Stop The War

Illustration in sound of the great big anti-Iraq war demo in London. [“Iraqi blood in your name”] [“One pound only a whistle!”]… So many people—moving so very slowly. Now and again there’d be someone coming the other way— probably just popped out to post a letter or something—apologetically trying to squeeze their way home.

We stopped and listened: Ken Livingstone, Miss Dynamite-ee-hee, Jesse Jackson… So many people. So much noise. But they went ahead with the war anyway. As you know.

©Derek Bacon 2003

Last Night In Jakarta

Unedited recording of the rain coming down on Komplex Depsos in Bintaro, south Jakarta.

It’s about 8pm. Really hot. Thursday.

The praying from the mosque up the road gradually gives way to the wind and the rain. For a while they seem neck and neck. But the night sky lets rip, and soon rain is all you hear.

©Derek Bacon 2005

Panic, Alarm, Cheap Trousers

Summer into winter 2001—montage of found sound, found music and George Bush. Bookshop piano player, beachside jazz, man playing his homemade stick-thing, and the certain friends, in-laws and one-offs who let me tape them. Thanks for that.

Answer machine messages from a tape left in the house by the previous people... Flashbacks to Jakarta... Lone carol singer in Westbourne Arcade... Trains on tracks and baby Elkie’s heartbeat and first yell on earth. ["I doubt if that exists in Afghanistan"]

©Derek Bacon 2002

Sunday Here

Long leads and microphones to all four corners of the house for a 4-track recording of a Sunday afternoon at my place (when the place was Ragunan, Jakarta, Indonesia).

Somehow the house had public alleyways on three of its four sides. Enough to get a motorbike down easily.

At the time the racket really sent me bonkers. Looking back now it doesn’t seem so bad.

©Derek Bacon 1994

Roundtrip

Little sound trip experimenting with the idea of hearing the journey to work and the journey home simultaneously. Beginning with and starring Ian Viney on the return journey, and ending with me arriving for another day of work.

Seems the journey there was always longer than the one back. Some sort of one-way scam maybe. Or some obscure traffic-cone system. I guess I'll never know.

©Derek Bacon 1995

Xmas Day

Xmas day face-off between the Salvation Army and National Rail Enquiries. Scraps of real-life audio sloping past. [“Wife still love you?” “Um, I dunno... she says she does.”]

You wouldn’t want to be travelling too far today. Too cold. Currently closed ‘til Boxing Day.

“On the dusty road. Got to keep on plodding onward. With your precious load…”

©Derek Bacon 2003