Shawn Lee
Shawn Lee is kind of like the Quentin
Tarantino of music production. He can
collage iconic retro styles into something
modern and all-his-own and his overall sonic
aesthetic is earthy and girthy. He seems (to
my ear) to be working entirely in the analog
realm—where what one puts in, is what
one gets out. The humans that play on a
Shawn Lee record have very little filtration
between their bodies, souls and the tape.
Speaking of tape, Shawn is a master of
saturation and he has a true sickness for the
thickness. From dry and tight, to dubbed
and scrubbed, atmospheres are generated
by mechanical and psychoacoustic means
rather than fancy pedals and plugins. This
gives Mr. Lee’s records an organic funkiness
that is rich in vibes. Take Shawn Lee’s Ping
Pong Orchestra album, World of Funk for
example. On it, he himself plays sitar, ektar,
balaphone, tanpura, kalimba, steel drum,
guitarron, moroccan castanets, cithare,
vibraphone, xylophone, bulbul tarang,
charango, bouzouki, talking drum, and udu.
If that doesn’t make someone shake a leg,
they must be dead. Take inspiration from
this shamanistic sonic priest, jack the Wah
into the Fender Champ and try to keep up.
Or, better yet, imitate the sonic signatures of
the exotic instruments listed above and find
some new tones.
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