Archive for April, 2010

Solutions

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Two blogs in four days – I’m spoiling you! My weekend was fun. The Deaf Institute was better than I thought it would be. I was very apprehensive about going, as you know, but it ended up OK. Saw a great folk band called King Charles who I really enjoyed. You can read a bit more about them in this article from the Guardian last year.

My Saturday was spent watching the game, as per usual. It was good, slightly nerve-racking after Tottenham equalised but we managed to pull through. Nani in particular played well and I’m glad to see him get a good run in the first team under his belt. He’s turning into quite the player…

After that I fiddled about in the studio for the first time in a loooong time. Nothing too drastic, just experimenting with the new superfast internet connection. It’s very useful when I’m mixing and need some free samples downloaded quickly. My leased line has been a bit of a Godsend in that respect, really!

A fast internet connection is also great for streaming music. Last.fm is a particularl favourite (still getting to grips with Spotify), but don’t underestimate YouTube when it comes to find a rare mix or classic tune from the past. Here are a couple that have caught my, erm, ear this weekend.

Womack & Womack – Teardrops (12″ extended mix)

I particularly like the first minute of this version, building up to the beat. A real dancefloor filler in my experience. I think I’ll have to try to hunt down the vinyl.

Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance (12″ extended mix)

What a tune! My favourite bit is again in the introduction: “Ladies and gentleman… allow me to introduce… the high hat.” Cue high hat.

What are your favourite dance/disco tunes?

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Going to the Deaf Institute

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

This weekend I will embark on my first visit to the Deaf Institute in town. I’m going with a much younger friend of mine named John. John is somebody I met while working in a cafe in town. He shuffled over from his iMac and asked me if I was listening to Grizzly Bear. I was. He hung around, and we’ve been friends ever since.

Now he’s invited me to a night at the Deaf Institute with him and I’m a little cautious. I know I’m on the ball with what’s going on musically in Manchester at the moment, but I just fear I’m going to look terribly… old!

I’m sure you’ve seen the fashion among young, alternative people these days. It’s all checked shirts, big, pointy glasses and skinny jeans. They look a bit like smug tea towels, really.

Anyway, I’m nervous about this. Can I get an ale in there? Guinness?

Tomorrow United are playing Tottenham at home. It’s a 12:45 kick-off so I’m obviously not going to stay at the Deaf Institute too late. I might watch it at my mate Rich’s house, but that’s only if his kids aren’t around! I do like kids, I just don’t like having to give them constant attention when the football’s on!

I’ve not been doing enough producing recently. Need to get back on that. Still finding new stuff to listen to all the time, though. Like this band: Crooked Rooks

I’ve known about them for a little while as I have a friend of a friend of a friend in the line-up, and they seem to be shaping up pretty well.

Another good new band with a Manchester taste is this one: Carnival

I have a close mate in this group so I have a vested interest. Also, Simon Tong (formerly of The Verve) is involved, so expect a good, hard indie mentality mixed with something a little bit different…

Let me know what you think!

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Derby Delight

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Verrrrrry good result this weekend! To be honest, I was sat in the pub watching it and I figured it was all over. I think everybody did until Scholesy popped up with the winner in the last minute of injury time. There were a lot of Bitter Blues in the pub but City can only blame themselves for the loss – they didn’t look to be playing for a win.

And, incidentally, has there ever been a sweeter sight in world football than Gary Neville planting a smacker on Paul Scholes’ lips after the final whistle?

The weekend’s results only improved as Tottenham beat Chelsea 2-1. To be honest, it could’ve easily been a more decisive victory for Spurs, and they typically made it difficult for themselves in the last five minutes.

I say that like I watched the match. I watched the first half, got excited, then remembered it was Spurs and spent the second half faffing around on online casinos. I didn’t win this time but, luckily enough, neither did Chelsea.

Saturday night was spent with friends in The Marble Arch – a good real ale pub in the centre of Manchester I haven’t visited in far too long. I was with my friend Burnsy, a real wildchild in his younger days, who was also buzzing at the day’s football results. Burnsy has really calmed down compared to say five years ago. His girlfriend Bozena has really got him well trained and it’s a constant source of amusement for me and the lads.

I woke up in need of a real chilled out day, and that’s exactly what I did. I went down the local supermarket in search of some veg and something for a good Sunday meal. I ended up picking up a steak and some mushrooms, and before long I was tucking into a steak sandwich while listening to the wonderful Miles Davis.

Anyone unaware of the great man’s work should check out this:

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Another Spring song

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Hello all. Welcome back. I hope your Easter Weekend was exactly how you envisaged it. Mine was just fine, thanks. It was great being out in the sun all day on Sunday without having to worry about coming in to a desk full of demos on Monday. That pleasure was of course shifted to Tuesday though, although I think the break affected a few bands’ work ethic – there were fewer than usual Jiffys to open this week. C’est la vie!

Good Friday was… erm… good! I actually spent the day in the studio messing about with some tracks and putting a few white labels on SoundCloud. Nothing too serious. I love doing that, just making minor adjustments that most people would not even be able to tell. I can tell! Sometimes I think I can see the mix, but that’s probably just when I’ve been at the desk too long.

After that I stayed in with a few cans and an old BBC4 documentary about Manchester music I recorded a while ago. It was pretty good, and had all the great tracks you’d expect. Just could’ve been a bit longer! (Oh while we’re on the subject of the BBC, can I just lend my support to the campaign to save 6Music. Where else am I going to hear Scritti Politti b-sides over breakfast?!)

I bypassed the boring bits of the documentary with a few quick spins of online casino slots on the laptop. It’s weird how I can’t play slot machines in real-life (does the itBox count?!) but I can play them quite happily on the computer.

Saturday I don’t want to talk about as United lost. Luckily I wasn’t there as I’d given my ticket to my friend Sam (shhhh) because I owed him after he did the same for me for the City game in September. Think I made the right choice considering the scorelines!

I didn’t get one Easter Egg this year! Same as bloody always! Oh well, it’s all a bit of a con really, isn’t it? A Hallmark Holiday, as they say. Like Valentine’s Day – I don’t really buy into it all. Still, I certainly won’t complain about the time off. Like I said, booze, a bit of sun, and good company is all I ever want for Easter!

You may remember a little while back I told you about the high speed broadband thing we’d had put in the studio, called a leased line. That is truly mega for uploading and downloading my SoundCloud files. Honestly I was getting tunes off there in seconds. Great when you need to listen to as much new music as I do. We’ve complemented the leased line with a VPN network, which means I can also log in to the studio computer and play songs when I’m out and about on the laptop. It’s really useful because I’m quite forgetful sometimes so it means I’m able to get files I’ve left at work over a virtual connection. I’m not really sure how it works, magic or something!

Coming up there are some really cool gigs I want to check out. One in particular is the one at the new Factory club featuring Peter Hook playing Unknown Pleasures – such a classic album – in its entirety. How amazing will that be? Hearing She’s Lost Control live again after all these years will surely raise the hairs on the back of the neck.

I might put together a list of my top upcoming gigs when I get a chance, stay tuned.

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