i am winston echo

up-up-updates

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:15:22 +0000

Once again I have negelected this fair blog, I am a really bad guy, I know that. BBBUT here I am with my fingers on the keys forcing my way back into the information supernetwork!!

I have had a pretty crazy few months with a whole bunch of awesome gigs. Like this one, this one, this one and this one, amongst many. And then last week I got to play with two of my very favourite bands,. On friday I played with Little Wings who was just magical and then on saturday I opened for the always insane Gay Against You (who i put loads of video up for in the summer!) What a weekend!

My main reasone for being here today is to post mp3s from those 2 shows. First of all is a new song called The Pervert which I recorded live in manchester and it's nice. Then it's a song called In Bloom which was part of my set supporting Gay Against You where we covered the whole of Nirvana's album Nevermind. Enjoy

Winston Echo - The Pervert (live, manchester, 07/12/2007)

Winston Echo - In Bloom (live northampton, 08/12/2007)

B-b-b-brains

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:30:41 +0000

In my constant quest for equal rights for all monsters here is a new song which I wrote this afternoon, enjoy.

A Good Brain
(Wrote this in an afternoon but this version is by no means final. I really like monsters at the moment, it's getting a bit creepy.)

ALSO
I'm doing a show on the first saturday of November and it's going to be special. I'm looking for a whole bunch of enthusiastic musicians and non-musicians to join in as my backing band/choir/braying mob to help me put together a spectacular performance. Get in touch innit.

Six

Fri, 7 Sep 2007 18:35:46 +0000

new song

Six
(This is a really short one, kind of a rap song with just a bit of percussion and my creamy vocal stylings)

Projects

Wed, 5 Sep 2007 18:03:59 +0000

I've decided, in a last gasp attempt to actually write some new songs and keep this crazy ride ticking along, that I'm going to upload just about everything that I record on to this blog (it'll also be archived on the main website so check that out too.) So without further ado...

Raining
(this isn't strictly speaking a 'new' song as I've been playing versions of it for about a year now but it is the first time I've recorded it. It's about a trip to Tesco I took last summer and it rained so hard they had to shut for 3 days because of a hole in the roof.)

Nothing Can Stop You When You Get Started
(this is brand new. I wrote the lyrics quite a while ago and just jigged them around a bit and forced them onto this little tune.)

Booty

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:49:51 +0000

It's been a pretty uneventful couple of weeks for yours truly, including one job interview (and the inevitable disappointment which comes with it) and little else. Yep. Just finished playing Monkey Island 2, which was fun. Also been watching Tim & Eric as previously mentioned but also the fantastic HBO miniseries The Corner, from the people behind The Wire, which I intend on re-watching in it's entirity. Other than that, totally bored.

So I was going through some boxes in my little bedroom and found a copy of my 3"CD I did for the Homocrime singles club. It was released 2 years ago and I'm pretty sure was the lowest selling Homocrime CD they did (mostly because my first show for them was an absolute fucking disaster.) Unfortunately Homocrime ceased to exist last summer and it's now very unlikely you'll be able to find a copy anywhere. Which is why I've decided to upload it here and letting you all download it, aint I sweet? It's got a dozen songs on it, including one cover and I think it's pretty good, even though my vocal is so creepy (this was when I was recording things late night while everyone in the house was asleep.) Enjoy.

Winston Echo Hearts Homocrime (.zip file)

(ps. I also uploaded a new-old song to myspace, it's called Pets and was featured on a Homocrime compilation, yep.)

Recently down

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:35:25 +0000

Over the past few weeks I've had a number of nice times. Sometimes when you're not really enjoying everything that's going on in your life it really helps to have some respite from the slow, grinding depression and a good evening out with some nice people can really do you the world of good. Having been driven into the ground by a lack of funds and the utterly tiresome bullshit task of looking for work I was constantly finding new ways to stress myself out. Wow. But then...

...I had a couple of good gigs to fall back on.

A couple of weeks ago we had Sleeping States come to town. I've totally fallen in love with this band, and if they're not huge this time next year then everyone else sucks big time. Seriously. The Clock & The Moon played too, as well as a wonderful pair from Dublin, Elsworth Cambs, who I was lucky enough to spend a whole day with, winding up girls dressed as pirates and watching them fall asleep in public. The Fishmarket did it's usual Fishmarket thing by being charming despite being pretty empty. Good.

Then last thursday I had to prepare myself for the arrival of the 7 headed beast know as Shimmy Rivers And And Canal. I decided it'd be nice to cook them some food and overcoming the joint obstacles of vegetarianism and no functioning cooking appliance, microwave vegetable lasagnes were settled on, with some nice fresh bread and a mixed salad on the side, a feast fit for a priest! Then I found them outside, singing and jumping up and down on the roof of their van. We went to labour club and one thing led to another and they played their set (but not before Wizbit did his thing, more about him later.) All scratchy and tunefull and jumpy and loud, it was really quite special. Then 9 of us altogether went to sleep on the floor and that was that.

AND AND AND on saturday I went to Webbstock 2007, my first. Webbstock has a long and vibrant history, coming across as a mix between a magnificent and depraved Roman orgy and The Wickerman, but with added volleyball and caravans, it was a pleasure to be invited. After a short delay I began drinking and gradually built up my enjoyment level, thanks in part to this Englishman's ability to withstand any weather condition (so long as it's not too warm.) Shelter was erected to avoid the steady downpour and bands played in a small tin-roofed shed. At the earliest opportunity I stole a guitar and played an impromptu set atop a red tractor. Then my good friend Wizbit played a set (not on the tractor) and we all danced, some more than others, others more like Bez than others. I had planned on camping, but I left my tent at home and I got offered a lift so I slept in my own bed, so I win.

In other news, I've been asked to play in Manchester with Viking Moses in September so I said yes. Also, I've been uploading some of my drawings to MYSPACE, have a look.

Some Undereducated gigs coming up too, including the return of the greatest rock and roll band of all time and the most punk thing to ever happen to Northampton, but mostly the darling Blanket and (hopefully, if we can sort it out) Buttonhead, both from London and both totally rad. Check it.

Blanket - Vroom Vroom Bang Bang Bang

Buttonhead - Don't Call Me Steve

Great Jorb!

Tue, 3 Jul 2007 19:34:04 +0000

In the past couple of weeks I've spent too many nights sleeping on my friends' sofa. Their hospitality is truly invincible. I know how irritating I can be and it's a wonder I've woken up at all some mornings, knowing that these guys have had the chance to quietly suffocate me beneath a couch cushion. Well done to them.

In the past week or so and a bit or something I've been catching up with some viewing which I'd promised myself. So I watched Everything Is Illuminated and The Squid & The Whale (which were both very good, go watch) and also For Your Consideration, as part of a new secret flim night I'm involved in. All fantastic. I also strongly recommend watching Who I Am And What I Want, co-directed by my personal favourite man with a pen David Shrigley. Probably the most special thing I've been watching at with my eyes is the first series of Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job (part of the insane Adult Swim family of television programmes.) The show is really hard to describe but I like to think of as a sketch show made by people who have never seen a sketch show before. Go and watch an episode, it's not long.

And listening to music. Here's Zeek Sheck, who I know nothing about at all. 2 songs. Listen.

Zeek Sheck - Ghostrem's Left Leg

Zeek Sheck - Chess

Larfs

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:49:44 +0000

Earlier this week I went to London for the evening. I haven't been on the train into St. Pancras for some time so I was a bit upset to find that the station still isn't finished with their big refurbishment (and you've still got the slightly confusing walk from the train platform to the underground station with signs that seem to change before every single trip.) Apparently all the work will be finished in october this year but I'm not optomistic. Personally I can't wait for all the scaffolding to come down so everyone can see the full splendor what can only be described as The Most Terrifying Building Of My Childhood. Having lived in Wellingborough for most of my life I have often been in and out of St Pancras every couple of months and I can't remember a time when the building hasn't given me chills down my spine. I don't know where I'm going with this but I'm sure these refurbishments will have sucked most of the character out of the building and replaced it with glass and chrome and a pleasant bleached pine effect.

In case yr still reading, the reason I went to London was to see David Cross and the opening night of his 2 week run at the 100 Club. David Cross is pretty much my favourite man in the world right now, I'm currently taking in (mostly through osmosis) the 4th and final series of his Python-borrowing sketch show Mr. Show, and his character Tobias from (the amazing) Arrested Development is one of the most absurd, twisted and delightful characters there have been on TV in pretty much forever. And of course there's his stand-up comedy, which is inspirational and insanely cynical at the same time.
The show was pretty disappointing, the main main reason for this being that David Cross didn't even really do a real set, rather he compered the show, doing about 10 minutes between acts and introducing his friends. The other acts were really good (Ed Byrne was a bit slick, Kristen Schaal was nice, but I'd really recommend checking out Todd Barry and Eugene Mirman if you get a chance because they were rad) but I (and most people in the room) had come to see a proper David Cross set. Oh well.

I'm really trying to absorb as much comedy as possible at the moment, maybe to compensate for my empty empty life.

In other news, I'm trying hard to sort out Undereducated shows in the next couple of months. It's hard sorting out venues sometimes. We've got Sleeping States coming to Northampton in July and we're doing a show for The Blankket in London. However, I'm trying my damnedest to sort something out for Shimmy Rivers And And Canal's tour at the end of july, they are such an amazing band live and I want to do a really great show but Northampton kind of sucks. Fingers crossed.

Shimmy Rivers And And Canal - Lord Justed Hues

Sleeping States - Maider!

Older and wiser

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:45:22 +0000

It's been ages since my last confession. When I started this blog I was determined to keep it regular, but being the lazy scatterbrain good-for-nothing lowlife I am, this whole thing has fallen into a state of disrepair. I bet you've been chewing away at your own knuckles in anticipation of finding out what I've been doing with my abundance of free time, and wilting away into a mere husk of your former self without the reassurance these blog entries provide you. Well, I think that says more about you than it does me.

Last weekend Undereducated put on 2 big big days of stuff in Northampton. And it was good in varying degrees. Friday I found myself really disappointed, mostly due to the fact I played first, opening the night, and got caught up in my own self-loathing, meaning I couldn't enjoy the rest of the evening. Which sucks, because I missed the whole of Anni Rossi's set, which I'm told was amazing. I am an idiot. Then on saturday we had a whole day with Gay Against You. Well, not a whole day. A mixture of traffic problems and other acceptable excuses meant GvsY were not able to carry out the afternoon workshop which we'd planned. However they did do a great improvised set as part of the Fishmarket's opening of their new Alex Gene Morrison exhibition, and then tore the Labour Club apart with one of the most fun half hours ever. I also got to meet Gentle, Friendly, who are 2 lovely boys from Birmingham (via London) and played fantastically, House Mouse blew everyone away with his midi-guitar, laptop and interesting hooded sweatshirt, and Thrulk showed how much they are improving and fast becoming my favourite band in Northamptonshire. Just yesterday I finished uploading a WHOLE BUNCH of videos from the weekend to YouTube so that's worth checking out.

So here's a song by Gay Against You, it's from their album Musclemilk (on Adaadat) and it's ace. Also, recently I've been listening to the forthcoming Liars (self titled) album and I'm struggling to get to grips with it, it just seems too easy and straightforward. Anyway this is a track from that.

Gay Against You - I Put My Hood Up

Liars - Clear Island

Tech

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:07:28 +0000

Not very interesting this so I'm sorry. A few people have complained/commented that they're having trouble streaming the MP3s on this blog. I don't really understand it myself but, yeah, it's crap innit? Here's what to do, right-click on the link for the MP3 you wanna check out, then in the little menu thing which should pop out you can either click 'save target as' (it might be 'save link as' or something similar) and then download the track, which is fine. OR or you can click 'copy link' and then paste in into the 'pay url' option of whatever media player you like to use on you computer.

For Mac users, work it out yourself. You've onlt got one mouse button and I don't get it.

Told you it wasn't very interesting.