Month: February 2011

Photos from the last two months

Finally got around to looking at the few photos I’d shot on my phone since Xmas. I like a few of them, but not all.

Cork, visiting Meadhbh
Cork.. far too early am.

Cork.. far too early am.

Salthill sunsets again – I’m obsessed. The light is different every time.
Salthil sunset
Salthil sunset

Boo reading …
Boo reading

Boo reads Agatha Christie

Intended on having a shot of Boo reading all the books I’ve read, but I missed taking shots of Overqualified by Joey Comeau, Liquor by Poppy Z Brite and Written On The Body by Jeanette Winterson. The last two are two of my favourite books that I decided to re-read instead of tackling the rest of my “to read” pile that is sitting by my bed. I’ll get around to them.

sleep rest stay – codail sámh – [demo]

Steve sleeping - 2

Bah. This is really rough and awkward, but I wanted to get a demo of the wee little bilingual love song I have. It was meant to be a valentines thingie, but y’know, I #fail.

Sleep Rest Stay (Codail Sámh) [demo] by misterebby

I guess it gets going properly about 30 seconds in, and I meant to retake the vocals in it, but it’s already late, so I’ll do it again some other time. It’s a song that previously sounded very different, was structured differently, and had a second verse. The second verse is still supposed to be in there, I just forgot it when I was jotting it down on record. Oh well.

hiding from the camera

I’ll re-do it better soon. This is just bugging me. Having it up here will force me to do it better and put a better version of this out there, though it’s just too mushy really. I think I’m gonna take it down a few keys, and have it a bit softer that way. Really gentle and quiet, and softer overall. The layered vocals will be a bit nicer too. That current key isn’t working for me at all.

Pekka Kuusisto on music

After hearing him interviewed on LyricFM this afternoon, I just had to investigate this guy more. I love how he talks about music and performance, and the value of music.

Here’s this afternoon’s interview:
[audio:http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2011/pc/pod-v-08021118min30seclyricbestpekka-pid0-1110072.mp3]

And a great video interview with Britten Sinfonia violinst Lizzie Ball where he “explains his unique outlook on music, performance and life in general.”

Interview with Pekka Kuusisto from Britten Sinfonia on Vimeo.

Both interviews are well worth spending the time listening to if you’re passionate about music – classical or not. There’s a great random impromptu hotel room fiddle session in the middle of that video above. Fantastic folk music and an absolute gem.
One little gem of advice that made me smile at the same time:
“If you’re hungry, you should play more chamber music. If your television is broken, you should play more chamber music.”

TuneBreaker award update

So, I made the top 100 list on the TuneBreaker award site, which made me smile, as I didn’t expect to get that far at all.

While I doubt I’ll make the top 50 Shortlisted Artists, I didn’t even expect to get this far and rank at #61, so that’s been a lovely surprise.

Check out that top 100 list on the site, as there’s some great music from Ireland and the UK in that list – the likes of Julie Feeney, Cuckoo Savante, We Cut Corners, The Pulpit and more.. but it’s been great poking around and being introduced to all the new music in these parts.

Here’s an update on what happens next from TuneBreaker:

The Timetable for the rest of the TuneBreaker New Music Award is now published (21 January 2011).

Here is that timetable

1. Between 21st January and 3rd February at 7.30pm voting (but not the purchase of any music) is closed. If you want to buy music from any artists in this period then sales will be credited to the artists in the same way financially but will not count towards votes for the relevant artist (if such an artist is in the Top 100 or not).

2. When the Top 50 are announced (described from now on as the Shortlisted Artists), it will be by a video streamed onto www.tunebreaker.com. This is the only way anyone will find out if they have or haven’t made the Shortlisted Artists.

3. The Shortlisted Artists will be given until 7.30pm on the 3rd Feb 2011 to upload two (2) additional tracks to their profile and then at 7.30pm that evening the SLV(tm) sales led voting process shall commence once again.

4. Again you shall still be able to buy music from the artists that did NOT make the Shortlisted Artists but these will not be counted as votes as they will no longer be in the award.

5. Voting for the Shortlisted Artists shall continue until Midnight 2nd March 2011.

6. At 6pm on the 3rd March the Shortlisted Artists will be announced (again by streamed video on www.tunebreaker.com) in reverse order.

7. The awards ceremony and party will be held on March 5th and we hope to stream live some of the ceremony again on www.tunebreaker.com .