Studio
We spent a lot of time in the studio. Capturing the essence of the live band was never an easy feat for us. (Or for professional engineers for that matter). I think the band would agree that we never really caught the Wise Wound on tape. But we recorded two tapes that we punted at gigs ("Tapes for Sale!") which helped to fund the gas-guzzling Lance.
Tales from the Wise Wound
Bulldozer Man
Under the Bamboo
Baptise
Isle of Glass
Leopard in the Snow
Banbury Blues
We recorded this on our newly-acquired second-hand 8-Track Studio in Sue's attic in Highgate aka Pie in the Sky, later La La Land.
Sue - Guitar, Lead vocals
Maz - 'Cello, B-vocals
Den - Double Bass, B-vocals
Shanti-Tony - Percussion
Liz - B-vocals
Claire - B-Vocals
Blood and Bark
Fat Man
Not a Good Start
Song of the Whale
Porcelain Bus
Fireflies
Coathanger Children
Mother's Guilt
Linseed Ladies
Crazy Jane
In an attempt to capture the "live feel" that was such a hallmark of the Wise Wound, Blood and Bark was recorded with the whole band live. There were additions and tweakings later but the tracks are fundamentally live, full-band takes rather than individual multi-track recordings. It was recorded at Reels on Wheels aka Mike's Kitchen by Mike Coombs in 1994.
Sue - Guitar, Lead vocals
Maz - 'Cello, B-vocals
Den - Double Bass, B-vocals
Bri - Percussion, flute, B-vocals
Bill - Keyboards, flute, accordion, B-vocals
Sally - B-Vocals
We also sent out a few 3 track demo of songs from this album entitled A Drop of Blood, A Shred of Bark.
Atari Safari
At some point we got an Atari with Cubase along with a 16-track reel to reel. It was a time of learning that has stood us all in good stead, but we never achieved the elusive "decent recording". We began to integrate the effects we had started to use live. There are some interesting recordings from that time, and from the last days of the Wise Wound. I haven't included any here as they are not so typical of what the Wise Wound was for the bulk of its life; it was the start of a new path that, for the Wise Wound, never really came to fruition. I have continued to work with Sue over the years and that path has continued and is reflected in more current work including Manic Moon.
Tales 1
Another recording I haven't yet covered here is Sue's first Demo, recorded in 1989 under the name of Suzen, entitled (somewhat confusingly the same as the Wise Wound's first tape) Tales from the Wise Wound. It is also very midi-based and I haven't included a sample as yet because it is quite different to the sound that was essentially the Wise Wound. There are however early versions of songs and Sue may well decide to put up a sample track here.
Lazy Jane (later to become Crazy Jane)
Sleeping seeds
Mother's Guilt
Suzen - Guitar, vocals
awaiting further credits