churches and sheds.

One step closer to finishing the album.

Churches are fantastic places for recording. I can't say that I am religious, but I do hold respect for certain elements of the Christian faith. Without fully involving oneself with formal religion itself, the reverent air of churches is incredible, and mitigating, amongst the intensity of the inner city.

Owing to this, I can work uninterrupted for hours amidst the silent, austere reverie of Viewforth Church. I think within perhaps 3 or 4 more sessions, the album will be 95% complete.

There will be a song posted, here, within the next week - recorded at Sacred Heart church on Lauriston Street. It was intended to subsist on its own, and I may record 4 more to form a separate EP.

Thanks for reading, if you did.

north america.

just last week arrived back from a north american excursion.
if anything, it reaffirmed my dislike of the majority of the united kingdom.
there's a spirit, imagined or otherwise, that does not exist in the british isles, perhaps first established in the frontier period of america's history (and is quite apparent in the first literature of that era). it is a spirit of independence and adventure, and an overwhelming vastness which seems to encourage these elements. it is particularly prevalent in the canadian countryside.

favourite events were: exploring rocky cliffs, swimming in lake georgia and the slabtown creek, getting lost in dense foliage.

i imagine these events will inform writing projects of my own, as opposed to musical ones. however, if i could make music whilst there, it would perhaps come more naturally. creativity in hindsight suffers from human memorys subconscious recapitulative tendencies, and willingness to summarize at the expense of the full range of emotions one feels in the present.

maybe one day i will return, equipped..

now, i record vocals for a near-finished track ("the big sleep") in my parent's shed.
listening mainly to samamidon and au.

news

some news:

1. one track finished, "the quickening".
2. album cover art finished.
3. new album ideas conceived.
4. temporary adandonment of earlier album ideas.
5. album now about 75% complete.

things that are good today:

1. the wire series 2.
2. joy division.
3. san franisco 1975 liberty ale, 5.9%, £1.50/bottle.
4. rogs.
5. outputmessage.

singing.

i need a singing crew for a song or two.
if you can help, please let me know.

the douglas firs opens a new blog.

this blog is not about sexing up a dossier.
this blog is about the douglas firs news, for douglas firs fans.
i can name these fans now, if you like, it'd take about 10 strokes of the keyboard.
you'd be bored.
get out.
here you will find mp3s of new songs, as i need to start posting songs i have no space for.

things that are good today -

*a la recherche du temps.
*the evangelicals, high places.
*the conformist, by bertolucci.
*sleeping with the light and the radio on, in the day.