Samsara :: An unrequited love song with a positive twist. With Will Greenwood on lead guitar.
She Who Makes The World Go Round :: This song is part of my theory that the world is really controlled by the conversations of elderly ladies over tea and scones. It has subsequently become associated with and is dedicated to the loving memory of Alison Colliyer. I wrote it for you, anyway. Recorded by Matthew Watson for the 2008 Bruton Acoustic compilation.
Celtic Prayer :: A four-part acapella setting of one of the prayers from Alexander Carmichael's 'Carmina Gadelica'. This recording features the voices of Oshia Drury, Jo Waterworth, Laura Iseley and Jim Peters. Recorded by Greg Shepeard at Glastonbury Studios.
Now That Spring Has Come Again :: A traditional Spring Carol to which Jo Waterworth composed a new third verse.
Certain Things :: Another unrequited love song. The chorus had been nagging at me for years and eventually I made myself sit down and build a song around it. It's really due to the enthusiasm of Nathan Lewis Williams that I bothered to record it; I'm glad I did.
With A Smile :: An attempt to write a happy song for a change. This song is dedicated to anyone who has had a really crap day today.
White Horse :: Eternally dedicated to the memory of Keira Loughlin and my Grandma. Some of the lyrics were also inspired by Silver on the Tree's drummer, Lydia. It's really about the White Goddess in the form of Rhiannon / Epona and that untamable feminine power that she represents.
The Ravens Of War :: Part of the piece that won me the Bardic Chair of Ynyswitrin in 2006, the theme of the contest was Gwynn ap Nudd and he is hiding somewhere in the thicket of words if you listen carefully. It rips into everything.
Lowlands :: A song that I grew up with. Not the Anne Briggs version, which I've got to know more recently, but one by a 60s coffee-table folk band called the Galliards. This version is dedicated to the loving memory of Tim Woodman Sebastion.
Dirty Water :: A protest song with a positive ending. Some things do make me *!$&£^%ing angry, I really don't see the point in being quiet about it. If you like this song, actually, even if you don't, please give some money, time or energy to Water Aid. 'Nuff said probably.
The last 6 songs were all recorded by Nick Manasseh, Autumn 2008.
Flutter is a MIDI Tone Poem realised entirely using Open Source software and recycled hardware. This is a testcard piece designed to demonstrate the capabilities of Rosegarden and Ardour using standard soundfonts and a couple of custom voices on my external D10. It is a structured instrumental piece based on the seed theme of f+f--f+f.
The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does. (Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141)
Flutter is based on the Koch curve and a loose implentation of integral harmonic serialism, further developed through improvisation. It is a semi-abstract piece, based on the metaphor of a fledgling learning to fly. Released under a Creative Commons license.
Happy Listening!