Encounters MySpace Up and Running Now

I'm happy to say that our band's MySpace is now up and running. In here you will find some of our works in progress and other shizzle such as news, er, when we have some news to report. We're working hard to be very active this coming summer with a release and a bunch of live gigs. So watch that space!
myspace.com/encountersbande

"Portugal"

Carrying on with my mission to rescue old material, I finished another one last night. This one is not meant for "Petit Morts" though. Rather, it's another one of those tracks that were nearly finished before the great hard drive disaster of 2008CE (roughly). All I had left after that were bounces of what I had up to that point. Some other tracks weren't that lucky and all files and remnants of them were lost. As I tend to write songs by means of production, a lot of these will probably just never see the light of day, unless of course one day I've got enough money to get someone to rescue the files out of the dead hard drive which is still in my possession, and if that's even possible.
But back to this one for a sec: the bounce I had to work with had pretty much all the parts recorded, but it was a rough mix. I had to take the bounce and use all sorts of editing and audio-trickery to fix it up and I'm glad to say that I am happy with the result. I have now pronounced one more old track RESCUED AND FINISHED. It is called "Portugal". The lyrics are in Spanish and they are in no way meant to offend anyone of Portuguese nationality or descent. Anyone who knows me will know that my lyrics are often nonsensical and cut up David Byrne stylee. I've never been to Portugal but I am sure it is a lovely country. The lyrics in the chorus say that "I don't want to go to Portugal." That's not true of me actually. In fact I would very much like to visit said country's lovely beaches at some point.
The song features some tape hiss that was treated to sound like the way I imagine the breeze and seagulls might sound like in Lisbon. So yeah, it's kind of a beachy, breezy song complete with synthesized string arrangements, Rhythm Ace bossa beats, found sounds and plenty more.
Hope you enjoy it.

Trip Mosaic 5

Last night I got stoned and did another mix for anyone who cares.
It's a great life for a man of leisure...
Get it here.

Petit

Today I started doing something I've been meaning to do for oh, about 6 years. Way back in 2004CE, I started conceiving a concept album of sorts (what a pretentious wanker, I know. ho hum) The loose concept for the album was going to be the "tribulations of love" (what a corny wanker, I know that as well).
That's right. My pretentious corny self of half a decade ago wanted to devise an album that expressed the concept of love in all its ragged, wonderful and often bizarre glory; love in sex and violence; the psychology behind love and devotion, etc... That album was to be called "Petit Morts".
The semi-title track "Petit" was to kick off the album on a mellow note (I like slow-burning album openers). My initial idea was to actually record a sexual act performed by a passionate but romantic couple who are genuinely in love and thus, making love, not just fucking. It had to have some depth, you had to be able to hear the love in the moans, grunts and their wet kisses. I imagined a similar scenario to that in which Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot first recorded "Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus", him making her reach orgasm as the song crescendos toward the end. That version was apparently too sexy for radio, so Serge eventually re-recorded it with Jane Birkin in a more toned-down manner, but still quite sexy. The song became an international hit and many have reported to have conceived their offspring to this piece of music.
This wouldn't be me with my partner as that would be too personal, which I always try and avoid. The work always needs to be taken from a different perspective, as an observer, if you will. I always try to put myself behind the work that I do. It's more interesting that way, but I digress. It would also just make me uncomfortable when listening to it and even more-so when playing it to people. That would almost be like showing them a home made erotic video of one and his partner. And I would also be too shy to ask anyone that I know to perform so I can record it and use it in a piece of music. So I found a porn film on the internet. After much KAK, I found a decent one of a genuine couple, no cheesy soundtrack, copulating passionately. Their performance made me feel like a voyeur, as I recorded the audio onto tape and made the transfer with some processing and mixed it into the track.
Anyway, it would be the start of the record, that which would lay everything on the table, make the concept clear from the start and be explicit about it before the rest of the album comes along and investigates, dissects and analyzes these themes - including all the baggage it comes with and its taboos and grey areas - in the context of an album consisting of music that flows piece by piece, awkward situation by awkward situation in a devotional, dedicated, desperate love and the animal instincts it brings out in oneself.
Or that's my explanation of it, anyway... I guess once this album materialises the listener can take whatever meaning they give to it. For now there's this tune: an economically melodic but minimalist instrumental with a meaning.
So I find myself revisiting an abandoned project to try and save it, track by track. This one's the first I've done. I shall continue to do so at a leisurely pace.
I never meant to just abandon the entire project, I genuinely meant to come back to it and now felt like the right time. The reason it was put on hold in the first place is for two reasons, really:
1. I was also writing and recording material for another album at the same time and I felt more inclined to the vibe of the other one. So I finished said album and carried on like that for a while, sort of forgetting about it at the same time.
2. I didn't feel confident enough to take on a project of that nature at the time.
Anyway, more to come from this, I'm sure. This album will be finished at some point.

Protect Me From Love

Way back in 2005CE Kylie was still hot shit. Since then she's battled cancer and retired from the spotlight a bit. Who can blame her, she's being doing this since I was a lad.
Anyway, I wrote a song back then. I fantasized that I was writing a song for Kylie to sing. She would've done a hell of a better job than my very modest performance. And a hell of a lot sexier! That was the way I imagined it anyway.
The song is still in my catalogue, so if Kylie makes a comeback someday and I'm in the position to get it to her people maybe my dream will one day come true.
Listening to this version performed by yours truly, it's clear that I'm way out of my comfort zone, even for a time when I was still trying to find what my comfort zone was, exactly. It's the probably the poppiest thing I've ever done. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not me really, but then it was never meant to be a song for me to release under my own name.
So why am I coming back to old shit I've done all of a sudden? Well, they come up on my iTunes shuffle every now and then and while I don't personally care much for those works these days, there's still something about them that may be interesting to some people. I know I had good feedback back when I did them, so it'd be a shame to just forget about them completely.
More of this embarassing shit to come, surely.

Hot Lava

Here's a bit of a fun throwaway I recorded in a few hours at some point last year.
It's a little rocker in a faux Cramps stylee. I'm not usually known for bringing out the rock in my music, so this is a bit of an oddity. And it's one of the shortest tunes I've ever done. Hope you like it.