It's nice to be nice!

I was blown away this evening when I got a wee message on FB from Heatherlyn saying she'd featured a quote from my post on her album 'storydwelling'. I thought she may have mentioned me in text but to see my quote as a banner was so cool.

If you haven't already checked out her album... this is what I had to say about it :: link

Tx

www.heatherlynmusic.com/

wow... 'so then, don't wait' by Efehan

Found another awesome video whilst surfing Vimeo... this time by Efehan.
I really like their style and approach.
Tx

wow... 'little boat' from Nelson Boles

My thanks to Vimeo for giving me the heads-up for this exquisite video.
Truly beautiful.
Tx

What's on my iPhone... w/c 4th Sept 2011

I missed last week's list but hope to caught all the changes from two weeks ago.

New additions are emboldened.

Tx

Artist	Album	Wks	Source
Abraham The Poor	After The Flood, Into The Wild	4	B
Airspace Falling	Written in the Waters	4	B
Circadian Eyes	Who We Were	4	B
Claro de Luna	Lo Que Ha Sido y Lo Que Será	4	B
Earlyguard	Urban Legends	1	B
Emphemetry	A Lullaby Hum For Tired Streets	4	B
EUS	Tras El Horizonte	4	B
Good Weather For An Airstrike	A Summer	4	B
Hope and Social	April	4	B
Hope and Social	Sleep Sound	4	B
In Violet	EP	1	B
Lattice	Songs in the Key of Glass	4	B
Lowercase Noises	Carry Us All Away	4	B
Lowercase Noises	Vivian	N	B
Over the Ocean	Paper House	4	B
Rhian Sheehan	Seven tales of the North Wind	N	B
She Makes War	Disarm	4	B
The Echelon Effect	Seasons Part 1	4	B
The Echelon Effect	Seasons Part 2	4	B
The Fierce & The Dead	If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe	4	B
The Lower Lights	The Lower Lights - A Hymn Revival	4	B
The Nothern Hemisphere	The Lonely Desert Sessions	1	B
Various Artists	NEWPATH Festival 2011 Sampler	1	B
Venona Pers	The Past is a Foreign Country	2	B
You Are My Symphonic	I Found Your Faces Of Montreal	4	B
DJ Shadow	The DJ Shadow Remix Project	1	D
Sunol	Lay in the light	4	D
Sunol	Ohlone	4	D
Various Artists	Under The Mountain compilation [ISO50 Exclusive]	4	D
Various Artists	Hope	1	D
Various Artists	Sequence1	N	D
Abigail Washburn	City Of Refuge	4	M
Battles	Gloss Drop	4	M
Beach House	Teen Dream	4	M
Björk	Björk's Greatest Hits	4	M
Daft Punk	Tron: Legacy OST	1	M
Explosions In The Sky	Take Care, Take Care, Take Care	2	M
Fugazi	13 Songs	4	M
Gang Gang Dance	Eye Contact	2	M
Heatherlyn	Storydwelling	4	M
Michael McCann	Deus Ex: Human Revolution	1	M
Moby	Destroyed	4	M
Radiohead	In Rainbows	4	M
Radiohead	The King Of Limbs	4	M
Takahiro Kido	Fleursy Music	4	M
Talking Heads	Remain in the light	1	M
The Antlers	Burst Apart	2	M
Various Artists	Erased Tapes Collection III	4	M
Various Artists	The Lovely Bones OST	N	M
Bubamara Brass Band	ca457	1	Nl
Cousin Silas	Fresh Landscapes	4	Nl
Disturbed Earth / Steve Brand	What is Memory?	1	Nl
Swaying Smoke	From Ruin to Bliss	4	Nl
Various Artists	Number Stations part II	4	Nl
Brianna Gaither	Love is Patient	1	Nt
The Apache Relay	American Nomad	4	Nt
	56 albums
B = Bandcamp	45%
D = Download	11%
M = Mainstream	32%
Mx = DJ Mix	0%
NL = Net Label	9%
NT = Noisetrade	4%
R = Radio	0%

The future will not be fully digital... sometimes we need to touch things.

I had this thought earlier today... as I lay in bed and clapped my Cairn Terrier 'Pippin'. I had my iPhone, iPad and Kindle in beside me and I was grazing whilst listening to the sounds of 'Venon Apers' and 'Rhian Sheehan'.

There are things that can't be digitised - my Cairn Terrier is one such 'thing'.

Later on I received in the post two 'Hope and Social' CDs. I have downloaded the albums ('April' and 'Sleep Sound') but it's nice to have the CDs too... for the car and for the hi-fi. The packaging of the CDs is lovely... card rather than plastic... cut out, delicate, innovative and interesting.

Digital... by it's very nature... has no substance. Humans are tactile people... we respond to substance.

Not everything needs to have substance, however. A book I'll read only once... or an album that I 'kind of' like the sound of... I don't need physical copies of them... but the important stuff... the stuff I will refer back to again and again... it makes sense to have my own physical copy.

I don't want a digital dog... I want a real dog that smells when wet and smells when dry and... mostly... smells after meals. The same goes for the important and treasured media in my life.

Digital will only go so far... and where it stops artefacts will continue. We are in a period of transition... where the parity is being redressed. The future will not be fully digital... sometimes we need to touch things.

Tx

Collecting 'the Hobbit'

I love my Kindle... but it doesn't replace the wonder of a good book cover. I believe until it has a full on colour screen, kind of like the iPad but one that is comfortable to read on for long periods, there is still a competitive advantage in an awesome cover that enhances the 'artefact' element.

Recently I have started to seriously collect J.R.R Tolkien memorabilia... especially copies of 'The Hobbit'. I have a number of copies on my bookshelf and would love a whole shelf devoted to the various editions that have appeared since the first one in 1937.

I have found Tolkienbooks.net to be a valuable resource for my obsession... they have a picture of most (but not all) of the releases... from Unwin and from Harper Collins.

This is why I love the internet... that there are folks out there who have expended the time and effort compiling and presenting collections on the most obscure of things for folks like me... and those who come after me. Maybe I'm getting older... but I find that comforting.

This highlights a downside of the Kindle and, to be honest, digital media - once you have a copy... you don't need to buy it again. There can be no collecting... because apart from the quality of the medium itself, there isn't anything unique about a specific release... unlike a book with its different covers. Maybe this is a good thing. I only *need* one copy of 'the Hobbit'... but with the artwork on offer... I guess I *want* more than one.

It's good to collect something... if only to feed the inner nerd... and I'm glad there are resources out there to help me.

Tx

If you have a copy of 'the Hobbit' that you don't want... and I don't happen to have the version you have... I'll take it off your hands.

September 2011's calendar / wallpaper

Okay... I'm a bit later than normal... but here's September's calendar / wallpaper. Normally I'd pick a pic from the previous month but I still want to savour my memories of Venice... especially the decay and the beautiful colours that were everywhere.

As before... the usual flavours are included below... including a Kindle3 version.

Enjoy.

Tx

1024x768
1280x800
1680x1050
1920x1080
iPhone with calendar -- and -- iPhone without calendar
iPad
Kindle3

Loving... 'Vivian' by Lowercase Noises

I've spent most of today listening and relistening to the latest release from Andy Othling aka Lowercase Noises. I have been anticipating this release for a wee while now... I am a big fan of Andy's and consider any release of his essential listening.

I was probably too eager to hear this recording... suggesting a one point that Andy's wife try hot sauce to bring on labour. For that I'm sorry, Andy.

'Vivian' was released yesterday to coincide with birth of the Othlings' daughter Vivian. Andy did the same thing when his son Marshall was born. Words can't express how awesome that is... to create and have such a fitting tribute to the birth of your child.

'Vivian' contains five truly beautiful tracks that are simply majestic in their  sonic splendour.

There is an apparent simplicity to the recordings... electric guitar with loops & delays throughout with an acoustic guitar and a cello in various places... nothing rushed or frantic is heard... just a measured gracefulness in the presentation.

I acknowledge the effort required to present such simplicity. I see Andy as a master craftsman who has created something of real worth... that has come about through long days of hard graft... something that will last the test of time and outlive the vagaries of fashion. There is nothing to prove in this music... no gimmick or hook to ensnare the listener... other than the quality of the workmanship.

I would safely hazard a guess as to this being why I love the music of Lowercase Noises and why I readily welcome 'Vivian' to my consciousness.

I have ordered the double disc that Andy has prepared that features both 'Vivian' and 'Marshall'. I can't wait to listen to both albums on my hi-fi at home. It will sit, in pride of place, beside Andy's other albums on my shelf.

I won't go into detail with any of the tracks other than to say 'nearer my God to me' is simply wondrous and up there, for me, with 'how deep the father's love'.

Please buy this album and support independent talent. Have a wee listen below to hear why...

Tx

Seven questions with... Leonardo Rosado

Leonardo Rosado is a real inspiration to me. He's an awesome ambient musician in his own right - I've covered 'for r' and 'opaque glitter' previously - and I have been mightily impressed by some of the releases he has overseen for his netlabel 'Feedback Loop' including 'saturation event' by Benjamin Dauer. He is a power for good in the netlabel world and someone I am glad to know. He recently responded to my seven questions with the following...

Tx

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1) Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Leonardo Rosado and I am an artist exploring the intersection between everyday life and poetic moments, mostly these days using sounds to express my points of view.

2) What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I finished a collaboration album with Alicia Merz aka Birds of Passage (she does all the vocals) that will be released later in the year. I also finished my following album codenamed Studies on Solitude, which will include some invited vocalists.

3) Who inspires you?
- Name an artist who has inspired you. 
When it comes to composing my music I generally don’t feel a direct inspiration from any artist, but if you think of Laurie Anderson, Ian Curtis, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen there you will find the great references for my body of work, philosophically speaking.

- Name place that has inspired you. 
In general urban places inspire me, but also natural ones, the details you can find on them, their intrinsic beauty, mostly hidden in details, a fallen leave, a crack in the asphalt.

- Name some "thing" that has inspired you. 
Poetry has always been the main inspiration to my work, and not only music, but photographs, painting and writing.

4) What drives you to do what you do? 
I have always been passionate by several art forms, and in some way, I wanted to be part of it. To express my feelings in an abstract way that can hopefully be meaningful to others, so they can appropriate them and use them as they see fit.

5) What values do you wish your creativity to express? 
Nowadays, time is unstoppable, what today is novelty, tomorrow will be forgotten. To counteract that, we need anchors in our lives that draw us into pausing and thinking about what we do, about what surrounds us. Music is a perfect medium for that, because it can be so abstract that you can delve in it and be focusing on your self.

6) What role does community play in what you do? 
Sharing my thoughts and emotions through music and poetry is always an important aspect of my interests as well as being flooded by others points of view. Fortunately, through social networking I have been accomplishing this, finding kindred spirits and discussing, interpreting and pushing forward my music, either by receiving feedback from others, but also by listening and knowing other musicians, that in a way share the same love for music.

7) What is next for what you do? 
For now, and since I am finishing my PhD I’ll be putting on hold several music projects, but later in the year I’ll get back to composing new pieces. My work as curator of FeedbackLoop Label will continue its normal route, so expect soon some amazing releases and hopefully 2 physical editions this year.

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Thanks Leonardo!


Please take the time to listen to Leonardo's work... and do what you can to support independent artists.


Tx

Loving... Contre Jour

This morning I picked up a game for my iPhone and iPad entitled "Contre Jour". It's from the Chillingo stable and is a truly beautiful game... visually arresting with immersive game play... that is reminiscent of "World of Goo". It is an intriguing puzzler that I look forward to spending time with.



One thing that has really captured my attention is the soundtrack. The backing comprises of wonderfully elegant piano-driven pieces from David Ari Leon. It really enhances the game and makes me want to follow their instructions and listen with headphones.



Watch this trailer to get the gist of what I mean... well worth the £0.69 / £1.99 for the iPhone (iPod) / iPad versions.

Tx