2K17 Mrb Poetry - Nature and death afflictions

Womb kicks

the blow is fetched on someone, the blow regains its power

storms blow and trespass in hemispheres

by the hourly tide 

you shone with your arms out wide

just perched there like a scarecrow

an innocent crucifix with no ribbons

and no bows. 

i would bow in your presence

but it would only sacrifice humility for pretense

the art of pompousness in portent

unrelenting destruction relating to conundrums of the soul

scoring an own goal, kicked off the pitch

wind blown in a ball, all the air kicked out of it

all the air kicked out of it

all the air

kicked out of the very thing that gave life its speed. 

Death waltz

The line
Drab
Inked into dust
Cast on the sky
A dusk constellation either way
Waltzing with sentient beings
Obsessed by atomic death
And clause by cryptographic clusters
Cloying to the mind's eye.

 Apartness

Apart you say
Who are we
Alluding to catastrophe
Dismay dismay dismay

The path seems rocky
Your bones will soon find
Frailty is not proposed by the wind

Nor is calamity produced by snow
Catastrophe, who are we
Dismay, dismay, dismay.

Apart from the seasons we experience treason
All down to psychiatric failure
No rhythm
No reason
Oh dismay
Are you fickle?
Are we a trickle
A raindrop
Dismay dismay

Oh, apart we turned to gray.

Convalescence

The transcription of wit
From an inked glass
Blotted like a murderer's paper
What are these deeds, you ask
A cornucopia caper
A trick of the devil
An illusion of relativity
Or a convalescence of greed.

The bright sun shines outside
Oh widow, won't you weep for me.

Affliction of the distinctive soul

Something comes from nothingness

Always from death to life

Pain to strife

Regenerating forwards and back like a marble lock

The smell of machinery gloats on the dock

Cogs in machines

Cogs in streams

Buried from view

Alligators swallowing marbles

Drowning the marbles of others

This ode to death cannot be recovered

It can only be docked

As a regeneration process from death to life

One which we all experience

At a later time in life.

Copyright Michael Robert Buckingham - MRB poetry 2017 all rights reserved.

Specialist Curry Recipes By Michael - First 10 Collection (2013-2017)

Muttley SubVersion

· 27 January 2015 ·

Cooked an awesome Chinese curry lst night. Ingredients list:
Special Recipe By Michael 2 - Chinese Tandoori Chicken, Mustard Seed & Cinnamon Strong Curry
3 teaspoons mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic
2 red onions
4 boneless chicken breasts
3 tbsp mixed spice powder
2 tbsp sauce thickener
2 tbsp tandoori curry powder
1/2 a courgette
1 yellow pepper
1 chicken stock cube/400ml boiling water
2 teaspoons chilli seeds
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup/2 cups boiling water brown rice measure

To cook well, just follow the directions of my previous homemade curry.

1

Here's the recipe I just DIY knocked up:
Special curry by Michael 10.01.15 - Mushroom And Chicken Surprise
1 teaspoon mustard seeds...
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 strand spring onion (cut small)
2cm root ginger (peeled and cut)
4 mushrooms (large)
1 yellow pepper (chopped coarsely)
1 pack boneless chicken breasts (chopped small)
1 red onion (large chops)
3 cloves garlic (chopped small)
half a courgette (large chops)
chopped carrots (small)
additional ground chillies (to taste)
1 chicken stock cube / 500ml boiling water in gravy jug)
3 sprinkles Soy Sauce (at end)
basmati brown rice (1 cup 2 cups boiling water)
peanut sesame oil to baste

schematic: 1) prepare ingredients 2) brown chicken 3) onions, courgette, garlic, peppers in 4) spices, carrots in 5) stock
6) bring to boil 7) cook rice sprinkle over Soy Sauce and ground chilli to taste.

Now we've just got to see how it tastes. :)

3

Special Recipe By Michael 3 - Tomato, Cinnamon And Button Mushroom Chicken Curry Dip
2tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander leaves
4cm root ginger, peeled ...
pack of button mushrooms
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 onions
1 yellow pepper
1.6kg cooked chicken
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp med curry powder
1 tbsp mixed spice
1 / 2 cup ratio basmati rice
1 naan bread

I have 3 special homemade recipes I've done in the last 2 months now. Before I invite house guests - family when they come for dinner.

Pseud's Corner (Philosophy)

Philosophy - mrb

One of the most tired, commercialised and ridiculed predicaments of pseud's corner is connoted from this well-worn phrase:

Glass half empty/glass half-full.

This is often used to denote placidly for the idea of overachievement, and not vice versa, because simply, humans want to feel good about themselves. This is all well and good, until you get a plethora of anecdotes joining its mundane projection potential.

Putting myself in their shoes
I'm very empathetic
You get out what you put in
He who dares, wins, (Rodders!)

Of course, what are we really trying to say here? The meaning becomes diluted, the thing that fits with 'putting more in' to make the glass 'half full'. But sadly, this is an illusion that comes a cropper.

This is ultimately for didactic and syntactic reasons, abtruding to tactfulness in mind game form, to trick the brain that it won't crash when our mood shifts to the idea that, plainly, was the glass really ever even half full? If the glass wasn't half empty, or half full, in simple terms, to begin with, can we really say it will stay that way?

We are not talking about change, vacillaton, oscillation, movement. We are not saying someone will drink from the glass, or even fill it up.

What we need to do is come to terms with the idea of mirror neurons, the concept of mirror neurons in psychology; as my pinned twitter post says:

"Technology is at genuine fault to play mirror neurons in unconscious loophole, which is where delusion of the self arises. Often nominative" ~ @MuttleySV

Simply, to end this juncture: form is sometimes solid, but perception is ever-changing, and the less we depend on solidity, the better.

"Be water, my friend" ~ Bruce Lee.

Mrb (Michael Robert Buckingham - www.focisleft.bandcamp.com / www.kapsil.net/muttley) - Nova Cone Trail Poem.

Mrb - Nova Cone Trail

The moment you fall
Is the moment I wake
What moment
Just a moment
Love speaketh like slake
Scattered like ashes
Over a nova cone trail
Beaming into the present
Where a gift is a moment
Frail to the touch
Indebted to containment
And kindest in gentle hands.

I waited for your trail
Yes I did, and I
I might not have followed
In your footsteps
But I love that trail you walk.

Let's imagine we are doves
Swooping in and out of the trail
Creating a supernova of purity
Always cast on wind and sail.

Let's think? Slake speaketh like ash
That money did not bring us together
At best a vehicle, twas broken down
Filled in the bonnet with leaking
...Petrol a graze on mankind.

Let's graze
Like two collared doves
Indebted to containment
Kindest with gentile
..Touches, brushes, kisses, even drum kits
Beat hay, I do love that track you talk.

The momentous fall
Of a lumberjack carrying
An onion for a bonce
A drum kit for twenty pence
To try his luck
At the slot machine of your heart.
From the start I'll gamble too much
Love acts like one armed bandit
A candid toss of fates coin; Indebted
To containment; Kindest in gentle hands.

Maybe you'd give me a stake back
To nest upon, collared dove
I swiftly collared you, that's certain
Corny catchphrase of roboism
Sent from above? No, not.
I can do a lot better I know.
But I adore that braille you baulk for me.

Let's imagine, slake burning to ashes
Monty did not bring us together
I know you really don't care
Whether I am a prince or a pauper
You show you care omnipresent
And that's omnipresently enough
You love me for who I am - me
And I love you
unconditional
For you - a ram, regardless.
You like attention, so you told me in 1410
Way back in the day.

And like two collared doves
I became inseparable from you
Nowt artificial intelligence
You glow through the horizons mineshaft
Exploring that trail you walk
Leaving me explosive
And talkative.

Oh love, I love that trail you walk.

SubVersion Stop 253: A Film Review (And A Bloody Good Film At That)

#muttleyfilm The Voices (Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, et al., 2015)

Immediate thoughts: incredibly affecting biopic that takes in psychopathology in relation to paranoid schizophrenia.

In short: the easy choice is thr right choice.

I'm interested analysing psychopathy, being prone to psychopathy myself. And psychopathology - paths from the psyche, which takes in mindfulness - as less a severeance-rite.

For some, that's hells road. But for me, and a crucial backbencher ideologue of the film supports: "you're never alone". Health spreads out.

As Aristotle ‏@DailyAristotle says (in an effected context):

In medicine this [the good] is health; in strategy, victory; in architecture - a building- different things in different arts,

As *some* of us know, me from reading Garrick Alder's 'Mind Bombs', "the majority of psychopaths are non-violent". "Some even work in offices"  - see the film. "Like their cold-blooded counterparts, they are manipulative and controlling, lack emotional depth. In most respects they are to be seen as highly likely to succeed in corporate culture, where one person is just a cog in a bigger mechanism".

- But the reason ultimately that Ryan's character in the film doesn't succeed is because of complex aftercare from institutionalisation.

The rhizome (root) of all suffering can arise from childhood trauma; judge in the film for yourself.  When we take indoctrination, in any field - say schizoaffective (me, and partially psychopathic) with voices I hear (partial guides, but not always) - truth is corrupt.

Thusly this film, beyond just a cheap horror flick archetype with a tacked on message, is multidimesionally revelatory because of surrealism.

Psychopathology is the ultimate subversion. It leads all places, takes no prisoners. Yet it wields the ultimate dogma: for people to become prisoners of their own minds.

Re: and conclusion: the easy choice in paranoid schizophrenia is driven by mindfulness, but this is only the connective. Thusly psychopathy.

Mick Buckingham

[Editor's note: I stumbled across this film in an EE and Wuaki.TV company partnership offer for £1 a film a week for EE customers. I watched it on my phone at a less WiFi traffic time (230pm) and got a non-buffering excellent film for the price of 700mb data (1h43m length).

https://uk.wuaki.tv/movies/the-voices

SubVersion Stop 252: Muttley - Black Stars [2008]

Muttley - Black Stars - July2008 Poem

However adept one is at painting black over white
The moon will tell you otherwise within time
And these stars have many layers on their sights
And this sky is a tapestry of picture-perfect
Whenever you're down sing a song for hope
Even if worrying seems like all you can do
Ruminating over past actions won't help
Even if it feels like all you can do
These bright lights are your decision
Words aren't always meant to be red
Sometimes we're all wandering towards what was unsaid
But whether there's fruit is anyone's guess.
Black stars are in your head and heart.

~ This is a sleight edit to what I wrote in a mental health outpatients department in 2008 when induced with symptoms of bipolar disorder and psychotic depression. It has stayed in the back of my mind all this time. It is one of the favourite poems I've written. I will adapt it into an intuitive song-based improvisation at some point, as well as a mixtape. 

SubVersion Stop 248: Audiograft Night 3 - [rout] ensemble feat. Jennifer Walshe, James Saunders, Felicity Ford @ Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 13.03.15

Nightshift prospective review 11: [rout] at AudioGraft night 3, Holywell Music Room, 13.03.15

 

Audiograft's third event of 2015, organised by the reliable Oxford Contemporary Music and featuring sonic art from Jennifer Walshe, James Saunders, Felicity Ford and others, proves to be a remarkable event even just three pieces in. The [rout] based collective on display tonight forge new paths out of the finish Trevor Wishart, a pioneer of the term 'sonic art', profligated since musique concrete made headway from humble origins in the 1930s jazz destructuring, later advanced by The Radiophonic Workshop.

Recorded by Wire mag types Resonance FM London, this gig makes an oblique statement early: is the room about to explode? Because here the pipe system of the Holywell has been modified to impression springing a multitude of audible leaks. It's engaging enough stuff on the surface - peppered with instrumental sprinklings - but it's the second piece for full group, a dilated worldview organism of a score, that strikes as a collapsing limb trying to admirably rebuild its core aesthetic.

After a segmented voice and movement piece at its best in choral/body matching tendencies, then a 10 minute interval, the amply attended gig takes on a tutorial pattern recognition exercise where chromatic scale is treated as a cornerstone to voice a dual idea from - "A, B, E" - "strum, strum, strum", combining the small acoustic guitar and extrapolative leanings in body direction. A gong-y double bass tone starts out a more moat-mouthed exponent of castle-like sound sculpture. The wailing violin sonar counterpointed with saxophone and Christopher Bissonnette-esque tribal gong sounds like the waves began to play their own tune. The prepared piano sidelines a melodic bridge in higher register, only to be a postcard sent from a forgotten land.

The last piece is testament to [rout] collective's vision - a fantastic old school drama with disharmonic piano and mournful strings, topped off by French vocals. Strangely, for all the craterous pacing, [rout] seem to have their roots in all adventurous places possible.

Mick Buckingham (www.kapsil.net/muttley / www.focisleft.bandcamp.com)

SubVersion Stop 247: Do You See What I See (Audiograft [rout] proto-visiting poem)

Do you see what I see? 
All those red balloons

Those wines  and perfumes

Do you see they are beyond a tree? 

For, my lovers, a tree is where it started
An opal seed was planted
The seed grew in a vein of permafrost
Dissolving anything unlike itself.

The plant's leaves may be slanted 
Do you see what I see? 
Beyond the roof they have darted 
Like balloons, perfumes and costumes. 

Are they 
              Beyond a tree? 

[This is a poem I wrote down quickly in a notebook to mark my first visit to the Holywell Music Room in over a year - actually, since 2010 - the Audiograft festival night from Oxford Contemporary Music at the venue after some workshops in the day. I have been wanting to go back to the Holywell for some time; there are always good things to see; I put Greg Haines and Alexander Thomas (ANTA) on SubVersion's events in May 28th 2010; and tonight's live performance featuring Jennifer Walshe, James Saunders and Felicity Ford should benefit my mental health and continuously those around me]. :) 

 

SubVersion Stop 239: Tropic Of Coldness - Personalised For Muttley Live Session 17th December 2014

SV Xmas Drip-Feed Pt 5, exclusively available in For The Ambient Lovers (FTAL) archive. 

Tropic of Coldness are an ambient and electroacoustic superduo with former members from psychedelia/electroacoustic band Fuji Apple Worship. They've careened their complexity in disparate, streamed arrangements into "Demography Of Data" as Tropic of Coldness, a highlight album of my 130 subjects on www.fluid-radio.co.uk (under my penname). That LP is available here in CD and digital formats for an inexpensive price - make sure you check it.

https://organic-industries.bandcamp.com/album/tropic-of-coldness-demography-of-data-oi014

If you like what you hear and want something the duo made for me personally, under their agreement I'm dripping this for Xmas 2014. It's a 28:33 long live session with somnambulant, sleepytime bent. Recommended if you like Eno's "Music For Airports", Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie's "After The Night Falls" and ASC's "Truth Be Told", all timeless records in Muttleyland. 

Find the live session as #300 in FTAL (For  The Ambient Lovers...review and mixtape archive 001)

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?56404-For-The-Ambient-Lovers-review-and-mixtape-archive-001/page13

28:33 / 320kbps

Tropic of Coldness' track "Distressing Dilemma Of Rational Choices" is included in SubVersion's End Of Year 2014 Charts in my contribution. :)

SubVersion Stop 236: SV Recommends Muttley - Take Me Where The Giver Grows Mix (December 2014)

http://kapsil.net/muttley/2014/SV%20Recommends%20Muttley%20-%20Take%20Me%20Where%20The%20Giver%20Grows%20%28December%202014%29.mp3

SubVersion Xmas Drip Feed Pt 3.

If you're interested, don't listen with a look at the tracklist to start with. It sinks in deeper this way. When you look at the tracklist after, it makes more sense. ;)

A birthday present for my 2014 linkworker Jo this is. But it's universal enough to warrant publishing. All Muttley / Foci's Left sets have concepts.

For the tracklist, see the ID3 tag.

Enjoy :)

SubVersion Stop 226: What's been happening in the world of Foci's Left (May 2013 - May 2014)

Instead of spam with multiple postings, I'm collecting all of  the essential Foci's Left publicity from May 2013 to May 2014 into one post, upon release of my third album, "Derelict Career".

A lot can happen in a year...in reverse chronological order:

Foci's Left - Derelict Career LP (Foci's Left LP 002)

 01. Pathological Darkness
02. Anything Becomes Possible With Time
03. Eternal Sands [The Shapeshifter's Reprise feat. Eschaton] (Album Version)
04. Talking With Birds Lament
05. Liez
06. Wandering In A Bright Spot (For Advertisements)
07. The Light You Shine Prevents Me From Being Uptight
08. Seeing The Sights (For Film)
09. Spared Merit (Vocal Version)
10. A Rose In The Desert Wind (Simon Bean Re-model)

Released: 12 May 2014
Price: £5

http://focisleft.bandcamp.com/album/derelict-career-lp

The album is called "Derelict Career". Concept: the ambient music protagonist (me) sees that ambient-exclusive musicians are fit for a "derelict career", as besides Brian Eno, the style has no sustainable capital powering it; it must stay a hobby. Ambient is Eno''s invention and to have success, musicians must look outside their niche to move through different styles. Ambient has been going since the 1950s - it is often mixed with new age as a genre, music for Tai Chi, and healing/therapy medicine. So the point to make is to, jokingly so, try and avoid a "derelict career", in order to progress and have an audience - the most important faculty for me; money isn't important, people are.

The album artwork is an exclusive commission from William Rye, a young artist who curated the Unconscious Volume exhibition in Kent, UK in 2012, in memory of my uncle John Buckingham who died age 45 from Motor Neuron Disease. The image has a special clarity for our family, my father being a painter, as I once was, with the brush being melted into the book representative of my career choice to be a writer, whether of tracks, songs, lyrics or poetry. So far I have been successful at this, with my dream jobs becoming more reality than ever before. With each sale, a percentage is donated to William, and the remainder helps to cover any CD packaging / gear upgrading as I venture further into music production. Thank you immeasurably for your time and support.

Reviews

"The long track is great, as well as those which concentrate on soundscaping. But (as you'd probably expect ) I don't like the vocal tracks at all. Anyway, just because I don't like the vocal tracks doesn't mean other people won't". ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings owner and published letter writer in The Wire 2013 concerning Meredith Monk.

"Overall it seems you're still searching for a sound, but tracks 1-4, 8 and 10 are the way to go in my opinion. Of course you should not really adapt based on one person's opinion ~ better to collect a group of opinions and go from there!" ~ Richard Allen, www.acloserlisten.com editor and central writer.

"Listening to Pathological Darkness right now - really liking it.

Like how the brighter synth emerges (1:08) as the track progresses but still with the darker sounds infiltrating the mix. It does really make you feel like you're inside a gloomy, distracted mind. Given the title, that's mission accomplished." ~ Code, Subtle Audio label owner (Mary Anne Hobbs / Aphex Twin featured). 

"I like the sound design going on" ~ Nic TVG, Pinecone Moonshine owner (Equinox, Icarus, Macc et al).

"I listened. And this remind me even more of The Residents. But much much more spooky. Some scary atmospheres in this one. I notice something interesting in your tracks. You don't start slowly and build the tracks - like most of the ambient/drone artists - but instead from the start you insert the listener into your soundscapes. Eternal Sands (The Shapeshifters Reprise) I like the most so far." ~ Kristian (Fyhwds), Noise For Blues For Noise artist.

Credits

Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, keyboard work, processing, mastering, except "A Rose In The Desert Wind" which is re-modelled by Simon Rametse.

Artwork commissioned exclusively from William Rye, from the "Unconscious Volume" 2012 exhibition, dedicated to my uncle John Buckingham, who died of Motor Neuron Disease in 2002.

Tags

ambient foci's left label omni music simon bean dark drone electroacoustic emotional pianism second self-released lp third album vocal harmonies yin & yang Oxford

Foci's Left - 15 Minutes Of Fame Pt.1 - I Want To Touch The Sky - Derelict Career Promo Mix (May 2014)

01. 00:00 The Inventors Of Aircraft – Early Morning Trauma (Earthtones Vol.1, Tessellate Recordings, Bandcamp, 2013)
02. 01:40 The Angling Loser – Night (Author Of The Twilight, Time Released Sound, 2013
03. 07:45 Abdul Mogard – Studded Procession (Futuresequence, Sequence 7, Bandcamp, 2013)
04. 07:50 Metatag – One Dream Lost One Dream Found (Transmisson LP, Bandcamp, 2014)
05. 09:20 Eeem – Shores Of Midgard (Futuresequence, Sequence 7, Bandcamp, 2013)
06. 15:40 Foci's Left – Pathological Darkness (Derelict Career LP, Foci's Left, Bandcamp, 2014)
07. 17:00 Boards Of Canada – Reach For The Dead (Tomorrow's Harvest LP, Warp, 2013)
08. 21:20 Grouper – No Other (A.I.A: Dream Loss LP, Yellowelectric, 2011)
09. 23:50 Duncan O'Calleiagh – Low Across Dawn Waters (Distant Voices, Still Lives, Parvo Art, 2009)
10. 23:50 Foci's Left – Anything Becomes Possible With Time (Derelict Career LP / Tara EP, Foci's Left, Bandcamp, 2014)
31:34 end

http://kapsil.net/muttley/2014/Foci%...%202014%29.mp3

Enjoy people.

Mick

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60487-Foci-s-Left-15-MOF-Pt-1-I-Want-To-Touch-The-Sky-Derelict-Career-Promo-Mix-%28May%29

Goldfrapp - Stranger (Foci's Left Instrumental Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MnySVVID3ag  

          Free Mp3 download on the SubVersion SoundCloud:

          https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/...rumental-remix

Published on 3 May 2014

Bonus audio from the soon-arriving "Derelict Career" LP by Foci's Left, the solo project of Mick Robert Buckingham from Oxford, UK. Due to respect of copyright this original version is online as a stream and not on the paid download of my third album.

The LP will be available at: www.focisleft.bandcamp.com for an inexpensive £5.

Please buy Goldfrapp's records. "Tales Of Us" is a fantastic record closely followed by their debut "Lovely Head" and then "Seventh Tree". You can find Goldfrapp's music available on Amazon, iTunes, and more reputable stores.

Don't forget to check www.goldfrapp.com

Thanks for listening.

Foci's Left - Life In A Less Southern Town (Omni Music Ohm Series 02)

http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60331-OUT-NOW-The-Ohm-Series-Foci-s-Left-Life-in-a-Less-Southern-Town-LP-%28Ohm02%29&highlight=southern 

#6 in the drum 'n' bass bestsellers one week in March 2014, #32 for the month from hundreds (it's not even d'n'b, it's at best electronica).

#Supported by Niels Roosen (www.jungletrain.net owner), Jonathan Tait (Subvert Central Recordings owner), Simon Rametse (Simon Bean, Omni Music), amongst others.

#Critically acclaimed by seasoned www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net writer David Murphy in print. 

#Collaborative effort with a Brian Eno collaborator - Simon Scott of Slowdive - and Mike Twelve (Seconds Before Awakening / The Giraffe And The Tree).

 The LP is based on emotions I experience writing music in the town of Carterton, Oxfordshire; additionally Oxford, as a means to express myself - as opposed to Rochester, Kent, where I could express very little. "Life In A Less Southern Town" runs the gamut of the ambient, drone, synthesizer and modern classical worlds to offer something unique.

"Erratic Pathway" is remixed on the disc by Simon Scott of Slowdive. Scott worked with Brian Eno on the group's "Souvlaki" LP in the early 1990s.

The disc comes with 4 bonus tracks. CDs ship immediately (please put your address in the Paypal notes and I'll send your copy).

Many thanks for your support - an audience means the world to me.

Mick Buckingham (Foci's Left)

www.omnimusic.org

reviews

"There are two sorts of ambient music. One gets you relaxed, and one makes you uneasy; one's a warm duvet and one's a chill breeze; one's a forgiving hug and one's a suspicious glance.

Although the second album by Oxford musician Mick Buckingham covers both ambient strains, it's definitely better when leaning towards the latter. The most satisfying element of this record is its density - where many ambient composers are happy to let things run, Buckingham has created a CD of real sonic depth, with a lush textural variety, from the pitched-up honks at the opening (that remind us of "Galleons Of Stone" by The Art Of Noise) to "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors", in which distant metallic clanks are borne on zephyrs through crumbling ruins.

Occasionally the sounds are just too well worn, and the ear can't help but associate echoey piano with lachrymose US soaps, and sawtooth synth hums with encroaching Silurians, but in general this is a well-constructed thoughtful slice of musical atmospherica.

Perhaps "Transistory Stringency" - yes, the titles are best ignored, frankly - is thin and meandering, but in general this record marries the amicable bubbling of early Global Communication with the elegant austerity of Tim Hecker or Leyland Kirby.

The record ends with some unexpected drum 'n' bass action, and if the breakbeat tweaking is a little ham-fisted, the mournful Aphex horns underneath embody the record's true, dark heart. Good stuff, in short, but more misery next time, please, Mick; perhaps we should have written a bad review, to get the ball rolling." ~ David Murphy, Nightshift reviewer, April 2014. (www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net)

"It reminded me of Vangelis. It's better than your first album. :)" ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings and published The Wire Letters contributor concerning Meredith Monk. (www.subvertcentral.com)

"That's pretty out there man. I didn't dislike it, that's for sure, but the main thing I took from it is it was very adventurous in what it tries to do." ~ ASC on "Love Never Fails", producer mentioned by Joe Muggs in The Wire 2012 Rewind as breaking new ground. (www.auxiliarymusic.com)

"First impression: your music is very strong compositionally and sonically, very well made and beautifully executed. :)" ~ Pascal Savy, Fluid Radio.

"Yes I liked it. You've got a real talent there. I think you're an innovator." ~ Geoff Brooks PhD, clinical psychologist, hypnotherapist and Reiki healer.

"I like the mood of the release, which I would classify as darkly contemplative. It's always good to play to your strengths, so my recommendation would be to continue further down this path." ~ www.acloserlisten.com

"I like it :) Suddenly starts to get moody when the organ comes in." ~ Shiva, Bitrate Music on "With Aid Of The Assertive" [CD-R Bonus Track] (www.bitratemusic.com), attendant of Technicality raves in the ongoing jungle / drum 'n' bass revival.

"I thought is was nicely meandering without losing its focus." ~ Bob Macc on "Love Conquers All", jungle track in 4/4 and 5/4 time signature. (Outsider, Paradox Music, Subvert Central, Breakin, www.subvertmastering.com)

"Sounds like a good lead into a d'n'b track. The arrangement is very pleasant to me." ~ Nic TVG on "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors" percussion section. (www.pineconemoonshine.com)

"I like the part where the drums start to fall apart the best." ~ Nic TVG, Pinecone Moonshine label owner (Macc, Icarus et al) on "Love Conquers All".

"Nice ECM style album cover as well!" ~ James Sargeant, Moshka promoter, Oxford.

credits

 

released 02 March 2014
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, instruments and processing, except on "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors" where Mike Twelve contributes the middle part. All mastering by Foci's Left, except "Love Conquers All" which has additional mastering by Bob Macc (www.subvertmastering.com)

tags

 

tags: ambient electroacoustic pianism second album synthesizer vocal harmonies Oxford
 

license

 

all rights reserved

Foci's Left - Tara EP (Foci's Left EP 003)

Tara "Moose" Buckingham, our 16 year old Colly / Alsatian cross, died on January 9th 2014 of kidney failure. There was nothing more we could do, it was her time. Me and my close family enjoyed 8 years with her. She was a rescue dog from the RSPCA.

As a way to mark this loss cathartically, and as a tribute, I present "Tara EP", a four track chronological excursion of Tara into the afterlife ("Anything Becomes Possible With Time"), emotions in lament ("Non-Corrosive String Solution"), the memorandum ("For Tara"), and finally, my belief she may come back as a woman one day ("To The Woman With No Name"). This is an EP of very personal emotions, from the one who was ironically least close to her because of my own illness.

The EP is an inexpensive £3, being sold as a whole, as it is meant to be heard. 50% of proceeds will go to our local Animal Sanctuary shop, where "Moose" as she was infamously called every day (due to her appearance) was took for walks regularly.

I hope you enjoy the music. Here's to you Tara, hopefully we'll speak again someday.

SPECIAL OFFER

Order "Life In A Less Southern Town LP" on CD-R and "Tara EP" for £10. Email mbucki07 at hotmail dot co dot uk or send your Paypal payment to this address clearly labelled "Special offer" and I'll send both releases to you digitally. :)

REVIEWS

"It reminds me of early(ish) Pink Floyd :)" ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings on "Anything Becomes Possible With Time".

"My favourite artist at the moment...classic releases!" Simon Rametse, March 2014.

"i like it. i wonder what it would sound like if it gets a bit more complex. nice one anyway. " ~ logburner, Subvert Central forum on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".

"it's rhythmic very odd – it sounds as though everything is always slightly behind the beat – disturbing :)" ~ Jonathan Tait on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".

"I like it, very interesting, I'm going to show the rest of the gang and I let you know what everyone thinks." ~ Shiva, www.bitratemusic.com on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".

"It's nice. It sounds like an improvisation :)" ~ Jonathan Tait on "To The Woman With No Name".

 
credits

 

released 02 March 2014
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, piano, strings, processing and mastering, except "To The Woman With No Name" which is mastered by Bob Macc (www.subvertmastering.com)

tags

 

tags: ambient electroacoustic pianism third self-released ep vocal harmonies Oxford

Foci's Left & Geoff Brooks - Hypnosis Session 1 - Dreams (November 2013)

 

I, Mick Robert Buckingham first met hypnotherapist and alternative medicines/therapies specialist Geoff Brooks in 2010, when I was going through a transition in diagnosis from bipolar and psychotic depression to schizo-affective disorder. Within 1 session I felt really at ease and liberated by Geoff's emotive techniques with positive affirmations and anxiety disorders. He trains in imaginal realities, psychotherapy, dream work, EFT (emotional freedom technique), hypnotherapy and Reiki healing.

With 3 degrees with distinctions to his name, I was motivated by my deteriorating 2013 health to seek guidance from Geoff once again. After this particularly resonant opening session to the series - on the subject of dreams and activating their merits - Geoff commented since I was recording these sessions for my personal use if we could make them publically available to be bought on the internet. This not only increases Geoff's audience just by having audio online, but benefits both of us as we split any profits from downloads equally.

The price for the first 51 minute, carefully mastered (by myself) hypnosis session is £15, since Geoff's sessions, lasting roughly 90 minutes each, are £40 each. I hope this gives you a taster into the curated content discussed by me, Foci's Left and Geoff in the session, gives you an insight into what I want to create, a showcase of Geoff's remarkable skills in his respective fields, and maybe motivates you, if you are within reach of Swindon, UK, to look up the Shaftesbury Centre where he works to arrange a session of your own.

credits

 

released 05 November 2013
Mick Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left) provides base subject matter, Geoff Brooks (hypnotherapist) weaves a dialogue to New Age background music. Carefully mastered by Mick Robert Buckingham.

Image is a free online take by Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan of the coastline while she was on a US tour with her band. www.facebook.com/batforlashes

Foci's Left - Dumping The Rock EP (Foci's Left EP 002)

"Dumping The Rock" is a varied showcase of the Foci's Left sound, but aims specifically to disperse any aggression of past releases toward something more mellow and beautiful. You can map different tracks together in a Foci's Left playlist with this release.

Artwork: "Cyclist" by Antonymes (Ian Hazeldine), who took this picture especially for me upon the release of his album "The License To Interpret Dreams".

Purchasers will receive a bonus Modern Classical piece called "The Calamities Of Confusion [21.12.12] (For Lata S.) in their download.

Total EP running time 13:52. 

reviews

"This is breathtaking man" ~ 247, Futurepast Fanzine ed. on "Overdriven Terrain".

"Love it :)" ~ DJ Trax (Moving Shadow) on "Overdriven Terrain".

"Ah, 'The Calamities Of Confusion' - I like this one". ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings.

credits

 

released 19 August 2013
All tracks written, produced and engineered by Mick Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left).

 

tags

 

tags: ambient electroacoustic pianism second self-released ep synthesizer vocal harmonies Oxford

Foci's Left - Grumpy Love (Foci's Left LP 001)

Dedicated to my sister, the beautiful Joanne Buckingham. Modicum: to raise a smile. This is a soundtrack of my llife so far.

Artwork is "Leopards" by Niomi Jackson.

reviews

 
"Introducing ‘Not Seeing Reality’ – the wayward, often mysterious journey that defines the pathway of what we call life. For many, reality is totally dependent on individual perception. The notes begin their life in innocent infancy, but by their teens they have snaked their way into the more unruly, dissonant territory, interacting with one another until a harmonious chain reaction ensues; one that started off with a primary note – a single heartbeat, the survivor in the battle of selection – but one that quickly brings in a thousand more.

Reality is then able to shape-shift into a sporadic, sparse piano line, accompanied by a gorgeous wave of crimson synth. Only, a line doesn’t quite work; it is bloated enough to feel pregnant with the baby bump of melody, oozing out of the thicker line and then submerging the original, vulnerable piano with new life.

Foci’s Left is the alias of Fluid Radio’s own Mick Buckingham, a name that regular Fluid readers will know very well. Told as a chronological tale, Grumpy Love isn’t nearly as dishevelled or as depressed with the state of things past and present as its grumpy name would seem to suggest. It is, in fact, shrouded by heart-felt sensitivity and deep personality. It is very much the opposite of grumpy. After all, there are two words up there; the oh-so-thin space that divides the first word from the second, ‘love’, is close enough to be considered intimate.

Love never fails. Love conquers all.

Grumpy Love is a beautiful, personalized painting, left to hang at a slight angle on the uneven canvas of life, with both enjoyable and difficult moments that come to claim every man. When linked together, they reach a teenage crescendo. ‘Piano Paint’ introduces some beautiful synths that jut into the piano, coating it with an intoxicating harbour of nostalgia – the nostalgic element traces a radiated line of melody, as if the early memory on which it was based has physically escaped, deceiving what we all thought of as reality and instead containing itself within the music as a precautionary measure. It cocoons itself against the decline that age brings and the mood swing of swift change that can affect our recollections as one decade passes into another.

Saturated in the vintage, ambient warmth of pure tone, when the genre itself was in its infancy, the synths are a mesmerising serenade. It shares the same angelic timbre that made the early Brian Eno classic, Music For Airports, such a lovable listen. You can tell instantly that Grumpy Love is a deeply personal recording just from this synth alone. The later drums seem to propel the passages of life forward, with no pause for reminiscing. That comes later on, because Grumpy Love has some beautiful, open spaces ideal for reflection. Life may, at times, feel like ‘An Upwards Slope’, but listening to the music here is to know that the inner serenity of peaceful ease is always there. Always. Here, a thinner drone is disguised as Cupid himself, but the darker echoes of possible distress lie just beyond the doorway. It is the tense, anxious sound of the unknown; a place where dusty road-signs are always blank with unmarked destinations.

‘For Fluid’ is a loving piece of music that is as much a generous tribute as it is a personal reflection. Grumpy Love narrates the passage of life with painstaking thought. The older hand outlines the black tail of a nurtured note like the embrace between a newborn and a parent. In this picture, the thin brush gives life to the paint. It holds itself in the palmed trust of the future, while taking one last look back at the past – this is the final dedication." ~ James Catchpole, Fluid Radio

www.fluid-radio.co.uk/2013/09/focis-left/

"After the disconcerting dissonance of his last demo (FTAL Attraction), Foci's Left - the solo work of occasional Nightshift contributor Mick Buckingham - casts forth a full album set on a far less turbulent plane.

Nine tracks of stretched-out electro-acoustic ambient pianism and electronic minimalism drift and shift with soporific intent, microtonal drones morphing and gradually mutating with precision-restrained variation. Best of the pieces here is the drone-drift of "Decompress The Magnet", while it's marginally more imposing twin "An Upwards Slope" dovetails into it seamlessly. "Regurgitated Impulses" adds a necessary glitchy interlude, while "Piano Paint" is both light in tone and texture but random enough to be distracting.

Where the album occasionally falls down is a lack of brevity on a few of the tracks - "Piano Paint" for example has run its course long before it concludes - while "For Fluid" is anything but and simply sounds like Mick's plonking random keys on his piano, but beyond such lapses, "Grumpy Love" is a neat enough addition to the ambient drone cannon." ~ Ronan Munro, Nightshift Magazine ed.

(www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net, October 2013)

"I find you on Bandcamp and I'm listening right now "Grumpy Love". This is strange music so far :) Dark soundscapes and atmospheres but lighten up with childish imagination coming from the piano playing (currently I'm at the ending of the second track). Interesting. " ~ Kristian, Noise For Blues For Noise.

"It is very...interesting :)
Well at times I really like the aesthetic and the goofiness of the sounds. Sometimes it is a tad too much for me I have to admit. Maybe it is something I have to listen to more carefully. But it is very inspiring at times." ~ Nils Frahm, Erased Tapes Records.

"It's pretty amazing. I really like 'Decompress The Magnet' and 'An Upwards Slope', they are my favourites. I'm going to have to burn it to CD for the car." ~ 247, Futurepast Fanzine ed.

"Well done Mick. Congrats!" ~ ASC

"I really like 'Decompress The Magnet' :D" ~ GlassBox

"'Decompress The Magnet' really is outstanding." ~ Roo Stercogburn, Omni Music.

subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?59592-Foci-s-Left-Grumpy-Love-LP-(my-debut-album-OUT-NOW)

"It has a nice flow to it" ~ Roy Buckingham, my grandfather on "For Fluid".

"I am very impressed, the Grumpy Love LP, it really has a lot to offer. 'Decompress the Magnet' has a depth of creativity, emotion and inspiration resonating from it. 'An Upwards Slope' has a feeling of a eternal dose of mystery and passionate adventure of abstract life just breathing in and out through the song... I wish the LP had a fixed price on it because it is of good value. Brillliant work love it!" ~ Simon Bean, Omni Music via Facebook.

credits

 

released 19 May 2013
All tracks composed and recorded by Michael Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left), with additional production on "Decompress The Magnet" by Mike Twelve (Seconds Before Awakening / The Giraffe And The Tree).

tags

 

tags: ambient collage electroacoustic first album pianism synthesizer vocal harmonies Oxford

 

license

all rights reserved. 

SubVersion Stop 223: Muttley's Winter 2013/2014 Mixtapes

Muttley - 15 MOF Pt. 69 - Subconscious Junk

Healing the unconscious.

01. -
02. Tim Hecker - Hatred Of Music II (Ravedeath 1972, Kranky, 2012)
03. Wolves In The Throne Room - Prayer Of Transformation (Celestial Lineage, Southern Lord, 2011)
04. Billy The Kid - Drown (The Lost Cause, Lost Records, 2008]
05. Eluvium - By The Rails (The Wire Tapper 33 / Temporary Residence, www.thewire.co.uk)
06. Bat For Lashes - Deep Sea Diver (The Haunted Man, Parlophone, 2012)
07. Transmuteo - Motivational Holography (Motivational Holography, Aguirre, 2013)
08. Max Wuerden - Fulfilled (Or Lost, Ambientmusic, 2013)
09. Beautumn - October Cafe (Northing, Infraction, 2006)
10. Grouper - Living Room (The Man Who Died In His Boat, Kranky, 2013)

Download

Muttley - 15 MOF Pt. 72 - Encounter (February 2014)

A soundtrack for encountering a person, a persona, and the changes in life and experience that result from these cornerstones.

01. 00:00 Slow Walkers - Wake (Slow Walkers LP, Peak Oil, 2013)
02. 00:00 EUS - Amori II (Sol Levit LP, Contradicta, 2013)
03. 04:57 BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa - Space Finale 1.2 (Space Finale LP, Editions Mego, 2010)
04. 11:45 Tmmrw - Vision (ENDPR010, Tmmrw Bandcamp, 2013)
05. 13:07 How To Disappear Completely - Still (Still EP, HTDC Bandcamp, 2013)
06. 15:03 Bing Satellites - Encounter (Twilight Sessions Vol.11, Bing Satellites Bandcamp, 2013)
07. 20:23 Secret Pyramid - A Descent (Movements Of Night LP, Students Of Decay, 2013)
08: 25:31 Bat For Lashes - Seal Jubilee (Fur And Gold LP, Parlophone, 2007)
09. 29:01 EUS - Siete (Sol Levit LP, Contradicta, 2013)
10. 30:53 Foci's Left - Transistory Stringency (Life In A Less Southern Town LP, Omni Music Unreleased)

Download (34:16)

If you would like to support what I do, feel free to visit my Bandcamp:

www.focisleft.bandcamp.com

SubVersion Stop 212: Brad Rose's "Tapes Of 2013" - 15 Minutes Of Fame Mix

Brad Rose has run the Digitalis label for over 5 years with great releases from Chicago psych-rockers Zelienople, Pocahaunted & Robedoor, and Rose himself under one of his many production pseudonyms, Charlatan. When I asked him if he'd like to contribute a 15 Minutes Of Fame mix to the 7.5 years running series, he was really enthusiastic, and now we have the great results - a 40 minute, 10 track mix covering the best in tapes for 2013. Check out Brad's Isolatarium eBook and download on Bandcamp for a taster into his area. 

TRACKLIST

01. The Rainbow Body "Free Sentient Beings #4" (Ginjoha)
02. Virile Games "Steel Church" (Hospital)
03. Tiger Stripe "Prismacolor" (Self-Released)
04. Cream Juice "So Smooth" (Orange Milk)
05. Giant Claw "Wombs Forever" (Tranquility Tapes)
06. DYNOOO "FitzryvA" (Astro:dynamics)
07. Emily Reo "Metal" (Crash Symbols)
08. Wizard Of "Never Die IV" (Rocket Machine)
09. Waxy Tomb "Interchangeable Limb Replacements" (Weird Ear)
10. Attack Bear "Superfucked" (Reckno)

Download

http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/

SubVersion Stop 210: Muttley joins www.organicbeats.co.uk with the 'Basal Sounds' article series

'Basal Sounds' is ultimately a column for music that hits you in the chest - basal being doctor terminology to measure heart rate and the thumps of the muscle. It's also kinda catchy given bass music has become so first-rate for catching everything between 120-160 BPM that doesn't quite fit its own genre. As a writer, I, Muttley SubVersion have been covering leftfield drum & bass, jungle, ambient and electronica for 7 1/2 years for over 10 publications, so now it made sense to get involved with Organic, seeing as they're some prime movers alright!

Read October 2013's column

Keep updated

SubVersion Stop 196: Greg Haines - Where We Were (Denovali)

 

This is officially the closest I've come to describing an album both Detroit Techno and Dub integrative. Augmented with wistful keening and wakening from handiwork to stretch and shape synth-based composites, with piano, vibraphone and delay effects, the one who could transcendentally introspect this deeply as to unwravel a whole new persona to the audience, is Greg Haines.

Greg has been known to Fluid Radio regulars, literally, on the regular. This is no shock when you take the opportunity to listen to his music, full to the brim with emotion, soulful hacking at the barracks of unconsciousness and spilling over of lifeblood from every interpolative stance. That interpolation is no less present than on "Where We Were", a seeming questioning-of-context title, a fromage frais of differing starts and stops, curves in the "Tablula Rasa" so to speak, of his Arvo Part, Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze influences.

More influences spill out hitherto in the press - King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry, Rhythm & Sound. Haines has taken all his Modern Classical training: writing scores, writing for other musicians, writing with an "other" in mind, and another cause...to this, a nothingness. But at the same time, a something more - a pure expression of himself, in solitude, in the comforts of his own studio, to be what he truly wants to be, without pretense, without the surfeits of touring stresses, impacts, whether he'd like it or not, have subconscious direction on him.

From the off "The Intruder" marks out the spellbinding piano of classic Haines, but adds new touches, like the synthesizer you might hear on an art Pop record, or something from 80s New Order. A common leitmotif: syrupy and condensing diamel dynamics, brought into dystopia, like stifling a sneeze - then sent for an LSD-ish loop, a kaleidoscopic psychedelia, as if the components had reinforced glass backing them up. The personally enshrouded attitude the pieces seem to take, so much so that it is confessed that Peter Broderick's string section was left on the cutting room floor, solidifies the individuality Haines has greater pursued as his career has progressed.

Clearly a logical progression by way of quasi-extension from the performing arts and dance industry, it's nevertheless clear Haines couldn't have made a record like this at 18 years of age. 2006 was a long time ago, and it is thrilling to hear how he has matured. Flickers of vibraphone on piano that strays over two octaves for "The Intruder" sets the newly founded Haines polyrhythm aesthetic to Pink Floyd footwork - still the Modern Classical tropes remain. "Something Happened" introduces more electronic texture which sounds like GAS' Wolfgang Voigt munching a bag of Walkers crisps while trapped in a busy elevator listening to Greg and Danny Saul's Liondialer project.

Rhythms change up, stature is questioned, all creating an excellent entry into the record's standout, "So It Goes". This is where the regulation of "Where We Were" undergoes the most trans-formation. A soaring synth, multilayered like a painted seashell, she plays a major key then returns to a filtered slumber. The 80s reminiscent interlude style of "Trasiemo" sheds its melody like a re-cast tear. Whereas "Habanero" is perhaps the most innocent Detroit and dub Techno amalgam out there at present. The finale, a version of "Habanero", breathes ancient breaths into an echo chamber like vacuum particles from a Mike Oldfield "Tubular Bells" - with cheese and Rioja condiments - manifesto. The art of utopia/dystopia juggling down to a doomed art.

Yet there is no brutal reality with "Where We Were", like lambs silenced for non-vegan dinners. Like a lamb, too, Haines develops his own insulating coat at an astonishing rate. His use of illusive metre on tracks such as "The Whole", and 3 years back, "Until The Point Of Least Resistance", allude to anything but a composer going through the motions. Instead, it creates a formal post-iconclastry that destroys genre boundaries by sucking the detritus into a hoover and being left to live a life as compost - then, new musical notation.

"Where We Were" is a magnificent album, free of pretense, stuffed with more minute pleasures that become significant revelations over time. It all adds to the special body of work Greg has accumulated 2006-2013, and luckily for the collectors and completists among you, Denovali have issued a 3CD, 5LP retrospective at the same time. Meeting Greg for my first concert promotion in May 2010 was eventful, but it would seem there's no better place to listen to a Greg Haines record than in the comfort of your own space. Incredibly recommended.

Purchase: Digital Release

SubVersion Stop 194: Muttley - Importance Of Being Modest (June 2013)

SubVersion Recommends Muttley - Importance Of Being Modest (June 13 - Grouper, Bat For Lashes, Foci's Left et al)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2bhfgl

An hour long mix, motored by the two tracks Grouper - "Sleep" and Steve Roach - "Soul Tones". These tracks last 51 and 45 minutes each on their own, but are blended together for the remainder 25 minutes of the set; after the tune-switching-and-shapeshifting has settled, basically. Before that comes great, real crushingly deep ambiences from Octal Industries ("Drofn#1"), drones from Library Tapes and Christopher Bissonnette, then Bat For Lashes first album "Fur And Gold" mixed with Foci's Left (me) and Mike Twelve's "Decompress The Magnet" piece. The climax before succulent drifts is Greg Haines' magnificent "So It Goes" on Denovali, which I will link written material for once my Fluid Radio review has been published.

Odd, involving, but always interesting and absorbing, "(The) Importance Of Being Modest" is based on the counterweight idea that to appreciate space, you have to be exposed to enough busy atmosphere for the gradations to make a real difference. In consistence lies the ability or inability to be modest about your demands of this space, or lack thereof. It's dovetailed in.

So I permissively hope you enjoy the mix as much as I did creating it!

Mick