TELAFONICA

i think i've finally got a version of send away that works completely. i bit the bullet and just hacked the last section right off, so instead of going back into the 'climactic' beat bit, it just ends there, going into the synth sound etc. it still goes for over 3 minutes and i think it is a complete song - it doesn't feel like anything is missing, and it also no longer feels like there's a totally redundant section in there. i've also registered the punches or the lies and i saw this and thought of you with cdbaby. i'll be sending some copies of tpotl off in a few days and then the album when it's ready. the main thing with this is that all the music will then be available via itunes and most of the other e-retailers on the web. it also means we now have bar codes for both - i'll send the istatoy one to you for your artworking.

i had much trouble sleeping last night - i often have nights where thought processes take over sleep processes and the sleep just has to find a bit of room anywhere it can. anyway, one of the things that kept me awake was a possible idea of how to present the images you've been producing in the packaging. so here is a suggestion - feel free to get excited or flame as appropriate.... we print the images on transparency as either a booklet or, more possibly, a set of cards. the images as they currently stand are great. i don't know if there's more to come, but if there is, that's also fine. we then either add all the written info we require around/over some of the images, or make separate cards, again on transparency, with that info. we then house these in a box with the cd on a button under the lid. i'm imagining a box about the size of a regular cd case. on the outside of the box is something graphic, screenprinted, based on something of the forms on the ima...

...because they are really very good. any idea how you might like to start incorporating them into the book(let)? i've been toying with the idea with a slightly more exyensive use of rubber stamps for this one as well. and screen printing as well, but am happy to have those ideas subsumed by the aesthetic rather than force them in. however, i do really wish to keep some sort of handmadeness in the actual image making. the gig on jan 6 has officially been postponed due to issues with the venue among other things. at this stage it looks like being rescheduled for march. so that actually gives us a realistic deadline, too. when shall you be back from you journeying? we are pretty much around anytime except the week of the 12th-19th. as to the image formatting issues on blogger - what other options are there? i don't mind what you've done, linking to a higher res external thing. i think there's enough happening on this blog and the myspace site, and i plan to overh...

Some of the images i've been working on from those photos - could be a good visual starting point for the album artwork. Will email a higher res image to you.

Another missed JLN for us. Glad it went so well. What were the numbers like? I felt fairly ho hum about the set on the night. Had a similar sense of some reasonably positive feedback but it was certainly not glowing. I guess for me there's just a big gap between where we're at as producers and what comes off live. I find this bothersome I must admit... One piece of constructive feedback I received was that in some songs your vocal almost blew anything else away including both cell and I! I feel that this is one potential problem with the current set up. It's pretty crazy really for you to be expected to perform a song and know how the mix of the vocal is sounding from the audience. At the moment of course - the sound person can't fix anything in the mix... Could you send the vocals separately from the laptop to the desk? It's also pretty clear to me that for the kind of set we're playing there really needs to be some more practice time put in. Obviously it's...

had just like now on friday with broken chip and underlapper. underlapper was mind blowingly good (and broken chip was excellent, too). the last time we saw them live, they were doing hip-hop vocals and were fine, but not brilliant. they've morphed considerably since then and are pretty awe-inspiring now. as for thursday night, all the feedback i've been getting has been fairly positive. those that have seen us play before have pretty much had a similar feeling to what we did - that it wasn't bad, but that it didn't quite take off like it can when it works. (i think the monstrous now were very much the same) but, particularly for those who haven't seen us before, there has been a very positive response - from the sound guy and the barman, who were both quite rapturous (and i've played to many many sound guys and bar folk to know what is real and what is politeness!) to others just there. so in retrospect, i'm fairly pleased with how it went. i agree ...

is this telafonica's first officially published 3rd party review? i went along to concrete last night. it is definitely a gig we have to play, so i've said yes to a spot on sunday, january 6. marcella, you said you went back to work on the 7th, so i'm taking the assumption you should be around on the sunday night. it was on the 3rd floor of the building used by the hope street mission for their restaurant and bar and has a great feel to it, and a good crowd. bec paton and clark nova will also be dj-ing on the 6th, so i have to say i'm pretty excited about the prospect. which brings me to the last point. how realistic might a january 6th album launch be? can we get the music and packaging completed by then?