Eight tracks

Here are some new tracks. Some unfinished, some awaiting vocals from others, all here for you to listen to. Please comment on what you do or do not like if you have the time.

Straight Edge TV (contains a sample from the Richard and Judy straight edge special)
Onehundredandonepointfive
Twitter 2 (for Fiona Shipwright) (contains samples of The Giant Claw)
Rough Draft Bandage
Digger
Ghostdance
Synth vs Guitar
Twitter 1 (for Duncan Geere) (contains samples from Night of the Lepus and How to Cook Rabbit)

------------------

Bonus electrodoodle: Catleg

Two more

Two more tracks. I have decided to do some tape work again so these may be the last smooth sounding pieces for a while. I think I need some noise to get me out of where I am.

catbass
kittenpulse

Bonus track: bulb24

Track dump times twenty four

As most of my creativity gets sucked into an attempt to write proper songs the rest becomes a lot of silly doodles on a keyboard. As posting them up here stops me from deleting them all I am doing so. I hope you take some enjoyment in some of them.

Chamberrock was created with the help of Duncan Geere who did the original level of drum and bass backing, the structure and inspired the rest.

chamberrock.mp3

The two "handsfree" tracks are made using a webcam to midi converter. As they involve me programming some synths, and then waving my hands about frantically, handsfree is probably not the best word but there was no touching of keys or buttons between record and stop.

handsfree1.mp3
kkpok or handsfree2.mp3

The two following ringtones are ringtones that I have created. I am planning to do hundreds more so if anyone would like one please email me or comment me or tell me or anything and tell me what you want and I'll do it.

Debut
Lemonade (Lindsay's ringtone)

And here are the rest in no particular order:

festivepeak
feet
centralpark
curd3
brums
plumcore
sleepyloop
barp
pyramidscheme
trains birds wind and headache
imnotsurewhattodowiththis
screwup
organise2
Tom Jones is a synthesiser
notwoolworths
DATH
busstop
Fender

Free recordings by Filip Hnízdo

Here you will find links to most of my recordings. All of them will cost you nothing, aside from internet fees and time, to download.

First Recordings - September 2005 to May 2007

Playstreet (collected recordings 2007 - 2008)

Three Imaginary Girls

Joanna Coote EP

Remix in the Bathroom

Unused Songs - Stray Tracks, Odds and Sods, Demonstrations

Seven track

Here's most of my week's studio produce. Nothing brilliant or even album or EPable but I hope some of it's entertaining. In the collection you will find probably good with vocals but abandoned beaty fuzz, drums and phasing, dreadful but fun easy listening electro lounge reggae horridness, a Suicide rip off riff without a Suicide song to back it up, an early Christmas tune in denial and my first proper attempts at using samples of real drum hits (cut up, rubbished and mixed up) courtesy of Meg White, Buddy Rich, Joe Morrello, Benny Greb, Thomas Lang and Akira Jimbo (mostly taken from YouTube after searching "drum solo", aside from Meg whose parts come from Little Room and Jimmy the Explorer). Animal almost made it but was too fast to cut up.

Seas
Fuffle
Blue
Not Christmas
Supermarket Tentacle Mayhem
Organise

Bonus song to counter the electrocentric others: Vandals and car thieves

Lyrics

It was a dark swivel chair
Fixed with grey cushions
An unknown stain
And a rip to the top right side
(It had nothing, nothing to do with you)

Carpet mixed with clumps of hair and I've found
The keys to your car hit the pedal to the ground
And I only drive three miles before I was missin' you
Vandals and car thieves by day
A star struck wreck in the afternoon
I'm comin' soon and you'd better be breathin'.

Complete?

I feel as though I have spent half of today changing settings and switching cables and dials. Aside from hooking up my speakers so I don't have to put everything so close to my worried ears I think things are pretty much as complete in Studio Josephine as they can be. I've said this before I know but I think it's there now, midified and ready.

Here's what I did between 22.00 and 23.15 this evening once I came home to it working:

Midi rest

"Lyrics"

I wanted to write some lyrics
But I've nothing left to write
It's late and dark and I'm alone
Within this house tonight.

I guess I'll have to improvise
I know it's just a test
To see what I can do in the future
Slow it down and have a rest now.

Piano loops

Please take this group of loops and give it a song if you have the ability. I made it today and do not know what to do with it. For some reason (probably the fact that it's the same notes just repeated) it ties in pretty nicely with the start of Hullo.

helpIamaloopedpianodemo.mp3

Hullo instrumental draft

Another day, another bash at the keyboard, another half finished, probably never to be finished track.
I recorded vocals but they didn't stick. It's sort of a sequel to Margaret's Dead

Hullo (demo)

Here are the attempted lyrics in case you want to attempt to sing them. Feel free to add bass or other instruments in your head or otherwise.

Most of all I've been open to your feelings
I know there is a darkness that you've not yet come across
And when the doorbell rings I know my time has come at last
The angels sing my name aloud and they go

Honoured to be somewhere new
I'm away from you
Honoured to be somewhere new
I'm away from you
Honoured to be somewhere new
I'm away from you
Honoured to be somewhere new
I'm away from you

After the funeral
The tributes melt into a boring pot
And I'm happy with all the friends I know I haven't got.

Scripted lifted out of where I once thought I would find my peace
Now I'm safe just knowing that your time away will never cease.

-------------

Postscript: I set up a Facebook Page with some of my songs, pictures and other information on it.

Quick murder song demo

Studio Josephine is just about set up although I still have a few problems with midi and understanding. Every new song is a new experiment in figuring out just how everything works. Here is a demo take of a song about murder written and recorded this morning.

Dead Margaret (demo)

Lyrics

The kitchen roll is soaked with blood
The mints on the table filled with stories
Body parts lying everywhere
Shift them now or your glory's almost gone

Margaret was a haunted mess
When that knife went through her wedding dress
Tie her up as your life's at stake
Drive the bag to the back of the lake

Your confidence drove you off the rails
Jump in the car as the siren wails
Wrong way down the motorway
No points for style on your getaway

D and DDD (two new songs)

Acoustic Guitars (Transmissions for Duncan II) (for Duncan Geere)

The next in the series that started with Not Enough Instruments (Transmissions for Duncan I), this song was originally a synth + drum beat + more synth track that was pretty much finished by the time I listened back to it, got bored, picked up an acoustic guitar and started singing and strumming along as a joke. The chords and vocals stuck so I reworked the song and kept them in. The fact that the synth line is made up of my acoustic guitar mapped onto my midi keyboard makes it all a bit ironic.

Lyrics:

An acoustic guitar has nothing going in a place like this
An acoustic guitar has nothing going in a place like this
I try to dream while the synths go round
While my chords melt away and my strumming's drowned
An acoustic guitar has nothing going in a place like this.

Getting kicked for requesting folk in a club
I'm tired of disco, I'm tired of dub
An acoustic guitar has nothing going in a place like this.

And out of the corner of my eye
I see another harmless guy looking bored
At the lack of C Major chord
We know acoustic guitars have nothing going in a place like this

Acoustic guitars have something going in a place like this
Acoustic guitars have something going in a place like this
Acoustic guitars have something going in a place like this
Acoustic guitars have something going in a place like this

Shyness (for the Double Dot Dash collective)

I went to a brilliant gig last night, organised once again by the (brilliant) Double Dot Dash group of musicians and people. This afternoon I was messing about on my sampler and found quite a nice analogue synth setting that I warped beyond recognition by stabbing at a keyboard. I then added a beat, and some samples from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.

Playstreet (collected recordings 2007 - 2008)

Dream Loop
Happy Birthday Daniel
Hiding
My Favourite Nathan
Supermarket Tentacle Beating Song
Jazz Party Landing
For Josephine (and Will)
I'm Sorry Kathan
Meeting Steve (for Stephen Allum)
Happy Birthday Jenni
Sailors (for Martin Robinson and Jennifer Kendall)
testtracktesttracktesttracktesttrack
Unfinished Martin
Tin Can
Spiral

All songs recorded in Studio Josephine between Autumn 2007 and Autumn 2008 after the Three Imaginary Girls EP.

Filip used: Himself, a Casio Px-120 Digital Piano, an MV-8800 Production Studio, Cool Edit Pro 2.0, Adobe Audition 3.0, an Admira Almira full size classical guitar, a PV6 Peavey mixer (farewell Behringer) , a Tascam Porta 02 mkII four track recorder, an SE Electronics Se2200 A condenser microphone, Massive and B4II by Native Instruments, a Romaneto trumpet, a Hohner harmonica, a portable tape recorder I cannot find the name of and lots of cables.

This collection of recordings is dedicated to Maplin Electronics.

testtracktesttracktesttracktesttrack contains samples of excited A Level students in St Clement Danes School in 2007.

Although these recordings are not really intended for mass public consumption, being odds and sods and personal bits, I do hope you get some enjoyment out of them. Now Studio Josephine is properly set up I hope to record a lot more in the next few months. I am also very interested in doing more remixes. If anyone has anything they'd like me to sample or mix around, please let me know or send it to me.

Filip at the 3Bs, Reading, England, May 14, 2008

I played a gig last Wednesday. I supported Boredoms in the Bathroom and Skyline Dossier. I played three songs. Two of them old, one new. The gig was recorded.

Filip's second gig

The main song, for which you can find the lyrics below (including a few unused verses I have placed underneath), is pure fiction. People have asked.

Although the gig's not as snappy or fun as my first gig I managed to remember all the words without reading off a sheet or such and I think the lyrics may be better. Even if they're not, the recording (by Martin) is clearer than the last one. I've learnt a lot and will hopefully play again soon. With more instruments perhaps. And melodies.

Allegedly I sound "like a female Lily Allen". Or so Daniel Cooper tells me someone put it. I'm not sure what to make of that. Or what Lily should make of that.

Enjoy the song. I'm not 100% pleased with what I played and sang or how I played and sang it but it's all I've got and it wasn't disastrous.

I haven't posted the lyrics of the other two songs as I did them last time.

Please use the comment/comments button to tell me what you think I should do differently next time.

Roses Envelop Reading (performed version)

You're a fragment of the girl
You used to be
Your parents named you Emily
But everybody else knew you as trouble

Standing out on Broad Street
With a new song in your headphones
The world was gently peeling your skin and your bones away

And it's bring your kid to work day (x3)
And you work in a brothel.
The lights that covered lies
Were no match for her tiny eyes'
Surprise

And the smoke alarm was beeping
Took out the battery while you were sleeping
And as the flames burnt red and high
You stood and watched your daughter die
And you felt
Lonely
And tired
And proud
And the song in your headphones
Was relevant and loud

Oh Emily
Your face is burning
They're calling all the engines in
To Russell Street
Your home tonight
Your hands are charred and your face is thin
Uh oh.

There's a strange smell in the town tonight
And you're its saviour.
You were born in Slough
But you were let out for good behaviour
And...

And Queen Victoria's looking down
At a Swedish girl that's throwing up in the centre of the town
And in the 3Bs bar and in the 3Bs bar
There are three young women cheating on their boyfriends

She knows who they are
She knows who they are
She knows that they'll pay in time.
Ungrateful swine.

And a 1,3,5 is all he played.
He was terrified
But he was on a stage

And he's a singer songwriter
But no one knows his name
All his songs are about death and girls
What's worse they sound the same

He came late to his first show
Everyone was standing still
Having fun

You're a romantic in sheep's clothes
Your husband's knife it glistens in the winter sun

Bloodied notation
Songs without effort
And your lips are numb.

You were young and afraid
You were drunk on lemonade
When the council came to get your mum.

Choking on Wotsits
A cheesy death
You're blameless in the eyes of the police
But look at what you've done to your family

Throwing rocks at the soldiers
In their tanks as they're passing by
You thought his love would make you happier
His kisses made you want to die

He said he wanted to sleep with you
So you took three packs of sleeping pills
And he wondered in his head
Why all the girls he took to bed
Ended up dead

And you rose from the grave and said...
"I want roses
To come up from the ground like hands.
And torture everybody
Who doesn't meet with my demands."

And as the roses overgrew
The only one not scared was you
And as their skin began to harden
Took yourself down to Forbury Gardens

Where a brass band played
And the players lay in the grass
Impaled by thorns
No one could hear a word you're saying
Underneath the Thames they're laying girl

You bought a time machine
To rip off The Beatles
I thought you were bolder
Got a bullet in your shoulder

Oh Emily
You're dumb but learning
The sirens call you cannot win
A Careful C
Around your arm
A severed head in your recycling bin

Oh oh.

I knew we'd had a falling out
You were throwing utensils all about the town.
Don't worry about your address love.
I've got it written down.

22 Donnington Gardens

I had a dream
We were in the Natural History Museum
And there was a giant squid in the main hall
And turtles around the sides
We had nothing to hide
We knew this was the future

Where dinosaurs aren't cool
Since they tore apart your school
Oh Emily you recognised their faces
To them you're just a low cut top and braces.

I Woke Up Next to You + Hot Dog Love (lyrics here)

Roses Envelop Reading
(alternate verses that got lost on the way to the stage)

You were terrified
Hunted by a wolf you didn't recognise
Trembling against the wall
As the light shone down on Broad Street Mall
All night.

The only thing you had
Were some albums that you copied off a friend
It was the end
Of life
And you liked it there
Your Art Deco chair was worth it

And the sky above is looking down on you.

And you looked up at the stars and said
Lord give me roses

With their thorns running deep
They'll send everyone to sleep

And the clouds rolled in
Your eyebrows and your feelings
Withered sick and thin

The town became your study
With the clouds painting your ceiling.

Remix in the Bathroom

After years and years of wanting one, Studio Josephine has a sampler. Faced with excitement and four huge instruction manuals, Filip thought the best way to learn how to use this piece of equipment was to remix two of his favourite friends' band's songs. This remixing took place over a weekend. The results can be heard below. More information about Boredoms in the Bathroom, the band whose songs these are version of. More information about Dale Gilbert Jarvis, whose storytelling is used in/takes up most of Labrador.

Evil (Coarse 18 Remix)
Labrador (Whistling Ghost Remix Featuring Dale Gilbert Jarvis)

Filip at The Rising Sun Arts Centre, Reading, 23/11/2007

Filip Hnizdo at The Rising Sun Arts Centre, Reading
Night hosted by: Doubledotdash
Lyrics and music by: Filip Hnizdo
Recorded by: Lindsay Anna Girlfriend Phillips
Date: November 23rd 2007

Lyrics

Some Friends My Bands Are In

I imagined a sparkle sitting on the train
And faded a while while the telephone kept ringing
The books in your living room
Gave way to a smile in me

Ella Fitzgerald
Like a broken snow machine
Whirring on and on with no apparent influence in me
I tried
With my friends left clutching knives drawn back behind.

The laughter chewed through everybody's face
I thought I'd lost them in the park Oh damn these fireworks displays
These fireworks displays are ruining my dark.

I think I lost them round the corner
At the butcher's where you chased some homeless man
My dreams have trouble running
So I'll try to walk as quickly as I can.

Windscreens and heartbeats
Pushed out in a boat
When your heart starts thinking loudly
You can't help but fail to float

And at the cash machine you found unbuttoned
And discarded lives to eat.

I walked down Craven road alone
Went past Jennifer and Patrick's home
Riding on towards the Rising Sun

It's November 23rd
You're flipped and overheard
And everyone has learned about your triumph

Under the town hall lights,
Every signal time is muffled.
Around a month ago I saw you last.
After the Boredoms in the Bathroom set
And as the room began to fill up with sweat
We all stood nervously smelling our arms.

Oh no it can't be me.
It really can't be me.
I came here to see my friends
And I've a lot of friends to see.

It must be the guy who complained.
Complained about it all.

They don't even have a vocalist
Their chords aren't even open.
What the hell.

All of it's too similar
And noisy and confusing
What the hell.

I thought "it isn't noise".
This isn't noise it's inspiration.

Something that I wish I could produce
Without the use of words tonight.

I'd dream about voices and oysters and stomach pumping in the future
I'd dream about voices and oysters and stomach pumping in the future

The flyer for this show was scaring me
Bad people came as the show was free.
And there was nothing else to do that night but listen.

Strummming C A minor
C A minor
See a minor buying drinks at the bar.

Strummming C A minor
C A minor
See a minor buying drinks at the bar.

You tell me "Daniel Johnston, can't play guitar"
He's pissing right on Django Reinhart's grave
Daniel you're better change your band name every time you get on a stage.

They won't all succeed,
but I think we're all agreed
That this new one's the right one
Skyline Dossier is the right one
It's the right one.

And when Lloyd bangs the drums
Our boy can't speak works he just hums
We're going to spread the bait until the happiness comes
Until the happiness comes.

Very Important Meeting

There was lightning at the meeting
It's a very important meeting
And you're nervous about the business meeting

The people at the business meeting
All the people at the meeting
Say you're rubbish
But we'd love for you to stay.

I was happily extinguished by your offer
And your smile destroyed my frown
And I'm happy that you did it as it made me think
Of what I need to do to be happy in this town
It isn't spending time with you.

Now you're older all the stars just seem to orbit all around you
Are you fine to undress or shall he do it now he's found you.

There's a document you really should be reading
It's called I don't know what to do in your room tonight.

I'd rather share a bed with a tiger
And a lion and a bear and the three tonne dinner
That they're sharing.

Hot Dog Love

You've got tears on your face
I've got mayonnaise all over mine

You've got tears on your face
I've got mayonnaise all over mine

Hot dog love
Hot dog love
Hot dog, hot dog, hot dog love

Hot dog love
Hot dog love
Hot dog, hot dog, hot dog, hot dog love

I wouldn't listen to the things the school kids said
You're better than a thousand years of them

I wouldn't listen to what your parents said
They didn't even have that much to do with it

Leave The Light On

The crowd is full of people,
between the age of 20 and 28.
I wait

For somewhere in the sound check
There's a sound I'd like to savour for a while

At the vegetable shop
They were queuing by the cabbages
And not one cabbage manages
To be as round as you're looking today

I'm going to try to leave the light on
Leave the light on, leave the light on
When you roll about in bed.

All The Cats

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are yours.

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are yours.

You wanted to be a teacher
And forty seven years went by

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are yours.

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are yours

They don't mind the smell of failure
In your eyes
You've cooked the same thing for three days
And they don't mind.

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are your wishes

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are free

You turned down a hundred boys
For money and a cottage
There's no hope behind the curtains now.
And you're old.

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are yours.

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are yours.

You had longer hair than anyone
And your kindness swept through town

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are indebted

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Don't know

You've tried to tell them all a hundred times
Only stop to be polite.

All the cats in this room
All the cats in this room
Are named Samantha

Laura Katherine Free
(improvised request)

Laura Katherine Free
You're a (positive adjective) place to be
And I'm glad you chose to be here at this show

The light bulbs in this room
Are painted(?) funny colours
And Harrow is a shit hole.

I Woke Up Next To You

I woke up next to you
You coughed and half your lungs came out

I woke up next to you
You coughed and half your lungs came out

The mess spread halfway across the living room

I woke up next to you
You coughed and half your lungs came out

I woke up next to you
You coughed and half your lungs came out
I'm sleeping alone from now on.

Four Track Test Track

I recently acquired a four track. I plugged it in and connected headphones and a microphone today. Then I sat down and recorded a test track. I used: A guitar, a harmonica, a trumpet. and recordings of excited A Level students. All of the parts were recorded in one take and the trumpet is rather out of tune. I will do many more songs. Many of them with vocals. Perhaps even this week. Work is going well. An update on that soon.

testtracktesttracktesttracktesttrack

Three Imaginary Girls EP

My first guitar+vocal based EP is now available for download below. Singing on record for the first time was rather frightening but I think I may try to do a lot more of it in the future.

These versions are all slightly different from the demo ones linked to previously. The plan was to write and record a song a day, re-record them all on the 4th day and put together the liner notes/contributed artwork on the 5th day. I succeeded. There are now eight "real" copies in the world and infinite virtual ones below. If you want a real copy just email me your postal address and I'll send one to you free of charge (filip@bluejumpers.com).

Download/view liner notes/lyrics/penguins (PDF format)

• 01 Georgia
• 02 Samantha
• 03 Harriet

Bonus track: Resting fingers for a few minutes between takes I created this. It sounds like something in my record collection but I can't think of what that is. I put it in the ever-increasing "parts of songs" folder on my hard drive which means it may appear on something in the future. I thought I'd share it with you now as well anyway. It's not a song, or anything much really but it sounds quite nice if you speed it up and slow it down. You can do whatever you want with it.

New song... with vocals (part 3)

Here it is. The final song from the EP. As with the rest I'll probably re-record it tomorrow. It's the least original of the lot but it was the most fun to record so I'm putting it on. G and C if you want to strum along.

Georgia - Words, Music and Recording by Filip Hnízdo.
Recorded in Room 2, Studio Josephine, Croxley Green, England

Lyrics
Georgia got off the train at six she thought she'd never be there again
But now her fix means everything has to change
Her brain's not right and her body's in danger.

Or worse the whole world could be lost and thrown out
Her own muddle was fine
Not now it's grown out of her mind oh Georgia.

Georgia went to the zoo and saw 14 penguins there
They all turned round and looked straight at her troubled face

They opened up their beaks like they were going to speak
And then they spoke in a tone
That made poor Georgia feel like going home

They said:
"£%(£)%("$*%)%*^_%*£_%*^_*%")*^%
£%(£+(%£_(%_£!*)%$!*$)!*£)!(*£)!(*£)*!£
$%%^£%$£$^$^$%%^£%$£$^$^$%%^£
;$^$!£!!%^^£%£&;£%£%
;$^$!£!!%^^£%£&£%£%
;$^$!£!!%^^£%£&£%£%
£*%_()^$*£*£+_)$"
And she sort of agreed.

New song... with vocals (part 2)

Song number two. This time the vocals are wrong and I haven't had a chance to re-record them but I did promise myself I'd do a song a day so here it is. I sent this version to a Jonathan Hicks and he liked it. I'll probably do one more song tomorrow and then re-record all of them on Friday.

Harriet - Words, Music and Recording by Filip Hnízdo.
Recorded in Room 2, Studio Josephine, Croxley Green, England

Lyrics
Harriet
What have you done now
Their (should be your) footsteps haven't got a chance of ever getting home
And you're (should be they're) the victim
of your own mess Harriet

You've a sparkle in your eye
We'll take it out with us tonight
Harriet
Don't

New song... with vocals

It's my first attempt so please be nice. Also forgive (and mention) any obvious copying from other songs. It's only a demo as the recording is a bit murky (the mp3 conversion didn't go too well). I'll do a proper one soon. Along with two more songs to make an EP.

Hey Samantha - Words, Music and Recording by Filip Hnízdo
Recorded in Room 2, Studio Josephine, Croxley Green, England

Lyrics

There's a powder room in the basement
And a strange sound
When you opened up the window all you saw is
Dust and gravel
Hey Samantha.

It's hard to walk through a park without grass
Or flowers or trees or the gentle buzz of bees
Samantha you're fiction and you're boring and you're just like him.

A soft tap buzz, he lied to me at nine o'clock
Samantha.

A deep dark stare, he thought I'd never track him down

Samantha you've got eyebrows and some teeth
But nothing in between your eardrums.

Hey Samantha, what you know is clear.

When the glasses feel warm and the alcohol begins to set
I try to think of nothing you're the only place I seem to get.
And hey, Samantha, your hair is kinda rubbish and your teeth, they look
Like an after dinner panic everything is broken and this song is finished
This song was written in two chords an A and an E.
An A and an E.

First Recordings - Out Now

01) Moving Stars (for Joanna Coote)
02) Offbeat Ukulele Hop (for Joanna Coote)
03) Warlock Party Sparkle (for Joanna Coote)
04) Blues Delay Portishead Yeah! (for Joanna Coote)
05) Jazz Party in a Passing Helicopter (for Joanna Coote)
06) That's not a Heart! It's a Pendulum! And it's Still Moving! (for Joanna Coote)
07) Waking Up in Traffic (for Joanna Coote)
08) Fiona and Out (for Fiona Shipwright)
09) Herbeccasong (for Rebecca Litchfield)
10) Ratufa Affinis Kalastus Musiikki (Pale Giant Squirrel Fishing Music) (for Sophie Scott)
11) Company Of Stars (for James Montgomery Doohan)
12) deadrobot
13) Song for Emily (in stereo) (for Emily Benson)
14) Ode to Jonathan (for Jonathan Hicks)
15) Panda (inspired by Noah Lennox)
16) Jonathan vs Copyright (guitar by Jonathan Hicks)
17) Louise (music from the motion picture) (for Louise Cooke)
18) Reprise (All Hail the Rucksack Magnet) (for Daniel Cooper)
19) Yes (in response to Lindsay Phillips)
20) Oops....I still haven't bought Steve Reich tickets (for Louise Cooke, Christopher Pencakowski and Martin Robinson)
21) Gs for Martin (for Martin Robinson)
22) Hugh (witch witch witch witch)
23) Mom bought some really great whole wheat bagels (for Shannon Whisler)
24) Happy Birthday Jonathan (for Jonathan Hicks)
25) Sleepy Lindsay (featuring Lindsay Phillips)
26) Throwaway Ambient Song Number One
27) Not Enough Instruments (Transmissions for Duncan I) (for Duncan Geere)
28) Lindsay Ventures into the Underworld and Comes out in Prague (for Lindsay Phillips)
29) Sea (theme from Panda Garden)
30) Piano (subconsciously inspired by Hiroshi Sunairi & Hideyuki Mari)

Released through Blue Jumpers Recordings on May 17th 2007. Price: £0, $0, €0 (including postage). Includes The Joanna Coote EP, 1285 word liner notes and CD and cover artwork by Filip Hnízdo.

To order a copy, please email your postal address to canIhaveyourcdpleasefilip@bluejumpers.com or wait patiently until you are given/sent a copy.

Tape recorder + guitar + trumpet = experiment

Finally moving from strings to brass, I had my first trumpet lesson on Thursday. It went relatively well, and I am now, after practicing, practicing, practicing, just about able to play five notes (badly).

Just before I managed this I thought I'd start early and record a "song" with the trumpet and guitar to see how it works. I decided not to use effects, editing, pitch-shifting or any of the other technologies I usually rely on to hide my bad instrumentation and just did two lazy takes on a dictaphone and merged them together.

The result is so lo-fi it's laughable, and quite a step down from the cleaner songs I've been producing, but I thought about it and decided to share it with you anyway to entertain you. Some bits sounds quite good and it suprisingly filled the room quite nicely when I played it through my cd mixer. I might re-record it once I can play in tune. Might.

Dead Robot by Filip Hnízdo

As it's the All Tomorrow's Parties festival from Friday to Sunday I thought it'd be fun to put together a CD of most of my songs to hand out. I put all the sounds I've recorded over the past two years together and it's about 3/4 of an hour which is quite a lot. I think I'll set myself the challenge of recording at least two more songs this week and will put together a tracklist and some cover art. I think I'll probably do about 30 copies. It won't be completely limited edition though so if you want a copy let me know and I'll post you one (the songs will remain online of course so you can just download them if you want). I think such a collection will be a good point on which to finally finish off the early part of my music making and begin writing some more complicated/better recorded songs (i.e Filip Hnízdo: The Album). With vocals. And lots of samples. Lots.

Some parts of the songs sound pretty terrible in retrospect but it's quite a varied collection so works quite well. I still think the best noise I've made is the opening section of Herbeccasong.

Songs and The Spitz petition

Company of Stars by Filip Hnízdo

Samples
BBC Radio 5 Live news broadcast about the remains of James Montgomery Doohan being sent into space
Blackbird sample from Wikimedia Commons
Applause from the end of Cowboys on Portishead's Roseland NYC Live album

Instrument:
Evolution MK-7

Software:
Cool Edit Pro 2.0

Dedicated to:
James Montgomery Doohan

A Feast for Patrick by Boredoms in the Bathroom (featuring Filip Hnízdo)

Music by Boredoms in the Bathroom
Lyrics and Vocals by Filip Hnízdo

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Campaign/petition to save The Spitz as blogged about here

A new song and rediscovered feelings for Catherine and Standard Tuning

After months, perhaps even a year, of ignoring her, I've finally started properly playing my lovely steel string guitar, Catherine, again. Not only that, but I've been playing her in Standard Tuning. Those of you that know me personally may be aware of my rather annoying tendency to tune every guitar I come across to G Major. This afternoon I put Catherine in standard and she sounded amazing once I remembered the chords.

I decided, therefore, that I wouldn't just play for myself but that I would record a nice acoustic folk song for Fiona. The guitar part was recorded (on a dictaphone, my microphone is still broken) and sounded relatively nice but once again, as is usual with Filip, I decided to spend hours taking it apart and adding things so it no longer sounded like a guitar part at all. The result was a new song, coming in at just under two minutes and forty five seconds. It's titled Fiona and Out and can be found by clicking here.

Sources of the samples used in the song are as follows:

• BBC Radio 4
• BBC Radio Cymru
• Resonance 104.4 Fm
• Thrills by The Infamous Hellfire Club (it's a three second crackle but it seems fair to mention it)
• David Randolph Scott's "Hammer and Feather" speech on board Apollo 15 in 1971 courtesy of NASA and Wikimedia Commons
• The french alphabet pronunciation guide from Single-serving.com
• Wikitionary's pronunciation guide
• Analog X's "Say It" Speech Synthesizer (programmed to say "haaaaaaaaaaaaaa" or something along those lines)
• Christopher Pencakowski's recording of his house mates giggling and singing by a noisy sink
• Daniel Cooper of The Infamous Hellfire Club talking about how the bank he works for verifies cheques (recorded onto a telephone while I was helping him mix their demo)
  

I suppose I'm most proud of the song on Resonance Fm (which I didn't get a title of, sorry) working so well under the Radio 4 broadcast. It almost sounds genuine. It's the Indian one.

There are quite a few bits in the recording I'd fix if I had some more time with it but I think as a fun present it'll do. I enjoyed making it and hope Fiona gets some enjoyment from it. It's probably my first proper track of the year since I decided I'd stop recording and concentrate on learning how to play a piano. Amusingly enough, there aren't any keyboards/keyboard synths or such in the track.

Enough waffling. Let me know what you think if you have time and wish to. Other songs can, as usual, be found here.

Happy April.