The all new Garden: aural excellence redefined.
In the beginning... there was Whitfield Street. Fine, upstanding, aurally excellent. But times were hard, shove came to push, and their wares came to be sold on the open market. There was much mourning at such a great loss. An auction was held and we bid high and fair, securing ourselves a beautiful pair of Boxer T2s. We then turned up mob-handed to strain every sinew extracting them from their bespoke 'floating' homes in the walls of Studio 1. (They'd built the studio around the monitors, you see, and they had never ever, ever been removed.) Every tool known to man (alongside a fair few bastardised and hastily improvised inventions) was employed to extract the portly beasts, before they were lugged manfully to a borrowed van. Delivery was then made to the mighty Garden, whence they were installed and delightfully aligned by the dedicated ears of acoustician Nick Whitaker. And the ears of Shoreditch did so much rejoice, and all our tomorrows were blessed. The End. Myspace, our space, your space.
For once we may have been a little tardy in our embracing of all things technological, new, down-with-the-kids and all
round splendid. However, now we've taken the plunge, we're merrily taking the virtual streets of Myspace by storm.
Indeed, if you were to go down to the www.myspace.com/milocostudios woods today you'd be sure of a whole host of surprises. Not least the fact that in only a week or so we've amassed some 500+ 'friends' (that's only 30,568 shy of those oh-so-popular Arctic Minkies, stat fans). You can also view our regular blog and shower it with any comments you see fit, gaze adoringly at a host of fancy photos, chat of this and that and more besides. So pop on over, why don't you, and maybe become a Miloco 'friend' too? Sure, it's a chilly, cruel, bitter, twisted, ugly, backstabbing, stench-ridden, hollow world out there, but being in a gang can sometimes distract. Shhhh... Miloco's gone SSL
Excellent news for all you SSL fans out there: Miloco has taken on a new studio full-to-bursting with solid state
loveliness...and for a limited period only (while we gauge market reaction) we are offering it at exceptional rates !
Based in the delightful pastures of Islington, The SSL Room boasts a superb G Series 48-channel desk, Protools HD, supreme Boxer Series 2 monitors, and all the usual quality specifications and service you've come to expect from Miloco. But as we said, it's only available at such crazy rates for the next few months, so if you want to check it out for yourself you better get in there quick. Call Sophie on 0207 232 0008 and she'll be happy to discuss the room, the spec and the deals we can do. Look forward to seeing you down there! Studio Profile: The Neve Room
Step into the limelight, you delicious hunk of mix environment lusciousness! Our flagship mix studio, The Neve VR Room, boasts a delectable Neve VR60 with flying faders, customised Munro M4 speakers and a variety of nearfield monitors that make this one of the most accurate monitoring environments in the country. There's also a vast array of outboard, a 32-output Protools HD system, a superlative range of microphones and any manner of other wonderful gadgets and deluxe specifications. For the full menu of delights on offer just click here: The Neve VR Room We've mixed an astonishingly fine collection of records here over the years, including work by: The Chemical Brothers, Oasis, Rachel Stevens, Placebo, Liberty X and The Kills, and more recently it's been graced by the likes of: Phill Brown and Zero 7; Ben Hillier and The Futureheads; Colin Richardson and Fightstar, Slipknot and Chimaira; as well as Steve Dub and the Audio Bullys and Madness. 2006 is filling up fast with a raft of quality artists and producers, so to secure your time in this supreme mixing environment call Sophie on 020 7232 0008 sharpish to avoid disappointment. Studio Round-upSo, January... together, dear friends, we survived it. And what's more a record number of artists braved the seasonals to come join us! Battling through the winds we had winsome wordsmiths aplenty, while hotfooting it from hangovers heavy and hollow we had hip-hoppers to make our hearts sing. Elsewhere, murkless masters of metal smelt mighty dollops of glee, while rugged rock reclaimers ran the gauntlet of our desires and ensured all studios, all days, plain hummed with new year wonder! Miloco One - The Neve Room
January saw the arrival of those craniums of tomorrow, The Futureheads. They were in and mixing their new album with
none other than Ben Hillier, (and managed to fill the studio with more equipment than there is china in China).
Their fine sound was cranked out with the assistance of young Joe Hirst. Before the Mackems took up residence,
there was just enough time for Sunshine Underground to get in a few days tracking album tracks with captain Steve
Dub on the desk and Miloco's Ben Thackeray engineering. And Jez John also came by for a few days to track a single with
producer Tom Wilcox. Ben engineered that too. You can check out the guys' CVs here:
Joe & Ben.
Miloco Two - The Toyshop
The Toyshop got off to a flyer with the return of Ms Dynamite, in recording a mix-tape with, at the last count, about
24,567 amigos. Miloco's megabucks transfer-window signing, Matt Foster, took charge of those sessions. Later in the
month, the ever-alluring Aleesha swept in for a writing session with Jamaican writers/producers Lenky & David.
Fightstar also returned for a few days of Matt Hyde's finest attention, while young Jamie T was in tracking
a single with Ben Coupland running the desk. And there was still time (we know not how) for boyband-on-the-horizon Heist21
to lay down some vocals with Matt Foster on Logic duty, and for Martin Craft to grab a few days of our own
Finn Eiles too. Have a look at the gents' CVs here: Matt F,
Matt H, Finn.
Miloco Three - The Square
The Square was also rammed to the rafters this month, so take a breath... Plan B was back in to spit some more British Isles
angst guitar-rap, with Jimmy Robertson engineering the sessions. Next up, Big Issue competition winners, Cranefly, popped
in for a few days of perilously long-legged rocking, with Joe Hirst guiding them manfully through the process. Winnebago Deal
swung by, tracking a whole host of album tracks with engineer Paul Fyfe, as did Deluka who got busy with a bit of single/EP
mixing with producer Gavin Monaghan. The revolving door still had time to sweep in Boobytrap's Boyfriends to track some single
tracks with Richard Jackson on the Protools, and to round off the month X-Press 2 were with us for a week, with Greg
'Wizard' Fleming mixing some new album tracks. Oh, and Finn Eiles shoe-horned in a mix for Mystery Jets too. Phewf! And
here is Greg's CV: Greg.
Miloco Four - The Garden
Down at The Garden there were shiny new Boxer T2s for everyone to listen to, and those doing the listening included...V2's
deadly Duels. They were in for a good few weeks, tracking for their album under the masterful ears of producer James Ford
and with Jimmy Robertson running the Protools. Next in line, we had the return of the lovely Kathryn Williams,
in for a while with Darius Kedros mixing some album tracks, as well as legend-in-her-own-lunchtime, Tracey Thorn, who swung
by for a touch of album tracking with producer Ewan Pearson and engineer Ben Thackeray. And bringing the month to a close
were those sonic loons Calvoon, ably assisted by Mr Thackeray again (before Duels popped back in again cos they'd missed us so).
That's your lot, diary fans. January's done and dusted for another 334 days but a slim and slender February's coming up quick in the passing lane. So if you'd like to follow in the high-heel, doc-boot, pristine-trainer footprints of the aforementioned, you best stick out a thumb and wave down Sophie right now. She's waiting for your call on 020 7232 0008, and you can also drop her a line via sophie@miloco.co.uk. You'll not regret it, I pwomise. |
In this edition
The all new Garden: aural excellence redefined.
New assistant: Laurence Aldridge
More staff? Where do we put them all? Loz joins us after earning his stripes at Whitfield Street and Rak (where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Elton John, Divine Comedy, Ed Harcourt and Madonna). He was thrown straight in at the deep end this month with a week-long blitz down at The Square, involving some six separate artists and precious little sleep. Needless to say, he landed in said water via a triple-tuck-with-pike and made the place his own. Young, svelte and delectable, Loz is destined for greatness and is assuredly another fine addition to the Miloco stable. So please join us in welcoming him!
Flog and Borum!
Regular readers will be aware that January saw the relaunch (post-Turkish hacker) of our beloved Forum. And it's been a merry old virtual arena, playing host to debates on everything from LaCie mishaps to forthcoming gigs, industry awards to guitars-for-sale and, erm, bagels vs. beigels... Likewise, our Blog's included some delightful pearls of wisdom and insights of late. Subjects have included: The myth of mastering, a new band's firsthand account of life in the studio, the Ms Dynamite debut of our newest engineer and, of course, a whole lot more. But there's room for more, dear readers, so get down there and make them yours. They can both be found via www.miloco.co.uk/ forum Contribute! Mold! Corrupt! Forge!
Milcy Goodness
Yet more manna from diary heaven, kids, as the third issue of MILC hit the e-shelves last month. And what an issue it is! Replete with no fewer than TWO major interviews, it really is too rich for those without a healthy appetite for insider information, revelations and good, good, good vibrations. Alongside the latest news, recent releases and new band profiles, you can also learn how to off-set your flights to Manchester, Marbella and Marrakech, and view the thoughts of Zero 7, Phill Brown and Finn Eiles to boot! So if you've got the bottle, just click on this: MILC
Latest Releases
Released 30th January 2006 Emmanuel - "D'Illusions of Grandeur" The latest release from Emmanuel aka Colin Emmanuel aka C-Swing aka English hip hop, soul, R'n'B and occasional rock producer. He's remixed and produced people like Rodney P, Beverley Knight, En Vogue, Definition of Sound, Nas and Mary J Blige, and this album features a shed load of guest vocalists like KRS-1, Michelle Escoffery and Braintax who help make it a sweet mix of hip hop and soul. Just the sort of thing for a hot summer, it has however been released in brass-monkeys January. Colin recorded some of the brass in our Toyshop studios in 2005. Released 16th January 2006 The Sunshine Underground - "Commercial Breakdown" Commercial Breakdown is the band's second single and - following hot on the heels of a successful In The City - this breezy, upbeat little number should cement their place as yet another Yorkshire success story (Pontefract Cakes being this newsletter's previous favourite). The single is out now on City Rockers and was recorded in The Garden studios during 2005 with producer Robert Harder. Released 16th January 2006 The Test-Icicles - "What's Your Damage" NME said 'A cranky synthesis of every great pop moment we've had in the last five years, it mixes The Strokes' wardrobe, LCD Soundsystem's sarky post-modernism and the grot'n'roll bands' couldn't-give-a -fuck approach to musicianship, with the best loon-metal indie riff since, well, Circle Square Triangle.' But did they like it? The track was mixed in our Neve VR Room by Finn Eiles with James Ford producing. |