the song writing process seems to be different for every band we like. some electronic outfits still write through jam sessions in the srudio, whereas we've always found it pretty difficult to come up with anything half decent from scratch that way. Some song writers we know always staet at a piano or keyboard - just that and their voice meaning that every song starts with an original acoustic version - an interesting idea given the weird and wonderful electronic soundscapes that they sometimes end up as. some programmers always start with drums, some basslines. All of which is not to say that there's not a lot of uniformity out there as well. with most people using similar software, and everyone googling the same 'how tos', lots of us are falling into the same song writing patterns. the music production magazines don't help either in this regard - full of 'helpul' tips on 'streamlining workflow', which is imho the worst thing you can do if you want to come up with songs that are fresh and sound a little different to what you've written before. so for our own part, Colab finds that we have never settled on any particular process. sometimes one of us writes most of a song and the others add detail; sometimes it's an inspired collaborative thing with dozens of ideas recorded on the fly; sometimes we start with lyrics; other times with a loop; one song will be inspired directly by visuals we've created; the next time the sounds and the visuals will develop together gradually. we've had songs that have taken 2 years to finish, and others that take a single weekend.
the much anticipated follow up to the seminal 'less than zero' is actually quite a different kettle of fish to the first installment. clay, clay, clay! what can I say mate, I don't like you half as much now as I did before reading 'imperial bedrooms'. but Ellis is still one of the most engaging writers around, and this book was nothing if not engaging. I found myself constantly trying to read more slowly, not wanting the experience of 'less than zero 2' to disappear too quickly. but this narrative keeps drawing you on with an absorbing simplicity. the whole read only lasts 72 hours tops, but, as usual with Brett, the dark thoughts last a whole lot longer.
well the recently announced sequel to blade runner has thrown several of my sci-fi fan friends into paroxysms of anger, and rightly so. why the hell do producers constantly insist on spoiling the memory of such one off films with disgusting sequels? how much better to leave a piece of classic sci fi, such as the matrix, stand alone as a perfect unit, rather than thrash out the story into a trilogy that explains all those unanswered questions that you never ever wanted answered in the first place. on the other hand, I recently loved the sequel to Tron, so these things can work. and at very least the new movie will inspire a resurgence of interes in bladerunner. even though of us well and truly familiar with the movie can do what I'm doing right now and check out the original book. quaintly titled 'do androids dream of electric sheep?'. its author, Phillips kindred Dick, in addition to having a timelessly excellent name, was a massively prolific writer. for example, his stories have been adapted into films like minority report, adjustment bureau, a scanner darkly, total recall. in short, having now got started on this guy's books, it seems I've taken my first bite of a literary apple that could last several years at a minimum. so in a sense, whether or not the sequel to bladerunner is any good, I want to at least thank its producers for steering me towards a wealth of new reading material. who knows, maybe this will be the next big inspiration for Colab music?
well they say that yesterday's super gadget, the ipod, may be on the brink of being pulled from production. it gets no marketing from Apple and shops are having problems sourcing stock, which is apparently what always happens when Apple is trying to kill off a product without coming out and saying so. and quite frankly my view is: good riddence to those fuckers! ipods, your hard drive broke every time someone sneezed, and let's face it, in. the UK in winter, that's pretty sambhar often! ipods, you could only be repaired by qualified Apple. technicians, who would more often than not wipe all the songs that had taken months to assesmble in order to 'fix' the problem. qualified for what? for fucking with our lives? ipods, you never seemed to get dropped on a nice, soft, dry location like a sofa. no, if you were going down, it was always on a hard bitumen road or, in the case of one of my friends, into the toilet bowl. so good riddence ipods! and welcome the brave new world.
Last night I saw a great play called "Have you ever?" in a gorgeous little theatre space above the Hen and Chicken Bar (http://www.thehenandchickenstheatrebar.co.uk/) in Highbury. Written and directed by a guy called Ben Ketner, this play packs a real surprise that leaves you feeling like you've just seen something quite special. But unfortunately that was its last night! So let's hope that ben and the gang put it on again in the future because it's well worth seeing. Plus that theatre space would make a great venue for a Colab audio visual event some time!