Craig Murphy Multimedia

Coda by Solipsism

2010-10-17T21:40:00.000+01:00

Solipsism - Source of Light (Reprise) Video

2010-01-28T14:18:00.001Z

reviews condensed

2009-11-25T16:16:00.001Z

Solipsism ‘MK Ultra’ (promo). Been a fair old while since Mr Murphy featured in these pages, the workaholic visual / sound artist seems unable to stray past a home recording studio without being possessed of the need to nail a track or three in either of his Shoosh, ch.pm and Solipsism guises - while finding his remaining time taken in heading up Herb recordings imprint. Anyway an email received in our inbox invited us to tune into a taster cut from his currently worked techno based set soon put paid to our embarrassed silence in reporting his ever evolving and cross weaving genre bending cache of aural adventures. ‘MK Ultra’ is a fat n’ spongy slab of hyper driven mind weaving oblivion, the regimental like pulsing and precision honed pushing and shunting trip hop / technoid beats underpin a quietly hypnotic widescreen sounds cape of whirring drone swathes, cosmic swirls and an all round sense of spectral wooziness. Embraced of elements of a classic era Detroit techno scene albeit as though relocated to some distant space hub opining ominous SOS transmissions into the far reaches of the cosmic wilderness - this cerebral cutie mushrooms with a stealth like grandeur to literally bathe your listening space in something that you’d be forgiven for assuming was crafted by the collaborative hand of a secret rendezvous between 808 State and Apollo 440. That said what truly puts the icing on the cake is its busy employment of sonic sub texts running barely out of earshot in the background - like for instance the brief and subtle tropicalia flurries at approx. 4.34 in.
Losing Today

Swirling synths Picked guitar and then left. Soundscapes of uncomfortable beauty Pulses Dadaist in theory and practice Beat with no beat, you dig. The spoken word unspoken, the synthesis of nature formed and then de-con-struct-ed. Drone…and on. The sadness of a modulating tone and the pleasure in its repetition. Explain. SOUND!!! Beautiful in its scope, majestic in its sweep yet personal and claustrophobic. Names: Godspeed, you black Emperor. Explosions in the sky. Fennesz. Yet not quite. An album of outstanding music. That should be heard by all fellow travellers. Enjoy. I did.
Is This Music?

Weirdly wonderful art-rock by Craig Murphy. Challenging listening which won’t be to everyone’s taste
Music To Die For, 50 Top Tunes From Scotland.

As winter is fading away, giving way to new life and new experiences, so too is the overall tune of everything around us. There’s something about spring that brings out the best in people, so it’s suitable to have music that fits this positive aura. Shoosh specialize in a strange mix of acoustic guitar, distorted synths and hopeful ambiance....With these samples of what’s to come from this trio, I’m left hopefully waiting. Not to be blown away, because that’s not what Shoosh tries to accomplish, but rather to be taken on a journey. If they are able to evoke so much day dreaming with just two songs, I can only imagine what they will do with an hour of our time.
The Silent Ballet

Orpheum Circuit is a sweltering sheet of low flying beauty
Igloo Mag

"Shoosh is a trio of musicians, combining guitars and Americana-influenced songwriting with all manner of perplexing electronic programming and treatments. 'Snake Eyes' is a little like Sparklehorse or perhaps Benoit Pioulard - all distorted and twisted out of shape, with a squeaky, obfuscated vocal in place to remind you that you're listening to an actual song rather than the Fennesz-influenced soundscape it might otherwise resemble. The vocal will almost certainly take some getting used to in fact, but once you're accustomed to the sheer oddness of Neil Carlill's delivery (imagine a cross between Dose One and Mark E Smith) there's an awful lot to like about this record - in a world crammed with electronically treated songwriting efforts, Orpheum Circuit somehow manages to sound like it's really out there on its own." Boomkat

The adjectives sweeping, cinematic and symphonic come to the fore. This is music suited to the closing credits of a cathartic, two and a half hour movie epic. Doleful piano lines, dramatic synth washes and grandiose crescendos are the order of the day: like Eno’s Music For Films given the Cecil B DeMille treatment. The tracks have their individual flavours – the synthetic birds, church bells and crickets of “Dark Sun Rising”, for example – but the album works best as a kind of symphony in five movements. It’s music designed for looking from a hilltop and watching the shadows of clouds dancing across lush, rolling fields. Stirring and somehow reassuring at the same time. Music, Musings & Miscellany

This is downtempo, home-listening electronica, but with an edge. Lead track “Bastardism”, a collaboration with Kingbastard, is all steam-punk beats and abstract, cosmic synths. The ENV(itre) and Victer Manderline remixes are cooler, mellower affairs, whereas the charmingly named “Raped by a Woman” remix by Psychotronic is an uncomfortable, glitchy treatment. “Organicism” comes in two versions. The Pleq remix is the stronger, chugging and spluttering along like an eccentric piece of machinery. Music, Musings & Miscellany

The material's galaxial feel and trippy ambiance intensify when distorted voices echo across the limitless expanses of deep space, and nowhere is that epic pitch achieved more intensively than during the title piece which unspools over ten trance-inducing minutes (the sound is so huge, it reduces the voices that occasionally surface to indecipherable mumbles—but the work can be experienced just as easily on purely musical terms as an engrossing exercise in synthetic dronescaping. If anything, its unapologetically pure synth-based sound has more in common with ‘70s-styled ambient recordings (early Tangerine Dream, say) than a more current release where granular static and other noise might accompany the drones. That Alien Genome Project leaves such a strong impression is due in part to the forceful intensity of its presentation.
Textura

The album consists of drones, cosmic synth chords, and disembodied, distorted vocal samples. It has echoes of Kosmische Musik acts like (early) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schultze as well as their spiritual descendants such as Pete Namlook. But there are equally nods to Stars of the Lid, Eno’s Apollo and Murcof’s Cosmos projects. The eight tracks unfold slowly. Some are short and fragile; others, like the title track, have a suitably cosmic grandeur. “Hybrid”, the closing section, has a slowed down echoing voice that has the rhythm of whale song, and sounds like the last, fading sounds of a dying civilization. It’s quite a spooky end to a seriously trippy suite of music.
Music Miscellany

ch.pm is the solo project of Craig Murphy, perhaps better known as one half of electro-psychedelic outfit Shoosh. ‘Alien Genome Project’, however, is like listening to an old-school ambient record, where melodies shift extremely slowly. Indeed, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno would certainly approve of Murphy’s work. Leonard's Lair

Shoosh present a far folksier prospect, first with the digitised folk of 'Elastic Soil' - which avoids all that Tunng-style folktronica business thanks to its strained and unhinged vocal - and the rather lovely 'Come In From The Cold', another swirl of guitars, screeching synthesis and that strangely compelling, warped voice.
Boomkat

Weird Fields is a busy boy - it feels almost like he creates videos on weekly basis, judging from the amount of clips he's dished up in the last few months (last time it was a promo for Pestilence by Shoosh). This time Herb Recordings' Kingbastard is the subject: the track used is '[ d o w n u p ]' and the video has a series of flashing pictures, cryptic symbols and phrases. Weird Fields has probably filled the whole thing with subliminal messages too, so who knows what he's brainwashed us into...
Angry Ape

I remember the good old minimalist days of electronic music videos where all you'd see was an amorphous digital blob spinning across a swiftly tilting background. Kingbastard's latest video seems to recall those abstract times, even though there's something much more complex with what Chris Weeks and Weird Fields are doing with [ downup ]. The flashing, subtle cues have a message tied somehow to the words explore, exploit, explode, before somewhere along the way you find yourself saying, "I love Big Brother."
Ogbetty

consuming collages depicting in the minds eye intergalactic voyages to far flung milky ways, gloriously wide screen in stature and vividly fulsome in texture. And while the obvious winner hand down here is ’bastardism’ - a lushly envisaged cosmic pit stop where shuffling statue-esque beats orbit amorously across swirling passages of soft psych ambient blissfulness - think Biosphere trading dialects more appreciable to the polar climes of Amon Duul and Jean Michel Jarre - a magnificent dreamscaping delight. Though that said our money is squarely on the monumental ’this is our tree and were not getting out of it’ - a desirable and engaging slice of achingly lonesome spectral beauty Losing Today

“Crystalism” is the most direct track, coming across like an aggressive, no nonsense Boards of Canada. Those distant synths that hallmark previous releases are intact here, layering themselves almost out of sync with the programmed beats, yet remaining cohesive. “Exit Strategy” is different again, employing thick mid-90’s beats over dripping melodies that slightly recall Wendy Carlos’ “Clockwork Orange” phase. Angry Ape

this five track EP is Solipsism’s most unified effort thus far. The album pivots with the beautifully arranged epilogue “Sun Up”, an ambient and emotional sprawl that leaves you with a warm sense of tranquility and profound motivation to hit the Solarism replay button. Sonic Frontiers

Solipsism again seamlessly blends ethereal synth swells with mechanical beat programming, to create a colliding electronic sound. The contrast between the wistfully melodic synths and the precise, robotic beats are a key component in this release’s sound. "At The Beach" is, by far and away, the best track on offer here. The beatwork seems off the pace from the gorgeous toybox chimes that plays an integral role on this track. Almost as if it is playing catch-up, the off-kilter pattern offers a timeless sound that induces the mood of an Ibizan sunset. Angry Ape

"Electricity Flows In Squares" has an nostaligic feel to it, advancing on the themes explored by artists such as Bola, Autechre and Bochum Welt. The pristine melodies posses a real other-worldly quality and are perfectly contrasted by the accomplished, mechanistic programming. It is an engaging listen that begs for an emotional response. Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep

Shoosh, the trio of Ed Drury, Neil Carlill and Craig Murphy, have a different approach to their music. More guitar-based than Cheju, Shoosh features a love-it-or-hate-it vocal style. Their track “Elastic Soil” is predominantly guitar-based but also features some soaring electronic textures underneath it all. Their second track, “Come in from the Cold,” is weirder still vocally and features shimmering electronic swirls and acoustic guitar. The first of their tracks sounds like Bowie meets Genesis P Orridge while the second is more like Dylan; both sound like drug-addled psychedelic folk - uniquely blissed out weird psychedelic folk excursions.
Igloomag

Shoosh are a different proposition altogether, combining the talents of Craig Murphy (synths, programming), multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury and former Delicatessen frontman Neil Carlill, who provides rather unique vocals. A starlit chime introduces “Elastic Soil” but will not prepare the listener for the intergalactic journey they are about to embark on. Murphy’s spectral drones provide the template for Drury to weave a beautiful Spanish guitar arrangement atop, while Carlill delivers his indecipherable yet strangely alluring vocals. Spell-bindingly inventive, shoosh construct an exclusive brand of ambient, space-folk.
Reverb Mag

Shoosh’s ghostly alluring ‘elastic soil’ is an off centred though numbingly beautiful work of ethereal psych-ambi-folk, pining celestial sheens, crooked and dust ridden stumbling acoustic flamenco strums serve as deliciously spectral montages underpinning the ether driven wandering vocal mantras - all at once hazy and disquieting though magically omnipresent the individual parts coalesce and caress like heavenly apparitions weaving in and out of view imagining Animal Collective centre stage in a celestial gunfight setting amid supernatural serenades sourced from Neil Young’s ‘eldorado’.
Losing Today

While other shoosh compositions come across like a space-age version of Pink Floyd, “Elastic Soil” finds them exploring a different plain altogether. Carlill’s vocals immediately pique the interest with its multi-tracked and warped out of shape tone. These are cushioned by a galaxy of spectral drones and superb Spanish guitar work to create this highly inventive piece of music.
Angry Ape

Shoosh's Elastic Soil features flamenco guitar and woozy, processed vocals stumbling around in a sweetly acrid haze. The Wire

Of more interest, I thought, was the music of Shoosh, a three piece group of Ed Drury (guitars), Neil Carlill (vocals and lyrics) and Craig Murphy (synth, programming). In 'Elastic Soil' they sound like an electronic version of Current 93, with a strong similarity in the vocal region. In 'Come In From The Cold' things turn even more down and moody, with sparse electronics, ending in total ambiance.
Vital Weekly

Shoosh is definitely more leftfield. Their two tracks explore a psychedelic world. ‘Elastic Soil’ begins with Spanish guitar before some warped vocals convey an evening of stoned abandon in Madrid. Leonard's Lair

The guitars are Iberian and the wooze is warm and writhes like animated spaghetti. It's quite a nifty little late night stoner track, phased vox n all, would be very much at home on any number of old Tyrannosaurus Rex albums. IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, it wont be featured on a chart show near you, but that's not the point, is it?
Unpeeled

Delicate, lonesome and hitherto monolithic these somnambulant drone-scapes swirl in frosted pirouette formations applying a stately courtship (none more so than ‘distant star‘).....Amid the showcase of glacial tides and sparsely drawn and effecting minimalist washes of lilting electronic symphonies we suggest you stop by at your first opportunity to sample the warming radiance of the playfully orbiting oscillations of the melting ’so long good friend’ - bit of a peach by our reckoning appealing to ’magnetic fields’ era Jarre and Vangelis fans alike. Losing Today

Solipsism

Return of The Silver Surfer Out Now at i-Tunes

2009-11-10T10:39:00.002Z

Solipsism

Sunburst

2009-11-10T10:37:00.003Z

There's a new glitchy techno track on myspace called Sunburst.

Solipsism

Growler

2009-10-28T19:56:00.004Z

There's a new techno track on the myspace page called Growler. Alternatively, listen here.

More music by solipsism

Solipsism

Twitter

2009-10-15T16:55:00.001+01:00

I've finally opened a Twitter page.

Solipsism

Mentalism EP Out Now at i-Tunes

2009-10-15T16:53:00.002+01:00

Mentalism EP

Solipsism

Bubble Up

2009-10-15T16:52:00.002+01:00

New techno track on myspace called Bubble Up, www.myspace.com/solipsism

Solipsism

Go On Snafu Played on XFM

2009-10-15T16:50:00.002+01:00

Go On Snafu played on the John Kennedy Xposure Show on XFM

http://www.xfm.co.uk/onair/shows/xposure-playlist

Solipsism

New Track - Junk Run

2009-09-15T12:57:00.003+01:00

I've posted a new track on the solipsism page at the solipsism myspace page called "Junk Run".

Solipsism

Mk-Ultra Review at Losing Today

2009-09-05T09:12:00.002+01:00

By Shoosh & Solipsism stuff

2009-04-28T13:24:00.001+01:00

You can buy Shoosh releases from the following outlets, please click the logo to go directly to the page.

You can buy Solipsism releases from the following outlets, please click the logo to go directly to the page.

Solipsism

Shoosh Review at Is This Music?

2009-03-24T01:33:00.003Z

Shoosh
Orpheum Circuit (Herb)

Swirling synths
Picked guitar and then left.
Soundscapes of uncomfortable beauty
Pulses
Dadaist in theory and practice
Beat with no beat, you dig.
The spoken word unspoken, the synthesis of nature formed and then de-con-struct-ed.
Drone…and on. The sadness of a modulating tone and the pleasure in its repetition.
Explain.
SOUND!!!
Beautiful in its scope, majestic in its sweep yet personal and claustrophobic.
Names: Godspeed, you black Emperor. Explosions in the sky. Fennesz. Yet not quite.

An album of outstanding music. That should be heard by all fellow travellers.

Enjoy.

I did.

Solipsism

The Space Between Atoms Video

2009-02-19T20:33:00.002Z

Solipsism

photos

2009-02-11T20:54:00.001Z

Solipsism

Beneath The Waves EP - Free Download

2009-02-07T15:20:00.006Z

Hi,

We've made our new soundtrack EP available for free download from Last FM and archive.org

01 Winter Sun

02 Beneath The Waves

03 September Silhouette

04 87

05 Memories Of Times To Come

Solipsism

Gordon Brown & Cannabis Reclassification

2009-01-27T09:16:00.007Z

Gordon Brown and New Labour today, once again changed the status of the Cannabis plant from a Class C to Class B. Brown recently stated that the changes were needed because of the new "lethal strains" of Cannabis available on today's market. Cannabis has no toxicity and there has never been a single death in history attributable to its use. The reclassification of the Cannabis plant will criminalize countless individuals whose only crime is to grow their own medicine, instead of taking the toxic lucky bags you get prescribed from the Doctor. This isn't a criminal issue and it's not a dangerous plant. Up until the 1930s it was the active ingredient in over 50% of all the prescription medications available from licensed chemists at that time. In fact, the plant was considered so vital to the American Economy, farmers in the USA could be penalised for not growing it!

The real reason Gordon Brown and his counterparts in the USA won't legalise it, is simply because you cannot patent a plant and the Drug Companies and their voracious investors won't allow for that. The Cannabis plant and the oil it produces is the best natural fuel we have on the planet. Totally bio-degradable and unlike other crops being used for bio-fuel, it's not harmful to the soil. In fact, Cannabis plants can be sowed continuously as their deep roots till the soil so much; it doesn't need time to recover. The real criminals in the Cannabis issue are the politicians, the drug companies (including alcohol) and the investors. We've heard so much recently about the plight of investors thanks to the Global Credit Crunch. What they don't tell you in the news is that these investors are happy to profit from anything, even if it includes denying people the only medication that can make them better. They're happy to invest in poisonous tablets that people can buy over the counter and kill themselves with, if they take more than a handful. They're happy to invest in petro-chemical companies who have polluted the earth to such an extent, we're now on the brink of a global catastrophe, in fact we're seeing them happen now as a direct result of the greed of these people. But what they're not happy about is people being able to treat their conditions for free.

Take the recreational aspect of Cannabis use out of the equation for now and purely focus on the medicinal benefits. And I say this in the firm belief that the recreational aspects of Cannabis are purely beneficial also. But I understand that some people can't see past this aspect of it, so please allow me for now to focus on the medical side only. Below you will find some information relating to the use of Cannabis to treat a wide range of conditions. I will be including some statistical info along with links to research carried out by Universities. I will also use links to elaborate somewhat on historical reasons for the illegality of Cannabis and the government cover ups that have led to its continued status as an illegal drug.

http://www.eldoradocountyaamc.com/condtreated.htm
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Anxiety Disorders
• Autism
• Aversive Memories
• Can Cannabis Help Multiple Sclerosis?
• Can Cannabis Kill You?
• Cancer cachexia and cannabinoids
• Cannabidiol anti-inflammatory activity
• Cannabinoids and Memory
• Cannabinoids in clinical practice
• Cannabinoids treat skin cancer
• Cannabis and Depression
• Cannabis and Migraine
• Cannabis and Neuroprotection
• Cannabis and Treatment of Chemo Related Nausea
• Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program
• Chronic Pain
• Control of the cell survival/death decision by cannabinoids
• delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in clinical oncology
• Diabetes
• For the Sake of the Children
• Hepatitis C
• Lymphoma may be slowed by cannabis
• Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Neuroprotection by Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol
• Pancreatitis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis(Letter to physician - 30K .pdf file)
• Sickle Cell Disease and Cannabis
• Sleep Apnea
• Smokeless Medicine
• Tourette-Syndrome
• http://www.phoenixtears.ca/

From Rick Simpson, Director of Run from the Cure
My name is Rick Simpson. I have been providing people with Hemp Oil medicines, at no cost, for about 3 years. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Throughout man's history hemp has always been known as the most medicinal plant in the world. Even with this knowledge hemp has always been used as a political and religious football.

The current restrictions against hemp were put in place and maintained, not because hemp is evil or harmful, but for big money to make more big money, while we suffer and die needlessly. Look at a proposal such as this; if we were allowed to grow hemp in our back yards and cure our own illnesses, what do you think the reaction of the pharmaceutical industry would be to such a plan? Many large pharmaceutical companies that still exist today sold hemp based medicines in the 1800's and early 1900's. They knew then what I have recently found out. Hemp oil if produced properly is a cure-all that the pharmaceutical industry can't patent.

Two years a go I contacted the Liberals, the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party about this situation. I also provided them with evidence to backup what I was saying. No one lifted a finger; in most cases I was lucky to get a reply. I contacted the R.C.M.P. along with many other organizations and Public Interest TV shows, with little or no response.

Why are all these people trying to avoid such a simple truth? If I am in some way wrong in what I have been saying then I invite the system to come and prove it. I would be happy to put on a public demonstration of what this oil can do. That would answer this question for the Canadian public once and for all. It seems unbelievable that we have a law in Canada that will not allow us to cure our own diseases with a natural herbal remedy.

While much of the evidence for the effectiveness of Hemp is reports from patients and doctors, it is important to realize that this reporting leads to restrictions of drugs and their withdrawal from the market. Such was the case with doctors reporting the birth defects from Thalidomide and heart problems with the Fen-Phen combination of drugs. Further reports led to new uses for Thalidomide as a drug to treat leprosy rather than morning sickness. Anecdotal evidence (reports and observation by patients or doctors) usually indicates to a doctor that a treatment or drug should be altered, discontinued or changed.
In addition to the evidence, much research has been done and a list of a few of the researchers and their papers or publications is here. [Penicillin was approved for use with less experience and data than is available on the effectiveness of Hemp - only six patients].
The results of the cases can be readily replicated by any practitioner, medical or otherwise, anywhere, to cure malignant melanomas and more importantly, save lives. The topical application of hemp oil salves or balms helps to control or cure various skin conditions. Taken orally, the oil tends to seek out and destroy cancer cells in the body, but as with any drug, too much can cause side effects; most notable with hemp oil is drowsiness. Unlike opiates and their derivatives, hemp oil is not addictive.

For those who may find it incredible that the medical establishment would ignore or even disdain such research we remind the reader that the history of the medical establishment includes examples of mule-like stubbornness, incompetence, mediocrity, greed, arrogance, and stupidity. Consider the case of Dr. Ignas Semmelweis:
In 1847, Dr. Semmelweis, a respected Hungarian physician who was concerned about the high mortality rate of women giving birth in hospital, instituted a procedure at one hospital whereby doctors washed and disinfected their hands before delivering babies. Immediately, the mortality rate dropped from THIRTY percent to near zero. Seven other hospitals followed suit with similar results.

The European medical establishment recognized Dr. Semmelweis's achievement by blocking his applications for further research funds, vilifying and ostracizing him, and, ultimately, causing him to lose his prestigious positions at maternity hospitals. In America, the newly formed American Medical Association added insult to injury by threatening to revoke the license of any doctor caught washing his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was so distressed that women continued to die that he suffered a mental breakdown that eventually led to his death in 1865.
Don't expect a doctor working inside the system to buck the system. The risks are still too great!
The advice she or he offers you is controlled by the large medical industry that makes its money from expensive cancer fighting drugs and treatments. It is an industry that doesn't look favourably on natural supplements or other cancer treatments that they cannot patent or make a large profit from. Years from now the current conventional cancer treatments used by doctors will on the whole be viewed in the same light that we view the old medical practice of blood letting to cure illnesses.
See the movie here
http://www.phoenixtearsmovie.com/
http://www.thehempire.com/index.php/cannabis/news/ford_and_diesel_never_intended_cars_to_use_gasoline

Ford and Diesel Never Intended Cars to Use Gasoline
Center for Research on Globalization - Canada, 29th August 2005
When Henry Ford told a New York Times reporter that ethyl alcohol was "the fuel of the future" in 1925, he was expressing an opinion that was widely shared in the automotive industry. "The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumac out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust -- almost anything," he said. "There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There's enough alcohol in one year's yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years."

Henry Ford's first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONSTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, 'grown from the soil,' had hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel; Popular Mechanics, 1941.

Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, designed it to run on vegetable and seed oils like hemp; he actually ran the thing on peanut oil for the 1900 World's Fair. Henry Ford used hemp to not only construct cars but also fuel them.

As an alternative to methanol, hemp has at least one glowing report: the plant produces up to four times more cellulose per acre than trees. And a hemp crop grows a little quicker than a forest.

As for an alternative to petroleum...

Hemp grows like mad from border to border in America; so shortages are unlikely. And, unlike petrol, unless we run out of soil, hemp is renewable.

Growing and harvesting the stuff has much less environmental impact than procuring oil.

Hemp fuel is biodegradable; so oil spills become fertilizer not eco-catastrophes.

Hemp fuel does not contribute to sulphur dioxide air poisoning.

Other noxious emissions like carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are radically slashed by using "bio diesel.

Hemp fuel is non-toxic and only a mild skin irritant; anybody who’s ever cleaned out an old carburettor with gasoline can confirm the same is not true for petrol.

Growing hemp for fuel would be a tremendous boon for American farmers and the agricultural industry, as opposed to people like, say, the Bush family.

And that's why hemp might not go anywhere as a fuel alternative. Oil interests are big and donate likewise to politicians, and selling a man on an idea that will cost him more than he'll benefit requires an amazingly skilled orator -- or a gun. Unfortunately, unless you're the federal government, gunpoint conversions are usually illegal. Ergo, PR is about the best bet right now.

There are many people working hard on this front, including the Hemp Car and its intrepid crew. Currently ginning up for a trans-America evangelism tour, the Hemp Car plans to spread the good word of hemp-fuel viability at stops in both the U.S. and Canada.

For whatever good it will do, they should make sure to stop by Washington, D.C., and have a word with President George W. Bush. The current oil crisis and our nation's dependency on sometimes-pernickety foreign sources might find the new chief executive with an open mind to fuel sources other than Texas tea -- regardless of his oily bank accounts. And, while salvaging his dad's legacy is not Goal 1 for Dubya, it might also help him look more forward thinking in terms of energy policy and the environment.

Of course, hemp fuel may never take off. It might dry up like all those hemp crops left unattended after the feds banned their cultivation in the 1930s. One way or the other, Bush should consider freeing up the market to innovate with alternative fuels like hemp oil -- it couldn't hurt, and it stands the chance to help. In so doing, he'll end his term with a far better moniker than the "environmental president." For, if other policy decisions he makes go in a similar direction, we can perhaps call him the "free-market president."

Fuel of the Future
Ford recognized the utility of the hemp plant. He constructed a car of resin stiffened hemp fibre, and even ran the car on ethanol made from hemp. Ford knew that hemp could produce vast economic resources if widely cultivated.

Ford's optimistic appraisal of cellulose and crop based ethyl alcohol fuel can be read in several ways. First, it can be seen as an oblique jab at a competitor. General Motors had come to considerable grief that summer of 1925 over another octane boosting fuel called tetra-ethyl lead, and government officials had been quietly in touch with Ford engineers about alternatives to leaded gasoline additives. Secondly, by 1925 the American farms that Ford loved were facing an economic crisis that would later intensify with the depression. Although the causes of the crisis were complex, one possible solution was seen in creating new markets for farm products. With Ford's financial and political backing, the idea of opening up industrial markets for farmers would be translated into a broad movement for scientific research in agriculture that would be labelled "Farm Chemurgy."

Why Henry's plans were delayed for more than a half century:
Ethanol has been known as a fuel for many decades. Indeed, when Henry Ford designed the Model T, it was his expectation that ethanol, made from renewable biological materials, and would be a major automobile fuel. However, gasoline emerged as the dominant transportation fuel in the early twentieth century because of the ease of operation of gasoline engines with the materials then available for engine construction, a growing supply of cheaper petroleum from oil field discoveries, and intense lobbying by petroleum companies for the federal government to maintain steep alcohol taxes. Many bills proposing a National energy program that made use of Americas vast agricultural resources (for fuel production) were killed by smear campaigns launched by vested petroleum interests. One noteworthy claim put forth by petrol companies was that the U.S. government's plans "robbed taxpayers to make farmers rich".

Cannabis reclassification is all about denying people their basic liberties of freedom and happiness, while simultaneously enriching the greediest, most self-centred people on the planet. What gives any politician the right to declare nature is wrong! It’s probably a reflection of how far society has disengaged itself from nature and from spirit, but that’ doesn’t make it right. All around us, we’re witnessing the world falling apart as a direct result of greedy people dabbling with nature. Men of evil intent and please don’t read any religious significance from the evil reference, this is purely down to humans and their unbridled greed. So far removed have we become from nature, that we’re happy to sit and watch people starving on the TV, while we invest in companies who strategically cut back on crop production to keep the prices high on the global market.
Not only is the continued prohibition of the Cannabis plant a crime against nature, it’s also a moral crime that directly leads to people suffering and dying more on a daily basis and I would urge you to write to your MPs to express your disgust at the daily practice of the injustice. Please don’t forget that the Government has taken this drastic action, despite the Advisory Panel they asked to investigate the issue of Cannabis Reclassification, advising them that it should remain a Class C. Therefore Gordon Brown and New Labour have spent untold amounts of Taxpayer’s money appointing a body to investigate this, only for them to ignore their recommendations.
The only reason for this has to be, that New Labour are taking the decision to further criminalise millions of people, in the hope that it will take our mind’s off the shattered Economy. Please don’t accept this from your Government and please be vocal in your disgust at this complete and utter breach of civil liberties and social justice.
American users of Cannabis are already being charged under The Patriot Act in the USA…that’s right, The Patriot Act!!! A law designed to stop the onset of Terrorism, is being used by the American Government against their own people! The truth sadly though, is that it has nothing to do with Terrorism and everything to do with Corporate Capitalism and protecting the profits of the alcohol and drug companies. Alcohol is directly responsible for 4,000 deaths a month in the UK alone and you won’t be surprised to discover that the Whisky and Beer industries in particular, are among the biggest investors in the Anti – Cannabis movement. It seems so ridiculous, bordering insanity even, that the drug and alcohol companies responsible for the highest number of deaths are the same people that are so vociferously targeting users of a plant that has never killed anyone!!
To me this is a solid indication of how far removed our politicians and our business leaders are from reality. Furthermore, it’s an indication to me of the incessant greed ordinary people have now. Their greed is so bad, they’re willing to profit from the misery and death of countless millions of people, while at the same time restrict millions of people from having access to the most beneficial plant in the history of mankind.

Craig Murphy

http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/2008/04/study-in-spain-underlines-therapeutic.html
Recent study carried out by the Catalan Department of Health and Spanish Health Ministry endorses the efficiency of cannabis in combating the effects of chemotherapy

A pioneering study carried out by the Catalan Department of Health has demonstrated the efficiency of a medicine which contains cannabis in treating sickness and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy. At present cannabis is available in a medicine form throughout the Spanish health service for patients being treated with chemotherapy if other drugs fail to be effective.

Yesterday, Marina Geli, the head of the Catalan health service said that a pilot programme using cannabis to treat those with multiple sclerosis, cancer and other illnesses had shown that sickness in 67% of the patients in the study had decreased. There were 207 patients in the study suffering from various illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, neuralgic pain and other serious conditions associated with chronic pain.

The study which cost 500,000 euros and was carried out in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Health is the first to respond to public opinion which supports the therapeutic use of cannabis.

In the case of patients suffering from anorexia-caquexia associated with Aids up to 53% of these regained their appetites. The number of patients in the study suffering from multiple sclerosis who went from having unbearable pain to suffering tolerable pain went down from 66% to 35% and the number of patients who suffered almost no pain at all increased from 11.40% to 27.70%.

The drug containing cannabis called Sativex comes in the form of a spray. Each container has 50 sprays which covers one course of chemotherapy. In the case of patients suffering chronic illness being treated with Sativex costs around 300 euros per year. Sativex is owned by GW Pharmaceuticals, and will be commercialised in the rest of Europe by Almirall laboratories.
Labels: society

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x668861
In 1971 Richard Nixon launched the War against Cancer. In 1974 research being done on cannabis led to the discovery that it could prevent several types of cancer. And what did the government do in the initial phases of the war on cancer when its most promising leads turned out to be marijuana? They buried the information because cannabis prohibition was more important than any thing that might prevent cancer or limit pain.

Steve Kubby was a Libertarian candidate for governor at one time in California and helped write what is the Compassionate Use Act that the biased papers call Prop 215 even though it says in the opening of the short act that it shall be known as the Compassionate Use Act. He is now a resident of Canada seeking asylum because without marijuana his adrenal cancer will kill him. It is no joke and it is unquestionably true.

Anyway, this is a big article as it shows the government has practiced deception in sustaining its policy of total cannabis prohibition and the article appears at http://www.sierratimes.com/03/11/07/article_kubby.htm It is also reproduced at http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread17748.shtml The comments at cannabisnews make it the better link to read this important article.

This is my first thread at DU. By the way, I am not a democrat but I will never vote Republican again in my lifetime. You can do a Google search for "The Great Right Dope" and it will probably take you to one of my comments at cannabisnews. I cannot believe no one else besides me calls Bu$h, The Great Right Dope. Maybe DU can change that.

This is your government on drugs- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread17748.shtml

Solipsism

Solipsism - 7 Nights Video

2009-01-04T23:31:00.003Z

Solipsism

Jash - Guitar Days (Feat. Preston) Video

2008-12-19T12:55:00.002Z

Jash - Guitar Days (Feat. Preston)
Uploaded by WeirdFields

Solipsism

Free Downloads At Archive.Org

2008-12-11T11:12:00.005Z

http://www.archive.org/details/Ch.pm-AlienGenomeProject

ch.pm - Alien Genome Project

The material's galaxial feel and trippy ambiance intensify when distorted voices echo across the limitless expanses of deep space, and nowhere is that epic pitch achieved more intensively than during the title piece which unspools over ten trance-inducing minutes (the sound is so huge, it reduces the voices that occasionally surface to indecipherable mumbles—but the work can be experienced just as easily on purely musical terms as an engrossing exercise in synthetic dronescaping. If anything, its unapologetically pure synth-based sound has more in common with '70s-styled ambient recordings (early Tangerine Dream, say) than a more current release where granular static and other noise might accompany the drones. That Alien Genome Project leaves such a strong impression is due in part to the forceful intensity of its presentation. Textura

The album consists of drones, cosmic synth chords, and disembodied, distorted vocal samples. It has echoes of Kosmische Musik acts like (early) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as their spiritual descendants such as Pete Namlook. But there are equally nods to Stars of the Lid, Brian Eno's Apollo and Murcof's Cosmos projects. The eight tracks unfold slowly. Some are short and fragile; others, like the title track, have a suitably cosmic grandeur. "Hybrid", the closing section, has a slowed down echoing voice that has the rhythm of whale song, and sounds like the last, fading sounds of a dying civilization. It's quite a spooky end to a seriously trippy suite of music. Music, Musings & Miscellany

ch.pm is the solo project of Craig Murphy, perhaps better known as one half of electro-psychedelic outfit Shoosh. 'Alien Genome Project', however, is like listening to an old-school ambient record, where melodies shift extremely slowly. Indeed, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno would certainly approve of Murphy's work. Leonard's Lair

http://www.archive.org/details/WeirdFields-DestructScience

Weird Fields - Destruct Science

http://www.archive.org/details/Solipsism-Solarism

Solipsism - Solarism EP

"Crystalism" is the most direct track, coming across like an aggressive, no nonsense Boards of Canada. Those distant synths that hallmark previous releases are intact here, layering themselves almost out of sync with the programmed beats, yet remaining cohesive. "Exit Strategy" is different again, employing thick mid-90's beats over dripping melodies that slightly recall Wendy Carlos' "Clockwork Orange" phase. Angry Ape

this five track EP is Solipsism's most unified effort thus far. The album pivots with the beautifully arranged epilogue "Sun Up", an ambient and emotional sprawl that leaves you with a warm sense of tranquility and profound motivation to hit the Solarism replay button. Sonic Frontiers

http://www.archive.org/details/EdDruryCraigMurphy

Ed Drury & Craig Murphy - A Tree On The Tundra

The adjectives sweeping, cinematic and symphonic come to the fore. This is music suited to the closing credits of a cathartic, two and a half hour movie epic. Doleful piano lines, dramatic synth washes and grandiose crescendos are the order of the day: like Eno's Music For Films given the Cecil B DeMille treatment. The tracks have their individual flavours – the synthetic birds, church bells and crickets of "Dark Sun Rising", for example – but the album works best as a kind of symphony in five movements. It's music designed for looking from a hilltop and watching the shadows of clouds dancing across lush, rolling fields. Stirring and somehow reassuring at the same time. Music, Musings & Miscellany

http://www.archive.org/details/WeirdFields-APlaceToCallHome

Weird Fields - A Place To Call Home

Delicate, lonesome and hitherto monolithic these somnambulant drone-scapes swirl in frosted pirouette formations applying a stately courtship (none more so than 'distant star').....Amid the showcase of glacial tides and sparsely drawn and effecting minimalist washes of lilting electronic symphonies we suggest you stop by at your first opportunity to sample the warming radiance of the playfully orbiting oscillations of the melting 'so long good friend' - bit of a peach by our reckoning appealing to 'magnetic fields' era Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis fans alike. Losing Today

http://www.archive.org/details/Solipsism-Crystalism

Solipsism - Crystalism EP

http://www.archive.org/details/Solipsism-Huxley

Solipsism - Huxley Video

http://www.archive.org/details/Kingbastard-Exit

Kingbastard - Exit Video

http://www.archive.org/details/Kingbastard-DownUp

Kingbastard - Down Up Video

I remember the good old minimalist days of electronic music videos where all you'd see was an amorphous digital blob spinning across a swiftly tilting background. Kingbastard's latest video seems to recall those abstract times, even though there's something much more complex with what Chris Weeks and Weird Fields are doing with [ downup ]. The flashing, subtle cues have a message tied somehow to the words explore, exploit, explode, before somewhere along the way you find yourself saying, "I love Big Brother." Ogbetty

http://www.archive.org/details/Solipsism-ExitStrategy

Solipsism - Exit Strategy

http://www.archive.org/details/Solipsism-FreeEp_707

Free EP

Solipsism

Huxley Video - High Quality Playback

2008-12-02T08:38:00.005Z

hi everyone,

the good folks at www.dailymotion.com have put my new video in their "creative content" category, which means it can be viewed at a much higher quality.

Solipsism - Huxley
Uploaded by WeirdFields

Solipsism

Huxley Video

2008-11-28T17:49:00.004Z

hello,

here's the new video i've done for my techno track Huxley.

Solipsism

Ed Drury & Craig Murphy On BBC’s Asian Network

2008-10-27T11:50:00.004Z

Thanks to Pathaan's Musical Rickshaw Show on the BBC Asian Network for playing A Tree On The Tundra last night!

Pathaan's Musical Rickshaw - BBC Asian Network

Daler Mehndi Dholna [Arc]
Jef Stott Faqir [David Stafire Remix] [Six Degrees]
Thievery Corporation Radio Retaliation [ESL]
Feel Good Productions Knock Knock [Haaksman Haaksman Remix] [CDR]
Max Pashm Klezmernaki [Elektrikos Organikos]

STOPOVER: NEW ZEALAND
Bongmaster Brothers & Sisters [Kartel]
Salmonella Dub Dancehall Girl [EMI]

Blue States Hello Kombai [Survival]
Nitin Sawhney Days Of Fire [Cooking Vinyl]
Riz Mc Radar [Loco In A Box Remix] [Crosstown Rebels]

WORLD ODYSSEY MIX: SNOWBOY
Snowboy and the Latin Section Snowboy's Special [Ft Eddie Palmieri] [Freestyle]
Super Allstar Ban - Con - Tim [Caiman Record]
Fantastica Bateria Das Escolas De Samba 3 Fantastica 1 A [Top Tape Musica]
The Perceptions Inside Outside[Freestyle]
Roy Ayers Evolution [Polydor]
Lonnie Liston Smith Expansions [Flying Dutchman]
The Sound Stylistics The Players Theme [Bruton 7"]
4hero Hold It Down [Bugz in the Attic Mix] [Talkin Loud]

Badeshi Love Song [Other Brother]
MC Yogi Be The Change [Niraj Chirag's Swaraj Mix] [White Swan]
Dub Gabriel Cheree Ft Michael Stipe [White]
Bassnectar Dubuasca [CDR]

CLASSIC NOT FORGOTTEN
Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 Day Tripper [Dj Fu & DJ Dinho Remix] [Universal Jazz]

Kasbah Rockers with Bill Laswell Kasbah Rockers [Vocal Mix] [Barraka]
Michael Franti & Spearhead The Future [FreQ Nasty's Otto Gives Thanks Mix] [Beats For A Better Future]
Rabitza Manipura Chakra [CDR]
Issa Bagayogo Fimani [Six Degrees]

BOMBAY CONNECTION
Shankar Mahadevan & Mahalaxmi Tumhe Aaj Maine Jo Dehka [Eros]

Johan Soh & Myagi Still [Stefan Goodchild Remix] [Sound Of Habib]
DJ Drez Breath [CDR]
Natty Bedroom Eyes [Prince Fatty Remix] [Atlantic]
Asian Dub Foundation Bride Of Punkara [Naive]
Mariza Rosa Branca [EMI]
Ed Drury & Craig Murphy A Tree On The Tundra [Ambidextrous]

Solipsism

Shoosh Review At Boomkat

2008-10-24T09:30:00.003+01:00

Shoosh is a trio of musicians, combining guitars and Americana-influenced songwriting with all manner of perplexing electronic programming and treatments. 'Snake Eyes' is a little like Sparklehorse or perhaps Benoit Pioulard - all distorted and twisted out of shape, with a squeaky, obfuscated vocal in place to remind you that you're listening to an actual song rather than the Fennesz-influenced soundscape it might otherwise resemble. The vocal will almost certainly take some getting used to in fact, but once you're accustomed to the sheer oddness of Neil Carlill's delivery (imagine a cross between Dose One and Mark E. Smith) there's an awful lot to like about this record - in a world crammed with electronically treated songwriting efforts, Orpheum Circuit somehow manages to sound like it's really out there on its own.

Boomkat

Solipsism

Orpheum Circuit Out Now At Boomkat

2008-10-22T10:58:00.004+01:00

Hi Everyone,

just a quick note to let you know that the debut album by Shoosh titled Orpheum Circuit, is now available in digital formats from Boomkat.

Orpheum Circuit is the debut album release for the inventive, electro-folksters Shoosh. Fronted by 90s' indie pioneer Neil Carlill, who was formerly the lead singer with Delicatessen (rough Trade) and Lodger (Island). Their sound is a unique blend of american folk, modern ambient and surreal, dadaist lyrics, that are delivered in a highly distinctive and thoroughly compelling style. Carlill is backed up on acoustic guitar by Ed Drury, a composer with over 60 titles to his credit and Craig Murphy on synthesizers. Murphy has released under various names including Solipsism (Electronica) and ch.pm (Ambient).

So far Shoosh have one release to their name in the critically acclaimed 2007 Awkward Silence 3" Split, mini CD, currently available from Boomkat, Bleep etc. This release has seen the band likened to such luminaries as Pink Floyd, Animal Collective, Mercury Rev, David Bowie, Current 93, Bob Dylan and Neil Young to name a few! Despite these welcome comparisons, Shoosh have undeniably managed to carve a new niche out all for themselves.

Tracklist

1. Elastic Soil Video
2. Snake Eyes
3. Come In From The Cold
4. Mock Table Rakes
5. Boo Ssh
6. Peddle Picnic Wires
7. Space & Thyme
8. Pestilence
9. Overthrow Turn

Shoosh - Elastic Soil by Myppa from Myppa on Vimeo.

The video for Elastic Soil is by Myppa

www.shooshmusic.com
www.myspace.com/shooshmusic

www.herbrecordings.com
www.myspace.com/herbrecordings

Shoosh - Orpheum Circuit Out Now At Boomkat

Solipsism

Shoosh Album Out Today!

2008-10-20T08:23:00.001+01:00

HERB008CD Shoosh - Orpheum Circuit

Solipsism

Reinteprism Review

2008-10-07T08:23:00.002+01:00

Music, Musings & Miscellany

Here’s another excellent freebie. Solipsism is an alter-ego of Scot Craig Murphy whose Alien Genome Project I reviewed back in July. Billed as an EP, the four originals and five remixes that make up Reinteprism actually run to over 50 minutes making it an album in my book.

This is downtempo, home-listening electronica, but with an edge. Lead track “Bastardism”, a collaboration with Kingbastard, is all steam-punk beats and abstract, cosmic synths. The ENV(itre) and Victer Manderline remixes are cooler, mellower affairs, whereas the charmingly named “Raped by a Woman” remix by Psychotronic is an uncomfortable, glitchy treatment.

“Organicism” comes in two versions. The Pleq remix is the stronger, chugging and spluttering along like an eccentric piece of machinery. The naive Casiotone melody of the original is absent, giving a darker, more solemn piece. “Crabs” harks back to peak period Future Sound of London with abstract washes of spacey sound overlaying a complex rhythm. The Salz remix doesn’t really change that much, merely adding a few tweaks and glitches here and there. The final track, “At The Beach”, is a fittingly summery, optimistic piece to finish with. Its deep beats and engaging melody a dreamily lethargic reminder of lazy days of sunshine (if you have a long enough memory to remember those).

This excellent release is available as a free download from the German electronica label Envizagae Records.

Tracks
1. Bastardism feat. Kingbastard 5:32
2. Bastardism (ENV(itre) remix) 4:09
3. Bastardism (Victer Manderline remix) 6:06
4. Organicism 5:58
5. Organicism (Pleq remix) 4:35
6. Bastardism (raped by a woman mix by Psychotronic) 8:18
7. Crabs 5:06
8. Crabs (remix by Salz) 6:37
9. At the Beach (2007 Remaster) 5:19

Website
http://www.envizagae.de/

Solipsism

Solipsism - Reinteprism Remix EP On Envizagae

2008-09-29T10:53:00.003+01:00

ENVNET003 Solipsism - Reinteprism

Remixes by Pleq, (ENV(itre), Victer Manderline, Psychotronic & Salz
Download

1.Bastardism feat. kingbastard

2.Bastardism (ENV(itre) remix)

3.Bastardism (victer manderline rmx)

4.Organicism

5.Organicism (Pleq remix)

6.Bastardism (raped by a women mix by Psychotronic)

7.Crabs

8.crabs (remix by Salz)

9.At the beach (2007 Re-master)

Envizagae

New Releases At i-Tunes

2008-09-17T08:44:00.003+01:00

AMB008 ch.pm
- Alien Genome Project

AMB002 Weird
Fields - Destruct Science

AMB005 Weird Fields - A
Place To Call Home

Solipsism

Craig Murphy Flash Music Player

2008-09-06T21:16:00.001+01:00

Solipsism

Shoosh - Elastic Soil Video by Myppa

2008-09-03T21:30:00.001+01:00

thanks to Myppa for this fantastic video.

Shoosh - Elastic Soil by Myppa from Myppa on Vimeo.

Alien Genome Project Review At Textura

2008-08-30T03:58:00.003+01:00

Textura

ch.pm: Alien Genome Project
Ambidextrous

Craig Murphy is a man of many projects: the Herb Recordings founder tackles electronica under the Solipsism guise, electro-psychedelia in Shoosh alongside band-mates Neil Carlill and Ed Drury, and deep ambient under the ch.pm name. Alien Genome Project finds Murphy fashioning a three-part opus that's about as immersive as ambient gets with the album's eight sections featuring multi-tiered synth swells and billowing masses so immense you could disappear within them altogether. The material's galaxial feel and trippy ambiance intensify when distorted voices echo across the limitless expanses of deep space, and nowhere is that epic pitch achieved more intensively than during the title piece which unspools over ten trance-inducing minutes (the sound is so huge, it reduces the voices that occasionally surface to indecipherable mumbles). A thirty-six-minute work of varying moods, Alien Genome Project takes its inspiration from the “Panspermia” theory—the idea that “micro-organisms or biochemical compounds from outer space are responsible for originating life on Earth and possibly in other parts of the universe where suitable atmospheric conditions exist”—but the work can be experienced just as easily on purely musical terms as an engrossing exercise in synthetic dronescaping. If anything, its unapologetically pure synth-based sound has more in common with ‘70s-styled ambient recordings (early Tangerine Dream, say) than a more current release where granular static and other noise might accompany the drones. That Alien Genome Project leaves such a strong impression is due in part to the forceful intensity of its presentation.

September 2008

Solipsism

Shoosh Split Now At Boomkat

2008-08-27T09:16:00.003+01:00

CHEJU & SHOOSH - Split
Awkward Silence
3" CD // £6.49
ELECTRONICA
Catalogue Number: AWKWARD24CD
Estimated time of shipping: 1-3 days

After something of a hiatus, Awkward Silence returns, and it's with another one of those famed split releases. This one combines the forces of Wil Bolton's Cheju and new artists Shoosh, a trio comprised of Ed Drury, Neil Carlill and Craig Murphy. As you'd expect from this label, the first thing that greets your ears is a flurry of crunchy IDM beats and some breezy, miniature melodies stemming from Bolton's laptop and manipulated guitar lines. The second track is a little less heavily treated and relies upon warm synth strings and a kind of bitcrushed harpsichord sound. Shoosh present a far folksier prospect, first with the digitised folk of 'Elastic Soil' - which avoids all that Tunng-style folktronica business thanks to its strained and unhinged vocal - and the rather lovely 'Come In From The Cold', another swirl of guitars, screeching synthesis and that strangely compelling, warped voice. Limited to 300 copies.

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=125054

Solipsism

Have A Listen!

2008-08-13T11:55:00.002+01:00

Solipsism

Alien Genome Project Review At Leonard's Lair

2008-08-10T00:35:00.003+01:00

Leonard's Lair

Review: ch.pm - Alien Genome Project
Published August 9, 2008 Reviews

ch.pm is the solo project of Craig Murphy, perhaps better known as one half of electro-psychedelic outfit Shoosh. ‘Alien Genome Project’, however, is like listening to an old-school ambient record, where melodies shift extremely slowly. Indeed, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno would certainly approve of Murphy’s work.

Although consisting of eight tracks, the album could be viewed as one long instrumental piece. As the title implies, it does recall a journey in to a world of alien lifeforms but one where said life forms are peaceful beings and no danger is ever threatened. Fragments of dialogue can be heard but they’re so buried under ambient drones, it’s hard to ascertain what’s being said. ‘Replicate’ could be accused of being a Boards Of Canada cast-off but otherwise it’s a warm, slowly shifting journey; content to drift along at its own pace.

It’s true to say that ‘Alien Genome Project’ belongs to a group of any number of records over the last thirty years which follow a similar space/alien/ambient theme For those post-midnight listens with just the headphones and a bed for company, though, this atmospheric music is the ideal solution.

Web Sites:
Craig Murphy MySpace
Musiz Zeit Download Shop Site

Further Listening:
Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Avrocar, Boards Of Canada

Solipsism

Sonic Frontiers Volume 3

2008-08-06T09:48:00.006+01:00

Hi,

just a quick message to let you know about a new compilation that my band shoosh are featured on, that's available for free download from Sonic Frontiers.

Sonic Frontiers
Volume 3: Untitled

Released: August 5, 2008
Download (80mb)

After months of seeking out the best new tracks the world wide web had to offer, we are proud to introduce our third installation of the Sonic Frontiers compilation series. Featuring sounds that span electronic, acoustic, polyrhythmic, vocal and instrumental techniques, Sonic Frontiers: Volume 3 is by far our most diverse and experimental compilation yet. The release features 10 tracks clocking a total of 54 minutes, and showcase some of the most adventurous approaches to music this year has seen.

Cover artwork provided by Justin Gray of Amok Recordings.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracklist

1. Kingbastard - "[ o n c e a' ]"
2. Justin Gray & The USB Orchestra - "cbcbc"
3. Shoosh - "Snake Eyes"
4. Tupolev - "Reaset"
5. Renfro - "Broken Little Pieces"
6. The Brothers Pus - "A Lonely Night's Drive"
7. Chuter - "Reel In"
8. con_cetta - "sad.ay"
9. Automassage - "Death in 7/4"
10. Forming Meteors - "Sung in Silent Whispers"

Solipsism

Some Nice Photos

2008-07-25T11:03:00.003+01:00

here's some photos i've taken recently, most were from our holiday in the highlands, but some are local pics too.

Find more photos like this on The Ambient Workshop

Solipsism

The Ambient Workshop

2008-07-24T15:45:00.003+01:00

Hi,

Just to let you know about a new network that's been set up to promote ambient music and it's many offshoots. It's called The Ambient Workshop and it's free to join. You can upload as many tracks as you like and benefit from excellent playback. There's also a video and photography upload section allowing you to really express yourselves.

I don't know how successful it will be, it's a completely new venture for me, but it looks promising. There's already an excellent selection of music on there from many different artists, so come along and have a look and if you like what you see, then just click to join. It's really that simple.

http://ambientworkshop.ning.com

The network isn't exclusively for musician. There's opportunities for anyone to express their art, be that writing, painting, film, music, drawing...whatever.

cheers
craig

The Chillage Idiots - Dublin XFM

2008-07-18T02:25:00.001+01:00

Big thanks to Mick and Paul Chillage for featuring a track from my Alien Genome Project album and also for featuring a track from Engine7's fantastic Me, But Perfect album out now on Herb Recordings.

You can download the full show which features some great electronica below.

The Chillage idiots XFM Dublin

get the latest show here >>>>>

http://www.xfmdublin.com/blog/wp-content/the-chillage-15-07-08.mp3

Tracklisting: 15/07/2008

The Future Sound of London: "I've Become What You Were" (Insider Mix) [The Pulse Eps]
Jumpin' And Pumpin'

Thomas P. Heckmann: "Genocide" [The Lost Tales Vol. II] Fax

Spooky: "No Return" (Dorset Echo) [Open] Spooky

808 State: "In Yolk" [Quadrastate] Rephlex

Fanu And Bill Laswell: "Fourth Voice" [Lodge] Ohm Resistance

Esbjörn Svensson Trio: "Years Of Yearning" [Strange Place For Snow] Act Music

Engine7: "Me, But Perfect" [Me, But Perfect] Herb

Gate Zero: "Counter Balance" [Green Planet] http://www. stadtgruenlabel. net

Ciaran Byrne: "Moving Sungold" [Nine Lives Causeway] Psychonavigation

Reln: "Never To Return" [unreleased] http://www. myspace. com/reln

Phasen: "That Rainy Feeling I Get" [The Crisis Is Over] Distant Noise Records

Jay Riordan: "Signs" [unreleased] http://www. myspace. com/jayriordan

Sen: "Voyager" [unreleased] http://www. myspace. com/1138thx

Jack Dangers: "Burbidge Chain" [Music For Planetarium] Brianwashed

ch.pm: "Mystic Structure" [The Alien Genome Project]
http://www. myspace. com/solipsism

Christopher Bissonnette: "Comfortable Expectations" [Periphery] Kranky

B12: "Metropolis" [Electro-Soma] Warp
Solipsism

Shoosh Split EP Out Now At Bleep

2008-07-14T08:58:00.001+01:00

Hello,

just a quick message to let you know that our split ep with cheju is now available from Bleep.

Solipsism

Alien Genome Project Review

2008-07-04T11:59:00.001+01:00

Music Miscellany

I'm old enough to remember Erich Von Daniken and his potty theories about how earth's civilizations were brought about through alien contact. There was quite a hoo-ha about it all when I was a kid, and his books flew off the shelves. I've just glanced at Wikipedia and was surprised to learn that he's still with us, and only the same age as Leonard Cohen! Bizarre. Panspermia is the hypothesis that the seeds of life exist all over the universe, and that life on earth is nothing unique, nor even originally from here. Nice theory, but it hasn't a whiff of evidence to support it (nor to discount it – it's one of those hypotheses which are simply acts of faith). Exogenesis is something else entirely – the theory that life originated elsewhere and came to earth during the asteroid bombardment of the Pre-Cambrian era, before the planet had an adequate atmospheric shield. Anyway I digress. The reason I brought the topic up at all was that the panspermia theory is the inspiration behind Alien Genome Project, a self-released album by Craig Murphy (whose band Shoosh are featured on the Phantom Channel compilation) under the moniker ch.pm.

The album consists of drones, cosmic synth chords, and disembodied, distorted vocal samples. It has echoes of Kosmische Musik acts like (early) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as their spiritual descendants such as Pete Namlook. But there are equally nods to Stars of the Lid, Brian Eno's Apollo and Murcof's Cosmos projects. The eight tracks unfold slowly. Some are short and fragile; others, like the title track, have a suitably cosmic grandeur. "Hybrid", the closing section, has a slowed down echoing voice that has the rhythm of whale song, and sounds like the last, fading sounds of a dying civilization. It's quite a spooky end to a seriously trippy suite of music. Only it isn't quite the end. There is also a bonus 36 minute mix of the album entitled "Alien Genome Project (Full Blown)". The album is available from Musiczeit at the address below.

Tracks
Part One:
1 Source Of Light 1:33
2 Junk Code 7:20
3 Transference 5:19
Part Two:
4 Replicate 1:36
5 Mystic Structure 6:33
Part Three:
6 Source of Light (Reprise) 1:52
7 Alien Genome Project 10:18
8 Hybrid 6:29
Bonus Track:
9 Alien Genome Project (Full Blown) 36:07

Websites

http://www.musiczeit.com/directory.php?artist=439&title=ch.pm

www.myspace.com/solipsism

Solipsism

Alien Genome Project Out Now At Musiczeit

2008-06-30T20:06:00.002+01:00

Hi,

Just to let you know that my new album, Alien Genome Project is now available from Musiczeit

Craig Murphy is a musician, composer and producer of experimental music and a multimedia artist working with abstract music videos. Having established the rising Herb Recordings imprint in his native Scotland, Murphy's own output resembles that of a musical odyssey. An obsession with Frank Zappa has seen to a fascination with experimentation and Murphy's many projects span several genres. From the mechanistic, yet poignant electronica of Solipsism, his electro-psychedelic band shoosh with Neil Carlill and multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury, to his recent ambient outlet ch.pm. Murphy's distinctive sound is often abstract, yet retains a rich, melodic and emotional edge.

Alien Genome Project is Craig Murphy's latest foray into the realms of deep ambience and sonic experimentation. Based loosely on the "Panspermia" theory of life on earth being seeded from space, it's a deep and hypnotic journey from one end the universe to the other. Droning soundscapes rich in texture are laced with discreet melodies to take the listener on a rollercoaster journey, that's emotional, breathtaking and strangely reassuring. Murphy's deep understanding of sound and texture has enabled him to deliver an album that could warm the coldest reaches of deep space.

Solipsism

Alien Genome Project

2008-06-28T14:32:00.001+01:00

Hi,

Just to let you know about my new ambient project that i've just completed. It's titled Alien Genome Project and is under my new artist name of ch.pm

Download

Part One.
I. Source Of Light
II. Junk Code
III. Transference

Part Two.
IV. Replicate
V. Mystic Structure

Part Three.
VI. Source Of Light (Reprise)
VII. Alien Genome Project
VIII. Hybrid

cheers
craig
www.myspace.com/solipsism

Solipsism

Photos

2008-06-07T12:25:00.000+01:00

here's some new photos i had taken recently, if you need hi res version for reviews/features, contact me through the ch.pm Myspace page.

Photos by Canadian Bob

Hariku - Gameboys On Acid - HiJack Remix

2008-06-05T13:56:00.001+01:00

Hello,

here's the new video i did for Hariku, better known to some of us as Shamanic Technology. This trackis currently available on his new label called Arcade Riot and is currently available from Beatport.

Solipsism

Organicism Special Edition Out At Boomkat

2008-05-28T15:08:00.001+01:00

Hello,

the last solipsism ep i did with ed drury is now available from Boomkat

Solipsism

Kingbastard - Exit Video

2008-05-22T17:58:00.001+01:00

hello,

here's the new video i've done for Kingbastard. This will be the last video for a wee while as i go back to concentrating on my new album.

Kingbastard - [ e x i t ]
Uploaded by WeirdFields

Solipsism

Kingbastard - [ E x ! t ]

2008-05-22T17:56:00.001+01:00

Hi,

here's the video i've did for Kingbastard. This will be the last video for a wee while as I need to get back to the new album i'm working on titled Alien Genome Project.

Kingbastard - [ e x i t ]
Uploaded by WeirdFields

Solipsism

2 Short Review Of The New Kingbastard Video

2008-05-20T10:06:00.001+01:00

hello,

here's 2 short reviews i found of the [ d o w n u p ] video randomly on google. For those of you who haven't seen the vid, here it is again.

I remember the good old minimalist days of electronic music videos where all you'd see was an amorphous digital blob spinning across a swiftly tilting background. Kingbastard's latest video seems to recall those abstract times, even though there's something much more complex with what Chris Weeks and Weird Fields are doing with [ downup ]. The flashing, subtle cues have a message tied somehow to the words explore, exploit, explode, before somewhere along the way you find yourself saying, "I love Big Brother."

http://ogbetty.blogspot.com/

This time Herb Recordings' Kingbastard is the subject: the track used is '[ d o w n u p ]' and the video has a series of flashing pictures, cryptic symbols and phrases. Weird Fields has probably filled the whole thing with subliminal messages too, so who knows what he's brainwashed us into...

http://angryape.com/media/2008/05/14/kingbastard--d-o-w-n-u-p-

Kingbastard - [downup]
Uploaded by WeirdFields

Solipsism

Kingbastard Video

2008-05-10T18:31:00.001+01:00

Hello,

here's a new video i did for Kingbastard.

Zoon Van Snook Video

2008-05-04T15:05:00.000+01:00

Hello,

here's the new video i did for Zoon Van Snook. It's actually a remix of his track The Gloaming by an American artist called Diego Chavez.

cheers
craig

Important Changes

2008-04-28T09:12:00.000+01:00

Hi,

I am no longer running the solipsism page on myspace exclusively for solipsism material. I have a number of different projects and it made sense to have them focalised on the one page.

The new material on the page will now be taken from my 6 difference projects, namely shoosh (band), solipsism, weird fields (audio-visual), Alien Genome Project, The Partisan and my soundtrack project with ed drury, ed drury & craig murphy.

cheers
craig

Interview With Craig Murphy At Sonic Frontiers

2008-04-28T09:08:00.000+01:00

Sonic Frontiers Interview

Craig Murphy
Interview by Sean Butze
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who don’t know, Craig Murphy is a British composer of ambient electronica and IDM, as well as the founder of Herb Recordings and Ambidextrous Records. He records under two different projects, Weird Fields and Solipsism, and is also a member of the experimental folk band Shoosh. While preparing to release his next album, Craig was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to fill us in on his roles as a composer and record label operator.

----

SF: As a music artist, you’re involved in several different projects. Could you talk a little bit about your role in each, as well as what significance they hold for you?

Craig Murphy: The three main projects that I’m involved with are Solipsism, Shoosh and Weird Fields. Solipsism was always my main project, but over the past 6 months or so, I’ve been slowly winding it down as I don’t plan on doing any new Solipsism material for the foreseeable future. However, I won’t rule it out permanently. Weird Fields and Shoosh both grew out of the Solipsism project in many ways. I always did ambient tracks as Solipsism, usually between one and three on each release. However as time went on, I felt more and more that these tracks didn’t really flow with the main solipsism material and despite the fact that I often preferred these tracks personally, I couldn’t see where they fitted on the Solipsism project any longer. Therefore, Weird Fields in the first instance was simply my outlet for doing more ambient material.

There was interest in Weird Fields quite early on and that inspired me really to expand the project beyond what was originally planned and give it more focus. My first Weird Fields EP “Destruct Science” was meant to be released on an American label, but things never worked out as planned and I decided to start Ambidextrous Records, simply to give it a platform. Both of the Weird Fields EPs are now being released on the American netlabel Zenapolae, www.zenapolae.com. Who incidentally are celebrating their 10th Anniversary this year or next, I’m not 100%. I’ve known the label since I first came online almost and I’m very pleased with the development.

Shoosh is what I consider the main project now, the band I’m in with multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury and singer/lyricist Neil Carlill. That’s mainly because we’re working on a new album right now which should hopefully be finished for around March 2009. For those of you unfamiliar with the Shoosh project, it could loosely be defined as psychedelic folk music and it’s probably the most experimental project I’ve been involved with. It’s also the project I’ve enjoyed working on the most. We’ve had mild success so far, with the release of the Split EP on 3” CD along with Boltfish Recordings’ Cheju, available now on Awkward Silence Recordings which received good press if that’s anything to go by. We’re hoping that our first album titled “Orpheum Circuit” will be released this year, but can’t make any promises.

SF: When did you first get involved in composing electronic music? What is it about electronic composition that you prefer over conventional instrumentation?

CM: I first started recording electronic music about 6 or 7 years ago now, though I’d flirted with it briefly in my late teens/early 20s. I was a massive fan of techno when I was younger and like many electronic artists, techno was my first conceived output. However, as my listening habits evolved, so did the style and it simply developed from that. I don’t prefer electronic composition over conventional instrumentation, ideally these days I prefer a blend of electro and acoustic, hence the direction of Shoosh. But both have their pros and cons and it’s really best to work with whatever you are most comfortable and importantly, have available at your disposal.

SF: As someone who records under multiple project names, how do you differentiate between the music you compose for each? Do you sit down and say “Okay, I’m going to write a track for Weird Fields, or for Solipsism” or do you just write what you want and worry about where it will fit later?

CM: Solipsism and Weird Fields were always interchangeable. Mainly because Weird Fields really started as an ambient extension of Solipsism. Though 9 times out of 10, I know which project I’m going to be working on when I start it. Shoosh isn’t interchangeable with the other projects though, simply because it’s so different.

For people who listen closely, they may have noticed that the tracks "Sun Up" from my Solipsism EP Solarism and "Over The Horizon" from my Weird Fields EP Destruct Science are essentially the same melody. I took the melody from "Sun Up" in midi format and slowed it down to 70bpm. I then changed the dynamics of the sound on it and did the Weird Fields track with it. It wasn’t a conscious decision to do this, it just happened. But there have been maybe 2 or 3 occasions when I’ve done similar.

SF: In addition to composing music, you’re a video artist as well. The videos you’ve done for your various projects all feature a very experimental and abstract visual approach. How you go about creating these videos? What inspires you to create visuals in this way?

CM: I honestly don’t see myself as a video artist as such, I enjoy working on videos for people from time to time and I get a great deal of satisfaction from them but it’s really just a hobby that allows me to promote myself and artists/bands I like through another medium. I’ve always been fascinated by abstract artists and I don’t just mean in a visual sense. I’ve been heavily inspired by people who had strong abstract and psychedelic themes in their work, be that visual, audio or literature and anything in between. People like Frank Zappa, Ken Kesey, Aldous Huxley, Salvador Dali & Pink Floyd have all been a huge influence, though I’m certain many more have filtered in throughout the years, many of which will be purely subliminal.

I try to make the videos look like abstract/impressionist paintings coming to life if that makes sense, or moving paintings more bluntly. I’ve always hated the stereotypical music video as they became so clichéd over the years and I simply wanted to try something that was slightly different and visually appealing, something that other people would like and appreciate too. I’ve been surprised with how popular they’ve been though, the video I did for the Glasgow Shoegaze band Ursula Minor even got a mention on the radio!

The process itself involves taking everyday mundane footage mostly, then processing it through repeatedly filtering, layering and overlapping, while continually adjusting the colour and contrast. I use what I would consider, very basic techniques to be honest. But try to deliver them in an original and eye-catching style that will hopefully resonate with the person watching it.

SF: You also run two record labels, Herb Recordings and Ambidextrous Records. Considering both labels release very similar music, what are the distinctions between the two? How do you go about deciding what to release on each label?

I actually co-run Herb today, all decisions are reached jointly between me and my partners Mark and Gordon, who are better known to most people probably as Rubens. I founded the label in 2006 and Mark and Gordon came on board not long after that and together we built the label up from a small digital only operation, to the point now where we have physical distribution in Europe, North America and the Far East. More recently, we’ve also been joined by Mark Millar who does a fantastic job as our press officer and he’s helped us get exposure that small labels could often only dream about. Of course, the fantastic music we release on Herb is a huge help too!

Ambidextrous isn’t a label in any real sense of the word. As I mentioned earlier, I set up Ambidextrous originally as a small platform for my Weird Fields release that was meant to be going out on the American label. It was always going to be for promotion only and I expanded it slightly to include a few more projects…mainly more of my own projects, but Kingbastard, an artist I have great admiration for, recently did a release for us and there’s a couple of new guys going to be doing stuff too. It was and still is though for promotion only, I will try and help the artists get some reviews and I’ll post their music on last fm, myspace etc but that’s it basically, a small window of opportunity. There’s no policy with the releases I promote through Ambidextrous with regards to genre either. If I like the music and feel what the artist is doing is worthwhile, regardless of genre or medium for that matter (I’d gladly promote other art forms), then I would let them use ambidextrous as a promotional tool.

SF: Ambidextrous Records is what many would call a non-commercial “netlabel.” That is, you release all the music digitally and free of charge. As both a label owner and an artist, what do you feel are the advantages of offering music for free? Do you think all artists and labels should do the same?

CM: I don’t really consider Ambidextrous to even be a netlabel to be honest. In my opinion, netlabels are labels who operate along a similar structure to regular music labels with the only real difference being, they give the music away for free. All of the releases on Ambidextrous can be removed at any time by the artists, as it’s only for promotion. Ambidextrous isn’t about ambidextrous and creating a brand that people want to attach themselves too, it’s all about the artists and each artist can be as individual and diverse as they like as there is no release policy, other than me liking what they do. I have very diverse tastes, ranging from classical to 300bpm techno mayhem, so anything is possible.

Quite honestly, there’s very little advantage to serious artists by releasing free music, other than the small amount of exposure you may get through it and the satisfaction of knowing that people are listening to your stuff. But it must be the only job in the world where people expect you to work for free and frown upon you for expecting to be paid. The advantages of doing free releases are diminishing rapidly also as the market is completely saturated now and people are finding it harder to get music they like. The major labels have recently signed an agreement with a company called Q Trax which will see their entire catalogues be available for free download. So the age of universal free downloads is only around the corner anyway and then independent artists will find that the free download/promotional route is an even trickier path to tread, when they’re going head to head with huge bands and vying for people’s attention.

I would say though that when you are first starting out, releasing free music is really the way to go now as you have an instant audience in the internet. It’s something no bands in the past could ever have dreamed of and it’s the quickest and best way to get yourself some exposure and cut your teeth. Once you’ve spent a while developing online, you can then think seriously about taking it to the next level and decide whether you want to go for a commercial release or not. I don’t think however, that all artists and labels should just give their music away for free.

SF: What’s currently on the horizon for you in terms of upcoming releases, projects, etc.?

CM: On a personal level I’m currently busy working on the new Shoosh album and I’ve also started a new project that’s still in early development under a new name. It’s only going to be a one off project though, so I’ll let you know about it when it’s finished!

On the label front, I’m really busy with Herb as we have a lot of new releases coming out over the next few months, kicking off with Engine7 and then we have releases coming from Rubens (re-release of CD), Kingbastard, Shamanic Technology, Skytree and Zerova. We may have a few surprises in the pipeline too, so stay tuned!

Frank Zappa Duelling Steve Vai - Stevie's Spanking

2008-04-08T14:06:00.000+01:00

Hello,

I normally just post about my own projects on this blog, but from time to time I feel the need to tell you about zappa! In fact there's nothing I can say that's not already been said more eloquently, so I'll rely on youtube as usual to get the message across.

This is a video from a live concert in Rome in 1982 I'm sure it was. Anyway, the playing is fantastic and everytime I see it, i smile because seeing zappa play like this always makes me happy.

The video below this one is a short and funny interivew with Steve Vai about his audition for zappa's band.

Enjoy!

Shoosh - Pestilence Video

2008-04-07T20:50:00.001+01:00

Hello,

here's the new video I did for my band shoosh's track Pestilence.

Ed Drury & Craig Murphy - Music For TV & Film

2008-03-29T19:56:00.000Z

Hello,

Just to let you know of a new project myself and Ed are involved with and it's under our own names for a change! We're now working on a dedicated soundtrack project with the aim of working in television or film.

Here's a little blurb

Ed and Craig have worked together for a number of years on various musical adventures. This is their new soundtrack project that is primarliy aimed at TV & Film work. If you are interested in working with Ed and Craig on any of your film or television projects, please get in touch through myspace, or by emailing speak@shooshmusic.com

There, that saved some time. If you would like to hear full length previews of some of our showcase pieces in HI-FI stereo, please visit the Ed Drury & Craig Murphy myspace page.

We can supply original music composed, arranged and produced by ourselves from our extensive library of finished works. Or we can do tailor-made soundtracks for any of your projects. Whichever is most suitable for you!

Shoosh - Snake Eyes Video

2008-03-15T21:09:00.000Z

Hello,

here's the new video for Snake Eyes

cheers
craig

Solarism Review At Angry Ape

2008-03-12T17:17:00.000Z

Angry Ape

Craig Murphy, the Scots-based multi-talented musician/producer behind Solipsism may describe his recorded output as eclectic or experimental, but it is much more interesting than that. Murphy is nothing if not prolific, as well as Solipsism he divides his time between audio/visual vehicle Weird Fields, ambient-folk-electronic troupe shoosh and his main record label Herb Recordings. He also runs the free-spirited Ambidextrous collective, who intend to build upon the ‘pay what you want’ foundations lay by Radiohead. It’s his alternative imprint that provides the home for his last outing as Solipsism, for the foreseeable future at least, as he concentrates on shoosh and growing Herb (pun actually not intended) into Scotland’s premier label.

Much of Solipsism’s previous recorded output was borne out of collaboration and Murphy continues these trends on “Solarism”, working with Cardiff Techno warrior The Hidden Persuader on the brooding darkwave glitch of “Destruct Science”, while roping in White Label Music stalwart Jash on “Delusions Outermind”

Of his solo contributions, “Crystalism” is the most direct track, coming across like an aggressive, no nonsense Boards of Canada. Those distant synths that hallmark previous releases are intact here, layering themselves almost out of sync with the programmed beats, yet remaining cohesive. “Exit Strategy” is different again, employing thick mid-90’s beats over dripping melodies that slightly recall Wendy Carlos’ “Clockwork Orange” phase.

Although this release may lack a truly classic Solipsism number (nothing on this record touches the majesty of “At the Beach”, “Glass Rod” or “Electricity Flows in Squares”) Murphy signs this project off in style with the nostalgic “Sun Up”, allowing this piece to slowly drift out towards the horizon, while retaining that mechanistic edge that we have become accustomed to. Despite “Solarism’s” relatively short existence it is encouraging to note Solipsism has lost none of its ethereal charm. There is a feeling that there is still much to be said from this project, but for now you can grab this release free along with several others over at the Ambidextrous site.

Solarism Track Listing:

1. Exit Strategy
2. Destruct Science (Feat. The Hidden Persuader)
3. Crystalism
4. Delusions Outermind (Feat. Jash)
5. Sun Up

Sonic Frontiers Review

2008-03-09T08:34:00.000Z

Sonic Frontiers Review

Some Kind Of New Age-Innuendo...Where we let ourselves swell

For those of you who don't know him, Craig Murphy is the UK's answer for spatial construction and explorative swelling. He is best known for his ambient-electronic call sign: Solipsism, where he takes on the role of a DIY-architect, mapping his ‘self’ through spectral schematics and artistic reflections. His synthesis supplied in layers, his waves encompassing back to front, as mild glitch slightly spills into the mix.

Now, in 2008, Solipsism brings us his newest divulgence: Solarism. An ambient mix of heavily reverberated drum loops, swooning keys, and distant echoes reminiscent of a large gymnasium; Craig Murphy has finally supplied us with the next installment in his electronic progression as Solipsism. A brief ambient opus supplied in retrograde motion.

Released by the incestuous DIY label, Ambidextrous Records, this five track EP is Solipsism’s most unified effort thus far. The album pivots with the beautifully arranged epilogue “Sun Up”, an ambient and emotional sprawl that leaves you with a warm sense of tranquility and profound motivation to hit the Solarism replay button.

Following suit of the common 21st century DIY ethic; Solarism is available for free at the label's web site. (Though you should financially support these kind of endeavors whenever possible!) And the best part is Ambidextrous Records provide us with a small online archive of all the various Craig Murphy musical incarnations. He is a contributing member of the psychedelic folk band Shoosh, and the mastermind behind the ambient-soundtrack-composition project: Weird Fields, which is self-described as "…a deft juxtaposition of digital and analogue synths that culminates a unique blend of abrasive warmth, tranquility and darkness."

Solarism is a truly auspicious album. This is a release that you can let wash over you, or just as easily be taken in by Solipsism’s well-focused attention to production detail. A sparingly evident “cut-and-paste” feeling sometimes arises within tracks. However the unified feeling of the album as a whole leaves little room for mild individual song criticism. Nonetheless, the subtleties on Solarism are endless and Solipsism has delivered a very interesting and creative sophomore release.

Ursula Minor - Two Past Weeks Video

2008-03-06T15:41:00.000Z

Hello,

here's a new video i've done for the most excellent glasgow band, Ursula Minor.

The live band footage used in the video was shot by the BAFTA nominated Glasgow film-maker, James Gibson.

shoosh reviews

2008-02-28T14:01:00.000Z

Shoosh, the trio of Ed
Drury, Neil Carlill and Craig Murphy, have a different approach to their
music. More guitar-based than Cheju, Shoosh features a love-it-or-hate-it
vocal style. Their track “Elastic Soil” is predominantly guitar-based but
also features some soaring electronic textures underneath it all. Their
second track, “Come in from the Cold,” is weirder still vocally and
features shimmering electronic swirls and acoustic guitar. The first of
their tracks sounds like Bowie meets Genesis P Orridge while the second is
more like Dylan; both sound like drug-addled psychedelic folk - uniquely
blissed out weird psychedelic folk excursions.

Igloomag

Shoosh are a different proposition altogether, combining the talents of
Craig Murphy (synths, programming), multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury and
former Delicatessen frontman Neil Carlill, who provides rather unique
vocals. A starlit chime introduces “Elastic Soil” but will not prepare the
listener for the intergalactic journey they are about to embark on.
Murphy’s spectral drones provide the template for Drury to weave a
beautiful Spanish guitar arrangement atop, while Carlill delivers his
indecipherable yet strangely alluring vocals. Spell-bindingly inventive,
shoosh construct an exclusive brand of ambient, space-folk.

Reverb Mag

Shoosh’s ghostly alluring ‘elastic soil’ is an off centred though
numbingly beautiful work of ethereal psych-ambi-folk, pining celestial
sheens, crooked and dust ridden stumbling acoustic flamenco strums serve
as deliciously spectral montages underpinning the ether driven wandering
vocal mantras - all at once hazy and disquieting though magically
omnipresent the individual parts coalesce and caress like heavenly
apparitions weaving in and out of view imagining Animal Collective centre
stage in a celestial gunfight setting amid supernatural serenades sourced
from Neil Young’s ‘eldorado’.

Losing Today

While other shoosh compositions come across like a space-age version of
Pink Floyd, “Elastic Soil” finds them exploring a different plain
altogether. Carlill’s vocals immediately pique the interest with its
multi-tracked and warped out of shape tone. These are cushioned by a
galaxy of spectral drones and superb Spanish guitar work to create this
highly inventive piece of music.

Angry
Ape

Of more interest, I thought, was the music of Shoosh, a three piece
group of Ed Drury (guitars), Neil Carlill (vocals and lyrics) and Craig
Murphy (synth, programming). In 'Elastic Soil' they sound like an
electronic version of Current 93, with a strong similarity in the vocal
region. In 'Come In From The Cold' things turn even more down and moody,
with sparse electronics, ending in total ambiance.

Vital Weekly

The guitars are Iberian and the wooze is warm and writhes like animated
spaghetti. It's quite a nifty little late night stoner track, phased vox n
all, would be very much at home on any number of old Tyrannosaurus Rex
albums. IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, it wont be featured on a chart show near
you, but that's not the point, is it?

Unpeeled

Ambidextrous Records

2008-02-28T13:46:00.000Z

Ambidextrous Records is a small label, focusing on the digital download market and short run CDs who possess a strong DIY ethic. All of our artists are responsible for their own releases in every respect, from promotion to manufacture and everything in between. In return they will benefit from having their music released through a traditional and recognised channel. More importantly, they will also receive all money from sales and learn about the business side of releasing music at the same time. We are here only as a focal point for their releases and as a platform that enables them to get their music out. All of our releases are available as 192kbps MP3s and you can choose to buy our digital releases safely and securely from Paypal, or download them for free. It's really your choice!

Igloomag Review

2008-02-22T18:03:00.000Z

Igloomag

"...Cheju produces two crunchy melodic electronic tracks while Shoosh offer uniquely blissed out weird psychedelic folk excursions..."

Paul Lloyd, Contributing Editor

(02.22.08) After a lengthy hiatus, UK-based label Awkward Silence makes a welcome return to the electronic music scene. Having previously released a series of acclaimed split 7” singles featuring artists such as Arovane, Lowfish, Skanfrom, Sybarite, Bauri, Novel 23, The Marcia Blaine School for Girls, Maps and Diagrams and Isan to name just a few, the label resumes activities with split single from Cheju and newcomers Shoosh. Limited to just 300 copies, the single comes housed in a sleek little m-lock CD case complete with its familiar black and white Awkward Silence styled artwork. Picking up where they left off, the label continue their ongoing series on limited edition 3” CDr's which allow them to include up to 21 minutes of music with each split release. They have also introduced a digital format.

Cheju is UK-based electronic musician and producer Wil Bolton who co-owns respected electronic music label Boltfish Recordings. A prolific artist in his own right, Bolton has EP, album and digital releases for labels including Smallfish, Rednetic Recordings, Static Caravan, Boltfish, October Man Recordings, Kahvi and Camomille (to name just a few) and also has collaborative projects with Mint and Zainetica. For his two tracks on this release he sticks to what he knows and does best; melodic electronic music. The first of Bolton’s tracks, “Moody Copy,” is a melodic flowing track with gently cascading guitar, discrete little reversed effects and crunchy, slightly metallic beats. His second contribution, “Drogo,” is again resplendent with smooth flowing texture, harpsichord-like melodies and precise snappy beats. Of the two tracks, “Drogo” is the darker and more reflective but by no means melancholic.

Shoosh, the trio of Ed Drury, Neil Carlill and Craig Murphy, have a different approach to their music. More guitar-based than Cheju, Shoosh features a love-it-or-hate-it vocal style. Their track “Elastic Soil” is predominantly guitar-based but also features some soaring electronic textures underneath it all. Their second track, “Come in from the Cold,” is weirder still vocally and features shimmering electronic swirls and acoustic guitar. The first of their tracks sounds like Bowie meets Genesis P Orridge while the second is more like Dylan; both sound like drug-addled psychedelic folk.

Awkward Silence’s return produces two distinctly different tracks; Cheju produces two crunchy melodic electronic tracks while Shoosh offer uniquely blissed out weird psychedelic folk excursions. It is good to see that Awkward Silence are willing to experiment with pushing boundaries and introducing something a bit out of the ordinary to listening public. Look out for more releases from the label in coming months, who knows what they will come up with next!

Sonic Frontiers Compilation

2008-02-15T18:15:00.000Z

Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers
Volume 2: Reveries

Download

Released: February 15, 2008

Volume 2: Reveries marks the second installment in the Sonic Frontiers compilation series, and is quite a departure from the heavily agressive and brutal tendencies featured on Volume 1. This release instead serves as a reclusive yet introspective sibling to its predecessor, lulling the listener into an other-worldly sonic experience. Compiled as a two-disc set, the first disc features an extraordinarily diverse lineup of artists from the many facets of instrumental rock, shoegaze, downtempo electronica, and everything in between, while the second disc provides a reflective exploration into the world of minimal ambient soundscapes. Just hit PLAY and lose yourself admidst some of the world's newest and most creative sounds.

Tracklist

DISC ONE
1. Beautiful Lunar Landscape - "Eternal Beginning"

2. This Will Destroy You - "Threads"

3. Monsters Build Mean Robots - "Chimes Break Through Light To Reach Us"

4. phon°noir - "invisible at last"

5. Soulwire - "Refractions of Yesterday"

6. Plutonium Jukebox - "Eolomea"

7. This Specific Dream - "A Slight Intermission"

8. Jumpel - "Rainday"

9. I Am David Sparkle - "All There Is To It"

10. EARTH - "Omens and Portents I: The Driver"

11. The Allstar Project - "Lasers Through Monkeys"

12. Holoscene - "Sleeping in Fields"

DISC TWO
1. EL Heath - "Cloud Sculptures"

2. Weird Fields - "Distant Star"

3. Parhelion - "Midnight Sun"

4. Stray Ghost - "Flight"

5. Slow Dancing Society - "Never Ending"

6. GP~00 - "All The Little Remnants..."

The songs included in this compilation are distributed under expressed consent from their respective owners. Reproduction and redistribution of these tracks without adhering to each artist's and record label's respective copyright policies is prohibited.

Ambidextrous Records

2008-02-04T21:45:00.000Z

Hello,

Ambidextrous Records is a new venture set up by Craig Murphy & Chris Weeks, to showcase their multimedia projects including music, film and graphic arts.

The music previewed on the site is either available as free download, or Hi-Fi streaming from Last FM. The albums or tracks that are clips only, are currently licensed elsewhere.

Vist the music section to grab some free albums.

cheers
craig

Cheju/Shoosh Review At Losing Today

2008-01-30T13:17:00.000Z

Losing Today

Cheju / Shoosh ‘Split’ (Awkward Silence). No sooner have we managed to wean ourselves off the delights of Cheju’s ‘hutton’ (out now via October Man) then up pops this rather cute split release with Shoosh. Admittedly I think it was prompted by and large by our bemoaning of the fact that it’d somehow escaped our radar to which Wil (Cheju) immediately responded by dropping off a copy. All the same though its been a while since we had a chance to marvel over anything from the Awkward Silence sound bunker in fact quite possibly the last thing might have been that rather spiffing Marcia Blaine School for Girls split with d_rradio (which blimey was about 4 years ago). Now issued on dinky 3” CD’s as opposed to the old style vinyl - which we kind of miss - any strictly limited to just 300 copies Cheju - who really shouldn’t need any introductions in these pages given that he pops up here with more regularity than Weekender and Static Caravan releases - decorates his side of the split with a brace of exclusive cuts. The exotically located ’moody copy’ is a reclining evensong braided with lightly dusted Vini Reilly styled minimalist lunar rustic finger works that sweetly float atop a gyrating and spellbound field of entranced skittering glitch scuffles - very much appealing to fans of both Manual and Ellis Island Sound and gracefully despatched with prickling perfection. ‘drogo’ is equipped with a more expansive sound and hitherto wide screen presence, sumptuously stirred in a beguiling haze of cavernous drone swathes and deliciously invested with soft centred harpsichord florets, this ornamental odyssey swirls in biter sweet climes of melancholic magnificence.
Shoosh are a UK trio who feature among their collective ranks Neil Carlill who was one time member of Delicatessen and Lodger who these days can be found splitting recording duties with his other band Vedette who we recommend you check out immediately via http://www.myspace.com/vedettemusic (we’ll mention them in passing next missive out though frankly I suspect we‘ve mentioned them previously - ah well two mentions never hurt anyone - I hope). Not to be outdone Shoosh’s ghostly alluring ‘elastic soil’ is an off centred though numbingly beautiful work of ethereal psych-ambi-folk, pining celestial sheens, crooked and dust ridden stumbling acoustic flamenco strums serve as deliciously spectral montages underpinning the ether driven wandering vocal mantras - all at once hazy and disquieting though magically omnipresent the individual parts coalesce and caress like heavenly apparitions weaving in and out of view imagining Animal Collective centre stage in a celestial gunfight setting amid supernatural serenades sourced from Neil Young’s ‘eldorado’. ‘come in from the cold’ is an ostensibly more twinkle some affair, tranquil and measured this arresting countrified slice of star watching bliss out groove had us recalling at times Mercury Rev’s lackadaisical ‘Carwash hair’ which in our books is no bad thing - need we say more - I think not. www.awkwardsilencerecordings.com

Further listening -

http://www.myspace.com/cheju - a tiny peak into the world of Cheju - a world of lush glitch grooves, star hopping amorphic ambient love notes and glacially swept melodic monuments that embrace a clinical IDM matrix with a warming analogue persona. Featured here are a brace of cuts from his ultra limited u-cover outings ‘diode’ which we mentioned in these very pages a few missives ago - however we suggest you go direct to ‘pachinko’ culled from 2005’s ‘taito-ku’ EP which admittedly we missed - and smother yourself in the delicate orientalised Faltermayer like sveltely threaded textures within.

http://www.myspace.com/shooshmusic - 6 tracks featured all by and large from the Orpheum Circuit sessions - we suggest you rip the weirdly eerie and spectral oriental chamber like frosted ambi-folk elegance of ’snake eyes’ - quite gorgeous once it gets into its sublime groove.

http://www.myspace.com/solipsism - the alter ego of Shoosh man Craig Murphy who it seems from his base of operations up in Ayreshire has been knocking out EP‘s like nobody‘s business making them all - by and large - free to download from Last FM- the words looking and gift horse spring to mind. Non of your half arsed twiddling about here - no sir - what you get are consuming collages depicting in the minds eye intergalactic voyages to far flung milky ways, gloriously wide screen in stature and vividly fulsome in texture. And while the obvious winner hand down here is ’bastardism’ - a lushly envisaged cosmic pit stop where shuffling statue-esque beats orbit amorously across swirling passages of soft psych ambient blissfulness - think Biosphere trading dialects more appreciable to the polar climes of Amon Düül and Jean-Michel Jarre - a magnificent dreamscaping delight. Though that said our money is squarely on the monumental ’this is our tree and were not getting out of it’ - a desirable and engaging slice of achingly lonesome spectral beauty, frail and fragile yet none the less chilled, charmed and caressing - culled from the ’free’ EP which like it inadvertently says on the tin is - er - free from the aforementioned outlets. Talk about spoiling you.

http://www.myspace.com/weirdfields - its that man Craig Murphy again this time under his guise as Weird Fields - a self described ‘ambient / film soundtrack’ project who not content in dividing himself between his Shoosh and Solipsism identities can be found occasionally orchestrating opining odysseys of cavernous cascades. Delicate, lonesome and hitherto monolithic these somnambulant drone-scapes swirl in frosted pirouette formations applying a stately courtship (none more so than ‘distant star‘). Two free to download albums to his name via Lastfm in the shape of ’a place to call home’ and ’destruct science’ which we thoroughly recommend that you seek out and love - for now though amid the showcase of glacial tides and sparsely drawn and effecting minimalist washes of lilting electronic symphonies we suggest you stop by at your first opportunity to sample the warming radiance of the playfully orbiting oscillations of the melting ’so long good friend’ - bit of a peach by our reckoning appealing to ’magnetic fields’ era Jaare and Vangelis fans alike.

shoosh - Come In From The Cold Video

2008-01-30T09:18:00.000Z

hello,

Here's the new video by my Weird Fields project for the Shoosh track Come In From The Cold. This track is from the split EP with Cheju and is currently available from Awkward Silence Recordings and Norman Records on 3" mini CD format.

cheers
craig

cheju/shoosh EP review at angry ape

2008-01-23T14:50:00.000Z

Angry Ape

Past editions of Awkward Silence’s split CD series has seen some notable artists featured throughout its 23 volumes. The likes of ISAN, Stafrænn Hákon, Marcia Blaine School for Girls and Epic45 have all appeared, often offering exclusive material. This release, the 24th edition, pairs a duo of electronic tracks from Cheju with two offerings from the unique trio of shoosh.

Cheju is the work of Boltfish Recordings co-owner Will Bolton, whose particular brand of sprightly laptronica merges inventive Astrobotnia-like beats with glistening melodies. “Drago” is the pick of Cheju’s two compositions, with the sun-kissed, harpsichord textured synth work anchoring this effort at the euphoric end of the electronic scale.

shoosh, though, steal the show. Featuring the talents of Solipsism man Craig Murphy (programming and synths), Oregon-based multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury (guitar) and former Delicatessen frontman Neil Carlill on particularly evocative vocals. Carlill is heavily influenced by surrealism and the Dadaist movement of the early twentieth century and this transcends to his unique, other-worldly vocal style. While other shoosh compostions come across like a space-age version of Pink Floyd, “Elastic Soil” finds them exploring a different plain altogether.

Carlill’s vocals immediately pique the interest with its multi-tracked and warped out of shape tone. These are cushioned by a galaxy of spectral drones and superb Spanish guitar work to create this highly inventive piece of music. The trio has somehow invented a brand new genre, that I will now christen flamenco-infected psychedelic ambient space folk. They take all of these elements and wrap them together to create something entirely new.

“Come in from the Cold” only confirms these sentiments, shoosh are one unique proposition. They have clearly spent a lot of time honing their art that quite literally sounds like it originates from another planet. They have been sitting on a completed album (“Orpheum Circuit”) for some time. All they need now is an adventurous label that can match the scope of their ambition.

Description: 3" CDs on Awkward Silence

Format: CD single
Label: Awkward Silence Records
Price: £3.79
Availability: despatched in 1 working day

Buy now from Norman Records

Or direct from the Awkward Silence site.

Available soon from Bleep

Angry Ape Video Review

2008-01-22T00:26:00.000Z

Hello,

Angry Ape have reviewed my video for Swiss post-rock band Brakhage.

Review

Angry Ape Review

You may recall that on December 31st we told you about the new net label Either/Or and the rather fine free download EP from EL Heath (which is still available here by the way). We've now just heard the label are preparing their first compilation album, which in their words, is "influenced, but not solely directed, by ambient music."

The first taster from the album comes in the form of this Weird Fields-directed video for Swedish sound-surgeons Brakhage and their track Early Morning Frost. The video is a disturbing display of heat-generated colours and trippy, surreal imagery that more than compliments the menacing, broody bass that pulses and shifts over faint digital crackles.

We for one, cannot wait to hear the compilation.

Brakhage - Early Morning Frost Video

2008-01-21T12:15:00.000Z

Hello,

I was recently asked to do a video for a swiss post rock band called Brakhage. It was for a track of their's called Early morning Frost. This track is being released on a compilation by the netlabel Either Or. It was the guy who runs the netlabel that asked me to do it. Anyway, here's the video, hope you enjoy it.

Cheju/Shoosh Split EP Out Now At Norman Records

2008-01-18T08:33:00.000Z

Description: 3" CDs on Awkward Silence
Format: CD single
Label: Awkward Silence Records
Price: £3.79
Availability: despatched in 1 working day

Norman Records

Weird Fields - A Place To Call Home

2008-01-15T18:20:00.000Z

Hello,

The new Weird Fields EP titled, A Place To Call Home is now complete and available for free download for a limited time exclusively from Last FM. This EP is being released in a couple of months on American label Zenapolae.

Download

Warm Breeze Video

2008-01-14T00:29:00.000Z

Hello again,

I've decided to do a new video for my solipsism track, Warm Breeze. I wasn't happy with how the last version turned out and went back to the drawing board, or editing suite more appropriately :)

Rubens - Cayla's Third Video

2008-01-09T19:41:00.000Z

Hello,

here's the new video i've done for fellow Herb artists, Rubens. It's for a track called Cayla's Third from their "Carnivalesque" album.

Weird Fields - Destruct Science EP

2008-01-08T18:36:00.000Z

Hello,

I've now decided to release my Destruct Science EP for free download exclusively through Last FM. This EP was originally meant to be going out on an American label last November, however things never panned out as hoped. And rather than go through the tedious process of finding a new label for it, i felt it was better just to give it away for free.

Destruct Science - Download

This may also be the last Weird Fields release for some time, as I've decided to focus this project more on music videos for the time being.

Hope you enjoy it!

cheers
craig

Crystalism Video

2008-01-07T19:19:00.000Z

Hello,

here's my new video for my Crystalism track, taken from the Crystalism EP. Available now for free download from Last FM.

Delusions Outermind Video

2008-01-04T21:46:00.000Z

here's the new video I did for the solipsism track Delusions Outermind from the new Exit Strategy EP. This tracks features an English based artist called Jash

The "Exit Strategy" EP features Jash on Delusions Outermind and The Hidden Persuader on Destruct Science.

Tracklist
1. Delusions Outermind (Feat. Jash)
2. Destruct Science (Feat. The Hidden Persuader)
3. Exit Strategy
4. Freedom Run

Download EP

Elastic Soil Video

2008-01-02T19:37:00.000Z

Hello,

here's the new video for the shoosh track, by a very talented video artist and musician from Poland called Myppa.

Exit Strategy EP

2007-12-30T14:16:00.001Z

Hello,

I've decided to make my new EP titled "Exit Strategy" available for free download exclusively from Last FM once again. There's a few reasons for me doing these as free downloads right now, firstly I enjoy using the Last FM site and can appreciate how the set up there can be very beneficial for independent artists and labels. Secondly though, it's more than apparent that the traditional model of distribution is rapidly changing and will inevitably soon be gone forever. I will return to doing commercial (not free) releases in the future. But for the time being, I'm just enjoying doing music again without the worries that come with releasing albums through the traditional channels.

The "Exit Strategy" EP features Jash on Delusions Outermind and The Hidden Persuader on Destruct Science.

Tracklist
1. Delusions Outermind (Feat. Jash)
2. Destruct Science (Feat. The Hidden Persuader)
3. Exit Strategy
4. Freedom Run

Download EP

Some New Photos

2007-12-30T14:14:00.000Z

Hello,

here's some photos I've taken recently. These were created by manipulating film footage with contrast and various effects and then exporting the individual frames as JPGs. I then took photos of the print outs of the JPGs at very close range, in the dark with the flash on. Sadly, blogspot has changed the dimensions of the images and I can't be bothered fixing them!

2 New Videos

2007-12-25T19:31:00.000Z

Happy Holidays

Here's 2 new videos i've done recently. The first one is for a track by Mosca called Another Winter Spent In Hibernation and the second is for a Kingbastard track called Buildings.

Hope you enjoy them!

cheers
craig

Bastardism Video

2007-12-19T06:50:00.000Z

Here's the new video I did for my Bastardism track that features Kingbastard. We're going to be working on some new material together in 2008, so I'll keep you posted on the developments.

Kingbastard Videos

2007-12-13T15:03:00.000Z

Here's a couple of videos I done recently for Kingbastard.

[Luctisonousman]

[Inthemiddleofnowhereyouarestillsomewhere]

He never makes things easy for me with his titles but you need to live and let live! If you haven't heard Kingbastard's stuff before, go check it out on the link above, it's excellent.

Organicism Special Edition Free Download

2007-12-11T10:42:00.001Z

The Organicism Special Edition EP is now available for free download exclusively from Last FM

Tracklist
1. Warm Breeze Video
2. Bastardism (Feat. Kingbastard)
3. Dew
4. Crabs
5. At The Beach 2007 Re-Master Video
6. Organicism Video
7. Flying 2007 Re-Master Video

This EP is still available at Beatport and other download sites in high quality .wav and 320kbps MP3 format. The free version is at 128kbps MP3.

Download

solipsism - Warm Breeze Video

2007-12-10T09:15:00.000Z

I've posted a new video on youtube for the solipsism track, Warm Breeze. The Mandelbrot Set animation was provided by a generous youtuber called FlyByPC.

Weird Fields - A Place To Call Home Video

2007-12-05T11:44:00.000Z

Here's the video for the new Weird Fields track "A Place To Call Home"

Frank Zappa Anniversary Dec 4th

2007-12-03T10:16:00.000Z

Hello,

for those of you that know me, you'll be aware that I'm a massive fan of Frank Zappa's music and have been since I was a teenager. It's hard to desribe accurately the effect his music and overall philosophy has had and continues to have on my life to this day.

Quite a few people have said to me in the past, that they can't see where his influence is in my music. The same thing has been cited when I've said that Pink Floyd influenced me too. For me though, I would never try and sound like someone who influenced me, that's not being influenced by, that's copying in my book and there's no way I could ever copy Zappa!

I have been heavily influenced by his ideals, his belief in experimentation, his belief in fusing adverse styles and for the way he stuck two fingers up to the establishment and did things for himself. He was an extremely single-minded person with visionary, groundbreaking music and studio skills that were second to none in his day.

Anyway back to the point of the post. Tomorrow, December 4th ( he was 17 days short of his 53rd birthday) is the anniversary of his death. I felt cheated when he died so young, which is probably an incredibly selfish thing as I never knew him obviously but considering the fact he released 70+ albums before he died, it's easy to rationalise that there was plenty music left in him yet. He was the most complete composer of the 20th century in my opinion and his influence will reverberate for many, many years.

As well as being a brilliant musician and composer, he was also a great satirist and his quick wit in interviews always gave him the ability to outsmart his detractors and make them look incredibly stupid. Here's a clip of one of my favourite Zappa interviews, it's from the time of the PMRC hearings in America, when Tipper Gore campaigned to have parental control labels printed on the front of albums that had been deemed offensive. Amazingly, not one of Zappa's albums were listed by the PMRC despite the numerous "obscenities" and politically senstitive topics. Listen out in the video for Zappa's prediction that America was heading towards a "Fascist Theocracy", remember this was 1986 and ask yourself if you think he was right.

I listen to zappa every day of my life as my last FM stats will show. It's amazing how I've never grown tired of it, but that only speaks volumes for the content and weight these albums have.

My Top 5 Must Have Zappa Albums

It's really hard choosing a top 5 from 70+ albums as you can imagine and there will be times that other zappa albums get more spins. However, these 5 are always there or there abouts. Each of these albums are heavily inspired by jazz and that's the sort of Zappa material I've always loved the most.

Thanks for the great music Frank and I hope you're happy wherever you are!

Last FM Stats

2007-12-02T10:43:00.000Z

Hello,

here's some stats for my listening habits on last fm.
Certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, but that suits me perfectly :)

It took me a while to get into Last FM, I'd posted some music on it a few years back and I was disappointed with the playback quality, upload process and a few other things. So I decided to pull my music off. I was pleasantly surprised however when I went back a few months ago and decided to post some music again. They've addressed many of the issues that used to make it unstable and unattractive to serious musicians. The playback still isn't what it should be, but it is much better and the upload process has been simplified so that you can upload one track at a time, instead of the full album. There was nothing worse than when you uploaded a full album, only to find their system had rejected it because one track was tagged incorrectly.

It still has niggly issues like being unable to differentiate between artists/bands with the same track names and artist names, but they're definitely getting there. So even though solipsism is tagged as Metal From Puerto Rico on last FM, I can assure you it isn't :) I believe though there is some death metal band from puerto rico called "solipsismo", so it's probably down to them! I have nothing against Death Metal guys, but I do think you should change your name :)

2 & Smash Light

2007-12-01T16:52:00.000Z

Hello,

I've changed a couple of the tracks on the weird fields Myspace page. The two tracks i've put up are, 2 from the Destruct Science EP that goes out soon on Magnanimous Records and Smash Light, a heavier ambient drone track.

cheers
craig

No Thanks Facebook

2007-11-30T10:07:00.000Z

Some people had suggested that I should set up a Facebook page for solipsism stuff. I never liked the name "facebook" and always resisted the temptation to join because of this. However, this morning I finally relented and decided to start one. After going through the extremely annoying sign up process and filling in all the band information etc., I uploaded my first track. After the track was uploaded I got a message saying that my profile would have to be validated before anyone could listen to the music. I found this quite odd as I'd already verified my information several times in the sign up process. When I clicked the button to find out the next verification step, I was pretty shocked to discover that they wanted no less than a scan of an I.D card or passport!!

I can understand their need to be diligent when approving new profiles, however this step borders on the insane as it's obvious that the potential for fraud/identity theft is huge. So, there will definitely be no Facebook page for solipsism or any of my other music projects I'm afraid.

Personally, I think myspace kicks the arse out of facebook anyway for benefits to bands and although myspace is a heartless, money-grabbing monster. It has a good side too :)

cheers
craig

solipsism - Toxic Herb Mix

2007-11-29T09:29:00.000Z

Hello,

here's some links to a mix I did a few months back showcasing some of the great music coming out on Herb Recordings.

Check out the podcast on i-Tunes Or download it from here

1. Engine7 – Sunrise, Catalonia (7.14am)
2. Kingbastard – [EpsilonSong]
3. Zerova – Unnamed Place
4. solipsism – organicism
5. Shamanic Technology – Thought bubble Experiment
6. Austech – Cicruit Bent **(No Longer Available On Herb Recordings)**
7. Rubens – Vertical Hold
8. Kingbastard – [T r i p o d]
9. Zerova – You Won’t
10. Engine7 – Tempertantrum (11.36am)
11. Shamanic Technology – Electronic Therapy

If you enjoy this mix, please visit the Herb Recordings Myspace page, where you'll find links to the artists' pages and more music by them.

Videos

2007-11-29T09:15:00.000Z

Hello,

below you'll find some videos from my different music projects. Most of my videos are done by a Turkish video artist called Atil Altas, though I do some myself too...oh and there's one by a guy called Digital Blue. I'm sure you'd be able to pick out the home made ones, but just in case i'll let you know anyway ;)

solipsism - Organicism (Video - Atil Altas)

solipsism - Flying (Video - Atil Altas)

solipsism - At The Beach (Video - Digital Blue)

Weird Fields - Paradox (Video - Atil Altas)

shoosh - Overthrow Turn (Video - Home Made)

Weird Fields - Over The Horizon (Video - Home Made)

shoosh - Come In From The Cold (Video - Home Made)

Weird Fields - Destruct Science EP

2007-11-27T18:50:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

just to let you all know that the Destruct Science EP is ready for release and should be out pretty soon on Magnanimous Records

I don't have the exact release date yet, but I will let you all know once I do.

To hear some of the new Weird Fields material, please visit the Myspace page.

Music For TV & Film

2007-11-27T18:27:00.000Z

I'm actively looking for some film makers to work with in a soundtrack capacity. If you're looking for dedicated music for any of your projects then please get in touch by emailing craig@herbrecordings.com

At this stage, i'm willing to work for free if the project is right.

new solipsism material

2007-11-27T18:10:00.001Z

Hello,

just to let you know that there's some new solipsism tracks on the myspace page. These are from the new album i'm working on with a view to a late 2008 release.

For some free solipsism stuff please go to the dedicated Last FM download pages linked below

Crystalism EP

Mescaline Mix

Free EP

Froth EP

cheju/shoosh Split EP 3" Mini CD

2007-11-27T17:53:00.001Z

Hello,

you can buy our split ep release with cheju direct from Awkward Silence Recordings as from today.

cheju
'Moody Copy'
'Drago'.

shoosh
'Elastic Soil'.
'Come In From The Cold'.

There's only 300 physical copies of the mini CD available, so if you really want one then buy it today :) It will also be available from Bleep as digital download very soon.

We're still looking for a label to release our "Orpheum Circuit" album, so if you're interested please get in touch.

Hello

2007-11-27T17:22:00.000Z

Hi,

this is my new blog that I will use to keep people up to date with my various music projects.

solipsism
Weird Fields
shoosh

solipsism is my main project and it's also my longest running. I normally work alone on solipsism material, though in the past i've worked exstensively with American multi-instrumentalist Ed Drury and i've done tracks with Kingbastard, Jash, The Hidden Persuader and a few others. My solipsism material is released mainly on the label i founded called Herb Recordings, based in Glasgow, Scotland.

Weird Fields is my dedicated ambient/film music project. This is a pretty recent project that's only been started in the past year. My first Weird Fields EP goes out on Magnanimous Records later in the year. I've already started work on the next Weird Fields project and once again, I'll be working with Ed Drury on some of the material.

shoosh is the band i'm in with Ed Drury and singer and lyricist Neil Carlill of Vedette. Neil was a founder member of 90s bands Delicatessen and Lodger who released on labels such as Rough Trade and Island. The shoosh project could loosely be described as post-folk or alternative-folk and surrealism plays a key role in the music. The first shoosh release just went out on the 26th of November 2007 on Awkward Silence Recordings. A most fitting label perhaps for a band called shoosh!

you can buy our split ep release with cheju direct from Awkward Silence Recordings as from today.

cheju
'Moody Copy'
'Drago'.

shoosh
'Elastic Soil'.
'Come In From The Cold'.

There's only 300 physical copies of the mini CD available, so if you really want one then buy it today :) It will also be available from Bleep as digital download very soon.