Obsessive-compulsive organization traits

I really ought to get out more, but I keep on finding things that need labelling correctly.

I'd downloaded A Quantum of Covers from iTunes, burnt it to CD, and was about to rip it to my preferred format (Ogg Vorbis).

It turns out that I'm the first person to try this particular manoeuvre, as neither MusicBrainz or FreeDB have the track listing for my CD ripping software to use - so I was compelled to go and fill it in at MusicBrainz.

Generally I don't mind doing this, as a little effort by me can potentially benefit a lot of people who subsequently don't have to type in all the info themselves, but this time the tedium/benefit ratio is not looking good. I'm probably the only person in the world who's likely to download that album, burn it, and then rip it with software that uses MusicBrainz - plus virtually none on the performers on the CD were in MusicBrainz, so I had to create records for them as well!

Doing this may be a "useful" outlet for obsessive behaviour, but I'd recommend all bands releasing music on CDs or other formats to add their entries in FreeDB & MusicBrainz (there's also Gracenote for iTunes, but I frown upon that for political reasons) - that way when your punters put the CD in their computer they'll rip it with the right names and titles, and stuff like Last.FM will work all the better.

And I won't have to do it ;-)

Anyway; in the end, we have A Quantum of Covers on MusicBrainz, and a few more Oxford bands with an entry there as well, so it's all good really :-)

Laters,
Dave B.

PS. Martin's studio is well labelled, but that's not my story to tell...

Many thanks to Nightshift for reviewing our Halloween promo launch. They've recently had a website revamp, so go check it out and download the latest issue: http://nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/. Here's what was said:

It's Halloween, so obviously Witches are playing. Except tonight the band are dressed variously as ghosts, vampires and slaughtered Victorian brides. And, hey, check out those song titles: 'Dead As A Ghost', 'There's A Darkness', 'At Night I Dream Of Black Dogs.

The wonderful thing about Witches is that despite all this, they're a world away from gothic pantomime or naval-gazing melancholy; if anythingthe costumes detract from the often genuinely haunting nature of the music. Given we haven't caught the band live for a year, during which they've undergone a line-up change, it's a timely reminder just what a fantastic band they are.

Set opener 'BOK' is oddly exuberant despite its apparently morose nature, while 'In The Chaos Of A Friday Night' is fevered, maraca-led splendour; even the more downbeat 'There's a Darkness', relatively stripped down from the band's typically opulent sound, manages to soar.

It also showcases Witches' real secret weapon: trumpeter Bernard Chylinski who, as much as Dave Griffiths' plaintive vocals or Martin Newton's nonchalantly abrasive guitar fuzz, takes each song to a higher level. The Bunnymen-like scurry of 'Dead As A Ghost' particularly benefits from his Mariachi squall.

Amongst a swathe of new songs aired tonight from a promised second album to come next year, stand-out songs are the sludgy, harpsichord-led grunge shimmer of 'Church Beds' and the horn-drenched 'Leave', Witches climaxing the set with the frenetic punk blast of 'Stammer', frontman Dave leaping about, maracas aloft as if performing a suitably pagan Halloween ritual.

What makes Witches such a great band is the carefully controlled balance between musical intimacy and overwhelming chaos. Songs build and erupt, often violently, but within each is a seductive, soulful melody, without which none of them would survive. On a magical night, this is magical music.

Dale Kattack, Nightshift, November 2008

Doing the last.fm thing

Yo!

Finally I've got around to setting our previous releases to full preview on last.fm - so now you can listen on-demand to Taking Myself Home Again - Dead As A Ghost and In the Chaos of a Friday Night.

Share and enjoy!
Dave B

A Quantum of Covers on BBC radio

Yo!

The latest edition of the always entertaining BBC Oxford Introducing is available online until Saturday, and is a Bond special, featuring all 11 tracks from A Quantum of Covers - the Bond theme covers fund-raiser for Children in Need. Go and have a listen...

You'll be able to buy A Quantum of Covers from iTunes next week - make sure you get a copy, it's for charideee!

Laters,
Dave B

Teh Intarwebs 2.0

To coincide with the Big Hair Halloween gig and giving out the new CD, we wanted to update the look of the website - so we got in touch with Emily - who created most of our artwork to date - and put a new piece together. I think it's rather good as well, so many thanks to Emily :-)

After getting the new artwork on the site, I finally found some time to get all Web 2.0 and finish implementing a Flickr photo loader on the gigs page. This will pick up the three most interesting pictures tagged with "witches" and the relevant Last.FM event id, and automagically show them next to the gig listing.

So - for a concrete example - jinty took a pic of Jo at the halloween gig, which I saw on the Oxford music pool. I added the Last.FM event id for that gig: lastfm:event=719073, and bingo - it appears on the gigs page.

Since then I've uploaded and tagged a bunch of photos taken by various friends and family at various gigs, and tagged some pics already on Flickr so there's photos appearing for a fair few gigs. I'm hoping that everyone will get in the habit of tagging their pics in Flickr so they appear automatically - hint, hint...

I've got more photo archives to tag and upload, and then I'll see what other bits of the site could benefit from some love. News of further captivating band logistics coming when it happens...

Audioscope warmup

Good gig last night at The Cellar - the Audioscope08 warm-up, featuring ACTION BEAT + 50ft Panda + FROM LIGHT TO SOUND + EGYPTIAN DEATH.

Great stuff from Egyptian Death (Oxford's answer to Shit and Shine, with added brown note) and From Light to Sound (good mix of restraint and onslaught , love the name), but 50ft Panda were standout awesome, I need to go see them more often :-)

I wasn't really getting into Action Beat, but I think they were all ill and only played a short set, so maybe worth another look some time...

Anyway, make sure you get to The Jericho Tavern on the 15th for the main event! (Witches are on around 6pm.)

Laters,
Dave B.

A Quantum of Children .. erm .. in Need

Hi – Martin (the Grumpy one) here ...

As you may well know – we try and do stuff to help Shelter and support Audioscope – as a result I find myself with an e-mail from Stuart saying I am on the door for this years Audioscope gig in the evening – so I have to spend an hour checking everyone's hand as they walk in and out and tell them they are too late – they missed the best band. Nothing is too much.

Actually I am the least charitable person I know when it comes to putting my hand in my pocket – fnar – and if there's one thing I hate it's being stopped in the street by someone dressed in fancy dress with a bucket telling me I have to help Children in Need – particularly when it's the third person in the space of 100 metres (nearly said yards there – showing my age) and I have refused all of them – so this year I am getting a special T-Shirt made – and a sign up on my front door (next to the no junk mail / salespeople / drunkards offering to tarmac my drive/ god botherers / people I have invited round if you haven't bought a bottle with you notice).

And what will that T-Shirt / Sign say? It will say –

Blimey – I actually did something for Children in Need this year – I must be going soft.

Some time back – the two beardy chaps at BBC Introducing asked us if we would like to contribute to an album they were making for Children in Need. The idea was that a number of local bands would contribute a version of a James Bond theme song. Straight away Dave said he wanted to do "Nobody Does it Better" – because he wants to be Carly Simon – so we went into the rehearsal studio (Jo was in America at the time so we roped in our good friend Pete Bastard to help - Cheers Pete) – and demoed up a few versions of the song – and then forgot all about it thinking we had until November to finish it. This was in – erm – July I think.

Next thing – we get an e-mail from Tim saying that we have 2 weeks to submit the track – this is happening right in the middle of our recording and people being on holiday and stuff – so we panic – imagine we can't do it – and then in a matter of hours manage to record the track – upside down (meaning we did the vocals first with a keyboard backing – and then added all the other instruments afterwards – ((Jo - I hasten to add - had returned by this point)) which anyone worth their salt will tell you – is not the way to record (see previous posting by me) unless you are a DJ doing a remix – and they don't count (see previous posting by me deleted by Dave to prevent me being beaten up by DJ's in every town we visit).

So – to cut to the chase …. And steal from the Loverly Maria Ilett's mail – which I just got which was much briefer than this blog – and would have sufficed really so in future i will get her to write my blogs for me:

"check out our james bond cover on this link....a preview of the album 'A Quantum Of Covers' to be released on nov 10th on itunes only........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2008/10/16/a_quantum_of_covers.shtml"

So – don't ever say I don't do stuff for charity!!!!

Right - where's the number of my local T-Shirt printer and why is it I can't think of Children in need without remembering Joanna Lumley sat in her underwear on Terry Wogan's Lap ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAgdvPs8y0U

More Last.FM goodies

Friday's Halloween gig at The Cellar was a good one, and it was good to see all the ghosts and ghouls out to play :-)

We were giving out a CD with some new songs on - 5 tracks which may or may not make it onto the album next year. We've still got a few left so you might be able to pick one up at one of our next gigs, but if you can't wait until then, head over and have a listen to all five on Last.FM.

Keep it unreal,
Dave B