Look what we sneaked online while you were sleeping…
Transmission 13.0….w/e 1/4/2017
Revolutions of a 33 and 45 kind….
This edition features……
Warp transmission, temple ov bbv, a thousand hours, nouvelle phenomene, public memory, slipstream, Nathan hall and the sinister locals, vitalic, kenji kawait, blacula, quatermass and the pit, boy harsher, inhalt, cory hanson, iah, slowdive,le syndicat electronique, the church, the Bolshoi, agents aren’t aeroplanes, wedding present, wolfhounds, alberich / lussuria, the heartwood institute, astralasia, revbjelde, the mortlake bookclub, jon brooks, toitoitoi, traven, dane reese, Andrew Wasylyk, adam franklin, Laetitia sadier source ensemble, the peacers, code ascending, kid koala, ceus de abril, sendelica, superfjord,apple class syndrome, white noise, gunter schnicter
I could have sworn we’d mentioned this in earlier dispatches, seems not, the latest outing from the Heartwood Institute much loved around these here parts of course and the chosen alter ego of a certain Jonathon Sharp. ‘the whispering knights’ is an imagined score for a lost and fabled 70’s film of the same name, a tale of three children whose wayward curiosity for the mixing of spell charmed brews summons the ire of a legendary witch who awoken exacts her rage upon the trio who themselves find themselves embroiled in a centuries old battle as good – in the guise of the whispering knights – take to arms to resume their battle against an ages old evil. As to the soundtrack itself, impeccably daubed in the kind of vintage 70’s motifs more commonly associated with both the ghost box and villa9 studio fraternity not to mention something that should appeal to those attuned to the releases by the much-admired horror pop sounds imprint. Between the Bucolic phrasings, the rural daisy chains and the retro toned electronic dimpling both mystery and magic purr throughout this supernatural suite whereupon vague elements of Horror Giallo soundtracks a la Nicolai (see the bleak paranoiac chase of ‘escaping from Morgan again’), Morricone and of course, Goblin thread through to forge a lushly toned tapestry with Brit folk horror ghosts. At times regal and noble as on ‘the legend of the knights’ where the dimpling of rustic heraldry hints and bows subtly to hints of Belbury Poly and Vic Mars. Elsewhere here be the floral fluency of the mellowing “Yours Sincerely, Letitia Hepplewhite” tip toeing gently to the stilled elegiac tracings found beautifying the adorably spectral ‘Steeple Hampden’. And then there are the moments gloomed in eerie shadow plays most notably the chilling portent brought to bear by the oncoming of ‘Morgan pays a visit’ – a hollowed ice tipped dark carnival grinned in macabre manifestations and an ominous ne’er do well chill. A limited CD issue is available via reverb worship. https://theheartwoodinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/the-whispering-knights
First of all we should apologise for being a little late to the party with this one. Another release ripe for headphonic delight, incoming on the esteemed Fruits de Mer imprint an absolute mind mushrooming head trip from Astralasia. Pressed on coloured double vinyl replete with additional 7 inch and blotter paper no doubt aping the LSD saturated sheets of the late 60’s, ‘Oceania’ might well be best described a trip aboard a kind of cerebral carpet drifting deep into the subconscious exploring your inner head space for this mammoth sonic statement cuts across the realms of ambience, kosmiche and transcendentalism like a hot knife through butter.
‘Alooland’ starts the journey, a demurring dream drift of swirling dissipates and dissolving textures, a cosmic jungle if you would so wish replete with bird song and a teaming of dub draped woozy wildlife. The decidedly beardy ‘ghosts inbetween’ changes the mood ever so slightly, positioned on a more solid terra-firma, this funky murmur tone comes wiggily shrouded in a trippy kosmiche jazz shelling pressed upon a mellowing motorik grooving while the title track closes the curtain on side one with some nifty Floydian spiked Tangerine Dream mind expansion. ‘tangerine skies’ opens matters on side 2, is that Rickie Lee Jones at the beginning, sure sounds her which is just as well as this ‘un takes its cue initially from the Orb’s ‘little fluffy clouds’ and then just drifts off radar into Ozric Tentacle magic lands, one we suggest best accompanied by the rolling of a fat ‘un and just letting yourself go. Sprayed in beguiled Balearic afterglows ‘kaleidoscopic’ arrives hazily adorned in misty romance dinked in tropicalic delirium which we must admit had us for the best part arguing with ourselves what it reminded us of more – Vini Reilly or Discordia. It’s left to the sides best moment to run out matters towards the end groove, ‘north star’ very much setting its dials for bliss state and into the bargain colouring in the invisible dots that exist between Embryo and Sendelica.
With a title like ‘astral voyager’ there was never going to be any doubt or fear that this was going to fry your headspace with wiring salutations crusted in harsh gouging, a pulsing peace pipe very much recalling those lengthy workouts by Paris Angels albeit as though retooled by a youthful Echoboy and cut with the same kind of mind morphing mosaics that used to occasion themselves out of the much-missed Delirium sound house in the mid 90’s. something of the John Barry ghosts through the twinkle toned noir lounge smouldering of ‘Ishdan’ with its feint daubing of the mystique snaking through its hypno-grooved shimmer toning. All said though it’s the 22 minute colossus ‘time and tide eternal’ which occupies the entirety of side 4 that provides ‘Oceania’ with its formidable centre piece for what is a humungous meditative out of body astral ride sailing on cosmic ocean drifts populated by floaty ripples of dream dazed arabesque mirages, hallucinogenic hazes and lulling at peace with everything flotillas of bliss kissed out there-ness. Classy. For the seriously bonged out among you the label are at present cobbling together one of their legendary special edition sets of the album that features posters, white labels, special coloured wax variations, a live vinyl set and all manner of hush hush secret goodies all no doubt forced with some difficulty into a humungous box like creation. http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/oceaniaspecialedition.html
Again another release that somehow got itself mischievously lost in the review schedules, this is the much-touted self-titled debut full length from Buried Treasure’s Revbjelde, now finally seeing the light of day pressed on limited quantities of vinyl. A most mercurial melting pot whose shapeshifting palette comes pressed with bonged out jazz codas, dark psych overtures and ghostly folk mysterios. It’s an immensely rich and luxuriant magical journey that takes you through the thickets of psych folk pop opening its account to the svelte enchantment of ‘weeping tree’, as though a sonic séance forged from the gathering of stealing sheep and smoke faeries folk awakening to find themselves part of some ‘wicker man’ like pageant led from the fore by Goblin and creating Mayday mischief. The incoming ‘port of Arundel’ assumes the mantle of being a mischievous slice of haired out freakiness, its subtly wayward weave of pan piped vistas and cross weaving conversation interference creating a woozy arabesque spell charming. Had we been none the wiser, the initial ominous stirrings of ‘Buccaboo’ might well have been taken for strange utterances dropped from the final edit grooves of Volcano the Bears ‘yak’, yet once the didgeridoo hazes clear something smoked, sleek and slinky that’s piped in mystery emerges from the primordial soup, its groove noir trimmed chamber blues folk groans slowly snaking with an entrancing mesmeric charm. As to ‘lankin jig’, what can we say – a flighty cornucopia of essences drawn from folk enchantments and campfire spirituals not to mention twang twiddled all sumptuously meshed into a hoedown so toe tappingly flirty you’ll be minded to nail you’ll feet to the floor before you press the repeat button. ‘cloister’ as the title might initially hint is graced majestically in monastic heraldry and spiritualism leaving ‘out of the unknown’ to steer forth to the end grooves side winding itself upon a seductively mellow and hazily glazed sultry jazz noir framing.
On a personal note, Side 2 is where the albums secret treats lie though the opening trio of sore thumbs might have you suspecting otherwise what with the opening sermon ‘reading Abbey’ that ominously opens proceedings and the woozy psychotropic ju-ju mantra that is ‘Tidworth drum’ while lest we forget the maddening psychosis sapped hallucinogen that is ‘carry my woes’, the more mystical side shall we agree to refer. From therein, the remaining quartet of tracks are ripped from last years limited issue ‘for Albion’ set, the ghostly passing of the haunting and shadow forming ‘Argona Wuhhung’ drawing a distant kinship with Dead Can Dance albeit as though visited upon by night terrors brought upon by the spectral calling disquiet of Preterite while both ‘Faran Ofost’ and ‘Manian Plegende’ weave an oddly strange macabre to the proceedings that manifests at times slipstreaming between industrial rave recitals and all out disturbia with its reference markers clearly having both feet in the sonic camps of the Assembled Minds and Revolutionary Corps of Teenage Jesus. All said without the best moment is left with the parting ‘Brigantia Lufian’ an arresting and beguilingly willowy flutterby which to borrow from a previously review made in these pages ‘is a beautifully tripping dream dazed folly whose ghostly pastoral visitation echoes the likes of Komeda and Korzynski, best described as an acid psyche folk spell crafting’. Essential listening.
Not we’d hasten to add, for the listening of those faint of heart, a lengthening supernatural shadow is casting its reach far into this dimension, ne’er do well tasks and the uttering of ancient texts have summoned it forth awakening it from its slumber. Sworn to secrecy, a scholarly group both of legend and fable, the passing of a darkly noble birth right, accounts of whom number legion, have presided over empires, royalties and the Governances of these lands, out of view they have like puppet masters steered the course of history like an unseen hand, their trade – the mysterious, the magical and the macabre, dark hearted souls in touch with the unseen, the unreal and the unexplained. Those that take heed and are versed of such secret histories thought their bloodline and texts severed and lost. Not so. Secret meetings, hushed whispers in scholarly chambers and notes passed in respected halls of learning, clearly indicate that the Mortlake Bookclub is indeed servicing enquiring minds.
Following a limited issue tender for admissions, ‘Mysteriorum Libri Quinque’ serves as the collectives opening communique, a disquieting chill descends with the onset of ‘Obsidian Eye’ – buried deep in the supernatural mists, the twinkling tones of a chiming lullaby flickers and fades amid the macabre happenings manifesting through the veil, for emerging through the dread calm what sounds like a ghost ship slavishly pilots itself from the beyond dragging in its wake darkening consequences. Both eerie and tense these droning fanfares howl and cry with a deathly portent that recalls the bleak sonic apertures happened upon by the Revenant Sea. Decidedly lighter in texture though all the same soured in eeriness, ‘the kollector’ is a paranoiac rapture, a visitation, perhaps more so a warning call, as to events to unfold, to the darkening chamber noir peel of spectral bell chimes an unseen and unnamed visitor approaches his ghostly cloak dragging lines upon lines of unclaimed stricken souls. The shadow playing ‘ornaments in jade’ does little to avert the tension, a ghost lit ceremonial chill descends as the monastic murmurs forge their trancing spell craft, something that ought to appeal to the archaic spectral folk happened upon by the soon to reactivate Preterite. ‘bound by human flesh’ rounds out matters to the end grooves, psychotropic pulsars, distressed choral recitals and an unwavering sense of hopelessness and despair impart a grievous feeling of hope sucked isolationism. The Mortlake Bookclub is open for business and collecting lost souls. Enquire within at reverb worship.
Am i the only one who thinks this sounds like Plone partaking in a spot of cosy cuddles with a very youthful ISAN, must admit to being somewhat taken by its sleepy headed lullaby effects, minimalist murmuring and slyly sighing snooziness, well before we all start retiring to blissful states of dreamy nods worth mentioning that this is a teaser taster taken from a forthcoming Clay Pipe release from Ghost Box-er Jon Brooks entitled ‘Autres Directions’ this being the lilting orbital ‘Se Reveiller’ as cute as a shiny new button… https://soundcloud.com/clay-pipe-music/se-reveiller
And talking of Ghost Box, new full length arriving any day soon from ToiToiToi by the name ‘Im Hag’ from off which we’ve managed to source this delightful excerpts montage, sprayed in all manner of playfulness and bucolic bouquets, these rustic sweethearts chirp and chime affectionately to a crookedly wonky though disarming magic woodland of a surrealist seasoning that at once blends elements of those curious East European animations from the 70’s that used to haunt and seduce children’s TV with equal measure, Vernon Elliott and the more together, though clearly kooky moments found lurking on Bearsuit records most exquisitely skewed and adorable back catalogue. https://soundcloud.com/ghost-box/sets/imhag
Been a fair few missives since anything dropped out of the Aetheric records ghost camp to trouble our turntable, but word reaches us that traven will be among us shortly, early séance rituals have drawn forth this slice of disturbia for unsettling delight, ‘#Noguchi’s NUMB3Я5’ prowls with a stilled and sombre emotionless disquiet, staring from the shadows patiently watching, waiting and no doubt making notes whilst patiently awaiting its legion like brethren from the beyond to join it. https://soundcloud.com/tr_v_n/noguchis-numbers
Happened across this by sheer accident, seems it’s been lurking in the sound cloud shadows for a fair few months, by Dan Reese this is ‘what was mentioned’ – a ghostly soft psyche folk apparition that draws to its eerily hypnotic campfire wooziness elements of Syd Barrett mingled with the beardy legend that is the Frond as in Bevis. https://soundcloud.com/dane-reese/what-was-mentioned
a long-promised review will appear here shortly for what is a most exquisite forthcoming release from Art of the Memory Palace’s Andrew Wasylyk. Inspired by architecture and open spaces, the spirit of compositional creativity oozes through the grooves of ‘themes for buildings and spaces’. Released next month on a strictly limited cassette issue through tape club, ‘drift’ has been sent out to at once seduce and lull, an utterly adorable and pristinely crafted slice of bounteous pastoral prettiness that undulates and tumbles with a carefree canter demurringly navigating a lilting palette that draws to its affectionally airy artistry elements of Toshack Highway’s much loved self-titled debut full length, J Xaverre and the nostalgic sepia hazing of Littlebow’s most recent for second language, all gathered, swelled and drizzled in a quaintly toned vintage that ebbs and flows to the amorphous arrangements of the critically underappreciated Douglas Gamley.
Talking of Adam Franklin nee Toshack Highway / Swervedriver – there’s an ultra limited 7 inch on blue wax being prepped for RSD17 action by Club AC 30 featuring two covers of old Motorhead / David Bowie grooves – presently hunting for links – fear not we’ll be back as soon as……
Mentioned this before, certainly worth a repeat listen, available as a download single this Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble, in fact so smitten are we with this album we’ve featured both ‘love captive’ and ‘galactic emergence’ – see early postings at https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/03/09/laetitia-sadier-source-ensemble-2/ and https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/laetitia-sadier-source-ensemble-3/
Obviously, i’m embarrassed to say, something we managed to miss, released this time last year via elefant records, this is Ms Sadier accompanied by Giorgio Tuma for ’maude hope’ – in truth sounds more Broadcast than Stereolab, all kissed with a 60’s noir chic shimmer…….
Quiet possibly the coolest thing we’ve heard all day, the way it weaves slinkily all the time softly snaking to an off kilter deeply mellowed and woozily fried psyche haziness which initially starts out sounding as though its vibing on Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’ before going all Donovan-esque and seeing out matters with some seriously skewed garage glam spikiness. Anyhow this is the Peacers with ‘Jurgen’s layout’ a cut dragged from a forthcoming Drag City full length entitled ‘Introducing the Crimsmen’ – best thing we’ve heard of its ilk since the Wreaths. Just saying. Album out in June – European tour dates below…. https://peacers.bandcamp.com/track/jurgens-layout
6/7 – FR – Nantes – La Dynamo
6/8 – FR – Paris – Olympic Café
6/9 – FR – Lorient – Le Galion
6/10 – FR – Nîmes – This Is Not A Love Song Festival
6/11 – FR – Bordeaux – BT59 (+ Thee Oh Sees)
6/14 – UK – Manchester – Academy (+ Thee Oh Sees)
6/15- UK – Dublin – The Mezz
6/16- UK – Glasgow – Broadcast
6/17 – UK – Newcastle – The Cluny
6/18 – UK – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
6/19 – UK – Brighton – The Hope and Ruin
6/20 – UK – London – Shacklewell Arms
Many thanks to Club AC30’s press folk, hello Clare, for coming so speedily to our aid in getting back with sound links for this, alas we can’t share them as they are set to private and feature two covers pressed upon a very special RSD17 release from the label by Toshack Highway/ Swervedriver main man Adam Franklin. Ultra-limited in nature and grooved on blue vinyl this must have release finds Mr Franklin reshaping a brace of cuts he’s had lurking in the vaults for a few years, homages to both Lemmy of Motorhead and Mr Bowie of which the man himself describes as sounding like ‘some alternative version of the Cold War/computer age late 70s, like the Scarfolk Council vision of a dystopian future that’s a lot more scary now that it may finally have arrived’. Well he’s not far wrong in truth, especially his distressed and forlorn rephrasing of Bowie’s ‘Thursday Child’ which emerges from a woozy chemical fog courting a strangely haunting feel that surreally casts a spectral hand to link arms with Harrison’s ‘blue jay way’ and scratched with hollowing reflection relocates it into the minimalist future dazed isolationist demurs of ‘Low’. That said I must admit that it withers in the shadow of his re-trim of Motorhead’s ‘iron horse / born to lose’, for sprayed in the willowy airless mosaics found lightly toning his debuting Toshack Highway appearance, this lost gem is renewed and wired upon a bliss toned seafaring cosmic caress traced in vapour hazes of mellowing psych whispers, something we’d hasten to add that ought to be high on the listening radar of those much adoring of Porcupine Tree’s impeccable ‘stupid dream’ set.
Staying with Club AC30 very loosely, we nabbed this from their face book page, new thing from Crawley’s code ascending who feature among their collective ranks members of Air Formation, Monster Movie – who i suspect may well appear here later on as i’m sure we’ve had messages from their press folk and you walk through walks. Anyhow a new EP entitled ‘pre-emption’ from which we’ve honed upon the opening salvo ‘forget’ not least because its forlornly scratched in the kind of fractured bruising and tortured atmospherics that had us much minded of the frankly perfect Her Name is Calla as though in a sonic collusion with the much-missed Workhouse re-cutting lost gems from Levitation’s debuting long player, all opining riff howls and shyly retiring wound licking. https://codeascending.bandcamp.com/album/pre-emption-ep
Incoming from Kid Koala, this hushed honey comes pulled from his forthcoming ‘Music To Draw To: Satellite’ set and features the spectral tones of Emilíana Torrini gracing the grooves. Anyhow this is ‘Satellite’, in truth something that teeters elegantly between the regal and the unreal, wonderfully fragile, a frosted ghost light marooned upon some far flung cosmic outpost twinkling its last fading love note into the galactic ether whilst seductively trimmed with the same unworldly magical murmur as that which used to grace and adore those mysterious mosaics from Mum. Quite arresting if we do say so ourselves. The 72-minute album incidentally entitled ‘Music To Draw To: Satellite’ is due to drop early April via Arts and Crafts and will be made variously available on 2LP, CD, and MP3, as well as a special limited edition Deluxe CD with 80-page hard-cover sketchbook.
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Latest lovely from the blog that celebrates itself comes courtesy of a free to download 4 track EP from Céus de Abril entitled ‘hidden tracks’ which we assume may well be cuts that have missed the final edit on the labels impeccable roster of cover compilations. Featured here are three covers and one original penning that being the opening salvo ‘Regando Lírios’ which if anything reveals these shoegaze love hearts as a collective irrefutably proud and adoring of My Bloody Valentine for this opining cutie comes bliss traced and hushly haloed in the dreamy set to seduce hypnotic inclines of ‘loveless’. That said where their cover of the Pale Saints’ ‘angel’ may lose the fluency and the mercurial slipstreaming of the original their rephrasing of the Lilys’ ‘Claire hates me’ more than evens the score wrapped as it is Catherine wheeling sprays of pouting purrs of vapour blurring puffs of effervescent euphoria. All said it takes a certain amount of ballsy-ness to even consider yet actually dare to cover ‘little trouble girl’ – perhaps one of the finest things committed to wax by Sonic Youth, in truth these folk pull off the task with much aplomb retuning the originals sonic dial, in place of its breezy late 60’s rustic hymnal haziness something of a sighing orbital mirror ball emerges into view softly seduced and speckled in lulling starry campfire motifs and the amorphous arrest of radiant swathes of hypno-grooved bliss kisses. https://theblogthatcelebratesitself.bandcamp.com/album/c-us-de-abril-hidden-tracks
Afraid it’s another of those essential type Fruits de Mer happenings that this time extending its influential radar to the legendary freak king himself, Frank Zappa. Now when it comes to naming artists deserving of the tag genius, in the era of ‘pop music and beyond’ all must surely be measured against the Zappa, a restless musical soul who hopped, fused and blurred the musical disciples with impish creativity leaving a body of work that to this day still has the ability to confound not to mention provoke critical debate and discussion. With Fruits de Mer’s curious affiliation and affection for the eclectic and the outsider, its only strange that its took them so long to link their musical carriage to the Zappa sonic express. The incoming ‘Zappa’ set comes pressed on 7 inches of wax, coloured obviously and limited in quantity, upon its grooves sit Superfjord and Sendelica each trading a side each and rephrasing a selected cut from Zappa’s formidable and extensive back catalogue. First up Superfjord go head to head with ‘peaches en regalia’ – a cut that originally reared it’s wigged out head on ‘hot rats’ – which listening just now had me very much recalling L’Augmentation, but that’s for another day. Left however in the hands of these dudes, ‘peaches en regalia’ stirs pipes and purrs to the original’s pastoral majesty though here invested with a liberal dose of breezy progressive grooving which all said had us very much in mind of the legendary Supersister, which by our reckoning is only a good thing. Sendelica turn their sights upon ‘don’t eat the yellow snow’ – originally appearing on ‘apostrophe’ – a set which even when he was playing with a straight bat he’d still manage to sound fried. Bingham and Co rethread the whole mix initially splitting it in two parts and fuse both together so that what first appears as a rather dandy slice of hypnotically snaking stoner glam emerging from a woozily dream draped ghost folk recital soon splinters and morphs with the appearance of Babal’s Karen Langley into a horn hazed gospel smoker. Recommended of course.
Interlude…….the apple glass syndrome, white noise, Günter Schickert, boy harsher and inhalt
A bit of a mixed, the first of a lost 60’s psych nugget, the second no introductions needed but called to mind on hearing superfjord’s latest, the third a true vintage find from the mid 70’s and the last two – well – a little something that ought to appeal to the polytechnic youth fraternity….
Culled from his solo full length ‘the unborn capitalist from limbo’ released via drag city towards the end of last year, this is Wand’s Cory Hanson’s newly peeled video accompanying the track ‘garden of delight’, a misty eyed 60’s scrapbook teased with the tender seduction of sighing baroque string arrangements that swell lushly and daintily genuflect to melt and muse upon a surrendering musical mosaic graced in the sonic image of Love’s ‘forever changes’.
Some stuff……
Cosmically proggy trip weaving out of body head freakiness from Iah, immensely beardy stuff…….
New Slowdive loveliness, from a forthcoming Dead Oceans release, this is the grace falling ‘sugar for the pill’……
Mentioned these a while back, i’m suspecting both they and you ignored the first warning call so we’ll prickle your listening space with another dose of Le Syndicat electronique’ – this is an old one, from way back when we were all so much younger, 2001 in fact though we suspect it’s been thawed from a 1979 cold storage…….
Absolutely no info on these, stumbled over this on a you tube ramble, as you do, some of their other stuff has a definite Xmal Deutschland vibe going on, this however caught our ear lobes as it tunes itself into a kind of mid 80’s March Violets styling….
Two blasts from the past…….
The Church……what can we say…….
The Bolshoi – criminally underrated and oft overlooked………
I’m sure we’ve featured this previously, one of the earliest Waterman productions, if i recall rightly was initially on a hard to get import 12 inch, played by Peelie sometime early ’84 and loved in an instant, this is Agents Aren’t Aeroplanes with the superior extended mix of ‘the upstroke’….
More incoming RSD17 action, this one via the El Segell del Primavera imprint features a new EP by the Wedding Present that pays homage to the long since forgotten home international fixtures, last played in 1983/4 after 100 years – the oldest competitive international fixture in football. This EP features a melodic mosaic dedicated to each of the competing nations, ‘Scotland’ sent ahead on a scouting mission sounding like prime time ‘Seamonsters’ era Weddoes after a studio invasion by Mogwai, we should of course hasten to add that no crossbars or goalposts were harmed in the ensuing melee.
First album proper since ‘attitude’ looms in the shadows with ‘United Kingdom (….or how to come to terms with your culture)’ chomping at the bit and readying itself for release in early May via Optic Nerve Recordings. From that set and sent ahead as a curmudgeon herald ‘the stupid poor’ spits and seethes with disbelief and discontent. the Wolfhounds were always the welcomed sore thumbs of the class of C-86, while their peers succumbed to the cheap persuasion of the charts and the brief dalliance of major label hopefulness, these dudes turned their backs, dug in their heels and scowled and rankled whilst crafting some of the most potently acute groove of the day, see their 1986 Peel session for any further listening proof. Thirty years on from their acclaimed debut and – ahem – that Peel session, this lot show no signs of letting up with their skewed and caustic agit rumble for ‘the stupid poor’ is an amassing sea of tension simmering finger jabbing that side steps the usual verse chorus verse creative formula and instead coils and intensifies to a wiring furnace of dead eyed angular friction which to these ears sounds like some discontented gathering of fire engine, the sinatras and the playwrights types.
Must admit that this has charted high in our never ending wants list, a limited vinyl repressing via hospital of Alberich / Lussuria’s immensely dark and hypnotic ‘borgia’ – think ‘Blade Runner’ dropped several notches in terms of an ominously tense factoring by a retooling by Brad Fiedel, under whose ghost like dystopian visioning pares and pins the soundtrack with a gloom draped icy finality, stunningly bleak. Yet hitherto edgily beautiful.
Why don’t we get sent growling gouged groove like this, seriously we’ve been having white out attacks each time this blighter has come into earshot, described by their label as existing in a half way sonic purgatory somewhere ‘between Blue Cheer and Monster Magnet’, hell they weren’t kidding, this bad assed slab of freak beaty fuzz swirled wooziness arrives with its own big bad bong, kaleidoscopic shades and packing the kind of potently stoned out and fried waywardness that just the slightest whiff off might have most flattened to the floor and tripping. Anyway this is Warp Transmission with a full length called ‘Tamám Shud’ coming at ya via Creepy Crawl.
Not content with dropping the thunderous ‘just say no to the psycho right wing capitalist fascist industrial death machine’ full length for rocket recordings, Gnod are already lining up another sonic happening via the same label, a collaborative head to head with Dutch psychedelicists radar men from the moon. Coinciding with Gnod’s ongoing 10th anniversary celebrations, events highlighted by them being artist In Residence at the Roadburn festival – April 20-23 – at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, it seemed logical that these two sonic titans should cross swords given the mutual respect shown by each to the other in recent years. Due to land early June, the four track cranium peeler ‘Temple Ov BBV’ finds Gnod and RMftM summoning a starkly untamed primitive sonic storm with the heralding salvo ‘butchers tears’ howling to a tribal ju-ju grooving whose darkly disconnected dialect builds with searing intensity all the time jabbing, jarring and sparring to a fraught, festering and wiring isolationist angular agit frenz that recalls a very youthful Killing Joke. Essential ear gear if you ask me. https://soundcloud.com/rocket-recordings/temple-ov-bbv-01-butchers
Gnod tour dates….
April
13/04 – The Golden Lion, Todmorden (UK)
14/04 – Elektrowerkz, London (UK)
15/04 – Instant Chavires, Paris (France)
16/04 – Mag 4, Bruselles (Belgium)
20- 23/04 – Roadburn, Tilburg (Netherlands)
25/04 – Cave 12, Geneve (Switzerland)
26/04 – Sonic, Lyon (France)
27/04 – Blah Blah, Torino (Italy)
28/04 – Bronson, Ravenna (Italy)
29/04 – Gromka, Lubiana (Slovenia)
20/04 – Donau Festival, Krems (Austria)
May
01/05/17 – Klub Famu, Prague (Czech Republic)
03/05/17 – Urban Spreee, Berlin (Germany)
04/05/17 – Gouvernment, Gent (Belgium)
06/05/17 – Green Door Store, Brighton (UK)
18/05 – Portland Arms, Cambridge (UK)
19/05 – The Island, Bristol (UK)
20/05 – The Crypt, Bristol (UK)
21/05 – Church of St. John, Bristol (UK)
24/05 – The Cluny, Newcastle (UK)
25/05 – Les 3 Pieces, Roeun (FR)
27/05 – Water Moulin, Tournai (FR)
30/05 – Tape, Aarhus (DK)
31/05 – 1000FRYD, Aalborg (DK)
June
01 – Loppen, Copenhagen (DK)
02 – Trusk stop Alaska, Gotenborg (SE)
03 – Plan B, Malmo (SE)
04 – Stubnitz. Hamburg (DE)
08 – Moon Club, Cardiff (UK)
Again, we’re dogged by time constraints, so many releases so few minutes in the day, alas then a brief mention for this, a quite beautifully crafted outing it has to be said, by A Thousand Hours entitled ‘endless grey’. Deeply brooding and darkly seductive, cut with cavernous crystalline precision, this set arrives demurred and dinked in swathes of lulling dream pop mosaics. As said time runs against us, but our ears did fix with adoration upon both the opening and parting cuts, the former, the title track as it happens, softly morphs from a starting point sounding like some lost gem in waiting from the impeccable craft of Vini Reilly to blossom with ghost like spectral enchantment and emerge blissfully sighed in hushed haloes of tender toned lovelorn crushes that much recall a youthful Tex La Homa. That said parting cut, the aptly titled ‘closure’ is awash in vapour trailing atmospherics that swirl and swoon with an impacting majestic storm cooling that suggests its author is well versed in the craft of Roy Montgomery whose desert dry trade wind like drift tones carry with them the spectres of the chameleons, the church and a ‘pornography’ era cure in its trailing smoke. https://onethousandhours.bandcamp.com/album/endless-grey
Happily tripped over this by sheer accident, from what we can gather it’s been knocking around for a fair few years, by nouvelle phenomene this is ‘keep on going’, sounds to these ears like it’s been shyly hugging to the walls of a late 70’s disco party dressed in all manner of sparsely toned primitive electro wisps crafting the sounds of tomorrow in a quirkily neutral pop minimalist cold cool coding that saunters and bops to a delightfully attractive clock working motif that had us somewhat fondly imagining a secretive meeting of minds in a basement studio of M and Flying Lizards types colluding to impishly stir and influence the path of late 70’s pop. https://soundcloud.com/nouvellephenomene/01-keep-on-going
Again, another one we accidentally tripped over. Now those with longish memories may recall us raving rather fondly about early visitations of public memory way back a year or so ago, an album was being prepped for release by felte which alas i don’t recall ever hearing, contact therein ceased. Now this drops by, a new 12-inch release entitled ‘veil of counsel’ on a seriously strict limited pressing of just 298 of which at the last count only 17 remain. From that set this is track 2 ‘afterlife’ – a pulsing 70’s phrased electronic ghost light which ought to appeal as much to those well versed in the current sonic confluence of cold war synth pop as it will the elegiac and lush grace falls occasioned to groove by C Duncan. https://soundcloud.com/felte/public-memory-afterlife
The cause of much puzzlement around our gaff, press release clearly states two tracks culled from a forthcoming full length that make up both sides of an imminent single, yet the CD clearly lists three tracks including an extended mix of the lead out track which i’m guessing will be available on the download variant. The plot thickens and confuses when said CD once popped in the player turns up not 2, not even 3 – but 5 tracks. Safe to say we aren’t complaining for this is a May incoming Enraptured happening from Slipstream. Pressed on limited quantities of pink waxed 7 inch, ‘maybe the day will come’ is your smoking feel good radiant spray of cruise controlling cosmically love noted electro buzz pop, with its radar turned to a softly purring pristine pop calibration, it arrives seductively haloed and drizzled in echoes of Electronic and Pet Shop Boys albeit as though fused resplendently in a vintage 90’s phrasing by a Paris Angels / Ed Ball studio gathering. Mentioned in recent missives, flip side ‘like no other’ is possessed of a majestically hollowing ‘ghost rider’ like 60’s shimmer toning that had us here much minded of Jon De Rosa channelling heavily on the spirit of Joe Meek. Also featured on this advance CD a slightly lengthier version of the same track plus two extended edits of the lead cut the first of which assumes a subtle Balearic dusting to its bow as it freefalls into terrains more associated with New Order’s ‘technique’. As to the rogue edit fastened to the end of our sample disc, a 9 minute club floor moocher that finds the Slipstream dudes in playful mood cooking up bliss kissed dissipating technoid psychotropes clearly weaved and woven whilst under the influence of a head shrooming cocktail of Yello and Plaid.
Also looming on an early May horizon, the debut solo release from Nathan Hall and the Sinister Locals. As said in previous dispatches, this delightfully magical four track set very much steers its navigational compass to a classic era Soft Hearted Scientists fayre, breezily adored in psychedelic eccentricity and sailing upon a stirring seafaring seasoning, aboard the mystical voyage to strange sonic lands, a passenger list amid whose pages are populated a roll call of ghostly crew drawn from a mid-80’s era XTC and a pressganged staffing of William D Drake, Syd Barrett and Cardiacs types. ‘the Volga Sturgeon Face’ EP collects together four tracks that flicker with fabled fancifulness and a pinching dash of 60’s musicality, it’s a set that opens to an oldie fairground orchestra, the jubilant pomp of ‘everybody’s burning effigies’ is the sound of the Zombies marooned in the kaleidoscopic surrealism of the Beatles’ Pepperland. Up next the bracing rush of harmony swelled rustic inclines tenderly serenades the lazy eyed ‘song for the flowers’ with a bitter sweetly ghosting of gospel toned campfire caressing of the type that might just have you minded to go in search of your prized copy of the Earlies debuting full length from a few years back. Centrepiece of the set in our humbled opinion is the previously mentioned ‘like a setting sun’, a wonderfully lightly sprayed pastoral pretty that tumbles playfully to a softly toned psych lilt straight from a ‘mummer’ era XTC songbook albeit as were pencilled in the margins by a ‘gigglegoo’ era Freed Unit. ‘Catacombs of Camden Town’ rallies matters out towards the end groove, inwardly reflective and ghosted by the haunting haze of fading memories, amid the beautified rustic ripples a hollowing sorrow scratches deep at its crushing core. Available via the hip replacement imprint.
I can tell you now that this is going to irk the anti-cigarette smoking fraternity, not wishing to get into a bun fight but it taps directly into whole sexual currency of the habit, the phallic imagery and the darkly cool decadent glamour, there will be complaints you mark my words. That said on a musical level one for those of you who’ve been bedevilled by sleepless night wondering what a Minty Vs. the Normal head clash might sound like. Fear not for Vitalic’s nicotine wet dream ‘sweet cigarette’ may well ensure you’ll have a restful night’s sleep, sure to appeal to those much adoring of the Polytechnic Youth back catalogue, in fact it’d be true to say this sounds like a seedy twin of Middex and yes that is ‘Warm Leatherette’ retooled and detuned on Buchla synthesisers, ultra-naughty, darkly chic and very much a seductive nod to old school Some Bizarre hedonism. Irresistible in short.
Another release immediately heading to the top of our bulging wants list, this is Kenji Kawai’s outstanding score for the classic 90’s sci-fi anime ‘ghost in the shell’. Released through the we release whatever the fuck we want imprint, now there’s a name i suspect you can trust, this soundtrack finally gets its debuting vinyl pressing, available in two variants, the standard album package and a deluxe collector’s edition that features the album, a bonus 7 inch in foil gilt sleeve, OBI strips and a twenty-four paged liner notes booklet. As to the soundtrack itself, a beautifully morphing listening experience that fuses traditional sonic values that utilise archaic choral harmonies, chants and traditional folk motifs with futuristic electronic tailoring in order to craft something both classical and modernist which hitherto simultaneously creates a score that retains an affecting timeless spirit, this timeless effect is probably best exemplified by the opening salvo ‘making of cyborg’ in which Kawai uses a choir to chant a wedding song in an ancient Japanese tongue, really is something else.
Currently at the planning stage, a Record Store Day sweep up and another ‘look what they sneaked in our inbox while we were sleeping’ in fact that one might be a bit of a whopper, later in the week – earthling society, Benjamin schoos, vorderhaus, keith seatman, skyjelly and other stuff…..sorry for being vague but we are beginning to lose the plot…….
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Email – marklosingtoday@gmail.com
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the end groove……
we’ll leave you with two very special releases heading out of the forthcoming Record Store Day happenings……first up several bites from the Tristram Cary score for ‘Quatermass and the Pit’ and the score for 1972’s ‘Blacula’……till next time……
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