tag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:/blogs/2016?p=220162022-04-17T04:19:07-07:00darren francisfalsetag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066962016-12-22T16:00:00-08:002016-12-28T21:25:50-08:00Unknown Pleasures # 5
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I've never liked the notion of “guilty pleasures”, especially when applied to music. It implies a snobbery, not merely that one's taste is too refined to enjoy such base things but that one is superior to those who do. That it's usually used to talk about music that is very popular doesn't help matters either.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It was for these reasons that I named this series of posts “Unknown” rather than “Guilty” “Pleasures”, although some people might classify them as the latter. Of course, the former's association with one of my most-loved bands also steered my hand.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"> </p>
<p> </p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/joh37lrvf-s" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="560" allowfullscreen="" class="wrapped wrapped"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066952016-11-05T17:00:00-07:002016-11-05T21:08:42-07:00Nexus [v.iv]
<p>I've revised the <a href="https://darrenfrancis.bandcamp.com/album/nexus" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>Nexus</strong></a> track listing to include tracks from my recently released album <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>:-</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">01. <strong>He Knows The Use Of Ashes</strong> (3:56)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">02. <strong>4581 Asclepius</strong> (2:29)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">03. <strong>Calm Like Agent Insects</strong> (2:31)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">04. <strong>Black Olives</strong> (4:02)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">05. <strong>The Sound</strong> (3:13)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">06. <strong>Fissure King</strong> (6:11)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">07. <strong>The Puppet Has No Master</strong> (3:17)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">08. <strong>God, Love, Money & Other Snares</strong> (4:47)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">09. <strong>White Noiz</strong> (0:51)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">10. <strong>1995 [The Empire Never Ended]</strong> (1:42)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">11. <strong>Waverer</strong> (1:24)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">12. <strong>Scarecrow</strong> (6:49)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">13. <strong>Signifying Mother</strong> (2:05)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">14. <strong>1969 & Nowhere</strong> (2:43)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">15. <strong>The Hills Are Alive</strong> (5:48)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">16. <strong>I Left Her In Xibalba</strong> (2:16)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">17. <strong>Here To Here</strong> (2:25)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">18. <strong>The Ten Thousand Ontological Uses Of The Word 'Fuck'</strong> (2:22)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">19. <strong>Cygnusolar</strong> (2:41)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">20. <strong>Hometime</strong> (1:30)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">21. <strong>Three Days</strong> (1:28)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">22. <strong>K & I [Panthalassa Shoreline]</strong> (3:17)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">23. <strong>Sandman</strong> (2:28)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">24. <strong>West Ramona Spiders</strong> (1:22)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">25. <strong>Her Constellation</strong> (3:35)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Black Olives</strong>, <strong>Fissure King</strong>, <strong>God, Love, Money & Other Snares</strong>, <strong>Scarecrow</strong>, The Hills Are Alive, are taken from my album <strong>God Thing</strong>.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>4581 Asclepius</strong>, <strong>The Puppet Has No Master</strong>, <strong>1995 [The Empire Never Ended]</strong>, <strong>Cygnusolar</strong>, <strong>K & I [Panthalassa Shoreline]</strong>, <strong>Her Constellation</strong>, are taken from my album <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Here To Here</strong> is taken from my album <strong>Uforia</strong>.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Calm Like Agent Insects</strong>, <strong>Waverer</strong>, <strong>1969 & Nowhere</strong>, <strong>I Left Her In Xibalba</strong>, <strong>Three Days</strong>, are taken from my album <strong>Open The Dog</strong>.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>White Noiz</strong>, <strong>Signifying Mother</strong>, <strong>The Ten Thousand Ontological Uses Of The Word 'Fuck'</strong>, <strong>Hometime</strong>, <strong>Sandman</strong>, <strong>West Ramona Spiders</strong>, are taken from my album <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>He Knows The Use Of Ashes</strong>, <strong>The Sound</strong>, could perhaps be considered 'bonus tracks'; both are previously unreleased, and taken from my in-progress album <strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong>.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>Across The Sea Of Suns</strong> - Gregory Benford</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening: <strong>Luminous Darkness</strong> - Cyclobe</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently playing: <strong>The Elder Scrolls Online</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066942016-10-27T17:00:00-07:002016-10-28T07:41:16-07:00Left At The Luna Mansion album update
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/43c8a0b52182580ee11bad9f0ca62e86e767ace0/original/luna-500.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDQwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="400" width="400" />My album Left At The Luna Mansion will be released on 31 October 2016. Here's the track listing:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>01: <strong>Ra Hide Away</strong> (1.28)</p>
<p>02: <strong>A Pocketful Of Bullets</strong> (1.10)</p>
<p>03: <strong>Bass Strings</strong> (1.10)</p>
<p>04: <strong>White Noiz</strong> (0.51)</p>
<p>05: <strong>Buddha's Mistake</strong> (1.23)</p>
<p>06: <strong>Coelacanth</strong> (1.47)</p>
<p>07: <strong>Signifying Mother</strong> (2.05)</p>
<p>08: <strong>The Books I Haven't Read</strong> (1.35)</p>
<p>09: <strong>Klaxons</strong> (0.41)</p>
<p>10: <strong>The Ten Thousand Ontological Use Of The Word 'Fuck'</strong> (2.22)</p>
<p>11: <strong>Hometime</strong> (1.31)</p>
<p>12: <strong>You Cannot Wait While In The Air</strong> (1.53)</p>
<p>13: <strong>Bone Thing</strong> (1.13)</p>
<p>14: <strong>Rebis</strong> (1.18)</p>
<p>15:<strong> Ahh Bitte</strong> (2.25)</p>
<p>16: <strong>Sandman</strong> (2.29)</p>
<p>17: <strong>West Ramona Spiders</strong> (1.23)</p>
<p>18: <strong>Heavy Peace</strong> (2.00)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Terror In The Name Of God: Why Religious Militants Kill</strong> - Jessica Stern</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Tim Buckley</strong> - Tim Buckley</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066932016-10-19T17:00:00-07:002016-10-20T09:53:11-07:00Unknown Pleasures # 4
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">[<em>I know I have a bit of a reputation - in terms of music taste - for loving dodgy goth shite, wayward industrial dins, self-hacking soundtracks, and guitar-based songs with vocals the depths of which you need a bathysphere to penetrate; this occasional series presents music I love very much despite what you may expect.</em>]</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p></p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BXCCv5ngyI0" width="560" allowfullscreen="" class="wrapped wrapped"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Like most guys my age, I had something of a crush on <strong>Alanis Morisette</strong> when this album was released. She reminded me a lot of my taste in girlfriends. Long dark hair, cute and kooky, passionate about life but scatty to hell. I owned this album at one point. And – perhaps like said girlfriends – I adored parts of it but couldn't be doing with the rest. <strong>All I Really Want</strong> was my favourite track; I could happily fall in love with and shack up with the <strong>Alanis</strong> who sings that song. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is rather dreary – a couple of other tracks aside (for example, <strong>You Oughta Know</strong>, <strong>Hand In My Pocket</strong>) – and perhaps give an indication of how that relationship would turn out. As indeed, did many of mine.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening: <strong>After Bathing At Baxter's</strong> - Jefferson Airplane</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>Solaris</strong> - Stanislaw Lem</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066922016-09-30T17:00:00-07:002016-10-07T23:33:53-07:00Open The Dog / Nexus
<p>After a brief delay, my album <strong>Open The Dog</strong> is now available to download; you can stream and / or download on the album's dedicated page on this site <a href="/open-the-dog" data-imported="1" data-link-type="page">here</a>. I've also updated the <a href="/nexus" target="_blank" data-imported="1" data-link-type="page"><strong>Nexus</strong></a> track listing to include a selection of tracks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading:<strong> Big Sur</strong> - Jack Kerouac</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Phaedra</strong> - Tangerine Dream</p>
<p>Currently playing:<strong> The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066912016-09-19T17:00:00-07:002016-09-20T09:16:41-07:00Open The Dog album update
<p>Unfortunately my new album <strong>Open The Dog</strong> has been delayed due to the demise of my laptop hard drive. I hope to finalise it this coming weekend. In the meantime, here are two further preliminary mixes of tracks recently posted to my <a href="https://soundcloud.com/darrenfrancis" target="_blank" data-imported="1">soundcloud</a> page.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/282945946&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/283398367&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Blood Year: Islamic State & The Failures Of The War On Terror</strong> - David Kilcullen</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>The Leon Suites</strong> - David Bowie</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066902016-09-13T17:00:00-07:002016-09-20T08:58:51-07:00Last
<p>A short text of mine named <strong>Last</strong> has been published in the September 2016 edition of <strong>Moonglasses Magazine</strong>. Go <a href="http://www.moonglassesmag.com/darren-francis-last" target="_blank" data-imported="1">here</a> to read it. I have already recorded a spoken-with-music version of this piece, which is scheduled to appear on my forthcoming <strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong> album.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Open The Dog</strong> - Darren Francis (over and over; finishing the mix)</p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>The Lost Weekend</strong> - Charles Jackson</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066892016-09-10T17:00:00-07:002016-09-10T18:56:41-07:00Open The Dog
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/bfb0f72b8b273b5082041c6d17736e9c384ae8e4/original/open-the-dog.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDQwMiJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="402" width="400" />My next spoken word album, named <strong>Open The Dog</strong>, will be released on 21 September 2016. Here's the track listing:-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>01: <strong>Glowworms</strong> (0.57)</p>
<p>02:<strong> Calm Like Agent Insects</strong> (2.31)</p>
<p>03: <strong>Cycler # 1</strong> (1.07)</p>
<p>04: <strong>Closer</strong> (4.17)</p>
<p>05: <strong>1969 & Nowhere</strong> (2.41)</p>
<p>06: <strong>Cycler # 2</strong> (1.29)</p>
<p>07; <strong>I Left Her In Xibalba</strong> (2.15)</p>
<p>08: <strong>Cycler # 3</strong> (1.04)</p>
<p>09: <strong>Three Days</strong> (1.51)</p>
<p>10: <strong>Tell The Bees</strong> (2.02)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All tracks were created in the first two weeks of September 2016 and comprise only voice and acoustic guitar. As such the album has a sparseness and brief fragility to it which reminds me of <strong>Nick Drake</strong>'s <strong>Pink Moon</strong>. Track timings are approximate, and may change once I finalise the mix.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'll post a more substantive update closer to the time of release. In the meantime here's a preview of one of the tracks, posted to my <a href="https://soundcloud.com/darrenfrancis" data-imported="1"><strong>soundcloud</strong></a> page:-</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/282352572&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>The New Middle East: The World After Arab Spring</strong> - Paul Danhar</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Dust</strong> - Peter Murphy</p>
<p>Currently playing: <strong>Resident Evil Revelations 2</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066872016-08-17T17:00:00-07:002016-09-04T00:32:37-07:00Her Constellation
<p>The final track from my album <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>.</p>
<p> <iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=14487078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=987075617/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">all matter is bones</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">of dead demons</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">every time has</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">already happened</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">all deed she do</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is echo; aftershock</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">we are just</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">passing through</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">no breath of god</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">but us</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">we kiss against sidereal</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">couple in space of reason</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">which asterism</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">shape we?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">what starllit stitch</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">through black grass?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i don't miss her</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i miss myself</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">the once i was</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">she made me</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">slippery heat</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">of memory</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">electric din</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">of what we were</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">we feathered ghosts</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">how we moved</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">what binary spin</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">gave we</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">set to side</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">turned to drift</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">in search of</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her constellation</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">sheared night</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">torn breath</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">taut hands</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">blush skin</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">no further words</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">are wanted</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This dates from early 2015 (except for the last two sections, which were written April 2014). Though I don't consider it a particularly difficult text to decipher, the reader is invited to note that the 'she' herein is not necessarily a universal she and to also note the varying use of 'she'/'her' and 'you' throughout the <strong>Future Ghosts</strong> text; in each case this is deliberate, referring to two separate people.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>The End Of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created A War Without End</strong> - Peter W Galbraith</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening: <strong>The Head On The Door</strong> - The Cure</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently playing: <strong>Resident Evil Revelations 2</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066862016-08-05T17:00:00-07:002016-08-05T21:57:18-07:00Circulating EP
<p>My new EP Circulating is available to download on a free (or pay what you want if you're feeling generous!) basis. It contains three tracks; an edited version of the track <strong>Circulating</strong> from my album <strong>Uforia</strong>, a remix by <strong>Manmademan</strong> of the track <strong>Will I Dream</strong>, which originally appeared on <strong>God Thing</strong>, and <strong>Outerlude</strong>, an extended instrumental version of the various <strong>Interlude</strong> tracks from <strong>Uforia</strong>. Stream or download below.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1243202844/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Ego:X</strong> - Diary Of Dreams</p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Jihad Academy: The Misperceptions Of Islamic State And Their Consequences</strong> - Nicholas Henin</p>
<p>Currently playing: <strong>Far Cry 3</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066852016-07-31T17:00:00-07:002016-08-04T14:28:07-07:00K & I [Panthalassa Shoreline]
<p>Track 13 of <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=14487078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1217645875/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">ma matter</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">give me moonmilk</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">hollow hill</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">faer melody</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">are no gods left</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">to hear me?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is pick and pit</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">all mere remain?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is upturned grove</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">all wait you?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">hack pen</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">bled sound</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">strip moon</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">curves weight</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">drips word</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">drops field</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">grass rent</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">bass tripped</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">your slight</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">spent breath</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">uncount</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">dead stars</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">there is only</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">rap tap rap</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">racket of</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">ineffable</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">knocking on</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">your inoculated ear</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This was written 9 August 2014 (part 2) and September 2014 (parts 1 and 3) and I don't consider it a particularly difficult text to decipher. Part 2 was written while with my friend Keith Donovan - the 'K' of the title - at the tail-end of a heady weekend in Wilts. The line 'hack pen' alludes to Hackpen Hill, one of my favourite parts of that county.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>Failing Intelligence: The True Story Of How We Were Fooled Into Going To War In Iraq</strong> - Brian Jones</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening:<strong> Twisted</strong> - Hallucinogen</p>
<p>Currently playing: <strong>Layers Of Fear</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066722016-07-16T17:00:00-07:002016-07-16T21:42:40-07:00Where We Circle
<p>Track 12 of future Ghosts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=14487078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1466479690/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">black dogs and mental pills</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">seasons in the sun</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">pentagram a gift of me</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">a zero on my tongue</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">silbury have a light for me?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">got took away my moon</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">sea and tree are me i know</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i quit that split too soon</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There's little I would add regarding this one, save that the text was written Summer 2014. The first half concerns making crop circles, the second half a desire for connection with, and sense of dislocation from, nature (this being a theme continued, and elaborated on, in K & I [Panthalassa Shoreline]). 'Silbury' is of course Silbury Hill, near Avebury, Wiltshire.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Tilt</strong> - Scott Walker</p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Surviving Hitler: Corruption And Compromise In In The Third Reich</strong> - Adam Lebor and Roger Boyes</p>
<p>Currently playing: <strong>Resident Evil Revelations</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066842016-07-02T17:00:00-07:002016-07-03T22:24:07-07:00Unlikely Stories
<p>Three short texts of mine have been published over at <a href="http://www.unlikelystories.org" data-imported="1"><strong>Unlikely Stories</strong></a>. Read them <a href="http://www.unlikelystories.org/content/buddhas-mistake-the-mystery-trend-and-alec-station" data-imported="1">here</a>. They are: <strong>Buddha's Mistake</strong>, <strong>Alec Station,</strong> and <strong>The Mystery Trend</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Buddha's Mistake</strong> is taken from my forthcoming album <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> (you can also hear the <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> version of that track there, exclusive to that site for now). <strong>Alec Station</strong> and <strong>The Mystery Trend</strong> are versions-in-progress of <strong>Hate Ashbury</strong> texts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>The Storm Of War: A New History of The Second World War</strong> - Andrew Roberts</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Smoke & Mirrors</strong> - The Eden House</p>
<p>Currently playing: <strong>Borderlands 2</strong></p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066692016-06-25T17:00:00-07:002016-06-25T17:15:18-07:00Black Stars Will Have Their Season
<p>Back to my track-by-track look at <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>; I'm determined to finish this now I started it, three more to go after this...</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=14487078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=594127971/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">mind on fire</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">a lattice of light</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">a seething blank</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">not that</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">not this</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">not then</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i point to point</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">to teeming</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">nowhere</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">no mine</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">no lock</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">no reason</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">seed nihil nil</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">in mire of</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">even black stars have their season</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The text was written Summer 2014, in the midst of one of my mental breakdowns (breaksdown?) and - with that in mind - doesn't require much explanation, in my view. The 'music' contains elements of two <strong>Logos</strong> tracks, <strong>Hypoboy</strong> from <a href="https://logosnexus.bandcamp.com/album/shamania" data-imported="1"><strong>Shamania</strong></a>, and <strong>Fire Of The Mind</strong>. <strong>Fire Of The Mind</strong> remains unreleased, though was re-used in part on the <strong>Logos</strong> track <strong>The Looming Tower</strong>, which appears on our album <a href="https://logosnexus.bandcamp.com/album/chasing-a-thread-that-has-no-end" data-imported="1"><strong>Chasing A Thread That Has No End</strong></a>.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>Why We Lost</strong> - Daniel P Bolger (still; it's a very thick book...)</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening: <strong>No Redemption</strong> - Combichrist</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066832016-06-22T17:00:00-07:002016-06-23T07:22:06-07:00Lunar Tunes
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/10ee0adea45b676dfd23a65a8df830e2a813b29c/original/lunartunes-400.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDQwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="400" width="400" />My band <strong>Logos</strong> have a track on the forthcoming album <strong>Lunar Tunes</strong>, which is a split artist ambient/dark ambient release in homage to the moon, which also features music by <strong>Uncertain</strong>, <strong>The Plague Doctors</strong>, and <strong>Elves</strong>. <strong>Logos</strong>' contribution is a new 18 minute track named <strong>Selenites</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The album should be available for download imminently on a 'free or pay what you want' basis; I'll update this post once the download link is live.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Why We Lost: A General's Inside Account Of The Iraq And Afghanistan Wars</strong> - Daniel P Bolger</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Lunar Tunes</strong> - Logos / Uncertain / The Plague Doctors / Elves</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066812016-06-11T17:00:00-07:002016-07-26T22:03:03-07:00Free Books
<p>I now have a profile on the <a href="https://openbooks.com/users/darren-francis" data-imported="1"><strong>Open Books</strong></a> site, where you can download my book <a href="https://openbooks.com/books/860-jack-palmer-the-unspeakable-thing" data-imported="1"><strong>Jack Palmer & The Unspeakable Thing</strong></a> (co-written with my friend <strong>Simon Lewis</strong>) on a 'pay what you want' basis (and yes, for free if you wish). I'd ask that if you do download it, to please consider leaving a review.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In other news, I have three texts due for publication on <a href="http://www.UnlikelyStories.org/" data-imported="1"><strong>Unlikely Stories</strong></a> next weekend; I'll be making a separate post regarding this anon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Black Flags: The Rise Of Isis</strong> - Joby Warwick</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>The Glowing Man</strong> - Swans</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066772016-05-27T17:00:00-07:002016-05-31T07:26:50-07:00Nexus [v.ii]
<p>I've updated the track listing of my free 'sampler' album <strong>Nexus</strong> to include a couple of tracks from my recently released album <strong>Uforia</strong>. <strong>Uforia</strong> also now has its own dedicated page on <a href="/uforia" target="_blank" data-imported="1" data-link-type="page">this site</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=36455857/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0px none; width: 400px; height: 472px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>In behind-the-scenes news, the spoken-with-music album <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> is now completely finished and I'll be setting a release date anon, to be announced in a future blog post. Work progresses on <strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong>; I've recorded all the vocal tracks and am currently setting them to music. Musically this album is similar to <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> but more complex and layered. I'm also some way through writing the text for a completely new album, and have been finalising the text of my novel <strong>Belong</strong>. Once a couple of these projects are out of the way I'll be returning to the next <strong>Logos</strong> album, <strong>At The Core Of Each Star</strong>, the fifth 'Logos album proper' discounting the remix and compilation albums <strong>Everything Under The Sky</strong> and <strong>Chasing A Thread That Has No End</strong>. Please ensure you keep an eye on this blog, or join my email list, for further updates.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>The Zone Of Interest</strong> - Martin Amis</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Blowback</strong> - Tricky</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066742016-05-16T17:00:00-07:002016-05-18T07:35:28-07:00Exit Earth Now!
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Exit earth! My spoken word-with-music album <strong>Uforia</strong> is out now. Alien abduction mythologies, ufos, crop circles, trance beats, industrial drone, ambient tone; what more do you need? Free (or donation if you're feeling generous!) download.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2705003506/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 400px; height: 406px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>Songs Of Innocence & Experience</strong> - William Blake</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Curently listening: <strong>The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser</strong> - Rob Zombie</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066752016-05-11T17:00:00-07:002016-05-12T10:30:44-07:00Here To Here
<p><strong>Uforia</strong> will be ready for release in the next few days. In the meantime, I've posted another of its tracks to <a href="https://soundcloud.com/darrenfrancis" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>soundcloud</strong></a>:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/263489608&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Hunting Season: The Execution of James Foley, Islamic State, and the Real Story of the Kidnapping Campaign that Started A War</strong> - James Harkin</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Spacing Out: The Music of Raspberry Parade</strong> - Raspberry Parade</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066672016-05-04T17:00:00-07:002016-05-05T09:15:00-07:00Across The Margin
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/2fd6ebff1a3fd68957abdb0708d485e638fe6a12/original/frances12-570x456.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDMyMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="320" width="400" />Four short texts by me - <strong>Bird #54</strong>, <strong>Ahh Bitte</strong>, <strong>West Ramona Spiders</strong>, and <strong>Sandman</strong>, have been published over at <a href="http://acrossthemargin.com" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>Across The Margin</strong></a>. Go <a href="http://acrossthemargin.com/darrenfrances/" target="_blank" data-imported="1">here</a> to read them. I love their description of my work; "UK poet and musician <strong>Darren Francis</strong>’ poems explode with thoughts interrupted, images colliding, experience rendered into microns, reflections and wily juxtapositions, all processed through a diction unwilling to sit still and explain itself." I'm also very fond of the image they've used to accompany my texts (and which I've borrowed; see to the right of this paragraph). My thanks to <strong>Across The Margin</strong>, and their poetry editor <strong>Richard Roundy</strong>, for featuring my work. </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>West Ramona Spiders</strong>, <strong>Sandman</strong>, and <strong>Ahh Bitte</strong>, will all appear in spoken-with-music form on my forthcoming album <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>. As I've mentioned previously, <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> is already recorded and mixed and I'll be setting a release date in due course. <strong>Bird # 54</strong> will likely appear, also in spoken-with-music form, on my oft-mentioned and still in flux album <strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong>, which will also likely release later this year.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda</strong> - Peter Bergen</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening: <strong>Revolution</strong> - Lacrimosa</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066642016-04-29T17:00:00-07:002022-02-17T02:27:06-08:00Uforia
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/807a94cf7714e880ff1958e6fd54687d911fd832/original/uforia-cometary.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDQwMSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="401" width="400" />I said in my last post that, in lieu of the release of <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>, I'd be putting out another spoken with-music album in its place (and not one that was mentioned in my <strong>Memories of Tomorrow</strong> January blog post, in which I outlined my up and coming projects; though I did say there that other things would likely sneak in unnanounced and under the wire).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The new album is named <strong>Uforia</strong>. Here's the track listing:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>01: <strong>Uforia</strong></p>
<p>02: <strong>Binary</strong></p>
<p>03: <strong>Ancient Sands [interlude # 1]<br></strong></p>
<p>04: <strong>Circulating</strong></p>
<p>05: <strong>Aeon This [interlude # 2]<br></strong></p>
<p>06: <strong>Red Room</strong></p>
<p>07: <strong>Exit Earth [interlude # 3]<br></strong></p>
<p>08: <strong>Here To Here</strong> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Voice / text on all tracks: <strong>Darren Francis</strong></p>
<p>Music: <strong>Darren Francis</strong>, except: <strong>Binary</strong>, music by <strong>Logos</strong>; <strong>Circulating</strong>, music by <strong>Manmademan</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I've mentioned previously on this blog that, at the time I was recording the <strong>God Thing</strong> album, I toyed with the idea of doing a spoken-with-music version of <strong>Spell</strong>. I completed <strong>Binary</strong>, and demo sketches of <strong>Red Room</strong> and <strong>Circulating</strong>, but that's as far as it got. <strong>Uforia</strong> is kinda that album, but not really. Round about when I wrote <strong>Circulating</strong>, I was working on a book exploring contemporary and historical mythologies of contact with and intervention by non-human intelligences and entities. That book would have been titled <strong>Uforia</strong>, and consist of separate but interlinked texts, each a self-contained story in itself but all interconnected in terms of characters, overlappying narratives, and themes. I sketched out a dozen or so chapters, and finished a few, but ultimately abandoned it. Why? In large part because many of the texts were too similar, not distinct enough to stand out on their own merits. <strong>Red Room</strong>, <strong>Binary</strong>, and <strong>Circulating</strong> were all intended for this book, as were the text fragments which appear on the <strong>Uforia</strong> album as interludes. Will I ever pick this book up again and write the rest of it? I don't plan to, but you never can tell. In the meantime, the <strong>Uforia</strong> album serves as an adequate enough snapshot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'll put up another post shortly, once the album is available for download. In the meantime, here's a sample track:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/261865783&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate</strong> - Abdel Bari Atwan</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Collapse</strong> - Drew McDowall</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066622016-04-19T17:00:00-07:002016-04-20T09:25:14-07:00Left At The Luna Mansion update
<p>I hadn't mentioned it before as I didn't want it to get in the way of my various <strong>Nexus</strong> posts, but I finished a provisional mix of <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> in mid-March. I had planned to put this album out in late April / early May, though this has been temporarily put on hold as a number of the texts are due to be published in different literary journals, so it'll release after the publication of those. I do however intend to release another album in its place, and will post full details of that anon. In the meantime, here's a previously unheard <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong> track that I recently posted to my <strong>soundcloud</strong> page:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/258159438&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq</strong> - Thomas E Ricks</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Tomorrow's Harvest</strong> - Boards Of Canada</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066592016-03-30T17:00:00-07:002021-04-13T00:07:24-07:00Logos Nexus
<p>A slightly belated entry; the <strong>Logos</strong> compilation album <strong>Nexus</strong> was released on 21 March 2016, and is available as a free download.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4184197799/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 400px; height: 373px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p>The track listing has changed a little since my 13 March post; rather than the scattered selection we'd originally chosen, we thought it more appropriate to ensure we include a track from every<strong> Logos</strong> album. We've released six albums so far, quite disparate in style, and totalling almost eight hours of music. Hopefully the <strong>Nexus</strong> tracks will encourage the listener to delve further into the <strong>Logos</strong> cannon; it is after all primarily intended as a 'sampler' and introduction for those unfamiliar with <strong>Logos</strong> and with what we do. Partly by way of a bonus for those who already have the original albums, we've also included a track from our in-progress album <strong>At The Core Of Each Star</strong>, which will be finished and released later this year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Currently reading: <strong>Isis: The State Of Terror</strong> - Jessica Stern & J M Berger</p>
<p>Currently listening: <strong>Thunderhead</strong> - AirScuplture</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066572016-03-20T17:00:00-07:002016-03-21T08:42:07-07:00nexus
<p>My album <strong>Nexus</strong> is now available for streaming / download; please see below. I'll be adding a separate page to this site regarding <strong>Nexus</strong> shortly; in the meantime, you can find full details in my <a href="http://darrenfrancis.co.uk/2016/nexus__nexus/" data-imported="1">March 13 blog post</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=36455857/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 400px; height: 472px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Currently reading:</strong> <em>A Maze Of Death</em> - Philip K Dick (still; although it's a very slim book, I've not had much time for reading over the last few days)</p>
<p><strong>Currently listening:</strong> <em>Climate Of Hunter</em> - Scott Walker</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066562016-03-17T17:00:00-07:002016-03-19T13:56:02-07:00Nexus update
<p>My album <strong>Nexus</strong>, outlined in my previous post, is ready to go. Exercises like this, in taking tracks from different releases and sequencing them together, are seldom as straightforward as one might assume. One thing I realised in particular was how much louder the <strong>God Thing</strong> mix was compared to <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>. I've learned a lot about music-making, and mixing in particular, since I created <strong>God Thing</strong> back in 2009/2010, and have taken the opportunity not only to adjust the <strong>God Thing</strong> tracks so that they sit better next to <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>, but also to give the whole <strong>God Thing</strong> album a mix tweak. Nothing in the tracks themselves has been changed, but the whole mix sounds a lot smoother now to my ears at least, less jarring, less elements competing with each other for volume. I think it sounds a lot better. I've replaced the version of the album on my <a href="https://darrenfrancis.bandcamp.com/album/god-thing" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>bandcamp</strong> </a>page with the new one. If you've previously downloaded <strong>God Thing</strong>, you may want to download it again (or, or course, you may like it fine just the way it is; up to you).</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Nexus</strong> will be available to download on 21 March. I'll post another update once it's out there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Currently reading:</strong> <em>A Maze Of Death</em> - Philip K Dick (taking a break from Islamic State, and from The Third Reich; there's only so much you can read about those subjects in one go before utter despair at humanity sets in, and both have dominated my reading material in the last six months or so).</p>
<p><strong>Currently listening:</strong> <em>Nexus</em> final mix</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066542016-03-12T16:00:00-08:002016-03-13T13:50:37-07:00Nexus / Nexus
<p>On 21 March I'll be releasing two albums, one spoken word and one by <strong>Logos</strong>. Just to thoroughly confuse matters, both will be named <strong>Nexus</strong>, and both will be compilations; in <strong>Logos</strong>' case collecting tracks from all previous albums, and in the <strong>Darren Francis</strong> case, collecting tracks from <strong>God Thing</strong> and <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>, along with two prevously unreleased pieces. Both will be free to download.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>These albums have the same name as they have the same purpose. They are intended as an introduction to my work for the uninitiated. They will also be ever-evolving; as and when I release future albums, I'll periodically update the <strong>Nexus</strong> track content. Here are the current track listings:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Darren Francis - Nexus</strong></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/1e991c35f8adcfa1946cbc549073a3e86d10cc73/original/dfnewpic1.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzUweDM1OCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="358" width="350" />01: <strong>He Knows The Use Of Ashes</strong></p>
<p>02: <strong>The Sound</strong></p>
<p>03: <strong>4581 Asclepius</strong></p>
<p>04: <strong>Black Olives</strong></p>
<p>05: <strong>Fissure King</strong></p>
<p>06: <strong>The Puppet Has No Master</strong></p>
<p>07: <strong>God, Love, Money, & Other Snares</strong></p>
<p>08: <strong>1995 [The Empire Never Ended]</strong></p>
<p>09: <strong>Will I Dream</strong></p>
<p>10: <strong>The Movements Of All Mankind</strong></p>
<p>11:<strong> Scarecrow</strong></p>
<p>12: <strong>Cygnusolar</strong></p>
<p>13: <strong>Black Stars Will Have Their Season</strong></p>
<p>14: <strong>K & I [Panthalassa Shoreline]</strong></p>
<p>15: <strong>The Hills Are Alive</strong></p>
<p>16: <strong>Her Constellation</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>4581 Asclepius</strong>, <strong>The Puppet Has No Master</strong>, <strong>1995 [The Empire Never Ended]</strong>, <strong>The Movements Of All Mankind</strong>, <strong>Cygnusolar</strong>, <strong>Black Stars Will Have Their Season</strong>, <strong>K & I[Panthalassa Shoreline]</strong>, <strong>Her Constellation</strong>, are taken from the album <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Black Olives</strong>, <strong>Fissure King</strong>, <strong>God, Love, Money & Other Snares</strong>, <strong>Will I Dream</strong>, <strong>Scarecrow</strong>, <strong>The Hills Are Alive</strong>, are taken from the album <strong>God Thing</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>He Knows The Use Of Ashes</strong>, <strong>The Sound</strong>, are both previously unreleased, and taken from my in-progress album <strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong>, which I anticipate will be finished later this year. Early versions of both appeared on my <a href="https://soundcloud.com/darrenfrancis" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>soundcloud</strong></a> page a while back, though I've tidied up the mixes since for their inclusion on <strong>Nexus</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's the <strong>Logos</strong> track listing:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Logos - Nexus</strong></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/e1e0ccd0b1b51047e74117fc1a793c128cac779a/original/freecover.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzUweDM1MCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="350" width="350" />01: <strong>Everybody Gets Elves</strong></p>
<p>02: <strong>Santa Susana Blues</strong></p>
<p>03: <strong>Shamania [Solstice Prologue]</strong></p>
<p>04: <strong>To Please The Moon</strong></p>
<p>05: <strong>Hungry Knife</strong></p>
<p>06: <strong>Hypogirl</strong></p>
<p>07: <strong>Do You Love?</strong></p>
<p>08: <strong>Gehenna Now [2015]</strong></p>
<p>09: <strong>Hollow Hills Of London</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was a very difficult listing to compile, since some of my favourite <strong>Logos</strong> tracks are rather long and I had set a fixed running time for the album (80 minutes, enough to burn to a single CD). Hopefully it will encourage listeners to delve further into <strong>Logos</strong>' back catalogue; there's about eight hours of music there in all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'll post an update once both albums are available. As mentioned above, both are intended as 'samplers' of my work and will be free to download.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Currently reading:</strong> <em>Empire Of Fear: Inside The Islamic State</em> - Andrew Hosken (which isn't as good as the Jason Burke book on the same subject mentioned in my previous post, which is excellent and much recommended. I find Hosken, though readable, rather simple in style and prone to sensationalism in comparison).</p>
<p><strong>Currently listening:</strong> <em>Exploring The Psychedelic</em> - Liquid Sound Company</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066482016-03-11T16:00:00-08:002016-03-12T10:08:32-08:00A Soundcloud Annoyance
<p>Just a quick note to say that I've noticed some of my soundcloud track widgets on this blog don't load properly. My apologies; I'll look into it anon, and if necessary redo the HTML or reload the tracks or use a different site for them. Several of my musician friends have also mentioned problems with soundcloud, so I may have to opt for the latter options.</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066462016-03-07T16:00:00-08:002016-03-19T14:11:55-07:00"Of course we don't pay you; you pay us."
<p>I've been submitting more of my work to literary journals, and have noticed a rather depressing trend creeping in; some journals charging a fee for submissions. So not only are writers scarce-compensated for their work, they are now expected to pay for the privilege of merely being considered. The issue of writers, musicians, and artists struggling not just to make a living from their creations but even to cover their own costs is a longstanding one, and I don't intend to rehearse it again here, save to repeat the old adage that one doesn't call a plummer or car mechanic to one's house, have them do the work then say one won't be paying them as the "experience" and "publicity" and "getting their name out there" should be sufficient.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm pragmatic enough to realise that markets ain't what they used to be, and that my work in particular is seldom "mainsteam". That said, I have been published in numerous journals, both in print and online, and have on occasion been paid for my contributions. This is how it should be, but not how it ever uniformly will. I'm a realist; I understand that. But the last thing I'll do is pay journals to even read my writing on the off-chance they may like it and want to use it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There are a lot of writers out there who want to see their work published. For a few years back in the 1990s I did editorial for a print journal - one which, incidentally, didn't charge a fee and did pay its contributors - and waded through a stupid amount of (often poor) writing. Charging a couple of dollars per submission soon adds up to a healthy sum. And no, I'm not interested in the "literary journals cost a lot of money to produce" argument. In print, perhaps (though considerably less so now, with the easy availability of print-on-demand), but not online. And if your journal costs money to produce, ever heard of grants? Sponsorship? Advertising? Trying to be cutesy and kooky by calling it a "tip jar" and not a fee doesn't endear you to me, either; it just makes you look like a prick. Tipping is optional, granted after the event in acknowledgment of and in gratitude for a service. Besides, you expect writers, without whom you wouldn't even have a journal, to do it for the love and with no remuneration; why not you?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If all this sounds like the bitter ramblings of a jaded writer, it shouldn't. That it even would is perhaps testament to how much these practices have inculcated themselves into the creative culture. I am of course aware that many journals do not charge fees, and that some pay their contributors. Both are commendable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So what's the solution? Just say no. Boycott any journal that charges a fee. If all writers do that, this frankly insulting practice may at least stand a chance of being curtailed. Favouring journals that pay over those that don't is also a good habit to get into, but not always the most practical. If I like a journal enough, I'm happy for them to publish me even if they don't pay. I keep that one open, and optional, am aware that some people do indeed do it purely for the love; good folks, kindred spirits.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Currently reading:</strong> <em>The New Threat From Islamic Militancy</em> - Jason Burke</p>
<p><strong>Currently listening:</strong> <em>Pandemonium</em> - Killing Joke</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066452016-03-02T16:00:00-08:002016-03-08T09:51:32-08:00Cygnusolar
<p>Track 10 of <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>, and probably my favourite on the album.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=14487078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=695689706/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">epiphany come</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">epiphany go</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i slap them</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">against the window</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">see which crack first</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">glass or dream</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">see how solid</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">each render reckons itself</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">by avebury stone</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i drink myself blank</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">strand of all season</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">bleeding through</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">for solstice sun</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">for ancestor stain</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">for history come</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">i drink</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">sink your bone</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">your mother memory</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">ether go away</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">or go all the way</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">bring the sun</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">miss speed miss delic</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">second of no</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">still of yes in motion</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">it's only</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">human pain</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">it's just</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">the stink of love</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">cygnusolar</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">stolen sun</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">shine</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">motherfucker shine</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Musically this draws heavily on the <strong>Logos</strong> track <strong>db00215</strong>, an out-take from the <a href="https://logosnexus.bandcamp.com/album/shamania" data-imported="1"><strong>Shamania</strong></a> sessions which appears on the <strong>Logos</strong> 'unreleased tracks' collection <a href="https://logosnexus.bandcamp.com/album/chasing-a-thread-that-has-no-end" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>Chasing A Thread That Has No End</strong></a>. You can hear that version <a href="https://logosnexus.bandcamp.com/track/db00215" target="_blank" data-imported="1">here</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The text was written 20-22 June 2014, in Avebury, Wiltshire. I usually spend the solstice period in Avebury, and on this occasion was staying with my good friend Steve Marshall, whose book about Avebury and its history will be published this spring; I'll no doubt post some links to it closer to the time, for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing (as I am).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some comments on the text:-</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"epiphany come / epiphany go / i slap them / against the window / see which crack first / glass or dream / see how solid / each render reckons itself" - When you've been in the epiphany game as long as I have, you learn to test any new arrival before embracing it. Reminds me of my time on the occult scene in the 1990s; however successful you think your demonic or angelic summoning, and however much belief or reality or paradigm shift you invest in it, treat anything that subsequently occurs or manifests with extreme suspicion until it adequately verifies itself.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"by avebury stone / i drink myself blank / strand of all season / bleeding through / for solstice sun / for ancestor stain / for history come / i drink" - This was indeed written at Avebury stone circle on the summer solstice, 21 June 2014, in the midst of what <strong>McKenna</strong> may have shaken his head at and disparagingly termed a 'heroic dose' of alcohol, and also in the midst of mental collapse; the second, and longest, of my breakdowns that year. Yes, I know alcohol and depression is not a recommended combination; nor, for that matter, is alcohol and anti-depressant medication.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"either go away / or go all the way" - See the <strong>Jefferson Airplane</strong> track <strong>Hey Frederick</strong> (<strong>Volunteers</strong> album, 1969)</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"bring the sun" - See the track <strong>Bring The Sun</strong> by <strong>Swans</strong>, from their 2014 album<strong> To Be Kind</strong>. I was listening to this album a great deal at the time.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"miss speed miss delic" - In both their literal senses and in their pharmaceutical connotations.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"it's only / human pain / it's just / the stink of love" - See the <strong>Swans</strong> track <strong>A Little God In My Hands</strong> (<strong>To Be Kind</strong> album, 2014; see also note above): 'Oh universe you stink of love'.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"cygnusolar / stolen sun / shine /motherfucker shine" - Aside from the “by Avebury stone” section (which, as noted above, was indeed written by Avebury stone), the whole of the <strong>Cygnusolar</strong> text was written while sat in the garden of my friend Steve Marshall's house in Yatesbury, Wiltshire*, at the onset of a mental breakdown, listening to much <strong>Swans</strong> and hefty 60s psych. Sometimes madness is necessity, the only feasible response to the circumstances in which one finds one's mind. Fields budding and fecund in every direction, mama sun beating. I need to ditch my accessories; cigarette in left hand, beer can in right, screen before me and headphones in my ears. At one point I imagined a perfect experience of communion with the ineffable, an ascended moment that would be immaculately complemented by these things. I was wrong. We don't get where we should be by acquiring, by adding to what we currently are; we get there by stripping away.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">* = It was also in Steve's house and garden (and in the Red Lion, Avebury) that I mixed the <strong>Future Ghosts</strong> album exactly a year later, over a long weekend at summer solstice 2015.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Currently reading:</strong> <em>The Holocaust</em> - Martin Gilbert</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Currently listening:</strong> <em>Unknown Pleasures</em> - Joy Division (one of my favourite ever albums, though for purely personal reasons <strong>Closer</strong> still has the edge for me as best <strong>Joy Division</strong> album)</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066422016-02-21T16:00:00-08:002016-02-22T06:25:32-08:00Her Is All
<p>Returning to my track-by-track of <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>; <strong>Her Is All</strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=14487078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1154012521/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her mass</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her spin</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her point</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her pull</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her burn</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her fuse</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her spike</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her light</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her arc</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her surge</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her tide</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her turn</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is all</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her blood</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her salt</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her cell</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her bone</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her wave</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her word</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her grain</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her set</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her swoon</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her breath</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her rain</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her thorn</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is all</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her glass</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her rust</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her dust</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her chrome</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her tower</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">down</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her smoke</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her steel</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her gloss</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her click</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her now</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her tight</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is all</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her ghost</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her drift</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her fossil</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">wild</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her faery</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">fade</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her grievous</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">light</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her meat</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her fold</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">her dear</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">remains</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">is all</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This text dates from March 2014, and largely explains itself. Several lines from the last section borrow from the art of <strong>Heather Baker / intextremis</strong> - <a href="http://inextremiss.deviantart.com/" data-imported="1">http://inextremiss.deviantart.com/</a>. I've been a fan of her work for a while and its often been a source of inspiration.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Currently reading:</strong> <em>Berlin The Downfall 1945</em> - Antony Beevor</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Currently listening:</strong> <em>Peepshow</em> - Siouxsie & The Banshees</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066412016-02-05T16:00:00-08:002016-02-06T09:57:59-08:00Chasing A Thread That Has No End
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395520/486803104d2ea55d40d0bbc80911416ae558cb26/original/logos-6-cover.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDQwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="400" width="400" />The first of the new projects mentioned in my January post <strong>Memories Of Tomorrow</strong> is now available. The <strong>Logos</strong> album <strong>Chasing A Thread That Has No End</strong> collects tracks that were created during the sessions for our previous albums but didn't find a home on those for one reason or another. All tracks have been reworked to a greater or lesser degree for this release.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><strong>Dark Skies Now</strong> was created early in the sessions for the as yet unreleased fifth Logos album proper, <strong>At The Core Of Each Star</strong>. <strong>db00215</strong>, <strong>Angel Hair</strong>, and <strong>Anhedoniac</strong> are out-takes from the album <strong>Shamania</strong>. Elements of these tracks were used on my spoken word with music album <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>, in the tracks <strong>Cygnusolar</strong>, <strong>At The Speed Of Film</strong>, and <strong>4581 Asclepius</strong> respectively. <strong>Red Book Yellow Book</strong> is a very early <strong>Logos</strong> track, created at the same time as the music which later made up the albums <strong>Gehenna Now</strong> and <strong>Ascending A Line In The Sky To Sothis</strong>. This track was originally named <strong>The Owls Are Not What They Seem</strong>, though we changed it for this release as that phrase has since become much-overused internet-wide. it is, of course, from <strong>Twin Peaks</strong>. <strong>Manunkind</strong> and <strong>The Looming Tower</strong> are out-takes from our album <strong>Gehenna Now</strong>. A rather different version of <strong>Manunkind</strong> can be found on the <strong>Logos</strong> remix album <strong>Everything Under The Sky</strong>. Voice here is by me, reading a text by <strong>E E Cummings</strong>.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It is perhaps worth noting that we had over four hours of unreleased <strong>Logos</strong> music to choose from when compiling this album; for this reason we'll likely do a second volume at some future point.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="240" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3103378159/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 400px; height: 373px;" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently reading: <strong>Doctor Sleep</strong> - Stephen King</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Currently listening: <strong>The Cloud Doctrine</strong> - Angus MacLise</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066382016-01-27T16:00:00-08:002016-03-27T10:00:40-07:00Left At The Luna Mansion
<p>As mentioned in my last post, my next spoken word album will be <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>. Here's the current track listing though this will likely change, at least in sequence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ra Hide Away</strong></p>
<p><strong>A Pocketful Of Bullets</strong></p>
<p><strong>Bass Strings</strong></p>
<p><strong>White Noiz</strong></p>
<p><strong>Coelacanth</strong></p>
<p><strong>Buddha's Mistake</strong></p>
<p><strong>The Books I Haven't Read</strong></p>
<p><strong>Klaxons</strong></p>
<p><strong>Signifying Mother</strong></p>
<p><strong>The Ten Thousand Ontological Uses Of The Word "Fuck"</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hometime</strong></p>
<p><strong>Save Before You Quit</strong></p>
<p><strong>You Cannot Wait While In The Air</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hard Target</strong></p>
<p><strong>Bone Thing</strong></p>
<p><strong>Rebis</strong></p>
<p><strong>West Ramona Spiders</strong></p>
<p><strong>Here To Here</strong></p>
<p><strong>Sandman</strong></p>
<p><strong>Heavy Peace</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yes that is 20 tracks, though most are very short. None span more than two and a half minutes, and some are half that or less. All texts were written between 2005 and 2008. At the time I was living in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire with my now ex-wife, drinking what I might charitably describe as "heroic" amounts of booze and wrestling with all manner of matters ontological and eschatological. I believe the term is 'functioning alcoholic'. Alcohol is definitely a theme here; alchohol, and quiet desperation in middle-age middle England. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Voice is already recorded, and I'm currently creating the backing. Musically this album is simpler and sparser than my previous ones and I'm even toying with the idea of some tracks featuring only voice. My <strong>Memories Of Tomorrow</strong> blog post included four pieces already finished; I'll post some more anon.</p>
<p>Why the title? Aforementioned ex-wife made a custom mix CD which we'd frequently listen to during the period these texts were written, and which she named <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>. I've wanted to use it for an album for a long time. Much as I liked it, though, I never did ask her why or what it meant to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Currently reading:</strong> The End: Berlin 1944-1945 - Ian Kershaw</p>
<p><strong>Currently listening:</strong> The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground</p>
darren francistag:darrenfrancis.co.uk,2005:Post/61066362016-01-15T16:00:00-08:002016-01-16T16:34:17-08:00Memories Of Tomorrow
<p>I have a number of projects ongoing right now; some of these will release in the coming months, some will likely take longer.</p>
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<p><strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong></p>
<p>Spoken word with music album. All texts written 2006-2008. I'll be making a separate and more substantive post regarding this album very shortly. In the meantime, here are some sample tracks:-</p>
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<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/145049661&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p> <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/241058084&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p> <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/127339606&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p> <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/241183150&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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<p><strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong></p>
<p>Spoken word with music album. I’ve mentioned this one in previous blog entries; its content has changed somewhat since then, with some tracks now appearing on <strong>Left At The Luna Mansion</strong>. <strong>All Things Left On Earth</strong> will instead focus on most recent writing, 2009-2015. Here are some sample tracks:-</p>
<p> <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/208090583&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/62236846&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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<p><strong>Belong</strong></p>
<p>Novel. I've mentioned this book a couple of times before on this site. Various sections have been previously published; see <a href="/other-writing" target="_blank" data-imported="1" data-link-type="page">this page</a> for details. This year will finally see the release of the full length text.</p>
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<p><strong>Cutting</strong></p>
<p>Novel. As above, a number of extracts from this book have been previously published; again, details <a href="/other-writing" target="_blank" data-imported="1" data-link-type="page">here</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>Untitled new novel</strong></p>
<p>Written 2013-2015. Currently at second draft stage. It’ll be finished when it’s finished.</p>
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<p><strong>Hate Ashbury</strong></p>
<p>Spoken word with music album. As some of you will know, this was intended as the follow-up to <strong>God Thing</strong>, but those recording sessions – way back in 2010! - mutated in a very different direction and became the first <strong>Logos</strong> album, <strong>Gehenna Now</strong>. Ever since, I’ve intended to return to it and finish it for release. I'll post some sample tracks nearer to the time, as and when I've finished mixing them. </p>
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<p><strong>What We Were</strong></p>
<p>A collection of shorter writing, 2004-2015, including the full texts of all my spoken word albums. The title is provisional.</p>
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<p><strong>At The Core Of Each Star</strong></p>
<p>New <strong>Logos</strong> album, currently in progress. Some sample tracks:-</p>
<p> <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/173462843&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/179042859&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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<p><strong>Untitled Logos album</strong></p>
<p>A collection of unreleased tracks, 2010-2014. We’re still sifting through and deciding which to include. There are several hours’ worth to choose from. That said, we’ve already got a pretty good idea of what the final track listing will be. Here's one of them:-</p>
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<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/240738573&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p>
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<p>We’ll also likely do a <strong>Logos</strong> compilation for free download, featuring selected tracks from all our albums so far. <strong>Santa Susana Blues</strong> (and the subsequent mix album <strong>Everything Under The Sky</strong>) seemed to mark the end of one stage of <strong>Logos</strong>; <strong>At The Core Of Each Star</strong> definitely takes us in a different direction and it seems apt to collect a “favourite tracks” album at this point. I’ll also do a compilation of favoured spoken word with music tracks, intended as a sampler / introduction to my work for those uninitiated.</p>
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<p>It is of course also very possible that other projects may sneak in under the wire; <strong>Future Ghosts</strong>, for example, released in July 2015 but even I didn’t know about it until May 2015. Keep an eye on this blog and my Facebook and Twitter feeds for further information and updates.</p>
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<p><strong>Currently reading:</strong> Hitler & The Holocaust - Robert S Westrich</p>
<p><strong>Currently listening:</strong> Black Mountain - Black Mountain</p>
darren francis