RUMBLINGS

not dead

only sleeping

just 5 more minutes…

(Going To Give You) Magic

Possibly you saw it when it went up the other month, but I did a mix for Dummy mag.

I kind of thought it was obvious, but perhaps not: all of the tracks are by me.

They’re all unreleased, forthcoming, or re-edits of tracks from ‘Reeling Skullways’.
 

00:00 Bass Clef – Switched-on Monastic Trio
03:11 Bass Clef – Walworth Road 5-Me0-DMT Re-skull
07:35 P&P – Jack Your Ripper
11:59 Bass Clef – Electricity Comes From Other Planets (Oort Cloud edit)
16:07 Bass Clef – Hackney-Detroit-Pluto
21:34 Ruby Regnbue – 0h 2 B In Love Again
25:24 ECHT? – Dromen Stromen Onder De Maas
27:51 Limehouse Crew – Hawksmoor U Know The Score
32:39 Alcázar – (Going To Give You) Magic
36:52 Happamat Ystäville – Ilman Sinua Kauan Kova Talvi
40:44 Bass Clef – Fluorescent City, Shining City
44:51 László Diablo – Cumbia Para Un Corazón Roto
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posted by MAGIC

Arise black vengeance from thy hollow cell

 

Harpsichords and Othello samples, yes please.

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posted by MAGIC

 

 

 

I did not paint it to be understood

 

“I did not paint it to be understood, but I wished to show what such a scene was like; I got the sailors to lash me to the mast to observe it; I was lashed for four hours, and I did not expect to escape, but I felt bound to record it if I did”

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posted by Magic

 

 

 

BACK TO SCHOOL

Dear friends,

…it may have been a little quiet round these parts, but that’s mostly because noses have been on grindstones!

There’s a whole bunch of stuff coming up for me and M+D -

gigs, releases, remixes….

so, eyes down for a full house and here we go:

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MINOTAUR SHOCK

My old mucker David Edwards has a great new album out. I done a remix:

LISTEN HERE COS SOUNDCLOUD PLAYERS WON’T EMBED ANYMORE

Also he’ll be coming up on the overdue return of WYFW? dropping soon…

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T-WOC / BELFAST

I’ll be returning to the wonderful city of Belfast on the 29th of September, to play a Bass Clef set.

LISTEN HERE COS SOUNDCLOUD PLAYERS WON’T EMBED ANYMORE

It’s the launch party for this 10″ on Rudimentary Records, for which I also did a remix. It’s hands-down the dubbiest thing I’ve ever released!
There’s only 200 copies so don’t hang about…

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NEW BASS CLEF 12″

Due in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be releasing a two track 12″ on great Bristol label Idle Hands, it features “Dawn Chorus Pedal”, and “You Don’t Know Don’t Know You”

Once more mastered at Optimum, they’ve done a fabulous job as always of getting my crazy tape recordings onto vinyl. It sounds great! Clips to follow…

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SOME TRUTHS LIVE, SUPPORTING HIEROGLYPHIC BEING!

Indeed, come and watch me as nervous as I’ll ever be, honoured to play before one of my absolute heroes, at the Elgar Rooms in the Albert Hall on October the 10th

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EKOCLEF AND BASS CLEF LIVE

A few short days later, I’ll happily be reuniting with Ekoplekz and we’ll be playing a brand new set together at the Purcell Rooms, before moving into the QEH itself to play a Bass Clef set (which will be a special one – watch this space for details).

Also appearing are the mighty Raime, and Mount Kimbie!

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UNSOUND

And at the end of october I’l be playing not once, but twice, at Unsound in Krakow : )

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JESUS, IS THAT IT?

No sorry, there’s still more to come. Hopefully at least two more pieces of Bass Clef vinyl to come before the year is out, a Some Truths LP, plus remixes of Pollyn and Hello Skinny still to drop.

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LET ME GO HOME NOW PLEASE

Nope. There’s still news of a new batch of MAGIC + DREAMS releases before the year is out – okay I’ll tell you later…

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posted by MAGIC

Upcoming live shows

Dear friends,

got a few shows coming up over the next couple of weeks:

1. Next friday the 27th, I’ll be DJing at top london night WIFEY

2.The next day I’ll be DJing again, at the oddly named Nozstock in Herefordshire.

3. The following week I’ll be back in Italy, for a full Bass Clef live set at Bora Beach in Sicily on the 3rd of August.

4. and then the next day, the 4th of August of course, I’ll be performing as EKOCLEF with Nick ‘EKOPLEKZ’ Edwards in Venlo, in the magical Nether Nether Lands.

After that there are a couple of VERY exciting Some Truths live sets on the horizon — can’t day anything yet but details to follow…

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posted by MAGIC

What’s your favourite waveform? #3 – HEATSICK – (broken sines)

For the third installment I’m delighted to welcome Steven ‘Heatsick ‘ Warwick.

Having recently seen him live several times, I’m intrigued by the methods and approach of this one-man band:

MAGIC:  So, the most difficult question first: what IS your favourite waveform, and why?

HEATSICK: I used to have a sine wave tone generator, but it broke.

Do you follow any rules or systems for writing your music?

the I ching? haha no usually it’s more establishing a flow and making sure the transitions interlock well. 

Can you talk me briefly through the process of making a track?

I usually have a musical idea, and think about what instruments I would like to use, even if I don’t have them.

Sometimes ideas will come to me all at once like on the rush hour 12″. I just came up with all the ideas in one evening. I made a quick sketch of them so as to not forget them, and then went into the studio the next day and nailed them.
Normally I let things breathe over time, listen to them a lot in transit. when I am on certain routes or in my flat.

Also I read a lot so then I write about how they influence each other, streamlining an idea, revisiting it and refining it. Though I do also work pretty fast. I tend to test out an idea live, slip it out in a set and then go back and work on it.

What is the part of the process that you least enjoy?

I like all parts of it. I’m as happy writing as I am developing it and also playing it live, even editing is fun.

What is your favourite piece of equipment?

I really like percussion in general, but id like to use more drum machines and synthesizers. and brass. and piano.

Do you ever have a critical voice and / or an imagined audience responding in your head whilst working?

yes. I maybe think far too much, and can obsess over small details. after a while I decide its time to release it. it can make you anxious, but you just realise its fine to just get things out, and most of the time you realise that they are pretty complete after all.

What’s the atmosphere of your studio / workplace like?

well I have my set up in my room, and I’m about to get another room in my flat for working in, which I’m happy about as 1 room is too distracting and cluttered. the studio I started recording in is also really good. I like going to the studio as in leaving the house. feels good to be able to walk away from it and its okay. 

What do you do when you get stuck?

freak out, just keep on going, you find something. change instrument. take a break.

How do you know when a track is finished? How do you choose a title for a piece?

its usually influenced by what I’m reading at the time, which I also tend to select around a topic. sometimes I show ideas to friends for feedback or just to expose it a little. its finished when I’ve had enough of it. the title is pretty intuitive for me, either I think how its sounds or comes already influenced by how I’ve been conceiving an idea beforehand.

What’s the track from your own catalogue that you are happiest with?

I’m really happy with “C´était Un Rendezvous“, as I finally sing on it and is also a step towards having a song, though it also structurally quite odd. I’m really happy with Andre‘s sax and it felt like a step forward.

 

Do you create in other ways than writing music?

I started revisiting films I made when I was younger, and its something I want to get back into. I have an art show in August, which is going to be including a reading, some performances from others and objects. I’m really excited about this. Also I collaborate on zines and did one myself recently (which accompanies, theoretically the ideas in the Déviation EP)

Are there people from other disciplines (e.g. painters / writers / architects) who have influenced your creative process?

yes definitely. I’ve worked for and with other artists like Josephine Pryde, Henrik Olesen, Jean-Michel Wicker and Sabine Reitmaier, Basso space and Starship Magazine whom I like personally and professionally and like to bounce ideas around. I also read a lot of non fiction/ cultural theory Frankfurt School etc, which is ongoing. I have a ingrained influence from JG Ballard and Dan Graham from my teen years. I get just as much if not more influence from non musical sources as musical. I really like early (Soviet) cinema, Benjamin etc. Fassbinder in his use of mirrors and theatricality and his cast and how he integrated a lot of themes in his work. When I was initially studying film and video I remember my tutor showing his work projected in this cinema and his light work with cinematic/ architectural space really left an impression on me. I also like that Ballard studied Medicine or Xenakis was an architect, it’s good to give a fresh take on forms.

What piece of equipment / software would you wish into being?

I think I would wish an operation that removes my fear in using synthesizers and technical equipment!

What’s the next thing you want to learn more about or learn how-to-do?

Just to be more technically minded in general. I find it so overwhelming. A friend who is a maths whizz gave a friend and I a 101 on his modular synth. and then suddenly I could relate to it. It’s not like I’m the monkey in 2001, but I did only get a computer 5 years ago!

How do you timetable / schedule your work time?

I’m working pretty constantly in terms of thinking about ideas. I always carry a notebook around with me.
and then in terms of writing, I play most days for a few hours.

If you could go back in time and be a fly-on-the-wall at recording sessions for any track or album, it would be….?

I would have loved to have be a fly on the wall during the making of House Crew “Keep the Fires Burning.” Such a good track, especially the relentless thumping intro. Every time I hear it, it just unleashes musical E numbers.

Sheer manual overload.

Thanks Steve!

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posted by MAGIC