Current musical events

I’ve had a few people asking if I’m actively working on anything musical, which means that I probably haven’t been doing much of a job of keeping people updated via this blog.

A few bits and pieces have been happening in my life musically. Here’s a quick rundown:

  • Some tune writing has been slowly progressing under the radar. Basically I’m trying to see if I can get enough material written for a live laptop/guitar show. While there are bits I’m really excited about, it’s been slow going. I find it incredibly difficult to write by myself so while this won’t be on the immediate horizon, it will hopefully come eventually.
  • Look out for a new band called Ovell in the very near future. Their debut single Across the Road (should be out next month) features my remix of the title track – the mp3 will be available here when the single is released. I also went into the studio with the band to provide some production assistance on the original version.
  • There are more remixes coming soon! (watch this space … and please feel free to drop me a line if you’d like me to mangle a track for you)
  • I’ve been playing some guitar live here and there. Notably, my buddy Greg Cooper and I have done a few shows together recently – playing live is always a really nice change to my usual hermit-esque forms of working.
  • A fascination with music that is probably better forgotten has taken hold of me, which has resulted in plenty of visits to op-shops all over the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I’m amazed at the tolerance threshold of my surrounding neighbourhood – the police have not yet arrived to confiscate my personal stash of Air Supply and Lionel Richie. And who knew that Roger Daltrey’s side projects could be so awful? Fortunately, this front cover more than makes up for the quality of the music found within:

Daltrey

Reverting to bullet points

Because they’re simple and easy, and make for easy compensation of a lack of blogging, the bullet points return:

  • It’s done
  • The Basics shows have been rocking. Really enjoying them.
  • I finally tracked down a copy of Al Di Meola‘s Elegant Gypsy album (surprised it was so hard to find – it was his biggest release) and have been enjoying it. Crazy moog work from Mr Hammer (his collaborative fusion work is the only stuff of his that I’ve enjoyed). Oh, the Di Meola guy can play a mean guitar lick too.
  • I was quite struck by 2 Corinthians 3:7-4:18 yesterday. Thought it was some cool encouragement.
  • I’m vacillating between quite liking the new LCD Soundsystem release and finding it a bit ordinary. I’m not sure which side of the fence I’ll end up on. Really good sounds though.
  • New AFX Analord compilation is good though, enjoying it
  • Despite certain members of U2 detesting it, Passengers is awesome. Well most of it anyway. There are a couple of dud tracks (Elvis Ate America, anyone?)
  • Yes I bought a lot of CDs lately
  • We decided randomly to watch The Matrix last night for the first time in years. So pleasant to watch with the other two movies long forgotten. Reminded me why I became such a big fan back in the day.
  • Carly’s cool. No really, living with her is super awesome.