The 11 hour review
Mac Demarco’s One Wayne G | The only complete review
Monday, 15th of May 2023
13:26
I return to the Voyager Sound Studios. We’ve had quite a frustrating morning, having double-scooped preworkout and full-stacked some of the heaviest weights out there. My teeth were grinding with anticipation. There was nothing I needed more than the old haunt; the trustworthy sauna and cold shower, the shining beacon of spiritual presence that is the local leisure centre operated by Better U.K…
…however, I was not to know that my life would be forever changed this morning. As I roll down the stairs into the pool area, to my absolute horror…
It’s a women only session. B****** f***.
13:37
Our Murray’s Bunker Studio is actually on [redacted] street, somewhere in the Bermudan triangle between Hackney, Shoreditch, and Islington. The area itself barely has a name, some still call it Hoxton although we’re far from Hoxton High Street. It’s in the centre of London, but far enough from the Banks that there are still some real people living here. By all rights, we shouldn’t be able to afford it here, but we caught the low-rent wave during Covid, and we kept the place tidy, so our landlord never got around to raising the rent. I think he might have died. Because of this, (and also because of a small windfall inheritance I received from working at my job) I acquired a Sonos Roam Bluetooth speaker.
13:40
I load up Mac Demarco’s One Wayne G.
The first track 20180512 is equal parts soothing and picturesque, FM Synthesiser tones reminiscent of animal crossing which I used to play on a Nintendo DS, remember the DS? I do. The Sonos Roam, in spite of Sonos’s hi-fi reputation, is actually a mono speaker. This is odd, but I assume Sonos designed the speaker for use with their larger multi-room systems. Like the Nintendo, the Roam feels like old technology, despite being brand new. Either way, the opening of this album is so concise, so succinct, so beautifully simple that even the most mono speaker brings the heat. With the morning’s frustration behind me, I step into the shower.
13:57
I pause 20180913 in its tracks. This is the first vocal entry on the project, and I decide it needs a full and detailed listen.
In our deep listening chamber at Murray’s Bunker, there are a few options. Plugging in 1/4 leads and patch cables, I decide on an old pair of Creative desktop speakers (a stereo pair of mid woofers and 4x cone tweeters hooked up to a roughly 6-inch sub). I must say, the previous collection of tracks were somewhat disquieting in their variorum. What I mean by that is that, due to the water pressure in our building, whenever my flatmates run the hot water tap, the shower goes extremely cold. Having been here for over two years, you would think that this would have become somewhat obvious. However, they either don’t know, don’t care, or are unaware, and as I stated earlier, I enjoy the cold shower, so this isn’t a problem. I’m enjoying the Mac Ambience.
14:06
The bitingly picky 20180924 crashes into the smooth and wavy 20180927, which then slides into the more predictable for the remainder of the 2018s. I’m enjoying the full frequency range on my desktop speakers, with an eye on what I’ve signed up for. The full duration of this album is listed on Spotify as 9 hours 20 minutes, and considering I began the record at 13:40, it’ll be well past my bedtime when this is all over. It’s time to strap in, clean my teeth, brew some ovaltine, and make my bed. Incidentally, I am discovering that the 2018 section of this album is excellent productivity music, and fits well with the kind of lifestyle one might want to live.
14:16
20181108 and 20181212 have a great tune. Editor’s note: upon re-listening, I’m not sure he I was talking about here.
14:20
The beginning of 2019 marks a shift in Mac’s sound. Beyond the sounds of police sirens outside my window, and aircraft overhead, the synth on this track is reminiscent of C418’s Life Changing Moments Seem Minor in Pictures, or even Disasterpeace’s Hyper Light Drifter (particularly Seeds of the Crown).
20190205 cements the decision to transfer to yet another listening setup.
14:24
I am now listening though an Audient Evo 8, through a balanced TRS-XLR Connector, which is feeding a pair of Samson 5-inch monitors. These are the ribbon tweeter model, giving a response and detailed high end even at this (admittedly limited) setup. The depth of Mac’s mix is now apparent, with a warm, friendly Bass tone grounding a spacy, reverberant (potentially through Mac’s own basement, with his homemade chamber reverb? Let us know, Mac) mix.
I hunker down to answer some emails and do the regular Monday file management session. Desktop, documents… music, etc. etc. It’s all in there.
14:41
I like how vaporwavey this is getting.
14:44
Oh dear, a powerful sense of dread.
14:50
No way… no way no way no way. Where do I recognise this from? Oh yeah, a clip of this track went viral a few years ago. I think Mac described it as trash. It really works here, breaking the slowly building tension of the last 20 minutes or so. A real ice-breaker, groovin’ hot, Herbie Hancock on the keys, oh yeah, oh yeah. and the transition between 2019 07 26 and 28 is just so sweet. Mac is really hitting his groove, I can only imagine what the weather must’ve been like in July 2019. Well, actually, assuming Mac was recording this in his California studio, it was probably quite warm.
15:00
It’s time for lunch.
16:18
I need to get some groceries, so have transitioned to listening on some Sony WF-1000 XM4 earphones. With 20190730, I feel extremely lethargic and almost catatonic. I want to go to bed. I started this review with high hopes, albeit frustration too, but I am now losing the plot. I have quite a lot of other things I was supposed to be doing today, and it’s not even clear what this album or review even is anymore. However, with patience comes great reward. 20190802 sums this up quite well.
16:45
It’s just doing its thing
17:06
What a masterpiece. The 20 minute minimal/ambient piece was wonderful, accompanied by a few cheery tunes as I navigated the Hell that is angel Sainsbury’s. Self checkouts, metal receipt scanners, understaffed, under the counter. City supermarkets are a weird kind of hell now. You have to touch the receipt to leave, despite the receipt ink being quite carcinogenic and hard to wash off. But, the staff won’t let you leave through the thick metal barrier without scanning your receipt. I drop the receipt in protest of this system. It’s dire
I must say the groove on 20191215 is getting under my skin. Interesting.. on a side note, my grocery shop which will last perhaps 5 days (nothing fancy, by the way, just some minced beef and basic everyday stuff, milk, shower gel and razor heads) came to well over £50.
I also just saw a silver london taxi, which are surprisingly rare, and a coffee shop with a logo that was clearly meant to be a Reef Knot, but the illustrator hadn’t followed a guide, so the knot on the shop logo would untie itself if it were pulled. I’m not even sure what kind of knot it would have been if it were correct. It was almost a Figure of Eight, but with a rope going through the middle of the figure, like the beginning of a Carrick bend. Weird.
17:19
The sun has come out.
20191229
I remember Christmas and new years of 2019 quite clearly. It was when I first got and learned how to use my SP-404. Incidentally it was also when I was majorly into Mac’s music, being towards the end of A Levels, the final bit of school the U.K. actually forces you to do. Very strange memories from this time, most particularly of the powerfully charged atmosphere building up to ‘the events which occurred in spring 2020’.
17:31
Somebody keeps urinating in the stairwell of my building.
This album is a hometime anthem; a real evensong. Getting home whilst listening to this album feels great.
17:41
I love the way 20200223 sounds. It is time to consume caffeine again, this time in the form of Toffea, a mixture of coffee and tea.
The February leap year duo is one of my favourites on the album so far. Truly capturing the manic, mysterious, mythologically charged atmosphere of that one day, in many ways the last day, and in some ways, the very first day of all. It was a simple Saturday. I have down in my calendar that I had a haircut at 10:30am that Saturday. That would’ve been in Falmouth, where I grew up. In part 2, the synthetic ocean fills the space between my plugged ears, so probably Mac’s longest chord to date. It’s warm, it’s rich. It’s heavy, but with an unbearable lightness. Next February will mark the next leap year, an event we have not yet observed since before the pandemic.
18:49
First laugh of the album on 20200816
19:46
Entering the deeply strange end of the experience, I’m no longer sure whether I’m coming or going. There is a halo effect around the speakers, which I’m not even using. I have no idea how long this has been going on for. I think spent the last 30 minutes trying to sleep, or trying to stop. But I also realised I’ve barely been out all day, aside from the few times where I went out.
We’re on the home stretch, but not by a long stretch yet.
20:22
I’ve noticed something quite strange over the last couple of hours. The at first casual, carefree lighthearted feeling has been replaced by something altogether weirder. It feels more synthetic, more deliberate? Fake, even. This could be a product of 2020, or something else. Either way, it fits the sound whilst being quite unnerving. There is some kind of deep melancholy setting in. To limit the power and scope of this, I’ve transitioned to listening on the built-in speaker on my phone.
21:19
I’m now on 20210327. I love how the sound palate has been changing over the last few tracks. The fm synth notes and drum machine noises are a welcome addition, and the album seems to be moving towards a coherent, cogent sound. We’re back to a lightheartedness with 20210516, exactly two years ago tomorrow.
21:47
I must admit I’m getting slightly bored, not that this is Mac’s fault. I’m not even sure what to do, whether to continue sitting and staring at the wall (as I have been) or to go and find something else. Maybe I will go and walk around
21:55
20210629 2 - impressive vocal range, even if it’s been formant shifted or pitched up somehow.
Mac’s overall range is quite impressive on this album, demonstrating some of his more ‘out there’ work in a smooth, continuous context. It even reminds me of a microphones album (Phil elverum) or similar. Wow Mac, keep it up!
22:22
I’ve accidentally found myself in the Barbican Centre highwalks. The music has synced perfectly with the atmosphere, this being a particularly still and mild evening. The sun has set, but the city afterglow lights the sky perpetually. When I first came here, I used to spend ages walking around the Barbican centre. It is quite haunting at night, but weirdly familiar. Very, very empty. Most of the flats are either occupied by politicians or famous creatives who hardly ever live in them. That, coupled with the 24-hour city police, mean that the centre is both devoid of life but quite well lived-in. This was once the only building of its kind in the area, but the skyline is now littered with concrete and steel blocks double as high. I’m enjoying the 20210722 duo whilst walking along the lakeside.
23:34
20220422 - I don’t know what’s going on. Jimmy Hendrix is in the room
20221102 - a deeply melancholy last act on this album.
It’s 23:48 and I’m not sure whether to go to bed or let this thing continue disintegrating. However… the introduction of a harmonica… we’ve got this far. We’ve got this far.
00:02
20221122 contains the greatest riff of the entire album, on some kind of recorder or whistle. It is borderline schizophrenically magnificent, self referential in the extreme and yet on the very border of disconnected madness itself. This is all well and good but I’m starting to get the feeling I’ve heard this before.
Towards the tail end of the album, it has become extremely repetitive, as one might expect, and mac has run out of instrumentation, proceeding to sing and vocally improvise more and more. Having produced and written similar quantities of music, there are cycles that are harder to break than others. I think Mac should invest in some field recorders (don’t get a cheap zoom, Mac, treat yaself!), and perhaps a string instrument, a viola etc.
This works well as ambient music. I am still waiting for a true closer to tie the project together, although I secretly hope such a track does not exist.
00:22
Now we’re on the home stretch, I can see the end of the album on screen. And what a wild ride it’s been, I can barely remember this morning let alone the rest of the album. I must confess I was also reading a book, on and off, which helped to pace the more ambient sections into something listenable as a distinct piece of music. There were two moments I’d love to remember, but have lost, one was what I’d consider the most banger-ish, somewhere around august 2020…. And then a truly beautiful moment of stereo-spatial discovery somewhere in the recorder tunes. I’ll leave you to have this moment again, for yourself. My headphones are running out of battery.
And with that, mr de Marco, I bid you good evening, good night. Thanks for this one, truly one of the more intriguing days I’ve had this month. Cheers and gone