Find my work at https://www.facebook.com/AWMartinArtist
or http://awmartist.blogspot.co.uk/
or indeed at any of the other links on my profile.

*All for sale*


Talking Pictures 1. Westward Ho! 8x10" oil on canvas, framed

Find my work at www.facebook.com/AWMartinArtist
or awmartist.blogspot.co.uk/
or indeed at any of the other links on my profile.

*All for sale*

Talking Pictures 2. Colonel Sparrow. 6x6", oil on board

Ok, so this is pretty much a Satie number, I just found myself noodling around with his sound, this happened. Its a piece from a pretty dark place however.

Nigredo

I've not posted on here in such a long time. This is one of many tunes written from the shadows, from a place of reflection and loss. Hope you enjoy

To The Dark

A simple, short song about final letting goes and endings.

Tail lights
Peering like monsters 
Against the night

Goodbye,
Our time has come
To an end, now

Silence,
Speaks to a future,
We never had.

So help me,
My heart is caught,
And it needs to be free x2


Tail Lights

There Are No Pieces. (Wk53/104)

Week two, round two of my weekly noise project '15.
Another piano instrumental. I love introducing dissonance, ever so slightly into the mix, its there. 
This piece is about a shift in states, a flux.


Brightness Falls. (Wk54/104)

Week 3, a song, sung, about finding space amidst the clutter of life

Clearing(Wk55/104)

Week four. I'm creating and recording a sound piece every week for a year (again). This is about drift, the snow, the sea, the wave, clouds, the body. 

Drift(Wk56/104)

Ok, another rather downbeat offering. I have two sons, and despite them being fully engaged with and enjoying life, I sometimes despair for what could be their future. Anyhow, I'm sure they will thrive. This song is about these anxieties of mine

Son (Wk57/104)

Week 6, and this one is about being a little offensive, and sometimes provocative on social media. Its like a form of tourettes, sometimes I find myself saying all the bad things.

Nothing Is Real (Wk58/104)

Sleeping out in a forest, next to the earth, can be a simultaneously beautiful and terrifying experience. In Winter the nights are so long, cold, and the mornings quiet, free of birdsong. In summer, the rains can fool us, make us weary..heats dry our skins, bring a thirst. Despite these things, when that moment comes to rest on the earth, we are at one with nature, and with ourselves. Lying alone, in the wild, exposed, returned, can deliver questions and answers like no other experience can. Washing in and out of sleep, time upon time, minute by minute. All is seen. 

The title of this comes from the following poem by Mary Oliver....

Sleeping In The Forest

I thought the earth remembered me, she 
took me back so tenderly, arranging 
her dark skirts, her pockets 
full of lichens and seeds. I slept 
as never before, a stone 
on the riverbed, nothing 
between me and the white fire of the stars 
but my thoughts, and they floated 
light as moths among the branches 
of the perfect trees. All night 
I heard the small kingdoms breathing 
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night 
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling 
with a luminous doom. By morning 
I had vanished at least a dozen times 
into something better.

- Mary Oliver

Image by Casper David Friedrich

I Thought The Earth Remembered Me (Wk59/104)

This weeks tune is quite upbeat for me. Its a departure from piano and back to the guitar. Superficially its quite upbeat, its got spikes though. Hope you enjoy.

Going To The Mountain(Wk60/104)

This is week 9, its a pretty chilled one. I tried to get a Zero 7 feel, but you know, without the know how, lol. Anyhow, enjoy.

On The Wall (Wk61/104)

I wrote a song about oddities. Here it is. 

Eclipsing (Wk62/104)

When I did this weekly song project first time around in '11, Bert Jansch sadly passed away. This time, the news of John Renbourn passing away reached me today. A true guitar hero and songwriter, founder member of Pentangle, teacher, solo performer. Amazing dude. I luckily had occasion to meet him a couple of times, sweet guy. RIP
This is a song I wrote this morning thinking about his passing


Exit John (Renbourn) (week 63/104)

I'm a week behind myself. This is a mellow number, guitar, piano and first appearance this year of the Banjo. 

Homeless Child (week 64/104)

A few years back I had the pleasure of performing some live music to my mate Ollie's art performance as The Real Charlie Cheese. This is a new piece, and for me it evokes that particular character. Charlie is a modern day jester, fool, pied piper, call him what you will. He nods back to Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel n Hardy....bygone heroes.

Ollie's stuff..
http://www.free-range.org.uk/cgi-bin/portfolio.pl?yearID=7&exhibitionID=74&memberID=3168

The Life and Times of The Real Charlie Cheese (wk 65/104)

Whether its waking from a bad dream, or a period of confinement, be it spiritual or emotional, there is always the rising sun, the earth turns. Inspired by Philip Glass, I must admit

On Waking, the Sun (wk66/104)

I'm in mimicking mode again. More of a homage actually. This one is my version of a Mark Hollis (former Talk Talk) type song. The guy has one weird voice, and indistinct lyrics. Well, here goes 

Seaghosts (wk67/104)

Week 36 from the 'weekly noise' project, a tune a week for the whole of 2011.
<a href="http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com</a>/ 
A break from the songwriting here. This is an ambient track over a poem recitation. I recently found this poem, by me, written a lifetime ago. In a sense this is like a conversation between the young me, and the me at present. Hope you enjoy, or something....
Banjo+mellotron+cello - adjusted,
my voice-slowed,
Guitcello,
Synth pad.


Dree Ane's Weird (poem/ambient)   (wk 36/52)

Week 37 from the 'weekly noise' project, a tune a week for the whole of 2011.
http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com/ 
This is almost a happy song. Its NOT Rolf Harris' 'Sun Arise' song,lol. Its also my first attempt at using a bit of midi sequencing on the string hits. Its a song about the union of the subject and predicate of a proposition (yeah right !). Hope you enjoy

Guitar,
Midi Strings,
Vocals.


Morning Rain    (wk37/52)

Week 39 from the 'weekly noise' project, a tune a week for the whole of 2011.
<a href="http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com</a>/ 
Very sadly this week Bert Jansch died. A true guitar legend and inspiration to countless folkies n rockers alike. He was the man. This is my tribute, in the style of Bert. He would have done it with infinitely more style however.
RIP Bert Jansch
Guitar,
Percussion.



Exit Bert(Jansch)    (wk39/52)

Week 41 from the 'weekly noise' project, a tune a week for the whole of 2011.
<a href="http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com</a>/
A tune in 7/8 and 3/4, I think, could be wrong. Anyhow its about relationships, between people and inbetween times.Its a song of two contrasting halves too. I was thinking about 'The Snow Goose' story at the time, hmmm, make of it what you will. Hope you enjoy.
Guitar,
Cello,
Harp,
Vocals.


Sailing for the War    (wk41/52)

Week 43 from the 'weekly noise' project, a tune a week for the whole of 2011.
<a href="http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com</a>/ 
I've been wanting to write a song about childhood for a while now. My two boys provide plenty of material, their own secret worlds are just mesmerising. Hanjan <a href="http://soundcloud.com/hanjan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">HanJan</a> posted a recording of her daughter Eleanor <a href="http://snd.sc/tKuYQw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://snd.sc/tKuYQw</a> and it is just the most gorgeous thing. This song is inspired by my boys, Eleanor and that recording. Hope you like 
Guitar,
Guitcello,
Zither Harp.
Vocals.

Your love is seeing,
Your time is fleeting,
she'll paint a picture for you.

She is a kite in the summer sky,
she is a flare in the dead of night,
Everyone will know you were there.

Would she go home ?,
would she grow old ?,
would Eleanor find the truth ?.

Ooo Eleanor x 2

Your world is holding,
Our eyes are closing,
Our minds seem broken to you.

Some say you're growing,
Too fast for knowing,
I say there's still things to learn.

Ooo Eleanor x 4

You're not alone,
You're not alone.

Ooo Eleanor x 4

Eleanor    (wk43/52)

Week 46 from the 'weekly noise' project, a tune a week for the whole of 2011. 
http://thespeedofsoundblogcast.wordpress.com/

There's ghosts in the machine...

Guitar,
Bass,
Accordion,
Banjo,
Piano,
Drum loop,
Synth,
Saw.


The Ghosts (that tear us apart)  (wk46/52)

A downbeat song. A few Nick drake inspired chord changes.

Unravel the Moonlight
Unfollow the day 
Recover the sunlight
It's showing the way

You'll spend the whole time alone, alone
You'll bring the whole world home, today. 

Words undone together 
Lives falling apart 
Keep fighting the moment 
Go back to the start.

You'll spend the whole time alone, alone
You'll bring the whole world home, today. 

Written and performed by Wes Martin

Songs from 2017

Recover The Sunlight

Cosmic Banjo

A cover version of Samandtheplants song, from the album The Eft. Myself on piano and vocals, and my imaginary friends Pookie Throttle and Griswald Bench on backing vocals and vibes, man.

Wes Martin's Album

With a Snake. (cover of a Samandtheplants song)

I know I said in the blogcast I wasn't posting again to this account, well I have six days untill its downgraded so I thought I'd get this up before migrating

Its about sad shit.

Guitar,
Strings,
Samples.


Once below

This is collaboration with Hannah Duncan, http://soundcloud.com/hanjan. I wrote the bare bones of the song and Hannah created the rest, the harmonies, counter melody and orchestration. I don't think I would have recorded this on my own, as it lends so much to Drake, but Hannah lent her unique voice to it, making it much more of a  joint effort, and something very different from how I would have driven it.

'Riverbed symbolises the ancient, worn, life bringing veins of the landscape. The song is an idea of a conversation, a journey with them. Something much bigger in significance and longevity than us. Its about floating, finding,and understanding our place.'

(Obvious influence here is Nick Drake's 'Riverman'. I use 3/4 rather than his 5/4. Otherwise, yeah.)

Riverbed ft HanJanDuncan

First track for a while. A whistful autumnal number.  

Fallen

Wes Martin, I write songs and paint. Not at the same time.
I wrote a song per week in '11 as Ukuleleboy (despite rarely using one, I know!!). I still write and record songs, annd post them on here. Hope you enjoy listening.
Wes

Wes Martin

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