Friday, April 28, 2017

"of Science and Time with MST3k - Season 11"



                "of Science and Time with MST3k - Season 11"
                         ( folder w/ both tracks, arts, notes )

   Twas primarily the first 3 episodes of MsT's 11th revived & refreshed season that inspired these 2 sample-piece/mash-ups.
So many swell lines on science and time-travel to use as samples. 
And as these pieces neared completion, "Yongary", "Starcrash" and even "what's science ?" from "Carnival Magic" presented themselves with the perfect additions !

  I'm sure there's more than a few of us, inhaling the wide-range of creativity in Season 11 over a week or two, who then exhale some creativity infused with it all !
Whether it's paintings, t-shirts, pot-holder & coasters . .  or a couple of sample-piece / mashups, like these from AtoZ:

 The inspiration-point for both of these MSTy items is rather simple . .  obvious even !

  I was already rewatching the earliest episodes ( before finishing the season ) while having also dropped the mp4 files into the audio-editor Fission . .  the better to save lines as samples for whatever future purpose.

                                         The "A-Side"

  Around the same time, I'd added the extended mix of Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science !" to a folder of prospective 80's mashes.
  And "Hey ! . .  both "Reptilicus" and "The Time Travelers" are lousy with moments mocking scientists, commenting on scientists,  and AS scientists !!"
They'd Binded Me With Science !!

  So balance highly scientific use of MST along with Michael Jackson's "Beat It" vocal over the looped & linked Dolby track, and it's "She Beat Me With Science !"  . . .


The bursts of "science !!" from Dr. Magnus Pyke came from a vid of Dolby playing the isolated samples for an audience.

  And .  . well into production on this, I suddenly thought "wait a tic, there has to be an MsT where someone in the theater actually riffs "she blinded me with science !", right ??
Figure out the right Google search-terms and lo and behead :
 --- "417 - Crash of Moons" . . . Trace's Crow !

also includes:
Mike's "touch a button, things happen . . . sometimes"
from 621- "The Beast of Yucca Flats"
Servo's "Patti LaBelle" going "wha-a-a-a-a-a"
and Servo's "it's a nice day for a white wedding" from 404 "Teenagers from Outer Space"

  So I thought this track was 99% done . . maybe a timing tweak or two still ? . . and was polishing the nuttier all-MST samples "B-Side" fulla' Steiners and Capsules !! and BANG !
But it was time for another episode premiere . .  #1112 - "Carnival Magic" and when they riffed Markov stroking his chin and asking "what's science ?", I knew just the right home for it.
While adding that, a "BANG !" may have snuck by me and embedded itself as well. . .


                                         The "B-Side"

  "Dr. Von Steiner - Time Traveler" is completely MST over the instrumental version of Yello's "Dr. Van Steiner".
Von . .  Van . .  meet each other and be as one. Close enough !
Maybe there was a slight warpage in the time portal warp effect as they looped and lapped each other thru time and space and he's now a mutant hybrid time-echo of his new former dopple-self ? It's Dr. Von Van !

There's a few cross-over lines from the other track, while using moments from:
"The Time Travelers"
"Reptilicus"
the "Yongary" capsule scene - --  "capsule . . Capsule !!"
and all 9 variations of "Bang !" from "Cry Wilderness"
plus late in the process I went thru "Starcrash" . . Christopher Plummer's "halt the flow of time !" was a natural, man . . 

  Plus, there's a moment from an MST some of you may recall from before Jonah and The Bots: Dr. F's "turn it off !!" from "The Castle of Fu Man Chu"





Tuesday, April 11, 2017

"of Easy Calling" -- Klaatu w Robert F. Kennedy & Martin Luther King vs The Commodores

   Well, this sure came out with about as much righteous glow and stirring humanity as I had hoped !



    I know most of us mashers would say, if they had a track that felt rather "Voicedudey" in its concerns and also it's use of Klaatu and such. . & they asked Voicedude if he thought he could adjust it much quicker and more accurately... and he said "Sure !" ?!….
Well, you'd say things about how honored you were, and boy --- I sure am !
  But beyond that, we're talking about a producer who's not only impeccable in his construction and craft, but is one of the few who can balance snazzy musicality with whimsy and a range of human spirit ! His work has been impressively slick while maintaining humor and engaging verve, man !


    For "of Easy Calling" here . .  well when "Easy" came out in March 1977, I noticed immediately ( and still recall right where I was ) how the "ah ahhh ah aaahhh" backing vocal was a complete "reflection" of the vocal from Klaatu's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" released just half a year before ! 

  So those seeds were sown since then, to one day mash one upon the other . .  but I'm pretty sure it wasn't 1977 when I read, or had DJ Useo tell me, that Voicedude was quite the fan of Klaatu . .  I'm thinking that must have been more recent.

 If one knows a V-Dude track like "A Whiter Shade Of Peace" from 2011, one knows even more fully why I thought this might go right up his alley and salute his flag.

   And just to be clear, it was chiefly the Klaatu sample "we are your friends" where I knew my do-it-by-ear skill-set could use the help of a fully musically-trained soul like Joel, whose 1st response included "I LOVE the idea". I sent him all the separated elements and he did some light but invaluable tweaking to other aspects of Klaatu as well.
I was then able to finish work on the overall piece with a fuller tank of assured endorsement and pride . .

it was "Easy" !