Sunday Post

The next track to dock over on 'Wou-Wou Open Collab' is my intergalactic bit-nugget, 'Spaceship'. A track originally set to accompany many videogame-esque instrumentals on a short album that never came to be, 'Spaceship', and the project to which it was attached, once again fall victim to dwindling enthusiasm and lack of direction.

That isn't to say the track hasn't potential to grow in the hands of a talented soul or two. As long as slightly stylised 16-bit sci-fi disco pop is your thing, you'll have plenty to pick and pinch from it.

'Spaceship' and it's semi-isolated stems will be freely available from SoundCloud, tomorrow.

Next week I hope to get a little more involved with toys old and new, as I attempt to finish off a number of longstanding projects before the year's end. These include several tracks based around other artists open collab tracks (most notably Andreas Bruning's '100loops' side venture), an ambient EP due out later this year, along with a few remixes and new collaborations. 

I'm hoping to dive into other aspects of art making too, as the humble pencil is growing a little tedious. Clay, colour and printing are all calling out to me, but with nothing started or particularly planned I'm not sure where I'll end up. Whatever happens (or doesn't) will be documented and shared in the usual places. 

I'll also be returning back to selling my original drawings on social media, due to it being the cheapest and easiest way to do it. So if you'd like to own one of my odd doodles you'll once again have chance to in the coming weeks. 

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

Growing up in the mid to late nineties, I'm more than familiar with remixes. And just as most summer blockbusters ended on a tenuous rap ('Addams Family Whoomp', anyone?), most every single came with a lazy club-mix attached.

Course, my thoughts on remixes cannot be summed up in one flippant remark. I love remixes and remixing. You only have to listen to Jacques Greene's take on Radiohead's, 'Lotus Flower', Boards of Canada's retelling of Beck's, 'Broken Drum', or absolutely anything by lil' spaceman to realise there's something unusually beautiful about this distractive act.

Tomorrow I will be releasing my version of The Inconsistent Jukebox's genre-hopping masterpiece, 'Bold Ego Fledgling (Baby's Got It All Planned)'. And even though it'd be pretty foolish to compare it to any of the above, it still feels like a small victory for me.

Anyway, why not enjoy the Snaithilicious guitars in their untainted glory below, then the plethora of other remixes here.

Happy thoughts,


- The Wormling

Sunday Post

To tell you the truth, I wasn't planning to put a new, 'Wou-Wou Open Collab', track out 'till next month, but it seems silly to sit on something when it's ready to go. Plus, this particular side-project is a year old... or at least the idea behind it is - 'Faux Fur' didn't come out 'till early October 2015. 

Anyway, it's pointless to get tangled in such silly things (it only feeds my more anal traits anyhow). Basically, a second wave of tracks are ready and waiting, so now seemed like a good time to wrap-up the old to bring the new. And to honour the said "old", I have compiled a playlist of everything released during that first year(ish) in 'Wou-Wou Open Collab - Vol. I': 

So what of the new? Well, 'Here/There', is one track that I've slowly lost enthusiasm for. Not because I think it's bad, it just never felt finished. This of course makes it the perfect candidate for open collaboration. And, there'll be plenty to go at, with grouped beat, string and bass/guitar stems available for torment. 

'Here/There', will released and freely downloadable from SoundCloud tomorrow.

As mentioned in last week's 'Sunday Post', my society6 and Big Cartel pages are now up and running. This is so I can shift selling my wares (and stop looking like a big stinky sellout) on social media to somewhere more specialist, permanent with ultimately more options. This'll also help claim my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter back for sharing artwork that isn't necessarily intended for sale.

Updates on new products and artwork will come weekly, starting this coming Saturday. 

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

As August comes to a close so must my half-hearted summer hiatus. Which, as mentioned in my last post, has been less about relaxing and more about devoting a little more time to some long-standing projects. 

One of these projects was my reimagining of Anne_Lee's, 'Un Viaje'. A beautifully intimate and tender rendition of a Spanish poem written by Anne's friend, Nono. Anne came to me with a new recording. A striped down duet in a similar vein to her original. Not wanting to repeat herself, she requested that I use my usual sounds, instruments and effects to create something new. 

Not speaking a word of Spanish meant I was solely working from the mood and tones in Anne's performance. So, I did my best to compliment (and in some cases contrast) the material in hand. When I finally got 'round to reading the translated lyrics, I was surprised to find that "un viaje" means "a journey". A title fitting of a piece that musically meanders in and out of styles and temperament.

'Un Viaje', will be released tomorrow via SoundCloud.

With this being my first proper post in a while, I thought now would be a best time to play catch-up and share the three tracks that came out during the summer.

Firstly, a song from Froxie's collaborative roof dub EP, 'DEM NO GOOD', which I was lucky enough to appear on. Not only is Froxie's sense of groove and impeccable mixing skills apparent here, but it also includes my 'Wou-Wou' vocal debut.

The EP (which I thoroughly recommend) is available here, and features the talents of MOAG, Sofia DeVille, Senfsuck, An Di Yi, Cranky Fox and The Couch King. 

Speaking of The Couch King, our track, 'Dedication To The Hypocrites' came out last weekend. Not only it is a dream come true to be on the same track as Couch, pretzels malone and Jam York, but it's also pretty nice to have been able to put an old bassline to good use. It's a warm and positive song that feels perfectly apt to end the summer on. 

The last track in this trio is also warm and positive, but musically couldn't be further from either of the above. Janine and the Problem's, 'Baby, I'm In Love With You', is a rock 'n' pop song that I helped finish off. It was a real treat to play along to. A real feast for the ears, with so many great sounds and polyphonic melodies. Sure, my part in this is minimal, but I'm proud to be in here. 

Before I go, I'd like to mention that new artwork is on the way, along with new prints and old originals being available from Society6 and Big Cartel. More info next Sunday.

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

Even though I'm only halfway through my so-called "summer hiatus", I thought I'd quickly share the vast array of things that I have in store for my return. 

WIP Artwork

MUSIC BY CHANCE

This is something that I have been working on since I first started 'Wou' two and a bit years ago. A collection of tracks that use a number of homemade chance methods during the writing process. These include tried and test methods like 'The Furry Gamble' (Make It Pretty) and 'Buskers' Bamboozle' (MUSIC BY CHANCE: EP 01 & 02), among new ones, using playing cards and the general public to make music... confused? All will be explained in good time. 

One of the most exciting parts of this project for me is the various artists now involved in it. Finished tracks feature the sounds and talents of Horse Enthusiast, Jonathan Beckenstein, {AN} Eel, Weighty Tree, Spicy Invalid, Ronny The Rocket, Falloon and Janine Levinson (of Janine and the Problem), to name but a handful. 

'MUSIC BY CHANCE: Vol.1' will be released in the new year.

THE AUDIO BIN

I'm pleased to say that a new 'Audio Bin' LP is in the works, and, I'm calling out for new donations. So if you fancy being on the next LP and you've got a few unused recordings kicking around, please send them my way: wouwouandthewormling@gmail.com... anything you've got will be greatly appreciated. 

Here's a playlist of everyone involved with the project so far:

WOU-WOU OPEN COLLAB

The 'Wou-Wou Open Collab' project will be a year old in September, and to celebrate I will be compiling a playlist (surprise, surprise) for every track under this umbrella. The next new 'collab' track will be out in October. 

DEDICATION TO THE HYPOCRITES

I started working on this song with Couch King last September, but I'm happy to say it's sounding pretty finished now! Official release dates are not my forte, but it'll probably be the next thing released with my name attached to it, and I can't wait! It puts the "fun" in "funky" (apologies)... it also features pretzels malone and Jam York. 

ARTWORK FOR SALE

I've reached a point where I am running out of room for all my drawings. So, I've decided everything must go! The usual things apply... first come first served, and so-on. It all begins tomorrow on instagram, twitter and facebook, where I'll be sharing a doodle daily along with a pricetag and the full T&C's... heck, I'll even be throwing out a few freebies too. 

Lastly, prints of my favourite 21 will be made available some time next month. Dates and details to come. 

But for now, happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

Thursday saw the release of 'Rehashed', a mock DJ set centred around my own back-catalog. But why do it, and why now?

Well, it's something that I've been dabbling with since last year, but never got around to finishing anything substantial. And, as you've probably noticed, the idea of taking parts of songs and forcing them together is something that I find pretty striking. 'The Audio Bin' for example, 'Rehashed' is basically that side-project but with my own music and not donated outtakes.

It was also 'Wou's' second birthday on Thursday, so completing and releasing this remix seemed to be a nice way to look back on the years and 40 something tracks that I have managed to release during this time. 

'Rehashed' is free to stream and enjoy over on SoundCloud now: 

As mentioned in a previous post, I will be taking a break from releasing music and blogging throughout the summer so that I can concentrate on outstanding art projects and new music. Most notably my graphic novel, 'Major Gubbins', and the, 'MUSIC BY CHANCE' double LP.

Of course, I won't be disappearing completely. The 'Wou-Wou Repost' playlists will be back in June and social media updates will continue as long as I have something to share. There's also a number of collab tracks that are on the verge of release, including my vocal debut on Froxie's new EP, and a new song with Couch King (to name but two).

So until September, keep safe and happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

Sunday Post

Inspired in part by Manitoba's, 'Start Breaking My Heart', tomorrow's 'Wou-Wou Open Collab' track, 'The Phoney Lab', is a short slice of MIDI heavy electronica. Orderly, sterile, but hopefully not without heart. And with it being an open collaboration project the master will be available alongside isolated stems for remixing and reshaping.

'The Phoney Lab', is out tomorrow via SoundCloud. Visit previous OC tracks here.

In other news, this May marks the second year of 'Wou-Wou & The Wormling', and, in the same vein as last year I'll be assembling a 52 track playlist of my favourite reposts during 2015/2016. It's just one of a number of things that I have in mind to reflect on my short time under this alias. Including special remixes and artwork... more details to come next week. 

Lastly, towards the end of May I'll be taking a bit of time off. This three month (or so) hiatus is so I can focus on my graphic novel as well as the 'MUSIC BY CHANCE' album, both due towards the end of the year. 

However, I won't be disappearing entirely, as there's a number of collaborative projects that'll be surfacing throughout the summer, with repost playlists and other social media updates to follow suit. 

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling