A New Album Closer...

Hey everyone.

The other week I started playing some new tunes on the piano, simply to pass the time. And without even knowing I re-wrote one of my oldest songs so far. The original song was called "Better Off Without" and was recorded in 2001 with a crappy msn-mic and a terribly bad played piano filled with way too many effects. Pretty old for my standards haha. Anyway, I started mixing some of the lyrics into this new version and before I knew it I ended up with "Be With Me", what I think is going to be the album closer for "Quite Like Us", adding another track to the tracklist below. Anyway, both a piece of the original as well as the new version are located below. Let me know what you think!


Early Demo Version (2001)


New version: "Be With Me":

Presenting my version of "The Song That Never Was"

Hello everyone,

as some of you might already know from watching Immi's latest vblog (36), she recently uploaded an incomplete version of one of her new songs online for fans to produce the music for. The song was never finished or released by herself, therefore she cleverly named it "The Song That Never Was". Youtube is filled with fans remixes or arrangements for the song, and all sound incredibly good! I went and took the easier way and made it into a dance remix. Located below, feauturing some of my signature sounds. Enjoy!




ps. Go and check Immi's "New Song" site at Twitter and give it a try yourself! Curious to what you can come up with.

"Quite Like Us" JV album cover and tracklist

"Gulp"...


So here it goes. I've been rounding up a few tracks today and I think it's safe to say the whole thing is becoming.... whole again. Does that make any sense? Bit by bit. I've been making music for years now, but I have never taken things as seriously as I have now. I never even imagined how hard it would be to 'cut' certain songs from your tracklist. Oh well, it leaves a few options open for potential b-sides maybe. Either way, here's the album cover for "Quite Like Us", the project I've been working on for quite awhile now. The album cover was created by Maarten Sonnema (THANK YOU!) based on programs and editors I used for making the album come together. Feel free to leave any comments or Pm's but most of all enjoy the eye-candy;-) Sigh, it feels SO good to have atleast ONE thing completely finished.

Now the tracklist is another thing. Though these songs will definatly be on the album, the order in which they appear below might differ from the final version. I'm pretty sure I want "Days and Night" as a closer. It's the first track I've written for this album so it kind of feels like coming full circle. And opening with "Quite Like You" seems suitable as well. As you can see, I'm far from finishing this piece of music. But it's getting closer to the final product, day by day.

Luckily;-)

TRACKLIST:
01. Quite Like You
02. On The Run
03. Man Enough
04. The Middle Man
05. Trigger
06. Are You Happy
07. Type (try interlude)
08. Try
09. All We Ever Had
10. Silent Sleeper
11. Say What You Want
12. Forever (demo title) (with Lianne Spin)
13. Days & Nights

Our First Music Video Demo

I'm currently working on a personal little music project. I've been recording for over 2 years now and due to the lack of professional equipement, it's not getting any easier. Still, I try to find my way through the frustrating jungle known as 'writersblock' and in some cultures also as 'lack of inspiration'. By the beginning of 2009 I had twenty-something track laying around, only to be narrowed down to 15. The process is a bit slow, but luckily for me I'm not really suffering any deadlines. I just take it as it goes. Below is a music video me and a couple of friends shot about a year ago. It was for the first track I've written for the future album, called "Days and Nights". It's still one of my favorite tracks, which makes it that much harder to finish writing it. The video was shot in our backyard and obviously looks majorly amaturistic, but we had a blast shooting it. You have no idea how much takes it took to whipe the smile of my face! The video only plays out the full demo, but I'll hope you enjoy it nonetheless.


Thank you Maarten & Lorraine for helping me out!

Bring in the "Frou Frou" videos!

As many of you might know, Immi once collaborated with Guy Sigsworth. They released their only album, Details, in 2002. They both write, produce and play instruments on the tracks, while Heap also provides the vocals. Frou Frou disbanded (amicably) in 2003 to go their separate ways musically and have denied the possibility of another Frou Frou album.

In 2002 Frou Frou signed a record deal with Universal Records, on the Island Records imprint in the UK and Europe, and MCA Records in the USA. They released their first, and only album, Details, in August 2002. Featuring a wide range of electronic music, with elements of trip-hop, pop and rock, the eclectic, intricately produced tracks use a wide range of organic instruments from cellos, autoharps, guitars, keyboards, and Indian drums, with layered vocals from Heap. The album received critical acclaim, but this did not translate into the mass sales the duo had hoped for. "Breathe In" was released as the first single internationally, and reached number two on the Italian radio airplay charts, and debuted in the top 50 in the UK singles charts, but the follow up singles "Must Be Dreaming" and "It's Good To Be In Love" were shelved from commercial release in the UK, due to lack of radio and TV interest.

However, both "Breathe In" and "Must Be Dreaming" became minor hits in Asia, particularly in Indonesia, where both singles became Top 10 hits in Indonesian Airplay Chart, respectively at number 7 and 5. A video was also made for a fourth single from the album; the closer, "The Dumbing Down Of Love", directed by Joel Peissig (who later directed Heap's solo video "Hide and Seek").

I personally love Frou Frou's work and thought they'd definatly deserve a spot on this blog. As said above, there were a total of four videos released. Located below, click the links to be forwarded to Youtube. Enjoy!

"Breathe In" (video)

"Must Be Dreaming" (video)

"It's Good To Be In Love" (video)
(sorry, I couldn't find a better version without the network tags...)

"The Dumbing Down Of Love" (video)

Bring in the "S4Y" videos!

Speak for Yourself is the second solo album by Imogen Heap, following her collaborative effort with Guy Sigsworth as Frou Frou. And though it was released way back in 2005, it's still playing on repeat on my ipod today. The song "Hide and Seek", "Goodnight and Go" and "Headlock" were all released as a single. Lucky for us, these singles came with amazing videos. My personal favorite is the "Goodnight and Go" video. She looks amazing in that dress and her portrayal is a living doll is awesome! It also features some pretty cool effects. Same goes for the "Headlock" video. It was directed by Simon Henwood, who also directed one of my favorite videos to date; "Sow Into You" by former-Moloko singer Roisin Murphy. Both music videos have their similarities. And last but not least is "Hide and Seek". Though it's definatly not my favorite Immi vid, it does have a certain something that you can't miss. It's simple, yet it grabs you and won't let go. Anyway, check them out yourself. They're located below. Click on the titles to jump to Youtube and see the vids. Enjoy!

"Hide and Seek" (video)

"Goodnight and Go" (video)
(there's also a different version floating around on the net somewhere. I have it on my computer but it was medium quility and featured a network logo on the right. I'm not sure if it's a US version or whatever, but I haven't been able to buy it anywhere. At least the version iTunes offers is also this (UK) version) If anyone was able to get their hands on a high quility version of this, please let me know!

"Headlock" (video)

"Dear Miss Heap" - The Song

As some of you might already know, I've been working hard on recording a song I wrote for Immi. She's inspired me in so many ways, it seems like a humble show of appreciation. I realise it's not a major masterpiece, but I really had fun while recording and writing this. The song mostly covers Immi's regular and thoughtful vblogging. Which makes her a stand-out star these days, in my opinion. I love how she keeps in such close contact with her fans. Though I'm not a big attention-seeker AT ALL, I'm dying to show my demo to Immi herself. After all, it's a tribute to her. Thanks to all the people who've helped me get this track off the ground. We're planning on releasing it on iTunes very soon! Anyway, I hope you'll all enjoy the track as much as I did recording it. And feedback is always appreciated. Thanks!

ps. I've also put together a remix for this track, which is playing in the magnificant little ipod in the top right section of this blog. It's currently still an instrumental version because I haven't come to adding the new vocals yet.