The new record is done!  I picked up the master yesterday and it sounds great!!  I put a track up for all to listen.  We are going to call the record "Livin and Lovin".  It has a great feel to it.  It's a bit more up tempo and is a solid all around recording.  Let us know what you think.  We are working on the artwork and are hoping to release this in mid March just in time for SXSW!  Take it easy!!
 
dave(blackearth)

So I had a party last weekend.  Got completely wasted.  Wielded my knife, smashed some knuckles, banged my head, and rocked out.  Besides all this, I decided to ask everyone what they thought of the new record.  I put out a comment card and this is what they said:
 
Isadora thinks:
(Face Down in the Gutter)#1 "catchy" can still remember the beat
(My Private Hell)#2 sexy; great song to fuck to
(No Way Back)#3 makes me want to shake that ass
(She Don't Want It)#4 whiskey on the rocks
(Something About You)#5 tight ass with some lovely /YES Elaine R.
(Livin and Lovin, Fightin and Runnin)#6 I wana know those guys /RAWK Elaine R.
I think it's supa clean, can hear each individual RAWK - Kevin
Where can I get a copy ASAP?  Unknown
Oscar says:  Wow you fuckin rocked my balls off.  They finally dropped.  I am 34 and I finally went through puberty!  Always had pubs but now they hang!!  Rock on!!
FUCKIN ROCKS MAN:  jefemalaka
Sounds great, slammin - should be on 93.7 KLBJ : abel
So there you have it.  That's what people are saying.  It's going to be a great album.  We're still working on artwork and the title.  We're close.  I think we're going to call it 'Livin and Lovin' ... More to come!!
 
dave(bass/blackearth)

We started this day on a rested note.  We weren't scheduled to come into the studio until 3pm.  I got some much needed rest.  Woke up around 10am, made some breakfast, sat around until I picked up Ving.  I left the house around because I had to pay on a pawn ticket.  I needed some money a while back as most musicians do.  I took care of that, called Ving but he wasn't ready.  I took an hour break at home.  I picked him up and we had some Chinese buffet.  We were excited about the last day. We got to The Bubble on time where Frenchie and Buntz(Frenchie's assistant) were starting on some rough mixes before we started vocals.  At this point, Frenchie asked if we wanted to go to Fry's for a new hard drive.  We went over there and went back.  Once we arrived, Jason was there and watching RocknRolla on his computer.  It was time to lay down some vocals.  Ving hit the vocals with a quickness.  2 songs were done and we took a break for backup vocals.  Once we were ready we decided that Jason and I would try doing vocals together to get a more gritty feel.  It could work but could have been a bad idea.  We tried it out with the first song and it worked.  "She Don't Want It!" it sounded really good.  We decided that we would do it for a couple of others.  We took a different approach with "My Private Hell".  Instead of me doing backups we decided that Jason should do them.  He did the back up and I did a back up whisper track.  When it was time for "Something About You" we tried two different styles.  They didn't work so we decided to go with the way we did it live but with a twist.  I sang back ups and knocked it out.  Back up vocals were done.  Jason wanted to do some percussion.  Ving was exctatic since he was done.  Jason added some tamborine, shakers, and Buntz added some vibraslap.  It sounded great.  We were done tracking.  We got some beers to celebrate and did the mixing.  Jason Buntz is a machine.  He was mixing while we were doing vocals and backups.  We ended up leaving The Bubble at around 2:30am and we had done our best album to date.  6 songs that are done in true Black Earth fashion.  This is our third recording at The Bubble and we are one of the first bands of the Red River Scene in Austin TX and we're still kickin ass.  Since The Bubble's inception we've been to each location.  All three.  It's good to be back.  I don't think any of us has every played like this in any of our previous records.  Frenchie complimented me about only having two mistakes that were minor in my recording.  We shared funny stories about old times and new times to come.  Frenchie did the new Jet record.  He's doing very well but is still a humble guy and we love him for it.  He's a bro.  After all that Ving and I drove home.  I was on my way home when 3:00 am approached.  My truck lights started to flicker.  Ving and I sort of freaked.  There were lights flickering above us.  I got to Ving's apartment when my truck stalled and wouldn't start.  This guy asked me if I needed a jump start but it didn't work.  I called my wife and she showed up.  We tried everything.  My truck's alarm kept bugging out.  Some asshole drove by and said, "ha ha your car broke down".  Fuckin douche.  There will always be people like that, but thankfully there are always people who are willing to help.  I called a tow truck because there was no way I was going to leave my gear.  Ving got his van and pushed my truck up to a parking spot.  He went to sleep.  The tow truck came and put my truck on the lift.  He took my home and happened to mention that he knew Christain from The Black Angels.  Small world.  I got home and listened to the album.  It sounds great.  Once again in true Black Earth fashion we do something great and then something fucked up happens.  Ving and I chuckled about this.  It happens all the time.  It's like that scene in 8 mile when Eminem's character "Rabbit" tears the stage up and leaves.  They ask him why he's leaving.  He says, "I have to work tomorrow".  That's the way we are.  We rock hard but in the end we have to go to work because we're ordinary people who do extraordinary things.  Hopefully this album will change that and we'll do what we were meant for.  Putting out great music that gets under your skin.  The record is done, unnamed, and ready to be mastered.  All this in 4 days.  That's how we roll.  Go in, lay it down, and leave.  That's all for now.  See you at the show.  Photos and vids to come.
 
oozin muddy butter on my bass
dave - Black Earth

Vocals...We jump in at around 1:30p.  Tired from from the night before.  I had to work(I had to do a seminar for work) got that done, went to pick up Ving before we got to The Bubble.  We and get ready for the vocals.  Ving gets ready to jump in and so we hit it around 2:30p.  Jason is still sore from his performance on Tuesday.  By this time, it's Thursday, we're all beat up from rockin even though we've been sober.  Drinking a lot of caffeine can do that to you.  I had 6 shots of espresso the night before.  Ving had the same if not more.  Jason has been in and out, drums done, bass done, guitars done, vocals being done.  Ving kicks ass 3 takes per song, that's all he needs, it's good the first take but we like a little room to play.  He knocks out three songs, and on the fourth it gets crazy.  It's the feel good song "Something About You" Frenchie tells Ving to go in a little different direction.  "Try to have a conversation with yourself" he says.  Well we're listening to the mix while Ving is doing the vocals.  He whispers the breakdown, which is different.  By this time, everything has changed, it's way psyco-delic.  We're zoned out into the song, when it gets crazy.  Ving comes out of left field and relives a sadistic sex scene.  Frenchie and I are in the zone and look at each other in shock, but we stay in the zone because of how rad the song sounds.  The zone being entranced on how cool everything sounds even though it has been taken to a dark place that no one talks about.  Ving comes out and looks at us, we don't say much.  I knew the dark place he went.  He told me about it the week before.  Craziness I tell you.  I leave for a bit, Jason comes in my absence to see how everything is going.  He heard the track and dug it.  It's crazy.  Think of Jane's Addiction, "Sex is Violence" or The Doors.  It's that place that no one speaks of.  We take a break.  There are two songs left without lyrics.  We all decide that we're ahead of schedule and do the rest of the vocals on day for with a fresh start.  We're tired.  I'm off on Friday and get to sleep in.  Friday will be a new day.  Drums, Bass, Guitars, 4 songs are tracked with lead vocals.  This is all done.  More to come...Almost done...All I know is "Something About You" is going to be contraversial.   
 
Dave(bass/blackearth)

After the first day of recording all 6 drum tracks for the new record, it was time to do my bass lines.  I spoke to Jason and apparently he strained his shoulder he played so hard.  Ving and I went to The Bubble and listened to the tracks that we recorded.  They sounded great!!  We started going over my bass lines, I had no idea but they sounded great.  Here I was upset about my performance when Frenchie tells me that we were solid.  We listened to all 6 tracks.  On the second song I had to punch in.  I flubbed a note.  I punched in and got it done, it was hard considering it was a crazy section I had to punch in.  Got that done, so we started listening to "Something About You".  Aaron and Asa from Scorpion Child came in while we were listening.  They liked what they heard.  We went through the whole song and Frenchie says, "it sounds good".  I didn't have to go in and fix any mistakes.  He looks at the boys from Scorpion Child and says, "this was one take".  They were stoked for us.  I had to punch into another section so I did so.  Got it right, went down stairs and we realized I punched into a take that we weren't keeping.  Frenchie says, "sorry dude, but hey, at least this take has perfect bass."  We go through all the other songs and I had one more punch in section for one note.  Did that and went downstairs.  All in all I had to fix 3 small mistakes for 6 songs.  One take that we weren't keeping.  I love that!  I had 4 songs that were all one takes on the bass.  I guess when we're playing really hard to get the drums done, I get warmed up enough to get my shit straight.  I was done early so it was time for guitars.  Ving came in and just started to shred.  We added some really cool layers.  Keep in mind we're working on 2 inch tape and 24 tracks.  We're going old school for the sound.  Ving hammers through the guitar sections.  Jason shows up at around 5pm to see how we're doing.  We're all blown away by the guitars and overall sound.  Ving continues to hammer through lead after lead, rhythm after rhythm.  We're working on "Something About You" when Jason says, "hey, I'm gonna split, but maybe we should do something psychedelic".  and leaves.  We all look at each other and the ideas flow.  Frenchie asks if he can add some guitar tracks.  We all agree this is a great idea.  He plugs in, throws the wah out, gets a phaser, and makes some crazy ass digital sorcery.  He's wailing with his arms flailing in the air.  Ving laughs and says, "you didn't get this on video?"  I messed up.  We went, "holy shit, he went Eddie Kramer on us!" He then continues to conjur up more digital sorcery using various devices throughout the night.  The overall product is going to be insane.  It's safe to say we went psychedelic on that ass.  I would even venture on to say we went "psycho-delic".  We left at 2am thrilled.  Drums, guitars, bass, are done.  Now for vocals and additives.  More to come.

Part one.  Day one.  The laydown.  We showed up last night at the bubble to record our next record.  It's been our third record at the bubble.  We've been to each location in all it's history.  We layed the drums down.  Drums started getting sounds at 11am with Jason getting the sounds.  Ving and I showed up around 2p.  We started rockin at around 3:30p.  We ended at midnight.  We layed 6 phenomenal drum tracks down.  This included 1 song that was 7 minutes long and done in one take, bass, drums, another song that was 6 min 1 take, and one song that we rehearsed twice.  We left at midnight accomplished.  Jason left after breaking 5 sets of sticks and 1 drum pedal.  Insane.  Video to come later.  The album is going to be the shit!!
 
dave

All balls out...that's the name of the album.  It attacks with 100% rock'n roll fuzz (noise) to your heart's content.  Try to imagine Kyuss crossing swords with Iggy & The Stooges in a confrontation during their younger/earlier years.  Think of it as equal to the rage of the first Mudhoney with the insolence/rudeness of Turbonegro's beginning debut.

From the loud/heavy sound delivered without frivolous details, the obvious refrains/choruses strengthened by the punkish chords, to the image on the record cover, you navigate into a very macho universe where the sideburns go all the way to the shoulders and where the beers are always cold, frothy like they should be and full to the brim.
 
Moreover the album mix sounds like a concert with attitude, the composition and the design:  a rough piece without artifice and unnecessary ornamentation.  The song titles are unquestionably along the same stride (Hell Yeah, Fuck All Y'All, Damn You...).  Black Earth does not try to give an intellectual/geeky image of serious self-reflection in its music and the image of older teens messing around in detention in their super cool leather.  (i'm not sure about the last half of that sentence).

I like listening to this album! Although not revolutionary for its genre, it gets merit for being cool and spontaneous where others turn around in circles being self absorbed.  Watch or listen in your favorite bar at a party with your buddies and some pretty and alluring blond waitresses serving you booze!

---Thibaut

Here is another great review of our new record, "That's Right We're Going Ballz Deep!"  Get your copy today!!

 

Black Earth-That's right we're goin' ballz deep

Black Earth

That's Right We're Goin' Ballz Deep (Big Ape)

The sweltering scuzz punk emitted from the bowels of Black Earth would make Josh Homme wish he had never left the California desert. Ballz Deep is as raunchy and volatile as one would hope, with fuzzy guitar time bombs erupting in canyon-sized grooves, while Jason Reece marks the trail of dead from behind the kit.

 

By Austin Powell

That's Right We're Going Ballz Deep is out in stores now!  Get it on ITunes by clicking this link