Humming loudly

Lemonheads

2009-09-06T18:06:00.000+02:00

2009-08-09T16:21:00.002+02:00

I wrote an album called 'The Animal', which comes out next month.
So, reviews and interviews and that kind of thing have begun to appear.
And something that is really annoying me, is the constant mention of it being a slow album - like I made some kind of mistake, like I accidentally mixed out the synth lines and distorted guitars, like I should maybe aspire next time to make something a little more like The Klaxons, Kings of Leon or Foals.

Jellyfishing

2009-08-08T17:01:00.000+02:00

The trouble with me and America

2009-08-08T16:47:00.002+02:00

I eat far too much when I'm here.
Food is so cheap and everywhere.
My body is as a barrel now.
And not an empty one.
This morning I had Tiramasu coffee. I made black coffee into a dessert.
Guilt filled breakfast.
Want to see something shocking? This woman is called Paula Deen. She will kill America long before nuclear missiles even get close.
Sick sick sick lady.

True Love Will find You In The End

2009-08-05T20:01:00.000+02:00

Ducks on our deck

2009-08-05T18:54:00.000+02:00

Its early morning...

2009-08-05T17:32:00.003+02:00

...in the middle of America. Somewhere towards the shoes actually, perhaps the knees. The knees of America.
Last night I heard coyotes singing 'Come on over here' to the cows, crickets playing their legs for the moon, and the air conditioning humming throughout the house. I laid in bed thinking about the distance between here and home, and how the night air smells like wet soil and engine oil.

Blog love/free download

2009-06-19T13:51:00.003+02:00

I'm so sorry this has been left un-updated for so long.

I am rubbish sometimes, and struggle to juggle things when life gets busy.

I even struggle to walk and listen to music at the same time...for some reason I get very distracted by banging drums, and whirling guitars, and the next thing I know I'm out of breath and faced with a wall.

So anyway, I'll give you a lowdown on happenings.

The album, now called 'The Animal' is to be released on September 21st through Kartel records.

There's a single, a cover of the masterful Daniel Johnston song 'True Love Will Find You In The End' released in download from July 27th.

We made a video for that last week...featuring my good friend Jon Ouin from the amazing Oxford band Stornoway faking some cello.

I recorded a b-side for this track, a song called 'Flooded Valley', which was produced by Ben's Symphonic Orchestra in his rooftop studio in Paris.

I'm extremely proud of this, so I'd like to offer it as a free download for a short while - available HERE

I'm going to write more soon.

I'm back in England at the moment, writing this on my parents posh new computer...I have been told to not let it get 'too tired', to 'give it a rest' once in a while. Ahahahahahaha, the old dears.

Lots of LOVE

FREE DOWNLOAD

wall bird

2009-04-28T16:42:00.002+02:00

This princess swan appeared on the back wall of our apartment building a few months ago, and is now slowing vanishing under white paint...I've been watching them go over it this last week, while I wait for washing to finish in the laundrette. Its nice to know that however white and clean that wall becomes, that bird is going to be looking forever bashful beneath.

Home taping

2009-04-09T21:21:00.000+02:00

MICROBLOGGING

2009-04-09T15:14:00.001+02:00

http://twitter.com/RichardWalters

you don't know who Papa M is?

2009-03-11T01:54:00.002+01:00

WHAT!?
why not!!?
Here....let me show you, shushshushush.

to continue

2009-03-08T14:32:00.002+01:00

I think I just worry about not doing enough and not being myself 100% of the time. Thats all. And everyone probably has that same concern and I guess the only way to get away from it is to do more musically and to not give to much thought to how its being judged. ANYWAY.
Here is some music that is Sunday afternoon on notes.

To no one in particular

2009-03-08T03:11:00.002+01:00

I AM SO ANXIOUS

I am managing to keep myself awake with some truly unresolvable concerns...well, ones that can't be resolved at 3am in any case.
I'm going to write them here because a) nobody reads this blog anyway and b) I'm of the understanding that this might help me sleep.
Its hard to make any of this sound right, so I won't bother...it'll be a jumble. well, whatever. ITs funny because one of the main worries I've been having lately is never saying or writing things when I think them; because how are you meant to be remembered and your thoughts taken if nobody ever hears them? I tread so carefully because I've got this strange notion that art and pretensions go hand in hand...I don't actually believe that, I have nothing but the deepest respect for anyone who publicly points themselves and their ideas to a wider audience....I'm just so scared of being taken in the wrong way, that I almost become...apologetic or defensive.
someone is at the door

Judee Sill

2009-03-05T02:31:00.003+01:00

The history of this singer is both bizarre and tragic; I won't go into details here and now, but have a read of the wikipedia entry on her. By rights, she should have been in the same position as Joni Mitchell, and I guess even she was a bit miffed by the lack of success and acclaim she received. Both her records are beautiful, intricate masterpieces - its like nothing else; gospel, baroque and country...totally and utterly unique.
This song is a particular favourite of mine, the piano line is perfect.
Please go and buy both her albums immediatly.

Balcony

2009-03-02T22:55:00.000+01:00

Overhead projectors

2009-03-02T08:22:00.006+01:00

X

2009-02-28T01:45:00.002+01:00

La Défense is without a doubt my favorite place in Paris; its such a change to be under tall buildings. Paris has so many incredible structures, even the laundrettes and falafel shops are stuck inside stunning facades. So, going somewhere with so much glass, metal and height is good once in while. And theres the amazing view of the city at one end, over the fountain and down towards the Arc...and at the other end, opening out onto le bois de boulonge.

I LOVE ANDY

2009-02-24T00:47:00.000+01:00

joaquin phoenix, you're not even close

William Saroyan wrote this

2009-02-15T20:10:00.001+01:00

In the time of your life, live so that in good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches.

Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding-place and let it be free and unashamed.
Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are things that hold death and must pass away.
Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption.
Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world.
Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.
Be the inferior of no man, nor of any man be the superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself.
No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart.
Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand.
Have no shame in being kindly and gentle, but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.
n the time of your life, live — so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.

this makes me very happy

2009-02-14T12:57:00.001+01:00

Spirit of the stairway

2009-02-09T22:37:00.002+01:00

tyres won't work, because there's nothing left of them
a fire won't burn in this cold day

before you know there'll be nothing of my skin
before you sail out
why would you be luckless tonight?

tell me why there is water in the gin
tell me why I keep fighting
and fires don't burn out, we just meet them overdone
the cat's won't sing for you anymore

before you come and fuck it up again
before I speak as 'the idiot'

before you know there'll be nothing of my skin
before you sail out
why would you be luckless tonight?

The city

2009-02-08T14:17:00.002+01:00

Things I like and do not like about living in Paris

Listening to music and getting lost - it all sounds different when you panic.
Its not London, the second circle of hell.
The metro (my girlfriend likes the buses).
American film posters in French.
Middle aged men dressing like 18 year olds.
Sirens and car horns. Most of the time.
Walking, its like a maze.
The gypsy folk band who are always at Chatelet metro.
Getting on the 1 train and looking all the way down the winding carriages. Snakey.
I live one hour ahead of you and your GMT.

Do not like

Right on red, the meaninglessness of Zebra crossings.
Giving up smoking in a city where everyone is puffing.
Second hand English bookstores. A 25 year old paperback of Cheever stories? You dropped it in the bath/swimming pool/ocean? You spilled coffee and gravy on it? Its missing the last 3 chapters? 8€? SURE!
People laughing at my French accent.
Franprix.
Segway tours. If you run me down....
Living statues (these exist everywhere though)
Nobody queues.
Chocolat Orsons. Fat making sweets.
The angry men selling small Eiffel towers and croissant key rings at Sacré-Cœur. Hands off me.

Good Morning

2009-02-03T08:36:00.001+01:00

the vampire pigeons of Rivoli

2009-01-29T21:25:00.003+01:00

So so *brrrry* here, I don't like not being able to have the window open at night. And why are there so many sirens wailing on and on after dark in Paris? Are French criminals easier to catch?
Maybe the police are running some kind of nocturnal taxi racket...yeah...well, lets see what happens when I try to flag down a police car at 3am, chances are you won't be hearing from me again. Richard....il est morte...il reves avec le poissons...(if you're French, I am so so sorry...)
Before that happens, I'm going to write a children's book about bloodsucking pigeons who live on top of the Bastille monument and steal babies...the moral of the story? Don't trust birds.

I wonder where you are now...

2009-01-26T18:29:00.003+01:00

...I always write that in new diaries or calenders, and without exception the day it falls on is always one where nothing at all happens.
I'm doing a lot of waiting at the moment, or it feels that way. The album is finished, most factors are decided - artwork, track list etc - so now there's 3 months until its heard. In that time my label and the people they hire, will try and give it a fighting chance; gather up some supporters in the media, organize some live dates to coincide with the release, generally give it something to stand up on. Because sadly, despite the artistic creative bit, this remains a business investment for someone.
So I have time on my hands like gloves, I keep on writing songs but I'm pretty confident that I've already written the second album, maybe even the third one (unless the second is a double album...prog). I'm going to start recording more covers at home, maybe try and put a new one on the myspace page every week. PLEASE SEND SUGGESTIONS. If there's something in particular you'd like to hear me sing, I'll try and make it special.

When is a song better sampled? Right here. 'Walk on by' by Isaac is ok, but Wu Tang make it incredible.

Tidal waves

2009-01-24T10:09:00.003+01:00

Christmas, New year, planes, trains and illness are what got in the way of me writing anything in particular on here. I'm back home now, tucked in from the weather, with more time to give.

I managed to get ill the moment I got back, so I've been spending plenty of time in bed shivering, watching hours and hours of 'Big love' and 'Mad men'. This has resulted in some pretty mixed up, feverish dreams, usually casting myself as a polygamy practicing ad exec, trying to sell cigs to children; in a word: huh?
In another (and I think the term night terror is entirely suitable for this one) I fell asleep in a bed situated in a sex shop, and was woken up by a very angry, very threatening, very ginger Russian man. I had to escape in a JCB, which for some reason or another, had a radio blasting country music. I mean, seriously, what is that?! Your interpretations are more than welcome.

I started writing more songs from bed as well, or at least sketching out some lyric ideas. What I've actually ended up with is a long long list of possible song titles, words and sentences. I'm in no doubt its going to prove useful at some point, but right now they look like snakes.

Lemon and honey.

2009-01-19T09:23:00.001+01:00

Lets all boycott Lily Allen...

2009-01-18T21:01:00.003+01:00

...this person needs no further encouragement to make anymore music...or open her mouth ever again for that matter. Honestly, you know something strange and sinister is afoot in the world, when people like this are given a platform in the press to babble utter, utter shit - and what horribly pathetic-controversy-seeking shit it is. I despair.

NYC

2009-01-16T19:18:00.002+01:00

2009-01-16T01:17:00.000+01:00

Operator, number, please:
Its been so many years
Will she remember my old voice
While I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this Martha?
This is old Tom Frost,
And I am calling long distance,
Don't worry about the cost.
Cause its been forty years or more,
Now Martha please recall,
Meet me out for coffee,
Where well talk about it all.

And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
Wed packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I feel so much older now,
And you're much older too,
Hows your husband?
And hows the kids?
You know that I got married too?
Lucky that you found someone
To make you feel secure,
cause we were all so young and foolish,
Now we are mature.

And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
Wed packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I was always so impulsive,
I guess that I still am,
And all that really mattered then
Was that I was a man.
I guess that our being together
Was never meant to be.
And Martha, Martha,
I love you cant you see?

And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
Wed packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I remember quiet evenings
Trembling close to you...

I'd like to marry Neko Case

2008-12-21T01:06:00.000+01:00

Pictures

2008-12-19T18:09:00.005+01:00

almost gone

2008-12-18T22:08:00.005+01:00

evening

I'm busy packing suitcases, getting ready to go places over Christmas and New Year. Theres a fight for space between clothes and weird French foods that we've bought for people. Food always makes a good present, nobody can be disappointed with chocolates and supermarket crepes. NOBODY.
I suppose I won't be writing much music for a couple of weeks, but it will be thought of. lots. I decided on an album title, its going to be called 'Red brick'. Its the title of a song on the record, so it could seem like a bit of a cop out....but I really like that song, and its at the front of my mind right now.
I'll try to explain the title but I could sound utterly ridiculous. When I was younger, 6 or 7, I found something incredibly comforting and warming about red brick houses. But a very specific type of red brick house, one I'd never actually stood beside or inside in real life. I was in awe of Brooklyn style townhouses, big 3 floor Cosby show style homes. I guess I'd seen them in films and on TV enough by then that they just caught in my brain as some kind of ideal; making me think of something bigger, louder and further away than Oxfordshire. Its strange what you hold on to, what you clearly remember...I can still picture being sat in back of the car, going on one of the regular Sunday afternoon DIY shop excursions, thinking about those houses; looking out of the window, ignoring my Dad and brother, just wondering: where are they if they aren't here?
Strange? I don't know, I'm sure everyone has their own comforter. Mine is a building. Somewhere else in the world.

Here is a song for today. Merz is amazing, all three albums are perfect in their own way, and I hope that he gets the greater commercial recognition he deserves soon.
X

Making things up

2008-12-16T11:48:00.009+01:00

I've started working on some new ones. Well, one is *new*, the other one's been sat in the corner for a year or so, he just needs my attention. The *new* song is being called 'Flooding valleys' for now and the older/new one is currently going by 'Only son'. This morning I'll clear my throat, warm up my hands on the heater and do some roughroughrough demo's. Depending on how hideous these sound, I might try to find a way of putting them up here tomorrow.
I've also been ummming and ahhhhing over what to name my album...the album that has just now reached the finish line, about 2 years later that expected...he is right this moment being wrapped in one of those foil cloaks, sucking on an orange and dripping sweat everywhere. There's a shortlist of 3 names, and it could very easily come down to me throwing darts at a piece of paper to decide.
Here is some music for today. Its David Bowie reinventing himself yet again, this time as some kind of soul stick man in the 70's...its soooooo good (please note: I'm aware that its a little bit illegal to actually enjoy music with this much saxophone on it, but...), the energy is blistering...probably being pushed along by some rather choice coke, but still. LOOK AT HIM DANCE. Bowie was one of those artists I didn't get until quite recently, then suddenly all the praise and recommendations that I'd pretty much ignored for 10 or so years, starting making sense...that and the fact that I spent a 9 hour bus trip with an exclusively Bowie ipod: nothing like tedium to make you fall in love.

A song in the morning

2008-12-15T13:10:00.002+01:00

So far no talk about me writing songs, but I'll get there. First today, we have to brave the cold/busy streets of Paris and go Christmas shopping, because its creeping up and I haven't even begun to think about stockings yet.
So here is a song for watching (maybe I'll make this something of the blog; post a song that I'm into everyday).
This is Phil Ochs. Phil Ochs was a genius, and he really doesn't get recognized enough as such. By and large, the idea of 'Protest' songs doesn't really appeal to me. I think there are only a few people in the world who ever really got it right...Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan and of course Mr Ochs ...and there really is some piss poor stuff out there at the moment with half baked political agendas, I won't name names because this blog isn't called 'People I think are badddddd'....but what I'm trying to say, is that its a real artform, getting it right without sounding like you're frowning upon, preaching to or judging people, is quite something.

Today in pieces

2008-12-14T17:17:00.007+01:00

The weather outside is frightful, so today has mainly been an indoor day. No songs written or planned...it is Sunday. Some things have saved me from any sort of cabin fever.
Fire, Hathaway and a fat Japanese cat sliding through diet beer boxes.
Bises

Something else to neglect...

2008-12-13T22:35:00.000+01:00

...or maybe not...maybe I'll actually remember to give this pet some water...maybe I'll make a point of writing things here on a daily basis...maybe I'll force myself to do it.
Why? Firstly, it'll keep my brain ticking over; I fear the freeze in there. Secondly, I can keep anyone who cares to know what I'm doing (or meant to be doing) in the know.
I thought it could be a blog about me trying to write songs, kind of dissecting the process... if there is a process. Words before music, music before words, both together? I've never made a point of noting how one song came about in a different way to another, never kept any kind of record of the steps before.
Saying all that, this blog will probably be just as much about nothing at all...but thats probably just as important.