PVC

Tuesday 28 May 2013

A video for "Fat Deluge"


X-Amount - Fat Deluge (Refried Mix) from Simon Birch on Vimeo.

The footage for this was made for a recent live performance. It was generated using an iPhone with an added macro lens and an app called "Videoscope". The images are macro shots of rust and flaking paint.
The track "Fat Deluge" appears on our 2012 album "Six Months Of Community Service" which you can get here: x-amount.bandcamp.com/album/six-months-of-community-service

Monday 27 May 2013

A new video for "PVC"


X-Amount - PVC from Simon Birch on Vimeo.


The footage for this was shot on an iPhone using "Videoscope", which is an app that will shoot kaleidoscopic footage. Most clips were shot from train windows or in train stations. You may spot Battersea Power Station and Battersea Bridge, Waterloo Station and other places. The downside (or upside, depending on how you look at it) with the app is that it only shoots for 29 seconds at a time. Originally, we shot 130 or so clips for a recent live performance, and this is just one of the tracks from the performance (others will follow). Some re-editing was done for this version.
You can get the track "PVC" by X-Amount here for just 50p:

Sunday 26 May 2013

Monday 20 May 2013

Salisbury Live this Saturday May 25th

If you happen to be able to get to Salisbury (Wiltshire, UK) this weekend, why not come and see us play live?

We are performing at The Music Box as part of the "Salisbury Live" events, where the pubs and clubs throughout the town put on live music for free.

We are on first out of three acts playing at The Music Box that night.

Don't let that put you off though, we have put a lot of effort into this show. There will be a video accompanying our set that has been especially made, and some of the audio overdubs will be made from interviews conducted with some of the people of Salisbury last week.

It should be a good night.. and its free.

Hope to see you there

Simon & Andi.

Saturday 18 May 2013

Early Work - Him

Good People. You know what to do. That's right Play Loud xx.

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Breath (v2: Andi Remix)

Reckon this ought to be played loud. Very loud.


Monday 6 May 2013

New compilation album: "Early Work"







Here is a new 14 track compilation called "Early Work".


"Early Work" is a collection of tracks that we have dug out from the archives. These tracks were recorded in the early 1990s, back in the days when we were painstakingly putting together tunes using basic, but lovely MIDI gear. Atari STs, a Roland R8 drum machine, an E-MU ESi-32 Sampler, a Roland D110 Sound Module. Before Andi got the ESi-32, we were using an Akai X7000 sampler and some of these tracks date from those days. All hooked together with masses of jack leads and a crappy line mixer. No digital audio recording. Dub effects were applied live as the tape recorded the mixes.

All the tracks have been re-mastered, but the original recordings come from cassette tapes, MiniDisks and even video tape. Sometimes the tracks were copies of copies. This of course means that quality is not the highest fidelity, but we do not believe this to be a bad thing. The tracks actually suit the background noise and get on well with it. In the mastering process, I focussed on bringing out the best of what was there, rather than cleaning them up, so sometimes they even got more overloaded and noisy.

We rediscovered these tracks last year, and it was strange to hear them again after about 20 years. To us, they sound as interesting as they ever did, and they seem to have aged well. In fact, we think that now is a good time for them to be released, better than 20 years ago.

Those of you who know our work, will recognise early versions of some tunes ("Feed", "Sine", "Wave" and "Breath" have appeared in different, cleaner versions elsewhere), but there are 10 tunes here that have never seen the light of day.

We hope you enjoy this collection. It's only £2.50 (minimum) to buy the whole album, and you get 14 tracks plus extra artwork and a PDF booklet.

Play loud and enjoy.

Simon & Andi.