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

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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 ^_^

24.12.11 - DAY 358 - The Festive Spurt

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Eeek. Cheese Alert! Happy Festive Whatever Thang And Stuff....

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

16.12.11 - DAY 350 - Heroic

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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 ^_^

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

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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 ^_^

26.11.11 - DAY 330 - Woken

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So this is fairly melodramatic. I wrote it, then got some news that wasn't great. Then I opened a letter and got some other news that was super great! Then a few other things happened of varying degrees of greatness. It's been a bit of a manic day so far.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

28.04.11 - DAY 118 - Heaven Weight

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I had one of my nasty blocks on this song, in the form of not being able to play the guitar riffs I wrote, no matter how many times I practiced and practiced. I hate finger picking! I'm left handed (of course, all geniuses are...), but I learned to play guitar right-handed. That's my excuse for finding finger picking stuff so difficult anyway. Ended up playing this with a pick in the end and it's still a bit rough around the edges. Got there in the end and I think the lyrics and vocal layers ended being worth the hassle.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

25.04.11 - DAY 115 - Happy Birthday Mum!

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I spent a bit of time down at the harbour today, recording the sea and moving peebles. I didn't know what else to add, but the organ sound seemed to work well. Simple and short, but I love the mood of this. Plus it was a nice experiment taking my gear down to the sea shore and seeing if it would survive... It did!

And it's my mum's Birthday today, so Happy Birthday Mum!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

15.04.11 - DAY 105 - Harassment Act

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This was just going to be a basic wee acoustic jam, but then I got a barrage of texts, phonecalls and voice mails and I thought, "hmm now I'm inspired to sing something..."

Feel somewhat petty for doing this, but I'm in a rush and I felt laying down a vocal was a good way to spice up the guitar stuff. Plus, venting is useful sometimes.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

01.04.11 - DAY 91 - Dressing Down

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This evening I decided to try something that was light and easy on the ears, but the main "quirk" or "gimmick" of the song, was to have nice intertwining vocal melodies and harmonies. It's inadvertently ended up sounding a bit like a Rufus Wainwright song, at least to my ears, which is nay bad thing I suppose. I also wanted the lyrics to be a more interesting than my usual meandering, waffly kinda stuff, so spent some time thinking of a theme and direction for it all. I definitely wouldn't consider lyric writing as my strong point, so I'm chuffed with what I've come up with for this song.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

20.03.11 - DAY 79 - All This Flawless Wisdom

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Have I managed to capture subtle sarcasm in this song? Hmmm not sure. Hopefully people will understand that guitar solo is definitely taking the piss.

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

28​.​02​.​11 - Happy Days Are Here Again

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Happy Days Are Here Again was a wee rushed track that I recorded in my bedroom. I've had a fairly busy day. So I started this at 22:20 and took all of about an hour on it. Pretty rough vocals, rough guitar too. I don't even know if my acoustic is in tune, but sure, the strength of the song should shine through like so much heavenly light of the truly gifted. ... GAFFAW!!

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

03.02.11 - Terms And Conditions

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Banged this one out fairly quickly this evening. Not much else to say really.

LYRICS:

Terms and Conditions

See my hope raise it's wings

As I walk towards the sea

People staring at the freak

Smiling to himself so free

Here is everything you need

But terms and conditions apply

I am sailing through the breeze

You can throw rocks when I pass by

Such a naked wonder shared

Without doubt I know you cared

Finally, I'm not concerned

I hand over all I've learned

Healing, truth without grace

The layers of angst peel away

Healing, truth without morality

A fact is a fact, regardless of what you want it to be

Here is everything you need

But terms and conditions apply

I am sailing through the breeze

You can throw rocks when I pass by

See my hope raise it's wings

As I take off towards the sea

People staring at the freak

Smiling to himself so free

Enjoy

Cheers ^_^

29.01.11 - SANE

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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.

24.01.11 - Cleaner Face (A Penny Short)

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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 ^_^