Sunday, 26 February 2012

WEEK 8 - SONG 8 - Coffee & Ginger Nuts


WEEK 8 - SONG 8 - Coffee & Ginger Nuts

Coffee & Ginger Nuts


Walk with me, grey muddled day
As cafe crowds fade through the frosted windows


From the duffle coat out shoots a hand
A raised eyebrow at the command
Saved by the puddle that sets us apart again


Bus driver ­glaring at all in disdain


Inbred years of paranoia
Envy the loudest Casanova
It's not safe here
For the likes of you and me


Worn and weathered men spill into the streets
Through their judging eyes the weight of history
Soon pulls the smile from my face


Pick me up where I left off
You're laughing at the very thought... 
“There's a right way to be
There's a right way to be in this town”


Cross the busy road, find a quiet place


Shed these years of paranoia
Edge of seats, we sit and wait together
Coiled like cobras
So what if I kiss you right now?


So you think you can fix my life? 
You want to forget about yours? 
Always meddling in other people's lives
Why don't you just f-f-focus on your own?


The police, the shoppers and the gangsters
The kids, the hipsters and the pranksters
All stop and watch, united in their shock and disgust


I feel a lynching coming on
Round up the kids
We're gonna eat tonight


Run on home
Keep your head down
Lock your door
And have some coffee and ginger nuts

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

WEEK 8 - Thoughts on "Getting Updates"

Hey folks,

I notice people have been asking me how to get updates when the Song A Week For A Year tracks go up online. When I upload the songs I post links to the bandcamp page on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as this blog. I also post the songs up on the soundcloud page. 

The thing is, obviously if you're not online when these links are being posted there's a good chance you're going to miss them. Sure you might remember to go check out any of those pages, any other time, but will you? 

These days, it's very easy to forget about websites that you know and love, unless you're being constantly bombarded with reminders. In a sea of social network links to articles, videos, memes and funny images we find ourselves simply clicking whatever comes our way and forget about everything else. 

Personally, I don't like that: I don't like that websites have to constantly post "content" in order to remind me that they exist. It becomes content for content's sake and often it's nakedly so which immediately puts me off returning to the site. 

There are about 4 or 5 websites that I like to get reminded about constantly. The rest of the web? Well, I'll take it as I find it.

Yes, I have bookmarks and I have a bookmarks bar on my browser. But for me, the very small number of sites that post content that I'm always looking to read - the sites that specialise in a subject I'm always interested in: I want to subscribe to them via email!

Sites like this, this and this, I'm subscribed to by email and I am very pleased that I get a daily feed of what's happening on those sites.

How do you all feel about this? Am I being too old fashioned? 

Many of the other sites I like to visit don't offer email subscription anymore. Sites like this and this. They do offer an "RSS feed", which is nearly just as good as getting an email as an RSS reader (like Google's) can sit right beside your email inbox.

The thing is, I've just never gotten into the habit of checking an RSS reader. Lazy maybe? To me, their streamlined version of the website content isn't really appealing, whenever the original website is only a click away. Also, in my RSS reader, there are hundreds of feeds: It's content overload. 

For me, the solution is simple (and effective): Email subscription!

Provided the website doesn't email more than once a day (or every time someone at the website scratches their nose) and provided I know the content is always going to be interesting to me: email subscription, straight to my inbox, is the my information vehicle of choice!

So, in answer to all the people asking me, how to get updates of my latest Song A Week For A Year songs, I can't recommend highly enough: 

Subscribe to S.A.W.F.A.Y updates by email.

It takes two shakes of a lamb's tail. Simply click here enter your email address, (the security text) and "Confirm subscription request".

Once you do that, you'll get this: 

"Please check your inbox for a verification message from “FeedBurner Email Subscriptions”, the service that delivers email subscriptions for Song A Week For A Year. You will need to click a link listed in this message to activate your subscription. If you dont see a confirmation e-mail in a reasonable amount of time please check your bulk/spam folder." 

And then you're all set. 

Of course, as I care about my music and want as many people as possible to listen to it, love it, share it and spread the word, it's in my interest to give you guys as many ways as possible to hear it, I will continue to post to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Blogger and Tumblr. This gives you all a number of choices as to how you want to keep up with the project: Some people use iPhones, so apparently they have issues with bandcamp. No probs! Soundcloud it up! Some people hate Facebook: No sweat! Follow my twitter feed / Google+ me / Subscribe to my blog updates! :) 

And of course, I hate spam and I hate overwhelming people with content that they never really signed up for in the first place, so you might notice, that with Song A Week For A Year, I usually do no more than 2 posts a week. 

Well anyway, I think I've covered everything. Thanks for reading. I'm always interested to hear how people experience the web and what is their preferred method of getting through all this media and information so please let me know! And you can always get a hold of me (through the above channels) with any bugs or problems. 

Cheers

Marty

Thursday, 16 February 2012

WEEK 7

Some random internet links, currently giving me a mind boner... 

Those good ol' honest boys down at Sony Records

Marjoe (1972) Marjoe is a 1972 American documentary film produced and directed by Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan about the life of evangelist Marjoe Gortner.

Free Cabin Porn!

You Need A License To Drive A Car! 

John Dies At The End (MOVIE)

WEEK 6 - SONG 6 - Muscae Volitantes

WEEK 6 - SONG 6 - Muscae Volitantes*

*drums by Niall Kelly

WEEK 5 - SONG 5 - Astrophobia

WEEK 5 - SONG 5 - Astrophobia

I'm not insane, I'm just using my brain too much

Words that fail me

Eaten by tiny bugs

In the dust 

Bring me my pills

Daylight is teasing me

While I sleep

Set it years away

Let me dream it to life

I can't scratch the itch

The future's bitch

We're living in a cycle too soon

We're livid at the thought of the the moon

We're living and we're ready to fall

I don't think this is living at all

When did you learn

To shut out all the thoughts

From the dark

Bring me my pills 

The winter is peeling back

We can't have that, no, no

I'm not insane, I'm just using my brain too much

WEEK 4 - SONG 4 - Resaca

WEEK 4 - SONG 4 - Resaca

WEEK 3 - SONG 3 - Electroencephalograph

WEEK 3 - SONG 3 - Electroencephalograph

WEEK 1 - SONG 1 - Ammonium Perchlorate

WEEK 1 - SONG 1 - Ammonium Perchlorate

Lyrics:

Ammonium Perchlorate


And as I pull away

From the clamour

Like treacle in sand

I drip into another year

An ocean of apathy

Bitter pity, drowning

I grow tired 

Of letting myself be abused

By the likes of you

And you

And you 

And you

"I want to jump out of a spaceship, into the freezing, black void of space. That's how I want to go. I want to become one with nothingness."

Be gone

Let go 

Be free

Lost soul

Be dead

Leave me

Be free

Be gone

Let go 

Be free

Lost soul

Be dead

Leave me

Be free

WEEK 2 - SONG 2 - Diaphoresis


WEEK 2 - SONG 2 - Diaphoresis

Song A Week For A Year - 2012

Yep. Here we go again, only at a more concerned, elderly pace.

A song a week isn't nearly as exciting as a song a day, but my song a day for a year project was always about writing good songs and I feel there is definitely value in writing something, then leaving it alone for a while to come back to it with fresh ears and new perspectives.

I also reckon I'll be able to get more collaborators on board, when we have more time to play with per song, but we shall see. 52 awesome-o-max songs coming your way this year. I'm excited. But for the first time in a year, I'm having a day off.

So go on, bugger off now!