Forest of Spades Strings Of Consciousness Leafcutter Remake

I just finished a remix (actually turned into more of a remake) for Philippe Petit who is the man behind the French Bip-Hop label The band is 'Strings Of Consciousness' and the track is called 'Forest of Spades' which is very appropriate. I thought I'd put the track up for you as firstly i'm very pleased with it and secondly it is the only track that i've ever used my own Forester software on. Oh and thirdly this is the first track i've made for about a year and a half! My treatment uses only source material from the origional but takes it on a fair journey away from the SOC version. I added twin e-bow guitar harmonies, percussion and even vocals. Enjoy.

The remake will appear in May 2008 with several other remixes of Strings Of Consciousness on the Belgian label OFF

Visit Strings Of Consciousness Myspace

Take care,

Leafcutter John x.

12:12 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

My Kingdom for a nice Toy Piano!
Current mood: disappointed

I really would like of these or one of these Schoenhut made toy pianos. After a whole morning searching it seems absolutely no one sells them in the UK - if you know where i can get one without paying for US shipping I would be very very very grateful!

Let me know.

Leafcutter John x.

7:23 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

I can't quite believe It...

'Forest of no return' Curtain call. Photo: with kind permission Diamond Geyser

Well as you can see i did manage to get a song together for the Jarvis Cocker & Hal Wilner's 'Forest of no return' event at the Royal Festival Hall which was part of this years Meltdown festival. In the days leading up to the show I was really nervous and nearly pulled out because i was having a wee confidence crisis at one point (thanks K, Seb & Maria for your gentle persuasion!).

The show went well for me and I had an amazing time and meet and play with some fantastic people. I want to say thanks to Hal for having the balls to invite me!

Who played what:

Act 1

1. Opening - Ken Nordine


2. Jungle Book Overture - Featuring Marshall Allen & Terry Adams (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


3. AEIOU - Roger McGough (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


4. I'm Late - David Thomas (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


5. Clock Sequence - INSTR (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


6. Little April Shower - Skye Edwards Ed Harcourt (Arr. Kate St.John)


7. Little Wooden Heart - Howie B (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


8. Baby Mine - Beth Orten (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


9. I Wanna Be Like You - Jarvis Cocker (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


10. Monkey Chase - INSTR (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


11. Trust In Me - Grace Jones (Arr. Jun Miyake)


12. Angry Cricket - INSTR (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


13. Hi Diddle Dee Dee - Nick Cave (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


14. Home Sweet Home - Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Pete Doherty, David Thomas and Shane MacGowan


15. Headless Horseman - Richard Strange (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


16. Tiger Fight - INSTR (Arr. Jun Miyake)


17. Saimese Cat Song - Gavin Friday (Arr. Jun Miyake)


18. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Leafcutter John


19. Bare Necessities - Baaba Maal (Arr. Steve Weisburg)

1. Bella Notte - David Coulter


2. Feed the Birds - Fenella Fielding


3. Whistle While you Work - Terry Adams


4. Hiegh Ho - Nick Cave/David Thomas (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


5. A World of My Own - Ed Harcourt (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


6. Chim Chim Cheree - Pete Doherty (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


7. Castle in Spain - Gavin Friday (Arr. Steve Bernstein)


8. Love is a Song - INSTR (Arr. Steve Beresford)


9. Blue Shadows on the Trail - The Smoke Fairies


10. When I see an Elepant fly - David Thomas


11. Pink Elephants On Parade - David Thomas - Featuring Marshall Allen & Terry Adams (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


12. Some Day My Prince will Come - INSTR Terry Adams with Marshall Allen


13. He's a Tramp - Roisin Murphy (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


14. Zip-Dee-Doo-Dah - Shane MacGowan


15. Stay Awake - Beth Orton (acapella)


16. Second Star to the Right - Beth Orton (Arr. Steve Weisburg)


17. Desolation Theme - INSTR (Arr. Jun Miyake)


18. When you Wish Upon a Star - Jarvis Cocker (Steve Weisburg)

1:27 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Soundtrap II Opening 12th June / Performance 7th July

SOUNDTRAP II @ Beaconsfield Art Space.

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the opening of my first ever solo art show. For Soundtrap II, I have transformed Beaconsfield's acoustically live Upper space – a voluminous 19th c. schoolroom with a raked, wooden floor – into an interactive instrument.

The Preview is on the 12th June from 6pm until 9pm and is open to all.

There will be a special live performance of several pieces I have written specially for the installation. this will be very limited in terms of audience numbers (due to the size of the space). There will be two showings of the performances on the night of 7th July. For this event you must purchase tickets by clicking HERE. Advance tickets: £12 standard and £8 concessions Tickets on the door: £15/£10

The show runs from 13th June until 22nd July the gallery will be open Wed - Sun 12-6pm.

Location: Beaconsfield, 22 Newport Street, Vauxhall, London, SE11 6AY MAP

For more information please email: info@beaconsfield.ltd.uk

Or phone Rachel Fleming-Mulford on: +44 (0) 20 7582 6465

Best Wishes,

Leafcutter John.

P.S. There is some background on this show on my website, which has been re-designed since the last newsletter: www.leafcutterjohn.com

8:56 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Forester Music software Now For PC!!!

What are you waiting for go and download it!

Leafcutterjohn.com

Easy,

j x.

6:18 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

New Leafcutter Website
Category: Blogging

It had to happen, my webiste has turned into a blog, so i probably won't be posting here much more. If you feel like swinging by and saying you are more than welcome. I have news, music, and software to download.

Leafcutterjohn.com

See you soon,

j x.

7:16 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

New Leafcutter Audio Software
Current mood: geeky

Hello,

If you have access to a Mac OSX machine (non Core Duo) you might be
interested in a new Audio Application i have just made.

It's called Forester and with it you can create compositions and
re-mixes by threading your way through a dense forest. Sound weird?
Yep it does, but it's fun and sounds nice too. You can use audio from
a CD or from sounds on your hard-drive.

You can download it for free from: http://www.leafcutterjohn.com
follow the link from the news page.

Have fun! And if you enjoy it please spread the word.

John x.

2:51 PM - 8 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

TWO NEW SONGS - For Mike, Keren, & Alex

A little while ago i was asked to do a spot on the radio, my usual singers could not make it so instead of trying to do my new album material on my own i wanted to try something a little different. I wrote something on my myspace page to the effect of "if you would like a song written for you, please tell me what it should be about and i'll do my best to sing it for you" anyway to cut a long story short i got lots of nice requests and the two new songs are taken from that radio show.

I made the songs up on the spot so forgive me if they are a bit rough around the edges. The first song comes from this request:

>> Dear John,

I appreciate the nice invite and I will try to make it. It should be right around lunch for me tomorrow, and as I am taking a day off tomorrow I will tune in!

I have been working very hard at my job and I don't make much money. I have been using all my remaining money and energy to apply for Ph.D programs in mathematics here in the States. Finally, tomorrow - a Tuesday - I am getting a day off from the insanity.

Could you make me, Mike Coury (pronounced Cory), a song about dinosaurs fighting pirates in outer space? It doesn't even have to be that advanced. It would make my year.

Either way, I will tune in!

Mike <<

The second song is a combination of these two requests:

>> Dear John,

my bed is against the window. From my window i can see the other side of the road and the people that live there. there is a ledge across the way on which the pigeons used to sleep at night. they would come at night, sleep in different configurations - sometimes six, sometimes seven. there is one with a white tail that always slept with her partner. since the second week in january the pigeons have not been there. everyday i come home at whatever hour in whatever state and check the ledge. Does this warrant a song?

K <<

AND

>> Hey John,

I'd really appreciate a song about tufted ducks. I don't think I've ever heard one before.

Alex <<

Sorry for those requests i did not have time to fit in and thank you all again for your great suggestions - I hope you'll enjoy listening....

take care,

john x.

8:23 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

1234

I just reaalised that i have 1234 friends - Of course they are not all real friends, but i can't help being a little bit surprised abut the number of people that have wanted to add me since december last year. It's probably because i don't have the heart to decline friend requests (apart from that one nasty Nazi hard metal band) I was totally set to hate Myspace, but i've actually met some great people and heard some fantastic music. There is nothing nicer than finding out a friend you know in person makes beautiful music on the sly!

So to those kind people who have written messages of support for my new project, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you.

I'll be uploading some new demos soon.

and yes i do know that my website is down - there will be a new one at www.leafcutterjohn.com very soon.

thanks for reading,

john x.

3:17 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

It's probably wrong.......

However:

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

my best is 323.3m



j x.

8:25 PM - 9 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment