The Gears of Sand label has an eclectic mix of recordings. Mikronesia’s album Tissue Paper Ghosts is one that straddles the lines – at times a bit glitchy, at other times quite drone based. The last track “Remember / Home” is both the longest (around 10 minutes) and quietest, and probably my favourite, and a great way to close out the album. Wonderful to write to – edgy enough to keep me alert and busy.
Author: Sean Monaghan
Writer. Voracious reader.
Green Zone is not Bourne, nor should it be
I got along to see Green Zone and enjoyed it for what it was – a well-paced political/military thriller. Some of the promotion for the movie – guns levelled, helicopters crashing and the star/director combo – seems to suggest that this is just Bourne by another name. A pity because it stands on its own as well-made cinema. Perhaps they should have made it before Ultimatum?
Pecha Kucha trainwreck
Whew, after weeks of being overwhelmed and consumed by my preparation for the Pecha Kucha event at Te Manawa, it’s done and over and wrecked. I had fun, even if I got a bit caught up in the talking and losing track of where I was, having decided to abandon my notes and talk to the slides, a little technology glitch, talking about things before the slide arrived, then talking backwards about slides which had already passed, I stumbled and careered through the 6 minutes forty and ended up back in my seat breathless. Wow, it was much harder than it had looked, but hugely worthwhile. The other speakers were inspiring and entertaining and informative, so it was a good night.
My talk was about Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville and his invention of the phonautograph, and the recording he made, and writing and the Infrequency project with Scott de Martinville’s recording, and ambient music and computer art. There were some photos taken, so I may be able to get hold of them and make them available somewhere. I took a video too, but that may well stay in the vault.
Now, on with the tutoring.
Unplugged – anthology of science fiction and fantasy
Unplugged is a cool idea: a print collection of science fiction and fantasy stories that originally appeared online. As with any anthology, there are stories that appeal and stories which don’t, but overall the standard is pretty high. My personal favourite is “Snatch Me Another” by Mercurio D. Rivera – great pacey writing, a cool idea (a neat twist on the idea of alternate universes. There are some known writers here – Cory Doctorow, Nancy Kress, etc. – and also some less established names. There’s a handy list at the back of the volume with the original websites – some no longer functioning, but an intriguing resource. A cool description on the back cover too “unplugged surfs the web so you don’t have to” – that’s good, ‘cos I’m thinking lots of us (ie me) could do with a little less web time and a little more A.R.
Music from Alien Cities by Venus Vulture used on book trailer
James Kay Publishing has used some music from the Venus Vulture ep Alien Cities in a cool book trailer. The trailer promotes Derek Bullard’s book Mayan Moon which I hope to read soon.
The Alien Cities glitchy space-music feel seems to suit the trailer, especially since it’s tied in with some music by Thomas Andersson which is more uptempo and melodic (you can tell easily which music is mine and which is Thomas’s).
It’s cool to be part of this kind of thing – Venus Vulture music being linked back to science fiction writing. Alien Cities remains a reasonably popular download, especially considering it’s early work and I haven’t really put much promotion behind it. Bizarrely the ep cover is by far the most popular image on my flickr site – it has been viewed 10x as often as my next most popular image.
Hol Baumann – [Human]
On high rotation over the last couple of weeks has been Hol Baumann’s [Human] from ultimae records. As I’ve written before, ultimae’s catalog is a little more beat-driven than I would usually listen to, and [Human] is probably at the upper end of beats in my collection. That said, why I’m enjoying it, and enjoying writing to it, is that the album is still very atmospheric – the beats fade off into the background and quiet melodies shuffle forwards. At times it’s edging into world music – a woman singing in a language I don’t recognise (on the song called “Radio Bombay”, so perhaps it is Hindi). I guess that part of writing to music is avoiding music with lyrics I can understand – those words would distract from the words I want to put on the page: I’m seeking atmosphere, and the human voice can create haunting senses … this is an album filled with atmosphere and drive.
I plugged the album in at work for a while and a colleague thought for a moment that it was Massive Attack – so perhaps that’s an indication of the style and tone of Baumann’s album. Again, as with other ultimae releases, this is in a beautiful package – a three-fold digipack, with a 16 page booklet filled with stunning photographs. And a mini “hidden track” too, after a few minutes of silence in the final track.
If you want to sample Baumann’s music, this is his last.fm stream.
Pecha Kucha, tutoring, reviewing and swimming: another frantic weekend
This is really just a diary entry, nothing too extraordinary here.
My Pecha Kucha presentation slowly evolves. I hope to have it down tonight. I’ll post the talk after Thursday sometime. I’m finally up to date with the creative writing study guide and ready, as I will ever be, to begin marking. Just as well because, even though the deadline isn’t until this coming Friday, the first portfolios have begun to arrive. I’m well into China Mieville’s new paperback The City and The City for review. It has been out in hardback for a while. I am enjoying it – this writer seems capable of everything. Yay, I did manage to get into a pool amongst all the busy-ness and become immersed – so refreshing.
Silver Lines – music by Anna Rose Carter
Silver Lines is a laid-back EP (around 20 minutes) of solo piano works. All the information about the who and what is on the Schedios Records Bandcamp download site. I’m not often a fan on pure piano – though I do enjoy manipulated works, so it was a surprise to enjoy this so much. Silver Lines is a wonderful engaging background piece to stream or download. The download costs four pounds (GBP), but of course the neat thing with bandcamp is the full streaming so you can listen right through before you decide to buy. There is a CD available too – direct from Schedios.
Schedios Records is fairly new outfit – this is just the second release and the first – Clem Leek has sold out, but is still available digitally (stream and download).
Bored Out Of My Skull link
My latest story published on line is here – Bored Out Of My Skull, on the ever-wonderful The New Flesh Magazine. This is quirky weird strange horror, perhaps humour bizarro. I don’t know, but it was a fun story to write.
Yes, it’s Thursday when I usually post about what I’m reading, but truly nothing much has changed since last Thursday – still deep in the heart of reading the tutoring manual and readings. Whew.
Bored Out Of My Skull – new story on The New Flesh Magazine tomorrow
A new story – “Bored Out Of My Skull” – is coming out on the The New Flesh Magazine on the 17th (okay, it’s already the 17th here in New Zealand, but I’ll post a proper link tomorrow).
Bored Out Of My Skull seems like a dopey title for a story – a total cliche and I do rail against using cliches. The story, however it is more literal – involving drills and helmets: the kind of thing that naturally finds a home at a place like The New Flesh which publishes flash fiction of the more bizarre and quirky kind. Originally I wrote the story with the cliche as a kicking off point, never thinking the title would stick.
This will be my third publication at The New Flesh, following the more literary “While He Lay Crumpled” and humourous “Submission”. Thanks to the editors Suzie and William for accepting my story.
Sean Monaghan - Writer 