One of the #synthbraska songs is set in a park by the north end of this bridge - mind you, the “happening” was on a day all was engulfed by a haar (so, not beautifully clear like this image shows!) and back in my somewhat distant student years :-)

It’s been #EuropeDay today and, without my realisation it was coming up, the last three #FeelsLikeTheFuture posts have all been somewhat adjacent - day 7 was even on the Maastricht Treaty! I actually went to the building where it was signed, as a student (not during the actual summit though!)

In a moment of happenstance, I will add that once - whilst working in CLLD - I went to meet a few folk involved in running a programme / suite of community projects in the Scottish Borders, at a place called #CarlopsVillageHall. @sarahmcquaidmusic.bsky.social is playing the venue tomorrow evening!

There’s a song (‘Cardboard Coliseums’) on my @hartshornmusic.bsky.social debut #HomeSounds related to this. It asks why so many football grounds are effectively just tin sheds (or worse.) McDiarmid looks like an agri-shed in some ways, but never felt that way to me.

In case my last post looked too off topic (not much #lofi #synth accompanied song content!) here’s the @wsdot.wa.gov “road-eating” thread, with a few fun replies. The organisation also operates the Tacoma Narrows Bridge(s) & has a great web page on all three - including #GallopingGertie.

Extra info. The #SevernBridge inspired my collab with #Loopingstar (aka @showhomebrew.bsky.social host.) I have a @stadiumprints.bsky.social mug featuring the #HumberBridge (North Ferriby FC); @gragrabeck.bsky.social is from not far away. @wsdot.wa.gov has dealt with folk asking about eating roads!

Thought I would start a second mix of #synthbraska and, three hours later, have ended up recording another song for it (one that will improve the album IMHO.) Ho-hum; Bruce Springsteen recorded ‘My Father’s House’ later than most of the material that made up ‘Nebraska’, so I feel in good company…

The “10 things that felt/feel like an upbeat look to the future” thread will start later today. Off to the #WordsChangeThings festival, in Margate, for my day job first. #FeelsLikeTheFuture is the hashtag for the thread… 🧵

Fascinating / inspiring posts by other folk (3): @sulkrooms.bsky.social. I’ve been making some field recordings (to see if I can create a credible album based on them - it won’t be ready for quite a while!) but they don’t involve the actual soil or the worms that make it home.

Fascinating / inspiring posts by other folk (2): @kaylapainter.bsky.social. I’ve not reached a personal conclusion on the question she poses but have enjoyed thinking about it. I’ve long found putting Cocteau Twins’ records on results in a happy state though.

Fascinating / inspiring posts by other folk (1): @warringtonruncorn.com. I’m tempted to post a thread on 10 things that felt, or still feel, like an upbeat look to the future. Perhaps tie each one to a song and/ or tag some pertinent accounts? Might start tomorrow…

Given some of the agendas in my day-job, it’s quite nice to get home and see #EarthDay is also the 4th birthday of @hartshornmusic.bsky.social. My intro was hearing a track by @nwcalhoun.bsky.social & I’m thrilled to release material via the label now. Thanks to everyone supporting monochrome motif.

If you fancy one of our recent releases on #vinyl for #Recordstoreday Use code RSD20 at check out for a 20% discount. Albums by @johnserrano.bandcamp.com @voltagepoetry.bsky.social @purplerhapsodyx.bsky.social and the “Affinity” compilation album #musicsky elasticstage.com/monochromemo...

Today is #WorldPublicTransportDay and so an excuse to say again that the first ever @voltagepoetry.bsky.social release opened with a song - ‘The Subway Set’ - inspired by the #GlasgowSubway. There’ll be a ‘sister song’ on the #synthbraska album too! voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/the-su...

There’s a song on my next album (it’ll still sound like me tapping a Casio & whispering into a 4-track, in a garden shed) part-inspired by the #52albums series; a catch up with an old schoolfriend (now living in France) is the “personal story” side. The #KinderTrespassers get a nod too! #synthbraska

Another find from my non-Voltage Poetry Project #BlueSky account… watch out for a reference to the #BuresDragon in one of the #synthbraska songs, and how its pose is akin to those of many a Wessex white horse (Hackpen, Cherhill, Westbury etc.)

This is nice to see. I’m of the generation for whom ‘Blue Bell Knoll’ & ‘Heaven Or Las Vegas’ were “the” LPs (and saw the band at #Barrowlands on the latter tour, supported by the stupendously fine #FrazierChorus.) My top 20 would be different, and that’s fine :-) www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...

Came across this via my non-Voltage Poetry Project #Bluesky account… anyway, there’s a song about visiting tidal islands (like #Osea) that will be on the #synthbraska album. These images from @eurostarjustin.bsky.social capture something of what I’ve tried to convey in the lyrics :-)

As the music was mostly recorded over one weekend last November, and my lyrics are quite reflective, an autumn release for the #synthbraska LP seems apt. Some hashtag hints, for now, include: #Sheep #BarbaraHepworth #AHouseForEssex #GreekThomson #HenryMoore #Bilbao #Spireites #Causeways #CR78 #LoFi

Went to this yesterday. Good to see a photo of #HenryMoore working on the Underground HQ included - he’s referenced in one of the #synthbraska LP songs :-) #ArtDeco #LondonTransportMuseum

Look out for something related to this on the #synthbraska album - both in terms of its actual title (which won’t be ‘synthbraska’) and the most musically upbeat song on it… #lofi #AlmostPortastudio

First playback of the initial #synthbraska mixes today. There are a couple of vocal stumbles and I’m both tempted to keep them in, given the nature of the project, or break the 24-hour recording limit to re-record the singing in one song. The #synths squelch & bubble nicely in places :-) #lofi

All nine #synthbraska songs now have an initial mix. This album is going to be quite concise, coming in at 28 minutes as a result of those recordings across the final weekend of November. #lofi #AlmostPortaStudio

Made the first mixes of the opening quartet of songs that will appear on the #synthbraska album this afternoon. It’s #lofi even by my standards, and I seem to have delivered some vocals lending themselves to very upfront positioning. Back to #FieldRecordings news soon, I promise…

Evoking the personal stories woven through @lippykidmusic.bsky.social’s ‘52 Albums To Shape A Soul’ series, this article by @grindrod.bsky.social in @thequietus.com is a brilliant read; as an aside it even mentions ‘Song’ by #ItsImmaterial (one of my favourite LPs) & the glorious #FrazierChorus!

#FieldRecording on a Bunnymen Street, yesterday (IYKYK.) #Bath #LoFi #ToShareTheseSongsWithYou

As it’s #303Day here’s another link to ‘303 Tone Poem’ - as featured most recently on the #FurtherVerses anthology. There isn’t a #TB303 on it, despite all the sounds being synths. It’s a road trip along the #A303 :-) voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/303-to...

Thanks to everyone who liked this post. I suspect it was more to do with the photo I took, on a Broadstairs to Margate coastal walk, rather than the bit about my #FieldRecordings! @comshorelines.bsky.social work looks really fascinating; that might even inspire the title of a composition or two…

Started work, in earnest, on my first #FieldRecordings album this week (one of the locations is show here)… already, I would suggest, it is quite a different creative process to that of songwriting. Looking forward to seeing where the sounds take me :-)

Kingsgate Bridge isn’t the only piece of iconic engineering featured on #FurtherVerses. The Finnieston Crane gets a nod too (in ‘Tall Tales’) and is also mentioned in this #BBC article (i.e. the #crane, not my song!) from today. More #GeorgeWylie than #synthsky ;-) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Delighted that ‘Over Up’ - from #FurtherVerses - was played on @showhomebrew.bsky.social @madwaspradiomwr.bsky.social. A song about two people dancing in celebration of the Kingsgate Bridge, designed by #OveArup. Yes, all the instruments (other than my voice & drum-machine) are synths. #synthsky

Really random post. Headed west out of Pimlico tube station, for the first time, today en route to a knitting shop. Brought to mind the fact I started @voltagepoetry.bsky.social after a chat about #cassette label @tapeworm.org.uk in a wool emporium a few years back… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimlico...

Whilst working out when I can record the #synthbraska vocals, I’ve treated myself to a couple of albums this #BandcampFriday - ‘Affinity’ (@david-soulscorch.bsky.social @jjlovegrove.bsky.social @edwardgivens.bsky.social etc.) on @hartshornmusic.bsky.social and ‘Rewilding’ @sulkrooms.bsky.social :-)

Since it’s Bandcamp Friday here’s another reminder of the massive sale on many of our back catalogue items. CDs and downloads are now available from just £2. Many of the stock of CDs are now down to single figures so don’t miss out! monochromemotif.bandcamp.com

My first full-length album, #HomeSounds, is in the @hartshornmusic.bsky.social sale. The few remaining CDs are just £2. I made the LP wanting to evoke how I felt listening to ‘Music for Stowaways’ by #BEF, on a #Walkman - albeit with my vocals and so it’s very much a #lofi travelogue. #synthsky

As an update on this, there’s a new #Margate article - published on 30/1/26 but amended today - in @theguardian.com, featuring the two folk I was with (and mentions the #LostMargate exhibition they are involved in)! It still doesn’t mean there will be any guest vocalists on the #synthbraska album…

Very happy to discover a track of mine will be played on @showhomebrew.bsky.social next week. Alongside some admirable acts - e.g. @amongstthepigeons.bsky.social @numberstations.bsky.social and @david-soulscorch.bsky.social, to name but three, too…

I was in Margate last Friday, with some (genuinely nice) “creatives” too … had I hung around a few hours more, maybe I’d have found a different guest vocalist to duet on one of the #synthbraska songs…

A short 🧵 introducing the #synthbraska (IYKYK) album project. The idea for this LP is to record it in under 24 hours (I’m allowing more time to mix it); the music - which is very rudimentary - has taken just over 18 hours so far. What follows are nine things the lyrics touch on… #synthsky #lofi …

So, yes, two @voltagepoetry.bsky.social albums are planned for 2026. I’m seeking permission to record in a couple of locations for the #FieldRecordings one, whereas the “synthbraska” suite is underway - I recorded its music during the last weekend of November and the lyrics are almost complete…

A diversion. If you’re familiar with my songs it probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that I enjoy this type of film; #IanNairn in full flow… which brings me to say I’ll almost certainly post something on the two albums I’m planning, for 2026, in coming days :-) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Somehow I missed the fact that FIGGY HOBBIN, from @darktrain.bsky.social, has come to an end. I produced a “recipe” for episode ix (‘Poustinia’), which was a thrill :-)

Ruin a band by changing one letter… Tangerine Dread

Sometimes I think of ‘Orchestral Suite No.1 New Lanark’ by @aseawarren.bsky.social as being the most significant album released on @hartshornmusic.bsky.social. The sort of record that seems to embody the principles of the label releasing it. The Copland angle is understandable.

JANUARY SALE Use code jan25 at checkout for 25% discount off all CDs and downloads until 31st January 23:59 UTC monochromemotif.bandcamp.com/music

Ooh - exciting to see that ‘Antwerpeners’ (from #FurtherVerses) will be played on @darktrain.bsky.social tomorrow!

Partly inspired by such celebrations of “other people’s music” as the ‘52 albums to shape a soul’ blog by @lippykidmusic.bsky.social and reviews by @etherdiver.bsky.social, over the next few hours I’m going to share 10 compositions I’ve enjoyed this year. #10good25tracks 🧵 below…

“Sharp, nicely constructed electro pop” - there’s a succinct and very flattering view of #FurtherVerses from @etherdiver.bsky.social. A full review is in the Ether Diver ‘Other People’s Music’ blog and joins the @revivalsynth.bsky.social one on the @hartshornmusic.bsky.social website too…

If ‘52 Albums To Shape A Soul’ by @lippykidmusic.bsky.social was a book, I’d be asking for it as a Christmas or birthday present. Three album chapters - #Glassworks #Substance & #Ninety - had particular resonance for me, but the whole 52-episode exploration of music and humanity is a joy to read.

Just over four weeks since the release of #FurtherVerses and my copy of the vinyl edition has now arrived :-) It does feel like a luxury. Parts of the front cover and inner sleeve are shown (the flip side of the latter features buildings in, and a sky above, the city of #Bath.) #synthsky #lofi