30/11/2010

the gaelic

the guy who books the gaelic club sent an e-mail the other day asking if we'd be interested in playing at a midweek thing they have there during jan/feb. rattlesnakes and romance played there a few weeks ago (the booker asked both telafonica and lessons in time at the time, but it wasn't a good time) and isaac says it was reasonably good, the only drawback being not much of a walk in crowd, so you actually have to draw your own (along with the other bands). :)

would we be interested? it's on wednesday nights. if so, what dates are good?

23/11/2010

TelafoniChristmas Invite

Dust Video

Dust from Telafonica on Vimeo.

Initially begun back in 2005, the original footage of Marcella was shot and edited with the intention that each frame would then be hand drawn in lead pencil, rephotographed, and put together as the final film clip, when the track was originally released as a single from the album, 'Morpheme'. About 10 seconds worth of frames were hand drawn before it became apparent that the task was way beyond the time and energy we had to put into it! So the film was put into the back of everyone's minds.



A few months ago, I got a new laptop and began transferring files across from my old one. I rediscovered the black and white film of Marcella singing and thought she looked great and that it was about time to use the footage so it wasn't wasted forever. So it was combined with some old hand drawn and scratched 8mm film that has been used in various guises in Telafonica's live projections for many many years to make a simple video clip. The song is now about 5 years old, so it's really just going to function as a nice curio, rather than for any real promotional value but, anyway, here it is.



Adrian

November 2010

20/11/2010

20th november 2010 - she's coming home

a bit of a strange one musically this month, in that i can't really pinpoint who i was trying to rip off! i kind of had a vague idea of making a lo-fi, psychedelic kind of groove thing (pocahaunted, sun araw, caught ship (who i've listened to a bit this week) etc) but, by the time it took shape, there wasn't much lo-fi and everything seems to get telafonicanised. which is ok, i guess. there were a few melodic things, like the last line, which was always the intention of bec's lyrics, referencing the beatles' 'she's leaving home'. the first vocal idea was a fairly monotone ian curtis type of thing, but that didn't work too well amidst the repetitive music. normally i need to de-melodicise my songs (david, marcella and bec have all independently suggested i do so at different times over the years), but this time, at bec's suggestion, it was decided it needed more melody, to counter the music. so i actually used the first little bit of melody from 'she's leaving home' as the starting point ("wednesday morning at..."). although being set against a minor key it probably isn't immediately obvious. but there it is.

As Adrian has just stated, I wanted to write a song that countered the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home". I wanted a prodigal song where home is a good place. I wrote it in phrases that kinda float and join with each other in different ways depending on how you say it/sing it. As usual, I wrote a complete whole and then Adrian said to write more so I had to undo some seams and "let it out" a bit more but I think it still works as a narrative arc. Was fun!


She's Coming Home

Wheels on the tarmac
Steaming horizon
The height and the distance
Once she was Wednesday
And choosing was leaving
The depth and the weight
And the distance between
The emptiness rising
Like endless destruction
Despair and the silence
The vanishing vision
The darkness consuming
Like cancer and coffee
Blame spreading out
Like blood in the water
The emptiness rising
And bringing her under
The mess and the media
Tedious beating
Of heart, mind and radio
In through the window
The ache of blank solitude
Squalor and servitude
The inner corrosive
The rust and the rubbish
Of madness and memory
Tedium timeless
The breathing monotonous
Breathing and absence
Of one Other breathing
The waiting for nothing
The lonely control
The choice and the keeping
The space and prediction
Of residence distant
Flat plain kilometres
Every direction
Every perspective
Is loss and the absence
Of goodness and grace
Grim face of honesty
Honesty speaking
Speaking her name
In the unlikely place
The sun and the exit
The exit quite open
The slope and the landslide
Of prodigal hearts
Wheels on the tarmac
Steaming horizon
The height and the distance
Now she is Sunday
And choosing returning
The high and the free
And the distance behind
She's coming home

19/11/2010

mars hill & st jambience

matt has organised another midweek show at mars hill café and has asked telafonica along for the ride. it's on wednesday, jan 5. who's around and happy to play?

18/11/2010

On This Day - 2010 - 4-4-2 Music Sampler



Free download only compilation available here via Bandcamp



On This Day is a collection of tracks which have been released on the 4-4-2 Music label over the past year, a snapshot of the label’s life in 2010. Featuring artists from around the globe, the music you find on this download compilation reflects the diversity to which the label is attracted, from abstract pop and electronica, to
lush atmospheres and sound improvisations.