Friday 14 December 2012

Burnt Belief - Information and Interview

The "Burnt Belief" album, a collaboration between myself and guitarist/composer Jon Durant will be out next week......(see previous posts here and here to hear a sample.)

There's also now a Facebook page and a Twitter feed.



Ordering info for the album is as follows, both the regular digipack CD and the special limited Tin editions are available from Burning Shed in the UK, or Jon Durant's own US based webstore. where you can also buy his previous albums.



N.B. I am reliably informed that Burning Shed will be shipping the pre-orders just before the release date...which basically means right now....


On December 21st, the album will be officially released and available via Amazon, CDBaby, itunes etc.

Below is an interview with Jon and myself by journalist David Bolton, which gives some background information about the inspirations and process behind the album.


Interview conducted November 2012

Praying that the Mayans were wrong, Colin Edwin and Jon Durant talk Burnt Belief

By David Bolton

The release of an album that deals with the potential end of days on December 21, 2012, could not come at a better time. All over the world, the signs are that the Mayan prophesy might actually not be too wide of the mark, and while we all hope that we don’t have to rely on John Cusack to fly us out of trouble, the portents of doom never seem to be far away.

Here in the U.S., we have the unedifying spectacle of a government bickering over a self-imposed fiscal cliff while the mass media seem more interested in keeping up with the Kardashians than the damage that continues to be done to the environment. Wall Street continues to make oodles of cash for the one percent, and some parts of New Jersey remain no-go areas after Hurricane Sandy.

With this in mind, Colin Edwin and Jon Durant have produced an aural experience that deals with the catalyst for many of the problems that make global headlines…religion. Separated by the Atlantic Ocean, the second collaboration between the pair considers the polarization between religion and science while highlighting the dissonance between belief and reality.

Set to an ambient and progressive instrumental background, Edwin and Durant have drawn from a number of real-life events and inspirations including the (as yet) non-appearance of the Rapture, the unshakeable religious fervor of some parts of the Christian Church and the promises made to believers of a number of Middle Eastern religions about rewards in the next life.

With both artists in different physical locations, I took the time to get to the bottom of Burnt Belief through the miracle of Internet communication…

What is Burnt Belief?

Colin Edwin: The ashes of intellect, fundamentalism and fanaticism, mixed together and scattered to the winds.

Jon Durant: Burnt belief is when you fall for something, hard, and it turns out to be false. For instance, the people who believed that nutjob in Florida (Harold Camping) last year who insisted that the world was going to end on May 21st and gave up everything to follow him.

Or worse, the Heaven’s Gate people or Jonestown. They got burnt, and worse than that, their families and friends got seriously burnt. It’s hard for me to imagine that at this point we still have to deal with this kind of thing, but all around the world, every day, you hear similar stories.

What was the inspiration for the album?

CE: The inspiration for the title comes from my reading Leon Festinger's "When Prophecy Fails" a fascinating account of a UFO cult in the 1950's. It's a great study of what happens to people who try to reconcile delusional beliefs with reality, and also where the term "cognitive dissonance" comes from. It got me thinking, in the end, what are all beliefs really about and where do they come from?

It's a very relevant question, for instance, Science and Religion are actually just as polarized now as they were in the days of Galileo, we just have fewer burnings at the stake. Only this morning I heard a phone-in debate on the radio about "Should the Church of England Have Women Bishops?" What year is this? Oh I nearly forgot, this year it's all supposed to end of course.

JD: Musical inspiration came from a wide range of sources. For me, the desire to blend electronic and acoustic elements in a new and interesting way was a major driving factor. Colin had been getting very involved with electronic rhythm programming, and that brought a major element to the music. And, as with Shadow Planets, the continued exploration of different musical cultures blended in a unique way was also a contributing factor.

How did the project come together?

CE: I had met Jon during several trips to the USA with Porcupine Tree, and was glad to be asked to work on his 2011 album "Dance of the Shadow Planets"  in the role of bass player. Jon suggested in a vague way earlier this year that he'd like to "do more" and I suggested that we start with some audio manipulations that I wanted to do with his Cloud guitar scapes, which means basically creating rhythmic shapes from ambient elements by slicing and feeding them through delays and filters. Once we had started swapping and developing each others’ ideas, it all seemed to flow very fast.

JD: For me, the key moment came in a “new years” greeting exchange in which we both expressed a desire to do more work together. When I mentioned that I felt like the material I was writing was too similar to “Shadow Planets,” Colin suggested that I send him some ideas to mess with and see if he could pull it out of that zone. From there, a discussion of a working methodology followed and we instantly found our direction.

How was the remote recording process different from other experiences?

CE: "Dance of the Shadow Planets" was a live in the studio creation and I think the experience gave us both the background and confidence to know we have a musical chemistry. I feel Jon and I have an understanding and co-operation that comes easily. Other than the time difference between the US and UK, I didn't feel any distance in the creative process, the music was very absorbing to work on.

JD: The difficulty comes in not knowing what is going to happen when it gets into someone else’s hands. There had to be a trust factor—to know that whatever Colin did would be in line with what I had in mind. And, amazingly, there was only one piece for both of us that we rejected and asked the other person to re-do.

When you’re both in the same room, it’s much easier to communicate an idea, and spur one another on when a direction takes shape. Also, on my previous records, all the compositions were mine, so there was a whole control part that had to be let go of.

Burnt Belief takes the listener on a musical journey, a voyage of aural experiences. Was that always the intention?

CE: It's not a conscious thing, but hopefully, it's as immersive to listen to as it has been to create. For me as a listener, that is the quality I look for in music, if I can pass that on in what I take part in, then it's mission accomplished I guess!

JD: I’ve always had that intention. To me, the best music isn’t about saying “look at me, aren’t I a great guitarist” but about telling a story. With instrumental music, it’s really important that there’s a journey involved, and at the end you feel like you’ve experienced something really fascinating.

Repeated listens reveal different layers and tones, do you agree?

CE: Yes, I hope it reveals details gradually; all my favourite albums do that.

JD: I hope so! There are certainly a number of different layers and textures that we utilized, and some are less obvious than others, so when you hear a piece the second time you might find something different than the first time.

We live in a world where people seem to pick and choose which album tracks to listen to. Burnt Belief works best when listened to in it's entirety, but if you had to choose one track for the radio, which would it be?

CE: Probably, "The Weight of Gravity", but I imagine the radio wouldn't play a track that long.

JD: That’s a hard one to answer, especially with an album like this. A couple pieces have really interesting and compelling “hooks”, for lack of a better word. Semazen and Impossible Senses especially. That said, the some programmers who have played my previous work are more likely to be excited by Arcing Towards Morning or Prism. But most of all, I think Balthasar’s Key kicks enough booty to make anyone sit up and take notice!

Where would you like to see the project go, and is there a possibility of live performances?

CE: I am sure Jon and I have more ground to cover together, live performance certainly appeals to us both, it's the most real form of communication and I have confidence that we can present it well.

JD: We’re trying to find the right situation for live work. It’s obviously a bit of an economic challenge given that we’ve got an ocean between us, but Jerry (the percussionist) is also very excited to try to bring this live, and if the right things turn up, we’re very hopeful that we can make something happen in 2013. Assuming the world doesn’t end on December 21st…

Certainly, Colin and I are going to continue working together on future projects. There’s a real connection that we share, and there’s a whole lot left to be explored—I think we’ve only scratched the surface with Burnt Belief.


David Bolton is a freelance journalist and content creator for a Boston media company. With a lifelong love of music, he is always keen to be exposed to new sounds and rhythms although he draws the line at country. He has also spent far too much time in rain-drenched festival fields enjoying wrist-slashingly cheerful music. 





It occurred to me whilst recording my double bass on Burnt Belief's closing tune "Arcing Towards Morning" that on the bottom of my bass is a faded sticker which reads "Made in German Democratic Republic" -  a country which, along with it's political belief system, no longer exists......plenty of other examples across history; religions, science, and political beliefs all change, but the world moves on........but I hope "Burnt Belief" will provoke thought and stir emotions well into the future.

Best,

Colin

PS Update: Here's another recent interview, talking about "Octane Twisted" and "Burnt Belief"

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Dislocated Day

Below, you can hear another track from the new Porcupine Tree live album "Octane Twisted", Dislocated Day, recorded live at London's Royal Albert Hall:




I am big fan of phaser ( and other modulation) effects on bass, especially the EBS D-phaser pedal, which you can hear on this track.

Best,

Colin

Sunday 9 December 2012

Ghost Cult Interview



Quite a long interview with me in the latest Ghost Cult magazine can be found here

Best,

Colin

Wednesday 5 December 2012

The Untrained Artist (Part II)



More interesting stuff from the untrained artist today: a splodge of black paint, some coloured feathers and a baked bean tin... amalgamated to create something quite charming, cheerful even. We've named this sculpture "Bean Bird".

Bye for now,

Colin


Friday 23 November 2012

Lomography

I was interested to read that Lomography made it to the BBC Magazine. I've been hooked on it for years.

The whole retro thread in our current culture is quite interesting to me. For a good example check out this Toaster, the blurb even says it "evokes the glamour of 1950's Italy"
Was Italy glamourous in the 1950's? I have no idea.

Anyway, I am thinking of undertaking a project involving making lomographic double exposure photos of things which rhyme, like this one below:




 ("Flower" and "Tower" of course)

Best,

Colin

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Interview with K-Scope Ears - Metallic Taste of Blood

If you paste the text below into your browser, or click this link:

http://www.kscopeears.com/2012/11/colin-edwin-interview-metallic-taste-of.html


You can hear an interview I did recently with Dwayne Bunney of Kaleidoscope Ears, mostly talking about Metallic Taste of Blood.

Best,

Colin


Monday 12 November 2012

Lo-Fi Resistance - Chalk Lines



Another release I've been involved in earlier this year that is finally being made available is Lo-Fi Resistance's "Chalk Lines"
Lo-Fi Resistance is the "nom de guerre" of New York based Randy McStine. 
Randy's compositions are not only full of great ideas, but he also knows how to develop them into fully fledged, absorbing, emotive songs with a strong flow. It's an album I've really enjoyed working on, and listening to the finished thing, I think it's a great listen that deserves some serious attention.

I'm sharing the bass duties with Dug 
Pinnick (he of the mighty bass tone and legendary band King's X, who also toured with Porcupine Tree on the Incident Tour) and also session legend John Giblin (Kate Bush, Brand X, Simple Minds and many, many more)
Gavin Harrison plays drums throughout and Dave Kerzner, who I met up with in the flesh recently, handles the keyboards and co-production and co-writing duties.
There is more info on the burning shed newsletter here, please scroll down the newsletter for info about a free download track from "Chalk Lines" ( ...and also about  "Burnt Belief" pre-order info)


Best,

Colin


Wednesday 7 November 2012

Burnt Belief - Coming Soon....

I am very happy to announce that "Burnt Belief" my collaborative album with guitarist Jon Durant, is mixed, mastered, manufactured and  ready for pre-order. Release date is set for "the end of the world"... very soon, so I hope any survivors will enjoy the album....it may well be an essential soundtrack for the Post Apocalyptic Times we will apparently find ourselves living in...(assuming that it isn't in fact the present reality and I just don't know about it....)

In any event "Burnt Belief" is an instrumental narrative, consisting of 8 tracks:



1 Altitude
2 Impossible Senses
3 Prism
4 Balthasar's Key
5 Uncoiled
6 Semazen
7 The Weight of Gravity
8 Arcing Towards Morning

Total running time is just under an hour at 59 m 16s.

As well as Jon on 12 string, his unique lead and cloud guitars, and yours truly (various basses, electronics and programming), Jerry Leake is active on most tracks with an interesting variety of percussion, mostly of the middle Eastern variety, but also Indian tablas and various metallics. I've always enjoyed the blend of electronic and human sounds with rhythmic elements, Jerry has done a fantastic job complementing the electronic programming, with both his sound choice and feel.

Geoff Leigh guests on flute on the diminished tonality of  "Balthasar's Key" and Randy Roos, who recorded Jon's previous album Dance of the Shadow Planets also mixed and mastered the CD at Squam Sound Studios in New Hampshire, USA.

Sometimes a particular atmosphere or sound suggests to me that it might make a good context for a particular instrument of mine. For the vast majority of "Burnt Belief" I've used my new USA Spector fretless, which has proved to be an extremely expressive and responsive addition to my bass sounds, but there's a few other colours too, namely my low tuned Spector Euro 435LX for some extra deep bass, my (phazed and distorted) Wal fretted played with a pick, my double bass on the acoustic track "Arcing Towards Morning" and also my old Ovation Magnum II, lending a fat dub style tone to a minimalist line in one interlude.

There will be two physical editions of "Burnt Belief" a standard CD in a Digipack, and for those who might like it, a special limited "Tin Edition", with a signed insert, see below:



















Inside the Tin:













I'll be posting the pre-order information here as soon as I have it, in the meantime, here's an audio sampler of the album: (EDIT- click here to pre-order, and check out the Facebook page also)







Best,

Colin

Friday 2 November 2012

Porcupine Tree Live DVD clip

Herewith a clip from the forthcoming "Octane Twisted" Special Edition:



NB. This is part of the Bonus DVD that comes with the Special Edition (two CD's and the DVD)

Best,

Colin



Thursday 25 October 2012

Ex-Wise Heads Live in Holland on November 4th

Just another post to mention that I'll be playing with Ex-Wise Heads at the Paradox in Tilburg, Holland on November 4th.

Tickets and Info can be found here

Alternatively, paste the link below:

http://www.paradoxtilburg.nl/events/tonefloat-records-labelday/

Best,

Colin

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Porcupine Tree - Octane Twisted preview track



The Porcupine Tree song "I Drive the Hearse", from the forthcoming double live album "Octane Twisted" is available as a free download via the widget above.
This was recorded in Chicago at the Riviera, on the Incident Tour, and is part of the whole Incident portion of the live album, which also includes a few tracks recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall.
I played my Wal fretless on this track, strung with D'addario flat wounds and played through my EBS TD650.

Best,

Colin

Friday 12 October 2012

Fisheye Tallinn

Tallinn Town Hall SquareTallinnAlexander Nevsky Cathedral, TallinnView of the Cathedral from St. Mary's Cathedral TowerTallinn Rooftops.

Fisheye Tallinn, a set on Flickr.
Inevitably, a set of Fisheye photographs from Tallinn. A beautiful location and great weather for wandering and exploring..

Taken with my Fisheye2

Sunday 30 September 2012

Ex-Wise Heads Live in Tallinn

Just to mention that Ex-Wise Heads, (also featuring yours truly on bass of course), will be replacing Slow Electric for the previously mentioned live show at the Rock Cafe, in Tallinn, Estonia in October 7th, next weekend in fact.

Ticket and venue info can be found by clicking here

Also, I'm happy to say, I am contributing to the next Slow Electric album, which is currently a work in progress, so all being well, there will be future performances and new material too....in the meantime Geoff Leigh and I are very much looking forward to our first show in Estonia.

On the subject of Ex-Wise Heads live, we will also be playing at the Tonefloat Records evening at the Paradox in Tilburg, Holland on Sunday November 4th, you can get tickets direct from the Tonefloat store, or from the venue here

For anyone unfamiliar, the Ex-Wise Heads album Celestial Disclosure came out on vinyl through Tonefloat a little while back, and was subsequently re-issued on CD in a very nicely packaged Japanese style vinyl CD sleeve, and with a bonus track too. The album is currently available from burning shed.



You can read a couple of reviews of "Celestial Disclosure" here and here.

Best,

Colin

Friday 28 September 2012

Porcupine Tree - Octane Twisted

I'm pleased to report a forthcoming Porcupine Tree live album, which was recorded on the Incident tour, is now mixed, artworked and mastered, and will be released in November:



Most of the tracks were recorded live at the Riviera in Chicago on April 30th 2010, but there's also a few which came from the last show of the Incident Tour, at London's Royal Albert Hall, including some rarer gems that we don't play very often, like Dislocated Day, and the full length version of Even Less.

Anyway, click on the cover image above to Pre-Order the double CD and DVD Limited Edition version from burning shed.
There will also be a double CD jewel case edition available from all the other usual retailers, but without the DVD.

Tracklisting is:

CD1
The Incident (Live in Chicago)
1 Occam's Razor
2 The Blind House
3 Great Expectations
4 Kneel and Disconnect
5 Drawing the Line
6 The Incident
7 Your Unpleasant Family
8 The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train
9 Time Flies
10 Degree Zero of Liberty
11 Octane Twisted
12 The Seance
13 Circle of Manias
14 I Drive the Hearse

CD2

1. Hatesong
2. Russia on Ice/ The Pills I'm Taking
3. Stars Die
4. Bonnie the Cat
5. Even Less
6. Dislocated Day
7. Arriving Somewhere But Not Here

DVD
The Incident (Live in Chicago)

1 Occam's Razor
2 The Blind House
3 Great Expectations
4 Kneel and Disconnect
5 Drawing the Line
6 The Incident
7 Your Unpleasant Family
8 The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train
9 Time Flies
10 Degree Zero of Liberty
11 Octane Twisted
12 The Seance
13 Circle of Manias
14 I Drive the Hearse


Release date is November the 19th.

Best,

Colin

Friday 21 September 2012

Metallic Taste of Blood Reviews (Part 3)

Time for another collection of reviews of the Metallic Taste of Blood album:

Surviving the Golden Age

Mass Movement

....and a few below from Italy:

All About Jazz Italia

Italian Porcupine Tree Fansite

The New Noise

Also, here's one from an Italian Guitar magazine:


Lastly, the Quietus interviewed Eraldo Bernocchi there's some stuff about us making the album together, among other things.

Cheers,

Colin


Sunday 16 September 2012

Bass Invader


I noticed a small and mysterious aesthetic modification to my upright, by person or persons unknown.
It looks good to me though.....

Thursday 13 September 2012

Switzerland

St. Gallen,  (looks to me like he needs a rest)

I had great time in Switzerland last week. The weather was good enough for me to see some stunning scenery on the drives around the country. 

...like above at the Gotthard Pass.

....or here on the lake at Pfaffikon.

With such picturesque surroundings, I should have taken my Fisheye or Sprocket Rocket, sadly they didn't come with me.
It was also enjoyable doing the Clinics, something new for me, it's always good to try and articulate one's own thoughts and ideas, hopefully in a useful way.
 Below are a few pictures from Mani's Guitar Shop in St. Gallen, with thanks to Alexandra Plopa for the photos:








Best,

Colin



Saturday 1 September 2012

Live with Slow Electric

I've known Tim Bowness for a really, really long time, playing on his solo albums and also some of the No-Man material over the years, and more recently Memories Of Machines, but I had never played live in front of an audience with Tim until earlier this year, when I guested with Slow Electric, Tim's collaboration with Estonian Duo UMA, at a joint concert in Ukraine with Ex-Wise Heads.

I was impressed with Slow Electric's performance when I first saw them in Norwich last year. There's a real power, atmosphere and intensity to their actively minimalistic approach: ambient electronica blended with thoughtful songwriting and a nod to ECM type icecool soundscape jazz, it's well worth checking out if that vague description sounds like it might float your particular boat.

Anyway, it appeared to me immediately like a great context for Tim's vocals, with Aleksei Sak's incredibly expressive trumpet playing and Robert Jurjandal's ambient guitar scapes alongside Peter Chilvers on keyboards and electronics.

It also seems like a great context for me to play some bass, so I'm pleased to say I'll be joining Slow Electric for a concert in Tallinn, Estonia, next month on October 7th.
Tallinn is somewhere I've always wanted to visit, so I'll be taking a camera or two for sure...

Please click below the somewhat psychedelic poster underneath for ticket and venue information:


Tickets


Cheers,

Colin

Sunday 19 August 2012

Metallic Taste of Blood Reviews (Part 2)

Here's another round-up of some more reviews of the Metallic Taste of Blood album:

The Quietus

Subbacultcha

ATTN magazine

Jazz and Blues

CyclicDefrost

Something Else Reviews have put us here in their half year list of best Fusion Jazz albums of 2012.

Jazzwrap

Another couple I can't understand from Italy here and here

Terrorizer:



Prog Magazine:

From Canada:

 Nine Hz




Anyone wanting to download a track from the CD, can hear one on the latest Rarenoise Records Free mp3 Sampler, and the album itself is available here

Best,

Colin







Friday 10 August 2012

Swiss Bass Clinic Tour


I'll be a doing a short run of bass clinics in Switzerland next month.......See dates and venues above..

Best,

Colin

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Soundcloud update

I've recently updated my Soundcloud page with a selection of my solo material, and also some tracks from the Ex-Wise Heads back catalogue.

Below is the track "Nothing Alarming" from my first solo album "Third Vessel":


....and here's "Subumbrella" from Ex-Wise Heads, the album before last "Liquid Assets"


Lots of other stuff there too, 

Best,

Colin

Sunday 22 July 2012

"Burnt Belief" - Colin Edwin / Jon Durant

Below, a short trailer for the forthcoming album "Burnt Belief" - a collaboration between your humble scribe, and guitarist, composer, photographer ( and, I learnt only yesterday, graphic designer) Jon Durant:



I worked with Jon last year on his "Dance of the Shadow Planets" album, which you can read about in a previous blog entry here.

"Dance of the Shadow Planets" came together in such an enjoyable and inspiring manner, I had hoped that Jon and I would work together again before too long.
With Jon and I seemingly sharing a particular wavelength, the process of creating "Burnt Belief" has felt like a natural continuation, the main development being that my role has expanded to adding electronics, rhythm programming, a certain amount of sonic sculpting and composition, as well playing both electric and double bass.

Jon, along with his unique guitar stylings, has also expanded his palette, playing prepared, and electric pianos, and we are joined by percussionist Jerry Leake (who also worked on Shadow Planets) with a spellbinding array of metallics and drums of various types, adding a rhythmic depth to the tunes, last but not least, my fellow Ex-Wise Head, Geoff Leigh who plays a mighty fine flute solo on one track.

The album is due out on December 21st this year - which the more observant reader will realise is a significant date ......

I'll be sharing some more info about the album in the near future.

Best,

Colin

Thursday 21 June 2012

Metallic Taste of Blood Reviews (Part 1)

The eponymous Metallic Taste of Blood album, released last month, has been getting some great reviews.



Here's a selection below, click on the links to read.....

Louder than War

Hellbound

Critical Jazz

Something Else Reviews

The Digital Fix

Jazzchill

Mass Movement

I like the use of the term Cognitive Dissonance here, as I've just read "When Prophecy Fails" which I highly recommend......

.....and this one from Italy. (No idea what is says, as I don't parlano Italiano)

My colleagues and I also did an interview with Hellbound, which you can read here

There's also now a brand new Facebook page....here,

.....finally the Metallic Taste of Blood website has a had a bit of a revamp.

More to follow,

All the best,

Colin

Monday 11 June 2012

Polaroid


Interesting image of my double bass, taken with a Polarid 600 and some Silver Shade film.

Just getting into the Polaroid thing, although I have the Diana Instant back, which is fun.

Bye for now,

 Colin

Thursday 24 May 2012

Astarta/Edwin

Collision Music.

Anyone who has heard Ex-Wise Heads will guess already that I have always had a very strong interest in hearing music from all over the world.
I can trace this back to being about 16 and getting out random cassette tapes (remember them?) from the local library in order to discover things like Balinese ritual music, Bulgarian Wedding music or Sufi music from Pakistan. I've continued to delve into so-called "World Music" (a bit of a ridiculous term to me) and explore the unfamiliar over the years, sometime unearthing real gems, other times just feeling mystified.....

However, I have to say, although I have taken the time to listen to some music from Eastern Europe, folk music from Ukraine is something I really know next to nothing about. (edit: on reflection, about which I know nothing at all.....)

The whole notion of folk music is quite interesting to me; song forms that have existed for a long, long time, handed down through generations, often describing events, things or people from ages past and which are perhaps even a strong part of the self-identity of an individual or group of people.
In the UK, I always sense that people are perhaps embarrassed by their own folk culture, I guess the closest you can get is that some summer evenings, in the right places, it's possible to see see Morris Men, generally much older guys, who always look to me to be looking for an excuse to drink beer rather then connect with their ancestral root culture.

Anyway, shortly after I visited Kiev with Ex-Wise Heads last March, I was invited to collaborate with the vocal talents of Astarta, a female vocal duo “updating” Ukrainian folk music for the present time, by specifically mixing contemporary elements with ancient songs.


ASTARTA

Although I have really no idea about the language or the meaning of the words, the sounds of the two voices working together is something I find quite compelling, containing an almost pagan “joie de vivre” quality rarely heard these days, and the flowing nature of the melodies often conceal odd rhythmic patterns which appeal to my love of exotic time signatures.

Therefore, I'd like to present here a two track digital download single “Kalina/Vesnanyochka" the first two tracks in what is developing into an ongoing collaboration, hopefully a full album length before too long:






Given that I have no real knowledge or experience whatsoever of the folk idiom, I'm thinking of this as being almost “Collision Music”, exploring the unknown (for me at least), I sincerely hope it's as rewarding to listen to, as it is to be involved in.


Best,

Colin




Wednesday 23 May 2012

Tuesday 22 May 2012

PVZ....last copies...

People,

After being out of stock for a while, a very small number of the Limited Edition USB key versions of my solo album "PVZ" are up now at burning shed



For more info about the album, please see my previous blogs here and  here and for some background about the inspiration behind the album please click here

"PVZ" is also available as as download from burning shed,  iTunes, and here

There's a preview of selected tracks over on my SoundCloud page.

....and finally I'd like to extend my thanks to those who have taken the time to write to me, comment, and indeed buy the album so far....

Best to all,

Colin




Sunday 6 May 2012

Recent stuff....


Just a short update about some of the music I've been working on in recent months.

First off, I have contributed bass performances to some tracks for a forthcoming album by New York based Lo-Fi Resistance, which is due sometime later this year. I was very pleased to have been contacted by main man Randy McStine, as previously I didn't know of his project, but the music is exceptionally good, and it's been a total pleasure to work on. I'll have more to say about this before too long I hope.....

Earlier this year, I got involved with Italian band 'Sound Wall Project' on a one-off guest basis (see previous blog post here), but I have ended up tracking bass on around 10 new songs.

The new material has a strong TripHop influence but there's also a firm progressive element to the material, and some cool guitar parts too. I've just been listening to recent mixes featuring James Hester's drumming, which has given the material an extra dimension.

A short while back, took I delivery of a very fine new fretless bass from Spector, and this has seen action already with yours truly guesting on a couple of tracks from Herd of Instinct's forthcoming album.
Herd of Instinct describe their sound as being influenced by 'Tribal music, Horror film scores and assorted elements of Rock, Minimalism and Crimson-esque prog' so there's plenty to enjoy there.

Last year, I had the pleasure of working with US guitarist Jon Durant on his “Dance of the Shadow Planets” album, and currently, Jon and I are about halfway through a follow-up, only this time I am also contributing both double and electric bass, as well as electronics/programming.

After not having worked on any new material since Schemata, Ex-Wise Heads (myself and Geoff Leigh) have just kicked off a new set of material. Nice to see that Geoff can still encourage me to try completely new things despite us having worked together for well over ten years now....
There's no timetable, but we might have something out later this year.

Following on from PVZ, forthcoming solo material is also in the mixing stage, but this next batch will be different again, having a roughly equal mixture of instrumentals and songs.

There's a few other things I'm working on that I hope will see that light of day soon, but that's all for now......in the meantime, in the rack, some of my tools:





All the best,

Colin

Saturday 28 April 2012

Metallic Taste of Blood Album Now Available for Pre-Order

Folks,


Pre-order information for The Metallic Taste of Blood album is now up here. Also available from the Rarenoise store.

For a little taste, you can read my previous blog post and listen to a track here.

All the Best,

Colin

Sunday 8 April 2012

Sprocket London

Westminster BridgeHouses of Parliament


SprocketLondonSkyline, a set on Flickr.
A couple of interesting pics by the Thames, both taken with my Sprocket Rocket.
I like the overlap effect on the left (lucky that the iconic London bus was in the right place), and image in the right was a double exposure, first a metal sculpture outside St. Thomas's Hospital, and then the Houses of Parliament, taken from the South side of the river.

Monday 19 March 2012

Metallic Taste of Blood - Preview



Herewith a preview track, King Cockroach, from the forthcoming eponymously titled Metallic Taste of Blood album, which is a collaboration between (left to right below, Eraldo Bernocchi on guitars and electronics, Balazs Pandi on drums, your humble narrator here on bass/electronics and Jamie Saft on piano and various keyboards.


Release date for the album has been confirmed to me as early May 2012, on Rarenoise Records.


Finally, if you are on Facebook, please come and "like" the new Facebook page here

More info soon,

Best,

Colin

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Competition - Another One for the Bass Players

Along with some other bassists, I am donating my solo album  "PVZ" on Limited Edition USB stick for this competition run by the website Bass Players United listed here.

Cheers,

Colin

Friday 9 March 2012

Fisheye Kiev

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Fisheye Kiev, a set on Flickr.
Some Fisheye images from last weeks trip to Kiev in Ukraine with Ex-Wise Heads.
A very enjoyable visit from all aspects, and I am really glad we had a little time to see a few of the sights too..

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Positive Message



The above is the text in Thai, read by Mr Ton Suwaphanit, a Thai gentleman I had the good fortune to meet, on the track "Filled With Colour" from my latest solo album "PVZ"

Below is a translation:

“You stand and view the road behind you with its many turns and bends. You look at the past and see the problems in your world. There has been good times and bad but I want you to forget the past and walk to your future. Think about your story and if you have a dream you need to try to achieve this. Fill the pictures in your dream with colour, it's not far to your fulfillment.”




It's such a positive message I wanted to use it to balance the darkness of the themes across the other tracks in "PVZ", and given all the bad news we all ingest daily, I thought I'd share it here too...

Best,

Colin


PS some of the Limited Edition USB stick versions of "PVZ" are still up at burning shed, click here to get one....

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