The Goblin Market at Christmastime

We're back at the Goblin Market. The merry band of goblins have chosen their favourite festive songs and are playing them on a small dais near the bonfire, just across the way from the bar where you can buy mead and ale and homebrewed cola.

There are stalls set up between the trees, and all the trees have twinkling Christmas lights. Jars filled with glowing fairies light your path as you wander through the market.

There are hobgoblins selling their wares, elves offer henna tattoos, and witches have enchanted perfumes - there's a small trestle table where pixies will gift wrap your purchases free of charge.

Don't try the trolls' egg nog though, it's far too strong for humans!

GUT - the remix EP by Mogan

I remixed amazing Cardiff-based queer artist Mogan, I'm track three. "GUT" EP is being released on 26 February.

Check it out on Bandcamp.

I wrote a nocturne

I've always wanted to write a nocturne, so here's my first attempt. Am I being pretentious giving it an opus number? Oh yes, totally!

I also made a slushy drone version, and another version of one of my favourite Chopin nocturnes.

"Nos" means "night" in Welsh. Free to download. 

New album - Blodeuben

“Mae brawd gan Blodeuwedd, a'i enw yw Blodeuben.”
“Blodeuwedd has a brother, and his name is Blodeuben.”

I’ve always been interested in the stories of the Mabinogion ever since my Grandmother used to tell them to me when I was small.

I’ve rewritten the story of Blodeuwedd so that she has a brother, Blodeuben, who becomes Gwydion’s lover.

“He lifted his arms and circled the remaining flowers, chanting under his breath. As he circled widdershins, the flowers began to glow again. He watched as the flowers melted together and formed the body and limbs of a beautiful young man, who sprung out of the pit into Gwydion's waiting arms.”

The Erlking is borrowed from German literature. In Wales he is
Y Gwernfrenin, and he’s here for your sons.

“Pwy sy'n marchogaeth mor hwyr trwy'r nos?
Y tad sydd yno, gyda'i blentyn tlos;
Mae'n meddwl mae’r bachgen yn iawn dan ei fraich,
Mae’n dal e’n dynn, trwy ystod y daith.”

“Who is that riding so late through the night?
The father holds his little son tight;
He thinks he’s safe, tucked under his arm,
He holds him tight, he’ll not come to harm."

The three sons of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, born as a wolf cub, a fawn, and a wild boar piglet, are adopted by Math Mathonwy.

“Math then called the wolf and she-wolf, Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, and struck them both with his wand and they returned to their own trembling flesh.

Too scared to look at each other, unable to look at anything else.”

I wanted to make something that sounded and felt as Welsh as the tales that inspired it.

Diolch
Andy x

7 tracks, plus a bonus track, for £1.

Nocturnes

These nocturnes were inspired by Chopin (and also the work of Hans Zimmer). I used melodies and basslines from a series of Chopin's nocturnes. I used sampled, stretched, and synthesized piano. I chopped and/or reversed the samples. I programmed harmonic and non-harmonic arpeggios, and added mathematical echoes to some of the notes. I changed the key of each sample, before collaging them together. 

Each track is named after a species of British bat. 

The album includes three bonus tracks, and a 10 page pdf booklet. The running time is two hours and 16 minutes. All for £5.

"For the first time, since he came nigh dead born
From the old womb of night, his cave forlorn
Had he left more forlorn; for the first time,
He felt aloof the day and morning’s prime—
Because into his depth Cimmerian 
There came a dream, shewing how a young man,
Ere a lean bat could plump its wintery skin,
Would at high Jove’s empyreal footstool win
An immortality, and how espouse
Jove’s daughter, and be reckon’d of his house." 

From "Endymion" by John Keats. 

I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed making it x

Three EPs

These three EPs were inspired by a dream I had about booking a flight to travel into space to colonise a new planet.

Staxion. Part I of III. 

You're strapped in to your seat on the transport. You're travelling at 200 miles an hour through tunnels filled with flashing lights. Suddenly you're above ground and you can see the shuttle pointing up at the starry sky. Your life is about to change forever.

The White Swan. Part II of III.

You're finally on board, finally taking that first step. It's so fast, you don't have time to see or breathe before you're in the sky, falling through galaxies full of stars. You're put in hypersleep. Time passes. You're woken up. Multiple failures. Oxygen depleted. Collision course probable. 

"Move him into the sun— 

Gently its touch awoke him once, 

At home, whispering of fields half-sown. 

Always it woke him, even in France, 

Until this morning and this snow. 

If anything might rouse him now 

The kind old sun will know." 

From "Futility" by Wilfred Owen

Mamwlad. Part III of III.

You've arrived at your destination. You're alive. It's a whole new world from here on in. This is your home for the next 1000 years, so what do you do? Make friends, settle in, fall in love.

Halve EP

Here's some ambient fuckery from me.

Viva la Buffalo

I made a maship of Shampoo's "Viva La Megababe" and Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance". Utter nonsense!

8-bit Adagio for Strings

Some chilled out, 8-bit loveliness. The picture is of some army dog tags (pixelated to be 8-bit!) as the original piece was used in Platoon.

Feeling Christmassy

The nights are getting longer and the mornings colder. My walk to work yesterday elicited my first Christmassy shiver of excitement; but this year is going to be better than any other, Patrick and I will be living together officially, and I'll be in a house that's mine. I walked down Habershon street imagining things like: where the Christmas tree will go, what extra decorations we'll need to buy, where I can hide Patrick's gifts, taking my game pie out of the oven in my own little kitchen, having a lovely brandy and coke on a Friday night after work and cwtshing in with Patrick to watch It's a Wonderful Life... cheesy, I know, but I don't care. I'm so happy I could pop.


I've even been listening to Christmassy music. Not your usual Slade and Bing Crosby, I've been listening to The Sixteen's amazing LP Christmas Music from Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe. It's so beautiful and soothing. Here is an mp3 of one of my favourite tracks - Videte Miraculum (the hosting site is not very good, or accessible I'm afraid - but at least you're getting a lovely mp3 out if it). It was written by Thomas Tallis for Queen Elizabeth in the 1500s; he is one of my favourite composers. I've just bought this off Amazon and I can't wait for it to arrive.

Folksy Friday *26th March 2010*

Sorry that my third Folksy Friday is late! I've had a week from hell in work, super busy. I've also just bought a house, gone to see The Hidden Cameras, gone back to West Wales to visit family and pick up the car... and in the middle of all of that I'm writing my novel and planning a camping trip. Phew!

Theme this week is 'music'.

Okay, from top left:
Music manuscript badge.
Tiny little OOAK music shop. Cute!
Bugle necklace - everythign in this shop is tiny and brilliant!
Broken record necklace. Punky, I like this a lot. I'm inspired to make a wall hanging or canvas with broken records. Maybe for my new house (can't stop saying that!)
Pretty plectrum necklace. This lovely shop is worth a look too. Lush things there.
A volume knob brooch. Awesomeness. Turn it up!

Buy 'em quick before they go!