Recording time

Dear oh dear, why have I never got time for the things I love?? Because I don't make time!! I'm off work tuesday and wednesday next week, so I'm going to MAKE time to get some stuff recorded before then, and spend my days off elegently mixing the sessions. I've come a long way in a short time in terms of learning how to mix well, but there's no evidence at all of that on my music. I'm also going to re-mix/re-record some older songs when I "find" the time.

Anyone heard the new Verve song? "Love is Pain". What a song! It's a one you hate when you hear, but through XFM forcing it onto me every morning it's grown on me. I can't figure exactly what the backing vocal bit is. It's really processed, possibly a small audio sample that's been modulated?? Who knows.

Also, I saw the Verve live (on TV) at some festival this summer. Richard Ashcroft did not seem to be in the best state, Bittersweet Symphony was not what it should have been :-(

Nine Inch Nails

Well, I haven't made my mind up on NIN. I was put off by the name for a long while, and I don't know why. Anyway, they (or rather he; Trent Reznor) have a great mix of metal and electronic music, but without fitting into any category. HMV and Zavvi put it in the metal section, and most fans I think would describe it as industrial metal, with electronic undertones.

Whatever.

I got introduced by a housemate who loves them. The tracks that I like, I love, but on "With Teeth", the album I bought recently, the album has it's weak moments. The Hand That Feeds has made itself to my ringtone for now, and Everyday is Exactly the Same (which was recently used on Wanted, with James Mcavoy and Angelina Jolie) expresses very well the mundaine nature of Daily 40 hrs a week life that everyone has experienced, even those like me who are students and have only worked full-time weeks on a temporary basis. Do You Know What You Are comes across as OTT aggressive and screamy, but by the third lesson becomes the type of anthem you used to love when you were 16 and very angry with teachers/friends/life.

This one won't go in the "worth a listen" list, simply because it's too well known, but I assure you it's worth a few listens through if you haven't dabbled in Nine Inch Nails already.

Jenny Wilson

You know The Knife? Dance music duo (real dance music, well composed by people who enjoy it), anyway, I was on their record label website (I think it's their own label) and I stumbled across Jenny Wilson a while ago. She hasn't done anything for a couple of years by the looks of things so I'm waiting in anticipation of something new from her. Imagine acoustic music, only played with an electric guitar, complimented by digital synthesisers. Nothing techno or electro, just good electronic backing. This one's going in the "worth a listen" list.

The Arctic Monkeys have just come on XFM, why haven't I bought on of their CDs yet??

Back in black (and white)

Actually, it's full colour, but that does't make for a good title...

I've just been given a Nikon D50 by my Dad so I'v been learning how real photography works. This photo's got a low aperture value, which is why it's got that pin pointed focus on the pickups/hands, and the rest is blurred around it. Unfortunately it's perhaps too dark, I've got lots of experimenting to do before I can take good snap shots. More to come...

Free Thermis

I do love freebies, and I've been after one of thee for a while. I used to by some lunch and a coffee every day at uni, but that £3 a day really does mount up, so I started taking sandwiches. But of course... I couldn't possible go without my coffee, so even though 75p a day was better than £3, I still had to take it one step further and bring my own coffee. So I walked into the SU, and what were they giving away? Yes, that's right, a thermis... with every copy of the Telegraph. So, not only do I save my 75p a day, but also managed to get myself a thermis for 30p! The only problem is, I had to be seen buying a copy of the telegraph (which my Dad rather un-affectionately but accurately labels; "the Torygraph), and let me tell you people that's not an image I want, it's one step away from being a Daily Mail reader!! Since I took that picture I've mad an attempt at removing the telegraph logo, which seems to wipe of without much fight under a bit of hot water.

As for the music this week, I'm working on a new piece which is a little Sigur Rós-ish, but slightly less ambient. I sampled the rain for this one which adds quite a nice dynamic to it. It's jumped about a bit from style to style since it's conception and I'm not sure where it's going to end up, though I'm fairly confident the vocals are going to play a bigger role in this one than they normally do.

Photos With Distance

I don't quite know what it is about pictures with distance, I just love them, I've set this one as my desktop background. I love scenes with greenery aswell, the only thing missing from this is water. This was a shot I took while I was visiting a Roman fort somewhere around the Scottish borders (can't remember exactly where). It was actually taken about 4 years ago, the reason I'm digging them up is because there's nothing much happening here at the minute. I'm working hard with uni and that's all about I've got time for.

I've been thinking recently about my future travelling plans (I'm sure we all have/had them), and I'm going to get a large atlas poster, mark everywhere I've been on it, and have a photo for each place. I think this would certainly be one of the photos for "home".

Earth loops

Ok, this is getting silly now. My laptop won't record anything from Marshall without a horrible AC hum. There's no problem if I unplug the laptop, but the thing only has about 40 mins of battery life in it. I don't want to remove the earth loop because I value my life, and the thing that's even more annoying, what happens when I get a PC and don't have the option to unplug it?!

Anyone know how to fix it?