30th May 2013

Something I just posted on the Modulator ESP forum about the first record that changed my life.

I suppose the defining moments for me…

Christmas 1994 – dad bought Another String of Hot Hits and More by The Shadows to play on the CD player my parents had bought. Before that I had no real interest in music at all, but I quickly became obsessed with this. Solely responsible for me being interested in instrumental music.

1995 – my dad, realising that it was good for me to be open minded to music from the word go, played me ‘Revolution 9’ by The Beatles. I was 10. Boundaries such as ‘structure’ and ‘melody’ never had chance to form after this, thus my continued interest in experimental and electronic music.

April 1996 – I saw ‘The Box’ by Orbital on Top of the Pops. Instrumental music in the charts! My first CD purchase.

February 1997 – I’d seen ‘My Kingdom’ by FSOL on Top of the Pops (seems completely insane now!) the previous November and bought the single, but it was upon purchasing Lifeforms that I became an obsessive fan. It’s been my favourite album ever since, and I still don’t feel I’ve completely got to grips with it. It’s so dense.

Basically my entire taste was formed by the age of 12, it’s all been diminishing returns since then.

10th Feburary 2010

There’s always a journal entry in February.

So, 2010. Six years since Purlieu now. What do I have to show for it? Not too much at the moment, but that’s all about to change. The promised releases are just around the corner – Treatments is coming out on Silent Flow and Canal Seven on Cyclene in the next few weeks. Treatments is an entirely new direction for me, largely being drone-based ambient, with some noisier elements on a couple of tracks. Silent Flow are putting out the 5 track EP as a free download with their own artwork, my cover can be found here. Canal Seven is the 30 minute track, inspired by The KLF’s ‘Chill Out’ and FSOL’s ‘Environments’ I mentioned in my previous entry.

Both EPs I’m extremely proud of, and both are new things for me, so I can’t wait to unleash them on the world.

Elsewhere, I’ve submitted a remix for an album co-released on my friend Tim’s netlabel No-Source, I’ll let you know what happens there.

And that’s all the weather.

13th December 2004

“Just Like In Songs”

The party was in full swing when Tim turned up at the door
He quietly let himself in and that was when he saw
Natalie was sat in the corner, nothing else to do
And when they started talking, morning came too soon

Another day and too much to drink caused Tim and Nat not to think
Lying down, their clothes came off, they didn’t know when to stop

They saw each other every day and talked of Belle & Sebastian
Tim studied while Natalie worked and at night they’d meet again
They went to all the pubs, danced in all the good clubs, ate at just one take-away
And every time Tim fucked up she’d say “don’t worry, it’s okay”

And nothing was too big a deal, she said “happiness is a steal”
Days turned to weeks as the sun went down, neither of them could leave this town

Another day, nothing to drink, Natalie started to think
Lying down, she started off: “I love you but we’ve got to stop”

He said “I understand even though I don’t feel that way
And, in all consideration, friendship is okay”
Months later in this town, as the sun is going down
Tim sits next to her without a care; Natalie knows he’s always there.

So yeah. Tim is me and Natalie is Anna. The fifth and sixth stanzas occured on Saturday evening.