SILKY TOOTH

2011-05-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

BLOGGER CRASHED REALLY BAD YESTERDAY AND ATE MY LAST POST.
I mostly use the BB&MP Tumblr to post interesting stuff now!
I'll keep the mixtapes linked to here but follow me on tumblr for news!

BB&MP Tour, August

2011-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ben Butler & Mousepad are going on tour in the UK in August -

Get in touch if yr interested in putting on a show!

Live at Hi Tone, Memphis

2011-04-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

So we (bb&mp) thought we’d commemorate our recent US tour with Deerhoof, with a little release.
We had an awesome time in the states and hope we can come back and do some shows soon!

Thanks to Ben, Greg, Satomi, Ed, John, Don & Joe from Memphis and everyone who came out to our shows!
Feel free to re-post anywhere.

Live at Hi Tone, Memphis by Ben Butler & Mousepad

2011-03-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

so we just did 5 weeks of shows in the US, with deerhoof. so awesome! thanks to everyone who came out. video to follow!

-Skweee in Januareee-

2010-12-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

We're putting on our first Skweee night next month in Glasgow and we want to make sure EVERYONE's coming!
We've got Mesak (Harmonia, FI) LIVE, plus BB&MP and Wavy Graves Deejays playing skweee / electro / synth pop / wonky etc.

It's happening at Stereo, 22-28 Renfield Lane, Glasgow on Saturday 15th of January, 11pm-3am.

We're also preceding the club with a screening of Iacopo Patierno & David Geise's We Call It Skweee documentary, as a primer on the scene.
Check out this preview:

We call it Skweee -mini preview from David Giese on Vimeo.

The movie will be shown, at Stereo, on the 9th of January, at 8.30 and will be followed by some skweee music videos and drinks.

SO

-Skweee in Januareee-

Sunday 9th - Screening of 'We Call It Skweee' - A Film about music, people and scandinavia, by Iacopo Patierno & David Geise. Follwed by a Skweee youtube playlist. 8.30pm.

Saturday 15th - Mesak (Harmonia, Fi) LIVE, + Ben Butler & Mousepad and Wavy Graves Djs 11 - 3am.

All at Stereo, Renfield Lane, Glasgow.

'You know its skweee when you feel that it's skweee'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skweee

RSVP to the Facebook Event Here

2010-11-29T04:46:00.001-08:00

ben butler & mousepad - infinite capacity (for love) feat. the niallist by loafrecordings

Infinite Capacity

2010-11-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

Debut Ben Butler & Mousepad EP, available to download now!
Including vocals from The Niallist, Remixes by Fulgeance, Eero Johannes and Dam Mantle, and artwork by Rasmus Svensson.
Buy Download Here

new bike

2010-11-18T14:20:00.003-08:00

hey, i live in edinburgh, scotland now. good for long cycles!

2010-11-18T14:20:00.001-08:00

2010-11-18T14:19:00.001-08:00

2010-11-18T14:18:00.001-08:00

2010-11-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

2010-11-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

2010-11-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

2010-11-18T14:14:00.001-08:00

Today's Fleamarket finds.

2010-07-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today i basically swopped a load of old clothes and stuff for two nice new (to me!) records from the stall owner next to us.

First off is "PRISMS" by Michael Garrison, which i picked up because of the inclusion of the Syntar and the liner notes on the back, e.g -

'Special thanks to Pat "total energy" Welch for all photo work'

The music is moody, serious and thin-sounding, with very plastic drums. Very "New Age"-y. In a good way.

Next is "TRIP IN THE CENTER HEAD" by Space Art, from France. This has a great salmon pink, checquered back cover and a neat picture of an astronaut or anti-radiation guy, with a reflection of mountains and fruit trees in his visor.
The music is silly and colourful space pop.

2010-07-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

So now that 20JazzFunkGreats has lifted the lid, we can now reveal our latest endeavour - Future Tent Remixes.

We asked our pals to reimagine this track, to celebrate the release of our first 7", on DodPop and these are the results.

Check out other excellent music from Genuine Guy, Sun Papa (aka Sun Ok Papi Ko, Baleine3000, mouche man etc.), Thunderous Mountain, The Niallist, oMMM, Splashwave, and Tangles. (Mouse over names for links!)

The downloads are free and fully bloggable, so please share them!

<a href="http://benbutlerandmousepad.bandcamp.com/album/future-tent-remixes">Future Tent (Genuine Guy Remix) by Ben Butler & Mousepad</a>

Moving Sounds Mixtape

2010-07-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

Everything's moving just now. Except when it's too hot; Everything is static and still when it's too hot.
Here's some library music to move to!
NB - I've decided to use Soundcloudto host my mixtapes from now on.

Moving Sounds Mixtape by ben butler & mousepad

Thanks to dusty shelf and the growing bin for lots of these great tunes! Subscribe to both of them!

CEM Studios @WORM, Rotterdam

2010-06-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

We just spent a week working on music at CEM Studios at Worm, Rotterdam. Its a small, high ceilinged, very hot room, crammed with vintage synthesizers. We had an awesome and productive time.

Big thanks to Sascha and Henk for setting us up with the residency and helping us out so much.

Music will surface from these sessions at some point in the near future. Until then, I'll leave you with a thought from Bastian.

2010-06-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

PLAYberlin & LittleBig present MI AMI // Ben Butler and Mousepad // O Tannenbaum Djs // at Raum 18 from PLAYBERLIN on Vimeo.

fun video from our show w/Mi Ami at Raum18.
http://playberlin.com

Future Tent

2010-06-15T02:14:00.000-07:00

Future Tent from joe howe on Vimeo.

Video for Future Tent by Ben Butler & Mousepad.
Buy the split 7" with Sprutbass, on Dodpop records.

DODPOP on Facebook
BB&MP on Bandcamp

2010-06-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

arrived today! full info soon!

2010-06-07T04:33:00.001-07:00

sunny day in templehofer park!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

2010-06-06T13:27:00.001-07:00

F.R.I.E.N.D.S, originally uploaded by pulled---up.

a bit sunburnt, but very happy after a beautiful (and hot!) day in berlin's newly opened Templehofer park.

photo by emma.

the fool of the world and the flying ship

2010-06-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

watching this beautiful animation today made me feel very nostalgic. the golden nails are still magical to me!

cool cats

2010-06-04T13:46:00.001-07:00

hi coolcats.fr! thanks for dropping by.

slo screens edit

2010-04-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

*Edit* - had a few complaints about a non-obvious link!
A new mixtape and my first of the year. Slo Screens is pretty down tempo and delay laden.

Click here to download!

Tracklisting:
harald grosskopf - transcendental overdrive
james pants - ocean breeze
BEEM - not a go getter like you and i
EDMX - r100 (uday rmx)
yellow magic orchestra - war head
Bu - Bu
dam funk - silver
sun papa - demo
gemmy - bk 2 the future

2010-04-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Belgium to play at OUAF and Sonic City. Both great festivals but the journey home was 'intense'.
Thanks to Wassim (for giving us a lift to Belgium, we wouldn't have made it without you!), thanks to Charlotte from OUAF for helping us out with travel stuff, thanks to Tom from De Kreun for help and enthuisiasm, thanks to Deerhoof for being the nicest and most enthuisiastic hosts! Hope to see you all again soon!

early (II)

2010-04-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://benbutlerandmousepad.bandcamp.com/album/early">e-ship by Ben Butler & Mousepad</a>

BB&MP on bandcamp - new stuff and exclusives coming soon!

2010-04-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

Early

2010-03-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

GvsY are putting up our (self released) back catalogue up on Bandcamp. Archive!
Anyway, the expanded version of our first release (with Lach's wonderful liner notes) is available FOR FREE!

<a href="http://gayagainstyou.bandcamp.com/album/gay-against-you">Intro by Gay Against You</a>

http://gayagainstyou.bandcamp.com

2010-03-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

Google China stops censoring its results

Lets Build A Chinatown pt.II by Gay Against You

?

2010-03-21T05:50:00.001-07:00

?, originally uploaded by bean butler.

who is this? i know it says ENO in big letters beside it and the accompanying article refers to brian eno, but.....

from Synapse magazine, jan / feb 1979

2010-03-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

so yeah, if you are called ben butler, please do come to our show. we'll make sure you always have a guestie.
hi ben!

New Hive

2010-03-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

lots of new stuff at the newly-named Leisure hive tumblr.
I'm looking for collaborators - any screenshots of vintage (british) sci-fi kicking around?

2010-03-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

Another in a continuing series. Six stills from Tron

BIG SALE!

2010-02-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

<a href="http://germlin.bandcamp.com/album/thrashr">Animatorr by Joe Germlin</a>

<a href="http://gayagainstyou.bandcamp.com/album/bogus-totem-summer">Pencils by Gay Against You</a>

<a href="http://gayagainstyou.bandcamp.com/album/i-play-gay">Gay Unicorn (Dananananaykroyd) by Gay Against You</a>

50% on Germlin and Gay Against You downloads at Bandcamp.com.
Just use discount code, 'hengelo' when you purchase.
One week only! Get 'em while stocks last! Enjoy!

thanks hakon!

2010-02-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

2010-02-10T02:03:00.000-08:00

from a fun but weird trip to tilburg. amsterdam next!

2010-02-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

its all just screenshots from old doctor who episodes isn't it.

http://carryoutthemasterplan.tumblr.com/

Norway Tour photos.

2010-02-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

these are from the last GvsY shows in norway. thanks to kjetil and everyone who came out.

2010-01-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

DVS mix N Match

2010-01-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

DVS Mix 'N Match commercial from DVS Shoe Company on Vimeo.

We made the music for an ad with Daewon Song in it!
thanks DVS!

here's Lachlann and I's skate video debut too!

6 demos down

2009-12-31T09:58:00.001-08:00

6 demos down, originally uploaded by bean butler.

i'm pleased to report that work is going great on the Ben Butler & Mousepad album!
More soon!

2009

2009-12-31T04:45:00.001-08:00

2009, originally uploaded by bean butler.

happy new year everyone, hope 2010 is good for you!

New Project

2009-12-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

http://carryoutthemasterplan.tumblr.com

Deerhoof - Custom Made (double 7")

2009-12-23T14:58:00.001-08:00

Deerhoof's new 7" for ATP Recordings features my remix of 'Rrrrrrrright!' from 'Runners Four'.

buy at Boomkat
buy at Norman Records

bastelspas

2009-12-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

christmas crafting w/ gluhwien and stollen, at Jans. Nice day!
all photos by Emma.

explosion!

2009-12-19T13:04:00.001-08:00

melting mandrill

2009-12-19T13:00:00.001-08:00

2009-12-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

fast tape

2009-11-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Big! Synergy / Larry Fast

2009-11-17T15:07:00.000-08:00

recent!

2009-11-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

Bogus Totem Summer / I Play Gay Downloads

2009-10-29T04:37:00.000-07:00

repost from http://gayagainstyou.blogspot.com

To celebrate the release of our new album, we thought we'd explore our past a bit too - We realised we had a bunch of releases that were no longer available and were in need of archiving.

So, we present two (old) new GvsY releases for you to download!These are available to buy in a bunch of different formats and fully embeddable on blogs etc. so please share / Tell a friend! Check out our Bandcamp.com page for more info.

Firstly, Bogus Totem Summer is a redux of our summer 2007 tour release. It's a collaboration with our favourite artist and animator, Arran Ridley, who also made the art for our new record. We commissioned Arran to make videos for each of the songs on the ep - he got his friend dan to do the last one! I reckon this is one of the best records we made and the cd-r / dvd edition is long sold out, so it's nice for it to be available again! The videos come with the download.

Secondly, 'I Play Gay'. I guess this is sort of a mutant 'covers' record, except the covers are parallel versions, performed by a bunch of pals (Dananananaykroyd, House Mouse, Agaskodo Teliverek and Dolby Anol) of early GvsY songs, with us doing the vocals. Weird idea!
Anyway, this was planned to be a 7" release, with the brilliant Bill & Ted inspired comic, by Stefan Sadler (from the Famicon collective) included. Here it is, to download, in its weirdo glory! The music comes with a high quality .PDF of the comic.

We're really proud of these packages and we hope you like them too!
Thanks to Arran and Stefan for making the fantastic art, comics and video!

mad swing mixtape

2009-10-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

a mini mix i made this afternoon!

tracklisting:
mast nakamura - spring yard zone (sonic the hedgehog)
dam funk - toeachizown
dorian concept - tropical hands
howard johnson - say you wanna (james pants edit)
funkineven - mad swing
extra t's - ET boogie
hudson mohawke - just decided
botchy - sing what you want (rusko mix)
printed circuit - 0034 greyskull (ben butler & mousepad mix)
architeq - sleeping bear lament (james pants mix)

as ever: Carefully chosen / sloppily mixed by Bean Butler, in Berlin.

DOWNLOAD

The Blessings Mixtape

2009-10-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

A mix of the best of the LuckyMe collective, exclusively available as a free download from List.co.uk. Featuring Hudson Mohawke, Mike Slott, RKGB, Lunice and more (including a new Ben Butler & Mousepad track!)

Download

Tracklist:

Larry Gold - 'Intro'
Hudson Mohawke ft Olivier Day Soul - 'Joy Fantastic'
Little Dragon - 'My Step'
Bookworms - 'African Rhythms'
Aaliyah - 'One in a Million (RKGB Refix)'
Memory Cassettes - 'Last One Awake'
Mike Slott - 'Snow Birds'
Theopilus London - 'Enjoy the Sun'
Ben Butler and Mousepad - 'Future Tent'
Seiji - 'I Can't Let It Go'
Lunice - 'One of Me'
Donell Jones - 'You Know What's Up (Blessings Remix)'
Maximillion Dunbar - 'K'
Drake - 'Best I Ever Had (Ruckazoid Remix)'
Amanda Blank - 'Make It Take It (Eli Escobar Remix Beat)'
Sweat X - 'I'm That Alley (Mike Slott Vocal Mix)'
G Five - 'Spotlight Instrumental'
Hudson Mohawke - 'Twistclip Loop'
League 510 - To the Beat (Trackademicks Remix)
Zakee Kuduro ft Anbuley - 'Sane Eba'
Tom Trago - 'Lost in NYC (Actress Remix)'
Mr Beatnick - 'Fallin Apples'

RIGHTEOUS SIGNALS SOUR DUDES - RELEASED!

2009-10-16T14:56:00.001-07:00

new GvsY album available for pre-order (on salmon pink vinyl (!!!) with poster and awesome artwork by arran ridley!) from Upset the Rhythm

buy the cd version (with trippy digipack / cd design) from ADAADAT

With 'Righteous Signals, Sour Dudes', Joe and Lachlann have written a new album which leaps and bounds over their debut 'Musclemilk', released in 2007 by Adaadat. The dual title is symbolic of the struggle for creative compromise and two pals who are still learning how to work together - they couldn't agree, so they named it twice - it works out. Similarly, the music clashes too, it strikes bargains and agrees to disagree. The album finds progressive rock trying to sit alongside synth-pop and afrobeat, whilst disco bumps into hardcore, before transcending tropically. There's a lot going on but somehow it makes sense.

Album opener "Cruisin" is a reckless, careering 8-bit punk sideswipe, with hollered words and an ardent keyboard line. "Geomancer" is a bubbling brew of stammering beats and coupled vocals. "Stranded In Jurassic Park" tells the tale of buddies chased by dinosaurs into the path of five desert dwelling aggressors over a pulsating call and response track, which shape shifts with every line. The band try their hand at epic balladry with "Glorious Dawn2, whilst "Magic Eye" is a breakneck pop song lost amidst the pogo and guitar wrangle. 'Righteous Signals, Sour Dudes' is an album about unsatisfactory magic, testing friendships and Niels Bohr. It is also a record about forgetting boundaries and forgiving fun.

During the making of this album, Gay Against You played many hundred shows across Europe. They've toured constantly playing some less than likely spaces including caves, cellars, boats, roofs and even on the banks of a fjord. They've had their passports stolen, gone through 20 odd costumes, two guitars, two keyboards and two laptops, broken their teeth and fallen from tall speakers onto unsuspecting pianos. They want to thank everyone who's helped them along the way, and they more than do that with this record.

hancock / zawinul / lava?

2009-10-16T04:16:00.000-07:00

collected keyboard goodness to celebrate our heating being fixed! warm apartments!

Playberlin Halloween Podcast

2009-10-15T03:42:00.000-07:00

I made a new mixtape / horspiel / podcast, along with johannes and John Eric, for my friends at PlayBerlin. We're going to do a new episode every week, in the run up to their special Halloween Show (where Ben Butler & Mousepad will also be performing!) Check it out below, or subscribe using iTunes, or Subscribe by RSS. As you might have guessed, its all about Time Travel.

tracklisting:
haruomi hosono – cochin moon
chris & cosey – put yourself in los angeles (intro)
phillip glass – lady day / man parrish – hip hop be bop (don’t stop) pt. II
steve hillage – fourever rainbow (intro)
crash course in science – mechanical breakdown
magma – mekanik kommandoh
black dice – nite creme
cromagnon – fantasy / caledonia
kiem – time doesn’t heal
roger limb – nyssa is hypnotised (bbc radiophonic workshop)

Microsynth

2009-10-07T14:19:00.001-07:00

video by emma, jumper by mauerpark, microsynth by some dude in neukolln.

2009-10-04T09:33:00.001-07:00

HAPPY JOE, originally uploaded by PULLED-UP.

Gerew 21

2009-10-04T09:13:00.001-07:00

Gerew 21, originally uploaded by PULLED-UP.

Adrian Belew Interview

2009-10-03T08:13:00.001-07:00

on 'In The Mode', Public Access TV, 1982

Robert Fripp - Wimborne to New York

2009-10-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

from Late Night In Concert, BBC2, 1985

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell (Nam Jun Paik, 1984) edit

2009-09-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

There's something about this era (early to mid eighties) that I'm finding totally fascinating, inspiring and immersive right now. Maybe its the boldness, synthesizers, "excitement of new technology"; or maybe as Emma suggests, it's the combination of this and a sort of half remembered familiarity - after all, I was one when this film was broadcast, by satellite, all round the world on new year's day.

I think its also to do with how the era was able to be preserved - on (now) warped, scrambled VHS tapes, made even weirder by digitisation - all adds to this dream-like feel. Very influential!
If anyone has access to the entire film, please let me know.

*EDIT* - edited version available on UBUWEB, thanks Robert!

Today's Humana Finds 12/09/09

2009-09-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Today I think we traded in 3 or 4 months of fruitless visits to Humana for one brilliant 30 minutes. Easily 3 or 4 months worth of good finds in one go!

neat black jumper / pullover

never been worn!

marled cotton polo shirt

awesome old deadstock long johns!

label detail

and the follow up....

2009-09-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Ben Butler And Mousepad - Perform With Star6! from Star6 on Vimeo.

An Evening With Star6 - Berlin (Compilation) from Star6 on Vimeo.

shreddin'

2009-09-04T16:09:00.001-07:00

proud

2009-09-04T03:58:00.001-07:00

1995, originally uploaded by PULLED-UP.

Easily one of my favourite things in the entire world. Emma was a much cooler ten year old than me!
What age where you when you got the internet / made your first website? Did you ever preserve it like this?

Just think of all the rubbish / gems floating about on geocities or tripod or whatever that's gradually disappearing - will no record of these sites remain in a few years, or even now?

EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A HARD COPY OF THEIR FIRST WEBSITES.

Posterity is pretty cool.

Tonight - Star6 demo at la terrasse (maria)

2009-09-04T03:00:00.001-07:00

get down to maria's (hopefully) sunny terrasse for some short *live* star6 based sets tonight, from Jackson, Guido Mobius, Kiki Moorse, Jason Forrest, Song Band and Ben Butler & Mousepad....

if you don't already know about star6, check it out!

Star6 Introduction from Star6 on Vimeo.

slingshot dude

2009-09-02T09:44:00.001-07:00

recent times in photos

2009-08-19T13:38:00.001-07:00

Norway - Last minute shows this weekend! EDIT - FULL DETAILS!

2009-08-17T03:48:00.001-07:00

Everyone knows I love Norway! who wouldn't when you plays shows as awesome looking as this???

So I'm playing two last minute parties in Norway this coming weekend -

first off - Friday 21st august @ Kunsthall, Bergen - a phonofestivalen show, starts around 21 hrs

Then -

Saturday 22nd of August, Oslo
9 pm - 10 pm
BEN BUTLER & MOUSE PAD at STRUTS (Møllergata 47 A)
cc: 40 kroners

Then -

Saturday 22nd of August, Oslo
3.30 am - 5 am
BEN BUTLER & MOUSE PAD at Radio Nova (Chateau Neuf, 4th floor, call kjetil at 0047 90182833 to get in)
no cc; but donations are welcome

come say hello and party!

joe / BB&MP

Mousepad! live

2009-08-13T05:31:00.001-07:00

20009

2009-07-27T10:50:00.001-07:00

2009, originally uploaded by bean butler.

http://www.myspace.com/benbutlerandmousepad

Happy 100!

2009-07-08T02:26:00.000-07:00

To help us get in the mood to celebrate, here's a new mix I made for Diesel U Music in London.

Download Here / Tracklisting Here

I suppose there's a couple of repeats but it IS for the real-life radio and I figured you'd forgive me, considering that there's no Michael Jackson on it, anywhere.

Talking of Radio, I made four jingles for Max Tundra's Rotogravure, my pal Ben's excellent show on Resonance Fm. (actually, their website seems a bit buggy right now, best head to london to tune in on 104.4fm). Anyway, I'll hopefully be repeating this feat every week until the close of the series - so listen out for them, Saturdays 2.30pm G.M.T.

PPS there's now a little widget on the top right of the blog (underneath dancing snoopy) that lets you listen to and indeed purchase THRASH'R by Germlin. If you're feeling flush and want to show a little bit of support for all this occasional free stuff, click download and choose your price. Thanks again to everyone who's bought a copy so far.

Berlin - Friday!

2009-07-01T11:01:00.001-07:00

my set will be a collaboration with dan from mahjongg!
come along!

JOEMUS, LIVE

2009-06-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

Live

JOEMUS (Glasgow/Berlin)

Nick, Joe and Bastian will create a fully live, semi improvised 'parallel' version of the Joemus record, before your very eyes. expect prog rubbing up with glam rubbing up with torch songs! freak out!

+
TASOS STAMOU

myspace.com/tasosstamou
http://tasosstamou.wordpress.com/

+
TOPMODEL

myspace.com/topmodeltopmodeltopmodel

Einlass - 21:00
Beginn - 22:00

mail for directions if you don't know the address!

rsvp here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106317914352&ref=nf

* drawing by Mehmet Ulusahin

trio

2009-06-08T03:51:00.000-07:00

two tries

2009-06-08T03:42:00.000-07:00

stills 03/06/09

2009-06-02T16:22:00.001-07:00

famicon dvd!

2009-06-02T03:36:00.000-07:00

our friends at FAMICON EXPRESS have their first DVD out!

THRASHR AVAILABLE NOW

2009-05-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

long delayed Germlin album, available now!

<a href="http://germlin.bandcamp.com/album/thrashr">Animatorr by Joe Germlin</a>

pay what you want! please tell a friend / embed / pass on!
THANKS/ENJOY!

p.s there isn't going to be a physical release! this is the future, sorry!

"Trying Times" Revisited

2009-05-28T10:23:00.001-07:00

Cross-Posted from Gay Against You Blog

I've been digging through the hard drive today, though I'd share the audio / music work that Lachlann and I did for our one-off Radio Show, on Diesel - U - Music, may 2008, "Trying Times".
The show had some vague and slightly nebulous themes, concerning parents, encouragement and something to to with 'meditative molding'. Oh, and Vic Galloway.

Gay Against You - Trying Times by betray_yr_friends

If anyone wants to commission Lachlann and I to make music / audio / sound design for their radio drama / show, please get in touch!

photos by joe miranda.

More Down Time

2009-05-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking today that I've been doing a lot of collecting of music recently but not a whole lot of listening. I think this is partly due to being busy working on music myself (although sometimes mostly logistics etc. as much as composition, practice etc.) but i think the major change is not having enforced "down time" in the way that I used to.

Mostly, this would be sitting on buses or trains or boats, travelling long distances on my own, to shows, from shows, to visit people, going home. Something about the majority of travel I've been doing over the last year or so seems to cut this style of detachment off - Whether its the novelty of using the U Bahn, cycling more (No headphones, its very dangerous!) or travelling in a duo, or a group...

Emma and I have been talking a lot recently about use of time - How to make the most of leisure, switch off from work and generally do good stuff / useful stuff as much as possible. While I do find this is somewhat easier in Berlin, I still find the temptation to "work" (inverted commas referring to work sometimes meaning switching between Cubase, iPlayer playing Great British Menu and Myspace / Facebook) pretty strong.

Its even evident on this blog - The last four or five entries have all either been adverts for shows, or new music sites I've joined, or remixes of whatever!
We seem to be missing activities which are slow, time consuming, analog. No more internet! More bike rides, more baking.
But what about more music?

I'm wondering how I can reinstate this lost "down time" in my current lifestyle. Have i just fallen into the obvious musician trap, where anything related to "work" becomes tainted, somehow? Its proving quite difficult to just sit down and allot time to "listening to music", especially for more than a few minutes. - Anyone have any ideas?

Suggestions please!

THIS WEEKEND - BARCELONA

2009-05-21T05:33:00.001-07:00

Sábado (saturday) 23-05-2009
MSTRKRFT + Ben Butler & Mousepad + Undo + Migi Puig DJ + The Remix!
Lolita club, Sala Razzmatazz, Barcelona
LINK
any tips for stuff to do in barca, graciously recieved!
who's in?

BB&MP: new recruit

2009-05-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Meet Bastian! new drummer!
MUSIC HERE

Plus: Buy some stuff, if you feel like it! (I hope you do!)

<a href="http://benbutlerandmousepad.bandcamp.com/track/brand-new-theme">Brand New Theme by Ben Butler & Mousepad</a>

<a href="http://benbutlerandmousepad.bandcamp.com/track/brand-new-theme">Brand New Theme by Ben Butler & Mousepad</a>

Next Berlin Shows

2009-04-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Night -

Next Month -

FOUND remix

2009-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Bean Butler remix for Edinburgh / Aberdeen based FOUND
feel free to upload this to your own blog / send to friends / play out / delete / etc.

download link

long live summer!

2009-04-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

spring has sprung in berlin! its pretty summer-y so lets just call it summer already.
new mixtape, in the usual sloppy, badly mixed style....
i've tried to represent (musically) my experience of spring / summer here so far -
so there's a bunch of synth solos and rhythm and romance and voices, science, warmth, friendship - at least hopefully!
if anyone needs a sloppy deejay for parties, let me know!
long live summer!

LINK

tracklisting:
focus group - salty sun tales
deutscher kaiser - tempo! tempo!
arsenal - relay race
jacques siroul - gratte-ciel
like a tim - like 11-2
prince - i feel for you
david sylvain & ryuichi sakamoto - nassau
amari - le gite fuori porta
YU - my dna
DMX krew - bad boy

thanks to mutant sounds for inspiration / tracks!

tonyx3

2009-04-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

i uploaded this by mistake with that photobooth plugin that connects to youtube and flickr.
didn't have the heart to take it down in the end.

inifinite capacity (for love)

2009-04-04T13:46:00.001-07:00

new dolby edit of a new *unreleased* BB&MP track, featuring the niallist on vocals.
already described by Berlin Blogs as a "hit of the summer"

LINK

so simple

2009-03-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

i love berlin. tomorrow, a hairdresser is coming to our apartment to cut my and emma's hair. so friendly and simple!
long live 2009, the year when less money = better friendships, better decisions, doing things properly.

pictoplasma 2009

2009-03-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Firstly, thanks to everyone (lyndsay, lars, peter) who approached me to play (and got emma and I free passes to the whole conference!)

We'd been fans of pictoplasma for a few years prior but had never been able to go, due to the high ticket price (for us!) and the fact that its in march. however, living in Berlin x free tickets solved that pretty easily!

We didn't have many expectations - Character design as a fad seems to have passed and the majority of work in that style that is largely reproduced is perhaps getting a bit stale.
However, even on the first day we were blown away by the amount of ideas, beautiful works and above all, positivity, demonstrated by the exhibitors, speakers and organisers alike.

A major theme (for us certainly) that kept coming up, was a re-evaluation of what was important to how you approach creativity - in the light of the current financial depression, and the increasing reliance on corporate work to fund many of the artists. James Jarvis was a good example of this - He seemed to have reached a point where he was pretty dissollutioned with much of the toy design and very polished, "perfect" character design which he is now famous for.
It was incredibly inspiring to watch him "doodle" (on a huge screen), while talking about how he had recently re-discovered his love of just drawing for the sake of it, not being too perfect and embracing mistakes / flaws.

Here's some of the video / pictures i managed to take.

Boris Hoppek had an interesting approach to the presentation of his work - Instead of talking himself, he hurriedly recruited many of the gallerists and curators he'd worked for in the past and allowed them to expand upon his ideas and present their own angle - regardless of the controversial nature of Hoppek's work, it was great to see a dissolution of ego from the artist, turning his work over to enthuisiasts, and the public to discuss.

Gaston Caba, from Buenos Aires, and Mehdi Hercberg (shoboshobo), from Paris, both talked about the importance of collaboration, being open to new ideas and trying to level the field for creative people - it makes things easier if we're all on the same page and we can get on, right? Risa Sato (presenting in japanese, with a translator) showed a lot of charm, spirit and friendliness in her work - large, often portable sculpture, used to engage directly with the public.

The symposium panels were also very interesting, focusing on the dynamics between characters and humans, transmedia and the adaption of characters between different media formats, cosplay and fantasy, robotics, reduction (how 2 dots can be given a personality) etc. - this added a really different dimension to the conference and left us with a lot to think about.

Finally, the closing night party (which i was performing at, alongside pals Gangpol und Mit was a blast, lots of nerdy dancing!

If you're in Berlin, go and check out the Pictopia exhibition (at the Haus Der Kulteren Der Welt) and the Character Walk exhibitions.

BERLIN SHOW 3rd APRIL

2009-03-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

late tour post

2009-03-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

hey, i never posted any of my photos from my little uk tour with my pal ben. he's in america right now, touring some more! hi buddy!
anyway, here goes.

p.s uploading photos from pictoplasma conference tomorrow, biiiig entry on how great it was soon!

BB&MP vs Gangpol und Mit!!!

2009-03-19T15:47:00.001-07:00

BB&MP vs Gangpol und Mit!!!, originally uploaded by PULLED-UP.

photo by emma!
come see our show on saturday.
biiiig pictoplasma entry coming soon!

SATURDAY

2009-03-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

1st official berlin show! come along!
p.s Nick - i promise i'll try and start blogging regularly again.
on that note - anyone waiting on an update on Browns, Coventry - we didn't go! sorry everyone!
more to follow!

gunge

2009-03-07T01:19:00.000-08:00

I'm living in Berlin now. Here's a video i made (about gunge).

gunge from joe howe on Vimeo.