Booked to play at an event in Helsinki on the 31st of this month, so far 2004 holds the enchanting possibility of Centrozoon being collectively frozen to death in the wintry wastes of Finland (probably mid-song!). As the closing images of Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ come to mind every ten minutes or so, the search for stylish thermal underwear and fur-free … Read More

For me, No-Man’s ‘Together We’re Stranger’ still represents the best work I’ve done, or at the very least the work that’s closest to my idea of what I want to do with music. Simultaneously, expansive and intimate, electronic and organic, I think the album’s combination of ambient experiment and emotive song-craft, will be difficult to better. Despite some mixed performances, … Read More

With my plans for a British currywurst franchise temporarily on hold, I’ve been doing some mixing and project assessment with The Butler and Stephen Bennett. ——- The ‘voiceloops’ album is probably complete, but now comes the difficult part of selecting the parts of the tracks which hold up to repeated listening. Almost without exception, the pieces start fairly tentatively and … Read More

This is the first posting that finds me on the wrong side of 40. Pass the suicide pills, kids! ——- Despite me suffering from a debilitating migraine and a grotesque facial rash that re-cast me as pop’s most eligible Elephant Man lookalike, the Bowness/Chilvers Blues Explosion’s support to Porcupine Tree went as well as we could have hoped. Although we … Read More

In between bouts at the studio with Mixmeister Modo and Markus, I’ve been wandering around the streets of central Hanover. Everything’s Christmas light pretty and incredibly relaxed. The old town, City Hall and mainline station are ornately attractive in a traditional German style and over the next couple of days, I’m looking forward to seeing Lord Chilvers future residence, the … Read More

Along with Markus (in his furious Frank from ‘Blue Velvet’ mode), I arrive in Hanover for four days of mixing and recording for the new Centrozoon album. We’ve agreed loosely on what’s staying and what’s going and at this point, have enough material to fill three very different albums. The one we’re currently working on contains the material which defiantly … Read More

A joint Centrozoon performance with Einslive DJ , Klaus Fiehe, was probably the worst trio gig in memory. Playing to a crowd more interested in talking, dancing, smoking and drinking than listening to music is always difficult. We didn’t go down or play particularly badly, but overall, it felt like we were constantly banging our collective head against a giant, … Read More

A pleasant and uneventful flight to the ‘fake’ Dusseldorf, Niederrhein. A much more interesting time on the train to Stansted, however, where my former dealings with the elderly mentally and physically infirm came in very handy. A confused woman with no stockings, no bags, a solitary five pound note and, it must be said, a slight whiff of men’s toilets … Read More

Amidst interminable bouts of singing ‘Angel Of Berlin’ and playing intensely competitive games of bar football (England 10 Germany 3, in case you’re wondering), Centrozoon actually managed to perform as part of the ‘Nine Teeth’ art exhibition. An underground ‘art happening’ that part resembled Andy Warhol’s Factory in its 1960s heyday, while also evoking a run-down community centre in Halifax, … Read More

Wednesday’s Centrozoon performance was polished and confident, but the emphasis on the more beat-orientated aspects of our work, made it a less charming and satisfying experience than usual for me. Sunday’s church setting provided an ideal atmosphere for relaxed excursions into the heart of the music, whereas the more conventional and organised nature of this performance meant that we were … Read More