Time, and Time Again.

previously published on Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle

It isn't very often that I discover the music I am reviewing by way of answering a listing on Gumtree... But so the story goes, my contract was coming to an end at work and I was scouring the internet for jobs, then I got bored and distracted and instead started scouring Gumtree adverts for musical collaborations instead of job vacancies.

And so I came to meet up with Yann Ryan, enjoy a few alcoholic beverages with him in a pub near Liverpool Street Station and slowly begin work by trading files and ideas back and forth across the internet.

At some point, these new re-imaginings of mine became stuck in hard-drive limbo as real-life sucked me in and spat me out, but I had felt fortunate enough to have been given access to the raw and effecting audio files, to be able to isolate the bewildering vocal take and sit there in wonder as it repeated over, wondering how anything I could do could possibly even attempt to improve upon such a rustic and fully formed talent.

Around a half and a half later or so and I feel my fortunes have changed, I think maybe I can check in on Yann and possibly put this project to bed, but in this time Yann Ryan has pulled together an EP that includes some the tracks I had a stab at reshaping in a far different form, and I'm happy that these songs are finally out in the world, the music that I had been so eager to share but felt that I had to sit upon for fear of over-stepping boundaries can now be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.

Released last December, the Time EP is a downtrodden and fragile affair that is buoyed by the gravitational pull of Yann's crisp, oaken voice, a voice that stopped me in tracks when I first heard it, and the strength and intricacies of his songwriting still captivate me.  Few artists would even dare to weave their lyrics with such obtuse vocabulary as 'inconsequential' and casually reference 'Bosnia Herzegovina', but Yann makes it feel effortless, and the unique outlook he adds to the remit of the singer/songwriter is refreshing.

I still hope that the tracks we collaborated on will still come to light in one form or another, but for now I am happy to support Yann Ryan's talents and selflessly share his music with the wider world without the cloak of self-aggrandising.

Regardless, I'd like to catch up with Yann again over a few more pints and wish him well.

Out now via Bandcamp

Sound Art Experiment number 11

Music can be a powerful force when used correctly.

Full of the joys of summer and the sounds of diplo I made my mixtape comeback with the latest instalment of Tayalarz, and the news of Dr Dre finally delivering on his long-awaited promise of a new album that fans have been waiting more than a decade for had prompted me to make a start on a 'Compton' influenced mix.

And even tho that creation may be in the extremely early stages and may eventually be lost to gestation, with the computer fired up and the hours growing small I chose to revisit a few neglected folders on the harddrive.

Lo and behold did Saturday morning creep up on me and shake me from my bed with a new desire.  

In this age of stealth albums nobody was expecting the penultimate SoundArt to grace the world with its presence.  Very few people were even wanting it.  But regardless.

The SoundArt project was a simple idea.

Instead of giving my brother my music and asking him to produce artwork influenced by the sounds he heard we would flip the script, he would provide artwork and I would be influenced.  12 images and 12 tracks produced over 12 months to create a full length experimental album within a year.

Track 1 debuted in December 2008....

(ahem)

SoundArt11 is a curious creature.  Staring at the stars and asking the ultimate questions as the artwork seriously suggests that we are not alone.

Other tracks have been much more of a sound collage, this perhaps could have been but now sounds more of a sound presentation... Taking it's musical cue and liberally borrowing Doorly's dubstep remix of Calvin Harris' 'Not Alone' as theories jacked from YouTube play out over it.

Previous instalments have heaved with creativity, either pulling things apart or putting them together, SoundArt11 was always intended to play out that way too, but the whole ethos of this expression of art was to let it find it's own way...

Only this morning was the majority of this track spun on its head to give it a more complete feel, choosing to play with a larger chunk of the original remix than originally intended and then swinging by the buena vista social club to provide a backdrop to a healthy discussion on the intelligence of our species that had been longing for a dancing partner for a long time.  The last piece of the puzzle fell from the sky, hailing from a planet that no longer exists.  I rented Man Of Steel two years ago in order to reuse a message that seems to resonate throughout this track, and also through the entire project.

The return of cyber Monday, heralding the return of cynical christmas download

Waking up yet again to the 'news' that today is Cyber Monday reminded me...

I still have my christmas single that I like to trot out each year in the hope of spreading a little christmas joy to all the girls and boys that are writing out their lists for Santa


Bah Humbug

'tis a lie, as much of a lie as the newspapers and media force feeding you this Cyber Monday baloney...

when they 'report' on this being the busiest shopping day online pre-xmas, all they are really doing is fanning the flames for Internet based vendors who somehow managed to convince journalists and the like that reminding people to 'get there arse in gear and get onto amazon pronto to spend some of your hard earned' is actually a valid news item... it is not, it is simply another cog in the wheel of commerce

and when I say that my christmas single is hear to spread joy, what I really mean is that you should really check out my cynical bleatings about the shallow commerciality of this joyous time of year, whilst an unrelenting electronic beat grumbles and pulses with all the christmas spirit of landing arse first in a bushel of holly...

wow, glad I got that out my system...

and relax, I'm not that grumpy about the whole thing really, but I will call a spade a spade, and I will offer you this festive gift once again as an alternative to the usual standards from Noddy Holder and Mary Carey...

Hunchbakk - www.xmas.com

not knowing.

With over a thousand songs being carried around in your pocket, it is astonishing to think that it could still be difficult to find music to suit your mood, yet, quite simply, all this choice can be rather confounding.

And so my story begins on a rather dull January morning, leaving the house and contemplating the working day and how long it is until my next day off, I need something calming, serene, distracting, and I need it now.

I scroll past bands I love, bands I'm bored of, and artists that just don't seem right for right now, and I settle upon the name Frankie Machine.

I remember very little of why, but I remember I liked it, so I choose this, and after a brief offbeat intro, I am reminded of what held so much appeal as the sound of Nineteen Seventy Three is channeled directly into my ears.

A simple acoustic track that I have missed so much that I play it twice in a row, and as I tune into the remainder of the EP from whence it originated, I wonder how I ever came across this in the first place, what website or blog must have convinced me to right-click and save as, and a most audacious thought of all, how, in this highly informed digital age, do I still have no idea who Frankie Machine is.

I literally know nothing at all about him, other than his name, and due to a couple of skits on the EP, that he had been played on radio 1 by John Peel in the era in which emails were being used by the late fan-favourite presenter.

And you know what? I actually kind of like it that way.

it would take next to no effort to google the name, possibly finding more info than I would need to know, but I won't, cos I actually like having nothing more than my own admiration of a few pieces of music to satisfy me in this age where almost everything is shared, re-posted and ubiquitously linked to facebook.

edit:  since it has always been my intention to share music, i did precocously approach google with caution, purely with the sole intention of letting you hear what i heard

i also believe that the whole EP can also still be downloaded, although i didn't hang around to find out

new years resolution....

i don't like making new years resolutions

they seem to be futile attempts to change things that tend to be quite short lived, such as gym memberships and stopping biting your fingernails

i like to think that i spend the majority of my life being the best me that i can possibly be.... but this year i want to make a change i've made a resolution to work on more music

i feel that i've been getting far too behind on quite where i wanted to be with making music, not that i expect to be topping charts and headlining stadiums, but simply being creative on a regular basis has eluded me, so it's time that i get my groove back.


so after getting in from work i fired up my computer, loaded up a handful of tracks that have been in limbo and was pleasantly surprised to find that afew tracks were further along the gestation period than i realised, and within a short space of time i managed to throw a few extra sounds together and saved a number of works in progresses as mp3s, christened them as demos that will make up part of my debut album, vowing to return to them soon to flesh them out a little more

to date, i have not publicly shared any of these album tracks, yet with a new brace of 'demos' nestling on my harddrive after what turned out to be a satisfying evening, i felt it was only right to prove my worth with a little 'show and tell', and since i've done the telling, i guess i should probably do some showing...

so here it is... a short demo of what is provisionally titled 'computer music'

 

happy cyber monday!!

you heard the news, right?

that it was 'cyber monday' today? the name given to what is reportedly the busiest online shopping day of the year...

of course, the cynical part of me believes that this is part of a plot to harness the media to do the dirty work of online retailers and boost sales amongst all those that had so far been dithering over what they shall be ordering over the net, just a little push to remind them to part with their cash on an all important day like today... and of course we believe the hype and swallow the news down with a sip of mulled wine

and how strangely apt that this morning, as my journey to work began, too uninspired to choose what to listen to for myself, I set my generic MP3 player to shuffle and lo and behold, the second track spewed out by the machine's random mind was my very own jingle bell laden Christmas track, www.xmas.com

I had only been considering the track earlier as I heard the 'news', feeling that the opening line was extremely appropriate in the circumstances...


so, if you have blown the budget today and saddled yourself with some wonderfully festive debt to be faced in the new year, then rejoice, as my song costs absolutely nothing... and will remain free every December for as long as it seems viable to do so..

basically, until hmv or amazon decide to license the song for an advertising campaign and the prospect of repeat royalties every year finally flows my way

But until then, join in if you know the words...

'www. amazon and hmv, that's what christmas means to me'


Hunchbakk - www.xmas.com