| Closedown |
[Jun. 12th, 2008|12:23 pm] |
So, been thinking about closing down the lj for a while now, in an effort to change how I work online and try to consolidate all the information sources I'm playing with.
To that effect, I'm going to be pretty dormant on here. Most of the few friends I have on here have been transferred over to my RSS feed, but no idea if that'll carry friends-locked posts or not...we'll see. Suffice to say if you want to get hold of me the best bet is still to be e-mail or facebook messages, but we'll see how long the latter holds up. Of course, The Polaroid Press continues unperturbed, probably with an update today too.
I've set up a workblog (with a title to be decided) over at Wordpress, which'll carry my Twitter and Flickr feeds as well as works in progress and random thoughts, maybe some linkblogging... who knows. Come over and say hello in the next few days, be lovely to see you.
In the meantime, rave safe all
Matt |
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| Burn Warehouse Burn |
[May. 15th, 2008|12:23 pm] |
Right.
So, I've been back about a week and a half since New York, which was three little breaks rolled into one. The first part involved a lot of shopping and wandering the city, the base of operations being The Chelsea International. The second part saw me pampered and welcomed by Natasha Haverty and friends in Providence, which was completely awesome. Lastly I crashed with the others at the Westin near Times Square, lots of sightseeing there and a splash of grandeur. Much needed holiday, followed by a week of lounging and drinking, then Bristol Comics Expo and the Hauntology Now! event at Lambeth museum of Garden History.
Bristol was a mixed bag. The people I knew, met or re-met were great, really lovely time had between drinks and chats. The Con itself though was really lacklustre. Few of the people exhibiting seem to want to sell anything, or chat at all, which is a massive drag to be frank. There was no sense of celebration. And with the exception of the Dave Gibbons/Lee 'Budgie' Barnett panels (in conversation and Hypotheticals) the panels were fucking glum. So, a firm decision - be it next year or the year after I'm not going back without something to exhibit. Now, I have an idea in mind, one that blends the ideas of The Polaroid Press with the format of comics, but not strictly a short story or a comic: Several sequentially liked stories with a heavy image and design bias. So I'm playing with a favourite idea of mine and seeing where that could go.
As for the Hauntology Symposium: I've never felt more condescended and frustrated in my life. I think I wanted to go to have a new direction opened up to me in terms of creative work and art, but instead I watched five men talk about Hauntology in a way that seemed to suggest they were reading different hymn books. The field has no concrete origin - besides a small Derrida reference - from which to spin such diverse positions and interpretations, and as a result I just felt a bit cheated. Not to mention the anger that I felt after the shitty response to my question during the last session. On the flip side the Kode9 gig in the evening was incredible, the church vibrating with the force of the sound, and I had a couple of nice chats with Warren Ellis.
A strange bump to earth then before I hit work again on Tuesday, after 17 days off. Oh, and my first shift back was an Atlantic Records event in the Clore studio. That was uncomfortable. A couple of staff recognised me from my work experience there in 2005/6, but only one said Hi. It was a nasty little meeting of past lives and present, and definitely left me feeling a bit bewildered: On one hand I felt small and unsuccessful, on another many of them behaved like pricks and I felt that not pursuing that lifestyle was a great decision. I don't know.
Anyway - plans must be put into action, and I must get things moving: more money needed, some volunteer work to be sought, a weekend to be established in my rota. Bah. I'm back. |
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| This epoch, this century. |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|10:37 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Ali's | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Indelicates - American Demo | ] |
HOLIDAY! I'll be on the plane in 24hours, at last. Been a long time coming.
RIGHT, infodump:
* The Polaroid Press still goes strong, posted a few entries since my last plug in that direction, check it out and show me some love. Pass the URL around in my absence, plug it far and wide and... look... I like doing it, and if you like reading it then let someone know. Thanks.
* When I return on Tuesday 7th I'm going to be struggling through to about 30hours without sleeping. I'm going to need people around in the afternoon to chat at and see, so drop me an e-mail or text or something if you reckon you'll be around to see me through. Oh, and expect to be called to rescue me.
* The Indelicates album American Demo is a great and broken beast. Gillen flagged it up a while back with the video for America, which has an orchestral rattle and rage I adore. Spin it.
* I might be thinking about going to school again, but we'll have to see about that... more to come after the thinking.
Love to all, maybe catch you on the other side. |
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| Calling from a Baltimore hotel |
[Apr. 19th, 2008|04:30 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | The Auteurs - Underground Movies | ] |
Christ on a bike... strange days.
Caught Los Campesinos! at Brixton Windmill on Monday night, another great show. Managed to have a chat to Gareth during the opening set, taking Gillen's name in vain over at the merch stand and basically swapping suggestions for input, both musical and literary. As a result I'm going to be tracking down some more of Tim Hecker's atmospheric electronica, as well as reading football biog Full Time on the flight to New York next weekend. If I've done my job then he may have given the M83 record a spin by now, and if I'm really very good then there's a B. S. Johnson book or two on his Amazon wish list. Really nice guy anyway, good times.
The evening took a speedy downturn on the way home though, when a day of eating little, drinking no water and generally dashing about met the six shots of scotch from the gig. The jumping up and down provided the mixing action, and there may well have been a little tummy bug or off food in there to add some spice. I spent the next forever being violently sick, sweating out every trace of water in my body and, when that was finally over, hallucinating about sinister Russian Trade Unions, ex-girlfriends and other nasty things until about 5 or 6am. Tuesday was basically spent trying not to be in pain, which was a fucking irritating way to spend the only day off of the week.
Then work. Lots of work. It doesn't take a genius to work out how I'm feeling about that at the moment, and once the two-and-a-bit weeks of holiday are done with I think application season will be upon me. I may be doing my best to avoid my birthday this year too, as (Polaroid Press aside) the most noteworthy difference between this year and last year is that I'm homeless.
House-sitting Dad's at the moment, trying to get some things sorted offline and clearing the decks as far as The Polaroid Press goes. My objective is to have no outstanding stories before NYC, to return with a couple of entries and the notes for a long-form piece.
Manhattan, come to me!
P.S. Wrote this before coming in to work. On the way I managed to miss a train by seconds and a bus passed me by despite seeing me flag it down. Cunt. I almost cried on the way to the tube. I really fucking need that holiday. |
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| Need to get this down |
[Apr. 12th, 2008|04:56 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | music |
| | M83 - Saturdays=Youth | ] |
...and lack paper
I remembered this week that a record should be a journey, and that the excitement before putting something on that could change your emotions, and your thoughts, and your life (if you let it) is an incredible sensation.
And I am homeless, and I am well, and I am working far too hard and far too much and I am broke and I am, now, headphones in my ear, utterly and defiantly happy. |
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| Scruff |
[Apr. 3rd, 2008|02:30 pm] |
I am looking a right scruff today. Got a few bits of necessary food and the like while wearing a dirty white T, unironed trousers, unwashed hair, unshaved face and, sin of sins, Dad's flip-flops. I looked like a rubbish artist.
Feeling sickly and crappy today, so just getting some rest before tomorrow's early start and house move. Drinking lots of water, taking vitamins, thinking of washing. Might try to finish Pattern Recognition too. Fuck me that's a good book. I really wish I'd come to Gibson much earlier, but that said I have a feeling his tone was one of the things I was aiming for a with a few of The Polaroid Press pieces, especially anything The Nu-Rave Vagrant pops up in.
Also, digging The Apples in stereo rarities collection Electronic Projects For Musicians, lots of fun. Pop with a smile, not a scowl, much needed this summer. |
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| Infodump |
[Apr. 2nd, 2008|12:36 am] |
So, another dump of information on people. Just been watching the Iraq war doc 'No End In Sight', a perfect Cliff Notes companion piece to 'Imperial Life in the Emerald City', which is a must-read as far as I'm concerned, both from a cultural and reportage perspective. Reignited a bit of passion in me, which is pretty useful at the minute. I'm in need of a bit of drive.
That said, it's not like things aren't moving under their own steam. On Friday I'm saying goodbye to Wood Green and living out of a suitcase (and two man-bags and a shoulder sack) over the river at Alice's place. It's kind of like growing up, but with the added spice of being technically homeless. I'm looking forward to it though, and it means I can save some cash before Hero Mark's fixed-term lease is up and we can move in together. The rest of my shit (and by god there's an awful lot of it) is going to be at Dad's new place.
So, a three week burst and then I'm in New York. I'm quite excited about that trip, but it seems like there's a lot in between now and then to be honest: everything is running to tight deadlines, but that's most of the fun really. Of course, whether I say that in the few days beforehand is a different story. Anyway, the main thing is that priorities and living arrangements are going to be a bit different from now on.
Oh, and if you're still reading this then do me a favour and add The Polaroid Press to your tabs or your RSS feeds. Some of the pieces on there are pretty good, even f I do say so myself, and I'm starting to think about using the format for an extended narrative sometime soon. Keep an eye. |
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