Coming soon... waag_rel002

Over on we are all ghosts I just shared some details on our next release... which is due to drop next Monday... the 7th of May, 2012;

Please take a couple of minutes to check it out.

Tx

www.weareallghosts.co.uk

May 2012's Calendar / Wallpaper

April has been horrendous in my part of the world... and I wanted to be reminded of Spring... and nothing says Spring to me than a daffodil... one that was taken in one of the few walks we've had as a family in April.

Usual flavours are included below. I don't have a "new iPad" and don't know anyone who has one... if you want a pic for it let me know along with the dimensions and I'll get one to you. Enjoy and thanks for everyones willingness to have my photography on their devices... it is appreciated by me.

Tx

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iPhone with calendar + iPhone without calendar
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980x800 for Andrew Berry's HTC Desire HD

Seven questions... with Tunnels

I've said it before and I'll say it again... if you are a musician, have a bandcamp page and decide to follow me on Twitter... I will check out your music. This happened yesterday when I was followed by Tunnels... a vibrant and interesting synth-infused guitar-orientated indie rock act from Brescia in Northern Italy. So taken with their music... I paid for it and I haven't looked back.

Anyway... I got talking with them and asked them to complete my wee blog interview. Here's what they had to say:

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1) Who are you and what do you do?
We are Matteo Foglia on vocals, lyrics, guitars, & synths; Giorgio Vezzoli on guitars, bass, and synths; and Paolo Toffano on drums and percussion; and we are a band called TUNNELS... we write and play our music... against all odds.

2) What are you working on at the moment?
Our new album, new songs. It's just the beginning, another beginning.

3) Who inspires you?
MUSIC? Radiohead, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Tool, Depeche Mode, NIN, SMashing Pumpkins, Nick Drake. It's a long list.
MOVIES? Anything directed by Malick, Kubrick, Burton, Tarantino.
BOOKS? Auster, Garland, Safran Foer, Pound, Joyce, Beckett. Here we are again, long list.

4) What drives you to do what you do?
Music itself. The pleasure you feel when you've finally made it, when your new song reach its final stage, its purest shape. Those moments when your band plays ad moves like a huge wave. A complete movement.

5) What values do you wish your creativity to express?
Beauty, what else?

6) What role does community play in what you do?
As simple as it gets, sharing and feedbacks. Things that sadly are very hard to get in the daily life. Widens our horizons.

7) What is next for what you do?
Next song. Next album.

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Grazie per la condivisione. Non vedo l'ora di sentire il nuovo album!

Thank you for sharing. I look forward to hearing your new album.

I have embedded the bandcamp player for their current EP entitled "Sharps and Flats"... please take some time out to listen to it and enjoy something special indeed:

Reading... "Justice" by Jim Krueger, Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite

I have a soft spot for the Justice League of America... and was grateful to @myopicaardvark for a loan of the three volume "Justice" series.

I am working my way through them. I am a slow reader but not as slow with graphic novels as I am with the written word.

I was particularly taken with Jim Krueger's prologue at the start of the first volume... where he talks about heroes and villains:

"...Gone are the days of the overwaxed mustache and maniacal laugh and human-sized logger's buzzsaw. No more does a villain raise his head from his sleep in the morning to consider what 'evil' he might do that day. No. Even if no one else sees it, the villain, in his mind, is the hero. That is where true evil resides - in the belief that his personal good is capable of navigating and speaking to the universal good.../

...Perhaps this is the difference between a hero and a villain: A villain will seek to defeat a hero for the villain's sake; a hero will seek to defeat a villain for the villain's sake. It's a fight to save the enemy at the same time that it is a fight to defeat him.../"

There is real depth in this prologue and, in fact, the novel itself... which makes it all the more enjoyable to read... along with some truly fantastic art.

Tx

youarelistening.to/losangeles is strangely compelling

youarelistening.to/losangeles is a wonderfully compelling idea... basically it's a website that streams 'local' tracks from soundcloud whilst simultaneously playing the 'local' police radio.

It works really well... especially when you want something on in the background. I really like their idea of 'local'... sounds uploaded in Los Angeles juxtaposed against their police force's  radio.

As you can see from the screendump above... there are other cities that you can listen to: New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia... to name but a few. It's a great way to discover new music too.

Recommended.

Tx

via Gentleforce with thanks... he has a nice wee chat/interview with the creator of youarelistening.to/losangeles over on his blog if you want to know more?!

Scanned... more from my J.R.R. Tolkien collection

I picked up a copy of The Two Towers today (immediately below) ... its the 1991 reissue with the J.R.R. Tolkien artwork. I picked up the Return of the King in the similar style recently and couldn't leave this one on the shelf.

When I was scanning to post here I thought I'd scan some of the other books in my Tolkien collection.

Enjoy.

Tx

The Walking Dead... the sitcom intro

I saw this on Mashable and laughed out loud... seriously I gawfawed. It just shows how something can be recut and represented in a totally different manner.

Enjoy.

Tx

Elements 1 from "The Future Elements" is now live

I am honoured to write for Noor Kadiwalla’s music site ’the future elements’ and, when asked to join, was seriously impressed with his vision for the site. This is, afterall, the man who is one part of ’the eternal twilight’ and the driving force behind the ’Hope for Japan’ compilations. He sees the site as being a springboard for musically creative endeavours such as releasing music and compilations.

And it is to the first compilation - ’Elements 1’ - that I turn my attention... not just because I was able to watch it evolve... nor because I was able to secure a space for a Cousin Silas track... but because it is very, very good.

It is a compilation of 35 truly excellent tracks... leftfield music that resides in the intersection of ambient, electronic, post-rock and neo-classical... that wonderful no-man’s-land that I love so dearly.



Firm favourites of mine are represented: Lowercase Noises, Sky Flying By, Apta, Good Weather for an Airstrike, Anoice, The Mountaineering Club, The Echelon Effect, Inachus, The Sound of Rescue, My Cats a Stargazer, Umber, Will Samson and Cousin Silas.

With new names (to me) catching my attention too:
Bob Guido, Until We Last, Absent Hearts, Nitin Garg (who also created the artwork), Kyle Bobby Dunn, Heinall, Tipu Sabzawar, Josco, Pleq and the wonderfully titled the Golden Gonk... to name but a few.

It is through compilations that I have had the opportunity to hear fresh, new talent... and whilst it is becoming a bit of a tradition to compile and release compilations within this community, it is a tradition I would actively support and endorse.

Music needs to be heard... and these compilations are one fantastic means of getting heard and also hearing new talent. This was why I jumped at the chance of submitting a Cousin Silas track from an upcoming release on my fledgling netlabel... it is fantastic exposure.

If I were to name three tracks (excluding Cousin Silas and my other personal favourites like Lowercase Noises, Apta, Good Weather for an Airstrike, The Echelon Effect and Umber) that are simply breathtakingly beautiful and epitomise this release then I would say...

• ”Ripple” by Anoice... a lilting, atmospheric neo-classical piece with cello and piano prominently on display...
• ”Leaving the world behind” by Bob Guido... Guido plays beautifully ambient guitar in a manner similar to Lowercase Noises... and
• ”Hazy fields are breathing” by Nitin Garg... a gentle ambient piece with a deep drone underpinning an infectious guitar-drive melody.

This album is first class and I am not saying that because of my involvement, however minor, from it is conception... it is first class and deserves to be call out as such.

I have embedded the Bandcamp player below. Take time to listen to it and download it for free. You won't regret it.

Tx

weareallghosts is now on bandcamp

I've posted this already over on weareallghosts.co.uk but thought I'd share it here too... weareallghosts is now on bandcamp :: weareallghosts.bandcamp.com

From there you can download the album in a lossless format (e.g. .wav or FLAC) and you can stream the album in full before you download.

It also allows me to embed the player... as I have below. If you haven't already downloaded the album or want it in FLAC, please check out the player below.

Tx

A glimpse of the first story from 'The Lovecraft Anthology – Vol I' adapted by Ian Edginton and illustrated by D'Israeli

I am a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft... and was really taken with this short video... featuring illustrations from The Lovecraft Anthology vol.1  which showcases some of his best short stories.

Tx

(via @openculture with thanks)