I’ve updated my website and moved blogs. If you want to continue receiving an RSS feed please visit http://ffrancon.net/?feed=rss2. Ithankyou and hope to see you over on the dark side..

Dwi wedi diweddaru fy ngwefan a symud fy mlog. Os da chi eisiau cario mlaen derbyn y porth RSS ewch i http://ffrancon.net/?feed=rss2. Diolch a welai chi ar yr ochr dywyll…

At last, I’ve finished the bloody thing. “A musical monster following Dr Ffranconstein to his laboratory as he struggles to create a new life, and then has to deal with the horrific reality of what he has done. It’s alive! It’s alive!” according to my own blurb…

There is no one ‘definitive’ version of Ffranconstein – it’s a multi-headed beast that includes a CD, an immersive soundscape, a ‘junior’ Ffranconstein EP, a completely different album, a user manual, moving images, and bits & pieces of the monster which I invite you to do whatever you want with.

O’r diwedd, dwi di gorffen y blydi peth. Anghenfil aml-bennog yw Ffranconstein, yn cynnwys CD, tirwedd swn, EP Ffranconstein ‘bach’, albym hollol wahanol, llawlyfr defnyddiwr, delweddau symudol, a darnau o’r anghenfil dwi’n eich annog i defnyddio ar gyfer be bynnag da chi isho.

Diolch anferth i bawb a oedd yn rhan o’r brosiect – a massive thank you to everyone who was involved in the project. Musical contributors/collaborators are listed at the bottom of the page here.

Haleliwia! The subscriber-only CD is now being finalised and will be sent out to all subscribers in the new year. Ffranconstein will also appear in other forms which you can find out about here when they are released.

Bydd y cynnyrch yn cael ei anfon i’r cyfeiriad oedd yn gysylltiedig a’ch cyfrif Paypal adeg talu. Os ydi eich cyfieiriad wedi newid ers hynny, rhowch wybod i mi! geraintffrancon/hotmail/com

The product will be sent to the address associated with your Paypal account at the time of ordering. If your address has changed since then, let me know! geraintffrancon/hotmail/com

Next Friday night 22nd October at the Cardiff Arts Institute Electroneg are hosting a night as part of Huw Stephens’ SWN festival. Playing live will be Quinoline Yellow (Skam), Dam Mantle and Plyci, with DJ sets from Cian Ciaran (Super Furry Animals/Acid Casuals) and the malformed, stunted, hunchbacked Electroneg DJs.

The night starts at 7pm, and if you haven’t got/don’t want to get a Swn Festival wristband (and I recommend you do get one) it costs £4 on the door.

If you haven’t heard of SWN, it’s a really vibrant three day festival taking place in lots of different venues around Cardiff. It’s now in its fourth year and the highlights this year include Swans, Cate Le Bon, Islet, Attack+Defend, Zwolf, Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club, Threatmantics, Meic Stevens, Clinic, and Bryn Fon.

Out now on Electroneg, featuring two tracks of mine “Night Remixes” (remixed by Quinoline Yellow) and “What Would You See If You Sat On A Beam Of Light”. Available to buy on ye olde CD and download

Diwrnod i ddathlu’r iaith Gymraeg ar y we ac i annog mwy o bobol i gymryd rhan yn y diwylliant Cymraeg digidol yw Pethau Bychain – a heddiw ydy’r diwrnod! Dwi wedi cynhyrchu’r trac hon, o’r enw (ia da chi di dyfalu’n iawn) ‘Pethau Bychain‘.

Pan nes i ddechrau’r blog hon o’n i’n bwriadu sgwenu yng Nghymraeg a Saesneg, ond dwi heb wneud. O hyn ymlaen dwi am cynnwys lot mwy o bethau yn y Gymraeg ac yn ddwyieithog (dwyieithog yw fy ‘mode’ i, wedi’r cwbl). A hefyd bydd na lot mwy o Gymraeg ar wefan y label newydd dwi’n neud, sef Electroneg.

When I said that Ffranconstein would be finished and released by the end of Summer 2010, I was obviously lying.

It is, however, getting there. Originally my idea was simply to compile all the tracks and create some nifty links from the source material to tie everything together into a Ffranconsteinian narrative.

However the more I’ve played around with this idea the more new, exciting and unexpected things have happened. Here’s a sketch of where I’m currently at, although expect this to have change drastically again by the time it’s finally (finally) finished.

Still with me? Good.

Peter said his intention “was to make something bristling with potential samples, whilst at the same time being a piece of music in it’s own right”. I described my interpretation as “a non conceptual mini album in twelve, possibly thirteen, parts”.

A train making its way through a sultry Indian night, climbing slowly, picking its way precariously along cliff edges, over bridges, through tunnels and forests until it emerges into the clear dark air of Shimla.

My thing about asking people to produce images in response to Ffranconstein music got me thinking – is there such a thing as software that can do this?

Various google searches bring up a few tantalising glimpses of existent/nonexistent software/projects – but nothing entirely concrete (by which I mean it works and is available, is cheap, easy to use, and doesn’t churn out complete rubbish).

I would really desperately hugely love to have an application that creates images in response to different aspects of music/sound eg its brightness/darkness, tone, speed, complexity etc etc etc. There must be something out there! I mean, even Windows Media Player automatically creates some cheesy graphics in response to whatever’s playing. Help.

In complete contrast, translating images into sound is an absolute doddle (see here for some ideas). I’ve been playing around with a few of the available (free) softwares and they give interesting results that as you would expect sound very much like an extreme avant noise album.

Below are a couple of work in progress examples, produced in response to Llyr Pierce’s images which he produced in response to a couple of Ffranconstein tracks (this could go on forever couldn’t it…):

Llyr Pierce

Llyr Pierce

Maria Bowers

Chaz

Here’s a link to Llyr Pierce’s blog article on Ffranconstein.

‘Demonstration Music‘ is an ongoing project reinventing those cheesy demo songs you can find on electronic keyboards and synths.

This track is my ‘interpretation’ of my beloved Casiotone MT-240′s demonstration song. I’ve owned this keyboard since childhood and have had to put up with the astonishing demo song for years, so it’s good to finally get my own back.

Here are three new things which you should listen to now, before the world ends:

“Carol A Syncs Eyry” with Lembo

“Laniydwtktsa” with Jakokoyak

“Ppolidori” with Peter Nelson

Neithiwr o’n i’n rhan o raglen/prosiect ‘Unnos’ Radio Cymru. Bob nos Fawrth mae Huw Evans yn gwahodd cymysgfa gwahanol o bobl (cerddorion rhan fwya) i dod fewn i’r stiwdio a cydweithio dros nos er mwyn cynhyrchu EP, sy’n cael ei rhyddhau ar y we 9am bore Mercher. Yr wythnos hon mi wnaethon nhw ofyn i mi greu trac ychwanegol allan o clips sain o’r cerddorion wrthi’n gweithio – a dyma fo (gwaelod y tudalen), ynghyd a gweddill y traciau. Y rhai yn y stiwdio yr wythnos hon oedd Ynyr Roberts o Brigyn, y bardd Meirion Macintyre Huws, a’r telynor amryddawn/arbrofol Rhodri Davies. Rhodri sy’n gyfrifol am y darnau anhygoel o telyn ar trac The Cinematic Orchestra All That You Give.

Last night I was part of the ‘Unnos’ programme/project on Radio Cymru. Every Tuesday night Huw Evans invites a mixture of different people (mostly musicians) into the studio to collaborate an create an EP, which is released on the web 9am Wednesday morning. This week they asked me to create an extra track out of sound clips of the musicians going about their work – and here it is (bottom of the page), along with all the other tracks. In the studio this week were Ynyr Roberts from Brigyn, the bard Meirion Macintyre Huws, and the multitalented/experimental harpist Rhodri Davies. Rhodri is the person responsible for the beautiful harp that appears on The Cinematic Orchestra track All That You Give.

Despite being beset by numerous problems – no base at which to retire/work on the collected audio, no planning, no suitable recording equipment, failure to turn up, failure to record stuff, illness, etc etc… we made it through and performed our set as planned. It went well and I’d like to do a (better organised and attended!) version once I feel normal again.

Thanks a mizillion to Vaughan I Fynwy Hughes for recording the entire thing – here it is in all its lo-fi glory, with introduction by Daedelus:

A grand total of seven tracks have made it public during the first six months of the Ffranconstein project, and they are all available to listen to and download for free at www.ffrancon.net. The website has had a midwinter upgrade and is now sporting a suave black look as well as a homepage image which is completely at odds with the current weather.

When I started Ffranconstein I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, and I still don’t. A particular revelation to me has been the realisation that try as I may I can’t seem to produce more than about one quality collaboration per month. Conveniently this means that by the end of summer 2010 I should have about an album’s worth of good material to release – so all is going according to plan, sort of.

Making contact, discussing ideas, collaborating, batting things back and forth, fixing an idea, doing it, recording, editing and so on takes absolutely bloody ages. I should have known this from the start (see a project I was previously involved with, ‘Re-renaissance Of The Celtic Harp’, which took over two years to realise from beginning to end).

What this all means is that under the surface there is actually a hell of a lot of stuff going on, all at different stages of progress. I’m starting to realise that many of these collaborations won’t be done in time for the summer, and this is where the spectre of a second Ffranconstein album starts to raise it’s ugly mishapen head.

As I write this here update a number of other Ffranconstein-related ideas are also swirling around inside my small brain. I shan’t trouble you with the details right now, except to say that a Volume 3 and 4 may also emerge at some point, loosely related to the original concept but also subtly and cheekily different.

True to nature, the Ffranconstein monster is starting to take on a life of its own and I am powerless to stop it.

Happy nadolig and a merry blwyddyn newydd.

Blog/cylchgrawn arlein newydd am cerddoriaeth, ffilm ayb yw Y Twll. Dwi wedi cyfrannu’r erthygl gyntaf, sef fy 20 hoff trac/albym electronica dros yr ugain mlynedd diwethaf.

Y Twll is a new blog/magazine about music, film etc, written in Welsh. I contributed the first article, my top 20 electronica tracks/albums from the last twenty years.

The title of the novel refers to a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who plays God by creating new life from dead flesh (although in fact the exact details of the monster’s construction are left ambiguous). His creation is a likeness of man, only larger, more powerful, and a bit deformed.

After giving the monster life, Frankenstein, disgusted by and fearful of the monster’s appearance, flees. After several harsh encounters with humans, the monster becomes afraid of them and spends a year living near a cottage and observing the family who lived there.

Frankenstein’s monster is referred to by words such as “monster”, “dæmon”, “fiend”, “wretch” and “it”. When Frankenstein converses with the monster he addresses it as “Devil”, “Vile insect”, “Abhorred monster”, “fiend”, “wretched devil” and “abhorred devil”.

I’m doing a project called SWN=SOUND at the Swn Festival in Cardiff this weekend. If you’re heading that way please drop by! It’s at the Model Inn at 6pm on Saturday. Here’s a description that wasn’t written by me but sounds pretty much spot on:

The drunken brainchild of Geraint Ffrancon and Gerallt Ruggiero, Swn=Sound is an audio experiment where Ffrancon+Ruggiero will be creating a Swn festival electronic set out of the festival itself. During the course of the exciting Swn weekend they will be running around like fools recording all sorts of sounds. Later – after a lot of vodka and no sleep – those sounds will be transformed into a magical array of textures, rhythms and vibrations ready to be performed live. To hear if this experiment works on any sort of level make your way to the Model Inn on Saturday the 24th of October at 6pm! the experiment will be followed by live music from John Grindell, Pencadlys + many more.

Mae ”Cân Môr” wedi ei weu allan o sampls o lais cyflwynydd Radio Cymru Lisa Gwilym. Rhai fisoedd yn ôl gafodd Lisa yr anlwc o fy nghyfweld ynglyn a Ffranconstein, ac ers hynny dwi wedi bod yn trio creu rhywbeth cerddorol allan o’i llais melfedaidd hi.

O’n i eisiau creu rhywbeth oedd yn bortread cerddorol o llais Lisa.  Rhywle ar hyd y ffordd aeth pethau’n o chwith a mae hi wedi troi fewn i shanti môr!

“Cân Môr” (“Sea Song”) is made entirely out of the voice of Lisa Gwilym, a presenter on BBC Radio Cymru. Lisa had the misfortune of interviewing me about Ffranconstein a few months ago, and ever since then I’ve been grappling with the self-set challenge of creating some music based on her velvety tones.

I wanted to create a something close to a musical representation of her voice. Somewhere along the way it went wrong and she’s ended up sounding like a sea shanty!

Gai Toms is one of Wales’ foremost folk/roots musicians. His last album, “Rhwng Y Llygru A’r Glasu” (“Between The Ages Of Polluting And Renewing”), was an eco-concept album, recorded using green energy, a drumkit scavenged from rubbish, a cover made out of recycled materials, and songs about what a mess we’ve made of the world.

Gai sent me a whole load of recorded samples of his fantastic junk drumkit (sample contents: half a canoe; teapot) and I set out to only use the samples he sent me, and nothing else.

This is what I came up with. Without knowing anything much about tribal mantras, I think it sounds like a tribal mantra. Maybe all that hypnotic drumming got to me - I found myself particularly affected by the aforementioned cut in half canoe, which produces a wonderful sub-bass sound that induces a trancelike state on repeated listen.

I had loads of fun doing this and I have a feeling I’ll be coming back to Gai’s junk kit again before Ffranconstein is over (if it ever ends, that is).

For those of you who don’t know, the title of the track – ‘Popeth Ar Y Record ‘Ma Wedi Cael Ei Ddwyn O Jynk Kit Gai Toms’ – is a nod to a legendary rap/hip-hop/dub artists Llwybr Llaethog, whose track ’Popeth Ar Y Record ‘Ma Wedi Cael Ei Ddwyn’ (‘Everything On This Record’s Been Stolen’) is often cited as the first ever Welsh language hip hop record.

Me and a friend have a long running joke that it’s possible to mix Lil’ Louis seminal house classic “French Kiss” with anything and it will sound brilliant. And when I say mix with ‘anything’, I mean anything. Not just music, but kettles, clouds, full suspension mountain bikes, Michael Bolton … anything.

One evening I took up the challenge by attempting to mix French Kiss with Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Jazz version of ‘Hello Dolly’. It worked a treat. Never mind that the tempo was completely off, or that the 1920s brass jarred horribly with the electronic beats, or that it was complete and utter bollocks. It just worked.

After several years I recently returned to this French Kiss/Hello Dolly theme, intent on recording the definitive version of this forgotten underground classic. And here it is.

Lil’ Louis – French Kiss (Ffrancon’s Way)

Maria Bowers is a printmaker and graphic artist from Bristol. Her images of the village of Beauville in Southwest France explore the use of black through different print processes. They immediately struck me as very familiar. I’ve never been there, but have visited many similar villages in the South of France, the type of places that never make it into the Rough Guide but which are breathtakingly beautiful and … you know, so god damned French.

Beauville strikes me as a generic name that could be applied to any of the thousands of sleepy, forgotten villages that dot the French countryside and that I’ll never get to visit in my lifetime but which I know are out there.

So … (and there is a risk that you may find this next sentence slightly wanky) … I’ve been trying to create musical interpretations of the mythical ‘Beauville’ – an amalgam of Maria’s actual Beauville, and all the beau villes I’ve visited over the years.

Fittingly, I’ve created about a dozen Beauvilles so far, of which #5 and #7 are my current favourites. #5 is a bit cliched, but I like it anyway. #7 is slightly quirky and reminds me of small French provincial supermarkets.

Incidentally one of Maria’s prints is currently being exhibited at the Royal West of England Academy (just up from the madness that is the Banksy exhibition).

A track called Beauty what I done in collaboration with my friend EJ Steer. Actually, most of it is down to him – all I did was rearrange it slightly to make it sound even more amazing than the original and then post it up here so I get to look good and ride on someone else’s coat-tails.

More Ffrancon/Steer on its way soon…

I was reading the other day about research that shows that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.

Apparently, announcing your plans to other satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.

NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying the issue since the 1980s, and recently published the results of a study in a research article called “When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?”

That’s me fucked then.

Dileu (it means ‘Delete’) sent me a lovely track for the Ffranconstein project via Radio Cymru’s C2 show, which I severely dented and battered back into a very different shape during an evening of Murroughs Welsh tea-addled music-making. Here are the results.

A couple of random facts about Dileu/me that I’ve just gathered from looking at his myspace:

1. We were both born in Ysbyty Dewi Sant – St David’s Hospital – in Bangor, North Wales, before they knocked it down to make way for a JJB Sports.

2. Among his influences are Cor Meibion Y Penrhyn – The Penrhyn Male Voice Choir – who my dad used to sing with!

These past few weeks I have been testing out Ffranconstein on a variety of poor, unsuspecting ‘friends’ and am now ready to properly launch the thing and get under way. Actual musical things will be coming your way very soon…

A big diolchynfawriawn (thanks) to those of you who have already subscribed to the blog and as yet nonexistent newsletter, bunged me tenners and sent me collaborative sounds, ideas and virtual kicks up the arse. You  will be richly rewarded in the next life. For the rest of you, here are some things you can do to help me:

- Contribute! Send your £10 to me via Paypal on the Ffranconstein page.

- Download Hard/Medium/Soft for free!

- Send me stuff! By email, soundcloud, post (email/myspace/facebook me for an address)

- Befriend me on Facebook, Myspace,  Last.FM, Flickr (but not Twitter, I don’t have enough hours in my life or interesting things to say)  and spread the word by telling other people too.

- Subscribe for blog and newsletter updates!

- Download sounds from the Continuum project for free! – over and over and over, forever

- Buy CDs and stuff from the Ffranconshop! Or if you can’t afford to do that, proclaim your support via a nice little donation using the link on that very same page.