Stonehaven Community Centre 29/11/09 & new song

Hi,

Since my last post I’ve been busy playing a few gigs organised by the Grassic Gibbon Songwriting Group. First was the Lemon Tree on 31st October which went well and was a nice chance to lay some ghosts to rest at that venue. I also played at Stonehaven Community Centre yesterday as part of their hertitage fair. I took the chance to play a new song I’ve been working on called The Olive Branch. It went down ok, and I plan to record it properly once I’ve tweaked a few lines here and there. I’ll post a more detailed blog about how it was written once it’s finished as it has been a good collaborative process.

I’m also looking into funding opportunities for UK-based songwriters similar to kickstarter.com. If anyone knows of any, please leave a comment!

Montague’s Lunchtime Speciale released on WMRecordings!

My first netlabel release!

Imagine being holed up in a strange bleak industrial estate on the edge of what appears to be an eerily deserted town where bars shine desolate, their signs promising “music here tonight” without any sense of irony. This is where Montague started, sketching lyrics on digital photographs in late November when the mall closed and the entertainment retreated quickly to their homes. The fact they rarely shut the curtains or indeed their doors only served to inspire more…

Acoustic guitars, electro beats, harmonies, keyboards and samples abound in well-crafted tales from the binary brain of a domestic robot on the edge of madness. Ever seen a ghost? In a can of soup? Hear the story on this album and find out if our hero makes it to the morning. What do the harpies sing in the quarry? Is there a reason lone divers don’t always kick for the surface?

The Family Simpson is a 31 year old meddler who loves tangents. His music has been around for nearly a decade and he is not out of ideas or stories yet. When he is not warping samples he attempts to give his family a well rounded musical education in the completely obscure and teaches renewed appreciation of 20th century technology. At times his songs sound as beautiful as lemonade soaking through a summer dress. At other times his music sounds like a kettle being thrown around in a fridge.

Click here to get it!

171 (one-seven-one) [EP] release!

I had a busy day. Fiona gave birth to a beautiful baby boy (Nate) at 4:26am. I felt inspired to record some free improvisation tracks and put them together in an EP. It’s fairly rough on purpose!

Available here:  http://www.archive.org/details/171one-seven-one

Tracks uploaded so far (there are more, just needing some mixing):

1. Good Morning

2. I Before E

3. A Single Thought

Sample Recording

Long time no write but regular readers will know why (just look at the last post!). Time has been tight as I’ve been getting the house ready for the new arrival, getting my radio show playlist taut and tweaking a few songs to play with the Grassic Gibbon Songwriting Group over the summer. I recorded a few live drum samples and piano riffs onto a school laptop via my mixer but haven’t yet tidied them up enough to mix into work in progress tracks. Baby steps.

CD8 Work in progress

Hi,
I’m back to work so haven’t been doing much more music lately. In a few weeks free time will return to me and I’ve got a looming music deadline. The CD will be done by June otherwise it will be a long time before I get a chance to come back to it again! I remember the last time I was a new Dad… music didn’t really get a look in for the first 3-4 months (mind you, I did introduce a week-old Mia to the value of John Peel and his eccentric selections while I could (he died weeks later)… she gurgled appreciatively I thought)

Just to let you know that my mind is still on the job – spinning new lyrics, adding changes and bits n pieces. Anyway, I babble on don’t I, and really about nothing. This post is to cement a track list of sorts. These ones are mainly in public-ready draft form, but a few are still on the hard disk, lurking like a Shelley-esque meccanno set…

Why don’t you keep your trap shut
The sun is too bright
A needle and an eye
Home run
Kiiiiiill
Ash and salt
..
..
.

Ach. A few more have no names just now. I’m too tired to come up with them now.

Song #1: Why Don’t You Keep Your Trap Shut?

WIP mix although I’ve messed with it a fair bit over the past few days adding guitar, drums, effects and a carillion patch courtesy of the Yamaha PSS-50. I want to keep the tempo up this time.

Comments welcome as I’m at the stage where this song is forming… it was an interesting exercise in songwriting and reworking the lyrics to tighten them up.

Oh yeah, the link – http://www.myspace.com/thefamilysimpson – scroll down to the soundclick player.

Recording update

Some soundcard issues / new software tweaks resolved and now the workmen have left (I considered recording them for drum loops, briefly) I’ve got a bit of space to record. Getting the instruments set up – the live ones are ready, the artificial ones are a bit ropey. I might have to improvise and add them later…

Getting ready for recording again

Hi. Quick blog. I’ve finally managed to clean out the home PC (which had 5 years worth of downloads, music files, etc) and reinstall everything with the aim of recording new songs this week. I’ve got 7 to record so far and inspiration is currently high.

Irn Bru cover

Seems Irn Bru was not cheesy enough! This kind fellow has recorded a wee video…

Lactose Alex – Irn Brie

New website

Hi again. I dropped off the radar for about 6 months. www.lofimusic.co.uk came up for renewal and… I felt the amount of visitors didn’t justify another 2 years of domain charges. Plus the website was limited and clunky and a bugger to update really. WordPress seems to be much easier, though we’ll see when I get back to work if I can use it from there or not. You’ll be able to tell by the amount of updates I post!

In the interim I’ve played a few shows – all fairly disappointing. I’ve returned to my shell and am working on good recordings of about six strong songs I’ve written in the past year. There is also a gig or two in the pipeline for late summer…