our parents, often and mistakes, grace denton

Weirdly, just after I wrote on here that I wouldn't be making much work for the foreseeable future, I found out that something I wrote about eighteen months ago had just been published in the anthology about parents by Often and Mistakes. The anthology was compiled by Grace Denton and so much work and care has gone into it. You can purchase this digital anthology at a price of your choosing and the proceeds will all be donated to Simon on the Streets, a West Yorkshire homeless charity. So anyway, Grace does so many ace things I thought it would be good to list a few of them below. This is by no means everything, but some of the things I know about. Grace has been involved in, and initiated so many wonderful projects and she is also an incredible artist. The things she does are always made with great care and sensitivity. But as well as this, they are always worthwhile and positive.

Grace (left) & Rose (right) I don't know who took the photo, please tell me and I'll credit you

Often and Mistakes is Rose Robbins and Grace Denton, based in Bristol. They showcase new work by writers and artists through print publications and videos. We also run comic-drawing and animation workshops. 

Judy Works, again if you made this great logo, let me know and I'll credit you!

Judy Works is a girl gang, support network and commissioner set up by Grace, Camille Rearden and Rosa Martyn to support and represent the creative endeavours of people who are non-male identified. The rest of the world is set up to support men. Judy Works is redressing the balance.

Anna (left) & Grace 9right) photo by Tom Copps

The Middle Ones are a band who write and play wonderful songs. They formed in Norwhich and have done so many great and exciting things like touring all over and making records and playing music for plays and doing a year-long residency at Cafe Kino in Bristol. I swapped Anna a Middle Ones 10" for the Tiger + Panda 10" when we went to Norwich. It has my favourite song on it, 'young explorer'. For a while, The Middle Ones were the only band I made an effort to see.

Expensive photo by Tom Copps

Grace sings and plays in EXPENSIVE with Matthew Cheney and Pete Shadbolt, an electronic pop band of 'non-performers'. The songs are dreamy and danceable and remind me of the music of Arctic Circle, which is not surprising because they are/were another project of Matthew Cheney, all round good-guy.

As I said, there's loads more and I haven't really written very well but I just think Grace is a great artist and a positive force in the world.

press release: birds like waves

Darling, do you promise to love me in the punk times? Love me in the wussy times? The fat wallet times? Baby-mine , you held the chromatic tuner to your lips and expressed a perfect G. Meanwhile, my tape machine sings a rattling A#. 

I bus home happy this evening. The city's feelings are a din. Like that one time on Buffy (Season 3, Episode 18, production code: 3ABB18). 

Mucus adheres. The mucus of my music adheres to your waxy canals. Thank you for listening. 

Things have changed a lot and this is a heavy thing to consider. My love for you is still eternal and tender. 

CDs, tapes and downloads to follow. 

Today, something just clicked for me and there was no fear.

recent things with me in them

What They Did Next kind of thing 

by Graphic Communications dept. at Uni. Plymouth

DIY, a zine compiled by Ellis Jones 

for Connected Communities Festival '14

Our writing was translated into Welsh!

i work all day with talented women

I'm not one of your fancy types. I go to work to pay my rent and so on. Because of the casual nature of my job, a lot of the people who I work with are creative people like me. Moreover, the majority of them are women. I've been gradually getting to know everyone and their work and I have been consistently blown away by their talent.

I think that most of them would define what they do as 'fine art', which is not a world that I have much formal knowledge of, but I am (sadly) not surprised to learn that it is still a fairly sexist and retrograde industry. 

My personal experience of who is making the best culture right now is not what I see in the majority of galleries and is certainly not what is making the big money. No doubt things are better than they were. But there is still a way to go. 

so here is a list of some of the talented young women who I have the privilege of working with. I hope they don't mind my posting these images. I found them legitimately on the internet. I hope it doesn't come across as patronising either. I can honestly say that all of the people listed have made at least one piece of work that has stopped me in my tracks. 

Critical Studies Presentation by hilde krohn huse

Eyes of Sand by hanne lillee

The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, (Man Cave) by athena papadopoulos

from Games by karis clapperton

cecily tattersall

holly parmley

stars don't shine to noise

Headfall released Stars Don't Shine to Noise in November 2004, just short of ten years ago. The record has just recently been made available to order online, along with a free digital download of the whole album. It was one of the first records I ever owned and it is still one of my favourite and most prized possessions by far. 

Seriously, you should buy this album. It is a genuine undiscovered classic. The only reason this thing is not completely sold out is that for a long time, the only place you could purchase it was at Headfall shows, which only tend to happen once, maybe twice a year in pretty small venues.

George McKenzie (drums, guitar, violin, piano, humming, tape loops, clarinet.) once told me that this album was the only thing he's ever made that he is still proud of. He then went on to tell me where all of the mistakes were. But they don't sound like mistakes to me. This whole shuffling, brooding thing sounds so on purpose, grey as mist on the sea, broken glass, to sand, to salt water. A bunch of punk kids trying to make jazz, awkwardness exploding out of them. Everything is poetry, sung and played, 'a truth too teenage'. 


I don't want to keep describing how it sounds. You can find out for yourself, and you should. I just think that what it does sound like, what it wants to sound like, is captured perfectly, stylistically, aesthetically, framed in smokey static electricity, perfectly honed and curated, artfully presented. a jagged frenzy beneath a swelling surface, barely restrained, three yearning hearts.

shrieking violet issue 22

The Shrieking violet is a great free zine, edited and curated by Manchester-based writer Natalie Bradbury. I'm really lucky to have some of my dumb writing in this issue, among some great articles about art, architecture, philosophy, culture... Pretty much everything. I recommend this and all the previous issues, which are free to read online.

Natalie also has an essay on being vegan up on the food-chain blog, which will be included in the third and final food-chain zine, to be completed this year.

oliver watson: loosestrife: press release

Polite Records are proud to present Loosestrife by Oliver Watson...

cat no.: pcd015
format: CDR/download
artwork: recycled brown envelope, handwriting and water colour
price: £5 (CDR) £2 (download)
 
How many songs has Olly Watson written in the last ten years? I doubt that he knows. When I knew him in school he was recording one song a day, onto a minidisc player, after school and his job washing dishes at the bakery down the road. We recently rescued over 100 of his recordings from a laptop that crashed in 2007. 

He's made a shit-tonne of recordings. 

And he has made every one of them in the same punk-rock-as-hell way. His philosophy hasn't changed and even from the earliest, roughest recordings he made, his music has remained free of affectations.

He once wrote a set of rules for recording music, the first of which being 'That microphone is fine where it is'...

His songs are his songs. His recordings are his recordings. That is why it was imporatant that Olly had the freedom to make every aspect of this album himself.

A couple of Summers ago, Olly and Steph walked the Thames path from where they live in London to some rural place similar to where Olly grew up. Loosestrife is full of the experiences of that Summer. The sometimes uncomfortable butting together of urban and rural existance. Memories of a past life picked out of the dog-shitted rubble of crumbling city walls.

How the hell do I describe what it sounds like? Olly's voice is soft as Autumn but he's a powerful singer when he chooses to be. His use of a bit of reverb on this new eight-track gives his quieter moments a spaciousness, like an orange campfire light back in the recesses of a deep, dark cave. He's used omnichord and drum machine sparingly, adding occasional vivid bursts to the pastel shades of his music. The guitar, his main deal, is percussive, ranging from soft woody chord sequences and riffs to grating metalic shangalangs.

Olly is never alone now in his songs. Steph is heard in the background in the flat where they live together, where Olly recorded Loosestrife. She is his companion in all of his stories. His art is a reflection of his life and it is a life that he has built artfully. It is clearly the most important thing to him and his songs simply offer glimpses, friezes of that life.

You can listen to songs from Olly's recovered back catalogue, here.

two white cranes/nervy betters tour 2013

 

I'll try and keep this short...

Bristol
We play at Aaron and Roxy's house and Kano and Ohne are there. We have a pizza party. The next day, we pick up the car. Super sporty with a spoiler. The rental men are excited for us. We see Rachael and Shuki. We pick up Roxy from work and drive to Birmingham

Birmingham
We listen to podcasts in the car. The show is at the Ace Bushy house (the Vagina Monolodge). Eve made us a tasty vegan cake. Jen Schande plays a lovely set then runs away. Everyone is super nice. We have fun. Next day, we go to have breakfast with lovely people. We do a crossword together.

Peak District
Friendly people at the youth hostel. We walk to Lud's Church. It is a big ravine all covered in moss. I guess it might be the Green Knight's castle. Steve makes such a great miso soup and stir fry dinner. We have a band practice by the river and scouts come with a chainsaw. We are afraid they might bully us.

Manchester
Liam makes us such tasty burgers and we meet Natalie. Roxy has an essay in her zine. She gives us vegan pie and cookies. LLION SWYD are so great. "Only dickheads win the lottery". We thought we had food poisoning but really we are just nervous. We stay up late and chat and then sleep in luxury. I have a chocolate milkshake with my breakfast.

Oxford
The light is prickly and nice on the drive. The owners of this house are both called Matt. We play to a little living room of people and then have a nice time chatting. In the morning, Steve and Roxy swim in the river. I sleep in.

Norwich
Anna takes us to a tea room. Me and Franky want to move here maybe... I am pretty exhausted. We get food at the place and set up with our own things. Stephen and Tammy arrive. They are so great! This is probably the best we play on tour. We have lost our minds at this point. I swap records with Anna. Her 10" has my favourite Middle Ones song on it. We eat breakfast at a raw vegan cafe. Anna picks up a shelving unit off the street.

Seaford
Nicol is waiting outside for us. So good to see him. We walk to the beach and swim in the sea at sunset. Roxy - a vegan - goads me into eating a battered sausage. We each play a song and then go to bed. Verity's room is very comforting to sleep in. In the morning, Nicol records some drums for the album.

London
Driving through London is intense. Holy shit. we stop for pizzas. I'm so happy to see Franky. We set up the flat and people start arriving. Olly plays first. He is great. It's his album party and he's made a good album. It's really hot and we have such a fun show and sing happy birthday to Olly. So many lovelies there! After I wave Steve and Roxy off I go straight to bed and sleep.

frogs

I didn't think or dream about school for the last five years. Then the last few nights I dreamed of waiting for the bus. I dreamed of going into classrooms I did not remember. The subject was always maths.

The roads in my dreams wound and the corridors were full of people I did not know. It sprawled like a hospital, a factory or a farm. I was in the wrong class room constantly and without my homework always. Anonymous authority figures. I dreamed of snapping and telling them fuck you. the indignation of an adult.

There was this maths problem that I could never figure out. The problem was set for us a few times in primary and secondary school:

There are lily pads in a line. You start with two frogs, one at each end of the line with the middle pad empty. The frogs can hop one pad at a time and can hop over one another when they are next to each other. The objective is to figure out the minimum number of moves required for the frogs to swap places.

Once you've done that, you do the same thing with two frogs at either end, again with one empty pad in the middle.

Then you do it again with three frogs either side...

 

You're supposed to take these numbers and use them to figure out an equation to express the minimum number of moves required to swap the places of any number of frogs in the same setup (i.e. equal numbers on either side with one empty pad in the middle).

 

I don't know why I needed to figure this out now. I could never do it in school and it made me feel bad about myself. I didn't have the guts to ask for help with it and I guess I had accepted it was the limit of what my brain could do. The problem was I panicked and didn't have the patience to examine the problem. When I came back to it and made an effort to move forward cautiously, a correct pattern gradually emerged. 

One time, when I was little, I saw a frog in the pond across the road from our house. I was wading in the water and disturbed it. The sky was the colour of the road and it rained and I stayed out in the pond until it was dark, waiting for the frog. When I finally gave up, I went inside and drew pictures of frogs instead.

encyclopedia_hrjireland.pdf

The full Encyclopedia document is now available to download for free

It's formatted to fit nicely onto your e-reader or tablet device, if that's how you choose to live your life, otherwise it can be viewed on anything that reads .PDF format files.

So all the content is available for free. However, I've decided to offer a bespoke binding service, covering the cost of materials and labour for a hand bound artefact.

stuff from my old sketchbooks #3

sent i november: press release

Polite Records are proud to present Sent I November by Tiger & Panda...

cat no.: pcd014 format: CDR/download
artwork: recycled brown card gatefold with lino-printed/hand tinted cover and A3 pastel green liner notes/poster/thing
price: £5 (CDR) £2 (download)

We wrote these songs at the end of 2012 and recorded them early 2013. Sent i November is the original Swedish title of Tove Jansson's Moomin Valley In November. In Swedish 'sent i November' means 'late in November' but in English it could also be a funny way of saying 'I sent November' like as if you are the seasons or like as the author she has subjected her characters to November to see what will happen to them.

We recorded the songs on thin cassette tape.

The music is about the fuzzy frostiness and out-of-tune blackness of late autumn when life hides beneath the surface until spring. The static on the radio at night blows also through the trees and tinny telephone voices speak orange-yellow comfort among acres of dark wilderness. Acoustic guitar plays sweet 'n' muffled 'n' keeps a rock-steady rhythm while electric guitar slips and slides like tectonic plates, accidentally jazzing the fretboard here and there. Further shadows are cast on the walls by the sizzling of a ride cymbal and the freight-train honking of a distant toot-box player.

Tiger & Panda are Olly Watson & Henry Ireland. The other singer on these songs wished to remain anonymous...

mark pawson is a nice guy

Variant 37/38

The other day I found out that Mark Pawson had written a little nice paragraph about one of my zines in this article from 2010 in Variant Magazine. It was a nice surprise!

encyclopedia: book belt

A  non-letterpress version of the blurb/book belt. I will be trying to set a letterpress version in the future but I've spent enough money for one day...

corners: a zine about maths and art

Finally finished the first personal project of the year. It's a zine and print package about a pretend statistical analysis I did to kill some time in 2010. It's taken me a couple of years to get round to collecting all the raw material I collected into this 32 page zine. I limited the run to 20 and I tried to make it as nice as possible. I'm pleased with it. In some ways it's the most complex personal project I've made in the real world...

Oh year, and you can buy it from my folksy shop, and maybe some real shops in the coming months.

encyclopedia progress

I think I might actually have finished type-setting the encyclopedia! It  has taken a good long time but I'm pleased with it now. Next is binding...

I ordered some super nice binding cloth for it a couple of weeks ago and I'm gonna have a go at foil blocking for the title. Hooray!

brussels

photo by Frances Dixon

We arrived sleepy and happy into Brussels and perhaps we were caught off guard by the complicated (was it complicated) layout of the station. We got stressed out. In the end, a friendly man helped us back to Brussels Midi. We got a taxi to the hostel instead and things picked up from there.

We changed out of our two night old clothes, had showers and went to the bar for a beer. We walked around the block and had chips with mayonnaise next to the church. I can see the church out of the window now. I can't believe we've made it this far. I know it's not far really but it's the farthest I have traveled on my own planning and I'm pleased it has worked out.

It was a long day but we are on the train home and I am thinking about what a good time we had. It was so good to be with Frances on this big adventure. I have had some of the best experiences of my whole life and that's not even an exaggeration and I'm so happy I could share them with Frances.