Kalou 
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War and Peace and Coffee
Thursday 21st July 2016 11:25 (PST)
A new radio piece I produced in collaboration with the Kitchen Sisters will air this coming Monday on NPR's Morning Edition. The piece examines the important role coffee has played in three American wars; the Civil, Vietnam and Afghan. It's been lovingly pieced together and gives a unique insight to the mindset of soliders actually fighting in these wars.
Wake up, drink coffee and listen!
Update: You can now listen to the piece on the NPR website. You can also listen in the playlist on my Radio page or below (so many options!)
Mr. Foggy's Playground
Friday 27th May 2016 21:02 (PST)
I filmed, Jason Jagel, an artist who's work I've long admired, painting a mural in the 'hood. The film includes Jason's thoughts on the design and process layered on top of a Kalou classic, 'Floundering'. Click play to taste that cake.
Soft Boiled Mix
Sunday 27th March 2016 20:25 (PST)
Essential nutrients can be found in this new musical mix - fresh for '16.
Invitation to Love (Rose Edit) vid-dee-ooh!!
Monday 29th February 2016 (PST)
Good news! I know you've been waiting for it and finally it's here. Invitiation to Love is a bit long in the tooth now, tune-wise (made that one in 2008, but in 2014 it got a makeover thanks one of my favourite musical peers Rose Droll and two years late I have recut the video that I doubt many saw in the first place. Now's the chance - watch the Invitiation To Love (Rose Edit) video below!
If you're curious footage for this vid was shot in Washington State (near and in Olympia) and Chicago, IL in the autumn of 2006.
The Thin Line b/w Floudering now online
Friday 26th February 2016 (PST)
I have put out a couple of new(ish) songs. The Thin Line is a new instrumental piece and it's joined by a reworking of 2008's Floundering. If you're interested in listening it's now availble on most major streaming services like Google Play Music and Spotify. You can also listen
to both below if you have Spotify or here on Soundcloud.
I like the artwork so I thought I'd share that too. Click for a bigger image.
Facebook x Kalou
Tuesday 23rd February 2016 (PST) HOT OFF THE PRESS: There is a now a Kalou artist page on Facebook. If you like on connect on the ol' 'book you can
'LIKE' the page and be kept abreast of new music and goings on in my creative world.
More tapes and Kalou on music streaming services !
Friday 15th January 2016 20:13 (PST) Woah! Happy new year any readers visitors. It's been a minute. A few things to report. First off I have put together 50 cassette tapes featuring two of my early mini-albums 2007's 'Clifford Spleenhurfer's Puzzle Pieces' and 2008's 'Eye Dears and Other Wild Life'. They're recorded on to the same high quality chrome tapes and are available for $5 on bandcamp.
While you're there why not pick up a copy of 'Scrapbook: 2008-2014'. I made a second run, so 50 more copies, once these are gone there'll be no more !
In other news I also uploaded the aforementioned albums and 2007's 'Baseball Fury EP' to a number of streaming sites including Spotify, Google Play Music, iTunes, YouTube etc.
Phew, that was a lot of info, here's something calming to help you relax if you're feeling overwelmed. From 2008's 'Eye Dears and Other Wild Life', this is 'Vicodin on the Greyhound'.
Scrapbook review !
Wednesday 18th November 2015 10:34 (PST) My Scrapbook tape got a really nice write up/review from Joe at the Guide Me Little Tape blog. You can read that HERE !
The second run of tapes is now availble with slighty trimmed tracklisting. They are recorded onto high-bias German made chrome cassettes (true story !) and are again limited to 50 copies. There won't be another run of tapes so get one while you can from bandcamp
Thanks to Joe for taking the time to listen and to those who've paid real life dollars for a copy - it's appreciated.
Spool's Out // Resonance FM
Tuesday 10th November 2015 21:19 (PST) I had one of my tunes played on the Spool's Out show on the best radio station in the world, London's Resonance FM, Invitation To Love (Rose Edit). One for fans of Twin Peaks...
The whole show is full of atypical sound arrangements to revitalise jaded ears and minds. Check it out if you're so inclined.
Walkman mods & the teddy boys
Friday 23rd October 2015 21:59 (PST) Today is my Dad's 62nd birthday. Happy birthday Dad!
Rob Coons was kind enough to let me play some tunes on his Maximum Rocknroll Radio show the other week. I played some older gems, new stuff I'm digging and some faves from SE London bands in the 00's.
You can hear it here. Remember new MRR Radio show each Sunday!
You can subscribe via iTunes by clicking here.
This is unrelated to any of my creative work but I recently modded my Walkman to allow me to use bluetooth headphones and thus get all tangled. I decided to make a guide to how to do that for anyone else that wanted to (it's very simple). You can find that here.
Projects are in the works and in the mind, stay tuned!
Taking it to (the) Maximum
Wednesday 9th September 2015 15:25 (PST) It's been a while, a good fews months. I have started to work as podcast editior and archive co-ordinator for legendary Bay Area punk magazine Maximum Rock n Roll. You can check out each weeks hour of Punk, Hardcore, Garage etc on the MRR Radio website here.
Refreshing
Saturday 21th July 2015 12:42 (PST) I am in the process of refreshing and updating this website. Hopefully the organisation is better now and the general look is a bit fresher. It's a process but that process has begun.
On a side note, I've lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 5 years now. I have spent over four years working with the wonderful Kitchen Sisters, I have met tons of great people and made fantastic friends. Don't believe the hype, the area may be changing but it'll never loose the spirit of social justice and a general desire to make things better for the majority and that is one of the main things that attracts me to the area.
Here's to a great second half of the year for all !
Night buses and the Mission
Thursday 18th June 2015 23:1 (PST) Very little new music wise but here's a little something from last year, 91 Owl. It's a strange bus but sometimes a magical one riding through the night with its motley crew in tow. It could do with a but more low-end this one.
Also, if you're interested in learning about the history of San Francisco and specifically the Mission check out this great KQED documentary from 1994 with sound from the masterful Jim McKee of Ear Wax Productions.
KQED Neighborhoods - The Hidden Cities Of San Francisco: The Mission (1994)
Ma Petite Alp
Saturday 21th March 2015 10:17 (PST) A (very belated) happy new year to anyone that reads this. Here's something I made the other day.
Scrapbook: 2008-2014
Monday 29th December 2014 11:50 (PST) I decided to compile an album of pieces I've produced over the last 6 years. It's not complete but they are my favourite original pieces, remixes, instrumentals, ideas, etc from this period.
You can download the album from Bandcamp if you fancy it and pay whatever (inc. nothing) but I also put together 50 limited edition cassette tapes! Designed and recorded by yours truly, each is a little unique and features an original MTV raps card from '91. They're just $10, again on Bandcamp.
Also, first order of a cassette receives a limited, one off, hand-made Kalou Polo shirt!
kalou.bandcamp.com/album/scrapbook-2008-2014
People, why?
Saturday 27th December 2014 08:43 (PST) New music for the end of the year... 'People, why?'
Theatre For The Ears: The San Francisco Tape Music Festival
Wednesday 19th November 2014 09:30 (PST) I've been working on and off for almost two years on this short piece on the San Francisco Tape Music Festival. Hopefully it conveys to you (if you listen) some of what I think makes it a special event. For those in the Bay Area the next festival is January 9/10/11, 2015. For more info check: sfsound.org/tape.
Park Life Gallery
Tuesday 18th November 2014 18:30 (PST) In the last few weeks I designed and built the website for Inner Richmond, SF gem Park Life's new Gallery space in the Mission District. You can visit the new site by clicking on the image below. The archive has many beautiful pieces from over the years.
Andri Tambunan - Against All Odds: the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Papua
Thursday 13th November 2014 15:30 (PST) Produced for PhotoPhilanthropy. Contains some beautiful, and sad photos (not by me); and all original music (by me).
ActiveStills: Photography for Social Change in Israel and Palestine
Wednesday 29th October 2014 12:31 (PST) It's been a while since the last update. I've been producing a lot but much is still in progress. One piece that is complete though is this slideshow I put together for PhotoPhilanthropy about ActiveStills work in Israel and Palestine. It features original music by yours truly.
Bandcamp & Tapes
Sunday 7th September 2014 23:45 (PST) Frequent visitors to this website (hello, Alyssa) may notice the links at the top have changed. The good news is that the BandCamp page that I've had for a while but not used now has music on it. I have uploaded my first two releases to it; 2007's "Clifford Spleenhurfer's Puzzle Pieces" and 2008's "Eye Dears And Other Wild Life". You can download them both from the BandCamp on a name-your-price basis. In other news I'm going to be updating the 'Sound' page soon in anticipation of my exciting (to me at least) plan to release to the two aforementioned albums on cassette tape. It'll be a limited run with lovely art from Hollie Theedam who designed the original Kalou deer. More on that soon, in the meantime here's 'No Need For Pesticide' from 2007 which will be included as a bonus on the "Eye Dears And Other Wild Life" download in addition to the tape.
A Happy Heart
Sunday 31th August 2014 18.59 (PST) In the last couple of years or so a lot of my music has been in the form of sonic diary entries. Shortish songs or pieces of organised sound that express a feeling or idea or desire related to the time it was composed. Here's one from today, well completed today started yesterday. It's not one of my strongest but just like a every entry in a diary doesn't come alive with extraordinary events some soundpieces just are and that's the way they should be.
Sweet Tooth
Friday 29th August 2014 10.30 (PST) I gave Sweet Tooth the Übernators treatment; mostly everything we did and some nice photos I salvaged from myspace. You can check here or visit the project page. Here's 'You Haven't Lived ('till You've Lived A Lie)' from EP Expanded.
Lakes Of Flagey
Sunday 17th August 2014 10.07 (PST) Produced in Brussels, Belgium (Autumn 2012) and finished in San Francisco, California (Spring 2014)
Live!
Sunday 17th August 2014 10.07 (PST) I played the open mic at the legendary Cafe Utah last week. Here's Red Dress/Marie from that night.
Day Dreams
Saturday 9th August 2014 13.06 (PST) Talented artist and photographer Gözde Efe has used my piece 'Someone Else's Dream' in the trailer for her upcoming work "Day Dreams". Check it out below if you're so inclined.
Green Bicycle vs Slacker
Friday 8th August 2014 16.22 (PST) I've always been keen to make a video for this song. It would of course involve a friend (Dylan) riding around on a green bike, but I still haven't gotten around to filming it, or buying the Super 8 camera I want to use. So, for now, I've decided to cut it with a scene from one of my all-time favourite films, Richard Linklater's 'Slacker'. Enjoy!
Made the Jukebox
Friday 25th July 2014 13.49 (PST) Somewhere in the world you can find a jukebox with 18 choice cuts from yours truly. Blow The Whistle
Wednesday 16th July 2014 01.32 (PST) I've been working on and off on this for a few months now. It's been one of those that feels like it's missing something but I don't know exactly what it is. Still, I like it and maybe one day what it is will become apparent. One for the Bay.
Less Talk More Rock
Saturday 12th July 2014 11.40 (PST) Two updates in one week, must be a record! I haven't played music live in four years since I 'busked' and I've never played in the US but that all changed yesterday when I played 'Floundering' for the first time ever (it's a song from '08). It was a little rough around the edges but I enjoyed it. Great see Josh and Rose play too. Sound's a bit iffy on this video but yah get the idea.
Istanbul
Monday 7th July 2014 16.20 (PST) Something new for July with something old thrown in for good measure. Turn up the bass for this one.
Light Trees
Monday 23rd June 2014 16.25 (PST) Something new for June.
Using Logic
Saturday 24th May 2014 11.30 (PST) Reeeeeeeemix. I'm working on finishing up some pieces I've had in the works for a while. Stay tuned! That Was The Week That Was...
Sunday 24th February 2014 00.12 (PST) ...and 'Devonne' is the sound of that week, Monday 17th February - Sunday 23rd February 2014.
Mickey Mantle Day
Friday 14th February 2014 22.04 (PST) A little something to start 2014 off, even though we're already a month and a half deep. 'Mickey Mantle Day' samples a Yankees record of my Mother's. More to come...
Übernators coming re-newed
Saturday 28th December 2013 13.04 (PST) I've had a fair bit of free time on my hands in recent months and decided to put together a mini digital Übernators repository. Check it out if you're so inclined; it's worth it for Jack's biography alone. Click on the photo to be transported back to the mid-point of the last decade. Sunsets and skies of San Francisco #1
Monday 21 October 2013 02.45 This one's from 6th October 2013. A epic masterpiece painted in the sky.
Happy Birthday all round
Monday 14 October 2013 14.18 (PST) HELLO. This website has been around in some form for a while now but I just noticed that the 'redesigned version' just celebrated it's forth birthday a few days ago. While it's had periods of inactivity I'm quite impressed that it is still going and while it doesn't get the traffic of major site, one of two visitors a week/month suites me for now. Coincidently I also just celebrated the anniversary of my birth and as a present I will present (eh, eh!?) 'Light Box' a short ditty from December 2011 which is now also getting old. Not much to this one - there was no real prep and it was from the gut. Essentially it was made as a vehicle for the great vocal samples. Win a prize if you can guess whose voice it is. I'm working on new guitar-based music (songs you could say) and also an interesting radio style piece. Stay tuned.
Link me
Tuesday 3 September 2013 23.31 (PST) In the case that you're reading this and are one of those who wants to be connected via every social medium [I don't have proof that 'those' actually exist] or you want to offer me the job of a life time you can now access my LinkedIn account by clicking on the little 'in' image at the top of every page. Should you find yourself feeling lazy and want something closer to home you can now also click here. Minor update but worth mentioning. For the uninitiated, 'Link me' is London slang for meeting up, now you know. New/old music: Invitation To Love (Rose Edit)
Sunday 18 August 2013 13.23 (PST) This tune was made in the summer of 2008 but is now properly complete five years later because it has Rose Droll's voice on it. It's not too hard to tell which TV show I was engrossed in at the time. Rose's music is really special, you can here more of it here and/or check out a video of her playing my favourite of her songs, 'The Thin Line'.
Healdsburg, CA
Thursday 8 August 2013 12.52 (PST) Last weekend I went up to my friend's hometown, Healdsburg, California. I partially documented the experience by riding around his block on a bike filming with my phone. A couple summer's ago I made a tune and named it after the town so the obvious next step was to put the two together and that's what you can see below. [Edit 18th September 2014: Video no longer available] Back in the fold - sounds in tow
Thursday 11 July 2013 01.22 (PST) Wow, it's been a long time since this website was updated. I would love to say it's because the mounds of creative work I've produced has consumed all my time but that would be a lie. I have though produced a few rough sketches that'll most probably remain as such. My main concern these days is to catch the feeling of the moment and if that means scruffy lo-fi recording then so be it. Editing afterwards can often flesh out the skelton and that is the case with these recent pieces. The first was produced in May and is a remix of Nas' "Life's a Bitch". I'm calling it "Life's A Bitch (Grit-T's Balboa Street Remix)" - Grit-T in this case being me, and Balboa, the street I produced it on. Clever title I thought. You can peep it below.
Next up, subtitled, "Something for June' is "Conflict for Handling". It's a sad one to me, but there's joy to be found. Silver linings and all.
Lastly there's "Quartz", completed just at the end of June. There's not much to say about this one. Take it as you will, if you choose to take it at all. One thing I will say is that I wanted to name a song Quartz for a number of years and I'm glad I finally made a piece that perfectly suited the name. Peep it below.
In other news I recently tidied up my SoundCloud page and it's now not only a lot better organised but also hosts a lot of my soundwork from the past that many people wouldn't remember, primarily because they never heard it. However, for the few that have been craving it (I'm sure they exist somewhere) the SoundCloud page and by extension the 'Sound' page on this website now play host to, amongst other work, classic Ubernators tracks from 04/05,Sweet Tooth's 'EP Extended' from 2007 and an EP I recorded under the moniker 'Clifford Spleenhurfer' called Puzzle Pieces. I have a great deal of love for a lot of this old work and I want them to live on past the life on my hard-drive.
New and reconfigured songs are in the works and I promise to myself to be more punctual with updating this fine website. That's all for now.
Got It Twisted (Filthy Man's Club Mix)
Thursday 28 March 2013 17.15 (PST) It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you,
without a dope beat to step to. So, here's something I mocked up while
teaching my good friend, Ciaron, the basics of MPC programming. It's
one verse of a remix of Mobb Deep's 'Got It Twisted', and dedicated to
the Filthy Man aka Dylan Dekay-Bemis who gave the MD record. Check out
some of his big mixes here: https://soundcloud.com/dekaysf This probably won't go
much further than this so soak it up. Finished products will eventually
come to fruition, ideas only go so far. Also here's a nice photo of Ciaron, the MPC 4000 and the San
Francisco sunset. This remix is no longer available but check out this playlist for other remixes. Bittersweet Ice
Sunday 03 February 2013 02.46 (PST) Something new from something old.
Sounds For Days: Bisous (Ascent From Dream)
Saturday 19 January 2013 20.42 (PST) 2012 Ixelles, Bruxelles vs 2009 Stockwell, London
Sounds For Days
Saturday 19 January 2013 01.04 (PST) I heard a
piece on the radio a few weeks ago about a woman who went through one
whole year doing a good deed every day. I've often thought of imposing
a similar level of discipline on myself, albeit in the form of
production rather that good-will [For the record I've already got that
covered]. Last year I started a folder on my Desktop named '2012'. It
was to be home to all the fabulous work I completed throughout the
year. Needless to say it was as full by the end of the year as I'd
hoped. Two days ago
I settled down at my MPC, always a comforting experience, and
constructed a short piece of music using some samples. The next day, I
took short piece of guitar-playing I'd recorded four or more years ago
and added what it needed to make it whole. The point is I started
'Songs For Days'. Short or long, pieces of music or sound or radio or
whatever I produced or just completed on that a specific
day. I'm not going to kid myself and say I'll keep it up all
year but I sincerely hope by the end of the year the 2013 folder looks
a lot healthier than last years. Happy New Year Friday 11 January 2013 17.02 (PST) Happy New
Year! This website in some form or another is celebrating it's fifth
year of existence! Although I'm often tardy with updates (and the fact
the no one really reads then we I do) I still think it's a cause for
celebration. To get things rolling I just had a glug of Budweiser. Why
Budweiser well because I'm in the US again and that's just how people
get down over here. That's not strictly true, no one seems to drink it. Anyway, as I'm still settling back in I thought I'd
tide you over with some music I made in the last decade. Between 2003
and 2007, 'Übernators' existed. They were made up of myself and Jack
Craig, a genius if I ever met one (which I did, him). We made lo-fi
music, played gigs around south east London and once even east (93 Feet
East to be precise). We even supported the Berkeley 'laptop-rap'
pioneer MC Lars. In 2005 we took the recording out of my bedroom in
Catford and into a studio in Croydon. Below are the results of that
'session'. I creatively titled the resulting EP 'Studio Songs'. We
didn't really do anything with it and for a while I wasn't really a fan
but listening back now I can dig it more. New fantastic sounds are coming in 2013 and polished
versions of older gems. I promise every new year that it'll be a
productive one but I'm confident this year it'll be more than just
talk. See you soon lonesome reader. Pink and Yellow Trees Saturday 8 December 2012 20.38 I recorded
this song back in the Spring of 2009 in Stockwell and always had an
idea in my head for the visual element. When in Louisiana in the summer
of that same year I recorded a bit of footage I thought could be edited
to the song but ever got around to actually doing it, until now that
is. Unfortunately, for a reason I couldn't identify, I was unable to
export the finished video so had to record the screen. As a result the
quality of the video is diminished somewhat. I'm happy that's it's
completed in some form though because it was always in the back of my
mind. Plus, if you don't make it full-screen, choose 480p and squint,
it looks okay. Enjoy.
Winter
Monday 8 October 2012 11.34 (GMT +1) It's again
been a while, almost five months since I last graced this website with
an editing presence - but better late than never I say. While it's not
exactly 'Winter' yet as the title suggest, it already could pass for it
here in Brussels where I'm currently laying my head (and body). I've
departed the city by the bay for now and as a result again changed time
zone, which is helpfully reflected under the aforementioned title - for
those that require extreme context when reading 'blogs'. I want to pose the imaginary question 'So what's been
up?', but I think that may be a bit much for a blog that not many read,
so I will just state the basics. BUSK SF,
didn't end up happening. Perhaps somewhere down the line it'll come to
fruition - only time (and my desire) will tell. I continued to do bits and pieces with the Kitchen
Sisters over the summer and hope to still help out. They are launching
a great sounding new series with KQED called 'The Making Of' which
will will focus on the making of a number of projects developed in the
Bay Area, from the iPhone to the Bay Bridge. The Homobiles piece I
mentioned in the April 30th entry will air on KQED (and most probably
other NPR stations) on tomorrow morning's 'Morning Edition'. In other news, I spend a bit of time over the summer as
the sound recordist for a film a friend was producing. We filmed
predominantly in Golden Gate Park late at night. It was very cold. I'll be working soon on the audio side of post-production for
that, 'stay tuned'. As I don't
have anything new to post today I thought it'd be a good idea to tie up
this post with a song that's now almost five years old, 'Winter'. Speak soon.
Never On A Sunday: The Hidden World Of Elena Fonseca Monday 21 May 2012 12.27 (PST) Hello my
faithful one or two readers. I'm spoiling you now - two new pieces in
three days. This one isn't quite as new though as I've been working on
it for almost a year. It's the story of a remarkable women from
Montevideo called Elena Fonseca. Elena was a diplomats wife who lived
in a number of countries around the world before returning to Uruguay
to find her country in the midst of a civil and military dictatorship.
Busking In Vegas: The Journey Of Marc Drama Friday 18 May 2012 18.49 (PST) A few weeks
ago my friend Ciaron and I went to Las Vegas, Nevada to "see it for
ourselves". Walking down Fremont street in Downtown Vegas we stumbled
upon Marc Drama, a busker who wasn't short of a story let alone a song.
So engaging was Marc that I decided to record him and his busking and
produce this piece. Mark speaks
about his journey through life
thus far, his passion for music and performing and a recent chance
encounter with comedian Russell Brand.
Enchanté Monday 30 April 2012 17.22 (PST) It really is. If
you take a gander at the top of this site you'll see I've made it
easier than ever to connect with yours truly on a variety of platforms
so if you are so inclined please feel free to holler. I also re-designed
the 'Sound' page. I think it makes a lot more
sense this way, but if you think differently test out the mail icon and
let me know. In other news: The Elena
Fonseca piece for the Kitchen
Sisters should be unleashed in the very near future. I went to Pop-Up Magazine for the second time last week and it was excellent. A really
interesting and diverse set of pieces were performed and it was
engaging throughout. It thought it'd be strange in such a big venue as
SF's Davies Symphony Hall (last time I saw it we sat on the floor in
MOMA) but it still felt intimate due to the nature of the work and
those who presented it. I thought my friend Julia DeWitt did a great
job producing the Homobiles piece with the Kitchen Sisters - a taster of their upcoming 'Making
Of...' series. I
haven't been completely creatively idol. Yesterday I started work on a
cover of Lana Del Ray's 'Video Games'. I use the word cover in the
loosest of senses. See if you can join the dots... This piece is a work
in progress, not sure about that bass... Jusqu'à la
prochaine fois.
Alanis would be proud Friday 20 April 2012 20.56 (PST) I've often
thought, as I'm sure others have also, that many of the situations
Alanis Morrisette describes in her song 'Ironic' weren't in really that
ironic, more they were unfortunate. However, I believe there is some
irony in the fact that my last post was entitled 'Getting Social' and
followed by over two months of inactivity. Today I'm
rectifying that. I have been working hard on a piece for the Kitchen
Sisters, which is so close to being complete that decimal places in a
percentage wouldn't to it justice. More about that when it's done. I
will however disclose it's title, for the one or two people who may
read this blog and be anxious to know. It's called 'Never On A Sunday:
The Hidden World Of Elena Fonseca' and is probably one of the last in
the Hidden World of Girls series. As I don't have any new work of my own to post I
thought I'd share a piece by my friend, the hugely talented Patty Fung.
She produced this fantastic piece about a visit the children she
teaches had from Jason Esler from the Green Living Project.
Getting Social Sunday 12 February 2012 23.15 (PST) I was going
to write some dribble about embracing change and getting with the times
but bun that. I re-activated the Twitter account that I never used the
first time around and I'm actually active now. If you want to follow or
tweet me
please do so: Give Up These Days Thursday 09 February 2012 10.53 (PST) I produced
this piece of music at the beginning of 2011 when I fell in love with
Nico's 'These Days' and in the last few days again attempted to blend
it with another favourite, 'Give Up The Goods' by Mobb Deep. Think it
would have worked better were unwanted sound not leaking from the
acapella, if the beat had been at the same bpm as the acapella, if the
beat had more variation and if the acapella didn't skip a verse.
'Anywhoo', here it is. "Mobb Deep - Give Up The Goods - (Kalou's Give
Up These Days Remix)" (2012)
In Search of Christina McKechnie Thursday 12 January 2012 13.38 (PST)
On the 11th
of December my friend Patty Fung and I ventured south from San
Francisco to Campbell, California in search of Christina
McKechnie. Ms. McKechnie, or Likky, as she's sometimes referred to,
was part of a group in the 1960's called the 'Incredible
String Band'. She mysterious disappeared around the time of the
original Woodstock and little is know about her whereabouts or what she
is doing now. The sound piece below documents our quest to locate
'Licorice' McKechnie.
2012
Saturday 31 December 2011 17.29 (PST) Rah, it's
been time since the last update. Happy new year! 2012 promises much and
I'm sure it'll deliver. Sonic Tube Map is complete!
Saturday 22 October 2011 02.29 (GMT) After a long journey that lasted over two years, my
London Sonic Tube Map project has reached its final destination. With
the immense help of Brian Gruber, who provided extensive maintenance
work on the tracks, customers are now able to board the sonic trains
without having to use MaxMSP, as the project is stationed, and
operational from this very site. Take the short walk to the Sonic
Tube Map page and enjoy a few sonic journeys around London (no
Oyster needed). Feedback is always welcome sam@kalou.co.uk. Happy Birthday to me!
Thursday 13 October 2011 15.30 (GMT) Today is my 26th birthday. I've been updating this
website for the last few hours so I thought I might as well wish myself
a happy birthday. 26 does seem old, but I plan to make it a great year,
and considering I still get ID'd in pubs, age really is just a number. This is my present to myself, 'Bad Bad Boys' by Midi,
Maxi and Efti. I'm all about this group at the moment.
Things done changed
Monday 10 October 2011 21.21 (GMT) Since my last update BUSK SF hasn't really seen
progress worthy of writing about. I have however updated this website a
little adding some new and old work to the 'Sound'
page and updating my 'About' section a little. Work on all fronts will soon come together and I'll
have progress to report in the coming weeks and months. BUSK SF
Sunday 28 August 2011 14.04 (PST) One of the ideas I initially planned to execute when I
moved to San Francisco was create a new version of my BUSK project
specific to the city. Due to time restraints (and a serious lack of
self-motivation) I haven't until now taken any steps to make it happen.
I now have the desire to continue the project and create this new
version. During my year in the city I have noticed quite a few
Buskers. While there is perhaps not quite as many as in London, the
city is 1/8 the size of London in terms of population - which could
well be a factor, there is enough diversity of acts to make the project
stimulating to me and I believe sonically and visually interesting to
an audience. The buskers in San Francisco are not as concentrated in
specific areas as they are in London. There is no equivalent to either
the Sound Bank or Convent Garden. As a result the San Francisco version
of the project will be less focused on creating the illusion that when
performed BUSK is just another act performing amongst his peers. BUSK SF will instead focus more on celebrating the
diversity of performers in the city from which sound and visuals can be
extracted. Performances will not necessarily be set in the locations
where the original footage was collected, although I do plan on
performing in Fisherman's Wharf, one area that consistently hosts
buskers. There will be more of an emphasis on the original work I can
create with the sounds collected, ultalising them all to their full
potential. I'm really excited about the prospect of BUSK SF and I
hope to get started on the recording of performers as soon as possible. My Mother
Sunday 28 August 2011 13.47 (PST) Wow! It really has been far too long since I last
updated this site. Over five months in fact. If anyone has been trying
to download the 'collection of sound pieces' compilation below, I am
aware that the link doesn't work and I am working on fixing it. In the time since my last update I have been working
hard at the day job but also doing some creative work. I finished a
piece for the Kitchen Sisters entitled 'My Mother'. To create
the Mother's Day piece I listened through all the phone messages we've
received through our Hidden World of Girls NPR phone line, cut those
related to mothers and used some great music to tie it all together.
The result can be heard by click on the picture above or listening to
below.
A Collection of Sound Pieces: 2007-2011
Monday 16 March 2011 19.52 (PST) I put together this compilation of music/sound pieces
so that anyone who wishes to can get an idea of what I've been
producing in the last four years. To download just right click on the
cover and save. For track listing click
here. Sampling and the democratisation of music production
Saturday 14 March 2011 14.50 (PST) Just over a year ago I completed my dissertation and I
have finally gotten around to uploading it to this website. It is
titled: 'How does the increased accessibility of sampling
contribute to the notion of the democratisation of music production' If your interested in reading it please click this here. ELSA 2010 on Resonance FM
Monday 14 February 2011 23.029 (PST) On the 1st and 2nd of June 2010, Rollo Smallcombe and
Matt Domino hosted a couple of one hour radio shows on London's
Resonance FM in preparation for our classes BA Sound Art and Design graduation show. The works played showcased the diversity of the
material produced by the class dubbed ELSA (Emerging London Sound
Artists) 2010. It's taken me long enough to do it, but I finally got
around to taking the files which I recorded in June and uploading them.
Should you wish to download them, simply right-click 'download' next to
the player and save the file. "Matt and Rollo on 104.4 Resonance FM Part 2 " - DOWNLOAD
"Matt and Rollo on 104.4 Resonance FM Part 2" - DOWNLOAD
Working with the Kitchen Sisters
Monday 14 February 2011 21.39 (PST) A month or so ago I began interning at the HQ of two
San Francisco-based radio programme producers, collectively known as
the Kitchen Sisters. The KS create excellently thought out programmes
with a consistently pleasing sonic aesthetic. While they commonly work
for a while around one theme, such is the depth of their imagination
that each piece works in isolation. There work can be heard on National Public Radio (NPR) and also
streamed on their own website. Their latest theme is called 'The Hidden World Of
Girls'. I have been helping out with editing and production, most
recently editing phone messages in which the public are given license
to recall their own stories of girls and women. When this work is
published I shall post a link up here. Until then though, check out the Kitchen Sisters and in
particular 'The
Hidden World Of Girls'. Next Hype
Thursday 03 February 2011 11.08 (PST) Happy new year! It's been almost two months since I
last posted and promised to bare music fruits. While those fruits are
still to be fully grown, they are making progress. In the meantime, I
have been working on a remix of Tempa T's 'Next Hype' and finished it
yesterday. Check the video below. MP3 and Instrumental versions are on
the 'Sound' page. Tempa T - Next Hype (Kalou's City Funk Remix)
No more floundering
Saturday 11 December 2010 12.58 (PST) Again it's been too long since I last updated this
website. I am determined to complete one of these long promised 'new'
songs before the calendar switches to 2011. I also hope to put together
an EP as I said a month ago. Perhaps this updates only purpose is to
reinforce this idea to myself, but that's okay. No more floundering, 'Floundering' coming soon. Recent Developments
Tuesday 09 November 2010 14.32 (PST) It's been about a month since I last updated the site.
Paid work has been taking precedence over everything else recently, but
exciting developments are in the works. I am finally making headway on
an online version of the Sonic Tube Map. This version will be
completely freed from Max MSP and should be able to run on a multitude
of operating systems and browsers. There is nothing to show yet but
once it is ready to be released this website will be the first place to
see it. I am also working on completing a new set of songs and
I hope to digitally release through this website an EP of sorts for
free. Tasters to come soon! Free London Underground tube train sounds
Sunday 10 October 2010 01.02 (PST) I'm aware many people enjoy the sound of trains and
that recordings of them can be of use to other artists in their own
projects as effects. I am offering for free the eleven London
Underground tube train recordings that I used in my 'Sonic Tube Map'. All I ask in return is that if
you use the recordings in a commercial project that you credit me. Each recording is unique and captures a specific sound
that the trains make while in motion (believe it or not - there are a
number!). The recordings are each seven seconds long, in WAV format and
were captured using binaural microphones and were recorded in Linear
PCM format using a Sony RZ-1 Mini-Disc recorder. Below are my two
favourites from the pack. "Tube 5" (2009)
"Tube 7" (2009)
The 12.4mb zip file can be download here. Alternatively you can sample and download uncut
individual files corresponding to the specific tube lines (i.e.,
Victoria, Central etc.) from the Sonic Tube Map page here. Bonus! Everyone's favourite announcement, as seen on
T-shirts all over Camden. "Mind the gap" Download
Wu-Tang Klang
Wednesday 06 October 2010 17:53 (PST) On the 2nd of October this website celebrated it's one
year re-vamp anniversary. To celebrate I have switched things up a bit
again and got rid of the 'frame'. Hopefully this will make the site a
bit easier and simpler to navigate. A few days ago I edited together a video for a song I
made earlier in the year entitled 'Wu-Tang Klang'. As the title
suggests the songs takes elements of Karlheinz Stockhausen's 'Klang'
work and rearranges them around the accapella to the excellent Wu-Tang
Clan song 'Cream'. If you don't enjoy it I hope at least you'll
appreciate the pun!
Forty Stories
Thursday 30 September 2010 21:51 (PST) I intended the piece to be a continuous stream of
eight millions sentences linked together by the last word in the
proceeding sentence, using the surrealist technique know as Exquisite
Corpses to compose an indeterminable unified story from many shorter
individual ones. I choose 8 million, as the idea for the piece came
from watching the film 'The Naked City' which contains the line, 'There
are eight million stories in the naked city'. 8 million turned out to be unpractical as
unfortunately did 80. Still, I enjoyed the process of putting this
together and want to greatly thank all those who contributed to the
piece. I created a second piece entitled 'My Story' which is dedicated
to all those who helped out with the original. "Forty Stories (Original)" (2010) -
Read the transcript here
"Forty Stories (My Story)" (2010)
An update from the West
Thursday 30 September 2010 18:03 (PST) I have decided that 'BUSK' will return to London's
South Bank bigger and better next year. I feel the project has a lot
further to go and I'll be working hard, practicing and improving my
skills with the old MPC 500. Just like an acoustic instrument one needs
practice to get better at performing and I hope to add some fresh
sounds to the mix. Look out for it in 2011, it's going to be big! In other news, I am trying to work out a way to embed
the London Sonic Tube Map into this website. So far I haven't had any
success so if anyone reading this happens to know to how one goes about
embedding a MaxMSP patch into a website, please contact me. I hope to have some more progressive news soon. I'm
finishing up a new version of a song I wrote in 2008 called
'Floundering' and I will upload that once I'm done. Take care and
really do. Life is fragile. San Francisco, California
Sunday 15 August 2010 01:28 (PST) After three years and a lot of hard grind, University
is over and I have relocated for an indefinite time to San Francisco,
California, USA. I feel that a change of scenery for a while will
hopefully prove fruitful in terms of finishing and expanding a number
of my recent projects and also in order to start working (with my new
found free time) on more conventional music in order to play live
again. It's been too long. Project-wise there are a couple of ideas in the short
term I want to focus on. The first is the Sonic Tube Map, which I hope
to make a stand alone programme free from Max MSP which could run on
the website. I would also like to create a San Francisco/Bay area
version of the map. The other idea was proposed to me by the creator of the
website San
Francisco Hiking. Alex
Genadinik's website attempts to get Californians outside and into
the extraordinary nature that surrounds them. My task would be to make
field recordings in Muir Woods, an area famed for it's huge Redwood
trees. The initial idea we've conceived is that the varying sounds I'd
record would be be incorporated into the website and initiated when the
user's cursor is over the relevant area on the page. Another change that coming with my relocation will be
the frequency with which I update this website. Expect changes, and
often. BUSK Project - Documentary
Thursday 9 July 2010 16:37
What's the 411!?
Friday 24 June 2010 16:37 I am still slowly revamping this website. Hopefully
some new music will appear soon. The Sonic Tube Map has undergone some
changes to improve the layout and hopefully (time permitting) I will
soon implement some new features into it that'll make it a lot easier
for one to follow their journey. I hope to perform BUSK one last time in the next month
so if you are interested in seeing it please check back soon as I will
put the details up on this page. Virtual Facelift II
Friday 11 June 2010 17:48 This website is currently being rebuilt again! BUSK Film
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 15.59 It has been a long time since I updated this website
but that is because I have been busy working on numerous projects. Most
of my time recently has been spent developing the BUSK project. I have composed a short film using the sounds and
visuals of the buskers I've recorded in preparation for the busking I
will do this week (more details to follow). The film can be viewed the
revamped BUSK page, on YouTube here or right
below this string of words
How Big Is Your House
Saturday, January 23, 2010 00.54 Bit late this update, but just before Christmas I was
asked by Ellen of Kids
Love Lies to produce a video for their charming song How Big
Is Your House. I did just that. KLL are touring in March so check
them out!
BUSK
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 23.02 Happy New Year to everyone who's on the Gregorian
calender! A majority of my time in the first half of this year will be
spent working on my Busk project. I'm excited
by the projects potential but it needs a lot of work and time to really
succeed. If you are reading this and happen to be a busker
or street performer that busks in London, please e-mail me as
it would be helpful to know whereabouts of some artists as well as
using the pot-luck method. In addition to locating buskers I'd like to
formulate a questionnaire to gather ideas about how artists approach
busking, their views on composition/improvisation and how they feel
they are regarded by the public. If you'd be interested in completing
that please e-mail me at info@kalou.co.uk. Last post of the decade
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 01.28 So, the 00's are nearly done. They have been a real
mixed bag personally but I feel optimistic about the next decade. In
recent news, I was asked to produce a video for the Kids Love Lies song
"How Big Is Your House", I did so and the result can be seen on the Video page. I have other things in the preverbal
pipeline but time will have to tick on a bit more until those details
become disclosed. Have a great new year anyone reading this. Don't make
the mistake of fretting too much about what to do, but at the same time
do something or at least have some company. I have experienced solitude
on new years eve and it's not pretty. Til' 2010! Sonic Tube Map
Saturday, November 21, 2009 01.58 There is now a page dedicated to the 'Sonic Tube Map' project I worked on earlier in
the year. The original patch can be downloaded from this page and I'd
encourage people interested in the work to read the future development
section. Operation: Complete
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 14:16 Well, finally I think this website is complete. There
are of course some small issues that need to be ironed out, but on the
whole it is functioning well. Expect small changes, updates and
improvements in the website in the next few weeks. Making a website...
Sunday, 25 October, 2009 18:39 ...is a nightmare! I have just spent the past 5 hours
or so trying to correct the smallest of things, without any success.
I'm moving on now. I'm listening to John Oswald's "Plunderphonics" CD
right now, so here's a bit of Oswald's work for you to enjoy and also a
good excuse to test out embedding code.
Good things come to those who wait
Friday 24 October 2009 00:34 Still slowly building the new website. It has been a
good while since any work was put into it, but there is now a completed
'About' page and my intention is to get the rest finished very soon. Virtual Facelift
Friday 2 October 2009 23:45 This website is currently being rebuilt. Website designed by Samuel Shelton Robinson 2008-2016. Deer drawing by Hollie Theedam. Social media icons designed by Freepik. Contact Kalou: sam@kalou.co.uk
In this piece Elena discusses what life was like for those inside and
outside jail during the dictatorship; the events that lead to a
transition to democracy and 'Never On A Sunday'
the women's radio programme she hosts along with her group Cotidiano Mujer.
