Mick Bordet
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  • The Deserters Eclectic band from the West Coast of Scotland, featuring Mick on guitar and yobstick
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  • Every Photo Tells… Fortnightly short story podcast inspired by a photograph that changes every month.
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  • 100 Word Stories Weekly 100 word short story podcast based on a changing prompt where Mick has a number of stories.
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Posts tagged Jennifer Leigh

Miniminiminiminiminalistic

May23
2006
Leave a Comment Written by Mick

Final Track of the Week

Phill Up The Glass

a glass

Week 17 of the grand mp3 download extravaganza.

For the last ‘Track of the Week’ (at least for the next few months), here’s another original track from the Bordet / Leigh spin-off album ‘Mux-Ip’. You may have guessed from the name that it is inspired by the music of Philip Glass, in which case you’d be correct. However, the track started life quite differently as a study in using bird song in music. I transcribed the songs of a number of birds in the local area, with the plan of building up a whole piece of music, but on listening closely found that the repetition occuring naturally, when put in a musical context, ended up coming out like a minimalist piece, so I went the whole hog and filled out the birdsong themes with those repetitive-sounding arpeggios beloved of the minimalist movement.

This was one of the last pieces I wrote using the music computer I bought some years earlier (a Yamaha CX5M) and which required every note to be manually entered one at a time.

That’s it from the Deserters archives for the time being. I hope you’ve enjoyed the music as much as I’ve enjoyed re-visiting the past. Normal service will now be resumed, so don’t forget to check back for news of current activities (or use the RSS feed if you know about such things).

Click here to download.

Posted in The Deserters - Tagged computer, cx5m, download, keyboard, minimalism, mp3, Mux-Ip, Phill Up The Glass, Phillip Glass, songs, Track of the Week

Why Doesn’t Somebody Buy Him A Guitar?

May17
2006
Leave a Comment Written by Mick

Track of the Week

Soundtrack of a B-Movie

Plan 9

Week 16 of the grand mp3 download extravaganza.

In one of the periods between Deserters activity in the late 80′s, Jennifer Leigh & I recorded a limited run album called ‘Mux-Ip’, which was a collection of cover versions and originals performed as a duo. This week’s track, ‘Soundtrack of a B-Movie’, comes from that album (as does next week’s track).

This was one of my earliest uses of multi-track recording, and was recorded using a mini keyboard (a Yamaha SHS-10) and a dodgy Strat copy guitar. The low-budget nature of this track is emphasised by the lack of the original recordings to take this from, so this is a 3rd generation cassette copy. It does, however, have a certain charm, despite its failings.

The piece is effectively a 6 minute guitar solo with cheesy auto-keyboard percussion, some synth pads and the occasional effect (tubular bells, radio clips, etc.)

Click here to download.

Posted in The Deserters - Tagged cover version, download, guitar, keyboard, mp3, Mux-Ip, percussion, songs, Soundtrack of a B-Movie, Track of the Week

White Silk

Mar14
2006
Leave a Comment Written by Mick

Track of the Week

White Silk

White SilkWeek 7 of the grand mp3 download extravaganza.

From the ridiculous to the sublime. White Silk was written by me after seeing a mysterious dark-haired young lady, dressed all in white, walking towards the water in the distance. Viewed from the other side of a small wooded area, she seemed to appear and disappear as she passed behind the trees, like a scene from a Brontë Novel.

I wrote 3 pieces of music, all aiming to be mysterious and sad, and bundled them into ‘The White Silk Suite’. White Silk itself is the middle of the three pieces and has lyrics, unlike the other two.

Getting self-critical for a moment, I have to say that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this song. I love the simplicity of very basic acoustic guitar and clear voice (Jennifer Leigh provides vocals here), but feel it’s still missing something. I love some of the imagery in the lyrics, but some of the words make me cringe. All in all, not a classic, but it does have a certain attraction. One for further work in the future, should the muse dictate.

And yes, the chord progression does borrow a section from Jethro Tull’s “We Used To Know”, but it’s not as blatant as “Hotel California”. Is it?

Click here to download.

Posted in The Deserters - Tagged download, guitar, Jethro Tull, mp3, songs, Track of the Week, vocal, White Silk

Opening the Archives

Jan31
2006
Leave a Comment Written by Mick

I’ve had a dig around the Deserters archives recently, and have decided that the time has come to open them up and share the goodies within.

Track of the Week

One Night in the Back of a Fire Engine

The aim is to make a song available every week until the well runs dry, and try and provide some insight to the track here. I’ve started off with a classic Deserters song, as featured in ‘The Songwriters Guild’ compilation mentioned previously.

The song was written by Lee Newe many years before it was recorded. Jennifer Leigh features on lead vocals, with the Porter Girls on backing vocals. The ‘NeeNaw’ sound is provided by George the Bedford Fire Engine.

Click here to download.

Go to the Deserters website and look on the ‘Tuneography’ page for more details and other songs.

Enjoy!

Posted in The Deserters - Tagged Deserters, download, fire engine, Lee Newe, mp3, One Night in the Back of a Fire Engine, The Songwriters Guild, Track of the Week

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Recent Posts

  • Autopsy of a Lollipop Lady
  • Glimpses
  • Creativity and Marketing Models
  • The Highland Coo Song
  • eBooks
  • Comical
  • Tryptophan Synthetase and other Songs
  • Some Other Podcast
  • A Year of Stories
  • A Share of the Golden Age
  • More from Vienna
  • Wiener Blut
  • We walked in the cold air…
  • Introducing “Rubbing Pennies”
  • NaNo Begins

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