Where have I been?

You don't hear from me for a whole month and then I turn up with fifty-something fave albums of 2014 ... where have I been?

I work in projects and on the last weekend in November we implemented a new system. The implementation went well (I was on call that weekend) but once the system was in place we experienced a number of issues that really affected performance. I've been working, as part of a team, to rectify this situation.

In addition to my day job ... I've been out and about as a photographer:



I was privileged to photograph the Salvation Army in the West of Scotland's Annual Carol Service at the City Halls in Glasgow (link) ...



... the dedication of Nathan Laird at Airdrie Salvation Army (link) ...



... and Airdrie Salvation Army's Annual Carol Service at the Town Hall in Airdrie (link).

I also released some new music on my netlabel: weareallghosts ...



"Curious Warnings (waag_rel060)" by Kevin Lyons (link) ...



"Tales of Space Exploration 25 - 34 (waag_rel061)" by Brother Saturn (link) ...



... and four instalments in a series celebrating an 'ambient Advent' from Simon Slator.







(link) + (link) + (link) + (link)



I also released a podcast - a guest mix by Michael Gaida - over on circumambient.

Circumambient 027 (Guest Mix by Michael Gaida) by Headphonaught on Mixcloud

So yeah ... it's been a very busy period for me. I haven't had the time to write and, to be honest, I haven't had the desire. I lost the 'want' ... and that really hurt.



I was able to celebrate Christmas with my work colleagues (most of my 'gang' are pictured above) and was able to see the third instalment of THE HOBBIT with my family ... all of which counts.

Anyway ... I hope normal service can be resumed. Thanks for sticking with me.

Tx

My TOP FIFTY-ISH Best Albums of 2014

Over on makeyourowntaste.com I was asked to list my Top Ten favourite albums of 2014. Unfortunately I was unable to limit my list to Ten … so I went with Fifty. Since then I’ve thought of a few albums I missed off the list.

This is my TOP FIFTY-ISH Best Albums of 2014 … I haven’t split the list into genre or whether the album was self-released, on a net-label or a major player … I also haven’t listed any albums from my netlabel: weareallghosts … as that wouldn’t be fair.

Here we go (albums in BOLD were missed previously):

"A home for you" by Good Weather for an Airstrike
"Absence" - Gargle & Bosques de mi Mente
"Asleep Versions" - Jon Hopkins
"Awake" - Tycho
"Building Nothing, Laying Bricks’ - Evolv
"Chronos" - Andrea Carri
"ClarOscuro" by Bruno Sanfilippo
"Distant Satellites" - Anathema
"Dogma" - Gespenst
"Fall, Rise" by Richard Ginns,
"Falling Sun" - Chihei Hatakeyama & Good Weather for an Airstrike
"A Forest of Fey" - Gandalf's Fist
"Gemini Gemini" - Jennie Abrahamson
"Ghost Stories" - Coldplay
"The Ghosts of Pripyat" - Steve Rothery
"Glasshouse" - Northcape
"The Healing Seasons" - Canopy
"Hibernation" + "Random Forest" - Random Forest
"I Did That Tomorrow" - Tess Said So
"I Never Learn" - Lykke Li
"In Between" - Row Boat
"In Each and Everyone" - Polar Bear
"Interstellar OST" - Hans Zimmer
"It's Nearly Tomorrow" - Craig Armstrong
"Leaving Stations" by Zenjungle
"Lost in the dream" - The War on Drugs
"Love Lost in a Storm" - Panoptique Electrical
"Movements for an Absent Mind" - by Darren Harper
"My Family goes on without me" - Caught In The Wake Forever
"No Mans Land" - Tommy Guerrero
"Nomawkish" by Diamond Gloss
"Oscillator" - The Atlas Amp
"Opening" - Christopher Willits
"Pacific"  + "Sierra" - The Echelon Effect
"Petrichor" - Harnes Kretzer
"Under The Skin OST" - Mica Levi
"The Secret of the Sea" - Bruno Bavota
"Seeds" - TVOTR
"Sibir" + Bonus Tracks - The Gateless Gate
"Spaces" - Nils Frahm***
"Sparks" - Imogen Heap
"Standing on the edge of decay" - Cousin Silas*
"Stereoscope" - Max Greening
"Starting Over" - Summer Effect
"Syro" - Aphex Twin
"Tales from Urban" - Zenjungle & Tunedin52
"They Flew in Censored Skies" by Sleepstream
"This is all yours" - Alt-J
"This is for our sins" - Lowercase Noises
"Tomorrow's Modern Boxes" - Thom Yorke
"Transit" - Orbit Over Luna
"Twilight Kingdom" - Lisa Gerrard
"Variations on the Celesta" - twincities.
"Warpaint" - Warpaint
"We Held Our Breath Until Our Hearts Exploded" - Beneath The Watchful Eyes
"We never left" - Stray Theories
"Your Empire, In Decline" - Hessien**

NOTES
*I designed the cover for this release.
**The Hessien album is not released until Jan 1st, 2015 … but I was given it in 2014 and its a cracker, pure and simple … and just had to be on this list.

***"Spaces" is from 2013 ... but I discovered it in 2014 ... so, you know, I think of it as a 2014 album.