. Over the Rainbow (6:29)
ANT096 Thermal Lacquer Burn Verified, HQ Digital CD
ANT097 Dolby HX-Pro encoded Hi-Bias CrO2 Cassette Tape
1. The Vanishing (12:24)
2. The Ocean (5:19)
3. Highway Road (3:22)
Cricket Kirk bass
Marc Phillips drums
Michael Saklar guitar, vocals, bass pedals, recording engineer
Molly Gaughan vocals
Isabella Saklar Wurlitzer 200A keyboards, album art
Additional engineering & mixing: Cricket & M. Gaughan, Ashley Boe
Other sounds: J. Bellows, M. Nagler, B. Brodin, J. Prichard,
B. Hotz, Minx via QSOUND QPC1500. Art linocuts by AR Boe.
Sessions. were primarily hashed out to 2-track live in the December of 2022. Additional vocals and sounds in Spring of ‘23. Thread those tape machines holding on by a thread. Any perceived anomalies are in fact present, tape hiss, wow, flutter, dropouts. Strange panning and phasing. Oh there's some 12AX7 hiss? We meant to pipe in some rain tone anyhow. Oh the overhead mic cut out? Here's some percussion printed right over it. Oh the tape ran out? We love that blipity blap sound. We leave room tone between songs. Backwards flipped tape, Q-Sound, mics in the hallway out on the tiles…embark on multiple listening adventures; cassette, record, CD, download. With any luck one will prove true to your aural aesthetic. Listen, listen again and notice.
Recording Styles and Techniques. Most of your favorite albums from 1966-69 were recorded with 8 track machines, this is no exception. Our sessions are typically the result of recording to tape, 2 track live (desk mix L/R) plus 2 tracks of room mics. An additional 4 tracks may contain expanded instruments, some as many as 4-5 instruments each track. You move the faders, you make it work. Some songs are simply recorded live and mixed with vocals later, others contrastly orchestrated in overdubs. There's certainly no method to the creative process. Still, we realize each and every seed of a song branches into it's own complicated and Hobbes-esque-hair pulling life form in which one cannot control. You'll perceive tape anomalies, hard faders & 4am mixes. Not for those cringing upon distortion. Not for those who pooh pooh tape anomalies. It’s an idea, make the idea work.
Architecture. From guitars, pedals, amps, rotating speaker cabinets...every sound is meticulously custom sculpted (if not completely custom made). Instruments from the 60s & 70s. Maybe a dozen microphones we'd built. The tube mic pre's are vintage '60s reconstructs, mixing with reworked ’70s channel strips, discreet w/passive inducting EQ. Mix with faders. Yes it sounds better. Ragged '80s tape machines, so what? Cable's capacitances tested and thrown out. Lathe cut records, handmade by Audiogeography, one at a time. CD's: highest available quality thermal lacquer, slow burn. 24/96 to 16/44.1 (for CD) via recapture (no downsample or dither, it sounds better). Hand inked art. Many things grow out of our control but we do detail what we can.
Songsmith. We’ve been traveling all our lives, out there searching take my hand, take my hand. Sing that sing along, a long highway. Rest your weary head, somewhere to be found, it’s always somewhere to be found if you look. Somewhere over the rainbow.
Art. IJS. Beautiful charcoal and line drawing formats. Rubber and linoleum cuts. ARB. Inking.
ANT095 hand made, lathe cut 10" record, 33 & 1/3rd R.P.M.
A1. The Vanishing (6:55)
A2. Over the Rainbow (6:29)
ANT096 Thermal Lacquer Burn Verified, HQ Digital CD
ANT097 Dolby HX-Pro encoded Hi-Bias CrO2 Cassette Tape
1. The Vanishing (12:24)
2. The Ocean (5:19)
3. Highway Road (3:22)
Cricket Kirk bass
Marc Phillips drums
Michael Saklar guitar, vocals, bass pedals, recording engineer
Molly Gaughan vocals
Isabella Saklar Wurlitzer 200A keyboards, album art
Additional engineering & mixing: Cricket & M. Gaughan, Ashley Boe
Other sounds: J. Bellows, M. Nagler, B. Brodin, J. Prichard,
B. Hotz, Minx via QSOUND QPC1500. Art linocuts by AR Boe.