laptop finally gave up.

after 5 years, my laptop has finally broken beyond all use.
in the past few months the screen had flickered off and required a lamp shining directly onto it to see anything.
someone had broken one of my usb ports, another was really loose, and the third one has now finally come loose too, meaning no recording. i had almost finished the album as well.

solutions, for my own benefit:

1. try and get a new one on insurance.
2. try and fix the delapidated laptop.
3. buy a new one when i'm not as disgustingly poor as i am (could take months)
4. buy a new one on hp (has this not been banned since we're in recession?)

opinions appreciated.
i'm so frustrated that i'm beyond screaming really loudly, i'm in fact defeated.

favourite listening of late:

herve boghossian - mouvements
autechre - amber, quaristice
various - small melodies comp on spekk
ultra milkmaids - lands

retreating into acceptance.

christmas playlist.

26 songs getting played regularly on the douglas firs stereo:

1. genesis - the brazilian
2. tim hecker - atlas two
3. atlas sound - cold and golden
4. fennesz - glide
5. high places - namer
6. tomoyoshi date - supermarket in the woods
7. anderegg - anomia
8. au - rr vs. d
9. autechre - simmm
10. daedelus - el subidon
11. department of eagles - no one does it like you
12. ellen allien + apparat - jet
13. four tet - ribbons
14. iggy pop - china girl
15. jodi cave - for myria 2
16. joy division - decades
17. julee cruise - rockin back inside my heart
18. nudge - war song
19. radiohead - kid a
20. ruby suns - blue penguin
21. benoit pioulard - together & down
22. chromatics - hands in the dark
23. ecstatic sunshine - herrons
24. windy & carl - btwn you + me
25. glass candy - rolling down the hills
26. rod stewart - young turks

running.

The process of writing lyrics has taken place as thus - running, writing down ideas, accumulating the results then arranging them in concept and rhyme. Quite a long process. 

Murakami  and Gladwell have both recently spoken of the benefits of running as catharsis, and personally I agree - most ideas come naturally to me when running (or walking), particularly when the direction is aimless. 

My favourite time of day is twilight, or, as I recently read Terrence Malick calls it, "the Magic Hour". Nesto Almendros wrote of it on the set of "Days of Heaven", hailing it "a euphemism, because it's not an hour but around 25 minutes at the most. It is the moment when the sun sets, and after the sun sets and before it is night. The sky has light, but there is no actual sun. The light is very soft, and there is something magic about it. It limited us to around twenty minutes a day, but it did pay on the screen. It gave some kind of magic look, a beauty and romanticism." This is the best time of year to experience this, when the sun is furthest away and the light refracts round the earth at strained angle. 

The other day I ran up Arthur's Seat at this time, thinking I was alone, only to find a fox at the top. A fox atop the summit! The hanging valley between the two hilltops is incredible, where at one time assumedly a glacier slid down and carved out the land. If I were a fox, I'd hang out up there too. 

christmas.

Moving home for Christmas to avoid working and being miserable. Also a chance to finish the album. For good.

Recording studio - shed.

Running/catharsis - old railway line.

Listening: Fennesz new album. 

haunted church.

Having heard footsteps going up and down a staircase somewhere in Viewforth Church, when all alone, I became convinced it was haunted. I'm not even sure I believe in ghosts, but the place has always had a strange atmosphere. It was initially the sounds from the balcony, as if someone was periodically standing there, that made me feel uneasy. I was also locked out of the church on the same day as the footsteps, with bolt, which could be easily explained but was very unusual. 

It was only last night when someone I met told me his girlfriend wouldn't walk past the church, positively hated having to go near it... anyway I've always suspected spectres could be figments, or projections of our imaginations. I was told that the site of the church had a previous history of paganism, but I have no idea, nor care if this rings true. 

I've been planning on recording an album called "Most Haunted" for a while. Maybe I'll make this the next one.

travel to jesus h gigs

horrible. in a dark, cold van on the motorway. alone.

church recording at dusk is beautiful.