2011年 03月 6日 日曜日 13:10
THE PHIL-HARMONIC PODCAST
Visitors to my profile, old and new, will have noticed that I have had a thing for writing in the past. I still do, if I’m honest. Blogging on last.fm became one of my favourite past times over the course of the last 3 or 4 years, writing about everything from the intricate workings of sellout "techno" super groups to the symbolic iconography and subconscious idealism at the core of trance music. It was therapeutic, it was reaffirming, it was vindicating and, more importantly, it was enjoyable. I would do it all again if the clock was turned back and wouldn’t change a word of any of those very lengthy articles.
But having elected to knock the last.fm journal writing on the head (bar an end of year review journal every December), I had gone back on that and decided that I was going to start an extended journal writing project, charting and reviewing my all time favourite electronic albums.
But by the time I’d got about a 3rd of the way through painstakingly rating these albums, my listening habits were already starting to alter pretty dramatically. Podcasts were taking precedent over albums, and collecting new music for DJing was taking precedent over listening to the vast achieve I already have. The new journal project slid into the background and then was almost forgotten.
Finally getting a 9-5 office job has really moved the goalposts. With more time spent in work, travelling to and from work and more weekends spent away in London seeing old (and dear) friends, I’ve felt myself slowly slipping into that typically British cycle of mind-numbing daily grind, followed by either partying too hard or, even more habitually, doing absolutely f*ck all.
In deciding that my life needs a bit more ‘routine and rigour’, to coin a phrase, one of the things I decided was that it was time to either resurrect the journal project or get serious about DJing. One or the other. Time allows for one. For a number of reasons, I’ve chosen the latter.
Some of you will know that I’ve been sharing mixes on my profile for a while now, but the idea of making a regular and clearly packaged podcast suddenly really appeals to me. Meeting new friend Ben Collier at the end of last year and seeing how well his monthly podcast has done, from relatively humble beginnings, has definitely inspired me. Ben is an amateur DJ like myself – albeit one that has been DJing longer – yet Room 1ne Sessions, because of its impeccable track selection is often as enjoyable as any of the other professionally produced podcasts that I listen to. I’m following up with something similar and hopefully it’ll grow into something as impressive and meaningful.
And feeling like I’ve probably said enough on this website, I think it’s probably time to let the music do the talking. As much as I love writing, music fanatics would much rather listen than read – and if they are going to read, they’d much rather read about new and exciting music than my anthropological, pseudo-philosophical and occasionally self-indulgent meditations. Those musings are still there for people to read, but now it’s time to share in what those musings describe and celebrate.
Well, if you’re still reading this then you’ve made it far enough down the page to see what this is really all about. Fellow last.fm users, this is my new by-weekly podcast – The Phil-Harmonic Podcast.
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2030/philharmonicartwork13.jpg
http://philharmonicpodcast.blogspot.com/
I’ll be presenting each episode in the form of a new blog at blogspot.com, mixes again being uploaded to SoundCloud. I won’t say too much more, because anything else I could say is already outlined in my opening blogspot post. (Don’t be put off by the amount of text in that opening post, by the way – it is the introductory post and future entries will be nothing more than a 200-300 word run down of what’s going on in the latest episode.)
Those of you that have followed my articles over the past few years will know that I’m never short of passion when it comes to music – full of idealism and obsessive about detail. I hope that passion and obsessive drive comes through as much in these podcasts.
Whether you’re sat on a bus, driving to work or lazing by an Ibizan poolside, I invite you to take my music with you. Bookmark my blog, dust off your headphones and join me on this new Phil-Harmonic journey!
All the best,
Phil
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