sound art experiment number 9

also known as the much delayed SoundArt9


i took the decision not to tinker too much longer and call it a day on this track last friday, and debuted it on my family's hub of creativity, Byford365.

my brother then gave it a spotlight on his own blog on monday, and since this blog right here is supposedly about me and my music, it appears that i am doing you a great disservice by not mentioning it until now...

SoundArt9 by Hunchbakk

i was rather shocked to find that it had been two years since i'd touched this track at all, but given time to think it other and then check back over previous blog entries it appears that the data connected to this was out by a whole year, but regardless, a year away from this is rather disapoiting, although in that time i had been busy moving and setting up home and i have managed to knock out a handful of other tracks in the meantime

but back to the SoundArt project!

the image supplied to me by my brother for inspiration was a photoshopped view of a boarded up old pub in Enfield Lock, the very same pub that i actually spent the night of my 18th birthday at, and now here i am, ten years later with a musical composition inspired by the decrepit look of the place as it is today

i'd been listening to a lot of dubstep around the time i recieved the artwork, and the image instantly connected with my sense of darker music, whilst the throbbing bass would also be rather haunting, yet also a reminder of the parties and nightlife that Rifles will surely be remembered for among certain generations

i did intend to have the finished article as a much longer track, but after revisting it after a year, and in contrast to the two tracks that precede it, it didn't seem such a bad idea to leave this as a briefer moment in the project

the drums that open the track and the chiming guitar were found on my hardrive and may very well belong to Komakino, there are also tidbits of Jamie XX's remix of Florence and the Machine and Skream's remix of La Roux present for those with a sharp sense of hearing


SoundArt9 by Hunchbakk

'you know that i'm no good'

On Saturday 23rd July 2011, the newest member was inducted into the hallowed halls of the legendary 27 club.

As is the norm these days, most people found out via facebook, twitter or text, that Amy Winehouse had been found dead in her Camden flat.

In the hours and days since, many have commented that Amy Winehouse's death was 'sad news', certainly it was, we have lost a real talent at an unbelievably young age, yet no-one seems to have been shocked by it.

Her problems with drink and drugs were played out across tabloids, paparazzi were there to capture every intoxicated stumble, and increasingly worrying liveshows saw crowds bearing witness to mumbled lyrics, erratic behaviour and a performer in need of serious help.

And sadly it will be these memories and the everlasting lineage of youtube videos that will continue to define her for years to come, creating yet another rock'n'roll legend whose mythology will be as closely intertwined with drugs and tragedy as it is with their musical back catalogue.

It is a shame that with only two albums to here name, Amy Winehouse doesn't leave more music behind, yet it is easy to forget now that these two collections have helped to shape today's musical landscape dramatically.

As always, posthumous sales have rocketed and her past hits are played out as some mourn her passing and others celebrate her life.  

But I'm sure that behind the scenes, the pressure will now be on to polish any demos and unfinished recordings that were being lined up for album number 3.  I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a new Amy Winehouse album rush-released before Christmas, but it is questionable whether her personal demons will have served her well until the end or eventually tainted her natural talent.

If the loss of Micheal Jackson to my generation was comparable to Elvis, then it is possible that Amy Winehouse will now be immortalised as the 21st century's Kurt Cobain; leaving behind a small, yet significant musical body, complete with the the cautionary tale of the dangers of drug-addiction and the tragic trappings of fame.

credit where it's due:

artwork by Timothy Lamb

rising

scroll down the page.

what do you see?

right now, at this very specific moment in time, you will be bearing witness to an unholy geeky number of superhero videos and one superhero film review...


and what have i got for you today?


hell yeah! let's balance the whole thing out by bringing you more blooming superhero videos, and of course, when i say balancing out i actually mean that i am tipping us all over into a superhero filled abyss full of home-made Rocketeer costumes, Papercraft X-men and where the memory of Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl still looms large!!

bwa ha ha ha ha ! ! !

ahem, sorry about that...

back on track... obviously the internet is all a-buzz at the minute over any miniscule drip-fed tidbit about Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman flick due in 2012.  Casting details and barely revealed character designs have already sent fans into spasms, and now we have a teaser poster and teaser trailer in order to tease us further

i held off watching it on my computer in favour of actual big screen (hinted at) action and i didn't have to wait long, catching it among the trailers before Harry Potter and The Fully Realised Franchise last night

but for those that have no such issues over size or simply wanna watch it again, here it is



and that is it, it doesn't give away too much other than, it has Batman in it, Gordon will at some point be laid up in hospital being rather mumbly, and Bane will look pretty mean.

we have not even the merest hint of Anne Hathaway's role or appearance as Catwoman that has been bandied about since she joined the cast

i'd love to say i'm excited, but i'm not, not yet anyway.

excitement leads to expectations, and more often than not, expectations lead to disappointment.

i'm already disappointed that they called the film The Dark Knight Rises, being such a cop-out that they should have maybe just called it The Dark Knight 2.  I can imagine movie executives upset that after the success of The Dark Knight, idiotic punters being bombarded with publicity may not be able to understand that this film is the sequal if it had anything other than the words The, Dark and Knight in the title.

some considered it a brave decision to not include the word 'Batman' in the title of a Batman film, worked out ok by the looks of things, but now we are denied a opportunity of a real title for the third installment.  a shame.

and Bane?

i am completely apprehensive about his inclusion, obviously comic book readers are aware of his pivotal role in the Batman titles from the 90s which was somewhat lost in translation completely when he appeared as a muscle-bound goon following Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy in the ill-fated 1997 flick.

whilst some fans are hoping for this Knightfall arc to come across in The Dark Knight Rises, i can't help but think it would be the wrong idea, as much as i would love to see Bane redeemed in the eyes of the movie-going public, the thought drawing upon this story where bane masterminded a mass break out from Arkham, undoing Batman's life work, and weaving it into what are presumably Batman's early years just seems like a huge mis-step.

i'm certain we won't see any back breaking or a replacement Dark Knight in a film that should be tieing everything together, so is Bane the best choice over the earlier reported Killer Croc or the lesser known Amygdala (since we have already seen the barely known Mr Zsasz, albeit briefly, in Begins) or even bringing the sadistic Zsasz back to make the stories cyclical.

if Nolan can turn in a decent tale, and re-imagine Bane and Catwoman in the same way he has reinvented Two-face and The Joker than there will be nothing to fear, but with the The Dark Knight Rises not even due until next summer, we have a years worth of waiting until we find out for sure.

stunted

it is far to easy to sit around and fester with stunted creativity, i'm stuck at work and feel that i haven't achieved too much today, despite penning a poem as a contribution to my family's hub of impulsive output, byford365, and now i sit here as i allow my mind to wander and string a few sentences together to form a worthwhile blog post.

what i am thinking about now are ways that i can be creative once i get out of here at 4 o'clock today, i am also wondering if i'm gonna get an absolute drenching between work and home as i watch the rain crash down outside.

i really need to pull my finger out and get working on my music and musical experimentation again, as me and my girlfriend chilled watching David Cronenburgh's Scanners yesterday, i felt inspired by a quote in the film, and shall probably fire up Acid when i get in (and possibly dry off) so that i can rip the audio i need, and then perhaps i shall just go back to basics and slowly build up something resembling a tune from the various sample packs and oddities that i have accumalated over the past few years.

so keep your eyes and ears peeled for that one hopefully some time soon.

and i also intend to finish off the fourth track of a five track set, under the guise of Giles Babel, the other four are already floating around in the ethereal realms of the internet, yet i want to gather them together and proclaim them to be a specific and titled unit, existing within the same realms of one another, instead of just being loose clumps of sound that rattle around harddrives and mp3 players with no real cohesion.

this fourth track may take a little while tho, i know how to make it, but the gathering of relavent resources is proving time consuming, and frankly rather boring, but i shall persevere, so that these five tracks may be classified as a collection, or perhaps an EP if you will.

and now i shall fill the remaining time til 4 with paperwork.

mind the gap

shit.

that has been a little while hasn't it.


and yet again i find myself apologising, for it is slightly embarrassing in a strange augmented-reality kind of way, for my blog being so barren for so long

i've got bloomin plenty that i could spout on about, yet i haven't got the time to get the words down, so instead you get filler and excuses while i wonder if i'll ever get the chance to recollect my journeys in Las Vegas, i also need to knock out a handful or music articles and reviews, step up my blogging game again and get on with it


it may look to you that i haven't blogged for 11days

but for 11 days i have been busy, living my life, taking a holiday, taking photos, babysitting a puppy and sadly getting back into the swing of things at work

all these things (except maybe the full-time job) enrich my life, so there is no reason for me to apologise for that at all