Tagged: free music
“Navigating Purgatory”: An EP of weird, ambient music
Yes, I’ve been ensconced in my office-slash-recording studio, concocting more strange music with no audience or venue in mind.
Just fucking around on my MIDI keyboard and seeing what I can come up with.
Quite pleased by this latest batch o’ tunes, especially the very first cut, “Ominous IV”, which wouldn’t be out of place as the main title track of the next “Alien” movie.
Here’s the tune in question and if you want to listen to the entire EP, go to my BandCamp page (everything there is FREE, no strings attached, honest) and download away.
An early Christmas gift from Black Dog Press
Merry Christmas!
Every year I try to come up with something special to post on this blog during the holiday season.
It’s my way of saying “thank you” to the freaks and geeks and shoe-gazers who pop in between trips to their shrink and long, meandering walks going nowhere.
At last count, this blog had something like eight hundred (800) followers and tons of other folks who drop by when the mood strikes them. To hear my latest rant on some personal or professional pet peeve.
National Novel Writing Month…
Don’t get me started.
This year I’ve decided to post a batch of new music on BandCamp, stuff you can, needless to say, listen to and download for absolutely nuttin’. We’re talking about forty minutes of my ambient work, short snippets I’ve assembled into an album I’ve dubbed Pensées.
You can find the album in its entirety here.
Here’s the first cut, just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about:
With a nod to Mr. Cohen (new MP3 recording)
I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen a lot lately—the poetry, that voice…
Inspired and, at the same time, still feeling his loss, I dug out some some lyrics I wrote a number of years ago, added musical accompaniment and ended up with “Alias”.
Here’s the the version I recorded…what do you think, do you detect a little Lenny in this piece?
Is it a suitable homage to a beloved troubadour?
A sample of my straaaange, electronic music
I purchased a MIDI keyboard about a year ago—handy little gadget, plugs into my Garageband software, no problem, offering me a new range of bloops and blips to play with.
Whenever my writing process starts to feel stale or contrived, I haul out my MIDI and noodle about for a week or two…or I’ll descend to our low-ceilinged basement to slap and flick and scrape paint onto canvas. Anything to break the cycle of futility.
I’ve uploaded one of my recent pieces, a short, two-minute number that will give you an idea of where my musical instincts lie. Just click on the link below and away you go. Feel feel to download and share it, as well.
This kind of music is not for everyone, but it’ll definitely get your attention.
Hope you enjoy “Paint the Sky Transparent”:
Blog Post #374: A New Look
Yes, boys and girls, time to do some house-cleaning, add a lick or two of paint, shake out the cobwebs, freshen up the ol’ joint a little.
Presenting a reboot of “Beautiful Desolation”, hopefully a version that is more readable and easy on the eyes.
Let’s celebrate these latest renovations with some new music.
I mentioned I’d purchased a MIDI keyboard for my Mac—well, yesterday I put the finishing touches on the first batch of music I’ve created with the MIDI and today I loaded a whopping fifty-three minutes worth of aural oddities on to my BandCamp page.
Here’s a sample cut from Primordial, a trippy number called “Corona” that’s quite representative of my recent work.
To listen to the album in its entirety, click here.
New music, new look…a good beginning to my summer.
And there’s more to come. Much more.
Keep watching this space.
Blog Post #300 (Huzzah! Huzzah!)
There it is.
Three hundred blog posts…and counting.
And the credit all belongs to…you. D’you think I’d keep this up for 300 posts I didn’t feel like I was getting through, if this site wasn’t an invaluable line of communication to friends, colleagues and readers from, well, from everywhere? You’ve commented and you’ve written, hundreds of you, and I love it. Some really smart people hang out at my place, ideal readers every one. These are the individuals I’m thinking of when I start a new poem, short story, novel. I want to constantly surprise and amaze them, show them something unexpected. Never let them down, never take them for granted.
Thanks, folks. Thanks, so much.
Not only am I celebrating #300, there’s other news:
Yesterday I completed the first draft of what appears to be a short novel. Worked on it for nineteen (19) consecutive days, 2500 words a day. The experience left me drained, exhilarated…now I have to take a few days and try to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with it. I have another manuscript waiting for revision, an older effort I’m hoping to resurrect, but think I’ll stick with this new one for awhile. It’s in really rough shape—still, I think there’s a polished gem in there somewhere. It’ll take work, tons o’ research too. Ah, well, I should be used to that.
A surprisingly pain-free draft—not assailed by the usual demons of self-doubt and I tried to take breaks, the occasional walk, get away from the keyboard. Is this the beginning of a new trend? Will I (gasp) stop punishing my body/mind/spirit in the name of art?
To add to the positive vibes around here, my wife has returned from Yellowknife, so our little family unit is intact once more. Sherron spent ten days up there with a troupe of professional artists, rehearsing and performing a dramatic presentation recreating events from the life of a longtime local character, Tom Doornbos. They used a variety of puppets and employed a number of locales around Yellowknife to tell their story and their play was a great hit. Now there’s talk of touring it…stay tuned.
After picking Sherron up at the airport, we drove to the Broadway Theater and took in a showing of “Berberian Sound Studio”, which I thought would be good…and turned out to be the best movie I’ve seen this year. You can find the review over at my film blog.
And, finally…I promised you a treat, didn’t I?
Well, how about an entire CD of free music, over forty-seven minutes worth of catchy, mind-warping “chillout” tunes? I’ve just released “Ambient i-viii” in its entirety over on Bandcamp. Here a link to the site—enjoy, download, share.
I’ll start you off with a sample track, one of my favorites, titled “Ambient vi”:
One last time: THANKS.
And keep those comments and e-mails coming.
Love to hear from you…
While I’m away…music to shoegaze to
These days I’m toiling away on a rewrite of the concluding novella of my short story collection in progress Exceptions & Deceptions.
While I’m otherwise occupied, feel free to enjoy two of my recent ambient tunes.
The second, longer piece is an extended version of the soundtrack music for my new short film “Exoplanet”.
Off to BandCamp…
Sherron has convinced me to offer some of my audio and spoken word pieces on the Bandcamp site.
Didn’t really cost me anything except time (uploads seemed to take forever) and now we’ll wait and see if this draws any more attention to my work. My audio stuff is available for free, as always; while BandCamp offers a decent selection, my complete output is only available here, on this site.
I notice that Amazon is now offering The Last Hunt as a pre-order; the Kindle version and e-book have been available for some time.
However you read my novel, in whatever format you favor, hope you enjoy my tall, western tale.
Tell your friends, get some word of mouth happening.
Help make this terrific indie release a huge success.
New music (& other bouts of hyperactivity)
Feeling giddy and celebratory of late and who can blame me?
I’m got a brand new book on the way, the most important people in my life are healthy and reasonably happy…oh, and I mustn’t forget that the fifth anniversary of this blog is rolling around. St. Patrick’s Day marks the unofficial birthday of Beautiful Desolation—raise a pint of Guinness in honor of a site that’s managed to beat the odds. Five years and still going strong. Surely that’s worth a toast or two, innit?
Today I put the finishing touches on a CD’s worth of ambient material and added it to my Audio page. Forty-six minutes of my oddball offerings; “Emanations” features some genuinely whacked out and trippy music. I’ve posted a 3-song sampler below. Check out my audio page for several hours of music and spoken word pieces, all of it available for FREE listening:
And while I’ve been waiting for the proof of The Last Hunt, I’ve been cleaning up my office, prepping it for the next project on my plate. Finally settling down and doing some reading as well, including a novelette by the great Jim Shepard.
Attended “Silence is Golden” at the Roxy Theater in Saskatoon and posted about it on my film blog. I’ve vowed to go on a reading and movie watching binge now that my book is done. My wife and kids are skeptical but I truly intend to ease up on the workload for awhile. Kick back and relax. Surely a few hours of leisure won’t kill me…will it?
Bit of sad news today as I was trolling through headlines. Ralph McQuarrie has passed away. Serious “Star Wars” fans will know exactly who I’m talking about. I remember seeing some of his production paintings in science fiction magazines like Starlog long before the film came out. George Lucas gives McQuarrie a good deal of the credit for the eventual look of his movie. Let’s hear it for ol’ Ralph. He helped imagineer a whole franchise. There aren’t many who can say that…
“Poor Mary” (A Murder Ballad): Free Music for Downloading!
One of the activities that’s given me the most pleasure in the past couple of years is creating music.
When words no longer suffice, I click on Garageband and commence work on some atmospheric, ambient melange, usually employing at least a dozen tracks before I’m satisfied the result is sufficiently whacked out and spacey. I’ve posted the best stuff on my Audio page and you’re welcome to listen to it, download…have at it.
A couple of years ago I got it into my head to write a murder ballad. I was raised on Johnny Cash and Hank Snow—one of the first tunes I can remember hearing is Johnny’s spooky version of “The Long Black Veil”.
I think I had that song in the back of my head as I sat down and wrote out the words to “Poor Mary”. The song wrote itself very quickly—I recall there were only two or three drafts. But once I finished, it was head-scratching time. What in the name of God was I going to do with the bloody thing now? I can’t read or write music, can’t play an instrument.
Ah, but I’m fortunate enough to have a pal who can pick and strum and carry a tune. So I handed the lyric sheet over to Laird Brittin and asked him if it was possible to create an actual song out of the few lines of poetry I’d composed. He liked the lyrics and came back with an arrangement that is nothing less than stunning. If you like “Poor Mary”, the vast majority of the credit goes to Laird, who truly found the perfect “sound” for the piece.
To give the tune a listen (it’s only three minutes and some long), click on the following link:
This happens to be my 200th blog post and I can think of no better way of commemorating that milestone than releasing “Poor Mary”.
Special thanks to Laird for recording, arranging and mixing this version.
My appreciation, as well, to the many, many folks who still make a regular habit of stopping by this blog and checking out my take on “the writing life”. It ain’t a particularly rewarding or empowering existence/vocation, but I’ve never regretted my decision to go the “indie” route.
It takes its toll but if this approach allows me to fully express myself as an artist, as someone with a unique perspective on the multiverse, I’ll accept the consequences, come what may.
And, hey, if I get to occasionally turn my hand to songwriting, come up with something as fun and enjoyable (and good) as “Poor Mary”, then all I can say is fucking bring it on.
“Poor Mary” © Copyright, 2010 by Laird Brittin & Cliff Burns (All Rights Reserved)
No commercial use of this song is permitted.
Beautiful Desolation 