''Direct to Disc'' is the second album by
FM, a
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
group from
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, recorded late 1977 and released May 1978. It was also issued under the title ''Head Room''. It was the first FM album to feature
Ben Mink
Benjamin Mink (born January 22, 1951) is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer best known as a longtime collaborator of Canadian singer k.d. lang. He plays several string instruments, notably the guitar, violin, and the m ...
, who replaced founding member
Nash the Slash
James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, as well as the h ...
on electric violin and electric mandolin, instruments which Nash also played.
It has been re-released for the first time in CD format on
Esoteric Records in February 2013.
Recording
The album was made using the
direct to disc recording
Direct-to-disc recording refers to sound recording methods that bypass the use of magnetic tape recording and record audio directly onto analog disc masters.
Professional analog sound recording
Most sound recordings for records before the 1950s ...
method, in which recording tape is not used. This method requires that the group perform two 15-minute sides live in the studio with no overdubs. The recording is mixed live and transcribed to the master disc as it is being performed. This was a briefly popular format in the 1970s, and like all albums made this way, it was a limited edition, because only so many copies can be pressed from the master disc.
The album was mostly instrumental, consisted of one piece on each side, and was issued on a small label called Labyrinth Records, catalogue number LBR-1001, which suggests it was likely the label's first (and possibly only) release. It was well received by critics who compared the first side to a blend of
Yes,
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
, and
Lighthouse, while the second side took on a jazz feel, concluding with the sound of an unusual instrument: an alpha wave brain monitor plugged into a synthesizer, translating drummer
Martin Deller's live brainwaves into a throbbing hum.
Artwork
The fantasy cover art by
Paul Till shows a warrior (possibly from the distant past, or the distant future, and possibly female) gazing into a portal and seeing a green glowing
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
in the foreground, superimposed over the warrior's face. The concept references the album's use of older, but not obsolete, and (arguably) superior recording technologies:
tube amplifiers, and the direct to disc recording process.
Editions and ''Head Room'' reissue
During the recording session, six takes were recorded for each side. The original edition uses take four on each side. The take number is determined by checking the side number suffix in the
matrix numbers
A matrix number is an alphanumeric code (and on occasion, other symbols) stamped or handwritten (or a combination of the two) into the run-out groove area of a phonograph record. This is the non-grooved area between the end of the final band o ...
inscribed next to the run-out groove. Suffixes A4 and B4 indicate take four. This version was a limited edition of 20,000 copies.
[Pictures of ''Direct to Disc'' covers and labels, plus quote from Martin Deller, at Blacknoise site](_blank)
/ref>
Some time after the original edition's release (possibly in 1980), several reissues appeared. One still has the original ''Direct to Disc'' title, but it has a different company name on the label: Kiras Music Works. Another edition changes the album title to ''Head Room'', or perhaps ''Headroom''. The title, which is also the title of the piece covering side one, is spelled as one word on the main track list printed on the inner gatefold cover, but as two words in the engineering credits and on the first edition's cream coloured label. (The Kiras edition's label is also cream coloured.) Conversely, it is spelled as two words on the front cover of the later edition, but as one word on its black label, which has no label name. All editions continue to use the Labyrinth Records name and original catalogue number on the cover.
These later editions use different takes of the track for side two. Takes one and two (marked B1 and B2 in the matrix area) are known to exist. In an interview, Martin Deller suggested the later editions were not known to the band at the time:
"As far as the ''Direct to Disc'' goes there was a limited pressing of 20,000 copies and it sold out. However a local fan has collected a couple of copies of the album and I understand that they have different versions of each take (side 1, side 2) on them! I have yet to check this out but if so there may be more (than the 20K) available."
:– Martin Deller, January 2004
The claim that alternate takes of side one exist has not been confirmed, but the quote suggests Deller was uncertain of the details.
A remastered edition of ''Direct to Disc'' was released by Esoteric Records (ECLECM2377) on February 25, 2013.
Track listing
Descriptions are taken from the track list on the album cover. Timings are taken from the first edition's label, which uses take four of each side. Later editions have alternate takes of side two, and timings are not shown on the labels.
Side one
#"Headroom" ( Cameron Hawkins) – 15:36
#*"Tyra" – An introduction of the three musicians with bass guitar, bass pedals, drums and electric violin.
#*"Reflections One" – A violin piece with light percussion, congas, bass guitar chording and bass pedals.
#*"Reflections Two" – The same themes as "One", presented over a background of sequences, string synthesizer, and drums with violin, vocal, and synthesizer melodies.
#*"Real Time" – A space out.
#*"Scarberia" – The drum solo emerges into an improvised synthesized drum, violin, bass guitar bridge. The piece concludes with a rock and roll song in 14/8.
Side two
#"Border Crossing" ( Martin Deller) – 15:24 – A composition drawing from rock, jazz, and classical influences.
#*"The First Movement" – was inspired by Japanese haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...
; a three line verse having a rhythmic cadence of 5/7/5.
#*"The Second Movement" – is free of metre and tonal centre, and contrasts the first movement with a lack of structure.
#*"The Third Movement" – is introduced by an ostinato sequencer bass line. An improvisation by all players over this pattern follows.
#*"The Fourth Movement" – is in traditional song form with drums, violin, bass guitar and bass pedals. The piece concludes with added synthesizer environments of modulated noise and alpha brain wave control of an ARP 2500
The ARP 2500 is a monophonic analog modular synthesizer equipped with a set of sliding matrix switches above each module. These are the primary method of interconnecting modules. It is the first product of ARP Instruments, Inc., built from 1970 ...
.
Personnel
* Cameron Hawkins – Minimoog synthesizer with Polyfusion sequencer 2040, Micromoog
The Moog model 2090 Micromoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer produced by Moog Music from 1975 to 1979.
During 1973 and 1974, Moog attempted to produce a synth system, possibly as a result of seeing Yamaha's massive GX-1. The bass and pol ...
synthesizer with Polyfusion sequencer AS-1, Micromoog synthesizer with percussion controller, Elka string synthesizer with bass pedals, Eko bass pedals, Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a rang ...
bass guitar, Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
Brassmaster fuzz, Mu-tron
''Musitronics'', often shortened to Mu-tron, was a manufacturer of electronic musical effects active in the 1970s. Founded by Mike Beigel and Aaron Newman, the company's products provided filtering and processing effects and were derived from s ...
111 filter, vocals
*Ben Mink
Benjamin Mink (born January 22, 1951) is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer best known as a longtime collaborator of Canadian singer k.d. lang. He plays several string instruments, notably the guitar, violin, and the m ...
– 5 string electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...
, 5 string solid body electric mandolin
The electric mandolin is an instrument tuned and played as the mandolin and amplified in similar fashion to an electric guitar.
As with electric guitars, electric mandolins take many forms. Most common is a carved-top eight-string instrument fit ...
* Martin Deller – Fibes drum kit, congas, bells and miscellaneous percussion, Moog percussion controller, ARP 2600
The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc.
History
Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Allen R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 ...
and ARP 2500
The ARP 2500 is a monophonic analog modular synthesizer equipped with a set of sliding matrix switches above each module. These are the primary method of interconnecting modules. It is the first product of ARP Instruments, Inc., built from 1970 ...
synthesizers
References
External links
Entry at allmusic
Entry at discogs
{{Authority control
1978 albums
FM (Canadian band) albums