Thanks for visiting, if you're interested in more music posts and shared tracks, I'm now blogging over here at http://www.mulberryharbourmusic.co.uk
04/30/2010
12/21/2009
The Drift
"Whats, what's your, er, plan?"
"My plan? I haven't got one"
Title track of my latest EP, this is an overtly symphonic piece in which I had a lot of fun working with the Miroslav orchestra brass and choir samples, and slipped in a snippet of dialogue recorded on a mobile phone while out and about.
A couple of people have commented that this track reminds them of Phillip Glass's soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi, which wasn't the original intent but I'm not complaining about the comparison. It's got some of that rousing feeling and was in fact party inspired by a film in the first place, though primarily for the piano playing - The Beat That My Heart Skipped / De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté
You can download this track for free here, along with the rest of The Drift EP
11/13/2009
Small Pleasures
“Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.”
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
I
sampled the fragment of electric guitar on this instrumental from a
song by Cuzco, a band I played in many moons ago. I cut short the
opening riff, then slowed it down at a couple of points further on in
the piece. That riff and the double bass rhythm became the basis for
building up the rest of the track. This instrumental is the opening
track of the Drift EP which you can download for free.
08/30/2009
Wisp
This piece is based on some morphing textures on an electric guitar, a simple looped acoustic guitar motif, and viola. This is the longer version of what was originally a 40 seconds intro track
Photo by cayusa
07/03/2009
05/24/2009
The Tunnel
It may not be the longest tunnel on the network, but it often feels like it. The back tunnel exit from King's Cross was one I used to avoid, having been bitten once or twice by taking the wrong turning and ending up suffering the endless incline to the exit on Pentonville Road. But in time I've came to love it, and while working in the area for a year I started entering and exiting that way by choice every day of the week, even though it was less direct.
There were several reasons for this. Firstly, the experience of walking the tunnel - it was so tranquil and uncongested, certainly compared to the main exit where you have to cross all the streams of different poeple from different lines. A re-modelling of the main entrance did little to improve that. I also enjoyed seeing the odd tourist who'd chosen the wrong entrance/exit, pulling a suitcase along wondering where on earth they were going, where all the people had gone, and when it was going to end.
Then there's the aesthetic, reminiscent of the interior of space stations in programmes from the 70s, like Space:1999. The Flaming Lips could have come here and filmed the whole of Christmas on Mars. This aspect of the tunnel may not be around for much longer, sadly, as brighter lighting is being put in and the old yellow lining gradually replaced and painted with bright whites and blues.
Then finally, the architecture and the lack of human traffic combine to great acoustic effect. Tube announcements reverberate the length of the tunnel, bouncing off the walls. The clicking of a pair of heels will be amplified and distorted, and chatter gets passed along the walls like in the whispering gallery of a church. I took to having my mobile phone at the ready as I walked the tunnel, recording these sounds, and they now form the background and some of the rhythm of this new track.
Photo by Matt Brown
04/10/2009
Absence
I found myself playing the guitar part of this piece a lot during a time of personal loss and grief. That may be enough to put you off right away - and if you're enjoying the brightness of spring then it's probably best to move on now - but if you're heavyhearted and want something to reflect on, then this is for you.
Sometimes you just need to languish in it a bit, going round and round, until gradually
you find some sense of comfort.
Photo by haikus59
03/20/2009
Luna
This one's a short and restrained nocturnal instrumental with classical guitar, piano and oboe.
Photo by crystalflickr
02/13/2009
Blacktop
One of the most haunting and arresting books I've read in a long while was Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a novel punctuated with the recurring phrase "he glassed the blacktop", as the Father and boy undertake their tense journey of survival. The blacktop is their only means to escape, holds the hope of delivering them to safety, while also harbouring threats which demand constant vigilance and mistrust. And so they persevere day after day, pushing on into the unknown, the Father striving to remain optimistic and maintain his son's belief and security.
Download the mp3
Photo by marktaylor7
01/26/2009
Bryn's Bridge
As a child going to Anglesey to see my grandparents each summer, the car journey from Liverpool always seemed impossibly long until we crossed the Menai bridge, connecting Anglesey with North Wales, and I knew that we had nearly arrived - and my excitement and anticipation could finally bubble over. My grandparents' old sheepdog Bryn evidently experienced similar emotions regarding the bridge - whenever he was in the car with us, he would acknowledge it with a celebratory bark - and so we came to refer to it as "Bryn's bridge".
Photo by benlove79
Recent Comments