Sunday, October 18, 2009
Dosh
Dosh is fantastic, everyone should listen to his album 'Pure Trash' out on Anticon. I have followed him for a while, put him down, picked him up again and again, and in my most recent pick up (as in now) im blown away more than ever. Also, everything in my life is good and I'm a happy man.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Dublab
Just a quick entry, in a brief respite from my degree work, slight bit of entertainment before returning to the holds of my information privacy and surveillance dissertation.
Dublab
www.dublab.com
This website is satisfying a great deal of my creative need in times when i have little time to explore things. You can listen to sessions from resident "labrat" DJ's or trawl through the music archive looking for something you might like, you can usually tell after around four minutes i find, after the inevitable initial spacy introduction is finised. Or you can opt for the live stream, which occasionally will have a good mix on. I like the way that many of the sessions span across several genres, im finding that im liking the hip hop ones, the folk ones and also sessions that span across to indian music, something i had not really looked for before.
i think i just wanted to document my love for Dublab.. job done i guess.
Al x
Dublab
www.dublab.com
This website is satisfying a great deal of my creative need in times when i have little time to explore things. You can listen to sessions from resident "labrat" DJ's or trawl through the music archive looking for something you might like, you can usually tell after around four minutes i find, after the inevitable initial spacy introduction is finised. Or you can opt for the live stream, which occasionally will have a good mix on. I like the way that many of the sessions span across several genres, im finding that im liking the hip hop ones, the folk ones and also sessions that span across to indian music, something i had not really looked for before.
i think i just wanted to document my love for Dublab.. job done i guess.
Al x
Monday, February 9, 2009
Two Thousand and sloo, five - still alive, nine...
AWAY WITH THE GENERIC INTRODUCTION, WHO CARES WHERE IVE BEEN OR WHY I'M BACK? not you. I'm going to launch straight into it, nine things i have been/am thinking about(two thousand and NINE yeah?)
ONE - the obvious, the new president. Loved the campaign, followed it reasonably closely, obsessively watching speeches and buying into the ideal presented, i can't help it, i really just think he has a chance to actually change things and i believe that he can, if he changes the medical system i will be happy. Whether he will or not remains to be seen and with each passing day i can't help but feel that he will fall the same way as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, disgraced in public opinion, by the media, whereas in objective opinion it would be hard not to accept them as successful.
I am worried about things. the next three of the NINE (two thousand and NINE yeah?) will outline my immediate worries.
TWO - The Conservative Party being elected to run the United Kingdom. I know there might not be an election until 2010, depending on what Gordon Brown's plan to get elected will be. Personally i would suggest a flat out, i am good at economics, our economy is fucked, please let me keep the keys, other than giving them to a good looking face covering up an ugly party. If the conservatives get into power, obviously there is the immediate moral dilemma - what is their current stance on immigration? are we going to be deporting? but overwhelmingly for me is the public service funding worries, what the hell is going to happen to our funding, have you been to a hospital recently.. ok ok..
THREE - NHS Hospitals. In the past three months i have been to hospitals maybe two or three times, never anything bad but thats neither here nor there. Waiting times are shocking, the buildings are falling apart. This is excerbated for me personally by the fact that in my home town of Hemel Hempstead they are shutting down the hospital in March. This will leave the entire population of Hemel Hempstead and surrounding areas scrambling over to the SMALLER hospital in Watford. It seems unfathomable to me, realistically this will change my confidence in being able to attain healthcare, especially in an emergency, and we want to elect the CONSERVATIVES! and actually REDUCE public spending on the NHS. WHAT?!
FOUR - Identity Cards. Identity Cards Act 2006 - google it. unbelievable. I'm not actually so worried about the actual introduction of it (which will, in fairness, render the last scraps of our privacy and autonomy dead) but more so the seeming ignorance of the public about the scheme; many people that i have spoken to about it are not pleased about of the amount of information proposed to be held. There is a requirement for further legislation to actually roll the cards out on a mandatory basis, but still, things don't generally become less acceptable as time goes on, the principle of function creep will kick in.
Personal things - well this is a blog, lets be honest bloggers; there is self indulgence at hand, even if there is no self reference in your blog. I choose to embrace it.
FIVE - Stages of life - i feel like i'm moving to the next stage of my life as i am leaving University in May, or actually June because i will stay here for a month hanging out and drinking. This is fairly exciting as i am interested as to what the next stage of my life will hold for me. The economy is bad and i dont know what work will be available, and anyhow i quite fancy messing about for a couple of years whilst working, music is in store i think.
SIX - Leading on; Music. I have been utterly obsessed with instrumental Hip Hop, its a phaze that i haven't been through before and im enjoying it. If you are interested - Flying Lotus, Samiyam, Harmonic 313 and Bullion have been on my stereo so much, so much so that i forgot to play guitar for three weeks.
SEVEN - I feel i'm losing my format a little here as things seem to be leading on still... never mind. RECORDING! Reason has been my main outlet probably due to the aforementioned, slightly embarassing/uncharacteristic Hip Hop obsession. I think im getting better, i hope so anyway. i really want to buy one physical hardware synth, maybe like an old mini korg or an old ASR 10 or something, i also want to get sampling hmm. I'm hoping to break out of this phase and try some other styles too though, maybe big beat pop records.... i could sell them....
EIGHT - customary rant - why don't you want to do anything with your life? This thought was sparked off by someone i heard about who i don't particularly want to name as i don't know who will read this, but needless to say, broad opportunities. There are so many things that you can do with your life, you could go travelling, constantly, see the world, move to a different city, become an artist/ an author/ a musician. Work in an area of your choice even if theres no money in it, but don't do nothing! why would you do that? this guy sits in his house at the age of nineteen, holding out for "something good". why not even get a job at where the hell ever and go and get trashed at the weekend, wouldnt be my personal choice but i could at least comprehend the idea. bleeding hell.
NINE - Endings - appropriate for the last part of this entry; things ending. I know i'm not old or anything, but things seem to be ending and as i write this im realising that maybe this links into my previous point about the next stage of my life. University is ending and soon i will have to find work and i wont see many of the people that i see regularly here as much. In addition, at home peoples plans seem to be differing, faltering from original promises and expectations. I guess this is the way things go, i've often wondered why older people don't seem to have the wide friendship groups that exist at my age and i guess this gradual breaking down and branching off takes its toll. My hope for Two Thousand and Nine is not to Sloo shit up as it was in 2002 or to stay alive as it was in 2005 (dangerous times) but simply to try to protect and keep up the things that are important to me as everything changes around me, namely friends, family and also to try to give effect to my hopes for the future, even though the balancing act between the three may prove to be difficult, this is my hope even though, no, this does not rhyme with the number Nine.
ONE - the obvious, the new president. Loved the campaign, followed it reasonably closely, obsessively watching speeches and buying into the ideal presented, i can't help it, i really just think he has a chance to actually change things and i believe that he can, if he changes the medical system i will be happy. Whether he will or not remains to be seen and with each passing day i can't help but feel that he will fall the same way as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, disgraced in public opinion, by the media, whereas in objective opinion it would be hard not to accept them as successful.
I am worried about things. the next three of the NINE (two thousand and NINE yeah?) will outline my immediate worries.
TWO - The Conservative Party being elected to run the United Kingdom. I know there might not be an election until 2010, depending on what Gordon Brown's plan to get elected will be. Personally i would suggest a flat out, i am good at economics, our economy is fucked, please let me keep the keys, other than giving them to a good looking face covering up an ugly party. If the conservatives get into power, obviously there is the immediate moral dilemma - what is their current stance on immigration? are we going to be deporting? but overwhelmingly for me is the public service funding worries, what the hell is going to happen to our funding, have you been to a hospital recently.. ok ok..
THREE - NHS Hospitals. In the past three months i have been to hospitals maybe two or three times, never anything bad but thats neither here nor there. Waiting times are shocking, the buildings are falling apart. This is excerbated for me personally by the fact that in my home town of Hemel Hempstead they are shutting down the hospital in March. This will leave the entire population of Hemel Hempstead and surrounding areas scrambling over to the SMALLER hospital in Watford. It seems unfathomable to me, realistically this will change my confidence in being able to attain healthcare, especially in an emergency, and we want to elect the CONSERVATIVES! and actually REDUCE public spending on the NHS. WHAT?!
FOUR - Identity Cards. Identity Cards Act 2006 - google it. unbelievable. I'm not actually so worried about the actual introduction of it (which will, in fairness, render the last scraps of our privacy and autonomy dead) but more so the seeming ignorance of the public about the scheme; many people that i have spoken to about it are not pleased about of the amount of information proposed to be held. There is a requirement for further legislation to actually roll the cards out on a mandatory basis, but still, things don't generally become less acceptable as time goes on, the principle of function creep will kick in.
Personal things - well this is a blog, lets be honest bloggers; there is self indulgence at hand, even if there is no self reference in your blog. I choose to embrace it.
FIVE - Stages of life - i feel like i'm moving to the next stage of my life as i am leaving University in May, or actually June because i will stay here for a month hanging out and drinking. This is fairly exciting as i am interested as to what the next stage of my life will hold for me. The economy is bad and i dont know what work will be available, and anyhow i quite fancy messing about for a couple of years whilst working, music is in store i think.
SIX - Leading on; Music. I have been utterly obsessed with instrumental Hip Hop, its a phaze that i haven't been through before and im enjoying it. If you are interested - Flying Lotus, Samiyam, Harmonic 313 and Bullion have been on my stereo so much, so much so that i forgot to play guitar for three weeks.
SEVEN - I feel i'm losing my format a little here as things seem to be leading on still... never mind. RECORDING! Reason has been my main outlet probably due to the aforementioned, slightly embarassing/uncharacteristic Hip Hop obsession. I think im getting better, i hope so anyway. i really want to buy one physical hardware synth, maybe like an old mini korg or an old ASR 10 or something, i also want to get sampling hmm. I'm hoping to break out of this phase and try some other styles too though, maybe big beat pop records.... i could sell them....
EIGHT - customary rant - why don't you want to do anything with your life? This thought was sparked off by someone i heard about who i don't particularly want to name as i don't know who will read this, but needless to say, broad opportunities. There are so many things that you can do with your life, you could go travelling, constantly, see the world, move to a different city, become an artist/ an author/ a musician. Work in an area of your choice even if theres no money in it, but don't do nothing! why would you do that? this guy sits in his house at the age of nineteen, holding out for "something good". why not even get a job at where the hell ever and go and get trashed at the weekend, wouldnt be my personal choice but i could at least comprehend the idea. bleeding hell.
NINE - Endings - appropriate for the last part of this entry; things ending. I know i'm not old or anything, but things seem to be ending and as i write this im realising that maybe this links into my previous point about the next stage of my life. University is ending and soon i will have to find work and i wont see many of the people that i see regularly here as much. In addition, at home peoples plans seem to be differing, faltering from original promises and expectations. I guess this is the way things go, i've often wondered why older people don't seem to have the wide friendship groups that exist at my age and i guess this gradual breaking down and branching off takes its toll. My hope for Two Thousand and Nine is not to Sloo shit up as it was in 2002 or to stay alive as it was in 2005 (dangerous times) but simply to try to protect and keep up the things that are important to me as everything changes around me, namely friends, family and also to try to give effect to my hopes for the future, even though the balancing act between the three may prove to be difficult, this is my hope even though, no, this does not rhyme with the number Nine.
Friday, November 7, 2008
ANALOGUE ALAN.
my blog has pretty much moved to analogue form, as in on paper, i dont really know if this counts as analogue, usually a term used to describe non digital electronics. but yeah, i have purchased a book (a solid two to three months ago now) which i have been using to write in. its pretty good, and a valid format seeing as nobody really reads this, and its not really the reason i write it anyway.
Regardless of my change of format, may aswell write something here to fill the time. have been enjoying my time at university, everything going well despite the fairly ridiculous work load. Dissertation has been a bit intense! have actually been out a bit, almost certainly too much, have been getting real drunk.
anyway, i guess this is a farewell of sorts. ill come back here at some point im sure.
Regardless of my change of format, may aswell write something here to fill the time. have been enjoying my time at university, everything going well despite the fairly ridiculous work load. Dissertation has been a bit intense! have actually been out a bit, almost certainly too much, have been getting real drunk.
anyway, i guess this is a farewell of sorts. ill come back here at some point im sure.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Running the Rat Race
Things carry on.
still working at Executive Grapevine, earning some money and living for the weekend, which ive never really understood before the last few weeks. after working all week the urge to go out at the weekend is so intense. I used to think how can all those people move like cattle towards those terrible clubs, now i understand why they go out, although i really dont get why they go to those clubs. This moves me on to my next point, which is really the same point. 'i dont understand why people go to those clubs'.
By those clubs i mean clubs that play generic R&B and the latest indie anthems, the music is boring, the club is poor and its likely that a fight will break out. This weekend me and a few friends went to Fabric in Farringdon, i went with medium expectation due to my general disdain of clubs but brief optimism because i knew it would be more extreme and i knew that a couple of artists were playing that i like. Friday came along and i was really excited to get out of the office. We arrived in Farringdon and went to a couple of local pubs which were really authentic and quite lively with young people. We had to queue to get in and i began to get very excited, as i walked in and tried to get my money out to pay i became extremely excited which was strange because i hadnt expected it at all. We walked in and explored a little, the venue is brilliant, it is entirely brickwork interior and underground which was nice and the music was literally exquisite. the drinks were quite expensive but got served instantly because not many people are drinking because a lot of drugs seem to go down. The whole atmosphere was quite friendly, not intimidating or rowdy but at the same time very intense because of the extremity of the music. I got into it pretty quickly because one of my favorite Dub tracks 'V' was played and it was brilliant. I was wearing ear plugs because my ears always ring and i didnt want to become entirely deaf and this was neccessary (sp?) because there was one room where the floor vibrated with the music due to the massive speakers under the floor. There was a lot of Drum and Bass being played and Pendulum did a DJ set which i was sceptical about because i am so bored of their mainstream nature but it was quite good and they played some real nice tracks. Everything was so aggressive but at the same time just enjoyable because there were hardly any dicks in the place. The only people who are idiots are so drugged that even if they wanted to kill you all they could do would be to say oiii maaaaaaa (by this time you are the other side of the room having a conversation with the barmaid about the price of drinks) tteeeee. just to re-iterate this point, they are slow and unthreatening, and besides the people on drugs seemed to just talk to you about how good the place is. So yes, all in all i actually had an excellent time and we left the club at around 5 30 am, which was late but didnt really seem it because we were carried by the music, any time i felt tired a really good song seemed to play, none of which i knew by the way. I knew hardly any of the music there but that didnt matter at all.
I doubted i would enjoy it but the reality is if you havent been to one of these proper 'raves' or large clubs that play specialist music you really cant understand, i just thought it was a load of guys on pills skanking to crap drum and bass, but its actually more like an experience shared with a lot of people, kind of like when you were younger and used to go to gigs and there was always that feeling that you were doing something good together...(maybe i was the only one to feel this?) but yeah i really really thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you can take it for what it is it is such a good time.
Another note on it - everyone dances with each other, its a very communal atmosphere, i was dancing with people including this woman who looked fit from behind but turned out to be at least 30. haha.
This post is turning out to be quite long! the other thing that happened this week was my results which i was a little bit disappointed with. i got 57% which is a 2:2, only three percent of a 2:1 and my second year is only worth 30% and all those other excuses, but i wasnt pleased at all. I really wanted a 2:1 this year. it is difficult to get a 2:1 in Law in the second year, most people do get 2:2's and then get 2:1's in third year, and they say that marks are almost 20% lower in Law than other subjects etc etc, but i just set myself out to get a 2:1 and i failed to do so. Ive basically just repeated myself there, the second time actually using the excuses. laugh out loud.
anyway, bed beckons as i have to be up to head on down to the old Executive Grapevine at seven.
AL = OUT
still working at Executive Grapevine, earning some money and living for the weekend, which ive never really understood before the last few weeks. after working all week the urge to go out at the weekend is so intense. I used to think how can all those people move like cattle towards those terrible clubs, now i understand why they go out, although i really dont get why they go to those clubs. This moves me on to my next point, which is really the same point. 'i dont understand why people go to those clubs'.
By those clubs i mean clubs that play generic R&B and the latest indie anthems, the music is boring, the club is poor and its likely that a fight will break out. This weekend me and a few friends went to Fabric in Farringdon, i went with medium expectation due to my general disdain of clubs but brief optimism because i knew it would be more extreme and i knew that a couple of artists were playing that i like. Friday came along and i was really excited to get out of the office. We arrived in Farringdon and went to a couple of local pubs which were really authentic and quite lively with young people. We had to queue to get in and i began to get very excited, as i walked in and tried to get my money out to pay i became extremely excited which was strange because i hadnt expected it at all. We walked in and explored a little, the venue is brilliant, it is entirely brickwork interior and underground which was nice and the music was literally exquisite. the drinks were quite expensive but got served instantly because not many people are drinking because a lot of drugs seem to go down. The whole atmosphere was quite friendly, not intimidating or rowdy but at the same time very intense because of the extremity of the music. I got into it pretty quickly because one of my favorite Dub tracks 'V' was played and it was brilliant. I was wearing ear plugs because my ears always ring and i didnt want to become entirely deaf and this was neccessary (sp?) because there was one room where the floor vibrated with the music due to the massive speakers under the floor. There was a lot of Drum and Bass being played and Pendulum did a DJ set which i was sceptical about because i am so bored of their mainstream nature but it was quite good and they played some real nice tracks. Everything was so aggressive but at the same time just enjoyable because there were hardly any dicks in the place. The only people who are idiots are so drugged that even if they wanted to kill you all they could do would be to say oiii maaaaaaa (by this time you are the other side of the room having a conversation with the barmaid about the price of drinks) tteeeee. just to re-iterate this point, they are slow and unthreatening, and besides the people on drugs seemed to just talk to you about how good the place is. So yes, all in all i actually had an excellent time and we left the club at around 5 30 am, which was late but didnt really seem it because we were carried by the music, any time i felt tired a really good song seemed to play, none of which i knew by the way. I knew hardly any of the music there but that didnt matter at all.
I doubted i would enjoy it but the reality is if you havent been to one of these proper 'raves' or large clubs that play specialist music you really cant understand, i just thought it was a load of guys on pills skanking to crap drum and bass, but its actually more like an experience shared with a lot of people, kind of like when you were younger and used to go to gigs and there was always that feeling that you were doing something good together...(maybe i was the only one to feel this?) but yeah i really really thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you can take it for what it is it is such a good time.
Another note on it - everyone dances with each other, its a very communal atmosphere, i was dancing with people including this woman who looked fit from behind but turned out to be at least 30. haha.
This post is turning out to be quite long! the other thing that happened this week was my results which i was a little bit disappointed with. i got 57% which is a 2:2, only three percent of a 2:1 and my second year is only worth 30% and all those other excuses, but i wasnt pleased at all. I really wanted a 2:1 this year. it is difficult to get a 2:1 in Law in the second year, most people do get 2:2's and then get 2:1's in third year, and they say that marks are almost 20% lower in Law than other subjects etc etc, but i just set myself out to get a 2:1 and i failed to do so. Ive basically just repeated myself there, the second time actually using the excuses. laugh out loud.
anyway, bed beckons as i have to be up to head on down to the old Executive Grapevine at seven.
AL = OUT
Friday, June 27, 2008
Channels
today my blog will flow in paragraphs of unstructured thoughts in seperated paragraphs which contain unrelated content. because thats how im feeling, a bit tired! and im going to refer to them as Channels.
Channel One - Work
So im working in an office for a human resources company named Executive Grapevine, its basically a company that makes a book with peoples names in it which other companies use to headhunt. my job is literally to ring all the people in the book and confirm their email addresses. dull? yes. but its sitting down with tea and i can draw, and its well paid.
Channel Two - Music
So music is occupying my second channel instead of my first, i guess thats a sign of living in the real world which is occupied by work. Today after work i got Bon Iver's album 'For Emma, Forever Ago' im having this thing with one of the songs on there 're:stacks' that ive only ever had with one song before which was Bob Dylan - dont think twice its alright. where i just literally cant stop listening to it over and over. im not usually one to listen to the same song twice in a row. i just think its one of the best structures ive ever heard.
Channel Three - summer thoughts
summer is moving on. quite a pace actually. not sure ive really done all that much. i want it to be good weather tommorow and i want to drive around in my car listening to Harmony, No Harmony on my - cd walkman/tape to mini jack/six by nine speakers chucked into the parcel shelf that keep falling out - system and go and play football with everyone at gadebridge park... or maybe Clarence park so there can be a drive. Either that or im going to try and organise a day out. summer needs to bring better memories.
Things are going well though to be fair! cant complain! get my exam results next week, quite excited about that!
AL = OUT
Channel One - Work
So im working in an office for a human resources company named Executive Grapevine, its basically a company that makes a book with peoples names in it which other companies use to headhunt. my job is literally to ring all the people in the book and confirm their email addresses. dull? yes. but its sitting down with tea and i can draw, and its well paid.
Channel Two - Music
So music is occupying my second channel instead of my first, i guess thats a sign of living in the real world which is occupied by work. Today after work i got Bon Iver's album 'For Emma, Forever Ago' im having this thing with one of the songs on there 're:stacks' that ive only ever had with one song before which was Bob Dylan - dont think twice its alright. where i just literally cant stop listening to it over and over. im not usually one to listen to the same song twice in a row. i just think its one of the best structures ive ever heard.
Channel Three - summer thoughts
summer is moving on. quite a pace actually. not sure ive really done all that much. i want it to be good weather tommorow and i want to drive around in my car listening to Harmony, No Harmony on my - cd walkman/tape to mini jack/six by nine speakers chucked into the parcel shelf that keep falling out - system and go and play football with everyone at gadebridge park... or maybe Clarence park so there can be a drive. Either that or im going to try and organise a day out. summer needs to bring better memories.
Things are going well though to be fair! cant complain! get my exam results next week, quite excited about that!
AL = OUT
Monday, May 26, 2008
Freedom.
So, ive not been doing a whole lot, sleeping until twelve which is nice. me and Ben have been playing the first song on the Mumford and Sons video which was in my last post. its a good song and the jamming is going quite well. i think we might call the project Ancestors or Veterans, Old Stripes was an idea too, came up with while watching the Jungle Book.
Ive been watching a lot of Current TV which is a online/actual TV channel created by Al Gore of American political fame. Users can upload shorts 'pods' which can be watched online, voted for and then the most popular ones can appear on the television channel. I have been watching a lot of these as i feel that it is good to get an insight from people that DONT work for the BBC. check it out on www.current.tv. So i have seen quite a few videos on there of interest. One of them was about knife crime in London which has me slightly worried about the severity of that situation and how it is getting increasingly worse. One that i have seen on the TV that me and Jane watched was about a method of connecting human emotions through searching blog entries that have the word 'i' and 'feel' in the title. With this information they can establish how a certain area of the world is feeling, or you can simply search to see if someone is feeling the same way as you, im browsing it now and i think its quite good. Its on www.wefeelfine.org, again check out if you wish. who am i even talking to? nobody reads this. haha.
Possibly going to St. Ives tomorrow if i can get up at 8 am, which is possible but i have had seven beers, we shall see. Im returning home on saturday, a few more days to chill out in Plymouth and then on with summer!
Al = OUT.
Ive been watching a lot of Current TV which is a online/actual TV channel created by Al Gore of American political fame. Users can upload shorts 'pods' which can be watched online, voted for and then the most popular ones can appear on the television channel. I have been watching a lot of these as i feel that it is good to get an insight from people that DONT work for the BBC. check it out on www.current.tv. So i have seen quite a few videos on there of interest. One of them was about knife crime in London which has me slightly worried about the severity of that situation and how it is getting increasingly worse. One that i have seen on the TV that me and Jane watched was about a method of connecting human emotions through searching blog entries that have the word 'i' and 'feel' in the title. With this information they can establish how a certain area of the world is feeling, or you can simply search to see if someone is feeling the same way as you, im browsing it now and i think its quite good. Its on www.wefeelfine.org, again check out if you wish. who am i even talking to? nobody reads this. haha.
Possibly going to St. Ives tomorrow if i can get up at 8 am, which is possible but i have had seven beers, we shall see. Im returning home on saturday, a few more days to chill out in Plymouth and then on with summer!
Al = OUT.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
