Scrawely Voice

You will all have to imagine that I am narrating this post in a low drawl. The reason being that I have been, it seems, recovering from some illlness for a week now and have a rough throat, deepening one's tones. It hasn't led to any bedrest, just constant coughing in various public places. I suppose smokey bars aren't the best recuperative scene and so have probably brought it on myself. I would never make a jazz pioneer. Probably more because my facial hair won't do the necessary soul patch but who's arguing?
So, as I pointed out in my last post it has indeed been some time since the last post. The length of time was however not intended to be so long. (Keeping with the drawley jazz scheme I would probably throw in a Duke Ellington influenced line or two of scat here... do do da da baba di)
Today's image is a new addition to the repertoire of faces. The young Seb Carley. This picture was taken in that obviously photographic hotspot of St.Andrews. We were in the house of a friend of Joe's, a girl named Catherine. We had some bangers and mash to eat and I was wasting some film. The story is not very interesting I know. However when I developed the roll I discovered that a whole bunch of the prints had these big scratch marks across them. Looking at the negative they had also been scratched producing the resultant images. Logical answers abound, linking camera mechanisms and wheels. I however prefer a more Omen type explanation such as that the devil himself took offence to pictures of coffee cups and people at sinks or maybe it was our visiting of an old pagan ceremony centre? Anyway he took enough offence to personally rough up my negatives, not very sportsmanlike if you ask me. Perhaps we had summoned up some demon with the grilling of said bangers and mashing of corresponding potatos. I didn't notice any strange pentagram shaped plate arrangements. However my suspicions were mostly definitely solidified by the news on my return to St.Andrews that the girl had had to move out of the house due to flooding of the basement situated kitchen. Apparently water had been lying there for months. A biblical scene may indeed have arisen if not for crusading plumbers. So in this picture I may have captured something more than just a face but a warning to all eaters of English cuisine. Sha la la di.
The image looks cool with the marks on it but I would have much preferred to have the pristine image and been able to fiddle with it from there. All attempts so far ( = 1) have failed to give a satisfactory repair of the devil's claw. I hope he broke a nail!
Seb looks to me like an academic here. Especially fitting in the university town of St.Andrews. Scarf and specs in clear view. Once again shadows play a big part in adding intrigue. I suppose one of the reasons that these images stand out from your everyday snapshots is because they know what there subjuect is. So many photographs taken just include too much stuff, too much extrenuous bobbins. The trick is to focus the attention and show the viewer what you are looking at, make it obvious. I am sure that is why I can't take landscapes.


The Project

So I also mentioned in my next to last post how I would tell you about how to help in the creation of a new musical phenomenon. Well here goes.... During my last trip to Leicester the usual ramblings and meanderings on song titles and lyrics by myself and Ben Haggar lead to a fabulous idea. I think we should call it hot chocolate musical socialism or such. I was quizing Ben on the rehearsal space which he rents for his own band's meetings. He described the usual space with a set of beat up drums, amplifiers and microphones available at no extra cost. I am always up for recording some unrehearsed piece of musical mayhem so I suggested getting together in this space to record something with Ben. Some how this idea expanded and expanded until the final thought. Why not rent this space for a whole day or like 12 hours and just record a whole album in one day? Our idea of a double concept album is the target, telling the story of a lumberjack's eventual descent to hell through log jams and the river styx. More info will follow on this subject. However the key idea is that we will try and get as many contributions to this project as possible, musically or lyrically or how to develop the story basically anything. Then when the rough idea is sketched out we will all go down to the recording studio (i.e. using computers and 4 tracks etc) to bring the whole thing to reality. I suspect that the major players such as myself and Ben will be there for the whole 12 hours and that other contributors will drop in for sort of cameo appearances and to help record their own contribution. I think that another blog will be necessary to deal seperately with this project so start thinking about ideas and I will let you know what to do with the in the future. Even those people who just want to come along and play the triangle or xylophone will be welcome. I imagine a gigantic percussion section propelling the whole thing! Bong! The sound of Big Ben (no Haggar references meant).
So lyrics, stories, melodies, chord sequences. Go!