[Chris Lawrence]

Hi there, sorry I never replied, I actually even listened to 'A Thousand Leaves' at work one day and tried to keep track of all the effects usage...

I've been using a Big Muff for so long that I can't even remember what a Rat sounds like. Somebody else might be better off chiming in on which one Thurston seems to prefer using (I'd be curious, myself..).

For "SUNDAY" Lee has his Mutron Bi-Phase very softly applied during the verses, and then a little more prominent at the end (contrast this with the 'Suburbia' version where his Bi-Phase practically commands the entire song). Thurston is more or less clean aside from some crunchy fuzz during the instrumental interlude. I remember when they played this on Letterman and Thurston used no effects it all, it sounded a little weak as Lee was mixed quite low.

For "FEMALE" Kim starts off with some fuzz, I'm assuming the Hot Tubes was her overdrive of choice but again, I'm not the best to spot a Rat. Lee's probably using his Overdrive Electronics Valve Grinder but again, it could be the Tube King. Around 20 seconds in Thurston is doing whammy bar dives with the Octave Fuzz turned on. He kicks the Wah-Vol in around 38 secs... Kim turns her tc electronic phaser on around 1:41, and Lee introduces a light phaser around 1:59. Thurston follows suit with the Phase 90 around the 3 minute mark. Lee starts using his Maestro Ring Mod around 4:50, and adds some delay around 5:10. The rumbling noises during the outro (starting at 6:28) are Thurston turning the Blue Box on.

For "WILDFLOWER" Thurston is doing harmonic dives with the Octave Fuzz turned on during the beginning. Kim is using a homemade fuzzbox as a slide during the intro (she does this on 'Anagrama' as well). Lee has his phaser on during the verse. It sounds like Kim might have her Octave Fuzz on during her solo. Thurston gets Phase 90 happy around 2:30, and Lee and Kim start their phaser action around 5:00. Thurston's showing off the Phase 90 again around 5:45. Around 6:30 or so Thurston starts stepping on the Blue Box, Octave Fuzz, Wah, etc at random intervals. Lee uses his phaser through the last verse.

For "HOARFROST", Lee's overdubbed solo has some kind of wah-like phase going on. Thurston turns his phaser on around 1:56. Lee rocks the phase again around 3:15.

For "FRENCH TICKLER", all of their phasers must have collectively stopped functioning, because this one is mostly just a fuzzfest. Lee uses his ring mod during the "weekend guest" parts (much more prominent on live versions), and Thurston is probably using the Octave Fuzz and/or Blue Box during the same parts. During the big sludgy breakdown I imagine he's probably using the Blue Box too.

For "HITS OF SUNSHINE" Lee gets phasey as the instrumental starts, and so does Kim (I guess she was worried her bass might actually sound like a bass otherwise). Thurston has some reverb around 4:00, which I doubt was courtesy of any of his pedals. He triggers the wah around 5:00. At 6:25 Kim turns some overdrive on.

For "KAREN KOLTRANE", Lee rocks the ring mod @ 1:25, and again at 2:38, and then there's some ring mod heavy overdubs in the right speaker around 2:41. Kim's guitar sounds like it has a light phase throughout. Thurston's using fuzz effects during the heavier 'freak out' bits, and turns his Phase 90 on around 7:11.

For "INEFFABLE ME", Thurston turns his Phase 90 on intermittently throughout the riff (see 0:16 for one). Lee turns his phaser on around 0:48, followed quickly by Thurston with the Octave Fuzz or Muff around 0:49). Thurston does the Phaser again from 1:30 or so, throughout the riff. Lee introduces the ring mod around 2:20. Thurston does sporadic Blue Box/Octave Fuzz tapping during the outro verse, and has them all on during the last bit of the outro. Kim turns her phaser on at the very end.

For "SNARE, GIRL" Thurston and Lee both leave the gate with their phasers on, and Kim activates a slight phase around 5:40.

For "HEATHER ANGEL", Thurston and Lee once again hit the ground running with their phasers phasing. You can hear Thurston pounding his fretboard with a hammer around 2:10. When Kim comes in during this section she is verrry fuzzy. During the outro riff, Thurston periodically steps on the Octave Fuzz or Blue Box.

I'm sure that's not a completely exhaustive list but hopefully it gives you a good idea of how and when they used their effects on this album. The Blue Box is in the spotlight for "Anagrama" as well, at the beginning of the song and a few times over the course of it, for this big explosive G notes Thurston spews forth.

For live versions, any '98 era gig is a safe bet -- the soundboard ones are probably gonna be better. I like the 05/29/98 LA gig though Kim's a little quiet, and I suspect some of those pro-shot German festival gigs from June probably sound pretty hot too.