Scribblings about music from a 15-year-old me

The thoughts of a teenage ambient fan

It's been a while since I wrote a blog about anything music related but I came across an old essay I wrote at school when I was just 15 and thought I'd share part of it.

The essay is entitled 'Where in the world do you find beauty and what is your response to it?' and gives you some insight into my young mind and reveals the roots of a future music hack. I'm not sure if its naivety is endearing or annoying but you can see the 1992 version of me adopting several (questionable) journalistic traits.

These include dealing in absolutes for effect, displayed by the 'I loved rave music and now I hate it, I love this ambient music instead now' stance. The fact is I still love rave music and never stopped loving it (though admittedly I don't listen to Tetris by Doctor Spin any more) and I also still love ambient music. That wouldn't sell (or at least get my English teacher's attention) though would it?!

This old build it up, knock it down mentality has been used by hacks throughout the ages, mostly by the NME. My excuse is that I was a fickle 15-year-old, I'm not sure what the NME's excuse is. Anyway, here is an excerpt complete with the bad punctuation, the scarcity of paragraphs and never-ending sentences it was originally written with.

Where in the world do you find beauty and what is your response to it?

GCSE English essay, 12th October 1992. (Aged 15)

[…] Beauty for most people makes them feel at peace and tranquil and extremely happy and restful. But the question is, what do I see beauty in? 

Above all, above nature, architecture and art, I must say that it is music that gives me immense pleasure to listen to and I let myself be taken away by the beats, electronic instruments and melodic, mellow sounds that have been used to create a wonderful sound. I, like many others now, used to be into Rave music. This music is made up of one-hundred and forty to fifty beats per minute backing, a repetitive “chorus”, (made up of up to five notes played over and over again), or a singer, singing the same few words (that have no meaning) over and over again. Plus, in many of the tunes these days, there is a sample, or extract, from a television tune or computer game. These have included records like, “Roobarb ‘n’ Custard”, “Sesame’s Treet”, “A Trip To Trumpton”, “Super Mario Land” and “Tetris”. All of which are popular for about three weeks and then the creators of them are never heard of again. I began to go off this music when it turned into a novelty, a joke, a gimmick, and was solely aimed at five-year olds. But, I thought to myself, what is there to go on to after listening to this weak, soulless music for so long?

It took a trip to my sister’s, who also liked rave for a long time before me, to realise what I should be buying to replace the mind-clamouring mess I had been wasting my money on. It was fairly late on a Friday night and my sister took a tape from an old shoe box and put it in the deck of her expensive stereo system. As soon as I’d been listening to the music for about two minutes I had been taken in by it. It filled my senses with happiness and joy and lifted my spirits endlessly. The long melodic chords and the dream-like instruments were indescribable along with a female singer at times with the odd sample, in better taste than the rave ones, winding its way into my ears. My sister called the music Ambient or Dub music and it’s still my favourite music today. I really let myself become engulfed by the music and absorbed by the slow, inconsistent beat. Nearly always when I am lying down on my bed and I’m listening to the music I get so taken in and relaxed that I fall asleep. Sometimes, if I concentrate hard enough, I can let my mind create “pictures” and these also help me to doze off to sleep until the tape reaches its end, produces a loud clicking noise and wakes me up.

This music is slowly finding its way into the hit parade and becoming popular. One of my favourite bands The Orb have already had two top twenty singles plus the prestige of a number one album. Their song titles include “Little Fluffy clouds”, “The back side of the moon” and the incredibly long “A huge ever-growing, pulsating brain that rules from the centre of the ultraworld”. So not only do the tunes have a good, melodic, beautiful sound the titles of them do too. There is so much going on in the records that each time I listen to them my ears seem to pick out something new, like a sample or instrument I haven’t noticed before. I find this type of music beautiful.

However, sound and music are not the only things in life I find beauty in. I also find certain scenes in nature beautiful and an example of this is the sea. […]

Funeral Songs

I was at a club night run by some friends recently when the DJ started playing a certain track. “I’ve always thought I wanted this tune played at my funeral,” I turned to my friend and said. He looked a bit bemused or maybe uncomfortable (after all, it’s hard to tell in a dark nightclub) that I should mention something so morbid but it got me thinking. While there are so many people out there opting for ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams or Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ as their swansong, I started thinking, ‘Why not choose something a bit different?’

So, while it may seem a bit morbid and I hope to remain on this mortal coil for a good 100 years longer, I came up with this list of potential songs I’d like played at my funeral. What would yours be?

1. Joe Smooth - ‘Promised Land’ This was the track that came on in the club. It’s very cheesy and about “angels up above” and may well have been written about Ecstasy (the drug) rather than ecstasy (the heavenly type) but it should bring a smile to people’s faces.

2. Future Sound of London - ‘Papua New Guinea’ In my opinion, the best dance track ever made. A bold claim but it’s my opinion and I’m standing by it. It’s danceable but uplifting, pumping but mellow and moves both feet and souls.

3. Aphex Twin – Untitled (also known as ‘Rhubarb’) A great believer that music without words can move people just as much, if not more than, a song with set, concrete lyrics, this is one of Richard James’ most beautiful ambient compositions. A track that proves you don’t need a song about love, angels or bunny rabbits to make people well up.

4. The Orb - ‘Blue Room’ This is a bit of a cheeky one but just as the Orb’s Dr Alex Paterson decided to take the piss by releasing a track that lasted just three seconds less than the legal 40 minute limit for a track to qualify for the singles chart (this rule has since changed several times), the full-length ‘Blue Room’ would preclude the need for any tributes, eulogies or any other words to be spoken during the service. Or for anything else to happen for that matter. The congregation could always sing along from their hymn sheets: “Owooowowooowowooowowooowawa”!

5. Moby – ‘Thousand’ A bit like playing Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’, this 1,000 bpm monster is guaranteed to wake people up and should weed out anyone who’s just turned up to make up the numbers. A definite Marmite moment to split the crowd between ‘sitters’ and ‘quitters’.

Chemical Brothers working on 1920s film soundtrack?

A bit of a scoop for this blog entry. I recently interviewed Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall, the duo behind the Chemical Brothers’ live visual sets which blew away Glastonbury and the Big Chill this summer.

When speaking to long-term Chems visuals collaborator, Adam, (who is also known as Flat Nose George and also directs Doctor Who), told me about a fantastic-sounding film project he’s currently working on with the ‘Brothers, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons.

“Something we’ve been talking for years, long before they did Hanna, is I’ve got a film called Dope Girls which is all set in the twenties and I’ve got in development with Film 4,” he said. “I’m going to get them to do the soundtrack and record it in the way they record it but then we’re going to get a jazz band in and transpose it all to that. So you’ll have like a ‘Chemical Beats’-type tune done in a 1920s jazz style, so it’ll feel contemporary yet it’ll feel right for the time. It won’t stick out like when people do Marie Antoinette. When people put modern music on period stuff it’s sometimes a bit funny. It’ll be right yet it’ll be like, ‘Whoa,’ because it’s a very hedonistic scene. This film is all about the nightclub scene in the twenties. So they’ll be putting some music together to my pictures for that.”

So, if you find yourself flapping to the Chemical Brothers in the near future, remember you heard it here first!

In other Chemical Brothers-related news, Adam and Marcus revealed the idea they had when working on the 'Further' album of getting Tom and Ed to create music to their visuals; the complete inverse of the usual process.

Adam: “The first idea that Tom had for ‘Further’ was to give him visuals and he was going to make music to that but that didn’t happen in the end. It was something we talked about when they were making that album. It was like, ‘Why don’t you go and make some stuff and I’ll make some music.’ But it didn’t happen. It was a nice idea.”

Marcus: “I think it’s going to start happening, maybe with them, maybe with someone else; that whole idea that it’s not just an accompaniment [to the music] but the two things are absolutely interlinked.”

NOTE: I own the copyright to all of the above quotations, which were related to me directly during interviews. You must therefore request permission if you wish to use any of the above text or quotations. Contact: ian[at]ianroullier[dot]com

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 19 August 2011.

Where’s my money? What to do if you’re not being paid on time

The magazine I wrote about in my previous blog has now gone into administration leaving me over £600 out of pocket. This is of course hugely disappointing and something that I can ill afford financially. On top of this is the loss of what was a fantastic music magazine, contained well-informed, hype-free articles that, while being aware of trends, didn’t pander to them and had fantastic, professional staff.

Barring the Managing Director of course who I’m still yet to hear one nice word said about (most people warrant a ‘Nah, he’s alright’ from someone but not this bloke). Had he cared even five per cent as much as his staff, this may not have happened. Now they’re all out of jobs and there is a huge gaggle of unpaid freelances, who have helped him sell his magazine, out of work and out of pocket.

And just to reinforce what a one-sided ass UK company law is, he’s already set up another company (having saved one of his three magazines) which should buy him another few years of being an MD and not paying his writers. So he’s fine thankyouverymuch.

So, yes, I should have seen this coming from the lack of response to emails, the mounting unpaid invoices and ignored red statements I sent. And, yes, I should have acted sooner to take the matter to the small claims court. But I didn’t and now I’m poorer for it so what can you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

How to get the money you’re owed:

1. Call, call and call again. Emails are easily ignored so get on the phone to the person responsible for paying you. Yes, you may come across as a pain in the arse to the accounts department but this is work that you have done and have not been paid for. If you were in a full-time position would you accept your boss not paying you your monthly salary? Of course not, and let’s not forget that the ebb and flow of money as a freelance makes your finances uncertain enough. Even if you’re only owed the money for a single invoice, chase it as soon as payment becomes overdue.

2. Speak to the editor. You may be locked away in your bedroom-based freelance ‘office’ but more often than not the person that commissions you shares the same office as, and hopefully commands some respect from, the person responsible for paying you. A word from them could speed up payment of your hard-earned fee and ensure you can pay the bills that month.

3. Stick religiously to payment terms. Under UK law you are entitled to payment within 30 days. Stay on top of this as you don’t want to create the impression that you’re one of the writers that’s happy to wait for payment. You did the work, you want your money! Email a statement of outstanding fees immediately (attaching relevant invoices) and follow up with a phone call. Most clients you work for will respect this nudge and pay immediately. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, you can also charge 12 per cent PA on any invoices that are not paid within the 30 day period.

4. Withhold copy. You may fear that this will upset the editor of the magazine you are writing for but any editor worth their salt should understand that you work hard and deserve to be paid on time for your efforts. Without copy, there is no magazine; a fact that should resonate with the person responsible for paying your wages as the magazine also pays theirs. Call the editor to let them know that this is what you have been forced to do – some editors have little or no idea that their writers are not being paid so if you fail to tell them why you’re not sending your copy through, you’ll just look tardy and unprofessional.

5. Send a Letter Before Action (LBA). The clue is in the name. This is the first step towards starting court action to get the money you’re owed. The letter gives the company a fixed amount of time (usually 14 days) to respond before court action is instigated. See the links below for template letters or how to get a solicitor to send the letter for you on headed paper (this carries more weight and can cost as little as £2). 6. Court action*:

• Small claims court – once the LBA period has passed, then you can proceed with taking the company to court. This will initially cost you the court fees (which vary depending on the amount you’re claiming) but the defending company is liable to pay these if the case is settled in your favour. You are also able to charge the defending company interest on the money you are owed and claim this back.
• Winding up petition – any court action is risky if you want to keep the client but the chances are if you have to go to these lengths you’re probably just interested in getting your money back. You can apply for a winding up petition against a company which basically involves saying that if the company cannot pay its debts then it should no longer be trading. More information on winding up can be found here: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1073791109&type=RESOURCES

*IMPORTANT: Before taking court action, check to see if the company has already been placed in administration (see Companies House). If you begin court action while the company is going through this process, you may end up being liable for the court fees that you would normally reclaim as part of the settlement.

7. Contact the administrators. If the worst comes to worst and the company has been placed in administration (you can check this on the Companies House website) then you should contact the administrator (details also on Companies House) so that they can list you as one of the creditors. Be aware that your claim will come quite near the bottom of the list below those with larger claims such as suppliers. You may end up getting a token percentage of what you’re owed (say a penny for every pound you’re owed) and may well end up with nothing but if the administrator doesn’t know you are owed money then they cannot account for you when it comes to handing out the money raised from selling the company’s assets.

Related links:

Companies House: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

How To Get Paid On Time article on journalism.co.uk: http://www.journalism.co.uk/news-freelance/how-to-get-paid-on-time/s12/a51656/

Template letters and advice: http://www.justclaim.co.uk/index.php?file=/procedures/index.page

Thomas Higgins solicitors: http://www.thomashiggins.com/

Winding up petitions explained: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1073791109&type=RESOURCES

NOTE: I AM NOT A SOLICITOR and have no legal training. The above guidelines relate to the UK and are just that: guidelines that should not be taken as legal advice. If you have any queries about any of the above or are considering taking a company to court, please contact a solicitor. This need not be expensive and there are companies, such as Thomas Higgins, that specialise in this area and can complete the whole process relatively inexpensively.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 13 August 2011.

Writing for free: experience or exploitation? (Part two)

So, I stopped writing for the non-paying indie music magazine, whose cover stars became increasingly A-list as the ads became increasingly numerous. I decided that I deserved to be paid for the time and trouble I was taking interviewing, transcribing, writing, re-writing, editing, subbing and submitting (on time) my copy, so focussed my efforts and energies instead on magazines that rewarded their writers with something more tangible than prestige and pride (which are nice but don’t pay the rent).

Having built a portfolio by writing for a variety of websites – yes, for free, but magazines still retain a much better and more profitable business model than websites – I was extremely happy when I got my first offer of paid work from another magazine. It was only £20 for a short review, which I probably more than spent that night on travel to the event and alcohol, but it was a paid job – better than nothing, which is what the other magazine were offering for my labour.

This in-turn eventually led to being commissioned to write short interviews and then, a dream of mine for many years, full-blown features. I have to say I was ecstatic to finally receive payment for all of the hard work I was putting in. The problem was, it wasn’t that straightforward.

I interviewed musicians and wrote and submitted copy but getting paid for it was hard to say the least. The terms of each commission, which I naïvely accepted, were that payment would be made within 30 days of the issue going OFF sale. With lead times on magazines being around five weeks anyway, plus the four weeks the issue is ON sale, this equated to not being paid until over three months after the copy had been submitted.

Unfair? Yes. And, as I’ve since discovered, also illegal. Under UK law invoices must be paid within 30 days of being issued, otherwise interest is due (see here for more information from journalism.co.uk). More unfair though was the fact that even this three month rule was not respected by the owner of the magazine. The unpaid invoices mounted up until I was owed around £500 and then, the magazine folded. When I say folded, the magazine didn’t miss an issue, just merely carried on with the same name with the same Managing Director but under a different publishing house name – a bizarre, somewhat unfair quirk of British law. I lost the money but was assured by the MD that I would be recompensed by the editor giving me more work.

After much thought, and legal advice (there was no way I could get the money owed to me) I decided I would continue to write for them and the editor did put more work my way to make up for what I had lost.

The close working relationship I shared with the editor once more came into play when, once again, the publishing company went under (again, not an issue missed) and I was one of the few writers that the magazine paid in full to keep me on board. Lucky for me, my hard work and professionalism had been recognised enough by the editor to want to keep me. (Incidentally, the editor was always professional and produced a fantastic magazine - how do so many poor MDs get such great staff?!)

But once again, invoices have gradually piled up, the amount owed has spiralled upwards and my countless emails to the MD have gone unanswered. Now I find myself in the position of having to take one of my clients to court for unpaid invoices. And it is this that inspired my change of heart: the indie magazine I once wrote for were open about their non-payment of writers, which, while unfair for a popular, well-known publication, is surely more honourable than offering money and then not paying it?

I noticed recently that the indie magazine had placed (no doubt very expensive) ads above every urinal in men’s toilets at major train stations across London. But while they may still be taking the piss, at least they’re being honest about it.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 22 July 2011.

Writing for free: experience or exploitation?

This was going to be a blog entry criticising a particular indie music magazine. One that doesn't, and has never, paid any of its writers. But then something happened that gave me a change of heart. First of all though, allow me to explain some of the background.

At the start the full-time editorial staff of this magazine, which you can find at WH Smith and 'all good newsagents', were earning next to nothing and had to fund themselves through other jobs. So if they weren't in a position to pay themselves, they certainly wouldn't be able to pay anyone else. With this in mind, I happily kept writing for the magazine, content in the knowledge that they needed to increase their brand and circulation etc.

But as the big company ads from companies like Top Man, Firetrap and L'Oreal pushed the front cover and contents page further and further apart and the sponsorship deals, branding stages at festivals and an endless stream of gigs and club nights, increased, I became certain that they must now have some money coming in. I asked repeatedly when writers were going to be paid but as those requests for payment were met with, 'Not yet', I realised I was now being taken for a ride.

What the magazine's owners were relying on was the fact that there would always be a pool of up and coming, inexperienced music journalists that they could draw upon; writers that would write for pride and prestige and to increase their portfolio rather than for money (see the recent UK launch of the Huffington Post for a vaguely similar scenario). As a start-up magazine, this was acceptable but as a successful, ad-filled, glossy and, it must be said, well-respected and recognised publication, I felt their business model was built purely upon exploitation so I stopped writing for them.

But while this blog entry was going to be an acerbic rant against the magazine in question – who I must add are not alone in filling their pages with unpaid copy from hard-working journalists – I realised that perhaps they weren't that bad after all.

So, why the change of heart? I'll explain tomorrow.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 21 July 2011.

The work experience boy - day four: decision time

Day four: I arrive at Assault & Battery studios and, as is now customary, Drew buzzes me into the reception door. It transpires that once again he hasn’t been home so that’s at least four nights he’s spent in the studio – his girlfriend must be understanding.

With the Big Pink sessions finished, Alan Moulder and his two assistants aren’t in A&B1 today (a day off?!) and maintenance man Barney leaves in the morning to complete the studio fitting he’s doing on the south coast. At lunchtime, Drew – finally! – leaves the studio. He’s going to London Bridge to meet his girlfriend (I hope she recognises him) and even has the next week off to go to Disneyland Paris with her and her family. It’s reassuring to know that he does actually get to take time off, and Disneyland is probably removed enough from the real world to be manageable after so long being holed-up in the alternate reality of the studio. He kindly leaves a couple of beers behind then leaves. I imagine him emerging through the security gates, blinking back the harsh sunlight that he’s grown unaccustomed to: a free man at last.

So, all in all the studio is pretty quiet today. Paloma Faith and her (severely hungover) songwriter/co-writer Ed come in to see Dimitri (who is similarly hungover) once again. As I did yesterday, I offer her tea but she just asks for a hot water as she’s brought her own teabags in. Is this yet another indictment of my hot drink making skills? I decide it’s best not to dwell on it.

Being a music journalist I don’t tend to get overly nervous when speaking to musicians any more (just a few pre-interview nerves that keep me on my toes). But as it’s still my first week in the studio and the fact that – unlike most of the electronic artists I usually interview – these people have the aura of ‘stars’ (which is of course a load of old bollocks), I fear I have the appearance of some fawning teenage sycophant. It’s one of those circular paranoid feedback loops where I know the worst thing I can do is be a red-faced, bumbling buffoon around these people (as that’s all they are after all) so that’s exactly what I become. Whatever the reason, it’s bizarre to feel like a novice when speaking to musicians in a different context. It’s a good job I only have to offer them hot drinks and fetch their lunch eh?

With not much to do but browse Sound On Sound online (brownie points if I get caught), follow Andy Murray’s progress at the French Open and play Scrabble on Facebook, I offer help as often as I can. Steve Rhodes (the 'writer' from upstairs whose name does nothing to help me place his accent) finally takes me up on the offer and gets me to carry some old tapes (the huge reels, not cassettes) down from his studio to place in storage. In a bid to prove myself indispensably helpful I take a few too many than my normally sedentary arms can handle but, in spite of a slight slip at the end, I manage to transfer them to the storeroom successfully.

Having not spoken much to him during the week, Steve comes across as a humble and quiet – perhaps even shy – person but he seems like a genuine person free of the ego many producers may develop after continued exposure to working in the studio with the stars. Shortly after my odd-job is complete he places some cake on reception, which I’m grateful for and have a good munch on.

A few minutes later he asks me how long I’ll be in the studio. I say three weeks but that I don’t know which Miloco studio I’ll be based in the week after. Steve says he’s got some work moving his studio to do in July and asks if I’d like to come in with a friend to help out. He says he’ll pay us £80 each for a day’s work – the rate he normally pays his assistants. So, after a week of gaining an insight into studio life but with little to show for it as far as future prospects go, here was a chink of light. Perhaps I’ll only be training to be a removal man rather than a producer but other opportunities may arise through this.

When I told him I would be working for another fortnight, I wasn’t being entirely truthful though. I’d already decided that this would be my last day. The people were welcoming and friendly and the work, while menial, was exactly what I’d been expecting. But I soon realised that it would take far more than three weeks to earn myself a genuine opening with one of the producers in the studio, and even longer if I insisted on retaining my life outside the studio and not effectively becoming a live-in tea boy.

Besides, even if I was given an opportunity, I lacked the studio knowledge to be able to grasp it. Other people who had done work experience placements at the studio included award-winning Australian heavy metal producers or had at least been plying their trade as producers with local bands for the past few years. I decided that my time would be better spent getting myself up to speed so that I could grasp such an opportunity if it came my way.

Besides, work experience is unpaid and completing the three weeks would have meant turning down paid journalism work. Being a poor student I desperately need to earn some money so surely it would have been stupid to stay? But one opportunity has already come my way after only four days work so have I cut off my nose to spite my face? Have I let fear take over rather than rationally thinking things through? Should I have stayed and worked until the early hours to show my worth or have I made an intelligent decision? What do you think?

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 16 June 2011.

The work experience boy - day three: trying to keep the Faith

Day three: Once again I wake up feeling nervous and feel slightly reluctant on my way into the Assault & Battery studios – I know this is normal when starting a new job but the prospect feels even more daunting than it should somehow. Surely it can’t be down to the fear of making the tea badly or loading the dishwasher incorrectly?

I arrive in the office and Drew still hasn't made it home, making it at least three nights he’s slept in the studio to my knowledge. Out of interest, and also to see if I am really putting myself in the frame to be Alan Moulder or Flood’s next full-time tea-boy, I ask him if he tended to stay till everyone else went home when he was doing work experience. His reply is an unsurprising yes. So does that mean I should be staying in A&B2 with the unknown female singer and her band until their session ends at midnight then sleeping on a couch that has seen some of rock music’s most famous arses (I would say arseholes but that has other connotations!)? Do I really want to be using the shower in the gents’ toilet then eating my Crunchy Nut Cornflakes in reception every morning before the whole process starts all over again? I have my doubts. Besides, I still have freelance journalism work to do that happens to be paid (when the cheques are finally coughed up following the usual pleading and legal threats that is).

French producer Dimitri Tikovoi, who I haven’t shared more than about 15 words with all week so far (perhaps he’s either shy or aloof or both?), has Paloma Faith in his studio for the day. I offer her a hot drink and she asks for herbal tea, 'But no berries, something more grown up than berries!' she giggles. So green tea it is. Who knows, perhaps mixing her tea could one day lead to mixing her album? Doubtful I know but you have to be blindly optimistic in a situation like this.

Alan leaves early having tied up the loose ends and burned a stack of CDs/DVDs for the Big Pink session, that’s not before he and his assistants have indulged in the vegetarian curries I’ve been sent out to buy them. I indulge in one at my reception desk as well, it smelt and looked too good in the takeaway to miss out on yet I realise this is lacking the restraint I would need to show if I ever became one of the impoverished ‘chosen ones’ and ended up with a full-time assistant’s job. Drew’s mystery singer and her gang settle for kebabs on the other hand – which would again be way out of my financial reach.

There’s really not much happening on reception, nobody seems to want to indulge my tea-making expertise as often as I would like and the dishwasher is fully loaded so I ask Barney, the maintenance guy, if he’d like any help. Shortly after I’m scrubbing a fridge outside with warm soapy water and emptying the outdoor ashtray but I did ask for work and I realise you can't consider anything beneath you if you really want to get in there.

Having picked out the congealed, tar-covered cigarette butts and shoved them into a binbag, I go into A&B1 to see if Alan’s assistants would like a drink, an offer that they accept. Chief assistant John says I can sit in on the project they’re currently working on if I'm bored so I find myself a seat next to one of the huge floor-to-ceiling racks of hardware and listen to him preparing and tweaking the rough mix of a track by Chairlift (biggest hit ‘Bruises’ can be seen here) for Alan to pick up later.

John's attention to detail is understandably amazing. I wonder to myself if I’ll ever be in a position – i.e. have the technical skill and the finely tuned hearing – to fine-tune six kick drums and tiny, seemingly inaudible effects and get the balance of a mix right for a world-renowned producer? I decide that while I'm not there yet, if I apply myself I could get there. However, I am still the same person who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown just a few months ago when it came to recording a band made up of Bachelors students. Although that went OK in the end, I still have a fear of looking stupid and looking like I don't know what to do in the studio. I realise that only I can change this and I have a year to do so before my MA ends.

Anyway, work experience is all about taking every opportunity that presents itself and I fear that, by leaving at 6ish rather than staying in A&B1 until the Chairlift prep work is finished, I may have missed that opportunity. The problem is, I have some of that paid journalism work to do at home so leave I do to review the albums I've been commissioned to write instead – even falling asleep at my computer in the middle of the final review.

Would becoming a full-time studio assistant mean forsaking all other aspects of life? I was quickly realising that was probably the case.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 11 June 2011.

The work experience boy - day two: the real coffee challenge.

Day two: Having screwed up yesterday and getting lost in Hammersmith, I could feel a bit of dread and fear in the pit of my stomach travelling in for my second day at Assault & Battery studios. I arrive in reception to find Drew eating Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, having spent another night in the studio. Again, I feel a mix of admiration and fear – is this what it really takes to make it as a producer?

It’s clear – and completely expected – that I spend much of my time sitting on reception, grabbing every solitary cup and plate from the sink and putting it into the dishwasher almost before the owner has fully released it from their grasp, offering tea either too often or too infrequently (why do the studio assistants keep making it – that’s MY job!) and even gluing down the carpeted skirting boards which are hanging off due to being kicked by irate indie frontmen (well, perhaps). Being asked to go out and fetch lunch again – takeaway English breakfasts for the unnamed American singer upstairs and her band – makes for some sort of highlight.

The day is genuinely brightened up by the affable Howie B, however, who is in the mastering suite playing what sounds like a brilliant piece of dirty electronica. I ask if it's one of his own tracks and he says yes. Apparently the album is due out in September and if the track is a fair reflection of the album it'll definitely be worth getting hold of. Howie (whose production credits include Bjork, U2 and Tricky), has a laugh that’s not so much infectious but viral and says it’s taken him four hours to do the one hour journey into the studio because it’s such a beautiful day and he kept having to stop off to go to the pub and soak up the sun. Yes, nice work if you can get it you may think, but you can bet that he’s had to spend years making tea in the warren-like, sun-impoverished environs of the studio to earn the right to take such so-called liberties now.

In A&B1, Big Pink finish their six-week stint with Alan Moulder and his two assistants make it clear that they’re relieved it's over - not because the band were particularly hard to work with but because it's been quite a laborious process getting the right sound that the band are happy with.

The only other point of note is making my first ever ‘real’ coffee in a cafetiere (good job I Googled it the day before). This may strike you as a bizarre admission for a 33-year-old man but as a staunch tea drinker who’s not allowed near a coffee bean any more, this is quite a moment – especially as it’s for Alan Moulder who I’ve been told is quite particular about his coffee. Having accidentally taken credit for the coffee his assistant made him in the morning, I say, ‘I hope it’s to your liking,’ as I place it shakily on the table next to a few thousand pounds worth of hardware in the studio. Alan replies, ‘I’m sure it’s fine. It was earlier on,’ and I cringe a bit inside as I walk out. It’s not just the first time Alan asks me to make him coffee, it’s also the last.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 7 June 2011.

The work experience boy - day one: learning the ropes and getting lost

I have to admit, I felt like I was a 16-year-old boy again, which was about the age I last did work experience. Having spent the past nine months studying an MA in Audio Production at the University of Westminster my first year of the two year part-time course had come to an end so I felt I should get some industry experience somehow. Steve Dub, who was one of the guest speakers that came in to speak to us and has worked with the Chemical Brothers almost since day one, said that there were work placements available at the Miloco group of studios so I felt I should make the most of the opportunity. I got in touch and ended up having a three-week work experience placement confirmed, starting the week after my course finished in May.

I was placed in Assault & Battery in Willesden, London which houses two world-class producers in Alan Moulder and Flood. As I travelled in on my first day, I went through the usual mix of neuroses, paranoia and nerves that you get when starting any job (or is that just me?!). This was amplified by the fact that I was going to be sharing an environment with producers who have album credits including U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys etc. and that they could potentially offer an opening into their world – if I could make the tea and coffee to a sufficient standard of course.

Today’s award-winning producers had to be prepared to make tea and empty the bins as well. Indeed, Flood reportedly earned his nickname from being a particularly good teaboy/runner. I imagine his fellow runner at the time – nicknamed Drought due to his ineptitude and can't-do attitude – probably didn’t get to mix any million selling albums! So I knew I couldn’t afford to be too proud. Most potential producers also start out not being able to afford to live, or indeed be able to conduct a relationship for large chunks of the week. But that's the way most producers start their careers, at the bottom, making tea for the people sitting in the chair they one day want to inhabit behind the truck-sized mixing desk.

I imagined that meeting bands and artists wouldn’t be a problem as I’m used to doing it when I interview them for features so I felt fairly comfortable on that front. Offering drinks to bands and artists you may or may not recognise/admire would surely be easy? If you can handle that then it’s at least a start I thought.

So how did I get on?

Day one: I arrive outside the huge metal gates of Assault & Battery and ring nearly every button to get in (aside from the one marked ‘Flood’ – I don’t want to upset him on day one by interrupting a session now do I?). Eventually I send a text to the person who had arranged the placement and she assures me there is somebody there and will call and get them to let me in.

Flood’s assistant, Drew, opens the gate and tells me he didn’t hear the buzzer as he was having a shower – he’d slept in the studio that night. This is apparently par for the course and his record of not going home stood at a month. I admire his commitment but it also scares me a bit – does he ever get to go out or form meaningful relationships? He says he has a very understanding girlfriend.

Drew gives me a quick tour and shows me the ropes and tells me it’s down to me to show initiative and commitment and to make myself busy. So tea making is done for anyone coming in the door, the TV is put on a music channel (MTV Classic as I hoped it would show vaguely rock related videos) and I monitor the kitchen area to make sure anything left in the sink is transferred to the dishwasher.

So, I end up making drinks for quiet but friendly duo Big Pink, who are in Assault & Battery 1 (A&B1) with Alan Moulder working on their latest album, and a female solo artist (unknown to me) and fellow musicians upstairs in A&B2 (Flood’s studio but he’s not in). I also meet other studio residents, the enigmatic French producer Dimitri Tikovoi (credits Placebo, The Horrors, Sophie Ellis-Bextor) and Steve Rhodes, who’s says he’s a writer when I ask him what he’s working on at the moment. When reception is really crowded and Alan is there, Ricky Martin starts blaring out of the TV – I wait for the area to clear (which unsurprisingly happens quite quickly) and switch the TV off. Damn you MTV Classic.

I go out to get lunches for Alan, his two assistants and Big Pink – jacket spuds and Chinese soups all round if you're really interested - and get myself an exciting Sainsburys sandwich. I chat with one of Alan’s assistants and he tells me he has just been taken on having done two work experience stints and won Alan over by cooking for him (being a former sous chef). I wonder what hidden talent I can offer to get myself noticed but draw a blank – unless Alan wants his biography written by me which I doubt.

After lunch I get sent to pick up an iLok (a USB license key) so that a certain software plug-in will work for the female solo singer and her musicians upstairs. I look up the address of where I have to go to buy the iLok on Google Maps and it says it’s in 'Hammersmith'. I do wonder why they don’t have a supplier based somewhere closer to the studio but think no more of it.

I head to Hammersmith on the tube having got my wife (who has an internal tube map hardwired into her brain) to check which route is best. When I get there, I realise that Drew told me to get the bus TOWARDS Hammersmith, not TO Hammersmith and that Google Maps has sold me short (or are both Willesden and Hammersmith in erm Hammersmith which must surely make it the biggest borough in London?). By this point I am convinced I've ruined the band's session in A&B2 and decide I shouldn't come back in tomorrow as even if I stick around for the full three weeks I will need to stick around a damn sight longer (with no pay) to get any meaningful studio experience. I knew this at the start to an extent – but studying an MA and getting into thousands of pounds of debt means I need to get money as soon as I can when I complete the course.

Anyway, I return to the studio having taken two-and-a-half hours to do a half-hour job but while Drew is miffed at how I could get so lost he says they continued working on ideas while I was AWOL and that it didn’t cause a major issue.

I leave the studio at 6.30pm vowing to make tomorrow a better day and to be less of a klutz. Commitment and long-hours are the catchphrases of the day and the mantra that you won't get anywhere unless you prove through personal sacrifice that you desperately want this. Do I? Perhaps I’ll have a better idea by the end of tomorrow.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 4 June 2011.

Shouting spite or spouting shite?

"Lame-arsed, flat productions with all the bollocks of a eunuch..."

I've just written my most negative and scathing review ever (click here to read the full review).

While there have been other occasions in the past when I've been critical I've never been this angry, vitriolic and downright negative. Why? Because most music is average, not genre shatteringly brilliant or so awful you want to pour molten lead into your ears. And as a 'critic' its surely my job to write a fair portrayal of an album, single or gig or whatever it is? If it's average, it's down to me to weigh up the pros and cons and sum them up, in as entertaining and colourful a way as possible of course (bland music should NOT result in bland writing!).

Some reviewers/critics clearly beg to differ though. In a vain (i.e. narcissistic) attempt to add 'edge' or 'personality' to an article, some hacks feel the need to write a black or white review about something which is decidedly grey. The end results vary from scathing acidic streams of swear-word crammed spite or arse-licking sugar coated statements of sickening, undying love.

There's nothing wrong with loving or hating something but if you have to bend the truth to pretend you actually give a toss either way, surely that results in distorted, unfair reviewing?

The worst cases are when a journalist is so desperate for their review to scream 'look at me' that they actually forget to mention what they are reviewing or offer any insight into it, instead opting for shouting and screaming and swearing at the the top of their voices in an attempt to get themselves a job or at least appear they're as spiky and off the scale as their high maintenance haircuts.

For examples of ranting reviews that don't actually review a thing, look no further than The Fly magazine, which seems to specialise in the art.

So I may have written a hugely negative album review but it genuinely was that shit! In my opinion anyway...

Useless music fact #11: Liam Gallagher's solo effort is set for release by July 2010. So Oasis minus the brains equals what exactly? The man who owes Ian Brown and Tim Burgess thousands in image rights payments has never been known for being 'the creative one has he? This is a useless music fact as all signs seem to point to the fact that the music will indeed be useless. Prove us wrong our kid!

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 30 January 2010.

End of year dance/electronic charts for 2009

After yesterday's Top 10 albums of the decade, here are my Top 10 dance/electronic albums and Top 20 dance/electronic tracks of 2009 as compiled for Mixmag and included in their end of year charts:

TOP 10 DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUMS OF 2009:

1. The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die [Take Me To The Hospital]
2. Deadmau5 – For Lack Of A Better Name [Virgin]
3. Kris Menace – Idiosyncrasies [New State/Compuphonic]
4. Mr Oizo – Lamb’s Anger [Because]
5. King Roc – Chapters [Music Response]
6. Harmonic 313 – When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence [Warp]
7. Echaskech – Shatterproof [Just Music]
8. The Qemists – Join The Q [Ninja Tune]
9. Fever Ray – Fever Ray [Rabid/V2]
10. The Orb – Baghdad Batteries [Malicious Damage]


TOP 20 DANCE/ELECTRONIC TRACKS OF 2009:

1. The Prodigy – Warriors Dance [Take Me To The Hospital]
2. DJ Food – One Man’s Weird Is Another Man’s World [Ninja Tune]
3. Mr Oizo – Positif [Ed Banger]
4. La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Mix) [Polydor]
5. Moodymanc – Seedz [Tsuba]
6. The Gossip – Love Long Distance (Fake Blood Remix) [Columbia]
7. Deadmau5 – I Remember [Virgin]
8. diskJokke – Rosenrod [Moshi Moshi Singles Club]
9. Lindstrøm – The Magnificent [Smalltown Supersound]
10. Skream – Burning Up [Digital Soundboy Recording]
11. Buraka Som Sistema – Sound Of Kuduro [Fabric]
12. Röyksopp – Happy Up Here [Wall Of Sound]
13. Calvin Harris – Ready For The Weekend (High Contrast Mix) [Columbia]
14. Moby – Shot In The Back Of The Head [Little Idiot]
15. The Prodigy – Omen [Take Me To The Hospital]
16. Sei A – Chinese Whispers [International Deejay Gigolo]
17. Dizzee Rascal – Bonkers [Dirtee Stank]
18. Smoove & Turrell – Beggarman [Jalapeno]
19. Deadmau5 – Ghosts ‘N’ Stuff [Virgin]
20. Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone [Columbia]

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 8 January 2010.

Top 10 albums of the decade

A brief break from the talk of dodgy interviewees for a moment for an 'everyone's doing it and, well, so am I actually' end of decade chart. I came up with this list for a website I write for (musicOMH.com pop pickers) and only The Strokes made it through to the final top 21 (see here for that) so here is my two penneth for the best albums from 2000-2009:

TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE DECADE

   1. Chemical Brothers – We Are The Night
   2. Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
   3. Royksopp – Melody AM
   4. Justice – Cross
   5. Tim Story & Hans Joachim Roedelius – Lunz
   6. Saint Germain – Tourist
   7. Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
   8. Black Devil Disco Club – In Dub
   9. Boards Of Canada – Geogaddi
  10. The Strokes – Is This It?

The problem with things like this is you always remember other albums after you've sent the list off. I would add to this, Daedelus' 'Love To Make Music To' which would come in at around number six, meaning The Strokes wouldn't even have made it! It's a funny old game.

Useless music fact #10: The best selling single of the decade was 'Anything Is Possible'/'Evergreen' by Will Young and the best selling album of the decade was James 'yes my name is cockney rhyming slang' Blunt's 'Back To Bedlam'. Thus proving once again that the record buying public do tend to like a load of old cock.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 7 January 2010.

Earning the right to be difficult

So, it’s been a while since my last entry – apologies for keeping you hanging and festive cheer to one and all. Here at last is the follow up to the ‘Particular or pretentious?’ entry (see previous entry) about difficult interviewees I’ve encountered over the years.

First there was the minimal US techno act that I was on the verge of interviewing. Setting the interview up was a long protracted process. In the meantime I was sent their music, which frankly was so minimal as to be virtually non-existent. Every track on the album used the same sounds and the 'evolution' of each track involved such minute changes that only the most fanatical techno geek or sound engineer could have picked up on them.

It’s always hard to interview someone whose music doesn’t inspire you but you can still do your job as a journalist and find out what makes them and their music tick. When the editor then told me, "They’re renowned for being a bit difficult," I thought it over long and hard and wondered on what grounds could they afford to be difficult? Their music is bland, directionless and non-eventful! I mean, The Aphex Twin AKA Richard James is renowned for being difficult, contrary and frankly a bit of a shit in interviews but have you heard his music? He's earned the right! I turned down the interview in the end. I am sure they would have sensed I didn’t care much for their music so left the interview for someone that did.

More difficult interviewee stories in a few days time. In the meantime, Happy New Year and a fantastic 2010 to you.

Useless music fact #8: So well done to Rage Against The Machine for grabbing the Christmas Number 1 spot from the evil clutches of Simon Cowell and his (s)hit factory that continues to leave bland, monotonous skidmarks on the collective pants of popular music. For those of you lucky enough to hear RATM's live performance on BBC Radio Five Live, doesn't it make you wonder how stupid people are to think they could ask a band to play a track with the line "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" without the 'sweary bit' and expect them to obey orders? They managed four 'fucks' before being faded out. Anyway, the fact... When 'Killing In The Name' was first released in 1993, Bruno Brookes played the completely uncensored version on his Top 40 chart rundown on BBC (again!) Radio One. Is this the first time one band has managed to turn airwaves blue twice? Was Bruno Brookes an anarchist hiding under a fluffy mullet? If this isn't a good enough useless fact for you, Bruno also went out with Anthea Turner for a while, but was cruelly usurped by fellow Radio One DJ Peter Powell as Turner's number one on her wheels of steel. The shame!

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 30 December 2009.

Particular or pretentious?

Writing about electronic music and interviewing artists that produce it seems to be a relatively ego-free experience, thankfully.

Perhaps it's the lack of 'the frontman' who feels the need to assert his authority, attitude or personality at every given opportunity. Maybe it's the fact that electronic musicians are masters of their own sonic universe, creating every sound on their recordings meaning there is less room for paranoia and fear about having to prove themselves the big man (or woman) at every opportunity and giving it some 'rock and roll attitude'.

This is a mass generalisation of course but in all the years I've been writing about music, I've only come across difficult characters on a few occasions. I often do phone interviews on my mobile which involves an audible beep every 30 seconds. I always explain why to the interviewee and apologise for it and all bar one interviewee has been fine with it.

He happened to be the frontman of a long forgotten (and never really remembered in the first place) indie band. "Can't you stop that fucking beeping?!" he said. To which my answer was a simple, "No, sorry." I explained the beep beforehand but it obviously wasn't something he could stomach in his rock and roll world.

Perhaps the beep is more acceptable to electronic artists as they spend their lives creating beeps of their own? Who knows. That's not to say I haven't come across difficult interviewees in dance music however... more of which on my next blog.

Useless music fact(s) #7: Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (who was once in a band tastefully called The Moors Murderers with Steve Strange who went on to do vocals for Visage) was once married to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds fame. The very same man who was one of Patsy Kensit's candidates for 'Musical Man Of The Moment I Must Marry' (which has so far taken in Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet (just a fling), Dan Donovan of Big Audio Dynamite (marriage), Jim Kerr, Liam Gallagher (marriage) and one-time superstar DJ, Jeremy Healy (married)). Jim has kids with both Chrissie and Patsy while Chrissie also has a daughter fathered by Ray Davies of The Kinks. Ray and Chrissie have teamed up again this year on Ray's 'Postcard From London' Christmas song. Patsy is meanwhile hoping to marry someone in music more famous than she's currently married to, probably. Well, it's easy than resurrecting her own pop career.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 5 November 2009.

USA: Bland Of Opportunity?

I was lucky enough to be in New York last week and ended up chatting to someone who works in local radio. A point they made stuck with me which basically boiled down to the fact that new and up and coming talent in the USA stands little chance of breaking through due to commercial pressures. No one wants to be first to play new track in case its fails, all is about money and advertiser satisfaction.

It makes me so glad that we have the likes of the BBC in the UK. With no advertisers to please and the funding from the British public through the license fee, DJs have infinitely more freedom it seems. Yes, daytime radio on Radio One can seem commercial or cheesy at times but look at the wealth of alternative music peppered throughout the daytime schedule and the likes of Zane Lowe who has the freedom to pride himself on breaking new music during every evening show.

Yes, there is also XFM to champion new and alternative music but, aside from that, precious few radio stations break new music, or indeed can afford to. Just look at what has happened to Kiss FM over the past 15 years, the only trace of its original pirate roots can be found during the early hours, if at all.

So whatever you think of public service broadcasting, and it is by no means perfect, it may well just form the lifeblood of the UK music scene. Its ability to take those risks away from the commercial line means our ears are exposed to far more cutting edge, exciting music compared to other radio outlets where no music makes it on air unless it makes financial sense. We are lucky to live somewhere where creativity has more sway than cash.

Having said all of this, the internet may well serve a similar purpose but with the web you have to know where to look in the first place to be able to find anything whereas radio is there as a constant, easily located and ready for mass consumption.

Useless music fact #6: In 1983, Clubhouse released 'Do It Again / Billie Jean' which was a mash-up between Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' and Steely Dan's 'Do It Again'. Frankly it was sacrilegious musical murder but reached the loft heights of number 11 all the same. More amazing things could have been done with that 'Billie Jean' bassline by my Nan than was managed by Clubhouse.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 7 July 2009.

Intelligence and appreciation

The recent, bizarre Mike Patton gig brought up some thoughts that often whirr around my head when I’ve experienced something ‘out there’, ‘challenging’ or ‘avant garde’.

There’s much room when it comes to high art for people to scoff at anyone who criticises it and dismiss that listener’s opinion as being indicative of their lack of intelligence. This is merely narrow-minded arrogance though. It is your right not to like something, just as it is other people’s right to like anything they want to. Whether this applies to modern art or music or architecture or literature, everyone is entitled to an opinion even if it doesn’t tally with the accepted wisdom of the majority. I have as much right to say that some of the Aphex Twin’s music is unlistenable, self-indulgent rubbish as I do to say that some of his music is inspired, beautiful, challenging and verging on musical genius.

Anyone that denies someone else that right, whether it’s someone dismissing someone’s opinion as ‘arty farty crap’ or someone dismissing another’s opinion as they ‘clearly don’t have the intelligence to grasp the inherent meaning’ of a creative work, are merely closed-minded snobs (whether inverted or not). It pays to remember that their opinion is no more valid than anyone else’s and that whether you prefer reading Dostoyevsky to watching the X Factor or like going to a football match rather than going to the opera, your preferences make you no more or less stupid than the next person.

Useless music fact #5: The Aphex Twin said he used to dream a lot of his music while snoozing, which is exactly how Sir Paul McCartney came up with 'Yesterday'. The Aphex Twin may have been lying though, as that has always been one of his favourite pastimes.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 6 July 2009.

The gig-athon is over!

Four out of four gigs now done and dusted, so what has my Meltdown gig-athon taught me? Well, I attempted to write the review of Monday's Yo La Tengo gig on the night of the gig but ended up with my brain scrambled after two paragraphs and tiredness beating any coherent sentences out of my tiny mind. At least I tried though. The review eventually went live on Wednesday which you can read here: Yo La Tengo @ Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Moby’s gig at the Royal Festival Hall was good but veered more towards his downtempo chilled side, as does his new album 'Wait For Me', rather than his more uptempo, frantic dance side, which he last unleashed on previous album 'Last Night'. This decision could have been down to the atmosphere of the all-seater venue but when he did play 'Go', for instance, everyone leapt up and danced anyway.

Well almost everyone. I now know that hacks are placed next to the aisles at the RFH and QEH. I shall keep an eye on them in future to see if any of their empty soulless husks show any kind of flicker of enjoyment when they're doing the job thousands would happily wring their necks for...

Being in a catatonic state at a gig is almost forgiveable compared to what happened at Thursday's Mike Patton and Fred Frith gig though. Yes the gig was extremely experimental, self-indulgent and at times unlistenable. This changed however when hugely talented beatboxer Shlomo came on to assist but the lazy jaded hacks in front of us had long since fled and missed this. Surely this resulted in a poorly written, inaccurate review?

I just want to know who was sitting in Row E, seats 12 and 13 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Thursday night. I reckon they should be named and shamed! These people are paid to do their jobs and I'm not getting paid a bean for this and being more professional. If this is indicative of the level of commitment and professionalism among journalists within the newspaper industry then perhaps it's a good thing many of them are looking over their shoulders and wondering if they’ll still have a job in a year’s time. It may make them a bit more committed to the cause and more willing to prove their worth.

Anyway, back to the gig. The girl next to me sneezes. Does it add to the music? Brian Eno, who pioneered the concept of ambient music in the seventies, may well have said it did. The background noise is a relevant as the music itself, part of the music even. At the risk of disappearing up my own arse though, I have to say that while I'm glad I witnessed Patton and Frith jamming to their hearts' content, I am glad I didn't pay to get in. Paying £35 to watch a set that is only an hour long and contains no discernible music would have left me feeling short-changed, especially when you bear in mind that everyone needs to look after their pennies at the moment. In a way it was inspiring but then I can afford to be inspired by something I haven't paid for can't I?!

Last night was again hugely experimental as Kieran Hebden (AKA Four Tet) teamed up with his serial collaborator, jazz drummer Steve Reid. Mesmerising stuff it was too. Review to follow. UPDATE - here it is!

Overall I had a realisation this week. Staying up till silly o'clock to write a review that I'm not even being paid for is ridiculous, especially when I am snowed under in my day job at present and need to be alert and focussed during the day. This may sound blasé but I think I'll stick to writing a review of a gig the night after it happens in future. It means it'll get published just a few hours after one written by a fully paid, full time journalist who couldn't even be arsed to stay for the whole gig. I don't think it’s my journalistic professionalism that should come into question when you look at it like that, do you?!

Useless music fact #4: Brian Eno came up with the concept of ambient when he was lying in a hospital bed recovering from a serious accident. He asked a visiting friend to put some music on before they left but after they left the room and the music started the volume was very low. Eno noticed how the sound of the rain falling outside merged with the music he was listening to and so was born the concept of ambient music.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 21 June 2009.

Meltdown meltdown?

Over the coming week it's possible I may be biting off more than I can chew. I've agreed to cover four gigs in six days for this year's Meltdown festival down on the South Bank which is being curated this year by Ornette Coleman. Tomorrow (Monday) holds New Jersey indie stalwarts Yo La Tengo, Tuesday it's Moby, Thursday I'll be hoping for some melody from Faith No More's Mike Patton and his latest project, Tomahawk, and then Saturday will be spent watching Kieran Hebden of Four Tet fame jousting with jazz drummer, Steve Reid.

Four gigs in six days? 'You lucky swine!' I hear you cry but the challenge will be in writing all of the reviews. So I'd normally write a gig review up the night after, but then I'll be at another gig so I am contemplating writing the reviews on the night the gigs actually happen. Crazy perhaps but it could just work though it will take a new approach on my part to do it. The whole process of procrastination will have to go out the window (see previous blog entry) and the perfectionist in me will have to be bound, gagged and left in the cupboard under the stairs for the next week. Can it be done? I'll keep you posted but if I can find a quicker way of working through this coming week then that can only be a good thing. Alternatively the 'Meltdown meltdown' could happen and I'll end up quietly sobbing on my keyboard at 4am every night/morning...

Whether I manage it and how I go about it remains to be seen but four gigs in six days? I can't wait!

I nearly forgot this week's useless music fact (#3). One for the old skool cheesy quavers out there. Did you know that Altern 8's Mark Archer was once in Bizarre Inc before they found chart success with the likes of 'Such A Feeling' and 'Playing With Knives'? Archer of course enjoyed his own flirtation with the Top 40 when he strapped on his chemical mask and teamed up with Chris Peat to release glostick anthems like 'Infiltrate 202' and 'Activ 8'. Bizarre Inc went on from rave to release chart-friendly house before mutating into Chicken Lips while Archer has since picked his mask up again to DJ under the Altern 8 banner once again to make many an old raver misty-eyed.

Originally posted on http://blog.ianroullier.com on 15 June 2009.