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Weights and Measures (MP3 album)
6 MP3 Songs in this album (25:49) !
Related styles: ROCK: Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, ROCK: Acoustic
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Details:
Lythion is the duo made up of the husband and wife team of Ilyana Kadushin and James Harrell. Together they have been writing and producing music for live performance, film, theater, and television for the last ten years. Ilyana is an accomplished voice over artist and can be heard narrating Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series on audiobook. “Weights and Measures” is the second Lythion recording to flourish from their home studio in Brooklyn, New York. Below are the liner notes for the album as told by James:
“Joy of Life” (lyrics and music by James Harrell)
The lyrics for “Joy of Life” were inspired by our friend’s son who was two years old at the time. We came home from a dinner party at their house and I was amazed at the energy and persistence of this child. The first verse is literally a lyrical representation of the biophysics of conception. Seeing that all of us who walk this planet were the “fastest swimmers”, I wanted to interpret that this is a reason why we are all here. The rest of the story follows the path and direction on which we live our lives. When we started playing this song for people, we noticed an immediate connection. It exuded total positivity and because of its lyrical content, created a platform for everyone to participate in. When I was first working on this song, I got stuck at the chorus. I played it for Ilyana and asked her if she had any ideas. She told me that Amir’s(our godchild) first word was “O.K”. After that, it flowed. We sang it as a duet and I finally took my shot at lead vocals. I think that was another aspect of this song that people enjoyed. No one had ever heard me sing, so it was a different perspective of our music. We teamed up with our friend Danny Madorsky, to record this song. Danny had produced and engineered “Hussy” on our first album, and expressed interest in working on this song. We started in our studio with drum programming, and then travelled up to his studio to start tracking everything else. After hours of recording, I would leave the room so he and Ilyana could record vocals, and would help his wife Addy shuck oysters and make Thai spring rolls while we waited for dinner to be ready. The end of the recording process would always end up at the dining room table with a decadent meal sitting before us. After many extended weekend stays at their place, along with many broken wine glasses, “Joy of Life” was completed.
James- Vocals, all instruments, drum programming
Ilyana- Vocals, Backing Vocals
Danny- Producer, engineer, mix, drum programming
“Sweet Ache” (Lyrics Ilyana Kadushin Music James Harrell)
Probably one of my all time favorite songs. It started out when we were visiting Ilyana’s parents on the Eastern Seaboard of Maryland. Ilyana was at the piano knocking out a few notes and singing this song. I sat down and started to play. When we got back to Brooklyn, we finished it up. The chorus was taken from a song that I had written on the guitar when i was about eighteen, Finally after all these years i got to do something with it! We always performed this song on the piano. When it came time to recording, i wanted to add some more elements. There were so many possibilities. It’s a torch song with a classical vibe so i was thinking, “orchestration”. The one thing, is that Ilyana sings this song so beautifully, that I didn’t want to get carried away. The vocal melody and dynamics are fantastic. We performed it at Joe’s Pub in NYC and whenever i watch the video, i get chills. I wanted some sort of string section, but didn’t want to use synth or sample strings. This song is way to organic for that. When listening to this recording, it sounds like there are strings and woodwinds. They are all guitars. I recorded five guitar tracks using an E-Bow(electronic bow). With my Gibson Les Paul Special, I faced my amp down the hall and put the microphone about six feet away in the bathroom facing the corner of the shower. I wasn’t going for a pristine recording because I wanted to use the air space between the amp and mic to help “color” each E-Bow track. The picking and squeaking of the strings on the acoustic guitars ended up providing the percussion element for this track. I’m a big fan of the egg shaker, but I left it alone for this one. Even the jar of sushi rice stayed in the cupboard!(more details on that one later)
Ilyana - Vocals, producer
James - Piano, Guitars, producer, engineer, mix
“Duel to the Death” ( Lyrics Ilyana Kadushin Music James Harrell)
Only Ilyana and i could have a song with this title. We are both willful, independent, only children. Though this song is about compassion and collaboration, I will however, always keep one eye over my shoulder now that Ilyana has her black belt in Hapkido. The title of this song is from a kung-fu video I used to watch over and over many years ago and we paired it along with an inspiration from the story-line of the Elizabeth Taylor movie, “Butterfield 8”. I think at the time it was being viewed as a sequel to the song “Scarlet Hips” which was off our first album. Though the two songs are entirely different, It would have made a great twelve minute film. We felt that it was such an appropriate title and theme for our relationship, that we payed homage and wrote a song for it. Once again, Ilyana’s creative and poetic justice lyrically carved out a path for this song to travel. On this recording, I imagined it starting out in the mouth of a cave and moving through a tunnel in a mountain. Fear of the unknown I guess. Then, it would see the light of day again in a field where the “battle” or confrontation would take place, and then finally end up on the seashore where everything would be resolved. I grew up in San Diego, so using the beach as a place of reflection and resolution is pretty present for me. I ended up in New York after spending a day at the beach with my guitar trying to decide what to do with my life. And here we are.
Ilyana - Vocals, backing vocals, producer
James - Guitars, keys, organ, drum programming, percussion, sushi rice(there it is!) producer, engineer, mix
“The Reason” (Lyrics and Music James Harrell)
Where do I begin with this one? Religion and politics are such sensitive topics all across this country and the world. Especially religion. This was inspired by a past presidential election(not the last one of ’08) The red and blue states were so clearly and evenly divided on that one. But one of the major issues was morals and values. In my mind, it made no sense to use the presence of God to be used as a fear tactic. But it did. Given the events of late 2001 things changed greatly. If we all just, “reached across the aisle”, as so profusely professed by a most recent presidential candidate, we would realize that all people from all faiths and beliefs are pretty much the same. The only problem is that there are these doctrines from different cultures and parts of the globe that have equal intentions and pretty much the same messages, but for some reason cast a partisan light upon its followers. This was my letter to the higher power. I wasn’t raised with a religious upbringing, but there are many moments in my life where the presence of something greater was around. A couple of years ago, Ilyana and I were traveling to the suburbs of D.C. with some friends to connect with our families for Thanksgiving. We were on I-95 going through downtown Baltimore, when I noticed the sun and moon were really close to the horizons. The air pollution intensified their beautiful colors and the first thing I thought was, “Something created this.” There is a reason for everything. I feel it is perfectly natural to ponder our existence because it is a part of who we are. We’re human. All of us. Even through our differences of our thoughts and beliefs, we all connect on the same level. Humanity. As much as I feel that I am right, I will always have someone who will disagree. In many cases, it is my wife. But we have to agree to disagree. “The Reason” is essentially an internal question for all of us to answer on our own. Maybe if we look at who we think we are, we can answer it.
Ilyana- Lead and Backing vocals, producer
James- Vocals, guitars, bass, keys, drum programming, egg shaker, producer, mix, engineer
Brahma Bovine Pt 1(Lyrics Ilyana Kadushin Music James Harrell)
Brahma Bovine is a song we wrote on our honeymoon on the island of St. Lucia. The lyrics represent situations that we encountered while there. The song was written after our first week of a two week stay, It all started when we encountered a Brahma Bull relaxing in a grassy field while we were horseback riding on an old cocoa plantation. We didn’t realize how close we were to it but the bull didn’t seem to have any worries. It sat there very peacefully staring at us. That was the source of inspiration and Ilyana started writing. The line from the chorus, “Can all be fine, calling out to the swine” was penned by Ilyana after I told her I saw a pig stuck in a gully. I was making the uphill hike back to where we were staying from the town of Soufrere when I saw this pig. It wasn’t moving so I called out, “Hey! Are you alright?” Realizing that it was a pig and I wouldn’t get a response, I kept moving. “The Light” represents an encounter we had with some random guy at the beach. We were walking down a trail when a very shaggy looking dude appeared out of nowhere. He pointed to my pocket which had the unmistakable outline of a pack of smokes, and declared, Seeee-ga-rette. Give to me, please” I obliged and then he asked me for another for when it was time for him to go to sleep. He then called out, “The light. Give me the light.” I pulled from my pocket a lighter and struck the flint. He cupped my Bic wielding hand with both of his and puffed away. Now, I live in New York City and encounter freak shows on the subway all the time, but this guy was frightening. He went on his merry way and the two of us chalked it up as another interesting experience. We were in our cabana when the first of many tropical storms hit. The frogs were providing a nice syncopated back track and out of that rhythm came the feel for the music. Later on that night when the rain died down, I sat on the deck and recorded the frogs and other creatures of the night on my mini disc player with a stereo mic. (Yes, I travel with some form of recording gear all the time! ) When we were completing the final production of the mixes of this EP, we decided to include this version of the song in its very organic state. Since we had the recording of the frogs, we transformed our living room in Brooklyn to the tropical rain forest of St Lucia by piping in their accompaniment over speakers, sat back on the couch, and voila. Braham Bovine Pt 1.
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