Art of the day

This is a mixed media small painting done with:
watercolor
some collages added
white glue
charcoal powder
felt pen
black pen

Dictation – always makes things worse (CD)

Dictation is the solo noise project of a Gentleman named Robert Wallace. The same guy who plays in `The crash hounds of America` and the owner of `hot & ready records`. I thought this was going to be an ear shredding, harsh, kinda wall of noise oriented listening material. I got pleasantly surprised, this falls under the category of ambient / experimental noise (8 tracks = 47.32 minutes). Here`s a short rundown of what`s in store (for the innocent, unexperienced listener out there).

1 – 5.02 minutes = lo-fi grindings / scratching + voice = ambient / meditative noise perhaps.

2 – 2.37 minutes = didgeridoo + random banging + guitar + short noisy burst = feels like sound collage.

3 – 2.05 minutes = processed voice samples + lo-fi goodness + weird experiments going on.

4 – 1.12 minutes = is this processed piano / synth / organ or you`re just happy to see me (nice short & sweet little track).

5 – 2.38 minutes = weird ass experimental noise (I like it! I like it| I like it|).

6 – 9.41 minutes = lo-fi ambient musings slowly and randomly going into noisy territories.

7 – 3.10 minutes = strange sound snippets (found sound perhaps) + rhythmic banging.

8 – 21.07 minutes = lo-fi aural minimalism + short noise bytes of unknown origins. Ear challenging to say the least. I like this and I highly recommend it. Send well-hidden cash to:

R.L. Wallace

2700 White Avenue # 3

Chico

Ca

95873

USA

homemade postcard of the day

Moonstar – Dupont (CD)

When I was a young one. I would go to a record store and buy an album from a band / artist I never heard of before (out of sheer curiosity). I`ve made some amazing discoveries (Gang Of Four, Yellow Magic Orchestra) and some horrible finds (Art Zoyd, New York Dolls). It`s a hot and humid Sunday afternoon. I`m at Renaissance Montréal, looking at their huge second hand CD section. I pick up this album by Moonstar. Never heard that name before. I look inside the sleeve my spider sense is tingling. It feels like electronic music. Anyways for two dollars, what the heck. That afternoon I purchased eight CDs and five DVDs. I`m sitting home, I open up a cold beer and sit down. Now let`s see what Moonstar sounds like. I hit the play button. Let the games begin. There`s sixteen semi-instrumental tracks. I couldn`t find any standout pieces here. It`s so good, every song is standout material. The music is an potent / infectious mix of jazz, broken beats, electronic, break beats, chill out, IDM, going sometimes into lo-fi territory. The arrangements are subtle. The perfect soundtrack for a hot summer day (sangria and company not included). More information here: http://www.ptrmusic.com/

From parts unknown (in America)

I got this envelope from the States (no return address). I have no idea who send me those cool politically incorrect collages. They' re kinda nice so enjoy folks.

Hiroshima Yeah! # 138 August 2016 (zine)

One of the reasons I keep doing this is having the chance to read, appreciate and review my favorite zine, yes you`ve guessed it it`s Hiroshima Yeah! The cover star`s Sandy Denny (1947-1978) was a British folk singer. She sang with The Bunch, Fotheringay, Fairport Convention and she also guested on Led Zeppelin`s fourth album. Now we shall begin with poetry and `joy in diminishing returns`. Here are my favorite pieces

Not having

For me,

The freedom                               

Of not having

The job,

The wife,

The kids,

The car

Beats all of the above,

Hands down.

And

Destiny

I was always destined

To be someone

Staring out at the rain.

And finally

Natural end

For a while,

I was obsessed

With you,

Wrote love songs

About you,

Travelled miles

Each day

Just to drink

In the same pubs

As you.

But now,

Bumping into you

Outside a supermarket

As you push

Your granddaughter

In a trolley,

It feels good to know

That all obsessions

Come to their

Natural end.

Man I love this stuff. There`s also `13.82 billion years in hell` (Gary Simmons monthly column this time he explores the theme of the forgotten prisoner) and our monthly episode of `doctor Thornaby` (a readers nightmare that`s for sure). We are to treated with book and music reviews. We conclude things with `Mortimer ` (Mark Ritchie). A short story about hanging out with the wrong people and managing to escape. Contact:    donbirnam@hotmail.com

Hiroshima Yeah| # 137 July 2016 (zine)

I come home from work tired, exhausted, sweating like a dog in heat (it`s warm and humid in Montréal this time of the year). I could smell that cold beer, I could feel it even though I didn`t open my front door yet. What is that? A small parcel from the UK. I hope it`s what I think it is. Damn straight. Copies of my favorite zine Hiroshima Yeah! Baby! Cover star of this July 2016 issue is Morrissey (no comments here, to each his / her own). HY! Is a 8.5 by 11, black & white, cut & paste, photocopied, monthly zine (6 pages of stuff this time around). There`s `fascism and rising crime `poetry department. My standout pieces are

Internal jukebox

I wonder if

The increasing number of people

Who constantly hook themselves up

To Ipods and smartphones

Have the ability to access

Their internal jukebox,

To use their imagination,

At all,

Ever.

And

Nothing has been lost

We used to drink

On rooftops,

Under bridges,

On deserted football pitches,

Now we drink in pubs,

Houses,

The occasional restaurant,

But nothing has been lost,

Except youth.

Man, I can relate to that. Gary Simmons writes his barely intelligible monthly ramblings (13.98 billion years in hell), along with our monthly dose of the `Doctor Thornaby ` serial (your guess is has good as mine here). There`s a good quantity of music, books, publications and concert (Nadia Reid – Glasgow 04-07-2016, Neil Young + Promise Of The Real – Glasgow 05-07-2016 and Sun Kil Moon – Glasgow 21-07-2016) reviews. Sid Clark and François Marceau contributes some poems along the way. We end this zine with a shorty from Mark Ritchie `waste disposal`. Bashing the head of a pseudo-friend. I feel you. A couple of years ago I was discussing the same thing with a friend of mine. Maybe we were precursors of the movie The Purge without knowing it. Contact: donbirnam@hotmail.com