Wednesday 30 December 2009

MK Stop 44: Muttley - Back To Mine Pt.3 - Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else

The 50th SubVersion instalment brings a special New Year gift into circulation...

Muttley - Back To Mine Pt.3 - Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else

Well here it be: my opus to end 2009. The first 'Back To Mine' - "Overshadowed" - was heralded as a return to being myself. The second - "Reflections" - a home listening catch-all for mental disorders. This, in its unhurried incantation, is for putting the past behind me, revisiting, and travelling to and from my chosen occupation - painting and decorating. I've been in this job since I left school at 16, obtained an NVQ at college in two years and was the best person I could be socially. I never got in scrapes with classmates, or verbal trade-offs, however I remained very much reclusive, although this could be inherent from being there just one day a week, with a demographic of opinions lesser linked to mine in interests and moldability.

Around this period I furthered my inquisitivity for classical and ambient music, speaking to a 60-nearing friend there of his passion for opera. But it was also where I failed the medical examination for my last planned kickboxing contest. Memories are vague as it's likely I desired to forget the bad luck. I recall misery and suicidal thinking as the blackest of colouring of my anxious temperament. I had a dream the night I write this where I desired to have a rematch with the opponent to prove myself properly and that even if I couldn't be part of the gym I frequented, I would undertake it out of my family's identity. Surely, the sense of loss has stayed with me, even if I've moved on so far.

"Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else" is a nod to the old days briefly written, but moreover, an aid to get myself in the right mindset to guarantee I don't have ensuing problems of magnitude large or small. And I have experienced a lot of sensory congestion in recent months. Once I re-enter the car from a day of thinking on my feet, in the get-go I try to remind myself that self-questioning is vital to establishing clear sight ahead of us. No apothesis is thrown up. I'd never wish to cause a buzzing effect.

Onto the selections. "Where Are You?" I discovered via Paradigm X's excellent 15 Minutes Of Fame debut - "Vocalisms". I decided I needed a rhetorical counterpoint, and buffer, to maximise the changing of styles early in the set, and the calming of contrapuntal mental textures with the musical. The transition isn't smooth - I aimed to undercut the subsidence to a minimal drone, where synchronizing written with aural was a conduit - "How To Catch The Right Thought" (track 4) in a field of madness?

Often my thoughts maintain a pertinent aura when they are fertile and fragile, swirling in a reverie, building castles in the air. But when these buildings open fire and the gates slam down hard, I have to be ready for tides of relinquished instability.

This is what awaits us, subjectively - a well of despair and self-destruction, where our true self is disconnected from our peripheral vision, and self-doubt, disharmonic, and defective behaviour longs for spiritual manna. We have to rise above the deep mass of panic and scurry away from danger. The dark days that populate our forlorn form of consciousness are just temporary. And so I continued the mixtape with a handful of reserved niceties to buoy and balance the demonic whirlwinds of confusion.

Favourites, that have stayed with me through thick and thin, resolve the loose ends. Most notably Koen Holtkamp's "Night Swimmer", Richard Skelton's "Shore" and Mogwai's "Chocky" are emotionally poignant enough to heal the deepest of cuts; the awkward, impermanent silences where gaps are filled with sensations to cry out and scream uncontrollably. Whether an alteration in my medication will have a positive effect is yet debatable.

The last tune on this, Sigur Rós' "Viõrar Vel Til Loftárasa" I'd like to have played at my funeral. I have sat up until early hours on NYE with this serenading the room and it always sends shivers down my spine when the closing crescendo hits. I hope you have a productive 2010 and that "Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else" won't dim your lights, those which I hope will shine brighter towards the good in the coming echoes.

TRACKLISTING

01. Coil - Where Are You? (from the album Musik To Play In The Dark CD 2)
02. Zelienople - Slaving (from the album Gone OST)
03. Oophoi - Dimensional Passage (from the album Night Currents)
04. Hildur Gudanottir, BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa - How To Catch The Right Thought (from the album Second Childhood)
05. Fennesz - City Of Light (from the album Venice)
06. Milieu - Six Fourteen (from the album Brother)
07. Aphex Twin - SAW Untitled 1 (from the album Selected Ambient Works Vol.2)
08. Lawrence English & Tom Hall - Lines Twine Oscillation (from the album Euphonia)
09. Koen Holtkamp - Night Swimmer (from the album Field Rituals)
10. Obfusc - Alto Piano (from the split w/ David Tagg)
11. Atomic Skunk - Suspended Ascent (free download - www.atomicskunk.com)
12. Inverz - New Found Lands, New Found Sounds (from the album Slow)
13. Richard Skelton - Shore (from the album Marking Time)
14. Mogwai - Chocky (from the album Come On Die Young)
15. Lamenter - Kinski For Halloween (from the album Sleeping Me)
16. Inverz - Everything In Order (from the album Slow)
17. Greg Haines - Caesura (from the album Slumber Tides)
18. Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Trailer 1 (from the album Palmless Prayer: Mass Murder Refrain)
19. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Blaise Bailey Finnegan III (excerpt) (from the album Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada)
20. Arvo Part - The Beatitudes (from the album Part)
21. Sigur Rós - Viõrar Vel Til Loftárasa (from the album Ágætis Byrjun)

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MK Stop 43: Muttley - Life Support (December 2009)

"Life Support" is the third and final set of 2009 that's dedicated to the people of Bridewell Gardens. As an alternative to sending out Christmas cards, giving each of my friends there a specially made CD seemed the best option.

Helping me replenish my mental health since February 2009, I wished to go beyond the basics of drones to impression a more accessible backdrop to my work on the site, that they could also benefit from. I will be handing "Life Support" out tomorrow at the Christmas meal. Not contrary to the goodwill, it's a free event put on by the Bridewell staffers.

"Comets" by Piano Magic carries the underlying message of this excursion: "you should always tell them, you love them, in case you never see them again". Of course, love is a strong word, but the basis of admiration comes across more poignant this way. In this selection I also aspired to showcase the magnificence of Rameses III and Greg Haines, two artists which I will be working with towards spring 2010. More info soon. Feedback relished as always.

TRACKLISTING

01. Rameses III - All Shall Be Well (from the album I Could Not Love You More)
02. Global Communication - 4-14 (from the album 76-14)
03. SpeaK - Drowning Peacefully (from the album Once Nomadic)
04. Peter James - Flight Of Tears (from the album Holding On - Letting Go)
05. David Tagg - Magic Interval (from the split with Obfusc)
06. Drowning The Virgin Silence - Beneath The Sulfur Sky (from the album Beneath The Sulfur Sky)
07. Greg Haines - Arups Gate (from the album Slumber Tides)
08. Mogwai - Friend Of The Night (from the album Mr.Beast)
09. Piano Magic - Comets (from the album The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic)

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MK Stop 42: Muttley - I Shall Not Drown (December 2009)

A body that lives a long time, accumulates debris. It cannot be avoided. However, there are nearly always routes to trap the residue, brush yourself up to scratch and make strides forward. "I Shall Not Drown" is an antecedent mixtape to usher in 2010 and cast aside pre-emptive fears and fleeting gestures.

Partly inspired by Dave @ Low Light Mixes with his "A Solitary Sea", I chose tracks based on circumnavigating the drowning condition - whether it be your sorrows, tears, or loneliness.

Unlike "Weathering" and "Gravitation To Resolution", though, I wasn't rooted by track names - this opens up a wider range of textures and themes. Bat For Lashes' "Sleep Alone" is the sole track with national radio play. I saw them live in October and was staggered by the quality of their second album, particularly because of Natasha Khan's haunting voice. "Sleep Alone" is used based on the relationship I lost, and whether I should start all over again - which I surely will, in 2010.

Conjoining tenacity for creation with artists that receive a scant amount of attention, "I Shall Not Drown" oscillates through waves of counterweight with zero adhesion to your own limits. It's the second Muttley set built in Acoustica Audio Mixer, a program I can see myself using ever greater as the years roll on.

TRACKLISTING

01.
Drowning The Virgin Silence - To Reach The Clouds (from the album Beneath The Sulfur Sky)
02. Rameses III - Across The Lake Is Where My Heart Shines (from the album I Could Not Love You More)
03. Eluvium - All The Sails (from the album When I Live By The Garden And The Sea)
04. Peter James - Adrift (from the album Holding On - Letting Go)
05. Stars Of The Lid - The Evil That Never Arrived (from the album And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
06. Herzog - Our Friends Save Us From Drowning (from the album First Summer And The Running Dream)
07. Fennesz - Rivers Of Sand (from the album Venice)
08. Arovane - Seaside (from the album Tides)
09. Seafar - New Town Dreams (from the album Hegira)
10. Black To Comm - Trapez (from the album Alphabet 1968.)
11. Bat For Lashes - Sleep Alone (from the album Two Suns)
12. Atomic Skunk - Liquid Dharma (free download - [url]www.atomicskunk.com[/url])
13. Global Communication - 12-18 (from the album 76-14)
14. Bitcrush - To Drown (from the album Epilogue In Waves)

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MK Stop 41: Muttley - The Eyes, They See An Ominous Pillar (December 2009)

"The Eyes, They See An Ominous Pillar": designed to soundtrack Thursday 17th - Sunday 20th December. The title references magnifying of small happenings affecting my mindstate, and their consequential broadening and minimizing. It also counterbalances the theme of panic attacks caused by overloading of visual and aural stimuli.

I visited the county I grew up in with my family this past weekend. It was to attend my cousin's wedding reception, and have a meal with old friends. Upon anticipating this I got very anxious and so decided to put those feelings to music. The first section supplants a mantra via track names - I felt like I was "Alone In The Rising Fog", and the progress of my mania expelled "Like A Slow River". "The Low Falls" and "Saltwater" are precursors to "I Shall Not Drown", the mixtape that will follow this documentation.

At first, I was afraid the sensations would overcome me, so the tension reflects this. When in the venue surrounded by new faces and relatives, I hallucinated mildly, whereby I thought pictures (see Max Richter's "The Picture Of Us. P" for the aural equivalent) on the wall were rolling their eyes (windows and varying sizes of gaps). Different positioning of shutters on an adjacent image promoted disorientating factors to flourish, so I tried not to set my eyes on these. The lyrics of "Rough Hands" I used to consolidate the word count of what I screamed out. So instead of long sentences sweeping past me, I could just shout "rough hands" into my palms. It proved useful and no-one asked me if I was having problems.

The closing three tracks are reassuring in mood - a touchstone from environmental factors altering to more sedate territory - returning home. I desired to sculpt a contrasting sequence where demons are welcome to wither ("Everybody's got your back" from Zelienople's "Pajama Avenue"), and humanness is dissipated from the ether (see Metric's "I've seen all the demons that you've got / If you're not alright, now, come on baby, I'll take you where, take you where you want"). Ultimately the result is a file with a plentitude of moodswings stitched into it. Nonetheless it retains all the sensuality I like to apply to my work.

TRACKLISTING

01. Aquadorsa - Alone In The Rising Fog (from the album Cloudlands)
02. Lull - Like A Slow River (from the album Like A Slow River)
03. Jasper Leyland - The Low Falls (from the album Carbon Series Vol.5)
04. Last Days - Saltwater (from the album Sea)
05. Peter James - Aurora (from the album Holding On - Letting Go)
06. Stars Of The Lid - Another Ballad For Heavy Lids (from the album And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
07. Max Richter - This Picture Of Us. P (from the album 24 Postcards)
08. Alexisonfire - Rough Hands (from the album Crisis)
09. Peter Broderick - A Glacier (from the album Float)
10. Zelienople - Pajama Avenue (from the album Pajama Avenue)
11. The Caretaker - Long Term (Remote) (from the album Persistent Repetition Of Phrases)
12. Metric - Twilight Galaxy (from the album Fantasies)

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MK Stop 40: Muttley - Head In The Clouds (December 2009)

"Head In The Clouds": constructed to celebrate my folks' 30th anniversary from meeting, in 1979. I like to dream, but I rarely recollect. And it's always conferred from my subconscious that I require an outlet to cathartically channel my state of mind.

Ahead of my tutor marked OU assessment this week, I decided to assemble a glimmer that reflected it: not quite footed in reactionary order, bordering on optimism with succinct drift. So blends don't synchronize totally, they're left to move in and out of foci, while the theme - having one's head in the clouds - is presented by the contemplative nature of the works within, and the result is a dreamy keystone where the occult is brought closer, out of burgeoning dystopia.

TRACKLISTING

01.
Quosp - Submerged (from the album Soundscapes II)
02. Herzog - Congratulations, Here's Your Mountain (from the album First Summer And The Running Dream)
03. Carl Sagan's Ghost - Into The Light I (from the album Darkness And The Light)
04. Stars Of The Lid - Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage (from the album And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
05. Rameses III - Clouds Kings (from the album I Could Not Love You More)
06. Grouper - Wind And Snow (from the album Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill)
07. John Foxx & Harold Budd - Raindust (from the album Transluscence)
08. Biosphere - As The Sun Kissed The Horizon (from the album Substrata)
09. The Lights Galaxia - The Last Lights In The City (from the EP Global)
10. Leyland Kirby - And At Dawn Armed With Glowing Patience, We Will Enter The Cities Of Glory (Stripped) (from the album Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was)

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MK Stop 39: Muttley - Caught In Static (December 2009)

Movement is a tried and tested operation for any artistically-minded individual. It facillitates growth opportunities, frees stangnancy and liberates matters from a rigid structure. However, there are also phases that benefit from being 'stuck'. "Caught In Static" accrues such temporality.

A companion piece to "Mind Over Matter", we've had the sleep selection "Threshold", sequenced to revitalise, now is the turn of specifically chosen tracks that have a time-lapsed feel to them, which, paradoxically, condenses my concentration into a small block and appertains to reap rewards of dedication and perserverence.

TRACKLISTING

01.
Sawako - Cloud No Crowd (from the album Hum)
02. Apalusa - Live From The Dry Valley's (from the album Live From The Dry Valley's)
03. Stars Of The Lid - Arch Song (from the album Music For The Ballasted Orchestra)
04. Marow - Hadar (from the album Scintillation)
05. Last Days - Nothing Stays The Same, Nothing Ever Ends (from the album The Safety Of The North)

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MK Stop 38: Muttley - Threshold (December 2009)

There have been an array of online comments foretelling that music can be good for sleep, breathing, anxiety reduction et al. There have also been a multitude of mixtapes that put that stigma to the test. And we all have thresholds that limit our conscious perception of living and dreaming. "Threshold" is an excercise in assuaging these statements and reproducing their fruits.

TRACKLISTING

01. William Basinski & Richard Chartier - Untitled 2 (from the album Untitled 1-3)
02. Richard Lainhart - Threshold (from the album Threshold)
03. Fennesz & Sakamoto - Oto (from the album Cendre)
04. Felicia Atkinson & Sylvain Chaveau - How The Light (from the album Roman Anglais)
05. Richard Lainhart - Cranes Fly West 040706-2 (from the album Threshold)
06. David Tagg - Cave Light Spectrum (from the album Dulcimer Studies)
07. Ian Hawgood - Ginseng & Polaramin, And One Long Slumber (from the album Before I Let The Sunshine Rot)
08. Quosp - Night Coast (from the album Soundscapes I)
09. Aphex Twin - Blue Calx (from the album Selected Ambient Works Vol.2)
10. Leyland Kirby - Tonight Is The Last Night Of The World (from the album Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was)

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I use "Threshold's" timeline as a measure of how active I've been that day. I then estimate what I can do to improve my sleep. By sharing this I trust there are individuals that believe in meditation, inner calm and replacing nothingness with something to treasure for years. The tracks may or may not resonate with the listener, but what they do achieve is lulling the brain and causing panic to subside.