A Memory Hole
21/06/25 20:02 Filed under: New Music
I called this piece ‘A Memory Hole’ because I feel like I completely zoned out and went to some other mindspace while working on it.
The loop came from the piano part of ‘Open Again Eventually’ (from 2020’s Bird Rib) and I used SLATE+ASH's Cycles software to make it performative and malleable. From there all I remember is a dreamy blur of sound unspooling, running forwards and backwards… I must have I sat there staring out the window listening to these loops for hours and hours. Through the swirl of notes I felt like I could hear melodies and harmonic footings suggesting themselves, so I picked those out with some gentle overdubs.
This is part of Perceptions, Vol. 6, from Bigo & Twigetti- the full compilation drops July 4.
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The loop came from the piano part of ‘Open Again Eventually’ (from 2020’s Bird Rib) and I used SLATE+ASH's Cycles software to make it performative and malleable. From there all I remember is a dreamy blur of sound unspooling, running forwards and backwards… I must have I sat there staring out the window listening to these loops for hours and hours. Through the swirl of notes I felt like I could hear melodies and harmonic footings suggesting themselves, so I picked those out with some gentle overdubs.
This is part of Perceptions, Vol. 6, from Bigo & Twigetti- the full compilation drops July 4.
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Elizabeth Price's 'Here We Are' at the Liverpool Biennial
04/06/25 20:37 Filed under: Work | Collaboration
Tonight the Liverpool Biennial opens, and I've been working with Turner prize-winning artist Elizabeth Price on her new film Here We Are for the past 9 months. It's running at the Black-E venue, 1 Great George St - if anyone is in town, you should check it out!
And I'm extra pleased to see Jonathan Jones at The Guardian declare the piece "best of the Biennial"!
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And I'm extra pleased to see Jonathan Jones at The Guardian declare the piece "best of the Biennial"!
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Audiobook is out now!
13/05/25 20:27 Filed under: Writing
TFW you're the only one who dressed up for the Young Americans panel at Dublin Bowie Fest
01/03/25 20:19 Filed under: Personal
2024
20/12/24 20:15 Filed under: Personal
2024 felt like a big milestone year because I got to mark 20 years living in the UK, and 10 years working at Kingston University. I'll always look back on 2024 fondly for the hilarious time I had with Liz at the David Bowie Fan Convention in Liverpool, driving around Campania with Ben, getting to hang out with my oldest, bestest mates from my childhood, Paully and Shelley, back in the sacred homelands.
2024 began with a hospital trip that inspired me to take better care of my health. Since then I've lost some weight, gotten stronger at the gym, started HRT (a miracle!) and spent time learning and practicing how to be in my body with amazing Alexander Technique teacher Jessica Morgan. I feel middle aged and it's not a problem, actually it's pretty great.
On the mental health front, I recognise that I probably listened to way too many podcasts and watched/scrolled through too much news in 2024. The elections were exciting/terrible, the wars are relentlessly horrific, and the endless talking about it makes me feel tired and helpless. I could use less of that mess in my brainspace in 2025.
The thing I missed was making music. I have a great pen pal who has been reminding me how important it is to have space for a creative life. I've been getting my creative kicks from writing these past few years, probably because more people are interested in engaging with that kind of work. I wrote a little piece for strings back in February, and I've been collaborating here and there, but it's not scratching the itch. So I think 2025 will be a year where I'll try to give myself back to music. Even if what I make is only meant for me and no-one else.
And with that I'm switching off until 2025. I love you; see you all on the other side x-----
2024 began with a hospital trip that inspired me to take better care of my health. Since then I've lost some weight, gotten stronger at the gym, started HRT (a miracle!) and spent time learning and practicing how to be in my body with amazing Alexander Technique teacher Jessica Morgan. I feel middle aged and it's not a problem, actually it's pretty great.
On the mental health front, I recognise that I probably listened to way too many podcasts and watched/scrolled through too much news in 2024. The elections were exciting/terrible, the wars are relentlessly horrific, and the endless talking about it makes me feel tired and helpless. I could use less of that mess in my brainspace in 2025.
The thing I missed was making music. I have a great pen pal who has been reminding me how important it is to have space for a creative life. I've been getting my creative kicks from writing these past few years, probably because more people are interested in engaging with that kind of work. I wrote a little piece for strings back in February, and I've been collaborating here and there, but it's not scratching the itch. So I think 2025 will be a year where I'll try to give myself back to music. Even if what I make is only meant for me and no-one else.
And with that I'm switching off until 2025. I love you; see you all on the other side x-----
Extract published by The Quietus
30/11/24 20:11 Filed under: Writing
The Quietus have published an extract from my book that talks about the influence and impact of Hounds Of Love on subsequent generations of artists.
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-----For The Conversation
18/11/24 20:06 Filed under: Writing
Signed copies of Hounds Of Love available from Rough Trade
02/11/24 14:31 Filed under: Writing
Not long to go now until this book is out in the world, argh!
Anyone interested in buying a signed copy can order one via this link from Rough Trade.
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Anyone interested in buying a signed copy can order one via this link from Rough Trade.
-----Apollo 13: Survival
15/09/24 14:39 Filed under: Work
I really enjoyed helping out with orchestrations on this amazing project, now streaming on Netflix. Apollo 13: Survival, directed by Peter Middleton and scored by James Spinney. Check it out!
https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81444292
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https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81444292
-----The emancipating power of samplers & sequencers in the work of Kate Bush during the early-to-mid 80s
This is a video paper for the 21CMP conference, to be held at Townshend Studio, University of West London/London College of Music, 9–10 Sept 2024. The conference theme is on the uses of Commercial Electronic Musical Instruments. I realise my reading is low volume in a few places - especially against the music examples - so probably best to turn on closed captions.
https://www.c21mp.org/events
Abstract:
The leap in sonic and musical daring from the piano-led pop of ‘Wow’ and ’Symphony in Blue’ (Lionheart, 1978) to the shattered shards of ‘Babooshka’ and the ammunition-click percussion of ‘Army Dreamers’ (Never for Ever, 1980) were the result of Kate Bush’s conscious manoeuvring from one side of the recording studio’s glass divide to the other. In addition to seizing control of her own productions, Bush embraced cutting edge commercial electronic musical instruments (CEMIs) of the era that transformed her working methods, compositional idiolect and sonic aesthetic in the early-to-mid 1980s. Sampling and sequencing technologies, in particular the Fairlight Computer Music Instrument, E-mu Emulator II, and the LinnDrum, not only made writing, demoing and arranging tasks more accessible and autonomous, they opened up fresh, expressive dimensions and granted the artist unprecedented access to aesthetic control of her outputs.
Tracking and analysing imaginative uses of these technologies across a run of Kate Bush albums between 1980–85 (Never for Ever (1980), The Dreaming (1982) and Hounds Of Love (1985)), provides a case study in how these CEMIs not only afford new creative possibilities for self-producing songwriters, but offer new levels of access to arrangement realisation, novel sound design, sonic world building, and the expansion of the studio’s role in the songwriting process to be a space for both open-ended experimentation and meticulous control. The journey of these gradual shifts in process, perspective and autonomy culminate in Bush building her own home studio in 1984. The emancipating power of CEMIs in the narrative of Kate Bush’s career during this period are multi-dimensional, with lasting impact not only on the artist’s subsequent career trajectory, but in pop music culture ever since.
https://youtu.be/77rUKjwoAQ0?si=JtidkNq_IQn_ugik
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https://www.c21mp.org/events
Abstract:
The leap in sonic and musical daring from the piano-led pop of ‘Wow’ and ’Symphony in Blue’ (Lionheart, 1978) to the shattered shards of ‘Babooshka’ and the ammunition-click percussion of ‘Army Dreamers’ (Never for Ever, 1980) were the result of Kate Bush’s conscious manoeuvring from one side of the recording studio’s glass divide to the other. In addition to seizing control of her own productions, Bush embraced cutting edge commercial electronic musical instruments (CEMIs) of the era that transformed her working methods, compositional idiolect and sonic aesthetic in the early-to-mid 1980s. Sampling and sequencing technologies, in particular the Fairlight Computer Music Instrument, E-mu Emulator II, and the LinnDrum, not only made writing, demoing and arranging tasks more accessible and autonomous, they opened up fresh, expressive dimensions and granted the artist unprecedented access to aesthetic control of her outputs.
Tracking and analysing imaginative uses of these technologies across a run of Kate Bush albums between 1980–85 (Never for Ever (1980), The Dreaming (1982) and Hounds Of Love (1985)), provides a case study in how these CEMIs not only afford new creative possibilities for self-producing songwriters, but offer new levels of access to arrangement realisation, novel sound design, sonic world building, and the expansion of the studio’s role in the songwriting process to be a space for both open-ended experimentation and meticulous control. The journey of these gradual shifts in process, perspective and autonomy culminate in Bush building her own home studio in 1984. The emancipating power of CEMIs in the narrative of Kate Bush’s career during this period are multi-dimensional, with lasting impact not only on the artist’s subsequent career trajectory, but in pop music culture ever since.
https://youtu.be/77rUKjwoAQ0?si=JtidkNq_IQn_ugik
-----Book promo
The analogue music studio
27/06/24 14:51 Filed under: Academia
New academic publication - a chapter about teaching analogue recording in the 21st century, co-written with Isabella van Elferen.
Available now in:
Kardos, L. and van Elferen, I., 2024. The analogue music studio. Recorded Music in Creative Practices: Mediation, Performance, Education, p.42.
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Available now in:
Kardos, L. and van Elferen, I., 2024. The analogue music studio. Recorded Music in Creative Practices: Mediation, Performance, Education, p.42.
-----The Rolling Stones Rare and Unseen by Gered Mankowitz
02/03/24 14:49 Filed under: Work
Lovely thing arrived with this morning’s post - a new book of Rare and Unseen photos of the Rolling Stones by Gered Mankowitz. My favourite part of the book is the ‘Stones at home’ chapter, Mick with his kitty, Keith sitting on a garden toilet with his pup, Charlie giving a good boy some pats. Oh, and I contributed an essay!
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-----Pre-order Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love (33 1/3 series)
25/02/24 13:49 Filed under: Writing
Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love publishes November 14, and is available for pre-order now.
Hounds Of Love invites you to not only listen, but to cross the boundaries of sensory experience into the realms of imagination and possibility. Side A spawned four Top 40 hit singles in the UK, ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)’, ‘Cloudbusting’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘The Big Sky’, some of the best loved and most enduring compositions in the Bush catalogue. On side B, a hallucinatory seven-part song cycle called The Ninth Wave broke away from the pop conventions of the era, with strange and vivid production techniques that plunge the listener into the psychological centre of a near-death experience. Poised and accessible, yet still experimental and complex, with Hounds Of Love Bush mastered the art of her studio-based songcraft, finally achieving full control of her creative process. When it came out in 1985, she was only 27 years old.
This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer. Track-by-track commentaries focus on the experience of the album from the listener’s point of view, drawing attention to the art and craft of Bush’s songwriting and sound design. It considers the vast impact and influence that Hounds Of Love has had on music cultures and creative practices through the years, underlining the artist’s importance as a barrier-smashing, template-defying, business-smart, record-breaking, never-compromising role model for artists everywhere.
Contents:
Track Listing
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The first woman
Still dreaming
I put this moment… here
Hounds Of Love
The Ninth Wave
A ritual in six steps
Before The Dawn
Blackbirds
Wave after wave
Notes
Selected Bibliography
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Hounds Of Love invites you to not only listen, but to cross the boundaries of sensory experience into the realms of imagination and possibility. Side A spawned four Top 40 hit singles in the UK, ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)’, ‘Cloudbusting’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘The Big Sky’, some of the best loved and most enduring compositions in the Bush catalogue. On side B, a hallucinatory seven-part song cycle called The Ninth Wave broke away from the pop conventions of the era, with strange and vivid production techniques that plunge the listener into the psychological centre of a near-death experience. Poised and accessible, yet still experimental and complex, with Hounds Of Love Bush mastered the art of her studio-based songcraft, finally achieving full control of her creative process. When it came out in 1985, she was only 27 years old.
This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer. Track-by-track commentaries focus on the experience of the album from the listener’s point of view, drawing attention to the art and craft of Bush’s songwriting and sound design. It considers the vast impact and influence that Hounds Of Love has had on music cultures and creative practices through the years, underlining the artist’s importance as a barrier-smashing, template-defying, business-smart, record-breaking, never-compromising role model for artists everywhere.
Contents:
Track Listing
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The first woman
Still dreaming
I put this moment… here
Hounds Of Love
The Ninth Wave
A ritual in six steps
Before The Dawn
Blackbirds
Wave after wave
Notes
Selected Bibliography
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Bigo & Twigetti label night with Curve Ensemble
10/02/24 13:46 Filed under: New Music
Feb 22 at the Crypt on the Green, Clerkenwell, come along for a bewitching evening of new music for strings. Curve Ensemble will be performing a new piece by me(!*) alongside many of my excellent label mates at Bigo & Twigetti.
See you there?
*(Exclamation because this will be the first new music from me in aaaaaagesssss)
Update: thanks for everyone who came along. Here's a short excerpt of my piece, 'Pearly'
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See you there?
*(Exclamation because this will be the first new music from me in aaaaaagesssss)
Update: thanks for everyone who came along. Here's a short excerpt of my piece, 'Pearly'
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AlbumToAlbum podcast: The Next Day parts 3 & 4
Finally! The last two instalments covering David Bowie'sThe Next Day & The Next Day Extra, from a series of fun conversations I had with Arsalan Mohammad for the very excellent AlbumToAlbum podcast. What a journey, eh! He also asked me to whip up some opening and closing music for the pod, and I was very glad to oblige. Anyone who has now listened to all four of these certainly deserves a gold star.
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First and Last and Always - Electronic Sound Magazine #107
13/11/23 13:20 Filed under: Interview
