Crime and the Antique Solution

The first thing you should know is that the title is a blatant borrow from the Australian, Birthday-Party-member-having art rock band Crime and the City Solution. Change one word and voila! A song title! The relationship between the two doesn't have anything to do with anything, other than the fact that I heard the band on Wings of Desire one day a few years ago and thought it was a rather handsome group of words that played well together.

The second thing you should know is that we don't condone the use of time traveling portals, wormholes, or any other machinery that would make such a feat possible, without first consulting with your family quantum physicist. If you're a subscriber to the Grandfather Paradox theory (or in modern terms, The Marty McFly Conundrum), the changing of past events would cause current circumstances to change. Hence the phrase, "I'm fading away…"

Musically, Crime was a no-brainer. Other than a guitar being run through a leslie, no strange or experimental recording techniques were employed. I vaguely remember the verses (which are in 7, if you were wondering) being in some way influenced by an old Genesis song, but I can't remember which one. It's definitely not the one with the drum fill that goes doo-doom doo-doom doo-doom doo-doom BAP BAP! I was really proud of the "fading away" section, mostly because I was able to throw in what I call a "pink" note – a single note change that brings a minor chord around to being major, and therefore in a much better mood.

One of Fridmann's major contributions to this song was the middle noise section. We had never really thought about making that section sound nearly as chaotic as it does. I don't know how many guitar tracks are smashed in there, but I do know it's a lot. Dave loves him some freak-outs. And we have come to the realization that it can be a lot more fun than actually playing music.

Incidentally, there were two separate mixes posted at different times: the noisy, psychedelic Dave mix, and a cleaner, radio-friendly mix. If you were observant, you may have caught it…

Any questions?

Warm, safe, and dry...
Jonathon Christopher Newby of Brazil