My list is as follows:

• Marilyn Manson – Sweet dreams (are made of this) (Eurythmics)
• Frida Snell – Bullet with butterfly wings (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• Nirvana – Do you love me (Kiss)
• Reel Big Fish – Boys don’t cry (The Cure)
• The Prodigy – Fuel my fire (L7)

However, the list isn’t what this post is supposed to be about, it’s the way I was presented:
“sound collector from Uppsala who, for example, makes music with sounds from toilets, animals and porn.”

At first I wasn’t sure what to think about it. I mean, it’s not generally what I do anymore, but then again I still use “odd” sound sources. At least the noise maker brand appear to be disappearing, which is always a good sign.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with noise (and I have one release in the works), but it’s getting pretty tiring when people keep bringing it up “all the time”.

I don’t mind being in the paper, obviously, but I wish they would’ve asked for a more recent photo. The one they used was taken by them in early 2010 for an interview I did, and back then my beard wasn’t what it is today, and my hair was also way longer at that time.

Still, nice to get recognition.

Introducing: Saltsten Mixtape.

Side A

1. Bloodhound Gang – Mama’s Boy (Hjort edit*)
2. Krumelur – The Antpeople
3. Dödfödd, DFT & Omikron – (En) Lång stubin
4. Einstürzende Neubauten – Seele Brennt
5. Beatfanatic – Jorden Skall Kalla (Earth)
6. Venetian Snares – Sajtban
7. Big Fish – Den blinde rasisten
8. Wolf Eyes – A Million Years
9. Black Label Society – Been A Long Time
10. Wu-Tang Clan – Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F Wit
11. Babylon Zoo – Spaceman

Side B

1. Kung Henry – Kanske lika bra
2. VCR – We Are VCR
3. En halvkokt i folie – Housecleaning with narcotics
4. Efterklang – Swarming
5. Mat åt far – Jämna plågor
6. Barak – Insane Tentacle
7. M-Beat – Style
8. Mat åt far – Äkta bra

* I cut the track right after Jimmy Pop says “Vagina” and then added an echo with long decay.

Introducing: Armbåge Mixtape

Side A

1. And One – Panzermensch
2. Öppenhjärna – Käken fri
3. Randy Graves – Didgital
4. Lisa Nordström – Iamsoareyou
5. Asta Kask – Psykopaten
6. Agonoize – Sacrifice
7. Carcass – Black Star
8. DODDODO – Calnenko
9. Krome & Time – Ganja Man

Side B

1. F.K.Ü. – Four Fingers Fatal To The Flesh
2. [The User] – .^.^.^%
3. Igorrr – Dieu Est-Il Un Etre?
4. Aavikko – Cafe Panama
5. Chilly & Leafy – Vart ska du ta vägen?
6. Aphex Twin – Digeridoo
7. MZ.412 – Unhealing Wounds
8. DFT – Hip poppare
9. Charles Manson – Sick City
10. KSMB – En slemmig torsk
11. Hjorten – I Kick Real Hard

Then a walk to Chilli/Helping Hand/etc, their escalator had some nice sounds. And that is it. There’s just one more escalator to record, but I need to be certain about the law before I can give it a try. Hopefully I’ll have it sorted out this week.

I don’t really have much to tell, because everything went fine. Except for a H&M person telling me I had to ask their press department, which I did once I got home. And their answer was “No”, so now I’m trying to find legal ways of going around their “no”. Right now, I seem to be in the clear.

Tomorrow I will most likely head out to IKEA and record in that area.

My first stop was Uppsala Konsert & Kongress but I was told by a security guard that the place was closed for the public and that I would have to come back tomorrow (so that’s what I’m gonna do). The next stop was the train station; I started recording inside for a good ten-fifteen minutes and I got some good material. Out of three escalators on the outside, only two were working – and they were only going down. So I had to walk up, record, walk up again, record…

I moved onto Forumgallerian and recorded the escalator heading into Akademibokhandeln, after that I recorded an escalator in the middle of the mall itself. With lots and lots of people looking at me, probably having no clue what I was doing. Then I went to Stadium (still in the mall) and asked a cashier if I could record there, she told me to ask someone downstairs, so there I asked the first person but he said I should ask the boss, and she was nearby. At first she didn’t really get what I meant, so I had to be more specific – but then she chuckled and said okay.

Heading out from Stadium and walking towards Åhléns I noticed that SkiTotal also had an escalator, and I couldn’t let it be. Didn’t bother with asking anyone there if it was okay, but they didn’t stop me so I figure it was. The thing I noticed here is that newer escalators doesn’t make as much sound as older ones, which is of course perfectly normal, but also boring.

Åhléns was a bitch to record at, there was people everywhere and I had to walk back and forth a lot. In total I got about four-five trips before I had enough. And I made my merry way to H&M where I went for the top floor and asked a cashier there, his co-worker instantly said “You can’t take pictures” to which I replied that I was just gonna record sounds, the first cashier then asked “Uh, you’re gonna record the escalator“. Obviously I said yes, and he told me that there shouldn’t be a problem.

At H&M I had the same problem as I did at Åhléns, lots of annoying walking and people. But I still got some nice recordings. And here was the first – and only – time someone actually asked me what I was doing. After H&M I went across the street to Indiska and they had no problems with me recording the escalator, but they seemed confused as to why I would want to. But they didn’t say or ask.

Then onwards to Tropez Records where I didn’t spend long, their escalators didn’t sound much at all. The escalator at Clas Ohlson (in S:t Per) is very short, and in order to record it more I would have to go up another escalator and out on the street and back, and I really didn’t wanna do that – so I just recorded it once. There is however, as mentioned, an escalator going up from Clas Ohlson so I spent a few minutes recording it and it will probably be some nice material.

Then into Stadium (in S:t Per) where an old classmate was working, and I think she recognized me (if you read this, did you?), but she said it was okay to record there and they were sounding very nice. After Stadium I walked to New Yorker where I again was allowed to record, but I didn’t stay there for too long, but got some good material.

My last stop was Intersport and some young kid found me (and what I did) very interesting, sadly their escalators weren’t too fun-sounding but probably material worth using anyway.

This adventure started when I left my apartment at 14:30, and I got home at 17:30. The total length of all recordings are 1 hour, 19 minutes and 2 seconds. The filesize is 797MB. Then again, there’s a lot of stuff to remove, which will most likely take quite a while.

Also, I don’t wanna know how many times I used the word escalator in this post. 14 times with the previous one.

Click for full-size version

To the left you see the first two pictures taken right after the first session, and to the right you see a picture that I just took. And yes, that’s Kryten from Red Dwarf.

My next session with John is scheduled for next Wednesday and I will keep you guys updated on the progress.

Some exceprts:

The song sounds as lifeless and cold as it’s title suggests, but only in a good way. It starts with a strong, repeating and echoing note from what sounds like a bass guitar with no actual bass-frequencies audible.

A distorted radio-like sample in the end leads me to thinking that the artist was aiming for a post-apocalyptic (or such) soundscape, and in that he succeeded.

It manages to sound lifeless through it’s whole lenght, while still retaining some grasp to the listener with it’s repeating rhythms.

Always fun to be reviewed, and you can read the whole thing here.