THE SALT FLATS Release EP2 (Songs of Fleetwood Mac)

[vivfox]

The Salt Flats are proud to announce their second EP ‘Songs Of Fleetwood Mac’ which is out now. A collection of four beautifully crafted Fleetwood Mac songs pieced together with vocal harmonies to die for. The Salt Flats say; “When we started to think about songs for a new EP, some more unusual candidates started to appear on the shortlist. So whilst recording some demos we thought it could be interesting to work on several by the same artist, trying slightly different approaches with each song. We'd already tried a Fleetwood Mac song, originally sung by Lindsey Buckingham, but we realized that the combination of Katie and Cara's vocals would be a good starting point for trying more”.

So from there we experimented with some of the lighter songs and sounds. The drum machines and Omnichords worked with the simplicity of songs like "Never Going Back Again" and the drones of the Harmonium, Eastern Reed Instruments and a few changes in rhythm took songs like Big Love in slightly different direction.”

Title: The Salt Flats EP2
Tracks: 4
Release Format: DD/CD

1. Never going back again
2. Silver Springs
3. Big Love
4. Everywhere

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/news/nati...+Fleetwood+Mac)

[sjpdg]

I love your photo!! Willie is one of my favourite musicians/singers/songwriters ever!!

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by sjpdg

I love your photo!! Willie is one of my favourite musicians/singers/songwriters ever!!

But thinking clearly is not one of his traits. It's not a good idea to be photographed doing something illegal.

[PenguinHead]

I wish there were previews of the cover songs to listen.

[michelej1]

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/features/...ts+-+Interview

[Excerpt from Glasswerk National interview with Salt Flats] December 13, 2011

Your new offering is an EP of Fleetwood Mac songs, how did you guys decide what songs you wanted to cover?

Once we decided on the Fleetwood Mac theme it was quite easy. We always wanted the vocals to be central on these so it was a matter of choosing songs that Katie and Cara’s harmonies could work well with and there were a couple that they really wanted to try.

Were there any songs that you would have liked to include but that didn’t quite make it?

We’ve actually done some work on a version of “Tusk” but when we narrowed things down the EP we concentrated on those. The story behind “Tusk” and the band’s meltdown was one of the things that got us thinking about Fleetwood Mac songs in the first place. So maybe we’ll get a Brass band in to finish that one day.

When recording covers how do you approach it to make the songs your own? Do you feel any pressure to stick close to the original?

Sometimes we use the original as source for the words and lead melody, but change the whole feel, tempo and arrangement quite dramatically. With this EP I think we remained fairly faithful to the song structures. The songs themselves flow and work really well, so it was more about using that outline and filling it with different colours from the instruments we decided to use.

You guys have used some really interesting and unusual instrumentation on this EP - talk us through that.

I think some of them have now become a core part of our sound. We’ll often start out with Omnichord, old synths and rhythm boxes and then use accordion and harmonium to build up momentum.

The Omnichord is great for feeding through effects to make little loops and both it and the Melodica provide the background atmosphere on songs like “Never Going Back Again”. We’ve tried to blend similar sounds too, sometimes we’ll have a whistle and Recorders playing with melotron flutes or autoharp with plucked piano strings.

In “Big Love” we started out with a bit of a Balkan feel and we gradually drifted eastwards. So made sense to try an Armenian/middle-eastern reed instrument called the Duduk. With the Harmonium it just gives the whole song a different feeling.

There’s also lots of percussion and several tracks have Cajon or even Cardboard boxes played with brushes to add to the more conventional drum setup. So part of the fun is the experimentation, using more traditional instruments in a different way, but it’s important to make sure the song still works as a song.

Will you be including these songs in your live set too?

We played our first concert at the Belfast Festival recently and “Never Going Back Again” was in the set but it’s important to balance the Fleetwood Mac theme with songs from the first EP and newer additions, so just one in the set for now.

[omshiva]

Free download at http://thesaltflats.bandcamp.com/