This is the blog post I was going to write before I started on about Electric Arms (a reference to a memorable party in my murky past). What I was going to write about was a simple little technical aside regarding a gadget I purchased recently. Wireless broadband has also been a bit hit and miss for me and 90% of the sentient population of the planet so invested is a pair of adapters that send your broadband as a carrier signal over the electrical wiring in your home. Here are the set I bought although there are others http://www.faculty-x.net/homeplug%20tl-pa201.htm 


They work really well. Didn't bother reading the instructions either, I just plugged them in (one at the modem and another wherever you are working) and it worked first time.


It would also solve my Songs From The Shed issue which was discussed here  here http://slmc.myfastforum.org/ftopic2464-20-0-asc-.php only the shed is out of action due to a planning dispute...sigh...

Electric Arm is a partially written song I have been playing with for a while but I fear it may be too weird when stood up against my other material. The tune has been going round in my head for a couple of months now but it is a departure into more avant garde material that is best keep until the time is right. 


I have been finding with my writing that I am more and more inclined to write something leftfield but it's always been there in a way without most people noticing. It's easy to dismiss melodic music as lightweight but for me therein lies the challenge. Most of my songs have two or more levels. It might be that there is something catchy or heartfelt up front that draws in a listener but it's in the depth of lyric and the story of the song takes it beyond just doo doo doo.

For some time now I have had songs hosted on the web at a once cool website called http://www.thesixtyone.com/ and in fact my contributions could be accessed directly at http://www.thesixtyone.com/djaiskjellerup/


Unfortunately, this website has long had an evolving tinkering ethos to its construction and the latest set of changes have rendered useless for acts. It's enough of a change to make it a completely new concept but unfortunately takes away one of the most fun things about music on the web; discovering something new that you like. The search tools have been dismantled and instead you are channelled sheep-like through a narrow corridor of acts. Branching out from this is awkward and counter-intuitive. The guys that provide this site have long been belligerent in the face of feedback from users and once again they are deflecting all criticism in order to forge their own path. It's their website so it's their prerogative but I am certainly going to cease using it as a place to host my songs. The material will be briefly available in it's old form at http://old.thesixtyone.com/  but the egg timer is running on that one so I will either remove my songs or allow them to expire. (stop press: songs now removed!). 


I'll be choosing a new host for my songs that will also hopefully include a widget player so that you will also be able to listen to them from my own site. It's most likely to be http://www.reverbnation.com/ although I read that there is a buzz around http://uvumi.com/ as well.

Anna the usual organiser at The Piano Bar dropped me a message to offer me a return spot and so I am booked to play as part of a 3 act line up on Thursday March 11th. I am really looking forward to this. They do 2 lots of 15 mins so about 8 songs in total. It's a few weeks away so it gives me time to check out some other places too.


I am also having a prolific time writing at the moment. It always goes like that, don't write anything for ages and then 3 or 4 songs in the space of a fortnight. Better go and get written down what is in my head now.....