I don’t know why, but, when I get to the end of a piece I find it incredibly hard to finish. I’ve spent the last month rewriting, tweaking, hating the tone quality and generally being dreadfully unhappy with everything about the Wendi piece.

This is normal – I wish I didn’t go through it but I do. I’m probably another couple of weeks away from publishing but it will come eventually. While I work through the bullshit – every now and again I have to sit down and beat the crap out of my frustration on the keys. This is what it sounds like…

If you’ve got 14 minutes and want to get a good overview of what is behind SOPA and PIPA and why they’re a really bad idea, check out this talk from Clay Shirky who’s opinions and writing I respect immensely.

transition from one theme to another – no editing yet – just volume and tones – lots of listening to do…

While we’re finishing off the mix on Wendi, couldn’t help but be pretty stoked by the fact that Frustration is now generating over 1,000 views a week on YouTube.

Check it out…

Free members of music2work2 can download Frustration along with the rest of the Writer’s playlist.

Brain Hub That Links Music, Memory And Emotion Discovered |bit.ly/x2VCNj

— Andrew McCluskey (@music2work2) January 6, 2012

I’m an uncle again – heh!

This is her main theme, popped out yesterday – I’ll be working on it after Wendi is published.

Download audio file (caroline-clip.mp3)

I love Christmas – the boys conjured up a new room mic so I put it to use yesterday afternoon. A buddy was going to come over and record a track as a present for a friend but the session got cancelled – so I thought I’d record one instead.

I worked as a writer on a Country gig a few years back; there are several songs from those sessions that I’m very happy with and thought I’d bring them out for a spin. When I listen to this I imagine Kelli or Patsy Cline singing it – I suggest you do the same – my vocals aren’t exactly my A game!

It’s a super loose recording – everything was done in a couple of hours yesterday afternoon – so – with all those caveats aside – here is:

What Am I To Do?

co-written with Kelli Lidell

One of the great things about the Creative Commons license that we use on music2work2, is that it enables other media creators to easily use our music in their projects. Last week we got a request from a Croatian channel asking if they could use the music from Irene to highlight the problems that a local family are facing after their house burned down last year.

If like us you don’t speak or read Croatian, the family in the video lost everything in a terrible fire more than a year ago. They were put into an absolute ruin of a house without flowing water and just one room that is safe from collapse and that can be heated. Apparently they have been forgotten by social services in Croatia so a number of independent artists have got together to raise awareness of their plight. Video’s like this are used to get people interested in helping them out.

If you would like to use music2work2 in a project – give us a shout

Back from Australia – what an amazing Country – expensive as hell but full of some of the nicest people on the planet – will be going back as soon as we can.

I’m already head down and working to finish Wendi – lots of listening over the last couple of weeks opened a few doors and plenty of progress is being made. We shot some fantastic video and stills of sunrise at Byron Bay which will be used in the video – more on that later this week.

But before we get into anything too music2work2 – here’s a video from Paris – from my cousin Alexandre (he’s the awesome dude in the silver lame shirt!) – I can’t get the hook out of my head and it puts a permanent grin on my face. So – if you looking for a feel good track and you wanna “get down with the funk!” – here’s Dropize..

Going on a 2 week hiatus – well – not exactly hiatus – I’m going to Australia!

Yes, it’s time to get the hell out of the northern hemisphere winter and descend into southern hemisphere summer. Expect sonic influences along the lines of didgeridoos and bouncy Kangaroo themes on my return!

Just to get you (and me) in the mood, here’s a little Australian development I did for an Aussie friend a few years back – it’s a variation on Waltzing Matilda – music2work2 style!

Download audio file (spidey.mp3)

See you on the other side…