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.

Vitabar

I might have already talked about this place, but Vitabar is a small burger bar in Iceland. They spice the meat and it comes with bacon and cheese and a cocktail sauce. The grill is open until 11.30pm. I eat there every 2 or 3 days.

The show for future shorts one was fun. The theme this time was a garden party. I started with the accordion and I think in the theme I was supposed to be like the drunk failed musician uncle.

Iceland, again

I'm back in Iceland to play some shows. Tonight I'm doing a show for Future Shorts One in a place called Faktory.

I want to tell people how good Iceland Air is. Lots of leg room, good food and drink which is moderately priced, good entertainment (each chair has a TV in the back where you can choose what you want to watch or listen to). I really like when travel companies get everything right.

That is all.

home

I had to cancel the rest of the tour. I had an operation a little over a week ago, and despite hindering my healing from travelling and sleeping badly, I had a fun few days in the west. However, upon driving for two hours and arriving at The Crown Inn in Glastonbury to find the venue owner hadn't so much as written my name on the notice board, I felt disheartened. An hour before I was due to play he put an event on facebook, but alas no one saw it. He told me there was no point in playing to an empty bar, and cancelled the show. After a little bit of begging I managed to get half of my fee, and went to hospital to get checked out.

This is something I am faced with far too often: playing for free, or not being paid the agreed amount. I don't imagine painters and decorators have this problem?

Day 2: Portland

We woke up in a hot tent. Everything was wet. We went to a supermarket to buy water and supplies. I realised the satnav has an Irish accent.
We drove to Weymouth where we ate a pie and chips:

There were a troop of dancers with faces painted black:

Then we had an icecream:

I had the photos from the oktomat developed and they came out in quite an odd way:

We looked around and Laurence tried to win a cuddly toy:

Then we drove to the venue and I slept for a half hour. I listened to Scott 4 by Scott walker. I'd never heard that album before.
After the show we ate French cheese and bread.
A woman got punched in the head by another woman.
I slept on a bed made of horse hair.

west country tour

I have embarked on a 5 day tour of the west country.

Day 1: Bridport:

Left laurence's place at 4.40pm and hit traffic. Stopped in a petrol station and there was a man selling sea bass from his van. We filled the tank and it cost £62.
Almost finished the role of film on the oktomat camera. It takes 8 photos in series on one picture.
Arrived at the venue and it had no one in it except a couple finishing dinner. We called the contact to arrange rhe place to stay and he directed us to a field. we drove to the middle of nothing.

We pitched a tent with a view of hills

We stopped at a supermarket to eat:

Then back to the venue to set up:

I was watched by 4 "loose women" and photographed by a drunk man from the local radio.
Before playing I felt nervous. The man told me to keep it chill.
Am thinking of doing a live show broadcast tomorrow if it's possible.

toy piano

A month or so ago I was given a toy piano by my friend Elodie Despres. She is the lady that owns the 1bis venue in Paris, which was one of the first places I played in France. I used it on one song for that first show at 1bis. Since then, I have played that song on toy piano at pretty much every concert. I did everything but beg for that little piano, and a month ago when I visited, her kids had pretty much destroyed it - several keys were missing and it was broken, so she gave it to me. I've managed to put it back together again, and my brother is going to make the new keys.

Here is a video of the first time I used it at 1bis.

optigan keyboard sound

this is an optigan disc very slowed down, kind of sounds like a voice.

these chords are ripped from a peter lyons song.

cat heart

My cat's heart and breath:
JASPER HEART by mwsounds

You And The Stars

This was filmed about a year ago at my apartment in Paris.

Toy Piano

I wanted to share this one more time, as I still think it's pretty impressive:

music

I made the music for the new Mulberry book advert. They make nice bags. My friend Rob Francis made the animation and asked me to put music. Here are the two videos:

This was made using reversed samples from the main piece I wrote, and an omnichord:

And this was made using Matthew Prior's ukulele, with my Optigan, toy piano, glockenspiel and various other nice things.

circuit

Some circuit bending, first:

Last night I played a concert in Iceland. It was at a bar called Boston. I borrowed a guitar from a guy who plays with the Icelandic band mum. It was a half sized guitar, which made me feel like a giant.

Today I have a bruised leg and a swollen tongue.

finished demos

I recorded 13 demos in the slaughter house. Here is a short video.

recording in a slaughter house

I am in France staying in an old farmhouse in the mountains and I've made a studio in the disused slaughterhouse. It has great reverb - high ceilings and lots of wood. I'm making demos for the orchestra and then we'll all come back here together in August and record the new album. I'm very excited to record in such a great space. At night it is so silent and it scares me. This whole village was burned by the nazis, and a lot of people who lived here were shot. Two people from this house were burned alive.

a song with my niece

The other day my four-year-old niece said "If you die i won't see you. if I die you won't see me." I told her she'd go to heaven and she said "I'll flap."

Paris and Rotterdam

I just got back from Rotterdam. I played a show there and a show in Paris. I'd never been to Holland before. Lots of bicycles.

In Paris I played a show for Xuly Bett in his shop. It was a fashion week thing, which is interesting, as I have no style.

I have a terrible lung infection and have been coughing for over a month, so when I was in Paris I saw the doctor and he gave me some medicine to make me better. It makes me feel sick but I guess it's working.

secret cinema and things

I just got finished doing another Secret Cinema. it was The Red Shoes and I played a 40's suave singer piano player. Good fun. I got to work with dancers, which I've never done before. It was more of the same in terms of cold coffee, hard (or no) rolls and no place to lay down.

Now I am doing music for a film about heaven called Saturday.

I recorded a new song and used a logdrum and kalimba - 2 things I've never used before.

moving so moving

I am moving house tomorrow. Since being in london I have slept on a lot of couches, in a lot of hospital beds and by a lot of people's sides, so it's good to have somewhere to call home. I've packed the studio and it's coming with me.

The instruments and recording equipment have been resting in my old childhood bedroom, and yesterday I arrived there to pack my things. The family next door have a little girl who is learning the drums - perhaps as revenge for years of late night music from me. Today I heard her practicing and had a microphone set up so I decided to press record. The result has been a loop that has a jerkyness to it that I really like, and it fits really well in to a song I am working on.

Here it is in it's current form.