Show: 8.7.14 with Tom Adams

It was great to be joined by musician and composer Tom Adams who talked about his soundtrack to the forthcoming film The Knife That Killed Me and played a few songs including a couple of new songs from his new solo album, due to be released next year.

8.7.14 with Tom Adams by Headstand on Mixcloud

Headsound: Tom Adams - All is Lost

My guest on next week's show on 8th July will be Tom Adams. Adams' music regularly features on the show but it's been too long since he joined me in person. He will be playing some songs and talking about new film The Knife That Killed Me which he has done the soundtrack for including this song, All is Lost. The film is released on July 15th.

Headsound: Idiot Songs - Villages of Ether

Cambridge-born singer and multi-instrumentalist Justin Grounds plays a homecoming gig at CB2 on 18th February with his new project with Pearse McGloughlin, Idiot Songs.

Strings, pianos, angelic vocals and warped spoken word come together on the epic Villages of Ether. The hi-definition video takes you flying, floating and falling through a surreal world full miniature people and giant crows where unexpected doorways lead from dim lit warehouses to vast open plains. The basement of CB2 could easily be a set from the video and the duo are sure to create a magical atmosphere.

They will be supported by Tom Adams who played a phenomenal set at Shindig last Friday. I was one of the first to pick up a copy of his new EP 'In The Constant Noise' which includes former Headsound Migration.

Details of the gig are on Facebook. Be sure to get there early.

Headsound: Tom Adams - Migration

Migration is the first track to released from Tom Adams' new EP: In The Constant Noise. Ambient sounds, delicate piano and Tom's tender vocals building to a powerful crescendo create a spectacular cathedral of sound which gently dissolves into a silent void. Impressive results for a late night session with a hand-held recorder.

All the new songs on the EP were recorded this way. Tom explains:

"This brings an intentionally imperfect and intimate feel to each track as every recorded layer features the sounds of birds, wind, rustling leaves and other natural sounds unique to the recording location.
By emphasising and celebrating these imperfections, the EP explores the idea of silence in a world where high levels of background noise are the the norm.
The result is a highly emotional set of new songs that invite you to listen to music and the sounds around you differently. Whilst each new song tells its own story, they are all unified in a melancholic lament for the sounds that have been lost in the constant noise."

6 years of Headstand

Headstand has been going for 6 years now. Here's a recording of a performance I did with Tom Adams at the fifth anniversary celebrations last year. I got to hear Tom Adams playing exactly one year on in the basement of CB1. Performing solo he combined live and electronic instruments with his powerful singing voice in a set of new material. He is working on a new recording to which the words 'eagerly anticipated' can be readily applied. You can hear more Headstand related recordings at headstand.podomatic.com.

Patrick Widdess & Tom Adams Live Recording

A recording of a recent set I did with Tom Adams is now available for free streaming and download courtesy of Only Shallow Records.

Events this week

John Hegley

This week I'm looking forward to joining Show and Tell at The Portland. This eclectic cabaret features music, poetry, comedy theatre and more and is in aid of Arts and Minds, a Cambridge based charity that aims to include people of all ages, with all forms of mental illness and learning disabilities, in therapeutic arts-related activities. Their website can be found here: http://www.artsandminds.org.uk/index.html

I will be performing with musician Tom Adams. You can hear our last performance here:


 
On Wednesday I'll miss for the second time in as many weeks poet Richard Tyronne Jones. This time he brings his show Richard Tyronne Jones's big heart to Allographic at the Fountain along with
Hollie McNish, Hisham Ziauddeen, and host Fay Roberts. I'll be sorry to miss to it. If you're in Cambridge make sure you get along. Details here.

Next weekend it's Winter Wordfest with writers including Kate Moss, Tony and Melissa Benn and Jack Straw. I'm looking forward to catching John Hegley who I interviewed for Local Secrets. That's on Saturday when there's too much happening frankly. Shindig is at the Round Church and bands including the Scissors are at the Portland launching 'Rocket to Romsey,' a compilation album of local bands released by Repeat Records in aid of Love Music, Hate Racism. Staying in would be a waste of a good night.