Ornaith O'Dowd

Music update

2011-02-14T10:16:00.002-05:00

Just thought I should let you know that in between other things, I have been working on a follow-up album to "World of Gutters." I think it's somewhat more lush-sounding, in general. More news soon...

A musical tribute to Steven Slater

2010-08-11T00:49:00.006-04:00

The story of Steven Slater captured my imagination so, with a dose of poetic license, I wrote a song in tribute. It's up on Bandcamp; enjoy and, as always, feel free to share.

Nice things being said about "World of Gutters"

2010-08-11T00:00:00.002-04:00

...at this blog. Thank you, kind stranger!

Download "Pretty Much All You Need to Know" free on Bandcamp

2010-07-27T10:47:00.003-04:00

Just click here!

New song, new video

2010-07-26T21:38:00.003-04:00

It's called-- hyperbolically-- "Pretty Much Everything You Need to Know." The video was finished this evening and the song is from early 2010. The lyric is simply "their interests are not your interests"-- a comment on the current economic crisis.

Nice mention of my song "Car Tapes"

2010-07-02T12:57:00.002-04:00

I have a profile on the Madeloud site (see right panel) and today I'm featured in an article on Madeloud artists! Check it out here.

Featured on uvumi.com

2010-05-27T08:54:00.001-04:00

I'm featured on uvumi.com today!

"Car Tapes" featured on soundtrack2

2010-04-03T12:39:00.002-04:00

"Car Tapes," a track from World of Gutters, is featured in a very enjoyable mix over at Soundtrack2. Particularly highly recommended if shoegaze, dreampop, noisepop and the like are your cup of tea.

World of Gutters track-by track guide: (10) SNN

2010-03-16T11:41:00.003-04:00

SNN by Ornaith O'Dowd
As is probably obvious, this track is inspired by Johnny Marr. It wasn't always going to be an instrumental but as it turned out, I felt that the music alone captured the nostalgic feeling I was trying to get across far better than words could. For those who don't know, SNN is the code for Shannon Airport, where I fly when I go home to Ireland. The whole album is played on a strat because that is the only 6-string I had at the time. I've been a big fan of the bridge pickup for most things, but the main riff here uses the middle pick-up, perhaps the most distinctive sound a strat can make; I don't think I would use any other guitar for this track, even if I had my pick. At the end there is also mandolin and a bamboo flute I bought for a few dollars at Pearl River Mart, one of my favourite stores in New York.

Audio fixed!

2010-03-16T11:40:00.002-04:00

You can now listen to all the songs on the page-- I'm now using Soundcloud to stream my stuff. It seems to be working well but if anyone notices a problem, do let me know.

Audio player problems-- fixing!

2010-03-16T10:42:00.002-04:00

There seems to be a problem with the audio player here but I am fixing things.. stand by! Meanwhile, check the menu on the right for lots of ways to listen and download.

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (9) Falling into Place

2010-03-12T09:07:00.004-05:00

Falling into Place by Ornaith O'Dowd
This song began as a guitar riff (the arpeggio in the verses) that I thought was going to turn into a tough shoegaze kind of thing. Songs can take on a life of their own, though; that riff I made up in March was left hanging around, unelaborated, until the summer. I came up with the chorus guitar part and suddenly it was slower, sweeter, romantic. The melody and lyrics came to me all in a rush in one evening (I can't even explain how, really) and I recorded all the vocals, the salt shaker (one of those Morton's salt containers with the picture of the little kid), and hand claps in under an hour. It seemed important to capture the moment and listening to it, I think it does. I'd been listening to a lot of 1960s soul over the summer and those sounds seeped in a little bit. This is also the first time I have successfully written a love song for my partner (it's quite difficult when you're happily in love).

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (8) Rent Day

2010-03-08T11:16:00.002-05:00

Rent Day by Ornaith O'Dowd
This is the shortest song I've ever recorded, just slipping over the one minute mark. I wrote about its creation here.

World of Gutters track by track guide (7): I'm Tired

2010-02-24T11:59:00.004-05:00

I'm Tired by Ornaith O'Dowd
As I noted here, this track is lyric-led rather than music-led-- something of a departure for me, since I almost always start with the music and then add lyrics later. If homophobic harassment is something you have had to think about, because it has happened to you (or yours) or because it is a real possibility for you when you are out and about, then this song is especially for you. I wrote most of the lyrics in one go, scribbling in my notebooks.

Something a little different by me

2010-02-06T22:50:00.002-05:00

This is a tune I made to go with my cameraphone pictures of a trip to Berlin in December 2008. It's a great city; unfortunately I had a rotten dose of bronchitis during the trip, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I otherwise would have. The tune is rather a departure from my usual style but it's fun to branch out.

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (6) Car Tapes

2010-02-06T12:19:00.006-05:00

Car Tapes by Ornaith O'Dowd
This might just be my favorite (favourite!) song on the album. It's a wistful guitar pop number that recalls the romance of making mix tapes for summer road trips. There is an art to the mix tape, and a more specialized art to the car tape; there are songs that might work on one that would never, ever work on the other. The mood is different; the pace is different. How I loved sitting on my bedroom floor, surrounded by cassettes and their inlay cards, making piles reflecting possible running orders, spooling carefully back to the beginning of chosen songs...
Anyway, I've posted a few times about the recording process of "Car Tapes": you can read these entries here, here, and here. You can see the video right here-- just scroll down a couple of posts or click here.

Madeloud

2010-01-25T21:40:00.001-05:00

I'm a featured artist on the Madeloud homepage! Check it out here.

Video for "Car Tapes"

2010-01-25T10:58:00.000-05:00

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (5) One December Day

2010-01-21T13:57:00.003-05:00

One December Day by Ornaith O'Dowd
The fifth track is from about 2007 and is a nod to the shoegaze part of my music collection. Lyrically, it's about the unromantic process of recovering from great sadness. You can see a video for it over on the video bar, featuring Daisy the dog; I didn't make it but I like it a lot.

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (4) Said and Unsaid

2010-01-20T21:32:00.006-05:00

Said and Unsaid by Ornaith O'Dowd
This song that dates back to when I had a band in college; this was one of the songs I most enjoyed playing live. Its first performance was probably around 1997. I finally got round to recording it a couple of years ago, and now it has a place on an album. It's all about the bassline, I think; I must have just discovered Gang of Four or some of those funkier Andy Rourke lines from the Smiths... At the time, those sorts of influences were not as popular as they are today, so I consider "Said and Unsaid" to be ahead of its time in being behind its own times.

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (3) Good One

2010-01-19T17:01:00.003-05:00

The Interview by Ornaith O'Dowd
This track was recorded in summer 2009. I wrote a blog post about the recording as it was happening. Read it here.

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (2) The Interview

2010-01-18T12:26:00.004-05:00

The Interview by Ornaith O'Dowd
I've written about this song before on the blog; the song "was written about eight or nine years ago, following my first "grown-up" job interview, which I found an interesting, if slightly absurd, experience. It struck me that some of the questions they asked could be sort of interesting if removed from the horrible context of selling one's labor power. The song was performed once in 2002 at the Taibhdhearc Theatre, Galway. It was recorded during the summer of 2008. Ridiculously obscure fact: this was the first time I played mandolin on one of my recordings. I bought the no-name mandolin off Craigslist from a nice Russian lady in Flushing, Queens for fifty bucks."

World of Gutters track-by-track guide: (1) Can't Undo

2010-01-15T10:32:00.004-05:00

Can't Undo by Ornaith O'Dowd
The album begins with Can't Undo, a mixture of shoegaze and pop whose basic elements were written a few years ago. Even though it has lyrics referring to snow, I find it quite summery. This is the first song of mine whose slide guitar part is done with a proper slide, thanks to Pablo and Erin's excellent 2008 birthday present; the only other time I've recorded a slide guitar part, on "An Evening by the Sea" from The Pomegranate Heart, I used a ring. (I learned that trick from reading the liner notes of my first Jimi Hendrix compilation tape.) For the watery sound at the start of the song, I put the drums through a pitchshifter.

Presenting "World of Gutters"

2009-12-18T10:39:00.010-05:00

I'm proud and happy to present my new album, "World of Gutters" for your listening pleasure. You can stream the tracks here or download through Bandcamp.
The album is free but you may donate via the nice paypal button if you like.

Can't Undo by Ornaith O'Dowd
The Interview by Ornaith O'Dowd
Good One by Ornaith O'Dowd
Car Tapes by Ornaith O'Dowd
Said and Unsaid by Ornaith O'Dowd
One December Day by Ornaith O'Dowd
I'm Tired by Ornaith O'Dowd
Rent Day by Ornaith O'Dowd
Falling into Place by Ornaith O'Dowd
SNN by Ornaith O'Dowd

The new album

2009-10-30T20:47:00.003-04:00

is called World of Gutters. I was on the Q20A bus one day and saw a van pass by with the logo "WORLD OF GUTTERS" on the side. It struck me, somehow, and popped into my mind when thinking of an album name. I guess the world is a world of gutters, but remember what Oscar Wilde said about that...

Stay tuned...

2009-10-18T21:35:00.002-04:00

... for a whole lot of new tunes in various formats. Details soon!

Pop heaven

2009-08-06T10:03:00.002-04:00

"Five to Four," a song from The Pomegranate Heart, is featured on today's mix over at the Pop Heaven blog. The mix also includes my old favorites "Shine On" by The House of Love and "Sennen" by Ride: distinguished company indeed.

"Rent Day"

2009-08-01T23:11:00.016-04:00

My recently-recorded song Rent Day is featured in the current edition of the Home Made Hit Show, which is dedicated to one-minute songs. You can find the link at the side of the page. "Rent Day" was a fragment that had been left aside until the HMHS's one minute song challenge: the fragment didn't have to be expanded, it could be a song as it was. A very liberating experiment. (Not surprising that I love haiku, probably.)

Back to work...

2009-08-01T23:03:00.003-04:00

I'm just back from a wonderful fortnight in Colombia and am already back in recording mode: today I finished a song provisionally entitled "I'm Tired." It's somewhat unusual in being basically lyric-led.

Old song: "This DJ Plays B-Sides"

2009-07-13T10:43:00.004-04:00

For your listening pleasure, a song from The Pomegranate Heart, This DJ Plays B-Sides. It was the very first song I released onto the information superhighway... You can download the whole E.P. right here-- just scroll down a few posts! Enjoy.

Recording: a song without a name

2009-07-13T09:22:00.003-04:00

Late last night, I finished another song: this time, a newly-written one. The instrumental tracks had been done about a month ago in fits and starts, so I just had to do vocals. In keeping with my current trend, there are several vocal tracks, but not the kind of lush harmonies on "Car Tapes." It's a jangly number, based on a chord sequence in Nashville tuning. Nashville tuning, for those of you who don't know and are interested, involves leaving the top two strings as normal, and then using the high strings of a twelve-string set on the bottom four, tuning them an octave above standard tuning. Johnny Marr used it a lot in The Smiths (on "Half a Person" and many other songs). The only unfinished aspect of the new song is that it doesn't have a title... Hmmm.

Recording again: the wonderful world of backing vocals

2009-07-12T19:37:00.004-04:00

Well, a rough draft of chapter two of my dissertation is done and now I am back recording. I just finished "Car Tapes," the song I mentioned a few posts ago; I added a lead vocal, a vocal doubling the lead vocal, and no less than three tracks of backing vocals. It's by far the largest number of vocal tracks I've ever done on one song; I've hardly ever even done backing vocals, in fact. But "Car Tapes" was crying out for them. Maybe it's all the 60s soul I've been listening to lately. Recording vocals can be quite stressful for me. First, I have to be alone in the apartment, and preferably in the building, but of course the latter is quite difficult to achieve... otherwise I am too mortified to sing. To prepare, I warm up by singing along to some songs I enjoy singing along to (today's winner: "Older" by Bawl). Then I set up, sing along to the track a few times, have a glass of water, and record. I'm very pleased with the results and excited about this track.

Classic Irish indie from the 90s

2009-07-09T16:28:00.007-04:00

I know I'm supposed to be finishing this chapter, but I was so excited about this discovery that I had to post. Around 1994 and 1995, I was studying for my Leaving Cert (shudder) and I would have Dave Fanning on between eight and ten every school night while I was doing my homework. Whenever I heard something I liked, I would scribble a note in my homework notebook. Then, next time I heard it, I would tape it. (Yes, it was a long time ago!) If I'd taped more than two songs off a particular album, it would go on my list of wanted albums. Unfortunately, the list always far outran my financial means, and one of the albums I never got round to buying was The Language of Everyday Life (Dead Elvis Records) by a Dublin band called In Motion. They were a bit shoegaze, a bit C86, a bit Cocteau Twins, and totally brilliant. (They had a video featured on No Disco in which their drummer wanders around Dublin in a nice frock.) Fast forward some years, and I would often find myself wondering what happened to them and where I could find that album. No myspace page, no videos on youtube, seemingly nothing. Did no-one else remember how good they were? Well, as I have just discovered, the folks over at Indiecater records do, and they have done a digital release of the album. You can hear one of the album's highlights, "Hollow Blow" here-- just scroll to the bottom. Apparently they would like to do a vinyl release, which I think would be terrific. Incidentally, if you take a look at the site, you'll also find classic albums by Sunbear and The Brilliant Trees. Enjoy!

The Dissertation

2009-07-08T18:26:00.004-04:00

I'm a little out of the music loop this week as I'm aiming to finish a dissertation chapter by Friday night. I won't bore you with the details of that. After Friday, I'll be doing a few days of intensive recording before I head off on my travels; I'll tell you all about it here. In the meantime, enjoy the EP download below!

The Pomegranate Heart EP download

2009-07-05T20:42:00.021-04:00

As promised, here is the complete version of The Pomegranate Heart, my EP from 2006. Follow the link to download all six tracks and the cover. To download, first click each file name to go the file page, then right click and save link as/ save target as. I'm making it available for free, but if you download, do consider making a donation via the paypal button. You'll enjoy the warm inner glow of knowing that you have helped me buy strings or other necessities...

More recording...

2009-07-03T14:18:00.002-04:00

Yesterday and today have been dissertation-focused (which is good) but I did record a lead guitar part for "Car Tapes," the song I am working on at the moment. It's a very simple part, but what often happens to me is that I mess up the simple parts far more often than the more complex ones. I think I probably lose concentration. Recording is my passion, but it can be very annoying at the same time. Anyway, the part eventually got done!

The Homemade Recycled Paper

2009-07-02T13:44:00.003-04:00

Here is the recycled paper I made at home a few days ago. Notice the parchment paper (aka greaseproof paper), which I've found to be the best material to dry the sheets on. Initially, the pulp sticks to it so you can hang it up in front of a window (or better still, on a clothesline) and, as it dries, it begins to loosen; when it's ready you can just peel it off.

Video: Tour of the, um, studio

2009-07-02T13:09:00.002-04:00

A short tour of the studio, aka the spare room in our apartment, aka The Green Room, aka the craft room, aka the study, shot just this morning!

More music: "The Interview"

2009-07-01T12:50:00.007-04:00

The Interview was written about eight or nine years ago, following my first "grown-up" job interview, which I found an interesting, if slightly absurd, experience. It struck me that some of the questions they asked could be sort of interesting if removed from the horrible context of selling one's labor power. The song was performed once in 2002 at the Taibhdhearc Theatre, Galway. It was recorded during the summer of 2008. Ridiculously obscure fact: this was the first time I played mandolin on one of my recordings. I bought the no-name mandolin off Craigslist from a nice Russian lady in Flushing, Queens for fifty bucks. The song is not, at present, part of any larger project.

Recording!

2009-07-01T12:25:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I recorded the basic tracks for a new song called "Car Tapes." It's a summery, up-tempo number, written some years ago. I had done a version of it earlier this spring, but it turned out sludgy and torpid and not at all like the sparky, danceable pop song that it was in my head. I scrapped the whole thing and started again-- simplified the drums, tried to play more vigorously on the rhythm guitar parts, and used my trusty Boss Overdrive/Distortion pedal to add some sweet and satisfying crunch to the chorus. The results were exactly as I'd hoped: when I played it back on my speakers ($10 at a stoop sale in Brooklyn Heights!) I felt like dancing.
I'm recording on Kristal Audio Engine, a freeware multitrack recording program. I do some editing there and some on Audacity (also freeware!). Right now, I have a drum track (from my Alesis SR16), a bass track, and three guitar tracks covering all the rhythm parts: one distorted and two clean (with chorus and slight reverb, my favorite effects combo). Today-- if I get enough dissertation work done!-- I'll add some of the remaining tracks. That's lead vocals, at least two or three backing vocal tracks, and a lead guitar track. After that, I might add in a couple of small extra things to bury in the mix, but we'll see. I want to keep this as uncluttered and energetic as possible.

Speaking of the Desperate Bicycles...

2009-06-30T01:08:00.004-04:00

... I think it's time I posted something about my influences. Although I only heard about the Desperate Bicycles long after I had begun my own adventures in DIY music-making, their raw enthusiasm and true punk spirit helped renew my own commitment to, and joy in, making my own music regardless of circumstance. You can read a bit about them here. The point here is don't wait for x, y, or z to fall into place; create with whatever you have, right now. It's the same spirit that moved Toasted Heretic to record brilliant albums on a portastudio and self-release them on cassette. Toasted Heretic, in case you didn't know, were extant in Galway in the late 80s and early 90s. When I heard about them as a secondary school student, I was floored by their priceless name and inspired by their DIY approach. "Wait," I thought, "You can just go and make an album yourself for almost no money? I want to do that." And I did: Toasted Heretic's guitarist, Declan Collins, engineered and co-produced my first album, "Blank Melodies." (Recorded on portastudio, of course!) I'll post more about that some other time.

Homemade Recycled Paper

2009-06-29T10:52:00.003-04:00

This weekend also marked my first foray into the messy and fun world of making one's own recycled paper. As the Desperate Bicycles once said, "It was easy, it was cheap: go and do it!"
There are loads of places online where you can find instructions. It is a lot more fun and rewarding than shredding, I can tell you. Now it is all drying in the sunshine on big pieces of parchment paper.
I'm thinking of doing a (very) limited edition physical CD next time I do an album-- which should be over the summer-- and I'm going to do the packaging on homemade recycled paper.

Happy Pride

2009-06-28T14:53:00.002-04:00

Happy Pride to all on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. In spite of torrential rain, I had a great time participating in the 17th annual Dyke March, which tends to be my personal Pride highlight. The Dyke March is a non-corporate political event in which queer women march-- without a permit!-- down Fifth Avenue, celebrating our diverse and powerful community and basically telling the world that, if it doesn't like that, it can feck off. To me, it's truer than the other Pride events to the original spirit of Stonewall and Pride generally.

Forthcoming blog items

2009-06-27T00:54:00.003-04:00

In the near future, expect full upload of The Pomegranate Heart with commentary; more individual tracks; some thoughts about my influences; and a bit of history, but not too much, probably.
In the medium term, I'll be working on a bunch of new tracks over the summer. I'll be writing about the recording here, and eventually, of course, you can hear the results here too.

Review at DIY culture blog

2009-06-26T23:24:00.007-04:00

Here's a review of two songs from The Pomegranate Heart EP at the Try This At Home blog. It's an excellent read for anyone into DIY culture. (Not just because I'm featured!)
The songs are Leaving Town and Tidying.

Video of my song and a dog...

2009-06-26T23:13:00.005-04:00

Someone's put a video of their dog on Youtube to the accompaniment of "One December Day." Incongruous, but I like it. You can watch it over on the video bar to your right as well. The song isn't on any EP or album, and is from 2007.

Five to Four at Burning World

2009-06-26T23:11:00.002-04:00

"Five to Four" is featured on the current podcast over at Burning World. You can download the podcast here.

Hello, and a song

2009-06-26T17:35:00.012-04:00

Here's a song from my 2006 E.P. The Pomegranate Heart. It's called Five to Four. Enjoy! You can find all the mp3s for free, but if you would like to pay for the E.P., you can do that too-- see the soundclick link at the side of the page.