you know where to find me

My days off officially start. I would take a walk or two alongside the Thames Path I guess.

a room for London

Speaking of going somewhere: London is obviously always a place to go :) Yesterday I teleported myself there through a live stream of Django Django's concert. Tonight I wish to be there to see Slow Club. And tomorrow as well as Moshi Moshi informed about their free gig for BT London Live! For now let's just take a tour in this most intimate venue in London: A Room for London. Oh yes, it starts brilliantly with Canvas and then revolves around sounds from Between Sheets of Imogen Heap. See the Imogen's creative moments in the Room here.



The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

the sounds of the River Thames

Being on a quest of a small research on new technologies I've been tracking consequently (as usual) recent adventures of Imogen Heap's latest projects: "data gloves" and The Listening Chair. And again, by a very fortunate stroke of luck, I was able to watch live stream from A Room For London where Imogen shared her experience and work with The Listening Chair. She has been working now on her new heapsong trying to depict musically the memories of the River Thames: "a very public area with very private thoughts". I would also have a few. This brought me to a recent discovery: a fantastic database of London sounds: The London Sounds Survey. How about a walk in Richmond? :)

meanwhile in London | grounded in Helsinki

Amanda and Imogen are in London this week. Today Amanda gave a free gig (free gig!) in Village Underground in Shoreditch. On Thursday and Friday Imogen will be recording her new song in A Room For London in the Southbank Centre. Me? Exploring the city as usual and... sneaking in suburbia. Will I be grounded in Helsinki like Dickens in London? ;) Other highlights of the day: funny encounters and a spontaneous snack somewhere downtown plus preparing for my first DJing. These days could just be lasting forever!



The person who is most grounded in London is Dickens, and one of the reasons for that is he used to walk to school from Camden, which is quite near me, to his grammar school, which was something like five miles away, every single day, through the whole of the city, and then back again.  Zadie Smith

neglected spaces

Yesterday was an amazing Tuesday. I have this weird attitude towards that day. It's such a soulless day. Even newspapers are somehow less interesting. Tuesdays have no passion in them. But yesterday was far from that. By a very fortunate stroke of luck I was able to watch live concert streaming from Sydney Opera House where Imogen Heap presented her songs from the upcoming album she's been working on since March last year. The Heapsongs! She gave an outstanding performance and took me into the spiral of sounds she created. I forgot what a great storyteller she is! The story that stayed vivdly within me was the one of abandoned places that inspired her to write the Heapsong number 3 - Neglected Spaces. The video was illustrated live by Sara Maycock (who is responsible also for Tom Williams and The Boat album's cover).




If you stand up for me, I'll stand up for you.
(...) If you'll take care of me, I'll take care of you.If you be good to me, then I'll be good to you.

Oh... I'm a story in mourning, and you're the author
So pour out your masterpiece.

Entropy increasing, how long before I'm dust?

Can we discuss?

my heart has many heartbeats

When coming back to old tunes, you soothe yourself. I come back to such when it's hard to find appropriate words or when solutions are way too abstract and beyond logical thinking. Empathy is today's key word.



Lifeline, before and after in an instant of great white gravity
(...) won't you lend a hand to pull me through?
Who? What? When?All in one stir of a teaspoon
I'm shaken and gasping for air

crowd inspired song

Imogen Heap ranks among my favourites. Her concert in November 2010 was probably my best birthday gift ever. She seems to be on the same wavelength as I am. A remarkable artist. It's really inspiring to see how she embraces technology and make the most of it not only in a musical sense but also in a sense of connecting and breaking the barrier between artists and their fans. Now she has embarked on a new project of writing "crowd inspired" song every three months. Exciting! The first one is called "Lifeline". See and read more on Imogen's use of Twitter and other ways of social networking. And why not asking Imogen a question? :)

  Lifeline by imogenheap