latest reports coming in

in an effort to maintain regular posts, rather than waiting to officially announce news, might i report more generally on my creative activities, to keep a more informal strand of information flowing with regards to my most recent exploits. to that end, i shall skirt briefly around the projects which are currently keeping me burning the late night oil.

the astonishing abSUrd has already revealed to the world that his debut album is completed, but how i can indeed reveal that i have been given the mighty chance to bring it through the mixing stage, to allow it to shine as bright as it surely deserves to. should of course there be any doubt of confusion, i can wholeheartedly announce that it is completely out of control. how it features song after song of wonderful, psychedelic, dark, surreal, organic musical turns, and with a roster of guest-vocalists which reads like some sort of dream team. it is my intention to concentrate heavily on completing the mix through march, with a view to having it ready for release sooner rather than later. stay tuned for updates.

i am also currently guiding another amazing album through the mixing process. i'm not sure how secretive the entire enterprise is at the moment, so perhaps suffice to say that it is a monstrous alt-rap opus featuring the combined talents of one of the scenes most ambitious and prolific electronic producers, and one of the scenes most prolific and greatest lyricists. i guess that i can reveal that it will be made available on vinyl from the mighty uk-based planck length records sometime this spring.

i've also been just these last few days working on a series of four remixes for the truly beatufiul Þverfellshorn project, from the wonderful luke payne of wild dogs in winter. beautiful, dreamy, shoegaze-drone-electronica; layers of guitar lines and synthesizers with distant vocals and field recordings blended together with layers of fuzz and grain. we are gearing up to announce a forthcoming release on decorative stamp, so be sure to keep your eyes open for that.

i've also had the pleasure of engineering some band of buriers recording sessions to lay down vocals from the enchanting miss nadia d'alò, for her contribution to a number of songs on their forthcoming seven-song release, also to be available from decorative stamp. expect darkly beautiful alt-folk / alt-rap compositions tinged with ethereal sadness. i am also due to be contributing a series of found and field recordings to the project too. it will without a doubt be something really special for sure.

excitingly, my first book, entitled 'nova conditions' is also very close to going to print. i have been busy working on the layout, text composition and design touches, whilst also very keenly anticipating foreword and introduction contributions from two incredibly talented peers who have kindly agreed to write a few words regarding the piece. i hope to go to print perhaps even next week, and am thusly confident that i can schedule a release sometime in the coming month or two, almost six years after the project was begun.

i am also on the verge of beginning to record for a project which has been bubbling away behind the scenes for almost a year now. many moons ago the beastmaster, from the beyond-staggering papervehicle, and i started to make murmur's of collaborating on a project together under the guise of the caterers. planets then alligned as we suddenly came upon a raft of wonderful beats from mism records / luana records great mich moser. tentative lines have been scribbled, even a few scraps of vocals recorded, whilst the beats have undergone regular treatments, until we might finally be in a position to begin to tackle this formidable creature across the coming moons. further facts will be reported as they emerge.

lastly, might i give extra mention to the recent release of the evak & edison 'six pack o' death' ep on decorative stamp. since the mighty evak wrote me over christmastime i have enjoyed many a long hour listening to their incredible six song opus as well as exchanging a slew of messages with the man himself, not to mention the consistently benevolent edison. it's been a real, real pleasure in seeing this project through the release stages, getting to exchange messages with, and interview, the two masters themselves, first seeng mildew's artwork appearing in my inbox, being able to tell the world... it is an astonishing release indeed, now available from decorative stamp digitally and with a physical release coming soon... 667 for life.

it is always my intention to work tirelessly, and thusly do expect another host of news to come swarming in and some stage sooner rather than later. there are a great number of other strands under construction, slowly making their way to the fore. a few pieces of production, some vocal appearances, as well as a futher two or three albums of material yet to be revealed. onwards and upwards can and will be the only way. your interest is greatly appreciated.

keep safe

jamesreindeer

iron filings and sellotape

i have had the pleasure of being involved in the iron filings and sellotape project since one psychedelic summers night in 2003. the project is an experiment of sorts, a view to creating music, film, still photography and literature with exclusively found elements, assembled with obsolete technologies. the name of the project itself might be clue enough. iron filings and sellotape recordings exist as if having been found buried in a ruined bunker, or collapsed building. broken fragments serving as some testament to an unwholesome truth which has pervaded human civilisation these past one hundred years, or more.

to that end, fragments of field recordings, tape experiments, grainy film and photographs have been amassed, with the intention of one day being revealed to the world as a fractured document to mirror our most troubled thoughts in the dark of the night or the bleakness of the light of day. for my part, i have contributed music, words, vocals and film to the furnace, all constructed by the lamplight of evening, scrabbled together with haste and an urgency; to compile the materials before they might disintegrate in ones hands. in good time decorative stamp will serve as the worthy vessel to unleash these salvaged reels, until then a few scraps of film, music and text exist to serve as an example of the ongoing experiment.

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'amidst the grease and chaos' was completed some years ago, shot on a faulty digital camera mobile telephone, capturing scenes of late night analogue television signal of bbc news 24 on an old portable television set dating from some decades ago. all the footage was shot in a darkned attic against a backdrop of the beams and rafters. the scenes depicted therein are of the ongoing conflict in afghanistan, the british armed forces hunt for the fictional al qaeda in the fictional tora bora mountain cave complexes. as well as the rapid increase in opium production since the allied forces first engaged the taliban in the wake of the attacks of 9/11.

'war report [salvaged reels]' was completed just recently, having been shot on a modest digital camera, capturing scenes from digital footage obtained from internet resources. scenes therein depict the soviet war in afghanistan in the 1980's, as the reagan administration moved to support the 'freedom fighters' in driving the russians back across their border, inevitably bringing funds and training to a large number of islamist thinkers whose intention was to use these tactics to wage their war on the jahiliyyah which was spreading throughout the middle east, filtering in from the sinful west. the footage is intercut with two seperate reels of free associated text being typed across a computer screen.

there will shortly be two songs available to obtain from the project. the first, 'kingdom of heaven', now available as a free download on decorative stamp volume one, and the second to be featured on an up and coming cooler than cucumbers release. there are also a number of compositions available for streaming on the long since abandoned iron filings and sellotape myspace page. a great deal of the musical output of the project is currently instrumental, but for where vocals exist, it is my intention to post the words contained therein.

being the voice of the project, it would certainly fall within my remit to give more detailed explanations as to the why's and wherefore's of the project, but i would prefer to keep the exposition to a minimum and let the atmospherics of the project be the most important force. there is something about this music, words and imagery that has a quality found only in certain places, perhaps at certain times. do be sure to investigate further, should any of the above have struck a chord.

keep safe, be well

jamesreindeer

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iron filings and sellotape on myspace


iron filings and sellotape at decorative stamp

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photographic evidence

in the attic of my father's house at christmastime

photograph taken by decorative stamp's own nadia d'alò

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