Celestial Spirits in Bondage

Around December last year I planned a short album or EP of purely elctronic music. It looked good on paper but resisted being recorded and quickly turned into a huge pile of tosh.

This year I decided to accept the RPM Challenge again. This meant writing and recording 35 minutes of music (or ten tracks) in February. So I made a start with a combination of live instrumentation and elctronica and kept at it until, last week when I had forty minutes of music. One of the songs came about after a drum part came my way and my pal John Marcell agreed to add guitar to it.

But then, after a short break from the tracks, I listened critically and found I had two problems. Firstly, some of the mixes were hopelessly bad. Irretrievably bad. Secondly, some of the tunes were dull and far less interesting to listen to than they had been to play and record.

Instead of editing and re-recording I got the virtual hatchet out and cut out the crap. This left me with just four tunes. The result then is an EP called ‘Celestial Spirits in Bondage’. Yes, it’s a pretentious title, but I love the phrase (taken from Paradise Lost). The tracks are as follows:

Manga Pants: So called because it is a purposely silly piece which needed a silly title. My daughter had reminded me that anything is funnier with the word ‘pants’ in it so, there you have it.

Celestial Spirits in Bondage: As mentioned above, this is from Paradise Lost, which I had been reading in the evenings and it fitted the feel of this track.

That’s Not My Penguin: You can’t have an album with Bondage in the title and be a Frank Zappa fan without making a reference to his tune, ‘Penguins in Bondage’. Also, my front room is littered with children’s books with titles like ‘That’s Not My Pony’.

Vuvvuzelas at the Giant Robot’s Funeral: If you listen to the track this will make perfect sense.

The EP can be found here. I hope you enjoy it.