Neil Young spent four full-moon nights in the house of his long-time producer and friend, Daniel Lanois, creating the Album Le Noise, released Sept. 28.
“Historically, Neil has written his best songs during that potent time,” said Lanois of the full-moon schedule he and Young arranged, in a video on Neil Young’s website.
Among Young’s goals for this album was to create a nearly tangible imagery with the sounds as well as the lyrics.
“We’re trying to create pictures with the sound, so you feel like you’re experiencing wind, or a texture, or a starlit night. It shouldn’t be just about lyrical description of these [things]. So Neil very kindly encouraged me to supply him with sonics that were descriptive to the landscapes he was building with his lyrics,” said Lanois in the video.
Young broke with traditional recording methods while making this album. Instead of using a studio, he recorded in Lanois’ L.A.home, which provided interesting acoustic features as well as a more intimate setting.
Two old grates stood in front of Young as he performed. The grates are part of the old pipe organ in Lanois’ house. Bellows extend down from the grates into the depths of the lower level, where Young’s music was projected and resounded back with an amplified sound.
“The more we did, the house got angrier and started reverberating,” described Lanois.
A PA system replaced the headphones usually worn by an artist in the studio to create for Young the feeling of being on stage.
“I think that was a big part of the success of this album. We were able to rock out the way that you do on stage. The stage really gives you a lot of bravado,” said Lanois.
Young and Lanois have worked together for many years. Lanois likened the increasing ease with which they produce albums together to a dancer whose movements become instinctual and more graceful with practice.
Lanois also made clear that they were not relying on the same techniques over the years, but really changing with the times.
“I’m trying to find ways to enter the future with sonics. At the back-end of 50 years of rock and roll there’s not a whole lot left that hasn’t been said. I want to build new sounds for the future. This is probably the record that has the highest visibility of dub sonics that I do,” said Lanois.
“Historically, Neil has written his best songs during that potent time,” said Lanois of the full-moon schedule he and Young arranged, in a video on Neil Young’s website.
Among Young’s goals for this album was to create a nearly tangible imagery with the sounds as well as the lyrics.
“We’re trying to create pictures with the sound, so you feel like you’re experiencing wind, or a texture, or a starlit night. It shouldn’t be just about lyrical description of these [things]. So Neil very kindly encouraged me to supply him with sonics that were descriptive to the landscapes he was building with his lyrics,” said Lanois in the video.
Young broke with traditional recording methods while making this album. Instead of using a studio, he recorded in Lanois’ L.A.home, which provided interesting acoustic features as well as a more intimate setting.
Two old grates stood in front of Young as he performed. The grates are part of the old pipe organ in Lanois’ house. Bellows extend down from the grates into the depths of the lower level, where Young’s music was projected and resounded back with an amplified sound.
“The more we did, the house got angrier and started reverberating,” described Lanois.
A PA system replaced the headphones usually worn by an artist in the studio to create for Young the feeling of being on stage.
“I think that was a big part of the success of this album. We were able to rock out the way that you do on stage. The stage really gives you a lot of bravado,” said Lanois.
Young and Lanois have worked together for many years. Lanois likened the increasing ease with which they produce albums together to a dancer whose movements become instinctual and more graceful with practice.
Lanois also made clear that they were not relying on the same techniques over the years, but really changing with the times.
“I’m trying to find ways to enter the future with sonics. At the back-end of 50 years of rock and roll there’s not a whole lot left that hasn’t been said. I want to build new sounds for the future. This is probably the record that has the highest visibility of dub sonics that I do,” said Lanois.
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