Handiwork Track by track:
1) Playing Hookey. In a previous life as a secondary school teacher in Dagenham, there was only one day that I started out for work and decided to play truant. This tune is about that feeling. Mind you, there isn’t a lot of mischief you can get up to in Ilford on a Monday morning!
2) Place de l’Hotel de Ville. Some of you will know that I have spent a lot of time in the France over the years, gigging and just on holiday. This is a very slightly fictionalized account of some of what I have been told.
3) Murphy’s Law. A song about the underachieving demon who is responsible for such annoyances as the toast falling jam-side-down.
4) Clockwork A tune in a vaguely Latin–American idiom. The name was suggested by the son of a friend who said that the regularity of the piece reminded him of the motion of a wind-up clock, or an orrery.
5) Dreams and fantasies. ‘We do whatever gets us through the day…’
6) As Ordinary As Judgment Day. It’s difficult to explain this one, as there are all sorts of threads. I suppose it’s about public and private morality. You decide.
7) Forgetting. Written after reading about (and talking to) those involved in war and traumatic events; and no, it isn’t... more
credits
released October 5, 2015
license
all rights reserved
Album notes.
Michael’s current album is called A Place To Stand and comes from his desire, in 2011, to look at what he had written and recorded and decide what could be seen as a statement of where he was musically at that time. His recording method with solo, studio work has always been to record everything ‘live in the studio’ without overdubs. The album came out in early 2012.
Track by track
1. Spot’s Jig. [Instr.] A tune inspired by a spaniel that could never keep still.
2. Snapshots. Everyone knows the photograph of the little girl running towards the camera during the Vietnam War. This song is about news photography and the way the images affect us.
3. Who’ll Pay For the Wine. A song of the effects of unrequited love: loosely based upon the story of an old friend from Michael’s college years.
4. Song Of The Dictator. Hitler? Pol Pot? It could be any of them, but they’re always sure they’re right.
5. Freehand [Instr.] An instrumental piece that tries to reference a number of acoustic players. The trouble is, no-one knows... more
credits
released February 9, 2011
Cover art: An original painting by Stephanie Fearn of Michael on stage.
Album recorded and mixed by Dan Cooper at Rodel sound in Bromley.
Printing and packaging by DRR studios.
Recording of the next album began in late january, 2015.
license
all rights reserved