The Birds

In 1984 Rick Cuevas released an album called Symbolism, a self- released private pressing. There's a copy on Discogs priced at £133.23 if you're interested.  Rick's background was in AOR/ soft rock, and he had past history in Zru Vogue (early 80s post- punk, avant- pop from Palo Alto California) and Science Patrol (no idea). He self released another album in 1994 and a couple of singles and that's about as much as I know. This song came my way in the summer- trippy guitar, a drum machine and a laid back vocal, more lovely ringing guitar parts and then halfway through a synth solo where the song soars even higher. There's something incredibly unaffected about the song, even with all the FX and the synth, a song capable of lifting you for a few minutes out of your surroundings. 

The Birds

Monday Mix

A few weeks ago I got a message from Tak Tent Radio, an internet radio station broadcasting out of Edinburgh, asking if I'd like to do an hour long mix for them. I was flattered, obviously, and said yes. Ali said musically Tak Tent is a total 'free for all so play whatever you like'. If you have a dig around on their website you'll see that it is with everything from Italo and electro to gospel and Scots folk, ragas and psyche- pop and Aiden Moffatt to Richard Youngs playing Hawkwind and Flux Of Pink Indians. In the end I put together an hour of music that follows in some kind of line from the Isolation mixes I was doing in the spring and summer, ambient and tracks with found sounds, drones and noise, some Durutti Column, some Two Lone Swordsmen and some clattering, spooked out Eno/ Byrne style stuff. The samples in Maurice And Charles's I, Carpenter and the voice of Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken gave me a title and a reference to the ongoing horror show/ political reality TV show that is going on in the USA. It went out yesterday morning  and you can find my Find The President mix to stream at Mixcloud here. 

I almost titled it after Snake's line in this clip... 

Tracklist

• A Man Called Adam: Easter Song Gospel Oak FX/ Speaking In Tongues 
• Daniel Avery and Alessandro Cortini: Interrupted By The Cloud of Light
• Glok: Pulsing (Citadel Ambient Version)
• Jan van den Broeke: Memories
• Jan van den Broeke: Who Is Still Dreaming?
• Steven Legget: Still
• Richard Norris: Water
• Rick Cuevas: The Birds
• Durutti Column: Bordeaux Sequence
• Calexico: Untitled (Two Lone Swordsmen Virus Style Mix)
• Brian Eno and David Byrne: The Jezebel Spirit
• Maurice & Charles: I, Carpenter
• Two Lone Swordsmen: Smokebelch (For Ali)
• Daniel Avery: TBW17