The mid summer germination was fun. Not as much fun as I’d have liked, but fun none the less. I finished two mixes. The first ‘Hole in the wall anguish‘ which only uses loops by Mental Anguish and Giuseppe Bancometti (aka Prank Monkey aka J$) is the tale of an impoverished personage who approches said hole in the wall. The second, ‘Prodigy‘ uses loops by Cystem and Mental Anguish, plus vocals, live drums and guitar. I’m not entirely happy with the lyrics (specifically the first verse)… perhaps a re-mix/tweak.

I’ve now used up my 12 song slots at Tapegerm… so I either dump those twelve tracks and start again, or I create a new persona, or I join the site as I should have done months ago and start selling CD’s. Naturally enough the later requires dosh.

Presently I’m never speaking to Mick again.

12,000 at Tapegerm.
I wasn’t going to mention this, as it’s really neither here nor there, and so damn what. However I had a thought, and the tought was this. I have filled the Hammersmith apollo ( alternatively insert venue of choice that holds 2,000) for six nights in a row. Sold out! Woot!

Obviously I haven’t, cause if I had I’d be able to afford a kebab. Possibly with beer. But I think you get the general idea.
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Mick has finished mixing ‘Spring of Teal’, so take a listen, and leave a comment. Or don’t and I’ll just assume you’ve bought a seat at the next Hammy Apollo gig.

Woot!
Actually this celebrating every 1,000 Tapegerm hits is getting dull. Nice though it is I need to achieve ’something’ in the real world before I go up my own arse, and vanish in a cloud of silicon chips.
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After a lot of rehearsing (too much) we are starting to get gigs… The first of which is at ‘THE ROOMS’ Nr. Warrior Square Station in St.Leonards on Saturday 6th May. Of course we should have booked the gigs and then rehearsed, but silly me, how was I to know gigs are booked three months in advance? Hmm? I ask you.
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I still have to update this blog to wordpress 2. Though it’ll probably be wordpress 8 by the time I get around to it.

I’ve had to bow out of Nur Ein before submitting for round 3 ‘El Balazo’. The song was written, but not recorded, and unlike last week where I took the day off to record, this week I couldn’t.

Bummer is apt, as I am really bummed out.

The sleeper! I’m chuffed with this, though it lacks real drums, and time… And a decent studio… And a band… If I had a band this is the direction I’d like to wander in, though The Floyd were there years ago.
I’m through to round three in joint 4th place; thank the lord…
“Consider me thanked!”

I made it through round one by the skin of my teeth - three up from whatever it is that happens when you lose a Song Fight sidefight… Coventry American stylie?

The title for round 2 is ‘Sleeper’ and the lyrics can’t rhyme. Perhaps a spot of experimental Opera is in order. Or not

I guess it all depends on how much I really care. Truth be told, not a lot as I write this. Tomorrow however is thankfully always another day.

Today I had my 10,000 ‘listener’ at Tapegerm.
Much like the time when your old car goes over 100,000 miles (and I’ve had a few of those too) it’s totally meaningless, yet you get a wee tingly sensation, and watery eyes.
WOOT!

Amid a huge political kerfuffle (wonderful word) Nur Ein kicks off with the first entry due on the 15th March at 1.00pm EST

The title is: ‘Pencil me in‘ and I’ve just finished the lyrics for it. Quite chuffed with them really. The challenge is that the song has to have handclaps… So it does

Here are the full rules for the Nur Ein:

25 Bands enter into the Nur Ein but in the end, there can be only one winner.

* Each fight will take eight days to complete and will be a challenge of skill, creativity and a battle against time.
* On Day 1, a song title will be named (as chosen by the jury). It will not be a songfight title as the sidefight will run on its own timeframe.
* With every title, there will be non-optional challenge attached. An example would be something like ‘the lyrics must include a civil war reference’ or ‘the lyrics cannot make any reference to love’ or ‘all chords, no single notes’, etc. You get the idea.
* The bands will have 5 days to complete the challenge song.
* There will also be an obscenely hard music trivia challenge. The first person to come up with the right answer wins immunity and goes onto the next round of the Nur Ein without having to make a song. This is good for those with time problems.
* Songs will be self-hosted (if you don’t have space, ask me or J$).
* After the deadline, the songs will be strung into a podcast or hosted stream (a la last year’s SF Radio) that can be enjoyed, while the Jury deliberates.
* Reviews and loud talking is encouraged but the jury will not be swayed (except by large bribes).
* On the 8th day, the jury will make their decision and some fighters will be eliminated. Here’s the elimination breakdown:
Stage 1: 25 bands- 5 eliminations
Stage 2: 20 bands- 5 eliminations
Stage 3: 15 bands- 4 eliminations
Stage 4: 11 bands- 4 eliminations
Stage 5: 7 bands- 3 eliminations
Stage 6: 4 bands- 2 eliminations
Stage 7: 2 bands- the vote of the exiles chooses the winner.
NUR EIN!

* The band with the jury’s favorite song gets an exemption.
* If the songs are of exceptional quality, we can adjust the amount of eliminations to add extra rounds.
*On that 8th day, after the eliminations are made, the new challenge title is released and the next stage begins.

I could write this in a little book and hide it in a deep dark hole for my ancestors to find, but what the hell!

‘Mental Anguish’ has topped 3000 hits and is in 10th place in the Top 20 Plays For All Time . Whilst ‘MA5 New York’ has just gone over the 1000!

I’m sorry if this appears braggadocious but I’m actually quite blown away. And rather exceptionally happy. If I had a bottle of Champagne I’d get drunk…

Naturally you’d all be invited!

I’ve started taking Power Coma’s.
These are like cat naps, but more so. Generally after work, and generally during the Simpsons. I just crash. Going to sleep at 4.00am might be a contributing factor, or that all the Simpsons we get are repeats.
So. A dose of New Simpsons and early nights.
Self medication never hurts… It’s 10.00 am and I feel knackered.

I’ve written a ‘Not Exactly Normal’ for Song Fight. The deadline is 6.00pm, I have to go to work, and I haven’t started to record it yet… Fat chance. ;(