My Summation of 2010

Cloud Busting

I wanted to experiment with SoundCloud so I created the mix linked. I miss the radio show I did and wanted to get a 2 hour set together as that was the most fun in doing the show. All the mixing and matching of tunes was for me the best part of the process. Enjoy!

Hand Dryers

My son has a fear of hand dryer. It's the noise of them that is the real problem. They roar and are too noisy he tells me. I find hand dryers to be a nifty invention and as for the new Dyson Airblade (pic) I find it even more so. But I was using one yesterday and thought of their use in films. I could think of three scenes in films where hand dryers played a pivotal role Reservoir Dogs, Desperately Seeking Susan and Casino Royale (2006). We need more Hand Dryer scenes in films I think or maybe I should be thinking or more weighter matters in life!

Prefab Sprout - Swoon

This is one album I return to yearly, for the simple reason it's like a comfort blanket or an oasis of refuge. I would have first heard this album when released in March 1984 and still remember how I had to search record stores for it in Dublin. Even asking for it by name gave quizzical looks from most music store shop assistants. But on a wet Wednesday afternoon I found a copy and so began what has been a very long term relationship. I had initially heard the track 'Cruel' and was smitten by their sound. But the album really has its charms which I know the lead singer and writer of the songs Paddy McAloon has dismissed as a folly of youth.

This was also the year that Prefab Sprout played Dublin and being underage I wasn't allowed to go to the gig. Something that still smarts to this day... I should get over that I know!

I find it hard to believe how easy it is now to acquire/access music, when 20 years ago it took serious commitment to find albums on independent labels such as Kitchenware, who released this album. When reading NME or Sounds the music bibles of the time, lists would be made of albums that sounded interesting from the reviews alone. As there was little chance of hearing them on Irish radio and tuning into John Peel was a hit and miss affair on most radio's (I got the best reception for BBC Radio One in my Dad's car). So you can imagine a teenager sitting in a car to listen to radio on a cold and wet evening just on the off chance some music would be played that would illuminate his life, and it usually did.

Where Breathing Starts

Roll the Dice - Charles Bukowski

If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs. And maybe your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery, isolation. Isolation is the gift.
All the others are a test of your endurance. Of how much you really want to do it. And you'll do it, despite rejection in the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods. And the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.

Making Music 800% Slower

My kids listen to Justin Beiber a lot and though he has a pure pop sound, it's not to my tastes. This is, but I'm not sure if my kids will approve....

J. BIEBZ - U SMILE 800% SLOWER by Shamantis