February Update - dodgy stereo music + gig stuff...

Last week I had some time off from the day job. I spent my time working on video clips taken from the prelinger archives. Great material.



I also managed to get out of the house and went on a few inspiring day trips. It's good to have the time and freedom to be able to go on a nice long walk and get away from the same surroundings once in a while.



I also got plenty of work done on several projects that have needed loose ends tied up. The Audiobulb project isn't finished yet, but working on it produced a new track for the Dubs EP, which is ready to go as soon as I decide which picture to use for the cover (Sophie Cocault has given me eleven to choose from).

I also managed to finish a piece for Microsound's 'Microspace ' project. The final audioworks are published here. A new project has opened; this year's invitation to submit a piece for Pi day.



I made a little video for Cashier No. 9's tune "I Kid You Not".



I saw a few musicians and djs over my break too. I went to Fleda for the Itch My HaHaHa party last weekend. Good times were had in god company. I hadn't taken any time to research the acts on the flyer as I usually would, instead trusting to luck that there would be some quality action. I was dancing to the Greatest Hits Collective's usual diverse pro-party dj set.



The band in the 'big room' was nothing special (pub-rock meets hiphop?). The last dj on there played some rather groovy blobby synth and beat material that I couldn't dance to but it did make me want to go interupt to ask who it was by...I didn't though...



Last night I caught a solo ambient/improv guitar artist called jiří kučerovský at cafe 3 Trojka. A quiet affair bringing to mind all sorts of post-rock memories. Pure bell like guitar tones and soft drones and wisps of sound layered with echo.

Endru and Heavy Mental

A really mixed bag on Tuesday evening. After work I popped over to Trojka to listen to a young man called Endru do his thing. I met him a few weeks before and he told me he was a beat boxer and he'd be playing there. When I arrived there wasn't a free seat in the place - a good sign, I found a spot of floor to squat on and tried to get comfy.



He was using a loopstation to lay down rythmns which were then dressed up by a guy playing electric piano, over which Endru added various vocal stabs and sound effects. It seemed that some of the material was improvised, taking a little while to warm up, but it was clear that once the grooves were in place that there was a good level of communication between the two players. Beats, breaks, rap, scat, improv. It was an impressive set and a clear display of talent.



More videos of the performance may be seen here

After listening to Endru it was time to head off to Fleda for a bit of Heavy Mental. I had skimmed the info on the website and followed the links to the different acts they had posted there. It seemed like quite a variety of styles, from minimalist noise to electro punk.





The evening started with a man playing some music which was a little like listening to a broken fan, or dark ambient if you like that sort of thing. It so happens that I like a bit of deep listening, but I feel the listening experience would have been enhanced with more comfortable seating.





There was also more dark insectoid glitch material, which occasionaly broke into rythmns which was rather slick in a MSP-chic granular synth abuse fashion.





There was also a bit of humour with the bass lines to 2 Unlimited's 'No Limits' raising a smile. Straight after that came a reworked 'She's Lost Control' by Joy Division. Goodtimes.



There was a lot of fiddling about with equipment before the next guys got their accordian, melodica and guitar to work with their digital tools, it was quite beautiful once it got going, but it took a long time to get there.



The last act I stayed to listen to were 'Like She' the only act I can say for sure I know who they are/were due to the fact they're a duo that like to dress-up. All the other acts that night are impossible to link to myspace pages with any certainty as the music played on the night wasn't quite the same as the material on their spaces and there was no information about who was performing at any time.





Like She were the high energy point of the night with plenty of nasty kick drums, bleepy lo-fi synths, aggressivie bass guitar and shouty vocals. Party music.



I think it would not have taken too much effort from the VJ to stick the artists names on the screen...



There was another duo playing after Like She, but I decided it was time for food and a tram home, so I can't comment on them. Nor name them.

Break 4 Beats - party clips.

Good fun last Friday at Fleda - once again the club was ful of people up for some high tempo drums and synths.

Check the following (blurry/dodgy quality) clips to hear a bit of what you missed.