Where were you on June 5th, 1993? It was a Saturday, so I was probably enjoying a day off school, looking forward to the approaching summer. Perhaps holed up in my room listening to CDs I'd scored via Columbia House, playing Xexyz or some shit. Maybe watching a horror movie or my daily dose of MuchMusic. Regardless, I was most definitely not in New York City, at the Knitting Factory, taking in the Ecstatic Peace! Caravan of Stars. In addition to future Dust brother Alan Licht, and one of the Blue Humans' drummers (Tom Surgal I presume?), attendees were witness to multiple Sonic Youth side escapades, such as Free Kitten, Mosquito, and a Lee Ranaldo solo set. I'm guessing it was a relatively loose affair, if the headlining set by Sonic Youth themselves is any indication. After barely making it through opener "I Hate Suede" (later "In the Mind of the Bourgeois Reader"), Thurston realized that he was playing the wrong guitar for the song. He came to this realization while trying to play the next song, "Pete Townshend" (later "Skink"). Aware he's in GDD#, he instead launched into the opening harmonics of another brand new song, "Bull in the Heather" (possibly with an unknown working title). The structure was mostly there, though Kim was kinda speak-shouting an improvised vocal melody and the "betting on the bull in the heather" line wasn't in place. Afterwards, Thurston insisted on another run through "I Hate Suede" in the proper tuning. It sounded a little better, and was followed by a tune Thurston introduced as "Starfield Road" once he got his lyric sheet in place. The idea was there, but a tad unformed, and Lee had not hit on the glorious rising ring mod groove yet (in fact he seemed to be trying to work the Maestro into "Suede" or "Bull"). And that was it! Three brand new songs, one played twice. It's a fun set to listen to as a curiosity, hearing the songs in their least developed state, but it's pretty rough.
Just three months earlier in Seattle they had wrapped up the Dirty touring, killing "Dirty Boots" "Swimsuit Issue" and "Genetic" (and putting "Kool Thing" on life support for seven years). Hints of Jet Set had crept into the set, particularly in the tapes they'd play between songs, including weird sirens and a woman speaking Japanese. These recordings ended up as part of the "hidden bonus track" on the CD version of Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. Also heard between songs on that March '93 tour was a toy beatbox that Kim had started playing through her bass pickups, which she later incorporated into "Tokyo Eye". That song, along with "Skink" and "Screaming Skull", had been written by Thurston for a Japanese tour of three sonic side projects, which took place in January '93. Thurston opened with his bare bones solo sets, followed by Free Kitten and Mosquito. The June '93 Knitting Factory gig was the first time Sonic Youth had unveiled any of the Jet Set material as a group.
A few weeks later, they played two shows at the Academy in NYC. Here they introduced more new songs such as "Party" and band versions of "Skink" and "Tokyo Eye". They'd also polished "Bull in the Heather" to a degree, with Kim hitting on a slower version of the 10 20 30 40 motif (and repeating it over and over), as well as the chorus line. "Starfield Road" is about the same. At the end of June they left for a few weeks in Europe, playing six new songs, a few Dirty leftovers, and some dusty gems like "Secret Girl" and "PCH". The best representation of this tour is from Lisbon on July 14th, available as a beautiful video document. Kim hadn't written any new lyrics for "Bull in the Heather", but she had found the accelerated delivery for counting in tens.
After the European tour, both Mosquito and Free Kitten toured as side stage acts for Lollapalooza. Thurston made a few pop-up appearances, playing short sets of new tunes and Sister classics. In fellow side stage star Sebadoh's tour videos, a segment of Thurston's set in Houston can be seen, where he plays "Self-Obsessed + Sexxee" (and extremely quick snippets of "Stereo Sanctity" "Screaming Skull" and possibly "Starfield Street"). He played the same three new songs opening for Free Kitten at Slim's in San Francisco after Lollapalooza wrapped. His solo interpretation of "Starfield Road" is as you would expect - buncha noise, singin' over chords, and then - no end! The stuck pig is to blame, but no name is splooeyed in flame.
In October, they returned to a relocated Sear Sound to record Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. By this point, they'd written the other half of the album (plus one more they cut during mixing). A rough mix reveals some slight changes to many of the songs, and one of the most notable is on "Bull in the Heather". In the second verse, Lee's guitar originally entered a few notes sooner, but was wisely muted in the final mix. Really, I consider "Bull in the Heather" to be a perfect recording: every scrape and shake is in exactly the right place. When I first heard it on the radio in April '94, it was so different from all that crap I scammed from Columbia House. It actually sounded scary. I was totally enthralled everytime it played. I don't think I was playing guitar yet, so the idea of harmonics and playing behind the bridge meant nothing to me, I just knew it sounded spooky and cool. Knowing now how odd the structure of the song actually is, I'm still stunned they were able to weave such a flawless tune together from such unconventional elements. (Cut to the reaction of my future best friend and bassist J, watching them premiere the song on Letterman: "This new Sonic Youth song sucks, it's only one note!")
"Bull in the Heather" opens with a very simple riff that can't be truly replicated without using the proper tuning and at least a similar guitar. In the classic "Brother James" tuning GGDDD#D#, Thurston plays 9th fret harmonics on the D strings, then strikes the string behind the bridge of his Jazzmaster. Then he plays 9th fret harmonics on the D# strings, and again strikes the strings behind the bridge. That's it. That's the entire fucking riff. It's incredible. Of course, Kim and Lee augment it with deep distorted pick scrapes (echo optional). Then Steve drops the beat, a simple maraca/kick/snare/hat pattern that allows the harmonics to breathe. While Kim drones a deep G underneath it all, Thurston picks out a tentative, note-by-note riff that's countered by Lee's singing guitar notes injecting a melody into the otherwise haunting nature of the song's skeleton. Kim's vocal delivery is perfect - cool and demanding, increasing with intensity before the non-chorus breaks. The charm has never worn off for me.
That said, they did make one major change to the song that I strongly disagree with. All through 1993, Thurston played the song as described, with 9th fret harmonics during the intro riff. When they bored my friend on Letterman in May '94, Thurston had replaced the harmonics in the intro riff with strumming behind the bridge. Of course, the riff goes "harmonics, behind bridge strum, harmonics, behind bridge strum", but now it just goes "behind bridge pick, behind bridge strum, behind bridge pick, behind bridge strum". Huh. I get it, 9th fret harmonics can be unreliable to play with any precision, but it didn't sound terrible in June '93. I think the percussive nature of the pick hitting the string, which is slightly muted to create the harmonic, is key to the riff, and you lose that when you're just strumming behind the bridge.
It was the first and only real single from Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star in April 1994. Kim is around five months pregnant in the video, which also stars Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna as a wind-up toy (forgoing Kim's initial idea to get the Knicks City Dancers). They recreated Thurston's childhood bedroom based on some photographs (one is visible on one of the art cards in the CD liner), paid tribute to the 1956 film Baby Doll with another bedroom for Kim, and also shot Lee doing his Creedence leads in a parking lot. There's a surprising amount of hairstyle changes - Lee goes slicked back in the outdoor footage, Thurston goes multi-spiked in the "flashback" footage, and Kathleen bounces between pigtails and a wilder mane depending on the venue. I always thought the video really matched the song's creepy vibe, and it is of course collected on the Corporate Ghost DVD with commentary by the band, Kathleen Hanna, and director Tamra Davis.
The video also hints at the song's equestrian motif, since the title was inspired by a real life race horse. Specifically, Bob Nastanovich had sent Kim and Thurston a bumper sticker reading "I'm betting on Bull Inthe Heather", a reference to an oddly named thoroughbred who won the Florida Derby in '93. This theme is also represented in the single's artwork and some of the album's art cards. (I do wonder if the "I LIKE KENTUCKY-BRED BULL IN THE HEATHER" sticker in the single's art is actually what Bob sent.)
They tucked it away once in a while, but for the most part the song remained a huge staple in their set, all the way until October 9th, 2010 when they performed it for the final time in Austin, Texas. By my count, it's in 7th place for "most performed Sonic Youth song". For almost every single one of those performances in 1995 and 1996, the song was played as a pair with "Starfield Road", just as they appear on the album. Thurston would launch into the heavy whammy bar dive intro of "Starfield Road" almost immediately after the final behind-the-bridge (and pinched behind the nut) strum rang out. Aside from a couple of dates on the R.E.M. tour where they skipped those two (a moment while I pause and weep), they were guaranteed. There were a couple of oddities on the Lollapalooza tour: on July 10th and 11th they separated "Bull" and "Starfield", and on July 14th they actually dropped "Starfield" altogether! After that, they were a one-two fixture in the set list, and for quite a while, they were played as a lead-in to "Washing Machine", making a ferocious triplet.
I'll be honest, every time I saw Sonic Youth play "Bull in the Heather" from 2000 onwards I wished they would launch right into "Starfield Road" afterwards. It just feels right. Unfortunately, the July '99 gear theft seemed to have put the song out of commission for good, perhaps due to the loss of the Maestro Ring Modulator. Indeed, when they finally resurrected the song in 2011, Lee was replicating his wave of wooshy noise with the Antennabox, a modified Ibanez analog delay pedal affixed to a shelf on his mic stand (originally introduced for the song "Antenna"). If you had asked me in 2001 which of these two songs I'd expect to be played at the band's final show ten years later, it absolutely would not have been "Starfield Road". And yet!
I never noticed until Raj Paden pointed it out, but they changed the key of the song after recording it! The album version goes from B to A, the 4th and 2nd fret of the GDD# tuning. Live versions from '94 onwards are played as C to A#, the 5th to 3rd fret. I don't know why this was necessary - perhaps Thurston had an easier time hitting chords at the dotted frets? Or maybe it was changed to match Lee's tuning (GGCGCD) with the C chord in the middle, though he's not exactly playing a discernable note. These aren't great theories, but they didn't make changes like that very often, so who knows?
"Starfield Road" is basically Thurston heavily abusing his guitar for a minute, while Steve and Kim pound out a single distorted note and Lee repeats a pulsating riff. Thurston and Kim lock into a B chord while Lee goes off into outer space, presumably using a combination of his Maestro ring modulator and Digitech 2-second delay. On stage, he would kneel and use both hands to tweak the pedals during this whole section. Thurston delivers a suspiciously provocative verse before a quick reprise of the earlier rhythmic attack leaves everything in flames. Thurston evidently thought enough of his guitar track to release it as its own piece, titled "Starfield Wild". This appeared on a Table of the Elements 7", and is literally just his track from the Jet Set version, with no other instruments. The 7" sleeve gives some hints towards Thurston's effects for this session: Mutro (sic) Wah/Vol, Turbo Rat, Sovtek Big Muff, and Phasertron (sic). I believe the Phasertron is the Mu-Tron Phasor II, which he can be seen using in footage filmed for Space Ghost around this time. I also wonder if this is responsible for all of the wacky phaser sounds on Psychic Hearts, before he found the Ludwig Phase II Guitar Synthesizer (or the MXR Phase 90 that replaced them both).
Both songs are mentioned in Joe Gore's excellent-as-always July 1994 Guitar Player profile:
- It's cool how "Bull in the Heather" makes pop hooks out of abstract gestures like cluster harmonics and behind-the-nut strums.
THURSTON: That's a behind-the-bridge strum. Behind-the-nut is for arty, pretentious people. Behind-the-bridge is rock; behind-the-nut is art school. Stay away from the nut.
- Has anyone compared that song to Creedence's "Fortunate Son"?
LEE: Yeah, that's what the main guitar riff is.
THURSTON: What?
KIM: I don't hear that, but "Sweet Shine" was originally called "Lindsey" because it sounds like Fleetwood Mac.
- What are the noises on "Starfield Road," the ones that sound like toy ray guns?
THURSTON: Toy ray guns.
- Come on, man - I've seen you lie to journalists before.
LEE: And then five years later some guy in France is going to say, "Deed you evair do more with ze toy ray gun sound?" That effect is my newest toy, a Maestro ring modulator. My other favorite is the Ibanez AD80 analog delay stomp box I use all over the album. We've been really into old effects pedals.
THURSTON: I use Sovtek Big Muff pedals for all the "bonehead" chords. I've also got a '70s Mu-Tron Fuzz/Wah and a Mu-Tron phase shifter that just makes a scratchy whistling sound. I used some Turbo Rat for your classic distortion, but I'm thinking of abandoning that in favor of just clean and cranked Big Muff.
The Letterman performance of "Bull in the Heather" has been Worldwide Pantsed from YouTube, but you can search and find clips of it still preserved on Facebook, etc. You can, however, catch nearly a minute of "Starfield Road" as they played it over the credits of the Jon Stewart show four months later. Aside from these two TV appearances, the band only played one proper show in 1994.
Since I started this series, I've been pushing this narrative that I launched the tab site back in 1997 with a complete Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star tab "book". It turns out I first submitted it to original SY fan page evol.org in late 1996! I may have updated it slightly when I launched my own site, but they definitely all deserved a second look a quarter century later. I've touched up both tunes, and have to thank Raj Paden for their attention to "Starfield Road" and its 2011 variations. Please let me know if you have any comments or corrections!
"BULL IN THE HEATHER"
LAYOUT
A - B - C - D - A - B - C - D - A
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
GGDDD#D#
LEFT
LEE
GGCGCD
RIGHT
A SECTION 00:00-00:14
Thurston:
D#----------------------- strum --*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-- strum
D#----------------------- behind --*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-- behind play 4 times
D---*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-- bridge ----------------------- bridge
D---*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-*9*-- -----------------------
G------------------------ -----------------------
G------------------------ -----------------------
On all live versions after 1993, Thurston just strummed behind the bridge instead of
playing the 9th fret harmonics. So the entire riff is played behind the bridge.
Lee does a pick scrape with delay.
Kim plays loud, distorted pick scrapes
B SECTION 00:15-00:29
Thurston drones the open G strings, occasionally toggling towards the higher gain
bridge pick-up. This can be simulated by stepping on a distortion pedal momentarily.
D#------------------------------
D#------------------------------
D-------------------------------
D-------------------------------
G---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
G---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- etc
Lee kicks in playing the low G strings with distortion, then plays his lead:
D--------12--------10------------------------------------------------------0---
C---9\11------11/9----------9------9----9--9\11-11--------9----9-----9-9\7-7---
G------------------------10-----10---10---10\12-12--12/10---10----10-------7---
C------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim sticks to G:
G-------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------
E---3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3--- etc
C SECTION 00:29-01:06
Thurston slowly picks out this riff while droning the low G string.
D#----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------------11-12-11-12-11-------------------
D---9----12-11----11----16----16----9----12--11-12-11-12-11---11----16---16---
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#------------------------------------------------------------------16-----16------
D#-------------------------------------------------------------------16-----16-----
D---9-------------------------------9--------11-12-11-12-11---11------16-----16----
D---9----12-11----11----16----16----9----12--11-12-11-12-11---11-------16-----16---
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee:
D--------------------------------------16-14-12----11-12-14-----9----\16-----
C----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---7------------------------------------------------------------------------
C----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---14-12----11-12-14--16-/9-----\16br-----11-12-14---11-----16----16-----
C-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
C-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim stays on G:
G-------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------
E---3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3--- etc
D SECTION 01:06-01:25
Thurston:
D#-------*7*--*5*----------*7*--*5*-------
D#-------*7*--*5*----------*7*--*5*-------
D----*7*----------*5*--*7*----------*5*--- then strum harmonics at the 3rd/4th fret
D----*7*----------*5*--*7*----------*5*---
G-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
Play twice, then hold on more aggressive harmonic strumming @ 3rd/4th fret.
Lee plays w. delay:
D------------------------------------------------------------
C------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------15---14---------------------------------------
C---------------------------------------------15---14--------
G------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------
Play twice, then scratch at some 5th fret harmonics with delay.
Kim:
G--*12*----------------- x 2
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E-----------------------
Then when Thurston is doing the heavier muted harmonics, play:
G---*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-*12*-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A SECTION 01:25-01:40
B SECTION 01:40-01:48
Lee hits the distorted G strings then does another lead:
D---12\10--10-----------------0-----
C---11\-9--------11\9--9------7-----
G----------------12\10-10-----7-----
C-----------------------------------
G-----------------------------------
G-----------------------------------
C SECTION 01:48-02:25
Lee plays:
D---14-12-11-----9-11-12---14--\16---16br-------14-12-11----9-11-12---14\9---
C----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---9\16------11-12-14--\11--/14--\16---16---16br---
C---------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------
C---------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------
D SECTION 02:25-02:44
A SECTION 02:44-03:04
Thurston bends the final "note" behind the nut.
text + tab by Chris Lawrence
"STARFIELD ROAD"
LAYOUT
A - B - A
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
GGDDD#D#
CENTER/LEFT
LEE
GGCGCD
RIGHT
A SECTION 00:00-01:03
Thurston:
Thurston starts the song with the shrieking feedback, briefly clicks on a high speed phaser
(presumably his MuTron Phasor II, which he used before committing to the MXR Phase 90), then
starts doing big whammy bar dives on the open strings. Then he turns on his MuTron Wah-Vol
and starts playing random notes with heavy whammy bar aggression. He changes his attack
and rhythm as he goes but really, it's all just random until he hits the verse.
Lee enters at 0:02 playing high pitched ring mod notes with heavy echo, just skronking
around the fretboard for a bit. At 0:07 he starts repeating this motif:
D-------------------
C------------------- x 30
G-------------------
C---------5-5-5-5---
G-------------------
G---4b--------------
He does *something* to that second note, probably just heavy ring mod like the rest of the
song. He stays pretty consistent then starts to get a little sloppier as it goes. The final rep
leads into the spaceship part.
Kim plays one note with thick fuzz:
G---------------------
D---------------------
A---------------------
E---5-5---5-5---5-5--- etc
You could theoretically just pound the open strings.
B SECTION 01:03-02:04
Thurston:
"turbo goes to rocket..." "sinsate your belly..."
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
"...down" "bend down round..." "plow pound down dirty starfield.."
D#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
"...road" "hot ham slap it..." "blam bam i transplode you..."
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
"...lamb" "jesus is screaming your..."
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------
D---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---
"...name" "violent loving yeh" "kissing golden" "we're going in..."
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-
G-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-
G-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-
"...sane" "but where is the shame..." "when the stuck pig is to blame"
D#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4---
G---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4---
Lee:
Lee uses his ring modulator to raise the pitch really high, and I think uses his Digitech digital delay to
slowly raise the speed of the echo, which creates the phaser effect in unison with the ring mod. He seems
to get down with one hand on the ring mod and one hand on the delay.
In 2011, he uses the Antennabox, an Ibanez AD-80 reconfigured to live inside a box housed halfway up his
mic stand, originally used for the song "Antenna".
Kim:
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
G---------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------
E---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
A SECTION 02:04-02:15
Thurston just makes aggressive cable static noise and trebly hand swipes on the fretboard until the end.
Lee turns off his digital delay and you can hear his Maestro ring modulator has the notes pitched very
high. It sounds like he probably has his Ibanez analog delay on and is just "playing" something that
sounds like aliens laughing on a seesaw, until the end.
Kim goes back to her fuzzed out note:
G---------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------
E---5-5---5-5---5-5---5-5---5-5---5-5---5-5---5-5---
Raj Paden has tabbed Mark's part from the 2011 performances:
Section A (w/ fuzz)
G---X--X----X--X----
D---X--X----X--X---- Mark strums on the 1 and 3 (along with the toms)
A---X--X----X--X---- Kim plays on the 2 and 4 (along with the hi-hat)
E---X--X----X--X----
Section B:
Williamsburg bassline:
G-------------
D-------------
A---2-----0---
E-------------
South America 2011 bassline:
G-------------
D-------------
A---3-----1---
E-------------
Section A (as before)
text + tab by Chris Lawrence
special thanx to Raj Paden!
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