townx

I've completed track 2 of my mathis album, Never Toss a Johnny. At this rate, the album should be finished in 5 years' time.

You can listen to it on Last.fm here: http://www.last.fm/music/Mathis/_/Never+Toss+A+Johnny?autostart

Mind your ears, though - it's a bit peaky. I used this oscillator thing towards the end, and while a nice effect, it does veer towards damaging your ears at times. And there's some loud clanging in the middle which might wake a baby or dozing pet.

(For background, this track uses only samples of music by Johnny Mathis, plus lots of effects. You might hear a fragment of Fly Me to the Moon if you're lucky.)

If you want a download, I've put some higher-quality mp3s onto S3 (including some of my other tracks), as follows:

1. Never Toss a Johnny by mathis
2. Neighbour Forgotten Like a Silent Ray by mathis
3. Close To You (Unfinished) by Spill Twins - a cover of the Carpenter's song, written from memory, i.e. I didn't look at the sheet music while writing it; I also didn't finish it
4. Nipple Soup by Spill Twins
5. SplashFlap by Spill Twins
6. Bread Sounds (Batch and Tin) by Spill Twins
7. Breeding in Your Sponge by Spill Twins
8. Ant Mansion by Spill Twins

On Wednesdays, my employer lets me work from home. I actually find this one of my most productive and enjoyable days of the week: without the distraction of the office, I find it easier to focus; plus I get to take my daughter to school and fetch her, which gives my wife the chance to do student visits, and gives me a chance to spend some time with my daughter.

On top of those great things, Wednesday is also the day when I receive a rather excellent email from 14tracks. This is a fine idea put together by the equally marvellous Boomkat music store: each week they send you a list of 14 tracks exemplifying a particular musical style, label, producer, artist etc., with short reviews, plus links to play previews and buy on Boomkat.

This week's selection is 14 tracks relating to Surgeon, the techno/dubstep producer. It's a great way to find out about new music, particularly if you're into electronica of any stripe.

The West Midlands is the Home of Metal. I hadn't really grasped this until I read this blog entry and had a browse around the Home of Metal site. I'm not particularly a fan of metal (except maybe some of the tracks by Scorn by ex Napalm Death chap Mick Harris, and despite the best efforts of Jono); but it would be good if the West Midlands and Birmingham got more recognition for the good stuff it's brought to the world. You can have a look at Famous Birmingham People for starters (though Arthur Conan Doyle is a bit of stretch: wasn't born here, he just lived here a while). Most notable for me:

• George Cadbury (the chocolate man)
• Tony Hancock
• JRR Tolkein (not born here, but lived here when young; I've visited Sarehole Mill in Birmingham a couple of times, where he surely must have got some inspiration for The Lord of the Rings)
• David Lodge (who taught English at University of Birmingham; I went to a talk he did in the Computer Science department while I was studying there, around the time he wrote Thinks...)

I've lived here since 1994 and feel very defensive of and proud of the region: great people, great places to go, great atmosphere. It's a fine place to live, and I'm glad my children are growing up here.

"Beware of that which is breathtakingly beautiful, for at any moment the telephone may ring or the airplane come down in a vacant lot." (John Cage)

Nicola and I had this at our wedding:

Now I'm getting all nostalgic. We had this during the wedding ceremony too:

We are quite soppy, as you might have guessed.

One minute videos for songs from The Commercial Album DVD. Most of the videos are on YouTube, but these are my favourites.

Picnic Boy:

Perfect Love (perturbing):

Amber (funny):

Phantom (nicely atmospheric):

Not from the DVD, but on the Commercial Album. The guitar solo in this is great. Moisture:

Colleen is (as far as I know) a little known electronic/ambient artist, but her work is very subtle, delicate, plaintive. Just plain lovely. I think more people should know about it.

Quite a lot of her music videos are on Youtube, via her record label's site.

This one is a fan-made video, but for me it perfectly captures the spirit of the song:

In case it's never crossed your consciousness, here's the rather excellent, grotesque and hilarious Aphex Twin video for Window Licker:

Nice to see this Cabaret Voltaire video again (recorded in 1979):

These still sound great to me (more Cabaret Voltaire) - No Escape:

Seconds Too Late:

I also keep meaning to mention The Free French, who have a website where you can buy their music. Do. It is superlative intelligent (slightly reedy and eccentric, but in a good way) pop. I've been listening to it pretty much constantly all year. I think my favourite album is It's Not Me, It's You, which is glorious, and has some of the best lyrics of any pop album, ever (e.g. Ghost Writer - which is available as a free download from their site - download it!).

Set up another Last.fm page for my other music project, Spill Twins. This is other stuff I've written over the last 15 years or so (since I got a PC). I wrote some stuff prior to that, but it's all on tape and I haven't transferred it yet. All free mp3 downloads, if you like 'em.

Delia Derbyshire was one of the earliest electronic pioneers, working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop through the 60s. She was a major contributor to the Dr. Who theme music, and produced some amazing, atmospheric, avant garde music, years ahead of its time. Also, importantly, born in Coventry, in the West Midlands.

Pretty exciting for me, then, to see that David Butler of Manchester University's School of Arts, Histories and Cultures has recently revealed some of her previously-unheard tapes. Some of the snippets can be heard on the BBC website. Particularly remarkable is a piece of what can only be described as dance music, from the late 1960s, which is around 20 years ahead of its time.

If you're interested in more of her work, you can download some of her pieces here. You can also get an excellent compendium of BBC Radiophonic Workshop music which contains about half a dozen of her pieces. An album of her work, Electrosonics is available, but sold out within hours of release (I didn't manage to get a copy, though I tried). Also released this week is an album by John Baker, another Radiophonic Workshop luminary: I've just ordered it.

Here's a video of Delia, set to some music by The White Noise (of which she was a member):

This is truly marvellous:

Sparks at the height of their powers, with one of my favourite tracks from their best album (in my opinion), Indiscreet.

The shorts! The peculiar hat! The sidewards glances! The moustache! The camp dancing! The lyrics!

Get in the swing, pal
Get in the swing
With everybody and everything
(repeat)

My friends are here
Mind if you go out and not come back again
Well, thanks a lot
Hooray, hooray
The night is younger than the girl who's got the touch
But not by much

Well, I ain't no Freud, I'm from L.A.
But I know certain things
That they also serve who sit and wait
They're cheaper than painting
And don't need explaining

(Chorus)

When Salmon spawn
A ton of water blocks their motion,
Spoils their game
But on they go
Thrashing 'til their mission is fulfilled or else
Oh, but they have their friends
And have a warm bed waiting
Just like I do with you
I'm happy, so happy, I'm happy, oh happy

(Chorus)

All for one, one for all

(Chorus)

Hello down there
This is your creator with a questionaire
Hello up there
I don't have the time to fill out questionaires 

I will always love Sparks, for one thing in particular: helping me survive a particularly gruelling, embarassing, disappointing weekend. When I was about 15, I went to trials for the Lincolnshire under-16 rugby squad. I remember distinctly that my mum got me some jeans to wear, which were basically flares; I knew I'd be spending the weekend away from home with other boys my age, and was terrified of them seeing me naked, taking the mickey out of my flares, taunting me for other reasons etc. (I was quite shy).

The morning I set off from home, probably with mum, I heard This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us on the radio. The tune was so infectious, the lyrics so baffling and brilliant, that even though I only heard it once, I was repeating the chorus to myself all weekend. It gave me a moment of space to retreat into, a glamorous fantasy moment I could hang on to amid the painful, eyes-down fear of that weekend:

By the way, I didn't make the team (the disappointment because a stud in one of my boots fell out and I got horrendous blisters which hampered my performance on day 2), I spent the weekend feeling embarassed but wasn't taunted, but did sub. a couple of times for the Lincolnshire rugby team.

Once I got home, I discovered my dad had copies of Indiscreet, Propaganda and Kimono My House, all absolute classic albums. I used to surreptitiously borrow the tapes and listen to them on my Walkman, practically all the time. People are put off by the high singing, I think; but I think that's part of the histrionic joy of their work, and once you listen to the lyrics, you realise they are brilliant song-writers with a unique world view. Sparks have been cruelly underrated for years, but recently they've been namechecked by all sorts of music industry luminaries. Glad to say I was there twenty years ago. But it's still rare to find anyone who'll admit to liking them (apart from my friend Adrian). I'm coming out of the closet right now, in the hope this will encourage others to dig out their 70s albums (I have to admit I am not that interested in the albums they released after 1979).

I'm going to put the mathis album up on Last.fm as I complete the tracks. All will be downloadable for free from here:

http://www.last.fm/music/Mathis/mathis