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VIDA DE-sign by Michael Buckingham, aka Mick Muttley

Dear friends (yeah really, one of those) I have become a women's wear designer for VIDA! http://shopvida.com/collections/voices/ ...

Sunday 25 December 2016

Subversion Stop 268: Muttley's Reflections On The Year 2k16 (Shortform; all)

A little diary entry to sum up the year. 2016 has been very strange. In every way, it's the year that at 28, I REALLY grew up.

Good times: First Floor, Aangon, Suwanna Thai (birthday), World Chef (virtual), My Cafe (new Xmas game), Angrid restaurants.

Understanding what copyright really means: respecting the rights to privacy by the creator not to literally spread recordings.

Wishing Uncle Paul a safe passing on at this time on Xmas day. To me he fell asleep 2 days ago, I had a moment at 1131pm Fri.

Made him and the rest of the family an emotional instrumental mix. First time I've felt inspired to bind tracks in a while. (Ed: that's on www.subvertcentral.com in time - search "Dust Bowls")

Gifts from wifey this year. The love, the laughs, the chance encounters, the doting, soft tender care, her tailored river mix.

Music: Locrian, Haffenetty, Sharon Van Etten, Ulrich Schnauss, Radioactive Man, Macc & dgoHn, DJ Trax, new FL, ASC, Bat FL,

Ryan Teague, Reinier Van Houdt, Drawing Virtual Gardens, LYEF, Francis M. Gri, Alan Courtis, BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa, Steve Roach, Steve Brand, all the Soma.FM artists, Delia Derbyshire, Jandek, Harry Bertoia.

Electronica: Hed Kandi 2006 3CD, Chicane, Noname, Daniel Thomas Freeman, Aphex Twin, Brigid Mae Power, Peter Broderick, Marina and The Diamonds.

Live: seeing any of these people out, otherwise Toney Batey, Sal, Sparky and crew, The Firegazers, Kosmosis, Ras Brother John, James Berwale, Matt, Hurricane.

Treasured memories: David Bowie for Blackstar (RIP), Tremble & Medika & Shady Novelle MC for my tracks of the year, "Trouble" and "Penitentiary Dub".

All the ZIPDJ.com music from their sub service, eMusic's ever-growing catalog and excellent app. Ableton Live 8 and studio production.

Games: for two. Me and soulmate. Me and friend. Pvp. P&P. No postage and packing, all app games and 3DS and PC games. Easy. Retro City Rampage much fun. Super Street Fighter IV channelling aggression and anger of my old fighting days. Also inspiring me to train and stretch limbs. Game Of War, Slotomania Free Slots Game, Candy Crush, Nano Assault on 3DS. Zelda: A Link
Between Worlds. Sonic Shattered Crystal. Advanced Wars Dual Strike. Command And Conquer on PC and Rogue Assault and RedSun S6. Challenging games with structure and good rewards systems.

Converts beauty into my waking life and portion controls on BMI. Knowing smaller is really bigger.

Benefits: changed and stayed the same. Provided with money to eat. Left with no money to save, or a paltry sum. Cut back as much as possible.

Mental health: still schizoaffective. Worse in some ways than ever. But importantly more wise. Capable of real EFT therapy.

...Read my full spiel and more writings on the year at www.subvertcentral.com; search "SubVersion".

Merry Crimbo and Happy New Year.
All the best
Y

Sunday 11 December 2016

SubVersion Stop 267: Wire Chart 2016

Now in its fourth year: “buying one record reviewed in The Wire each month” – plus three more to make up a proper Wire 15 chart. The lists for the previous three years can be found by following the following links: 2013, 2014, and 2015.

And here's my chart for 2016. The # marks denote the issues in which the records featured.
___________________________________________________

SubVersion 2016 15

#383 The Sprawl - EP1 (Death of Rave)
#384 Roscoe Mitchell - Sustain and Run (Selo Sesc)
#385 David Bowie - Blackstar (ISO / RCA)
#386 eMMplekz - Rook to TN34 (Mordant Music)
#387 Puce Mary - The Spiral (Posh Isolation)
#388 Elza Soares - The Woman at the End of the World (Mais Um Discos)
#389 Ben Johnston - String Quartets 6, 7 & 8 (New World)
#390 Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Black Stabat Mater (Rune Grammofon)
#391 Teresa Rampazzi - Immagini per Diana Baylon (Die Schachtel)
#392 Moor Mother - Fetish Bones (Don Giovanni)
#393 Joëlle Léandre & Théo Ceccaldi - Elastic (Cipsela)
#394 Peter Evans - Lifeblood (More is More)

+#383 Guttersnipe - Demo (Arcane Pariah)
+#388 Let’s Eat Grandma - I, Gemini (Transgressive)
+#389 Der Zyklus - Renormalon (WéMè)

Compiled by Jonathan Tait, subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk
___________________________________________________

No, not a “best records of the year” list. It's a set of releases that each piqued my interest when reading the reviews, and then made me sit up when checking out audio online. But if I was to pick one out as a favourite, it'd be Camae Ayewa's Fetish Bones LP as Moor Mother, which is the best hiphop I've heard in a long time.

Thursday 13 October 2016

Retrograde Reviews: Reinier Van Houdt - Paths Of The Errant Gaze LP

Reinier Van Houdt - Paths Of The Errant Gaze LP
Your only enemy is atrocity.

The only enemy in your life is your imagination...

But then, heck, it was mine for many years when it came to creating ambient music. And as an empath thing, the piano is a solid beginner's point that can, for one, cause a lot of inspiration, and second, in a see, saw, fashion, formulate a lot of writer's block. While it is difficult to believe in yourself, believing in your own music is the biggest factor, for me in my own experience, in whether me and my acquaintances succeed or not. For most of us, the guitar and piano are the main two instruments one starts with, after all...and the piano is exactly what Reinier Van Houdt does best on this new promo from Hallow Ground label. "Paths Of The Errant Gaze" is a portentuous meditation on the 81-note instrument, and a album that presents many twists and turns in the pianistic repertoire.

It's not all flurries of furore by a long shot, though. Opening the album is a dark Murcof-like set of atmospheres that are positively disconcerting in a Demdike Stare catalogue kind of way. Sonic Pieces is a touchstone in theatrical menace. This isn't dark ambient however; there is something sinister but it's more deep and chilled, a strange foreboding chill without the fright at the end of it. The music is deeply transcendental, like the hum of a ghost ship, or the echoes of bat sonic supersound from a cave exit. Maybe it's time to get out? No, let us wallow in these atmospheres a little longer, for we are dreamers who at one point are on our own memorising elephant and next we're in the shallows like a hippopotamus, resting in uncandid serenity. These resonances are heavy on pastoral drone without the irritable hum. They start to fissure and rattle like bones in a dementia fit on second piece "The Fabric Of Loss". Sounds from a torture chamber set into an unpleasant - but strangely comforting - catharsis. It is frightening and gravitates to a dislocated navigation of the spices of life.

By this third track, we need a certain peace. The violins, high pitched in their operatic stalagtite status, create a fair come down period, where the mood irons out any turbulence. Turbulent is a good word to describe this album. If you've ever heard the dissonance of Kevin Drumm or Merzbow you'll get an idea of exactly what this album is going for. Scary, gripping stuff, but not stuff to keep the kids on your side. It is nightmarish at points, but never evil. It sounds like the contents of a troubled mind fighting with a demon that keeps prodding a scythe in the subject's back. For that only you get the feeling this music is from some other dimension, a place where angels are in purgatory (13 minutes into track 2) and the subject is trying desperately to find his or her way out.

When we get past the crackling trail of "Transfinite" there is a vignette to close us out. Impending doom, and all the light goes out on a truly remarkable release.

By track five, "Gaussian Veils", which I've no idea what it means but sounds like some Greek linguistic variant on gossamer, a crepuscular rhythm is held together by stalking piano and the introduction of a ghostly choral voice. This is the stuff of legends. Pure transcendence, "springs of light, I chase upon your reach, this situ, a path of ideas I lose". The sound of it, just the sound of it! It is utterly doueur and utterly fantastic. The minor and augmented aeolian modes of the piano paint a haunted mid section to the record, and the spectral tones of the voice in question is like a magisterial tormented soul doing naked cabaret for the pleasure of Satan and his little elves.


Mick Buckingham

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Various Artists (Friends Of Foci's Left) - SlipStreamDreams

Various Artists (Friends Of Foci's Left) - SlipStreamDreams

by VA (Various Artists: FL; K3Bee; Shiva; FRight; Dredge; Naphta; RST; Keiretsu)


  • Naphta - Are U Ready? 00:00 / 07:12
    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    The disc is not a vinyl, but I like to think of it as such, because it is a collection of long form recordings. It will work on hifis with MP3 function.
    The download only includes the 16 tracks, the unique MP3 disc includes one exclusive mix per customer.

     £5 GBP

  •  

  • Edit
    Record/Vinyl

    Limited Edition MP3 Disc (20 copies happy to be hand-pressed and labelled individually with inserts. Also includes bonus outtakes from huge mix catalogue by Muttley, Foci's Left producer. Each unique copy has a unique bonus mix featuring a track or more on this comp!!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Various Artists (Friends Of Foci's Left) - SlipStreamDreams via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    shipping out on or around October 5, 2016
    edition of 50 

     £10 GBP or more

  •  

  • Full Digital Discography Edit

  •  £23.70 GBP or more (90% OFF)

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    about

    A celebration of sounds themed on the nineties, but not made in the nineties. Jungle, breakbeat, ambient, weird, library music, all in a sound collage textured in a nature that slipstreams moods into one another.
    Hence, the name, "SlipStreamDreams".

    Slipstreams are stealing of speed in a car journey, where the elements are in force to act against us.

    Slipstreams can be quite awkward problems with malfunctioning intent.

    Slipstreams can be depressions or decompressions of the mind.

    Slipstreams can be resonances that seem impersonally illogical.

    credits

    released October 5, 2016

    "2nd", "Imprint", "Matter" and "Meringue" produced by Kevin Beegan, AKA K3Bee. Find some of his dubplates at www.soundcloud.com/k3bee. He is part of the NuKillaBeats Cru.

    "Gene Thief" produced by James Alexandre Pathan, AKA Shiva Lab Creation. James runs www.bitratemusic.com, where you'll find some of his tunes and others released. Reach him on FaceBook or Twitter.

    "Are U Ready?" and "Home" produced by Shane 'O Shea, AKA Naphta. Naphta contributes to 'shwontological' blog www.weareie.com - take a look. These two tracks are re-released from his digital download album on THE Fear Recordings, in 2007.

    "Telemetry (Original)" by Robert Scott Thompson, AKA RST of Aucourant Records A&R. Robert has a Bandcamp page with over 60 albums released, some on labels such as Relaxed Machinery. Check "Arcana" for a good example.

    "Addict" and "Only Forward" produced by Keiretsu. Thanks to Stephen Mercer from Keiretsu for entrusting me with these on the release. Originally released on D:ART Recordings in the 2000s. About 2006.

    All other work (artwork, compilation ordering, trimming, Artillery Software mastering) by Michael Robert Buckingham, AKA FL, FRight, Dredge, owner of Foci's Left label and operator of www.focisleft.bandcamp.com.

    tags

    license

    feeds

    feeds for this album, this artist

    Retrograde Reviews: Bonnie Prince Billy & Bitchin' Bajas

    "Nature, makes us, for ourselves".

    The music on Bonnie Prince Billy's latest rustic folk outing starts melodically enough, before embracing woodwind and the suitably gentile lines "may life throw you a pleasant curve". It's on the second track that the rhythmic focus really kicks into gear, loosening the weight of a breathy introduction. "Nature, makes us, for ourselves".

    You see, with a track title aim to be storyteliing meets self-help-provoking, this album can be taken kindly to from the first listen. The meanings spread out like fireflies, meeting a warming destination, a natural concave. Bonnie Prince is ast as the governor of a hundred baritones; instruments serve his plans to assist us in becoming calmer, getting happier.

    Much of the sound palette is pure rustic folk, a Johnny Cash meets Joanna Newsome quirkiness abounds throughout. There are no female vocals though, only a journeyman's horn of plenty with guitar chops to match. I first heard about BPB, not so humbly around 10 years ago, so I know he's been about the field for a long time. But at the same time, it's as if he's trod a heavy path through folk and country, meaning he understands how to not complicate a tune.

    This is most evident on euphoric closing piece "Your Hard Work Is About To Pay Off. Keep On Keeping On". Incidentally the ending is abrupt, leaving the listener craving a second shot of the honey-whiskeyed atmosphere Bitchin Bajas and Billy create. That's how the record feels essentially, like whisky. It's so addictive I can drown in it, but for the luck of the draw, it's only my sorrows that are cleansed.

    Mick R. Buckingham

    Tuesday 13 September 2016

    SC - Currently On Your Stereo at www.subvertcentral.com

    widzhit ...http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07sxfjj
    Thom Yorke guest hosting on Benji B's show.

    Muttley ... Genius discovery, widzhit. Should be interesting for the tonal rubbing of urban and avant.

    Me: Chick Corea 5CD. Five original albums, not including 'Return Of Forever'. I've got so sick of hearing the "what game shall we play today" line in my head. These records are equally important, quality findings from the 1970s as such, showing progressive jazz at creative epitome. What Corea is to psychedelia Miles Davis was to jazz. Both greats in an epicentric tonality cauldron, drawing on their own cultural home brew.

    ...In terms of closcrate - drawing on modern classical and soundtrack music, the week's arrival of Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks Original Remastered Score hits the spot. Chucking out impure embers of saccharine, "Laura Palmer Theme" is a delight that was chordally repeated by fans VUM on their "Solid Waves" (Psychotropic Jukebox LP, 2014). The vinyl sounds very earthy and perfectly represents the nineties era of dusty back street New York record emporiums.

    I'm also a big fan of the shared project Mike & Rich - Expert Knob Twiddlers 2CD on Planet Mu right now. Representative of the 'Selective Ambient Works' in www.soma.fm's 'Groove Salad' channel, and the timbral 'Hasty Boom Alert' on Soma's 'Space Station Soma', Aphex Twin and u-ZIQ blow the covers off my noughties library electronic music obsession for formulating progressive beats with a knack for snapback and pop structure. The rhythmic angles the music on these discs thrusts is typical of their intelligent sound design, warm gourmet nuggets, tasty to the delicate touch, not rough round the edges at all, and indispensable as such. I got my CDs from eBay.

    Wednesday 31 August 2016

    Foci's Left Futurepast Fanzine Interview (2014)

    Foci's Left Interview – Futurepast Zine Issue 6 – September 2013

    Mick (Foci's Left) has recently released an album called 'Grumpy Love', he also runs a very interesting blog (http://www.subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk) and was one of the backers for this issue of Futurepast Zine. I'd interviewed Mick a couple of years ago and this was a good opportunity to find out what was happening right now...

    1. You recently released your debut album 'Grumpy Love'. What's the album about, why give it that title?

    “Grumpy Love” is about a few things really. First and foremost it's a dedication album to my sister Jo, in the form of dialectically epic-with-longevity music that I tried to conjure to me most affecting over the longest period of time. The second transitive is a soundtrack to my life so far. Now aged 25, I have been many things in life: a cheerful infant; a reclusive teenager; a full contact kickboxer; a freelance published writer in over 10 zines; a music producer. With “Grumpy Love” I wanted to encapsulate all the passionate moments as an epicentric part and counterpoint to aurally channelled “grumpy music”. When we are grumpy, we're usually brooding over something, some hardship which makes us feel a certain negative way, or cuts us off from bearing our soul. I have constantly had this theme of not bearing my soul too much over the course of my life, so the music on “Grumpy Love” takes on a certain, sullen tone. Whether that helps the end product is open to interpretation, but as you said yourself, “it's pretty amazing”, and I take that as a huge compliment.

    2. Why dedicate the album to your sister?

    My sister Jo is a driving reason why I've made a lot of moves in my life, from how long I went training, to how long I stayed living with her until middle 2011. “Silence Is Golden”, a 345 sample, 3 hour collage – and still the best piece of 'music' I've ever heard – lead to a loss of stability. I realised after that I needed to move on to my own accommodation, and a trip through mental hospital a year later lead to buying a keyboard to produce to help produce the album. I still don't consciously know why I wanted to do an LP, besides having “Regurgitated Impulses (Original)” produced since the age of 17, when Jo was experiencing a tough time. But I know I had her in mind when channelling my emotions, as she means a lot to me, yet we are still quite distant from each other at times. I guess as I'd done a few EPs, (the first on Audio Gourmet, the second self-released, the third on Omni Music) I wanted to express to a greater extent what I'm about, what sort of music I want to hear that I don't hear anyone else making quite the same way.

    3. Why did you release it as digital only?

    The choice to release it digitally came about as a half-inconsequential decision. I hadn't really taken into account what sorts of funds I'd need to press CDs and get digipaks designed – so it's digital only for now. Heck, if I had a hundreth of the 33,000 "For The Ambient Lovers...review and mixtape archive 001” (my Subvert Central thread concerning Ambient reviews) audience exposed to and enjoying the album so they would support it I'd be able to sort out CD pressing. Alas it's not quite that simple – I'm still a very obscure artist with only 5 releases contributed to. In the Ambient and electroacoustic scene there is a surprisingly broad selection of records to choose from...naturally the more exposed the artist the greater their revenue share. I've never been about making money from music, but if I could sell enough to support funding of future projects I'd be happy.

    4. When I listened to your album it felt I would have to burn it to CD to listen in my car, you could always do it that way yourself...anyway, how does the artwork link in with the album?

    Yes I could always burn a few mastered Wav CDs to send to people, make it proper DIY and all that. The artwork and how it fits in...Niomi is Jo's current girlfriend and leopards have been with my parents as a means of comfort for decades – they have a cuddly leopard toy. So it seemed ideal to include the image, and plus I think it's ace, so it all worked out nicely.

    5. Have you got any more music coming out soon?

    I'm currently putting the finishing touches to my fourth solo EP, “Dumping The Rock”. It will be comprised of 5 tracks – the fifth a bonus for whoever purchases it on Bandcamp. Like “Grumpy Love” the EP will showcase a range of styles with a unifying theme – in this case music that disperses any of the aggression of past releases. I'll be selling it at the same price as the album – an inexpensive £5. I feel it's my most mature music to date but still retains a youthful edge.

    6. What do you use to make your music?

    I use various sources to make my music. The primary two sequencers I use are Mulab, a freeware tracker with kits of great VSTs built in. The second and essentially intermediary one I go to is Ableton Live 8 Suite. “Overdriven Terrain”, the synthesiser track you said was breathtaking was created solely there, with The Dream Machine and STS-21 freeware VSTs. But mainly I use hardware these days. My trusty Casio CTK-4200 AD 61 key keyboard produces over 600 tones on its own before I go in and edit. I then capture these sounds with an Olympus VN-713 voice recorder and resample them back into software.

    7. Also, I noticed your post about a 'Police State' on Subvert Central some time ago, I was wondering if any of that works its way into your music?

    As to the Police State situation, it depresses me for sure, however as my Mum says, if you're not doing anything wrong, wholesale, then you shouldn't have to worry about anything. The article in question was extremely leftist, discussing and condoning the organisation of police forces as to creating positive measures against criminals. But I like your analogy there that the police are little more than organised gangsters. I'm actually still surprised that the rules are being enforced, as it means the police might have to get off their arses and do some work.

    8. I asked you to put together a short mix. You called it 'Positive Congruence' – what does that mean and can you tell me a bit more about the mix?

    'Positive Congruence' arose from reading Carl Rogers' 'On Becoming A Person' psychotherapy doctrine when the British Olympic Games Opening Ceremony was on in 2012. The chapter concerning the phrase 'positive congruence' piqued me, in how to understand and open myself up to new experiences with individuals. It means transparency and honesty without being overbearing. Sounds that followed suit in their nature of being rousing only were added. There are up to ten tracks layered at once in 'Positive Congruence'. Therefore providing a track list would be impossible. I can give you some tunes and artists that were played. “Birthday Suit” by Chubby Wolf opens it; Hallock Hill's “A Burning Question (A Question Of Burning)” from “There He Unforeseen” not long after. Machinefabriek & Gareth Davis' “Oh, Doctor Jesus” post 15 minutes (the saxophone piece); Donato Wharton's “Ink Mountains” at 14:30. Barn Owl's epic “Devotion II” at closing. This amount of tracks layered at one time by me, has only been exceeded (16) in the timelesss “Silence Is Golden” 3 hour collage that I published on http://www.subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk this year. I'm very happy with this mix, the climax at the end by Jon Porras & Evan Caminiti giving anchorage into more powerful affectations, once the listening process is over. Since it's all about congruence with a certain type of thinking – powerful affectations that nurture knowingness and trust – that the person is being understood for what he or she is.

    Mick has done an excellent mix for Futurepast Zine so be sure to check it at http://www.futurepastzine.blogspot.co.uk and check his music out at http://www.focisleft.bandcamp.com - it's breathtaking Smile

    Sunday 28 August 2016

    30 Day Movie Challenge

    01 Fave movie - A Touch Of Chaos
    02 Last movie you watched - The Best Of Me (drama flick on Netflix, excellent)
    03 Fave action/adventure movie - The Jungle Book
    04 Fave horror movie - The Voices (Wuaki.tv broadcast, reviewed on http://www.subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk)
    05 Fave drama movie - The English Patient
    06 Fave comedy movie - Bottom: Guest House Paradiso
    07 Happy - Ruben Carter - The Hurricane
    08 Sad - Ghost
    09 Whole script - Philomena
    10 Director - Saiorse Ronan
    11 Fave childhood movie - Rocky II
    12 Animated movie - South Park: The Movie
    13 A movie that I used to love but now hate: Titanic
    14 Favourite movie quote: "Ditto" ~ Ghost leaving scene.
    15 First movie in a theatre - AI
    16 Last in a theatre - How I Live Now
    17 Best movie in the last year - Prime (starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep - a romcom)
    18 Most disappointing movie - The Iron Lady (completely lost me halfway through, just like depicted dementia)
    19 Favourite actor - Arnold Schwarzenneger
    20 Favourite actress - Judie Dench (for 'Philomena')
    21 Most overrated movie - The Graduate
    22 Most underrated - A Beautiful Mind
    23 Favourite movie character - Amelie
    24 Favourite documentary - People Just Do Nothing (TV mockumentary); or if we're talking DVD, Jakob Ullman - Sabulation sand dunes film with audio.
    25 A movie no-one would expect me to love - Rush Hour 2
    26 Guilty pleasure movie - Love, Rosie
    27 Classic movie - A Fish Called Wanda
    28 Best soundtrack movie - Blade Runner
    29 A movie that changed my opinion about something - Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
    30 Least favourite movie - American Pie (it's absolute shit)

    There you go, handed to you, on a plate - without the bother of having to watch any of them.

    Teef
    Twothumbs

    http://subvertcentral.com/showthread.php?tid=61789

    Pepper Combos - Like Scotch Eggs, Only Healthier

    Michael Robert Buckingham - Personal Pepper Combos - September 2016 - Like Scotch Eggs, Only Healthier (#FN #Foodienoodling

    I am noting down a few pepper combos here, as i have not ordered from Curry Paradise, Oxfordshire, since 2014 (too far away mentally).

    Some thought that it is too far away is contrasted by the fact Ahmed's curry is also in Witney, but this is quicker send.

    OK - stuffed red green and yellow pepper (either or, they all taste the same), stuffed with pork and Hellman's mayo.

    Or mayo of any kind would work. This works as it is a binding agent with the insides of the pepper. It also increases flavour and enjoyment of the meat, basically being a marinade if spiced or not, and works equally with minced beef.

    Sweet pointed peppers also work, but these are more difficult to see a return on, because they are not round like eggs.

    Of course, the peppers, are hollowed out first, some seeds can remain, but the basic criterion is it is much healthier for me than scotch eggs, and much tastier. Stuffed peppers with chicken strips or warmed ham also works. Yes, warmed meat.

    This meat can be warmed up in the microwave oven, or in the case of pork or mincemeat, fried or oven cooked.

    Mushrooms? Mushrooms are an alternative for veggies, and qualify the addition of herb combos to mix, such as mixed spice, allspice.

    Another serving suggestion is using egg mayo filler in the stuffed peppers, or whatever you wish to use. Morrison's in UK, for instance, have a variety of fillers, including coronation chicken, seafood cocktail, cheese and onion (more savoury dish) etcetera etc. The dishes with any stuffed pepper are always more nourishing with properly cooked/heated through peppers, as the taste buds are heightened in sensation, because peppers are basically less strong chilli's that belong to the same family.

    Overall, the stuffed pepper is a type of cooking implementation with a lot more to give than you, and I too, may think.

    Tuesday 2 August 2016

    VIDA DE-sign by Michael Buckingham, aka Mick Muttley

    Dear friends (yeah really, one of those)

    I have become a women's wear designer for VIDA!

    http://shopvida.com/collections/voices/

    I was skeptical at first - you never really know - but they really talked & wanted 3 of 5 submissions for the site!

    Vida has been an upstanding women's fashion ecommerce platform since 2015. They have a whole bunch of amazing designers on board...do I match up? I don't have a high opinion of my collage style, but it looks better here than at any other place.

    The products are custom made. Like limited edition vinyl, each one is different and unique. My Turkish DE-Lights scarf is Cashmere so I understand Vida have bumped the price up of that. As to who'd wear any of these...well I would if the 'Think Positive' design was printed on black silk...I can arrange something. Every tee is silk here. There are currently 3 designs to choose (which are live)

    Fascists (65 $ white silk modern tee)
    Think Positive (65 $ white silk modern tee)
    Turkish DE - Lights (85 $ multi colour Cashmere scarf)

    The way it works...if you pre-order an item, it will be sent to production and custom made for you. It has my initials (MB) on the tee. Every item sold, I get 10% profit back. It does not cost me anything to design for Vida. They own the licensing authority, I own copyright.

    I sincerely hope you found any of this personal post interesting. On with the show!


     Mike xxx

    Sunday 31 July 2016

    Jo Quail - Five Incantions (Mick Buckingham review)

    The uniting factor in Jo Quail's music has always been its all-consuming omnipresence. How it engulfs the listener whether listening loudly or quietly, softly or harshly. Where opener 'White Salt Stag' on this beautifully designed digipak CD edition is earthy and enchanting, closer 'Gold' takes a malleable, shaping of man-made metal angle in the form of Quail's use of electric cello and electronics, and the formulation of solid materials. There is a probability you'll not have a
    whisper to it, but a blast, as the mourning strings stretch up through the inner ear and the drones throe-in the low ebb.

    I am certainly taken by the 'Five Incantations' theme: take five simple steps, craft five complex tunes with over twice the narrative arcs interwoven. It is spectral music; to borrow Simon Reynolds' term, it creates a "cathedral of sound". A line can be traced like a silken sheet, a thinly woven cloth, a metal wire, all tension and never enough to satisfy in one take. Indeed, the music doesn't sound one take at all. Jo as her name goes knows how to put the work into her rhythms of refuge, her insomniac getaways. The sound art is rife with the kind of aching passion that teased through Greg Haines'
    'Until The Point Of Least Resistance' from 'Until The Point Of Hushed Support', 2009. The psychological unease of it all.

    Luckily for us there are plenty of moments where the tension reaches satisfying climaxes rather than plummeting us down. This factor makes a good album, in short, especially one that takes mood music so seriously. Mood music has a specific aim:to create that mood, to set one mood, no other mood, and anything else is futile. Resistance from the creator of the music would be his or her achilles' heel in the eyes of a mood music connoisseur. I have spoken of fine lines, and this record
    is like a spider diagram, in that respect. Full of bewitching Bjork-esque cello and viola-register harmonies, the genie inside 'Five Incantations' is no fickle spellcaster - that thing has a mind of its own, an organic one, one that grows on you like greed does to a gambling addict. What does this mean? If you have any money left by now, by now, buy it.



    www.joquail.co.uk

    Mick Buckingham

    Pseud's Corner (Philosophy)

    Philosophy - mrb

    One of the most tired, commercialised and ridiculed predicaments of pseud's corner is connoted from this well-worn phrase:

    Glass half empty/glass half-full.

    This is often used to denote placidly for the idea of overachievement, and not vice versa, because simply, humans want to feel good about themselves. This is all well and good, until you get a plethora of anecdotes joining its mundane projection potential.

    Putting myself in their shoes
    I'm very empathetic
    You get out what you put in
    He who dares, wins, (Rodders!)

    Of course, what are we really trying to say here? The meaning becomes diluted, the thing that fits with 'putting more in' to make the glass 'half full'. But sadly, this is an illusion that comes a cropper.

    This is ultimately for didactic and syntactic reasons, abtruding to tactfulness in mind game form, to trick the brain that it won't crash when our mood shifts to the idea that, plainly, was the glass really ever even half full? If the glass wasn't half empty, or half full, in simple terms, to begin with, can we really say it will stay that way?

    We are not talking about change, vacillaton, oscillation, movement. We are not saying someone will drink from the glass, or even fill it up.

    What we need to do is come to terms with the idea of mirror neurons, the concept of mirror neurons in psychology; as my pinned twitter post says:

    "Technology is at genuine fault to play mirror neurons in unconscious loophole, which is where delusion of the self arises. Often nominative" ~ @MuttleySV

    Simply, to end this juncture: form is sometimes solid, but perception is ever-changing, and the less we depend on solidity, the better.

    "Be water, my friend" ~ Bruce Lee.

    Saturday 23 July 2016

    Mrb (Michael Robert Buckingham - www.focisleft.bandcamp.com / www.kapsil.net/muttley) - Nova Cone Trail Poem.

    Mrb - Nova Cone Trail
    The moment you fall
    Is the moment I wake
    What moment
    Just a moment
    Love speaketh like slake
    Scattered like ashes
    Over a nova cone trail
    Beaming into the present
    Where a gift is a moment
    Frail to the touch
    Indebted to containment
    And kindest in gentle hands.
    I waited for your trail
    Yes I did, and I
    I might not have followed
    In your footsteps
    But I love that trail you walk.
    Let's imagine we are doves
    Swooping in and out of the trail
    Creating a supernova of purity
    Always cast on wind and sail.
    Let's think? Slake speaketh like ash
    That money did not bring us together
    At best a vehicle, twas broken down
    Filled in the bonnet with leaking
    ...Petrol a graze on mankind.
    Let's graze
    Like two collared doves
    Indebted to containment
    Kindest with gentile
    ..Touches, brushes, kisses, even drum kits
    Beat hay, I do love that track you talk.
    The momentous fall
    Of a lumberjack carrying
    An onion for a bonce
    A drum kit for twenty pence
    To try his luck
    At the slot machine of your heart.
    From the start I'll gamble too much
    Love acts like one armed bandit
    A candid toss of fates coin; Indebted
    To containment; Kindest in gentle hands.
    Maybe you'd give me a stake back
    To nest upon, collared dove
    I swiftly collared you, that's certain
    Corny catchphrase of roboism
    Sent from above? No, not.
    I can do a lot better I know.
    But I adore that braille you baulk for me.
    Let's imagine, slake burning to ashes
    Monty did not bring us together
    I know you really don't care
    Whether I am a prince or a pauper
    You show you care omnipresent
    And that's omnipresently enough
    You love me for who I am - me
    And I love you
    unconditional
    For you - a ram, regardless.
    You like attention, so you told me in 1410
    Way back in the day.
    And like two collared doves
    I became inseparable from you
    Nowt artificial intelligence
    You glow through the horizons mineshaft
    Exploring that trail you walk
    Leaving me explosive
    And talkative.
    Oh love, I love that trail you walk.

    Sunday 1 May 2016

    SubVersion Stop 266: Rebecca Pathan - Brandnewtrumpets - The World Wide Wave

    Thanks to Grant Goldenchild (Technicality MC bitd) and his Drum & Bass Against Racism FB group for bringing this damn fine piece of writing to my attention, and for Rebecca for allowing the repost. 

    The World Wide Wave by BrandNewTrumpets

    The wave takes shape, emerges, evolving as it advances; gathering momentum, it grows and swells to new strengths. Finally it crashes, its kinetic energy cascading with the force that it’s gathered, and just as surely it dissolves diluted back into the folds of the vast expanse from whence it came.
    Whilst innumerable waves crash without consequence, some bear considerable effects, even cataclysmic: their influence palpable.
    This is not about the waves of the ocean, but rather the waves of human dialogue, which when emotively captured, become the Great Waves that sometimes surf with irrational behaviour. The rise of the internet drives dialogue further still, surging at speeds far greater than any time before. This powerful force is one we must handle with care, consideration and consciousness.
    ‘The Wave,’ or ‘The Third Wave ,’ is also the name of a social experiment, birthed in a history lesson designed to demonstrate, when unable to explain, the manner by which the German population willingly supported and followed the ideologies of Adolf Hitler. History teacher, Ron Jones, wanted to show that even democratic societies were susceptible to fascism.
    ‘The Third Wave’ was propagated as a movement initially for those students in Jones’ class. The movement enforced strict discipline and routine, and its principles were founded on a carefully manipulated motto, containing sound bites that promoted discipline, community, action and pride; individuality was suppressed and membership and exclusivity elevated. Within just a couple of days, the students were immersed in this new movement. Increasing numbers of students joined from all over the school, initiated with ceremony, membership cards and rules of conduct; members kept outsiders out, and reported on anyone who broke the rules. Dangerously slipping out of control by day four, the experiment was drawn to a conclusion on day five, with the students having to face the reality that so easily had they been swept away on a wave of misdirection and control that echoed that of Germany during the Third Reich.
    The experiment captured the ease of indoctrinating a group of people with the succinct encapsulation, repetition and reinforcement of an idea, supported by a culture of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ The succinct encapsulation of an idea and its gathering momentum is not to be feared. The waves come and they go, and their perpetual nature sustains us. However, when ideologies are encouraged with the principles of divide and conquer, establishing rule by setting one side against another, surely the ideology becomes corrupted.
    The emergence of thought and development of dialogue has driven evolution and change – we talked about it and then it happened. And history shows us that when ideologies are given a voice and the same voice is echoed, the further it spreads and the quicker it spreads, the more effective it becomes, and the more likely it will become a force to be reckoned with, good or bad.
    Media and the communication of ideas to a mass populace has increasingly grown and increasingly infringed on the lives of ordinary people: from the rhetoric circling in the small and distant amphitheatres of ancient Greece, to the ubiquitous twittering of online cyber surfers today.
    With each modal move comes greater responsibility as movement of thought increases its reach.
    Today the volume is turned up, and we find ourselves practically deafened by the proliferation of carefully, (or carelessly, depending on which way you look at it), compressed, caption carried content. With so much available information and the relentless bombardment of info -bombs, it isn’t surprising that we have become accustomed to digesting our information in a comparable manner: quickly and indiscriminately. And just as we would, more often than not, we admit it all without accounting for source or evidence, or content even, let alone context.
    It’s human nature to make snap judgements: an evolutionary requirement to protect ourselves. But we don’t have to indulge them. Surely real strength of thought is assessing it for what it is, weighing up our prior knowledge and our own personal experiences, judging as we would a wager.
    Social media is shaped to galvanise ‘likes’ and ‘shares.’ It taps into our susceptibility to follow trends, and effectively adopt herd behaviour. There are at least two psychologies at play here: that concerned with the fear of missing out, and that of collective hysteria.
    Whilst mass hysteria is something largely cited as a collective response to perceived threat, rapidly spread through rumours and fear, herd behaviour can be a collective reaction to a much greater range of events and occurrences. Think Princess Diana: a seemingly inexplicable event of collective mourning, on an international scale of mammoth proportions not likely seen before. Across numerous animal species, herd instinct (Nietzsche, 1887), crowd psychology (Freud, 1921) and similar theory, attempt to explain the phenomena of large numbers of individuals acting in the same way at the same time, without centralised or dictated direction.
    A sense of self-preservation seems to run through many of these philosophies; we see others engaging in an activity and assume there may be benefits to us doing the same. A key example is the numerous scientific observations that reveal that when panicked, individuals confined to the same room with two equally distributed exits, disproportionally rush towards one exit over the other. The result is damaging, harmful even, yet time and again we behave in the same way.
    There are countless examples of this kind of behaviour prevalent in human societies, and perhaps the playground is one of our first individual experiences of such. Remember the scenario of two individuals falling out at lunchtime: over what, a misplaced insult or a copied homework assignment? The rumours spread throughout the afternoon, and by the last lesson of the day a fight has been scheduled for 3.30pm outside the school gates. Did one of the two victims of this silly lunchtime spat goad the other into an official fist fight at the end of school? Probably not. But the rumours have them with their backs against the wall, and there’s no getting out of it. The two square off. Neither one of them wants a physical altercation, and it’s all been blown out of proportion; but all of a sudden there’s a call to ‘Fight!’ from the amassing crowds, and then there’s another one and another one, and now the whole crowd’s chanting, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ Suddenly these two unprepared and frankly petrified individuals have their fates committed, and the repercussions are inescapable.
    The call to ‘fight’ is not a reasonable or rational response; it is not an informed judgement, and retrospectively it’s just not right, but we do it. The same way an ordinary group of people respond recklessly in kind to events such as the recent ‘Black Friday.’ We observe the actions of others, and, in spite of the possibility of our own available information to the contrary, we decide to imitate what we have observed.
    Also at play, warming up a lot of these en masse experiences, is FoMO, the Fear of Missing Out: a psychology that simmers under the surface of a lot of our actions. Whilst the term was coined only recently in 2013, I imagine the psychology has always been there, and that social media only heightens our susceptibility to it. FoMO is defined by the online Oxford Dictionary as: “Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.”
    Given that we are all now so ‘connected,’ we are constantly exposed to the goings on of everybody else. It doesn’t stop, and it genuinely feels like it’s not stopping; thus, so many of us feel like we shouldn’t be stopping either, lest we miss out. We feel compelled to be engaged with whatever else it is that everybody else is doing.
    Was this behind the literal wave of the Ice Bucket? Remember, not so long ago, the hundreds and thousands spurred on to throw a bucket of ice cold water over themselves? ‘For what?’ was the criticism leveled by many when it was realised that the majority of these participants didn’t make a charitable contribution to the cause, which for a large number of them remained vague or unknown. ‘The Ice Bucket Challenge’ was a phrase coined that alone could rouse recruits, and it also clearly demonstrated the power we have to do good.
    It’s worth noting that over my lifetime the use of sound bites has had a largely negative effect on political discourse, reducing real political insight to catchy snippets of information that oversimplify matters of great complexity. Politics is not black and white; but, perhaps our politicians have been persuaded to reduce it to such for apparent effectiveness. And effective it often appears to be, seemingly able to sway a nation with a small number of words, think, ‘Education, education, education,’ or ‘Yes we can.’ ‘It’s the Sun wot won it,’ has never been far from the truth, with the media able to effectively adopt their own political agenda and sell it in a headline; now where’s ‘Our Only Hope’?
    Language here is crucially important; the words we use often carry more weight and influence than at first observed. Consider the term ‘Asylum Seeker.’ Before this term flooded British vocabulary in the ‘noughties,’ the same group of people was referred to as ‘Refugees.’ Refugees clearly require refuge, and this simple noun denotes that. But what is the implied purpose of an asylum seeker? This noun phrase shifts emphasis to the act of doing something, in this instance seeking something. Already our compassion may be reduced, less willing to provide for those who are looking for something, and who sound less like victims. And thanks to the media of the day, the term ‘Asylum Seeker’ was muddied so much so that there was a literal sense of blurred public perception, confusing the two very distinct groups of immigrants and asylum seekers.
    And why is it that British migrants in their choice country of resettlement are identified as Ex-pats? Why are they Ex-pats and not immigrants? The very term that has been bred to positively encapsulate an immigrant’s allegiance to their country of birth and not to the country that has welcomed them, is of the very same logic that has people opposed to migrants entering this country. The British and Americans can afford to be patriotic, but other nationalities cannot.
    Now consider the terms, ‘Welfare,’ or ‘Benefit.’ When I was growing up there was another term for this: ‘Social Security.’ Social security implied that we were all paying into an insurance scheme: a social insurance that you would be able to claim in times of failing security. ‘Welfare Benefit’ implies something entirely different. It implies that this social security that we all pay into is somehow a benefit, not a right. And the more we adopt this language, the easier it is to influence people’s perception of what something really is.
    Our National Health Service is presently being brutalised in the public sphere: suddenly it’s broken and in crisis. It’s as if overnight somebody pulled the plug, and the following morning staff came on shift to find an institution down the sink hole. It’s not realistic, and it’s not failing. Everything is in need of constant consideration and requires unrelenting care. Much like a child, we don’t leave them to fend for themselves, we constantly reassess their needs, and when they’re not doing so well, we don’t discard them and get another one, we try harder, we care more, and we do not criticise.
    Zero tolerance? This is not a phrase I welcome into our dialogue, nor an ideology I want to permeate our culture. Yet, today I hear promises of, ‘Zero tolerance of failure and mediocrity’ in schools; as if failure is something to be ashamed of and not something we all face in life’s valuable lessons. We can’t all excel in everything, but we should have the support to excel in the areas that best suit us.
    At least today we can shout loudly; in this country a large proportion of us have access to a forum that provides a vague equality of voice. I am inspired by the internet. For all its bad, there is good, and it is perhaps the one institution that comes closest to an honest reflection of humanity.
    ‘Je suis Charlie’ was an act of shouting loudly, but how many people took the time to understand the nature of the circumstances that surrounded this response to the atrocities that took place in France, before purporting to be of the same voice? The political climate in France is not the same as our own; the relationship with the state is not the same as our own; views on tolerance and equality are not the same as our own; Charlie Hebdo is not the Private Eye. In spite of all of this, if you have taken the time to appreciate this and you still need to represent the voice of Charlie, then by all means do so.
    But what Mark Twain said of the ‘Smith and Jones’ families, (what I knew as ‘Keeping up with the Jones’’), still applies, and perhaps it is even more resonant in the information driven society we live in today: "The outside influences are always pouring in upon us, and we are always obeying their orders and accepting their verdicts.” (p.510).
    We need to protect ourselves on this information-superhighway; we need to adopt a green cross code. Before we perpetuate an idea, before we respond to our fears and desires, and before we stick our heads above the parapets with the simple click of a button, we need to Stop Look Listen and Think. ‘Arrive alive! Keep looking and listening,’ is just as relevant to crossing the road as it is to riding the waves of human discourse.
    Vincent Van Gogh is attributed with saying: 'I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.' We don’t know anything with certainty, and that’s ok – that means we can have an open mind and freedom of thought. We can have a dream, and we can give our dreams a voice, but let not our dreams be at the cost of others. Let us ride the waves with mindfulness, navigate with care for others, and not throw caution to the winds. Let us not divide and conquer, but conquer division.

    © 2015 Rebecca Pathan All rights reserved

    References
    Jones, Ron. (1976 & 2014) The Third Wave. The Wave Home: Learning from The Third Wave. [Internet]. http://www.thewavehome.com/1976_The-Third-Wave_story.htm. [Accessed 10th April 2015].
    Oxford University Press. (2015) Oxford Dictionaries. [Internet]. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/FOMO [Accessed 10th April 2015].
    Twain, Mark. (1901) Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays: Corn-Pone Opinions. New York: Literary Classics of the United States
    Bibliography
    Leitch, Vincent B. ed. (2001) The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. London: W. W. Norton & Company Inc.
    Nietzsche, Friedrich and Smith, Douglas, ed. (2008) On the Genealogy of Morals: A Polemic. By way of clarification and supplement to my last book Beyond Good and Evil. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Twain, Mark. (1901) Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays: Corn-Pone Opinions. New York: Literary Classics of the United States.

    Thursday 24 March 2016

    SubVersion Stop 265: Pulses Of Life, Pulses And Life, Pulses In Life

    "Pulse is life, and life without pulse is until it morphs, lifeless. The meaning behind life then may not be pulse, but life without pulse".

    Just to get philosophical in my pseud's corner euphoria for a moment, like the old TDD days. But yes, I've been thinking about how daily activity is measured. Pulse unites how people move, how we interact. Framerate is like pulse too, pixels in a camera metaphorical for so much of Instagram and Twitter's poularity. Seeing as we need facts and figures to operate, it's always me trying to push beyond three dimensions in LSD like lingo. But I do miss the highs of a high pulse. It's like a run, where you travel at speed, reaching a destination while the pavement stays stationary. And some things around you will move with you, such as other humans, animals, creations of man and woman, say machines.

    But yeah, pulse. I actually have a very high pulse to be factual. It rests between 106 and 125 when I'm less well, or hypermedicated. Seeing and moving at a slower pace because of my 19 stone frame rate, so to speak as of now is concomitant with a slothful meandering style of living. I often wonder how, as when 10 years ago when I was 18 and 8 stone lighter, and much fitter, how my pulse has manifested in the psychic physiology of my body.

    Discuss.

    Saturday 19 March 2016

    SubVersion Stop 264: Creating DreamScenes


    What is Dreamscenes?
    DreamScenes is a ‘subset’ of Ambientblog.net (http://www.ambientblog.net ), but is was also the name of one of my first mixes.

    Ambientblog features short ‘reviews’, but the true heart of it are the ambientblog mixes that you can find there (and which are also featured on the USB).
    DreamScenes originally was a 4 hour mix that was created for Dutch National Radio in 2001 (can you believe they actually broadcasted a 4 hr mix uninterrupted on a Sunday Evening?)
    Over the years between 2000 and 2009, I created this kind of mixes for Dutch public radio NPS/VPRO on a regular basis. When the radio shows were cancelled in 2009, I continued to publish mixes on Ambientblog.net, there are over 60 now.

    (Of course Ambientblog also presents short reviews that I prefer to call recommendations, since I do not pretend to be a music journalist and do not write extensive analyses)


    The
    Ambientblog mixes characteristically are rather complex: they are not ‘mixtapes’ featuring full tracks, but a collage of mostly short fragments that are layered in such a way that the music may get a different connotation.
    To me, they often feel like a movie soundtrack.

    (Link to these mixes:
    http://www.ambientmix.net )

    Since these mixes take quite a lot of work to create, there are not many of them – about 4 a year on average.

    But there is such a lot of great music released that I started to miss the radio shows that I was involved in. These shows simply presented the music, not in complex mixes but in ‘head-tail’ sequences, presenting full tracks in one continuous flow without spoken introduction inbetween. These are more like ‘mixtapes’ in the classic sense. They are much easier to create than the Ambientblog collages, though I still pay much attention to the sequencing of the tracks, which should feel natural from beginning to end while at the same time including different varieties of ambient/electronic/experimental music.

    This became a monthly  Mixcloud series called
    DreamScenes (http://www.mixcloud.com/dreamscenes).  

    So… in fact it depends what exactly you are referring to with DreamScenes. Are you talking about the Ambientblog mixes (that are on the USB too), or about the Mixcloud series? They are quite different in nature, though they both cover the same kind of music.

    (Short fact: Ambientblog was originally called DreamScenes, named after the original mix. But at the time it was also the name of some kind of animated video wallpapers and that was rather confusing in the Google search results.. So when I decided to intensify the blog in 2009, it was renamed to Ambientblog)


    What working method do you use to create the sets? Dave Michuda who we both know at Low Light Mixes for example picks some tunes by their titles. Whereas me I'll usually go with a overarching working title?
    For this, I assume you’re talking about the ambientblog mixes.
    I don’t usually begin with a fixed idea. I start out with sorting a collection of tracks by their nature: dark, light, acoustic, electronic, effects, fieldrecs, and ‘anchors’ (I mean more melodic pieces which may bring you back to reality a bit, to avoid drifting too far off)

    Then I search for an opening track that feels like a good start. From there, it is really like creating a ‘collage’, searching for fragments that match, or that bring some kind of tension, to build further on the preceding fragments. From there it seems the music selects itself even though that sounds a bit cheesy. I try to keep a certain kind of storytelling flow, balancing ‘light’ with ‘dark’.. I always feel there should be a kind of tension to keep it exciting enough, the mixes usually aren’t the kind of sounds you would use in a Reiki or Yoga of whatever kind of New Agelike session. I like it when some parts become almost frightening. But even though I don’t usually choose it on purpose, the mixes usually end with a hopeful – although often melancholic – note.

    The title usually comes up when the mix is finished. Often it is inspired by one of the tracks included.

    The human psyche tends to look for correlations, so when the title fits the music, the music will also fit the title….


    There are exceptions, however: the ‘Hum in the Room’ trilogy was created around that theme, using the Philip Glass track ‘Changing Opinion’ as a starting point. So in that case there was a concept from the start.



    What software have you used to create Dreamscenes sets in the past? For example, I've used Acoustica (Hydrogen Cafe) Mix craft  (Michuda) and Ableton (several).
    I work with Adobe Audition. That’s it. The basic multitrack setting. Though I cut longer tracks to pieces and sometimes use only outrageous short fragments, I always use the original (stereo) mix and no extra effects are applied.
    Apart from volume levelling to match the other tracks of course. (And L/R-C-Ls/Rs placement in the case of the surround versions). And a lot of long fades. 
     
    -
     
    Special thanks to PvC (Peter Van Cooten) for this introductory interview to what creates his dream scenes in sound and music. He has limited copies of the www.ambientblog.net USB stick, featuring over 30 tracks from commissioned producers from the ambient scene, and his collection of not-for-profit mixes on www.bandcamp.com. :)