FALLING demo

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dumbhead
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FALLING demo

Post by dumbhead »

There is a beautiful demo recording of "Falling" (sung by Julee Cruise) which can be found on a transparent green 7" vinyl record called "Soil Samples 15". It is backed with the song "Syria" by Not Drowning, Waving (no relation to Cruise, Lynch, or Badalamenti). I'm guessing there was a series of "Soil Samples" records - possibly created as promotional items for a music magazine. As far as I know, this alternate version of "Falling" was never released elsewhere.

It's softer than the regular version, with Cruise's voice (minus the heavy reverb) accompanied by two or three layers of keyboard (likely played by Badalamenti). There's no guitar, and the overall tone is less dramatic than the album/soundtrack recording. One particularly nice feature of the demo is that the counter-melody played during the "falling, falling" part (near the end of the song) can be heard quite clearly. It's more prominent in the instrumental version of "Falling", but in the vocal version it gets a bit buried in the mix. This early version has a much sparer feeling. It is really beautiful.

I've been listening to "Floating Into The Night" for nearly twenty years, and it remains one of my favorite albums. I remember purchasing it (on cassette, at first) when I was a freshman in high school, several months before the "Twin Peaks" soundtrack was released. As soon as I heard the theme song during the pilot episode, I was under its spell. Lucky for me, a nice clerk at the local Coconuts record store told me about the Julee Cruise album (which happened to be in stock). I was so happy to have it in my possession. I listened to it over and over, and it seemed like I'd been waiting my whole life to hear music like that. It only took one episode for me to become obsessed with "Twin Peaks", and it felt like an eternity between the airing of the pilot and when the first season began. "Floating Into The Night" kept me in the spirit while I waited. Only recently did I discover the existence of this little green record with the "Falling" demo - such a happy discovery. If you can find a copy, it will make a nice addition to your "Twin Peaks" collection.

Also worth finding is the three-song EP "I Fell In Love With A Dead Boy" by Antony & The Johnsons. One of its songs is a cover of "Mysteries Of Love", and I think it towers over the original. "Mysteries Of Love" was always one of my least favorite Julee Cruise songs, but Antony's version revealed (to me) the true beauty of the original composition. It's much slower and more desperate-sounding than the original. Antony's voice hovers, ghost-like, over a bed a strings and piano notes, stretching the lyrics into a new (and, I believe, more appropriate) context. It's breathtaking. And, in a strange way, it seems closer to what I imagine Lynch wanted when he thought to create a song for "Blue Velvet". I wonder if Lynch knows about Antony. (Side note: how I wish Cocteau Twins had agreed to appear in "Blue Velvet". What a great presence they would have been in that film.)

I've been a regular visitor to this site for a while now, but I've never posted before. I'm grateful to everyone who does post, though. I eagerly await the deleted scenes, too. Dugpa rules.
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dugpa
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by dugpa »

Hey dumbhead. Welcome to the board! I'd love to hear this alternate mix as I don't think I've ever come across it.

-B
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qbin2001
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by qbin2001 »

dugpa wrote:I'd love to hear this alternate mix as I don't think I've ever come across it.
Here it is:

http://www.davidlynch.de/fallingdemo.mp3
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Annie
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by Annie »

Hey thanks! Interesting...oh and welcome, dumbhead!
Keep your eye on the doughnut, not on the hole.
mixomatosis
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by mixomatosis »

Funnily enough I've just bought a copy of this off eBay; when it arrives I'll see if I can improve on the crackly MP3 up there. It is rather lovely, isn't it?
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qbin2001
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by qbin2001 »

mixomatosis wrote:Funnily enough I've just bought a copy of this off eBay; when it arrives I'll see if I can improve on the crackly MP3 up there. It is rather lovely, isn't it?
Fantastic! I can't wait :)
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Henrys Hair
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by Henrys Hair »

Very interesting. The only Soil Sample I've come across before is His Name Is Alive's 'Darling' on blue vinyl. No idea what the purpose of these records were - I'm fairly certain they weren't sold commercially and the HNIA track is one which was left off their (excellent) Mouth By Mouth album. It would seem strange if they were intended to be radio promos as neither of these singles feature tracks from the records they were promoting.

A different version of 'Darling' was later released on Denise James (HNIA singer) first solo album, although that came out much later on Poptones, not Waners, so the single can't have been intended as promotion for that album either.
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Henrys Hair
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by Henrys Hair »

Hmm, after doing a quick search it seems that these were records that came with Warners' Dirt magazine and each seemed to be split 7" singles. Not sure if Dirt was a commercial or trade mag tho...
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jdh.goodgrief
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by jdh.goodgrief »

mixomatosis wrote:Funnily enough I've just bought a copy of this off eBay; when it arrives I'll see if I can improve on the crackly MP3 up there. It is rather lovely, isn't it?
Fingers crossed you get a scratch free copy.
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by mixomatosis »

jdh.goodgrief wrote:
mixomatosis wrote:Funnily enough I've just bought a copy of this off eBay; when it arrives I'll see if I can improve on the crackly MP3 up there. It is rather lovely, isn't it?
Fingers crossed you get a scratch free copy.
Good news - it is scratch free. In fact, barring one click during the intro that I can easily fix in Sound Forge, it sounds pretty damn good for 15-year old vinyl. Bad news though... my laptop died on me a few weeks ago, and since getting it back I've not tried recording any audio from the turntable until today. And lo and behold, not only do all my sound settings appear to have been irrepairably fucked, but there's an imbalance on the L/R channel volumes, with one about 2db louder than the other, causing some nasty clipping and distortion. In short, it sounds worse than the 128kbps version on .de. I am meant to be getting a new laptop from work at some point soon (I was meant to get it 2 months ago actually, but I won't bore you with that particular woe of mine) so when it arrives, or unless I can get someone else to do it, it's on hold for now.

The Not Waving, Drowning track's awful, by the way. A horrible sub-Jan Hammer type of thing.
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by mixomatosis »

I've got my friend to do a recording of this on his superior vinyl set-up, so it should be appearing within the next week or two now, depending when I next see him.
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piero
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by piero »

still waiting for your friend.... :wink:
Roomservice...
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by mixomatosis »

Afraid so. I was supposed to see him on the 31st, but here in the UK the train companies have gone on strike, forcing my friend to stay at home. There is a possibility of getting it through on Sunday, but it's not a guarantee.
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piero
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by piero »

ok...I'm in the waiting room.... :wink:
Roomservice...
mixomatosis
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Re: FALLING demo

Post by mixomatosis »

Hold tight piero and co., it'll be online within 24 hours. Just need to iron out some pops and clicks. I'll probably bung it in a new thread with an eye-catching title too.
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