A strange and complex dream last night. I wanted a projection screen for an event which was outside, and I had to mutilate cows, or extract tiny organs or glands from their living bodies to achieve this. I barely recall much else.
The day has flown by. I've finalised my Christmas and birthday gifts for 2020, and almost all presents are done. I tweaked the Jabberwock a little, slightly lowering the vocals, and have ordered a few things online. It feels like a day of rest after a hectic week. Covid-19 is in a clear second wave, partly due, I feel, to students and micro-peak events. Still, I feel that the end of September, specifically the 24th, was the nadir and that things are getting better.
I listened to Marillion's Brave last night, an album recommended to me by Simon Ladley. It does have a very 90s sort of sound - very clean. The band themselves said that they're part Pink Floyd, part Radiohead, part Muse, part Coldplay. The result is a beige blur of consistent sound which is pretty and soulless. The vocals are inaudibly low so any hint of poetry or a story is lost; this is the worst sound mixing on any album I've heard. The only other Marillion album I have is Script For A Jester's Tear which is brimming with 80s theatricality, though it reminds me more of goth and alternative type bands like The Bolshoi than Genesis. I can't help but think that Fish, with his performance élan made the band. Fish's replacement Steve Hogarth said that they should have changed the band's name - I agree, but the result would have still been mediocre unless the music kept pushing boundaries and became edgey. I hope never to think of my art or music as being like any other artist or artists. Comparison itself is an insult - it implies a lack of creativity.
I became aware of the power of image. All artists change over time and it's difficult find consistency. With Fall in Green we have a great image and instant and clear personality of gothic, romantic, fairytale. My solo music, by comaprison, has changed hugely and at times I feel very disconnected with the early computer-game synth music, yet I can see a progression too.
Before Cycles & Shadows I considered a change of artist name for the new 'classical' type personality change, yet I rememebered that The Love Symphony perhaps fitted that; but then there is The Spiral Staircase, which is certainly symphonic in scale, yet totally synthetic. I'm now thinking of my whole current back-catalogue in terms of a total artwork and want to unify the look and feeling of it all, and one way is to work on the cover art. Albums like The Flatspace Soundtrack have art that looks so very dated now, and much more like a budget computer game than the work of a solo musical artist let alone a musical master and artistic genius.
I must work on this.
I met Deb in the park at sunset, which was delightful. The autumn leaves made me think of making Jabberwock monsters from them. I must now focus and summon creative energies.
