Midnight Oil

Subject: RE: [powderworks] Malcolm Burn - Breathe producer
From: Eel Bonjack
Date: 28/07/2009, 2:02 am
To: powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au

I know there are a number of you who won't agree with me, but for me for what it's worth, "Breathe" for me is the best of the best. Before anybody sends me any hate mail, I know it's really a subjective matter. It's no secret that Rob Hirst didn't care for his experience making the album, but in the interviews on the "20,000 Watt" DVD, he also says that "Breathe" reflects the mystery, emotion, and ambience of New Orleans (which I'm sure remains there to this day, despite all that's happened there). I didn't like, honestly, the things I read about what Malcolm Burn did when he produced the record, but still it remains that I have a totally different take on it than Michael Blockwood (nothing personal of course), it doesn't feel "flat and muddled" to me at all. I put it this way in my amazon review:


"For me, the impact that the tracks have on me shifts (sometimes "Home" and "E-beat" sometimes the first two)as the ones that affect me most deeply change from time to time. It is never the same way twice whenever I play it; it feels like it's always in flux, and has a remarkable afterglow that lingers when I'm done hearing it. IT gradually grew on me in that weird way where the sound and lyrics of each song crept up into my consciousness, and before I realized it, I found that it blew me away. Only two or three other CDs have ever given me this sensation."
  
some people say it doesn't feel like the Oils at all to them, and I know it's just me, but I felt the heart and soul of the band pulsating in it throughout. 

ok, so my question for Mr. Burn would be:
IS there any chance you would work with any of the members of the Oils again, in their other projects? (likely not Rob, at least I would imagine) and if so, would you do any of it differently?

--- On Mon, 7/27/09, Michael Blackwood <blackwood_michael@hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Michael Blackwood <blackwood_michael@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [powderworks] Malcolm Burn - Breathe producer
To: koala.sprint@gmail.com, "Oils Powderworks" <powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au>
Date: Monday, July 27, 2009, 10:14 AM

 

1) Why is the mix of Breathe so flat and muddled?  Rarely does any one element of the instrumentation "pop" and catch your attention, which seems an antithetical approach to mixing when compared to the mix of every other Oils album, and to the way the Breathe tracks were played live as well.  (I hope this phrasing doesn't seem rude, I just lack the musical vocabularly to describe my impressions any other way.)
 
2) Have the original recording tracks survived, and would you be curious to see how one of the Oils "traditional" producers like Warne Livesey or Nick Launay would approach the songs?
 
Mike Blackwood

To: powderworks@ yahoogroups. com.au
From: koala.sprint@ gmail.com
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:59:31 +0200
Subject: [powderworks] Malcolm Burn - Breathe producer

 
Hi all,

Malcolm Burn has agreed to answer some questions about his time with
Midnight Oil, producing Breathe in New Orleans.
Breathe is the one album that divides fans. It seemed to have brought
a different audience to the Oils, especially from the US, due to it's
more mellow, acoustic tones.

If you have any questions for Malcolm, let me know and I'll put them to him.
My questions are
How did Emmylou Harris became involved?
How did you end up as the only external person ever to co-write an Oils song?
Why did you end up playing so many instruments on the album?
Was Rob so against this more acoustical musical direction?
Where there lots of discarded songs from the sessions? If so, what
happened to them?

He is on vacation this week but will respond next week, so if you want
to email in questions this week, I'll compile them and post his
responses.

Cheers

Stephen


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