1/may/08
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We seem to be going backwards... we tried recording 'Now You Tell Me' today and decided that jaunty banjo tunes just aren't our thing! This is the second banjo song we've had trouble with - the other being 'My Mother Should Have Told Me'.
This tune was too complicated and the best part was when it stopped! Therefore we've ditched it. I don' t suppose anyone's too upset - we certainly aren't. We've been trying to sort it out for months now.
A friend of mine suggested you shouldn't write anything you can't play when you're pissed! Thing is... I don't drink.
Sooo... instead of plodding on with this abysmal offering, we worked on one or two new ideas that we could play if we were ever pissed. The stumbling block right now is lyrics. Working on it...
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22/apr/08
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Here is some proper recording for a change! This is our first recording since 'Living On Light' and I guess it's the start of the next album.
We had a lot of fun with this one. Loads of B Vox as you will hear - plus 2 acoustic guitar parts. This is all there is on the track at the moment and it may well stay like this.
 Some of the harmonies were difficult. Here we see Dave using 2 pairs of headphones. One pair comes from a tuner in his pocket to give him the starting note, the other pair has the track.
Boo concentrates on lunch.
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2/apr/08
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We've been taking a bit of a break trying to do some writing. This week we were developing one or two new ideas plus we decided to start recording one of the completed new songs before it gets stale.
So there is now a version of 'Xmas Carol' taking shape with some seasonal (or unseasonal for April!) sounds being added. We'll put an mp3 up here when it's a bit more coherent.
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21/feb/08
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There's a lot of banjo stuff going on at the moment. Amongst other things today we were trying to get a decent ending for 'Now You Tell Me', which is one of those songs which steadfastly refuses to stop naturally. We ended up having to write a new bit and used the verse riff to lead into what we hope will be a rip roaring ending. The only problem is that it will probably take us about a year to be able to remember it!
The second mp3 is the chorus of a song we resurrected from a long time ago when the banjo thing was new:'Oh Don't Desert Me'. We're thinking of doing it again, because although it's not exactly a classic, it felt like it just might be fun...
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8/feb/08
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Never having had a Christmas song before, I'm afraid the detail department has got a bit out of hand and the props on the right were purchased and used at Wivenhoe Folk Club last night for Xmas Carol's grand unveiling. The socks weren't a problem but the sleigh bells are incredibly loud with acoustic instruments, so they had to be tapped with a foot instead of shaken.
We were even considering fairy lights round the mike stands. You know, maybe a fetching red hat for Boo, white beard for Dave...
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31/jan/08
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We're still working on bits of 'Xmas Carol'. We worked out the last little bit today. Literally.
Looking forward to giving it a proper run out on 7th Feb at Wivenhoe before it becomes too unseasonal.
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22/jan/08
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This is our new song 'Xmas Carol'. We've already done this song at a gig, but we spent most of the day rearranging it and working out our harmonies etc. Boo's singing this one with a Christmassy 6/8 feel to it on guitar. Very enjoyable tune to do and goes well with the Atheist's Hymn at gigs.
 This chap was in the garden audience today.
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15/jan/08
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The idea below now has 3 verses and 2 middle eights although no chorus. It is one of the strangest tunes we have done to date and has turned out to be an anti Christmas song. Don't recall ever having heard one of those although I imagine there must have been one or two. After a fairly crap Christmas it seemed like the only thing to write about!
If you want to have a look at the words click the link opposite...
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10/jan/08
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We were working on a new idea today on 2 guitars. A tune in 6/8 which has the provisional title XTV. This might change as XTV are the only letters I have for this song so far!
It started out sounding a lot weirder than this - a quirk too far we thought, so we evened out some rhythm changes and it has become a bit more lilting with potential for some nice double guitar lines.
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embryonic  XTV idea being tried out on minidisc
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