The Freak Zone, BBC 6Music, this Sunday evening, 5:30 pm.

Went into the BBC today, to talk with Stuart Maconie about all things Ghost Box and MHYG. Had a great chat, played a few tracks (including a new one you haven't heard) and all went quite well, I reckon. I think the show goes out this Sunday at 5:30 pm on BBC 6music.

It's all about the arrangement...

I have to arrange (obviously) my own music, but also the music of others. It's part of my job. I also listen to a varied platter of stuff when I'm not working. So, there's no getting away from it. What have I been listening to recently? Early electronic music from the '50s, cloudy '70s library music, '80s Italo disco, '20s hot jazz, '60s cool jazz, R&B and various forms of Pop from 2010. That's just for starters.

What do they all have in common? The best examples all have wonderfully strong arrangements. Good arrangement is the key element which sets apart a good piece of music from an exceptional one. It's all contextual, of course; what works for one piece won't necessarily work for another.

When scoring for an orchestra, the focus of arrangement comes from the selection of instruments and where and when they will play. Space is created in a piece of music, not only from left to right in a stereo sense, it is also created from front to back. Have a listen to this piece by Tammy St John - "Dark Shadows & Empty Hallways". It's a classic '60s production, but listen to the way it's arranged, just once (don't always do this, just enjoy it for what it is).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nCMfoefQBY

It sounds absolutely massive. Why? Well, ok, there is a good amount of reverb on the recording (especially the vocal) but the real reason is that nothing is out of place in the arrangement. The strings are epic, but they play around the vocal, which is the main focus of the song. If you really listen, you will notice that the strings (and other instrumental elements) aren't nearly as full-on as you first think. The vocal is allowed to breathe and become the centre of attention. The whole thing is a big illusion.

Let's try a wildly different example. This is an electronic arrangement by producer Ryan Leslie for the R&B artist Cassie. Listen to the way the synth elements and minimal drums play around the vocal. All elements in the song live quite symbiotically and although the arrangement is far more minimal than the Tammy St John example, there is enough going on throughout the song to carry it along and form a cohesive piece of music.

http://www.last.fm/music/Cassie/_/Me%2B%2526%2BU%2B%2528Main%2529

I've been reading a lot about and listening to music from Northern India recently. If ever there was a music which relies on impeccable arrangement, it is found in the ragas of Kolkata. What is even more interesting, is that the majority of the music is improvised. Therefore, it takes a huge amount of skill and taste to control the arrangement, completely on the fly. Quite often, there will only be three performers; a tabla player, a string instrument player (the instrument varies) and a drone player (or electronic drone machine, such as a Shruti box). Remember too, that this music isn't based on the western tradition of using chord changes as a device to inject interest into a piece. So, every note that is played counts. Subhasis and Debashish Bhattacharya know all about this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r_mRktR-68

The best arrangements are always uncluttered. It makes for satisfying listening. Quite often, it's more about the notes you don't play than the ones you do. It's not immediately obvious, that one. It took me a number of years to really get it, but I'm there now, I think. I'm certainly not saying that you should always listen to music in this way, but sometimes it's interesting to give these things a bit of thought and come to your own conclusions.

- Jb.

The Advisory Circle on Twitter.

Just a quick mention that there is an Advisory Circle Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/advisorycircle

- Jb.

It's time for Tristram Cary.

If you're at all interested in the history of electronic music, you are going to need this forthcoming release from Trunk Records. It's absolutely essential. Tristram Cary was one of three men (alongside Peter Zinovieff and electronics genius David Cockerell) who developed the EMS VCS3 (which was the first British synthesizer aimed at recording musicians, rather than being strictly the preserve of academics). He was also an extremely prolific composer, both in the electronic music / musique concrete / electroacoustic sphere and also the orchestral world.

The music presented on the Trunk release concentrates mainly on the electronic side, but also includes some delightful orchestral pieces peppered throughout. The interesting thing (and something to think about) is that it all hangs together so well. Every piece bears the hallmark of TC's exceptionally fluid compositional style, thus illustrating that the means by which you create and deliver a piece of music is unimportant; it's the ideas that matter.

Something I liked in the sleevenotes (written by his son, John Cary); we learn that after a hard day's composing, TC was very partial to unwinding with a large glass of scotch in front of a sitcom or old gangster film. For that alone, he deserves to be in your record collection. And not before time.

- Jb.

Through the Green Lens...

Well... it's appropriate that Café Kaput should start with a post about The New Record. It's here and it looks amazing.

Julian's artwork for Ghost Box is perfect for the format and the whole thing just feels 'right' somehow. Seeland and The Belbury Poly have contributed their re-interpretations of 'Osprey' and 'Cuckoo', respectively. Both amazing to my ears.

I included a new recording of 'Mind How You Go' and also a new track, 'Seasons', which I started writing during the MHYG sessions, but not finished and mixed until now.

It'll be available from March 5th. You can pre-order it here.

- Jb.