Saturday 16 February 2013

Unknown Artist Review: Ilias- Somewhere In Time


So for my first ever unknown artist review I shall be looking at Ilias and his album Somewhere in Time.  When on my usual random clicking blitz on bandcamp I decided I was feeling in a predominantly alternative mood, so when I stumbled across the relaxed styling’s of singer/songwriter Ilias I knew I’d found what I was looking for.
You’re instantly hit with haunting vocals and backing which immediately zone you out and make you feel very chilled. If I had to pull up a sound that was very similar to it I would probably go for Bon Iver however, Illias does seem to have a very original sound overall.
When I tracked down Ilias’ Facebook page and found that one of his influences was the Bee Gee’s, I couldn’t help but immediately start picking up their vibes in his music through the vocals which mess with harmonies, pitch shifts and all sorts of vocal wizardry. I do feel sometimes the music and the vocals don’t quite click together and merge into one sonic landscape, for at times, the voice zaps me out of the music a little bit whereas I would prefer it to pull me in a little more and really immerse me. It should be stressed however, the quality of merging voice and backing into one is a very difficult venture and is very rarely achieved, but I feel with time Ilias could really nail this down and create some mind blowing stuff. The album itself fits very nicely together with great song selections which complement each other very well, so well in fact that at times I found myself completely lost in the music and revelling in the beauty of it.
I think particular homage has to paid to the quality of the guitar playing in this which is absolutely phenomenal. As a guitarist of nine years who stills plays very enthusiastically, I can’t help but have some serious envy at his wonderful balance of wailing guitar fading in and out, delicate little riffs and seductive vibrato. This is why personally September Memory has to be the outstanding sound of the album for it is honestly some of the best guitar I have ever heard. He may not be Joe Satriani or Van Halen but I’m pretty sure he could easily waltz into a room with BB King or Eric Johnson and not feel the slightest bit intimidated. He just seems to understand silence, timbre and all the little details of guitar which make for, dare I say, virtuoso qualities.
The greatest question which emerges for me in listening to Somewhere in Time is which direction Ilias goes from here. Does he build on the qualities of hypnotising his reads and create deep, layered music? Or focus on being a little bluesier and introducing the guitar a little more into his music? Personally I feel he could either way to great effect and create wonderful music or perhaps merge the two styles. I think there is great potential for Ilias to create some amazing music, which whilst it won’t be mainstream could definitely attract a very loyal cult crowd.
I would heartily recommend Somewhere in Time and I know for sure I shall listening to it fervently through the comings days and fall asleep blissfully about a million times throughout.


Follow me on Twitter: @Philip_A_Bell

The American Spring: Draft Outline


This is a little project I got set for my University course so I thought I'd publish my ideas and see what people thought about the story, where there are any glaring plot holes or irregularities, etc. Although do remember this is a very rough draft and is condensed. However for my project I will most likely be condensing it even further.

World of the story: Set in modern day Washington DC amongst mass demonstrations against the economy and civil rights.
The Protagonist: Gay ex-lawyer Abraham Donis, the figurehead of the mass demonstrations.
Inciting Incident: A random gunshot is fired from the crowd which causes the Police to panic and start gunning down innocent, unarmed protesters.
Protagonist Responds: In response to the event (now being called the 16th Street Massacre) Abraham becomes enraged and communicates with some radical protester’s who convince him to strike back with violence. Abraham and the radicals then manage to take over a portion of Washington DC by force and barricade themselves in a building.
Turning Point: The US government surrounds the barricade and plan to invade their building at any moment.
Protagonist makes a plan: Abraham, knowing that the massacre caused outrage across the country believes if he asks people to rise up against the oppressive forces of the government it may cause widespread rioting throughout the country and cause the army to have a lapse in concentration, so they can escape.
Conflict and confrontation: As Abraham uploads a video, it causes a much more profound effect than he thought sending the country into chaos. As a strike team reach Abraham, he surrenders but as the officer is about to execute Abraham on the President’s orders a group of rioters break in and save him.
Gathering Difficulty: As the country descends into Civil War, Abraham decides that to seize the opportunity and overthrow the government. Abraham cannot find a way of correlating the mass fighting into one group and the government decided to up their effort and begin using excessive force against the dissidents.
Turning Point: The government then sanction the use of bombing raids on cities which have been completely overthrow and start to shell Abraham’s base in Washington. This lead to significant losses and complete demoralization of the dissidents. But as the chaos ends more Americans become outraged at the government begin to echo Abraham’s ethos.
Ticking Clock: Knowing it is only a matter of time before the American public are swayed back onto the government’s side by force or propaganda Abraham decides to gather a significant amount of resources in Washington and to make a final push on the White House so he can disable the heart of American democracy.
Final Showdown: Both the government and Abraham’s dissidents begin a fully fledged attack on each other in Washington which results in heavy losses on each side. It seems as if the government is finally winning however as they manage to isolate Abraham’s men into a small pocket in Farragut Square.
Climax: Abraham rallies his men to make a final charge on the Whitehouse with him leading it, as many of his men are killed and Abraham himself riddled with injuries he pushes onto the Whitehouse determined and manages to break the defenses surrounding it singlehandedly . As Abraham makes his final push into the Whitehouse he lowers the American flag and raises his own he is gunned down from all sides resulting in his death.
Resolution: With Abraham dead and many of the dissident’s dispersed the civil war subsides and America enters a new militaristic rule. The balance is restored and ‘peace’ is restored.

Super Saturday

Hello all!
Thank you to those who have been reading my blog so far, your support has been great.
I thought I would just give you a little lowdown into what to expect today.
I'm just wrapping up one or two projects today so you can look forward to two new posts today. One being an outline of a screenplay I'm developing and a music review. I will also being making a few small edits to the Poem Miserere as well although I think I will just edit the original post instead of making a new one because they are minor changes.
So enjoy super Saturday.

Friday 15 February 2013

Poems #2: Miserere (A re-write)

A quick preface before this poem. I decided based on some feedback I received to radically alter Miserere into a new format. I shall not say anymore than that for I shall leave the interpretations to yourselves!

Some quick edits were made on (16/02/2013) which include a few tweaks to wording and grammar.

As Eris' apple grows
in the chasms void,
my voice, is destroyed;
by superfluous prose
which whispers wistful woes
of a past, devoid
of feelings, I avoid.

So, may silence by my requiem;
and salvation in my tears.
May my elegy be solemn;
and my freedom last for years.
May god have mercy on my soul;
and reconcile me as a whole.

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Poems #1: 'Miserere'

How the faces of vacant gazes
look on my image with sunk, stoic stares
and miss the chasm which blatantly glares,
into the darkness where my soul meets the styx
and reveals the rift of emotional blitz.

How they ignore the beasts deadly roar
who howls from within long, leeching lies,
which scream in torment the satanic sighs,
of the wandering priest whose evil within
bleeds the stinking foul faith of fastidious sins.

[Pause]

Perhaps as I face the pulpit with my head bowed,
I shall tear from me, my death's warrant,
which hangs on my neck singing soft blasphemy in my ears.

Like the trumpets which blare so mighty and proud,
my image shall be abhorrent.
For Eris shall lay her apple with her snarling, devilish leers.

May silence be my requiem,
and salvation in my tears.
May my elegy be muted,
and my freedom last for years.

New Start

Welcome one and all!

My name is Philip Bell and this is my third attempt at starting a blog, although this time I actually have a format nailed down and super promise not to stop!
The basic idea of this is that it will contain not just my creative writing such as poetry, screenplays, short stories, etc but also things such as personal thoughts, perspectives and (something I'm very excited about) music reviews. I will obviously be testing and trying different formats and working on improving content constantly. Another important thing to mention is that I won't be posting on a set time each week but rather when ever I have content to publish. I think if a certain format becomes increasingly popular then I will consider regular content but for now its just going to be whenever.
I will always post updates on my twitter @Philip_A_Bell so keep an eye out.

Mucho Loveso.