Karl's Corner - 08/17/2004

Letter of the week roundup!!
: "WHEN IS THE NEW ALBUM GOING TO COME AND CHANGE MY LIFE?
: RESTLESS AND SICK OF THE BULL****,"
: -Rebecca
: "make a weezer thong you can buy in the store for my chick cuz that would be incredibly sweet hehe"
: -Evan
: "I know u probably wont answer this... but i really want the invisible song by Rivers... i noticed he took it down from his myspace.com site... but that would be real cool if u can post it on the weezer.com site to download!"
: -Chris
: "I wanted to know what each band members of Weezer what the their favorite guitar was and where you can purchase one and which is best for someone who just beginning to play and wants to start a band"
: -anonymous
: "please,please,please,please,PLEASE!!!!!do a show in montreal!PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
: i love weezer!!!!!!! i love when rivers is shy,when brian smile,the muscle of scott,and the exellent sens of humour of pat! please come in montreal!"
: -louise
: "Did Rivers really kick the lead singer of Creed's ass? with a guitar pick no less? that would be hilarious.. HAHAHAH"
: -anonymous
...summer recording session, day 24. Today was a mixed bag of recording - some more bass work from Scott, guitar overdubs and vocal work from Rivers, and some guitar work from Brian.
Who's in the hizzouse? Engineer Chad Bamford is manning the boards, it's him you see chatting with the band in several photos to date. Chad has worked with the band on and off since before the Green album, when he came in to relieve Neil Young (not 'the' Neil Young) and Joe Barresi, engineers who had worked with weezer before but for various reasons were unavailable to help the band do their Green Album prep demos. Chad was recommended by Joe and has been working with the band often since then. Chad engineered the Maladroit sessions in late '01 and early '02, as well as numerous demo sessions since then, including Rivers demo sessions in the spring of this year. As he personally witnessed the evolution of the current songs over this past spring, he was particularly suited to engineer on these new sessions.
Meanwhile, Rick Rubin, originally slated to produce the 5th album, has become more of a 'mentor' figure for the sessions, after having had a trememdous impact on Rivers and the band in '03, helping re-organize the band's then somewhat confused recording priorities, and being a wonderful and positive influence on Rivers, helping him 'find his way' both personally and in songwriting again. The sessions with Rick started back in 12/03 have been shelved in favor of the fresh start that commenced 3 weeks ago in the current sessions. This was done mainly in response to Rivers regaining his sense of momentum with his songwriting, and not feeling right about continuing with the incomplete recordings from December. In effect, the band is now producing itself, as it did on Pinkerton and Maladroit, but this time they have a wise shoulder to lean on if and when need be. So far its working out pretty excellently.
update - I felt it was best to further clarify the above. Please remember that these news stories are representative of a combination of facts I learn and my impressions of what's going on. As far as Rick Rubin is concerned, I wasnt trying to give the impression that hes 'no longer on board'. On the contrary, Rick is still very much a part of this process, just currently not part of the day to day action. It remains to be seen exactly how all this pans out.
In response to some other questions - when recording, particularly when working on vocals, weezer frontman Rivers has always been camera-shy. As the one regularly going into the studio to capture some photos and video for website and future use, I have to respect this. And while it's unfortunate that that part of 'the story' doesnt get covered because of this, its far more important that the vocal performances are not disturbed and possibly negatively affected. In the end, it makes everything go smoother and sound better.
...'PAL' DVD update! After a rather long wait, we have confirmation that the corrected PAL edition of the Weezer DVD has finally reached the retail outlets in the various countries where it was sold. (PAL DVD editions are sold in numerous foreign countries, not the USA or Canada, where NTSC is the standard). What this means for weezer fans who have the PAL edition and are tired of its glitches* is that they can now take their DVD back to the retailer where they purchased it, and get their copy exchanged with the new corrected one. If for some reason their local retailer is unavailable, the record company says "they can contact the local Universal office" for exchange. We do not have more info as to where these local offices are in the various countires, but it will be looked into. Thank you for your patience in this matter! 
*PAL dvd glitches:
a. not being able to access the easter egg
b. getting the "Slob" commentary on "Keep Fishin'",
c. "Pink Triangle (shorecrest acoustic)" - no commentary
d. "Good Life B-roll" - has the "Pink Triangle (shorecrest acoustic)" commentary 
...its Muse, checking out their new =w= DVD and Blue Album Deluxe Edition!...
...Blue Deluxe CD reviews that got overlooked till now: Transform Online here and Yale Herald here.
...The original artwork for The Lion & the Witch EP cover is available as a limited edition archival print here.
...The 'Weezer Wikipedia' looks a little thin, add more data here.
...weezer "Yafro Club" here.
...finally, looking for weezer ringtones? Here's the authorized site.
Category:Karl's Corner - August 2004