31.01.11 - So Far, So Good, Soda Bread

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Tonight's tune completes January on an upbeat mood. Thanks to my bro James, for letting me use some samples of his voice in this. I had a bit of a dip through random bits and pieces in my sample collection to find things could work with the vibe of this song.

So that's January done and dusted. 31 songs under my belt in 31 days, many of which I am immensely proud of. Not too shabby.

Y'all enjoy now, y'hear?

Cheers ^_^

30.01.11 - Motherhood

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A collaborative track today, with the very awesome Adam Mc Causland, also known as the man behind Fragile Human Organs. Get yer ears around some of this!

Cheers ^_^

Lyrics:

Motherhood

The sun was beating

Through your veins

I can't steer it

Can't grip the reins

Out of focus

Blood from the wound

Precious things burning

Like motherhood

I will keep you safe

In a dark place

Feel you burning

I'll extinguish the flames

The coldest blackness

You'll take to the grave

29.01.11 - SANE

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Lo-fi mess. Emotions were stirred and things got uncomfortably personal.

Lyrics:

SANE

I feel ill

As the sun is sinking down

So take another pill

As the sun is sinking down

A troubled mind you wouldn't know

There she was at the kitchen window

A shopping list or an avalanche

There she was at the kitchen window

The buzzing of that radio

There she is at the kitchen window

Is she just fine, you never know

When she looks out the kitchen window

Enjoy.

Cheers.

28.01.11 - Ginga Got Me Started

Listen (and/or download) now on Bandcamp

This one goes out to David William Braniff, Dave W Stockard and Niall Kelly. Thanks for your insane ideas. In a nutshell this is a track lamenting ginger people, who feel uninspired (with Simply Red?) over the groove of Scuba.

The track was heavily inspired by a Scuba track from his Triangulation album and also uses a cheeky Simply Red sample or two (from Something Got Me Started). For these reasons, this track will be a free download: I don't want these artists thinking I'm trying to make money off their work!

Enjoy ya ginga' bastids!

Cheers ^_^

27.01.11 - I Wish I Could Speak In Technicolour

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Ambient, soundscape, electro-acoustic, sonic art, acousmatic... A lot of names for what is generally known as 'music without obvious beats'. But that's enough politics!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

Sample used:

LSD Research

26.01.11 - Running With Oil

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! was a song by Genesis I believe. This is not a song by Genesis. This is a stressed out, riffed out, tense beat, rocker. I'm going to go relax for half an hour in a corner somewhere now. EEEEEK!!!

ENJAAAWWWEEEE

Cheers @_@

25.01.11 - The Climb

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

After some very productive work on the theme tune for Haven (the Irish animated series I am working on with Crucible Pictures), the writer / director / poet / visonary-extraordinaire Paul Hamilton decided to collaborate with me on tonight's SADFAY. Free-styling some singing and spoken word over a very basic guide beat, he left me to have my way with his takes and add whatever other beats, bass, sample edits and synths I felt would do it all justice. Behold! The 25th song for the S.A.D.F.A.Y. Project!

Enjoy-oy-oy-oy-oy-oy-oy-oy

Cheers ^_^

24.01.11 - Cleaner Face (A Penny Short)

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A weekend of living in the studio has made me feel somewhat greasy and there's definitely a certain detached state of mind you can reach when you're on your own and feeling a bit like you're out in the middle of nowhere. This song came out of the idea of being detached from people, maybe slowly losing your mind, maybe ending up homeless because you could no longer function in society. Also, I had to scrape together loose change for the bus ride home this evening and I ended up a penny short. The driver seemed to be making a big deal out of it. He probably thought I was some homeless person. I'm pleased to be back home! Now for a nice hot shower and some tea.

LYRICS:

• Welling up inside
• My dignity and pride has flown away
• But it's just your smile
• And beauty's only skin deep
• 
  
• And the streets are filled with pain
• We all hide our souls and cling to the shame
• 
  
• In the evening shadows crawl
• And neon puddles call, I'm drowning
• Whispering through the leaves
• Like a black and white TV, it's deafening
• 
  
• I paid for some magic spell
• It keeps the beasts from breaking out of hell
• 
  
• The slugs will have their way
• When I find my bed of tears and lay down
• Soaked into my clothes
• The stains and all the mould, revealing
• 
  
• Welling up inside
• You loved but then you lied, it's over
• Moonlit perfect smile
• Broken in the trials of memory
• 
  
• You heart it's spent on cigarettes and milky tea
• And angry forces breath in every face you see
• I keep myself amused,
• Fabricate some new delusion to cling onto
• 
  
• I once had a place and I had a cleaner face
• But it's too late
• I won't let it win, the panick and the din of regret
• 
  
• Where was I before? What was your name again?
• I can't recall
• Distant face distorted
• Distant words that mean nothing anymore
• Flown away

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

23.01.11 - Kitchen Grinder

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Playing with sampled hits and layers tonight. Followed by some synths and then the obligatory beats and bass. I wish I had more time to tweak this one, but then that's often the case with S.AD.F.A.Y!

Enjy-mo

Cheers ^_^

22.01.11 - A Walk In The Fog

Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Tonight's track is some sort of spacey (funk) jam thing. To me this would maybe suit the credits of some 1990's arcade game. I felt quite rushed making this track tonight, probably because I arrived at the studio at 9pm. It's now 23:47... Come on broadband! Upload! Upload!

Enjoy.

Cheers ^_^

21.01.11 - Gateway Drug

Listen now on Bandcamp (free audio stream with paid download option)

Tonight's song started off as something very different. I realised after about an hour that I was pushing against it, trying to make it work, but it really didn't. I paused and thought of abandoning the whole thing, but I was able to salvage some of the original sounds and put a different spin on it. So as something that started of as a disaster that had me panicking, this turned out pretty well I think.

Enjoyeyoeyoeo... And...

Cheers ^_^

20.01.11 - Bears On The Intersection

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

I'm so very tired.

Endure...I mean... Enjoy!

Cheers @_@

19.01.11 - Counting Cars

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Counting Cars refers to what I was doing today for 4 hours. Another collaborative piece:

Lyrics written by the mysterious "Poopy Face" as he watched TV. Cars recorded in Belfast. Guitar recorded in my bathroom. Vocals recorded out the back of my house!

Lyrics:

• Counting Cars
• 
  
• Painfree in 30 minutes
• 10% more tomatoes = better meal times
• Are you drug free?
• I sold drugs out of her house,
• You lost your children
• They don't live with you,
• They live with your father – you lost them
• She's a long term friend
• She's more like my mother
• Yes ma’am that is fine, but he paid his dues,
• He also spent a long time in jail.
• I asked her if she was who she was and she was.
• That's my sense, there is no pre-existing contract
• The judgement really sticks in my throat
• We can all move on and live our lives.
• Posh bingo dot com
• Freelander 2, 0% pr typical
• When I am down you understand
• We have fun on it.
• Never forget it.
• In this world nothing ever stops.
• Lickety split.
• Where is Harvey, I need Harvey
• Every home needs a Harvey.
• My tummy is still rumbling.
• Argh! Is my toothpaste giving me complete protection? Is it? Is it? Argh.

Enjoy (and buy now!)

Cheers ^_^

18.01.11 - Discrepancies In Your Employment History

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Today's track = grungey metal whacky shit. That is all.

Enjoy........ \m/ >_< \m/

Cheers ^_^

17.01.11 - Spilling The Beans

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Today's track was made in my studio (for a change), so I used my gear a bit more: There is some electric guitar, Novation synth, vocals recorded with a proper microphone (Rode NT-1A) and I used my proper monitors (Tannoy Reveals) to mix and master the whole thing.

I also used my usual software TRIDENT OF POWER: Ableton Live, Reason and Sound Forge!

So the song is kinda sad and aggressive in a way. Like being pissed off that you're pissed off. Though I didn't particularly feel that way today, it's certainly come out through this song, so perhaps I've been feeling this way and just not been fully acknowledging it? Not sure. It might also be a reaction to the near-freezing temperatures in this feckin' studio. (Must remember to bring my electric heater next time.)

Anyway, here are the lyrics for the song:

• Spilling The Beans
• 
  
• Setting up
• Ready for A
• Sailing. Broken
• Wheel I can spin
• Thunder rumbling
• Deep inside your bones
• You sleep alone
• Always alone
• 
  
• Seeping out when
• Talking about anything
• Random. Nature has
• A way of leading
• To the truth within,
• Against your will
• You spill the beans
• You spill the beans
• 
  
• Your secrets
• You crawl through bars
• And over walls
• 
  
• And the warmth of self-pity
• Engulfs you again
• Safe in a womb,
• You're fed through tubes
• That pipe in fear and guilt
• And fear and guilt...

Enjoy it... like, right here in your pretty face (?)

Cheers ^_^

16.01.11 - Dusk Beats

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

SADFAY 16, like this description, is minimal.

Enjoy.

Cheers ^_^

15.01.11 - The Flotsam & Jetsam of Our Johnsons

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Day 15's track is also day 2 of the Brighton trip and the 5th collaborative piece for SADFAY. Confused? Well be prepared for more confusion: I am uploading this track on Day 16, as I mentioned in my update before I left. That means you lovely people get 2 songs tonight! (SADFAY 16 coming up very soon!!)

Anyway, I'd call SADFAY15 a "sound walk". A collection of recordings featuring, various drunken ramblings in different environments, some guitar and a wee touch of percussion. Good times!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

14.01.11 - Quentin Morris

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Brighton: Friday noon, the team make their way to the Green Tomato for breakfast. Very lovely big frys, then some nutter outside, braving the downpour shouts, "WeeeeAAAH!" Much LOLs ensue.

Found a great pub with free internet. Win!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

13.01.11 - Cookie Crumbs In Your Beard

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

I won't say much about this track, other than thanks massively to the awesome Felipe Andres Acevedo Orozco, for letting me use your voice. And also thanks to Chris Allen for lending me your digital portable recorder.

Time to sleep me thinks!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 1.0

OK folks, I'm off to Brighton tomorrow until Sunday. Song A Day For A Year might not be about for the next 4 days.

Hold onto your hats though! I will be making new pieces of music everyday while out there, I'm bringing my laptop and other recording devices with me. The pieces might be quite abstract, stripped back affairs. Possibly some ambient, "soundscape" stuff and that sort of thing. But wait! As is the rules of SADFAY: I am not allowed to plan or compose any ideas now. I have to create something original each day. No getting a head start, that would be cheating. So I'll just see what happens when I get there.

If I get access to a decent internet connection (one that allows me to upload about 60MB of data quite quickly, each day) then you might see the wonderful little SADFAY nuggets appear, otherwise I'll hopefully have them all uploaded by Monday 17th.

That's all for now. Catch y'all soon!

Cheers ^_^

12.01.11 - The Rizzler

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

This evening's track is off the drum and/or bass variety. Perhaps a tiny wee nod to Pendulum (although I've only heard one or two of their songs to be honest). I haven't had a lot of sleep in the last 48 hours, as I was re-working SADFAY 11: Outside of this project, I think it has potential to be developed into something very nice. SADFAY 12, however, is a bit heavier and faster. As usual, it was made with Reason and Ableton live, with a wee bit of mastering in Sound Forge.

Well that's your lot. Hope you enjoy.

Cheers ^_^

11.01.11 - Death of a Star

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Another a capella song today. Well almost. Every sound, except for the beats at the end are voice samples, or voice recordings put through various effects and chopped up. I was in a bit of a lull today and wasn't particularly looking forward to creating tonight's song, but once I got started, around 6pm, I got quite into it. I had a lot of fun finding weird ways to manipulate my vocals. It's a shame they're being captured with my crappy built in mic, while I have a decent couple of mics at my studio. But such is the price for being too lazy to go up there.

I think the rough/distorted/slightly glitchy quality of the vocal recordings adds a certain lo-fi vibe to the whole song, so it's not a big compromise.

I wrote a short paragraph which is repeated in the song. I liked the theme of some big catastrophe happening and lamenting about it. So I thought of a planet exploding, or a star going supernova and wiping out a galaxy.

• Death of a Star
• 
  
• Solar Apocalypse tonight
• The sky is burning white with fire
• In a blaze of energy
• Erased a galaxy

As always, enjoy!

Cheers ^_^

10.01.11 - The Puke Song

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Today's track is the first "REQUEST" from SADFAY fans. (well sort of). It meets somewhere in the middle between Coldplay and Backstreet Boys. I am not proud of this fact.

I apologise in advance for this insult to music. I will warn that the vocals sound terrible, because they were recorded through my laptop's built in mic.

Here are the lyrics:

• The Puke Song
• 
  
• Day 10 of SADFAY
• I'm writing a brand new freakin' song every freakin' day
• People say my mind has gone astray
• Like a forgotten cigarette, burning in the ashtray
• 
  
• Won't you put out my fire?
• Won't you stub out this burning desire?
• I can only get so far on the same metaphor
• So baby, clear the smoke and breath me in,
• I'm like nicotine, you're like my bottle of gin...
• 
  
• And let's sing a brand new song every day yeah
• When things get real tough, I can open my mouth and say
• These freakin' songs that I'm writing, are really freakin' good. Yeah!
• But they're nothing compared to you...
• 
  
• I can't believe I actually just said that out loud.
• I think I'm gonna puke.
• 
  
• He's gonna puke
• He's gonna puke
• He's gonna puke
• He's gonna puke...
• 
  
• Tell me why...
• Ain't nothin' but a cheese fest (tell me why)
• Ain't nuthin' but a cheese fest (tell me why)
• I never wanna hear you say
• 
  
• I think this song's OK.
• 
  
• I can't believe I wrote this song
• Now my insides they feel all wrong
• 
  
• I think he puked.
• I think he puked.
• He really puked
• Yes, he just puked
• 
  
• I think he puked.
• I think he puked.
• Yes he did puke
• Into my shoe
• 
  
• (those were my favourite shoes!)

Cheers! ^_^ Mu-hu-hahahahaha...

09.01.11 - Computer And I

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Computer And I is another collaborative track. This time with my good buddy Niall Kelly (aka DJ INKY). We went down the well travelled road of groovy house / electro this evening, with a fairly gratuitous PHAT bass burbling through the track. It's time to shake your bits people!

Enjoy it as you get down on the floor!

Cheers ^_^

08.01.11 - The Thing About Attraction

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Around 04:00 this morning I started writing. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be, possibly an essay on a subject in an attempt to clarify some things with myself or the world. But it ended up coming out half like a poem, half like a rant. I decided to use it in today's song.

I've deliberately applied loads of effects on the voice to distort it and make the words of this "poem/rant" thing barely audible, with the desire being that people will only be able to pick out the odd word, or the odd sentence here and there. Hopefully this will work alongside the music, creating tension and attention in the right places.

We'll see...

Today's track is in the realms of house music. It has a little nod to the kitsch and the retro and some nice little synth pads and edits that I am quite pleased with. I'd love to hear this over a big sound system.

Anyway, have fun with it you crazy kids!

Cheers ^_^

07.01.11 - Bedroom Voices

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

It's 23:33. Another tight one. I imagine this is going to be a bit of habit, this getting-the-song-uploaded-just-by-the-skin-of-teeth, so I should probably stop going on about it.

Anyway, tonight's piece is a cappella. I recorded my vocals using laptop's built-in mic and Ableton Live, in my bedroom (sorry for weird-ing you out, flatmates!). I also used a piano patch in Reason as a guide track.

It's a short one tonight, but I think, definitely short and sweet.

And that's about it. Enjoy!

Cheers ^_^

06.01.11 - gOOSE jOY gEMIMA fLAKES

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

So today's offering is the first SADFAY collaboration! Today I've teamed up with the wonderfully patient and willing purveyors of experimentalism and madness, Hexxed, who kindly let me conduct them through a 3-part-semi-structured composition with guitar, bass, electronic drums and Kaoss Pad up here in my studio.

The guys had themselves a good chinwag about future Hexxed plans afterwards, while I did some tweaking, mixing and fiddling with the final takes we recorded. (I also covertly recorded the guys waffling away and inserted a bit of this into the track too.)

Once again, this was a slightly rushed affair, where I am just uploading the .wav to Bandcamp and the .mp3 to Sendspace at 23:12. Nail biting stuff.

Hope y'all like it anywho!

Cheers ^_^

05.01.11 - Tightness Injection

Listen now on Bandcamp (stream)

Just made it! 23:25 by my watch, which means I've 35 more minutes. This is definitely the closest I've come to missing the midnight deadline! Anyway. Made it! The track is done. It's a shorter one (because of time constraints) and because, well, tracks like this don't need to be long. I reckon, if I'd a few more hours I could tidy up some of the rough edges and move things around a bit, maybe draw it out for another 30 seconds or so.

So maybe some day I'll come back to this track and rework it, but for now the track is officially my 5th completed song for the SADFAY project!

Enjoy it all up in your shit.

Samples used:

BIG L. - "Flambouyant" (acapella)

Brahms - "Symphony No.3 in F major Op. 90 - 3rd Movement"

The Portsmouth Sinfonia - "2001 Opening"

Cheers ^_^

04.01.11 - Adstractivated Imbaence Pass

Words I would use to describe today's musical effort: Abstract, ambient, aleatoric.

I went to my studio today for the first time in about 3 or 4 weeks, but it was freezing and there was no water (so no tea!! GASP!!). I left after mucking about a bit on some drum kit patches.

I came home from the studio having done nothing on today's piece of music, which is a bit unfortunate. For some reason I don't find the studio very creatively inspiring. Perhaps it needs a bit of furniture, some carpet, a bit of warmth and shade. It's very sterile at the moment.

Anyway, today's piece of music was designed to strip things back a bit, I didn't have much sleep last night (about 4 hours) and I've been up from 9am. It's now 9pm. As I was crafting this piece of music, I kept taking things out and trying to find space, so that it would feel more like something that could carry you off to sleep.

Keen to find out if anyone listens to this and finds themselves drift off, if so, then success!

As usual, you can listen to this piece on the SADFAY Bandcamp Page.

Enjoy (don't listen while operating heavy machinery)!

Cheers ^_^

03.01.11 - Electricity Especially When They're Wet

Phew! Seemed to spend all day on this one - A big fuck-off broken hip hop beast. This thing is a little bit nuts. Be prepared! Today I also decided to test my own rules: I originally said, "No remixes", but I didn't say, "No samples", so there are a few in this track:

Alice In Chains - Man In A Box (acapella)

Charley Says... Never Play With Water

Playsafe... Kites And Planes

The Rough And The Quick - Red Snapper

The PHAT (nb: not 'fat') beats and other sounds were all constructed in Reason and Ableton Live again. However a bit of sample editing and the final mastering was done in Sound Forge.

Don't forget, you can stream all these tracks from the SADFAY Bandcamp Page.

Have at it daaaaaawgs!

Cheers ^_^