Now,
if only the room could stop
spinning
long enough for me
to find
anything…

A note, sealed with wax, sits atop your dresser. You break the seal, delicately, and unfold the paper. A message, written in his hand. Come to the docks, it says, I have something to show you.

You turn away. An open door a few feet away. The shadows are approaching. Their footsteps get louder. You run for the door.

Something to show you? A surprise. A gift of some sorts? Your excitement builds as you fold the note closed with your fingers. Your curiosity must be sated. You will go to meet him.

Dim lights adorn the container yard. The black stretches out for what seems like miles. You hear the shadows breathing. Panting. Wanting blood. No choice. You run for the darkness.

You prepare yourself. A simple cotton dress, white. A pair of flat shoes. A plain black cardigan. No makeup. Well, maybe a little. Nothing to garish. Accentuate the positives.

A stone in your path. You trip. Face first into cold concrete. Your face is bleeding. Stained by blood. By dirt. By tears.

You arrive at the docks. It is dark now, but warm. A simple table, candlelit. An envelope with his seal.

You limp on towards the darkness. You seek respite. Shelter. Somewhere to hide from it. From the shadow. No use.

You break the seal slowly and open the envelope. A single photograph: you with a man – not him, the other one – at a table not unlike this one, kissing. Your hands shake. You turn over the photograph. A message.

You cower against the steel container, gasping for air, pleading forgiveness as the shadow draws its knife…

I know, it says. Start running.

]]> http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/dearvalentine-episode-1/feed/ 4 jimmyjazz1080 http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/i-have-not-updated-my-blog-for-a-while/ http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/i-have-not-updated-my-blog-for-a-while/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:41:36 +0000 jimmyjazz1080 http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/?p=246 ]]> Should probably fix that, shouldn’t I?

I’ve spent the best part of this week with my nose in TWO books.

I heard about this whole Hunger Games malarkey a few months ago, thanks to some lovely people on Youtube who would not stop singing its praises. Like most book fads (most fads in general, I guess) I was wary at first. The last massively popular literary craze I can remember, The Da Vinci Code, bored the pants on me from the onset (it was so bad I was exhausted after the first chapter).

So when the internet exploded with hype over a trilogy of YA/Fantasy books about a young girl fighting for her life in some sort of twisted tournament, I took it with a grain of salt. For a start, I kept hearing the premise being described as “a watered down Battle Royale.” That, coupled with the trilogy’s YA associations making me feel old just looking at them, kept my interest at bay. However, a time came when I just had to give in to my curiosity and give them a try.

I instantly regret not giving in to it sooner.

Yes, its clear that the books aren’t exactly written for 20 something cynics like myself. But the prose in itself isn’t watered down or juvenile – a testament to the fact its written from the point of view of a young woman who has had to be the bread winner of her family since she was 14. The narrative so engaged me that I have read the first two books of the trilogy in the space of about 12 hours, and I’m actually forcing myself not to start the last book yet, lest I lose out on having fresh reading material for my train journeys over the weekend.

If you haven’t checked out the books yet, you should. That’s all I’m saying.

Everyone’s covered this song recently, so I figured I’d add my own little twist to it.

The band on my shirt is Medusa’s Curse, you should probably go check them out cause I occasionally play bass for them.

Fact is, we’ve had so many great bands come through this tiny island that I expect better from this generation. But since Biffy Clyro broke through a few years ago, few other bands have come close to meeting my expectations as far as a good Scottish rock band goes.

Carnivores, however, are one of those fantastic few.

(Fanboy alert: I kinda am one. Kinda.)

The band’s new double A side single Scottish Football/Horses Of The Galaxy is a delightfully meaty sample of what we can expect from the band’s forthcoming début album, which I am most excited about its arrival in early 2012. It’s a clashing affair, with Scottish Football, itself a decidedly anti-sectarian anthem of sorts, sounding like a mix of the aforementioned Biffy Clyro meets Anti-Flag, while Horses Of The Galaxy sounds, dare I say, poppy in comparison, with a mash of synths and electro beats adding a deliciously delicate texture to the band’s generally grungy sound.

Clearly, the boys from Paisley are well aware of their influences (guitarist Kenny cites Queen and Refused, I can hear plenty of QOTSA amongst others), and aren’t afraid to wear them on their sleeves. My only real complaint with the band is that everything I’ve heard from them comes from the realm of the punchy, in-your-face school of rock, and, while much of their music betrays a poppy sense of melody and structure, makes me wonder if the band could keep up this level of punch for long.

However, the band just don’t seem to be willing to slow down any time soon. An absolute belter of a year, 2011 has seen the band touring with Sucioperro and The Blackout, giving top notch performances at T In The Park and Belladrum, and building themselves a reputation as one of the fiercest live acts in the country today. With this sort of momentum behind them, I’d be really surprised if 2012 isn’t even better for these boys.

‘Scottish Football/Horses of the Galaxy’ is available from all major digital stores and physically from carnivores1.bandcamp.com and at gigs.

 Contact carnivoresuk@hotmail.com for more information

]]> http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/carnivores-scottish-footballhorses-of-the-galaxy-review/feed/ 0 jimmyjazz1080 http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/nanowrimo-tips-and-tricks/ http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/nanowrimo-tips-and-tricks/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:04:42 +0000 jimmyjazz1080 http://jimmyrichardsmusic.wordpress.com/?p=230 Continue reading →]]>

Apologies to those who’ve come here looking for my word count planning device. Upon beginning the export of this week’s video, I realised that some of my formulas aren’t exactly conducive to the spreadsheet being easily altered for other people’s needs. Promise I’ll have a tinker with it and get it to you toot sweet!

Till then, enjoy the video!

Also… feel free to sponsor me, yeah?

This is my tribute to Steve Jobs, an entrepreneur and innovator with a real lust for life, who changed how people like me do business and how the world perceives technology, but who is sadly no longer with us. Gone but not forgotten.

Mac Classic (For Steve Jobs)

Picture the scene:

The mid 90s, a young boy

Growing up with no outlet,

Cause his mother won’t

Let him out the house yet

His parents bring home a shiny new toy:

A grey box with a tiny screen and a rickety keyboard

A fresh out of the box Apple Mac Classic

The deal is made:

Half an hour each for him and his siblings

To stop their infighting from tripling

And only after dinner, chores and homework,

Per week

Any of its many packages

For entertainment or school work

And the total removal of privileges

If you don’t shut it down correctly

He uses this new found technology

This mana from heaven

Made from plastic and silicone

To draw and write

To produce tiny tall tales of heroics

To make comics of stick figure characters

And clip art scenery

They’re terrible, but he loves them

Over a decade goes by,

Technology matures with age

But our boy still remembers

Sitting behind that slow, rickety contraption

That first fired his young brain’s synapses

Planted the tree which finally bore fruit

And said to him “Hey, kid,

You wanna be a writer?

You wanna shape world with your words?

You wanna make beautiful collages of language?

Well, shit son, why the hell shouldn’t you?”

So thank you, Steve,

Thank you for teaching an eight year old boy

That he could be an artist

Thank you for the tools he’ll use

To share his gifts

And thank you for giving them to everyone

But mostly,

Thank you for the Mac Classic

My first attempt at a performance poetry piece. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Like the newsreader from Starship Troopers would say, “would you like to know more?”

So I wrote this a few weeks ago, and its probably one of the most personal things I’ve written in a long time. A lot of my stuff is vaguely personal, even if its just references to my own life or the fact its written very much from my world view, but this one took the cake. I always make sure to have that level of deniability with my art, the ability to say “its just fiction” whenever someone presses me on the subject. That approach just didn’t seem right with this one.

I actually took this video down for a little while because I wasn’t happy with it on a very technical level. The chroma key technique was a bit dodgy, mostly because of some lighting issues I had to deal with, and I felt the audio was a bit rubbish, so I set it to private while I figured out what to do with it. In the end, I decided to return it to its original place, so that I can at least use it as a point of reference to know that my skills are improving.

I hope you all like the piece, or even if you don’t like it that you can relate. I’d love if you could tell me what you think, cause I’d really love to do more stuff like this but I won’t know how to get better unless someone tells me.

Love and Peace,

Jimmy x

However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see top quality artists win them.

Enter Sarah-Beth Brown, otherwise known as Born By Wires, and her campaign to win this year’s Open Mic UK competition.

Sarah’s a friend of mine, and an awfully talented soul at that. She’s worked with tons of great acts, including the saints of Scottish indie, BMX Bandits, and has even landed a role on the classiest of Scottish dramas River City. Now, she’s hoping that her years of experience will help land her a win at the Open Mic UK 2011 Regional finals at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on the 24th of September.

But its not just about her. Sarah, who’ll be supported on the day by her friends and family, hopes that her success will show young people that, even in the most difficult of times, there’s still hope for up and coming creatives.Lots of young people including my younger brother think there’s no hope for the future,” Sarah said recently, but competitions like this show fresh promise and optimism for the future of young talented people. I really
believe this competition will change futures.”

Even if she doesn’t win, ranking high in the Open Mic UK competition exposes Sarah to so much positive press and industry attention that her career could be given a major kick start over the next few months. I for one think she can pull it off.

You can support Sarah-Beth Brown by attending the Regional Final of the Open Mic UK competition at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow on the 24th of September. Tickets are available from the official website and from Sarah herself (email sarabethbrown [AT] rocketmail.com]. For more information, contact press [AT] liveandunsigned.uk.com