David has a house in the Woodstock area. Gradually, he moved his collection of modular synthesizers and recording equipment upstate. I came up to do a lot of recording and eventually moved to Woodstock myself. I find the area to be beautiful and an inspirational place to make music. Woodstock is full of extremely talented artists of all types.   

In terms of my music, I wanted to get away from the typical sound of female singer/songwriters. The whole set of circumstances and people around me during this time encouraged me to work more in recording studios and use vintage analog synthesizers and recording gear. Less straight in the box electronic and more experiments in different combinations of live and electronic. Interestingly - as I worked with more colors I felt less barriers between the acoustic, electronic, and orchestral.       

Vanishing:  I wrote and sang this originally in a closet in New York City. It was very low fidelity and strange - but it had a feeling that could not be reproduced. The original vocal was kept and processed through an old Emu Modular synthesizer. Almost all the effects are created on modular analog synthesizers. The vocal was also doubled by a copy of the vocal that had all the vibrato stripped out creating microtonal doubling. Mark Gemini Thwaite played the atmospheric guitar.     

Fragile: Fragile went through many incarnations. At first, it was dry as a bone, and existed only as a creepy soliloquy to insanity. Gradually it became more and more arranged and composed. The harp blended with the electronic programming made a good juxtaposition of sound. This was done after a walk in the mountains behind David’s studio.  Every night I would drive home from Dave’s in the freezing cold, and often an owl would fly by in the headlights as I drove over the mountain.   

Message:  David and I were playing around one day with neoclassical piano playing in his basement. I asked him to set up a mic, and this came together in a short time. It was all written on a brown napkin and this version was created that day.   

Be Like Water. This was an existing song that everyone always liked but I wanted to reinvent it to be played by a live band. The main acoustic guitar riff was played by Craig Ross of Lenny Kravitz fame. The drums were played by Jerry Marotta at the now defunkt Allaire studio in Shokan, NY. The background women were lead by Tawatha Agee and were a nod to Gimme Shelter/Dark Side of the Moon.    

Scarlet days:  This was written most likely on another napkin, but I remember this coming together for the first time in a NYC apartment, after returning home from a summer tour in 2005. It did not make it onto any recording until Dec 09’.     

Back to the Earth:  I wrote this song while living in the East village years ago.  I met a Frenchmen who took photos with his camera. It was originally called “Song for Michele”. The song was resurrected when it was time to record it. Josh came to play at Edison and it created a different emotion. I think I began to sweat from the moment he finished his 3 hot dogs until the moment he was done playing it.   

Evolution (Alt):  This song was all about the emotional build that evolves out of a single riff. The very first riff was removed after we recorded everything else!        

Brighton: The idea was to create a modern psychedelic style. It's the most sixties production on this collection. My friend came over to the Edison Studio and sang backgrounds and played around on the celesta and piano to create those interesting textures.  Michael Flynn, of Slow Runner, came to guest in NYC. I knew Michael from years ago in Boston. He is a true poet, and I have always been a huge admirer of his writing.   

Tamara Song (Alt Mix): Originally this song was very electronic and it got transformed. This is the original electronic version.    

Crumbs and Broken Shells:  This was written on my mothers acrosonic piano years ago.  This song also went through many different types of existence, but ultimately, this version ended up being the one that shines to me, as the original.      

Be Like Water (DB Alt):  This version was more in the electronica/downtempo style. The vocal comes from the original version so it's really more of a remix. The high squeaky sound is a big Moog Modular synthesizer from 1967. The riff sound is a Roland System 700...those are geeky notes from David.    

Evolution (alt. Mix):  This mix was done by David Baron, and had a different feeling than the version featured earlier on the disk. I liked it so much I decided it had to go on. 

So Much (Instrumental):  The song "So Much" started as a chant. While in the Edison Studios in Manhattan we performed this as you hear it. I particularly like hearing Josh Freese with Tony Levin in this raw setting.     

Be Like Water (Acoustic):  This version always felt the most live to me. However, I feel Tawatha Agee and Cindy Mizelle really brought this to life. I remember singing with them at Edison. Two truly skilled vocalists I was lucky to have that day.   

   

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Sarah Fimm @ CDBaby // Album Review

   

  

*B-sides cover (most colorful) - Painting by Evija
*Fimm black and white photos by Jan Cain
*Fimm Live photo by Erik Lamont 

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