leafcutterjohn.com

Radio News

Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | Radio | No Comments

Broadcasting House

Bit of a radio update…. On Wednesday I visited one of my favorite buildings in London. It’s BBC’s Broadcasting House an amazingly ship-like Art Deco beauty a couple of hundred meters from Oxford Circus tube station.

I was there to record an interview about the recent commission between Shetland poet Jen Hadfield and myself for Radio 3’s poetry show ‘The Verb’ presented by Ian McMillan. The show actually aired last night (Friday 20th) but it’s available to stream here for another week.

In other radio news the drama / documentry ‘NINA BLACK’ which uses my last album ‘The Forest and the Sea’ for it’s sound FX and music has been shortlisted for the New York Radio Festival and is currently featured on the Third Coast Festival where you can hear the programme. It’s an amazing story of a woman plagued since childhood by complicated neuropsychiatric disorders.

Take care radio lovers,

Leafcutter John x.

Tags: BBC, disorder, Ian McMillan, Jen Hadfield, leafcutter john, neuropsychiatric, Nina Black, Radio 3, The Forest and the Sea, The Verb

Gigs this weekend and project Updates.

Sunday, June 14th, 2009 | Forester, Graphic Scores, Live Shows, Software News | No Comments

Hello!

I’ve been super busy the last few weeks hence the complete lack of posts here. I have a couple of gigs coming up this week (sat/sun) which I’d like to let you know about. I’m also involved in some great projects at the moment which i’d like to share.

1. The first gig - Sat 20th June - is at the Cross Kings Pub, York Way, London N1 0AX. I’ll be doing some new tunes, old ones and some improv bits. Also playing: Liberez, Benjamin Wetherill & the Trumpets of Death, B¿Layachi Cousins Duo. Cost:£6, adv £5

2. The second gig - Sun 21st June - is an early one 6:00 > 7:00pm, Royal Festival Hall ballroom, London. This event is on the closing day of Meltdown 2009 and is before this years curator Ornette Coleman takes to the stage. I’m really looking forward to this, I have managed to get a group of amazing musicians together to play some of my animated graphic score pieces. We’ll be premiering a new one where the audience suggest words and phrases which will make up the score. It’s a free gig too!

3. I just finished a BBC commission for Radio 3, I was asked to work with Shetland poet Jen Hadfield on a new work. I’m not sure exactly when it airs but i’ll let you know when I do. It should be available to stream from the BBC website so you can have a listen even if you miss the original airing.

4. I have spent some very pleasurable days with my friend Tom Haines playing about with hydrophones in a little pink paddling pool. We are working on a new piece which will actually be performed (and listened to) in a public swimming pool using an underwater sound system combined with a regular air speakers.

Paddling pool, hydrophones, and sound objects

If you want to come and experience the first and probably only performance of this piece it will take place on July 22nd at Clissold swimming pool 63 Clissold Road,London, N16 9EX. Bring your swimsuit! More Info.

5. Last but not least I have been tinkering with Forester II and have come up with the beginning of a lovely new interface. Here you can see audio files rendered as circles.

Yum

I’m still some way off having finished software for you so please be patient.

See some of you this weekend!

take care,

Leafcutter John x.

Tags: BBC, Benjamin Wetherill, B¿Layachi Cousins Duo, Cross Kings, Forester, Hydrophone, leafcutter john, Liberez, Max/MSP, Meltdown, Ornette Colema, Radio 3, RFH, Royal Festival Hall, Software, Trumpets of Death

Leafcutter John in Venice Saturday 6th June, Polar Bear in Amsterdam on Sunday the 7th

Friday, June 5th, 2009 | Live Shows | 1 Comment

Hello sorry for the short notice, I’m going to be playing at my friend Piero’s art event at the Swiss Institute in Venice tomorrow night.

In Piero’s words:

“me and few friends are doing this thing at the swiss institute in venice:

we will have a dinner on the 2nd, then for all the week we will install a print shop, we have found all this super rare and impossible to find books and we will scan, re-design and re-print and give them to people who wants them,

then we will close with your concert on the 6th….

the thing is called THE DOR

there is a website: http://www.the-dor.org/

“

Also if you are in Amsterdam on Sunday the 7th June Polar Bear are playing at the iJazz festval, we have a load of new material which we played for the first time on this Monday and Tuesday at the Vortex in London. We spent Wednesday and Thursday recording the new stuff at fortress near Old Street. A busy but very fun week this is turning into!

All the best,

John.

Big Black Eyes Remix Comp Winner Announced!

Sunday, May 24th, 2009 | Micro-Song, remix | 2 Comments

All the mixes have been in for a while and I’ve listened a few times to each of the 43 remix entries. With such a high standard and with the wide variety of mixes submitted and Its been very tough to pick one winner. For a while I was thinking about awarding points to each mix for; technical skill, imagination, feel etc.. but it quickly became unmanageable in the end I simply went for the mix which moved me the most.

That mix is Keith Jafrate’s epic ‘Winter Garden Mix’.

Keith’s 10 minute mix sounds to me like an unhurried wordless radio drama, It does it’s thing by stealth and too me it’s really magical. Extra bonus points for using the call of a Magpie (my bird of 09) - Congratulations Keith, It’s truly beautiful!

Thank you to all who took the time to enter and a very big thanks to Highpoint Lowlife Records who have been hosting all the files.

Leafcutter John.

Remix Competition Closes soon (6th May)

Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | remix | 3 Comments

Hello,

I’m going to extend the deadline for submissions to the remix competition from 30th April to 6th May as I have a lot on that week and won’t get chance to pick a winner until after May 6th anyway.

It’s really inspiring hearing everyones interpretation of the brief and I am amazed by the variety and quality the of entries. I’m not sure how i’m going to be able to pick a winner - if you have any thoughts please feel free to post a comment.

Click HERE to enter or listen to the entries.

Keep them coming!

Leafcutter John.

Off to the depths of the Swedish Forest. Box Project 2.

Friday, April 17th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

On Monday I’m going away to Sweden to record an album in 3 days. I don’t know if it’s possible but it’s an irresistable challenge, especially for someone who has spent the last year struggling and for the most part failing to write his own album.

The Box Project is the brain child of an English writer now living in Denmark named Philip. His idea is simple. Get a group of musicians together and have them record and album in 2-3 days. No discussion on the music takes place before the recording. He organises the logistics and the musicians take care of the music.

The recording will take place 20th > 23rd April at Silence (pictured) which is the most wonderful recording studio I have ever been to. It’s set in the middle of a massive forest in Sweeden and feels quite isolated. I worked there with the Danish band Under Byen a few years ago and I fell in love with the place and it’s inspiring engineer Anders Lind. I can’t wait to return.

The musicians I’ll be working with are:

Ståle Storløkken - keyboards/ electronics

Ståle Storløkken is a member of Supersilent, Elephant9, and Humcrush. He’s worked in a host of improvised settings with Terje Rypdal, Audun Kleive, Terje Isungset, amongst others.

Morgan Ågren - drums

Morgan Ågren plays with Mats/Morgan band and over the years with Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Glenn Hughes, Flesh Quartet, and Frederik Thordendal of Meshuggah.

Lucy Railton - Cello

Lucy has played with a wide rage of musicians and organises the very successful ‘Kammer Klang’ nights in London.

I’ll be using my Max/MSP patches and using any thing I can find as a sound source, I’ll let you know how it turns out….

Take care,

Leafcutter John.

Tags: Box Project

Leafcutter John, Room of Katinas, Magic Lantern tonight Cafe Oto, London

Monday, April 6th, 2009 | Live Shows | No Comments

...

Super short notice this, but I wanted to let you know that I’ll be playing a special set tonight at Cafe Oto. I’ve been billed as playing new material, but due to an unremitting case of writers block I don’t actually have any new material. So I’ve decided that all the songs will be improvised in response to written questions submitted by the audience (audience willing), I’ll be joined by fellow Polar Bear Seb on Drums.

Also Playing:

Room of Katinas (Seb again - and very beautiful music)

The Magic Lantern - Looking forward to seeing this.

From 8:30pm Mon 6th April 09, Cafe Oto, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL.

£6.

Love,

Leafcutter John x.

More Remix Comp mixes now up…

Monday, March 30th, 2009 | Micro-Song, remix | No Comments

Yep the remixes are coming thick and fast, I’m impressed by the quality and the speed at which you managed to make them!

I’ve not had chance to really listen to them yet as i’m still on tour and have been in the back of a van for 98% of the last week.

All the mixes are at the end of THIS post!

If you’d like to make a mix you have until 30th April to submit it - details in download pack.

Take care,

Leafcutter John.

Tags: big black eyes, competition, leafcutter john, remix

Leafcutter John Remix Competition now open!

Monday, March 23rd, 2009 | Micro-Song, remix | 17 Comments

Post this on your website!

Just before I head out on tour with Polar Bear I want to let you know that the files are now up for the Remix Competition.

Included in the download you’ll find all the stems from the MicroSong ‘Big Black Eyes’
They are encoded as good quality MP3’s.

Your job is to make a fantastic remix using whatever tools are at your disposal.

There are a few simple rules:

1. You have until 30th April to complete your Remix and send it to me in MP3 form. There are no restrictions on style. The email address to send your entry is included with the download package. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT SEND: AIFF, WAV, or an uncompressed files!

2. You may add your own sound sources but please retain some of the originals or it’s not really a re-mix is it? You may chop, mangle, distress, sew, dilute, boil down amongst other treatments.

3. There will be one winner chosen by Leafcutter John and the winner will receive a very special prize, or a CD or something not too difficult to post. Winners will be announced as soon as possible after all the entries have been heard.

Depending on how many entries we get, we’ll try and put all the remixes up at leafcutterjohn.com

Because I’d like to see a lot of cool entries please spread the word far and wide, if you’d like to add the flyer just paste the following code into your website. As Dan has correctly pointed out the following code will only work of you re-type all the inverted commas - sorry can’t sort this out right now.

I did a project like this years ago and the response was amazing - get going you have just over a month!

Best of luck,

Leafcutter John.

Click below to hear the original, also read why I made this song.

DOWNLOAD FILES

kindly sponsored by: Highpoint Lowlife Records

Bluermutt Mix

Submitted Mixes:

First remix is in! 11 hours after posting the stems!

Kendal Mintcake mix…

Rotted Karma Mix

Vertical67 Mix