i like how records accumulate memory, in amongst the notes and words: listening to phosphorescent, remembering the bleak winter of 2007.

a natural phenomenon like this is, all at once, is entirely meaningful and utterly meaningless. the only thing that might improve it would be greater empathetic silence. so - silence.

today i was shown around SLPC: potential new recording facilities.

South Leith Parish Church or Kirk is the principal church and congregation in Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its kirkyard is the burial place for John Home, author of Douglas, and John Pew, the man from whom the author Robert Louis Stevenson reputedly derived the character of Blind Pew in the novel Treasure Island.

The building, which has a long history, began as a chapel dedicated to St Mary originally erected in 1483. The form of worship at the church was changed in 1560 from Roman Catholic to Presbyterian, as a consequence of the Reformation. The church also became the de facto Parish Kirk for South Leith in the same year after Restalrig Kirk, which up until then had served that community, was demolished by order of the newly formed General Assembly. This status for South Leith Parish Kirk was confirmed by Act of Parliament in 1609.

Reconstruction and restoration of the building in 1847-48 included the installation of a magnificent hammerbeam nave roof designed by the architect Thomas Hamilton. The church is a category A listed building.^[1] South Leith Parish Kirk is situated on the Kirkgate in Leith, currently a pedestrian precinct.

...not mentioned here are the pirates buried undernearth the church floors, the English map from the sieges in the 16th century, the metal cap and baton used for defending the graves against potential robbers (similar to Burke and Hare, who didn't actually venture to Leith.. assumedly there were a lot of similar incidences), and so on. An incredible place to record, I'd expect.

witch town.

a great lightning storm pursued, enveloped then retreated.
we sheltered at the scene of the crime at anchor green, engulfed in a deluge.
the great darkness lifted and threw itself out to sea.

more thoughts.

the new album is going to be pretty dark.

and i'm pleased to say that, subsequent to some research all this evening, i have planned the whole thing thematically. ergo, it will involve some historically/thematically relevant locational recording in this region.

less talk, more work.

new record.

just had some of the most bizarre ideas ever for the new album, during a brainstorm in my notepad. i truly hope i make the effort to make them happen.
if so, it could be a completely unique sounding piece of music.

desire for dissonance.

all throughout the recording of this album, i have had in mind to communicate an inexorable, lurking representation of evil. i would have liked the record to have some kind of stasis between the aesthetically melodic, and that which is malevolently menacing. i'm currently in the frame of mind that the whole thing is a stupid failure and i haven't achieved this at all.
i know for certain that the next record will adhere much more strictly to these principles - thematically it is necessary to reflect this balance.
it is much, much harder to achieve dissonance than melody (or at least to get it right), and i feel i've only achieved this partially. nonetheless, i have to stop thinking this way or i will never move on. i've learned a lot through the recording process, so one can only build upon experience.

i had the idea that i would reflect the 'uncanny' nature of dreams and nightmares - the record is more like a waking dream...or a dubious perspective of reality. hopefully this comes across at all on there at some points. what i desire to leave behind with this record is sentimentality.

i'm debating whether to list the influences of this record, reflexively, or just to leave it up to the listener to pick up those references, which i assume would add to the enjoyment of the record. there are a few deliberate references to writers/musicians, which tie together quite neatly...hopefully this will not be seen as plagiarism.

i'm really just thinking out thoughts here. i suppose it is also nice to have some further information on the process (if there was anyone who was actually interested), for when the material is completed.


i tried recording some new demos today, but i just don't have enough equipment/money. everything sounds sickeningly dull and predictable. the aim for the next week is to develop a new method of creation - perhaps recording like i did in the summer of 2003...i recorded several songs a day, and did not think too hard on what they were or whether they were artistically promising. i still have all these on my laptop. some developed into bigger ideas, most didn't.
the aim would be to capture spontaneity, serendipity, and transmute ideas in their purest, freshest form.

decision to update more often, particularly with photos and new songs.

this is my photo of duddingston loch, which i run to often. i only discovered this whole area since moving back to this city, and now spend half my time up there. an owl swooped out at me last week, when the whole hill was shrouded in oppressive, comforting white fog.

meeting a minister in a couple of weeks to discuss recording album in south leith parish church:





















some good shows coming up: grizzly bear, daniel johnston, the pixies (performing my favourite of their albums, doolittle), julie doiron, telepathe.

whole next album is sketched out in a notebook. it's virtually recorded (in my head..)

n.

recent.

last two weeks have been filled with fog, tennis, running, reading, strawberry picking.

tracks sent off for mastering.

the quickening.
future state.
grow old and go home.
soporific.