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Music, Good! Converge’s The Dusk In Us

Angela Gossow, the former lead vocalist of Arch Enemy, once said that metal/hardcore music sounds like fire. Let’s face it- life is hard, and sometimes you need fire. That’s why I love loud, aggressive music. And nobody does loud and aggressive like the hardcore band Converge. It’s not blustery, “shut-up ‘cause I’m shouting at you” music, though. Converge is going to explode your head with sound, but they are going to do it introspectively. The lyrics are raw and vulnerable, and there are enough quiet moments between the shrieking ones to draw you in. 

“YOU DON’T—KNOW WHAT—MY PAIN FEELS LIKE.”

Converge is suffering-as-sound-as-beauty.  Do you ever experience art and think, “dang, this is so real”? Then afterwards you feel a little more comfortable with yourself. That’s Converge. I can safely feel my own sadness when I’m listening to them. It’s therapeutic for me.

It’s also great music for punching the air, if you’re into that (which you will be if you try listening to Converge). Now you’re caught in an air-punching loop. You’re welcome!

I can’t believe these guys have been making such intense music for almost 30 years. With each new album, there are fresh sounds and moments that make me think, “is that even possible?” Still, the technique, as crazy as it is, is not just there to show off what this band can do. The technique pushes the intensity of the sound. Converge’s latest release, The Dusk In Us, is 45 minutes of intense awesome!   

On some earlier albums, you would pretty much have to look up all the words. I like that I can understand a good amount of the lyrics on this album. I guess I’m getting older, haha. I’ve never been able to see Converge live and I hope they come to Dallas soon.  I’ll stand far from the pit with the rest of the old geezers. Until then, I’ll be listening to The Dusk In Us on repeat.

Listen on spotify or buy it here:

https://deathwishinc.com/collections/converge/products/converge-the-dusk-in-us

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Yeah, I’m still reading the ableton manual...I got little distracted by seasons 1-8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm (prettyyy, prettyyy, prettyyy good!).  I also got a ukulele! This one is a tenor. Here’s a little melody I’m working on. I’m going to plug in (the uke has a pick-up) and do some looping on it later when it’s ready!

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making some progress...

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Rudy the cat in the studio

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Yeah, I’m getting around to reading that manual.....this is Rudy the cat, photo titled “Prelude to an Eb” 

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Let’s Read the Manual

You know what will bring you closer to that software manual you’ve been dreaming about? Back surgery. Thanks to my delicate spine, I’ve been down for about two weeks, and I have a few more to go. So, it’s a good time for some reading. 

I’ve been using Ableton Live (software for recording and performing) for about 8 years and I think I know it (pretty?) well. Still, there have been many times when I look up something in the manual, and I think, “you know, I should just read this whole manual.” I don’t know if it’s really meant to be read cover to cover, but I recently read the manual for my Mackie mixer (hardware) and it was hilarious with the jokes (see below)!! Thank you, Mackie manual-writing department.

The mixer manual was a whopping 23 pages and Ableton’s is 674 pages without the index- HA!  I’ll go for 20 pages tomorrow and let you know what I find out. 

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Welcome to Audio Annie

Hey, I’m Anne. I’m a musician living in Dallas.  By the freeway there used to be an auto repair shop called “Hubcap Annie”.  I never went there and it’s now closed, but I always felt a kinship to the place, being an Anne/Annie myself.   They also had shiny hubcaps displayed up and down the exterior wall- really cool! I always imagined that Hubcap Annie was a happenin’ place. 

“Audio Annie” is happenin’ place where I write about music technology. Like most musicians these days, I wear many hats- writing, playing, recording, and teaching. I’m learning a lot along the way, and dangit there’s too much to learn!  If you’re curious about music technology, I hope you will find this blog interesting.

R.I.P. Hubcap Annie