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Food
March 31st, 2012A small gallery of food from my trip thus far. Apart from the last two pictures the following are only SOME of the many dishes served up in ONE meal: Boiled Sea Worms in a Marine Jelly with a GIANT Muscle Duck’s Blood Prawn ‘Rice’ / Chicken’s Claws / Peanuts in Balsamic Vinegar and Honey READ MORE
Nanyin, improvisation and my longing for The Fluid Piano™
March 27th, 2012For the last few weeks I have been attending regular rehearsals of the XMNYT (Xiamen Nanyin Troupe), just across the street from my accommodation. Nanyin is one of China’s oldest forms of traditional music, native to this particular area of the country. I had read about Nanyin before my arrival and was keen to experience READ MORE
The Private Archive
March 25th, 2012As some of you may have seen, the long-awaited shop on the website has gone live. Acqiure is a simple division of available recorded output into two pages: Publicly Available and Private Archive. The former is comprised of officially-released recordings, either as a leader/collaborator/sideman – listed in reverse chronological order. Hopefully you will find this straightforward and easy to READ MORE
ACQUIRE is now LIVE, at last!!!
March 23rd, 2012At last, a place where all of Bourne’s available recorded output can be purchased. The PUBLICLY AVAILABLE page features all published albums that feature Bourne’s work as a solo artist, collaborator and sideman (listed in reverse chronological order), available at the bargain price of £9.99 each! The PRIVATE ARCHIVE page will feature previously unissued works from READ MORE
Exercise. Pneumatic. Sexual. Anarchy: Xiamen…
March 21st, 2012There’s a lot of ‘exercising’ going on in Xiamen, although it’s not the kind of exercise as we know it – based on my observations: people flinging their arms over opposite shoulders whilst walking (this is sometimes augmented by forcibly banging both hands together), slamming fists simultaneously downward upon both thighs whilst sat down, walking/jogging backwards READ MORE
Bourne & Hobbs to feature on Amon Tobin limited edition boxed set
March 15th, 2012Bourne, along with long-time collaborator and friend, Sam Hobbs, were commissioned by Ninja Tune (via The Leaf Label) to create reinterpretations of tracks from Tobin’s latest album ISAM. The re-workings of tracks Lost & Found and Piece of Paper will feature alongside other artists’ work, (including Julia Kent, Pete Wareham, Lorn Reel et al.) in Tobin’s eponymous, limited edition boxed READ MORE
China Blog
March 15th, 2012As some of you may already be aware, Bourne’s blog is now being updated regularly with news, thoughts and also video footage capturing ongoing glimpses of his six-week residency in Xiamen in the Fujian Province of China (more information about the residency scheme can be found on the websites of The British Council and the PRSF Foundation). Do READ MORE
Lost
March 13th, 2012One of the phenomenon that I encounter daily whilst I am here is that of being looked at. Stared at. It’s quite disconcerting at first but, like many things characteristic of other cultures, one manages to become used to them as time passes (or not to notice them at all); aside from the odd occasion READ MORE
The ‘beautiful lonely chair’ at Shapowei, Xiamen
March 12th, 2012“A chair is just a chair…” – Burt Bacharach This picture typifies a certain mood I’ve felt this week: solitary. I’ve found that much of the week has been spent in thought – thoughts about music, thoughts about the things I’ve seen so far, thoughts about my life – and sometimes wondering just what on READ MORE
Gulangyu Island – First Encounters
March 2nd, 2012Had a VERY busy day yesterday and was lucky to have met some lovely people – the star of which was Liping Cai, an 80-year-old lady, who plays in the local church – she can play EVERY hymn in the book and has had the most incredible life and has never stopped learning new things READ MORE