this post is all about handsome men.

christopher willits is an experimental guitarist/producer from san fransisco who puts out releases through the horrifyingly consistent and interesting ghostly international label, here he is giving a crash course on why when he plays his guitar, god awful screeching sounds come out of his computer:

this clip, and the other two in the series - “what you talkin about, willits”, seriously - are worth watching if you want to know more about ableton live. he goes through it at a slow pace, excellent if you’re new to ableton. he is also quite strikingly handsome. i mean, look at his little hat! yes, the sounds that he gets out of his computer are kind of similar to the sounds it might make if you plug your toaster into your computer, but the concept is golden. and when he explains it, i die a little in his eyes every time.

honestly though, its a cool idea, using your guitar to trigger virtual synths in ableton. or even using it to trigger clips or move to different parts of your arrangement, or whatever. i don’t know why i’m not already doing this, because it seems like a carload of honest fun. i actually played a lot of guitars when i was in high school, but pretty much put them all away when i started using computers to make dodgy beats and crap synth sounds. now my fingers are all fat, the callouses are gone, and that only ever faint whiff of guitar skillz i ever had is pretty much gone. but i feel like getting back into it. thats why i’m going out the door, right now, to buy a guitar. wish me luck. guitar sales dudes make me want to excrete things.

i also just bought this on ebay:

many thanks nate from hawaii! if the next faux pas album is a whole lotta guitar synth, now you all know who to blame. nate from hawaii. another handsome man.

my ebay watch list hasn’t been this full in a while. i have an almost uncontrollable urge to shop.

some other things on my radar today:

- the fourth edition of dungeons and dragons was released last week. i am reading through the new players handbook at the moment. its interesting. i’m still yet to work out if i’ll be able to convert my current character - theo, the monk conjurer, who looks like an adult malcolm jamal-warner and can stun foes with his lightning-charged fists and has the power to teleport 10 feet in any direction at will four times a day - to the new rules.

- i’m listening a bit to this guy called donovan. never heard of him before, but i tell you what, i think he’s been listening to a whole lotta of montreal. my mate also told me he did a cover of that butthole surfers song “ hurdy gurdy man“. what a wild and crazy guy! but yeah i’m listening to his album a gift from a flower to a garden. here’s a couple of the reasons why i’m falling in love with it (aside from the fact that donovan is, by all accounts, another handsome man):

MP3: Donovan - Isle of Islay

MP3: Donovan - Mad John’s Escape

in conclusion, adult malcolm jamal-warner. another handsome man:

talk about adult!

sorry for the extended blog silence. i get older, the weeks get shorter. time flies. i wish i could say i’ve been busy and productive - truth is most of my time has been spent building my new D&D character. he is a monk/conjurer called theo:

i might upload my character sheet later in the week if you are really lucky.

thanks to the people who have left comments on the blog in the last few weeks, particularly those who went the extra mile with some thoughtful responses to my rant on ‘transparent costs of production’ and free music and whatnot. and here i was thinking that the only people who read this blog were complete imbeciles. some of you have brains in your heads. i’d respond to your comments except that i have spent the last weekend watching the 2020 summit, which resulted in an equivalent effect to me having had a complete brain amputation. nah fo serious, i will try and respond to youse bitches with some thoughtfully rendered articulations and shit.

here are 11 things i’m currently loving:
- wax stag! i’m digging sound and safe on wfmu with trent, here is his show featuring the genius of wax stag
- arp - in light easily my favourite album of the year so far
- four tet - don’t think about it too much just enjoy it
- moonbeam “slow heart” and sascha funke “mango” - ditto
- hot chip - one pure thought (supermayer remix)
- kraftwerk - ralf and florian 1973. this is the first kraftwerk album i’ve heard and actually loved rather than just ‘appreciated’ as all of us electronic types are meant to ‘appreciate’ kraftwerk. i love them but this is the first album i’ve heard of theirs thats hit a nerve with me. i tracked it down after seeing it on a list that arp made for dusted magazine - his other recommendations (jards macale, franco battiato, group inerane) are similarly spot on.
- babatunde olatunji drums of passion 1959. so fresh!
- herbie hancock - sextant 1972. so stale! god herbie was a massive dork
- stevie nicks - edge of seventeen

yeah stevie nicks. i really love that a lot of the 70s and 80s film clips uploaded to youtube come from worn and weary VHS tapes that have seen far better days. the scratches and wobbles make for instant nostalgia for those of us who used to tape video hits onto VHS every weekend:

ahh thats only ten things. number eleven: house of cosbys.
ok. more soon!