Rigel Kent's Blitherings

I had forgotten all about LJ....I wonder if anybody else has too.
If anyone is interested in hearing some experimental guitar drones, let me know. Olifaunt is going to start going in a slightly different direction after the upcoming release of the new album, "When We Last Met I Slumber."

Tally-ho!

The third album from Olifaunt is now available for free download.




Dance Gently, Spin Brightly This Summer Night[MCM003]

1) Dance Gently, Spin Brightly This Summer Night

2) The Bailout Of Jabez Stone(Or Webster's Folly)

3) A Light Flashed Off The Doorknob On The Shelf Above Her Desk

4) This Summer Night


Recorded Summer 2009

4 ambient/drone pieces using field recordings and organic sounds (and an organ in one).


At the Internet Archive

or

The Olifaunt page at last.fm

Three Crows Become Four[MCM002]

1)She Fills Me With Inertia
2)The Storm Impending
3)Take All The Insults & Poverty And Sing!
4)You, You Fill Me With Entropy

Recorded December 2008

Four Drone pieces utilizing bass guitar and manipulated field recordings.



Free Downloads At:

Three Crows Become Four @ Internet Archive

and at Last.fm

I haven't written here in months! I don't know why not, probably Facebook, right? Anyways, a couple of things.

1) If you hadn't heard on FB, yes, I got hit by a car last week. I was riding my bike on the sidewalk on Old Milton and someone hit me while pulling out of the Alpharetta Crossings in front of Starbucks. The front tire rolled over both my legs and when the CRV stopped, the weight of the car had me pinned under it for 20 minutes until AFD could lift it off me. It sucked....and I mean that. Absolutely the most terrifying thing that ever happened to me. I was conscious the whole time and had to convince myself I was still alive. It's been five days and I still don't think it's caught up with me.

How many bones broke? None. Zip. I have no idea how. My right knee is very painful and I'm wearing a brace on it and I have abrasions all over me as well as a second degree burn on my left forearm from wear the radiator had me pinned. I was able to walk when I got home Wed night and can get around with a crutch well if enough, if very slow.

I'll be ok. The bike is a different story, but it will be easy enough to order a replacement when the time comes.

I was going to write about the new Olifaunt release, but that will wait until tomorrow....it took me awhile to get the above out and I'm tired of writing.

Just a quick note to say that I have uploaded the full version of "The Weight Of Your Memory" at the Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/TheWeightOfYourMemory.

"The Weight Of Your Memory" is a 20 minute drone piece on acoustic guitar that was originally included on the Mz'umf compilation Birth and has been on my Myspace page as a 7 minute edit.

Hope you like!

Sketches Of The Forest, Olifaunt's first collection (or "album") is now available for free download at the Internet Archive. Shifting tones, textures and dynamics to engross or to ignore, this is the direction taken by Olifaunt in it's first foray into ambient/ambient drone music. 5 songs, no waiting. Go get them!

PS: I need to brush up on my Public Release skills; might as well use that degree.

A new Rigel Kent song is up for listening/downloading at Rigelkentmusic.com and www.myspace.com/rigelkent.
It's called "The Redemption Two-step" and it's my very favorite by far: 95% came out like I wanted it to sound and the other 5% just fell into place, as opposed to the other way around. Give it a listen when you can, and if you like it. please, pass it it along!

Odd title, huh? I'll come to it shortly.

I've seen a couple of other posts about others Thanksgivings and what they are thankful for. I thought I would toss mine in as well, a little late, but still....

First and foremost, I'm thankful for Brittany. She has been the one constant in my life for well over a decade now, and I could not imagine a better partner or friend than she. She has put up with my shit, my family, my music and illness with style and a strength I can only hope to emulate. I'm thankful she *gets* me: far more than I deserve.

I'm thankful for my friends, both old and new and near and far. And by extension (not to be glib) I'm thankful for Facebook. It has let me catch a glimpse of the lives of the people I otherwise might never have "talked" to again. Reflections of what we were and flashes of the future. There are a few people, just two or three I would love to talk to, to say "You were right. I understand now. Instead of feeling sorry for myself I should have been thinking how to keep you in my life in one way or another." Those are the few I suppose would never want to hear from me again. The ones that are in my life now I am very happy about. Thank you.

As the title of this post says, as odd as it sounds, I'm thankful for my disease. When I found out about the Diabetes I was rocked to my very core. The only thing I could think of was "My life as I know it is over." And I have never been so happy to be right about that. Since then, almost a year now, I've quit drinking, started cycling and lost near up to 40 lbs. To top that off I have been feeling *good* - about myself about everything. A spiritual awakening may be going to far, but that's close to what I feel. I've been more productive in my music, which had stagnated as much as the rest of me. I began planning things farther then when I was going to get my next case of beer. Would I like not to have the Diabetes at all? You're fucking right, I would. But I am thankful I found out about it in time to do something about it, young enough to know there's almost a whole life time ahead to enjoy myself with out trying to kill myself. So that's why I am Thankful for my Disease.

Thanks for hanging through this long. I hope everybody had a happy Thanks giving as well.


PS: I'm also thankful for Porcupine Tree and Rush.

Well, some quick news to what is going on.

Rigel Kent news: I've finished a song called "450mgs", which I had a blast making. I've had some very good reactions to it so far and that feels good. I still cringe when I hear my voice, but if other people can stand it, well then I can. One thing I've noticed is that my singing range has shrunk...no big surprise after almost 20 years of unuse. I used to get headaches after gigs with Off The World (it sounded good at the time, and now I realize that it was a good thing that my suggestion, Jerusalem's Boogie, was voted down) but I used to smoke a pack a day+ and had no sense of discipline. I guess this is a bit better....my vibrato is still there, at least.

http://www.myspace.com/rigelkent
http://www.rigelkentmusic.com

Olifaunt: I finished the collection (or "album") I call "Three Crows Become Four". 55 minutes of droney fun and goodness split into 4 pieces. This I'm proud of and I'm looking for a label who might find it works for them. I've already started on another project for this....less noise and more melody-like suggestions, but to keep with the Olifaunt idea still somewhat long-form and ambient.
If any one would like to hear the entire "album" let me know and I'll tell you where it can be downloaded.

http://www.olifaunt.com

And finally Bicycling: It's Cold. I've not ridden in the cold for awhile. So I need to learn to ride in the cold again, otherwise I'll have to get on the exercise bike and that is soooooo boring. But I need to keep up the exertion somehow...

More later!

"Hey honey. I just saw Gary Cole at the Target!"

Haven't LJed in a while. I've been busy either recording or riding the bike....and, of course, my house duties as well which I actually enjoy to a certain extent.

First Olifaunt news: Sketches Of The Forest is supposed to be released on the MZ'UMF net label...but the last I heard was a general email about technical problems and that was 3-4 weeks ago, so I'm not really sure what's going on. I'm impatient only to the extent that I would like to hear what other Ambient Drone fans might think of it, so I hope the problems are ironed out soon.

Second Olifaunt news: I finished a collection of four pieces that I'm going to go a head and call an album. Three Crows Become Four, is the name and I'm pretty happy with it. If you heard it, you might be surprised that it's about 98% bass guitar. I'm looking now for a label to try, whether Net or traditional. It's intimidating and I'm not exactly sure where to start, other then googling. I need to find some album art as well...Or just take the camera with me on a bike ride and see what presents itself. Preferably with crows, which I see all the time here.

And finally Rigel Kent news: I've almost finished a new RK song, drums (well, Reason) and all. I'm going to send it to a friend in Charlotte for his opinion soon. He really liked "Last Of The Cold Duck" and says to definitely continue. He also wants to bring his drum kit down some time after New Year's to record, which will be a lot of fun. It was 12 years ago. When the new song is up I'll post it here.

More later!

yoinked from mystified13

Take a picture of yourself right now.
don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
post that picture with NO editing.

Richard Wright died to-day of cancer at 65. So long to one of the founders of the band that has made, without a doubt, the biggest....everything to me as far as music goes.

WTF, indeed....? After who knows how long my primary project (Rigel Kent)has a song! It's called "Last Of The Cold Duck" and it can be found here: www.rigelkentmusic.com
or here: http://www.myspace.com/rigelkent

This is the marked departure from the earlier Kent stuff in that it's a more traditional orientated song. With lyrics! And there are a few more in this vein as well, that I will be recording here at Orbital Studio Alpha.

This is the direction that I had been meaning to take, as I had written earlier; Stretching my songwriting muscle with Rigel Kent and experimenting with noise textures and techniques with Olifaunt (and having a lot of fun at it as well!)

Let me know what you think!

It had to happen sometime.
Olifaunt's "The Weight Of Your Memory" was chosen to be included on Birth, the inaugural compilation of the net label Mz'umph Records!
Hooray!
I'm quite excited.....and humbled. There are some great tracks on this release....and at 19:51 mine is by far the longest....eeesh. By this I mean that quantity does not equal quality.
If you are interested, the whole thing can be downloaded (for free!) at http://www.myspace.com/mzumfrecords ....or at least there's a link there to point you in the right direction.
I hope this will be the beginning of....well...lots of things!

I'm not sure if it's coincidence or not, but my sound experimentation seem to really piss off Hungri The Cat. Then again, lots of things piss her off; other cats, a nice day, imperialist propaganda....that sort of thing.

In related news, I've posted two news pieces at www.olifaunt.com : "A Beacon For Indifferent Castaways" and "A Lament For Grant's Hair". Long. Slow. Loud/Quiet. Yes.

These are probably going to be the last ones I post for awhile; I've begun to put together a list of labels to submit to.

As I pointed out, the songs are *not* going to all be named "A (something) for (something)(somethings)"...it's just worked out that way.

Pax!

I'm ecstatic. I think I just figured out something that's going to open up a whole new possibility for making noise! I mean, music. Gonna have to do some experimenting and it's possible I just re-invented the wheel, so to speak, but damn....

Oh, yeah. britzkrieg found a nice ripe-size pumpkin in the garden. That's no surprise since she planted them. What was a surprise was it burst all over the living room wall. Yeah...thhhppppttt SPLAT!!! Go figure....neither of us can think how it happened. She going to try to save the seeds so it won't be a total loss....hopefully.



EDIT - Well it's just not our day for vegetables. I just cut open a bell pepper to use in our curry and it had two worm/caterpillar things in it! Just bought the thing not three hours ago from Publix, too.

I'm watching this show ("Megabuilders") on building a particle detector, which they are calling, at 8000 tons, the largest machine on earth. All well and good, I can believe that. I like the way the show tries to describe the methods or attributes of whatever they are building with seemingly everyday things for the viewer for perspective. This is usually stated thusly: "The (object described) is this big/tall/heavy. That's (x number of units) as (a seemingly everyday object/S)."

What I find funny and sometimes absurd are the rather arbitrary things they use as comparisons. This is the example that caught my funny-bone this morning (I'm para-phrasing):"They have to be careful installing the superconducting magnet. That's because it weighs an incredible 3200 tons. That's the same as *28 fully loaded* jumbo jets."

Not that anyone (at least not me) would know the weight of a jumbo jet, fully loaded or otherwise. And loaded with what? Fully loaded with goose down or fully loaded with depleted uranium-tipped sabot rounds? There would be a difference, right?

What gets my giggles going is my idea of the old switcheroo: "When they finish building the jumbo jet and load it fully it will weigh (x amount of pounds). A fleet of 28 will weigh (x times 28 amount of pounds)! That's the same as a superconducting magnet being used to construct the world's biggest particle detector!"

Yup, clear as hydrogen!

EDIT You know that math, just doesn't seem right. Can something 114 tons actually fly? maybe I'm just being dense(snort!)

Just 3 miles yesterday as britzkrieg and I went downtown for a few errands. That makes the weekly total 39.8 miles.
I've been giving some thought to the Cartersville ride I had been planning. The distance isn't bothering me so much as the fact that its going to be mostly heavily traveled roads and that maybe I should drive out the route before I attempt to ride it. I'm still hesitant (or timid, whatever) to ride the road around this area, no matter 40-50 miles away from home. This is something I'm going to have to get over and soon, especially if if I want to do any actual bicycle travel.
In the meantime, I think I'll go ahead and ride the Silver Comet Trail from Smyrna to Cedertown, maybe next week. That's just over 50 miles. I should be able to find a room and then ride back the next day. We'll see how it shakes out over this week.

x-posted from jaimeonabike.blogspot.com

I've uploaded an 8:20 excerpt of my new drone piece "The Weight Of Your Memory" at www.olifaunt.com (which goes to a myspace page for now.)

If anybody would like to hear the whole 19:52 version, let me know here with an email address and I'll be happy to send you a link where you can download the whole thing. Warning: it's a 45.4 MB MP3 at 320kbps.

I've submitted this to a net label in the UK who is going to use it in a compilation that should be coming out this month. I am very excited about this. I mean, bouncing. So I'll let you all know when the comp is released.


Let me know what you think!