Under ice

Similar to the Lights Switched On series.

MOG: RobinPlaysChords' Top 5 gigs of 2009

http://mog.com/RobinPlaysChords/blog/1660634

RobinPlaysChords - Heavenly Creatures & Circus Freaks

Garden (mid-winter)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Duchess Says - O2 Birmingham Academy, Birmingham, 09/12/09

http://mog.com/RobinPlaysChords/blog/1639613

RobinPlaysChords - Open Me + Paper Skies

Robin Johan Jax - Lapse

Moon

Placebo - Bright Lights (video)

NB. Am struggling with MOG, which seems to enjoy the act of crashing my computer on a regular basis, so music article thingys get posted here.

International superstars Placebo (and my third favourite band in the world) have released the video for the third single from Battle For The Sun through their ingenius online advent calendar. The single version of 'Bright Lights' is slightly different to the album recording, with a new mini-bridge and lyric ("bright lights in black holes"), and the lower vocal part in the verse is removed - which is a shame. The video is directed by John Kennedy and produced by RedJam.

The Fun Years - My Lowville (video)

Here is a video of a musical odyssey (song isn't the right word for it) taken from one of my favourite records of 2008. If you dig the excerpt that the video covers, you should check out the album in full. The video is made by Shimpei Takeda for Barge Recordings (WARNING:Some flashing lights):



The Fun Years - Baby, It's Cold Inside

RobinPlaysChords - Fitzcarraldo

Fitzcarraldo by RobinPlaysChords

Self-portraits

...

Word of the day

(Gar-mon-bo-zee-a); (def) pain and sorrow. Origin of word comes from the Black Lodge.

Stockholm

Paul Van Ryan - Find The Right Preacher (video)

Paul Van Ryan (often Paul Ryan) is a singer/songwriter/guitarist (and formerly of the quite awesome Circle3 - RIP) from Leamington Spa, UK, who's done a lot for me over the years, and the least I can do is shamelessly plug his considerable talents.

The last time I saw him was ridiculously long ago, and his debut solo album 'Man Of The Pee-Pole' (tongue-in-cheek title is complete with ridiculously unsubtle cover art) was only a couple of months old. A particular standout on the album was 'Find The Right Preacher', a stark acoustic piece that looks at religion and its followers. Paul planned to re-record it and make an accompanying video, and that is what he did, which I've only just come across. The new version is just astonishing. It comes out as a single on the 23rd of this month, and will be available from iTunes, so you don't have any excuses.

WARNING: Some adult content.



www.paulvanryan.com
www.myspace.com/paulvanryan

RobinPlaysChords - Isis + Providence

RobinPlaysChords self-promotion post #?

http://www.purevolume.com/robinplayschords

For the free 'Paper Skies LP' download and new song 'No Worries'. There really is something there for everyone - with the possible exception of the extreme metal community. (Because I once was forced to listen to Mayhem and that shit was just WRONG.)

Fennesz + Grouper + Natural Snow Buildings - St. Giles-in-the-Fields Church, London, 03/11/09

mog.com/RobinPlaysChords/blog/1570899

France's Europe minister accuses Tories of 'bizarre autism' on EU

guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/04/france-autistic-tories-castrated-uk

As someone with Aspergers syndrome, I'm not particularly pleased to see the term 'autistic' used in such a context (or being put upon such an anemic political entity as the Conservative party of the United Kingdom), but Lellouche's rant (for lack of a better term) may stick. With Hannan and Helmer jumping ship off the front bench, Cameron's not exactly in the rosiest position for a forthcoming Murdoch-leader-elect.

Lights On collection - framed

All five pictures are up and framed in my music room - cool, right?

Robin Johan Jax - Vignettes

Vignettes by Robin Johan Jax

Jenson Button - 2009 F1 World Champion

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8313300.stm

When I was 10, my dad took me to a round of the World GT Championship at Silverstone. On the undercard was a round of the British F3 Championship, in which a 19 year-old driver by the name of Jenson Button was given a lot of coverage in the race programme. As I remember it, he came 5th that day after starting 2nd on the grid.

Ten years on, JB comes home to win single seater racing's biggest prize. Congratulations, Jenson. Here's to next year.

MOG goes all access

http://mog.com/david_hyman/blog/1534743

Blogging meets Spotify, and yes, it does say $5 a month - good idea, oui?

Wires

They work for you

(This is only of use to UK readers, but citizens of other countries may have similar methods of following their elected representatives.)

http://www.theyworkforyou.com

Given that change is a-coming in the UK (by which they mean someone else has promised the Murdoch juggernaut that good tidings will come their way), now is probably a good time to have a look at what your MP is actually doing.

http://www.publicwhip.org.uk

You can also follow your local representative's voting records there.

Music review: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Through The Devil Softly

mog.com/RobinPlaysChords/blog/1526829

(Will not republish MOG articles in full; font constraints means I have to type the whole thing up twice, and RSI isn't making that easy.)

New colour scheme

Hope it's not too garish. Yellow and black looks nice. Except when it's in the form of a wasp in close proximity.

Robin Johan Jax - Wonderlust + Weightless

From a forthcoming album of short instrumentals called 'Vignettes'.

Tree under an Indian summer

Vines

Taken all of twelve minutes ago outside my house

Gig review: Efterklang + Peter Broderick - Taylor Johns House, Coventry, 14/09/09

Originally posted at mog.com/RobinPlaysChords:

Nestled in Coventry's forever-in-development Canal Basin lies Taylor Johns House, one of two venues run by local record company Tin Angel Records. It has shaken off the tag of 'failing business' with the relative success of a string of high quality releases (including two by the divine Devon Sproule) and an endless list of world class talent coming through the doors of the Tin Angel café and Taylor Johns itself. For a city which failed to produce a vibrant artistic scene for years (is The Enemy really the best the area can produce?), Tin Angel has given everyone the kick up the arse they needed, and now the city's arts scene is flourishing.

Danish noise-popsters - and owners of oddly endearing facial hair - Efterklang are the latest band to make the journey up to the West Midlands. Originally scheduled to be held at the Baptist Church, a stones throw from the Tin Angel café, a lack of space for the band's two sound systems and assorted gear means a last-minute change of venue to Taylor Johns. From a single look at the performance area, you'd struggle to figure out how two sets of drums, two guitar amps, various keyboards, violin, flute, trumpet, a computer and enough FX pedals to shake a stick at could fit onto a stage more suited to a small scale primary school nativity play. Somehow, every last bit of equipment, and the seven musicians behind fit, fit on with enough room to spare.

Opening the night's proceedings is the ludicrously talented Peter Broderick. The release of Float on Type was the beginning of Broderick's purple patch, and it doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. The set mostly consists of numbers from Home and a collection of new and/or unreleased songs which showcase his growing maturity as a songwriter. Standouts include a gorgeous rendition of 'Not At Home', and a brand new song about a fate-defining drive in the country - both bolstered by the beautiful back-up vocals of Peter's sister Heather (who has just released her debut solo album From The Ground on Australian wunder-label Preservation). The set closes with Home's closer 'Games Again', Broderick walking and singing in the crowd whilst the army of voices he already put to loops on stage overpower the senses.

I'm told that the venue needs £15,000 to cover the air conditioning unit, and the lack of it means that the heat in the venue is punishing. Efterklang alude to this light-heartedly through their set, which for the uninitiated is an experience best described as half-carnival, half-audio overdrive. Like Broderick - who along with Heather performs as part of Efterklang's live shows - there is a fairly liberal amount of new material spread around the set, and it all holds up beautifully with their older songs. Opener 'Step Aside' is a woozy mix of Telegram-era Björk and Dntel, and the many sugar-sweet harmonies (in the best possible way) of 'Mirador' sets up new song 'Mirror Mirror', both of which build into fabulous cocophonies, and sound like the songs that Sigur Rós were looking for when recording Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust.

To a room of around 100 (and two cameramen), Efterklang weave their magic and leave everyone spellbound, despite the stifling heat and the tight confines of the stage. (Frontman Casper Clausen comments halfway through that his earpiece fell into a pool of spilt beer - "I think the word is sticky.") 'Cutting Ice To Snow', one of Parades' best songs, starts off as a chorus of wintery vocal harmonies - Casper, Peter, Heather and guitarist Frederick Teige combining to glorious effect - before breaking through into a warmer, classical-meets-pop epic. The show ends with a stunning rendition of 'Chapter Six' from 2004's Tripper, Mads Brauer's sequencer kicks the song off with a rolling electronic beat which merges with percussion-heavy interludes and ends with a gentle audience singalong. Rapturous applauses ensues, and the merch stand is soon swamped with new devotees.

Talking to bassist Rasmus and Peter afterwards, it seems that Efterklang - and the Brodericks themselves - can only go onwards and upwards. The band have recently signed to 4AD for the release of their third studio album - expected to be released in early 2010 - and finish their contract with the Leaf Label with the issue of the live album/DVD Performing Parades (performed with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra) in October, around the time they play their biggest UK show to date at the Barbican in London (with the Britten Sinfonia). Broderick's own exploits include the recent release of 4-Track Songs on Type and a highly-anticipated collaboration with Machinefabriek. The future is bright for them, and also for Tin Angel, who have bought some much needed light into Coventry's scene.

-

Efterklang's Performing Parades is released on CD/DVD and LP/DVD on the 19th of October on The Leaf Label. Peter Broderick's 4-Track Songs is available now on CD, LP, and digital formats from Type.

Down at the station early in the morning

Taken at Prague Holesovice station, August 2009

Written thought

I am a stone in a stream in monsoon season.

I am drowning.

RobinPlaysChords web tidbits

Official site for RobinPlaysChords.

Also:

http://mog.com/RobinPlaysChords
http://www.myspace.com/robinplayschords
http://soundcloud.com/robinplayschords
http://virb.com/robinplayschords

Music review: Fennesz & Sparklehorse - In The Fishtank 15

Originally written for mog.com/RobinPlaysChords:

Fennesz & Sparklehorse - In The Fishtank 15 (2009, Konkurrent)

Independent Dutch label Konkurrent have been getting artists to collaborate on their In The Fishtank series (the title comes from the name of the studio used), with each release drawing bigger names and bigger results. Even so, this must be seen as a bit of a coup for them. After all, if you took electronic music's hottest property and paired him with collaborator extraordinaire and mystery-wrapped-in-an-enigma Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, you really couldn't go wrong...right?

In The Fishtank 15 clocks in at 40 minutes, and in that time Christian Fennesz goes through his entire box of tricks, coaxing his laptop in order to come up with the kind of beautiful noise that made this year's Black Sea such essential listening. Opener 'Music Box of Snakes' worms its way into your head with the chimes of the aforementioned music box, cut up and mixed in with uncomfortable drones and piano stabs with an end results that's not dissimilar to Sigur Ros' contributions to Merce Cunningham's Split Sides project. 'Goodnight Sweetheart' is the highlight of the album - reverb-draped chords wrapping themselves around Linkous' fragile, processed vocals before fading away into the depths of space.

The head-scratching composition 'Shai-Hulud' is a two-and-a-half minute noise storm which seems to lack the quality control of the previous two numbers. Fortunately, it's a minor blip before Fennesz and Linkous come up with another beauty. If Robin Guthrie had written Victorialand in 2009, he may have written something like 'If My Heart', the closest thing to a conventional song in this collection. Soft, drop-tuned acoustic guitar strums sit with MBV-distortion turned down to 8 or 9, as Linkous' voice crackles in the twilight.

The ethereal instrumental 'Mark's Guitar Piece' follows this up; an acoustic guitar gently picks notes out in 3/4 time, with tender music box chimes sparkling amongst the intermittent feedback. By contrast, the next track - and the album's longest - 'NC Bongo Buddy' starts off as a raucous, ear-splitting beast, on which Fennesz does what he does best, throwing layers of distorted guitar which roar, choke themselves slowly, then rise up like a phoenix before finally succumbing to waves of hiss. Artists like The Fun Years should be taking notes.

A strummed acoustic closes out 'Christian's Guitar Piece', giving this other worldly album an oddly comforting finish. It's not a huge leap forward in terms of artistic evolution - Fennesz's sonic identity is particularly stamped over a lot of this record - but there is no shortage of original ideas, and for the most part, they come off with style and substance. Fennesz and Linkous have come out of the fish tank with a record that may not hit the heights of 2009's Best Of lists, but won't be too far away either.

4/5
In The Fishtank 15 is out now on iTunes and available in CD and LP format from the 14th of September from Konkurrent Records.

Röyksopp - Tricky Tricky (RobinPlaysChords 789 remix)

Remixed as part of a competition; please stream/download (and also buy a Röyksopp album; it's worth it!)
Tricky Tricky (RobinPlaysChords 789 remix) by RobinPlaysChords

Post-Bank holiday things to do

Field missions:

Art: Patrick Caulfield; Alan Cristea Gallery, London
Tuesday 1st September 2009
Film: (500) Days Of Summer; Apollo Cinema, Leamington Spa
Wednesday 2nd September 2009

No music-related events for this week.

Film review: Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds
A Quentin Tarrantino film starring Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz

(May contain some spoilers)

It's 1941, and a group of German soldiers pull up at a French dairy farmer's house. The highest ranking German officer, who has earned the nickname 'The Jew Hunter', sits down with the owner of the house, and over the course of 20 minutes slowly breaks him down through measured, yet casual conversation, disarming charm and rhetoric, and after getting the farmer to reveal that he is hiding a Jewish family, old-fashioned brutality, SS-style. One young girl survives and runs away, as the officers shouts out "Au revoir, Shoshanna!"

Inglourious Basterds probably won't be topped by many films for Best Opening Scene of the year; it's one of those classic Tarrantino-esque encounters with a loose energy that slowly grows in tension until it reaches the end of its tether and is let go withsudden and shocking results. It's a key part of what made Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction instant '90s classics; stories weave in and out and peak as they finally come together, where the build-up was as brilliant constructed as the pay-offs. Inglourious Basterds continues in this tradition to (mostly) good effect, but on a ridiculously epic scale.

Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), and his gang of Basterds aim to spread fear amongst the German high command; Raine's charges are in debt to him, and in order to pay off the debt, each man must scalp 100 dead Nazis. The next scene sees them at work, killing all but one, who ends up with a Swastika carved into his head, forever marking him out as a Nazi, but spared his life in order to spread fear amongst the Germans. Of the Basterds, Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth) is particularly feared, his exploits earning him the nickname 'The Bear Jew'. Pitt takes the role of Raine with relish; his indignant hillbilly disgust at the mere mention of Nazis helps him to steal most of the scenes he's in by sheer force. Roth's performance is more measured, whereas Til Schweiger's ever-seething Hugo Stiglitz is the unchained Basterd who excels in brooding and psycopathic violence.

The third chapter introduces us to a cinema owner in Paris, who is later revealed to be Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), who escaped from the Germans at the beginning of the film, and now runs the cinema under the alias Emmanuelle Mimeux. She comes into contact with German war hero Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), whose grand claim to fame is killing 300 American soldiers over three days in a bird's nest (sniper's position). Zoller falls for her, and asks Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) to host the premiere of the propaganda film 'Nation's Pride' - featuring Zoller as himself - in her cinema. Zoller is possibly the weakest character in the film, taken from the mould of the average lovestruck supporting character, albeit with a crude arrogance and unbending allegiance to the Third Reich (the higher command are oddly in awe of Zoller; Goebbels is particularly taken with his young star) which makes him difficult to warm to, despite Brühl's best efforts.

From there, two plots to kill the Nazi high command emerge, both to take place at the film premiere. All of the actors are on good form, but special praise must go to Christoph Waltz as the horribly charismatic Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka 'The Jew Hunter'. Tarrantino has claimed that without the ability of Waltz, the film wouldn't be made, and whether he's turning on the charm in bi-lingual conversation or ruthlessly killing a German double agent in cold blood, Waltz's performance has Oscar-winner written all over it.

At over two-and-a-half hours, and with a lengthy supporting cast filling out each strand of the overall plot, the film's longer set pieces tends drag in places, before a swift blast of action kicks in to make sure you're still paying attention; witness the seemingly never-ending build-up - in reality, all of ten minutes - as Michael Fassbender, playing German-speaking Brit Lt. Archie Hicox, struggles to conceal his identity in a French tavern, before the scene explodes into action with a swift and bloody gunfight, and the body count goes up again.

Inglourious Basterds isn't going to be to everyone's liking, but once you get past the bloodshed and the revisionist history, and try and get your head around some of the plot lines and twists, it is well worth the mental, emotional, and financial investment. The decade or so that Tarrantino put into this film was definitely worth it; it's not quite a masterpiece, and doesn't sit easily in any recognisable genre, but it will be seen as a highlight of cinema in 2009.

4/5

Photobox

www.photobox.co.uk

Point, click, upload, order prints from the above, frame, sell.

No, I don't do business plans.

Les Paul (1915-2009)

Without your amazing achievements in guitar design, multi-tracking, and the classic recordings you've left us (especially those with Mary Ford), I wouldn't be able to 'live' in my bedroom, making glorious noise. Thank you for the music.

Dig this out if you can. An absolute must.

Prague

Budapest

On holiday from Friday

Will be back on the 16th with pictures of Budapest/Prague/Sziget Festival.

We're all going on a summer holiday...

Cold Snap

Pictures taken at the artist's home, February 2009

Look closely

Is there a shape within a shape?

Taken in the parish of Long Itchington, July 2009

Horizons

Pictures taken around the parish of Long Itchington, July 2005

More sunshine

Photos taken around the parish of Long Itchington, July 2009

RobinPlaysChords - Dream Catcher/The White Garden (EP)

New EP from RobinPlaysChords. Listen to all the tracks via the player below.

01. Dream Catcher (04:48)
02. The White Garden (04:05)
03. Mercurial Son (04:56)
04. Escape Song (demo) (06:53)

I can see for miles

St. Ives, Cornwall, August 2005

Sunshine

Taken at the Eden Project, August 2005

Emma Beth - Wonderlust

A book of poetry written by a young woman with a remarkable amount of talent. At times intense and powerful, 'Wonderlust' is a work of extraordinary human feeling. You can support Emma by buying the book, or a downloadable PDF copy. You can even preview select passages of the book at the URL below:

http://tinyurl.com/la22vf (via lulu.com)

Exchange rates from xe.com (as of 5:45am GMT, 11/07/2009):

£1 = US$1.61
£1 = €1.16

Robin Johan Jax - The Noise Procedure

MIDI-related noise mini-album.

01. Sandcastles (04:05)
02. The Noise Procedure (04:22)
03. Iron Man (04:44)
04. Grace And Shadowplay (04:07)
05. Mechanical Animal (04:23)
06. Archipelago (04:17)

http://tinyurl.com/mcznx6 (via Rapidshare)

RobinPlaysChords - Railways To The Moon/Starsailor

For fans of Sigur Rós, Cocteau Twins and Placebo - the first RobinPlaysChords single. MP3s are 192kbps.

01. Railways To The Moon (07:47)
02. Starsailor (05:15)

http://tinyurl.com/kj9hfa (via Rapidshare)

Lights Switched On

Photos of water features in artist's back garden, July 2008