Keith Berry and Spotify Radio

Spotify artist stations: a good thing. I've just been listening to Keith Berry, a ambient light drone musician who comes highly recommended. It's very medicinal music, full of charm and wonder, without the charm offensive. Keith Berrys two disc-er "The Ear That Was Sold To A Fish" is a great catalog addition. If you like any of the greats: the Enos, Cluster, Harold Budd, Grouper, Eliane Radigue - you cannot afford to pass on this station. Or just listen on Ytube, or whatever :)

AUDIO AT: www.soundcloud.com/subversion-2

"Awkwardi" is a new release on the SC Affiliated (loosely) Foci Left label, in that I do hardly any promotion like Statto,and the records are always "awkward", in that not a lot of people like many of the tracks. That is no skin off my nose, simply aim to please myself, looking after number one means the goodness can spread from the root without decay trails.

This particular ambient album is very very lo-fidelity, not a lot happens microtonally, yet at the same time lots of shifts occur in seismic tone and morphing tonics toward sonic peace, ecstatic peace, and the generalized feel of mood music at large. The rippling of earlier releases is replaced by a mature understatedness and a empty reverb pocket to fill in hope.

Expect to hear influences from Ennio Morricone, Angelo Badalamenti, Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Sylvain Chaveau, Jandek and Nils Frahm, amongst others. It's serious music, there are numerous influences I could list, but influences are vague at the best of times. Ultimately, the album exists as a two-part longform live album, with two live tracks, and numerous side pieces.

subversion recommends: dj muttley - painting nice memories mixset [soundcloud]

...and now for a return to my ambient obsessions in music.

i love putting mixsets together, so here is another one for us.

no track list, interact with my fan club for tune ids. i do not talk between my fan club, i just imagine they exist.

the mixing is straight forward, back to the norm. therapeutic to put together.
i enjoy all the tunes. the m. bartram loop "glory is forever" is a fave. it's the shoegazey guitar ambient track.
the "wrap me up" atonal guitar track from a 14tracks compilation actually made me cry when i first mixed it in. 
there are more orchestral moments too, from bruno bavota's piece to "cologne cerrone houdini" by alison goldfrapp.
i also had a chance to work in school of seven bells "painting a memory" beats track at the end, very chilled and nice.
relish the summer while we have a decent spell of it this year. i see plenty of you cycling and jogging past. good signs.
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/foci-left-painting-nice-memories-mixset-may-2020

the reason i abhor hipster culture

imo, deification and blasphemy is only foolhardy idiocy, not experimentation. punk is anti-intelligence.
of that, there was very little hip stuff that was any good back then. the sex pistols and the stranglers is about
as far as most mods get to punk, because it was on television, and because it was on television, it was termed post punk
by them. really stupid idea imo, because there's nothing post about beginnings. i blame the drugs, the shitty close-minded
attitudes of sheep, and the sausage fest fans who would not know ennui if it blasted them in the ear with a maxi syringe.

that's my parade rain opinion of fakes at large though. i don't really need to share it with subverts, because true or
stand-in subverts are liberally contrarian, basically opposition to non-vehement anger. i'm just sharing my views, since
this is an open forum and non-nazist in truth. well, the trolls, they ultimately fucked off years ago when they realised
they couldn't milk the machine any longer. the ones that remain, like you are here for the pure appreciation of music.

i'll give the stuff you listed a listen when i can. normally i'm just ambient music, this stuff is very challenging, not
my taste and never has been. i prefer the golden oldies, but not the radio 2 golden oldies if you get what i mean. lots of
"artists" are so pretentious and think educated college artists such as tracey emin are like monet. i could never get that.
horses for courses and all, i'm describing the average hardcore music lover (rave or revolt genres) as a puppet of their
own creations, it's a psychedelically sad state of affairs i think, though that understanding is pretty personal.

i feel for the fans of real metal punk and hardcore that have been waxed over by the pseudo-intellectuals and post-piss,
post-everything, all-in-morrissey-ness miserabilism of a lot of rock and punk based repertoires. it's all about the music,
there is no need to be airy fairy or maxi-ponce pointless about everything. that's also called being anal, exactly what
fluidity does not need.

fluidity creates, being pseudo-intellectual fragments. fragmented brains only create spread of a demise of true creation.

foci left label infos: ultrawerld series (3 mini lps)

foci left - ultrawerld lp

there are three of these, like "sadly, the future", if you did not know. they're more atmospherically upright than james' creation, though, it's less of a doomy affair (i like doom). all on bandcamp - search foci's left, i don't like leeching. i also do not like capitalising, hee hee. nah, try it for size. if the melodies fit your ear frequency, you could have a good album in your collection there.

the music was furtively based around the idea of a demon world, a shadow world, and a medium (integer) organic world. in the demon world, everything is shit and destructive, to put it bluntly. a bit of a dead end job type of idea. the shadow world on the other hand is the "you've gone too far, wrong turning" type of world. in this nature the shadow world presents itself as alienation from the demon world, and the loss of faith in people at large. not disaster, just acrimony.

the organic world goes back to carlos castenada's ancient book "the art of dreaming", in which 'organic beings' are a temperamental force in the non-home synopsis as much as climate change annoys people and gets them down. for instance, if one goes outside, i often encounter at least one "shady" (shadow of self/demon) type individual that can potentially ruin my night or afternoon. it's the same for many good people. but i do not predicate my simple mind worrying about death.

the fact that every person is incredibly differentiated in their mind and body makeup pays dividends to the fact that after billions of years, life and growth still has a stable currency in the world. things will continue to be this way as long as people stay interested in what they are doing. it's very easy to be a shadow, aka shady, lifeless, fake person (no thanks Donald Trump!) and it's also very easy to be a negative demon at the best and worst of times. the trick and point is to try our best to avoid it all. and that's what the tape machine reliances of "ultrawerld series" are designed to do.

in a series of evocative, textured loops that paint in rosy reds and pale whites, there is an absence of garish pink, the top and middle layer of any undercooked piece of meat out there usually fit for your electric cooker or microwave. locus thoughts do not stray too far from original base, but the plan here has been to go for the home run, baseball style. the fact it takes me three compact discs worth to fully express what i wanted to say is perhaps key to my downfall, but on the occasion of goodwill, sometimes i come with the goods much stronger than a succession of unlistenable musics. i would say just approach it with an open mind, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

influences? my influences for this triptych of albums: i have to mention the eno associates, at least. pretty much anyone whom appreciates what 1950s ambient was on record like, such as the modern minimalism of philip glass, terry riley, la monte young, eliane radigue, pauline oliveros, daphne oram, delia derbyshire, all the radiophonic and library music work shops crews. there is a very good doc that was screened on bbc4 about these types of musicians, around 3 years back, that was presented by jarvis cocker. also, skip spence, aka jandek. i have "the song of morgan" from his mail order when i was still on the ball, there's a good feature about him across two front covers in wire magazine circa 2015.

so, all paragraphs must come to an end. all analysis, must persist or perish. my thoughts on an "ultrawerld" were just that. an album of organica, "real" things, real people, not some pale imitation, or negative degenerate. i digress. the world is a very beautiful place and every person is born equal, with equal intelligence, unless convulsed. i guess i'm just happy, after thirty-two years, to still be here. making music like this gives me great pleasure. there may be a development series later in 2020. on my mind now are ideas of relocating in a slower climate, not literally however, and that would not be possible for my family anyway because of lockdown (that will likely be extended for some time).

i thank anyone who listens and is able to smile, and i extend my gratitude to anyone who supports the truly needy artists.

signing out (for now)
mike robert buckingham (foci left label)

www.focisleft.bandcamp.com
www.muttley.kapsil.net
twitter.com/focileft

ESB - Covfefe And Bleach Illumination Mix (SoundCloud)

ESB - Covfefe & Bleach Illumination Mix

An hour's worth of electronic techno lushness. Treads the boards in terms of style. Mostly minimal however. The affection for efficiacy over flights of fancy is admirable. Nothing about this is too tired or tiring to the listener. The whole set is a lot of fun. Across the hour, is a feeling of anti-luddite power. While in the grips of the music I feel no redundancy; I feel like I actually matter; that I have a purpose. And that's a great feeling to achieve.

"Covfefe..." is cordially recommended if you like music by Morgan Geist, the treatments of Brian Eno, and the glitch tech of Surgeon and Jeff Mills. The hamper sits well on the stomach here, taking in a handful classical techno alternatives and brushing through the debris that breaking house and Goa trance up left behind in the late 1980s pirate radio Chicago scene.

That might sound like an altercation, but it's a reality for most of us. In Oxfordshire for example it was apparent full stop that the nightlife scene for progressive electronica: techno in its purest form - never really made it promoter wise. All the promoters were concerned about were banging on and packing out clubs, not that type of IChiOne vibe ESB also shows that I traveled miles for previously to experience (see Geiom, Neil Landstrumm, Peverelist, Pinch, Nubian Mindz, Andy Stott).

So my point remains that while this is techno, through and through, techno as descriptor used to just really mean open-minded club music, and music that was forward thinking, tick-tocking like a multiplier reel taut on a big catch. That the generalized castration-angst of bleep kicked everyone in the balls who had balls quite literally along the way is a tad of a long story not fit for articulating in small print.

Whether you choose to be on the inside or outside, or before or behind the beat is up to where you enter the data stream...

Foodie Noodlings: Massaman Sauce, Feta and Gem Lettuce Tacos

A good mash-up recipe, takes 5-10 minutes. Can be eaten warm or cold.

I get these Tortillas packs from HelloFresh UK. 8 Tortillas provided to make wraps.

I lay two out on an ovenproof baking tray or griddle pan. I have a small metal tray.

What I get is Gem Lettuce from a Taco meal, any lettuce will do, Gem is durable and can be torn off the stalk bud easily. You can discard the stalk bud to compost.

I arrange on the Tortillas. Then, I add crumbly Feta Cheese. Mozza is fine too.

Once I've done that, I (today) used Massaman Thai Sauce on the Gem and Feta.

Depending on your taste you can eat this warm hot or cod. I'm not fussy. I had this cold just now. Because the Massaman curry marinade is hot itself, no problem.

The taste is pretty damn good! Because I use the HelloFresh, I have a few servings.

Sometimes I do chicken fried with it, sometimes Mexican veggie, sometimes beefy.

Well worth giving a go or returning to if you haven't already :)