Why Wouldn't You? Exhibit #3 · Sunday July 19, 2009
Favourite albums of 2008 · Monday January 5, 2009
STUFF I REALLY LIKED THAT WAS RELEASED IN 2008, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER AND WITH NO EXPLANATION:
Deerhunter – Microcastle
Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping
Hot Chip – Made in the Dark
Lucky Dragons – Dream Island Laughing Language
No Kids – Come Into My House
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Lay Down In The Light
Wiley – Grime Wave
Wu-Tang Clan – 8 Diagrams (released in Dec 07 so basically counts as an 08 release)
Radiohead – In Rainbows (also released in late 07)
Sleeping States – There The Open Spaces
Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing
Parenthetical Girls – Entanglements
Mt Eerie with Julie Doiron – Lost Wisdom
Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreaks
The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale
ALSO, I HAVE HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT SEEDS BY RYLAND BOUCHARD, YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT.
Why Wouldn't You? Exhibit #2 · Sunday January 4, 2009
Why Wouldn't You? Exhibit #1 · Wednesday December 10, 2008
Some work · Monday June 30, 2008
Here’s what I’ve been working on this year at Addison. These all launched between early March and mid-June 2008. I did most of the initial HTML/CSS coding, information architecture, cross-browser/accessibility testing, and content flow-in from the print documents. My Addison colleagues Sunit Patel and Martin Chiles worked really hard on the lion’s share of the design work, and we couldn’t have completed these in such a tight time frame without the hard work of Phil, Sunny, Sachin and Richard. Many thanks to everyone involved in getting these sites live…these are my excuses for neglecting the Hearth for the last several months.
WPP Corporate Responsibility Report 2007/2008
WPP Annual Report and Accounts 2007
KCOM Annual Report and Accounts 2007/2008
RSA Annual Report and Accounts 2007
KPN Online Reporting Suite (EN and NL)
Heineken Annual Report 2007 (EN and NL)
Heineken Sustainability Report 2007
Anglo American Annual Report 2007
RBS Annual Report and Accounts 2007
AstraZeneca Annual Report 2007
Jeebus, that’s a lot of Annual Reporting.
Bloodstains at 28 · Wednesday May 14, 2008
Launching, oh, around 11 annual reporting websites in two months inevitably leads to blog neglect. Sorry, things’ve been really busy lately.
Anyway, I turn 28 in a week, and as the above photo shows, I’m still prone to minor head injuries. Did it on the first evening of ATP at Camber Sands in East Sussex, and spent the night in A&E (that’s Accident and Emergency for you Stateside folks) getting stitched/glued up with a saline drip in my arm instead of dancing to Hot Chip DJs. Bummer.
I think this is the ninth time I’ve received stitches in my head or face, so I’m averaging roughly one head injury every three years. How I’m not a complete vegetable by now is anyone’s guess.
Still managed to see a few good bands, however. Highlights included Of Montreal, Dirty Projectors, Hot Chip, Deerhunter, Caribou, and Fuck Buttons.
Maybe I’ll put stuff on this thing more often this summer. In the meantime, there’s always Twitter for more frequent (although still banal) updates.
How Does It Feel? · Monday January 14, 2008
“There’s something really exciting about hearing a great song that you’ve never heard before – whether it be old or new. And even if you’re not quite sure how to dance or what to do, there’s still that adrenalin rush of going “What is this?!?” I’m sad enough to admit that I live for that moment. But equally there’s something really uplifting about dancing and singing along to songs that you know inside out – from cheering the first few chords, to punching the air if you’re so inclined, to singing every word of the chorus, usually seeing your friends doing exactly the same thing. Hopefully we get the balance just right at HDIF. The new songs aren’t played in the spirit of “Hey, we’re so cool, we know this obscure music you’ve simply got no chance with”, more just as a way of saying “Have you heard this? It’s amazing!” And I’ll never be ashamed about playing the biggest songs in the history of music, if that’s what the moment requires. No song’s ever overplayed in my opinion. Just played at the wrong instance. A little bit of imagination can breathe fresh life into anything.”
Thanks, Ian.
2007 · Tuesday December 25, 2007
Hey! Another blog post!
So much good music came out this year. Here is a list of my favourite albums released in 2007. Of course, barely any of it came from England, but no matter: British music mostly sucks right now. It’s not really in any order, besides my favourite album of the year, which is listed first.
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Do Make Say Think – You, You’re A History in Rust
Dan Deacon – Spiderman of the Rings
Burlal – Untrue
Caribou – Andorra
Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
Scout Niblett – This Fool Can Die Now
Adrian Orange – Adrian Orange & Her Band
Mt Eerie – Mt Eerie Parts 6 & 7
International Falls – Achievement
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
Dirty Projectors – Rise Above
YACHT – I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real
The Watery Graves – Portland
Little Wings – Soft Pow’r
Doers – Gaiety
The Field – From Here We Go Sublime
Bonnie Prince Bilbo – Ask Forgiveness EP
Liars – Liars
Panda Bear – Person Pitch
Graves – Seldom Slumber
Saturday Looks Good To Me – Fill Up The Room
One album that’s been caned constantly all year:
Neil Young – After The Gold Rush
Bands that I haven’t listened to but really meant to:
Deerhunter
Phosphorescence
Bands who released new albums that I never even heard once:
Spoon
Wilco
Modest Mouse
Bruce Springsteen
Andrew Bird
Blond Redhead
Album I initially liked and now find REALLY annoying:
Battles – Mirrored
Guiltiest pleasure:
Justice – Cross
Best show (tie):
Dirty Projectors with The Blankket and Aaron Flint Jamison at the Gramaphone, London
Do Make Say Think at Cargo
THE RETURN · Friday November 30, 2007
Hey folks. All seven of you.
After a length nine 10 week break (the beginning of which curiously coincided with the completion of a 12,500 word dissertation), I think I’m ready to start hitting the Internets again.
I passed the MA – with distinction, no less! Somebody must have really liked my dissertation. Strange. The final title? From Panopticism to Pleasure: Surveillance, Search and Consumerism in Google’s Information Empire. It’s just BEGGING to be torn apart.
You can download it here (PDF, 234kb) if you enjoy self-flagellation. I jest, it’s not that bad.
Anyway, now that it’s rainy season in London and I’m going to be spending the winter cocooned/marooned in my cosy/tiny room, you can hope to see more stuff being posted here. Oh yeah, I’m still in London. Why? Amongst other things, one pound is currently worth over two dollars. Paying off American student loans in pounds is a worthwhile proposition, methinks.
Oh yeah, I’ve been Twittering shadloads over the past couple of months if you’re into that kind of thing. I’m building an archive of completely banal moments.
Wired: The Banal
Tired: The Spectacle (the phenomenon, not the amazing Norwegian hardcore band)
Adrian Orange & Her Band · Wednesday September 19, 2007
Adrian’s new album, Adrian Orange & Her Band, has been in deep iTunes rotation for the past few months. Along with Rise Above by the Dirty Projectors, Andorra by Caribou, and You, You’re A History In Rust by Do Make Say Think, it ranks among my favourite albums of 2007 thus far. Happily, it looks like many music writers on the Interwebs agree:
Tiny Mix Tapes
“Adrian Orange’s is a real voice, a voice that puts us in contact with our own everyday struggles, loves, and yearnings. Adrian Orange & Her Band is a small, but significant, step away from musical standardization and toward the preservation of personality, of individualism, in pop.”
Audiversity
“Even still, it is hard to completely pinpoint the sound because Orange and his band so easily transcend styles throughout the album…The album is all over the place, and thanks to the talented musicianship and imaginative arrangements, it shines brilliantly.”
Exclaim!
“Equipped with a new label, sound and 18-piece band, Orange purges himself of his folk-riddled past and embarks on a distinctly African sound, one very much in the vein of Fela Kuti. Recorded with Phil Elverum and Calvin Johnson, the album erects a wall of horns, tribal rhythms and chanting voices, with guitars and organs chugging back and forth in a hypnotic, rock-steady fashion.”
Another Exclaim review (why are there two, I wonder?)
“Inspiringly unfettered, Adrian Orange has composed a remarkable effort.”
A Tune A Day
Adrian Orange used to go by the moniker Thanksgiving a few years back and his debut under the new name is a fantastic journey…Strikingly real and welcoming.”
Some dude named Jeff
“But this band (whatever the fuck you want to call it) are NOT predictable. It’s cryptic and dangerous and we LIKE that. The jazzy horns, the never-ending drums, the wail of a broken (?) soul. You’re not going anywhere while listening to Adrian Orange and Her Band. You’ve come to a halt. A standstill. A crossroads with no clear “right” way. So, stop, look around and have a seat. It’d be a long ride if you kept moving. It’s an even longer one when you’re standing still.”
RetroLowFi
“The record is full of slow building, jazzy barn burners with lots going on at all times. Each musician seems to be in charge of their own section’s sonic destiny while still working towards a common goal of making beauty where chaos could erupt at any second. Adrian Orange & Her Band is a fascinating listen, and if Adrian keeps churning out succesful experiments of this magnitude.. well, his music could very well become the stuff of legend. We’re in your corner, Mr. Orange.”
Clicky Clicky Music Blog
“the band’s forthcoming K Records release is unlike any other that we’ve heard from the label. Orange and a loose collective concoct a perfect late summer sound that is far from unusual, but wholly engaging.”
