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 Professional • My CV • Education • IT Experience • Chemistry Experience • Work Experience • Referees Personal • Summary • Music Collecting • Web Projects • Railways/Photography |
[ Summary | Professional Profile ]
David's Personal ProfileMusic CollectingI've been buying records and CD's for almost 10 years now since my musical tastes grew beyond my previously cassette-only existence. To date I have 1600 pieces of vinyl and 800 CDs. My musical tastes are quite broad (depending what buying or listening mood I'm in!) but cross the entire spectrum from medieval / classical right through to the latest chart / dance tunes.That said, my core interests are in 60s-80s pop music, 70s-80s disco and house/dance music from 1987-1993 (my formative years!). On top of that I have several other specific collecting interests that I'm a bit more completist about... The KLF
Variously also known as the Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu, The Timelords, 2K, Disco 2000 and the K Foundation, the KLF were Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. While their combined and separate exploits continue to this day they are perhaps most well known for their high profile music partnership between 1987 and 1992.
Their music changed dramatically during this time as they got interested in and then bored of various musical styles - from blatant sampling to ambient atmospheric moods to dance beats and perhaps most famously for deliberately making a pop record to show (successfully) that they could have a number 1 selling record in the UK ('Doctor In The Tardis' by The Timelords) simply by following the music industry 'formula' for success.As they 'left the music industry' in dramatic style in 1992, deliberately deleting their entire UK back catalogue at the same time, much of their material is hard to find and somewhat pricey second hand. Still, the quest continues... The Orb
The KLF and The Orb are often mentioned in the same breath because Jimmy Cauty was involved in The Orb's earliest releases back in 1989 and elements of their sound also overlap. Subsequently they went their separate ways with The Orb under the direction of (Dr) Alex Paterson carving out a genre that became known as 'ambient house' with tracks such as 'Little Fluffy Clouds', 'The Blue Room' and 'Perpetual Dawn' getting radio airing and acclaim.The Orb continue to be well known remixers and album makers right up to date in the same vein as they became well known for, though I personally prefer and mainly collect their pre-1994 material. My favourite remix is their 'Trans Asian Express mix' of Keiichi Suzuki's 'Satellite Serenade' (pictured). Adrian Sherwood / On.U Sound
Adrian Sherwood is a producer and mixer who has been involved in many UK reggae, dub, experimental, indie, new wave, industrial, electronica, big beat and modern day blues productions since the second half of the 1970's. After starting in the reggae record distribution business and guided into production by the legendary Jamaican Dee Jay Prince Far I, he set up his own On.U Sound label in 1980, and with very little money but a band of keen young musicians started issuing records by the likes of Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, the New Age Steppers, Mark Stewart & The Maffia, London Underground and the Singers & Players.In more recent times he's worked with Audio Active, Little Axe, Tackhead, Gary Clail and the Revolutionary Dub Warriors, amongst others, and to this day continues to carve a distinctive sound to the music he produces often using mixing desk effects and reverbs that catch the ear and sometimes make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. 
While his own label's work has a fairly select following of listeners around the world, he increasingly also appears as a guest producer or mixer for more well known acts such as Primal Scream, Depeche Mode, Sinead O'Connor, Asian Dub Foundation, Nine Inch Nails, Shane MacGowan, Garbage and Blur, to name a selection, and similarly has brought his well respected production and mixing skills to a wider audience.I therefore have a broad ranging interest in tracking down any releases in which he has had a hand and in many of the artists he has worked with over his 25 year career to date. It is quite a challenge to find the older material, especially as it was often released in press runs of no more than 1000 copies and could be found in any of a multitude of sections in second hand record stores. 
Online music interests: I use a world-wide email discussion forum to keep up with music news, information and track down like-minded musical followers. As well as contributing to this, I also run the unofficial On-U Sound internet information archive called On-U Sound In The Area (www.skysaw.org/onu/), which provides a comprehensive source of discography information, but when my research is complete will also contain artist information, news, photos and details of where to track down sought after material. 
The Halifax Concert Band are a non-profit making community band based in Yorkshire, UK. In 2005 I took over the running of their website (www.halifaxconcertband.co.uk) and in the process completely re-designed it for them.For my other web development projects, consult my Professional Profile under Work Experience. Railways / PhotographyMy interest in railways was sealed at an early age by my Dad with the train set he bought and built for me one Christmas when I was five years old. I still like railway modelling and building, though my layout currently lacks a permanent home and doesn't get the opportunity to be run often. I enjoy scratch-building model items and have made several scale model buildings for my layout to my own design.I am also interested in railway photography and occasionally entered my pictures into society competitions. While steam trains are atmospheric it is more of a challenge when it comes to modern box-like diesel and electric trains to make them look interesting. Still, I like a challenge and hope to include a few of my pictures here in due course. |