the cacophony of light - bits (2005)

if...

...real life was like a film there would be a soundtrack - incidental music that followed us around adding atmosphere to the everyday things we do. Whether this is an original soundtrack composed by a celebrated composer such as John Williams or Philip Glass, or a random collection of our favourite chart-happy pop-tunes would be down to the whim of the director, but it would be there, emphasising the drama that unfolds before our eyes.

But life isn't like that. Life really isn't a four act play. There is no narrative, no story arc, no plots and sub-plots. There is no Second Unit off filming the exciting bits while we get on with the story. There isn't a team of SFX experts seamlessly crafting the impossible and implausible into the mundane-ness of reality. We have no stunt doubles - that car crash will kill you - that wound will make you bleed real oxygen-bringing, life-sustaining blood.

And with that, there is no soundtrack to our lives. In some pythonesque moment you could imagine a full orchestra on a flatbed truck following us around all day - but there isn't one. Nor do we suddenly burst into song and break into perfectly choreographed dance in the middle of Woolworth's -

life simply isn't a musical.

But it would be nice.

Now and then.

incidental is the soundtrack to something... that film that's projected onto my eyelids as I sleep; the film of that book I've yet to write. A concept without a concept.

1. incidentally
2. the way of the world
3. cynical sex scene
4. a short walk to the edge
5. love theme
6. yesterday [was the last day of the rest of your life - part 1]
7. obligatory car chase
8. kevin's cosmic coffee-break

A hero's tale in the telling...

Eponymous chronicles the adventures of Eponymous - a Gaelic adventurer with a Greek name born in a time of distrust and war. The only son of an only daughter, begot in a moment of lost reason, unloved and unwanted. Cast out from society, he travelled through-out the empire, searching for heroic deeds to do and wrongs to address, as if to redress the balance that unlevelled his own life, Eponymous strove to find meaning in his life while avoiding death.

This is the music that documents his saga.

In the late 60's and early 70's you could buy an old valve radio (or "the wireless" as my grandmother called it) for less than a pound at church jumble sales. Unfortunately, at the time these were regarded as out-moded and old fashioned compared to the modern transistor radio that replaced them, so basically no one wanted them. They were usually scratched and beaten up but working, so I would buy one of these sets and use it until it stopped working, then go and buy another one from the next church jumble, village fete or WI 'bring-and-buy'. As I grew older, I learnt how to make minor repairs to them, and as I gained a knowledge of electronics the older sets became a source of spares for other projects - but sadly they all ended up being taken down the local dump, or were modified to become guitar practice amps (which usually lasted a few weeks before the paper cones of the loudspeakers became totally shredded!)

However, as radios they had several advantages over their solid-state replacements: subjectivity, they sounded better; they most could receive short-wave transmissions - a source of many weird and wonderful noises and best of all - the tuning dial was illuminated by incandescent bulbs. Having an illuminated dial meant that late at night you could read trashy sci-fi novels by them while listening to Radio Luxembourg or one the illegal pirate radio stations.

1NE edge - the first cut    06:24

2WO low hopes    06:46

3HREE corporeal reflection    03:27

4OUR let me be    05:58

5IVE staring into the sun    08:22

6IX esprit de l'escalier    05:36

7EVEN i don't want your pity    03:30

8IGHT cast a long shadow    09:08

9INE sanguine reflection    02:28

10EN when the bleeding stops    04:48

11LEVEN edge - the last cut    06:44

total playing time: 1:03:11