30/10/2008

20th artwork




i've been making the covers for this month's 20th compilation over the last few days. thought i'd put up a picture of the finished things just to give an idea of the format - it's the same width and height as a jewel case but is just a sleeve, and is held together by the stitching down each side. would this work with your concept, david?

this cover recycles an old screenprint image you made once for a just like now poster, david, and features the number '20' embossed quite large on the front, though you can't really see it in the photo. the back has all the track info photocopied in black.

Grizzly Bear - Knife



it's probably a bit old now, but i've just discovered grizzly bear via a side project of their singer's which i just reviewed. anyway, this clip is pretty brilliant, in a strange, surreal way, and the music is nice and bitsy as well. though the sounds and visuals would appeal to various factions within telafonica. the final shot is also bizarrely hilarious, but it's worth sitting through the six minutes to get to it, or it might just seem peurile. as it is, it's just surrealist humour at its best.

29/10/2008

monday arvo - the show

do we want to do a live track in the studio on monday afternoon? we can if we would like, but that would mean practising something - would you have time, blake? and if so, what should we play? we can always do this is the new thing again, but something new might be nice. nothing ventured could probably sound good with little instruments - though it would require blake learning some more mandolin bits. any other ideas?

I saw this and thought of you artwork



Initial concept for 'I saw this and thought of you' artwork. Working on the illustration in colour - but was playing with this outline treatment. 

28/10/2008

afternoon show

samantha, one of the producers of fbi's afternoon show wrote and asked if a couple of us would like to go in next monday afternoon, mostly to plug thursday's show. is anyone free? i would need to get last period off school, but i think it would be worthwhile doing so, unless blake and eliza are both free and can get themselves there and are happy to do it that way?

27/10/2008

art groupie photos

a couple of shots from the opening of art groupie. the crowd was actually much more crowded than it looks. still, no-one bought any of our works.


25/10/2008

intertextunderworld

every few months i revisit the underworldlive site and fall in love with underworld all over again. i dream of being able to maintain the mix of design, art and music that they do in the form of telafonica. not in terms of copying their work, but definitely in terms of having those three (and anything else that might relate) interweaving, feeding off each other. i also love that the old band cycles of record, release, tour, rest are thrown out the window. their latest album is now about a year old, but using the 'net means that things are constantly refreshed, new artistic and musical works are thrown into the public domain and keep them interesting. the prices for their music downloads are a little capitalist for my taste but, aside from that, i think they have the model of artistic creation and output that i most like.

24/10/2008

welcome from peat

i've just got off the phone from one of the organisers of the peat's ridge festival and we've been asked to play. the director of the festival, matt, came to the all india radio show and talked to us afterwards, and the music booker who i just spoke to (sorry, i've forgotten his name, but i'll update as soon as i remember it!) will be coming along to the show on the 6th.

so the festival runs from december 29 until january 1st. i don't know exactly when we'll be playing yet - they're getting the schedule together now and should let us know over the weekend. i'll let everyone know our playing time as soon as i find out.

needless to say, i'm pretty excited. there's a bunch of bands i really love who will be playing - pivot, papa vs pretty, the dolly rocker movement, celli's lil bro in cloud control, sui zhen, mark pritchard, cuthbert and the nightwalkers. hope some of you can make it up there with me!

you can have a look here.

22/10/2008

Craven Canary - Rearview Mirror



this release is available for free download along with artwork. for more details and download info, visit the 4-4-2 Music website.
_________________________________
released october, 2008

Craven Canary normally floats around cyberspace finding music she likes, then records herself singing duets with what she downloads. This time, she decided to reverse the process - and so placed a recording of her lone voice singing a simple melody for others to download and make up the accompaniment. These are two of the results. The first is a glitched up scramble of the accapella, where Lessons In Time used only the sounds from Craven Canary's recording, then chopped and processed them into an abstract folk deconstruction. Telafonica dressed the voice in a dark, atmospheric, airless house groove for a collision of musical impulses.

1. Craven Canary - Rearview Mirror (Lessons In Time Version)
2. Craven Canary - Rearview Mirror (Telafonica Version)

________________________

21/10/2008

A Request for Blake

Hi Blake!

I wrote some words ages ago for a song which I am calling "Cover" and I want to have a go at "making" the music myself. (Every time I ask AJE about making music for it he says, "For what?" like it's the first time I've asked.) Anyway, I was listening to Sufjan Stevens' A Sun Came! and I really like track 7 - Wordsworth's Ridge. It's kind of made up of all these little arpeggios on different instruments and they build and build until the singing starts. I was wondering if you could create a little guitary bit to play over and over and that could be added to on other instruments. Something sweet or melancholy but not saccharin. But pretty. Y'know, something very Blake. Here are the words, in case it helps:

Cover

The end of all things is near
Come here my friend, come over here
This love is deep enough to cover
All your slings and arrows

The blow comes swift
It takes my breath
But I'd do it again
I would do it again

The road goes back
Through winding ways
I would go there again
Yes I would

The view from here
Is a fiery red
And the thoughts that force themselves
Into my head
Are of lingering doubt
And a nagging dread
But I will go
I will go there with you

The end of all things is near...

Anyway, something to think about when you're sick of studying! : )

i don't have what it takes



for more details on the 20th Project visit Cabinet Pin.
_________________________________
released october, 2008

here's the official telafonica contribution to the october version of the 20th project. the main vocal is a little off-key here and there, but, hey, we only had a few hours to get the whole thing done from nothing at all to completion. actually, while we were working on it, i kind of felt like i could understand how the beatles worked during the early 60s - writing, recording and releasing two albums a year. you just make decisions quicker and go with the flow more.

the mandolin riff is ripped off a very old u2 b-side - boomerang ii (the vocal memory sort of follows it, too, though has more melodic and harmonic meanderings). the drum sounds are courtesy of my brand new tom waits sampled drum kit in ableton live. bec wrote the words.

bec wrote the lyrics, adrian did the music. on the same day, blake was working on a lessons in time contribution which also appears on the compilation.

i also got to do the artwork for the compilation, which involved reusing one of davids old screen designs for a just like now poster onto card, emossing '20' on the front, then folding and sewing the edges.

1. COMMAS - A Tribute
2. FISHEADS OF FUN - Det Blir Nog Bra I Alla Fall
3. MELODRAMA MARMALADE - Oh-NO-O-Sphere!
4. LESSONS IN TIME - My Humble Address To The Peaceful Dinosaur
5. BAGLEY - River To Your Right
6. TELAFONICA - I Don't Have What It Takes
7. COMMUNITY MUSK - Seven Times
8. THE DESKS - Unlined, p1
9. 44HERTZ - Cherries

20/10/2008

near foregone conclusions

here's something i worked on a couple of weeks ago. it's barely there at all, basically a bass line and a beat, though the aim is to keep it fairly minimal. i discovered (via the ever trusty wire magazine) a finnish phenomenon called skwee which i have found to be quite likeable, so that's kind of the starting point for the track. i've passed it on to eliza to see if she can perhaps produced something vocal to sit on it. there's obviously much more work to do, but it's a start.



as an amusing aside, i tried to load this into imeem yesterday and the first attempt didn't work. today, when i checked it out at imeem, it says that both versions worked and are available. however, when i tried to get to the second upload i did yesterday, the school's internet filter blocked it and gave me the following message:

>... has been denied for the following reason:
>
>Weighted phrase limit exceeded.
>
>Categories:
>
>Pornography (Japanese)

you will probably need to play the track backwards to hear any of the porn, though.

16/10/2008

i think it's sorted

well, to finalise all that - it seems to be working fine now. my assumption is that there is some process happening at imeem which means full versions aren't available for a few hours after they're put up, but after about a day, it all seems to be fine. if that doesn't seem right on anyone else's computer let me know.

if it is ok, then feel free to start uploading whenever you like.

15/10/2008

the separation

so, this is possibly just to test out the new imeem system, but this version hasn't yet been posted, so here it is. this is the most recent version, edited and mixed by blake - perhaps he can add anything i miss. there's new guitar bits, and the backing has stripped down to give everything more space.

14/10/2008

at long last...!

...a way to embed individual songs directly onto the blog!!!!

i've set up an account at imeem.com. it's basically just another social networking site, but it gives you the ability to upload as much of your own music as you like plus, more importantly (because virb already allowed that) you can then embed playlists from imeem anywhere you want. so for demos as we work on them, we can load them in then embed them directly onto the blog, meaning all comments and stuff can be done right here, rather than flipping between virb and the blog or whatever. and it's free, unlike the wordpress option.

as a trial, i uploaded an mp3 of the track from the 20th compilation, which is 'but i lose myself'. it worked so i'm very happy.

and, on the subject of working technology out, last week i also worked out how to build my own drum kits in ableton live using samplesz. so i've rebuilt my old house and techno kits from back in the asr-10 days, and also a new kit featuring various bangs and clangs sampled from tom waits recordings.

20th (September 2008)



for more details on the 20th Project visit Cabinet Pin.
_________________________________
released september, 2008

The 20th project is one Telafonica came across a couple of months back and thought it would be great to take part. The premise is that on the 20th day of every month, musicians completely compose and record a brand new piece of music. There's to be no forethought leading up to the 20th, just a complete creative outburst on the day. These are then sent to the fine folk at Cabinet Pin, who put all the tracks on a CD-R, whack it in a handmade custom case, and send a copy to all participants. The only way to get a copy is to be on the compilation.

This was our first go at it, and luckily it fell on a Saturday, so we had time to get it all together. Rebecca and Adrian created the Telafonica track. We'd been listening to the Go! Team the night before, and it kind of tells. Blake can be heard elsewhere in his Lessons In Time guise.

Disc One
1. Abstract Transient - Coastal Stations
2. Telafonica - But I Lose Myself
3. The Desks - Flee!
4. Zigfried's Quest - Trouble
5. Rainboat - Redstone 1A
6. 44Hertz - Disco Mafia
7. Fisheads Of Fun - Independent Foundation
8. The Bottle Thieves - The Canberra Trilogy
9. RainBoat - Ares III
10. 44Hertz - Shamanic Rituals
11. Fisheads Of Fun - Second To None
12. Tony Eales - Tastee
13. RainBoat - Project Gemini
14. Kane Black - First Dust
15. The Desks - Fake Finale

Disc Two
1. Lessons In Time - In Regards To The Sorry Souls Of The Pretty Showmen
2. Fisheads Of Fun - Expect High Stay To A Few More
3. RainBoat - Saturn V
4. Commas & Dots - Drippiness
5. The Desks - I'm Listening
6. Wade - Eyry
7. Fisheads Of Fun - Financial Gloom
8. The Desks - Impersonating Monsters
9. Bagley - Domestic
10. RainBoat - Maercury-Atlas 6
11. 44Hertz - 360
12. Fisheads Of Fun - Live Stream
13. The Desks - We Float And Burst
14. Love's Children - Wait For The Sun To Rise
15. Tony Ealesz - Drifter

________________________

bald faced stag - 6.11.08

13/10/2008

vinyl/

have we received the vinyls from new zealand yet?
whether we have or not by now... will we hopefully use the november 6 one for a launch?
i will be there for that one!!
(if i am still 'in'vited). :)


12/10/2008

you sly fox

telafonica had an absolute ball last night at the sly fox. the guys from brackets were really lovely and looked after us well. after camilla and m.o.r. (love the horse head), the crowd was really ready to move and scream. they made us feel really welcome. we felt like we were playing in a stadium full of adoring fans instead of a little pub. they lapped up our two new songs - "but i lose myself" and "the separation" - with relish. very thrilling and humbling. it turned out to be a good thing that blake wasn't there because there was absolutely no room onstage. it was great to meet the wonderful door man who thought i was underage instead of twice the age. he was a real sweety. there were people there who were taking photos - if you were one of them, it would be great to get a copy - there are no performance photos of telafonica 2008.
our set list was as follows:
1. smells like rain
2. but i lose myself
3. the separation prepared this for another marriage
4. nothing ventured
5.this is the new thing
6. your hands
7. 89
many thanks to the sly fox, brackets and all the dancers, screamers and rhythmic nodders!

02/10/2008

still thinking of you

ok. so i want to get this backlog of music released, and then get going on the new eps etc. i have just ordered an album by an artist called color cassette. the album is 8 tracks long. what interests me most about it is that it uses the old vinyl idea of side a and side b, but in a new light. the album comes as two 3" cds - 1 cd is 'side a' and the other cd is 'side b'. i like this idea. so, a proposal....

for those in england - have a listen through again to the tracks for 'i saw this and thought of you'. choose the two you like least and discard them. of the remaining 8 tracks, decide upon a running order, 4 tracks per 'side'. this then becomes our album. the packaging still remains simple but good, so we can sell the album relatively cheaply - say $10. maybe an insert with a single colour screenprint plus black photocopy at a3 size - a poster on one side with info on the other? the two cds are stuck one on either side of a piece of card, sitting on a foam dot each - so they are literally two sides. the whole thing could maybe be put into an envelope.

the other two tracks can be put out as an e-single, or saved and worked on for later ep use or something like that.

yes? no?

01/10/2008

i'm finally here

hey! adrian finally let me in this blog. it took me a long time to think of something worthy enough to say. special hello to dave, celli, steve, ellie, blake as well as oliver from (is) who was so entertained by my cymbal work. i have an idea! how would it work at gigs to sell e.p.'s in such a way that after we play, fans can pay $1.00 and download the e.p. straight off the mac onto a memory stick or mp3 player? very cheap all round, more likely to make a sale. anyway, there's my light bulb. hope everyone is well. love to all!

fluffy rabbit

i (along with, but separate to, blake) have been working on some remixes over the past few weeks. i think i might begin to just randomly find these kinds of things via myspace etc and do them. i've decided it might be a good way to try out ideas relatively quickly and get them out, and then see the results to see if the ideas are worth pursuing in our own music down the track. i just finished one last night for a guy called tidy kid. it's now on both our myspace page (because that's where he asked for them to be to initially hear them) and on the virb page (because that's where i'm putting everything!). there's a bit of a write-up with it on the virb page. tidy kid normally doesn't do cheesy stuff, but some of the samples given for this remix are quite cheesy. i mostly disregarded them and make something else.