A little something to keep the etm pod feed ticking over...!!

I was invited by the good folks (and label friends) of Hidden Notes to have a crack at an excuse the mess themed DJ set at this years Hidden Notes Festival Vol.3

Hope you enjoy hearing those old tunes again in various forms of messed-about-with. (The second half goes fairly off piste)

Big love to the Hidden Notes team as per. Alex, Adam and Daniel (and the extended crew) put on another amazing festival. Thanks for having me <3

Hope you are all keeping well xxxx

https://excusethemess.bandcamp.com/

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Hello dear podcast friends,

Myself and the good eggs at Hidden Notes Records have been cooking up this release for a while.

I'm excited that this music is finally being released and if you're interested in getting a copy of the Ltd Edition Book (pictures, quotes, risograph prints and more) or just getting your mitts on the digital download here are some links:

BandCamp vol.1

BandCamp vol.2

Rough Trade, Drift Record Shop, Resident, Banquet Records, Juno

Ben xx

PS the tune in the 'podcast' is track 1 from vol.2 (Gold Panda + little ol' me)

VOLUME ONE

1. Manu Delago - collider (Hang)

2. Laura Jurd - copper cult (Trumpet)

3. Emily Hall - petrichor [improvisation] (Electromagnetic Harp)

4. Robert Ames - 400 feet (Viola)

5. Mark Lockheart - infant earth (Saxophone)

6. Douglas Dare - ministry 101 (Voice)

7. Mira Calix - skating on thin ice (Ice Rink)

8. Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - inside and out (Piano)

9. Matt Calvert - resonate (Guitar)

VOLUME TWO

1. Gold Panda - lanza (Vinyl)

2. Hannah Peel - unbox (Music Box)

3. Galya Bisengalieva - keme (Violin)

4. Anne Nikitin - 8bit paris[666] (Casio VL Tone)

5. Elliot Galvin - toy guns (Toy Piano)

6. Alev Lenz - passing ships (Sample Library)

7. Oliver Coates - slime uk (Cello)

8. Anna Meredith - oopsloops (Pesto Jar)

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In this final instalment you get a multitude of factoids about Anna’s critically acclaimed album, Fibs (2019). She draws a track name from a bowl at random and tells us the first thing that comes to mind. You’ll also be hearing juicy extracts of the tracks alongside these insider scoops.

In the second half we talk about her 2018, BBC Proms commission Five Telegrams - if you aren’t familiar with the piece watch it here. It’s on a ginormous scale with incredible visuals projected onto (and inside) Royal Albert Hall.

Finally, we talk about her experiences working with Bo Burnham on his award winning film, Eighth Grade.

*another bad language warning, we just couldn't control ourselves*

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this extended podcast episode, I’ve never released so much material from one guest. Testament to Anna’s generous insights - this was a hugely inspiring day for me, a pleasure to edit it all together and I hope you too have been inspired by her. Share around the episode and we’ll all be better for it!

Here’s the best link to use: http://hyperurl.co/iqpldb

Thank you so much for listening to excuse the mess. Who knows when I’ll be back but at least you have 3.5 hours of Anna Meredith episode to work through (and all the previous episodes if you haven’t already). It goes without saying but a mountain of thanks to Anna, what an inspiration!

Take care in your Covid-Bunkers, keep busy and be available to help those that need you!

Much love 

Ben xxx

Follow Anna here:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Facebook | BandCamp

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast and Anna's manager Rachel for all of her input.

Tracklist:

Calion

Limpet

Killjoy

Inhale Exhale

Orlok

Divining 

Paramour

Sawbones

Unfurl

Ribbons

Being...

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Here’s the first of hopefully many ‘Audience Questions’ episodes. It was really lovely to bring you into the conversation so thank you to everyone that wrote in with a question for Anna. We both really enjoyed going through them.

Mentioned in the episode is a playlist Anna has on Spotify, here's a link to "Stuff I Like"

Follow Anna here:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Facebook | BandCamp

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Special thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast and Anna's manager Rachel for all the help!

The track bookending this episode is Rhododendron.

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This part of the podcast is where myself and the guest write a brand new piece of music on the spot, using just one instrument and electronic manipulations. We opted for the humble pesto jar as our instrument, why not! 

You will hear the journey of the piece from the ‘blank page’ to the finished piece at the end. I had such a blast working with Anna on this track. This is a brilliant opportunity to discover how Anna’s razor sharp composition brain works in real time. 

Partway through Anna draw’s one of her famous ‘Meredith Maps’ you find it at the bottom of this page on the etm website.

*Credit where credit is due - the pesto jar idea I borrowed from friends of the performance/composer group Bastard Assignments - they’re worth checking out live when 'live' is once again a thing we can all enjoy*

I hope you like the piece we made called ‘oopsloops’. Thanks for listening!

Follow Anna here:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Facebook | BandCamp

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Tracklist:

moonmoons

Bubble Gun

oopsloops (our etm co-composition)

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Anna Meredith (ANNA MEREDITH!!) is guest #17 on excuse the mess. If you’re a new listener thanks so much for checking out the podcast. This episode is a 4-part epic, the director's cut! It’s testament to Anna’s dynamic, hilarious, inspiring podcast chat that I can release 3.5 hours worth of podcast recordings and be confident you’ll be entertained throughout. Whilst we’re all locked up in our Covid-Bunkers you might welcome this extended deep dive into the mind and music of this phenomenal composer. Let the music escapism commence... 

If you don’t know Anna’s music by the end of this you will but here’s a little context...

She is one of the most celebrated composers in the UK (the nation even confirmed this by awarding her an MBE). She studied classical composition and has a vast amount of commissions under her belt. Her piece Five Telegrams opened the BBC Proms in 2018, it is one of the largest scale classical pieces I’ve ever seen, with visuals projected onto the Royal Albert Hall alongside her music performed by hundreds of musicians. Over the last 10 years (ish) she has been exploring a more electronic sound world and creating quite the storm. Her music is muscular yet warm, complex and direct. She was brought on as composer to the award winning film ‘Eighth Grade’ (dir. Bo Burnham) and the Netflix series ‘Living With Yourself’ (with Paul Rudd). 

There are 4 parts for you to digest:

A • This one (CHAT 1)

B • MUSIC MAKING - we make a track using a pesto jar and nothing else!

C • AUDIENCE Q’s - questions from you

D • CHAT 2 - More focus on Anna’s album FIBS, Five Telegrams and Eighth Grade

In this part we have a good old fashioned podcast rambly chat. We talk vegan cakes, exercise, the importance of composer community (referencing the Camberwell Composer’s Collective she was part of), we discuss her technique for mapping out compositions and classical culture amongst many other things.

*just a swearing warning, this episode contains occasional effs and jeffs*

I hope you enjoy this extended podcast - please dip in and out at your own pace and share with those who might like to hear.

Much love & take care of yourselves and others,

Ben xxx

Follow Anna here:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Facebook | BandCamp

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram |

Oliver Coates Part 2 is here. We met in the bowels of the Southbank Centre in London to record this conversation. You’ll hear plenty of his stunning cello infused-electronic music alongside a plentiful conversation about his work.

We talk about his previous albums Upstepping and Shelly’s On Zenn-La. Two incredible albums. 

There’s also talk of his current artistic practice, dubbed ‘cello slime’ which you would have got a sense of from last week's MUSIC MAKING episode. You’ll get an insight into how he got motivated to practice when he was younger and some of the music he was into, still inspiring him today, maybe now more than ever. We also talk about his collaboration with Mica Levi and their album Remain Calm. 

Olly’s cello sound design on his album Upstepping directly inspired me to make excuse the mess, so it feels like coming round full circle. It was a massive honour to get him onto the podcast, I think it's a fascinating and inspiring listen - hope you do too.

Apologies for the practicing violinist next door, distracting. 

Subscribe to etm if you want to hear more podcasts. There are some exciting one’s to come and plenty to catch up on if you’re new to the podcast. 

Keep track of any Olly news and listen to more of his top drawer music:

Website | Instagram | BandCamp | Spotify 

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Special thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast and to Emily Moore.

Tracklist (playlist on Spotify):

Charlev (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

Timelapse - Walrus (Upstepping)

calm slime loud 1cut

Path In, J Lover One, Yomi, Umbo (Decouple ][ Series)

Barok Main Oliver Coates, Mica Levi (Remain Calm)

Schoolhouse Oliver Coates, Mica Levi (Remain Calm)

Another Fantasy Oliver Coates Remix (Bryce Hackford)

Bambi 2046 (Upstepping)

The Irish Book of Death & Flying Ships (Upstepping)

Faraday Monument (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

Prairie (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

A Church (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

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Hello! Welcome to another excuse the mess music making episode, or more to the point ‘slime’ making.

This episode’s guest is the cellist and electronic musician, Oliver Coates. I’ve been looking to get him on the podcast for quite a while and excitingly it happened! Lucky me and lucky you!! 

Back to ‘slime’. Olly is using his cello and electronic techniques to make something he calls slime which he will explain very eloquently, what that is in the episode. Then we make some ‘slime’ music - our track slime uk - we hope you like it.

If this is your first listen to this podcast then thanks for checking out excuse the mess. Each episode features a different guest, not only do you hear a deep dive interview but you will also hear us co-write a co-write a track on the spot in the ‘music making’ episode. We do it all on the same day and only use one instrument and electronic manipulations of it.

I’m releasing these episodes in reverse order - next week you’ll get the CHAT. Keep an eye out for that, I promise it'll bring you much inspiration.

If you enjoyed what you heard here then please share with your like minded friends.

Thanks for listening,

Ben

PS Olly will be playing with Rafael Anton Irisarri on 22nd February at Kings Place, London. Tickets here

Follow Olly and listen to more of his brilliant music:

Website | Instagram | BandCamp | Spotify 

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Special thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another music making challenge on excuse the mess.

Alev Lenz is my co-conspirator in this episode and she brings with her a pretty nifty instrument to make music with.

The premise in this part of the podcast is to spontaneously create a brand new piece of music in an afternoon, and using only one instrument. In this episode we're entering uncharted territory for the podcast, Alev's instrument of choice is a sample library she created in collaboration with her record label (SA Recordings/Spitfire Audio). The library is built from elements of her album '3' which she released through SA late 2019 - the library is sold alongside the album which in my opinion is a pretty innovative idea. Check some links below to discover more or even better listen to the CHAT part of Alev's excuse the mess visit.

We hope you like the music!

Keep track of Alev's creations:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | BandCamp | Facebook

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

A light read - Alev interview with Music Tech Magazine (on the sample library)

Outro track - After Every Winter Must Come Spring

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The next decade is upon us and I'm chuffed to be releasing my first podcast of the new year, accompanied by one very brilliant Alev Lenz.

Alev is first of all, podcast gold - you'll love hearing from her all about her music in this episode.

She is an expert builder of atmospheric sound worlds with song & storytelling at its heart.

We discuss a track of hers featured on the hit TV show Black Mirror (i'm sure you're all familiar), a turning point in her career and how that triggered a small series of events that shaped her recently released album '3' on SA Recordings. It's an incredibly powerful album and it heavily features the pioneering vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

You can get hold of the album here if you like what you here (hint: the vinyl comes in a lovely blue)

There is an unusual dimension to the release of this album, it can be bought alongside a sample library that is built from the DNA of the album itself, find out more within the pod.

Alev has collaborated with the internationally celebrated sitarist and composer, Anoushka Shankar over a number of years. In recent days they've been writing and releasing new music which you will hear about towards the end - they make a good team.

Have a great listen and please do share the episode to any Alev fans to-be.

Links:

SA Recordings '3' Album/Sample Library Bundle

Spitfire Audio

Free The Work

WNYC New Sounds

Keep track of Alev's creations:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | BandCamp | Facebook

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Tracklist:

Splendid Soldier

Fall Into Me (Roomful of Teeth cover, WNYC Recording from New Sounds Live/Ecstatic Music Festival 2017)

May The Angels

The Chair

Aimee Mann

The Runner

Cigarettes & Blow

Bright Eyes (Anoushka Shankar & Alev Lenz)

I Am Winter

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