Still in Northern Ireland seeing my grandparents, but back to London tomorrow.
The crows are everywhere at this time of the evening. The sky tonight is beyond magnificent – pink mountain ranges of low cumulus across the horizon and streaks of fire in the blue right over Belfast lough. Its stunning – I had to stop the car on the drive home.
I popped in to see my old mate Duke Special for a cup of tea in East Belfast this-morning. Always inspiring – this time hearing about DJ-ing with gramophones. I was talking about some of the ideas for the iOS app that is going to accompany this record, and he was talking of his ideas for the old world of shellac and 78rpm records, and beyond into things too beautiful to mention here. He’s off on tour tomorrow – the merchandise laid like some avant garde mosaic on the living room floor.
From there to another Northern Irish musical legend – David Holmes, just up the road. I love visiting David because he’s just such a vibe man. He buzzes like a hyperactive bee, living and breathing music. He tells it like it is and doesn’t hold his tongue – I like that. And besides, his studio makes my little collection of analogue gear look like the musical instruments section of a charity shop in Scunthorpe. The star of the show is the mind-bogglingly amazing Yamaha CS-80, my dream synth. I love it. I can make it do stuff David just likes, so we had an impromptu session based on some fabulous loops David has compiled from his amazing archives of sounds. You couldn’t help but be inspired.
He’s invited me back in January to put some CS-80 on the Ramshackle Crow record, which I shan’t turn down… but I think we’re going to have a shot at doing some more vibey stuff ourselves. I love working with him – we work fast, and when its happening, it’s an awesome buzz. When its not? Well, the kettle isn’t far away.