sainsburys, tesco metro < the canteen

hmm. Time alternates between flying by and surprising me in how short a time I've been here. The former, schoolwork. The latter, lack of girlfriend.


I went back to Epping forest last Monday for some more recording on this bird sounds project ('Invasive Species'). I actually caught some of the nicer weather we had been having, so it was another productive time off in the woods by myself, making animal noises. At the end of Sunday, just as it was getting dark, I had come across a sign that showed me that in fact I had only seen about 1/3 of the park that day, and not even the good part. So Monday I rode the underground a few stops farther north, and it paid off. More wide open spaces, less highways, and a nearby town with a map so I didn't just have to rely on guesswork and my keen sense of direction.

In the days following I had my first sessions in the sound dungeon, the only room with Pro Tools at CSM, down in the A/V spread. When you sign out the room you get it basically all day which is cool, like at least 7 hours straight. Its just a bit small, there's no fan and a big powerful computer so it gets hot quick. It also has a carpet so I spend some time (especially whilst bouncing tracks) lying down.


I was recording on DAT, which proved to be quite problematic in terms of transferring to the computer. The main technician, Daniel, as Rob says "could use a few more people skills." He just has quite a glare to him; it makes you feel like whatever totally normal request/question you may have is taking up his precious time. He just needs to smile more. :-)
After a good two and a half sessions I chopped my 90 or so minutes down into a 12:30 piece. It sounds good, didn't really require much editing, a lot of me doing bird calls along with the native species. I met with my tutor, Graham Gussin (Google him), and we spoke about the idea of toeing that line between the listener not knowing that I actually changed anything in the recording, and (more ideally) knowing something has been changed, but almost not being able to tell exactly what. I think I'm there in terms of the sound, now I gotta make sure the presentation ties it together...

But oh no its not all work around here. Home life is a good time:

Chris + Pierre

I think I mentioned something about the squat lifestyle over here in the last post... Rich, Ruth and Josh took me just up the road from college where 4 kids were living in huge, 4-floor setup. They had dubbed themselves 'ASDA' and held a huge art show, with kids from CSM and Slade (and probably some other colleges) just bringing in work and setting in up wherever, with all the rubble and poor-lighting. We also had a peek on the roof.




I guess the show was a success. I didn't get in - I had gone to see some grime action from DJ Brains and the 7 Year Itch nearby, and by the time I got there around 11 they weren't letting anyone into the squat. There may be some more shows/performances there in the future, as it seems the cops/landlord haven't evicted them as fast as expected.

(Rob, Dan)

Wednesday night, Rob, Dan, Jack and myself found ourselves in the mood for an impromptu bender. Well it started with a few innocent pints at the hillarious Intrepid Fox, a fake-skull laden (I literally counted at least 8 on the booze shelf) goth bar right near CSM. We hit up Maoz for a bitchin' falafel, and then Garlic & Shots (I tried the 'Caipirina' as well as the 'Liver Massage'), ending up at Push Bar, a kind of speakeasy themed spot that just hasn't quite got it figured out yet.


At the reccomendation of a few kids I called up Will and went to check out Christoph Buchel's massive installation at Hauser & Wirth gallery (warehouse). 'Simply Botiful.' I thought it was quite amazing - the space is crammed with tons of found objects, huge piles of ephemera, junk, carefully arranged rooms, all with this vague secret terrorist training, illegal immigrant squat vibe. Its hard to explain, and totally worth checking out if you're in London. Check out the installation photos on their site, mine don't really do it justice. I just got too absorbed in the thing after a while to even take photos.

Yesterday's football match of Manchester United vs. Arsenal was quite awesome, and just a pint's throw away at the pub across the street. I think the other major TV event it this celebrity Big Brother show. There has been some racism scandal, and its totally insane how trashy the press is. There seems to be much less separation between tabloids and genuine newspapers, and the press is ruthless in terms of making people look bad and obsessing over celebrities. There is also a tendency towards gore stories, violent headlines, and making big deals out of whatever possible. At least it has provided some good sketchbook-pasting fodder.

People told me the food was gonna be bad, but Janelle and I went for some amazing curry on Bricklane. Mmm, lamb. The guy touting the place out front made it sound pretty delicious, and I noticed in the East Ender newspaper that that restaurant had in fact been recently been fined for touting. Ha! Well, personally I didn't feel very hassled or pushed around, and we did get 30% off. Some more lamb was had on Saturday - Will and I went with his friend Aya up to Dalston to where the Turkish food is plentiful and the fake stucco cave decor flows like, uh, really slow rocks.
At the bar later that night, Becks told me that Shoreditch (where she'n Will live) "used to be cool," but now that it became trendy "all the shit people from the city come to the outskirts to have a good time." Williamsburg much?

(near the now-closed Shoreditch tube stop)

If you've read all the way here, email me your address and I'll send you some postage.
Stay tuned for my trip to Art Rotterdam with the Graffiti Research Lab!! (well in a few weeks, but still. I'm gonna take the train through 'The Chunnel.' sweet.)
And also work on my next sound project, involving me harmonizing with existing industrial drones. Check it out, I got my field recording set-up good to go!