This week I got back to working on the last project I started in 2011 – checking what work I’d done and working out where to go next. This lead to a couple of discoveries, some positive and some not so.

The bulk of the recording I’ve done so far is bang on track and I’m really happy with it, I’ve still a lot more to do though. Part if which lead me to put a shout out on Twitter to find somewhere to record ‘a song’ – the shout came good and an offer to record some singing and guitaring should hopefully spur the next phase on.

In the course of going through the work I’d done though, I again discovered how unattached I feel when working with digital files. It doesn’t matter how you title each file, I find it really hard to go beyond looking at a screen and a waveform and actually listen to the recording. With tape and minidisc I seem to identify the object with the particular experience and then zone out to what it’s playing. With digital – it’s a screen, it’s work.

There must be a knack to doing it – a separation perhaps? – but I’ve no idea how it’s done!

A couple of fridays ago I did an phone interview with Adrian Arratoon for Different Class Radio. It’s now up live on their website for a month, so you can go and listen to me talk about my jazz and stamps and stuff. According a friend who listened to it, I sound like I have a beard. He meant it as a compliment.

Go listen!

YOU AND THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC

[As titles for radio shows go, I am so behind this one]

Nearly a year ago to the day I posted about my New Years Improvements, my own attempt to get myself organised (inspired by the ever fantastic Christine Bougie). Whilst not immediately successful in it’s implementation, it did make me examine how I organise my time – which was both distressing and rewarding – which definitely helped me accomplish some tasks I never seem to finish, like, er, recording stuff!

The publication of Woody Guthrie’s resolutions list (I read about it courtesy of the awesome Brain Pickings site), which I saw sometime in December, made me ponder about the whole idea again. His list seems so humble and yet so inspiring. These little things that make such a big difference, sometimes even just thinking about them….

Learn people better…..Read lots good books…Keep hoping machine running

I had a look at a few of the people who’s blogs I follow to see what they’re upto this year and felt the same ways about theirs too – please go to Crafty Fox and to There are always flowers for more inspiration.

As for me, I’m not going to be as bold as to print out what I would like to achieve this year. There’ll be ore streamlining, for sure, but it will all be to live and experience more.

Well, here’s the last post of 2011 and the last of the Stamps of the Week. Happy New Year everybody. x

The past few weeks have been a crazy time as I have been so busy getting the following things together but they’re all ready to roll now, so here we go!

I have a record coming out! It’s called ‘Humming New Time‘ and it’s out on Olynka records, a new label set up by Tom Morris of Her Name is Calla. It’s available on download or as a limited number of CDs with hand printed linocut sleeves (it took a while to get them right!)NOW!!!! I intend to write soon about the record and what and why it is but in the meantime, here’s a picture of the sleeves drying in my kitchen

and you can stream (and purchase) below

It got it’s first review too!

But this is not all. This weekend I do my first gig in around 14 months. I am a bit nervous and worried about it all but I/m just about ready. It’s at the Red Tent in Leicester as art of the White Noise Festival Christmas event. Robot Needs Home have released a compilation for the event of local acts doing Christmas songs to which I have contributed a version of ‘Silent Night’. It’s available as a cd on the day or as a download from the Robot Needs Home store. It’s only £2 and every single penny raised from the sale and the event itself goes to LOROS. So dig in!