Tunnock's

I think I am obsessed with the goodies that come from Uddingston bearing the name of Thomas Tunnock... but then I am not the only one.



Both Pippin and I would be happy to endorse Tunnock's confectionary... and yes, I know this is meant to be an "ad-free blog".

Tunnock's is a local, family-run business who do a tremendous amount for their local community... and they make awesomeness and wrap it in shiny wrappers.

I am happy to "advertise" them for that. Tx

My thoughts on "for every hour" by Fields of Ypres

I am a person of who holds the Christian faith who is disillusioned with industry that has grown up "in His name". Whilst I hold some Gospel music close... I let the rest pass me by.

For me... the songs of Johnny Cash or U2 mean something to me because they aren't within this industry. They don't sing about Jesus being their boyfriend or have some sort of default emotional setting... they sing because they have been given a song to sing. I like that.

I consider "Fields of Ypres" aka Graeme Phillips to come from a similar mould... someone seeking to express themselves and their faith but without the predetermined preset musical expectations that I, maybe cynically, see in the "Christian" music industry.

I jumped at the chance to listen to Phillip's EP "for every hour". I really liked what I had heard in demos and YouTube videos and wanted to hear the end result. All in, I wasn't disappointed.

"Captive" is the first of four tracks and has the most wonderful instrumentation... an almost post-rock drone underpins acoustic guitar and delicate vocals from Phillips. It's a beautiful song with some tremendous lyrics... "fighting fire with a watering can"... I like that.

"Grandfather Clock" was the track I was most eager to hear after loving the version on YouTube. I wasn't disappointed... there is a wonderful wall-of-sound feel to it with the strings and a trumpet adding a real depth to Phillips' guitar and vocals. I found this track uplifting... again through some elegant lyricism.

"Wait for me" has an acoustic Americana feel to it... with Phillips' guitar and vocals intertwined with subtle electric guitar and the sparsest of percussion. The downbeat nature of this track is very "late night"... very chilled in a less-is-more manner than I feel demonstrates a maturity in Phillips' musicianship.

Last up we have "Psalm 139" which has a wonderful wall-of-sound production with strings and a percussive snare underpinning Phillips' guitar and vocals. This is the one track that I needed multiple listens to "get". I feel there are almost too many words for the instrumentation... as if Phillips has to really try to get them all in. It becomes less evident upon repeated listens but it seemed to jump out at me when I first listened to it.

That said, it's a minor point in what is a very promising EP. We need more folks like Graeme Phillips. They bring hope to folks like me.

"For every hour" is available for £4 from Bandcamp and has been physically released on Commercially Inviable Records. Have a wee listen below and, if it's your thing, do your bit to support independent music.

Tx

My thoughts on "Jupiter protects you" by the Northern Hemisphere

I have two budgies in my house. Olly and I made a conscious decision when were married to keep budgies and we have had a succession of feathery friends for the 14+ years we've been hitched. We love them to look at and we love their chatter... their cheeps and peeps bring a nice ambience to our house. It's never really quiet and I like that.

What does this have to do with the upcoming release from The Northern Hemisphere, I hear you ask...

On his latest album - Jupiter Protects You - Drew Miller has brought together elements of ambient and dissonant electronica with electroacoustic flavours to create an impressive collection of very creative tracks.

The more dissonant tracks, whilst not to my current personal taste, work on two levels... foreground where the ideas presented spark and fly off in tangents to inspire and delight... and background where they act as chatter... bringing the silence vitally alive with their sounds... like my precious budgies.

The ambient tracks, which are more to my current taste, are stunning slices of ambient electronica. Less dissonant and more soothing, they are engaging and immersive... gloriously serene in their apparent stillness and yet containing sufficient movement to enthral and captivate.

All in, this is an ambitious and very creative expression from Drew. I simply adore tracks like "Celestial"... "Sunshade"... "Galaxies and Milky Ways"... "All Around the World"... they click with me. Yes, there are tracks that I do not quite get at the moment but that's just me and maybe, just maybe that's the point... maybe I haven't yet caught up to the presentation of his ideas... maybe I'm not "there" yet... maybe they need time.

Music, in my opinion, should not just comfort the soul but stir it too... this stirring can be, at times, initially painful but is ultimately rewarding... just consider the work of Aphex Twin. I don't get all of his work but I don't need to to celebrate his creative vision. Similarly with The Northern Hemisphere.

As such, I would recommend that you give the album a few listens from start to finish before deciding if it works for you! Time will tell and I, for one, am prepared to take my time until this album becomes fully known to me... I believe Miller's music and creativity to be worthy of that kind of investment.

Jupiter Protects You will be released in early January on Bandcamp. A physical self-release will be available also. I am grateful to Drew for giving me a pre-release copy of the album but please note I have ordered a digital copy of the album.

Tx

Motherwell in the snow... some photos from 5th December 2011

Here are some photos I took after the first snows of this winter. I am really loving my 55-200mm lens for my Nikon and am delighted with these shots.

Tx

Some birds in my garden

I love seeing birds in my garden... and placing fat balls just outside the livingroom window isn't solely an exercise in aviary altruism... it lets me get shots like these. You may recognise the robin... he is the posterboy for December's calendar / wallpaper.

Tx

Christmas music (part 1 of 2)

I hate the same old pap that's brought out as muzak at Christmas time... Slade... Wizard... Mariah Carey... all have been done to death, IMHO.

So it is around this time of year that I go hunting for meaningful or new-to-me Christmas music. So far I've found some good recordings to complement those already in my collection... and wanted to share them with you:

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The Lower Lights :: "Come let us adore him"

Christmas carols and songs in their trademark folky sound. Their awesome harmonies, for example, save "White Christmas" from the mundane... and their instrumentation differentiates "little drummer boy" and makes it their own. I love this band and eagerly welcome this album.

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So Elated :: "Bewildering Light"

Christmas isn't Christmas for me without this album. Ben Thomas and gang created an album full of mystery, hope and searching that is simply timeless. A welcome addition to any collection, imho.

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Vince Guaraldi :: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (pictured at the top)

Nothing puts a smile faster on my face than this album... it has a real sense of fun and movement to it, and I love it. Haven't seen the show in ages but the jazzy instrumentation and expressive rhythms on this soundtrack sound as fresh as ever.

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Low :: "Christmas"

I find this EP dark and downcast but filled with heartfelt meaning... real emotion can be found among the wall-of-sound distortion fuzz and slow acoustic moments. The EP is a fab mix of the playful and the poignant... they even have Christmas bells in the opening song... which is fun.

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Sleeping at last :: Christmas Collection

Picked up this album recently from noisetrade and have really enjoyed their folky acoustic soundscapes. Their version of "what child is this" is breathtaking in its scope and grandeur. I feel this album will become part of Christmas for me like the others above.

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I'll share more soon... hunting for these will keep you busy for a wee while.

Tx

December's calendar / wallpaper

Nothing says Winter like Little Robin Redbreast... so I've created a couple of wallpapers that feature a recent garden visitor.



Usual flavours included... enjoy.

Tx

1024x768
1280x800
1680x1050
1920x1080
iPhone with calendar
iPad
PSP
Kindle3
980x800 (no calendar) for my pal Andrew


*U*P*D*A*T*E*
iPhone (no calendar) for my pal Aileen

My artwork for Gurdonark's latest release on Treetrunk

I was delighted to be asked by Gurdonark to create the artwork for his latest release "weights and measures" on the awesome Treetrunk netlabel.

Bob is such a wonderful guy... so easy to collaborate with and very imaginative... and it was a pleasure to work with him. I'm pleased with the outcome.

I haven't heard his EP yet but am confident it will be up to his usual high standard.

Tx

Podcasts I am digging just now...

As you may have read I picked up the universal "podcatching" iOS "Downcast" at the weekend. It was a toss-up between it and "Instacast" but "Downcast" won because it was universal... which means it takes pride of place on both my iPhone and iPad.

It's a fab app that caters for all my podcasting needs. My only criticism of the app is that I wish it had some sort of cloud syncing capability that enabled me to work seamlessly between devices... I guess I'm getting fussing in my old age, huh?

I downloaded a number of podcasts to listen to and I've been like proverbial fat kid in a sweetie shop ever since.

For music related content, I subscribed to the following:



A Strangely Isolated Place
Benjamin Dauer recommended ASIP to me and I am glad he did because the podcast presents wonderful longform mixes of my kind of music... described by the blurb as "ambient, chill, IDM, shoegaze, psychedelic, nugaze, drone and electronica". The quality control is very high and the content I've heard to date has been impressive.

Dark Ambient
This podcast, hosted by Jim Butler, focuses on ambient electronic music and I find it is great to listen to while photoshopping. It has an immersive other-worldly feel to it.

Low Lights
This is another podcast recommended by Ben. It focuses on ambient soundscapes and makes for an engaging and immersive listening experience.



Headphone Commute
There is cutting edge and there is bleeding edge... and then there is "Headphone Commute". The mixes they present vary across genre but have a consistent level of quality. Want to hear something new..? go to Headphone Commute first.



National Public Radio - All Songs Considered and their live concerts
NPR is an American treasure and their "All Songs Considered" an example of first class programming. So far I have enjoyed a Moby concert from the recent Moogfest and have some interesting programming to catch up on.


In addition to the above music-related programming I also downloads the following talk-based shows:



The Something Beautiful Podcast
SBP is the podcast I co-host where we (JD, Travis, Stewart, Johnny & myself) help our interviewees unpack and discuss their faith journeys. We've been going for three + years and it can be tough but it is also fun and a great way to listen and learn from others.




The HP Podcraft
I am a big fan of HPLovecraft and this podcast features a discussion on his various works. It is geeky but I enjoy it and find the observations raised fascinating and enlightening.

Mosaic Audio
I get considerable blessing from the sermons presented at Mosaic in Los Angeles. Erwin McManus is a gifted author and theologian... and his team are all similarly gifted. This podcast is church for me... and I heartily recommend it.

That's what's in my Downcast at the moment. Do you listen to podcasts? If so, what ones? Any you'd recommend?

Tx

*U*P*D*A*T*E*



I forgot This American Life ... a show my friend JD Blundell turned me onto. The show describes itself as follows:

"The radio show and TV show follow the same format. There’s a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It’s mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always. There’s lots more to the show, but it’s sort of hard to describe."

I love stories of everyday people... its kind of the point of my own podcast and its also why I dig this show.

Tx

Loving... "mind over matter" by Earlyguard

I am undeniably biased and subjective when it comes to Earlyguard's longform ambient drones. They click with me and really fit into my listening habits... and "mind over matter" is by no means an exception to this.

"Mind over matter" is released tomorrow and brings to a close Earlyguard's prolific spell of releasing a recording each month in 2011. It is with a touch of sadness that I note his desire to slow his release schedule... but then that's me just being a bit selfish... I guess I, like other ambient fans, have been spoiled by his prolificacy.

"Mind over matter" is a fascinating and immersive longform drone lasting nearly 45 minutes. It is deeply nuanced but still instantly accessible... with the inclusion of more "white noise" than I've heard before from him. This noise adds to the execution of the track and provides extra details within the drone.

The drone has a wonderful sense of movement. I visualise a train journey with the outside world flashing by. I find this thought both intriguing and relaxing.

And it is relaxing that I find the most appropriate word to describe this track. It creates head space and helps to block out the world, both outside AND inside, in a manner that insists for me to stop.

Last night, as I listened for the third time to the track, I tackled my ironing pile (I have too many shirts for work). The combination of the head space from the track and the repetitive action of ironing became deeply meditative... with both elements working together to enhance the other. It was a strange but profoundly fascinating and enjoyable experience... one I hope to repeat to the delight of my wife.

"Mind over matter" is released tomorrow for free on bandcamp. Please take time to check it out and do what you can to support and encourage independent music.

Tx