Click play on this flash doodah to hear a preview clip while reading the rest.

There’s a fair bit of combined synthesis going on here, Roland D-50, MKS-50, JX-3P, Minimoog V, Korg Polysix, who says less is more? This semi-ballad ends the album on a melancholy note but with an uplifting lyric (if you dig beneath the surface). A warm, saturated track that contrasts with the earlier part of the album which is cooler (in a temperature sense) and upbeat. I see it as leading the way to the 2nd album which is a lot darker in tone. Ideally playing album 1 and album 2 in order, back to back, there should feel like there is continuity but without just doing the same thing a second time. The first album (as it finally ended up; what with my constant state of flux between which was going to be first released) is a somewhat poppier, dancier thing still with a dark/aggressive edge in places. The second album will switch that around, it’s more rock, full of harder sound but with occasional poppiness rearing it’s head. I don’t really enjoy talking about something that’s not even finished yet as I always feel the music explains itself better than I can anyway.

Thanks for reading

Paul

This is technically the 4th Spacehotel single if we factor in the lead tracks from other releases: Full On, Dead Radio, I’m Not There and We Can Say It All. In case anybody likes to keep track of these things using the old-school ‘traditional’ method of discographizing (new word) single releases.

This song is probably the most like the early ‘Outsider’ material I’ve released so far as Spacehotel, not typical of the darker sound that will be on the first album and definitely more ‘pop’ sounding than the majority of songs I’m working on.

It also has that ’80s thing going on, part 80′s homage part Roland D-50 smothered… yes I loved the 80s but I’m not trying to get on some (dying) retro bandwagon or anything, it’s just what I do from time to time.

Info page: http://www.spacehotelmusic.com/rls_wecansayitall.php (Click on song name for lyrics page)

The first Spacehotel album will be released this year, I’m still working on it. None of these singles will be on the album(s) so please feel free to acquire them as soon as possible

Thanks for reading.

These songs won’t be on albums for various reasons, but I still want to put them out to keep my internal momentum going while I work on the much longer process of recording the album(s). A song released is a song out of my head and allowing more brain power to concentrate on the remaining songs.

First release of 2010 and the first of the single songs is ’I'm Not There’,  just in time for summer!

This song almost didn’t make it, as the multitrack files became corrupted! I had to do my best, though not ideal by any means, with a stereo only mixdown I had from a few weeks ago. If you have an equaliser on your playback device, a couple of DB gain around 8khz should help on the top end. Welcome to the future of the interactive listening/mastering experience.

Available at CDBaby http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/Spacehotel2 now!
Will be out on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Spotify etc soon.

The first Spacehotel album will be released this year.

This post was sponsored by the word ‘Album’

Thanks for reading.

Attack of the Grey Lantern was Mansun’s début album, arriving on the tail end of the britpop era in 1997. While it had some similarities, overall it was different to mainstream britpop, challenging, bizarre in places, full of melody and atmosphere in equal parts. When I listen today, it’s a very melodic pop/rock album, with a dark side and a depth usually missing from comparative band’s albums of the time. It had a vague hint of the early 1980′s pop I had been such a fan of as a child, plenty of synthesizers mixed with guitars also played a part in shaping the future of the sound of my own music (Spacehotel).

The album opens and closes with melancholy strings, on the way to it’s climax the album swerves through heavy guitars, drum loops, falsetto vocals, overdriven vocals, sarcastic and wistful lyrics… it’s quite a journey.

Back in 1997 this album was the soundtrack to my life, and for as long as I live it will never be out of it. The Band split in the early 2000s, gone too soon.

Attack of the Grey Lantern is set for a remastered reissue 3 CD set (including all the brilliant EP tracks for the same era) in June 2010, I urge you to give it a listen. Then check out Paul Draper (the lead singer/main songwriter of Mansun who is in the process of recording solo material) at his official website (www.pauldraper.info). You can also read the Q&A I did with Paul Draper in 2007 at draperview.com

Before Mansun came along Blur were my ‘band of the moment’ in the mid 90s and could do no wrong. Girls and Boys with it’s John Taylor-ish bass line certainly caught my ear and I bought the album around the time of that single’s release. I played this album everywhere. At work (over the PA system), in the car, in the house, in bed (on my Walkman – sorry kids we didn’t have iPods back then) and even in my sequencer on the Amiga 500 as I reconstructed various songs from the album into midi files to be used as backing tracks for my guitarist friend  and I who both liked Blur and were starting to play together as a ‘band’ (this was around a year before I started recording my own proper songs under the name ‘Outsider’).

By the end of 1995 Blur were massive,  the UK was at the summit of Britpop, it could only go down from there.

In November 1995 I went to see Blur live at the Sheffield Arena. It was actually a mistake as we (my previously mentioned Guitarist Friend and I) were supposed to be going to see them in Birmingham (which was only about 10 miles away from where we lived) but due to some error reading ‘Select’ magazine on his part, and dialing the wrong number we ended up going to Sheffield instead. And we didn’t mind, we thought we’d make a day of it. Home of Jarvis Cocker (and others) it seemed a good location for some Britpop adventures anyway.

14 year old ticket, forgive it some wear marks!

The day was spent around the town centre, in various pubs and bars, playing games of pool and having just enough beer to keep us happy but not too much to dull the senses. It was here I bought Pulp’s then newly released single ‘Disco 2000′ on CD. Still got it somewhere and it is now a nostalgic reminder of what ended up being an amazing day.

The gig was very good, as good as those large arena gigs can be anyway…  but Albarn, Coxon and co teared up the stage to good effect. On our seats we noticed ‘invitations’ to Blur’s after-show party ‘Bank Holiday’ which was to be held at the famous Leadmill nightclub. We couldn’t take that seriously really as this was a 12,000 seat arena, why on earth would they risk 12,000 fans rampaging down the tiny backstreets of Sheffield town centre at close to midnight?

The original flyer from 1995, I hang on to music related stuff!

Leaving the gig we noticed other ‘Great Escape’ Program holders heading into town so followed them for a bit (stealth and stalking have always been favourites of mine). Parked up the car and then followed on foot. I didn’t even know at the time where the Leadmill was but in the end it was easily findable due to the massive line of Blur fans queued outside.

Not my photo – The Leadmill by day

Long story short we got into the club, then through a bit of cheek and a touch of bravery on my part I blagged some passes from ‘Smoggy’  Blur’s security guy, for me and my friend to get into the small annex bar which is where the ‘real’ after-show party was. And by real I mean, you look through the door and you see Damon 3 feet away, Graham in a blue puffy jacket leaning over the bar and Alex dancing drunkenly on the tiny dance floor in front of the DJ’s lights.

The Golden (Green) Pass – actually a sticker but mine is still ‘as new’ and unworn!

So we got in, and one by one we talked to the members of Blur… ‘working our way up’ from Dave to Damon. I didn’t say much to Dave or Alex for a few reasons (Dave was on his way to bed, Alex was drunk and a bit aloof), but Graham proved to be quite chatty for a man who had obviously not just had his first pint of the evening. We talked about his guitars and trivial things, he disappeared, then reappeared and pointed at me (for some reason) saying ‘hey it’s you again’ but put his hand on his face when he pointed and knocked his glasses down his nose, I was more than a bit tipsy by now so I pushed them back up.. hey if you can’t help one of the best guitarist of his generation see a bit more clearly then what can you do?

After that, It was time for Damon… and I kinda thought he wouldn’t have time for us, the press and he himself had often played up the aloof and arrogant character but as it turned out he was the kindest and most open of the lot. We chatted for over 30 minutes, my friend, Damon and I in one quiet corner of the small bar. We even danced a little (I’m glad no one took video of that!) not together of course but opposite each other with 2 females either side (Hey I didn’t ask questions I just got on with it), talked some more… Damon showed me where he’d grazed his elbow when falling back onto the stage at the climax of ‘The Universal’ and said it was worth it as it felt amazing when all the crowd cheered. I was, as I say, barely out of my teens at the time and was getting more into music so I asked him about song writing, his best advice? ‘Just write songs’. We talked about Britpop and his then girlfriend (Justine) and quite a few trivial and inquisitive matters including questions about the ‘Starshaped’ documentary I’d always wanted to know the answers to. Damon even asked us if we thought the show had had been any good (he said it felt great that night but was a little worried how it came over in the venue), of course, we said it was great!

If he had grown tired of our banter and questioning he didn’t show it, and at the end the only reason we stopped was because the club was closing. The large room was empty, most of the crew and cleared out, Graham was sat on a table by the fire exit, Damon held up his bottle to my glass and we did the ‘cheers’ thing and I finished the pint and headed for the exit.

On our way out, in the now dark and quiet legendary night club, there was Damon stood on one side by the door, Graham on the other side on his table (half asleep I think), their security guy (who I’d got the passes off hours ago)  and some Leadmill staff… we walked down this tunnel of Britpop genius and someone said ‘Thanks for coming lads, it’s appreciated’ It could have been the security guy, it may have been the Leadmill’s locker-upper, It could very possibly have been Damon all I know is, it wasn’t Graham… not in the state he was in.

As the door closed behind us.. gone 2am in a dark side street in a town centre neither of us really knew, we just looked at each other and laughed, did that really just happen?

There was a magic feeling in the UK around the mid ’90s, inspiring, uplifting and great to be a part of.  And I put this story here along with the album as it’s all one ‘time machine moment’ to me now and is that pivotal and memorable era of my life where I became more determined to write music and began to appreciate the beauty of chance.

My Parklife Blip.Fm Blips (click to play track @blip.fm)

Trouble In The Message Centre
End of a Century
This Is a Low
Girls and Boys

Available from iTunes, Amazon, Play, Rhapsody etc

iTunes Link: http://ax.itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/spacehotel/id280713178

UPDATE: It’s now released. Check the releases section of the main site.

Due to the nature of songvault, the positions don’t last forever and it will likely drop again. However, the fact all 3 tracks reached the songvault directory (after passing 3 previous ‘tiers’ of voting) is very cool, so thanks again for all the support! Anyone who hasn’t yet voted and would like to (free registration required) please visit: Spacehotel On SongVault.FM then listen to the 3 songs in turn, and click on ‘I Like It’ (Thumbs up). Any future voting will always affect the position on the charts so is always worthwhile.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

I’m currently working hard on some new releases (as well as the album, as always), I’m trying to get some quicker releases done this year.. including videos – these will most likely take the form of 2 track singles. Thanks for reading.

Paul

I got this in Christmas 2007 (along with some other books about the big apple inc a large hardback about the history and design of it’s famous skyscrapers) and I’m still reading it. It’s over 400 pages long and I’m somewhere around the mid 100s right now. I’m sure I’d have read it in a month had I not go so many other things calling for attention. Anyway it’s interesting if you are into the history, geography and architecture of Manhattan Island NYC. It goes beyond the glamour of the main streets and famous landmarks and covers virtually every foot of the perimeter of the island, warts and all.

Other ‘fact’ based books I’m reading ongoing include the Yamaha AN1x synthesizer manual. Very good bedtime reading, maybe not up there with ‘The Complete DX7 II’ by Howard Massey though.

Fiction wise I have a back log of Richard Laymon books to get through (and a few Dean Koontz also), I love horror books.. as throwaway as many of them are they are very easy to read quickly (Some Stephen King epics notwithstanding) and require some imagination as they veer off into the shadowy depths of life and the afterlife. They are quick blasts of virtual adrenaline and intrigue… and I wonder why I can’t go 3 days without having a nightmare?

Talking of horror, check out the US show ‘Ghost Adventures’ if you can. Watch it with an open mind and it will creep you out for sure. I’m a skeptic in most issues, I do require a modicum of proof and I guess I’m fairly scientific in my analysis of the supernatural. However, I can easily suspend disbelief for an hour and watch this show (similar to the more popular ‘ghost hunters’ and ‘most haunted’ – but somehow more addictive and creepy), and I’ll admit it’s played on my mind a few times. EVP and Night Vision cameras capturing voices and moving shadows is something I both love and fear in equal measures. I think it would be cool if ghosts did exist, but I don’t think I’d want them in my house thanks.

As I’ve been waking up at around 3-4am the past few days I aware I’m knee deep in the ‘witching hour’ and should be more careful what my brain absorbs, I fear that I could inadvertently open up some spiritual portal and come face to face with Mr Shadow Man some dark morning…

Happy Dreams

Paul

Anyway this is mainly because of lots of ideas currently filling my brain to overflowing about musics, promo vids, the new website etc… so I guess it’s all good in the long run as it means ‘things are happening’.

I’m currently working on a few new songs, well one written a while ago that I’ve just got around to finishing up, with a view to releasing them as single song releases on iTunes etc. Hopefully filling in the gaps between the 3 track ‘EP’ releases I have planned, and the 2 albums I’m still recording. I seem to enjoy making sure my workload is full that’s for sure.

More details on new song soon (plus perhaps an early video promo clip).

Also while I’m writing this, if anyone is on facebook and wants to add themselves to the Spacehotel FB Group then please do so here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54178477324

And if for some reason you want to add my personal page (which isn’t actually that personal but mainly Spacehotel related) you can do that here:

http://www.facebook.com/paultimson

Thanks for reading.

Firstly I moved house, to a much better place with more space to surround myself with my beloved (old) synthesizers… the balance thus far is more towards digital synths but I only hand picked the best of the bunch from the decade that meant a lot to me (the 1980s)… Roland D-50 is a particular piece of joy to me… if you play around with the factory sounds you WILL end up sounding a bit like Jackson’s ‘Bad’ album, or Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow’… slap in some ‘Jarre’ patches and woh.. instant ‘Revolutions’ (Album)… the D-50 was the main ingredient of all of those records and many more (inc some by Duran Duran around that time)

I have to point out though, I did not get it to to play ’80s preset’ sounds or recreate famous songs of the 80s. It’s the powerful synthesis engine that is underneath… it’s not a ‘rompler’ (all samples) you can use some if you want but you can switch them off completely (which most do) and run the D-50 in a kind of ‘virtual analog’ way.. it’s a deep synth that can do stuff and sound better than many modern so called ‘synthesizers’ that are just boxes of sounds and a sequencer… this is a real synth not a glorfied ‘electronic keyboard’

yeah the D-50 was a massively popular synth around 87/88 and used on.. almost everything.. kinda taking over from the Yamaha DX7 (which I also have now) and preceeding the even more popular (But certainly far inferior as synthesis goes) Korg M1 (which, again, I also have). These were all cheap 2nd hand buys, the DX7 (II-D) in particular was a synth I’d been after since I was a young kid… mainly because it was always on TOTP

I found there is a lot more to it than ‘cheesy’ Electric Piano presets, it’s got some amazing abilites if you dig in… more accurately FM synthesis has. It’s strange and unique and gives and edge to a mix. A real marmite synth here as a LOT of people detest the DX7 as they saw it as a preset machine that ‘killed off’ analog machines but really it’s still a very clever synth underneath and takes a certain type to appreciate it (i.e a giant nerd like me).

Yamaha DX7 II-D

My latest purchase was a ‘virtual analog’ from 1997 ish, the Yamaha AN1x. This synth looks a lot less ‘pro’ next to my other gear but it’s the sound that counts, and it’s very overlooked but very powerful.. it can do passable emulations of Prophet 5, Jupiter 8, minimoog etc.. it’s not a real analog but then it didn’t cost £5k (latest price I saw for a 1982 Jupiter 8 – which is my all time favourite synth btw).

So inbetween fitting my synths in to the room, moving them around, trying to decide which was best on which tier of my (two) triple tear stands (btw I’m going to need ANOTHER stand now which will make 9 available spaces; but I really think I’m done with hardware synths for now), and refurbing my two Roland JX’s (3P and 8P), I’ve also been working on actual music (again).

Currently I’m mixing 3 songs, they are coming along ok… also I’m recording the 12 track album (and have been for some time). Next up will be shooting plenty of footage for my strictly no budget promo videos for some of the songs… at least the sun is pretty much here now so outside filming is once again a possibility!

Hope to soon start blogging in more detail about the songs that will be coming out soon…and next time I’ll try not to talk so much about old synthesizers

thanks for reading
Paul