Fred Armisen announces album 100 Sound Effects containing 101 sound effects

Armisen also shared a simple and very sweet backstory for the project. “I was thinking about haunted house sound effects albums and how fun those seemed to record. I wanted to do it at Steve Albini’s studio in Chicago, Electrical Audio, but since this wasn’t a collection of songs and I didn’t know how long it was going to take, I needed to do this where I live, in Los Angeles,” he writes in the release. “I told Steve what I was doing and asked if he knew of any engineers I could work with in L.A. He was very excited about the idea and asked Dave Grohl who might be available to help. Dave recommended Darrell Thorp and we started working at Studio 606, and then later Sunset Sound. Darrell was really inventive and a lot of fun to work with. Because Steve was so instrumental in making this happen, I dedicate the album to his memory. I miss him every day.” Albini died in May 2024, and was friends with Armisen for years before that, at one point tweeting that the comedian was “the most organically funny person I know and hanging out with him is a joy.” 

Armisen will be performing a handful of live dates this summer and fall in California and Portland, Maine, though it’s not immediately clear how much of those performances will be sound effects-based. We also have one other question: for an album called 100 Sound Effects, why are there 101 sound effects listed on the track list? All will presumably be revealed when Armisen’s sound effects are in our ears on September 26. 

100 Sound Effects Track List:

1. “Needle on Record”
2. “Drum Sound Check at Medium Sized Venue”
3. “Guitar Tuned but Still Somehow Out of Tune”
4. “Band Sound Check Sound Guy and Band Agreeing for Too Long”
5. “Romanian Crowd at Rock Club Shouting for an Encore”
6. “Sparsely Attended Show Encore with Someone Shouting “Where’s Jim?””
7. “Music Venue Employee Kicking Everyone Out While Throwing Away Bottles”
8. “Music Store Around Christmas”
9. “Going from Main Room to Acoustic Room at a Music Store”
10. “Trying Out an Electronic Drum Kit with Headphones at a Music Store”
11. “Trying Out a Distortion Pedal at a Music Store”
12. “Testing Cymbals in a Cymbal Room at a Music Store”
13. “Keyboard Not Working at First at a Music Store”
14. “Music Store Exit with Security Checking Receipt”
15. “Car Door Closing Car Rental”
16. “Car Door Closing Fancy Car Service”
17. “Car Door Closing 1958 Ford”
18. “Car Door Closing Confident”
19. “Car Door Closing Automatically Van”
20. “Small Theater Small Audience”
21. “Small Theater Audience at Heavy Political Show”
22. “Small Theater Microphone Isn’t Working”
23. “Small Theater Enthusiastic Audience”
24. “Small Theater Booing”
25. “Small Theater Audience Talking”
26. “Small Theater Audience Talking and Ignoring Shshsh”
27. “Small Theater Audience Acknowledging Shshsh”
28. “Disappointed Crowd Dublin”
29. “Small Theater Lighting Booth While Producers are Checking Out the Stage”
30. “Small Theater One-Man Show Performer”
31. “Fake Applause”
32. “Fake Booing”
33. “Supportive Booing at a Speech”
34. “Obligatory Applause at a Speech”
35. “Obligatory Laugh at a Speech”
36. “Shocked Audience”
37. “Terrified Audience at an Authoritarian Nation Official Event”
38. “Champagne Glass Breaking on Wood Floor”
39. “Champagne Glass Breaking on Linoleum Floor”
40. “Wine Glass Breaking”
41. “Wine Glass Breaking with Reaction”
42. “Glass Falls but Doesn’t Break”
43. “Glass Pitcher Shattering”
44. “Shot Glass Breaking”
45. “Wine Glass Breaking in Sink”
46. “Delicate Water Glass Breaking”
47. “Sweeping Up Glass”
48. “Sweeping Up Glass and Muttering”
49. “Businessman on Phone on Plane Before Takeoff – Work Tone”
50. “Businessman on Phone on Plane Still at the Gate – Casual Tone”
51. “Overhead Compartment Closing”
52. “Couple on Plane Mid-flight Guy Opens Overhead Compartment”
53. “Window Shade Closing”
54. “Flight Attendant Opens Overhead Compartment”
55. “Flight Attendant Collecting Packaging”
56. “First Time Homeowner Switching Circuit Breakers”
57. “Tentative Sawing”
58. “Drilling into Wood”
59. “Gift Wrapping”
60. “Thrift Store Perfunctory Search for Halloween Costume”
61. “Rolling Metal Market Door Opening”
62. “Shipping Container Door Opening”
63. “Campfire Conversation”
64. “Camping Breakfast Conversation”
65. “Camping Ready for the Day”
66. “Jacket Zipper”
67. “Tent Zipper”
68. “Short Bursts of Tent Zipper”
69. “Camping Lunch Conversation”
70. “Sleeping Bag Zipper Goodnight”
71. “Camping Pack Up Conversation”
72. “Basketball Bouncing”
73. “Basketball Slow Bounce”
74. “Basketball Slow to Fast”
75. “Basketball on Carpet”
76. “Signing a Basketball”
77. “Office Refrigerator Fitting in Bag with Lunch”
78.  “Hotel Refrigerator Not Taking Anything”
79. “Room Service Lid”
80. “Room Service Ooh”
81. “Outdoor Event Walking on Pebbles”
82. “Outdoor Event Walking on Pebbles and Recognition”
83. “Outdoor Event Walking Quickly to Catch Up to Cart”
84. “Haunted House Demonic Voices”
85. “Haunted House Ghost Going Upstairs but the Door is Locked”
86. “Haunted House Ghost but Nobody is Home”
87. “Haunted House Piano”
88. “Well Reviewed Movie – Hand Washing Clothes in Basin”
89. “Well Reviewed Movie – Farm Work”
90. “Well Reviewed Movie – Cutting Root Vegetables on Wood Board” 
91. “Important Film – Italian Woman Yelling Through a Doorway in a Small Italian Town” 
92. “Walking into a Video Room at an Art Museum and Walking Out Quickly”
93. “Dublin Street Crossing”
94. “European Hotel Door Opening”
95. “European Hotel Elevator”
96. “European Hotel Stairs”
97. “European Hotel Bedroom Door”
98. “European Front Entrance with Fob Opening and Luggage”
99. “European Small Washing Machine”
100. “European Small Dryer with Some Confusion”
101. “Fred Walking to Control Room”