PLOPGIFT 2011

As I was in 2008 I'm again at the PLoP conference, and my gift is another mix CD. As is now traditional, I didn't have time to make the covers, but Small Person did write the name on all the CDs. If you got one, here's the tracklisting: if not, here's what you're missing out on. Rise, The Bad Shepherds
Boogey Man, The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra
The Village Green Preservation Society, Kate Rusby
On The Lake, Robert Scott
Good Light, The Lucksmiths
Diamond Mine, David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights
North By North, The Bats
Love Love Love, Avalanche City
Free All The Monsters, The Bats
Good Keen Kiwi, The Doubtful Sounds
Marvellous Year, Don McGlashan & The Seven Sisters
Residue (New Year's Carol), Waterson:Carthy.

The Well of the Saints

Well I've made good to my public (and by other public) --- all two blog readers, by finishing up another song. Yeah it's late, but I'm on leave tomorrow (so that I can be here to take delivery of Small Person's new bunkbeds) so hopefully it's not to bad. Oh yeah, I've somehow got to read seven papers too (while on leave, yep) but hopefully that won't be too grim.

Anyway, yes, another new - or rather old - song dating from years and years ago: at least before 2000, perhaps before 1995? About 3:30 long, which would be perfect for a pop song, except that it's not really a pop song - another mournful piece about, well, the usual mix of faithlessness, ennui, and desperation.

I think The Well of the Saints is a beautiful title for a song. Uncle Google and Mad Aunt Wikipedia tell me that it's the title of a early 20th century Irish play: but this song has nothing whatsoever to do with the play except the title, as far as I'm aware. Although reading the synopsis, well both seem more or less depressing, or at least melancholy.

So, that makes something like 8 songs now, of which at least 6 are in the slow, guitar driven style, relatively consistent, with a couple of outliers (children with rather more bass than is good for it, and the colonel, which turned into a rattling dunedin thing, somehow).

Enough for an EP (gulp!)

No Music This Week Either

So, another week without music. I was completely exhausted on Tuesday, so watched videos instead. Also I couldn't find the words for the song I was hoping to record - I'm mostly trawling through a back-catalogue of songs I've written 10 years ago (with Section 59: Beat your Children and It's not Hard being exceptions that prove the rule).

But while Annie was here, we did go to Slob Out (OK: Small Person actually read the name of the shop on the sign from across the street and said "it's really called Slow Boat Records"). So we spent some time browsing, including the new Chris Knox & the Nothing CD, and Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (yep: Nick Bollinger on The Sampler chooses my CDs for me)

And then, dropping Annie off at the airport, I ended up at the DVD shop there, and came away with Liam Finn's I'll be Lightning, Trillion's Audio Agriculture, and LCD Soundsystem's The Sound of Silver.

And so this evening, after at least going through my office to find the words & chords to a couple of things, went for dinner with another friend, had work admin to do, and then too far gone to spend hours recording.

Head Above Water

So, 12.30 AM, that equals the previous record.

Todays effort is quite short at 2.50, not really poppy, rather odd (and again old) little song, Head Above Water Not sure about it really, the vocals are quite weak & flutter in places - on the other hand, I quite like how the guitar sounds.

What's this one about - rather cliched I'm afraid:

keep my head above water
turn my face from the sun
keep my head above the water
now I'm all undone

I'm not sure I remember that far back - but it probably relates to the long and generally depressing time when I was finishing up a PhD. It's nowhere near as - well - Biblical as many of the rest, especially as I think I accidently replaced "flood" with "sun" in one of the verses. Oh well. But then perhaps it's better this way:

I used to laugh about rainbows
I used to smile at the sun
I used to laugh about rainbows
Now I'm all washed up

Two Things Unexpected and Wonderful

I'm in London for a week or so for work: missing Small Person and family.

Yesterday evening (UK time) I glanced at the desk in the hotel room and noticed that my white-faced watch was sitting there. This watch is not expensive at all, Olympic brand (which they don't make anymore) with day-of-the-week and day-of-the-month windows. It does have sentimental value: my brother Deacon Richard has exactly the same model (although he found his while walking one day on Mt Vic).

This is remarkable (unexpected and wonderful) because I have no idea whatsoever about how the watch got there. I thought I'd lost it months ago; had gone around the shops trying to replace it (that's why I know they don't sell them anymore); had resigned myself to the loss; given up; and bough the Lexon Zen watch as an alternative.

So all I can assume is that it must have been in the laptop bag for months, or in the pockets of a pair of winter clothes, and that I'd grabbed it in my jetlagged state and unconsciously put it on the desk.

The other unexpected and wonderful thing is Robert Henke's Layering Buddha. Robert of course makes Ableton Live; this is rather more ambient but perhaps it would be fun for Selective Yellow to clone it.

Crooked Mile

Count the lucky stars you've got
'cos you've got quite a lot
and I think you forgot

I'd just got back from Newtown with some unwelcome news about Small Person, and Minisnap's Bounce Around was sitting on the car stereo at Track 7 --- Crooked Mile. It's a truism about pop music that a song can capture a mood for days or weeks, and then last for far longer than is rational. Still, there are songs where hearing it the first time seems to sum up everything that's going on in life, and hearing it again weeks or months or years later can take you right back to the first time you heard it.

So this is isn't the first time I've listened to Crooked Mile but perhpas this was the first time I'd heard it. And it's only been half a day since then but this one will be with me for quite a while.

You walk the crooked mile but you fall down
There's nothing anyone can say or do
...
There must be someone watching over you

Slob Out

Had Brunch with a couple of friends, and then Small Person said: "Lets go to Slob Out"

So we did. I mean, rather than record music, why not just buy it?

Current purchases:
Pop Art Toasters: Sixties Goodness redone in the Dunedin Nienties. I quite like this one really
Bachelorette - The End of Things: According to Grant Smithies' book, Roger Shepperd's favourite record on returing to Welli from London. I can see the appeal, but at least he didn't end up living in Darkest Karori.
XTC - Oranges and Lemons I have a folk memory of listening to "The Mayor of Simpleton" once when I was much much younger. Except I though it was by TMGB. But no, XTC. Unfortuantely the only listenable thing on the album, it is quite lovely. Perhaps the rest will grow better on repeated listening: perhaps they won't get the chance.
Exponents - Sex and Agriculture Because Small Person can already sing Why does Love do this to me from memory, after having heard it twice.