columns of grey smoke ascending

since my last detailed field report i have been kept busy with a whole host of various strands, all of which do seem to be progressing most satisfactory indeed. so much is occurring at all times that it is hard to keep track. still, how these reports help me to sort the wheat from the chaff and detail the most pertinent elements therein. suffice to say much is still on the horizon, drawing ever nearer, looming with grim intent.

as somewhat of an aside, i actually found myself back in london, england, for the first time in six months. i was due to head back there to attend the wedding of two wonderful friends, but how it gave me cause to catch up with many other friends and family besides, and to wander passed a few spots that have given me great cause for inspiration in the past. london is truly the one city that i could call home yet still how, aside from dear friends and family, it seems as if little more than billowing columns of grey smoke across abandoned sites. however, that is another field report entirely.

gladly, as always, my trusty walkman was with me at all times. there is something very satisfying about listening to the 'six pack o' death' ep whilst riding the underground, crossing london bridge, or staring out of a train-car carriage as the sprawl of south london extends before oneself. i also spent a good deal of time audtitioning my test mixes of the AbSUrd beats for the forthcoming coffin cutters album, and how it will be something truly devastating indeed. gladly still, i also had the wonderful fortune of being armed with a mixtape from decorative stamp's very own nadia d' alò, which added soothing instances in amongst the mayhem, most notably the wonderful 'calvary cross', a personal favourite indeed.

so. it seems that there has been a resurrection of discussions between bill van cutten and myself, regarding the completion of an ep project together which we began in the summer of 2009 with the recording of two, as yet unreleased tracks under the working titles of  'mrs snow' and 'landing land'. it is our intention to prepare a number of further tracks, sound-pieces, field recordings and the like to put together what may hopefully become a vinyl release in the not-too-distant future. expect desperately dark electronic-noise-rap-nihilism in a dickensian vein, or something equally challenging.

i have also turned my attention further towards the upcoming marvel that will be 'decorative stamp volume two', and how it will be a majestic beast indeed. it is my intention to keep the details vague for the time being but, suffice to say it is already beginning to take the shape of something very special. it would only be fair if i were to confess that 'decorative stamp volume one' was very much put together with a view to simply getting something out there to give people an idea about who we are as a collective, whereas volume two will be something much more considered. there is still a fair ways to head down the path yet, but the current list of selections is already displaying signs of something really rather wonderful.

in other news, the absolutely horrifying goats gloom project is continuing to ooze from the furnace in spectral waves; hearing the dual-rantings of dug yuck and babel fishh over waves of the most psychedelic frkse noise is certainly an intense listening experience. i am still outlining the victims in chalk at this stage, but intend to don the chemical suit and manipulate the remains over the next few weeks or so. hopefully, the results will be made available in the not-too-distant future. whatever happens, do expect the darkness to gather and loom heavy as the sky turns red, the seas boil and blood rains down from the turbulent heavens.

possibly just as sinister, although less biblical, i can announce that, upon returning to the safehouse from london, i discovered a package i assume was sent direct from the mysterious iron filings and sellotape hidden compound, containing an assortment of materials; collected papers, blueprints, reports, cassettes, films-reels, slides and still photographs with detailed instructions on how to compile them into what will become the first iron filings and sellotape release, to be issued on the decorative stamp, possibly even next month. i have been instructed that time is of the essence and that these mateials must see the light of day before the end of the summer. i am not wholly sure as to the relevance of this timeline but, needless to say, i am already re-adjusting my agenda to allow this to be a possibility. so, do expect a full-length iron filings and sellotape release, sometime before autumn descends.

in other news, decorative stamp has struck up a splendid deal with the extraordinarily decent folk over at yellow dog in japan. do wander over to their site and find selected decorative stamp releases now lining their virtual shelves, a marvelous development indeed. i have also been having the speakings with three of the outrageously talented wild dogs in winter regarding a host of planned releases and additional ideas, much will transpire, i am quite sure. i also had the wonderful opportunity of getting to spend some time with the legendary 2econd class citizen back in london and how i am hazarding a guess that the two of us might try to turn our attention towards something new over the coming moons. the caterers and coffin cutters projects are both quite healthily underway at this stage, and there should be a few other releases coming out here and there over the rest of the summer months too. and be sure to fix yourself a free download of another lost track from the mighty epilog's 'fehlfarbenfangen' release, this time featuring myself and the superb cocon over an azabeats track by the name of  'zähne'. onwards and upwards then, onwards and upwards.

keep safe

jamesreindeer

audio88 & reindeer

another long lost song has surfaced from deep within the vaults, it would seem. many long moons ago the prolific audio88 and i recorded a track over a beat by tillevision, with a view to it appearing on an album tentatively titled 'audio88 has friends', a 'concept' album insofaras each song would feature audio88 and a guest vocalist, which even came so far has to having a track-listing posted and tentative news of a release. still, for one reason or another, this release never came about and our song, along with many others, seemed to fall away into the archives indefinitely.

i cannot exactly recall when we recorded this track, although i would hazard a guess that it must have been somewhere between spring and autumn of 2008. i do still clearly remember first crossing paths with audio88 though our mutual associate captain james p honey. he and i had first crossed paths ourselves in october of 2007. we had met up for the first time and found ourselves recording what would be the first song on the 'rough tongue surfaces' album. we had bid each other farewell and things went quiet for a while, but then, around christmastime, i took an unexpected telephone call from him, and how we talked for a goodly while on musical plans and the like.

honey informed me that he was currently a good ways through making an album with audio88, whose name i had seen online a number of times, which had given rise to me checking out some of his work. honey extended the invitation for me to contribute a verse for the album, the chance of which i jumped at, naturally. this lead to a dialogue starting up between audio88 and myself, which in turn lead to a number of exchanges regarding the possibilities of different song collaborations. one of these was the tillevision beat, for a track named 'winter'. which has now, after all these years, re-emerged on the audio88 & tillevision release, entitled 'fuer eine handvoll spucke', now available for free download, right here.

listening back to the song now, for the first time outside of demo form, it seems like such a wonderfully curious piece. somehow strange in comparison to the other songs on which audio88 and i have collaborated. how, thematically and stylistically it is very much a 'snapshot' of the work i was producing at a very particular time in my artistic endevours, yet so far away and strange, an image from another time which i am only now glancing upon the the very first time. still, i am greatly fond of it, it would seem. my own voice from the past, speaking of thoughts and memories once accumulated under a distant moon.

be sure to download the whole ep, for free, right here

keep safe, be well

jamesreindeer

a brief transmission from the safehouse

almost mid-july already. it frightens and confuses me how the days, weeks and moons can race by so fast... and how i am constantly spinning so many plates that i find it hard to make time to be able to detail my exploits in these field reports. still, better to be too busy making things happen to be able to write on it, than trying to file a field report with nothing occurring...

so, very, very excitingly, i have officially finished mixing the upcoming album from AbSUrd, and how i am most pleased with my efforts indeed. given the level of complexity of the task, along with my other commitments, i am actually really pleased with myself from bringing it through the mix so quickly... just a matter of months to tackle seventeen songs of pure, psychedelic madness.

my only regret is that we have not scheduled the album for release on the decorative stamp until september. it suddenly seems a long time to wait for the world to be able to hear how astonishing a collection of songs AbSUrd has crafted. suffice to say that it will be absolutely worth the wait though, the album is just the most staggering journey through musical soundscapes hitherto unimagined.

also, bubbling up from the rotten firmament is the unrelentingly dark and hideous project that is the goats gloom. should you not be familiar yet, it is an absolutely brutal project featuring dug yuck and babel fishh chewing their most darkest verses over the grinding, doomy, psychedelic production of the impossibly talented frkse. i am currently thick within the process of treating the four-track cassette recordings, ready to bring them through the mixing stage, and how it will be something darkly disturbing indeed.

the beastmaster and i are also now officially in the midst of collecting writings in preparation to record our vocals for the caterers. the project has been in the development stages for the longest while, but finally the time has come to be able to assemble the words we already have, along with penning a host of new lines, in anticipation of beginning the recording process as soon as possible.

i guess that the majority of my time these last weeks, perhaps unsurprisingly, has been directed towards the decorative stamp, and how there have been a great number of behind-the-scenes developments indeed. the majority of it must be kept hush hush at this stage, but how i can assure you that the most exciting things are afoot, and that jubilant announcements will be made sooner rather than later.

i'm so very sure that there is a great deal more i could detail but, even now, other commitments are bearing down on me at an alarming rate, so i must end this transmission here. as always, i am most grateful for your interest and am keenly looking forward to outlining additional facts in the case as soon as further time permits. onwards and upwards then.

jamesreindeer