today, I...

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Today I have:

Written a friend another apology in private
Recorded and mastered "A Minor G String", one of my best tunes to date
Signed "Linear Erosion" to Omni Music it would seem
Ascended to Ranking 2781 world on Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances; third base being set up tomorrow Smile
Started to plan Fluid Radio review of Greg Gives Peter Space on Erased Tapes; longness
Tweeted a bit; "Some things are best left unsaid".
Recorded "All By Myself" starting piano parts and tried to get them in coherent speed
Played Karl Verkade's "Bridge (Ambient Pads III) for a few tracks but not getting it as I'm not breaking my vow of no more music on computer, that I don't already own.
Food was around 20 syns and I'm weighing less at the beginning of the day, a new record: 16'8.
Got up at 5:30am and went back to sleep at 9:30am
Statto's comments today made me smile.
listened to an old vibealite set where the MC is making monkey skreeching noises, what a twat lol
Excellent day: 1) Finished "Greg Gives Peter Space LP" review and sent to Dan Crossley of Fluid Radio and Derek Walmsley of The Wire magazine; 2) got promoted to Staff Sergeant and ranked 2618 world out of over 20000 players on Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, building my third base; 3) found out how to work my Casio CTK-4200 AD keyboard's arpeggiator which has an amazing 112 presets for £200; 4) worked on "All By Myself" track for my fourth LP prior to this and recorded 5 parts including sine bass and Steinway Grand Piano; 5) maintained weight at Slimming World group; 6) collected my family's "Fakeaways" (self-assembled takeaway meals which judging by the Chicken Tikka Massala curry that was at the curry night talk taste fantastic); 7) discovered http://www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net has covered for the cover feature the act I reviewed for the first ever time in their live reviews (Jordan O' Shea); Cool maxed out my Syns with red wine but by last week's estimate, I can still lose weight; 9) chilled and listened to amazing music. Grin
played some wonderful indian infused dub & chillout at a festival at a castle in the scorching sun. smoked a lil' changa, tripped lovely baws. cosmische f'sure./
Muttley Wrote:
MetaLX Wrote:That's a plucky little plan.

Check your in-box Metal Spandex Gruber


Thank Ye, Mutt Lard!


Falcon
Sound all right Cube!
...spent all morning on a blogpost when I should have been working

Fauxpas
MetaLX Wrote:Thank Ye, Mutt Lard!

Falcon

Fill yer nail-filed boots with a food diary (I'm only posting this in here really so I can track my un-progress at this stage)

Wed – 2 apples 2 hifi bars 1 healthy extra milk 1 healthy extra egg and bacon sandwich = 2 syns butternut squash soup with curry powder moroccan salmon lasagne with salad and bami goreng 17 syns = 19 syns bottle of low alc red wine = 15 syns = 34 syns.

Thu – 2 raisin and nut cereal bars 2 syns 2 low alc % pints 12 syns king prawn makhani & pilau rice 10 syns moroccan salmon chopped carrots milk 1 he ext 2 rocky road bars 1 he diet coke and flavoured water = 24 syns for day, and this was a planned treat day so not too bad. Grin

Fri – 2 rocky road bars 1 he + 3*3 syns each = 9 syns kerala spicy fish curry meal 3 syns (because of curry sauce) small bag prunes bag of italian peppery salad flavoured water. Dinner rare english steak with sauce (chinese onion gravy), plain rice and mushrooms 3 syns 2 glasses red = 20 syns td - bueno Smile

Sat – 4 glasses red wine 16 syns, cheese on toast with egg 3 syns, saag aloo and boiled rice, galaxy chocolate 1 syns = 20 syns maxed. Good stuff Smile

Today I have

- Been to hypnotherapy and plotted all things that make me feel good further into the narrative of the hypnosis, recorded the session
- Cooked my first ever Indian meal from scratch - Saag Aloo (Spinach and Potato with several spices) from my Slimming World group's Fakeaways book. Took 1 hour with my Dad doing a lot of the cooking as I'm too slow to time everything just right. If anyone wants the recipe for this low fat version, message me. It tastes +1!
- Seeing if "A Minor G String" will make a label acceptance as being safe enough to release commercially; or if I will just release it myself Cool
- Facebook'd and Twitt'd
- Slept for 4 hours when I got back home from hypnotherapy, I think it gone done that to me!
- Liased with a Command & Conquer Level 33 player from another alliance who didn't actually plan to destroy my (much lower level) bases. Much fun.
- Played music from my Cowon D2+ through hifi speakers in the kitchen and enjoyed most of it.

Mutley-ani1
Emailed Mary Anne Hobbs at 6Music with 3 tunes and LP link / who knows me spiel.
Cooked 3rd food-optimised Indian curry meal – Chicken Korma and brown rice.
Mum brought in an Indian Snack Selection and flavoured Popadoms too.
Upgraded first C&C:TA base to LV 17 and now ranked 2439 world
Wished a friend Happy Birthday
Recorded a New Age, Electric Piano and SlwString2 arrangement on Casio CTK-4200 AD
Dreamed about playing hockey on school football pitch and listened to music on monitors
Chatted to sister and her girlfriend about seeing Black Sabbath and Motorhead in London
Replied to feminist and transphobic activists about their with-holes-in ideology on Facebook
Working on "Bass Session" project file in Ableton
Questioned how to work 'local' keyboard sounds with software sounds
Won a point with Freq Nasty on Nightshift's Dumbass Record Collection Quiz
Watched the final set of the Wimbeldon men's final, well deserved win Djokovic
Today is too hot to make any sense. So I ain't gonna something-something...
Tickets booked to see Philip Glass Ensemble later this year.

Did not ever expect him to ever be playing near me. Can't properly express how happy this makes me.
11.07.14

Today's horoscope (Hahaha)

Work or family duties call you today. You enjoy knowing you're needed. At work, you can combine intuitive reasoning with grounded energy.
Intensity:59
Keywords: influential, orderly
Mood: You feel responsible

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Since I only "buy" music through subs now, here's what's been collected on eMusic (http://www.emusic.com) this month:

Bill Frisell - All We Are Saying
Hildur Gudanottir, BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa - Second Childhood (originally DL in 2007)
Jessy Lanza - Pull My Hair Back (was standoffish from all the press she was getting, but now I listen and she's good)
Kevin Drew - Darlings (a member of Broken Social Scene)
Lone - Reality Testing (2 Is 8 is reposted to http://www.soundcloud.com/subversion-2)
Marissa Nadler - July (excellent album, listened to this a few times)
Micha Jacazek - Catalogue Des Arbres (thanks Statto)
Oliveray - Wonders (collaboration between Peter Broderick and Nils Frahm)

Bandcamp has 13 plays today. 1 green 1 red each for "Pathological Darkness" and "Anything Becomes Possible With Time", the only yellow for the "A Rose In The Desert Wind (Simon Bean Remodel)", 1 red for "Spared Merit (Vocal Version)", 1 green each for "Seeing The Sights (For Film)", "The Light You Shine Prevents Me From Being Uptight", "Wandering In A Bright Spot (For Advertisements)", "Liez", "Talking With Birds Lament", "Eternal Sands [The Shapeshifter's Reprise] feat. Eschaton (Album Version)" – in that order.

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Warner Music via Bat for lashes has sent me an email about the YMC SS14 Capsule Collection, with my name directly.

Atomic Skunk – "Alchemy" viewed 3 times by someone else on SubVersion, and "Children" once the same.

Food Diary 5th - 8th July

Sat – 1 satsuma 1 fat free yoghurt 0.5 syns milk 1 he food optimised chicken korma with brown rice and salad 5 glasses red = 20 syns = 20.5 syns for day.

Sun – 3 apples 1 1/2 bananas milk 1 he scrambled egg on toast 1 he fat free live cultures yoghurt 0.5 syns roast lamb, roast potatoes and vegetables with gravy 2 syns 3 glasses white wine = 14.5 d.

Mon – 2 apples 1 banana milk 1 he bread 1 he from bacon sandwich chicken carbonara, pasta and
salad 7 syns (because of sauce) garlic bread 2 syns 2 brunch bars 6 syns = 15 syns for day.

Tue – egg on toast 1 he milk 1 he 3 apples 2 brunch bars 6 syns curry deli rice and potato salad 3 syns chinese spare ribs & noodles with salad = 3 syns for skin = 12 syns day.

Food Diary 9th - 15th July

Wed - egg bacon mushrooms beans bread 1 he milk 1 he 2 apples 1 brunch bar 3 syns 3 cans carling 24 syns barbeque chicken (with skin), mixed mexican veggies = 3 syns fish in sunflower oil, basmati rice & beans = 2 syns = 32 syns day.

Thu – milk 1 he 1 apple 1 muesli bar 2 pears 1 mocha mint cooly at coasta coffee 8 syns 1 can carling 8 syns 1 glass red 6 syns first floor 3 small plates 15 syns = 37 syns.

Fri – Mariner's pie 2 pears milk 1 he pineapple and fruit mix 3 pints low to med strength 20 syns chinese (thanks ma and pa!) sweet and sour pork balls with garlic rice / 3 glasses wine = 37 syns day.

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FR 118: Elbee – Visions Of Vactrols / Invisible Prism – Innermost Outerspace (Wood & Wire)

With a rave glitterball in the rear view mirror, and beats that initially sound like dot matrix prints on Autechre-circa-"Amber" synth skyscrapers, it would be partially fair to surmise that Elbee's "Visions Of Vactrols" ain't going any zany vista. But it does. Spectrally and absorbingly.

The six pieces on this EP all draw from the well worn IDM categorisation's sound palette, but because of their volition towards random rhythm rallying with excited clusters of notes, the compositions gain advantage of the match between concentric circles and sea-turtle lifespan harmonic structures. It's an impressive work that stands on its own two feet in electronica terms, but leans further into classical and ambient territory by the time "Zeldomeld", and its Sigur Ros / Oneohtrix Point Never synthesiser ramp - skateboards over itself into the austere violins of closing track "The Indexilarm Dimension".

The pacing is fittingly blustery and needle-sharp all the while, this applying a diametric balm to the overall sheen of the production, which is nicely DIY but professional at the same time. Violins approach "Requiem For A Dream" for subconscious orchestral inspiration. Whereas with one listen the participant is granted respiration from everyday life.

Next in the spotlighted duo is Invisible Prism's quirky "Innermost Outerspace". Much more of a sullen, meditative affair, Ricky Turner aka Invisible Prism from Queensland, AUS resonates with drone greats like Eliane Radigue and Pauline Oliveros. Less minimal on opener "In Search Of Higher Planes" than those artists and Elbee, as if looking for catharsis through murmured action, Turner builds a simple organ drone chord arrangement with higher pitched tones that sound like a Theremin being squeezed dynamically into bubble wrap. At 11 minutes it's not a conformist slab of longform hum, rather a deviation from the standardised (and subsumed) verse-bridge-chorus of anti-drone. Compelling then, in its use of techniques to sit somewhere transcendental, seeing that repetition is a language of the masses, and deviance a language of the minority.

On the following two companions "oasisao" and "Restructuring Neuro-Electric Geometry" Ricky plays with more narcoleptic drone timbres. The start of the former is a good example of this; a doomy, penetrating gaze from a wolf to a chicken. It gives menace and new life to the release, while slow percussion tremors waft in from the background to provide momentum towards the non-horizontal eye. The vision of yourself and seemingly the creator becomes blurred, sucked into an ultramundane vortex where nothing but formless spirit and non-physical violence persists to stir the mind. The cauldron reaches out to ambient metal circa Mother Room (reviewed on Fluid 117 by me ) and the psychedelic astringency of The Alpha Rhythm (a lesser known ambient jazz and post-rock group from the noughties – do seek out).

There is a revolvent retrospectvity being smashed like a rave-comedown halo here – this music truly sounds like it has a grip on the highest quality drone, the most interesting kind of drone, and rewards repeated listens. You know, you've heard that one before. But I wonder if you've really heard music quite like this before...?
I don't have the trademark Facebook dinner picture, but I do have all you need to know to cook a low fat Chicken Dopiaza Indian meal from scratch.

1) Get 2 large onions, chop finely.
2) Get 4 cloves garlic, crush and chop finely.
3) Get your wok, add a little olive oil.
4) Gather your spices: 2 tbsp curry powder, 2 tbsp garam masala, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp ground cumin, and add to the wok on low heat.
5) Cook spices for 30 seconds then add in the onions, cook 3-4 min.
6) Get a chicken stock cube, drop into Pyrex jug, boil and pour in 200ml water and stir with a fork until broken up.
7) Get a tin of plum tomatoes; add and chop them with spatula, adding garlic and chicken stock to wok. Set your timer for 20-25 minutes.
8] Get a 565g pack of chicken breasts, chop up with fork and knife, then brown in a separate frying pan with a little olive oil added. Add to wok.
9) During this time stir the tomato, stock and spice mixture while readying your basmati rice (you don't need instructions how to cook that ).
10) Check the chicken's cooked upon serving and garnish with coriander, lemon and lime pieces. Voila, a very tasty and moreish curry!

Serving:4 people.

This was a less expensive alternative to King Prawn Dopiaza, whereby the only difference is prawns in place of chicken (500g) and fish stock. Maybe for a more monetised day. Mutley-ani1
In other news, I need to get out of fantasy mode.
14.07.14; Today's horoscope

Don't be so bashful. Stand up and testify as the wonderful, unusual person that you are. Get back to your roots during the next two days.

Rating : 4/5 - Intensity : 55 - Keywords : independently, smaller scale - Mood : You feel worth watching

Recorded the raw part of "By The Time You're Gone, I Want You More" / "By The Time You're Here, I Want You Gone". Arpeggiator only records on track 1 of the keyboard sequencer. Organic Basal Sounds day. Listening to and reviewing two releases of note, up until 21st July.

Planned gym into day but got carried away with music (monitors listening to BfL albums) and sleeping. Tomorrow morning:

Various Artists inc. Om Unit & Moresounds review / Duane Pitre & Cory Allen review for FR 119.

Right now

Hearing Muttley – Back To Mine Pt. 2 – Reflections, a guest mix for http://www.lowlightmixes.blogspot.com for the first time in years (Dave sent it to me upon request) and being blown away by the quality of the tunes. Smile

Food Diary /15th July

Sat – food optimised Chicken Dopiaza with brown basmati rice, cooked with olive oil 1 syn / milk 1 he / 2 apples / 2 small glasses wine 8 syns / twister 2 syn = 11 syns day.

Sun – 3 apples milk 1 he roast lamb roast potatoes broccoli carrots gravy 1.5 syns small bowl bird's trifle 5 syns 2 glasses red 8 syns = 14.5 syns day.

Mon – 1 apple 1 banana milk 1 he 5 gingernuts 10 syns 3 sausages broccoli potatoes with onion chutney and proactive butter = 10 syns = 20 syns day.

Weigh in 2moro, which after slight progress start to midweek looks promising for a weight loss. If not...I don't mind. Smile
Vacuumed tufts and tumbleweeds of golden retriever hair out of my carpet.
I got my 1 1/2 stone weight loss award yesterday. Smile Not bad seeing as I only started going 5 months ago.
I'm feeling pretty good today. Had a few beers tonight and playing the piano at the local pub tomorrow afternoon and seeing my housing project's link worker for a coffee and to collect my meds (it's been a couple of weeks since Diazepam and yearning for it).
17.07.14 - Today's horoscope

Don't push yourself too hard today, Pisces. Your energy is high but you're easily frazzled. Minor, unexpected delays could frustrate you.

Rating : 4/5 - Intensity : 55 - Keywords : generous, confidence - Mood : You feel strategy

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Finally got PIP acceptance through, but they haven't backdated it to when DLA stopped in June last year. Still, happy something happened that means I can be safe.

Saw link worker, chatted about Buddhism, religions being on parallel lines and different angles for the same thing, usual debate. Was nice, really enjoyed talking to her. Picked up meds just about.

Went to James Street Tavern to practice piano ideas and get sample chords and dischords.

Then a treat for losing a stone and a half – a trip to my fave restaurant The First Floor for a meal. Chef's Special Lamb Curry and Aloo Matter was wonderful.

Listened to new 36 LP and DJ Ren's latest MixCloud set, wrote a review of it. Listened to Jennifer Lucy Allan's 45 minute Calypso Wire session on Resonance FM via stream. I concluded there are some interesting things in calypso, but nothing I'd pay good money for.

Sent Hypnosis Sessions to ASC and Statto.
Muttley Wrote:Sent Hypnosis Sessions to ASC and Statto.

Wave
19.07.14

Today's horoscope

You're highly creative today, and you have the presence needed to manifest your ideas in reality. Being emotionally centred really helps.
Rating : 4/5 - Intensity : 59 - Keywords: contented, forthright - Mood : You feel quick

Cooked meatballs with pasta and garlic sauce and spagetti with chopped tomatoes and salad. Bananas and custard for dessert. Watched "Philomenia" again in part while completing Basal Sounds July 2014 for http://www.organicbeats.co.uk. Parents got spices we need for a home cooked fakeaway tomorrow. Replied to James Kirby, listened to his "We Drink To Forget The Coming Storm" into the early hours.
21.07.14

Today's horoscope


It's not a good day to commit yourself to any particular course of action. Postpone the decision, if possible. Get your thoughts aligned.

Rating: 1/5 - Intensity: 84 - Keywords: physical, sweat - Mood: You feel a million dollars

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- Cooked Fakeaway Thai Green Curry for 3 from the Slimming World recipe book, was Lovesmilie
- Bruno Bavota sent me a good sample of the track we're collaborating on
- Upgraded 3rd C&C:TA base to LV 17
- Listened to Boom Boom Satellites (Paradox Virtual Drummer remix); Awake (Com Truise Remix) by Tycho; Hakobune from 2012; Bat For Lashes – Daphne.
- Weighing about the same as last week
- "Vena Amoris" EP has 4 full (green) listens today and 2 partials
- Won a point with Ghostface Killah on Nightshift's Dumbass Record Collection Quiz; dropped in a joke guess next of Gilbert & Sullivan
- Glad Robert Scott Thompson re-subscribed me to the Aucourant mailing list as his promo is on the list for listening 2moro

Food

Sun – 2 apples 2 pears chicken dhansak with saag aloo 3 glasses wine = 12 syns

Mon – 2 slices cheese on toast 5 syns gurkin and tomato 1 he milk 1 he 3 glasses 11% alc red wine 12 syns / home cooked thai green curry with boiled rice 1 1/2 syns 1 naan 4 syns 22 1/2 syns day.
SV Stop 204: We Lived In A Garden's Heart, Crooks And Lovers & Serendipity re-viewed.
Paid £4.24 ($7) for Robert Scott Thompson – Arcana (with several bonus tracks)
Reviewed "Arcana" and posted in FTAL 024 – see SC front page.
Controlled Aircraft Guidance Network LV 17, Tiberium Container LV 18 and Crystal Container LV 17 on C&C:TA (http://www.tiberiumalliances.com – World 87 – Europe), 3 Points Of Interest, moving all bases. Upgraded MuttleySV1 to LV 19. Ranked 2223.
Supervised home-cooked Thai Green Chicken Curry (mine was better! :P)
Messaged Bat For Lashes with a link to "Vena Amoris", tracks played 18 times in full.

Rainbow
Aaadam and Demolishes base on C&C:TA in SW has damaged my 3 bases so I had to relocate. Time to engage in a counter attack! It took him 7 attempts to temp destroy my strongest base Smile
Bjork's debut album (in 1993) is a satisfying mixture of pop, techno, electronica and vocal accents.
Lone – Reality Testing LP is the most refreshing electronica record I have listened to in chronological timespan since Imre Kiss' Raw Energy EP.