TwoFlutes

Sinéad O'Connor

2011-01-03T21:14:00.001Z

In 1997, Sinéad O'Connor covered Abba's "Chiquitita", which was released the following year on Across the Bridge of Hope - a benefit album for the families of the Omagh bombing tragedy. As usual, she blows the original out of the water...

On a recent YouTube expedition for this song, I stumbled across a number of videos from the early 90s - probably the most controversial period of her career. On the 3rd of October 1992, she appeared on Saturday Night Live and tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II. NBC refused to let the footage be re-broadcast and with no evidence available for the public to make up their own mind, O'Connor was vilified and devoured by the press - effectively paralysing her professional career.

Two weeks later, she appeared at a Bob Dylan tribute concert in Madison Square Garden. Introduced by Kris Kristofferson, she was greeted on stage by a bizarre chorus of cheers and boos. Despite a number of failed attempts to play the arranged song by her backing band - and Kristofferson himself coming on stage to encourage her - after a two minute stand-off she launches into a furious version of Bob Marley's "War". It's quite uncomfortable viewing - and easy to see how it could be taken out of context.

Based on the video above, its easy to see how NBC almost destroyed an artist's career, and at the same time frightening to realise how close they came to destroying a fragile human being.

As a direct result of watching this video, my opinions of Sinéad O'Connor and the whole Saturday Night Live debacle have changed considerably. Today, as the catholic church is on its knees begging for attention from a world that couldn't care less, I believe that this haunting and brave performance has more relevance now than it did back in October 1992.

You decide...

War - Sinéad O'CONNOR ( a cappella) on TV in 1992
Uploaded by Petite-Pince-Sans-Rire. - See the latest featured music videos.

Awake

2009-06-02T06:47:00.004+01:00

6:47am:

Been awake for an hour. Waiting for the right moment to get up. These are my options:

Coffee & morning TV? I despise morning TV.
Office & Coffee? Morally corrupt to be in before 8am.

Probably the most beautiful time of the day and that's all I can think of.

Sad.

(and that's my blogging duties taken care of for another 6 months)

7:03am (update)

I can hear the neighbour making coffee (I could probably jump into their kitchen from my bedroom window)... Now, I don't feel so alone.

Zoe Keating "Escape Artist"

2009-05-03T03:31:00.001+01:00

Sex Reporter Guy

2009-03-01T22:08:00.005Z

Our deviant colleague, Mr. Hames, discussing and reading passages from his book Sin Cities: Adventures of a Sex Reporter at Borders, London. He's a good man - not a bad man!

Worth a read indeed. Check it out here.

Ghost Walker

2009-02-09T09:36:00.003Z

Fortress Studios, Old Street:

Got an invite from Lady Anita to take some shots of the band she's fronting these days. Great Afternoon with a great bunch of guys.

Foto highlights at my flickr

Check out Ghost Walker at MySpace

Theme Tune

2009-02-01T22:48:00.002Z

Theme tune for a TV show. Not something I've really done before. Options?

1. Arrange a complete piece of music that fits into 30 seconds.
2. Edit a longer piece down to the required time.

I'm going for the second. Putting together such a short piece of music, without sacrificing structure and pace, is tricky - but it can be done. Instead, I'll edit down a longer piece, and use the crusts elsewhere - segments, interviews, inserts etc.

That's the plan anyway.

Too busy for my own self

2009-01-31T13:49:00.001Z

Just realised it's been quite a while since I've posted anything. Better get the finger out!!

Sandwich Shacks

2008-08-07T14:46:00.002+01:00

Complaining about stuff on a blog is best left to the I bet my dad could beat your dad in a fight crew... those folk who mention Cigarettes and Civil Liberties in the same sentence. Does anyone care? No Sir! Instead, here's an amusing observation about things my fellow beautiful humans do that I find unusual.

In Camden, there's a Cafe near the office. Friendly staff, but dim.
"Can I have three toasted sandwiches; one bacon, one egg & bacon, and one cheese"
I go to the ATM, return to pick up my bag of goodies, and then back to the office where my colleagues await their toasties... salivating.

I open the package to find a baked f@#&ing potato.

Clever.

Tom Baxter | Koko, Camden

2008-06-06T00:00:00.006+01:00

Tuesday, June 3rd - Very impressive performance by Tom Baxter at Koko. There's a certain power in his live performances that are on another level to the recorded versions. Highly recommended!!

In addition, he was supported by no less than three acts. Particularly interesting is the story behind opener Marcus Foster - an unsigned artist who got the gig after winning a competition on MySpace. How cool is that?!

Also on the support lineup was Tom's brother, Charlie Winston. I believe it is his version of Stevie Winwood's "I'm a Man" that accompanies VW's controversial* singing dogs advert.

Was a fantastic opportunity to get some shots, but I'm looking forward to seeing the Tom Baxter Extravaganza as an audience member. I really didn't know how good he'd be, and feel a bit cheated (though lucky too!) to have missed some of the tunes because I was so worried about getting my shots.

Take a look at my Flickr set here.

*Is it not strange that an ad with a quivering jack russell is offensive, when 90% of the dog lovers I see have creatures that look like Zuul the Gatekeeper - Animals bred, if not to devour one another, then a 4 year old child...? Only a question Dave!

Concert Photography Masterclass

2008-05-20T21:58:00.002+01:00

On and off for about six months, I've been trying my hand at gig photography. So far, so good. I've been lucky enough to get some great gigs and great shots, but just when you're in danger of getting a swelled head, it's becomes clear that it's not unusual to do a gig that offers up a scarce amount of usable shots - if any. This can be quite disappointing, but taking photographs in near dark without a flash is far from easy most times, and nigh on impossible on other occasions.

Anyhoo... I found this article about taking pics at concerts. it's worth a read.

Cans Festival (Leake St.)

2008-05-10T11:34:00.008+01:00

Last weekend, saw the launch of the Cans Festival, an exhibition of street art in a disused road tunnel under Waterloo station. The majority of the installations were removed after the first weekend, but the stencil art will hopefully remain on the walls for many months to come.

Being absent minded, I forgot to bring my Fototron, and returned during the week once all had quietened down. These two gentlemen were kind enough to stop for a picture. I assured them that it was just for me, but I've been pleasantly surprised at how many views the pic has gotten in such a short space of time - so much more when I don't get much flickr traffic.

Check out my Flickr set of the exhibition here.

Jonny Harvard

2008-05-06T12:51:00.003+01:00

I've never been one for charity... probably because I was made sacrifice my pocket money during lent, but here is definitely a cause worthy of support.

In addition to just being a very cool guy, Jonathan is someone who can make a really positive contribution to a country that is definitely going to need it in the future.

Chromeo | Koko, Camden

2008-04-14T01:55:00.003+01:00

Until now, all the music photography gigs I've gotten have been through friends, or friends of friends. So, it was a pleasant surprise to get an email from Chromeo's management for their performance at Koko, Camden (April 11th) - which was very cool indeed... not just the experience of capturing a gig like that, but also watching the very cool show that Dave 1 and P-Thugg put on. I am now a bona fide lovin' fan!!

Here's some of my pics from the evening.

TwoFlutes.net | Live (ish)

2008-03-13T00:17:00.008Z

Although I'm quite a fan of Flickr and the community there, I thought it about time to organise a proper online portfolio... My glorified calling card. There's currently just a home page, but I'll be putting some tunes and perhaps even migrate my blog there. Anyhoo... stay tuned!
Click here to check it out.

Nifty Fifty | Rocktography

2008-02-07T23:07:00.001Z

This is a bit nerdy, but I recently picked up a 50mm f1.8 lens, specifically to help with my low light gig pics... Fingers crossed the snub-nosed "Saturday Night Special" will be good to me.

Mister Jabsticks

2007-12-15T12:56:00.001Z

The boys over at Mushnation have released an EP for download - I think we may have a situation here... Amongst various household objects recorded and used as samples, one of my personal favourites has to be 'Tapping Teeth' - Jee.Knee.Us!!

Music is by Mister Jabsticks (formerly Mick Stupp) and artwork by Dan Gaynor.

The Joint Conspiracy

2007-12-14T17:12:00.004Z

Mr. King from The Joint Conspiracy at Barfly, Camden. Well worth checking out - it's a pity I was so slooooow to get there though. Missing half the set, and not getting all the shots I would have liked... Apologies gents - I shall redeem myself next time!!

Tune: Massifs Quelch

2007-05-18T16:43:00.000+01:00

There's a new tune now on MySpace. Still a work in progress, Massifs Quelch is an attempt at being clever using the working title "Massive Squelch". It's a bit hectic, but I'm especially proud of the squoinky bits... you'll know when you hear ;)

TwoFlutes on MySpace

2007-05-08T12:31:00.000+01:00

Finally!! After a long period of sloooowwness, we have a TwoFlutes MySpace page.

Dolby Me!!

2006-10-18T16:23:00.000+01:00

A TwoFlutes tune gets Dolbyised for the Stockholm Film Festival.
(Ham & Cheese roll kindly provided by Lipsync staff)

As sponsors of the Stockholm Film Festival, PKR will be showing a trailer before some of the movies - music provided by yours truly ;)

Because the trailer needs to be transferred to film, the overall process involves a bit more than just providing a nice stereo mix as I'm used to. I got a bit of a fright when I read that the sound 'must not exceed 82db leq (m) and supplied pretested on a Dolby 737 meter' - I think that means the average volume level of the complete trailer shouldn't measure over 82db.

These are Dolby's regulations on how advertisements are presented in a cinema environment, so dodgy ad companies don't ruin the audience's hearing, and projectionists get to some down time from the volume knob.

So, I went down to Lipsync Post in Soho to get my track Dolby-ised. Because I monitor my mixes with headphones, I was worried the track would need a fair bit of EQ and compression malarkey done for playback in the theatre, but I was chuffed when they told me that it was fine as it was - so the expensive headphones were worth it non-believers!

A nice 'bleep' is added to the beginning of the track, which is synced to the white flash frame at the beginning of the picture - for the lab dude when he's mashing them together onto 35mm film. A bit of Dolby Surround magic is applied - hearing your track all Dolby-ised and seeing the whole piece work well on a big screen inspires a giggle. Once everyone's happy, the 82db thing gets sorted, the various elements get transferred to the appropriate media, and it's sent to Dolby for licensing and approval... And after the thumbs up (hopefully), to Nordiskfilm in Stockholm.

And cheers to Paul and the guys at Lipsync Post - although I was only booked in for an hour, it was great to spend some extra time being filled in on the 5.1 mixing process. Hopefully it won't be too long before I get to put those tips to use...

David Cope | Algorithmic Vivaldi

2006-10-09T17:49:00.000+01:00

Here's a cool guy: David Cope has authored a piece of software that detects patterns in music and composes new riffs that follow the same rules. Using Emmy (Experiments in Musical Intelligence), he recently premiered Virtual Vivaldi: The Zodiac at the 2006 Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. A 12 movement piece (one for each sign of the zodiac) in the style of the Four Seasons... a 'remix' so to speak.

Cope is Professor of Music at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and regularly teaches in the annual Workshop in Algorithmic Computer Music (WACM).

Read this article from the September issue of WIRED magazine.

Fuerzabruta

2006-08-29T10:22:00.001+01:00

Fuerzabruta at the Roundhouse, Camden
pic by Adrian Fitch @ Flickr

As it was recommended to me: I can't recommend this highly enough. Although the remainder of it's run in the Roundhouse is sold out, if I get an opportunity, I'm there... again!

As you enter, staff usher the audience into a dense red fog in the centre of the venue, surrounded by urban sound effects. There is a huge sense of anticipation, as you wait for something to happen. Spotlights appear at random, illuminating huge fans that blow mist on to the crowd. A final spotlight appears, framing the silhouette of a suited man walking but going nowhere, a conveyor belt as his stage. As it slowly moves through to the centre of the crowd, accompanied by a thumping electronica heartbeat and a spray of wet mist, the figure quickens his pace, going from walk to jog, from jog to run. At full sprint, a shot rings out and a bloody squib explodes on his back.

What follows is an hour-long spectacle that maintains childlike grins on the faces of the audience throughout, as they are immersed in this man's dreamlike ascension to heaven. This is a not a show observed, but experienced.

Check out the videos linked above.

More Mush...

2006-08-09T14:24:00.000+01:00

Check out the September issue of Future Music magazine. Our friend, Mick Stupp, got his tune Incomplete on to the cover disc.

Creepy sounds that clearly demonstrate how some really interesting sonic textures can be created if you approach music from non-musical angles. A great demo that fully deserves its place in the chart.

Well done dude! Listen to the tune here

Mushnation | Bonkers & Brilliant!

2006-06-22T17:14:00.000+01:00

Steve & Dan, The Mushnation Hooers, are up to clever things again. They've also updated their site with a shiny new look.

Kid Beyond | Beatboxing Badass

2006-06-21T18:03:00.000+01:00

pic by goma @ flickr

Kid Beyond's equipment list has the caveat that all his gear must fit in an overhead trolley case. With just a Mic, a MIDI foot controller, and a laptop, San Fransisco's Best Beatboxer demonstrate's how he uses Ableton Live (click title to view video) to loop and layer his voice to achieve something that is beyond impressive.

He has just released his debut EP, Ampivate, available at CD Baby. See his website here.

Jamie Lidell | Focking Genius

2006-06-21T12:07:00.000+01:00

Pic by Laurent Julliand

(Please don't sue, I'm promoting!)

Way back in September 2004, I was coaxed by a good friend and musical guru to go to a gig that I was told would be a "Life changing event - like Al Green mixed with a bag of hammers".
On a typically lacklustre Dublin weeknight, I arrived rather unenthused at the Spiegeltent, a temporary venue erected in the IFSC docks as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival... and left inspired.
Having seen Jamie Lidell previously, one of the joys of returning is witnessing how those new to the experience react. You're compelled to tell anyone who has half an interest in music about what you've seen... but cautiously. Like being privy to a wonderful secret, this is something you earn.

To see what all the fuss is about, click the title for a live performance of note. Visit his website here. Thank me later!

Flickr

2006-06-08T09:01:00.000+01:00

I've added a Flickr panel to the sidebar. Not only does it look nice, but it also does something. As it's smaller than a box of smokes, I've decided to take my camera with me as often as possible, and hopefully there'll be regular(ish) updates.

2005-01-07T01:06:00.000Z

Pezelectronico > september 2004