Friday geek out.

Dredd.
The Boys volume 12: The Bloody Doors Off.
The Walking Dead volume 17
Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates.
coffee.
warmth.
satsumas.
peanut M&Ms
more coffee.
embryonnck cd.
happy geek.

50 today

I've just uploaded the 50th issue of Wonderful Wooden Reasons.

It's taken a long time to get to this point but it's been a laugh and I've got to hear lots of cool music and meet lots of cool people along the way.

thank you all for your support and music. I hope you've enjoyed reading and found something good to listen to. 

here's to the next 50.

peace
ian

i have a little red notebook...

into which I write my reviews for Wonderful Wooden Reasons.  I find I generally write easier with a pen and paper.  i think the inability to constantly edit / delete / rewrite focuses me more and I generally am more productive that way.

There is a drawback though.  Typing the damn things up when the deadline is looming is a massive pain in the arse!
I really don't dig typing at all.  I'm ridiculously bad at it.  I sometimes think I'd be more accurate if I used my forehead.

Anyway, all being well and assuming I don't throw my keyboard in frustration, the new WWR will be online sometime tomorrow (Sunday).

Peace
Ian

One more day to go...

and then two glorious weeks of holidays.

it's been a long term this one and my head is frazzled.

I'm going to spend as much of the next fortnight as possible reading.  maybe get some walks in, drink some booze, listen to some tunes, get a couple of issues of WWR online but mostly read.  i have shelves full of unread novels and I'm going to give them a kicking this holiday and just escape into as many fictional places as i can possible fit into.

there'll be the last actual issue of Wonderful Wooden Reasons for 2012 online this Sunday with a best of following a week later.

going to make some additions to the zine next year.  it's something I'm looking forward to and I hope you'll enjoy.  there's a few things in the pipeline that'll be added in slowly through the year.  the main priority though is regular monthly (at the very least), hopefully more often, issues.

O Tangletree! O Tangletree! Much pleasure thou can'st give me

Just a quick fly-by message to let folks know that the new album from me (Ian) and Darren Tate called Tangletree is available now.

You can find the usual limited edition (50 copies) signed and numbered physical version at the Quiet World website or for those of you who prefer their music in byte sized chunks it also available fro the Bandcamp site at the link below.

stupidityness abounds

Went Xmas shopping in Cardiff today and managed to buy a present for my mother, a couple of stocking fillers for the nieces and a Carnacki book for me.  It was pretty claustrophobic there and it got to me at times (I'm not a big fan of crowds) also my left shoe sprung a leak which wouldn't have been too bad except that it was pouring with rain for most of the day.  
The place was all trimmed up nice though and if it had been less wet would have been really xmassy. The photo is one of the shopping arcades.


we missed the deadline for the carpark though and didn't have chance to grab any food before we left so we stopped off at a chain eatery on the way home. On the table behind me was a group of 4 young and ridiculously macho chav lads.  For the most part their conversation revolved around how hard they are, how hard their brothers are, how hard their "crews" are and how soft everyone else is.  This was all pretty tedious to have bellowed over the top of the terrible food I was eating.  There were however two absolute gems that I think are worth sharing with you.

the first...

"Are you left handed?"
"No why?"
"Cause you're holding your fork in your left hand"

and my absolute favourite...

"I don't like eggs in my omelette!"

it takes all sorts I suppose.  
I'm home now and have just finished listening to the new Scott Walker album and now Desertshore by X-TG is having another airing.

This is your brain on drug awareness training

Today I spent several fairly long seeming hours (mostly because i really wanted to be home having a much needed lie-in) in compulsory drugs awareness training run by the police for the college. 
Apparently Swansea is a mephedrone and heroin riddled hellhole with a growing cocaine problem.
it was a fairly downbeat start to the day that pretty much sucked all the colour out of it.  am home now drinking Earl Grey and listening to Moljebka Pvlse wrapping the universe within their cosmic drone.
Also, mine and Darren Tate's new album 'Tangletree' is out now and available via Quiet World.
peace
ian

stiff necks and good music

one of the unforseen side-effects of the last two years of work and course is that I've wrecked my neck.  i don't have a desk as such.  my work station is a shelf unit with my pc on top and my record deck and amp on the shelves underneath.  my chair is an old (and very comfy) rocking chair that i've had for 20 odd years. it's a fairly neat little setup in that everything fits nicely on the unit but there is no legroom so the upshot is i have to do most things, like writing lessons or reviews or doing marking whilst leaning forward which has resulted in me putting a serious crick in my neck and it hurts just enough to be a fairly constant irritation.

tonight though i've abandoned my computer and am stretched out on the floor with a book and some music for reviewing.

i'm a bit too distracted for reading though, hence this blog about nothing, but the music is really hitting the spot.  albums by TOC and John Huw Lewis have both wriggled past.  very different from each other but both thoroughly enjoyable.  i'm going to try and put one last Wonderful Wooden Reasons for the year online this weekend and both will be in it.

Tangletree

I'm having a cup of coffee and a break from doing some xmas shopping (so far the only thing I've bought is a book for myself) and i thought i'd let you know about the next Quiet World release.

I was hoping to have two new albums for you this month but due to my woeful proof reading skills i missed the typo on one of the sleeves. so that one has been pushed back to january but the other will be available on Monday.

The album is called Tangletree and it's by me and Darren Tate.  it was made a year or so ago and has been patiently waiting it's turn for release. it was done using an electric shruti box and samples from me and some particularly atonal guitar from Darren.  they were never meant to go together but I spent one dark and damp night assembling them.  it's one that should be played loud. your neighbours won't mind. It is Xmas after all.

going slowly mad to the ticking of my hazard lights

it's a couple of days later from the Esoteric Underground night in Carmarthen and I'm finally starting to feel human again. it was good fun. heard lots of cracking music and got to meet some new people. i made a mix for the night which you can hear here.

Quietude #8 by Quiet World on Mixcloud

the one part of the night i could have happily done without was the puncture on the way home. the wrench threaded when we tried to change the tyre and so had to ring the AA. it took 20 minutes for them to answer the phone and then another hour and a half for the breakdown van to get there. by then the two guys i was with had fallen asleep and i was going slowly mad from sitting there listening to the tick-tock and the on/off of the hazard lights. i am thankful though that the torrential rains of earlier had finished and that the heating in the car works because it was perishingly cold.

A glimpse into the Esoteric Underground

for anyone in the area tonight (thursday 6th) come along to the Parrot in Carmarthen for an evening of Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Current 93, NWW, and loads more.
yours truly will be playing some music at some point.  should be fun.

A last report from the desert shore

was woken up early monday morning (my day off) by workmen ripping the roof off of the house next door so Sioux (my partner) and I decided to go for a trip out to Carmarthen. For those of you who don't know the area Carmarthen is about an hour away (by car) from my home in Swansea. it's a large town with a nice mellow atmosphere which is a nice change from Swansea town centre which is pretty grim and somewhere I try to avoid.

the other appeal of Carmarthen is there is a very fine record shop - The Tangled Parrot - whose owner, Matt, shares my taste for music that exists on the interesting side of life.
once there he sneakily convinced me to part with the cost of the new Throbbing Gristle album.  I probably should add that he did this without ever actually trying to sell it to me, he's that devious.

I'm glad he is though, it's a fabulous album.  picture TG fronted by Blixa Bargeld, Antony (without his Jonsons), Mark Almond (whose contribution is a perfect Coil imitation) & Cosi.

The second disc is a thumping set of industrial stompers. it isn't of the level of sheer gonzo wonderfulness of 'After Cease to Exist' (which was one of the key listens in the genesis of my love of stranger music) but it is a fine way to spend your time.

Wonderful Wooden Reasons #49

The brand new issue of  Wonderful Wooden Reasons is now online featuring reviews of...

Rodolphe Alexis – Sempervirent

Glenn Bach – Radia
Albert Beger & Gerry Hemingway – There’s Nothing Better to Do
Joda Clement – The Narrows
Dog Hallucination – Bob Hallucination
Fasenuova – Ella Esta Llena de Garcia
Flu(o) – Encore Remuants
Miguel A. Garcia – Red River / Rio Tinto
Peter James – There is Only Now
James McDougall & Hiroki Sasajima – Injya
Mites - Something to Ponder upon for a Restless Soul like You
Adrian Shenton & Banks Bailey – Wrapped in Clover
Various – The Machine Started to Flow into a Vein (volume 3)

as usual there's an accompanying mix.

hope you enjoy
peace
ian 

Outer Church

the Outer Church have been organising interesting looking nights around the Brighton area for a little while now.  they have another coming up just before Xmas. give yourself a festive night out where you (probably) won't have to hear 'I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday' - unless they're way more twisted than i realised.

facebook event page

i'm and old folkie me...

...except I'm not.  really not actually.  i try and like it but i fail every time.
it's not all folk music. truly it's just the British varieties.  I'm not biased in this. i dislike all four countries worth equally.  there are.bits and pieces here and there that i don't mind but on the whole it moves me not.
quite why then I'm working my way through the 600 pages of Electric Eden is confusing even to me.  273 pages in and i am enjoying it though.  i was a Wire subscriber for about 11 years and so Rob Young's writing was something i knew well, the subject seemed interesting enough but that subtitle was the clincher.  close enough to sounding like some sort of Coil type musical mysticism reference to haul me in.  that axis of music are certainly going to make an appearance (current 93 mostly i suspect) but i am a long way off them at the moment.
as i said I'm thoroughly enjoying it even though i keep trying out the different artists / songs he references and none have done it for me yet.  also, while it says 'Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music' it does so far seem more like an exploration of English music but i have 300 odd pages to go and this may well change.
so, tonight some more reading and a little bit of reviewing. there's a Dog Hallucination EP playing in the background as i type this, after that it'll be the Sempervirent album on Gruenrekorder.  it's a hard old life i tells ya.

IanH

worky work work

I was intending to get a new issue online this weekend but an opportunity has arisen to make a bit of extra cash before xmas so it's going to be online next weekend instead. I must admit it'll be nice to have some coins in my pocket.

in the meantime to motivate me I've got myself a Faust marathon playing in the background, currently...

Repairs and renovations

Been pottering all evening with the Wonderful Wooden Reasons website and we know have an alphabetised Movie Review section.

Both that and the Books have been updated with new reviews.  These rarely get included in the main WWR updates as they generally aren't contemporary so don't really fit.  I've been so busy over the last two years that most of the books I read are graphic novels I grab from my local library that I can dip in and out of easily whilst working. A lot of these are both a few years old and not necessarily very good so I tend to leave them off the listings.

The movie reviews are often just pithy little comments to sum up in as brief a way possible what I thought of what I just watched.

I'm planning more additions to the zine over the next little while.  Not sure what form these are going to take as yet - still plotting - but they are coming.

Peace
Ian

ch...ch...ch...ch...changes

I'm making some alterations to the old homestead and have linked the Quiet World blog (this one) to the Wonderful Wooden Reasons website.

2 reasons...

Firstly so that I can pass on any news about both the label and the zine in a timely manner and secondly I'll be able to announce each new issue here which means you folks can (should you wish) sign up for email notifications or one of the other options on the right there.

In the meantime how about some free music.

This is the Quiet World label sampler.  It's free to download.  hope you enjoy and please feel free to share it around.

live @ home

this weekend brought a rare opportunity to set up my synths and desk and spend some time making some noises.  I'm hoping / intending to make a live appearance sometime in the new year and need all the practice i can get.

I generally set up my recorder when I'm practicing so i can listen back later.  This weekend didn't go as smoothly as i hoped it would but i got a couple of pieces i'm pretty happy with out of it.  My favourite thing that happened was I managed to find (in a box in the back of a cupboard) my melody horn which paired up lovely with the new Music From Outer Space 'Wierd Sound Generator'.  the horn is a bit quiet on the recording but you can hear the results on track 3 - 'Autumn's Crooked Casualties'.

Philip Corner's Quiet Understandings

I don't use this blog anywhere near as much as i could / should.

new album out now on Quiet World by the very wonderful Philip Corner.



Philip was one of the originators of Fluxus in New York in the 1960s and he's still making obtuse and unusul music to this day.  I was honoured to be asked to release something.

Peace
ian

Pier

...is the name of the new download only album I've just put out.

It's a phonography of the Pier in Mumbles, which is the next town along the coast from where I live.  there's more info on it's release page on the QW site but here's the link to the album.






 Also there're two new albums out on Quiet World this week by Colin Andrew Sheffield & Syrinx.  they're both rather lovely.

Wow it's hot!

it's bloody hot in Swansea at the moment.  I have way too much surface area for this sort of weather.

free music

I had some spare time the other night and found myself making a mix of the recent releases on Quiet World.

I'm very pleased with the way it's turned out and have made it available as a free download from my bandcamp site.

un-wandering

just back from a short break to Glastonbury. Was far too tired to really enjoy myself, i lost count of the times I suddenly felt myself toppling over sideways, but it was nice to get away from the house especially as I forgot (genuinely forgot) to take my work file with me so couldn't do any essay work or marking.

am back now and working on some reviews. just wrote one for a Christopher McFall album and currently listening to Simon Whetham's album on Unfathomless.

Mostly though I've been restlessly pottering with stuff all evening.
bout now though I'm very tired and I should probably go to bed.

Reamde

I really like Neil Stephenson's books but i knew i was never going to have the time to actually read his monstrous new one - Reamde - so i grabbed the audiobook. 150 15 minute chunks later it's finally finished. Did I enjoy it? In the end, probably yes. was it worth the time commitment? probably no.
He's gone the john grisham route here with a story based around kidnapping and terrorists. there's a massively unlikely plot twist that you have to negotiate your way around and then a very long slide to the inevitable finale.
it was fundamentally a reasonable story but overly long and a little bit creepy in it's gun fetishism.

Books...

are like heroin for me.

I have an addiction. I am unable to stop buying books. The bookshelves of my study cannot hold anymore yet I still bought another 5 today. There are books piled on the floor, on each other, on the chairs, on the speaker cabinets, everywhere.

i need to fight this addiction but truthhfully I don't really want to. Just being around books brings me pleasure. Reading them even more so.

i do need to clear some room though. i think eBay might be getting well used over the next few weeks.

Holding your heart in your palm

After discovering a problem with the run of the new Heart of Palm album 'Psychopomp' and having to scrap them all. The replacements are all made and ready to go.

i really love the noises these guys make.

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2012.

I hope the year ahead is filled with good times for everyone.

There's a busy year ahead for Quiet World with 3 new releases over the course of the month and two more to follow soon after.

Out today on CDR and download is 'Simple Ghosts and Lazy Old Bones' by myself, Rhodri Thomas & Stephen Jones



Next week will be 'Psychopomp' from Cincinnati's finest Heart of Palm and a week or so after that will bring a new album from our good friend Banks Bailey called 'Entrances'.

Sometime in February or early March we will have new albums from Mike Fazio of Orchestramaxfieldparrish and a brand spanking new release from Darren Tate.

Hope you enjoy coming along on the ride we have planned.

Peace
Ian