Saturday 31 December 2011

31.12.11 - DAY 365 - Keeping It Free Range





Listen (and/or download for free) now on Bandcamp 

So here we are. The last song of the Song A Day For A Year project. I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who collaborated on the project over 2011 and anyone who came along to the Black Box gig last night. It's been a pretty fucking awesome year to be honest. I can't possibly summarise in words all the amazing creative experiences I've had and how much doing this project has enriched my creative abilities and general sense of wellbeing, but like, yea, ummm... it has! One nice thing is that I can listen to any song of this project and it will immediately transport me back to that day and where I was and what I was doing: Just like a really abstract audio diary. I'd hate to lose my memory and forget what I was doing 15 minutes ago, like Leonard in Memento. That movie was really cool! I've seen it about 20 times. How cool is Guy Pearce? "I guess I'm chasing this guy... No, wait, he's chasing me" Class. Wait, what was I talking about before? (ho ho ho)

Aye, I'm babbling. Anyway. This track basically represents the apprehension I had at doing something DRAMATIC AND EPIC AND OH MY GAWD! THANKS EVERYBODY!! HEY LET'S CELEBRATE MY AWESOMENESSNESSNESS... Because I pretty much did all of that last night at the Black Box gig. .... However, this track does contain a large portion of the jam we had at the gig last night (after midnight) which was recorded by the splendid Michael Sampson. The recording was made at the venue, specifically to be used in today's song, so that everyone at the gig could contribute to the very last song of the project. As far as I'm concerned, this worked out really well. There were 14 people on stage and about 70 people in the audience.

I am weary of listing you all, because I know that I'll end up leaving someone out and I'll never be able to forgive myself, but I'll try via the medium of Adam Mc Causland's rather lovely photo of us all on stage

Stephen Caswell, Michael Sampson, Stevie Mac, Geoff Hatt, Dave Boden, Dominic O'Neill, Chris Allen, Niall Kelly, Tony Furnell, ARGH Sorry, don't know your name, but you're a friend of Dan Leith's, Dan Leith, Ursula Burns, Meeeeeeeeee, Owen Boden, Steve Mc Cann.

Stevie Mac made the simple and clever suggestion that we all picked a note and played it together: That way it wouldn't just end up a cacophonous mess! Towards the end, I encouraged the audience to participate too, so you're all in the recording also!

Right now, I'm sipping a glass of wine, picking at a wholesomely greasy chicken breast and gravy chips.  In about 5 minutes I'm gonna go downstairs and watch a movie with my boyfriend and probably ignore the midnight countdown, because I don't really give a fuck. HA!

However. I wish you all the best in 2012 and once again, a massive thanks to you all for listening, being involved or taking an interest in this project.

Until next time!! :)

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

Friday 30 December 2011

30.12.11 - DAY 364 - Failures (ft. Duke Special)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Very late night SADFAY with the amazing Duke Special! Musing on failing epically. Come hear us perform this and other SADFAY classics tonight at the Black Box for the Song A Day For A Year - END OF YEAR EXTRAVAGANZA. See ya there!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Thursday 29 December 2011

29.12.11 - DAY 363 - Another Anniversary (ft. Stephen Caswell)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Tonight's SADFAY is a collaboration between myself and Stephen Caswell from the mighty Lowly Knights. An end of the year reflection and not always a happy one.

A bit about Stephen:
What a treat to get in on this project at the final stages. I have to say, I hit panic as midnight got close and we threw the final mix together. I've never written and recorded a song in 4 hours until tonight, but Marty is a cool and collected wizard. www.lowlyknights.com

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Wednesday 28 December 2011

28.12.11 - DAY 362 - Stitch And Mend (ft. Katharine Philippa)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

I am very pleased to have had the chance to work with the amazingly talented Katharine Philippa tonight! Wait until you hear this track! So I started with a bit of a sweeping groove beat thing, followed by a couple of layers of toy glockenspiel, Philippa added keys and organ bass, then those awesome vocals! The lyrics she wrote have a few nice layers and meanings to them too. Lahvaley.

In her own words:
It was great to have the opportunity to work with Marty on one of his songs, which are written every single day, for a whole year. It's nice when two musical brains collide. Hopefully you will enjoy the music. If you want, you can go to these links: http://www.facebook.com/katharinephilippa or http://katharinephilippa.com/ to hear some of my solo work.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Tuesday 27 December 2011

27.12.11 - DAY 361 - Green Tea (ft. Ciaran Monaghan)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Tonight's track was created in the lovely city of Dublin, with my good friend Ciaran Monaghan. It's about the dilemma, many of us face, of finding yourself waking in a hotel room and realising you have already drunk all the complimentary Nespresso. But hey! You're in Japan, can it really be all that bad? オーライ

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Monday 26 December 2011

26.12.11 - DAY 360 - Rinning



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FIVE MORE SONGS TO GO!!! Woooo...

A bit of ze ole hippity hoppity tonight again. I had fun with the layers of samples, loops and beats. Loving that bassline too. Neeeeyyeeessss...

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Sunday 25 December 2011



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A bit of Ol' Blue Eyes and some festive Wub Wub for y'all. I don't normally allow "cover songs" in SADFAY, but hey, it's Christmas! (incidentally the 'wub wub' is from a demo mp3 for the Vengeance Dubstep Massive Presets Bundle. I planned to program my own wobble bass stuff, but the bundle wouldn't load in my version of Massive. Ah wells...)

Don't forget to make the yuletide fabulous and gay, everyone!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Saturday 24 December 2011

Wednesday 21 December 2011

21.12.11 - DAY 355 - I Am Many (ft. Emily DeDakis & James DeDakis)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp 

Super fast SADFAY collaboration tonight!! WOW!!! Emily DeDakis and her brother James, basically stole a drum kit for this session, so a special mention has to go to Paul McDaid (a neighbour of Emily's) for giving us his kit. You guys are all amazingly awesome and this was loads of fun. So we had about 40 minutes to lay down several tracks of drums and excellent shouty / punk vocals from Emily

 Enjoy

 Cheers ^_^

Tuesday 20 December 2011

20.12.11 - DAY 354 - Hydrogen Super Excluder (ft. Korny Devenney & Michael Sampson)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp 

An experimental number, full of pop promise, hallucinogenic drugs and death. Short enough to fit on a 45. In the sonic universe with me tonight, were Korny Devenney (http://www.facebook.com/AnthonyKornyDevenney) and Michael Sampson (http://www.facebook.com/pages/MatscaN-Music/350947393632).

 Enjoy

 Cheers ^_^

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Monday 19 December 2011

19.12.11 - DAY 353 - Action Finale (ft. Ciaran McGreevy)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

I'm very pleased to tell y'all, tonight's track is a collaboration with the bass-pounding-rock-star that is Ciaran McGreevy, from the mighty Mojo Fury! http://www.myspace.com/mojofuryband

We've constructed something with heavy grooves, fuzz bass (of course), mixed it up with some trip hop style sounds and feel, stuck a one-take vocal on it and well, whaddya know? It's a bit of a beast!

 Enjoy

 Cheers ^_^

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Sunday 18 December 2011

Saturday 17 December 2011


Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp/a>

Tonight involved a song writing session with Mark Mc Gregor, who wrote the majority of the lyrics to this song.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^


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Friday 16 December 2011

16.12.11 - DAY 350 - Heroic


Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Today's track was a bit rushed again. Which is a bit frustrating, but hey, life gets in the way sometimes, just have to deal with it.
This is a wee acoustic number about ... ummm... Stuff... hehe.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Thursday 15 December 2011

15.12.11 - DAY 349 - PhorkA2a (ft. 9j3a4k2a)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A very spontaneous improvised performance for tonight's SADFAY. A collaboration with the ridiculously talented Olan Stephens & Michael Speers who perform as 9j3a4k2a. http://9j3a4k2a.bandcamp.com/

Olan also plays guitar and sings in the frankly, rather lovely EatenByBears, who'll be playing their last gig of 2011 on Saturday 17th December at the Windsor Tennis Club. http://eatenbybears.bandcamp.com/

Making this track was immensely fun. The lack of concern or dialogue about what we should do and how it should play out, was refreshing: The drum kit was miked up by Olan and Michael, Olan and I set up our gear and we went for a take. ... And it was good! Olan: guitar. Michael: drums. Me: piano & Kaoss pad. I hope I get the chance to jam with these guys again soon!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Wednesday 14 December 2011

14.12.11 - DAY 348 - Rate Race




Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Today's track was constructed in Botanic Media's rather tasty, fully functional production studio. I work there (freelance), so please get in touch with Botanic Media if you'd like to take advantage of the very useful space or my own audio skills.

This track was a little bit rushed as I had a gig this evening with the "QUBe", in the auspicious Ulster Museum. Tonight, QUBe consisted of 20 musicians, interpreting and performing Mark Appelbaum's "The Metaphysics of Notation". Much lovely reverberant noise was made in the vicinity of a vast, angular, modernised communal space.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Tuesday 13 December 2011

13​.​12​.​11 - DAY 347 - Santa = Punish (ft. Dan Leith)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A free download tonight, full of "festive joy" and (quim) ... and ... pure horror to the ears. What a treat!!

For this sonic apocalypse we've included samples from such Christmas-y delights as, Black Christmas (1974), Tales From The Crypt (1972), Dead End, Silent Night Deadly Night, and the wonderful Gremlins.

Soon to be featured on Dan Leith's 6th Christmas E.P. - 'Attack Of The Christmas Sweater Quim!'

You'd be a fool not to download it!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Monday 12 December 2011

12.12.11 - DAY 346 - Outside Of The Inside (ft. Kris Marsden)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

Another collaboration tonight, this time with singer / songwriter Kris (Kippy) Marsden. The bulk of this track was written earlier today and we laid down the basics of it fairly quickly, spending more time on the other instrumentation and tweaks.

Kris Marsden is a songwriter and adult literacy tutor who incorporates music and poetry into his teaching. Kris is a regular on the Belfast open mic circuit.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kippys-Muse/146868152087567

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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A Song A Day For A Year - END OF YEAR EXTRAVAGANZA!


Friday 30th December 2011 - Black Box, 18 - 22 Hill Street, Belfast.

Martin Byrne & Friends Present...

A Song A Day For A Year - END OF YEAR EXTRAVAGANZA!

Full sets from...

Hexxed
Window Seats
Uber Glitterati

Plus
Special guest performances & songs from throughout the year.

Also, at the stroke of midnight on 30th December 2011, writing for the final song of the year can begin. So come along, see some great bands, hear some brilliant music and contribute some noise to S.A.D.F.A.Y 365.

Doors 8pm
£5

---

Hi folks,

Since January 1st 2011, I have been writing and recording an original piece of music every day. Each day I have shared these songs with the world via my blog: http://songadayforayear.blogspot.com/ my bandcamp page: http://sadfay.bandcamp.com/and my official website: www.songadayforayear.com

Throughout the year I've had the chance to collaborate with incredibly talented musicians and songwriters, such as: Rachel Austin, Justin Yang, Duke Special, Tony Wright, Robyn G. Sheils, Niall Kelly, Dominic Coyle, Rory Nellis, Adam Mc Causland, Owen Duff, Jim Hollands, Dan Leith, Ruaidhri Mannion, Caroline Pugh, Conor Barry, Stevie Mac, Ursula Burns, Steve Mc Cann, Owen Boden, Dominic O'Neill, and many more...

The End of Year Extraganza concert in the Black Box, on 30th December is taking place on Day 364 of the project and so this gives us all a chance to contribute something to the very last song of the year, once the clock strikes midnight!

2011 has been an amazing, unforgettable and creative year for me, so I hope you will all join me in celebration of the end of the project and make the last song of the year very special.

Hope to see you there!

---

PRESS:

Culture Northern Ireland
http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article/4593/sadfay/0/0/1/martin-byrne-writes-a-song-a-day

All Gone Pop
http://www.allgonepop.com/?p=5356

Belfast Telegraph
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/303275_275768669132619_191671290875691_853189_914292531_n.jpg

The Big List
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/314356_275769802465839_191671290875691_853190_1409110191_a.jpg

Imprint This On Your Mind
http://www.imprintthisonyourmind.co.uk/blog/imprintthisonyourmind-podcast-22-feat-sadfay/

Sunday 11 December 2011

11.12.11 - DAY 345 - Lovers Rise (ft. Dominic O'Neill)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A collaboration with the immensely lovely chap known as, Dominic O'Neill, who I regard as a bit of a songwriting legend! Dominic played all the instruments on this (except the programmed drums) and I sang some of the backing vocals and harmonies. Creating this song was loads of fun and I hope I get to write music with Dominic again some day.

Dominic O'Neill is a member of Leeward Side who are currently finishing their second album-length E.P. He also captains the world-famous John Hewitt Singer-songwriter night. Working on SADFAY a year has fulfilled his year-long ambition. Here more at http://leewardside.bandcamp.com and http://dominiconeill.bandcamp.com.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Saturday 10 December 2011

10.12.11 - DAY 344 - Absence



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

More disco-y pop rock type shenanigans tonight. "Absence makes me care no longer" I thought was a nice spin on the ol' proverb, "absence makes the heart grow fonder". I think my version helps me cope better, maybe.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Thursday 8 December 2011

Wednesday 7 December 2011

07.12.11 - DAY 341 - My Beast



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A bit of a beastly one this. I started out playing some nice guitar chords. I was happy to call that take a finished song. That was about 9:30pm. I decided to explore some other sounds and grooves, just for fun. Things then got a lot deeper.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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Tuesday 6 December 2011

06.12.11 - DAY 340 - We All Got Paid (ft. Window Seats)



Listen (and/or buy) now on Bandcamp

A collaboration with Window Seats tonight. The lads came round and laid down some lovely riffs and it all came together in just over two hours. I hadn't as much time as I'd have liked to mix this and mess around a bit more, but hope the quality of this track shines through!

Window Seats are a three piece alternative rock band from Belfast.

The band are currently touring in support of their new EP 'Frozen Bones'. The CD is available in stores now, and a free download from the band's website.

A highly acclaimed video for the track 'Local Superhero', from the EP, can also be seen online.

All info, tour dates, videos and free music downloads can be found at http://windowseatsofficial.com

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

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