Mark Shreeve RIP

 It's been a bad time lately for our scene, losing giants such as Klaus Schulze and Vangelis, but also very important but lesser-known figures such as Tony Sawford. Yesterday I got home from my walk to hear Mark Shreeve had died. So when the dog woke me up at 05:30, instead of going back to sleep I started thinking of Mark. I posted something on his facebook page but it still doesn't really do him justice. 

Ever since hearing the awful news, I've been trying to write something suitable - and failing. Mark was there from the very start of our little EM scene - and from the outset he was its brightest light. I remember being completely blown away by what he did at the first UK Electronica and, over the years, by the twists and turns of his career. I was certainly a bit of a fanboy - so much so that, when Mark attended one of my gigs, I was so nervous and shaky I accidentally hit the wrong button on my sequencer, stopping it in mid-flight. I only rarely suffered from stage-fright but the thought of playing sequences to the man behind Redshift was simply too much to handle. Anyway, if any P3 or Cirklon owners have ever wondered about its 'safe stop' function, wonder no longer. It's there because of Mark and the effect he had on me, which I'm sure would have amused him greatly.

Losing him is a real shock and the EM world is a duller, greyer place without him in it. I'm sure many of us will be playing his music today and in the days that follow. RIP.

I also remember the early days when Jive Electro were looking to take on a British EM artist. Ian, Mark and myself were in the running (perhaps more people too?) and I did chuckle much later at my own ineptness. Mark sent Assassin, not sure what Ian wernt with (the Climb?) but I sent them a 90 minute cassette of the Eternal Champion, clearly thinking quantity would triumph over quality. It's the one that starts with that really cheesy brassy tune thing - ouch! I remember them asking about how keen I was on going to London and being told 'not very' but I'm sure it was the music that sealed the deal. They definitely picked the right man! Mark was already more switched on than the rest of us and had demonstrated that at UKE '83. I wish I'd kept more in touch - our occasional emails got fewer over the years, as so often happens. 

Friday was good - filled the skip with rubble and cuttings so we can carry on with the next phase of the plan. I had a jolly afternoon writing and some night writing too after Pat went to bed. This is almost my favourite part of a novel, where I'm nearly at the end of the first draft and have ideas for all the little gaps that remain. It's just a matter of time, sitting and typing now. Once draft #1 is complete I'll maybe let it stew a few months before starting the comb-through to make draft #2, the one others can read. This time I'll try to get people involved before it goes any further, will give me time to think about cover. Hopefully I can get something from Tim and his Midjourney Masterpieces as that'll be a great look even if it doesn't match the first. 

Good day (Saturday) Zimpel was the track and I fucked my mix but fortunately I knew Tim's was the one from the start. 

My copy of VidepPad updated itself today and now claims to be a fucking demo version. Cuntage!!!! Rolled back to previous version. 

Oh look, Farage has his own gin. In JAA my lizards made Patrios gin but his is red, white and blue - close enough to call copycat?

I did a sorta jam on Cirklon based on Assassin/Assault on Prec13. I guess that was bound to happen. Very fond memories of that album and damned if I can find my copy. I know I flogged my vinyl of Thoughts of War years ago but sure I still had Assassin somewhere. Oh well. 

Now then, it's Tuesday and I updated the Cosmos and RC-505-II. The former appears to have lost the annoying noise when going into reverse and the latter now works properly when it comes to odd-length loops. Actually it was fixed at 1.2 but I never checked - so no more need to do the dummy bar thing, yay! Had a pleasant afternoon sending Jupiter through the Cosmos and grabbing random stuff from it and the Super 6 into the looper, including some quickly-improvised sequencing. Made me very happy. Didn't record it because, well, I'm not sure it's healthy to record everything. Sun seems to be coming out so maybe I'm done in the studio, might just potter a tiny bit more though ;)