UK based indie/unsigned music. Good Music Is Infinite.
Good Music Is Infinite
An Ourobouros is an ancient Greek symbol of a snake biting its own tail that symbolises infinity. The idea is that there is infinite good music out there that people should hear and I intend to play some of that music.
If anyone is interested in downloading the music I made a few years ago then click on this link:
I've come to the conclusion that I am in need of a laptop for the future health of my shows. Buying one off ebay has proved a failure and I have made the hard decision to ask my loyal listeners to donate a small amount to help me purchase a brand new laptop.
In the 2 1/2 years I have been producing podcasts I have never asked my listeners for money, and never really wanted to, but for this specific problem I have made the decision to ask that each of my listeners dip into their pockets and make a small difference. If each of my loyal listeners make a £5-10 donation I can quickly get the new equipment and ensure many more years of podcasting.
If you can please use the button on the right. Thanks for your time and patience.
I've come to the conclusion that I am in need of a laptop for the future health of my shows. Buying one off ebay has proved a failure and I have made the hard decision to ask my loyal listeners to donate a small amount to help me purchase a brand new laptop.
In the 2 1/2 years I have been producing podcasts I have never asked my listeners for money, and never really wanted to, but for this specific problem I have made the decision to ask that each of my listeners dip into their pockets and make a small difference. If each of my loyal listeners make a £5-10 donation I can quickly get the new equipment and ensure many more years of podcasting.
If you can please use the button on the right. Thanks for your time and patience.
So here is the second annual Ourobouros VidCast, featuring
my 10 favourite videos for tracks that have been played in 2008 on the show.
Below are some show notes explaining a little why these are the videos that
made the cut. My basic rules for a good video can be summed up as imagination,
entertainment, fitting the song and if it’s done on a tight budget so much the
better.
A mostly animated video directed by Robin from the band. He
guides his partner Yellow Thunder Woman through an animated version of hell
featuring well known people who represent the lyrics. A very cheeky, very funny
experience and you’ve got to love a video with a beer break.
I’ve broken my own rule about leaving out bands that have
split up for this one. Even though Elle s’appelle aren’t together any more I
couldn’t bring myself to leave this video out. It’s probably my favourite video
that’s been made in the last 3 years and I just had to include it. The band and
their friend Ste Lucas make a creative video involving objects that are round.
Fundamental proof that you don’t need a huge budget to make an entertaining video,
you just need imagination. Elle s’appelle RIP.
This is a perfect example of the video fitting the track.
The video sees Jona Bechtolt, AKA Yacht, dressed in a giant cardboard penny and
wandering the streets Portland, Oregon,
his hometown.
This is a video that wasn’t released when I played the track
on the podcast. In preparation for compiling this VidCast I trawled through my
playlists for the year and saw if any videos had been released in the meantime.
My efforts were rewarded when this fantastic animated effort came up. It takes
the staple technique of each element of the track having its own visual cue and
does something interesting with it. Once you work out what’s going on it’s an
entertaining video to watch and stands up to repeated viewing.
There’s only one thing to say about this video. Lego Porn!
Childhood toys turned into stop-motion players in a modern tragedy. This
twisted video was directed by Bryn, the bands bassist and one of his friends.
The time-intensive methodology really pays off to create a memorable, fun
video.
The great lost video has been found again! When I originally
played this track on the podcast I bemoaned the fact that YouTube had removed
the video because it violated their policy, but now the band has got their
hands on a copy and it’s available on their personal website. The story goes
that a fan used videos from a website called Beautiful Agony as imagery for the
track Austere and uploaded it to YouTube. YouTube’s problem is that Beautiful
Agony specialises in videos of the faces of people while they masturbate. It
kind of fits the band name. Even though in this video there is no nudity, not
even an exposed female breast, YouTube deemed this inappropriate. It’s certainly
a memorable viewing experience, a little arousing, a little uncomfortable and
very weird. Since this video was made the band has produced an ‘official’ video
that can be seen here. It’s a brilliant piece of work in its own right and
could well have made the playlist itself, but the unofficial video is almost
unique.
This is a very cool take on an old idea. Everyone must have
seen that Bob Dylan video where he has all the lyrics on cards and shows them
before dropping them. In this video instead of cards, the lyrics are printed on
baseball caps that are then worn by the band, the directors, various friends
and even a couple of dogs. It’s seems like it would have been a lot of fun to
film and becomes an interesting video.
This is a disturbing video examining our approach to fame
and celebrity. A couple of strange newsreaders that follow the American pattern
of overweight man and hot woman lip-sync the lyrics while dressing up in
bondage gear and admitting they’re lying. For a video that has a lot of
disturbing imagery possibly the most disturbing is a single trickle of blood
coming from the nose of the vapidly smiling hot woman.
This is a sexy video that fits the song perfectly. Martina,
the singer for Dragonette walks around kissing people and then taking over
their persona, a great idea that takes advantage of the bands personality. It’s
also cool that it was directed by a woman. It’s actually the second video with
a female influence because Lamo who co-directed The Black Ghosts’ video is also
a woman.
I waited a long time for this video. I got the track in
February, but the video wasn’t ready until October so I didn’t play it until
then. Boy was it worth the wait. It’s a strange journey around a typical
American suburban home with the inhabitants hypnotised by strange red strings
and seemingly incapable of anything else. It’s full of startling, strange
images that stick in the mind long after watching.
As ever it was very difficult to finalise a 10 track
playlist and honourable mentions go to:
So here is the second annual Ourobouros VidCast, featuring
my 10 favourite videos for tracks that have been played in 2008 on the show.
Below are some show notes explaining a little why these are the videos that
made the cut. My basic rules for a good video can be summed up as imagination,
entertainment, fitting the song and if it’s done on a tight budget so much the
better.
A mostly animated video directed by Robin from the band. He
guides his partner Yellow Thunder Woman through an animated version of hell
featuring well known people who represent the lyrics. A very cheeky, very funny
experience and you’ve got to love a video with a beer break.
I’ve broken my own rule about leaving out bands that have
split up for this one. Even though Elle s’appelle aren’t together any more I
couldn’t bring myself to leave this video out. It’s probably my favourite video
that’s been made in the last 3 years and I just had to include it. The band and
their friend Ste Lucas make a creative video involving objects that are round.
Fundamental proof that you don’t need a huge budget to make an entertaining video,
you just need imagination. Elle s’appelle RIP.
This is a perfect example of the video fitting the track.
The video sees Jona Bechtolt, AKA Yacht, dressed in a giant cardboard penny and
wandering the streets Portland, Oregon,
his hometown.
This is a video that wasn’t released when I played the track
on the podcast. In preparation for compiling this VidCast I trawled through my
playlists for the year and saw if any videos had been released in the meantime.
My efforts were rewarded when this fantastic animated effort came up. It takes
the staple technique of each element of the track having its own visual cue and
does something interesting with it. Once you work out what’s going on it’s an
entertaining video to watch and stands up to repeated viewing.
There’s only one thing to say about this video. Lego Porn!
Childhood toys turned into stop-motion players in a modern tragedy. This
twisted video was directed by Bryn, the bands bassist and one of his friends.
The time-intensive methodology really pays off to create a memorable, fun
video.
The great lost video has been found again! When I originally
played this track on the podcast I bemoaned the fact that YouTube had removed
the video because it violated their policy, but now the band has got their
hands on a copy and it’s available on their personal website. The story goes
that a fan used videos from a website called Beautiful Agony as imagery for the
track Austere and uploaded it to YouTube. YouTube’s problem is that Beautiful
Agony specialises in videos of the faces of people while they masturbate. It
kind of fits the band name. Even though in this video there is no nudity, not
even an exposed female breast, YouTube deemed this inappropriate. It’s certainly
a memorable viewing experience, a little arousing, a little uncomfortable and
very weird. Since this video was made the band has produced an ‘official’ video
that can be seen here. It’s a brilliant piece of work in its own right and
could well have made the playlist itself, but the unofficial video is almost
unique.
This is a very cool take on an old idea. Everyone must have
seen that Bob Dylan video where he has all the lyrics on cards and shows them
before dropping them. In this video instead of cards, the lyrics are printed on
baseball caps that are then worn by the band, the directors, various friends
and even a couple of dogs. It’s seems like it would have been a lot of fun to
film and becomes an interesting video.
This is a disturbing video examining our approach to fame
and celebrity. A couple of strange newsreaders that follow the American pattern
of overweight man and hot woman lip-sync the lyrics while dressing up in
bondage gear and admitting they’re lying. For a video that has a lot of
disturbing imagery possibly the most disturbing is a single trickle of blood
coming from the nose of the vapidly smiling hot woman.
This is a sexy video that fits the song perfectly. Martina,
the singer for Dragonette walks around kissing people and then taking over
their persona, a great idea that takes advantage of the bands personality. It’s
also cool that it was directed by a woman. It’s actually the second video with
a female influence because Lamo who co-directed The Black Ghosts’ video is also
a woman.
I waited a long time for this video. I got the track in
February, but the video wasn’t ready until October so I didn’t play it until
then. Boy was it worth the wait. It’s a strange journey around a typical
American suburban home with the inhabitants hypnotised by strange red strings
and seemingly incapable of anything else. It’s full of startling, strange
images that stick in the mind long after watching.
As ever it was very difficult to finalise a 10 track
playlist and honourable mentions go to:
So here is the second annual Ourobouros VidCast, featuring
my 10 favourite videos for tracks that have been played in 2008 on the show.
Below are some show notes explaining a little why these are the videos that
made the cut. My basic rules for a good video can be summed up as imagination,
entertainment, fitting the song and if it’s done on a tight budget so much the
better.
A mostly animated video directed by Robin from the band. He
guides his partner Yellow Thunder Woman through an animated version of hell
featuring well known people who represent the lyrics. A very cheeky, very funny
experience and you’ve got to love a video with a beer break.
I’ve broken my own rule about leaving out bands that have
split up for this one. Even though Elle s’appelle aren’t together any more I
couldn’t bring myself to leave this video out. It’s probably my favourite video
that’s been made in the last 3 years and I just had to include it. The band and
their friend Ste Lucas make a creative video involving objects that are round.
Fundamental proof that you don’t need a huge budget to make an entertaining video,
you just need imagination. Elle s’appelle RIP.
This is a perfect example of the video fitting the track.
The video sees Jona Bechtolt, AKA Yacht, dressed in a giant cardboard penny and
wandering the streets Portland, Oregon,
his hometown.
This is a video that wasn’t released when I played the track
on the podcast. In preparation for compiling this VidCast I trawled through my
playlists for the year and saw if any videos had been released in the meantime.
My efforts were rewarded when this fantastic animated effort came up. It takes
the staple technique of each element of the track having its own visual cue and
does something interesting with it. Once you work out what’s going on it’s an
entertaining video to watch and stands up to repeated viewing.
There’s only one thing to say about this video. Lego Porn!
Childhood toys turned into stop-motion players in a modern tragedy. This
twisted video was directed by Bryn, the bands bassist and one of his friends.
The time-intensive methodology really pays off to create a memorable, fun
video.
The great lost video has been found again! When I originally
played this track on the podcast I bemoaned the fact that YouTube had removed
the video because it violated their policy, but now the band has got their
hands on a copy and it’s available on their personal website. The story goes
that a fan used videos from a website called Beautiful Agony as imagery for the
track Austere and uploaded it to YouTube. YouTube’s problem is that Beautiful
Agony specialises in videos of the faces of people while they masturbate. It
kind of fits the band name. Even though in this video there is no nudity, not
even an exposed female breast, YouTube deemed this inappropriate. It’s certainly
a memorable viewing experience, a little arousing, a little uncomfortable and
very weird. Since this video was made the band has produced an ‘official’ video
that can be seen here. It’s a brilliant piece of work in its own right and
could well have made the playlist itself, but the unofficial video is almost
unique.
This is a very cool take on an old idea. Everyone must have
seen that Bob Dylan video where he has all the lyrics on cards and shows them
before dropping them. In this video instead of cards, the lyrics are printed on
baseball caps that are then worn by the band, the directors, various friends
and even a couple of dogs. It’s seems like it would have been a lot of fun to
film and becomes an interesting video.
This is a disturbing video examining our approach to fame
and celebrity. A couple of strange newsreaders that follow the American pattern
of overweight man and hot woman lip-sync the lyrics while dressing up in
bondage gear and admitting they’re lying. For a video that has a lot of
disturbing imagery possibly the most disturbing is a single trickle of blood
coming from the nose of the vapidly smiling hot woman.
This is a sexy video that fits the song perfectly. Martina,
the singer for Dragonette walks around kissing people and then taking over
their persona, a great idea that takes advantage of the bands personality. It’s
also cool that it was directed by a woman. It’s actually the second video with
a female influence because Lamo who co-directed The Black Ghosts’ video is also
a woman.
I waited a long time for this video. I got the track in
February, but the video wasn’t ready until October so I didn’t play it until
then. Boy was it worth the wait. It’s a strange journey around a typical
American suburban home with the inhabitants hypnotised by strange red strings
and seemingly incapable of anything else. It’s full of startling, strange
images that stick in the mind long after watching.
As ever it was very difficult to finalise a 10 track
playlist and honourable mentions go to:
The second annual Review podcast is here featuring my 10
favourite tracks that have been played on the show in the last year.
To make the selection process easier I made myself some
rules to follow. Bands that were played on last years podcast or vidcast were
excluded, bands that were featured on this years vidcast were also excluded and
bands that have split up were excluded.
Even with these rules it was hard to pick a 10 track
playlist, so honourable mentions go to:
Acusis – Seaside
Backchat (Played Show #73)
Donora – Weekend Tongue (Played Show #68)
Little Fish – Am I Crazy? (Played Show #54)
Slovakia
(RIP) – Part Of The Factory (Played Show #48)
un:armed – Talk Talk (Played Show #37)
Since I recorded this show at the beginning of December the
schedule has changed slightly. The next episode in the feed will be a regular
show on Saturday and then the VidCast is released midweek next week.
And while I’m here I may as well announce that I have bitten
the bullet and signed up for twitter. You can find me and follow me at
twitter.com/ourobouros54.
About 5 years ago I got a demo of a program called eJay that let's you create your own dance music. This week I came across the CD of the tracks I made and decided I might as well put out a special podcast featuring them all. Talk about a vanity project...
Anyway since the demo software I had ran out after 30 Days that's what I've called the 'EP' and since my online moniker has been Ourobouros 54 forever I present to you 30 Days by Ourobouros 54.
Here are some explanations for the tracks:
1. Infinity
I wanted to do a down-tempo ambient style track and this is what came out. Since the Ourobouros is a symbol of infinity that seemed a good title.
2. The Zeppo
My all time favourite TV program is Buffy The Vampire Slayer and my all time favourite quote was Xander's line that I used in the track. I found a wav of the line and used it to create this track. The title comes from one of my favourite episodes of the show that focuses on Xander.
3. Concussed Duckling
I wanted to create a weird track and the flute sample fitted the bill perfectly. The title comes from a Terry Pratchett line: 'He had all the self-awareness of a concussed duckling'. It's one of the funniest lines I've ever read and it fitted a funny sounding track.
4. Roc Stars
eJay gets some well known artists to provide samples for their software and one of them for the edition I had was Cut La Roc. I was already a big fan of his as he was on Skint Records and I had a lot of his tracks from Skint compilations. I challenged myself to create a track that only used Cut La Roc samples and this is the result.
5. Playboy
I wanted to create a trippy, down tempo track and was looking for inspiration. At the time I was a fan of WWE wrestling, and one of the female performers was named Torrie Wilson. Her entrance music was pretty good and had the feel I was looking for. This is my attempt at re-creating her music using the available samples. Since she'd recently posed for Playboy at the time I did it I had my title.
6. Tajiri
As I said above I was a WWE fan at the time and my favourite wrestler was a Japanese guy named Yoshihiro Tajiri. He inspired me to create a Japanese sounding track and this is the result.
If for some unknown reason you want to own these tracks you can download it from this link.
For some reason the original file I uploaded for this episode got cut off. It took me 6 attempts before the full file got uploaded. No idea what was going on, but the repost should have the full episode. The file should be 48 minutes 53 seconds long.
After I released this last episode of my podcast I contacted all the bands to tell them that the episode I played them in was online and to thank them for letting me play their music.
Glamour For Better got back in touch with me saying that they never gave me permission, despite the fact I had the e-mails to prove it. Then the record label, Ear Candy Music, got involved and insisted that I remove the track from the podcast. This is doubly irritating considering that Ear Candy were complicit in previously allowing the same track to be available as a free download for an extended period.
This is a ridiculous situation where record labels and even artists still don't appreciate the benefits of podcasting, but I have followed their wishes and removed the offending track.
The edition of Episode #36 now available for download does not contain the offending track.
I very rarely listen to the radio. Nowadays most of the music I hear is either played on podcasts or is on MTV2. For this reason I have a strong affinity for music videos and have produced a YouTube playlist for every episode of my podcast.
This has left me with a collection of videos, and it seemed sensible to attempt a video podcast of my favourites of the year.
My criteria for selection are basically for the video to have a strong central idea and for it to fit the song.
This is a humorous puppet video that uses the old Michel Gondry technique of each element of the song having its own visual cue. I know that sounds incredibly pretentious, but all you need to know is that it's very funny. David's expression at the end pretty much sums it up.
2: Fear Of Flying – Three's A Crowd (Band have changed their name to White Lies)
Played Episode #5
Director: James Appleton
When I said at the top of these notes that the video should fit the song, I couldn't have thought of a more appropriate video than this one. The song involves a battle of wills between a man and his girlfriend's pet cat, so you can imagine where this story driven video ends up. The bits at the end where the girlfriend shows some distinctly feline characteristics are very odd.
When this track originally came out, the band had a difficult time persuading people that this was not an anti-war song. After seeing this video it's easy to understand why. The primary coloured battlefield animation is at times priceless. It's probably safe to say that the video is anti-war even if the song isn't.
When the chorus for a song goes 'I hate racism, I love orgasms' it's difficult to imagine a video that could possibly fit the song. A puppet bobbing his head along to the music before tripping out after watching too much TV shouldn't work. It really, really does.
There was no way that this video wasn't going to make the final list as this is the music video I was in. The band only lives about 20 miles up the road from me, and when they sent out a myspace message asking for extras I went along. I'm the one with the big no. 54 on my shirt. Even if I wasn't in it, this would probably have made the list anyway. The idea of a mass protest march fits the song perfectly and when the fun of it all is brought down by a list of wars that British forces have fought in, it becomes thought provoking too.
This is a perfect example of a really simple idea defeating the obvious lack of budget. When the lyrics of a song talk about the problems of trying to grow up, having the uninterested protagonist of the video being chased by scantily clad women seems to work perfectly. When record companies can spend millions on a video that ends up looking like crap, this is the kind of thing they should be considering.
There's only one way to describe this video. Absolutely bloody mental. The brightly coloured animation of empty shirts with clown heads and animal headed mummies beating each other up is certainly one of the most interesting visual experiences of the last year. I really worry for the sanity of the director.
With The Manic Street Preachers becoming more MOR with every passing year, the mantle of politically aware British rock has passed to a new generation of bands. Harrisons are one of these bands and this dystopian vision of a future Sheffield is a great place to start. The visuals have been heavily influenced by the film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 and compliment the song perfectly. You have to admire the bands commitment to the video concept in the final scenes.
Another example of what can be achieved with imagination and a camcorder. I have managed to avoid programmes like The X Factor and Pop Idol, but the bloody things are so entrenched in the popular conscience that even I can see what a good spoof this is. I am slightly concerned with how comfortable Johnny from the band seems to be in drag though...
Stop motion animation using humans can be a very effective tool in the film-makers arsenal. When it's done right it can be spectacular and this is an example of it being done right. The dark, foreboding stage with the haunted dancer all alone starts us off and when the band members appear, briefly, in the black background the doom-laden feeling is enhanced.
Well the 'Best Of' podcast is now out featuring my 10 favourite tracks from the 10 months I've been producing this show. It's a nice collection of songs, with some rock, some punk, some electronica, some humourous acoustic and of course a very weird track to close the show.
I'm not going to put up video links for this episode like I usually do. If you want to look back in the archives Elizabeth, Jupiter One, Planetakis and ddd all have a video available for their track. The reason I'm not going to produce an official list is that I will be releasing a video podcast featuring my favourite videos of the year within the next few days. It's a completely different playlist with 10 more great songs combined with 10 great videos.
A quick announcement that it's my turn to host AMPed again this week, so look out for that this coming Monday.
It's also my next live gig on Wednesday and it's looking like it might be the last for a while. Details on the next 'proper' podcast episode.
Hope you all had a happy and safe holiday period, and here's to a great 2008.
It's been far too long since I've talked to you all, but sometimes life gets in the way of what you really want to do.
Rest assured I am still here, and as determined as ever to provide you with quality independent music. I'm still doing gigs as well and the next one is tonight, Wednesday 14th November, at The Porter Butt. I know this is very short notice, but yet again I had a band pull out on me and had a lot of trouble finding a replacement. As ever there will be free mix CDs handed out to attendees.
As far as the podcast goes I am planning to release a double length 'comeback special' at the end of the week. Lets hope I can actually get it out...
I've just put up the photos that were taken at my first gig on 12th September on the myspace profile. I've tried putting them into a slideshow but that function doesn't seem to be working at the moment.
You may have noticed that the podcast has been delayed a little this week. I had a bit of an issue with LibSyn who accidentally cancelled my account this weekend just before I was about to put it online. It's all been sorted out now so the show should be out shortly.
Finally managed to put out the live podcast I've been promising you. Three tracks from each of the bands that played at my first ever promoted gig.
The Madisons managed to show up nearly 2 hours late after breaking down on the way, but it was well worth the wait and they played a fantastic, if slightly shorter, set.
The Haiku managed to bring a lot of fans with them so the atmosphere was greatly improved by their presence.
Slovakia didn't think they were home town heroes, but proved they should be, with a mesmerising set that included a very interesting choice of cover.
Over all it was a great night and I have to say I'm looking forward to the next one on the 10th of October.
Well we finally managed it. About 4 months after I first discussed doing a live podcast of the 5 Unsigned shows with their organiser, Rich Maya, the first episode is out.
I decided to keep in a lot of the introductions and audience interaction in the podcast. My philosophy is if you're doing a live podcast you may as well make it as close as possible to the experience of a live gig. It helps that Rich is a very funny MC. It also goes a little way towards expressing what a charmingly chaotic experience a 5 Unsigned show is.
I took two tracks from each artist that appeared on the show, which probably doesn't do them justice, but it makes the podcast a manageable length.
I also decided to do a new intro for the show to distinguish this show from my 'regular' podcast. The only track that made sense to use was one by Scarlatti Tilt, because they are the reason I first met Rich. Just after the band sent me an mp3 to play on my podcast I noticed that they were performing in Bath. It turned out that it was a solo set by Daisy, the bands singer, at a 5 Unsigned gig. By that time I had already decided to promote gigs and thought that Rich would be a good person to get some advice from. To my surprise he was very accomodating and we met up for coffee at Fopp (RIP). The rest is history. It seems appropriate that the circle is completed by Scarlatti Tilt being on the first 5 Unsigned podcast a week before my first promoted gig.
This is getting a little long, so I'll leave it there. Hope you enjoy the new facet of the Ourobouros Podcast experience and you'll get another one next month.
I did manage to get myself a new microphone, but it's such poor quality that it is not worth recording the show on. Since I pride myself on the clarity of the links I'm not going to release an episode that is not up to scratch just to release an episode. I will hopefully have sorted this all out by the weekend so I will next be releasing an episode on my usual Sunday/Monday schedule.
You might have noticed that this weeks episode is a bit late. I tried to record it last night but then discovered that my microphone has ceased to work. Until I get a new one I'm not going to be able to record the show. Normal service will be resumed shortly. Hopefully...
In case anyone is desperate for a new episode I'm now confirming that there won't be a new episode this week. I'm just about to hop on a train to go up to London and watch the first two stages of the Tour de France and as I feared I didn't have time to produce a show this week. Hopefully the next show will be available either Sunday 15th July or Monday 16th July.
I don't usually get involved inthings like this and it's almost certainly futile, but this is something I feel strongly about.
As many of you are probably aware the Fopp chain of record stores went into administration this week. It seems to have been a combination of the collapse of the high street music business thanks to iTunes, Amazon et al and the decision by Fopp management to buy the Music Zone chain which had previously gone into administration. It looks like they just over extended themselves.
Speaking personally I always prefer to buy my music on CD rather than download and when I buy a CD I prefer to get it in the high street. Fopp is/was a great place to buy your music because it's so cheap and has a true independent spirit that is admirable. Speaking as someone who lives in Bath it is also the best place to watch live music in town.
Fopp has a very special place in my heart and any little thing that can be done to keep it open should be attempted.
A few weeks ago on the show I mentioned that I was in a video for The Haiku. They're a lovely couple of guys and they will be appearing at the gig I am promoting in September.
They've now released the video onto YouTube so everyone can have a look at it. It's a really cool video for a really cool song. You can see the video here
I've also embedded the video onto my myspace profile. I'm the one with a big number 54 on my shirt.
It won't make a blind bit of difference to you, but I am now a fully paid up member of AMP, The Association of Music Podcasting. I now have a network of like minded individuals at my back and I get to host AMPed, their review podcast, in a couple of months. Pretty Sweet!
Album reviews I wrote for Scarlatti Tilt & Rieser are in the June issue of Podcast User Magazine at www.podcastusermagazine.com. It's a great monthly .pdf magazine for podcasters and podcast listeners and apparently gets 10,000 readers a month.
This will mainly be used to promote the gigs I will be putting on here in Bath, but I intend to send out mailers regarding my podcast as well.
Speaking of the gigs, they are getting very close to being finalised. I am going to be putting on one a month and the first one should be on August 8th. Once I have everything sorted out I shall be broadcasting it on the podcast and posting a blog here and on the myspace profile.
If you would like to receive occasional e-mails from me please sign up to the mailing list using the box to the right.
When I was listening to the latest episode of the Take Your Medicine podcast I came across a track I absolutely love. It is called 'Thou Shalt Always Kill' by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip.
I usually abhor hip-hop and rap (Especially done by White, English guys) but the content of this track is superb. It is basically a list of commandments that people in the UK in 2007 should live by. Everything from 'Thou shalt not think that any man over the age of 30 who plays with a child that is not his own is a paedophile. Some people are just nice' to 'Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry'
In the weeks since I first heard it I have been desperately trying to find a download of it to put on the show. Unfortunately all the downloads have been taken down in preparation for a single release coming in April from Lex Records. That's fair enough.
Since I think this track is pure lyrical genius I have come to the conclusion that I have to get it heard by as many of my listeners as possible. The best way to do this as things stand is to put up links so you can listen to the track via streaming.
Sorry If anyone got Episode 1 again. Some of the directories I signed up to were having trouble because the file size of the mp3 didn't match up with what was listed.
Just a small technical hitch from a first time podcaster...
The good news is that Episode 2 is coming along nicely and should be up earlier than I anticipated. I predict it will be up by Sunday night (GMT).
Episode 1 was a bit of a Rock overload, but Episode 2 will have a more diverse mix of styles. I'm more or less at the mercy of the bands who give me approval to play their stuff...
While I was seeking approval for music to play on my next show I came across a story regarding some reprehensible behaviour. Let me give you the details.
There is a website called Micromusic.net that has a vast catalogue of music that is free to download. It is basically a community page for a sub-genre of dance music that uses old computer systems like Ataris and Gameboys to create dance music.
Then two Norwegian girls going by the ridiculous name of Fitts For Fight (or possibly their Svengali producer) download loads of these free tracks, record asinine lyrics over them and release them as their own material!
They even have a video for one of 'their' tracks called 'Fuck Off & Die' listed on YouTube. This is really a track called 'STereoid' by Drop Da Bomb. The chorus to this 'Song' goes:
'You come to a show, say hello, we say goodbye, fuck off and die'
that doggerel is not only offensive in content, but also in quality.
You can get more on this story at the micromusic page HERE.
If you follow that link you can find an online petition that micromusic has put up in protest at this travesty. I strongly recommend that everyone who reads this goes and signs it.
Even if you don't like the original music, and I admit it will not be to everyones taste, nobody should have their music stolen.
I intend to play STereoid on my next episode to show how it really should sound.
The second annual Review podcast is here featuring my 10
favourite tracks that have been played on the show in the last year.
To make the selection process easier I made myself some
rules to follow. Bands that were played on last years podcast or vidcast were
excluded, bands that were featured on this years vidcast were also excluded and
bands that have split up were excluded.
Even with these rules it was hard to pick a 10 track
playlist, so honourable mentions go to:
Acusis – Seaside
Backchat (Played Show #73)
Donora – Weekend Tongue (Played Show #68)
Little Fish – Am I Crazy? (Played Show #54)
Slovakia
(RIP) – Part Of The Factory (Played Show #48)
un:armed – Talk Talk (Played Show #37)
Since I recorded this show at the beginning of December the
schedule has changed slightly. The next episode in the feed will be a regular
show on Saturday and then the VidCast is released midweek next week.
And while I’m here I may as well announce that I have bitten
the bullet and signed up for twitter. You can find me and follow me at
twitter.com/ourobouros54.
About 5 years ago I got a demo of a program called eJay that let's you create your own dance music. This week I came across the CD of the tracks I made and decided I might as well put out a special podcast featuring them all. Talk about a vanity project...
Anyway since the demo software I had ran out after 30 Days that's what I've called the 'EP' and since my online moniker has been Ourobouros 54 forever I present to you 30 Days by Ourobouros 54.
Here are some explanations for the tracks:
1. Infinity
I wanted to do a down-tempo ambient style track and this is what came out. Since the Ourobouros is a symbol of infinity that seemed a good title.
2. The Zeppo
My all time favourite TV program is Buffy The Vampire Slayer and my all time favourite quote was Xander's line that I used in the track. I found a wav of the line and used it to create this track. The title comes from one of my favourite episodes of the show that focuses on Xander.
3. Concussed Duckling
I wanted to create a weird track and the flute sample fitted the bill perfectly. The title comes from a Terry Pratchett line: 'He had all the self-awareness of a concussed duckling'. It's one of the funniest lines I've ever read and it fitted a funny sounding track.
4. Roc Stars
eJay gets some well known artists to provide samples for their software and one of them for the edition I had was Cut La Roc. I was already a big fan of his as he was on Skint Records and I had a lot of his tracks from Skint compilations. I challenged myself to create a track that only used Cut La Roc samples and this is the result.
5. Playboy
I wanted to create a trippy, down tempo track and was looking for inspiration. At the time I was a fan of WWE wrestling, and one of the female performers was named Torrie Wilson. Her entrance music was pretty good and had the feel I was looking for. This is my attempt at re-creating her music using the available samples. Since she'd recently posed for Playboy at the time I did it I had my title.
6. Tajiri
As I said above I was a WWE fan at the time and my favourite wrestler was a Japanese guy named Yoshihiro Tajiri. He inspired me to create a Japanese sounding track and this is the result.
If for some unknown reason you want to own these tracks you can download it from this link.
For some reason the original file I uploaded for this episode got cut off. It took me 6 attempts before the full file got uploaded. No idea what was going on, but the repost should have the full episode. The file should be 48 minutes 53 seconds long.
After I released this last episode of my podcast I contacted all the bands to tell them that the episode I played them in was online and to thank them for letting me play their music.
Glamour For Better got back in touch with me saying that they never gave me permission, despite the fact I had the e-mails to prove it. Then the record label, Ear Candy Music, got involved and insisted that I remove the track from the podcast. This is doubly irritating considering that Ear Candy were complicit in previously allowing the same track to be available as a free download for an extended period.
This is a ridiculous situation where record labels and even artists still don't appreciate the benefits of podcasting, but I have followed their wishes and removed the offending track.
The edition of Episode #36 now available for download does not contain the offending track.
I very rarely listen to the radio. Nowadays most of the music I hear is either played on podcasts or is on MTV2. For this reason I have a strong affinity for music videos and have produced a YouTube playlist for every episode of my podcast.
This has left me with a collection of videos, and it seemed sensible to attempt a video podcast of my favourites of the year.
My criteria for selection are basically for the video to have a strong central idea and for it to fit the song.
This is a humorous puppet video that uses the old Michel Gondry technique of each element of the song having its own visual cue. I know that sounds incredibly pretentious, but all you need to know is that it's very funny. David's expression at the end pretty much sums it up.
2: Fear Of Flying – Three's A Crowd (Band have changed their name to White Lies)
Played Episode #5
Director: James Appleton
When I said at the top of these notes that the video should fit the song, I couldn't have thought of a more appropriate video than this one. The song involves a battle of wills between a man and his girlfriend's pet cat, so you can imagine where this story driven video ends up. The bits at the end where the girlfriend shows some distinctly feline characteristics are very odd.
When this track originally came out, the band had a difficult time persuading people that this was not an anti-war song. After seeing this video it's easy to understand why. The primary coloured battlefield animation is at times priceless. It's probably safe to say that the video is anti-war even if the song isn't.
When the chorus for a song goes 'I hate racism, I love orgasms' it's difficult to imagine a video that could possibly fit the song. A puppet bobbing his head along to the music before tripping out after watching too much TV shouldn't work. It really, really does.
There was no way that this video wasn't going to make the final list as this is the music video I was in. The band only lives about 20 miles up the road from me, and when they sent out a myspace message asking for extras I went along. I'm the one with the big no. 54 on my shirt. Even if I wasn't in it, this would probably have made the list anyway. The idea of a mass protest march fits the song perfectly and when the fun of it all is brought down by a list of wars that British forces have fought in, it becomes thought provoking too.
This is a perfect example of a really simple idea defeating the obvious lack of budget. When the lyrics of a song talk about the problems of trying to grow up, having the uninterested protagonist of the video being chased by scantily clad women seems to work perfectly. When record companies can spend millions on a video that ends up looking like crap, this is the kind of thing they should be considering.
There's only one way to describe this video. Absolutely bloody mental. The brightly coloured animation of empty shirts with clown heads and animal headed mummies beating each other up is certainly one of the most interesting visual experiences of the last year. I really worry for the sanity of the director.
With The Manic Street Preachers becoming more MOR with every passing year, the mantle of politically aware British rock has passed to a new generation of bands. Harrisons are one of these bands and this dystopian vision of a future Sheffield is a great place to start. The visuals have been heavily influenced by the film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 and compliment the song perfectly. You have to admire the bands commitment to the video concept in the final scenes.
Another example of what can be achieved with imagination and a camcorder. I have managed to avoid programmes like The X Factor and Pop Idol, but the bloody things are so entrenched in the popular conscience that even I can see what a good spoof this is. I am slightly concerned with how comfortable Johnny from the band seems to be in drag though...
Stop motion animation using humans can be a very effective tool in the film-makers arsenal. When it's done right it can be spectacular and this is an example of it being done right. The dark, foreboding stage with the haunted dancer all alone starts us off and when the band members appear, briefly, in the black background the doom-laden feeling is enhanced.
Well the 'Best Of' podcast is now out featuring my 10 favourite tracks from the 10 months I've been producing this show. It's a nice collection of songs, with some rock, some punk, some electronica, some humourous acoustic and of course a very weird track to close the show.
I'm not going to put up video links for this episode like I usually do. If you want to look back in the archives Elizabeth, Jupiter One, Planetakis and ddd all have a video available for their track. The reason I'm not going to produce an official list is that I will be releasing a video podcast featuring my favourite videos of the year within the next few days. It's a completely different playlist with 10 more great songs combined with 10 great videos.
A quick announcement that it's my turn to host AMPed again this week, so look out for that this coming Monday.
It's also my next live gig on Wednesday and it's looking like it might be the last for a while. Details on the next 'proper' podcast episode.
Hope you all had a happy and safe holiday period, and here's to a great 2008.
It's been far too long since I've talked to you all, but sometimes life gets in the way of what you really want to do.
Rest assured I am still here, and as determined as ever to provide you with quality independent music. I'm still doing gigs as well and the next one is tonight, Wednesday 14th November, at The Porter Butt. I know this is very short notice, but yet again I had a band pull out on me and had a lot of trouble finding a replacement. As ever there will be free mix CDs handed out to attendees.
As far as the podcast goes I am planning to release a double length 'comeback special' at the end of the week. Lets hope I can actually get it out...
I've just put up the photos that were taken at my first gig on 12th September on the myspace profile. I've tried putting them into a slideshow but that function doesn't seem to be working at the moment.
You may have noticed that the podcast has been delayed a little this week. I had a bit of an issue with LibSyn who accidentally cancelled my account this weekend just before I was about to put it online. It's all been sorted out now so the show should be out shortly.
Finally managed to put out the live podcast I've been promising you. Three tracks from each of the bands that played at my first ever promoted gig.
The Madisons managed to show up nearly 2 hours late after breaking down on the way, but it was well worth the wait and they played a fantastic, if slightly shorter, set.
The Haiku managed to bring a lot of fans with them so the atmosphere was greatly improved by their presence.
Slovakia didn't think they were home town heroes, but proved they should be, with a mesmerising set that included a very interesting choice of cover.
Over all it was a great night and I have to say I'm looking forward to the next one on the 10th of October.
Well we finally managed it. About 4 months after I first discussed doing a live podcast of the 5 Unsigned shows with their organiser, Rich Maya, the first episode is out.
I decided to keep in a lot of the introductions and audience interaction in the podcast. My philosophy is if you're doing a live podcast you may as well make it as close as possible to the experience of a live gig. It helps that Rich is a very funny MC. It also goes a little way towards expressing what a charmingly chaotic experience a 5 Unsigned show is.
I took two tracks from each artist that appeared on the show, which probably doesn't do them justice, but it makes the podcast a manageable length.
I also decided to do a new intro for the show to distinguish this show from my 'regular' podcast. The only track that made sense to use was one by Scarlatti Tilt, because they are the reason I first met Rich. Just after the band sent me an mp3 to play on my podcast I noticed that they were performing in Bath. It turned out that it was a solo set by Daisy, the bands singer, at a 5 Unsigned gig. By that time I had already decided to promote gigs and thought that Rich would be a good person to get some advice from. To my surprise he was very accomodating and we met up for coffee at Fopp (RIP). The rest is history. It seems appropriate that the circle is completed by Scarlatti Tilt being on the first 5 Unsigned podcast a week before my first promoted gig.
This is getting a little long, so I'll leave it there. Hope you enjoy the new facet of the Ourobouros Podcast experience and you'll get another one next month.
I did manage to get myself a new microphone, but it's such poor quality that it is not worth recording the show on. Since I pride myself on the clarity of the links I'm not going to release an episode that is not up to scratch just to release an episode. I will hopefully have sorted this all out by the weekend so I will next be releasing an episode on my usual Sunday/Monday schedule.
You might have noticed that this weeks episode is a bit late. I tried to record it last night but then discovered that my microphone has ceased to work. Until I get a new one I'm not going to be able to record the show. Normal service will be resumed shortly. Hopefully...
In case anyone is desperate for a new episode I'm now confirming that there won't be a new episode this week. I'm just about to hop on a train to go up to London and watch the first two stages of the Tour de France and as I feared I didn't have time to produce a show this week. Hopefully the next show will be available either Sunday 15th July or Monday 16th July.
I don't usually get involved inthings like this and it's almost certainly futile, but this is something I feel strongly about.
As many of you are probably aware the Fopp chain of record stores went into administration this week. It seems to have been a combination of the collapse of the high street music business thanks to iTunes, Amazon et al and the decision by Fopp management to buy the Music Zone chain which had previously gone into administration. It looks like they just over extended themselves.
Speaking personally I always prefer to buy my music on CD rather than download and when I buy a CD I prefer to get it in the high street. Fopp is/was a great place to buy your music because it's so cheap and has a true independent spirit that is admirable. Speaking as someone who lives in Bath it is also the best place to watch live music in town.
Fopp has a very special place in my heart and any little thing that can be done to keep it open should be attempted.
A few weeks ago on the show I mentioned that I was in a video for The Haiku. They're a lovely couple of guys and they will be appearing at the gig I am promoting in September.
They've now released the video onto YouTube so everyone can have a look at it. It's a really cool video for a really cool song. You can see the video here
I've also embedded the video onto my myspace profile. I'm the one with a big number 54 on my shirt.
It won't make a blind bit of difference to you, but I am now a fully paid up member of AMP, The Association of Music Podcasting. I now have a network of like minded individuals at my back and I get to host AMPed, their review podcast, in a couple of months. Pretty Sweet!
Album reviews I wrote for Scarlatti Tilt & Rieser are in the June issue of Podcast User Magazine at www.podcastusermagazine.com. It's a great monthly .pdf magazine for podcasters and podcast listeners and apparently gets 10,000 readers a month.
This will mainly be used to promote the gigs I will be putting on here in Bath, but I intend to send out mailers regarding my podcast as well.
Speaking of the gigs, they are getting very close to being finalised. I am going to be putting on one a month and the first one should be on August 8th. Once I have everything sorted out I shall be broadcasting it on the podcast and posting a blog here and on the myspace profile.
If you would like to receive occasional e-mails from me please sign up to the mailing list using the box to the right.
When I was listening to the latest episode of the Take Your Medicine podcast I came across a track I absolutely love. It is called 'Thou Shalt Always Kill' by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip.
I usually abhor hip-hop and rap (Especially done by White, English guys) but the content of this track is superb. It is basically a list of commandments that people in the UK in 2007 should live by. Everything from 'Thou shalt not think that any man over the age of 30 who plays with a child that is not his own is a paedophile. Some people are just nice' to 'Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry'
In the weeks since I first heard it I have been desperately trying to find a download of it to put on the show. Unfortunately all the downloads have been taken down in preparation for a single release coming in April from Lex Records. That's fair enough.
Since I think this track is pure lyrical genius I have come to the conclusion that I have to get it heard by as many of my listeners as possible. The best way to do this as things stand is to put up links so you can listen to the track via streaming.
Sorry If anyone got Episode 1 again. Some of the directories I signed up to were having trouble because the file size of the mp3 didn't match up with what was listed.
Just a small technical hitch from a first time podcaster...
The good news is that Episode 2 is coming along nicely and should be up earlier than I anticipated. I predict it will be up by Sunday night (GMT).
Episode 1 was a bit of a Rock overload, but Episode 2 will have a more diverse mix of styles. I'm more or less at the mercy of the bands who give me approval to play their stuff...
While I was seeking approval for music to play on my next show I came across a story regarding some reprehensible behaviour. Let me give you the details.
There is a website called Micromusic.net that has a vast catalogue of music that is free to download. It is basically a community page for a sub-genre of dance music that uses old computer systems like Ataris and Gameboys to create dance music.
Then two Norwegian girls going by the ridiculous name of Fitts For Fight (or possibly their Svengali producer) download loads of these free tracks, record asinine lyrics over them and release them as their own material!
They even have a video for one of 'their' tracks called 'Fuck Off & Die' listed on YouTube. This is really a track called 'STereoid' by Drop Da Bomb. The chorus to this 'Song' goes:
'You come to a show, say hello, we say goodbye, fuck off and die'
that doggerel is not only offensive in content, but also in quality.
You can get more on this story at the micromusic page HERE.
If you follow that link you can find an online petition that micromusic has put up in protest at this travesty. I strongly recommend that everyone who reads this goes and signs it.
Even if you don't like the original music, and I admit it will not be to everyones taste, nobody should have their music stolen.
I intend to play STereoid on my next episode to show how it really should sound.
I don't usually get involved inthings like this and it's almost certainly futile, but this is something I feel strongly about.
