Sunday 31 May 2009

the crack of dawn

friday night was Dawn Of The Don, twas a good night, i already have other things lined up to report on so expect a more in depth look back later this week, but since there is already some pictorial evidence of the event, i'd hit you off with some of my photos (the best are yet to come tho!)







Friday 29 May 2009

Dawn Of The Don!!

i'm currently consumed by contemplation of what a zombie would wear tonight, and also plagued by thoughts of how best to acheive a deathly pallor and how much blood is too much blood?

the reason behind these questions? cos tonight i shall be taking part in the filming of a zombie themed music video and also seeing Akira The Don live for what must be the first time in over a year at least, possibly more!! its a good enough reason for me anyway!


click on the flyer for a better look, or check out the details here

it's all going down at The Gaff in Holloway from 7 tonight, and making the evening irresistable is a brand new full live band set from Akira The Don, brand new sets from Marvin The Martian and Pixel and DJ sets from evil geniuses such as Joey2Tits and Stephen Hague, oh, and people dressed as zombies!!

Thursday 28 May 2009

nothing ever lasts forever...

... but this pen seems to have lasted for ages!!!

anyone know how old this radio 1 logo is?




last night i was transferring some of my poetry into a notebook for the open mic when it ran dry, and to be honest i'd got kinda attached to that pen, most of the poetry i've written within the confines of my bedroom have been written with this pen, it feels a little like an end of an era

i think i got it from a Radio 1 roadshow in Hunstanton, i also think that Tina Arena was playing, and that it was the same summer that Batman Forever came out...

... so that makes it 1995?

my pen lasted 14 years??

Wednesday 27 May 2009

meet me in the bathroom...

it has always been my intention to not let this site become another music blog, but my obsession with music is a constant that runs through my life so it's obvious that some of that passion will seep through into my posts

quite often i'll keep you abreast of who i have seen but right here i have a couple of projects that have caught my eye recently

l_2e974b7b22738aeb2cb9b8b2d31d8523

first up is New Zealand's The Bathtub Sophist, creating sublimely atmospheric electronic music that is uniquely layered with a blend of natural and digital elements, his intriguing sound and style definitely doesn't lay a million miles from where i am hoping to go with my own musical output and it is entirely possible that a collaboration may materialise with time

true to my word, i said i'd give him a shout and alert all my friends to The Bathtub Sophist's cause, and you can have a listen and also grab yourself a free EP from the handy widgit below so you don't just have to take my word for it

<a href="http://thebathtubsophist.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-an-l-shaped-room">The BreakBot by The Bathtub Sophist</a>


secondly, a little closer to home and close to my heart is the rebirth (of sorts) of Hope Of The States, who were producing sweeping melodramatic post-rock when everyone else was falling for indie-urchins crawling through the gutters of London

They shone bright, but briefly, and in the space of two albums the band had decided to call it a day



During a recent interview with The Fly, former HOTS frontman Sam Herlihy played a number of songs recorded after the bands demise, songs of 'bombastic splendour' that will sadly remain unheard, these tracks represent a cathartic, personal and transitional period which has been left behind for the sake of progression, a progression that has led to the formation of The Northwestern.

certain aspects of The Northwestern's music is unmistakably similar to their predecessor, Sam's try-hard vocal and rousing lyrics still hold firm and stand out even without the wailing guitars and swirling violins and will be sure to satisfy any fans that have been mourning Hope Of The States premature demise.

A limited double A-side single is currently available to pre-order from Friends VS Records and a free track can be obtained via musicglue

Tuesday 26 May 2009

terrible blog posts and terrible comments on other people's terrible blog posts

i've got a bundle of half baked blog posts that are gonna be coming your way over the next week or two i guess

blogging is hard work, trying to strike an interesting balance between relevant posts relating to me and my music, other music i like, geeking out and other random crap i may have stumbled upon... like dinosaur comics

comic2-1497

i've actualy read Titus Andronicus, its ok i spose

credit where it's due, that strip has a little copyright on it and you can find loads more dinosaur comics here.

Saturday 23 May 2009

Chemistry Lesson

'I love living in the future'

all them days when you can't get anything done and time just drifts away from you are all forgotten on those bizarre miraculous days when things just seem to go right.

and living in the future realy does open up my eyes and drop my jaw and leave me gawping in amazement at what we could be capable of sometimes...

i couldn't sleep on tuesday night, and felt inspired to write, on wednesday i felt inspired to do something more with the poetry

on thursday i fired up the computer and in one afternoon i had completed a brand new track, an experimental spoken word effort backed only by my own voice, manipulated and warped by the kaoss pad.

on friday i loaded it up for the myspace faithful to stream, and now, fours days after it's conception, two days after it was recorded, it is here for you to download (for a lil while, at least)

Base Element

Free file hosting from File Den

Friday 22 May 2009

tell me moore, tell me moore...

moore

living legend, great british eccentric, slightly scary guy and all round genius, Alan Moore is at work on another ambitious project.

a semi-autobiographical work will be presented in a multi-media format, a two-hour audio-book has already been completed by Moore and the finished version will be accompanied visually by a 'photographic novel' and a score to soundtrack the project, including contributions from a number of artists spanning metal, rap and spoken word, all released on the well respected UK indie label, Lex in early 2010.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

early morning light / camera phone - part 2

part 1 of this story may have looked a little lengthy and wordy, so a slightly different approach for part 2, we continue in the style of those blogs that are presented as a string of pictures, and i'll just provide a bit of annotation at the end.

i left you all hanging around at North Greenwich tube station at half four in the morning last time, so i'll pick up where we left off and see how much better my camera phone fares as morning breaks













1. North Greenwich Tube Station, now closed. 4.35am
2. A view from a moving bus, somewhere on the 188 route. 5.08am
3. Russel Square Tube Station. 5.45am
4. Bobbly looking buildings near Russel Square. 5.48am
5. Russel Square Tube Station platform. 6.13am
6. Breakfast. 7.45am

ok, not exactly amazing but i think my camera phone redeemed itself slightly as i kept pointing it all over the place trying to find something truly inspired and annoying my girlfriend by repeatedly telling her how beautiful everything looks in the early morning light but i think it was possibly worth it for that one shot outside of Russel Square Tube Station

Tuesday 19 May 2009

everybody's Free / camera phone - part 1

first remix all-nighter in quite a while, my first time clubbing at Matter in the O2, and so i could report back my findings i thought i'd take a few pics of the night, it's just a shame that i couldn't fit my camera into the pockets of my skinny fit jeans

so i present to you a dual part, dual purpose post - to give a brief recap of the night and also to realy test the quality of my camera phone

it's a Sony Ericson, it's a Cyber-shot, does that mean it should be a little bit super-duper for capturing the moment as the adverts suggest?

i'll let you judge for yourself from some, erm, rather amazing live shots of the bands...




Arriving at the O2 at around about midnight-ish and making our way into Matter, we were greeted by some friendly doorstaff, a friendly name-taker for the mailing list and the news that due to unforeseen circumstances (low ticket sales?) Room 2 would be closed, it seemed that an experience similar to stumbling around exploring/getting lost in sister club Fabric would not be on the cards tonight

in contrast, Fabric usualy has a queue around the block by half ten, Matter at midnight just didn't come close tonight with an almost empty dance-floor, but given half an hour it had filled a little and there was general skanking to the dub-steppy goodness of N-type and Youngsta's set.

Did the sudden appearance of a stage in Room 1 surprise any other Mater virgins? we'd been wondering where the performances would take place before getting distracted by dancing, what i mistook for a wall were in fact black curtains, pulled back to reveal Freeland...



making a fair racket by enlisting a live band and recording a new album, Adam Freeland is something of a Remix legend so it's only right that his tour should cross paths with the all-nighter, the man himself behind synths and knobs and a laptop, joined by a guitarist and a drummer to work through a live set heavily weighted to promote forthcoming 'Cope' before closing with the classic 'We Want Your Soul'



after a DJ set from Herve, next up were New York duo, Shy Child, managing to shake the crowd up with only a keytar and a drumkit and leaving their signature track 'Drop The Phone' reverberating in my mind for most of the next day, keeping things multicultural were French DJs/producers The Shoes with a quick set before the third live band of the, erm, morning took to the stage.



half three in the AM and Trip and his band play for a slightly depleted audience but he still performs with gusto, it's just a shame that too much of his vocals were lost in the music, none of the songs came across loud and clear but radio botherer 'River Phoenix' was still recognisable with it's Mike Skinner meets the Arctic Moneys indie scamp swagger.

4 o'clock came and went and Remix head honcho, Eddy TM, took to the decks, but our alcohol reserves were running low by this point and the daunting prospect of a long journey home ahead of us we made a move for the night buses

Overall, a bloody good night, as much about the live acts as it was the DJs, a balance that gave the event focus, and the closing of Room 2 perhaps helped to keep the all-nighter fluid and well paced as the concentrated bill ran to schedule and the atmosphere never showed any signs of being as tired as i had every right to be

we didn't last til 6 in the morn but i think we showed definite staying power and may have stuck around long enough for first trains if the Jubilee Line was actualy running on Saturday



and my camera-phone's performance? pah, pretty pathetic realy, judge for yourself above as you try to make out which colourful blobs are which bands.

but the night wasn't quite over, and neither was the camera phone fun, but i'll leave that til the next post

Monday 18 May 2009

a little pricier than a kaoss pad

i've been knocking together a post detailing my adventures this weekend, but realised that as it may not get finished today and may be a bit of a lengthy post i'd giveyou a short and sweet one just to tide you over...

you've all heard the name Little Boots by now, right? she was on hipster's lips in '08 and one of the tipster's tips for '09 and the latest single 'New In Town' is making noise in radio land

but do you wanna see how she makes noise, on her own, in her room?

with a tenori-on



pushes afew buttons, lights afew lights, then before you know it she's playing 'Stuck On Repeat'

and she makes it all look so easy too

but with a price tag of around £900 i think i'll stick to the toys i have for now and try and get the most out of those

Thursday 14 May 2009

Breaking and Entering

it has been all too easy to despair recently at the state of Enfield's musical goings on (or more appropriately, lack of) so it is with a wide beaming grin that i can report back on last thursday and on some bright new hopes that are shining through Enfield's mainly dismal night life



i'll readily admit to being a fan of Kids Uncanny, and can't believe that it had been almost a year since i last (and first) saw them and was blown away by their music, and to stand and watch them knowing that i already love them i was blown away all over again, they seemingly are a band that has it all, the look, the attitude, they have girls with guitars (and a guy on drums) and they have the talent and the songs to back it all up and i would urge anyone to catch them live



another band that i had (barely) caught live at the old Red Griffin Records nights is The Ridgeway Project, with all the rushing around those old gigs used to require from those involved they had almost passed me by, but taking the time to enjoy them properly showed evidence of a band that shouldn't be overlooked, they play tight and they sound great, breathing new life into some good old fashioned rock n roll music



the night was topped off with a touch of glamour with actress/model Lois Winstone posturing, posing and wailing through the headline set with her band, Galileo, a bluesy-rock fusion that backs her sultry and beguiling vocals and makes everyone take notice of them as they blow through the small venue like a force of nature

and credit where it's due to Deano Sharp, who not only organised the whole night but also DJed and played as part of Galileo, he also gave Bubblegum Stomp a long overdue DJ slot and has hopefuly given a kick up the arse to what was beginning to look like a dying scene.

all photography by Ian Byford Art

Wednesday 13 May 2009

keep Enfield tidy



what an inspiring sight; to see Enfield bin men working hard, keeping Enfield tidy, removing the bin bags left out for them, and then to throw the foil from their on-the-go breakfast out of the rubbish truck's window, onto the streets they are being paid to keep clean

yeah

real inspiring

good job

Monday 11 May 2009

graphic content

how long has it been since i last gushed about comics on this blog? long enough i think!

and while i've been trying to keep my nose out of books recently so that i perhaps spend a lil longer working on music instead of constantly findin time for an extra chapter or racing head-on towards the ending of another book i have instead been sticking my nose back into graphic novels, or books about comics, and indeed not spending enough time on music...

anyways, various reasons for me mentioning this

first; you remember back in march when i mentioned my little brothers sci-fi short stories? he has been influenced to tackle his fantasy world in a slightly different medium, with a single page comic that once again delves into his distopeian scrapbook

(click on the image for a larger view)



secondly; ok, i was only joking about writing a story about some vampire dogs, but i'm actualy quite into the idea of scripting a superhero story as i mentioned last week and have aready begun drafting afew ideas that cover the over-all direction of the story and handful of key plot points along the way

it's all very rough right now but hopefully i'll stick with this one and continue fleshing out my ideas until it becomes a fully formed mini-series worthy of publishing and bring me a little closer to following into a legacy of writers i admire, such as Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison

Saturday 9 May 2009

grow up

it comes to everyone, that point where life gets serious and you need to worry about things like interest rates and early nights and credit card bills and what time The Bill is on and you start listening to everything Martin Lewis says

with that in mind, this is a grown up post, for those people that are growing up (like me) or have already grown up

today's topic, health and safety (a modern grown up worry, if ever there was one) and an instructional video highlighting office safety in particular, brought to you by......

WONDER WOMAN (making her second appearance this week)

enjoy

Thursday 7 May 2009

think of the overture

partway into thursday and i've already had a little play around with SoundArt5, still considering sanding that door and i am also trying to pick out some music for DJing with tonight...

tonight?

do u need reminding? ok, but this is the last time!!

Bar Form, Enfield Town, from 7pm

Enfield shall be throwing its arms around and smothering the brand new band fronted by Lois (face/body of ann summers/daughter of Ray) Winstone as part of a brand new live music night launching tonight, on hand to ably assist headliners Galileo is support from a number of local bands, including the amazing Kids Uncanny. as well as (you have caught the hints, right?) DJ sets from Bubblegum Stomp and Galileo's Deano Sharp.



So you got that? An underwear model fronting a band, in Enfield, yeah, i thought that had sold it...


Wednesday 6 May 2009

running up that hill



There are just never enough hours in the day, and the things i want to achieve i never quite seem to find the time for, among the things i'd like to do are: learn how to tile a bathroom, sand down the front door ready for painting, dedicate more of my life to making music, work on SoundArt5 so that it doesn't sound like a cacophonous mess, cook more often and write a postmodern superhero miniseries.

and the Wonder Woman picture?? no reason.....

Monday 4 May 2009

some of us are looking at the stars

another heads up cos 'Love Like a Bomb' hits Enfield Town this thursday

not only will Bubblegum Stomp be making an over due return to the decks but there is also an excellent line-up of live bands filling up Enfield's most unique looking bar

galileo

heading up the bill is Galileo,the newest band featuring my mate Deano Sharp and his childhood friend, Lois (daughter of Ray) Winstone, both have been moving in different musical circles for years, playing in a number of projects, but have recently joined forces and most notably rocked out a benefit gig for Sam Hallam like a blues fused Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which brought out photographers from London papers and gained favourable reviews.

completing the line up is a handful of local bands, The Ridgeway Project, Social Reform and Kids Uncanny, aswell as (obviously) DJ sets from Bubblegum Stomp and Galileo's Deano

love like

Sunday 3 May 2009

open myself up

i usualy tuck my poems away, slightly out of sight, with occasional posts on my myspace blog, but since i mentioned my turn in the spotlight at an open mic it only makes sense to continue this openness and share with the big wide world a little

the following is an untitled poem, and was my unplanned encore on thursday night:

He is crying
because underneath the haircut
underneath the clothes
and the attitude
hidden by what everyone else sees
what he wants everyone to think
he doesn't know who he is

Friday 1 May 2009

all eyes on me

last night i made my debut

i followed my girlfriend's advice/badgering and put myself on display at an open mic night, performing without the aid of any effects trickery or any computer based clickings, whirrings or loops.

i also tried to retain my humanity and not come across as a pretentious pratt carrying around his book of poetry

and even tho the Crayola Bar only held a few people, in front of the mic i froze and seconds felt like hours, and my liquer loosened mouth felt dry

but i spoke my two poems, and then, unplanned, a third

and even tho the fear outweighted the excitement, i think i enjoyed performing