Daily Archives: 21 December 2015

Away in a Manger

[play]Away in a Manger (2004)

If you like this piece, please consider donating to Shelter, a charity that deals with homelessness in the UK.

In 2004, back when I was doing my MA, I had just devised algorithms for automated cutting for Text Sound Poetry. I was mostly using these on political pundits, but when the holidays came around, I thought I could have my mac’s internal voice read some hymn lyrics and then do some cutting. The computer brightly proclaimed, ‘I love you, Lord Jesus!’ and I felt giddy with horror.

My partner at the time listened to it and said it was too cynical. So it sad on a hard drive for these last 11 years. It probably is too cynical for Christmas, but it’s not altogether out of place for this project.

This track is part of a larger project, ’12 days of Crimbo’, which will raise funds for homeless and/or LGBT charities.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:59 — 4.1MB)

Angel Invaders

[play]Angel Invaders (2015)

If you enjoyed this track (or not), please consider donating to the LGBT Foundation. I first became aware of this foundation because they are fighting laws which criminalize relationships. In the UK, it is legal to lie about one’s marital status, age, religion or whether one has had an STI test, yet several young trans men have become convicted sex offenders for not volunteering the information that they transitioned. The foundation is working on challenging these laws. (Dear listener: if you want to avoid dating a trans (or cis) person, just ask them ahead of time.)

This badly mangled version of Adeste Fideles uses the sleigh bells and Risset bells I’ve been using throughout the project. It also uses a snare synth and bass drum synth of my own devising, Schemawound’s dirty fm synth and grirgz’s wobble bass synth.

Although I think this is probably the worst piece of music I’ve ever made, my wife said it sounded like an 8 bit video game, so I titled it Angel Invaders. Can you shoot them down before its too late?

This track is part of a larger project, ’12 days of Crimbo’, which will raise funds for homeless and/or LGBT charities.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02 — 1.4MB)