Right then...I've begun the 3rd album (the follow-up to 'Speak For Yourself'). I'm going to write a more frequent blog as I did with the last one so you can keep an eye on me and make sure I'm not slacking! I wonder how it's gonna turn out? How exciting! You're very welcome to comment but please don't ask me questions on here or i'll never get any work done. You can email me with any questions you have and every month we'll pick 20 from the virtual 'hat' and post them. Send your questions to: [email protected]
Much much more to come! Love, fluv x i x Wheeeeee!!!
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Click here and here to see 360s of my cosy studio in London where I wrote and recorded the last album "Speak for Yourself" xxx
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
this way, that way...
I'm finding it more and more difficult to make decisions and its really slowing me down. I couldn't decide whether to stick to the original verse melody or the one I had largely modified...went for the latter in the end...I figured if it popped into my head there must be a reason...that was the only way I could decide! The new vocals sound sooooo much better! Makes such a difference! All sparkly sounding. I don't know what I was doing when i recorded them before. They had loads of headphone spill and what sounded like a huge boiler in the background...
Last night I dreamt I was a guitar riff...in a car...that couldn't get started...over and over...I desperately tried to get the riff/ car going but I kept stalling..very frustrating especially as I'm convinced I didn't sleep at all...that was the other part of the dream...three in one...I wasn't allowed to go to sleep until I had played this riff...huff...puff...
On 'the walk' again today. It's been worth the effort. I really like how it ends now... Just before I left the studio tonight I got a flash of inspiration re the middle and a vocal line...I think tomorrow I'm going to re-sing the whole song. This was one I recorded before I got my much loved Avalon 737. The new vocals I sang today sound so much brighter and fresher. It'll be nice to sing against the song now all the music is in and the dynamics are set. Usually I try to get the vocal sounding great before I put too much of the music around it but this song has become a different animal since it's first incarnation...looking forward to giving it a new coat of paint...
Spoke to an old friend today. When I was 17 the first person in the business I did a track with was Nik Kershaw! He's working on a new album and he would like some heapy warbles. I learnt so much from him in the early days. A week in the studio with him taught me more than two years at school! Invaluable. He's a right laugh as well. At the time I remember he kept reciting bits from the Pink Panther show..."not now Kato, this is not the time!", type thing...for absolutely no reason. He's a brilliant songwriter.
When I first met him I had no idea who he was. My brother on the other hand couldn't believe I was going to meet him. I think he had some of his records. I'd played Nik maybe 12 songs I'd written...one of the ones we worked on was "Come Here boy"...such an age ago. After I'd played him all of my majorly embarrassing home recordings of me and my Ensoniq TS12 I demanded to hear some of what he does. He was a little shy about it but decided to play me this song of his called "The Riddle". As soon as it came on my heart pounded furiously and butterflies flew into my stomach...I was star-struck. This is a song I'd been playing since I was really young. I must have heard it on the radio one day and picked it up. I always used to play the chords of that song at the piano. It's very cyclical and easy to improvise over and I used to a lot at one point. Anyway I would ask and ask people what this song was that I was playing (obviously very badly coz no-one recognized it!) and it was his! Isn't life a funny thing...
So he's coming over on Wednesday...looking forward to hearing his new stuff. He's going to be mixing in a week or two so he'll beat me to the finishing post this time round...
hello y'all..."I don't believe it!" in full Victor Meldrew force...another...that's two in two days...drat...
Went in today to have a little fiddle with "the walk". I haven't touched this song since January and for quite a while now I've been feeling like the first two verses should play into one another, building the song up more gradually...and skipping the first chorus. I'm happy with the way it is now up until the middle 8, where because of the slightly different travels beforehand, feels like it should be in a different chord progression. It's structure has ended up more conventional than before I touched it...but it's for the better....the chorus shines now...before it sounded a bit apologetic...
When I was trying to get the chorus music a little bolder I found a sound that I'd placed really low in the mix. Back then it was just meant to be an organy type texture that sounded like part of the kick drum. Syncopated exactly with it...I've really made a feature of it now..Put a load of delay on it and tuned it so it plays a third to the bass melody. It gives a good width to the chorus without filling it with loads of stuff. Also I found that if I took out all those backing vocals I spent an age singing...the chorus lyric sounds more sincere...strange...
I really wanted to try this major cahnge out before I go away for a week or so...Hopefull when I come back I'll know if I was right to change it.
I was on my way to the studio today just about to pass by Tower Bridge when I noticed a load of people standing around waiting for something while lining the streets with flags. Police were keeping the traffic at bay and the sightseers on the London Tourist busses got more than they bargained for. I'd completely forgotten that the Olympic flame was in London today. First time since 1948....so I was waiting for a bit and eventaully I spotted someone parting the crowd. The person carrying it at the time I saw it was Sir Ian McKellen. I got a couple of sneaky camera phone shots...
Had a bit of a non day in the studio today. I find it really difficult to switch back and forth between Live and and the recording studio. They're so different from one another. I was listening back to stuff today and I felt like there's something missing in "the moment I said it" and tried to sniff out what it was...tried a load of things. It's right near the end of the song. It just feels like it's missing a high vocal melody. Annoying coz I feel like I've said all I need to say in the lyrics. Keep on fiddling with that one. It's so close.
I put together a CD for myself with the nine songs (excluding the lyricless Daylight Robbery) to see where I am with it all. Tried out a few orders. That is sooooo important in a record. The order of the songs. How the keys and tempos work together can make or muck up a record. I haven't put them all together like this before on one CD. It feels like I achieved something today 'cause they're all together as a body of work, even though I didn't really. Maybe hearing them like this will help me figure out what's missing from TMISI. At the moment it feels good to end the record on this song...I don't know why I always seem to end records with a pianoy song...
Maybe MISI is trying to tell me something...maybe I should go on that break now...? hmm...it has been nearly 8 months solid on my own in the studio...that's enough to drive anyone round the bend!
It's been a mad couple of days. Been on cloud 9! Still up there a bit. It feels a little like it was all a dream. Last night on stage was just one of the most amazing experiences for me...The musicians are brilliant...Jan Hammer, Michael and Mark Mondesir...and Jeff was as incredible as ever. I was floating on stage. No worries about monitors being the wrong balance coz I knew they'd have it perfect, a wireless mic so I could really leap about and The Royal Albert Hall! I walked on in pink stilettos a rather expensive beautiful black evening dress I bought for an Oscars party I never went to in the end, another skirt underneath beige and green, net and linen, strange contrast! A circular red feathery clasp thing on my head that kinda looked like a tiny 1920's ladies hat. one long armlegging with some pink and blue flowers attached to it with an elastic band (that nearly cut off my circulation!) and some bright pink net leggings peaking out from underneath it all. Hair really back combed to hell, bright blue and green eye makeup and big glossy lips! Somehow it all worked? To top it all off the crowd were fantastic!!!
I know both the songs so well I just relaxed and enjoyed it so much! I took off my heels after Blanket (which you can now buy on the itunes UK website!!) coz I felt like going a bit mental on "Rollin' and Tumblin'. Jeff and I were smiling from ear to ear! I wish you were all there to see it! (thankyou for all the complementary comments from you who were there!!)
The photos I've got here for you now are just a couple I took while the sound check was going on to give those of you who haven't been there an idea of this wondrous venue and the live one was taken by Richie on his phone. No-one in our gang had a digital camera so you'll have to wait a little while longer for those to be processed. Hope there's some good'ns. Mark (my manager) Took a couple at the after show with Jeff Beck, Ronnie wood and Jan hammer...also with the brothers and one of me holding the flowers Jeff gave me on stage (smelling and looking glorious and colourful in my Kitchen window) straight after the show on stage with the Royal Albert Hall behind me. If anyone reading this took some good photos of last night I'd love to see them! It was such a big night for me...
Oh my...I am sooooooooo dying to do some live shows of my own now!
There was a weee party after and the drinks were on Jeff...a few famous faces and some old pals I hadn't seen in a while. It was a good laugh. Hence the title...I rolled out of bed at 2pm!!! Spent the day cleaning my bicycle in the sunshine on my balcony, cooking some lovely nosh writing this and that's about all really! It's ok to be lazy once in a while...
Love to you all...back in the studio tomorrow for more musical goings on...
Played at the Royal Albert Hall tonight. My oh my soooo amazing!! I'll get some photos together for you tomorrow. I absolutely loved every nanosecond of it! Great crowd. Still in shock! Gotta go to sleep, tell you more tomorrow when I've calmed down and I'm not so shattered...
Love to you all...in five years...i'm going to write a piece of music to be premiered at the PROMS...you heard it here first! Been a lifelong dream. Thankyou Jeff for such an incredible opportunity! LOVE LOVE LOVE
That's whatcha get when you cycle home in the rain...(recognize the carpet?)
Well...I'm going to be leaving "closing In" now for a while. He's got to that stage of 80% there...He's not come out like any of the others. He's quite live sounding compared to the other songs. Actually most of the songs sound pretty different to one another. That's what I like about it. I didn't start this record with a "right...now I'm going to make THIS kind of an album". Every tune has taken me somewhere different. It's worked out that I work on an two or three songs at a time. If I get stuck on one, just load up one of the others and keep diving in and out of them. So I guess this way they ended up even more on their own paths cause I'm always A/B ing..
I've decided what I'm going to do for a week or two before I settle back in the studio for stage 2...I've got nine songs now I'm pretty happy with...The Walk, I'm in love with you (an old song I always liked...sounds TOTALLY different!) Goodnight and Go, Loose Ends, Closing In, The moment I said it, Headlock, Clear the Area and Have you got it in you...then there's Daylight Robbery...I'm still struggling with that one...and the final 11th mystery choon...
Going to have another play with Daylight robbery before I go...but what I'm going to do after is take my little bicycle and cycle down the Thames Path (path alongside the River Thames...incase you hadn't put two and two together). The source of the Thames is 107 miles from our flat. If I do around 15 a day I should get home in a week...It begins in Cirencester. The two major towns it winds through are Oxford and Reading. I've always wanted to do it. To watch it grow from a tiny weenie trickle out the ground to a busy City River. All kinds of things on the way. Just gotta hope there's not a week of rain planned! Take a good book or two, a map, my ipod...and I'm sorted. My plan is I'll be fresh and ready for action when I get back. Not going to listen to what I've done at all while I'm gone...
Had a little rehearsal with Jeff again today. I'm sooooo excited that I'm going to sing at the Albert hall tomorrow! WOW! It's soooo beautiful...WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR!!!?
Well....this is what "Closing In" looks like at the moment! Well she has around another 20 or so tracks if you could scroll down the page...Top right hand corner needs some slight alteration...looks to much like the bit before...
hmmmmmmmm.
So had a strange weekend. It was great coz I spent the weekend catching up with friends and actually talking to someone other than the computer. Makes for better conversation....it was bad coz a friend really upset me this Saturday too. You know who you are, don't ignore me...
eh hem.
Sorry to involve you in my trivialities!
If any of you live in London and have a bit of spare time go to Central St Martins on Charring cross road. It's an exhibition of all the Fine Art degree students and fashion students final work. Some of it is really great..and if you're feeling itchy to spend some spondoolies you can buy the art too...There's sculpture, musical sculpture, painting, film, documentaries, clothes...and various concoctions of these. Watch out for synchronized swimmers on the ground floor!!
I spent four hours updating most of my plug-ins for Pro-tools today. Somebody was having a little crashing fit today and throwing his toys out the pram so I set him straight once and for all. Now he's all up to date and running (fingers crossed) smoothly again...
my lunch...
Congratulations are in order to a certain "Guy" for getting the the number one spot with Miss Spears! Nice one gov'ner. She never sounded so good!
I am off to count sheep...hopefully I won't get into the thousands...
This is that little 9 second bit of jittery phone video footage of Richie playing along to "closing in". You can't see from this crappy video but there were three mics into three seperate compressors before going int Pro-tools...the combined of all of those were then sent into the Pod XT for a bit of live action knob twiddling. What you'll hear is Richie just as he went in. Thanks darling! (i love watching him play!)
I know it's just a silly thing but putting this little movie into Pro-tools got me quite excited...makes me want to get a little video camera now... more gadgets!
I brought a CD home today of Closing In to listen to it in another environment. Something about having it on a CD that even though it's not done yet forces you to be purely a listener...zoom out. Easy to get sidetracked when listening in the studio. I usually end up fiddling with something again and forgetting the bigger picture. I need to sing the final chorus now I know where it ends up...in a pile of cellos and not much else. It's a real journey of a song. Those carpet tubes are quite a feature in the first verse. They kinda sound like a pulsating 20 foot giant rubber band being twanged...which is exactly what I'd intended of course!
I've decided to cook a BIG FAT English fry up tomorrow to celebrate...a bit prematurely...the back of another song. I totally know what to do now in order to wrap it up. This is where we sail through to the end...Well at least to it's pre final touches stage which I'm going to do along with the others when i think i have all 11 of them...
COOL!
Love to you all! Have a wonderful weekend. I may not sign in tomorrow...speak soon though.
Hugs
immi
p.s. someone wrote in today to ask what I'm into listening to coz they're in desperate need of some good new music and figured I may know some. So I'm going to stick a page up on the new website with this info (when it's ready) and update it every month or so. I need to do a bit of research myself. I've spent so long hermiting in the studio I haven't had much time to seek out new music. Dying to buy the new Avril and Cursor Miner CD...gonna get them tomorrow.
Didn't get round to doing the little sync of the drums phone video thing today. It is only 9 seconds and I'm sure it's really easy to do if you know how but I've never synced music to video before. I know you can do it in Pro-tools though...just a bit bleary eyed now. Going to call it a night...Drums are working nicely but now I've recorded these drums and spent some time spicing up the rhythm track in general, the rest of it sounds a little dull...so tomorrow I'm going to start bringing all the parts up to par with these new drums...it's a pain in the arse 'cause I thought I was closer on this one that I am...it's gotta be done right though...no cutting corners. I couldn't live with myself!
A little question for you peeps...
I was looking a little closer in the mirror today coz something shiny caught my eye and I went nose close to inspect...it was ANOTHER grey hair! Well actually it's quite silvery...I got my first one about a year ago. Forgot about it but now I'd say I have around 15...I'm 26? What could it mean? When you get say...15...for instance...if it's 1 to 15 a year that means 15 by 15 is 225, and 225 by 15 = 3,375, 3,375 by 15 is 50,625...and that by 15 is 759,375...and that by 15 is over 11million!! Have i got that many hairs on my head? I hope this isn't the formula for silver hair growth rate or i've got 6 years 'til complete coverage! Goodness...it'll be easier to dye my hair weird colours i guess..no need for bleaching...
Anyway...I'm sure you really wanted to know that...
I posted this photo up coz I really like it. It was taken by a friend of mine, Miss Michael Crook..yes she's a she...Up and coming I think, most definitely! x Shot in February this year in my hotel room in LA the morning I was leaving for the airport to come home. She only used the light from the windows. I think it's great. I have a few more too from her. Will put them up on the website when it's done...
The building we live in is not the prettiest to look at but it gives great view! Taken one evening by Richie on the Polaroid...
He came in today and played some drums for me. I made a tiny little phone video clip of me recording him banging away ...will post tomorrow coz I want to sync it up with the drums we recorded rather than the crackly phone recording.
Did some more cello. I'm into it now. So far we've got cello...the first time ever I've braved playing on a record! mum would be happy about that...the daughter of Gustav Holst is a cellist called Imogen Holst...I wonder? Carpet tubes, drums and I think one of the more ambient sounds I made began life as a guitar through a pod way back when...
So I'm going to make Richie part android tomorrow and keep some of him human...I love doing the beats. Could spend hours shredding and twisting...
Jeff called me up again today on the off chance I was at my studio (he's rehearsing next door) So I popped over to go through the two songs we're doing again. One being "Blanket". If you haven't heard it...try and get a hold of it...it's the tune I wrote with Urban Species. I always liked it. Did my bit - melody and lyrics and sang - all in a day with one of my more deadlier hangovers. I think that's why I got it done so quick, I just needed to go home and sleep it off ASAP!
I took this of Steve Jobs giving his slick presentation at the itunes launch today....dressed like he was going to buy some milk for breakfast...and why not! It was packed full of media and their enormous zoom lenses... This is so brilliant! itunes in the UK finally! This is going to change our musical world for the better! May he live long...Only 79p a song! I love it...the ultimate in the MP3 download experience is almost perfect. We just need you to add Frou Frou in the UK and Cursor Miner and readymade and stereo Total and Neutral Milk hotel and bla bla bla! Goodness me..I'm on their case don't you worry! Going to get our videos up there for you to watch..as you can imagine every artist dead or alive wants to be on this so we may have to be British and stand in line...but we'll get there. They so far have 700,000 songs on there,,,I bet that's not even 0.1% percent of recorded music though! From every obscure German blip guy to Mongolian chanting...one day it'll all be on there i hope and all the out of print music. We'll be able to really study music like never before! So cool xx Can't wait...Into this Rendezvous thing they've got going too on the itunes page. So if you haven't got it already, go get it! It's freeeeeee.
After the talk I walked to the studio over Tower Bridge. Took about 3/4 hour. Beautiful day today! ...took this of Tower Bridge on the way...
Well..today I actually played an instrument! Shock horror! Programming was set aside for a while as I dusted of my old cello and made some reasonable noises with it. I'm nowhere near as good as I thought I used to be...the memory can play tricks of course...but thankfully my computer skills have rocketed so it balances out i guess. The cool thing about the cello is no matter how crap a player you are you look great playing it!
All the parts in "closing In" are working pretty well now except for the drums...just need to get them recorded, put them though the grinder and hopefully it'll all slot into place! Plus the usual hours of nipping and tucking... so that all zeros and ones are living happily and harmoniously together...
Off to bed now...had an early start and last nights iblog kept me up until 4am!
I feel like a naughty school girl coz I haven't written anything for the past two days. The reason...I've been having far to much fun! Did a spot of music making on Saturday. Mainly programming in a sexy bass line on my EMX (lovely little blue number a few blogs down). Then tidied the studio up a bit...coz it doesn't always look like it does in the 360s funnily enough...infact it's only ever looked like that the day I took the photos - tangent- I hired the 360 degree lens, the camera and a tripod for the weekend. I thought it was going to take a photo like those old cameras that they used to have for the school photos with all the pupils in. left to right in 15 seconds or whatever. There would be one kid at both ends...looking a little more worn out on the right hand side...anyway. This was a one shot wonder. The lens pointed at a half an egg shaped mirror directly above it and took the whole photo in one click...I did manage to run into the little room though...(as some of you noticed!) - anyway..
So I was tidying up for Fred and Matt. Fred's a guy I met at the TED conference, Guy and I were lucky enough to be a part of, in February this year. We had a giggle and a few bevies! It really was an amazing few days. Held in Monterey, CA. Talks on flying cars, super eco energy efficient buildings that give out more energy than they consume, A vertical space tram idea where vessels get lifted from the earth to just beyond the pull of gravity to get you into space without the need for 5 zillion tons of fuel, the latest 3D images from Mars (we all wore those attractive red and blue lens glasses), the guys from google did a talk, a demonstration given to us by the inventor Woody Norris with his amazing ultrasound system Instead of sound dispersing in all directions which it does form the speakers we're used to his one directs sound like a laser points light. He waved it around the room (looks kinda like a small square solar panel from a distance) with the sample of a waterfall. Nobody could hear a thing until he pointed it at you and it really sounded like were standing right by one. VERY COOL! I want one... considering how amazing it is and all they're not actually that much to buy. They're about a $grand I think! Be fun to point at the kids on my block and scare the living daylights out of them! I wouldn't do a thing like that...Woody was in our Tech Joy session. Each speaker had 18 minutes to do their thing! that included us. All that way for 18 minutes you say...It was SO worth it! Also speaking in Tech Joy was this guy called ze frank He made me/ everyone, HOWL! Please check out his website and hold on to your sides! "Dance Properly" is how it all started with this site. He made a little ecard invite and sent it to a handful of his mates. Next thing you know his site's getting millions of hits!! You'll see why...
That's where the photo's from..Those long haul flights don't do much for the Bags! that's my excuse anyway...
Sooooo...these guys, Fred and Matt, came into my studio and got a little sneak heap preview... They both work for apple..and I LOVE all things APPLE!! hmmmm...these boys have got me into this thing that's going on tomorrow in London. It's the Launch for itunes in the UK..I am MAJORLY excited! Going to hear all things new and up until tomorrow secret in the land of Mac...It's V.I.P only so I am REALLY lucky to be going! If I'm allowed to take photos I'll put some up here tomorrow...we went out for dinner at my studio local Italian and were the last one's to leave. Then we walked along the south of the river. They went over tower bridge, we...a short arm in arm walk to Waterloo.
Then Sunday we went to a FEAST of a picnic,,,and I must say my coconut chick pea rice went down a storm! Especially with a certain One year old Lulu. A small cherry tomato she was nibbling on went down very well on my skirt too...
There was loads of us! Loads a sun and loads of confusing 2 frisbee, rugby ball and strange whistling thing that looks like Button Moons spaceship throwing going on and Jeffers was climbing trees. Congrats Justine on your finishing finally! Then Siren suite to night cap.
And today...amongst the general lark that is noise making, I could be seen playing cardboard carpet rolls in my vocal booth...You may be scratching your heads..what on earth? Well my studio is in a big complex with loads of other businesses. One of them is a carpet dealers. So each day instead of putting these broken ones in the churner, they leave these things out for this weird girl who wants them to make some kind of carpet tube organ...sound best when played with Ping Pong bats. You play the ends and they give off a really nice resonant tone. Each one different. I've so far only bothered to find about half an octave of them. You're probably worried now...I've stacked up two high and two low octaves of the same note. They pedal under the whole song at the moment in a high-hat type pattern. They sound suitably digitized though strangely...I liked them at the end of tonight anyway.
Humm. I think I have outdone myself. This must be the biggest iblog EVER!
Today I caught the ferocious Urban Brown Bear asleep and off guard. First ever recorded footage of this rare animal. This bear has been terrorizing the Waterloo neighborhood over these last few weeks. If you see this bear report it immediately. Guilty on numerous counts of time wasting!
Yeah...i did actually do some work today...but I got a new toy too! I love it! It takes pictures, videos, records music, plays music and I think you can make calls on it to or something.
Cool!
Ja...I've really got a much clearer picture on "Closing in" now. Went trawling through the Hard drives on the Mac today and found some wicked sounds I had discarded and left for dead on one of the older sessions of the song. So that was a nice surprise. I like it when I find sounds I've created and have absolutely no idea how I made them! It's so easy to get lost in the spontaneity of sound sculpture...yuk, that sounded so pretentious...sorry...anyway, when it happens it's really cool...I'm trying to think how to describe what I'm not explaining very well!...erm...I guess it's just like a great chat with an old mate. You're not thinking your just enjoying chatting away...and then out of the blue you say something and you're like...did I say that? Wow! ...hmmm...I'll just pretend like I meant to say it and that I say great things like that all the time.
You get me?
You don't get me?
Aye...
Got wireless internet action going on in the flat today...liking it..my man has his new laptop and I my new phone..so now, I'm going to be getting a laptop soon. I think I should get one coz I feel like each trip I make to and from the studio on my bicycle is half an hour everyday wasted on tarmac and traffic lights. I should be Pro-tooling on the bicycle move...oh yes...It's a technique I will master for the sake of me finishing this album!
Now I am going to love you and leave you before I fill your brain with anymore useless information...
Dunno who this is...such great natural style though for such a young kid...
Had an assortment of happenings today! In the morning I yo yo'd between different shops in search of this darn phone...seems as if everyone else is trying to get this one too. Found one eventually. Going to cycle in and get it tomorrow...Then, when i got into the studio i found I had had an email over night from the people that got me that six feet under thing looking for a piece of music for a new Samsung phone add in the states...they wanted something up tempo, dancy, playful and a little hook they can use for the feature of the new phone which is a slidey type thing? hmm...well I have this song called Goodnight and go (which is where that `Go" samples from in the previous post) which I thought would be good to send in. So I made a few 30 second clips of it and sent it over..you never know?...believe me...stuff like this can really help...I think that was the secret with Moby's last album. Radio wouldn't have played his singles so readily if it wasn't he fact that he'd had all the songs off his album synched either in Films, adds or TV. It's not an easy thing trying to persuade radio stations to play your music these days! Sometimes money helps apparently? I need to sell records before I get any though so that chicken and egg just keeled over on me. Bla...It is soooooooo hard to get music on the radio! That's why those ones that stick their neck out and play music coz they LOVE it...RULE MY WORLD! you know who you are! Why can't ALL DJ's just play music they like? It's so awful. All this amazing music failing to get head coz of a big chief and his round table... Sorry...
And then..after sending those off I unscrewed a couple of bits of gear from my rack and walked about a hundred yards to where Jeff Beck is rehearsing for his upcoming tour of the UK. He's playing the Royal Albert Hall (in london), which is my favourite venue in all the world! It's wonderfully circular! Maybe I have an affinity with it growing up in a Round (well actually elliptical) House?? So when he asked me if I'd sing a couple of songs I JUMPED at the chance! WOW WOW WOW..if any of you get the chance. In the summer go to one of the Proms. It's a classical music festival held at the Albert Hall every year. Go to see a really obscure concert...not anyone big like Mozart coz you can guarantee it'll be Rammed..maybe a premier of a piece of music written by a living composer (much more my cup of tea), lie on the floor and gaze at the mushrooms (accoustic reflecting thingies) on the ceiling. It's amazing! It's Huge and it's so darn ed beautiful! And it'll only cost you 4 quid! Bargain! This area is called the promenade and it's always been cheap so anyone can go and experience it! It's cheap coz you have no seat..but that's the cool part! take a pillow and stretch out...that's what I do sometimes...
So we're going to do Rollin' and a tumblin' which I sang on his last record and Blanket (the one I wrote with Urban Species) He wanted to do something bluesey.He came over to my studio one day and I played him this tune on the piano and went mad for it! Also he went mad for daylight robbery...but still I have no lyrics for it...It's such a great riff though that he's just going to play a band version of it at the gigs and ROCK OUT with it...Funny..
And then..after that came back to the studio and after an hour of crashing the computer got stuck into the music for closing in... I like...Haven't recorded much in the way of live drums coz I've been too busy geeking out..but this one needs some really powerful, crushed, compressed to hell killer live drums...and I know just the man for the job! Oh yes...Richie Mills! Currently in the process of getting a deal together for this band he's in called The Lucky Nine ...more about that soon...
Warble warble warble...tomorrow MUSIC! Yipeee! I was sooooooo bored of my own voice by the end of the day. Dying to move on! Did some cool chanty things for the chorus though...nice.
Going to go and get me a sparkly new phone tomorrow morning so I can take pictures and little movies to put on here each day...any excuse for a new gadget!
So you guys can appently leave me little messages now but this iblog page came about to give me a kick me up the ass so that I'd have to have something done each day to tell you about in regards to album progress... so even though I'd love to chat all day long...forgive me if I don't reply to them all..asuming there are some that is i guess!
lots of love to y'all and I hope this becomes a happy vibrant little iblog in time...
That's the only bummer with hot weather this time of year! Pouring! Where does it all come from? Tissues..been through packs and packs of them. Anyway...enough of my seasonal nasal habits.
Wow. This is a real vocal extravaganza of a song. HEAPS of
them...sorry...They've ended up sounding quite vocoder like as harmonies in the chorus coz they're really monotone. Cool effect. May double them up with my vocoder..hmmm..
I really can spend a week on vocals for one song! That's no joke...If i'd started writing this iblog a month ago I was doing more music than vocals. There is music on this album trust me! It just feels like I've been doing nothing but vocals for ages...That's what happens though. Music, vocals, more music, more vocals, mix, faff, mix...abandon...
Sorry about last night's iblog being posted kinda after the occasion...if some of you were searching to find CM live on radio one you may have found that you can 'listen again' here! We are trying to sort it so I can send these blogs directly from my computer right at cha because everything goes through the almighty medium who is James...Coz He da man wi da codes...
Tra la la
My oh my it's HOT HOT HOT...and the sky was blue blue blue...I stared at the sun for as long as i could in search of a black spot today on my balcony with four pairs of sunglasses stacked on top of one another. Alas...no joy. Why did I throw those welding glasses out? See that's what happens when you do a clear out. There's always something you wish you hadn't chucked. I wouldn't have guessed it'd be those though! Oh well...just a few hundred years to wait. In 2012 there's another one of these Venus crossings but we won't be able to view it from England...
Mary anne Hobbs every Monday night from midnight (UK time) is one of the best shows around. So if you find yourself scooting around on the net around this time let her keep you company for a couple of hours.
Cursor Miner is doing a live set tonight. He may do his DJ pleasing the crowd more dancy version of his album or his album...I haven't heard it as it is on the record yet...must buy it! I've been waiting long enough! His last album "Explosive piece of mind" gets constant ipoddery action!
Check it out!
Did more vocals today. Is that possible you ask?
Ah yes...the love and attention that goes into my vocals!
Did some de-essing (bringing down the volume of individual ss' and t's and other such piercing consonants. Also did some vocal effect rides. All at the moment just over a loop basically. Got to get the vocals slamming on their own with hardly anything else in the mix then pile it all on around the vocals. Mixing in other elements as you go. Just like baking a nice juicy cake!
Just been down the Old Bill reporting my stolen bag. Very nice policeman! He may even be reading this. I said I'd say hi... so hi there PC Dillon!
More warblings today. Did a half day of vocals and then sped off on my bicycle to Battersea to see a play a friend of mine, James Wolfe was doing the music for. It was great! Well done James! looking very brown...mmmm. Met up with some friends after then left there and went for a wee dinner on the south bank with my lovely man. Had a delicious meal by the river, outside
with all the best of London's skyline behind us. Beautiful, beautiful London Town! Gorgeous evening. Anyway. The bill comes for the meal I go to get my bag..and IT'S NOT THERE! You little S**T. Big fat Karma coming back right at you! This person must have got on their hands and knees so as to get below our eye level and stolen it from by my feet! rrrrrr...no phone, no ipod, no wads of cash, none of that so ha ha...dirty knees for nothing much. They would have had to wander around with a very girly pink checkered handbag too! So...obviously I couldn't pay my bit...which was possibly the only bonus out of that happening...went home cancelled all the cards within half an hour, fingers crossed...then made a break for Siren Suite and hooked up with a few mates and a few by accident too. Which was nice.
1. I have finished the lyrics, sung the lead vocal and laid down some bare bone music to get me started on Closing in. It's wide it's dark it's...the tenth song. Oh yes...the tenth! Ok so strictly I haven't finished Daylight Robbery but it was getting on my cup cakes and I'm not gonna let an absent lyric get the better of me again! Move on...to something you can do...wood for trees i hope. Come back to it and it'll all be clear as day...light...
Ja. So that's one...
2. Today i heard a distressing little piece of information. So I'm
closing in on some guy on ebay who is selling really shoddy recordings of me from 1998 playing acoustic versions of old songs completely unaware they were being recorded - by some crafty bugger in the audience on a minidisc no doubt-. He's not even a fan. One of the songs is written as Lidding on the titles...meant to be Kidding. So I call out to you as a working musician who has remortgaged her flat to make an album I am proud of..NOT to give this guy the satisfaction in receiving your hard earned cash for some CD he's cobbled together. He doesn't deserve it... I DO! Now i know that you just want to hear these songs, something new to you but this is NOT how i intended these songs to be heard. So for me...your friend...do me a favour and don't buy anymore! It's embarrassing for me. Stuff like this doesn't translate onto recordings unless it's done really well. Please save your pennies for a kick ass legit follow up Imogen heap album or somebody else's kick ass album for a tenner! I could name a few!
If you guys are really into buying acoustic versions of i megaphone I will try to get something together for you. We did make some GOOD recordings from the Desk at some of the gigs. I'll see what I can find. If I don't have them all maybe i'll just go and record them somewhere for you, maybe a gig for that purpose...hmmm...I'll have a think.
Now I know a couple of you have this CD...if you have any email address for this guy can you send it to James for me? I want to spank him...
That's all I need...i think this song has something against me. Each time i think i'm getting there with these lyrics for Daylight Robbery it turns on me. Gets me all rattled and unsure. RA! Today when i came in i thought i only had the second verse to write. Now the first line of the first verse is under trail again. The second line has taken it's place and now i don't have that one filled anymore...it's soooooo frustrating coz getting these lyrics is all that is between me and home straight. I SO want to finish this one. If i just didn't care so much about i may get it done but It's really got under my skin.
I am going to tell you the first line to make sure I don't change it again. This way that is one variable deleted.
pleasure the wave, synchronise in the swaying sonic joy.
Done. That is now hard as granite. That leaves 5 more like that coz the second verse is twice as long as the first.
I am going home. Defeated again!
We all have our bad and good days. It just seems so stupid that a few lines to a song can get me in such a deflated mood. I guess it's because it's something I'm meant to be good at and when even that doesn't work you feel a tad useless!
Bla bla...sorry for the rant.
Hopefully will have something tomorrow xxx
Love to you all..
on a more positive note actually. Cursor Miner's gig was like no other! He was wearing a white shiny boiler suite and goggles and Sarah the inflatable doll was also present...after a lot of pumping up! Some hilarious man and doll dance moves too. Sound wasn't very good. Not his fault of course, though I am partial to a bit of distortion!
His new album's out...if you like the sound of Aphex twin meets David Bowie meets Beck go get it!
love Cursor Miner I love Cursor Miner I love Cursor Miner Ilove Cursor Miner I love Cursor Miner I love Cursor Miner I love CursorMiner ILOVEHIM!!!!!
In a strictly musical sense!
I'm so excited I'm so excited I'm so excited...seem to be doing that a lot recently...it's his new album launch tonight in London and I am not missing it for the WORLD! joy joy joy...sonic joy!
Actually those two words make a brief appearance in my new song...daylight robbery. Coming along nicely. Chorus lyrics are PARTY TIME! why not...? About the best night out you've ever had. Saw a kid in a crowd at a Hundred Reasons gig a while back. He was about fifteen with a group of mates. We were in the Astoria in London. He was down below moshing his pants off and I was observing him from above. He just looked so damn happy. His favourite band, his best mates, out and about drinking and smoking on a school night. It reminded me of this rave I went to. Elevation...in crystal palace when i was about fifteen...it was AMAZING. So it's all about that feeling. Great
music, great friends, good times.
Gotta skidaddle.
Check out Readymade's album Bold. There's this song on there called Funiculaire which totally inspired me to write this song called Headlock. I love it so much! Anyway...heard back from him today after a nail biting wait...and he Loves it! Yihaaa...i am such a fan. Hope he comes to London soon. He's French and lives in Paris.
I actually carried on being EXTRA safe with the backing up today. The stuff is now on four different hard drives and five seems a tad over the top. Good to be safe and clear the decks for the next song. Daylight Robbery. Introducing fellow album mate no.9. This little bugger has been stubborn right from the start, lyrically speaking. It's been about many many different things. I think tonight I may have cracked it! Always loved the
title and the backing track. It's FULL of energy...and even features a circuit bent Speak and spell! You've seen his little brother Speak and maths a couple of days ago with the wise words of "write it" on his face. cheeky mongrel.
The idea came out when i was trying out some new gear. My Nuendo set up was bought as a result...as an addition to Pro-tools...coz more is better...thank you again SAM! I had an email through one day requesting the need for an up tempo lively guitary instrumental 30 second piece of music for this advert for boomerang insurance or something from my publishers? i
dunno..anyway. I had to try out this gear anyway and what better way to do that than to try and create a song on it. As it happened they didn't use it...but it was great to be inspired to go down a different route for fun."Let go" was written for a movie. It didn't get in the one we wrote it for but it's now in Garden State so there you go! Can't complain. So I loved what came out of the experiment. Trouble is it sounds so wicked without any vocals (apart from a weird loop of me through a vocoder and diced up) it almost seemed a shame to put lyrics to it.
Listened to Jon's album this morning...really great. Parts of it wouldn't feel out of place in a David Lynch movie. Really beautifully crafted. Takes you out of the everyday by a million miles...and i sound great! ha ha..
Piano tuner came over today. Lovely lady! One of the pianos was so badly out of tune she was here from 2 'til 7 tuning them...may not see her again?
Erm...so I did my backing up. It was great listening back to the album so far and If i don't say so myself it's sounds bloody brilliant!
Just been out for a very tasty meal at my local italian with Rupert Hine...a succulent medium rare fillet of beef (the meal no tthe company..he's a strict pescetarean!)...mmmm...some asparagus to start. They know me there now so I get the regular treatment...i'm into that free glass of port thing!
I am really excited now. It suddenly feels like i'm not so far away from the light after all. I'm so dying to let y'all hear it! I'm going as fast as I can..promise!
Good Morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening
and the no mans land of greetings
good wee hours...
It is three thirty in the morning and I am FRIED! Had a little break when my darling man visited me bearing gifts in the form of an indian takeaway around 8pm. Now that's a real nice thing to do! Made TONS of headway today though on MISI...thank fook for that! Ahh...I so love it when a song is nearly done. Such a joy to fit the remaining pieces together! You know where
you have to get to and get to it you know you will...it's like
gliding...It's ended up in a direction I didn't expect it to go but I like it even more now. It feels fresh again. I'm going to leave this one for a day...come back to it on wednesday to feel how it should end...i don't usually like fade outs...but in this instance it could be the way to go. It's kind of undulates. Rolls along...but it has an urgency to it. Feels like it's going somewhere and you can't stop it.
Tomorrow I have a visitor by the name of Jon Hopkins...aka Mr Roque (if any of you know the remix he did for GTBIL...) He's coming over first thing to play me his new album he's just finished (i am on one of the songs). So that'll be a good relaxing thing to do after zero sleep. Then at one I have my piano tuner who said it's going to take her 3 hours to tune my two pianos. So I will take advantage of that time and sort out my hard drives coz there is stuff all over the place. Not very tidy at all...hmmm...hoover? clean fridge? sort out clothes all over the bedroom floor...that kinda day!
So...Hope you're having a good one wherever you are...most likely in a chair checking your emails and stuff...and if you're having a bad one...a good one will be on it's way eventually!
