mixing

I have been mixing the album with Leon Garage in Paris. It's going well. He always makes a pot of coffee and I always leave shaking uncontrollably.

Here is a busker I saw recently on the metro. He is my favourite.

iceland etc

On Monday morning I left from Paris for Frankfurt to help out with an exhibition of my friend Garbriela at a place called Schirn Kunsthalle. Good brezel in that town.

I had to leave a day early to come to Iceland and deliver a film.

Then I went and bought chicken soup with nuts in it.

Today I found a place that sells a hotdog and a coke for 400 krona. I took a hotdog with everything on it and on the way home stopped to buy milk and a big cake with chocolate and cinnamon.

I also stopped to buy tooth brushes.

studio

The studio in Paris is all set. Here is a video I recorded today:

paris paris paris

I have moved back to Paris. The studio is set up in my apartment.

I am here for a few days before I go to the south to record my album. I've worked a lot on the arrangements - mostly it will be banjo, trombone, clarinet, violin, bugle, glockenspiel, pump organ, chain percussion and a few modified Casios.

Every morning I go and sit by the Canal St. Martin and work on the songs. I found an old notebook in the barn where I will record and I used it to write all the lyrics.

barn

I have been doing a lot of recording tests in the barn for the new album. here is a short video with banjo and chains:

kangaroo

I arrived in France yesterday and I was taken out for dinner so I decided to try kangaroo. It came with a cheesy sauce and it was tasty:

Then we drove to the barn and today I started doing recording tests. The musicians are arriving on the 10th of August, so I want to be ready for them. I found a lot of things that make great percussion sounds - best of all a big rusty metal fence. I think maybe anything sounds good if you hit it hard enough:

Whale

Today I ate whale. It was kind of like beef but softer. It was prepared with roasted dates, aubergines, sweet potatoes and onions. Whale is the only thing I have ever eaten that came from the sea and didn't make me vomit. As I ate it I couldn't stop making whale noises to replace the usual "mmmmmm" noises associated with good food.