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Muse (Florida, USA): 1992 - 1997
members:
Paul
Isaac (v) – very limited vocal range, no characteristics
Gerson
(g)
Ari
Eisenstein (b)
Brett
Thorngren (dr, percussion)
output:
„Muse“-EP
(1995, Velocity Records #VR
6873 2):
01.
Faces (3:41)
02.
Luster (2:56)
03.
Karyanne (3:11)
04.
Believe (2:31)
05.
Venus (4:16)
06.
63 (2:57)
07.
Sublime (4:07)
08.
In The Middle Of A Dream (3:47)
Promo Single (one track):
Karyanne
1997,
Lava Records (back title ps, cust.sticker)
Promo Single (one track): Pretty
Things (Shoot My Raygun)
1997,
Atlantic Records
Promo Single (one track):
Radioman (PRCD 8064)
Album
„Arcana“
Atlantic
Records (18th March 1997)
tracklist:
01.
Sublime
02.
Luster
03.
Believe
04.
Faces
05.
Rubylions 2000 Years
06.
Hollow
07.
Star
08.
In The Middle Of A Dream
09.
Karyanne
10.
Rocksong
11.
Pretty Things
12.
63
13.
Two Clouds Away
a
short history:
Musings
of Muse:
by
Georgina Cardenas (Miami New Times, originally
published: March 6, 1997)
Everything
works out for the best when you just go with the flow, contends Muse vocalist
Paul Isaac. A year after leaving Miami for Los Angeles to record its major
label debut, Museis finally prepared
to meet the world with an album recorded in Atlanta. Titled Arcana, the
disc is slated for a March 18 release by Lava Records (a subsidiary of
Atlantic), with the first single, "Pretty Things," hitting local and national
radio this week.
The
full-length album will be familiar to those who know Muse’s self-titled,
self-produced 1995 EP, since seven of Arcana's thirteen songs also appeared
on that set. Familiar yet not quite the same: The band -- vocalist Isaac,
guitarist Gerson, bassist Ari Eisenstein, and drummer Brett Thorngren --
has exchanged its alt-rock atmospherics for a more hard-hitting, straightforward
rock sound, with clear, almost jangly guitars and taut melodies.
Isaac
says this change wasn't intentional, but rather the natural result of recording
under different circumstances. "I think it was just everything we went
through from the time we recorded the demo EP," he says in a phone interview
from the house the band members share in Roswell, a well-to-do suburb of
Atlanta. "We went through so much emotionally, recording it twice, and
when we finally got it right it was like a big accident. But that's the
way things happen with this band."
Muse
recorded Arcana during the course of two weeks in May at Atlanta's Triclops
Studio with the help of producer Steven Haigler, who has worked with the
Pixies, Clutch, Bob Mould, and Local H. Or should we say re-recorded: After
Muse signed its deal with Lava in November 1995, the band jetted to L.A.
two months later to record with Eric "E.T." Thorngren, who in the Eighties
produced records for Talking Heads, Eurythmics, and Squeeze, and who happens
to be drummer Thorngren's father. (The elder Thorngren also mixed Muse’s
1995 EP.) Muse spent three months in the studio, during which time Isaac
threw out his back and had to record all vocals while lying on a mattress
on the floor. Meanwhile, guitarist Gerson suffered from a severe case of
tinnitus and had to stay out of the studio for a few weeks.
When
the recording was completed and they began to mix some of the songs, the
band wasn't happy with the finished material. Isaac, who along with Gerson
writes all the band's songs, says the product was too polished and didn't
capture their true sound. The label agreed. "When you spend too much time
on something, you can hurt it," he says. "Every time we play, it's different
and unique, so we can't duplicate what we did before even if we wanted
to. We felt [the first recording] was very sterile and very controlled."
The
entire L.A. experience was not a waste for Muse, however. "We did learn
a lot," Isaac continues. "We learned that nobody can understand our songs
the way we do -- you are the only person who can express your own opinion.
And we learned about freedom. We learned it's good to experience hurt sometimes,
because then you really see the beautiful colors and shapes of life." And
besides, the L.A. sessions did produce one keeper in "Pretty Things."
Recording
with Haigler in Atlanta was a completely different experience. "Here we
got to do what we wanted," Isaac says. "We had total creative freedom and
recorded live and organic, like in the Sixties, with a vintage mixing board,
guitars, and amps. There were no samples or computers; it was all live
and raw. We were under a lot of pressure, but that actually helped. It
contributed to the result, and I think we captured the true essence of
the songs."
Because
of time constraints, Miami musician and long-time friend Matt Sabatella
did bass duty (Eisenstein, who was originally the band's keyboard player,
had been playing bass for only about a year when they went to L.A., so
Gerson recorded the bass lines during those sessions). Isaac says the musicians
didn't have time to analyze what they were doing, which suited their creative
process: "Things happened in the studio that we normally wouldn't have
done. We got sounds that we weren't looking for, like different guitar
sounds that were accidents in each song. Sonically, it made the album more
of a whole."
And
sonically the results may be surprising to those who haven't heard the
band in a while.Muse has evolved
over the past four years, from dark British-style dream-pop in the vein
of the Cure to an alternative sound often compared to Smashing Pumpkins.
It's current straight-ahead rock that rings with a strong Rolling Stones
influence but with Muse’s pop melodies intact. Thematically, the album
has a psychedelic vibe Muse has always strived for. Everything about Arcana
suggests a spiritual return to innocence, from the lilting guitars on the
dreamy "Rubylions 200 Years" and the head-bopping, pop-sweetness of "In
the Middle of a Dream" (which was a favorite at local college radio stations
for a couple of years), right down to the album's cover art. An ethereal
child holds the world in her hands, surrounded by a rainbow halo and an
abundance of toys and flowers.
Since
finishing the album, Muse has kept busy playing shows in Atlanta and various
other parts of North America. In July they played before a crowd of almost
10,000 people at Toronto's Eden Festival on a bill that included Live,
the Cure, Bush, Porno for Pyros, Tragically Hip, and the Goo Goo Dolls,
among others. (Muse, by the way, was the only band at the festival that
had not yet released an album.) A January show at the Mercury Lounge in
New York City with Atlantic labelmates Matchbox 20 and the Gufs was broadcast
over the Internet.
The
band has also returned to Miami over the past year to play a couple of
shows at Rose's Bar & Music Lounge. "We haven't forgotten where we
come from," says Isaac. "Miami has been very special to us, and we love
going down there. We left because it's good to move and find new environments,
circulate, see different things. Otherwise it's like quicksand. But we
can't wait to do something cool down there." Something like the promotional
deal they've concocted with Spec's Music, in which the Miami-based chain
will give away a tape titled Raw and Rough from the L.A. Tapes, with the
otherwise unavailable "Radioman," to the first 500 customers who purchase
Arcana at any of the company's 50 Florida stores. The band expects the
record to do well in Miami: In October Muse’s show at Rose's drew such
a large crowd that the club had to turn people away by midnight.
Muse
has built a considerable following in Miami since forming in early 1992.
They spent a couple of years writing songs in near-seclusion, playing the
occasional show at local alternative dance clubs before making the jump
to rock venues. Until the release of their EP, they played relatively few
live gigs, but nonetheless gained recognition by issuing a few promotional
singles to local college radio stations such as WVUM-FM (90.5) and the
Broward station WKPX-FM (88.5). Well-publicized shows at the Cameo Theatre,
Cheers, and the now-defunct Stephen Talkhouse took on the air of real happenings
and generated some great press, much of which touted Muse as the band to
put Miami on the rock-music map.
"Back
then we just laughed about it, and now we still laugh about it, because
we don't want that kind of fame," Isaac says of the press raves. "We just
want to make our art, our music. When you are true to yourself, people
will see that and relate to it, but when you start doing things to please
other people and not yourself, you lose something. So we'll just see what
happens.
o
Muse (Auburn, Alabama, USA):
members:
Tom
Harper (acoustic guitar, vocals)
George
Konstant (acoustic/electric guitar, harmonica, vocals)
Larry
Shaw (electric bass guitar, vocals)
output:
2
albums (vinyl?)
1
CD named „At Home“ (Above Ground Records) – 13 tracks including
„Turn,
Turn, Turn“
„Motherlode“
„On
The Tears“
their
homepage:
o
Muse - „Innocent Voices feat. Le Mystère des Voix bulgares“ (Wagram/CNR)
type
of music: Gregorian choire
...
tracklist (vinyl single):
01. Mega´lo Mania, Hard Trance Remix 6:40
02. Jens Lissat´s Club Version 4:30
03. Original Extended Version 4:06
04. Sven van Hees´Drum´N`bass Remix 5:42
tracklist (CD single):
01. Innocent Voices (original radio edit) 3:20
02. Mega´lo Mania, Hard Trance Remix 6:40
03. Sven van Hees´Drum´N`bass Remix 5:52
04. Jens Lissat´s Club Version 4:30
tracklist (vinyl maxi):
A: Original Extended Version
B: Sven van Hees´Drum´N`bass Remix
tracklist:
01.
Innocent Voices (radio edit)
02.
Dawn (part one)
03.
Di-li-do
04.
Chant d’amor
05.
Interlude / Color of Night
06.
Color of Night
07.
Ancient Chorus
08.
Innocent Voices (album version)
09.
Interlude / The Shining
10.
The Shining
11.
Tune from Shopsko
12.
Dawn (part two)
13.
Interlude / Tune from Pilentze
14.
Tune from Pilentze
15.
Shopsko Rhapsody
o
Muse: Healing & Refreshing (Japan)
by Various Artists
o
Muse – The Score:
by
Elton John
o M.U.S.E. - Musicians United to Sustain the Environment: A tax-exempt nonprofit organization utilizing music to promote
environmental awareness and protection of our wilderness heritage.
homepage:
o MUSE - Records: a very old Jazz record label from the 1920's that doesn't exist anymore.
o
Muse – Alprostadil:
medicament
against erectile dysfunction, transurethral application