A glorious 24 degrees her in the capital...
I haven't been at work for over a month now, but with the savings on my son's nursery, the dole and the cash I (legally) make from tutoring, I reckon I'm up £1200 on the deal each month. Plus I get to play football and cricket with my son.
So what's been happening?
My 160Gb iPod is on the verge of being filled, thanks to recent raids on FreeAlbumsGalore and BigO.
I've also managed to convert all the Davros plays from this DVD box set. Superb stuff.
Plus all kinds of listening from what, in the impossibility of listening to Radcliffe/Maconie, are rapidly becoming my favourite shows - 'Where's the Skill in That?' and 'Freak Zone'.
Now it's 24 degress and I'm chilling out to Danny Baker, after having trousered 50 large for an hour of tutoring. Man, this is good.
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Monday, 28 April 2008
RIP Humph
A break from my self-imposed hiatus, to mark the passing of Humphrey Lyttleton. He died at the weekend.
I have been listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, on and off, for about 20 years and loved his dry wit and risque humour. I don't know what'll happen to ISIHAC now, but he'll certainly be missed.
I have been listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, on and off, for about 20 years and loved his dry wit and risque humour. I don't know what'll happen to ISIHAC now, but he'll certainly be missed.
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Where's the Skill In That? Returns
Great news from the 'Mixing It' boys.
Check out the Resonance Homepage, and contribute as you see fit...
"Mark Russell and Robert Sandall, presenters of BBC Radio 3's much-missed contemporary music mash-up 'Mixing It', return on Wednesday 16th April at 9pm, with a new weekly programme for Resonance FM: 'Where's The Skill In That?'
Named after a much-quoted remark in listening sessions for the programme, 'Where's The Skill In That?' broadcasts in London on 104.4 FM and worldwide via resonancefm.com.
The programme's musical remit remains the same: that's to say, not wilfully obscure, but certainly the more experimental end of the music scene, alongside songwriters doing interesting things, contemporary classical and jazz/improv, and strange uncategorisable listening....
'Mixing It' was broadcast for 17 years from 1990-2007 on BBC Radio 3.
'Where's The Skill In That?' will be broadcast every Wednesday at 9pm on resonancefm here: resonancefm.com/sche... - you can of course listen online, and in the London area on 104.4fm."
And the first two playlists:
Where’s The Skill In That?
Prog 1 - 16th April 2008
The Go Team
Bull in the Heather
Mi single, Grip Like a Vice
3’04”
Robert Wyatt
Out of the Blue
Domino album, Comicopera
3’49”
Jonny Greenwood
There Will Be Blood; Prospectors Arrive
Nonesuch album, There Will Be Blood OST
2’06”; 4’35”
Guessmen
Sunglasses
Co-lab album, Back from the Bins
3’42”
SFQ (Simon Fell Quintet)
Hard Frame, Plus Soft Hard Interpolation 1
From '13 Rectangles' CD on Bruce's Fingers Label
4’06”
Hercules and Love Affair
Easy
5’22”
DFA album, Hercules and Love Affair
Burial
Endorphin
3’03”
Hyperdub album, Untrue
Zeitkratzer/Lou Reed
Metal Machine Music
Asphodel album, Metal Machine Music
7’00”
B For Bang
Julia
Cargo album, Across the Universe of Languages
4’09”
Oligopolis
A Legitimate Tool Of Statecraft
3’05”
The Bad Plus
Life on Mars
Emarcy album, Prog
6’06”
Where’s The Skill In That?
Prog 2 - 23rd April 2008
Steve Jansen
Cancelled Pieces
Samadhi Sound album, Slope
3’21”
Autechre
Simmm
Warp album, Quaristice
5’00”
Médéric Collignon
Improlibration
Sonic Arts Network compilation, Blood, Muscle and Air
3’23”
sonicartsnetwork.org
Astrolabioanima
Aleanto
Slam album, Astrolabioanima
4’51”
slamproductions.net
To Rococo Rot
Helvetica (zigue zigue)
Domino album, ABC123
3’14”
Human League
The Dignity of Labour, Part 2
Virgin album, Reproduction
2’54”
Rothko
Suddenly Becomes Light
Trace album, A Life Lived Elsewhere
4’25”
tracerecordings.com
Essie Jain
Talking
Ba Da Bing album, We Made This Ourselves
4’57”
Autechre
WNSN
Warp album, Quaristice
4’57”
Melissa Madden Gray
Heart Murmur’
Sonic Arts Network compilation, Blood, Muscle and Air
2’58”
sonicartsnetwork.org
Gavin Bryars/Philip Jeck/Alter Ego
The Sinking of the Titanic
Touch album, The Sinking of the Titanic
6’30”
Check out the Resonance Homepage, and contribute as you see fit...
"Mark Russell and Robert Sandall, presenters of BBC Radio 3's much-missed contemporary music mash-up 'Mixing It', return on Wednesday 16th April at 9pm, with a new weekly programme for Resonance FM: 'Where's The Skill In That?'
Named after a much-quoted remark in listening sessions for the programme, 'Where's The Skill In That?' broadcasts in London on 104.4 FM and worldwide via resonancefm.com.
The programme's musical remit remains the same: that's to say, not wilfully obscure, but certainly the more experimental end of the music scene, alongside songwriters doing interesting things, contemporary classical and jazz/improv, and strange uncategorisable listening....
'Mixing It' was broadcast for 17 years from 1990-2007 on BBC Radio 3.
'Where's The Skill In That?' will be broadcast every Wednesday at 9pm on resonancefm here: resonancefm.com/sche... - you can of course listen online, and in the London area on 104.4fm."
And the first two playlists:
Where’s The Skill In That?
Prog 1 - 16th April 2008
The Go Team
Bull in the Heather
Mi single, Grip Like a Vice
3’04”
Robert Wyatt
Out of the Blue
Domino album, Comicopera
3’49”
Jonny Greenwood
There Will Be Blood; Prospectors Arrive
Nonesuch album, There Will Be Blood OST
2’06”; 4’35”
Guessmen
Sunglasses
Co-lab album, Back from the Bins
3’42”
SFQ (Simon Fell Quintet)
Hard Frame, Plus Soft Hard Interpolation 1
From '13 Rectangles' CD on Bruce's Fingers Label
4’06”
Hercules and Love Affair
Easy
5’22”
DFA album, Hercules and Love Affair
Burial
Endorphin
3’03”
Hyperdub album, Untrue
Zeitkratzer/Lou Reed
Metal Machine Music
Asphodel album, Metal Machine Music
7’00”
B For Bang
Julia
Cargo album, Across the Universe of Languages
4’09”
Oligopolis
A Legitimate Tool Of Statecraft
3’05”
The Bad Plus
Life on Mars
Emarcy album, Prog
6’06”
Where’s The Skill In That?
Prog 2 - 23rd April 2008
Steve Jansen
Cancelled Pieces
Samadhi Sound album, Slope
3’21”
Autechre
Simmm
Warp album, Quaristice
5’00”
Médéric Collignon
Improlibration
Sonic Arts Network compilation, Blood, Muscle and Air
3’23”
sonicartsnetwork.org
Astrolabioanima
Aleanto
Slam album, Astrolabioanima
4’51”
slamproductions.net
To Rococo Rot
Helvetica (zigue zigue)
Domino album, ABC123
3’14”
Human League
The Dignity of Labour, Part 2
Virgin album, Reproduction
2’54”
Rothko
Suddenly Becomes Light
Trace album, A Life Lived Elsewhere
4’25”
tracerecordings.com
Essie Jain
Talking
Ba Da Bing album, We Made This Ourselves
4’57”
Autechre
WNSN
Warp album, Quaristice
4’57”
Melissa Madden Gray
Heart Murmur’
Sonic Arts Network compilation, Blood, Muscle and Air
2’58”
sonicartsnetwork.org
Gavin Bryars/Philip Jeck/Alter Ego
The Sinking of the Titanic
Touch album, The Sinking of the Titanic
6’30”
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Donkey With A Chair
A bright sunny morning to herald a job interview. Not a 'proper' job, but one to fill the gap until my training course starts later in the year.
Thus, for the first time for a while, a commute. I've recently recorded (HiQ, while painting the bathroom yesterday) Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone and the Orb's Headline Mix (both BBC 6Music). The FreakZone is, now I remember to listen to it, becoming more and more a regular listen. Great Triumvirat track and very interesting piece on Peter Hammill's The Future Now.
The Orb Mix was not what I expected, being interspersed with an interview with Alex Paterson, but still very enjoyable. The 'Lighthouse Keeper' track was fabulous. His revelation of not being a Doctor made me, as a PhD, feel a bit like Frasier in this episode. I didn't like his crack about David Sylvian's singing, either. Ho hum.
So the music today. Lots of free downloads of legal albums from FreeAlbumsGalore and BigO together with other surprising stuff:
Halcyon - Canon Blue, from Halcyon EP
Spirits Up Above - Osibisa, Live in London 1972
the trees they do grow high - Edwin Morris, The Heart Bowed Down. Excellent ambient textures over skittering drum patterns,
Numbers - Mark.Nine, Artificial Horizon
Go up baldy - Hathaway Family Plot, Mystic Moods
Wash - Pagans, from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,
Dog With a Bra - Pagans, ditto,
the kingdom comes - Tom Hanson, Wake of The Moon
far leys house - Edwin Morris, The Heart Bowed Down
Benoit B. Mandelbrot - Mandelbrot Set, All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated
I Will Survive - Billie Jo Spears. This caught me completely by surprise. I forgot I'd downloaded some stuff for my computer-illiterate father. Awful. Karaoke. A shining example of where we are now in commercial music,
Rubber 12 - Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Rubber Album
Dead Head - Pagans,
Seven Piano Improvisations - Gapless Mix - Phillip Wilkerson,
Rondo - Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Live in Karlsruhe 1972 (Disc 2),
The Thousand Light Year Stare - Drunken Gunmen, Deep Space, Distant Future,
Living Without You - Randy Newman, Live In San Francisco, 1972.
A lot of the journey back was taken up with the Piano Improvisations by Philip Wilkerson, played just above the noise of the Tube train. Ambient in Brian Eno's original meaning, although probably not what the composer had in mind...
T - 3; M - 4; D - 1. I had forgotten just what a shitty, dreary place the rush hour Northern Line can be. Just dreadful.
Thus, for the first time for a while, a commute. I've recently recorded (HiQ, while painting the bathroom yesterday) Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone and the Orb's Headline Mix (both BBC 6Music). The FreakZone is, now I remember to listen to it, becoming more and more a regular listen. Great Triumvirat track and very interesting piece on Peter Hammill's The Future Now.
The Orb Mix was not what I expected, being interspersed with an interview with Alex Paterson, but still very enjoyable. The 'Lighthouse Keeper' track was fabulous. His revelation of not being a Doctor made me, as a PhD, feel a bit like Frasier in this episode. I didn't like his crack about David Sylvian's singing, either. Ho hum.
So the music today. Lots of free downloads of legal albums from FreeAlbumsGalore and BigO together with other surprising stuff:
Halcyon - Canon Blue, from Halcyon EP
Spirits Up Above - Osibisa, Live in London 1972
the trees they do grow high - Edwin Morris, The Heart Bowed Down. Excellent ambient textures over skittering drum patterns,
Numbers - Mark.Nine, Artificial Horizon
Go up baldy - Hathaway Family Plot, Mystic Moods
Wash - Pagans, from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,
Dog With a Bra - Pagans, ditto,
the kingdom comes - Tom Hanson, Wake of The Moon
far leys house - Edwin Morris, The Heart Bowed Down
Benoit B. Mandelbrot - Mandelbrot Set, All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated
I Will Survive - Billie Jo Spears. This caught me completely by surprise. I forgot I'd downloaded some stuff for my computer-illiterate father. Awful. Karaoke. A shining example of where we are now in commercial music,
Rubber 12 - Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Rubber Album
Dead Head - Pagans,
Seven Piano Improvisations - Gapless Mix - Phillip Wilkerson,
Rondo - Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Live in Karlsruhe 1972 (Disc 2),
The Thousand Light Year Stare - Drunken Gunmen, Deep Space, Distant Future,
Living Without You - Randy Newman, Live In San Francisco, 1972.
A lot of the journey back was taken up with the Piano Improvisations by Philip Wilkerson, played just above the noise of the Tube train. Ambient in Brian Eno's original meaning, although probably not what the composer had in mind...
T - 3; M - 4; D - 1. I had forgotten just what a shitty, dreary place the rush hour Northern Line can be. Just dreadful.
Friday, 4 April 2008
Hiatus
While my commuting is coming to an end, the rationale behind this blog has changed.
FWIW, I'm not sure I can go on posting daily, so for now at least a hiatus is called for. I'll still post stuff I find interesting (news, links and reviews of music), but, for now, I'll sign off with some Marillion News...
FWIW, I'm not sure I can go on posting daily, so for now at least a hiatus is called for. I'll still post stuff I find interesting (news, links and reviews of music), but, for now, I'll sign off with some Marillion News...
Marillion News
H
We're now at my favourite stage of the album. All the hard slog, pressure and neurosis I feel during the jamming and arranging is over (for me!). We have fabulous things recorded and we can now spend time adding the overdubs and vocals which will bring the music to life. I finally have enough time to live with the lyrics and add/subtract further thoughts.
It's a time for honing and for adding sparks to the work. All I have to do now is sing all the vocals (which I usually do in the evenings) and - even better than that - shake the shakers and tambourines, tinkle the dulcimers, and maybe hit the occasional bells and glocks. Lovely. Rothers is right - it's sounding fab sonically.
Mark
Now the backing tracks are all but finished I've retreated to my home studio to experiment with sounds and parts while the guitars and vocals are worked on in the Racket Club. I like working at home where I can really try stuff without feeling that Mike is waiting with his finger on the record button.
When I've got something I'm happy with, I upload it onto our server, give Mike a call to let him know it's there and wait for him to call me back to tell me he loves/hates it. This morning I grabbed a track called Planet Marzipan off the server. One I've been looking forward to working on, so I'd better go and get on with it. I'll shoot a little video so you can see how my end of things work here once I've tidied things up a bit!
Steve R
Back in the studio again today. I've been recording guitars on a new track "Planet Marzipan". I think this album is a huge sonic improvement on Somewhere Else. Mike's done an excellent job in capturing the magic of our initial jams. I've been using my adrenalin pedal again today. It's probably my favourite bit of gear to use at this stage of the recording. Very inspirational. I'm still working on the Wishing Tree in my spare time.
Pete
Just got back from the studio. I have been overdubbing bass on one of the very new tracks we have called Planet Marzipan. at least that is what we know it as for now. the title may or may not change. It is a really good piece of music with two very different parts to it. It sounds quite different for us but still has lots of Marillion in it. This makes it a very strong track.
I have played bass on most of the tracks and probably have four or five left to play bass on. It all has a good feel and there is a bit of a nod in the Marbles direction at times. Again having two discs of music means we can bring lots of influences and explore many musical places, that there would not be room for on a conventional CD. Thanks for being part of the experiment with us. Hopefully we will be able to play you a couple of snippets soon so you can hear what on earth I am going on about.
Ian
Mike Hunter (our producer) called us all in to listen to some backing tracks this morning... Still very much work in progress but I must say they all sounded really good. Apart from a few odds and ends, I have just about finished recording all the drums for the new album, so now it's up to the rest of the boys to carry on over-dubbing. Looking forward to doing some gigs in the summer...
NEWS FLASH There is definitely a mouse somewhere in the studio, and its Jed's (studio dog) life mission to catch it... Of course he never will, but it is very amusing watching him diving into cardboard boxes etc.
We're now at my favourite stage of the album. All the hard slog, pressure and neurosis I feel during the jamming and arranging is over (for me!). We have fabulous things recorded and we can now spend time adding the overdubs and vocals which will bring the music to life. I finally have enough time to live with the lyrics and add/subtract further thoughts.
It's a time for honing and for adding sparks to the work. All I have to do now is sing all the vocals (which I usually do in the evenings) and - even better than that - shake the shakers and tambourines, tinkle the dulcimers, and maybe hit the occasional bells and glocks. Lovely. Rothers is right - it's sounding fab sonically.
Mark
Now the backing tracks are all but finished I've retreated to my home studio to experiment with sounds and parts while the guitars and vocals are worked on in the Racket Club. I like working at home where I can really try stuff without feeling that Mike is waiting with his finger on the record button.
When I've got something I'm happy with, I upload it onto our server, give Mike a call to let him know it's there and wait for him to call me back to tell me he loves/hates it. This morning I grabbed a track called Planet Marzipan off the server. One I've been looking forward to working on, so I'd better go and get on with it. I'll shoot a little video so you can see how my end of things work here once I've tidied things up a bit!
Steve R
Back in the studio again today. I've been recording guitars on a new track "Planet Marzipan". I think this album is a huge sonic improvement on Somewhere Else. Mike's done an excellent job in capturing the magic of our initial jams. I've been using my adrenalin pedal again today. It's probably my favourite bit of gear to use at this stage of the recording. Very inspirational. I'm still working on the Wishing Tree in my spare time.
Pete
Just got back from the studio. I have been overdubbing bass on one of the very new tracks we have called Planet Marzipan. at least that is what we know it as for now. the title may or may not change. It is a really good piece of music with two very different parts to it. It sounds quite different for us but still has lots of Marillion in it. This makes it a very strong track.
I have played bass on most of the tracks and probably have four or five left to play bass on. It all has a good feel and there is a bit of a nod in the Marbles direction at times. Again having two discs of music means we can bring lots of influences and explore many musical places, that there would not be room for on a conventional CD. Thanks for being part of the experiment with us. Hopefully we will be able to play you a couple of snippets soon so you can hear what on earth I am going on about.
Ian
Mike Hunter (our producer) called us all in to listen to some backing tracks this morning... Still very much work in progress but I must say they all sounded really good. Apart from a few odds and ends, I have just about finished recording all the drums for the new album, so now it's up to the rest of the boys to carry on over-dubbing. Looking forward to doing some gigs in the summer...
NEWS FLASH There is definitely a mouse somewhere in the studio, and its Jed's (studio dog) life mission to catch it... Of course he never will, but it is very amusing watching him diving into cardboard boxes etc.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
The Sentence I Meant To Say Can't Be Said
This is great.
I loved the "I see that the sentence I meant to say can't be said" LSD trip.
Well, it's my last day at my current employer, and tonight's my leaving do where we all sit around a table laughing at the CEO's jokes. Splendid.
The future career is on hold, and a change in focus might be needed...
When you're one of the few to land on your feet,
What do you do to make ends meet?
Teach.
Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two,
Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to.
Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die.
I loved the "I see that the sentence I meant to say can't be said" LSD trip.
Well, it's my last day at my current employer, and tonight's my leaving do where we all sit around a table laughing at the CEO's jokes. Splendid.
The future career is on hold, and a change in focus might be needed...
When you're one of the few to land on your feet,
What do you do to make ends meet?
Teach.
Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two,
Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to.
Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Mass Of The Sun
No commute today, and maybe not at all after tomorrow's leaving bash. Ho hum.
More stuff found on FreeAlbumsGalore today, namely a 'Mass of the Sun' download comprising both their albums posted here.
Very interesting prog-ish blues rock, with echoes of Pink Floyd (pre-DSOTM, perhaps), The Enid and all sorts of laid back grooves. Nice vocals, too.
More stuff found on FreeAlbumsGalore today, namely a 'Mass of the Sun' download comprising both their albums posted here.
Very interesting prog-ish blues rock, with echoes of Pink Floyd (pre-DSOTM, perhaps), The Enid and all sorts of laid back grooves. Nice vocals, too.
Monday, 31 March 2008
Revealing Corridors of Time Provoking Memories
So, the last week of my current career begins, and presages the start of my new creer in teaching. I didn't picture it all ending like this 15 years ago, I must admit...
Some downloaded stuff from BigO and then a shuffle of my ever-expanding iPod:
The Revealing Science of God,
The Remembering (Parts 1 & 2) - both Yes, from a "Tooleman Presents Yessongs 2" CDR,
Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Invisible Carpet - Ozric Tentacles,
Black Mountain - Nick Drake,
Girls Get the Bass in the Back (Hey Baby remix) - No Doubt,
A Day Like Today - Tom McRae,
Batteries Not Included - Jethro Tull,
Let There Be Light - Mike Oldfield,
Catch - The Cure,
Zero - The Smashing Pumpkins,
Satan Is My Motor - Cake. My band, from many years ago, played a great cover version of this song - great fun.
Then, for the walk to work, the Freak Zone Podcast. A vast improvement over the first one I encountered.
Lots of good stuff out or coming out soon - Angus and Julia Stone, Mike Oldfield, Billy Bragg, Dream Theater, etc. - don't know where I'm going to get the money from, though!
T - 3; M - 3.5; D - 2
Some downloaded stuff from BigO and then a shuffle of my ever-expanding iPod:
The Revealing Science of God,
The Remembering (Parts 1 & 2) - both Yes, from a "Tooleman Presents Yessongs 2" CDR,
Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Invisible Carpet - Ozric Tentacles,
Black Mountain - Nick Drake,
Girls Get the Bass in the Back (Hey Baby remix) - No Doubt,
A Day Like Today - Tom McRae,
Batteries Not Included - Jethro Tull,
Let There Be Light - Mike Oldfield,
Catch - The Cure,
Zero - The Smashing Pumpkins,
Satan Is My Motor - Cake. My band, from many years ago, played a great cover version of this song - great fun.
Then, for the walk to work, the Freak Zone Podcast. A vast improvement over the first one I encountered.
Lots of good stuff out or coming out soon - Angus and Julia Stone, Mike Oldfield, Billy Bragg, Dream Theater, etc. - don't know where I'm going to get the money from, though!
T - 3; M - 3.5; D - 2
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Sleepwalking Through the Wreckage
So much stuff to do today, which probably means I'll spend the whole day surfing the net and staring out of the window...
Cloudburst Flight - Tangerine Dream,
Piano Phase (Steve Reich) - Group 180,
Burned By The Fire We Make - Adrian Belew,
We Do What We’re Told (Milgram's 37) - Peter Gabriel,
Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part IV) - King Crimson,
Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression - Frank Zappa,
Pushit - Tool,
Tales Of A Damson Knight - National Health,
Rhythm In Gold - Jethro Tull,
Sleepwalkers - Van Der Graaf Generator. There's a new album - Trisector - out now, which I haven't got round to hearing yet, although the reviews have been favourable. You can't go wrong with VdGG, surely?
When I See You Again - Fleetwood Mac. My girlfriend and Uni walked out on me as this was playing on my stereo all those years ago.
T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3
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