After deciding to rebrand one of Connan Mockasin’s albums, I set about listening to all three of them, reading about them and deciding which one to choose. I decided to go with ‘Caramel’ (2013). The reason for this being that I really like the sound of it, its got an interesting concept and it was recorded in an interesting way. I also have mixed feelings about the existing album cover so I thought it would be interesting to redesign it.
‘Caramel’ was released in September 2013, Mockasin did not record the album in a studio and instead opted to record it in a hotel room in Tokyo, saying he liked the relaxed atmosphere. The concept and idea behind the album is really simple yet interesting, with Mockasin stating - “I wanted to make something simple. Something nice and relaxed. I liked the name, and the album just came up around that. It's what I felt like 'caramel' music would be. - Listening to the album, you can definitely hear and feel that caramel idea, it’s a soft, smooth and laid back sounding record.
The Guardian reviewed the album in 2013, giving it 4 stars out of 5, the review is very interesting:
“There's a complicated subplot running throughout Connan Mockasin's second album. According to the Kiwi psych singer, it involves a dolphin, a man being in love with said dolphin, a car race and ultimately a car crash, but you wouldn't necessarily ascertain all this from listening. Instead, Caramel sounds more like an LSD binge in a sleazy motel, or an elf covering a Barry White album, or maybe even a rom-com set on Mars. Following 2011's revered Forever Dolphin Love, Connan has created a collection of trippy, mutated soul songs wedged between dreamlike interludes (Why Are You Crying features six minutes of panting and sobbing). He mimics the hip-hop mainstream to brilliant effect, and tracks such as Do I Make You Feel Shy, I'm the Man, That Will Find You and Roll With You fuse such a surreal mix of pixie enchantment and pimped-out creepiness that it's impossible not to be seduced.”
Whether its true or not, Mockasin’s description of the songs being about being in love with dolphins and car crashes is certainly perplexing, however I think the metaphors the reviewer used to describe the album are certainly very apt:
“an LSD binge in a sleazy motel”
“an elf covering a Barry White album”
“a rom-com set on Mars”
The record is certainly very interesting and the more I read about it, the more ideas I have for the design process. In November 2013, Mockasin talked to Interview Magazine about the album, here are some of the things he said about it:
“I just liked it and I thought it was a nice name for a record, just as simple as that. Then I wanted to make a record that sounded like what I thought caramel would sound like. So I just had a month to do it in a hotel in Tokyo. I like having limitations with recording and just bringing my own small amount of equipment. It just excited me, the idea to do it there.”
“I just had a little bit of equipment, and I had to be quiet in the hotel without annoying people too much. I mostly recorded on my own but had my drummer come for a little bit and had some Japanese people coming and hanging out. It was just really simple and funny, lots of fun. Then you go outside and it’s Tokyo.”
What would you say if you were trying to articulate some of the main ingredients of caramel?
“Sort of smooth, feeling relaxed and easy, just simple. A little bit slick, nothing too complicated. I think I was aware that we’d be having to play these songs live, so I wanted to make it a bit easier. The last record, I never thought it was going to be released, so it was a surprise and it was really hard to play them live. So I wanted to make something a little bit easier.”
"I got really excited about playing guitar when I was young because I was watching a Steven Segal movie, Under Siege 2, and there was this [imitates a guitar riff] and it was Jimi Hendrix. I’d never heard it before. I said to my mum, “What’s this? This is amazing,” and she said it’s a man called Jimi Hendrix, and we got a record, Band of Gypsys. She played it for me, and I was like, “This is amazing. I want to play it.” So I put it on tape and just kept replaying bits and trying to figure it out.”
Theres a lot of good insight into the making of the album there which will certainly be important when trying to get an appropriate feel for the design. Its also interesting to read about Mockasin in general, he’s quite a character so I may do some more research on him and find some interesting facts because its weird and interesting stuff like that which translates into design aspects really well.
No comments:
Post a Comment