Sunday, January 1st. WEATHER : Dark MOOD : Hungover LOCATION : Northernden/Stockport DOWNLOAD : AVI Video / V/Vm Theme / Mouldy Dough The whole mess as expected begins with some Mouldy Old Dough (you should expect nothing more). The old theme tune slapped back into action as another year passes and a new one begins. A new theme has also been uploaded on this day for your displeasure, the aim was to recreate a cinematic theme for the year and the result is reminiscent of the intro to David Lynch's Mullholland Drive theme. Who said all i can do is hack ? Audio easing the hangover obtained the eve before. Be sure to download the New Years eve AVI video and name that tune in the background. V/Vm for sure is the best party blower in town. Monday, January 2nd. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : Dizzy / Sick LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : matthew kelly / zsek / fairlight 01 / skw5 Four audio displeasures for you today. It's going to take a little time for this whole project to get going properly and i'm not sure in which way i want to take it anyway. Audio wise pretty much anything can and will be created. The main problem is choices these days, not a day passes when i don't get access to more new software. Online distractions also slow down the process, this will be moved as i plan to spend some days away where i can just work and then upload the audio at a later date. Am off to london tomorrow for a couple of days so updates will happen when i return to hq and have a secure connection. Tuesday, January 3rd. WEATHER : Grey drizzle in the capital MOOD : Totally fucked up and i mean totally gone LOCATION : Stockport / London DOWNLOAD : motion sickness A day of wanting to throw up while kids next to you are throwing up on the Virgin rattler down to old London town. Low, low, low-key. Cheap deal day to London where i am with London's number one nightlife style guru and volume dial wearing Count John Noi, seen left on his ever online style guide providing Macintosh computer. The answers to life in london available as hacked and corrupted bytes somewhere on his hard drive. The above track was made under duress because of this damn project (i never counted sick days) and sums up my head perfectly. Sick-Bag. Wednesday, January 4th. WEATHER : Getting colder with the Siberian incoming wind MOOD : Better but fucked now and again LOCATION : Old London town (Drayton park) DOWNLOAD : death ned / dramamine / watford gap This picture is for you if your name is Melissa and your surname begins with the letter L and you also live in Singapore. Taken from the window of London's most famous nightlife style guru and purveyor of the free drinks scene Sir John Noi OBE it shows the development of Ladbrooke Grove the soon to be home of ARSEnal Football Club. Close enough to spit on the turnstile with the wind behind your back. Melissa i think you will appreciate the shot. Managed my first drink of the year too in London's best kept secret bar no-one knows about unless your name is Petra and you come from the Czech Republic and then it's your favourite place for an evening soiree. Thursday, January 5th. WEATHER : Cold in the south, even colder back north MOOD : Waiting for a star to fall LOCATION : London / Stockport DOWNLOAD : gouda / nick train Over the past few days i've been using a real old fucked up laptop to record on. If you were the nugget who ripped out three keys when myself and Animal set fire to the Hanbury Ballroom in Brighton, caused three fights and drove non stop through the night back to Manchester back in 2002 then something bad will happen to you very soon. Does anyone know what happened to the V/Vm banner which also went missing that night ? I think we need a Crimewatch reconstruction of the whole charade. No wonder those cunts at ATP never invite us down to wreck the chalets at those shit pontins caberet weekenders. Friday, January 6th. WEATHER : Didn't notice but probably decidedly gloomy MOOD : Chipper baby, chipper LOCATION : Stockport the old home of the hat industry DOWNLOAD : Ghentlon Initially when dreaming up this project i had planned to keep it all one big secret and then on new years eve of this year make it all available. As it is it's all available now on an evolving basis which suits it all better. Today's offering is the most complete track thus far. An ode to Ghentlon, a nod to new beat, a tinkle to selected ambient works maybe. So far everything has been composed from scratch, soon enough there will be some hacks and cracks on here. Of that you can be sure. Saturday, January 7th. WEATHER : Light snow is expected but it is grey MOOD : Cold LOCATION : Still in Stockport DOWNLOAD : rand s / abost Today's picture was sent in by Jane Sparrow, so thanks for that Jane. It bears absoluetly no relevance to the audio i have uploaded for your perusal. "rand s" is the first new beat stab of the year the big synths and drums are there. There will be many more new beat numbers to follow when i get the urge for something Belgian and others may be more intricate. Actually so far i've suprised myself by not fucking up somebody elses music thus far. That will come. Things will become more and more abstract and there will also be a few projects within this project which will happen when we are further in. "abost" on the other hand is one of lifes little noodle doodles. Etch a Sketch. Sunday, January 8th. WEATHER : Cold enough MOOD : How would you feel if somebody threw up on you LOCATION : Everywhere and nowhere baby DOWNLOAD : shadow sand / dumle snacks Two tracks for the price of none, "shadow sand" and the one minute sound track to sweden's finest chocolates "dumle snacks". I'm more keen on the darkest of dark chocolate, though an endless supply of dumle snacks would be a real bonus for those sweet tooth moments. Monday, January 9th. WEATHER : Perenially slate grey, cold getting warmer MOOD : i have to admit it's getting better LOCATION : not where i want to be but somewhere DOWNLOAD : raymond barneveld / level 42 / test crad I have to admit i love sports where the emphasis is on boozing as well as playing. Snooker and Poker fall into this category, you can drink while you play both which is always a bonus. The best one though has to be Darts. Every year around Christmas and New Year i take time out to watch both the PDC Darts Championship and also the Lakeside World Championship. The PDC seems much better with its endless wins for Phil Taylor, but you gotta love the one at the Lakeside where Dutch darts king Raymond Van Barneveld (seen left) reigns supreme. Last year i also saw a ringer for Barney at a bus stop in Whalley Range. Very strange. Tuesday, January 10th. WEATHER : Grey / Cold / Dull / Windy MOOD : no idea LOCATION : in the bunker DOWNLOAD : tombola acid / one day in your life One of those days today where you try and try to get things done but are interrupted by endless phone calls. Still two tracks were created for your displeasure. "Tombola Acid" is a short piece resembling where my head was at all day. "One day in your life" has nothing to do with Michael Jackson and maybe what people expected the music i put on here will be mostly like. No hack ups yet only people hacking up around me this year. I am making plans to disappear next week which should make for an increase in output, somewhere there are no phones and no email. That's what i need. Wednesday, January 11th. WEATHER : the first day of the year that has not been grey MOOD : best so far / curtains open LOCATION : on the way to blackburn DOWNLOAD : viaduct / fairlight 01 (weed and wine mix) Clear skies today people here in sunny, usually slate grey, Stockport. Fairlight 01 (2nd Jan) has been given the remix treatment by my good friend and Tilburg resident RA-X. I thought as he sent it i would upload it for your own pleasure. This is really what this whole project for me is about, remixing what you find here and then giving me access to those remixes you do do. I will look into providing samples and loops at somepoint, right now i am just interested in making things. Viaduct is a disjointed jointed affair, electronic at its core. OK it's time for me to head out of here for a few hours armed with hoegaarden, hip flask and hits. Until tomorrow.... Thursday, January 12th. WEATHER : bright MOOD : of course i'm lying LOCATION : enroute to a dusty sundown DOWNLOAD : that's bad That's bad is the hight of uncool music. A sickly melody you all know coupled with some of the most uncool samples which even when they were cool were uncool. When i was in Berlin last year i was chatting with my good friend Mr Ivan Seal and the queen of wrongness Miss Kevin Blechdom about using a bunch of shit old samples on a record. I never did get around to making that record but here really is a badly poor effort to use them when trying to make something so bad it's just awful. I see there's trouble on the way. Friday, January 13th. WEATHER : Cool for cats MOOD : Hungry and in need of a square meal LOCATION : It's grim up north DOWNLOAD : maurice engelen / the poop of peace Friday the 13th, unlucky for some but lucky for you as i've been busy working on new beat for your pleasure. Today's rewind back to Belgium in 1987 is entitled "Maurice Engelen". Now dear old Maurice was behind many new beat projects and achieved a great deal of success with his project Praga Khan. He was one third of the famous Morton Sherman Belluci New Beat production team. Not only that but it's two for the price of none day here today as i have uploaded the noise that is "the poop of peace". Something for the weekend. Saturday, January 14th. WEATHER : Drunken grey and a cold walk home MOOD : Going to the dogs LOCATION : In all the bars sinking the good ship V/Vm DOWNLOAD : urmston Mad day out on the tiles from 9am right through to 2am. "Urmston" was recorded bleary eyed just before the days adventure. The day ended watching electronic music at the Southern. I also took in the Greyhound racing at Belle Vue, didn't take my camera but put some mouldy old dough on Mounteagle Gorse, it romped in at 8-1 as the rankoutsider. Also managed to catch up with the whole of Fast Lady in Manchester who are recording and working on some new material. Happy birthdays to Gaz and Fiona hope you both had special days. Today's track is an ambient wash down. I should have been in Urmston but that's another story altogether. Sunday, January 15th. WEATHER : Sunny then grey then sunny then grey then dark MOOD : Numb LOCATION : Horizontal for most of the day DOWNLOAD : always wear a seatbelt A melody powered by that age old plant the nettle. After a full day yesterday of solid booze, the nettle came in handy late on when it came to getting back on track and when trying to create some kind of audio form for the daily dose. Had a quick glance at feedback and visitor numbers around here and it's up around the 800 mark per day which is good for a project which is almost invisible except to those who know or stumble here. In terms of generating email feedback a healthy number of you are getting in touch and offering support, audio and tracks which is good to see. Monday, January 16th. WEATHER : Fleetwood Mac MOOD : All i wanna do is have a good time LOCATION : Behind the green door DOWNLOAD : pete watertwats arse mix (extended) As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly. Who was it who said that ? Anyway if your name is Dean Jones from Extreme Noise Terror then the download of the day is for you big man. Going back behind the green door was horrible for me today, but i did it for you to gain this extended pete watertwat arse mix of "rather jack i would" by those scousers the Reynolds Girls (pictured today in 80's denim behind the door that was green). As this is a field recording quality cannot be assured. I recorded it and then got out of their before Shakey could get his hands on me. Seven plus minutes of S.A.W. hell. Don't download it. Tuesday, January 17th. WEATHER : Getting a little warmer MOOD : crash / reboot / crash / reboot LOCATION : Stockport / Wythenshawe DOWNLOAD : brampton / goodiepal 01 Does anybody who visits this site live in Brampton ? If so then track one is for you and i hope to see you on that Brampton mile someday where can share a drink or two whilst rubbing shoulders with the stars. Goodiepal is a small ode to the danish maverick who could be anywhere and at the same time nowhere. Indeed Mr Goodiepal is playing a show in london on the fourth of February, i will post details at the V/Vm main site soon. I hope to be there to add my support as it's also my good friend Captain John Noi's birthday and i am also long overdue in the hideout. You know you've been in london when you have hidden out Wednesday, January 18th. WEATHER : Miserable MOOD : Have just spoken to the goodiepal at length LOCATION : i'm on the road to nowhere DOWNLOAD : time to go / load needed dll One of those multi-tasking days today where i am using at the same time two pc's and two laptops (seen left). Burning, ripping, cracking, making, abusing, recording, emailing and updating this site. The common consensus is that women can multitask better than men, well i hereby on this day break the rule. Inbetween this there has been time for two tracks. The first is an attempt at the type of audio which would work in a chase scene on a computer game. You'll get what i mean when you hear it. The second is representative of yesterday for those in the know. Ok well for the next few days i'm out of here for a lighter load. Thursday, January 19th. WEATHER : Was good but i missed out on it MOOD : is good despite computer crashes LOCATION : Deepest Whalley Range DOWNLOAD : scab I was expecting to create a little more today, but a series of violent computer crashes on a fairly new machine means you only get one track which was squeezed out between the said crashes and breakdowns. As i was away i was only on one machine so everytime it went down and then failed to reboot there was more time lost and more frustration. "Scab" is the result, a dirty kind of track in a new beat way. It's the kind of track you can squeeze out despite all the dll chaos and missing system files. I did salvage something from the day which was the best food i have eaten this year thanks to Miss Nyqvist. Friday, January 20th. WEATHER : Windy, very windy MOOD : I have no dumle snacks left LOCATION : Back with a working machine DOWNLOAD : kirkbymoorsdale A swift return to base with a broken machine under my arm. Not only this but my supply of dumle snacks (dumle snacks theme - 8th Jan) has run out due to the comfort eating. Like i said back on the 8th i'm a dark choclate kind of guy, but these snacks get you hooked. I will have to get some Swedish people to send me some special rations soon before i get withdrawal symptoms. Maybe all of this reflects in todays offering which is bleak in a moorside kind of way. Stick with the track, it's a long one, the ending is like a depressing day in the drizzle which sums up the twentieth to a tee. Saturday, January 21st. WEATHER : Blue sky - no wind MOOD : Ready, steady, cooking soon LOCATION : Where the streets have no name DOWNLOAD : time to get back / belfet Following on from the theme which started on the 18th here is another chase themed style offering in the shape of "time to get back". Not much else to say today, one of those days where i wanna be away from the screens but they keep pulling me back into a digital summersive world. "Belfet" for those of you wondering is granulated to a point voodoo music from Haiti. Can any of you think of anyone we can curse ? Sunday, January 22nd. WEATHER : Getting colder again, bright MOOD : Optimistic LOCATION : Edgeley Road / Chorlton / Whalley Range DOWNLOAD : boys brigade / hexed When i was younger i was in the cubs, never the boys brigade. If i was in the boys brigade i'd like to think the first of the downloads above would be the theme to the whole organisation. I never progressed beyond cubs though, was never into it. Tying knots and making sure you could put up a tent using twigs and bracken was not for me back in the day. Hexed is a special noise promise for certain people out there. Monday, January 23rd. WEATHER : Very, very cold with a bitter, bitter wind MOOD : Up and out and on the job LOCATION : Liverpool DOWNLOAD : groogle A day working today for hard cash, pounding the mean streets of Liverpool. No fucking arts support round here so it's support yourself time you know how it is. Still managed to do the daily deed though in the form of "groogle". Our daily star, the woman in the picture was at the table next to me in the cafe in Liverpool. Just one of these people who seems totally ill, came in coughing her lungs up and sweating out grease. "The usual love" came the tone from the waitress and sure enough the double egg, chips and beans was served. Not only that but inbetween coughs the girl in question was hard hitting the cigarettes too. Special ducky. Tuesday, January 24th. WEATHER : Even colder, it made me stay indoors MOOD : Distant like not quite there in the head today LOCATION : Inside all day with sporadic heating bursts DOWNLOAD : drive time / bellbleak Computer faliure is something i can empathise with, so when today i stumbled upon a website where they provided the sounds of a dying hard drive and were asking people to remix them (Mainly requesting a dance mix) then i couldn't resist. Of course my entry is clocked at 126bpm (just over New Beat tempo), it's sure to cause a riot if played on the modern dancefloor and is over three minutes in length (required for competition entry) so i won't win the promised digital watch. As i never wear a watch anyway who cares. The mix above is totally dry with no effects, i will do a special missing kernel mix somepoint soon. Bad sector. Wednesday, January 25th. WEATHER : Cold and frosty MOOD : Sydney Youngblood style LOCATION : In the mix DOWNLOAD : seaside sickness / tomorrows world What the hell arrived in this box (seen left) ? It's a monster and could barely fit through the doors here for a minute i thought it was either an elaborate demo or a years supply of dumle. A full day otherwise of sitting and waiting for delivery people to pick up and take away things today. 'Seaside Sickness' above is like a day out in Llandudno on the pensioners run coaches. 'Tomorrows World' has a hint of the Maggie Philbin's about it (After she divorced kids alcoholic presenter Keith 'cheggers' Chegwin). Talking of Cheggers i have a real bad 7" of his somewhere where he duets, i kid you not, with his brother Jeff Chegwin. It's as shit as you could possibly imagine. Thursday, January 26th. WEATHER : Still duffel coat weather MOOD : Interested LOCATION : Home and away DOWNLOAD : untold stories / brainvirus 20 The first month is nearly over, i have been suprised at how composed most of the music has been this month but that's my mood right there at play. There has not been much need thus far to dip into the vast V/Vm Archive (12" seen left) and hack up some stuff. 'Untold Stories' is perhaps one way back in 1998 i could have gone, it's always been possible to make nice things it's just that sometimes you have to make and release more horrible stuff because everywhere you are exposed to the nicer things in life. The time will come another month this year to let loose and really start making some insulting audio. Enjoy the calm before the digital storm.. Friday, January 27th. WEATHER : The big coat is still needed MOOD : How does it feel to treat me like you do ? LOCATION : Stockport / British Arts Show (Urbis) DOWNLOAD : incidental 07 I will ladies and gentlemen on your behalf be going to the British Arts show later in Manchester to see what they reckon is the cream of the crop in new talent. It's the aftershow party where i believe all the drinks are free and there's fun and sunshine for everyone. Not a V/Vm penny will be spent all in the aid of tonights research. Todays musical interlude is the kind of music used in low budget films. You can almost picture the scene, it's one of tension, contemplation and transition. The kind of scene which helps create a bigger picture. Wish me luck in my ability to milk the free bar. Saturday, January 28th. WEATHER : Didn't see daylight so can't comment MOOD : Slow and getting slower all the time LOCATION : Bed / up / bed / up DOWNLOAD : hungover The free bar at Urbis was well and truely hammered yesterday evening by myself and John Fast Lady. Couldn't see the art as i couldn't move from the free bar and then when i did the queue was too big and i had to be elsewhere. We caught up with friends and made new friends along the way. The late night 192 was a joy to behold as ever, i doubt there is a worse late night bus in western europe. Todays track was made whilst still extremely hungover. Suprisingly it's not even a nice track and helped compound that jackhammer in the head feeling. Solace to be found in the bottom of a bottle i feel. Sunday, January 29th. WEATHER : Blue sky, clear night, cold air MOOD : Trying to get going LOCATION : Stockport / Wolverhampton DOWNLOAD : john robb's mate I got the pictures from friday one of them has been uploaded to the 27th and the other one is here. Both are pictures of old punk leg end and critic John Robb. Dear old John sums up what is wrong with journalists, he's always got an opinion and it's usually worthless drivel. If there's one of those top fifty things on uk tv you can guarantee he will be on it, he was there and has experienced all of it first hand. HIs friend was even better, he was dressed exactly like him so wishing to be him only five stones heavier and with worse hair. The only thing dear reader you need know is we drank at least six times as much as dear old John and our drinks were free. Monday, January 30th. WEATHER : Sunny and cold MOOD : Not bad today LOCATION : Liverpool / Stockport DOWNLOAD : cafe theme / same time next week Last week on the 23rd when in Liverpool i photographed the woman seen in that picture on the day, saw her again today in the same cafe, same table, eating the same thing at the same time. Life sometimes can be predictable. Didn't take a picture of her the memories are all in my mind. Best thing of the day was seeing the model (seen left) through an open shop doorway whilst looking for somewhere i couldn't find. It's like a beefed up Kraftwerk (Kraftberk ?). Am going to try and slip in some new beat tomorrow if there's time. Have to spend a good deal of the day working in Sunny (yeah right) Manchester. Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye. Tuesday, January 31st. WEATHER : A cold but sunny winters day MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Manchester City Centre DOWNLOAD : old style new beat / quackercamp As promised here is a new beat shocker for you all, barely had time to do anything today as i've been busy pounding the mean streets of Manchester all day and running in to people i know along the way. Saw that head honcho of Twisted Nerve Randy Votel swanning around town as usual, he's now got the same look as Animal has had for the last two years. The style is taking two years to filter down Animal and you're best of well away from here to see the carbon photo copy. Ongoing research. The only other highlight was finding a file of bank statements in the street, i text the guy whose they were and got them back to him. My good deed for the day. Wednesday, February 1st. WEATHER : Cold and cutting not good for walking about in MOOD : Cold and getting more tired as the hours pass LOCATION : Manchester / Stockport DOWNLOAD : comp nb A table can tell you a million things, what this table is telling you i don't know. As I finished last month with a slab of old new beat so i'm starting this month with exactly the same style for you. This is on the same tip as some of those old ghentlon numbers. The formula is simple, the resulting effect is simple. Hope you enjoy it, the track is warmer than the weather around here. Thursday, February 2nd. WEATHER : Never rose above freezing MOOD : Juggling all of the balls hope none fall LOCATION : Manchester / Stockport DOWNLOAD : incidental 37 / incidental 212 It's pretty crazy at the moment trying to juggle many things and inbetween all the juggling make some audio. Today has been a day of many parts all of which have involved rushing around and the ability to switch from one task to another in the blink of an eye. The two pieces above were the calm in the storm of activity. I had planned to try and get down to London to see the Goodiepal play on Saturday night, that is now looking unlikely which is a crying shame. There are lots of people to catch up with down in the smoke and there's always others to hide out with. Things will be calmer around here by mid-february then i can spend a lot more time on this project. Friday, February 3rd. WEATHER : Still cold getting warmer MOOD : Very tired today LOCATION : Here and here DOWNLOAD : I just don't think you / a cold day northern Just couldn't get going today, has been one of those winter days which would have been better spent under the covers watching old films. As it was most of the day was spent trying to sort out my Email inbox which is bulging with a backlog of mails because i've been working. If you mailed me recently and i havn't responded then fear not. I am gonna try to catch up this weekend and am bypassing the trip to london to see the Goodiepal, the rumour on the street is he's heading north and up here on Sunday so i'll have to see what happens as he is unpredictable. Saturday, February 4th. WEATHER : Improving gradually MOOD : Getting ready for some movement, pork pie LOCATION : Stockport gap DOWNLOAD : ghoyr / harp off When i discovered yesterday that my dear friend Matt 'Hard Off' Davey hates harps and Bette Middler i couldn't resist remaking "the wind beneath my wings" on the harp for him. Matt it's a shocker, the out of tune trumpets do it no favours. In a world of bad music things took a turn for the worse on your behalf. Hope you enjoy it Swampy. "Ghoyr" is one of those tracks you can knock out on a saturday afternoon whilst watching Grandstand. I believe Goodiepal is planning a visit up here tomorrow so who knows if he will show or not. Next week i am planning a semi retreat to concentrate only on music and nothing else. Have laptop will travel. Sunday, February 5th. WEATHER : All the way down it was great MOOD : Sunday bloody sunday LOCATION : In manchester soon and going on the road again DOWNLOAD : spite / globule / on the road again Todays picture features the Goodiepal who has just arrived here intime for the Sunday upload. He is playing in Manchester tonight at Common which isn't the best venue but it's not the worst. Am sure those trendy types who frequent the venue may be into it, i have invited my own mother and father to attend so will see what happens Three downloads for you today and then i'm out of here this time for a few days and away from that online connection. "On the road again" people, on the road again. See you the other side and accept my theme above, i've hummed that tune to all the girls i've known. Monday, February 6th. WEATHER : Cold MOOD : Good to middling LOCATION : Whalley Range DOWNLOAD : alzheimers 02 / mr goodiepal A day spent largely in the company of Mr Goodiepal who is currently on his European Playboy tour of England and Germany. Indeed it's always a pleasure to see Denmarks main man. The previous night saw Mr Pal play a one off show in Central Manchester (seen left), my mother and father loved his show as did the respectful audience. Apparantly those in london did not respect him heckling him whilst he was playing, art students mainly so what's new. Tuesday, February 7th. WEATHER : Cloudyand overcast with slight rain MOOD : We call it acid, a musical phenomenon LOCATION : Secret DOWNLOAD : alzheimers 03 / alzheimers 05 It's good to be away from online connections sometimes, being disconnected allows a different perspective on tasks in hand. How is this project going for example ? Well for me so far it's been interesting, the main task is in finding the time to create each day and being motivated to do it. As i have no idea on who is viewing these pages or indeed even if anybody is interested this removes the pressure of caring about what people think about the output. In that respect i cannot lose and you can only win. Wednesday, February 8th. WEATHER : The first sunshine of February MOOD : Uncertain LOCATION : secret / manchester / glossop / secret DOWNLOAD : problem child / sickbug Various people keep telling me that this project will at points drive me round the bend. A task of this nature must be respected of course and if it does send me over the edge you will be the first to know. When undertaking this routine of eat, sleep, create, backup, upload, download and part time work whilst receieving no financial support you could well assume i'm already on the road to mental ruin. No days off this year for this bad behaviour. Are you envious ? Could you do better ? Thursday, February 9th. WEATHER : Blue sky, sunny day, cold MOOD : A little slow and hungover LOCATION : Whalley Range DOWNLOAD : succeeding generations An extended emission on this sunny day, curtains barely open. This nearly fifteen minute epic has a darker edge comparible some may say to the darker recalled Caretaker memories. Recall. Made with pounding head, made worse by the constant road repairs going on nearby. Friday, February 10th. WEATHER : Clear skies and sunshine MOOD : Thoughtful LOCATION : Whalley Range / Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : drowning / the sailors lament Back once again with an online connection on this very sunny day. I will be going very soon back into Manchester to meet a good friend of mine who i havn't seen for a good while. Bizarrely i was only thinking about him when on the bus ride from hell earlier today. Quite why it takes over one hour to do a six or seven mile journey by bus is beyond me. I could have flown to Amsterdam quicker and wish i had done just that. Anyway this friend of mine popped into my head and as often is the case he called me up only a few hours later. Onwards and downwards people. Saturday, February 11th. WEATHER : Still cold and raining at night fall MOOD : Like a classic episode of Bergerac LOCATION : Manchester DOWNLOAD : the xbad / marks and spencers Seemed like a dark day but was quite light, the night before a drunken haze as usual when you hit the towns bars. Seems like all my friends are reaching relationship meltdowns these days, such is the standard of modern loving. Moving on todays two offerings are merely shortish doodles, the latter "marks and spencers" kind of sums up the feeling i have when i go in there which it must be said is very rare you understand. When i was a child my mother and father used to drag me in there from time to time on their weekly shop while all i wanted to do was buy 7" singles in Woolworths. Sunday, February 12th. WEATHER : Grey northern rain and drizzle MOOD : I'm in the mood for dancing LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : atmop4 / unty Typical Sunday today where i just tried and tried to catch up but end up doing the exact opposite getting further behind whilst attempting various tasks. Work often generates more work and pretty soon you're in the hamster ball of endless work and little play which is never too good a situation to find yourself in. Monday, February 13th. WEATHER : Not as bad as yesterday MOOD : Worn out and knackered LOCATION : Working almost all day DOWNLOAD : cctv / the sailor laments Today i've been busy working almost all of the day wishing i was the cat you see on your left. For as long as i can remember i've always been a cat person as oposed to a dog lover. Cats come to me it's as plain and as simple as that. You have to love the fact they are more independent than dogs and seem to go where the food is and just suit themselves. The reason you have a shot of the cat is because in sleeping he had a more exciting day than i did. Working was the order of the day here all day. I slipped two small tracks inbetween all of the work, by the end of the week my work will mostly be done for now. Tuesday, February 14th. WEATHER : Pink fluffy valentine clouds MOOD : In love with you, yes you baby, you, just you LOCATION : Sick-Loved up DOWNLOAD : 1 , 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Back in 2000 V/Vm were the undisputed bootleg kings of making love tracks even more unbearable than they were. Here today on St. Valentines day i provide you with the soundtrack to modern loving above in twelve simple byte-sized pieces. Not only that but i'm so loved up here are five specially early morning recorded valentines sick-love burp gems for you. "shitney poostain", "endless sick-love", "joy we had fun" "goodbye" and "seven seconds". All five are dedicated to all you girls out there, if i was to send a valentine to all the girls i loved i would have to buy the Hallmark cards chain. Miss you, love you. X Wednesday, February 15th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Ambient LOCATION : In the ether above the clouds DOWNLOAD : creeps over the sands / shallow waves A few years back i toyed with the idea of aping Brian Eno and making a very special "music for abattoirs" album, i did actually begin this work but got sidetracked and forgot all about it. Next month i'm going to get that finished on this here '365' project. Today however i have still gone all Eno on you all because i can and it's possible. Generative music using piano, very seventies. Of course while doing it i was thinking about winter windswept beaches and forgotten afternoons. My favourite beach and i've seen some beaches, from Australia to the USA, is in North Wales at Penmon. Very special it is. Maybe we can go there sometime ? Thursday, February 16th. WEATHER : Frosty MOOD : Tired and irritable LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : wet feet / gas works Things are calming down a little right now after an intense period of all work and no play. Not that i've become a dull boy you understand but all this uploading and downloading eats into time and is not a task which has been undertaken lightly. A night out was undertaken and copious amounts of alcohol were consumed, favourite of the night was the ever strong leffe blond. The Jagermeister chasers at the end were polished off in double quick time. Friday, February 17th. WEATHER : Good from the little i saw of it MOOD : Cloudy LOCATION : Manchester DOWNLOAD : formless spate There's nothing better in the world than the sight of a Celebrity based magazine in the bin. Saturday, February 18th. WEATHER : Good but cold MOOD : Poo in a cup LOCATION : Stockport / Liverpool / Manchester DOWNLOAD : senile dimentia Out for most of the day there was still time to edit a track previously started and available elsewhere on the 365 in more distorted forms. Time was spent in Manchester city centre with Bud Stricken and more and some form of crawl ensued. Returning back to Stockport at about 3am was the pleasurable experience i've come to love over the years. You step off the magical 192 and see fists flying and police trying to arrest people. English culture is ever pleasurable. Sunday, February 19th. WEATHER : Cold MOOD : Memories, like the corners of my mind LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : memory 73 / memory 74 / memory 75 A typical sunday kind of day livened up with an interview with Radio One about this very project and a couple of other things. From there i had tickets to the free Vice Magazine party up here in Manchester where there was a free bar, unluckily i never quite made it but that's a whole other story. This week i sense there will be a few memories floating by which will compliment the recent and free 72 track retrograde download from last year. Monday, February 20th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : There is something about you LOCATION : Manchester DOWNLOAD : memory 76 / memory 77 / memory 78 Quite why anybody would take the time to promote multi-national brands on road name signs is beyond me, but this they do as you can see from the evidence to your left. How long i then wondered until said companies place adverts on road signs so we all live on a brand ? Tuesday, February 21st. WEATHER : Cold with sunshine and showers MOOD : Tired LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : memory 79 / memory 80 / memory 81 Continuing with the Caretaking theme here are another three recollections to add to other recollected memories available elsewhere. In response to yesterday's written entry my good friend Sir Emil Hagstrom from Minneapolis has been in touch to tell me that a place in the USA was renamed after a satellite tv company and in return everyone there got free satellite tv. Now if DFS renamed Stockport and we all got a free sofa then i could live the dream. One day i'll be on their advert cavorting on a sofa, DFS neverending sale style. Wednesday, February 22nd. WEATHER : Windy MOOD : Waiting for a cold LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : memory 82 / memory 83 / memory 84 This week continues with more yet more Caretaker memories to add to the ever growing memories available elsewhere. Right now there is nothing else to say so nothing will be said. Thursday, February 23rd. WEATHER : Dark black rain MOOD : Not sure at the moment LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : memory 85 / freswokj (edit) One final memory for the time being and a slab of sequenced noise to wash away the memory with. Later next week will see a shift of location to the smokey bacon of old london town where i will be catching up with old friends and making new ones along the way. I spoke with my dear friend Emil "henry the eighth" Hagstrom who pointed out i should get out and about more whilst completing the task in hand and of that you can be assured i will as the year progresses, it's early days, early days... Friday, February 24th. WEATHER : Freezing MOOD : Maybe a haircut would help ? LOCATION : Soon to be slumped in a bar in Manchester DOWNLOAD : caplo 7 / austin allegro I hit day twenty four of February maybe in need of a haircut, who knows about such things ? I will of course be out soon on that Friday night style of styles in the city centre of Manchester, where i shall be observing the hair gelled, superdrug smelling and labelled up mass which you find in most bars and who are usually found drinking the worst drinks possible. Personally I think it goes hand in hand with the hair. I'm off to style myself now. Saturday, February 25th. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : The day after the night before LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : wipes The day after the night before, usual crowd out and about last night drinking their way into oblivion. Choice is getting better drinks wise these days especially if you go to the right bars, many strong Belgians were sunk last night as my own ship fell foul to the offshore rocks and got into difficulty. Land was indeed ahoy and all's well that ends well. That then of course leads to the problem of trying to create with a pounding head but create i do on your behalf. Sunday, February 26th. WEATHER : Didn't really notice MOOD : Restless and mind wandering LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : flup (edit) / sketch 214 / plup Right now i'm doing my upmost to look like 80's Swap Shop, 90's Crinkly Bottom and currently 'deal or no deal' gimp boy Noel Edbums (seen left). It's true, my hair is all about recapturing Noels golden era where he could do no wrong. For those of you not in the UK this was when dear old Noel was often found in Helicopters with his old mate Mike Smith, or Keith "cheggars" Chegwin. That's the second mention in two months of dear old "show me the vodka" Cheggars, i really must remix his love ballad soon. Monday, February 27th. WEATHER : Grey with drizzle and getting colder MOOD : A little tired it must be said LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : pep shettibone back in the day / dubmix John as promised mate the above is for you, will work on some more 80's styles soon big man, today's offering nods and doffs its cap towards that 80's hit shit megamix maker and remixing legend Shep Pettibone. There is also the obligatory "back in the dub mix" 80's style remove the vocal and the mix is complete. It's for for slipping on inbetween spinning those Level 42 12" remixes or Curiosity Killed the Cat extended beret mixes you may own. Let the bass go. Tuesday, February 28th. WEATHER : Sunhine with a bitter cold wind MOOD : Looking back on when we first met LOCATION : Getting prepared for some movement DOWNLOAD : Pancake Day / generic 90's / realeditworlds Don't forget today is pancake day. V/Vm is providing you with the soundtrack to your tossing forever more. For the remainder of the week i'm donning duffle and heading down to the hyperbole that is old London town where i will be catching up with people i should have caught up with sooner. It also marks the end of February as well, two months in and there have been a fair few uploads for you all. It's a lot to keep track of and can be tough on the old noggin. V/Vm is also 10 years old today or maybe tomorrow as the first release was released on Feb 29th, 1996. Check out the big party i am throwing and also the limited edition 15 album box set and t-shirt. Wednesday, March 1st. WEATHER : Cold MOOD : Dizzy as ever when i visit the capital LOCATION : Drayton Park, London DOWNLOAD : abattoir / big every but me The first of March, St. David's Day. Most of the day was spent getting ready (hurriedly) for the trip south to old london town. A few glasses were raised in real low key ten year style with my good friend Miss Tremlett in and around Highbury & Islington. Finding the cheap deals on Polish doubles was a particular pleasure. Thursday, March 2nd. WEATHER : Still cold with snowflakes in the capital MOOD : Good despite the running LOCATION : Hackney, London DOWNLOAD : slaughterhouse What better way to celebrate ten years of survival within the music industry than to get a case of the screaming trots without even drinking a London Pride, indeed at the bottom of a bottle of wine you can rest assured from time to time your stomach will react like a time bomb. Miss Hudcova was the perfect host to such a shambolic style of running between room and bathroom and coped admirably with the situation. Each passing shit watered down like the music of the industry i find myself involved with. How apt at such a time Friday, March 3rd. WEATHER : Clear, cold, sunny. MOOD : Malfunctioned in need of a change of ram. LOCATION : Hackney / Drayton Park - London DOWNLOAD : blood Sometimes in life we go wrong and malfunction when really there is no need for this action. Today i malfunctioned and found myself sat on the horror show that is the N38 night bus contemplating this malfunctional style whilst crawling through the very slow London traffic. As ever lessons are learnt as sometimes we suprise ourselves on how stupid we sometimes are often taking the harder road than necessary when there is no need to take that road. As the sun set over London a tune from the past drags me back. Saturday, March 4th. WEATHER : It got colder the farther north i went MOOD : Round, round, round, round I get around LOCATION : Drayton Park / Stafford / Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : guts Any highlight to London is the pilgrimage to the Star chain of Cafe's. I only know of two but two are enough for me to form a chain and this is the style of chain we need on more highstreets. None of the Starbucks style sick chic is present just a return to good old fashioned real deal cafeteria's the like of which are disappearing from view in favour of soulless today's design corporate wi-fi coffee whore houses. Be sure to pop into the Star on Holloway Road or at Chalk Farm when you're next in the smokey bacon and give them my best. Sunday, March 5th. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : Catching up LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : ice Back at H.Q and going through mails. Yesterday also saw the stupidity of the British Rail system where to get the blagged cheap deal i had to travel on a train ahead of the one i wanted and then swap to the one i should have been on in the first place. They told me when i booked this was because the train i wanted was full but that was half empty when i got on it. If this makes no sense then just be thankful you were not at Stafford Station at 11pm thinking the same thing in a sub zero temperature. Still it was the blagged cheap deal late booking option so as long as i can pull of the blag i'm happy to take a diversion. Monday, March 6th. WEATHER : Very cold at the night MOOD : Dumbfounded LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester / Wigan DOWNLOAD : sizewell b One of my own criticisms of this project has been on the quality of the photographs. It could be so much better but i am camera shy in the sense that although often i have my camera i seldom take shots with it as it intrudes on that particular moment in time and can spoil the ambience. When i went to Japan and Australia back in 2002 i didn't take one single photograph of the trip but have some vivid memories and images for sure. Apologies now if the images uploaded each day are a disappointment i can only do my worst to make them even worse, check out that cow. Tuesday, March 7th. WEATHER : It's raining in my heart MOOD : Like a snail LOCATION : Sliming down the pavement DOWNLOAD : snailed Most of the time doing this is a pleasurable experience on occasion i have days when i am not really into doing stuff but do them i do even though i work like the snail you see on your left. The aim sometimes is to capture mood through sound, this is not always necessary but "snailed" does indeed do that for me. A trail of slime follows my every move today and simple tasks are taking longer than usual to complete as i wrestle with my shell. Wednesday, March 8th. WEATHER : A damp squib with far too much drizzle MOOD : Uploading far too much LOCATION : Online DOWNLOAD : blood acid / she wants / snails One of those winter days today where it's nothing but dark all day, a day for taking it easy, keeping warm and out of the cold northern drizzle. The slate grey sky is the colour for sure of Stockport as the whole city centre is built out of concrete slabs. Three tracks uploaded for your displeasure today, one is an old pop hit by those Swedish greats "Ace Of Base" who would have thought that would happen ? Thursday, March 9th. WEATHER : It's grim up north MOOD : Too tired to think LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : silicone implant This gloomy weather makes me feel super tired, either that or it's the late night uploads and endless screen staring at email conversations, at times it takes it toll. It's time to get out of here for twenty four hours in search of good food and space away from this four pc insanity i find myself in. I want to be disconnected. I will work on some new beat tomorrow as there hasn't been any uploaded for a while now, as i am due to visit Belgium in a couple of weeks it is only fair i do that, two weeks tomorrow i will be raising a glass in Brussels, i can't wait. Friday, March 10th. WEATHER : Grey drizzle MOOD : NIneteen eighty eight LOCATION : Chorlton DOWNLOAD : sabam It's been well documented elsewhere just how much i love Belgian New-Beat. In celebration of the fact that in two weeks time i will be in Brussels drinking the beer, eating chocolate and drinking even more strong beer, accept this new beat flavoured offering. When i was fifteen i used to love those records with the five letter code to new beat "SABAM". I never at that age realised that sabam was the copyright of Belgium in the same way MCPS is in Britain. For me back in the day it was about knowing that the 12" i had dug out of a box would probably contain some dirty, grinding acid music, those were the days my friend. Saturday, March 11th. WEATHER : There could be snow in England MOOD : Happy to mess up dancefloors LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : allracedout / racedit For those of you who, in the 20th century sense of the word, "DJ" feel free to use the tools above, they are not pretty and have been designed (especially allracedout) to annoy people immensly. Indeed these are remixes of the classic Yello single "the race", only this race is being run in reverse on flat tyres. How long could a dancefloor take this kind of audio punishment before it becomes violent ? People do not want to hear this kind of aural abuse these days preferring something nicer and much more gentle. Be sure to spin it out and send me the reaction. Don't download these tracks unless you like it fucked. Sunday, March 12th. WEATHER : Snowing MOOD : Easy like sunday afternoon LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : decrepid The great Sunday institution that is the newspapers. Each week they get bigger and i read more and more about less and less. They fill up the columns full of abject tossers and opinions half of which are just uneeded. Currently the big push is on including DVD's or CD's you just don't want in terms for sales. Out of four papers today, which i read by default, the only good article i found was about falling newspaper distribution and sales. There is something soothing about reaching a Sunday and seeing who has bedded who in the gutter press though and then reading a political essay in a broadsheet. Monday, March 13th. WEATHER : A degree warmer MOOD : Like Jeremy Paxman's nasel hair LOCATION : Stockport / Airport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : newsnight 01 I love watching Newsnight just so i can hear Warp music each night set to the days special news feature about delinquent kids, teenage pregnancy or the folly of George Bushy. Quite how much the BBC are paying for this audio usage is unsure but you can bet palms are being greased for this special audio soundtrack to our daily news. What was once cutting edge is now the soundtrack to ASBO's and social disintegration which makes up most of the U.K.news these days. Don't even get me started on Newsnight Review. God bless Paxy though. Tuesday, March 14th. WEATHER : Dark MOOD : As slow as sludge today LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : shabman When i used to do that full time thing back in the day i used to hate tuesdays, it was because the weekend seemed so far away and you knew you had another four days of tedium to pass through before you could do anything constructive without feeling like a zombie. Tuesday is officially V/Vm's most boring day of the week. To liven this dark day up today i have worked with my sludged brain to provide yet another slab of New Beat. Very simple indeed in the true spirit. Ten days now till i am in Brussels, i can't wait to see Mannekin Pis that urinating urchin once again. Wednesday, March 15th. WEATHER : No point even mentioning it MOOD : A mood of reflection for dear old Thora LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester / Bury DOWNLOAD : thora's stairlift The late Dame Thora Hird came into my head today so i made the following track for you all to remember her by. It's what i like to think she used to listen to as she whizzed up and down her stairs in her turbo stairlift courtesy of Stanna. The weird thing is that when i looked online for a picture of our dear departed stairlift queen it is exactly three years ago to the day that she passed onto a higher plain. I love that type of coincidence. Take a minute out of your day today to remember Thora and bask in the glory of chance and coincidence. Thursday, March 16th. WEATHER : It's a cruel wind from the East MOOD : Be assured I am watching you through tired eyes LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : zone Watching is part of the fun in this musical game. Friday, March 17th. WEATHER : The sun hasn't got his hat on and is dead MOOD : Like a classic D-Mob track LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : jutland blues / fat pat / dirty old town Just for the craic make dirty old town your theme of choice on Patrick's Irish day. I won't be raising any glasses with you today, am off the pop for a few days in preperation for that euro hitters trip next weekend. Quiet times reflected indeed in the offkilter jutland blues. Hopefully those of you in Jutland can relate to such audio. Saturday, March 18th. WEATHER : I am sure i saw the sun for a second MOOD : Blurred LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : angelic / skettle0862 Right now i'm low on energy, we don't get much sunshine around here and sometimes it takes its toll leaving me in a grey mood even on a Saturday. Time wise i'm doing my best to make more time this coming week for making audio, it's tricky as ever trying to balance so many things and then trying to create something even if it's just a blip. How useful this audio prooves to be only time will tell. Sunday, March 19th. WEATHER : Bright sunshine and 30 degrees, yeah right. MOOD : He leads a lonely life LOCATION : Stockport / Liverpool Airport / Stockport DOWNLOAD : pullover Another week closer to the end target as this month drags into its third week of audio mess. Sunday once again deadened by those sunday supplements which once again fail to inspire any form of activity from within me. I digress, a Sunday drive to Liverpool Airport followed by a period of head planning as i plan out what promises to be a busy week, juggling as ever is the name of the game this week whilst hoping nothing falls. Monday, March 20th. WEATHER : Intermittent sunshine !!!! MOOD : Tired, winding up to wind down LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : colic It's all go around here, a day of emailing to sort out some forthcoming shows in Europe and also completing remixes for some other labels which will see the light of day at somepoint. Next month there will be more time to devote to solely 365 output, i am still up for the track a day average this month though so all momentum has not been lost. Today's download "colic" is for babies out there struggling with wind, it will help sooth them in times of bowel trouble. Tomorrow there's an old V/Vm video upload going up there which has been unseen since it was made in 2003. Tuesday, March 21st. WEATHER : It's a cruel, cruel wind. MOOD : Good LOCATION : Stockport / Wilmslow DOWNLOAD : montypanda / jumping jack (wmv) Audio and video for you today on the first day of spring. The video i have uploaded was made in 2003 by Miss Nagami and was supposed to appear on a dvd which was never made, or maybe it was. From what i can remember it took two solid days to shoot this two minute animation and then edit it to fit with the disjointed audio. Anyway it's here as a wmv file download and Miss Nagami i hope you have a real special birthday today wherever you may be over there in Japan and you are always the best panda out there. Wednesday, March 22nd. WEATHER : A rare blue sky MOOD : I have to admit it's getting better LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : harold bishop Am winding down to wind up for that trip to Belgium this week, everything is in place now and i can't wait to get overseas once again. Am waiting at the moment for a photographer to come round and take some shots for an interview which has yet to take place. Today's track is an ode to that large frump Ian Smith who plays erstwhile neighbours chump "Harold Bishop". I remember animal's horrific Harold and Madge xmas 7" fondly and i too have a full on Christmas album featuring big Harry Bish singing "oh come all ye faithful". I'll dig it out and rework it this yule without fail. Thursday, March 23rd. WEATHER : Still good MOOD : Never got going and am fucked LOCATION : Bed DOWNLOAD : refla The interesting aspect of this whole shebang up here is making audio when you are totally fucked. Today i am totally fucked so does the audio reflect the mood ? Probably not entirely but in part i hope so. Right now kids i'm down and out with a virus which each time i think i've kicked it kicks straight back in and leaves me floored. These bugs these days are hardcore. Will i recover in time for the trip to Belgium tomorrow, i sure hope so, but time as ever will tell. Here's hoping. Friday, March 24th. WEATHER : Warmer in mainland Europe MOOD : We're on the train to nowhere LOCATION : Stockport / London / Brussels DOWNLOAD : we are the world (extended pain mix) Oh yes a special ducky trip over to Euro la la land and to the centre of the European Union over there in Brussels. Accompanied by Mr Fast John Lady we headed south by train, first to london in First Class no less on real cheap deal tickets and then via Eurostar straight through to Brussels, where we met up with the true gentlemen of Brussels, Fred and Simon, very close to the pissing statue. Indeed the bar was great, there was a ringer for that late eighties hostage church envoy Terry Waite who was banging off strong Belgians by our side in there, we drink with all the lookalikes. Saturday, March 25th. WEATHER : Great in Brussels and stormy in Alkmaar MOOD : I wasn't really there was i ? LOCATION : Brussels / Alkmaar DOWNLOAD : the crutz The trip to the show in Alkmaar was a tour of endurance, we got there in the end and i did the deed around 3am, 40 minutes of maximum noise and confusion and total disregard for any kind of style. Half of the people liked it, half hated it which is about right in these days. There were copious pictures taken of the show and yesterday's free download provided the outro to all the madness as we all came together as one to celebrate the worst in music. The show pictures will never be seen as some cunt stole my camera out of the back room (seen left). It's a shame that the venue will be ripped down soon to be replaced by more offices. Sunday, March 26th. WEATHER : Nice Euro Ducky weather MOOD : Hungry and growling LOCATION : Alkmaar to Brussels via Roosendaal DOWNLOAD : mother ducky (remix) We headed out of Alkmaar in the mid day sunshine and took Mr Bastien Beffers scenic route to the station via the small town centre enjoying that Euro sunshine and of course seeing those Euro girls out in the sun. Of course all trains when you're in Belgium and Holland seem to pass through Roosendaal, that station truely is the end of the train world. A real transit station where you jump off a modern train into a cattle truck full of bad travellers. Today was also UK mothers day, what better way to celebrate than with a special Euro Ducky Remix for your mother. Monday, March 27th. WEATHER : Got worse the farther North we went MOOD : Ok thanks to Ricky BransTon's booze LOCATION : Brussels / London / Stockport DOWNLOAD : train to nowhere / seperation Every trip ends and when on the EuroDuckyStar it has to end with the obligatory Duvel/Toblerone taste of Europe special combination. The journey back from London was great fun thanks to Big Ricky BransTon's first class treatment where the drinks were free in a Wham style. Indeed we attempted to drink as much as possible unitl they sent the big unit down the carriage to tell us that the bar was now closed for stocktaking. We got this deal for 30 notes, usually it's around £150 to travel in such style and i guess those who pay that are not boozers, when you get V/Vm rif-raf on board it doesn't go down too well with Ricky's Virgins. Tuesday, March 28th. WEATHER : The wind and rain are on my side MOOD : Wondering why i am not on a train LOCATION : Back home DOWNLOAD : kaos (v/vm shit mix) Thanks to Fred and Simon over in Brussels i returned with in excess of two hundred and fifty euro pop and eighties seven inch singles which helps fill some gaps in my near faultless collection of sheer rubbish audio which i think is almost unparalled. Indeed the shop at which i bought these records was a virtual goldmine of bad audio nuggets and nothing thrills me more when i buy records than the sight of so many favourite 7" singles on the Carrere label. You know that between 83 and 87 you can be guaranteed the worst in Euro pap-shit-gold-pop. God bless Carrere. Wednesday, March 29th. WEATHER : Gusty MOOD : Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for LOCATION : Any way the wind blows DOWNLOAD : fredeadie Througout the years i have loved nothing more than mauling a standard track making it unbearable to listen to, but to V/Vm trained ears making a truely pleasurable experience. We are conditioned to appreciate great music and when that so called great music is screwed it makes for unpleasent listening to those who buy into this 'what is hot and what is not' scheme of mass media we have these days. Am sure Freddie and the boys will appreciate today's distasteful reworking, think of it like a being a fake Brian May wig. Thursday, March 30th. WEATHER : Blustery MOOD : I feel like Billy Ocean LOCATION : S S S St Sto Stockport DOWNLOAD : money (seven inch edit) / fallen soldiers Oh yes it's a real eighties day round here, indeed i am wearing huge shoulder pads and have a touch of Pat'n'Mick about my appearence, oh to be in the funhouse. Mr Goodiepal called me before on the hotline and during our extended conversation i asked him on behalf of all of you what i should remix for your pleasure today and he was keen for me to hack up the Pet Shit Boys which i have done for you with a special "money" edit and with the money shot seen left it's all perfect. That corrupt style is the way forward for a drunken dancefloor, watch them spin to this. Friday, March 31st. WEATHER : Springtime i guess has arrived MOOD : Resting most of the day today LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : enddd Three months in a quarter of the project has now been undertaken with nine months to go, hopefully some of the uploaded audio has been of use to you and has provided some amusement in these days of mass consumption and overload. Indeed by adding to the downloading pressure i guess i'm not helping in these flux ridden days of digital media. In addition to the 365 project i have also uploaded the first in a series of single artist download releases, this one is by Janksy Noise. Be sure to pull it down and distribute the audio, you know the score. Saturday, April 1st. WEATHER : Drip, drip, drop, little April showers MOOD : Do you really care ? LOCATION : Inside the mind of Ted Rogers DOWNLOAD : dusty bin (v/vm booby prize) Your april fools booby prize today is that bin on wheels Dusty Bin. Only on a fools day and of course prime time saturday evening can such a download be uploaded for your pleasure. Truely this is rubbish, altogether now with hearty voice "3-2-1 Dusty and Ted were shite". Do you reckon anyone from the 80's is still driving the beige Mini Metro one litre diesel they won on the show ? If you were unlucky enough to win Dusty all you got was a brand new bin, i don't know what's worse a new bin or a Mini Metro. Now then this audio has been pillaged from a Dusty Bin cash in 7" vinyl. Sunday, April 2nd. WEATHER : Rain, dark, grey and more rain MOOD : Like the sky LOCATION : In drizzle on the M60 loop DOWNLOAD : long way back 2006 / broken chase The tracks today are the type of thing you would hear i guess in some b-movie where there's some kind of chase (As there always are in most shit b-movies). Pefect stuff for creating on a rainy Sunday afternoon when all you follow is spray off other cars whilst heading on the circular Manchester ring road to nowhere in amongst all the Sunday drivers who are mostly in wrong lanes. Manchester is built and made on weather like today's. Monday, April 3rd. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : Get up, get up, get busy (Technochronic style) LOCATION : An appointment at the surgery DOWNLOAD : the kid plays in the sun Another monday rolls on by and once again the cat is more interesting than i am on this day. I am slowly getting back upto speed once again on this task at hand, my eye was off the ball the last week or so (the remix of queen though was a real highlight as was sourcing through all of those bad euro 7" vinyls i bought last week) but now my eye is firmly back on providing you audio to miss and dismiss or to download and burn to your hearts desire. Tuesday, April 4th. WEATHER : Cold and snow in April MOOD : Good LOCATION : Going in hiding DOWNLOAD : bajs grotta Snowing in April, who could believe it. Was just sat here watching that BBC consumer affairs program Watchdog. Who would have thought nine years ago when i first got the Boards of Canada 12" on Skam promo (well before their Warp days and a ton of hangers on got into them) that a track from that hi-scores 12" would accompany a segment on people and mainly kids with the medical condition of club foot. Who could have predicted that ? Wednesday, April 5th. WEATHER : Springlike MOOD : Yo-Yo LOCATION : Edgeley / Cheadle Heath / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : i shouldn't but The time is once again to finally get out of the madness and spend an elongated time period away from a connection looking out of a different window without any online distractions. Cleansing the mind and hopefully getting some audio made along the way. Thursday, April 6th. WEATHER : You know i didn't really notice MOOD : Away LOCATION : Inside the mind of boris blank DOWNLOAD : jump Apologies once again for the photo's, indeed i am as reported elsewhere i am sure real shy when it comes to the lens and feel it intrudes on mood most of the time which is why often when i am out i have no camera on my person. Maybe i should invest in a camera phone as this would be less intrusive, that said i love my current mobile because it's so fucked and if someone rings me the battery is so bad it just cuts out. The only reason i have it is because i found a sim card on a tram which worked and got sick of payphones which never work but still charge you. Friday, April 7th. WEATHER : A real mixed bag MOOD : Wishing i was hitting the booze harder LOCATION : Chorlton / Manchester / Black Cab DOWNLOAD : antwerpen nights A day for making a new beat stomper full of sex samples. Indeed today is such a day for once again dusting down some old analogue vst's and invisible midi wiring them into modern day software. I do actually own some old synths but mostly they have been gathering dust of late. I promise one week to dust them down and inject some power into their circuits before making some old style old styleness with them. I've got the power. Saturday, April 8th. WEATHER : April showers, again MOOD : Quiet LOCATION : Horizontal DOWNLOAD : where is your enough ? Being away sure has its advantages, no email for starters is a real daily bonus. Sure you have to wait for these uploads but the point is you know for sure something will be uploaded at somepoint. This year i am in it for the long haul of audio dredging. I was thinking, is this classed as a blog ? For me it's more of an ongoing release with these entries forming some sort of sleeve notes. The fact that this project is not tracked by bloggers or blogging links i think works in its favour. Onward into battle. Sunday, April 9th. WEATHER : Hail one minute warm sunshine the next MOOD : Like Ian Woosnams lawyer LOCATION : Chorlton DOWNLOAD : to dream / race One of those real lazy days interrupted by sound manipulations whenever i felt the urge. Managed to sneak in a couple of hours viewing the television. I watched about thirty minutes of the U.S. Open and was bored rigid, there's no drama. What you want are players hacking balls into the crowd which seems to straggle the outer edges of almost all greens. Birdies should be awarded for full on head cuts, causing a black eye could be given as an eagle a double bogey would be awarded for missing this sad bunch of golfing fanatics altogether. "To dream" is the theme to the madness. Monday, April 10th. WEATHER : Sunny and cloudy MOOD : Like a defrosting chicken LOCATION : Looking at the sky DOWNLOAD : boogie-woogie / yerrr Another day another dollar or so the saying goes, having spent the morning perusing the daily paper for biased slanted news updates being away from an online connection still feels good and certainly is better for getting on with things. So to April the 10th which is my late Grandfathers birthday, indeed he could not read a note of music but played a mean boogie woogie back in the day. Tuesday, April 11th. WEATHER : A real mixed bag, some good, some bad MOOD : Like Noel Edmonds beard LOCATION : On the way back to base DOWNLOAD : yelp / juvob Recharged a little it's time to head back to base and see what online chaos may or may not have errupted since my semi-retreat away from that previously mentioned elusive online connection. Two tracks for the price of none today, "yelp" could well be the soundtrack to my return or maybe not. At least i feel a little more connected to what is going on around here with this project. A late amendment dear readers, indeed it is chaos here as my mailforwarding has been disabled, why does this happen when you are away ? You can sure have a rest but boy do you pay for it. Wednesday, April 12th. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : I just believe it that this night will never go LOCATION : Down the streets of my soul DOWNLOAD : no self control (luxembourg lovers) "Oh the night is my world, city life painted girls. In a day nothing matters, it's the night time that flatters." So echoes that radio in my mind, an old melody from a broken down past transmission. Europe pre nineteen-nineties. Neon lights down dark sodden alleyways and corrupted English pronunciation, do songs get any better ? From the same school attended by F.R.David and Ryan Paris, today's offering offers a new summer time theme dancefloor smash for the girls out there. This one is for you baby wherever you are. Thursday, April 13th. WEATHER : Windy MOOD : No control LOCATION : i'm living in a moment of a dream DOWNLOAD : no self control (mannekin pis edit) Sometimes it cannot be helped, today's Brussels statue re-edit of yesterdays Luxembourg girl hit mix provides yet more ammunition for the European Ducky dancefloors of your own souls. As the old saying goes "i live among the creatures of the night, I haven't got the will to try and fight, against a new tomorrow." Todays picture shows a couple of weeks worth of 365 packages i have received here with remixes and samples, from as far a field as Argentina. A big thanks to those sending audio and samples in for remixing, over time remixes will happen for sure so keep sending stuff here. Friday, April 14th. WEATHER : Like a summers day MOOD : Knackered LOCATION : Headquarters DOWNLOAD : music-x Back in the day of hardware and midi units V/Vm audio was powered by Amiga software 'Music-X', indeed while most were on Atari's and Cubase myself and Animal used to work away on the crude interface of Music-X and it's 8 bit sampling capability. Often notes would randomly be missing from sequences whilst sometimes whole bars of audio would disappear. Mistakes which were often incorporated into composition. The entire Fat Cat 12" was composed on Music-X afterwhich we upgraded to PC and enjoyed some new posibilities. Saturday, April 15th. WEATHER : Warmer MOOD : Good LOCATION : Stockport / Levenshulme DOWNLOAD : b / 80's disco Saturday slipped by but it was a reshuffling day as i made things a little more creative here by swapping around equipment and messing around with computers, backing up being the main order of the day. My good friend Mr Toecutter is i believe visiting Monday so there's plenty more work to do before his ship docks in this particular harbour. Sunday, April 16th. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : Methodical LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : space bunny How apt on the day of the Easter Bunny that i should be found remixing my good friend Miss Bruys and her vocals from an as yet to be released emission 'space bunny'. Indeed its backed by yet another new beat romper stomper and i hope Miss Bruys you find it to your liking. I never get bored of that slow tempo which it seems may come back into vogue. The artwork has been completed for the forthcoming twelve inch maxi-single on weme, straight out of Belgium. Monday, April 17th. WEATHER : Grey with some light drizzle MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : crave Am awaiting the arrival of Sir Toecutter who should be here any minute, have spent a full afternoon doing the joys of stock rearranging here at H.Q. One of these days i will tackle the joys of the garage because i'm sure some out of print cd's and vinyls are in there somewhere in amongst the chaos. Tuesday, April 18th. WEATHER : Sunshine and showers MOOD : All work and no play makes... LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : dfs easter sale As i have left the camera which i am borrowing in a remote location tomorrow's picture will be today's and today's can be tomorrow's or something like that. Yesterday it was great to hook up with the Toecutter and Xian at the end of their tour, more about that tomorrow. As for today's offering does anyone believe that the DFS sale will ever end ? This is the soundtrack to the advert i want to star in one day, where i bounce on one of their leather sofa's which is so shit they are selling at under half price. It's my destiny to be the face of DFS or maybe SCS the poor mans version of the poor man. What happened to bean bags ? Wednesday, April 19th. WEATHER : Typical April fayre MOOD : Mental as anything LOCATION : Stockport the home of champions DOWNLOAD : are in roses ? Here is the photo promised from yesterday today. You can see Mr Toecutter (left) and his touring compadre Mr Xian (right) tucking into some traditional English fayre in city centre Manchester in one of the greasy spoons still left standing on piccadilly approach that hasn't been turned into a global coffee whorehouse. What a pleasure it was to host such a fine pair of chaps as these two. We need more people like this making music and touring, fucking great guys the pair of them. None of the bullshit you so often see from so many bores who hit the road with a powerbook and think they are johnny king bollocks. Thursday, April 20th. WEATHER : Grey with some heavy rain MOOD : Dizzy, i'm so busy my head is spinning LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : good now suck it A shameless plug, seen left, regarding the new Toecutter releases (cd's seen left) which dave was hand painting on his visit here a couple of days back. Days are whizzing by and i'm so busy, not content with doing this i'm trying to organise a U.S. Tour and arrange a pressing of the seventy-two track Caretaker download. It just never stops this end in a good way. Oh for a long rest and no audio for a day...... Friday, April 21st. WEATHER : Real nice and Spring like MOOD : Like Mike Baldwins knicker factory LOCATION : The Rovers Return, Coronation Street DOWNLOAD : baldwin's casuals mix I am not one for soaps but the demise of that cockney rogue Michael Baldwin was a true pleasure as it was well acted by dear old Johnny Briggs and brought into focus the crippling disease of alzheimers. However when he releases such shit audio as todays pillaged upload V/Vm is glad to see the back of you Uncle Mike, if only you could have taken Boring Barlow with you into that grave of yours. A totally stupid upload with which to start your weekend. It's like drinking the drip trays of Newton and Ridley's finest bitter mixed with tonic. A truely beyond the grave experience, it's one for the U.K. listener. Saturday, April 22nd. WEATHER : Sunny and warm MOOD : Knackered LOCATION : Stockport / Bury DOWNLOAD : acienne belgique Work is mounting up this end as i juggle a million things trying not to let any of them fall. The Caretaker 6 CD release has been mastered and is sounding real nice, now all i have to do is complete all the masters and get the disc are ready to be sent off this coming week and then things are really moving. It's nice to be making physical objects once again, of course making things in general is great in itself, but you cannot in my own mind beat a physical object as oposed to it's digitally virtual counterpart. Today's upload is a tribute to that Brussels nightspot the "acienne belgique". Go Belgium !!!! Sunday, April 23rd. WEATHER : The Sun is shining MOOD : Like Elton John's slippers LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : hans blix There is a law prevelant here at V/Vm which states whenever a good thing is happening then another good thing happens usually on the same day and unless you split yourself in two you can only do one of the good things. Sods law i believe it's called sometimes. I have just had to knock back a trip to Paris to attend the opening preview of an installation i did the audio for by artist Brice Dellsperger. The opening is on the 29th of April and that day i am in London DJ'ing a friends wedding (Jive Bunny c'mon). I am awaiting the arrival of Mad Cow Paté for an interview appearing online soon. Monday, April 24th. WEATHER : Nice but going grey MOOD : Head not with body LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : valerian albanov (cello version) Todays track is an alternative stripped down version of a track which will appear on an upcoming V/Vm 'vukzid' release very soon. It should have been uploaded by now, but due to that Caretaker CD set which is on the way soon i haven't had the time to upload the zip file. I hope to get it online later this week or at the latest next week. This is a rework of the opening track in this instance replayed using the virtual cello as the main base. Tuesday, April 25th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Reflective LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : chernobyl (one) Twenty years ago today the fatal experiment which began in reactor four at the Chernobyl power station in the Ukraine started a chain reaction which led to the worlds worst nuclear disaster. The effects of the disaster are still felt today in terms of various health problems for those exposed to the radiation and the endless clean up operation still active at the plant with its aging concrete sarcophagus in danger of collapse. The horrific story of Chernobyl and bad handling of the disaster are best told elsewhere. Be sure to click today's image for more information about the disaster and it's long term effects Wednesday, April 26th. WEATHER : Sunshine and a nice spring day MOOD : I can see the light at the end of the tunnel LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : (part two) / (part three) / (part four) Continuing on from yesterday's nuclear theme today was remember Chernobyl day with vigils held around the world the thoughts with those affected by this tragedy. The audio that has been used as the basis of yesterday and today's downloads was taken from one of my favourite ever t.v. documentaries about the disaster from 1991. It shows workers trying to clean out the reaktor itself in extreme areas of danger. Many of these workers have since lost their lives due to the immense radiation they absorbed. For further information about the disaster visit the bbc website. Thursday, April 27th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Working on the wedding soundtrack LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : swarm Thus ends the busiest period of the year, this week has seen seven cd's designed and mastered, one online release finished and uploaded. I have also ripped and encoded over 1000 party mp3s for that wedding dj'ing down in london on Saturday. I have conducted two interviews and responded to well over 1500 emails about the caretaker boxset along with mail orders received as well as trying to sort two tours European and Stateside. As well of course as uploading tracks to the 365 project. All this while being down with a virus most of the time. Friday, April 28th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : I should be somewhere else LOCATION : North DOWNLOAD : peter ebdon There was a change of plan and i ended up staying local instead of taking the train down to London, that will happen somepoint in May now. I completed various tasks while watching the snooker, of course i used to be well into snooker even screwing back that 7" remix of snooker loopy back in the day. These days the game is as dull as i can ever remember, the king of dull is Peter Ebdon who makes Cliff Thorburn look like Hurricane Higgins. Indeed perversely i kind of like his grinding wearing down style as it becomes a challenge to even watch him play the game on t.v. Saturday, April 29th. WEATHER : Looked great from behind the wheel MOOD : Driving away from home LOCATION : Stockport / London / Stockport DOWNLOAD : 3am knutsford sevices By not taking the train the day before this meant i had to work out a way of getting down South so decided to drive down, do the five hour wedding DJ bit for Justin & Helen and then head straight back north arriving back in Frank Sinatra's wee small hours. I had a lot of fun virtually spinning some of those old wedding classics down at Angel, i'm sure others had fun too on the free booze and sick hits. Driving home was surreal, i was tuned to Radio 2 and the presenter was on about how each week there was a featured town and its musical heritage on the show and how this week it was Stockport. There of course was no V/Vm. Sunday, April 30th. WEATHER : Grey northern drizzle MOOD : Taking it easy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : flopper Grey northern sunday's are perfect for watching our hero from the 28th play in the world snooker final. Wide awake whilst watching but feeling half asleep when the Ebdon master hits the table. 7-2 down the boy is at the time of writing but as it's the best of 35 frames you know he will grind his way back into contention. Just enough time between recharging the batteries in this way to slip out a little electronic number before returning back to baulk for some more safety play and tactical exchanges that take me to brink of despair. Where is last of the summerwine when you need it ? Monday, May 1st. WEATHER : Still grey, occasional rain MOOD : Industrious LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : kiev mayday parade 1986 Today is international workers day, happy May Day. "...Stand fast, then, Oh Workers, your ground, Together pull, strong and united: Link your hands like a chain the world round, If you will that your hopes be requited." Today also marks one third of the 365 project being completed. Tuesday, May 2nd. WEATHER : Perfect for designing the Barracuda MOOD : Ken Masters had better watch his back LOCATION : The Mermaid Yard, Tarrant DOWNLOAD : Howard's Way - Original Theme Tune Because i can do what the hell i want on here the remainder of this week has been declared "V/Vm's first and last annual Howard's Way week". It's god damn true, for the rest of this week i'll be hacking the music from the 1985 BBC drama set in Tarrant about the trials and tribulations at the Mermaid Yard. A series set mainly around the Barracuda boat they were building. I have always dreamed about releasing a Howard's Way CD so one day you never know it still could happen. Only V/Vm would be great enough to undertake such a meaningful remangle of such diabolical audio. Howard's Way. Wednesday, May 3rd. WEATHER : A nice day for the gin & tonic set MOOD : Like a Charles Frere business deal LOCATION : The sailing club, Tarrant DOWNLOAD : orrin and abby / tom howard's theme The fun goes on with more Howard's Way audio than you will ever need. The Mermaid Yard has rusted over these days since the Howard's and Jack Rolfe sold up. My good friend Mr Glover's dad went to School with the guy who played rogue Ken Masters, he also was telling me that the person who bought the Barracuda boat raced it around the Isle of Wight and it developed serious structural problems, he sold it and then became bankrupt soon after. Anyway then Gaz from Fast Lady mails me to say his good wife knows Jack Rolfe's niece and has met Jack. You can't make it up. Thursday, May 4th. WEATHER : Summer before it's Summer MOOD : Nice and relaxed despite the workload LOCATION : Drinking snide gin at the Mermaid Yard DOWNLOAD : tarrant set / leo's accident / frere Life is great when you convince yourself you're actually living on the set of Howard's Way. Great sailing weather today, the Barracuda was built for days like today. A nice stiff sea-breeze and sunshine all the way. Today's offerings hark back to Leo's freak powerboat accident which upset us all back in the day. Frere has been dedicated to Sir Edward and the Tarrant set is like a snide shot of Spar gin mixed with warm flat tonic, served with no ice and definitely no slice. Tomorrow will see me on my final day on the set of Howard's Way where i will be hacking the Barracuda to pieces using a butter knife. Friday, May 5th. WEATHER : A great day to be out with Ken Masters MOOD : Finding my sea legs LOCATION : On the open seas in Stockport DOWNLOAD : barracuda (mastersmix) / always there What a fantastic day for sailing in the Barracuda today was. Today's Barracuda mix was recorded down the front of Ken Masters trunks (seen left), it's eq'd so badly due to the fact i recorded it onto one of his 80's dictaphones. It's your soundtrack to the weekend. Alas all good things come to an end and tomorrow i shall return from my mid 1980's BBC TV drama of the mind so there will be no more audio from the Howard Family. I return with one clear thought (thanks Gaz) in my mind. "Jill, damn it woman, you can't sell the yard." Saturday, May 6th. WEATHER : Sunny going grey MOOD : No problems LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : scfc remix / incidental 95 / 98 / 976 Three incidental audio pieces for you today and a remix of rob, andy and tom's "scfc" in honour of StoCkport surviving the football drop into non league this afternoon by the skin of their teeth. Rumour had it that the original mix was played up at Edgeley Park a couple of years ago before a game, just imagine being at that ! No wonder the side has been in freefall ever since. Not much else to report today, it may be a weekend but it doesn't feel like a weekend. No time for resting this end, in fact it's as busy and as mental as ever. Crazy days at the moment and it's only going to get worse. Sunday, May 7th. WEATHER : Overcast, could be thunder MOOD : Optimistic LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : the thief of baghdad It's been a long time since i had a nosebleed, i get them from time to time where there are air pressure changes so last night with such a change came the blood. Personally i felt better after the bleed having been that used to having them in the past. The last bad one i had was a few years back in Japan which, as a result of having a bad cold and the flight from Australia to Japan, i just couldn't get it to stop for ages. Apart from that i think the actual last one i had was over in Cork a couple of years back during a show, blood dripping out of the Pig Mask, the joys indeed endless. Monday, May 8th. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : It's a nice day to start again LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : sample sex / de koninck 'sample sex' is the track i have made for the bbc breezeblock where they got people to send in random samples which then had to be used and abused in a track. I think the track will be played on the the show on or around the 16th of May, once it's been aired i'll make the track available here for download. De Koninck returns once more the dark clubs of Belgium with that over familiar sound formula of sex and repetition. It's been extended for your own listening pleasure. Roll on Europe day. Tuesday, May 9th. WEATHER : Sunshine and clouds MOOD : No time to celebrate, there's work to be done LOCATION : Online in Stockport, Europe. DOWNLOAD : i love you, euro girls / matt bianco Now i have realised after all these years why it is i love those mainland Euro girls so much, my birthday which is today (i didn't initially want to mention that but felt it was a worthy inclusion into this audio mess). Today is famous only for one thing and that is that it is European Union day as the proposal for a single European State was drawn up on May 9th, 1950 by Robert Schuman. Additionally i share my birthday with well known yorkshire playwright Alan Bennett. One of today's uploads is for all those Euro girls out there who i have met, loved, lost and have yet to meet. Love you, miss you. XXXX Happy Euro day. Thursday, May 10th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Time to go drinking somepoint soon LOCATION : Sunny Stockport DOWNLOAD : jade goody (celebrity twat mix) Jade Goody is straight off the V/Vm celebrity twat e.p. volume one, where modern day celebrity twats such as Goody get represented in musical form. We are talking super low end, bottom of the barrel, Z list twats who are famous for being thick as fuck. You know the deal, Jade is as dim as 40 watt bulb and a is now a millionaire and nations favourite for being totally dumb. It's perfect, society has led us to this point. Who will be next on the V/Vm celebrity twat e.p? time will tell. Maybe i should press a 12" and send it to the twats involved to see if they sue me for using their no doubt trademarked names. Nominate now! Thursday, May 11th. WEATHER : Great weather today MOOD : Just champion LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : boris becker Before you go one step further i know what you're thinking but you would be wrong. V/Vm has got a lot of time for Tennis legend and boom-boom-broom closet veteran Boris Bocker (sic), indeed i miss Boris everytime Wimbledon comes around as the modern day players just don't have the style when it comes to the backhand. Today's number is one for the strawberry and cream set, it's like losing your first service game or playing an endless tie break with Tim Henman for a month. Boris i believe if he knew of V/Vm would be into the releases for sure so this one's for you big man. Friday, May 12th. WEATHER : Sunny then hail and thunder MOOD : Ever changing LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : abandoned between the cracks I was busy working on the above track this afternoon when a freak thunderstorm developed overhead so i had to shut down all equipment and retired to the sanctuary of watching a DVD of old Juliet Bravo re-runs. Very special indeed the Bravo, nice and slow moving, perfect for such stormy weather. The guy on your screen is playing Sgt. Joseph Beck a real old school kind of copper, the ones i remember being about when i was a kid back in the day. The show itself is pretty bleak, set in the ficticious Hartley which is anywhere in the Lancashire / Yorkshire area. It helped pass the hour till the storm abaited. Thanks ma'am. Saturday, May 13th. WEATHER : Grey and dull MOOD : Numb LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : poo throwers Another 13th comes into view and it was definitely unlucky for sure. Poo throwers is dedicated to those who throw poo, plain and simple as that. All work and no play this end for sure but that is set to change real soon with those planned Parisian and Berlin nights coming soon as part of that Easy Tour. Sometimes you have to work hard but followed by that is a time for playing hard for sure which is now what i am looking forward to. You may also note that the supply of dumle snacks is back upto decent levels over here which is a real bonus once again for whenever i need that sugar rush. Sunday, May 14th. WEATHER : Mixed MOOD : I just can't smile without you LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : premium bonds An easier day today for once with less emphasis on work. No time to waffle along on here, nothing to impart on this day. Monday, May 15th. WEATHER : Raining all day MOOD : I've never felt more like singing the blues LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : penmon Today i got a nice package off my good friend Fre over in Belgium inside was mint copy of an old new-beat stomper by French Connection a copy of which i have been looking for for around fifteen years. That's always been the fun of record buying, the hunting for discs. These days it's all virtual, two clicks away. This is down to the good shops closing due to simple economics and lack of interest in challenging music. Replaced by soulless places full of mass produced, usually commericial audio. Tuesday, May 16th. WEATHER : It's a nice day for greenfly MOOD : Real tired all day today in the grey LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : blonger After my post of yesterday about searching for records i stumbled upon an article about the increased number of women who now buy MP3's, they have been dubbed the MP She generation by the industry. It seems as now the fact of going into snobbish shops full of geeky guys has been removed that the said people are now buying online an using their own ears to decide what is hot and what is not like never before. No pressure from staff, no being made to feel small. It's a small step in the right direction from the dinosaur which is the industry, it's just a shame that many choose to shop on outdated business models such as iTunes. Wednesday, May 17th. WEATHER : Mostly grey MOOD : Good LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : night people I've been slowly getting back upto speed on many things around here before the impending Euro Trip which starts one week today, first stop Paris. No location changes around here, i am climbing the walls as i'm sure you can imagine. With some new releases almost in the bag now though the work is paying off, plus i got a great Def Leppard sticker today from Shitmat, you can't ask for anymore on such a day, shit like that keeps me going on this year long quest of absurdity. Thursday, May 18th. WEATHER : Mixed up MOOD : Nostalgic LOCATION : The past DOWNLOAD : the end of the pier 01 Melodies from past sea-side singalongs from those dilapidated piers all around the United Kingdom, tales and songs from the past told through salt rotten wood and unsafe structures. Sounds seldom heard these days around the British seaside resorts. A trip back to the old golden heyday of the British summer holiday season, still in slight focus like an old sepia polaroid photograph in a dusty old photograph album. Friday, May 19th. WEATHER : Mixed up MOOD : Nostalgic LOCATION : The past DOWNLOAD : the end of the pier 02 Still the drizzle falls onto the old pier soiling the rain sodden deckchairs. Still the holidaymakers sing in defiance against the Great British sea-side weather. Who were these singers ? Where the hell are they now and what was their fate ? Saturday, May 20th. WEATHER : MOOD : LOCATION : The home of Eurovision in Europe DOWNLOAD : sophie and magaly / arlequin The full story about these uploads can be read here. Today of course is one of V/Vm's favourite of the year, it's the day of the Eurovision Song Contest. I shall be sat watching the votes flood in, will it be as rigged as last year with all the Balkan countries voting for each other ? Of course it will. As far as the music goes i love that Eurovision style, these days it's all bad dance routines and Eastern influenced euro pap. That is except for Finland who this year are entering a Eurovision Death Metal track and Ireland who enter the sort of pathetic drivel ballad you come to expect. The English entrant is a twat from Stockport ! Sunday, May 21st. WEATHER : Rain MOOD : Nostalgic LOCATION : The Empress Ballroom DOWNLOAD : the end of the pier 03 So i swing back on this particularly grey Sunday to an out of focus sing-a-long from a cast of unknowns. Tomorrow will see the final part of this four-part deckchair-sodden rear view look back at some forgotten melodies from the days when the paint was new and the resorts popular and not down trodden. Monday, May 22nd. WEATHER : Grey constant rain MOOD : Grey LOCATION : All out to sea DOWNLOAD : the end of the pier 04 The final part of this four part end of the pier download has been uploaded for your pleasure. Watch your bass bins with this mix. It's been good fun doing these elongated pieces, hopefully you got a kiss me quick, squeeze me slow out of them. Two days before i head on out for that Euro Trip which i am looking forward too now as i need a break for a few days to recharge the batteries and to work on some new audio away from the Email barrage this end. Somedays have been totally insane, over the edge inducing mayhem. Tuesday, May 23rd. WEATHER : Sunhine one minute, hail the next. MOOD : Getting away with it all my life LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : no one ever died Before any trip away for me these days there is a lot of work i must do before i leave, from backing things up to just getting audio ready for shows. Tomorrow i leave for a couple of weeks heading off to Paris, Berlin and Bristol for shows and rest. Then i return just in time to see Al Duvall playing in Stockport. The 365 will be updated next when i return as i don't wanna be spending my time looking for ways to upload when there are beers to be sunk. Now then good news about the Caretaker 6cd set, everything arrived in here today (seen left) so when i return the sets will be sent out to those who pre-ordered. Wednesday, May 24th. WEATHER : A few little rays of sunshine MOOD : Tired LOCATION : Paris DOWNLOAD : stigmatic Finally i made it out of the house for a rest of sorts. First stop was Paris, France made possible by that Easy Jet connection via Liverpool. So to gay paris and a show at Cafe Le Dance with some fellow oddballs. It was great to catch the enigma which is Andrew Sharpley (stockhausen&walkman) who was banging off the red wine. Great too to see so many friends out at the show, Fabienne, Hendrik and Virginie to name but three. The show was the usual unplanned nonsense only V/Vm can get away with. These days songs aren't even processed, just straight songs mimed badly, it's easier that way. Thursday, May 25th. WEATHER : Grey all day MOOD : Holiday LOCATION : Paris DOWNLOAD : granville Driving around Paris at 3a.m. on scooters was the order of the day as both myself and Mr Tomlinson headed around those mean parisian streets. I was on Daniels turbo charged model while John was on Jos' slower whiter model. The destination of our nightime ride was "Jardin du Luxembourg" where when we arrived we toasted our victory with a flagoon of ale. The rest of the day was easy, we met up with Virginie and then i played a starbucks commercial on Punk Radio. It gets no worse. The joys of European travel. Friday, May 26th. WEATHER : Mixed up MOOD : Real good LOCATION : Paris/Berlin DOWNLOAD : berlijn '98 A hop, skip and a jump over to Berlin from our Parisian base saw me team up with the ever bubbly Tara from Kunt. After a quick couple of beers in the sports bar it was time to head out to catch up with my old American drinking pardner Kevin Blechdom as we ended up at the Rote Rose which is one of the most fucked drinking dens in the world. If you're my good friend Mr Seal you get groped in there, i was threatened by a guy with a tom sellick style moustache who took exception to my hair. The place never shuts seemingly, the big lad in the picture to the left was the glue for sure. A nice 6 a.m. finish. Saturday, May 27th. WEATHER : Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain MOOD : Party Party LOCATION : Berlin DOWNLOAD : clap trap A night on the Jagermeister, a real boozy night and one where i ended up asleep next to the bath in the bathroom so nailed were we all. dressing up and dressing down, blurred vision and some fucking horrible vodka which tipped everyone who drank it over the precipice. All you need to know is i woke up sporting a koala bum bag (fannypack for you americans out there) and a head which didn't stop spinning until around 5p.m. It was fucking hardcore drinking. This was the planned quiet night. Sunday, May 28th. WEATHER : Real windy and heavy downpours MOOD : Hungover all god damn day LOCATION : Berlin DOWNLOAD : jamie lidell's underpants The picture to your left was taken at somepoint post midnight (so it counts) from those joyous festivities of the evening before. The head has been cut out to protect the innocent. At this time my head was clear enough only becoming worse after the vodka drove me to sleeping on the floor with a bum bag. The rest of the day after waking up was spent doing very little just recovering. I did watch the musical Annie though here with Tara and John, that fucking Daddy Warbucks is one to watch for sure. Tomorrow, Tommorow i love you tomorrow, tomorrow is a day away... Monday, May 29th. WEATHER : Torrential Rain MOOD : Stomach grumble booze grumble LOCATION : Berlin Mitte DOWNLOAD : cunt remix The weather so far for the whole trip has been fucked up. I met up with Mild Man Jan for the first time in years, a guy who lives fifteen minutes away in Manchester and we instead meet up for the first time in around six years in Berlin. The real weird thing was he was staying in a backpackers hostel which unbeknown to me and him was three doors away from the lovely Tara's boudoir where my goodself and Mr John Fast Lady were staying. We all talked, we all drank then retired back to Mr Ivanov Seals abode to watch more rain fall. Happy Days. Tuesday, May 30th. WEATHER : What do you think ? Rain again MOOD : Totally fucked all day LOCATION : Berlin DOWNLOAD : no morr music That booze busting run caught up with me big time a.m. as i made best friends with Mr Seals toilet which i now know intimately. We made it out later into the centre of Berlin to watch Henry Shithat-Shitmat play a noise set at Staalplaat. Thankfully Geert-Jan wasn't around or if he was his head has now disappeared and he is the sum of the records sold there. No V/Vm in the shop only one lonely Caretaker disc. V/Vm is now invisible in most shops which is no bad thing. Ate great pizza with Ivan and Sofia to round the night off in style. Wednesday, May 31st. WEATHER : Pissed it down then nice MOOD : These are the greatest times of my life LOCATION : Berlin Kreuzberg / Freidrichshain DOWNLOAD : alexanderplatz Ate a great cheese plate with the Seal in the morning, then watched some real great German T.V. expecting people to get naked any second. Then hot footed it over to Freidrichshain by foot passing by the old place where i was gonna move to back in 2002 which was this great Bauhaus building at the end of Revaler Strasse where i was gonna squat down with Miss Bruys. Then it was fucked, now it's under redevelopment. So much has changed since i last walked down that old street and i am sure i have video of that old walk somewhere. Meanwhile John broke the shower at Damie and Tara's place (seen left). Thursday, June 1st. WEATHER : Mixed with random showers MOOD : Relaxed LOCATION : Berlin Kreuzberg DOWNLOAD : emotional (berlin girls mix) The great institution which is the Berlin Breakfast was enjoyed once again with Mr Seal and Mr Tomlinson. As a relaxing day all in all was had before the show at Club Maria. Billed as international noise day it was indeed V/Vm's pleasure to perform in Berlin for the first time since 1998. It seems also that the Paris show has ignited another appearance in the French capital one week today as V/Vm is in Euro demand once again. The show itself was funny, i will talk more about V/Vm live at some other point soon. It was great to see some old faces again, Ed Benndorf in particular and meet some new faces like Mira. God bless FALCO!!!! Friday, June 2nd. WEATHER : Good for a real change MOOD : Loved up LOCATION : Berlijn (Kreuzberg) DOWNLOAD : tara i love you Tara Z Pattenden take your bow, i love you baby - you know it and i know it. You are a total legend. The night at Maria ended at about 6am, with DJ Shitmat worse for wear and me lugging a monitor on his behalf. I was fucked for most of the day after as there was no time for sleep, so took it easy alone at the home of Ivan and Sofia. John said his farewells and i headed out for a couple of cocktails with Mira in the Mini-Bar in Kreuzberg before retiring for an earlier than normal night. Bristol tomorrow for the Venn festival and then a day hanging out with Jono and Ali before heading back north to see Al Duvall in action. Saturday, June 3rd. WEATHER : Shit in Berlin glorious in Bristol MOOD : Relaxed and drunk on the plane LOCATION : Berlin / Bristol DOWNLOAD : whiskey on the easyjet An early start out of Berlin with just a chocolate bar and then three whiskeys on the plane to wash it down. Bristol was glorious, full on sunshine and time to enjoy some nice food with Mr Wade before the chaos which was the nights V/Vm show. Back in London last year i enlisted the help of my good friends Mr Boyle and Mr Wade to cause chaos and again they were out in force in Bristol causing unique chaos. Indeed we all finished black and blue and walking was a struggle thereafter. The show itself was as fucked as ever but that's how it is these days. Electric Dreams. Not big and not clever. Sunday, June 4th. WEATHER : Glorious with the odd freak shower MOOD : Winding Down LOCATION : Bristol in Jono's Kitchen DOWNLOAD : dirty harry at sixty Finally a day to take it super easy and recover from that rolling and wrestling excess of yesterday evening. Cooking some good food has been the order of the day as myself and Miss Nyqvist have been taking advantage of the facilities in Jono's kitchen and have been cooking up a storm. Tomorrow i head back to Manchester for a couple of days before another one off show in Paris on Thursday. My body is black and blue due to the agressive nature of performance but it's all good. A lazier day for me today reading those sunday papers. Monday, June 5th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : A little tired LOCATION : Bristol DOWNLOAD : russell grant I went record shopping in the afternoon in the search for bad eighties 12" singles and picked up a fair number of bad records for a particularly good price. The guy in the shop was taking the piss out of my haul of shit because of course "they are music people" and i am just some twat buying real low end rubbish. I did however pick up two records which when sold on ebay will double up the cash i spent in their shop and will still leave me with around eighty records to play around with. Tuesday, June 6th. WEATHER : Sunshine and heat MOOD : Good LOCATION : Bristol / Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : sierra The day started in Bristol where i tried to get back online a little bit. I left with my good friend Mr Boyle around 3pm to get back to the North to catch Al Duvall who was playing a show in a really sunny Stockport and even managed to pursuade my mother and father to come out and see the legend that is Al live and on stage. It was a true pleasure to finally see him hit the stage and get to meet him even if it was for a flying visit. Next time i'll try and get him some more shows in the North i hope he had fun up here even though it was a real brief stay. Wednesday, June 7th. WEATHER : Sunshine and glorious all day MOOD : A little tired LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : m4 m5 m6 The day started real early as we had to drop Al off at Stockport Station as he headed back South to hook back up with his wife and to get to Heathrow for his flight back to New York City. Myself and Jono wished him well on his travels then spent most of the day packing up Caretaker 6cd sets as i finally got back to H.Q. Alas it's a short visit as health permitting (i feel fucked right now) i am due in Paris tomorrow for a fleeting twenty four hour visit. Chaos totally, next week i can get the sets all numbered and sent out. Delays happen sometimes, it's the way it goes. Thursday, June 8th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Tired LOCATION : Stockport / Paris DOWNLOAD : diamond lights (glenn's mullet mix) Just like Phil Collins i was jetting back to Paris this time on British Airways on one of those fourty seater planes. Thankfully the weather was real good so turbulence was at a minimum on the flight across. Once there it was straight to an art opening with Eva and then from there onto the venue for the V/Vm show. Indeed the show went down like a lead balloon, the sound was real bad so i pumped through some audio which made it even worse. Some people couldn't bare it at all and started throwing things, others were threatening me. I fucked my wrist up as you do when you hit a concrete floor hard. Friday, June 9th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Tired LOCATION : Paris / Stockport DOWNLOAD : sheet petite (shock horror mix) It was a flying visit, right now i don't know where i am. These musicians who fly from place to place each day i have no idea how they do it. That said how many of them actually do anything physical. My body is aching today, too many bruises, too many pulled muscles and a right hand which has been rendered useless. It was good to know that after this flight home i can now catch up on a few things and take it a little easier. The evening was mostly spent packing the caretaker box sets. No rest for the wicked at the moment. Non stop techno-pop. Today's track is for you Jono, you know the score. Saturday, June 10th. WEATHER : Glorious, hot and sunny MOOD : Catching up LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : belgian 1980 football squad Time to get back on track as finally there is a little more time around here to sort shit out. Caretaker boxes are very close to completion, it's a ton of work for me this coming week and it always seems that when there's tons to do the weather always warms up by at least ten degrees. I reckon the temparture in here is pushing at least 35 degrees with all the equipment adding warmth and boxes maintaining the heat. It's a hardcore working environment for sure with over two hundred boxes to get ready for sending out. It's non-stop this end, really is. Sunday, June 11th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Pulling it tound LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : malady I took my makeshift bandage off my wrist as i had a ton of emails to catch up with and as you can see it's a little bit purple and green. Three shows in eight days does that to the body, the fact was in Paris at the end i couldn't even move that hand which isn't too great when people start giving you abuse because you're not playing house or fucking hip-hop. Such is life we move on. Most of the day was spent working hard on packing these new releases which due to the pain is taking a little longer. Monday, June 12th. WEATHER : Cloudy and humid MOOD : Why are some people complete doughnuts ? LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : grouls Why is it some people behave like complete doughnuts and have no idea what V/Vm is actually about ? Anyway enough about doughnuts, the day has been spent again packing discs and sorting out numerous emails. Right now i'm living amongst numerous boxes of cd's and vinyls.It's great to be busy though so there is no complaining this end. Tuesday, June 13th. WEATHER : Grey and humid MOOD : No time to nice LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : structure This hand of mine is getting worse and has not been helped by a day of packing up cd sets. Not much to report today, a day of going through the packing motions mostly. It's good to physically pack records and cd's yourself. Most of these other musicians never get to do this and they all come factory packed which actually divorces you somewhat from a release. The funniest thing was that because of the heat and because the booklets are prone to finger prints when your hands sweat, all of them were packed and signed whilst using surgical gloves. The fucking lengths i have to go to this end to get things right. Wednesday, June 14th. WEATHER : Grey but mercifully cooler MOOD : Getting the ship back on an even keel LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : incidental 897 I wish i had just a little more time to spend solely on this '365' project, put simply The Caretaker Sets are taking a lot of time in terms of getting them ready for posting out, so output on the 365 has fallen slightly. Give it a couple of weeks and i'll be fully back on track with the 365 audio slamming out more intricate tracks and causing even more audio misery for those of you who are following developments around here. The fact that in the last two weeks i have had time to make any audio is amazing to be honest. Thursday, June 15th. WEATHER : Sunshine and clouds MOOD : It is good today LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : bombjack It was ten years ago today that Manchester City Centre was decimated by an IRA bomb which ripped into the commercial heart of the city. One year later with Skam and Public we all co-released the '0161' compilation and V/Vm played its first live show in Manchester. Nine years, time flies. To today and my good friend Miss Tara Z Pattenden is hitting the bright lights of Stockport and Edgeley, she'll be here for a couple of days which will be great fun for sure, it's just a shame she misses the party on Saturday. Friday, June 16th. WEATHER : Was very warm MOOD : Ready to sit in the beer garden at Fringe LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : incidental 899 ....and so my good friend Miss Tara Z Pattendon arrived the previous evening and in the afternoon we headed out looking for some records and bad videos in the local charity shops. I pulled out a real nice new beat 12" for 29p which came with a fold out poster showing loads of new beat fashion, a nice result. In the evening it was off into Manchester where i hooked up with some friends and we ended up in the portal that time forgot which is Fab Cafe. They did play the 12" of Electric Dreams and we did see someone fall right through a glass table at the end. I was getting some smiles off the girls as was young John. Saturday, June 17th. WEATHER : Real humid but cloudy with it MOOD : Hungover then ready for a drink again LOCATION : Boozing in Chorlton DOWNLOAD : god bless uncle midi Time to recover a.m. as Tara headed down to London with her mother to be close to Scorpio Scorpio. I had a few hours recovery time before Becky from the United States of America turned up and we then headed out to the bars in Chorlton and sunk a few Duvel's and also the pissing beer of Belgium. Then back to a house party at Miss Nyqvists house which was low key until near the end when this Danish guy got a bit too drunk and was trying to touch up Becky so myself,with a combination of help from Mild Man Jan, calmed him down by being stupid. Becky was saved so all's well that ends well. Sunday, June 18th. WEATHER : The odd shower now and again MOOD : Hungover LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : god bless aunty midi Most of the day was spent in recovery mode sleeping off three nights out on the bounce. Usually it's no problem but these days due to the intense workload and the fact i am still a bit fucked up it takes its toll. By late afternoon i was back on track and returned to base and then spent the rest of the evening cutting bubble wrap. The fucking highlife this is some days, cutting bubble wrap. I bet elton or big robbie don't get to do such glamourous jobs as cutting the wrap. Oh the joys i had, you can see them tomorrow, i will picture it just for you. Monday, June 19th. WEATHER : Grey and a little cooler MOOD : Didn't notice LOCATION : Packing box sets all day DOWNLOAD : another baby, yeah When i started this whole project i knew it would be time consuming and stated that there would be no more releases. Of course mood changes and today i found myself packing already hand packed caretaker sets into boxes and addressing them up. I have over 225 to pack up and seriously because they are being packed up real carefully i only did around sixty today inbetween doing emails and catching up on this 365 thing. Audio wise i'm down to just one a day right now as time really is a premium. Back to the Ace of Base today, remember the 'she wants' download too ??? Double trouble. Tuesday, June 20th. WEATHER : Rain and pitch black right now MOOD : It should be good after some sleep LOCATION : I'm living in a box a cardboard box DOWNLOAD : mummy A lot of the audio for this 365 project is conceived at night, so after a day packing boxes non stop (almost) i decided to start today's track at midnight and here it is. Fake or not ? Today's track is the best for some time in my mind. Only V/Vm would put their name to something so ridiculous audio wise that it's the worst thing i think since "Ducky" raised his feathers back in '98. Funny how both tracks are about mothers too. So it's dark here, i cannot report anything other than it's dark. After i have slept i shall be packing boxes all day. It's the high life around here. Jet set style. 2 a.m. Eternal. Wednesday, June 21st. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : Delirious LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : happy curse Packing cd's is a pain especially when you discover half of the boxes you ordered have been sent through in error as the size is wrong. Regardless you plough on and think, well not to worry i'll just switch this computer here on and make some audio and then the computer fails to switch on and has basically died a noble death but is still under warranty so then you spend half the day booking the fault and arranging a collection. Tomorrow the right boxes will be here so i can start packing again. Happy days of computer breakdowns and mental breakdowns. It's the good life.... Thursday, June 22nd. WEATHER : Sunshine and cloud MOOD : Busy LOCATION : packing up cd sets all day and night DOWNLOAD : bubblewrap / original mix Just enough time to slip out a tribute to that multi purpose man made substance of bubblewrap. A day spent fully packing cd sets making sure each was packed in a way that it wouldn't get damaged in transit. It's been a lot of work but the light is at the end of the tunnel right now as i move to within fifty sets of getting them all done and posted out. Next week should be a lot cooler around here as i will get a lot more time to finally spend on audio creation. Friday, June 23rd. WEATHER : Mixed with a touch of grey MOOD : Delirious LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : on the beach (the girls mix) Driving yourself around the bend is part of the fun these days for sure, so the sets finally all got posted out so it's a big weight off my mind for sure. Today's remix was slipped out inbetween sorting out the final ones and is purely to usher in summer for the girls who read this here three, six, five project and features my old mate Chris Diarrhea on the vocals. Sure girls i am looking forward to being down on the beach again with you soon. For now anyway be sure to befriend the man who is The Caretaker on the horror show that is myspace. It makes no sense. Saturday, June 24th. WEATHER : Cloudy, windy with Sunshine MOOD : Things caught up with me LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : karl heinz rummenigge I really wanted to get out into Manchester this evening but was dead on my feet as the weeks packing, email and audio work caught up on me and i found myself in an unusually mute state. My friend Andrew was up from Cambridge watching UM and Ascoltaire play at the Roadhouse so it was a shame i had to miss them all but when all you can do is grunt you know the game is up and it's time to slip on the slippers and take it easy. I did watch some of the World Cup through bleary eyes, the Mexico vs Argentina match was a classic, end to end stuff which beats the usual boring defensive play you so often see. Sunday, June 25th. WEATHER : Cloudy with occasional sunshine MOOD : In the recovery position LOCATION : Stockport / Victoria Baths, Manchester DOWNLOAD : world cup tv theme 01 It's not often that i get involved with doing installations or indeed with the arts world. I did today do a small installation of audio by The Caretaker at an Expo at Victoria Baths in Manchester. The main reason and motivation for getting involved with this was the fact that it's a Victorian Listed building now in a state of disrepair and also that members of my family used to go to the baths when it was still open. It's currently being restored to its former glories and indeed provided a great backdrop. The installation was simple, just playback of some of the Caretaker audio which fitted well into the crumbling environment. Monday, June 26th. WEATHER : Cloudy, since you went away MOOD : Time for a reformat LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : world cup tv theme 02 It's been a couple of years since i did a reformat on this here machine which i do all of my online work on, so it was running about as slow as a snail. Enough was enough i thought as i performed a full reformat in the early hours of the morning to help me get back upto speed on here. It feels like a new machine again now as i only have the basic programs installed and have ridded the machine of much of the software i have pretested over this time. No more waiting a couple of minutes to open and close the machine down so it's win, win around here as i try to get back upto date with this 365 project. Tuesday, June 27th. WEATHER : Overcast and cool MOOD : Uncluttered LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : fate (terneuzen acid canal) All this talk of packing caretaker box sets and i forgot to unpack all of the V/Vm new-beat records both fred and simon at we/me sent me. That i did this morning and all i can say is they did a great job with both the cut and the stickered pink covers. They also sent me a couple of nice new-beat releases on both seven and twelve inch. Make sure you don't miss getting a copy of this limited twelve, you can as ever download the whole release because i'm so damn generous these days. Labels like V/Vm and we/me though do survive as a result of purchases, never lose sight of that fact. Wednesday, June 28th. WEATHER : Getting warmer slowly MOOD : Industrious LOCATION : Stockport / Edgeley DOWNLOAD : notramtenezsoscid I am finally getting back on top of things aorund here, still got loads of emails to do, but it's been an industrious day around here as i did a lot of website updates whilst making today's track on another machine. One track a day average this month, it had to be that way. I'll step it up and wear it out again soon. Halfway point looms large right now.Tomorrow i can't do much except wait for the laptop which broke down last week to come back in here (as it's due back in double quick time). I do have some tidying up to do in the storeroom here, it's the highlife you're glimpsing into right now. Rock and Roll baby, rock and roll.... Thursday, June 29th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Happy talking talking happy talk LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : suck my balls (sven's request) Just enough time to slip out a V/Vm remix of the much lauded 2006 Fifa World Cup anthem by The Colonel. It's not big and it's not clever, this remix is a real offside shocker. Like those bungs Fifa allegedly keep taking this track is like a one nil defeat when you've battered the opposition but they broke away to slot one home. Is it acid or flacid ? Sven wants you to 'suck his balls' for England as they continue to row to victory with him as the cox. I am out of here tomorrow, destination Copenhagen for a real brief almost invisible visit to Roskilde and the festival there. See you the other side of it. Friday, June 30th. WEATHER : Real good MOOD : Complex LOCATION : Roskilde / Copenhagen, Denmark DOWNLOAD : tim henman V/Vm was the Goodiepal master today at the Roskilde Festival over there in Denmark. It was one of those crazy days where you find yourself somewhere but you really feel like you're not there. Travelling by air does that to you from time to time. Roskilde was as Sunny as the year before. I'm not one for festivals and find most of the British ones seem to attract the worst people and usually worst acts. Never has V/Vm been invited to play an English festival and i guess I never will be. The Euro hit which is Roskilde is always a pleasure. That nordic vibe is a winner. Saturday, July 1st. WEATHER : Hot MOOD : Realising LOCATION : Copenhagen / Stockport DOWNLOAD : end I saw the Goodiepal briefly, he was wrecked from the show the day before. Those V/Vm shows are always a little crazy. Back to Manchester early doors. What followed was one of those lazy summer days where you just end up thinking, maybe too much, maybe too little. Seeing things in different ways which is not always such a great thing. Half way point of this project, i had expected a little more in terms of remixes etc. but i have to compete for that with people like Brian Eno who uploads two tracks from over twenty years back and gets all the press space. Sunday, July 2nd. WEATHER : Thunderbolts and lightening MOOD : Too hot in here in to think LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : menage a trois (vocal mix) / (instr. mix) Belgian - Hard Beat Too hot around here with three pc's pumping out even more heat. Late afternoon thunder was overhead which caused an equipment shutdown. Enough time to tweak and peak the next generation of remaking new-beat. It's the most fun music to make right now, really. Real, real simple, the key is getting the sounds right and then you are there and can't fail. It's nice to see the new cd release is getting a bit of online exposure around the place with genuine enthusiasm to boot. There's talk of some new-beat shows in Belgium too so we'll wait and see what happens. Monday, July 3rd. WEATHER : Sunny and too hot to trot MOOD : Warm LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : martina hingis (love - fourty mix) Martina Hingis A couple of years back both myself and Mr Emil Hagstrom from Cock E.S.P. were up for pressing a tennis themed 12" picture disc, he was going out all guns blazing with his fast service technique to cover the mountain which is and was Venus Williams and my own side was to be reworkings of that Swiss Miss of Tennis, Martina Hingis. We never quite did get our backhands right and first serves in for the tournament 12" disc but never say never hey Emil. As it's Wimbledon last week and this here's a nice one for you Martina. You're still the best of them on the W.T.A. tour in my eyes baby. Tuesday, July 4th. WEATHER : Sunshine and heat MOOD : Slow in the sunshine LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : vukid01-1 (93mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Finally i got out of the furnace for some hours, on the previous afternoon i dropped in at Boomkat to drop off some new releases which i hope (usually in vain) that they will sell because surviving is tough. Afterwhich beers were sunk until the early hours in the continuing heat. Gets to you after a while it does over here in the u.k. Buildings are mainly built to retain heat over here so every summer rooms become unbearable when the sun beams down on them each day. The only way out is escape which is what i have done. Wednesday, July 5th. WEATHER : Summer Sunshine MOOD : Hungover LOCATION : Hiding DOWNLOAD : vukid01-1 (93mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The reality was i was not away i was merely hiding out, giving myself a little more space to create something worthwile. The deal is that these updates take a lot of time each day, just uploading the files alone is a killer. As the project i am working on takes shape the temperature has at least dropped a couple of degrees below boiling. My sturdy desk fan for company the desktop computers here however still helped the room upto unbearable temperatures. The booze fuelled headache was not planned but it's collateral damage for sure. Thursday, July 6th. WEATHER : Grey, cooler but still close. MOOD : Industrious LOCATION : Hiding DOWNLOAD : vukid01-1 (93mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The project takes a little more shape, inspired by the death of rave and mostly of rave culture. Classic tracks bent into a barely remembered world which could be run parallel to the world in which The Caretaker inhabits. The audio being completed in the coming days and weeks will form part of an online available release or maybe more. It's sinister in another way completely. Tracks though simillar are effective. Half remembered sounds inhabit this world. Maybe you were there back in the day listening to the unaffected originals, memory hazy thanks to those ecstatic years lost to hedonizm. Friday, July 7th. WEATHER : A little cooler, sunny and grey MOOD : This and that LOCATION : In hiding DOWNLOAD : vukid01-1 (93mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) And so the hiding continues, today i upgraded the desktop pc which is used for uploading and a lot of the day to day running of the label. I got a real nice cheap deal off a friend of a friend for a machine which will keep me going for a while. Always i use low end machines online, that though has its problems. A lot of the work i do demands multi-tasking and machines often can't cope with four or five programs opened at once. Whilst rewiring the whole room mostly i continued with this new project offline and away from prying ears. Saturday, July 8th. WEATHER : Summer greyness, still warm MOOD : Time to get out LOCATION : Manchester / Flint / Manchester DOWNLOAD : vukid01-2 (97mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The great british train experience. You get in one and it's the warmest you can possibily imagine, they have the heating on in the summer and it's far, far too hot. You get on another a few hours later and it's like sitting inside a fridge for an hour. You can never work it out. Once back in Manchester there was time to squeeze a couple of beers in with a couple of friends. That was the day right there, hot and cold and nothing inbetween. Sunday, July 9th. WEATHER : Windy MOOD : Numb LOCATION : Waiting DOWNLOAD : vukid01-2 (97mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Somedays your life is like the tangled cord of a phone in more than one respect. Untangling is not easy sometimes. Today i waited, then waited some more and will wait once again no doubt for the tangle to be untangled. You need to know that the tangled cord is still tangled and will remain that way for some time. Monday, July 10th. WEATHER : Cool, a pleasure after the heat MOOD : Inconsistent LOCATION : In hiding, why not ? DOWNLOAD : rough sex (original mix) It was time to shake out of tangled phone mode and make some really dirty Belgian inspired acid hard beat (new beat). I am aiming to make a three track download EP in a couple of days including real crude and rude videos made from downloaded and hacked up porn. All bad fun of course, today's track is one of the best i have done yet in this old style genre. I don't remember it getting as dark and dirty as this first time around and this would sit on any of those new-new beat releases i have been making and peddling around the dark sex filled back streets of Luxembourg. Tuesday, July 11th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : I have no idea about what's going on LOCATION : Still in hiding DOWNLOAD : rough sex (acid) / benelux bukkake sperm Day two of my extended pleasure maxi mp3 release heaven. Two tracks and videos squeezed out of equipment this end. Dark, sordid, dirty voyeuristic adventures. I can't wait to hear these booming out of some hardcore system. The videos are real low bitrate which is suited to this style of dirt infested filth audio and fear not there is absolutely no chance of ever seeing them anywhere except on your computer as the content is explicit. Tomorrow it's time to crack on with this rave styled mini adventure in sound i started away from prying eyes a few days back now. Wednesday, July 12th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : I have no idea about what's going on LOCATION : Still in hiding DOWNLOAD : vukzid 89 (including videos) Chance to look at these new-beat tracks for this Vukzid release, zipped up they will be and will form vukzid release number eighty-nine, V/Vm "rough-sex", there are three audio downloads and three videos for each audio track. It's nasty stuff, like accessing a snuff movie you never wanted to see. It's for over 18's only so make sure you're old enough to download the full release. It was back to finishing up and making some more tracks for this huge upload/download i am doing behind closed doors and minds. Wheels have also been set in motion for a six month escape. I'll send you all a postcard. Thursday, July 13th. WEATHER : Sunshine most of the day MOOD : Communication breakdown LOCATION : The Boccacio of the mind DOWNLOAD : vukid01-3 (99mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The thirteenth of the month and unlucky for some. I uploaded the finished 'V/Vm rough sex extended pleasure' to the vukzid website today which took so, so long it was untrue. No real announcement it is up there only to a real selective few people for now and also a small mention was made at the V/Vm messageboard. Working without uploading this here 365 everyday has seen me become more productive which is a good thing. I have worked more on the larger project today, audio wise. That is gonna be one hell of an upload when push comes to shove and you can bet it will, someday soon. Friday, July 14th. WEATHER : Sunshine, getting warmer all day MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-3 (99mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) A day spent on further audio excursions and planning. Mostly offline with a little bit of online activity. Planning now at an advanced stage in terms of withdrawal. Audio wise things are good, a few tracks need remastering and re-eq'ing but i will get the chance to do that in the coming days and weeks left in this month. I was supposed to be somewhere but alas got sidetracked into minor work here which nevertheless needed completing. Saturday, July 15th. WEATHER : Sunshine, blue skies, hot in the city MOOD : In need of some refreshment LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : vukid01-4 (104mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The morning was spent treading water over here, efforts were made to get into Manchester to enjoy the sunshine and a few beers but i failed with that attempt. That said i did still make it out later in the evening and enjoyed those previously mentioned beverages in the cooler night air and into the early hours where i finished myself off on some frozen vodka. If i was the barman in your bar you would love it, the measure was far too large, and of course i was drinking only the alcohol as all the water had mostly frozen. A real killer drink it was..... Sunday, July 16th. WEATHER : Sunshine and too hot MOOD : With a hangover in the heat LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-4 (104mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Feeling the effects of that hardcore drink from the night before made the early afternoon sun unbearable as the heat continues to climb again over here. After a quick breakfast it was back to base and to complete more audio and to then try and get on top of the email crisis i have here at the moment due to offline activity. It's always damage limitation on the email front, as quick as i clear the inbox the replies are coming in. I of course am not complaining, merely stating the fact that trying to record audio whilst responding to email takes a lot of time. That said i finished the day with a more or less empty inbox. Monday, July 17th. WEATHER : Sunshine, heatwave MOOD : Warm LOCATION : Stcokport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-4 (104mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Getting warmer all the time, most of the day was spent working on yet more audio. By the time i've finished i am looking to have made around one hundred tracks. Most of the audio is simillar projects like this need a lot of quantity of tracks before they are whittled down into a managable amount of audio. Everything this time will be made available so maybe i will leave it upto those who visit the site and download the audio to make their own release from what is here and available or maybe not. Tuesday, July 18th. WEATHER : Sunshine getting hotter still MOOD : Good LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-5 (93mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Continuing still working on audio behind prying eyes was the order of the day. That said i did upload another release by Paris based French Theory which is part of the Vukzid series of releases. New-Beat in style it's perfect for those Summer afternoons and evenings. Indeed it's so hot in this here room it's been like a sauna. Tomorrow is going to be even hotter, maybe the hottest day in this region on record for this time of year. A time to escape to the hills, audio will be completed upon my return. Wednesday, July 19th. WEATHER : Hottest day of the year they reckon MOOD : Warm LOCATION : Buxton DOWNLOAD : vukid01-5 (93mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) A day out in the glorious sunshine was undertaken as we basked in the summer sunshine taking it easy and washing worries away. There was no chance of me staying in on such a day, audio was completed late in the evening upon my return. It was a day for throwing my mobile on the floor time and time again and then sinking a couple of late night almost frozen hoegaardens. The project rumbles on all the same. Thursday, July 20th. WEATHER : Humid with real early 4a.m. thunder MOOD : Great but tired with the heat LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-6 (77mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) As the temperature dropped a couple of degrees (not three) it was a day spent catching up with emails and working once again on this death of rave project as the trackcount passed one hundred. Whilst some of this audio (which you will be hearing as you read this) can certainly stand alone most of it is merely source material which needs knocking into shape in a more stripped down virtual version where tracks are layered together and mixed down. It's all part of the process, creating to create even more. Friday, July 21st. WEATHER : Humid and close, cool in the morning MOOD : Tired after a poor nights sleep LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-7 (90mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) I took delivery of some New-Beat records i got off eBay the other week for a stupidly low price, my collection of these old classics is getting more complete these days and somepoint soon i will rework that microsite of mine to give more information about a lot of the older releases that you can still find out there. The great thing about that microsite is the connections i have made with those who are into the old sound and also made it back in the late 80's. That is a real payback for the effort under. I also managed to get some samples off to Miss Hudcova and work again on this rave project. It's gonna be one hell of an upload, time wise i mean. Saturday, July 22nd. WEATHER : Warm MOOD : Melting LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-7 (90mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) There is no weekend where this project is concerned as the whole year thus far has largely been spent either recording, creating, uploading or downloading. Thus another saturday goes by where i mainly create some more and further audio whilst also working on the main V/Vm website as that also needs some love and affection from time to time. Hot, hot, hot again here, it's going to be no other way for the coming days. Tomorrow will see more of the same as i continue to melt away at the various keyboards at my disposal with only ice filled drinks to keep me company. Sunday, July 23rd. WEATHER : Not as humid MOOD : Cooler and industrious LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-7 (90mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) I was working in the wee small hours on an artist section for the main V/Vm site, it's something i've been meaning to do for so long but havn't found the time to do it. It's been done now though alongside working on more audio behind these so called closed doors. This month has been more libertaing than past ones because i havn't been uploading each entry on a daily basis as that adds extra pressure as it all takes time. The upload of this months work began in ernest yesterday and it's real slow. I'm talking about a 1gig upload which goes up at modem speeds (upload takes longer than download). Gives me time to think for sure. Monday, July 24th. WEATHER : Sunshine and blue skies, heatwave back MOOD : I love uploading LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-8 (96mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Working uploading is a killer, i uploaded around 600mb of audio files today and it took forever, upload speed equates to about the same as a dial up connection. The heat also continues making this work even more unbearable, thankfully i have a real nice floor fan here which cools me down a little while the pc's here pump out continuous hot air. Mild Man Jan popped round for some tea and we figured it was seven or so years since he came round here, time flies sometimes. Tuesday, July 25th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : Hot, bothered and sticky LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-8 (96mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Another day in the tropical paradise that is the V/Vm h.q. with more audio being completed as i nearly melted. I had planned to work on a couple of PC's today but there was no chance as the heat put paid to that idea. The good news was audio was completed and there was time to soak up some rays in the garden before returning to the sanctuary that is the hub of H.Q. to just sweat the day away on your behalf. This upload is gonna creep over 1gig this month which is just insane. Wednesday, July 26th. WEATHER : Hot, Hot, Hot MOOD : Hot LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-8 (96mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Midweek arrives once again and a lot of work was done today on the website in the increasing heat. I guess a lot of these entries this month seem real boring but that's how it's been. The balance between creating audio, working on maintaining a website and label and having any kind of life is real difficult at times. This months work has been valuable though so i have no complaints, the audio created will be useful for other things and can also stand alone. There is still more to do though before the month is out. Thursday, July 27th. WEATHER : Still hot MOOD : Time to get out before i go insane LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : vukid01-9 (110mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) I had been working hard enough so in the end ventured out finally for a night drinking some beer in the centre of Manchester. In the bar i go in few things change, for a city centre place there are always the regulars all of whom i know by face. I started off slow on the Maredsous and then built up a head of steam passing through two or three bars before ending up in one bar in town seeing a member of Elbow sleazing up to some horror show girl. Some things never change in this city and i'll be glad to see the back of it. Alan dale is the man in the quiz paper to your left. Big Jim Robinson. Friday, July 28th. WEATHER : The last day of this current heatwave MOOD : Relaxed once the hangover was slept off LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-9 (110mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The day after the night before is always a slow one. I eventually returned back to base and worked hard once again on this impending download/upload. There is still a long way to go with it. When the first ten zip files are ready i will upload them with more, much more to go online real soon after. The idea of course is to find around seventy or so minutes of the best tracks from this whole project. The fact i am doing this 365 project means as i am true to my word that you will get all of the source material. Some are stronger than others but it's all subjective. Saturday, July 29th. WEATHER : Cooler now so it's more bearable MOOD : Time to get things moving again LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-10 (96mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Part ten of this online, behind closed doors project was begun in earnest. The weather is much cooler so i can now crack on at a faster pace one again. I also redesigned the whole of the Vukzid site so there's a little more information about that project there and it feels a little fresher and certainly looks more fresh on the eye. The upload continues this end and i'm unsure what response this audio will get as lots of tracks have come out in a simillar way which is how it works sometimes when you are working towards getting a feeling and response from the audio clay you work with. Sunday, July 30th. WEATHER : Grey but cooler MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-10 (96mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) The month is nearly at an end as i continue with this month long project which is now upto the one hundred track mark. There is more i need to do with a lot of this audio, it's rough around the edges but can be shaped further maybe after this year has gone and i will have more time. This particular project is far from finished though as there are still at least another forty of these tracks in the pipeline and which i hope to have finished and uploaded in the beginning week of August. Almost seven months down out of the twelve. Output so far has been crazy. Monday, July 31st. WEATHER : Cooler MOOD : My eye is fucked LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukid01-10 (96mb zip) / vukzid 01 (release) Have spent the majority of the day looking at a full update of parts of the V/Vm site. In fact i've spent more time looking and doing that than is actually healthy. My eye is now fucked up (eye strain) due to looking at tiny fonts on screens. There was time to continue on the audio. I had hoped to have it all uploaded and online by now, but these website problems have delayed me which is a shame i guess. The front page looks great though, by the time everything is uploaded most people should be happy. Tuesday, August 1st. WEATHER : Heavy rain and gusty wind MOOD : Running out of time LOCATION : Stockport with red eye DOWNLOAD : acid clock I had to update and upload the main site today plus make a track whilst doing just that. I just about managed it all. My eye held up o.k. Tomorrow p.m. i am going out for a well earned beer in Manchester with those Fast Lady boys, i know you all don't begrudge me a drink for all that work i am doing for you all. So July's audio is now in the public domain. One-hundred-and-eleven tracks in total. What a crazy, crazy month. All part of that larger vukzid01 download. I am still working on a number of tracks as additions to that project which will be uploaded here starting on the 3rd of August. Wednesday, August 2nd. WEATHER : ???? MOOD : Things are going great and they're only gettin' better LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : i gotta wear shades (remix) What a busy period that was just back there, so today i will get a well earned rest for sure. The plan is to get out p.m. and meet Gaz and John for a few drinks in Manchester where i can unwind, if you see me buy me a beer, something strong, Duvel or Vedett. Today's track is a real celebration and for sure is just more ammunition to those people who insist all i do is hack things up. So sure it's all i do, hope you enjoy it and it adds fuel to your fire and beliefs. It's a hack of one of my all time fogotten 80's hits, when i go to an 80's night this is what i wanna hear, not fucking Wham! or Madness. Thursday, August 3rd. WEATHER : Greyish and in the middle MOOD : A little bit under the weather LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 11) - additional I returned early from my drink with John and Gaz from Fast Lady the previous night (no pictures, sorry) i was being good. There was too much work to be done to be hungover. There were a few problems with the mailing list which is shame so people got the latest mailout two or three times instead of once. At least it wasn't selling anything and only highlighting all of the free music i am offering right now. Not content with the work i have just uploaded i am still working on tracks for that project and processing even more audio. I will condense it all somepoint, when that point is i have no idea. Friday, August 4th. WEATHER : Sunshine, warming up again MOOD : Dizzy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 11) - additional Felt a bit rough for most of the day, there's shit going around these days as bacteria thrives in this hot one minute cold the next climate we live in. Activity on tracks was at a minimum as i kept getting dizzy spells and feeling sick. Shook that feeling off p.m. but missed out on a Friday night out on the town. Spoke with Mr Jansky Noise for the first time in a while which is always a pleasure and am hoping to see him somepoint soon. Not much else to report, dizzy days watching big deal for company on DVD, god bless Bobby Box. Saturday, August 5th. WEATHER : Middle of the road MOOD : Not quite with it LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 11) - additional I wasn't at the races today at all, did a little audio and finished up zip file number eleven then started work on number twelve. I spent some other time watching old re-runs of Budgie, the 70's TV show starring the now departed Adam Faith playing ex-con and all round chancer Budgie Bird. It's great old shows like this get reissued from the vaults, the sad thing is you can't watch them on TV despite the vast number of channels. These days they're more interested in some celebrity boiling an egg, some reality shit or making drama which literally gives you no room to think for yourself. Sunday, August 6th. WEATHER : Grey but getting humid MOOD : A bit more with it, just a bit LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : turnip Just enough time to make a turnip for you today, followed by the short trip cross town at the end of the evening. It's been a weird weekend for sure, real low key, most of it spent feeling dizzy. The rest of this week will be spent mostly offline due to choice on my part. The net most of the time is distracting when it comes to workflow around here. Plus i have a relocation to plan right now, it never rains my friends, it mostly pours. Monday, August 7th. WEATHER : Seems to be getting warmer MOOD : Time to back up my data LOCATION : Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 12) - additional It's mad really how these days i have so much data to back up, i have been doing a lot of thinking lately about how what i do has changed over the years. Ten years ago i thought i was so busy when all i did was work on two 12" singles with Mr Jansky and try to sell and promote them. Compare that to this year, where i have so far made near on four hundred audio pieces on this project, pressed up the 6cd box set and new-beat audio and been working on the Vukzid label. I feel as busy though as i did back in 1996. Maybe the tools i have here enable me to be this creative by saving me time. Either way it's a great thing. Tuesday, August 8th. WEATHER : Warm and Sunny, bearable. MOOD : Time to turn on the fans LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 12) - additional Another Tuesday passes and i am one day closer to finishing this '365 project'. Indeed as i process yet more rave tracks into the collective abyss i guess next year will be interesting. Having all of my time back without having to enter and upload data here. Right now i am totally used to doing this each day, the first couple of months were the hardest when you're finding your feet and trying to find time, now it's a lot easier as it's part of the routine. It is by no means easy though and takes quite a lot of determination to get the tracks finished and uploaded. All good fun though, most of the time. Wednesday, August 9th. WEATHER : MIxed and windy MOOD : Looking back LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 12) - additional I spent the majority of the day scanning in old releases and also a little bit of old press V/Vm has received over the years. These days i seldom get any purely because i can't be bothered selling what i do to the media anymore because it wastes energy. The fact is media is less important these days with people taking less notice of articles and reviews. I did come across something online in i think the New York times where the guy was amazed that some band was making available four tracks a month via their website for free for their fans. Guess he missed this project then. Thursday, August 10th. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : More relaxed LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 12) - additional Another day spent indoors working as usual, the audio above continues and why not. I had a visit today from Animal, the first time i have seen the boy in a while and it was nice to catch up on things and see he's doing well. Right now i'm planning, planning an escape which is taking a lot of time and world events throw plans into chaos regularly. Plus this 365 audio gets in the way along with all the other mundane stuff you don't wanna even hear about. I am gonna have a big party on the 31st of December to celebrate the end of this project and then look at new things i can do which have nothing to do with V/Vm and music. Friday, August 11th. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : Grey LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 12) - additional Well i finished part twelve which has taken me longer this week due to external forces and other activities. It's gonna be work, work, work now for the rest of the month and then maybe from next month i can take things a little easier and hideaway more whilst working on more intricate and time consuming audio. Today has been a low day, i need to get out and unwind but there's no chance of that happening as there's too much to do around here at the moment and that kind of drags me down into a real grey mood. Friday's never feel like Friday when every subsequent day feels like a Monday. There is no comprehension of time around here. Saturday, August 12th. WEATHER : Greyish MOOD : Knackered LOCATION : // DOWNLOAD : lollipop Another one of those days where i miss out on actually doing what i want to do due to comitments i have made on here and elsewhere. Work piles up right now with little restbite. I need the work to survive but for all this work the rewards are mainly slight. The odd bit of feedback here and there is my actual reward for all of this work. Nothing much more than that could be expected i guess. It's funny how some shit video on you tube gains much more exposure than a consistent body of work which i guess is deemed mostly useless these days. One day nearer the end. Sunday, August 13th. WEATHER : Grey and rain MOOD : No light at the end of the tunnel LOCATION : Fucked up DOWNLOAD : acid groke Some days it seems grey all day. No matter what you do it's grey. Right now at this point in the project there are over 400 pieces of audio. How much more can i be bothered to make ? How much would you miss this if nothing was uploaded here ? What do i achieve in doing this ? Those are the questions going around in my head. Sure this can be seen as some kind of blog but i have no real desire to have my opinions out there in the public domain despite of all this. On days like these i feel like walking away now as i already achieved the 365 track threshold and at what cost ? Monday, August 14th. WEATHER : Cooler MOOD : Every road round here looks the same LOCATION : Here DOWNLOAD : moppy A day spent getting back on track round here, work doesn't do itself even when really you need a rest. Time enough to slip out an acid track amongst the chaos of packing boxes of discs and planning an escape. I did glance at the old V/Vm Test invoice file which shows me who owes me what. Now if i could get shops to pay me what they owe me things wouldn't be too bad cash wise. As it is mostly like getting blood from a stone don't hold your breath on the new release front. Tuesday, August 15th. WEATHER : Grey with drizzle MOOD : ? LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : grunwald A parcel arrived today from my good friend Fre over in Belgium and the fact that i saw a nice cheap lot of 7" singles on eBay and additional 12" singles as mentioned here. Some of these i never saw back in the day and didn't even know that they made it to 7", like Highstreet's "revolution" single which is one of my all time New-Beat favourites. Some of the songs i don't even know. At the time of writing i have not had time to check out the audio but will when i get the time. Wednesday, August 16th. WEATHER : Showers MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 13) - additional Life in note form, have been busy booking things today and that's about it. Started work on volume 13 of the death of rave, there's still some audio i need to process before all of that particular project is finished. Nothing more or less to say on this grey and dark day. Thursday, August 17th. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 13) - additional Just enough time to get out and get some passport photographs sorted out, my current passport is fucked. A result of being in my pocket on too many trips. Some countries were not happy with it when travelling so it's time for a new one. As i am escaping in a couple of weeks from the U.K. i need to go to Liverpool for an appointment to get a new one issued which i will do this coming Monday afternoon. Time enough to continue on the additional "death of rave audio" which is ongoing. Friday, August 18th. WEATHER : Bright then grey with showers MOOD : Slow LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 13) - additional I had to rush out between the showers to the Post Office as from next week all prices for u.k. mail will go up as charges increase based on not only the weight of a parcel but also it's size (another con considering loads go missing). This means i am gonna have to do a slight increase on 12" vinyl rates or else otherwise i will lose more cash. The mail order works fine for me most of the time, the killer is when someone overseas orders just one 12" or 7" and then i actually can lose money on the transaction which is insane. Saturday, August 19th. WEATHER : Grey and miserable MOOD : No rest for the wicked LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 13) - additional Pretty soon i am not going to be in this location which brings with it a series of problems as i rely so much on the technology here and will need to have access to almost the same technology in my new location. At the moment i am working on three machines every day for most of the day to get everything done and uploaded around here. I may have to buy one more machine to work with overseas which will mean i am on three laptops abroad, it's mad how reliant a project such as this is on technolgy and more specifically computers. Ten years ago this would be impossible. Sunday, August 20th. WEATHER : One of those mixed bag days MOOD : Dull LOCATION : Stockport / Cheadle Hulme / Stretford DOWNLOAD : soggy slipper It was a 5am finish on Saturday morning as i had an impromtu visit from Animal before he headed back to the warmth and culture of Madrid. We were talking about the value of the work we have done over the years and of the perceived value of the work by both critics and people who plunder the site and have purchased the audio over the last ten years. Certainly locally V/Vm has never had any encouragement which is not my loss but Manchester's as a whole as we could have done some really interesting nights here but have always been on the outside of any kind of scene here. Monday, August 21th. WEATHER : Sunshine with clouds MOOD : Behind the wheel of a car LOCATION : Stockport / Liverpool / Bury DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 14) - additional A visit to Liverpool to update my passport which was becoming a joke as it was so worn out and in certain countries they were threatening not to let me in (it didn't help that in Germany they tried to rip the picture a couple of months back. I had to head to Liverpool to get it renewed as i will need it for some upcoming trips and a relocation. What a dull place the passport office was as well, so many people in there it was untrue. The guy who served me really was bored with his job, couldn't even mutter a word and when he did it was a mumble. Hopefully the passport will hit here just in time for when it's needed. Tuesday, August 22nd. WEATHER : Mixed MOOD : Busy and frustrated LOCATION : Stockport / Cheadle Hulme / Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 14) - additional You know when you plan days out in your head and are then unable to do those tasks because of a curve ball ? Today was a day spent breaking down 2000 cd's out of their cases and into various component parts. These discs are all unsold releases which have been getting dusty elsewhere over time. There was time to work on a little audio but that was only slight today. I also had to get a faulty laptop back to be switched over for a working one and am still waiting for another machine to return which has been in for repair for over six weeks. Wednesday, August 23rd. WEATHER : Good early on then thunder and torrential rain MOOD : Good LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 14) - additional A day where my friend Mr Shannon O'Neil dropped in. I know him as he set up a show at the Electro Fringe festival in 2002 for V/Vm over in Newcastle, Australia. It sure was great to see the guy and to see he's doing real well at the moment as he continues to teach new-media over in Sydney and help infulence and open the minds of his students. I dug out a video i have on the K Foundation burning a million quid (broadcast by the bbc) which i havn't seen for a long time and that was fun to see again. After that we headed out for a couple of late beers and drinking into the wee small hours. Thursday, August 24th. WEATHER : After yesterdays rain came sunshine MOOD : Hungover and slow LOCATION : Chorlton / Manchester / Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 14) - additional I ended up hitting the sack at about 4am, sunk by the bottle of Malt Whiskey i had been drinking with Mr O'Neill the previous evening. We headed off into Manchester so he could catch a train to London before he hits Amsterdam and Berlin. The rest of the day was spent trying to get back on track as there's lots to be done before a move which is now happening in under two weeks. Plenty to sort out, plenty to do these days. Non-stop or so it seems. Friday, August 25th. WEATHER : Mixed bag with heavy showers MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 15) - additional Another day, another zip file. I started part fifteen, the deal is i am working on doing around twenty parts. Apologies now if you find this audio of little interest, for me it's all part of the process, once this year is out i can knock up something from it all for my own tastes. One area i need to work on with this 365 project is in making some sample packs with loops and other bits and pieces which i think will encourage more remixes. This death of rave audio is perfect for background textures though, i will push it through some sites soon where the emphasis is on free content to mangle. Saturday, August 26th. WEATHER : Seemed grey and mixed MOOD : I am cardboard LOCATION : Living in a box (again) DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 15) - additional Breaking down discs all day around here, that and packing them up for other things. There will be some nice offers at the V/Vm shop soon allowing you to buy a lot more discs for less cash when bought together and not in jewel cases (cutting down postage costs). The day was spent packing these up and also i needed to rearrange the whole stockroom which is always a massive undertaking. Things are set now for a smooth transition out of here. Sunday, August 27th. WEATHER : Some real heavy showers and rain MOOD : Still feeling like a cardboard cut-out LOCATION : Still living in that box DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 15) - additional A day spent tidying up that stockroom and making sure everything is in order in there, i did and have of course been working on these additional memories whilst i work which adds that little bit more pressure on spare time. I did get a chance to look at some of the Sunday papers which is something i seldom get the chance to do in these busy times. Part 15 should be finished by tomorrow i hope. Next month will see a big shift away from this angle of work into something else. Monday, August 28th. WEATHER : A real dark start, sunshine at the end MOOD : Getting there LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 15) - additional Stockroom completed (almost - as i need to box up 100 caretaker sets later tonight) i had time to finish and upload part fifteen of 'the death of rave audio'. There are so many parts now that even i have lost control about which are my favourites. The downside for me of this project is i have no time to go back and listen to what i have been doing. I mean i have spoken to a lot of people who say they can't keep up with this output so imagine what it's like trying to make it, upload it, digest it and keep up with it. I think it will be a while before someone else does a project like this as the time it takes cannot be underestimated. Tuesday, August 29th. WEATHER : Rain, wind and more rain MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Stockport (offline) DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 16) - additional Caretaker sets were boxed late last night the rest of this gloomy Tuesday was spent mainly backing up software and doing a horrible re-install of Windows XP on a desktop machine i have over here which had become terribly slow over time as machines do especially when it's used as a testing ground for audio plugins and applications. What started out a simple reinstall of XP at 2am finished at 5-30am after two failed attempts and endless blue screens of Windows death. You can't beat the blue screen of death feeling. Wednesday, August 30th. WEATHER : Heavy showers MOOD : Getting there wherever there is LOCATION : Stockport (switching machines) DOWNLOAD : v/vm about 365 (wmv video) / part 16 (zip) I spent the afternoon making a short(ish) video for some students in Melbourne who at the request of their tutor are doing a presentation on V/Vm 365. Their course is all about integrated media so i guess 365 qualifies into that category as it's an upto date use and abuse of the technology out there. The short video i made has in my wisdom been made available for you too. The quality is great because i aimed for real lo-fi output and got just that. The compression i used is crazy making an 8 minute video only 30mb. Sorry for those of you on Mac this is a windows file format only. Glitches intentional. Thursday, August 31st. WEATHER : It rained for 40 days and 40 nights MOOD : Rest and relaxation, what are they ? LOCATION : Stockport (offline/online/offline) DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 16) - additional The final preperations for my impending move are underway, i spent most of the day switching and backing up files from my online machine onto the laptop which will be my European online machine of choice when i leave the sacred V/Vm H.Q. next week. Fortunately this transition was achieved with little impact, though it took time, you are now reading content created on a new machine so it's all good. Indeed the picture is of that content being created. Online, offline, online. I did yet more audio for part sixteen. Of course i could upload these tracks on a daily basis but as they are mostly simillar zip files are better for sure. Friday, September 1st. WEATHER : Was supposed to be horrible but wasn't MOOD : Neither here or there LOCATION : Stockport / Manchester DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 16) - additional A night out for one last time before i leave for pastures new. A lot of people i know weren't around and i left it late to arrange but luckily i hooked up with some people in Manchester and then others appeared as if by magic. It was a late finish, booze was consumed and that usually horrible 192 bus journey from hell was actually not that bad. Will i be glad to get out of the U.K.? Right now i think i will, when you have walked to same streets for so long change is a good thing. Stressful getting ready for big moves though, especially when there's audio to be made..... Saturday, September 2nd. WEATHER : Windy with a whole deluge of rain MOOD : Hungover and busy LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton / Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 16) - additional Am nearly there now, today i spent mostly ripping CD's that i need in my new location. It's suprising about how much audio i have forgotten about over the years and also how the more i create, the less i listen to my old favourites. It seems like often we are all chasing the new when really we have all we need. I have ripped all the main players, those releases which inspire creative flow. Around 50GIG of audio i have ripped in a day. I continued with the Death Of Rave audio, i am gonna go to twenty parts for this audio. Then i will take a new direction. Part 16 is almost complete. Sunday, September 3rd. WEATHER : Really windy with heavy rain MOOD : Acid House, Acid House LOCATION : Stockport / Wythenshawe DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 16) - additional Whilst i put the finishing touches onto part sixteen of a planned twenty part audio odyssey i really want to be slamming out some acid tracks, i think the rest of this month after the relocation will be spent making mainly acid tracks. I have in some spare moments been listening to some real classic old acid tracks, rediscovering that old 303 sound when it was used back in the day in its purest form. Sadly a lot of classic acid you never hear, usually DJ's trot out the same old acid hits everyone knows and yet there's a lot more out there if only people would research and then play it. It's a lazy situation out there.... Monday, September 4th. WEATHER : Fine all day, when i went out it rained. MOOD : Rushed LOCATION : Stockport / Chorlton DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 17a) - additional A day of preparing, of packing boxes and then of seeing friends in the evening. All good fun, i then had to go across town to pick up a box in the pouring rain. Luckily i was driving so the task was not to arduous, well it wouldn't have been had i not got a flat tyre when parking the car. I guess there's never a good time for a flat tyre but when you're rushing around trying to get things finished it's kind of crazy. There i was at midnight in the pouring rain trying to get the spare out. Not what i needed at all. Tuesday, September 5th. WEATHER : Quite nice and real warm outside MOOD : Too hot and too much to do last minute LOCATION : Stockport DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 17a) - additional One final day to get everything i need sorted out. That i just about have done at the time of writing (nearly midnight), i will probably be up till 4am sorting bags out and moving stuff around. I am all but done and you cannot underestimate the crazyness of moving when still competing a project such as this one. Plus it's not a simple move, because of the current air travel restrictions on hand luggage, tomorrow instead of a nice two hour long flight i am instead facing a twenty hour train journey with three changes laden down with bags. The joys indeed. Wednesday, September 6th. WEATHER : I was inside a carriage all day, looked mixed. MOOD : Transient LOCATION : Inside different train carriages all day DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 17a) - additional I never want to find myself again with two hours to wait at Brussels Station just before midnight with three laptops to look after. I spent all of the time looking at the gangs of theives at the station one of whom hillariously tried to nick a womans bag opposite to me but when she saw him gave it her back saying sorry. Now if i had no bags it would not have been a huge problem, but as i had three laptops i was so paranoid that the main guy (a fat guy in shorts) was gonna come over and start some shit whilst his mates on bikes were gonna take my bags. Never have i been so happy to catch my eventual final destination train as i was at midnight. Thursday, September 7th. WEATHER : Was actually crazily hot MOOD : Tired and in need of sleep LOCATION : There DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 17b) - additional I actually got some sleep on the overnight sleeper train from Brussels, i really was that tired. The cabin i had was sorted, i even had a shower in there which i took advantage of at 6.30am. Arriving at my final destination i was a little disoreantated as when you travel for nearly a day your head is always going to be somewhere else. That said i got to my new abode just in time for breakfast with my new housemates so that was all well and good. Now for the settling in part and to get everything ship shape. Did i tell you i managed to make some audio on my trip yesterday ? The looks of those in suits was priceless. Friday, September 8th. WEATHER : Sunny, windy and warm. MOOD : A little more awake LOCATION : Here and there DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 17b) - additional I managed to get online for a short time, though there was no time to upload this here entry. I should be back online and uploading audio from the middle of this month. I will be aiming to make the audio real varied once again as i close out this project for the remainder of this year. The labels future is of course shrouded in mystery and i was talking about that with one of my new housemates Marcel over some fine food in the dying embers of the night time. Right now i still have a long way to go on this project and also with the Death of Rave audio which will all be completed very, very, soon. Saturday, September 9th. WEATHER : Still warm MOOD : Getting into things LOCATION : At my new table DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 17b) - additional I spent most of the day sorting out all of my equipment so i can get back totally on track with this 365 audio. I had to purchase (yesterday) a little laptop speaker system and managed to wire it through my mixer which will help me out. I am a laptop down right now as i await one back in from being repaired. Nine weeks it's taken to repair a simple headphone socket fault. During which time i have been relying on other machines (the one in for repair is actually my main music machine). No doubt when it does arrive back with me it will be wiped so will take me days to get it back upto speed. The joy of laptops dear reader. Sunday, September 10th. WEATHER : Sunshine and blue skies MOOD : Good LOCATION : Outside for most of the day DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18a) - additional An afternoon spent wandering the streets and the local market looking for a table, ultimately a fruitless search. A day too for excessive eating, one meal after another, after another. Audio was created in the morning, leaving the rest of the day free to over consume. Monday, September 11th. WEATHER : Not a cloud in the sky MOOD : In the mood to sort stuff out LOCATION : Trying to find Ikea DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18a) - additional A day spent trying to find a bed/matress. I spent part of the morning getting all of the machines i have here (i am one down) online. Afterwhich i undertook an enlongated trip to Ikea to stock up on a clothes rack and some other essentials for modern day living. Four hours in total were spent wandering the isles in Ikea, though the sunshine was enjoyed either side of the four hours. Great weather here right now, a real Indian summer. Tuesday, September 12th. WEATHER : Sunshine and warm MOOD : A little tired but relaxed LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18) - additional I had to sort my working space out over here for this project, so i can work on audio and also upload and download at the same time. It's all go, really is this year. Relocations, shows, moves, travel, upload and download. It's all good though for sure. Quite a luxury to be honest to devote so much time to one project. The death of rave project is almost finished now, the aim is twenty parts which will take in around 190 tracks in total, spread over two months of output. It's heavy going for me making this audio and even heavier for you to listen and consume it. Wednesday, September 13th. WEATHER : Sunshine and warm MOOD : I have a head cold LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18a) - additional A day spent getting back online and upto speed. Things are taking a little longer around here to sort out in terms of the daily uploading, I am also due to go to Belgium and Holland next week for a few days. When i return i will finally get a good block of time to sit down and make some acid tracks as i want at least a month's worth of badly made acid music on here. I am going to try and make some shit acid before i go to Belgium which can then be played live. Acid. Thursday, September 14th. WEATHER : Sunshine and warm MOOD : The cold is going a little bit LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18b) - additional I have almost got rid of my cold thanks to a combination of too much fruit consumed in the last 24 hours. I did also eat some roasted squash before which was cooked by one of my flat mates over here. Real nice it was too. What wasn't nice was carrying the case of beer from the shop to the flat in this late Summer heat. Good value though at 15 euro's for 20 German bottled Wheat beers *(it will cost less when i take all the bottles and the crate back), much better than the shit deals you get offered in the U.K. to drink watered down chemically filled alcoholic piss lager, Friday, September 15th. WEATHER : Full on sunshine MOOD : Good LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18b) - additional In the small hours of the day i finally hooked up with my compadre Ivan Seal over here which was drunken fun as always. Another day, another dollar. I got the chance to upload a couple of releases today which you should check out. The first is the first part of a three part online audio release by About This Product. I will add an artist bio soon for them, it's all fucked up Houston music. Secondly i managed to get access to another new-beat mix by Thaman. All bad fun as usual from that Belgian legend, so be sure to check them both out. In the evening i ventured out with Nicola to check out some local bars and local drunks. Saturday, September 16th. WEATHER : Sunny then cloudy MOOD : Very slow LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 18b) - additional A day spent mostly with a hangover which wouldn't go away. I blame the mysterious pink liquid i was sinking or maybe the late night boonekamp (45%abv) which i sunk right at the end of the night. Either way mostly all i was fit for was watching episodes of Australian soap Neighbours on the laptop. Thanks to Tara P i have got access to an archive of past and present shows, it makes for a great day of escapism. Real low end TV sometimes is great when you feel fucked on booze. A quiet night and then back to the audio and uploading, remixing and downloading. All good fun in a slow kind of way. Sunday, September 17th. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : Busier LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19a) - additional After the day that never was yesterday it was nose back to the grindstone both audio wise and here in the new flat. Part of the day was spent working on new audio, the other part working on tidying up the kitchen and bathroom over here. I also began the slow upload of all the current 'death of rave' audio i am finishing up, I had to split the files down as the big files wer euploading then erasing themselves in a constant loop. A great way to waste three hours before realising. Anyway i am getting there and things will be totally back upto date before this weeks trip away. I did enjoy watching cracked UK football online via China though. Monday, September 18th. WEATHER : Glorious (not that i enjoyed it) MOOD : See-Saw LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19a) - additional Finally i got the PC Laptop i had been waiting for back, it's been away for around ten weeks now and it is my core audio making laptop for this project so i've been severely handicapped in the music making sense. Alas all the data was wiped from the hard drive and i had to spend the day working out how the hell i could get it working. From LAN problems to major Windows install problems i got it all sorted and then the slow process of building up a virtual studio began. A day for sore red eyes. It's great though as my good friend Mr Boyle hits this town tomorrow. Tuesday, September 19th. WEATHER : Sunhine MOOD : Good but getting ready LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19a) - additional I was waiting in for most of the day for the long lost Mr Jonty Boyle to arrive from over in England, which he duely did late in the day. We ended up sinking a good number of Boonekamps here at the flat with Christina so it was all good. I also spent most of the day trying install some VST's on my now repaired machine only to get to the last one which i fucked up which meant i had to do it all again, don't you just love machines sometimes. As i am off to Belgium and Holland super soon the reinstall will have to wait. Wednesday, September 20th. WEATHER : Great MOOD : Great but busy preparing for tomorrow LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19b) - additional A day spent getting ready for the impending Belgian and Dutch trip, getting audio and the computer ready for the chaos that is V/Vm on the road. Dear old Jonty and i went for breakfast Berlin style looking at those great Euro headed girls and then later in the day he revealed his materpiece Elton John mask, the theme of the tour, Elton on the road was assured. No doubt becoming Elton will bring its own pitfalls, nobody wants this shit, nobody. Thursday, September 21st. WEATHER : Sunny everywhere and hot MOOD : Knackered LOCATION : Berlin / Maastricht / Liege / Brussels DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19b) - additional Did we ever go to bed ? Up at three-thirty a.m. to catch an early plane from Berlin to Maastricht where were met by the smiling DJ Motocross who then took us to Liege from where we got the Ice Train to Brussels where we hooked up with the legend that is We/Me and Me/We. An absolute roaster it was in the capital of Europe. Also i was feeling so much better than when i was last over there, so this time many beers were sunk and we ate the best Pizza in Brussels with Fred. Maredsous being the favourite of the night as we toasted once again Mannekin Pis. Friday, September 22nd. WEATHER : Still super sunny MOOD : Holiday LOCATION : Brussels DOWNLOAD : destelbergen (fred's flat mix) A day spent over indulging, Fred sorting us out big time and being super hospitible, indeed Fred is one of lifes superstars and when you meet these superstars you know you are real lucky. His girlfriend Marianne showed up from Paris after we had eaten the best fries in the world and sunk some beers (passing the European Parliament on our way back). We then headed out into the Brussels nightlife. Five a.m. it was when we returned after sinking a good number of Duvel and also neat Whiskey. The tour will start tomorrow on a hangover, says it all. Saturday, September 23rd. WEATHER : Still great MOOD : Slower due to Alcohol LOCATION : Brussels / Liege DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19b) - additional There is a bar i always go to in Brussels which is real close to 'Midi' Station called "Le Labourer", you can see it from the train, it's unassuming but totally great in there, full of Belgian drunks, a good beer selection and smoke stained walls which last saw a coat of paint at least thirty years ago. After lunch in there it was time to make some last minute tracks for the shows and head on over to Liege by car. The show there was so stupid it was untrue, we hooked up with the Kunt girls and a had a great old time. Some real special Euro heads in Liege, the girl in the spotty green dress had the best one in my eyes. The road is long..... Sunday, September 24th. WEATHER : Great again MOOD : Real good LOCATION : Liege / Brussels / Roosendaal / Tillburg DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 19b) - additional We said our goodbyes to Fred and Marianne in Brussels and headed over to Tillburg to play at the ZXZW festival there, along the way we passed through the best/worst station in Europe, Roosendaal. We then made it to Tillburg just in time to see Kunt play and then ate some great food and played the V/Vm show which was totally fucked and surreal, including uninvited raggaduffin guest performer who i unplugged. One love he kept telling me "One cunt" was all i could think. Plug pulled early on fears of broken equipment, a show only V/Vm could have. One guy told me i was shit, another said it was the best he had seen since punk. Monday, September 25th. WEATHER : Still good, though going cloudy MOOD : Loving the schlager LOCATION : Tillburg / Brussels / Tienen DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 20a) - additional A great morning spent watching Schlager with Joost who is awesome, Then it was a long drawn out journey via train to Tienen where there was a show at Olli's place which is this great squat style venue right by an old church in the quadbike ghostown of Tienen. This actually turned out to be the best V/Vm show for ages, real low sound but what a mess, Sick Elton John, a kneecap which popped out and i popped back in during the set when i rolled down a flight of stairs in full costume and a recreation of a Spanish tomato fight. By the end of it i couldn't walk and just after midnight we were waiting for the train to Liege. Fucked up. Tuesday, September 26th. WEATHER : Real grey in Belgium, Sunny in Berlin MOOD : Oh the pain, the pain, the pain LOCATION : Liege / Maastricht / Berlin DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 20a) - additional We left Tienen in pain and had to go to the hospital in Liege for X-rays on hands and knees. No broken bones just muscle damage was the verdict, in pain i got about one hours sleep before flying back to Berlin. When i arrived i couldn't walk on my leg so had to be carried off the plane. What a way to end a tour. Three shows and fucked up, one great show, one non-show and one big fat fucking mess of a show. To the guy who said to me "you're boring" in Tillburg i think you miss the point of these shows. Regardless once back in Berlin i spent a painful day with ice packs around my knee nursing myself back into full contention, Wednesday, September 27th. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : We can dance if we want to LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 20a) - additional On reflection, V/Vm is fucked, it really is. Who the fuck else would tour as Elton John ? Everyone is too fucking busy trying to be the best they can or being super cool to be Elton. It should have kicked off in Tienen, i was close to fucking banging the guy on stage. The fact is if i had the Computer would have been trashed in the ensuing brawl, so i backed away as i can't afford to buy a new machine. Money is fucking tight here right now. That said what a few days they were, the story will be told in full elsewhere at somepoint. I think that Tienen show will go down in legend. The worst/best V/Vm show ever. Thursday, September 28th. WEATHER : Still warm enough MOOD : Finally getting things upto date LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : vukzid01 (part 20b) - additional Finally i got the chance today to upload the whole months activities and updates, a real busy day and time to get back on track around here. I also found time to upload a couple more Vukzid releases, one by About This Product and another a set of remixes of the V/Vm 'New-Beat' hit 'destelbergen. A day for the upload and download, as well as touching up and finishing these addtional 'death of rave' tracks. These last few have been the best i feel, anyway i will put that side of audio to bed for now. Concentrating on other things for the next month or so. Friday, September 29th. WEATHER : Still really sunny MOOD : Slower today, it's all this online action LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : lope 092b Ended up at some godawful art expo over here in the evening. Full of mostly worthless shit with worthless artists acting like they were working at the meat counter at the supermarket and trying to sell their artistic sausages. No real energy there at all, the same old, same old shit you see in galleries adfinitum. I can't work out who is more stupid, the people making this shit or the people buying this shit. All in all i realised shit attracts shit. Spent the rest of the evening out with the Seal, 5 a.m. finish up was welcomed though all the walking on my fucked up knee wasn't. Saturday, September 30th. WEATHER : Warm and close, cool at night. MOOD : Am i really there ? LOCATION : Ostkreutz DOWNLOAD : bumbavm A busy day working on some audio whilst trying to start the long process of installing software on my big laptop and then enjoying some food whilst unwinding in a bottle of black german gold. The whiskey i had at the end of the night was a killer. Like drinking liquid germoline. Very pleasurable in a horrible kind of way. A great end to a day which was spent going real slow and feeling fucked in a not there kind of way. Sunday, October 1st. WEATHER : Sunny and close. MOOD : Slow again thanks to the black gold LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : heavy ruver One of those strange kind of days that just slip by. The beginning also of the final leg of this audio challenge/nightmare. Month ten of twelve. Only just over ninety days to go before i don't have to log in here and upload everyday. That in itself is a killer part of this whole thing, the daily uploading. Time, time, time, time, time. Under one hundred to go now, and tomorrow i think sees track five hundred which was my initial aim when i started this whole project. Five hundred in and still going strong. Today's offering is all about rave again. You know the drill, only this drill is fucked. Monday, October 2nd. WEATHER : Grey and getting seasonally cooler MOOD : Tired, it's these tablets from Marcel LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : modus ogny When i fucked my leg up a few days back in Belgium i got one of my housemates here in Berlin to buy me the strongest painkillers. Everynight i am taking one and i wake up the next day feeling fucked up, just real slow. I'm not one for painkillers to be honest but this knee is pretty fucked so it helps me sleep a bit better, but boy can you feel these things. It's like being clubbed on the head. At least i am back on the upload tip, today's is a darker affair, nice and simple in the wrong kind of way. There is one more project i will work on before the end of the year within this project. Tuesday, October 3rd. WEATHER : Grey and getting cooler MOOD : Busy LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : engulfer Today is anti DRM (Digital Rights Management) day. The industry still believes in DRM which in a nutshell handcuffs any audio files you may purchase and restricts what devices you can listen to this music on. Making most audio purchased exclusive not inclusive. I have also been reading about a bunch of awards for online musical activities. The same old names winning the same old shit, Lilly "my dad is Keith Allen and i had a major deal but was told to use myspace" Allen, this girl is perfect for these shit awards. Perfect for major labels to manipulate and i bet her files are all restricted. Anyway it must be great to win awards. Wednesday, October 4th. WEATHER : Rain MOOD : Tired LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : fairs fair / fairs faired / riaf There are few better things in life than being able to sit looking outside at bad weather whilst listening to Chris Rea's greatest hits I have always had a soft spot for big Chris, these days he is just doing what the fuck he wants to do so hats off to him. You gotta hand it to the big lad. Today's audio downloads are inspired by being at fair grounds, one day i need to make a full album of fairground music. I knocked these three ditties up with a combination of layers. All use the same sounds, i will work on getting a total fairground sound real soon. Thursday, October 5th. WEATHER : Mixed bag MOOD : Good with a sore knee though LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : mutyhub 00 My USB pen drive died last night, it's been hammered though so all was not too bad. I had to venture out of the house to get a replacement which is interesting because moving this knee is a bit of a killer. Short distances it's fine, going down three flights of stairs before you even begin is not too good for it. Anyway drive obtained (a real nice 20gig pocket drive), it was back to some audio work and then some late night Budgie watching. Friday, October 6th. WEATHER : Autumnal MOOD : Tired after little sleep LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : mutyhub 01 / mutyhub 02 / mutyhub 03 Some days on this project you lose some momentum and seem less bothered about doing things. The deal of having to go through the creative motions each day with no rest should not be taken too lightly as it does add its own pressure when really all you wanna do is take it easy and do nothing on one of those non-descript grey days. I think the fact i slept badly with my knee has put me in this slow, slow mood. Hopefully by tomorrow i'll have some more energy. Saturday, October 7th. WEATHER : Raining and windy MOOD : Feeling good and trying to sort my knee out LOCATION : Ostkreutz DOWNLOAD : the way you make me feel / touched up Still trying to sort this knee out. As soon as i get out of this place here and navigate myself down three flights of stairs my knee is totally fucked up before i even begin. This means i have been sat in for almost all of the last ten or so days since getting back from Belgium. Trying to keep the leg straight. Today it was real painful but it's all part of the process. It is beginning to move a little easier these days so there is hope there that soon i will be running (yeah right) up and down these stairs again. Sunday, October 8th. WEATHER : Windier than yesterday MOOD : Hangin' on a string (contemplating) LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : affjh / affjj Another say spent indoors resting up and trying to get back into some kind of good shape. Uploading and downloading once again on your behalf on this here project. Seemingly endless sometimes i have lost all track of time. October now so not too much longer to go, i will be working on some more intrictae stuff in the coming days and weeks before drawing this project to a close. There is of course the small matter of my U.S.A. trip inbetween now and the end of the year. Preparations are underway for that. Monday, October 9th. WEATHER : True blue skies and sunshine MOOD : I need the power of De Burgh's healing hands LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : 68 bar acid So here i am still in knee pain over here and whilst taking my daily amble around the BBC Website i come across this from my old mate Chris De Burgh. I check the date and it's a quote from him today so it's current, i may just give him a call as we are old bussom buddies and get him to fly in here (on Ryan Air's cheap deal tickets) to perform his healing miracles on my knee. In return I will make his music listenable again for a new audience to rediscover. Only one question remains from the above BBC page, how the hell do you suffer a bad golfing injury ? Fall in the bunker ? Trip over the hole ? Fall badly in the rough ? Answers on a sand wedge to the usual address. Tuesday, October 10th. WEATHER : Clear, cool and sunny MOOD : Feeling sick most of the day LOCATION : Resting my knee up DOWNLOAD : erwin van looveren / animated erwin gif Step forward our favourite son of Antwerpen, the legend that is Erwin Van Looveren. Indeed V/Vm urges and implores you to give King Van Looveren five of your hard earned Euro's the next time your path crosses with this living legend in the land of New-Beat, Chocolate and Beer. Erwin we love you and we wanna see you over in Berlin real soon and hope the Penguin head Tara made you fits you just fine big man. It's always a pleasure when the V/Vm path crosses Mr Van Looveren as it last did in Tienen. Todays track is for our Belgian Hero and there is also a special animated gif to download. We are all winners today. Wednesday, October 11th. WEATHER : Grey MOOD : Still in some pain but getting ready for Hamburg LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : brush strokes I stumbled in the morning on this review of the recent Tienen Show. The translated part in the beginning pretty much sums up the show and the night. Of course i am still sore from that show, but i guess it made some kind of impact which is all i can hope to do. What i am not looking forward to too much is playing tomorrow. The problem is one of mobility as for sure i will get bored when playing and want to jump and roll around but i know if i do it will not be good. So it's time for some of Raf's 'self control' and maybe for once i will be still. Time as ever will tell. Thursday, October 12th. WEATHER : Mixed but misty enroute to Hamburg MOOD : Good and less pain today LOCATION : Ostkreuz / Hamburg DOWNLOAD : tea 4 two To Hamburg by train, indeed by the wrong train, somehow the journey was undertaken on the ice train which is pure luxury. When in Hamburg i did a talk about the label and copyright at the Kunstverein thanks to the persistance of Mr Baldischwyler. After that i then had the good fortune to play at the Pudel in Hamburg. Due to my bad knee it was arranged that i would play in a wheelchair and so it happened, on the tiny stage of the Pudel dressed as Elton John i performed in a wheelchair. The Pudel is the type of venue i love, real fucking dirty with a great soundsystem and full of random people. I will return when able bodied to perform a full show for sure. Friday, October 13th. WEATHER : Didn't really notice MOOD : A day spent recovering LOCATION : Hamburg / Ostkreutz DOWNLOAD : barney is on the train again A day that never got started in Hamburg, it was that real large whiskey which helped sink the ship. Sure i couldn't feel my knee but i was careful not to injure it more so whilst it was sore that was as a result of the walking undertaken the previous day. A day of food really, one where you just eat almost all day. Great falafel in Hamburg though, very special indeed. Then this time to the slow train, the guard on yesterday's train was disgusted that we were on the wrong train so it came as no suprise that the same guard was on this slow train. Still disgusted and looking like Raymond Van Barneveld he stamped the ticket with disdain. Saturday, October 14th. WEATHER : Murky and damp air MOOD : Slow-Slow-Slow LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : napkins I have a nice block of time right now before i go to the United States for the Brainwashed show in November. Now i can see the end of this project as there is little over two months to run before the end of the year, it's been a cathartical experience all in all. With ten months nearly completed the year whilst seeming to go quickly seems so long when i look back to starting this whole mess in January. I had no idea that a constant output would leave me feeling quite so empty at certain points in time throughout this exercise. I guess something like this is not for everyone and motivation to create and upload must be maintained. Sunday, October 15th. WEATHER : Real cool MOOD : Sorting out my email account LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : scrambled head A typical Sunday where i worked for most of the day, getting in touch with people about various things. There was time for some audio too so everything was not lost. At the end of the day it was nice to sink some whiskey with the girls in the house here and play a couple of parlour games before hitting the sack at 5 a.m. Monday, October 16th. WEATHER : Full on sunshine MOOD : Optimistic i shall be able to walk pain free again LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : that cunt michael aspel Tell me why i don't like monday's, oh yes, time enough to sick up a daily track on the back of what should be a hangover but isn't. So anyway today's ode is to that bastian of British Broadcasting, former "Give us a clue" and "This is your life" host and uncle to an unamed but awful 'experimental sound artist' Michael "opening doors at the bbc" Aspel. Fuck his big red book and fuck give us a clue i say. Now who is the famous experimental musician who can often be found doing work for the BBC (on radio 4) whose uncle is Michael Aspel ?? The clue can't be found by name because he has changed his recording name. Tuesday, October 17th. WEATHER : Sunshine MOOD : What else is there to say ? LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : hey there you with the sad face I am still housebound over here, the knee seems to be getting better but then i will drink whiskey and play parlour games and it's back to square one again. I did buy some heat rub for it today which leaves it feeling like it's onfire, that coupled with the knee support i now have for it should mean i will be able to leave this place later in the week. I believe DJ Shitmat is staying here tomorrow in the Kunt room. Very special. Nice buns at the end of the day. Wednesday, October 18th. WEATHER : Another day of Sunshine i missed, cold. MOOD : Numb LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : scandal I had a full night of broken sleep so was slow all day long, still there was time to slip out a little acid number inbetween catching forty winks here and there. Stripped down and repetitive. I have nothing more to add about the day as it just slipped by in a haze of season one of Howard's Way... Back in the mermaid yard for me then... Thursday, October 19th. WEATHER : Grey and overcast MOOD : Busier LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : falls upon stiveb I had a better sleep last night, the best for a long while. The knee is getting better by each passing day now so it wont be long till i am properly out and about again i hope. Not much to tell right now, just days of working on things, downloading things and taking it easier than normal. That will all change somepoint soon, but for now on this cold October day that is how it is. Friday, October 20th. WEATHER : Good MOOD : A little hungover and slow LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : froz Shitmat and Ebola both stayed here last night as we hit various bottles of alcohol and i hit the sack at 6a.m. after drunkenly flicking through a copy of Sound on Sound which they had brought. What the fuck is up with these music technology magazines, the advice these people give is truely a shocker "you must monitor through these high end speakers or use this new software", not only that but also three full pages dedicated to the sound the metronome makes in your sequencer. Very special. Anyway Shithat and Ebola left for Poland late afternoon and i finished Howard's Way season one. Saturday, October 21st. WEATHER : Still good and quite warm MOOD : Like a shit Elton John LOCATION : Outside for a change DOWNLOAD : chris hogan I finally was able to descend the four flights of stairs here today after weeks of being housebound with a fucked knee. Each step came with a little pain but i was able to bend the joint enough and put weight on the leg so it's all good in the end. Empty booze bottles were returned to the local stores over here and some minor shopping undertaken with hobble. It's a start though. Today's track is for you Chris Hogan, think of Chris as being a cross between Terry Wogan, Chris Tarrant and Bruce Forsyth. It's a ripper. Sunday, October 22nd. WEATHER : Good MOOD : Slipping by LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : plughole A day which slipped by completly like time down the plughole. Right now i don't have anything to say on here, it happens from time to time and that time is now. Audio completed and uploaded so a day not totally wasted. Monday, October 23rd. WEATHER : A little cloudy MOOD : A little cloudy LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : omelette This month has seen almost zero feedback from those of you out there (and i know there are people out there because i am tracing activity) who are accessing and downloading all of this audio that i am uploading. I supidly thought when starting this project that quite a few people would remix what was here. As it turns out nobody is really remixing anything, except for the odd couple of people, so all in all what i thought would happen hasn't happened. You can only encourage interaction so much before you flog a dead horse. Maybe this project is dead to most people. Tuesday, October 24th. WEATHER : Grey and windy MOOD : Nobody wins LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : the one i wanted / opposites / eltonica I finally managed to get out again yesterday and hit a local bar with the girls, all good fun as ever over here. Thankfully my knee is still holding out which bodes well for the upcoming trips i have planned. As i have remarked many times at how when people mention V/Vm it's usually accompanied by the phrase "they just remix shit", so for those people who spout such shit here is some shit. That's right, shit hits made even shitter. You thought it was impossible, but it's totally possible. All of those mash up artists and remixers all making nice danceable mixes, well fuck them all and their remixes. I want sick shit and more of it. All three are for the girls. Wednesday, October 25th. WEATHER : Clear and getting colder MOOD : Like Mr Lee back in the day LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : dancing on the ceiling A nondescript kind of day today, that said you can't help but laugh at the fact that i am real busy downloading both Elton John and Merzbow tracks online, are there two musicians such poles apart ? I never realised when i was downloading both how absurd it was but i guess it seems that way. Another day spent in as the leg is still a little sore and i need it to be better for other days. Thursday, October 26th. WEATHER : Good and unseasonally warm MOOD : Lets go out for a drink LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : 606 acid Finally a night out in Berlin ending up at the Thursday bar which opens as the name would suggest only on a Thursday and stays open until you have had enough. Too many times i have been stuck indoors and have not been abkle to take advantage *(fully) of the local bars but now my leg is healing up it was strong enough to hobble along to this bar and partake in some late night drinking with my housemates and most importantly the girls. Friday, October 27th. WEATHER : Cooler with late night rain MOOD : Recovering from one too many LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : linn Recovering all day from the excess of the Thursday bar, on days like today this project is made all the harder to execute. Time for some soothing sounds of yesteryear in the form of the Linn Drum Machine, this is the machine i used most of all when recreating that old New-Beat sound. Much better than the 909 and 808 in my opinion but never seemed to get the status of the others due to the guys in Chicago and Detroit being able to get their hands on 909's and 808's real cheap. A great machine. Saturday, October 28th. WEATHER : Cloudy MOOD : Cloudy LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : farley jackmaster fuck A better day than yesterday with energy levels rising although most people around me have been down with a cold which i am destined to get for sure. After yesterdays nice track it's time to raise the temperature with some fucked up Acid, maybe i will make some more acid style tracks in the next few days in a similar vein. Dirty acid is always the best, too many people make acid which is really nice. This is for the dancefloor but which dancefloor ?? Sunday, October 29th. WEATHER : Miserable MOOD : A little slow after some late night alcohol LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : frankie knuckledusters A day of slow proportions, plenty of work undertaken though as i am preparing to sort out some harsh audio for the coming days. Methods of working have been put in place and for November the key theme will be harsh and uncompromising audio some of which i will aim to play Stateside when i hit Boston for the Brainwaves Festival in a couple of weeks from now. Monday, October 30th. WEATHER : A grey day which passed by MOOD : Like the breakfast plate shows LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : shitocatta The breakfast plate sums up the day for sure, somedays need less words than normal. Boxes were packed up slowly for a slight flat move on Wednesday nothing else to report this end. Tuesday, October 31st. WEATHER : Wet, windy and cold MOOD : Getting ready by scrubbing LOCATION : Having a party for people leaving and halloween DOWNLOAD : funeral for a friend/love lies bleeding Trick or treat, hit or miss, we held the first party here since our arrival and everybody found solace playing our bobbing for boonekamp game, it was packed out here, we had girls dressed as guys (Tara had the best cock in the land), guys dressed as girls some mad Danes showing up and a load of booze ready and chilled. Only Nicola hammered the boonekamp (with my goodself) and she was an early casualty of the bottle, that 45%abv proof liquor really is a killer when it isn't respected. Wednesday, November 1st. WEATHER : Very cold with some winter sleet MOOD : Too numb to notice LOCATION : Ostkreuz at the bottom of a boonekamp bottle DOWNLOAD : candle in the wind The party was too funny in the end, well attended and although i wasn't too up for it to begin with the boonekamp aided the enjoyment somewhat and the only person i really spoke properly with was actually a copywrite lawyer, sometimes you just can't make it up. I ended up hitting the sack when the Sun was coming up and felt pretty good when i woke up and then had the pleasure of cleaning the room out the party was in. Great fun with mop and brush in hand. Tomorrow everything will need wiring in again, i'm always doing that shit. Jono showed up a day late in the evening so it was a trip to the local bar to settle him in. Thursday, November 2nd. WEATHER : A cold wind coming in from the East MOOD : Like a rotting pumpkin LOCATION : Ostkreuz and off to the Thursday bar DOWNLOAD : bennie and the jets I have been having trouble uploading each day as the internet service here is either wildly good or pathetically poor, uploading can take forever so when i notice the system going faster i do a mass upload. I'll get it sorted over here somepoint but it's not that essential. Today i woke up in a daze early and then spent the best part of the day sorting out my new work space over here which is now as i type all set to go and all working. Friday, November 3rd. WEATHER : Zero degrees MOOD : Time for a good breakfast LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : goodbye yellow brick road One thing that is done real well over here is the breakfast plate. Six or seven Euro's buys you a great big plate of food to start the day along with a large coffee. It's perfect some days when you want to ease into the day. It's something i had looked forward to taking advantage of further recently, the fact that my leg has been so bad has denied me this simple pleasure. Today i headed out and enjoyed a nice enlongated breakfast and right now my stomach is feeling very happy and really great. Weekend upcoming, hopefully i can get out a bit more and see some nightlife. Here's hoping. Saturday, November 4th. WEATHER : Grey but a little warmer MOOD : Dead LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : this song has no title The night out from the night before ended up with me arriving home at five a.m. after a night on the tiles with Lucy, Jono and Miss Nyqvist. Indeed it was so cold at that time it was untrue, food was also consumed and the funny bit was the thirty minutes it took the guy to heat up two borak's. Very special, one of them was like chewing through a cement layer. The rest of the day went by in a haze of offline activity. Frustrating connections are the flavour of the month for November. Sunday, November 5th. WEATHER : Grey and windy over here MOOD : A day off the grog did me no good LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : grey seal Everyday is like sunday or so the song goes, indeed maybe it is. Today has been super grey over here and one of those days when you wake up and it's dark and it stays dark all day till it goes even darker and then you go to bed. That said this months audio as promised is more harsh. Captured feelings and moments being the theme of this months downlaods. Non structured and totally alien sequenced audio. It's not pretty stuff and real harsh in places but that's no bad thing. Another great thing that happended today is missing that annual bout of blowing up your money for no reason which is bonfire night in the U.K. Whoosh, bang = more debt! Monday, November 6th. WEATHER : Warmer but you gotta love the wind here MOOD : God bless Chris Rea LOCATION : On the road to hell (part two) DOWNLOAD : jamaica jerk off The perfect day to spend with Chris Rea's gravel toned voice today on the road to hell. Real busy this end sorting out stuff for the upcoming (this friday) trip to the United States. I am getting there but am not being helped by the superslow Internet connection here, for example uploading today's meagre MP3 file took me over two hours, i swear at the moment it's worse than dial up. We are looking into a superfast connection right now and that should be up and running soon. More dysfunction on the audio front and just enough time to do the washing. Great Lebonese food too, a good day all round. Tuesday, November 7th. WEATHER : It was just cold MOOD : Looking round Ikea drains my energy LOCATION : Ostkreuz / Ikea DOWNLOAD : i've seen that movie too A day spent largely working on audio and then in the afternoon over at Ikea shopping for a few household essentials which are missing from this place. Whevever i find myself in a large store such as Ikea after a short time i start to feel sick as if the energy is being drained right from me. I don't know whether it's the fact there is very little natural light in there or the heat from the lights in there but i always feel totally fucked when i am there. Anyway goods bought there was time to get back and head out for a few whiskeys in one of the local bars. Wednesday, November 8th. WEATHER : Real standing cold by the end of the night MOOD : Tired and bitten LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : sweet painted lady So i get in from a night out at one of the local bars and i'm awoken at around four a.m. by that shrill mosquito sound which just always seems to bug you more than the fact you know that you are going to get bitten. Every single time i tried to drop off it would be there buzzing in my ear. I managed to catch and kill our little friend (seen left) at around six a.m. so it was a real slow start. The question i had to ask was where it had come from ? It's so cold over here right now that it's a suprise to see such and insect at this time of year considering i have been here two months and didn't see another one in this time. Thursday, November 9th. WEATHER : Windy for most of the day MOOD : Getting stuff burnt and ready for the trip LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : the ballad of dannie bailey A day spent solely on getting shit sorted out for the now really impending American sojourn i am about to undertake tomorrow from here in Berlin. Even though there is only one (well two) shows to prepare for i still have a lot to prepare before i am ready for the flight stateside. It's going to be great to catch up with my old friend from Brainwashed, Jon Whitney and also to go on the road with noise legends Cock E.S.P. Not to mention that Goodiepal is going to be there and then the night after the Brainwaves festival finishes there's a chance to see my old drinking buddy Kevin Blechdom in action on her home turf. [November 10-11 missing] I am over in America right now these pages will be updated if and when i get the chance or after i get back on the 24th of November. Sunday, November 12th. WEATHER : It soaked me through on the way to breakfast MOOD : Feeling in tune with the time finally LOCATION : Arlington awaiting Cock E.S.P. DOWNLOAD : your sister can't twist A much better start to the day over here, a great breakfast consumed in the Arlington Diner, i forgot my camera when i travelled over here so excuse for now the lack of outdoor pictures. I am waiting for the Cocks to arrive here in Boston from Minneapolis and then they play a show here in Boston tonight which is the first on their smallish tour of the North East. I am about to do a podcast on Brainwashed for Jon, probably playing some V/Vm and talking about the tracks. I am never comfortable talking about what i do, i would rather much just do shit and let others slag it off. Anyway i will hopefully have some fun with that and with the Cock's in the next few days. Here's hoping. [November 13-20 missing] Tuesday, November 21st. WEATHER : Sunny MOOD : Hungovered for sure in the cold LOCATION : Boston, U.S.A. DOWNLOAD : indian sunset Time to get out and about in the centre catching some European football and sinking more drinks on top of a hangover. Holiday time right now, it feels good to have a couple of days to rest up before flying back to Germany via England. Then i have a few days before i fly back to England to play the final show of the year and then i can rest up properly. A lot has been asked about the future of the label while i am over here and i have no answers. The sentiment of this project stated on the opening page is where i am at still mentally. Luckily before the year is out i'm gonna have the chance to speak to some close friends and new people about what i'm doing. One thing is almost certain any creative work will seldom be made public. [November 22-25 missing] Sunday, November 26th. WEATHER : Like one big cloud but warm MOOD : Trying to get back on track is not too easy LOCATION : Frankfurter Allee DOWNLOAD : this town I am still a little bit slow around here, things are taking longer and i'm down and out with another virus wipeout as a result of consuming so much alcohol whilst in the United States of America. Time enough though to hack up some kind of track for the daily entry around here, "this town" really is for that town. This months audio has been a bit more chaotic than the previous couple of months and has a little bit more energy. I just listened back to some of it before and not everything is throwaway in this project. I like the entry for the 21st, what a special number that one is to me. [November 27-30 missing] Friday, December 1st. WEATHER : Great in Germany, gales in England MOOD : End of the line LOCATION : Frankfurter Allee / Colchester (U.K.) DOWNLOAD : acid house Waking up all was well, then the problems started, feeling super unwell i had to travel back to England and Colchester (via London), a good seven hour journey via waiting rooms, trains, plane and car. To be honest this trip has come at a time when i should be looking after myself. The excesses of the night before did me in before i started. The ship is sunk before it's left dock. I need a big rest right now and there is rest in sight as this is the last month now, the final month of the final mess. Thirty one more days then out and i can't wait for that OUT feeling. No more entries, no more uploads, it will be rest well earnt. [December 2-13 missing] Thursday, December 14th. WEATHER : Good and then a little overcast MOOD : Stupid LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : carol A time of mailouts and job applications to Warp Records, i think i have more chance of becoming CEO at E.M.I. than working at Warp which is a shame because labels like Warp need people like me to help inject a bit of life into their corporate arseholes. It's a shame that they employ some of the worst around who actually don't have a real passion for finding new music and are mainly instead passionate about making money. I guess that comes from the top. At the night we went to Teo's Tref which is a real wrong place but it's oh so right, it's a new local over here for me. Very special indeed, old style. Friday, December 15th. WEATHER : Good with a chill in the air to end the day MOOD : It's quiet in here LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : the wire A wierd start to the day over here as Jonty and myself stayed up all night as he was flying back to the U.K. first thing. There he was at 6 a.m. frying prawns on top of a hangover as a result of the previous nights drinking. The day was thereafter spent recovering and mostly alone as all my flatmates are away right now. A suprise visit from Nicola led to me going with her to a cafe bar that has just opened around the corner. Same old, same old there in terms of people trying to play records and others stopping them. I wasn't in the mood to deal with that shit so made my excuses and left. [December 16-23 missing] Sunday, December 24th. WEATHER : Rain and grey MOOD : Full of the Christmas spirits LOCATION : Ostkreuz / Teos Tref DOWNLOAD : the ghost of christmas past Jono stuffed the goose and we ate all day for Christmas as the Germans do on the 24th. Food consumed in the company of Miss Nyqvist (back from Sweden), Nicola and Matt the specially designed cheese board was a real winner. As was last years Christmas pudding which i was unable to eat last year but thanks to Jono's Weinbrand sauce it was probably the best pudding either of us had ever ate. Very special, the only thing left to do was to watch Cannon & Ball's 80's epic "The boys in blue" and relive those ghosts from the past. Monday, December 25th. WEATHER : Brighter, maybe a little colder MOOD : Great as we are about to watch the new Rocky LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : like us, hate us / james brown dead "James Brown is dead" ring the headlines, my dad once pulled up alongside James Brown's limo in Birmingham a few years back, he will tell you the story should you meet him in the same way as James Brown often talked of pulling alongside my dad. We did xmas yesterday and today we will do the exact same again. Enough time inbetween to do my own tribute to James Brown. Not only that but we managed to get a copy online of the new Rocky film, so it's a real special Christmas now here as we codgitate over the latest installment of old Sylvester's alter ego. You know V/Vm is all about the eye of the tiger so timing is perfect. Have a cool yule. Tuesday, December 26th. WEATHER : Grim and grey MOOD : Thankfully this is almost over LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : time waits for nobody Are you counting down with me ? Time running out as old Freddie sung back in the day. Five more days to go then this particular project is over, i have said all along it will be a while until someone else tries their hand at such a project. The main reason for them not to do this is the fact that (a) there is a lot of output and (b) it's all been given away for free in a time where every bloop and bleep is for sale for that .99 cents. Don't know also if you noticed this that i uploaded a few days back, it's by Animal. Today it feels like it's nearly the end and time to move on. In a few days from now the goalposts will change and it will be time to recharge. Wednesday, December 27th. WEATHER : A nice enough winters day MOOD : Good in the fresh air LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : boonekamp It was good to get out of here for an hour before to do the glamourous task of shopping. No real time for much else as it's back to the audio grindstone as the upload/download continues as we count down one day at a time into the abyss. Today's offering is the type of track i wanted to make more often this year and reminds me of this real old 12" i have back in England the name of which escapes me. But this again is music for the dancefloor and yet you always so often find dj's rely on that beat. No beat = No play. Time is running out around here now. Thursday, December 28th. WEATHER : Light snow barely sticking MOOD : Good LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : a melody drags me back Some winter snow as the temperature dips below zero over here in keeping finally with the time of year. I was speaking to my good friend and current (not for much longer though which makes me sad) flatmate Tara Pattenden and she told me that "yeah it's good you made so much this year but if you stopped winking at all the girls you could have made over six hundred tracks!". Nothing like a reality check is there, thanks Tara you're the best and thanks for the boomerang. So there is some slight snow over here, not sure what i'm upto later, maybe going out, maybe staying in but there is vacuuming to be done before my new years guests arrive. Friday, December 29th. WEATHER : Misty and a lot colder, standing fog almost MOOD : It's only going to get worse audio wise LOCATION : Ostkreuz DOWNLOAD : that's just the way it is Am sat here listening to Falco, there's a certain amount of audio which has got me through this experience, solid audio i can rely on to keep me going, Falco is in there for sure. Single tracks also by people lik Hasil Adkins keep me going along with a big dose of 80's hits, Chris Rea and the theme tune to Big Deal. All of them kept me sane throughout the whole thing and especially on days where there was no end in sight and believe me there were a lot of them. A new year looms loud and proud now on the horizon, with a bit of luck some girls will start arriving here from various locations. Saturday, December 30th. WEATHER : Drizzle but warmer than yesterday MOOD : The end of the line so i hope you had some fun LOCATION : Ostkreuz and beyond DOWNLOAD : one for the girls / we fooled around This is it, the end of the line, tomorrow there will only be sentiment. As the first new-year guests arrive it's almost time to bow out of this project as finally it comes to its natural end. I may elsewhere write a postscript what doing a project as intensive as this on a daily basis was like. Many thanks to those of you who followed what happened around here, i know some people did and it was nice to get some feedback both good and bad as doing something like is daunting. Thanks also to all those people who helped me do this and put up with me when i had to make some sacrifices in terms of lifestyle and being sociable. Time to get OUT<< Sunday, December 31st. WEATHER : MOOD : ...and it's all over now baby blue LOCATION : Out with the girls DOWNLOAD : the v/vm cannon blast / and finally... Follow me through, into the sun, and we can smile at everyone. You gotta join in with me, then we are free, it isn't hard to do. I said life is a song, so just sing along, and then we know we can't go wrong. Just you and me, come on and see, together we'll be O.K. together we'll be O.K. together we'll be O.K .