Hello All m_v followers,
After the posting the other day about mad_vicar's retirement in 2011, I have had a few emails asking for more information. So rather than answering every email with essentially the same details, I thought a touch of bloggington might be a better idea.
Yes, it is correct and official, I retire from music sometime in the Spring of 2011. I have been recording for all of ten years, and in the face of complete lack of interest from the mainstream media, I slogged on nonetheless. But I am getting a bit tired now, and the invitations to DJ and a lack of clubs interested in my gigging is just making the situation worse. I am happy with how the music has been appreciated by the ordinary public, and I thank you all for that. But things are slowing down, and I am slowing down too. I know Dex is going to post some extra information about plans that the record company, AEGRE, has for 2011 involving my music, but at the moment I don't know too much about it - other than a plan for a "retrospective" release.
So there we are, that's all I can think of right now - other than to confirm that yes, I am retiring in the Spring. Maybe there might be some retirement gigs organised, but this is down to AEGRE, and so I will leave it to Dex to explain the record company's position on all this. I am happy/sad about the retirement, but there we are. As I mentioned, the blog and the website will be dispensed with at the same time, so those of you who are into archiving and keeping bits of trivia regarding my music will need to save the blog at some point - again, AEGRE will explain when this will happen. We are on the precipice of the end of an era, and I suppose we should feel happy that at least I managed to crank out the hundred or so tracks that have thus far been recorded (although not all released, Dex will have information on releasing unreleased tracks). It's been a great ride, and I don't regret a single moment of my recording/gigging - it's been fun.
Therefore, it only remains for me to say again, keep an eye on the blog, as this is where the information will appear. The SkyDrive containing a great deal of music will close down too, along with the YouTube videos, so make sure you download what you want to keep in good time.
So a great big thanks to all the mv fans across the world - it's been a blast, and I never could have made it without you all. And those individuals who have helped during the gigging and keeping me going during the mammoth recording sessions (you know who you are!) a special thank you to you too.
Stay well, stay happy, and I'll post again as soon as I am able.
Cheerybye for now
mad_vicar
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Saturday, 20 November 2010
The mad_vicar era is coming to an end...
Hello All m_v fans,
Well it had to happen sooner or later, and it seems like the right time - but first I will post the information on the blog to let everyone know ahead of schedule.
The mad_vicar era is about to come to an end.
In 2011, it will be ten years since I began recording music under the top pseudonym mad_vicar. A few people out there know why I started as mad_vicar in the first place: I am an Ordained Pagan Minister with Universal Life Church, and I acheived my ordination in 2001. That was when I begin recording, and have hammered away at this pursuit since then.
After recently completing mv7, there had been plans to create an ecological album, which would have been mvVIII, and the posibility of a stop-gap album in the meantime, entitled "Interlude" or "Interludings". However, these look like never being completed, even though a track or two off each albums have been created.
It has been a good ten years, and I have enjoyed producing the music that I created, even when it felt like I was sweating blood to get out the sound I wanted. But all good things come to an end, and I feel now is a good time to do it.
I have recently had some meetings with the record company AEGRE, and whilst they are obviously saddened by my decision to quit recording, they support my decision, and are being generally understanding and pleasant to me.
Of course, I want to thank you all for having been so supportive in the past, attending my appearances, and of course, listening to the music - and I am more than grateful to you for the wonderful emails (and I have read every one!) complimenting me and generally enthusing me on to further creations.
Here is what AEGRE want to do: Next year, probably in late Spring, issue a retrospective ten-disc box set, which will include all the seven studio albums, a singles album, a disc of previously unreleased material, and lastly some choice remastered tracks from the Canonbie/Zlotow era. I am very keen for this to happen, and will be involved in the design, production, remixing and remastering - in other words, at every stage of the production. As information becomes available on the box set, I (or Dex) will post up information about how it's going and when it will be released. Incidentally, mv7 should be available to purchase by mid-December.
Again, I cannot thank you enough for all the support and enthusiasm over the last ten years. I have enjoyed making music for you, and I am so happy that you liked it. I have no plans to do any further recording after the box set is completed, and a little while after that, this blog will be taken down. It's been a fun rollercoaster of a decade, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have.
Well that's all I have to say for now. I'll post more when I have more news, but for now this is mad_vicar signing off.
Take care, and love always,
m_v
Well it had to happen sooner or later, and it seems like the right time - but first I will post the information on the blog to let everyone know ahead of schedule.
The mad_vicar era is about to come to an end.
In 2011, it will be ten years since I began recording music under the top pseudonym mad_vicar. A few people out there know why I started as mad_vicar in the first place: I am an Ordained Pagan Minister with Universal Life Church, and I acheived my ordination in 2001. That was when I begin recording, and have hammered away at this pursuit since then.
After recently completing mv7, there had been plans to create an ecological album, which would have been mvVIII, and the posibility of a stop-gap album in the meantime, entitled "Interlude" or "Interludings". However, these look like never being completed, even though a track or two off each albums have been created.
It has been a good ten years, and I have enjoyed producing the music that I created, even when it felt like I was sweating blood to get out the sound I wanted. But all good things come to an end, and I feel now is a good time to do it.
I have recently had some meetings with the record company AEGRE, and whilst they are obviously saddened by my decision to quit recording, they support my decision, and are being generally understanding and pleasant to me.
Of course, I want to thank you all for having been so supportive in the past, attending my appearances, and of course, listening to the music - and I am more than grateful to you for the wonderful emails (and I have read every one!) complimenting me and generally enthusing me on to further creations.
Here is what AEGRE want to do: Next year, probably in late Spring, issue a retrospective ten-disc box set, which will include all the seven studio albums, a singles album, a disc of previously unreleased material, and lastly some choice remastered tracks from the Canonbie/Zlotow era. I am very keen for this to happen, and will be involved in the design, production, remixing and remastering - in other words, at every stage of the production. As information becomes available on the box set, I (or Dex) will post up information about how it's going and when it will be released. Incidentally, mv7 should be available to purchase by mid-December.
Again, I cannot thank you enough for all the support and enthusiasm over the last ten years. I have enjoyed making music for you, and I am so happy that you liked it. I have no plans to do any further recording after the box set is completed, and a little while after that, this blog will be taken down. It's been a fun rollercoaster of a decade, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have.
Well that's all I have to say for now. I'll post more when I have more news, but for now this is mad_vicar signing off.
Take care, and love always,
m_v
Sunday, 31 October 2010
mv7 - Interludings - mvVIII?
Hello All, and may I take this opportunity to wish you all a joyous Samhain, and I hope whatever celebrations you might have planned go smoothly and enjoyably. For the sun is now dying, to be reborn at the time of the new year. This is the season for stories, warm fires, and lovely thick stews!!!
But to get on to the news bit. Interesting things happening again. The MAGIX press representatives, bless their hearts, sent me two sample discs on Friday, 6GB apiece. One is very welcome - Soundpool 16, but the other I am not too sure about as it is a kind of "compilation" disc of the best stuff from all the previous discs. Most of which, I already have!!!
So earlier today, I decided to explore 16 and create a little track to just play with a few of the new samples. I saved the track as I was working on it as "Halloween Tune", but am subsequently renaming it "Interlude" or "Interludings" - as that's what the track was, a little interlude.
Then I listened to a batch of old Soviet-era interval signals on headphones whilst I was outside having a luxurious smokette, and began to wonder about an actual "Interlude" CD. Not quite an album, as 7 is finished and mvVIII already has a track or two in progress, but certainly NOT designed as a CD single - I would try to fill the whole 70-80 minutes, and it would therefore take the form of "mv7 - Interlude - mvVIII".
I had not really given it much thought as I sat outside on a grey Samhain afternoon, but the more I DO think about it, I'm wondering what it might be like to fill a CD with all kinds of bits and pieces. A few actual new tracks that don't belong anywhere else, maybe pull a couple of unreleased tracks that I have had sitting on the hard drive waiting for a decision, then complete an idea or two for tracks that have also been sitting on the hard drive, my favourite interval signals perhaps all laced together and very heavily processed, bits of sampled conversations: In short, fill the thing up with fun, listenable, interesting junk!
I have a CD by the now legendary multi-media wunderkinder of art/music combinateurs Pyschic TV, called "Electric Newspaper Issue Three" from 1995. It is a disc intended to be used as the owner of the disc sees fit. The tracks are just 1, 2, 3 etc, and the accompanying literature encourages one to sample, loop, reorder, reorganise, remix, distort, attack and kill the content of the disc. "It is yours because it is free" is a quote on the packaging from The Diggers from 1967, and re-enforces the "do what you like with this" aspect. Whilst I would never claim to be in the Genesis P. Orridge class, the idea of a CD full of "stuff" has really quite taken me, so I am "looking at it and thinking about it" as the great Lord Eric of Morecambe once said.
Since mvVIII is such a huge project, which is easily going to take me through the death and rebirth of the sun, so right through into Spring in effect, this "Inturludings" CD might be a fun diversion in the way that 7 became over the last few weeks of its recording. I have discussed the idea with Mrs. mad_vicar (always the voice of reason and sanity), and she thinks it sounds like something that might keep me occupied for a while. I must admit, I am a bit apprehensive of how intense mvVIII will be, and this could be just the thing to take away some of the worry!
So there we are. A possible side-project thing to play with whilst I take breaks from the heavy stuff of mvVIII. I shall, or Dex will, as ever, keep you informed of how things are going.
Until then, I wish you all a joyous Samhain. Blessed Be. Merry Meet and Merry Part. Blessings of the Goddess on this night of nights, where the veil between the worlds is almost transparent, and those we love and respect can be brought to mind and blessed in turn. Blessings upon you all.
Love always,
m_v
But to get on to the news bit. Interesting things happening again. The MAGIX press representatives, bless their hearts, sent me two sample discs on Friday, 6GB apiece. One is very welcome - Soundpool 16, but the other I am not too sure about as it is a kind of "compilation" disc of the best stuff from all the previous discs. Most of which, I already have!!!
So earlier today, I decided to explore 16 and create a little track to just play with a few of the new samples. I saved the track as I was working on it as "Halloween Tune", but am subsequently renaming it "Interlude" or "Interludings" - as that's what the track was, a little interlude.
Then I listened to a batch of old Soviet-era interval signals on headphones whilst I was outside having a luxurious smokette, and began to wonder about an actual "Interlude" CD. Not quite an album, as 7 is finished and mvVIII already has a track or two in progress, but certainly NOT designed as a CD single - I would try to fill the whole 70-80 minutes, and it would therefore take the form of "mv7 - Interlude - mvVIII".
I had not really given it much thought as I sat outside on a grey Samhain afternoon, but the more I DO think about it, I'm wondering what it might be like to fill a CD with all kinds of bits and pieces. A few actual new tracks that don't belong anywhere else, maybe pull a couple of unreleased tracks that I have had sitting on the hard drive waiting for a decision, then complete an idea or two for tracks that have also been sitting on the hard drive, my favourite interval signals perhaps all laced together and very heavily processed, bits of sampled conversations: In short, fill the thing up with fun, listenable, interesting junk!
I have a CD by the now legendary multi-media wunderkinder of art/music combinateurs Pyschic TV, called "Electric Newspaper Issue Three" from 1995. It is a disc intended to be used as the owner of the disc sees fit. The tracks are just 1, 2, 3 etc, and the accompanying literature encourages one to sample, loop, reorder, reorganise, remix, distort, attack and kill the content of the disc. "It is yours because it is free" is a quote on the packaging from The Diggers from 1967, and re-enforces the "do what you like with this" aspect. Whilst I would never claim to be in the Genesis P. Orridge class, the idea of a CD full of "stuff" has really quite taken me, so I am "looking at it and thinking about it" as the great Lord Eric of Morecambe once said.
Since mvVIII is such a huge project, which is easily going to take me through the death and rebirth of the sun, so right through into Spring in effect, this "Inturludings" CD might be a fun diversion in the way that 7 became over the last few weeks of its recording. I have discussed the idea with Mrs. mad_vicar (always the voice of reason and sanity), and she thinks it sounds like something that might keep me occupied for a while. I must admit, I am a bit apprehensive of how intense mvVIII will be, and this could be just the thing to take away some of the worry!
So there we are. A possible side-project thing to play with whilst I take breaks from the heavy stuff of mvVIII. I shall, or Dex will, as ever, keep you informed of how things are going.
Until then, I wish you all a joyous Samhain. Blessed Be. Merry Meet and Merry Part. Blessings of the Goddess on this night of nights, where the veil between the worlds is almost transparent, and those we love and respect can be brought to mind and blessed in turn. Blessings upon you all.
Love always,
m_v
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Dexter Returns!
Hello All mv fans.
Yes, I am back from my little vacation in Califonia. I had a lovely time, and have returned bronzed, buff, and now the leg-end mad_vicar looks like a blue shivering thing stood next to me! The news that mv7 was finished whilst I was away was a surprise, but thanks to Skype, I managed to join in the celebrations, right across the other side of the world.
As regards mad_vicar news, plenty is going on. Firstly of course, there was the surprise completion of mv7. A big surprise, since when I left for my vacation I understood that 7 was on hiatus and shelved for the foreseeable future. In my absence it seems that mv had cracked on with this "shelved" album and in the midst of a mass redecoration of the mv house and Marsfeldenstrasse Studio, mainly undertaken by Mrs. mad_vicar who worked tirelessly to add some glitter and polish to an already lovely house and recording studio. As I say, in the midst of all this - usually overnight - mv worked on and developed ideas he had been toying with in his head whilst holding an emulsion brush and listening to "Journey Into Space"!
The upshot of all this was to take an album that had been shelved, but containing somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 CDs worth of musical content and create brand new material to completely fill up your average disc. 7 works out at around 70 minutes of music across nine tracks. As I think he mentioned in an earlier post, a couple of tracks had already been released by AEGRE as a CD single at the beginning of 2009 - AEGRE are always desperate for new mv material, and are almost hanging over him as he completes a new track or two!
As regards the release of 7, I'm sorry to say I have no news yet. AEGRE, as I indicated above, are always eagre (is that an anagram?) to package up and release mv albums as soon as they are completed, but all is quiet at the record company. I get the feeling, and this is only a hunch, that they will be looking to launch it sometime in November to take advantage of the Chrimbo market. But this is only my supposition. mv himself, once an album is finished, is always keen to send the masters and any artwork he would like to see as the cover straight into the waiting arms of AEGRE, and this is what has happened with 7. So, mv fans, all I can say is keep checking the blog to see what's going on - any mv news is always posted here immediately.
I have heard 7, in fact I have been playing a demo in the car ever since I returned from the US, and it is extremely good. It's quite obviously a more mature mv album, I think that after the fun of MV5, and then the deadly seriousness of the charity album "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences" (or "Liquidators" or mv6), mad_vicar has matured a great deal over the last five years or so. 7 is a reflection of this budding maturity - that's not to say there's no humour, of which there is plenty! - but we have certainly entered a new phase since "Liquidators". When 7 finally hits the streets, there's no doubt it will be well received, of that I am very sure.
And so now that 7 is in the packing and wrapping stage, mv is devoting all recording time to what some have called his "ecological" album, mvVIII. Creating "Liquidators" was an emotional roller-coaster for him, and we all saw the change in his outlook. His "Liquidator" medal is one of his most prized posessions, and always maintains that he does not own it but is merely looking after it for a Liquidator who was not alive to receive it after the completion of the Saracophagus over the destroyed Chernobyl Reactor Number 4. mvVIII is a direct consequence of the "Liquidators" album, only this time, rather than focus on just one terrible disaster, he has broadened the scope and is going to look at some other terrible man-made "accidents" and their after-effects - utilising a format that he has called "music with a message". Thus mvVIII has already started - one track "The Winds of Karachai" has been released for free via MySpace and the SkyDrive, so any fans who haven't heard it can either play it on the MySpace player or download it from the SkyDrive.
Well, that's enough from me for now. I think we are totally up to date. Do keep the comments coming in via MySpace to let us know what you think. You can friend mad_vicar if you are a MySpace member, and we would really appreciate you spreading the word about what mad_vicar is doing and the music he makes. I know he is going to write a post shortly about the hard and software he uses in creating the music, so watch out for that. Until the next time, this is Dex (now bronzed and healthy looking) signing off.
Keep the faith - keep it mv!
DEX
Yes, I am back from my little vacation in Califonia. I had a lovely time, and have returned bronzed, buff, and now the leg-end mad_vicar looks like a blue shivering thing stood next to me! The news that mv7 was finished whilst I was away was a surprise, but thanks to Skype, I managed to join in the celebrations, right across the other side of the world.
As regards mad_vicar news, plenty is going on. Firstly of course, there was the surprise completion of mv7. A big surprise, since when I left for my vacation I understood that 7 was on hiatus and shelved for the foreseeable future. In my absence it seems that mv had cracked on with this "shelved" album and in the midst of a mass redecoration of the mv house and Marsfeldenstrasse Studio, mainly undertaken by Mrs. mad_vicar who worked tirelessly to add some glitter and polish to an already lovely house and recording studio. As I say, in the midst of all this - usually overnight - mv worked on and developed ideas he had been toying with in his head whilst holding an emulsion brush and listening to "Journey Into Space"!
The upshot of all this was to take an album that had been shelved, but containing somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 CDs worth of musical content and create brand new material to completely fill up your average disc. 7 works out at around 70 minutes of music across nine tracks. As I think he mentioned in an earlier post, a couple of tracks had already been released by AEGRE as a CD single at the beginning of 2009 - AEGRE are always desperate for new mv material, and are almost hanging over him as he completes a new track or two!
As regards the release of 7, I'm sorry to say I have no news yet. AEGRE, as I indicated above, are always eagre (is that an anagram?) to package up and release mv albums as soon as they are completed, but all is quiet at the record company. I get the feeling, and this is only a hunch, that they will be looking to launch it sometime in November to take advantage of the Chrimbo market. But this is only my supposition. mv himself, once an album is finished, is always keen to send the masters and any artwork he would like to see as the cover straight into the waiting arms of AEGRE, and this is what has happened with 7. So, mv fans, all I can say is keep checking the blog to see what's going on - any mv news is always posted here immediately.
I have heard 7, in fact I have been playing a demo in the car ever since I returned from the US, and it is extremely good. It's quite obviously a more mature mv album, I think that after the fun of MV5, and then the deadly seriousness of the charity album "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences" (or "Liquidators" or mv6), mad_vicar has matured a great deal over the last five years or so. 7 is a reflection of this budding maturity - that's not to say there's no humour, of which there is plenty! - but we have certainly entered a new phase since "Liquidators". When 7 finally hits the streets, there's no doubt it will be well received, of that I am very sure.
And so now that 7 is in the packing and wrapping stage, mv is devoting all recording time to what some have called his "ecological" album, mvVIII. Creating "Liquidators" was an emotional roller-coaster for him, and we all saw the change in his outlook. His "Liquidator" medal is one of his most prized posessions, and always maintains that he does not own it but is merely looking after it for a Liquidator who was not alive to receive it after the completion of the Saracophagus over the destroyed Chernobyl Reactor Number 4. mvVIII is a direct consequence of the "Liquidators" album, only this time, rather than focus on just one terrible disaster, he has broadened the scope and is going to look at some other terrible man-made "accidents" and their after-effects - utilising a format that he has called "music with a message". Thus mvVIII has already started - one track "The Winds of Karachai" has been released for free via MySpace and the SkyDrive, so any fans who haven't heard it can either play it on the MySpace player or download it from the SkyDrive.
Well, that's enough from me for now. I think we are totally up to date. Do keep the comments coming in via MySpace to let us know what you think. You can friend mad_vicar if you are a MySpace member, and we would really appreciate you spreading the word about what mad_vicar is doing and the music he makes. I know he is going to write a post shortly about the hard and software he uses in creating the music, so watch out for that. Until the next time, this is Dex (now bronzed and healthy looking) signing off.
Keep the faith - keep it mv!
DEX
Dex Leighton returns and MAGIX is about to help out with mvVIII...
Hello all you lovely mv-type people!
I am just quickly dropping a note on the blogginton to update things a little bit. Firstly, Dex has returned, and will be back to organising things and helping me out vis-a-vis the blogroll and admin/media/promotional bits and pieces. This is fabbo news as I am hoping that once we have celebrated Mrs. mad_vicar's birthday, work can get steaming forward on mvVIII. Dex will no doubt be posting something interesting in a bit.
Secondly, a superb development. As you all know, rather than using high-priced music software, such as CuBase, Pro Tools, Sibelius and all the trappings of the very rich and famous, I have eschewed them all in favour of MAGIX Music Maker. Obviously budget and economics plays a part, but I have always made it quite plain that anyone, I mean absolutely anyone, can create great sounding tunes using this software. Yup, it's nowhere near as complex as the above mentioned packages, but it costs about 10 times less. Indeed, a few mv followers have asked previously about what software and equipment is used in the Marsfeldenstrasse Studios, so I might put together a blog entry giving a textual virtual look around the studio, listing what I use to make the fun ditties that I foist upon an unsuspecting world. But the important thing here is that MAGIX have released some new sample discs (which they call SoundPools) and a brand new one is due out in November - about which I will keep you all posted. Really though, MAGIX Music Maker is powerful yet easy to use, and so anyone who fancies having a crack at emulating the phenomenon that is the mad_vicar, I would heatily recommend it. So check back soon and I will discuss the software and hardware used to create my "music".
Stay well everyone, and thanks for your continued support. Oh, I forgot, some live dates are coming up, but Dex will bring youse all up to speed about that later on.
Love as always, and Blessings Upon You All,
m_v
I am just quickly dropping a note on the blogginton to update things a little bit. Firstly, Dex has returned, and will be back to organising things and helping me out vis-a-vis the blogroll and admin/media/promotional bits and pieces. This is fabbo news as I am hoping that once we have celebrated Mrs. mad_vicar's birthday, work can get steaming forward on mvVIII. Dex will no doubt be posting something interesting in a bit.
Secondly, a superb development. As you all know, rather than using high-priced music software, such as CuBase, Pro Tools, Sibelius and all the trappings of the very rich and famous, I have eschewed them all in favour of MAGIX Music Maker. Obviously budget and economics plays a part, but I have always made it quite plain that anyone, I mean absolutely anyone, can create great sounding tunes using this software. Yup, it's nowhere near as complex as the above mentioned packages, but it costs about 10 times less. Indeed, a few mv followers have asked previously about what software and equipment is used in the Marsfeldenstrasse Studios, so I might put together a blog entry giving a textual virtual look around the studio, listing what I use to make the fun ditties that I foist upon an unsuspecting world. But the important thing here is that MAGIX have released some new sample discs (which they call SoundPools) and a brand new one is due out in November - about which I will keep you all posted. Really though, MAGIX Music Maker is powerful yet easy to use, and so anyone who fancies having a crack at emulating the phenomenon that is the mad_vicar, I would heatily recommend it. So check back soon and I will discuss the software and hardware used to create my "music".
Stay well everyone, and thanks for your continued support. Oh, I forgot, some live dates are coming up, but Dex will bring youse all up to speed about that later on.
Love as always, and Blessings Upon You All,
m_v
Saturday, 23 October 2010
News! 7 is now complete!!!
20101014 0530
CHAMPAGNE CORK FX CHEERS FX
Well there it is! 7 is put to bed! It is done! The recording is complete!
At 0530 on 14th October 2010, almost a mere two years from commencing, 7 is finally finished. It works out a 9 track album, with 70minutes of chewnery contained therein. It's been fun, frustrating, other words beginning with "f" and a darned good exercise all round. A few tracks have been previewed at the live giggings, and via the various online outlets, but there is about half the album that has still not be debuted anywhere.
Ha! Dex wasn't here! We did a groovy technical hookup thing over Skype so that we could raise glasses, but he's still on his sunburn vacation. By crikey he'll get a shock when he gets back to the Frozen Wastes - it's getting very chilly now. It's almost too cold to go out for a fag - well, it's not THAT cold. Let's not get too carried away.
Whilst in the celebratory mode, I am going to give what I believe is called in the trade a "big up" to my main man John Allison, creator of online webcomics "Scary Go Round" and "Bad Machinery", which I have been reading a lot of late. You can find them at these locations: http://scarygoround.com and http://sgrblog.blogspot.com - they really are wonderful and worth spending time reading when you should be working or doing something else! I haven't finished SGR yet, so Bad Machinery is still an unknown world to me. It's bound to be excellent though!
I suffered a terrible laptop accident here - I typed loads more, then the machine just died before I saved it all. So now I have to write it again. Anyway, here is the stuff as I remember it. Firstly, I wrote out a track listing for 7, which follows below:
1. Our Feature Presentation 0.10
2. Gniksam Drawkcab 3.20
3. I Close My Eyes 15.48
4. Rizla 3.07
5. THX1138 (In Honour of George Lucas) 10.35
6. Hold Me In Your Arms Tonight (Radio Edit) 6.49
7. Chernobyl Hill Stalker Silent Zombies 2 18.38
8. You Can Not Win 9.28
9. The Flowers In The Dustbin 1.45
So there it is. It looks finished now I have listed it all. And yes, track 5 is in honour of George Lucas. He may have produced some questionable films since THX1138, but it remains one of my most favourite films ever ever ever. Thus track 5 is for him. I have just burned a test CD album to see how it works on disc, and am playing it via the old WinAMP version 2 - still my main music player.
In closing - if indeed I am closing - I should thank a few people for help and support around 7. As ever, my first enormous thanks go to Mrs. mad_vicar, who has to listen to endless mixes and remixes as I go about the long-winded recording process, offering me advice and critiques, but never in a bad way. I will certainly thank John Allison for Scary Go Round, my reading material when I can't get to work in the studio - or get the studio to work. His website addresses are listed above, and I think therefore I have given him tons of back-slap kudos.
Love always!
m_v
CHAMPAGNE CORK FX CHEERS FX
Well there it is! 7 is put to bed! It is done! The recording is complete!
At 0530 on 14th October 2010, almost a mere two years from commencing, 7 is finally finished. It works out a 9 track album, with 70minutes of chewnery contained therein. It's been fun, frustrating, other words beginning with "f" and a darned good exercise all round. A few tracks have been previewed at the live giggings, and via the various online outlets, but there is about half the album that has still not be debuted anywhere.
Ha! Dex wasn't here! We did a groovy technical hookup thing over Skype so that we could raise glasses, but he's still on his sunburn vacation. By crikey he'll get a shock when he gets back to the Frozen Wastes - it's getting very chilly now. It's almost too cold to go out for a fag - well, it's not THAT cold. Let's not get too carried away.
Whilst in the celebratory mode, I am going to give what I believe is called in the trade a "big up" to my main man John Allison, creator of online webcomics "Scary Go Round" and "Bad Machinery", which I have been reading a lot of late. You can find them at these locations: http://scarygoround.com and http://sgrblog.blogspot.com - they really are wonderful and worth spending time reading when you should be working or doing something else! I haven't finished SGR yet, so Bad Machinery is still an unknown world to me. It's bound to be excellent though!
I suffered a terrible laptop accident here - I typed loads more, then the machine just died before I saved it all. So now I have to write it again. Anyway, here is the stuff as I remember it. Firstly, I wrote out a track listing for 7, which follows below:
1. Our Feature Presentation 0.10
2. Gniksam Drawkcab 3.20
3. I Close My Eyes 15.48
4. Rizla 3.07
5. THX1138 (In Honour of George Lucas) 10.35
6. Hold Me In Your Arms Tonight (Radio Edit) 6.49
7. Chernobyl Hill Stalker Silent Zombies 2 18.38
8. You Can Not Win 9.28
9. The Flowers In The Dustbin 1.45
So there it is. It looks finished now I have listed it all. And yes, track 5 is in honour of George Lucas. He may have produced some questionable films since THX1138, but it remains one of my most favourite films ever ever ever. Thus track 5 is for him. I have just burned a test CD album to see how it works on disc, and am playing it via the old WinAMP version 2 - still my main music player.
In closing - if indeed I am closing - I should thank a few people for help and support around 7. As ever, my first enormous thanks go to Mrs. mad_vicar, who has to listen to endless mixes and remixes as I go about the long-winded recording process, offering me advice and critiques, but never in a bad way. I will certainly thank John Allison for Scary Go Round, my reading material when I can't get to work in the studio - or get the studio to work. His website addresses are listed above, and I think therefore I have given him tons of back-slap kudos.
Love always!
m_v
Monday, 11 October 2010
7 Resurrected?
Although in previous postings and what not it has been said that work on 7 would stop for the time being ("on hiatus" was the term I think), suddenly two new tracks have been recorded. However, I'm still not totally satisfied with all the work done, and therefore 7 is "in progress" rather than "on hiatus". Interestingly, one of the new tracks is quite possibly the loudest mad_vicar creation to date (including "Reactor Number Four Suite" from "Liquidators" (mv6)) and the public can judge when it finally comes out!
I am intrigued by the way 7 has matured. I looked at the "Master Recording File" (as you know, I keep loads of details about the music I record - mainly so I know where I am with samples and things) that accompanies 7, and discovered that the first couple of tracks were recorded January 2009! Not too far off two years ago! We are heading into Pink Floyd territory here as far as waiting for a new album to come out goes!
There was the early 2009 CD single, of course, which served as a "taster" for 7, but many things got in the way of actually getting stuck into it. But now that these two new tracks have come along, it's rather like 7 and mvVIII are developing concurrently. The good thing is that if 7 is almost finished, it will work chronologically - something that I didn't actually think would happen. I had the feeling that 7 would be paused until after VIII had been released, which would have been rather strange.
The point is that 7 and VIII are two completely different albums: 7 is a typical mad_vicar creation, with a collection of fast and slow tracks that do not follow any theme. On the other hand, VIII is a concept album, and thus when I am in the studio and I get stuck in, I know by the "feel" of the track whether it is bound for 7 or will fit instead into the themed flow of VIII. That is how these two new tracks came along.
Mrs. mad_vicar advised me to stop fretting about the concept that surrounds VIII and instead get in the studio and "just make some music" - and this is what I did. From Friday into Saturday (8th-9th October), I worked away without any thought as to where I was going musically. And thus the resulting two tracks (two! I ask you!) are perfect for 7. As I wrote in the Master Recording File, if I wasn't such a messy-perfectionist, I could easily call 7 finished and get it out. But I am still not completely satisfied as I said above. So there's still plenty of tweaking and twiddling, maybe even another track, before I can even think about calling it finished.
And so that's where we are as of now. VIII in the works, and 7 in the works as well. Therefore, keep checking back here to stay up to date with the recording progress.
Love always, and Blessed Be,
m_v
PS: Dex is not around at the moment - he's managed to finally get some vacation time and is sunning himself in California as we speak. We are in touch via Skype and email, and it seems he's having a lovely holiday. While we sit in the mist and damp of the Northern Celtic Isles Swamplands. I hope he brings back some Hershey bars and a few Baby Ruths - you know what a sweet tooth I have!
I am intrigued by the way 7 has matured. I looked at the "Master Recording File" (as you know, I keep loads of details about the music I record - mainly so I know where I am with samples and things) that accompanies 7, and discovered that the first couple of tracks were recorded January 2009! Not too far off two years ago! We are heading into Pink Floyd territory here as far as waiting for a new album to come out goes!
There was the early 2009 CD single, of course, which served as a "taster" for 7, but many things got in the way of actually getting stuck into it. But now that these two new tracks have come along, it's rather like 7 and mvVIII are developing concurrently. The good thing is that if 7 is almost finished, it will work chronologically - something that I didn't actually think would happen. I had the feeling that 7 would be paused until after VIII had been released, which would have been rather strange.
The point is that 7 and VIII are two completely different albums: 7 is a typical mad_vicar creation, with a collection of fast and slow tracks that do not follow any theme. On the other hand, VIII is a concept album, and thus when I am in the studio and I get stuck in, I know by the "feel" of the track whether it is bound for 7 or will fit instead into the themed flow of VIII. That is how these two new tracks came along.
Mrs. mad_vicar advised me to stop fretting about the concept that surrounds VIII and instead get in the studio and "just make some music" - and this is what I did. From Friday into Saturday (8th-9th October), I worked away without any thought as to where I was going musically. And thus the resulting two tracks (two! I ask you!) are perfect for 7. As I wrote in the Master Recording File, if I wasn't such a messy-perfectionist, I could easily call 7 finished and get it out. But I am still not completely satisfied as I said above. So there's still plenty of tweaking and twiddling, maybe even another track, before I can even think about calling it finished.
And so that's where we are as of now. VIII in the works, and 7 in the works as well. Therefore, keep checking back here to stay up to date with the recording progress.
Love always, and Blessed Be,
m_v
PS: Dex is not around at the moment - he's managed to finally get some vacation time and is sunning himself in California as we speak. We are in touch via Skype and email, and it seems he's having a lovely holiday. While we sit in the mist and damp of the Northern Celtic Isles Swamplands. I hope he brings back some Hershey bars and a few Baby Ruths - you know what a sweet tooth I have!
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
YET MORE NEW STUFF - YouTube this time...
Hello yet again everyone!
Well the AEGRE technical department has been busy! In a bid to publicise me, the mad_vicar, and to promote the album being worked on (mvVIII), loads of things have been happening. I have tried to keep you up to date with developments as they happen. Sooooo, in addition to the other things reported in the blog, here's yet more news.
All of the videos from "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences" album, which as you know, we tend to refer to as either "Liquidators" or occasionally mv6, have been uploaded to YouTube, where I have never had any presence before. There are three videos accompanying tracks off the album.
Here are some quick links to save you searching YouTube:
Video 1 - Pripyat, City of the Future I - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMshyGOepI
Video 2 - Nuclear Power - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgze8rOr6gI
Video 3 - Liquidators - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0_n1wsFLnY
So as you can see, it's been pretty busy. Do stop by and check out the videos - leave a comment too.
Stay well y'all, and I hope you enjoy the music/videos...
m_v
Well the AEGRE technical department has been busy! In a bid to publicise me, the mad_vicar, and to promote the album being worked on (mvVIII), loads of things have been happening. I have tried to keep you up to date with developments as they happen. Sooooo, in addition to the other things reported in the blog, here's yet more news.
All of the videos from "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences" album, which as you know, we tend to refer to as either "Liquidators" or occasionally mv6, have been uploaded to YouTube, where I have never had any presence before. There are three videos accompanying tracks off the album.
Here are some quick links to save you searching YouTube:
Video 1 - Pripyat, City of the Future I - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMshyGOepI
Video 2 - Nuclear Power - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgze8rOr6gI
Video 3 - Liquidators - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0_n1wsFLnY
So as you can see, it's been pretty busy. Do stop by and check out the videos - leave a comment too.
Stay well y'all, and I hope you enjoy the music/videos...
m_v
ANOTHER EXCLUSIVE - Track from "on hiatus" mv7 for your enjoyment...
Hello AGAIN everyone,
Due to some incredible technical jiggery-pokery, we have managed to get a track from "mv7", the postponed album, just so you could have a little listen to something from it. We may manage a couple more if we can polish them up a bit - watch this space as usual.
The track is called "Drawkcab Gniksam and deals with a subject in music that is always controversial.
It's available at the MySpace page. Which you can find here: http://www.myspace.com/paganmadvicar
Do let me know what you think!
Take care,
mv
Due to some incredible technical jiggery-pokery, we have managed to get a track from "mv7", the postponed album, just so you could have a little listen to something from it. We may manage a couple more if we can polish them up a bit - watch this space as usual.
The track is called "Drawkcab Gniksam and deals with a subject in music that is always controversial.
It's available at the MySpace page. Which you can find here: http://www.myspace.com/paganmadvicar
Do let me know what you think!
Take care,
mv
Monday, 20 September 2010
EXCLUSIVE!! Preview track from mvVIII for free download at SkyDrive...
Hello Everybody,
This is just a quick note to let you all know that there is a new exclusive preview track from mvVIII and you can download it for free at the SkyDrive location. It's called "The Winds of Karachai" and is about the terribly polluted and now concrete filled Lake Karachai, and how it came to be.
You can find it here: http://cid-42d5bc382f04b5ba.office.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public
Do let me know what you think.
Take care,
mv
This is just a quick note to let you all know that there is a new exclusive preview track from mvVIII and you can download it for free at the SkyDrive location. It's called "The Winds of Karachai" and is about the terribly polluted and now concrete filled Lake Karachai, and how it came to be.
You can find it here: http://cid-42d5bc382f04b5ba.office.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public
Do let me know what you think.
Take care,
mv
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Alien Landing Strip in mad_vicar back garden denied...
Hello again,
I forgot to mention this. Yes, we have solar powered lights in our garden: those low ones that stick into the ground and the blue ones that are on a long wire like Chrimbo lights. No, they are nothing to do with landing strips, alien or terran. They are there because I like to go out for a smoke in the middle of the night and these are better than putting on the stark outside light. I don't like slugs, and we have loads of them. The lights make it so I can see that I am not in the vicinity of any of the slimy ne'er-do-wells when I have a fag, a book and a coffee to keep an eye on. That's all. I did see how it might look like a runway, since the lights go down two sides, then mark the end, with the blue lights draped across the other end. But it would have to be a very very small UFO to land in our back garden. It's tiny!
mv 20100905
I forgot to mention this. Yes, we have solar powered lights in our garden: those low ones that stick into the ground and the blue ones that are on a long wire like Chrimbo lights. No, they are nothing to do with landing strips, alien or terran. They are there because I like to go out for a smoke in the middle of the night and these are better than putting on the stark outside light. I don't like slugs, and we have loads of them. The lights make it so I can see that I am not in the vicinity of any of the slimy ne'er-do-wells when I have a fag, a book and a coffee to keep an eye on. That's all. I did see how it might look like a runway, since the lights go down two sides, then mark the end, with the blue lights draped across the other end. But it would have to be a very very small UFO to land in our back garden. It's tiny!
mv 20100905
Apologies for the delay... here I am in person! "7" Postponed **OFFICIAL**
20100912 mad_vicar status report.
Hello, this is the mad_vicar in person. I would like to apologise for the apparent lack of updates over the summer. We thought we had transmitted them properly, only to find that we had not only not posted them, but that we had lost the originals too. So I will try to update you quickly here and now.
The dates in the PMR went off splendidly and we seemed to have built on the original fanbase and gained a few others. To all who came to see the shows, thank you. It meant a great deal to me, and the generosity and warm-heartedness of the people was so welcome and appreciated by our little group that was far from home. We shall return soon!
Next onto the complex recording situation. It has got very weird over the last month or two. Upon returning from Europe, I started toying with the tracks already put down towards "7". I felt quite listless and not as full as enthusiasm for a new m_v album as I felt I should be. I left the recordings alone and just worked on a few "standalones" or aimed more at the 30minute CD single medium than an album. Among the tryouts and experiments was a track that came to be called "The Winds of Karachai". I had gone back to my "Liquidators" period and been reading about man-made disasters through history. The story of Lake Karachai is particularly sad, and I felt a story worth telling. After laying down an ambient/accoustic crossover main track, I read out the story in short passages every so many minutes. As had been commented on beyond repetition, I am a little shy about using my own voice in my music. I don't feel comfortable, and worry that it looks conceited. But there was no other way, and so I wrote out the passages, practiced them, recorded them on my Olympus digital voice recorder, imported them into Music Maker, then got to work on the modification applications! I wanted to remove "me" out of the passages, and have them read by a knowledgeable but disinterested third party. Thus I adjusted the tempo, pitch and "scenario" to flatten out the text as much as possible. I can still hear me in there, but reduced to a tolerable level, at least for me.
The reception to "The Winds of Karachai" has been very positive. I am going to add it to MySpace in the next day or so. I think it will be easy for those who appreciated the story telling aspect of "Liquidators" to feel comfortable with the track and to hopefully like it enough to listen to more than once. But this thought allows me to segue into my next point...
It's about "7" and another album, provisionally entitled "mv VIII". I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands and the outcome will cause some dates and expectations to change - I hope for the better. I am proposing to postpone "7" for the time being. Yes, as I have been made aware, I have easily enough material already recorded to create a decent single-disc CD album. But I don't want to do that. I want "7" to be a certain type of album, definitely not single disc and being a kind of party surprise. Indeed, the planning for "7" goes on all the time. I'll think of something, grab my laptop or dictation machine, and make a note of something else I would like to include. Therefore, I would like to postpone "7" until I can give it the time and dedication I feel it deserves (be ready for the preparation for "9" when that comes around). By giving it more time, it can mature more fully. It will be made, but later on.
Instead, and I realise the chronological terror this will cause forevermore, I am going to push ahead over Autumn and Winter with "VIII". This album already has a defining concept, one that did not begin with "The Winds of Karachai", or even with "Reactor Number Four Suite". It began in December of 2006 with the sudden fancy to do a "special album" as I wrote in my PDA at the time. An album that celebrated the brave men and women known as Liquidators in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. I stepped back slightly and wondered whether I should tell the events leading up to the Liquidators brave action. The result was the release on April 26th (21 years to the day after the disaster) of "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences", the biggest package and largest mv production to date. It comprised one audio disc which held the musical album, and then a free bonus DVD-ROM with a whole load of goodies. Not least among these gifts was a batch of music videos produced by Mrs. mad_vicar that illuminate those parts of the story tackled with stark factual content - be that charts of disease or a group of men shovelling radioactive material off the roof of the reactor building. I have always valued these videos very highly, and remain grateful to my wife for making them for me - for love. Since the project was designed not to make any money, everything was done on the cheap or for free if possible.
I shall have to explain this bit. Early on in the work, in Spring of 2007, the idea was floated that the album could be given to a charity, and that if they promoted it correctly, they could make a good few quid. If only all the workers bought a copy, at whatever price they decided - I gave them that right too as I wanted them to have the album and do what they wanted with it - they would have more cash than they had if they hadn't sold them, if you see what I mean. As the work on the album progressed, I had been trying in vain to locate a Liquidator charity, and decided I might have to spread the net a bit wider and broaden my terms. Then one day, I found a charity which I felt could really be said to be involved at grass roots level with the after effects of Chernobyl. This charity helped the disabled and deformed children born in the area, most of which had been dumped on the steps in baskets, and paid for decent levels of care in orphanages. The children are testament to the continuous radiation that pervades the area. It's easy for the rest of us in Europe to forget about it, now that it's only killing it's own people and not likely to explode and contaminate all of us in the civilised part of Europe, but a look through the charity's photo album brings it all back home. A baby with two heads does tend to get one's attention. And this is par for the course in the area where the radioactive cloud touched the land with its toxic fingers.
To shorten the story, the album ended up a CD-AUDIO disc and a DVD-ROM with tons of stuff on it. Masters were sent to the charity (including an "update" when I re-mixed and lengthened "Reactor Number Four Suite" a few weeks later - damn my messy perfectionism) along with inserts and booklet templates and images so that they could include them in their yearly Chernobyl campaigns. Indeed, the focus of the 2007 campaign was the Liquidator, and the sacrifices made. Strangely enough, I never found out what the overall reception had been, as the person I had previously dealt with moved and I was never able to get any information on the 2007 campaign, what happened regarding "Liquidators", or anything else. As frustrating as this is, I realise it is a charity, and such things can just happen. I hope that if they are still offering "Liquidators" that it is making a few quid for them if nothing else.
Anyway, to get back to VIII. Once "The Winds of Karachai" had been recorded, I felt it was totally out of place on "7" and would need to wait for a later album, probably an mv_8 whenever that might be. It's tricky these days with the disability, dates get all messed up due to the pains and aches, and things need rescheduling at a moment's notice. Luckily, I work with a very very small team, and they are "hip to my sitch". Thus, with the start-stop-start nature of "7" and the constant refocusing, it looked like an eighth album could be ages away.
Then Mrs. mad_vicar solved the problem. Over coffee one evening, as we were discussing the roadblocks around "7" and my desire to do more work like "Karachai" - perfectly beautiful places that get, in the course of an accident or a policy, completely messed up. She said, "just work on eight now, and make it about man-made disasters. Then you could have "Karachai" in it's natural home along with the other pieces you want to do about these unfortunate places." I asked, what, just jump 7 altogether? She said that that was the point. If 7 was holding me up, postpone it and get on to eight straight away.
This is what I am going to do. I am going to look at the things we have done to the planet and ourselves, usually accidentally, and usually due to a crippling lack of knowledge.
It's going to take a while, as I have to now bundle up all the "7" things and start a new album from scratch. Well, not quite from scratch. I do have "Karachai" already. Thus I have to ask your patience while I get on with VIII. What I might do (and I have to ask around about this first) is put some early versions of tracks that will later appear on "7" on the free areas of the website. Thus you can get a little bit of new stuff while you hang about waiting for VIII. I also have some CD single tracks almost ready for release, so with luck I could have two CD singles ready pretty soon, and this means FREE for all you who enjoy downloading and listening on mp3 players.
In the meantime, do feel free to drop me a line, as I am always happy to receive feedback. Oh, and a quick bit of gossip for you before I go. It is whispered that "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences" might have a special facelift next year. It will be 25 years since the Chernobyl disaster, and depending on how negotiations go between the charity and the Authentricity record company, there may well be a Jubilee edition. Other than that, we know nothing.
Take care you lovely people,
m_v
Hello, this is the mad_vicar in person. I would like to apologise for the apparent lack of updates over the summer. We thought we had transmitted them properly, only to find that we had not only not posted them, but that we had lost the originals too. So I will try to update you quickly here and now.
The dates in the PMR went off splendidly and we seemed to have built on the original fanbase and gained a few others. To all who came to see the shows, thank you. It meant a great deal to me, and the generosity and warm-heartedness of the people was so welcome and appreciated by our little group that was far from home. We shall return soon!
Next onto the complex recording situation. It has got very weird over the last month or two. Upon returning from Europe, I started toying with the tracks already put down towards "7". I felt quite listless and not as full as enthusiasm for a new m_v album as I felt I should be. I left the recordings alone and just worked on a few "standalones" or aimed more at the 30minute CD single medium than an album. Among the tryouts and experiments was a track that came to be called "The Winds of Karachai". I had gone back to my "Liquidators" period and been reading about man-made disasters through history. The story of Lake Karachai is particularly sad, and I felt a story worth telling. After laying down an ambient/accoustic crossover main track, I read out the story in short passages every so many minutes. As had been commented on beyond repetition, I am a little shy about using my own voice in my music. I don't feel comfortable, and worry that it looks conceited. But there was no other way, and so I wrote out the passages, practiced them, recorded them on my Olympus digital voice recorder, imported them into Music Maker, then got to work on the modification applications! I wanted to remove "me" out of the passages, and have them read by a knowledgeable but disinterested third party. Thus I adjusted the tempo, pitch and "scenario" to flatten out the text as much as possible. I can still hear me in there, but reduced to a tolerable level, at least for me.
The reception to "The Winds of Karachai" has been very positive. I am going to add it to MySpace in the next day or so. I think it will be easy for those who appreciated the story telling aspect of "Liquidators" to feel comfortable with the track and to hopefully like it enough to listen to more than once. But this thought allows me to segue into my next point...
It's about "7" and another album, provisionally entitled "mv VIII". I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands and the outcome will cause some dates and expectations to change - I hope for the better. I am proposing to postpone "7" for the time being. Yes, as I have been made aware, I have easily enough material already recorded to create a decent single-disc CD album. But I don't want to do that. I want "7" to be a certain type of album, definitely not single disc and being a kind of party surprise. Indeed, the planning for "7" goes on all the time. I'll think of something, grab my laptop or dictation machine, and make a note of something else I would like to include. Therefore, I would like to postpone "7" until I can give it the time and dedication I feel it deserves (be ready for the preparation for "9" when that comes around). By giving it more time, it can mature more fully. It will be made, but later on.
Instead, and I realise the chronological terror this will cause forevermore, I am going to push ahead over Autumn and Winter with "VIII". This album already has a defining concept, one that did not begin with "The Winds of Karachai", or even with "Reactor Number Four Suite". It began in December of 2006 with the sudden fancy to do a "special album" as I wrote in my PDA at the time. An album that celebrated the brave men and women known as Liquidators in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. I stepped back slightly and wondered whether I should tell the events leading up to the Liquidators brave action. The result was the release on April 26th (21 years to the day after the disaster) of "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences", the biggest package and largest mv production to date. It comprised one audio disc which held the musical album, and then a free bonus DVD-ROM with a whole load of goodies. Not least among these gifts was a batch of music videos produced by Mrs. mad_vicar that illuminate those parts of the story tackled with stark factual content - be that charts of disease or a group of men shovelling radioactive material off the roof of the reactor building. I have always valued these videos very highly, and remain grateful to my wife for making them for me - for love. Since the project was designed not to make any money, everything was done on the cheap or for free if possible.
I shall have to explain this bit. Early on in the work, in Spring of 2007, the idea was floated that the album could be given to a charity, and that if they promoted it correctly, they could make a good few quid. If only all the workers bought a copy, at whatever price they decided - I gave them that right too as I wanted them to have the album and do what they wanted with it - they would have more cash than they had if they hadn't sold them, if you see what I mean. As the work on the album progressed, I had been trying in vain to locate a Liquidator charity, and decided I might have to spread the net a bit wider and broaden my terms. Then one day, I found a charity which I felt could really be said to be involved at grass roots level with the after effects of Chernobyl. This charity helped the disabled and deformed children born in the area, most of which had been dumped on the steps in baskets, and paid for decent levels of care in orphanages. The children are testament to the continuous radiation that pervades the area. It's easy for the rest of us in Europe to forget about it, now that it's only killing it's own people and not likely to explode and contaminate all of us in the civilised part of Europe, but a look through the charity's photo album brings it all back home. A baby with two heads does tend to get one's attention. And this is par for the course in the area where the radioactive cloud touched the land with its toxic fingers.
To shorten the story, the album ended up a CD-AUDIO disc and a DVD-ROM with tons of stuff on it. Masters were sent to the charity (including an "update" when I re-mixed and lengthened "Reactor Number Four Suite" a few weeks later - damn my messy perfectionism) along with inserts and booklet templates and images so that they could include them in their yearly Chernobyl campaigns. Indeed, the focus of the 2007 campaign was the Liquidator, and the sacrifices made. Strangely enough, I never found out what the overall reception had been, as the person I had previously dealt with moved and I was never able to get any information on the 2007 campaign, what happened regarding "Liquidators", or anything else. As frustrating as this is, I realise it is a charity, and such things can just happen. I hope that if they are still offering "Liquidators" that it is making a few quid for them if nothing else.
Anyway, to get back to VIII. Once "The Winds of Karachai" had been recorded, I felt it was totally out of place on "7" and would need to wait for a later album, probably an mv_8 whenever that might be. It's tricky these days with the disability, dates get all messed up due to the pains and aches, and things need rescheduling at a moment's notice. Luckily, I work with a very very small team, and they are "hip to my sitch". Thus, with the start-stop-start nature of "7" and the constant refocusing, it looked like an eighth album could be ages away.
Then Mrs. mad_vicar solved the problem. Over coffee one evening, as we were discussing the roadblocks around "7" and my desire to do more work like "Karachai" - perfectly beautiful places that get, in the course of an accident or a policy, completely messed up. She said, "just work on eight now, and make it about man-made disasters. Then you could have "Karachai" in it's natural home along with the other pieces you want to do about these unfortunate places." I asked, what, just jump 7 altogether? She said that that was the point. If 7 was holding me up, postpone it and get on to eight straight away.
This is what I am going to do. I am going to look at the things we have done to the planet and ourselves, usually accidentally, and usually due to a crippling lack of knowledge.
It's going to take a while, as I have to now bundle up all the "7" things and start a new album from scratch. Well, not quite from scratch. I do have "Karachai" already. Thus I have to ask your patience while I get on with VIII. What I might do (and I have to ask around about this first) is put some early versions of tracks that will later appear on "7" on the free areas of the website. Thus you can get a little bit of new stuff while you hang about waiting for VIII. I also have some CD single tracks almost ready for release, so with luck I could have two CD singles ready pretty soon, and this means FREE for all you who enjoy downloading and listening on mp3 players.
In the meantime, do feel free to drop me a line, as I am always happy to receive feedback. Oh, and a quick bit of gossip for you before I go. It is whispered that "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences" might have a special facelift next year. It will be 25 years since the Chernobyl disaster, and depending on how negotiations go between the charity and the Authentricity record company, there may well be a Jubilee edition. Other than that, we know nothing.
Take care you lovely people,
m_v
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Arrived safely in Salzburg... ready for tomorrow night!
Hello Europe!
Well, I am installed in my hotel in historic Salzburg, comfortably a day early so that I can have a bit of a wander about tomorrow prior to the first of the Birfdee Bashes. I was asked about why I drove over here, rather than just simply flying in and arriving without any tiredness or stresses. It's not due to flying jitters (remember - I am flying to the Amsterdam Bash and back) as I do enjoy flying. I like to drive when I can, as I get to see more of Europe when I do, and the Autoroute/Autobahn systems are excellent when compared to our iffy motorways! And the scary overpasses into Austria are a sort of dare with myself, as I am somewhat frightened of heights!
Also, too much flying costs a lot of money, whereas grabbing a big van, chucking all the stuff in, filling the thing with diesel and rumbling away on a thousand mile odyssey costs much much less. Since I am not exactly brimming with "chart success", keeping an eye on where savings can be made is a pre-occupation of a couple of the AEGRE staff. And I like to humour them, since they are responsible for getting the CDs and DVDs produced - I would much rather live cheap and keep the CD/DVD costs to the punter in the record shop as low as possible. Billy Bragg, a hero of my youth, did the same and made sure that the records and tapes he made were affordable to the average impoverished teen of the 80s. Thus I embrace the Internet delivery and cheap media over the counter philosophy, and some of the countries who like my music are pretty poor themselves. I usually end up giving a lot of stuff away, especially in ex-Soviet or still-Soviet states, as these kids don't have too much disposable income. I wouldn't for a second want to insult their countries' policies or whatever, but if I can give stuff away, I usually do. Then, more people can hear the music, which is what really matters. I can't see me ever living like a multi-millionaire, and don't think I really want to. I'm hoping to get to Ukraine and Belorus later this year, and the same principle will apply.
I know this will terrify some at the AEGRE record company, but I WANT you to copy my CDs and DVDs. Pass them around. I hope some kids will be recording these four dates - get them out there circulating. My only caveat is that you all don't enrich yourselves TOO MUCH at my expense. Yeah, pass them around, upload them to the Internet, download them to your computers. There are NO copyright warnings on ANY of my products - this was my one and only real stipulation when I signed with AEGRE.
So before this turns into yet another epic posting, I shall end here and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at Voss Schlagen, before I burn up the tarmac to Transnistria.
Take care, Blessings upon you all, and here's hoping for a successful four nights of fun!
Love as always,
mv
Well, I am installed in my hotel in historic Salzburg, comfortably a day early so that I can have a bit of a wander about tomorrow prior to the first of the Birfdee Bashes. I was asked about why I drove over here, rather than just simply flying in and arriving without any tiredness or stresses. It's not due to flying jitters (remember - I am flying to the Amsterdam Bash and back) as I do enjoy flying. I like to drive when I can, as I get to see more of Europe when I do, and the Autoroute/Autobahn systems are excellent when compared to our iffy motorways! And the scary overpasses into Austria are a sort of dare with myself, as I am somewhat frightened of heights!
Also, too much flying costs a lot of money, whereas grabbing a big van, chucking all the stuff in, filling the thing with diesel and rumbling away on a thousand mile odyssey costs much much less. Since I am not exactly brimming with "chart success", keeping an eye on where savings can be made is a pre-occupation of a couple of the AEGRE staff. And I like to humour them, since they are responsible for getting the CDs and DVDs produced - I would much rather live cheap and keep the CD/DVD costs to the punter in the record shop as low as possible. Billy Bragg, a hero of my youth, did the same and made sure that the records and tapes he made were affordable to the average impoverished teen of the 80s. Thus I embrace the Internet delivery and cheap media over the counter philosophy, and some of the countries who like my music are pretty poor themselves. I usually end up giving a lot of stuff away, especially in ex-Soviet or still-Soviet states, as these kids don't have too much disposable income. I wouldn't for a second want to insult their countries' policies or whatever, but if I can give stuff away, I usually do. Then, more people can hear the music, which is what really matters. I can't see me ever living like a multi-millionaire, and don't think I really want to. I'm hoping to get to Ukraine and Belorus later this year, and the same principle will apply.
I know this will terrify some at the AEGRE record company, but I WANT you to copy my CDs and DVDs. Pass them around. I hope some kids will be recording these four dates - get them out there circulating. My only caveat is that you all don't enrich yourselves TOO MUCH at my expense. Yeah, pass them around, upload them to the Internet, download them to your computers. There are NO copyright warnings on ANY of my products - this was my one and only real stipulation when I signed with AEGRE.
So before this turns into yet another epic posting, I shall end here and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at Voss Schlagen, before I burn up the tarmac to Transnistria.
Take care, Blessings upon you all, and here's hoping for a successful four nights of fun!
Love as always,
mv
Monday, 8 March 2010
On me way to the Birfdee Gigz......
Groovy things!
Well, I am packed and ready for the fun this weekend! Got all me bits and pieces together and am sorted for me Birfdee Bash! Not quite sorted out the setlist, but you can be sure that all your faves will be there, and of course requests are welcome. I got the ferry thingy sorted out and am on my way slowly towards the venues, since I thought that this time I would actually see some of the sights. Yes, I will be flying from Transnistria to Amsterdam and back, but I am driving cross country to the Austria and the PMR.
I have all the techno gear in the back of the big Mercedes Sprinter van, and I am trundling through mainland Europe towards Austria. So it's a night there (Friday) then on to the PMR.
Luckily, the border dudes know of my approach so I should be assured of easy entry into Transnistria. I'm hoping that this visit I can manage to get a river tour shoehorned into my visit. I love the PMR crowd - they're always so much fun! I'll see you all in Bender!!!!
Otherwise, work has stopped for now on MV7 - a couple of new tracks could be unveiled at Nutznboltz! See you soon!
Love to you all
mv xxx
Well, I am packed and ready for the fun this weekend! Got all me bits and pieces together and am sorted for me Birfdee Bash! Not quite sorted out the setlist, but you can be sure that all your faves will be there, and of course requests are welcome. I got the ferry thingy sorted out and am on my way slowly towards the venues, since I thought that this time I would actually see some of the sights. Yes, I will be flying from Transnistria to Amsterdam and back, but I am driving cross country to the Austria and the PMR.
I have all the techno gear in the back of the big Mercedes Sprinter van, and I am trundling through mainland Europe towards Austria. So it's a night there (Friday) then on to the PMR.
Luckily, the border dudes know of my approach so I should be assured of easy entry into Transnistria. I'm hoping that this visit I can manage to get a river tour shoehorned into my visit. I love the PMR crowd - they're always so much fun! I'll see you all in Bender!!!!
Otherwise, work has stopped for now on MV7 - a couple of new tracks could be unveiled at Nutznboltz! See you soon!
Love to you all
mv xxx
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Bit of a chat about mv7 or mvVII, and just general stuff really...
Hello all you lovely mv people!
I hope you are all staying well through this very cold weather. As we are all aware, mv_VII is turning into my "Forth Road Bridge" - no matter how much work gets done, we never seem to get any further.
Part of the problem is that the other day, I working with some 1967 samples, and whilst mixing them together discovered that the track in question might just work out as a very fine charity project. Thus I have split this off from the 7 main project, and built up the track to a decent 13-14mins length. It is presently just a "music bed" awaiting vocal samples to be added at some later date. Sadly, this removes a potential album track, and I am left with a 14 minute hole that could have been filled! Never mind, I have to shelve that right now, as a half finished project that can be sorted out maybe over the summer - due to the number of people I will have to talk to in order to get permissions n sheed.
Messin' Wit' Yo Heads
To go back to VII (we are using Roman and Latin numerals interchangeably for some reason) again, I did make a pretty decent track from a 1968 song - another load of technical legal hassle - which, when messed with and massaged a bit, I managed to crank out a 13min "normal" mix, then a 30min mix I have currently called "extended MKULTRA mix". I am going to work on a really incredible "mess with your head MKULTRA mix" that will remove all the vocals, and instead simply focus on the two bars that matter. Then, I will insinuate loads of "subliminal samples" into the mix, to see what results we end up with. I'm not sure what 30mins of two-bars repeated, with some swirly sounds and subliminals will sound like - or what the legal position is for the tiny clip of tune that is repeated hundreds of times, in fact, MAKES the ENTIRE song, from a rhythmic position. Not to worry. A bridge to cross later on perhaps.
I am listening to the possible charity track as I type. Since the actual principle song is so long, with a couple of specific remixes (one a real surprise to those who know me!) yer punter will get a totally filled CD single - which is something I like in real life.
Size *Does* Matter, Appparently...
We are still debating the size of the album too. It's no secret that I am pushing for an out and out triple-CD set, whilst AEGRE are agreeable, but they have indicated that it would be much better for them if it were to be catalogued as mv_7, 8, and 9 which I *don't* like. I see the reasoning - at some later point in time AEGRE would be able to drop the original triple-CD format and re-release them as single CD albums - but I find all that heavy-bread-head-stuff too rich for my blood. Thus we have for the time being agreed to differ, and we shall meet up again when I actually have the masters ready.
The "concept" of mv_7, which hasn't been discussed too much via the blog and usual PR channels, is based in numerology. Three discs of nine tracks, making up 27, which is a 9. What I want to do is this:
Disc 1: Supporting Feature: Singularly Spectacular Redux
A few years back a very limited edition of non-album and album-based singles was released and promtply deleted - it even had a special catalogue number so as not to spoil the numeric progression of my albums. A shame really, since the track progression layout was nice, and the songs themselves were pretty good. It was an industry thing, and of course, I have a copy (which, I hate to say I have a copy of in the car) and the masters are in good shape. So as an opener for the album, I would like to have SSR - a singles and b sides disc that OPENS an album rather than closing it would be a nice idea too.
Disc 2: Intermission - Go get yer fags and Kia-Ora
This is to get you ready for the third disc, introducing the album-proper, and any innovations in sound since the contents of SSR were produced. I would like for the remaining SSR tracks to blend in to the new VII tracks as seamlessly as possible, so it would make it difficult to see where SSR ends and VII actually properly begins. This could involve mixing one or more tracks together to create some smooth blending. We'll see. It's all still in my head at this stage.
Disc 3: Our Feature Presentation
Lastly, the actual meat of the whole thing. The nine tracks that I feel work best together or flow the nicest - completely the wrong way round! I like this approach immensely - you can think of it as keeping the best till last, or, as I do, just totally different to the usual way things are done! That's me!
Therefore, I am working with a double-disc project comprising 2 and 3, but keeping the tracks and layout of 1 in mind. Ideally, what I really want is a triple-disc album that people will be happy playing start-to-finish, but also feel comfortable working out their own combination and then burning that for their car or whatever.
Worries...
I'm still secretly worried about how to follow Liquidators (mv6). Mrs. mad_vicar, a constant help and comfort to me, indicated that I am not looking at the situation correctly. Liquidators was a special, a one-off (despite it's being included in the official AEGRE mv catalogue as mv6) and should not be compared to anything. It was recorded with a certain direction and purpose - mainly a telling the Chernobyl story set to music - that only Father Cares... (mv4) even slightly resembles.
Therefore if I am competing at all, I am really competing with mv5, which was deliberately a happy and fun album to produce after the "dark double" of mv3 and mv4. Soooooo, given all that, I feel easier about 7 now - it will be different, and not "follow" any album. Plus the concept and design is so far away from anything I've done before
Whispers regarding "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences (mv6)"
Some interesting whispers about Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences (mv6) that came about as a result of one of the AEGRE meetings that was going nowhere. We got to talking about the album's reception and consistent interest. Liquidators is agreed amongst us all to have been a phenomenal success - more importantly, it raised the issue of the forgotten victims of Chernobyl and helped raise awareness of needy charities. I myself never did and still do not make any money at all from Liquidators - I made sure that all the rights were signed away well before I actually made any of the tracks (well, all but one - I had already recorded "Shining Sparkling Fire" before the Liquidators concept came along).
Weeeeelllll, April 26th next year (2011) will be the "silver jubilee" of the disaster. Liquidators has been available constantly since released on April 26th 2007 (21st anniversary) BUT we have briefly tossed around the idea of producing a silver jubilee edition. This MIGHT POSSIBLY involve some new tracks, some remixed original Liquidators tracks, and, for the DVD, a pile of new information, images, and maybe even some spoken word stuff by yours truly. This is ONLY a possibility but the great thing about being with AEGRE is that they think a lot like me, actually like my stuff, listen to me, give me total artistic freedom, and only occasionally do they wear their bread-head hats. And that's usually only to protect me from something, or an idea that really sucks!
Notice that there were nine tracks on Liquidators? Me and my numerology. My special numbers are 9 and 13, so they tend to appear almost by chance in my music and on my albums. I was born on Friday 13th, so when most people are scared even to get out of bed, I go out and have a simply wonderful day. Odd that.
Anyway, I have gone on too long, and it's way past my bedtime. Love to all of the mv people out there, and I hope to see you real soon.
Take care,
mv
I hope you are all staying well through this very cold weather. As we are all aware, mv_VII is turning into my "Forth Road Bridge" - no matter how much work gets done, we never seem to get any further.
Part of the problem is that the other day, I working with some 1967 samples, and whilst mixing them together discovered that the track in question might just work out as a very fine charity project. Thus I have split this off from the 7 main project, and built up the track to a decent 13-14mins length. It is presently just a "music bed" awaiting vocal samples to be added at some later date. Sadly, this removes a potential album track, and I am left with a 14 minute hole that could have been filled! Never mind, I have to shelve that right now, as a half finished project that can be sorted out maybe over the summer - due to the number of people I will have to talk to in order to get permissions n sheed.
Messin' Wit' Yo Heads
To go back to VII (we are using Roman and Latin numerals interchangeably for some reason) again, I did make a pretty decent track from a 1968 song - another load of technical legal hassle - which, when messed with and massaged a bit, I managed to crank out a 13min "normal" mix, then a 30min mix I have currently called "extended MKULTRA mix". I am going to work on a really incredible "mess with your head MKULTRA mix" that will remove all the vocals, and instead simply focus on the two bars that matter. Then, I will insinuate loads of "subliminal samples" into the mix, to see what results we end up with. I'm not sure what 30mins of two-bars repeated, with some swirly sounds and subliminals will sound like - or what the legal position is for the tiny clip of tune that is repeated hundreds of times, in fact, MAKES the ENTIRE song, from a rhythmic position. Not to worry. A bridge to cross later on perhaps.
I am listening to the possible charity track as I type. Since the actual principle song is so long, with a couple of specific remixes (one a real surprise to those who know me!) yer punter will get a totally filled CD single - which is something I like in real life.
Size *Does* Matter, Appparently...
We are still debating the size of the album too. It's no secret that I am pushing for an out and out triple-CD set, whilst AEGRE are agreeable, but they have indicated that it would be much better for them if it were to be catalogued as mv_7, 8, and 9 which I *don't* like. I see the reasoning - at some later point in time AEGRE would be able to drop the original triple-CD format and re-release them as single CD albums - but I find all that heavy-bread-head-stuff too rich for my blood. Thus we have for the time being agreed to differ, and we shall meet up again when I actually have the masters ready.
The "concept" of mv_7, which hasn't been discussed too much via the blog and usual PR channels, is based in numerology. Three discs of nine tracks, making up 27, which is a 9. What I want to do is this:
Disc 1: Supporting Feature: Singularly Spectacular Redux
A few years back a very limited edition of non-album and album-based singles was released and promtply deleted - it even had a special catalogue number so as not to spoil the numeric progression of my albums. A shame really, since the track progression layout was nice, and the songs themselves were pretty good. It was an industry thing, and of course, I have a copy (which, I hate to say I have a copy of in the car) and the masters are in good shape. So as an opener for the album, I would like to have SSR - a singles and b sides disc that OPENS an album rather than closing it would be a nice idea too.
Disc 2: Intermission - Go get yer fags and Kia-Ora
This is to get you ready for the third disc, introducing the album-proper, and any innovations in sound since the contents of SSR were produced. I would like for the remaining SSR tracks to blend in to the new VII tracks as seamlessly as possible, so it would make it difficult to see where SSR ends and VII actually properly begins. This could involve mixing one or more tracks together to create some smooth blending. We'll see. It's all still in my head at this stage.
Disc 3: Our Feature Presentation
Lastly, the actual meat of the whole thing. The nine tracks that I feel work best together or flow the nicest - completely the wrong way round! I like this approach immensely - you can think of it as keeping the best till last, or, as I do, just totally different to the usual way things are done! That's me!
Therefore, I am working with a double-disc project comprising 2 and 3, but keeping the tracks and layout of 1 in mind. Ideally, what I really want is a triple-disc album that people will be happy playing start-to-finish, but also feel comfortable working out their own combination and then burning that for their car or whatever.
Worries...
I'm still secretly worried about how to follow Liquidators (mv6). Mrs. mad_vicar, a constant help and comfort to me, indicated that I am not looking at the situation correctly. Liquidators was a special, a one-off (despite it's being included in the official AEGRE mv catalogue as mv6) and should not be compared to anything. It was recorded with a certain direction and purpose - mainly a telling the Chernobyl story set to music - that only Father Cares... (mv4) even slightly resembles.
Therefore if I am competing at all, I am really competing with mv5, which was deliberately a happy and fun album to produce after the "dark double" of mv3 and mv4. Soooooo, given all that, I feel easier about 7 now - it will be different, and not "follow" any album. Plus the concept and design is so far away from anything I've done before
Whispers regarding "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences (mv6)"
Some interesting whispers about Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences (mv6) that came about as a result of one of the AEGRE meetings that was going nowhere. We got to talking about the album's reception and consistent interest. Liquidators is agreed amongst us all to have been a phenomenal success - more importantly, it raised the issue of the forgotten victims of Chernobyl and helped raise awareness of needy charities. I myself never did and still do not make any money at all from Liquidators - I made sure that all the rights were signed away well before I actually made any of the tracks (well, all but one - I had already recorded "Shining Sparkling Fire" before the Liquidators concept came along).
Weeeeelllll, April 26th next year (2011) will be the "silver jubilee" of the disaster. Liquidators has been available constantly since released on April 26th 2007 (21st anniversary) BUT we have briefly tossed around the idea of producing a silver jubilee edition. This MIGHT POSSIBLY involve some new tracks, some remixed original Liquidators tracks, and, for the DVD, a pile of new information, images, and maybe even some spoken word stuff by yours truly. This is ONLY a possibility but the great thing about being with AEGRE is that they think a lot like me, actually like my stuff, listen to me, give me total artistic freedom, and only occasionally do they wear their bread-head hats. And that's usually only to protect me from something, or an idea that really sucks!
Notice that there were nine tracks on Liquidators? Me and my numerology. My special numbers are 9 and 13, so they tend to appear almost by chance in my music and on my albums. I was born on Friday 13th, so when most people are scared even to get out of bed, I go out and have a simply wonderful day. Odd that.
Anyway, I have gone on too long, and it's way past my bedtime. Love to all of the mv people out there, and I hope to see you real soon.
Take care,
mv
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Advance Notice of two live appearances: The mad_vicar birthday bash!
Good news for mv fans - he is playing four dates to be known as "The mad_vicar birthday bash!"
The dates are 12th/13th/14th/15th March and they are solid. We will be doing more promotion work, especially in and around the locations listed below. Birthday presents for the mv himself are optional but desirable!!
These are the dates and locations:
12th March 2010 - Voss Schlagen, Salzburg, Austria 9pm-2am www.dievosschlagen.at
13th March 2010 - Nutznboltz, Bender, Transnistria/PMR 10pm-4am www.nutznboltz.net
14th March 2010 - Mirage, Amsterdam, Netherlands 10pm-2am www.clubmirage.nl
15th March 2010 - Nutznboltz, Bender, Transnistria/PMR 10pm-2am www.nutznboltz.net
The mini-tour has been arranged via the usual suspects, and as I say, these are firm dates. mv particularly wanted to be back in Bender for his actual birthday night, since the city and the people have been so warm and welcoming in the past, and so the two gigs are a big thank you to the citizens of Transnistria. mv is happy, surprised, and very pleased at the massive surge of popularity right across the PMR, and he hopes THIS TIME to take in a boat trip on the river if he recovers his strength in time! He is drinking VitSmart along with the usual buckets of coffee, so he should be in good health for the mini-tour.
Anyone seeking further information can get in touch via the blog or the usual channels.
Stay well everyone - and see you at the clubs!
Dex
The dates are 12th/13th/14th/15th March and they are solid. We will be doing more promotion work, especially in and around the locations listed below. Birthday presents for the mv himself are optional but desirable!!
These are the dates and locations:
12th March 2010 - Voss Schlagen, Salzburg, Austria 9pm-2am www.dievosschlagen.at
13th March 2010 - Nutznboltz, Bender, Transnistria/PMR 10pm-4am www.nutznboltz.net
14th March 2010 - Mirage, Amsterdam, Netherlands 10pm-2am www.clubmirage.nl
15th March 2010 - Nutznboltz, Bender, Transnistria/PMR 10pm-2am www.nutznboltz.net
The mini-tour has been arranged via the usual suspects, and as I say, these are firm dates. mv particularly wanted to be back in Bender for his actual birthday night, since the city and the people have been so warm and welcoming in the past, and so the two gigs are a big thank you to the citizens of Transnistria. mv is happy, surprised, and very pleased at the massive surge of popularity right across the PMR, and he hopes THIS TIME to take in a boat trip on the river if he recovers his strength in time! He is drinking VitSmart along with the usual buckets of coffee, so he should be in good health for the mini-tour.
Anyone seeking further information can get in touch via the blog or the usual channels.
Stay well everyone - and see you at the clubs!
Dex
Friday, 19 February 2010
OFFICIAL: Scotching a few rumours... again!
Hello mv fans!
I have to add to the blog again to scotch rumours AGAIN! How these things get started nobody can work out, but I, as de officiale representativeness of both mad_vicar and AEGRE, it's my job to stop strange chinese whispers before they get out of hand.
So if ever you hear a certain item of news, check out the blog to see if it has actually happened in real life or someone's fevered imagination.
Earlier there was the rumour that mv was leaving AEGRE for a different, personally respected, record company. That appeared out of nowhere and Frances had to post an entry to untwine it all.
Well, since the recent PMR/Transnistria gigs, another bizarre crop has appeared.
1. No, mv is not moving to Bender, in the PMR, even though he thinks the city is cool and has a very cool name.
2. No, mv has not started a record company in the PMR, although it might be a good idea for the future.
3. Ditto about starting a club/clubs in Transnistria.
4. While mv loves playing there, and always puts the PMR to the top of any list, he has no plans to put down any roots of any kind other than the friendships he has made, and the remarkable number of mv fans for whom, I think he has said elsewhere, he is very grateful and never hesitates to mention how pleasantly surprised he remains at the interest in his work.
5. The "surprise" nature of PMR gigs are a combination of circumstances, and this is why one reads of them "having happened" rather than "will happen". The PMR is one of the remaining Soviet states, and this introduces a layer of beurocracy that has to be assured mv is not subversive in any way. Over the last few appearances, it has become easier and easier to travel and perform in the PMR. So much so that local Party Officials have started asking for tickets, and we at AEGRE are more than happy to arrange this! There will be a time when we can say for definite that mv will be at x on y day at z time in the PMR, and when that happens, it will be posted here. There are a few unofficial "boards", which of course, AEGRE cannot comment upon or discuss, but these, along with word-of-mouth, email, and text, seem to do the job of publicising upcoming dates just fine.
So I hope that the above lessens the spurious rumours that continually spring up around mv.
And of course any Official News will appear here first. Be that from mv or myself.
Thanks for reading!
Dex.
I have to add to the blog again to scotch rumours AGAIN! How these things get started nobody can work out, but I, as de officiale representativeness of both mad_vicar and AEGRE, it's my job to stop strange chinese whispers before they get out of hand.
So if ever you hear a certain item of news, check out the blog to see if it has actually happened in real life or someone's fevered imagination.
Earlier there was the rumour that mv was leaving AEGRE for a different, personally respected, record company. That appeared out of nowhere and Frances had to post an entry to untwine it all.
Well, since the recent PMR/Transnistria gigs, another bizarre crop has appeared.
1. No, mv is not moving to Bender, in the PMR, even though he thinks the city is cool and has a very cool name.
2. No, mv has not started a record company in the PMR, although it might be a good idea for the future.
3. Ditto about starting a club/clubs in Transnistria.
4. While mv loves playing there, and always puts the PMR to the top of any list, he has no plans to put down any roots of any kind other than the friendships he has made, and the remarkable number of mv fans for whom, I think he has said elsewhere, he is very grateful and never hesitates to mention how pleasantly surprised he remains at the interest in his work.
5. The "surprise" nature of PMR gigs are a combination of circumstances, and this is why one reads of them "having happened" rather than "will happen". The PMR is one of the remaining Soviet states, and this introduces a layer of beurocracy that has to be assured mv is not subversive in any way. Over the last few appearances, it has become easier and easier to travel and perform in the PMR. So much so that local Party Officials have started asking for tickets, and we at AEGRE are more than happy to arrange this! There will be a time when we can say for definite that mv will be at x on y day at z time in the PMR, and when that happens, it will be posted here. There are a few unofficial "boards", which of course, AEGRE cannot comment upon or discuss, but these, along with word-of-mouth, email, and text, seem to do the job of publicising upcoming dates just fine.
So I hope that the above lessens the spurious rumours that continually spring up around mv.
And of course any Official News will appear here first. Be that from mv or myself.
Thanks for reading!
Dex.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
mv reporting on the latest PMR gigs and related stuff...
Hello and welcome! I am happy to be able to report on the “surprise” appearances that occurred over the weekend once again in the wonderful surroundings of Transnistria. Nothing was announced on the blog in advance, mainly because we didn’t know it was going to happen. Plus, you know how I hate to use the blog to “advertise” – other than to say when an album is finished, although I like to think that this is just an addition or the end of the story of an album’s development, which I do write about on the blog. So to me that’s not exactly adverstising – and I’m rambling, so I must get back on track!
My visit to the PMR was great fun and the joy of hooking up with the friends I made last time was simply wonderful. I did a couple of live appearances Friday and Saturday, and then topped off the weekend Sunday night by DJ-ing at the Vestral club in the coolly-named city of Bender. Yes, I have told them about the robot in Futurama, and this time left some DVDs with them so that they can enjoy the cartoon Bender as much as I do. Futurama is so cool! And, without wanting to upset Simpsons devotees, I feel personally that Futurama knocks spots off The Simpsons – it’s mainly that space/distopian future comedy is more to my taste. Plus I think both Leela and Amy are animated-hot, man.
What can I say? Well, I’m extremely tired, if that’s any indicator. It will take me all week to get over the weekend! We arrived Friday afternoon, and managed to get through the rush hour traffic to the hotel. As ever, we experienced impeccable service, and rooms that were clinically, surgically, marvellously clean and invitingly hospitable. With barely any time to shower and then indulge in my hotel sport of amateur level bed-bouncing, it was off to Nutsnboltz for the gig. I ran through most of the favourites, and I think the crowd enjoyed me. Far too many people bought far too many drinks for me, but I managed to get back to the hotel by 2am. The bed, only barely bounced earlier on, was lovely and I slept like a large piece of fallen tree.
Saturday afternoon was spent knocking around the city and doin’ the touristy stuff. There is a castle in the city that totally entranced me, and if I ever made any money, I would like to live up there. I could make as much noise as I wanted without upsetting my wife – or the neighbours. Yeah. Transnistria is a lovely country, and I must spend more time there. The river is of course the main draw, and I wish we had had time for a trip along the great snake, but maybe next time.
My second night in Nutsnboltz was even better than the previous. The crowd was larger, and the atmosphere was electric. You could feel the heavy humidity caused by the presence of so many bodies – it seemed that if you were to grab a handful, you could wring water out of it! Tonight I focussed mainly on tunes from mv_5, Liquidators, and that perennial favourite: “Porn for the Ears”. Everybody seems to love “Porn for the Ears” – the more “dirty” a track is, the more people appear to get into it. Sometimes I blush at the samples, yet I look down and the crowd is lip-synching so accurately it takes the breath away. I wondered to myself – Is it because they speak a different language and don’t know what they’re singing? Then I remember that audiences do it wherever I am, and so it can’t be that. Very often I drift away and memories of the recording of the tracks come to mind. For example, when I play anything from “Holy Shit” (the first album), I remember the red hot summer of 2001, and the little room I used as my “study”. This was a generic term that refers to, in no particular order, computer room, office, recording studio, library and a hundred other uses – which caught the sun and made doing anything in the afternoon a fun exercise in human bodily endurance. I mainly worked from the evening until the pre-midday hours (effectively, the hours that a person didn’t feel like they may spontaneously combust any second!) utilising recording equipment and conditions that would be considered extremely spartan and crude by today’s standards. A great deal of the work was done on tape, as the PC I used at the time was incapable of running too many tasks at once. To a degree, this comes across in some of the tracks of that era, but not embarrassingly so. Or not too embarrassing anyway!
“Porn for the Ears” was recorded over one weekend, when Mrs. mad_vicar was away on a short weekend break in Cornwall. Taking advantage of the situation, I commandeered loads of gear from other rooms, such as the video recorder from the living room, and a tape deck that normally was part of the audio system also located usually in the living room. I worked from Friday to Sunday, as the track was the last of the “Holy Shit” album to be recorded, it’s completion meant the completion of the album.
I remember well burning a completed album on CD, with cover, insert and back cover, which I numbered 001. When I went to pick up Mrs. mad_vicar, I presented this copy to my wife – a tradition I have sort of kept up ever since.
Gosh do I ramble! So I’ll just quickly wrap this up so I can post it.
Love and best wishes to all mvpeople around the world, and I promise there will be more news on mv7 soon!
This is your correspondent mad_vicar, reporting live from my bed, where I intend to stay until I recharge my batteries!! xxx
My visit to the PMR was great fun and the joy of hooking up with the friends I made last time was simply wonderful. I did a couple of live appearances Friday and Saturday, and then topped off the weekend Sunday night by DJ-ing at the Vestral club in the coolly-named city of Bender. Yes, I have told them about the robot in Futurama, and this time left some DVDs with them so that they can enjoy the cartoon Bender as much as I do. Futurama is so cool! And, without wanting to upset Simpsons devotees, I feel personally that Futurama knocks spots off The Simpsons – it’s mainly that space/distopian future comedy is more to my taste. Plus I think both Leela and Amy are animated-hot, man.
What can I say? Well, I’m extremely tired, if that’s any indicator. It will take me all week to get over the weekend! We arrived Friday afternoon, and managed to get through the rush hour traffic to the hotel. As ever, we experienced impeccable service, and rooms that were clinically, surgically, marvellously clean and invitingly hospitable. With barely any time to shower and then indulge in my hotel sport of amateur level bed-bouncing, it was off to Nutsnboltz for the gig. I ran through most of the favourites, and I think the crowd enjoyed me. Far too many people bought far too many drinks for me, but I managed to get back to the hotel by 2am. The bed, only barely bounced earlier on, was lovely and I slept like a large piece of fallen tree.
Saturday afternoon was spent knocking around the city and doin’ the touristy stuff. There is a castle in the city that totally entranced me, and if I ever made any money, I would like to live up there. I could make as much noise as I wanted without upsetting my wife – or the neighbours. Yeah. Transnistria is a lovely country, and I must spend more time there. The river is of course the main draw, and I wish we had had time for a trip along the great snake, but maybe next time.
My second night in Nutsnboltz was even better than the previous. The crowd was larger, and the atmosphere was electric. You could feel the heavy humidity caused by the presence of so many bodies – it seemed that if you were to grab a handful, you could wring water out of it! Tonight I focussed mainly on tunes from mv_5, Liquidators, and that perennial favourite: “Porn for the Ears”. Everybody seems to love “Porn for the Ears” – the more “dirty” a track is, the more people appear to get into it. Sometimes I blush at the samples, yet I look down and the crowd is lip-synching so accurately it takes the breath away. I wondered to myself – Is it because they speak a different language and don’t know what they’re singing? Then I remember that audiences do it wherever I am, and so it can’t be that. Very often I drift away and memories of the recording of the tracks come to mind. For example, when I play anything from “Holy Shit” (the first album), I remember the red hot summer of 2001, and the little room I used as my “study”. This was a generic term that refers to, in no particular order, computer room, office, recording studio, library and a hundred other uses – which caught the sun and made doing anything in the afternoon a fun exercise in human bodily endurance. I mainly worked from the evening until the pre-midday hours (effectively, the hours that a person didn’t feel like they may spontaneously combust any second!) utilising recording equipment and conditions that would be considered extremely spartan and crude by today’s standards. A great deal of the work was done on tape, as the PC I used at the time was incapable of running too many tasks at once. To a degree, this comes across in some of the tracks of that era, but not embarrassingly so. Or not too embarrassing anyway!
“Porn for the Ears” was recorded over one weekend, when Mrs. mad_vicar was away on a short weekend break in Cornwall. Taking advantage of the situation, I commandeered loads of gear from other rooms, such as the video recorder from the living room, and a tape deck that normally was part of the audio system also located usually in the living room. I worked from Friday to Sunday, as the track was the last of the “Holy Shit” album to be recorded, it’s completion meant the completion of the album.
I remember well burning a completed album on CD, with cover, insert and back cover, which I numbered 001. When I went to pick up Mrs. mad_vicar, I presented this copy to my wife – a tradition I have sort of kept up ever since.
Gosh do I ramble! So I’ll just quickly wrap this up so I can post it.
Love and best wishes to all mvpeople around the world, and I promise there will be more news on mv7 soon!
This is your correspondent mad_vicar, reporting live from my bed, where I intend to stay until I recharge my batteries!! xxx
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Latest news on the position of mv7, and a quick introduction.
Hello All mad_vicar fans. We here at AEGRE hope you had a good holiday, and all the best for 2010. A quick introduction is required here: My name is Dex Leighton, and I shall be posting OFFICIAL AEGRE information on the mv blog. Frances Green, my predecessor, has moved up the corporate ladder, and we all wish her well in her new post. Just so that you can tell at a glance, AEGRE postings will be in this nice blue colour, whilst postings from mad_vicar himself will be in whatever colour he fancies at the time!
I have received a few emails asking about mv7, and where we are with the album. So I thought it would be a good idea to explain it via the blog, so that everyone interested can get the news easily.
As far as recording goes, there are currently enough new mad_vicar tracks to fill one compact disc almost to capacity - that is, seventy minutes plus. However, mad_vicar himself has indicated that he would like mv7 to be a multi-disc album, possibly even a multi-media project. Therefore, although an ordinary-length album has been recorded, nothing can be released until there are more tracks. How many new tracks, and indeed how many CDs, has not been discussed. AEGRE, with its policy of complete artistic freedom, is content to wait until mad_vicar is happy with every part of the project, and delivers the masters to us.
I have heard the finished tracks, and it will be a powerful album when it is ready, so we hope that we can count on the die-hard fans patience until then!
Thanks!
Dex Leighton
Introducing Dex Leighton, my new PR personage...
Hello again!
More interesting news! I just wanted to drop a quick message here to congratulate Frances on her promotion - she will be hanging out with the big dicks in executive suite from now on! I have therefore been assigned a new AEGRE Bodyguard, although AEGRE have some really cool name for it - Talent PR Manager or something like that. He is (drum roll) Dex Leighton, and he will be taking over Frances' role, posting OFFICIAL stuff on the mv blogerama. So welcome Dex! There will be a posting from AEGRE almost any minute now explaining mv7 and introducing Dex from the AEGRE perspective. Long live Authentricity Electronic Gramophone Recording Enterprises!
Taraferabit
mv
More interesting news! I just wanted to drop a quick message here to congratulate Frances on her promotion - she will be hanging out with the big dicks in executive suite from now on! I have therefore been assigned a new AEGRE Bodyguard, although AEGRE have some really cool name for it - Talent PR Manager or something like that. He is (drum roll) Dex Leighton, and he will be taking over Frances' role, posting OFFICIAL stuff on the mv blogerama. So welcome Dex! There will be a posting from AEGRE almost any minute now explaining mv7 and introducing Dex from the AEGRE perspective. Long live Authentricity Electronic Gramophone Recording Enterprises!
Taraferabit
mv
mv7 delay....
Hello everyone! I hope you had a splendiferous Chrimble and I wish you Bright Blessings for 2010.
AEGRE is releasing a statement about the delay of mv7, but I wanted to put out some personal feelings about the gestation of the album too.
Creating "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences", that some refer to as mv6, was a massive undertaking. It began this time three years ago, and wasn't finished until the day before release, which was April 26th 2007. The date was significant, since it represented the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. Indeed, it is true that I created the Masters on 24th, then burned CD-R and DVD-R discs all day on the 25th to be ready.
I hope that mv6 helped people understand what everyone involved had to go through and the suffering of The Liquidators, and the album remains one that I listen to most often (of all my music created thus far) - even though it does make me quite emotional.
That was 2007, and as strange as it might seem, I haven't found the time or energy often enough to get creative. There was a point where I said to myself, now is the time to start work on mv7, and bit by bit around 70 minutes of new music has been recorded. But my personal feelings are that since it has been so long since mv6, I really want mv7 to be a big album. I want to "reward" the patience of those who like my music with a big lump of new tunes, so at the minimum I would like it to be double, preferably a triple CD collection. Perhaps some computer content too. LiJa remains my favourite video director, and I would love to get her to produce some more visuals to go with the music. She worked so very hard with the videos from mv6 (Pripyat City of the Future I, Nuclear Power, Liquidators, and the DVD-only Ghost Town of Pripyat) taking time pressure in her stride and coming up with striking visuals, that she is the only choice for me.
And so that's the full story. As you can imagine, the run up to Chrimble and the New Year is busy anyway, and to add to that we have had some catastrophic computer meltdowns over the last month which we have only just managed to sort out, even if some bits still are not quite working properly! I will get back to it soon, I promise!
In the meantime, I have a question for YOU. I have specifically NOT issued any of the new material, to keep everything for the mv7 album. But would a CD single be welcome? Yes, it will be then later released on the mv7 album. If this idea turns you off, then let me know. Equally, if you would like a CD single of one or two tracks as a taster, could you drop me a line and let me know that it would be welcome? I make a point of listening to what my "fans" (I hate that word!) say, and thus feedback on this issue would be very welcome.
Stay well, stay happy.
mv
AEGRE is releasing a statement about the delay of mv7, but I wanted to put out some personal feelings about the gestation of the album too.
Creating "Participant in the Liquidation of the Accident Consequences", that some refer to as mv6, was a massive undertaking. It began this time three years ago, and wasn't finished until the day before release, which was April 26th 2007. The date was significant, since it represented the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. Indeed, it is true that I created the Masters on 24th, then burned CD-R and DVD-R discs all day on the 25th to be ready.
I hope that mv6 helped people understand what everyone involved had to go through and the suffering of The Liquidators, and the album remains one that I listen to most often (of all my music created thus far) - even though it does make me quite emotional.
That was 2007, and as strange as it might seem, I haven't found the time or energy often enough to get creative. There was a point where I said to myself, now is the time to start work on mv7, and bit by bit around 70 minutes of new music has been recorded. But my personal feelings are that since it has been so long since mv6, I really want mv7 to be a big album. I want to "reward" the patience of those who like my music with a big lump of new tunes, so at the minimum I would like it to be double, preferably a triple CD collection. Perhaps some computer content too. LiJa remains my favourite video director, and I would love to get her to produce some more visuals to go with the music. She worked so very hard with the videos from mv6 (Pripyat City of the Future I, Nuclear Power, Liquidators, and the DVD-only Ghost Town of Pripyat) taking time pressure in her stride and coming up with striking visuals, that she is the only choice for me.
And so that's the full story. As you can imagine, the run up to Chrimble and the New Year is busy anyway, and to add to that we have had some catastrophic computer meltdowns over the last month which we have only just managed to sort out, even if some bits still are not quite working properly! I will get back to it soon, I promise!
In the meantime, I have a question for YOU. I have specifically NOT issued any of the new material, to keep everything for the mv7 album. But would a CD single be welcome? Yes, it will be then later released on the mv7 album. If this idea turns you off, then let me know. Equally, if you would like a CD single of one or two tracks as a taster, could you drop me a line and let me know that it would be welcome? I make a point of listening to what my "fans" (I hate that word!) say, and thus feedback on this issue would be very welcome.
Stay well, stay happy.
mv
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