HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

So, remember me saying that I was going to get back to doing this blog on a regular basis?

I was totally on track until I was asked to play a show. All of a sudden *POOF* my time disappeared.

The show was for my local goth night. I decided to do a couple of cover songs.

Here are they are in all of all of their sp00ky glory

Halloween

Humanity (Part I) -main titles to The Thing

So, everybody have a safe and sane Halloween. I'll see ya Friday!

Bobby Bird email interview

Hello everybody.

You may remember my woefully out of print Friday about System Error from a few weeks ago.

Bobby Bird of System Error/Higher Intelligence Agency was kind enough to do an email interview with me.

I hope you enjoy! (I'll be in italics, BB will be bold)

Hello Bobby,

Thank you again for allowing me to conduct this interview by email. I realize it's not
the ideal medium for an interview so your graciousness is really appreciated. 

1. What were the early days of HIA like? 

early HIA evolved in a club night we used to do called Oscillate, we started of in this tiny club called Jasmin's in Birmingham in about 1991 & used to put our equipment in the DJ booth & play live tracks & jam between disc's, it was pretty heady days really, the club owner used to wonder why we didn't drink much beer!


2. What records had the biggest impact on your first recordings?

I suppose stuff that influenced me to make records was things like:
Nick Cave
jimi Hendrix ,
syd Barrett,
the Swans - Children of God,
white noise - an Electronic Storm

3. How did you hook up with Warp records? 

Sean Booth from autechre came to some early Oscillate night's & they played live at one of them & warp records came to that show, I think it was there 2nd live performance, HIA supported them on there 1st

4. What kind of impact did your appearance on the Artificial Intelligence comp have?

I think there was a lot happening at that time with HIA anyway, we were playing live & writing a lot & it was generally a busy time.

5. When did the work begin on the System Error record?

I think it was started in 1998 at my studio in Brighton rd , birmingham, it seemed to take us ages!! about 4 months if I remember correctly

6. What equipment were you using at the time?

for the sounds we used a Akai S700, Akai S1100 & Emu E64 samplers, effects were things like - Ensoniq DP4, Quadraverb ,Zoom 9030 guitar FX, plus Atari ST computor...

7. What was your process for recording System Error VS HIA?

where HIA was mostly analog, System Error was totally digital, we spent a lot of time making sounds from nothing, we'd sample nothing, turn it up, squash it , stretch it , try & make the samplers crash, anything we could think of to make new sounds, quite an interesting process thou as the machines somehow created the sound we had to work with, rather that creating the sounds you wanted as is the case with analog gear.

8. If you re-did the record today how would the sound differ?

I'm sure it's not possible to re-do the system error album, if we re-did it now, it would be a different album

9. Did you play any shows as System Error?

no

10. What can we expect to hear from you next?

I've been involved with a collective of people/artist's 'Modulate' for a few years now & we've been putting on events, creating installations & recently we've completed a DVD of abstract Audio/Visual works called - Modulate 5.1, it's just released on my label Headphone records, anyone who's interested could go to - modulate.org.uk - for more info.

also maybe some more HIA material in the not too distant future.

For more information on what Bobby is up to (and has done) head on over to:

Headphone Records
Modulate

And I really do encourage everybody who is reading this to purchase a copy of System Error's Nothing

Empty City [file under: ghost ambient]

There was a time several months ago that I first though of doing the radio2019 blog. I was walking away from a very successful (in the sense of information sharing, not financial) website about high tech special effects makeup materials. But my heart wasn't into it anymore. I had been talking about doing a blog like this for years (in it's original incarnation it was called 3lectric Sh33p) But the timing never seemed right, but fortune would smile on me and I would find my muse. In this case it was for a singular reason- an album a friend of mine was releasing on his own Strange Fortune label. The album was being described as "(A) new category to discover. The subtle underlying melodic structure of this music means it may be the most listenable "ambient" music you've ever heard, while it's all drenched in a singularly moody, haunted atmosphere that is Tor's real trademark. "

That was enough for me thus radio2019 was born. Just one problem.

In all of my excitement I forgot to buy the CD, and do a review of it! So with out further adieu I present to you what should have been the first radio2019 review Empty City by Tor Lundvall.



It's rare that an ambient album will really strike a chord with me. In 1997 I was blown completely sky high by Biosphere's outstanding album Substrata To me that album defined what modern ambient could (or should) sound like.

Almost 10 years later what Tor Lundvall has done is re-define ambient music by invoking not just an aural landscape, but what felt to be (to my ears) a fully immersed environment.

Even as a write this review in the middle of the day in a coffee shop in Pittsburgh I feel like I am in a desolate seaport city that lacks both people, and the trappings of commerce. Large empty buildings covered in layers of snow and ice surround me. Empty train yards tell stories of the people that used to be, but have ceased to exist.

The music with it's broken hip hop beats, and subtle melodies harkens to an alternate soundtrack to Twin Peaks (perhaps with Ridley Scott directing?) The slow grooves won't linger in your head for days, but will call to you to listen again and again. The delicate tranquility will reveal itself more and more like the layers of posters you see on city walls. If you carefully peel it back more and more of it's history will be revealed. This would probably appeal to not just fans of ambient, but to people in love with Souvlaki era Slowdive, and has certainly taken it's place as one of my favorite ambient records of all time.

download Scrap Yard

Order Empty City from Strange Fortune

Tor Lundvall's home on the web

Hello my lovelies.

It's been a while. Work and weddings and such got in the way of me posting. I'll not let that happen again.

To make it up to you I've got a ton of content for the next week. Album reviews, DVD reviews, an interview with Bobby Bird of HIA/System Error. (Not to mention the return of woefully out of print Friday)

All of this for you. My loyal fan-base. :)

For now how about a little bit of news?

First bit. The Horrors.



I don't hide the fact that I love the band for 2 reasons.

1. The music is really cool in a psychobilly sort of way- minus the billy. (and as you may guess I'm not a little bit country in the least bit)

2. Their first video was directed by Chris friggin Cunningham!

So, I was pleased as punch when I got this message via a myspace bulletin:

US HORRORS FAN – PRE-ORDER THE HORRORS US EP NOW

The Horrors are releasing a 5 track EP Stateside on October 23rd as an introduction to all you guys over there. The tracklisting is:

1. Death At The Chapel
2. Crawdaddy Simone
3. Sheena Is A Parasite
4. Jack The Ripper
5. Excellent Choice
Enhanced with the 'Sheena Is A Parasite' video

PRE-ORDER THE HORRORS EP by OCT 23 and receive a limited edition autographed poster!
Go here now to pre-order the EP.

Autographed poster AND the Sheena video. No brainer yo. BUY IT!

Now for something completely different.

I love Asian cinema. Tartan Entertainment has been releasing some of the best films out there under the Asia Extreme banner. (Including the Chanwook Park revenge trilogy, not to mention a bevy of other amazing flicks)

A little birdie told me that for the next 2 weeks a bunch of them (including Marebito, Cello, Face, Koma, Phone, Wishing Stairs, Whispering Corridors, Memento Mori, Acacia, Unborn But Forgotten, Doppelganger, The Booth, and Pray) will be on sale at Walmart for $9 monies each. I'm not the biggest Walmart fan, but if you'd like to build up your Asia Extreme this would be the best way a cheap way to do it.

That's all for now. I'll get something posted either late Sunday or early monday. Until then have a great weekend!

PS. Make this weekend a shoegazer weekend with some Slowdive. It's what all of the cool kids are doing. ;)