Glacier Top Hat

Another Photochrom Travel View from the Library of Congress.

Crevasse formation in Illecillewaet Glacier, Selkirk Mountains (1902)

Note on a gig

On Wednesday 9^th of November I supported the triumphant, heart warming Dancehalls and had the pleasure of hearing the eccentric, joy inducing Bunty for the first time.

The downstairs chamber of The Caxton Arms is pretty cosy.

In the spirit of Willkommen’s collaborative nature I asked the very talented Julian Owen (of Dancehalls and much more) to play drums with me.

I messed up a little. But he knew what he was doing. And I think we managed to keep the crowd from throwing their shoes at us.

Songs seem to have a will of their own at times, and how it feels to play them live can change dramatically in different environments.

More thoughts coming soon!

Intuition

Jeff Buckley seems to be in the air this autumn, perhaps because we are approaching his birth date, 17th November.

I’ve been watching hazy, flickering videotape interviews with him during the 90’s on YouTube.

He spoke many truths in a voice so soft. One thing he said is echoing in my head today. This is it, roughly:

“The flow, the understanding, the intuition… not like knowing facts but just understanding things just somehow, is very, very extremely devalued. It’s the seed of all art, the seed of all artistic expression.”

You can watch the inspiring interview here.

We all need heroes. Someone to show us, remind us of the way.

Willkommen Collective Map

An excellent new design by Joe Collins connecting the dots in the Willkommen labyrinth.

12th October: Radio23 & ErrorFm Radio Play

It’s independent, it’s continent hopping, and I like it!

Ola’s Kool Kitchen will be playing one of the songs from my homemade EP during her show. Thanks Ola!

It will be broadcast today at 9pm GMT on Radio23.

And repeated on ErrorFM this Saturday 15th at 6pm and the following Wednesday 19th at 5am.

Photochrom Travel Views

There’s something very special about these prints from the Library of Congress.

Folgefond Glacier, Hardanger Fjord, Norway (1890 - 1900)

“The richly colored images look like photographs but are actually ink-based photolithographs, usually 6.5 x 9 inches.”

Willkommen Foxswap

A brief note of explanation, from Danny Green, Willkommen Collective:

What better way to feel honoured as a songwriter than to have a respected co-conspirator sing one of your songs? I asked everyone I could possibly think of to choose a song by someone else in the collective and record it before Willkommen Foxtrot, the festival in Brighton on 11th September. I only gave them 3 weeks. The response has been amazing.

On the charitable side:

The other reason to do this compilation is to draw attention to the fact that almost all of the Willkommen Records stock went up in flames at the PIAS warehouse during the riots. We have a few spare albums albums kicking around in a box under the stairs but that’s about it. It is time to raise funds for the LabelLove PIAS/AIM fund which is helping labels to continue to release great music during the fall out.

See above for my take on ‘Dust Disturbed’ by Eyes and No Eyes with drums by extra special Julian Owen.

There are also two brilliant covers by Birdengine and Rowan Coupland of a couple of my songs. What an honour indeed! Listen to the whole album here.