Alvin and the Chipmunks slowed down

So the way they recorded chipmunks covers, as you can probably guess, was to have the singer record the track at a very slow tempo and then speed it up to the correct tempo for the song. The instrumentation was recorded at the correct tempo. When you slow it down, the result is this uncanny, haunting sludge. Per youtube comments, "This is what an overdose sounds like." 'Heaven is a Place on Earth' is a must listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU-MYe0SL9Q

I made this - what - ten years ago!?

https://soundcloud.com/zuowan/alvin-the-humans-200-speed

Putting the Chipmunks Christmas 45 on a slower speed (I think our Fisher Price record player only did 33, no 16RPM) was a favorite childhood hobby. I didn’t even know until these started going around that there was other Chipmunks music to be honest.

This version of "Call Me" is amazing

when I was a kid I used to record myself singing really slowly and then use the high speed dub feature on my stereo cassette recorder to hear myself as a chipmunk

^pvmic

I forgot all about this, but it was and is incredible. Up there with Bieber slowed down at x800 or whatever until it sounds like Sigur Ros, or Rush's "Working Man" slowed down until Geddy Lee has a low voice.

This version of "Call Me" is amazing

Simon looks really strung out on the youtube thumbnail

the slow version of call me is one of the greatest songs of the 80s

xp This may be “obvious trivia,” but the original art is here

(Interestingly, “Call Me” seems to have been key to that album’s genesis)

we had so many of the Chipmunks collections, but never that one. we had Munk Rock, Go to the Movies, and Urban Chipmunk

'Heaven is a Place on Earth' is a must listen.

Goddamn, no kidding. I love this!

The singer reminds me of Jim Morrison at times.

'Heaven is a Place on Earth' sounds more like a threat than a lover's fantasy ... it's so great!
And I second the jim morrison take, especially on call me. I need to research who this person was, I wonder if they did anything else

I just looked into it. I had no idea that the chipmunks were originally a 'virtual band' that debuted in the 50's (eat ur heart out gorillaz). I always assumed the cartoons came first. Anyway, the person singing on 'Call Me' is Ross Bagdasarian Jr., who took over chipmunk vocal duties when his father, the original voice of the chipmunks, passed away. It doesn't look like he did any music outside of the chipmunk stuff. It's also not clear whether it's him on the other tracks in sludgefest. It appears to be compilation, and personnel for some of the other records it pulls from is scarce on wiki

i used to have a handheld mini cassette recorder / player and i'd record myself talking as fast as possible only to listen to it at .5 speed. hours of fun.

this chipmunks thing is wild because you always knew that's how they did it, but to actually hear it that way is. . . kind of awesome. "diamond dolls" being included completely threw me off in a great way. the stuff one forgets. it totally sounds like a bizarro world "lucy in the sky with diamonds."

holy shit, "keep me hanging on" sounds like disintegration if bruce springsteen was the singer! omg this is fantastic and hilarious!

for the opposite (and much less fun) effect:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THTSer7vsv8

Found this version of Girls of Rock and Roll (from Chipmunk Adventure, like Diamond Dolls) where the voices are slowed down to a believable pitch for the Chipettes, but the Chipmunks' voices are still a bit higher than reality. Trigger warning: way too many underwear shots of underage chipmunks. No thanks, the 1980s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtaog8Ds4T8

You guys know about Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., don’t you? In addition to his work as David Seville & Co., he also co-wrote “Come On-a My House” with his cousin William Saroyan and appeared as the piano player in Rear Window/pvmic

The whole Liberty Records story is fascinating. For example:

Liberty Records was a record label started in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer.

Simon Waronker of course being the father of Lenny (and Joey, fwiw, is his grandson). Lenny and Randy Newman iirc used to take piano lessons together.

Did not know that, thanks.

This is like a new genre of music, man. Let’s call it ... vaporwave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7smyIP7TplM

fucking amazing! I love this

on "refugee" alvin sounds like richard hell

these are incredible. the "heaven is a place on earth" music sorta reminds me of "celia's dream" by slowdive. and there's more on bandcamp!
https://chipmunkson16speed.bandcamp.com/

glancing through the 'munks discography, can someone please do this for "freedom '90"?

this is amazing..."Always On My Mind" gives me chills

I think there's something about the singing/performance on this batch of songs that works better than other Chipmunks covers? I tried running some other, later ones that seemed promising at equivalent speed and the vox are over-articulated and the playing more sort up up-and-down, I guess in an attempt to make the end product more coherent

A few years ago I digitized a drug-worn cassette I made in my teens and have never stopped listening to, I still mainly know "Dream Weaver" and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" at cough-syrupy 45>33 1/3

I think it's been scrubbed from the internet, but last year someone pitch corrected an entire animated Chipmunks movie so that the Chipmunks spoke with normal adult voices. The results were ... disconcerting.

Is that John Cale singing?

On "Call Me", starts off very like John Cale largely because the singer is singing in a strangely neutral accent.

Yes, that's what I was referring to.

does anyone here happen to have any contacts that i can talk to regarding getting the 1980's series released in full in some capacity, thx

I never knew "Walk Like An Egyptian" could sound so sinister. This owns.

This kinda reminds me of the time in college I was hanging out at a friend's and he put St Vincent's Actor on the turntable at the wrong speed and it sounded like the greatest music I had ever heard in my life

My Sharona has a very Residents thing going.

You guys know about Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., don’t you? In addition to his work as David Seville & Co., he also co-wrote “Come On-a My House” with his cousin William Saroyan and appeared as the piano player in Rear Window/pvmic

And

Stalag 17

oops

Why oops?

Meant to italicize Stalag 17, I wasn’t quoting anyone.

Had no idea that was him in that scene!

He had two #1 hits, created a classic cartoon, and starred in a few all-time movies. What a career.

Seems like you italicized it fine.

finally getting around to checking this out

just sitting here being blown away by "call me" for the last three minutes