Look what we sneaked online while you were sleeping …..
Transmission 52.0 – w/e December 31st 2017 ….
And so to the final missive of the year, not as bulging an eye straining event as we’d have hoped or indeed planned, a prolonged chest infection put paid to that. We were going to include a best of the year list, but given that’s what everyone else is doing, well we thought we’d give it a skip, I think most regular readers of these pages will be able to figure out who and what were our faves this year, heaven alone knows we’ve dropped enough hints. Which leaves me to quickly get to the apology part of things, here goes, sorry to all those who’ve been in contact with releases and stuff, we have tried to cover as much as we can this last year, I get very very pained when we miss things, to the point of being mortified and having sleepless nights if I’m honest, all I can say is thanks for persevering and getting in touch, we are hapless souls.
All things being well, we wil be kicking off 2018 with something of a the blog that celebrates itself special, the label has been packing releases aplenty this year, which as much as we’ve tried to address, time constraints have thus far made it nigh on impossible to the label justice. Also in the mix will be the latest edition in the excellent bedroom cassette masters series, a little brief mention you’ll find somewhere below as well as a mammoth release from the Unexplained Sounds Group plus an overview of the happenings emanating from the ERR REC imprint. Goes without saying that this will no doubt change when something wow hits our door mat and has us all a swoon, we’ll see.
Also of note, please update your contact lists, we are on the move around the 9th of next month – new details as follows …..
Contact resources….
Email – marklosingtoday@gmail.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/thesundayexperience
Word press – marklosingtoday.wordpress.com
Twitter – @marklosingtoday
Physical – 12 Stewart Avenue, Avenue, BOOTLE, Merseyside, L20 9JD, UK
That just leaves me to wish you all a very wonderful and peaceful New Year and to pass on my heartfelt thanks for tuning into these humble musings, it truly is appreciated. And with that the last ‘look what we sneaked online……’ for the year ….. ta-ra fore now and take care xx …..
… featuring ….
Gotta groove, sleepyard, elephant noise, elna rae, ella mary and the bad men, the crowman, Klaus morlock, anton barbeau, the corrupting sea, fuzzy feeling, ljerke, schizo fun addict, dark outside, handspan, komputer, wizards tell lies, martyn ware, mark liken, jim jarno, seti, dead sea apes, the rise and demise of john, kramies, own brand, carrilion, panamint manse, life education, Warriors Of The Dystotheque, ellen arkcro, Caterina Barbieri, reptillians from andromeda, hryssko, christmas stuffers, kiss kiss bang bang, snowflake collector, dear satan, shoegazer alive, gary numan, john 3:16, destroy all music, cut x cut, maximum rock n roll, analogue chatwith james murray, the Woolwich anomaly, habibi funk, Turkish psych, 400 lonely things, cendres, viryane say, Grilled Chicken Legs Brittany Style, cite lumiere, Amo Vaccaria & Bernold Delgoda, jc satan, 51 black super, le super homard, kadavar, astral and shit, odessey and oracle, stuart mclean, radio rectangle, john peel, happy meals, scuba death, the cactus channel, emra grid, vanligt folk, the weather station, night thoughts, simon’s ghost, jonathan bree, gosheven, sekel, janvy, Ashtoreth, grey malkin, pierre henry, Anthony ruptak, lev snowe, mute swan, the velveteins, hooded fang, space probe project, fever ray, kites with lights, St. Jimi Sebastian Cricket Club, goat girl, no movement no sound no memories, Wilf Petherbridge and Ben Hauke, a year in the country, drew Mulholland, roger eagle, in the nursery, dormannu, southern death cult, getting the fear, into a circle, xmal Deutschland, the cult of lip, real numbers, takahiro Mukai, Mario Lino Stancati
The promised albeit slightly later than we anticipated or planned, revisit to that rather immaculate yuletide EP gathered together by Sleepyard. This be ‘Christmas Time’ a four-track seasonal soiree which thus far we’ve managed to mention briefly when we ran an adoring ear over the parting cut ‘December’ somewhere here https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/sleepyard-6/. Sleepyard releases pretty much write their own reviews in so much as their sounds are so giving, unfussed and beguiled in a bewitched and colourfully articulate beauty, none more is this the case than on the opening salvo ‘Christmas time’ – here harvested within the mercurial murmur of hushly hinted choral harmonies and the caressing touch of subtle west coast rushes dappled in the merest wisp of softly kissed psych washes. Brief and to the point, ‘reflection’ utilises a ghostly though nonetheless, alluring array of spectral chamber tones who icy textures hint of magic wonderlands submerged beneath the chill of twilight mists while the hazily lazy seduction of ‘roll over me’ aside eloquently sprayed in a celestial hymnal phrasing whose daydream like wooziness, had us much recalling a very youthful Animal Collective. https://sleepyard.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-time
next up a wonderful curio, the information is alas a little scant, but from what we can gather this is a yuletide gift from Ohio based Gotta Groove and features a brace of tracks featuring Couples Skate Only and Zebra Zebra along with a host of label employees, or at least that what I think I’m listening to. Featuring two entirely contrasting tracks, the ‘Absentees & Invites (The Solstice Show)’ side of matters proving to be the more playful, sounding as it does like some cutely dippy delight found escaping from the Elephant 6 Collective back in the day. Blending lilting lullaby motifs with starry eyed dimples of snow crushed electronics, a warming fuzzy glow peels from its adorable frost tingled persona. Us being the impish sorts we are, prefer the flip side ‘fascist insect’. A skedaddled fusion of binary wired sore thumb freaktronics that’s positively oozing in insectoid sonic tomfoolery and blip core busyness. https://gottagroovexmas.bandcamp.com/album/gotta-groove-xmas-7-2017
been a seriously long age since we featured anything by firestation records, in fact we are probably talking delving back to the days when the label was making its first record releasing steps. Anyhow, good to see they are still around, these days by all accounts, rescuing lost sounds from forgotten vaults. Latest to their vast and formidable catalogue, ‘remember the big time’ by Elephant Noise, a band who debuting EP released around ’91 fetches a pretty penny these days on the online auctionsites, herewith the title track. Wonderfully breezy jangle pop spun with the kind of ear candy loveliness that used to attach to similar folk swimming in the indie tides of the day such as the High and the Trashcan Sinatras. https://soundcloud.com/firestationrecords/elephant-noise-remember-the-big-time
staying for a brief moment longer with firestation, another retrospective set they’ve recently put is ‘songs from the sidings’ – a limited vinyl and CD best of featuring perhaps one of the most underrated bands in indie-ville – indeed I refer to the Siddeleys. A 21 track trawl through the vaults that includes the quite immaculate ‘my favourite wet Wednesday afternoon’ – here’s a track off the set ‘every day of every week’ …. https://soundcloud.com/firestationrecords/the-siddeleys-every-day-of-every-week
alas absolutely no information on this, but a sweetie all the same, by Elle Mary and the Bad Men this is ‘undead’, this one popped up by sheer surprise on our sound cloud player and well frankly, we couldn’t resist. Perhaps it’s the ambling lackadaisical serene its sprayed in, perhaps the softening intimacy it purrs within or the coolly dinked smoked noir spectral soul smouldered in a nocturnal lights lowered moment of reflection that it exudes, whatever the case a bit of a gem. https://soundcloud.com/ellemarymusic/undead
… there’s always this, traced in effervescent flottillas of distractively alluring tropically tweaked riff chimes that on occasion, when they’re not dreamily seducing you with their lazy eyed siren calls that is, flicker and fizz aglow in acutely strutting feedback flashes. Anyhow, this be Elna Rae with the dream dazed ‘ultra lord’ – bit of a mellowing easy pop cutie by our reckoning. https://soundcloud.com/user-354680276/ultra-lord
The Crowman’s Christmas message ….
been meaning to mention this for a fair while now, blighter kept getting lost in the fog of releases passing our way. Anyhow, this is the new thing from Klaus Morlock. The ‘bridgecastle road’ EP is a supernatural mysterio tracing the eerie events of strange occurances linking two time lines 200 years apart said to have happened on the site of Bridge Castle. ‘October 1979/Charis’ the opening salvo and most revealing moment here, comes adored in all the key hauntology tropes that have graced Morlock / Unseen releases of old, that trademark mercurial dream like seduction ghosted in the feint hint of macabre. With its bucolic sketchings and daubing of pastoral posies emerging from the initial greeting of cold war electronische, there’s something here which aside nodding to the classical ear of Ghost Box also veers into timeless bewitchment of the Heartwood Institute. https://klausmorlock.bandcamp.com/album/bridgecastle-road-ep
is it still okay to include Christmas releases, even if they are a few years old, oh heck well it’ll have to be,here’s some yuletide cheer from anton barbeau couertesy of ‘Xmas song’ – this un comes cooked and stuffed in power pop purrs aplenty with a vintage that hints of the Blue Aeroplanes, a young REM and Moviola.
Ridiculously limited to just 15 copies, indeed 15, this is, what we assume to be, the self titled debut from Tennessee based dream gazers Fuzzy Feeling. Three tracks sit within the grooves of this lovelorn vapour trailing bliss kiss with opener ‘kitchen floor’ particularly catching our lobes adored as it is in the kind of sighing feedback swoons of a youthful gathering of Moose and Boo Radleys types though stirred and etched with sting of Skywave. That said it’s the parting ‘beach home’ that you ought to make your first port of call especially if your listening bag strays to the sounds of a pre ‘loveless’ era My Bloody Valentine. https://fuzzyfeeling.bandcamp.com/album/fuzzy-feeling
Here’s the second all important teaser trailer heralding the imminent arrival of ‘Somnambulate’ by the Corrupting Sea, this excerpt revealing of the same kind of close intimate graceful poise and unerring sense of quietly stilled ice sculptured majesty that usually applies to the workbench offerings of a certain Yellow6 and with that shaping up to be one of 2018’s early pace setters.
A little something incoming from a label who we will endeavour to feature more about in the coming 2018 season. From the ever wonderful Eilean imprint, this is a teaser tasting of Ljerke’s immaculate self-titled debut. In keeping with the finest Eilean traditions, Ljerke craft from an atmospherically fulsome palette switching between both light and dark sound spectrums utilising a spectral gauzing that both harnesses elements of the neo classical with lost primitive sonic tongues. The result is an intricate workbench of sound, a mantra of sorts sourced, or so it would seem, from the remotest regions of the East, agreed it is something a little darker than the usual Eilean pedigree, yet all the same, at once hypnotic, sultry and seduced in the lost arts / ways and with that something that displaces and relocates the listener far from the commercialist frenz of modern life, peeling back the timelines to a more nature / environment and spiritually connected age. https://soundcloud.com/eilean_rec/ljerke-ljerke-album-preview
head over to the Fruits de Mer web site, grab yourself copies of their January releases and you might be able to bag yourself one of these beauties, a rare as hen’s teeth vinyl only edition of Scizo Fun Addict’s ‘the sun yard’ set from 2013 … essential listening but then did you really need me to remind you of that. Anyhow there’s a digital variation here https://soundcloud.com/schizofunaddict/sets/the-sun-yard-by-schizo-fun-1 available to freely download for, I guess, a limited period, features ‘dream of the Portugal keeper’ which on its own is worth the entrance fee. The band are currently prepping their next album for release via the esteemed Sugarbush imprint …. according to the band ‘‘El Shoegaze Bossa Nova’ will as the title subtly hints, be a blending of big swirling storms of reverbed guitars mixed with sunshine vox, and bossa beats. Think Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina duets, Brasil 66 rhythms/percussion backed by an early Slowdive and “The Waves” era Tamaryn meets Darklands era JAMC guitar vibe with Chet Baker on trumpet and some vintage eletronica thrown in the mix.”
Further reading –
https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/12/10/schizo-fun-addict-new-album-details/
https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/10/21/schizo-fun-addict-8/
https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/schizo-fun-addict/
better be quick if you want one of these, I believe it’s the first official release from the Dark Outside folk. Limited to just 100 numbered cassettes, ours in case you were wondering is #92, there are no downloads for this, so if you do get it, as the inner card puts it in its welcoming message, you are going to need ‘something to play it on’. Anyhow what you get on ‘music from the dark outside – volume 1’ is a superb gathering of nine of their community at once delighting, disturbing and demurring in equal measure, the set opening with radio Norway’ which after a spot of frequency dial adjusting, Komputer step out of the shadows with a spot of playful electro pop which at once draws its reference markers somewhere between midwich youth cuckoo, Stephen Jones in his Trucker guise and captain sensible whilst positioning its radar for early 80’s terrains. Handspan we’ve already mentioned in previous despatches, think Vic Mars and Klaus Morlock retuning the Heartwood Institute – the sounds lovingly crafted in a heraldic vintage, at times assuming of regal prog aura that at one point momentarily sounds like goblin fed through a Comus viewfinder, nonetheless oozed in medieval pageantry and May Day sprays of pastoral / bucolic posies, it’s all very enchanting and grace toned in a period vintage. Wizards Tell Lies should need no introductions here, from the creative dark side of Matt Bower comes ‘the summations and rituals of Autopsy Carter’, a dread descending dark heart versed in the macabre arts and glowered in apocalyptic portent, here brooding shadows gather, and eerie deeds of consequence conspire with light sucking effect across a rising crescendo of despairing angel sighs. The effect, magnificently brooding and somewhat crushed in a bruised beauty from resulting from neglect, deceit and betrayal. Next up, Mark Lyken’s ‘nodal soup’ squirms and scares in the psychotronic shadows of tingling terror formed trip hop trembles, minimalist and sparsely weaved pressed upon a fracturing ghostly eerie, elements of Autechre flicker in its ethereal terrains though it might be truer to try imagining depth charge lost in the macabre chill doped fog of Biosphere’s darker half. Jim jarmo rounds out side 1 of the cassette with a distinctly chilling rephrasing of a Throbbing Gristle sore thumb from back in the day, now remodelled as ‘Hamburger Lady (Synthetic String Quintet)’, still sounds as disturbing as I remember from the first time I heard it, that creeping sense of detachment, remoteness and bleak emptiness, much like a ghostly whisper in your head. Would I be pushing the envelope too much in saying that I could die a happy man having heard ‘the crossing main theme’. On reflection given that current ailments are showing no signs of withdrawal or fatigue, I better not tempt fate. That said this is a most giving and lushly colourful account, amid it’s considerable palette – the symphonic pirouettes, the flotillas of bucolic arpeggios and its overall neo classical grandeur, we hear elements of Herrmann, Debussy, a young Nyman, Reich, Oldfield and Gamley flickering in its rich and bountiful sonic harvesting, incidentally it be by Martyn Ware, that chap from Heaven 17, BEF and a little-known combo called the Human League. There’s a beautifully remote aura attaching to SETI’s ‘misty floor’ as it emerges opaque by the twilight fog, much like an extra-terrestrial happening, a stillness descends amid which to a sparse minimalist cocooning, a serene and yet strangely eerie time frozen occurrence spirits away with a demurring mesmeric majesty. Been a while since we had cause for Dead Sea Apes to trouble these missives, herewith ‘rethreads’ – a hulking bearded slab of immersive psychotropic kraut drone cool replete with all manner of mixing desk skulduggery and backward looping locked grooves, quite tripping and cosmic at that, if you ask me. Rounding up this debuting release, the rise and demise of John with ‘oh’ which despite being teasingly brief, still manages to, in its blink and its gone visitations wonderfully craft a delightfully tasty techno space head rippled in the kind of softening radiance that had us here with a mind to go off rooting about for our favourite Free School and the Art of the Memory Palace platters. http://www.darkoutside.co.uk/about
spotted on a random posting, here’s the much admired Kramies recorded by Colorado Public Radio’s OpenAir on a recent appearance at their studios performing ‘kite ropes’ – everything you’d imagine and expect is here in abundance – hurt, hope, that cool caress of longing crush all airbrushed beautifully into three minutes of hushed intimacy, would I be right in saying hints of a bruised and reflective Neil Young are present here. Just me then.
many thanks to the folk over at Bedroom Cassette Masters for sending over early preview listening’s of their imminent Volume 9 happening. A ridiculously essential set gathering a host of folk sculpturing vintage sounds from an array of analogue mediums. For now, an all but brief delve into the delights within, fear not this is prepped for full examination in our first missive of 2018. Where to start, no better place I guess, than with Anton Barbeau, here found serving up the wonderfully dreamy drifts cape that is ‘dolphins on drugs’ – a star kissed spectral all beautifully mellowed in murmuring twinkle tones, a lonesome last love note as were transmitted from the very beyond of the cosmos. Favourites around these here parts, Own Brand turn in the disarming 70’s orphan ‘rock pools and paddling pools’ which I must admit has a feel of those late night electronic lounge noodles put to screen during transmission breaks or to backdrop the pages from Ceefax, its chirpy playfulness sounding like a Kraftwerk colour by numbers song book filled in by New Musik. Somewhere else there’s Panamint Manse, to whom I must apologise as their latest has thus far sneaked beneath our radar, an omission that will be remedied sooner rather than later. Again, as with Own Brand, ‘diacute’ comes lullingly sprayed in a kookily cute easy pop seasoning that’s very much tuned to an 80’s styled lights out nocturnal smoochiness albeit as though rephrased by a youthful ISAN. Last up for this brief mention, the chill kissed ‘leaving him’ by Carrillion courts with a minimalist pedigree of electronic pop that has you imagining the collective mindset of b-movie and dramatis collaborating on symphonic love notes for a ‘stranger things’.
…. and talking of all things stranger (things) here’s a little something else by Warriors Of The Dystotheque entitled- er … ‘Songs Inspired by Stranger Things’ – how do we pull these things into a seamless weave you wonder. Ah well, this came via some very excitable recommendations courtesy of A B Leonard, indeed him of the Invaderband via a random posting. Of course, he was referring to their debut album, the title of which escapes our recall at the moment, but this here is I believe, their latest offering. A two-track affair with opener ‘night gate’ found veering into the twilight haze of a VHS vintage coolly calibrating its sonic vital signs to the kind of ice dripped shadow traced toning that’s these days become the trademark sound of the much-adored burning witches imprint. Over to the flip, digitally speaking, you’ll find ‘aftermath’ which despite its ominous titling, is in fact something of an after lights lowered mysterio seductively prowling the noir terrains of a mid 90’s Bristol scene along the way piloting upon a spectral techno framing fashioned from out of forgotten Orbital motifs. https://warriorsofthedystotheque.bandcamp.com/album/songs-inspired-by-stranger-things
up next, a six minute bong induced head trip emerging out of the kosmonaut sound house, this be life education with ‘lifer’s ed’ which arrives described by the label as kraut fuzz – and who are we to argue, there’s been too much chirpty chime Christmas cuteness around these here parts so a spot of mind expanding mystic bliss out is a much welcomed distraction, this droning dreadnought hitting the spot somewhere between some beardy fuzz club happening and a hairy hallucinogen happening from the mighty Sulatron. https://soundcloud.com/kosmo_mystic_prism/life-education-lifers-ed
Been out for a while, eight months or so in fact, however only appearing on our radar this very day and a beauty it is. From Ellen Arkbro this is ‘Mountain of Air’. Out via subtext recordings and described as a reworking for ‘brass and organ’ of the said composition, in truth up there with those recent Tubular Brass / Mary Casio happenings, for here there’s something so homely and hymnal nuzzling by the fireside that whiffs of the old ways, its nostalgic peppering forging a close kinship with the surrounding land and elements all the time partly melancholic yet reflective and quietly optimistic, certainly something for those among you taken by the more intimate moments found in the back catalogue of L’Augmentation. https://soundcloud.com/xlr8r/premiere-ellen-arkbro-mountain-of-air?in=stray-landings/sets/the-stray-landings-christmas
.. and it’s been an absolute age since we featured anything heading out of the important records sound house, so it was with a degree of eye brow raised expectancy that we hooked upon a track by Caterina Barbieri entitled ‘gravity that binds’ – a cut from a 500 only vinyl outing by the name ‘patterns of consciousness’ which from what we can gather has been garnering quiet acclaim since its release. In short a wonderfully demurred 15 minute lunar symphony, for the best part awash with shimmering star chilled flotillas of purring pulsars that gather to craft a defences surrendering wistful locked groove lullaby that steadily aligns itself into focus all the time assuming depth and density as it draws closer before tailing off and passing by into the cosmic voids leaving behind it farewell notes that disappear into the foggy ether. https://soundcloud.com/caterinabarbieri/7_gravity-that-binds?in=stray-landings/sets/the-stray-landings-christmas
Fancy a spot of bad boogie, well here’s a primitively coiled slab of psychosis fracturing voodoo groove from the much admired Reptilians From Andromeda with the swamp dragged ‘Don’t Stalk’. Don’t know about you but this is certainly ticking all the boxes marked decadent, damaged and devilish in our gaff, into the bargain imagining a Debbie Harry evil twin fronting up some sleaze scowled gutter gouged garage psych freaksters loosely fashioned around a seriously wired gathering of Cramps and Gun Club types on extra curricula duties. Any questions?
..in person on ‘back to the sound’ ….
Stuff …
https://www.blubrry.com/christmas_creeps/29986352/episode-58-rocky-iv?sbe=1#autoplay
https://www.blubrry.com/christmas_creeps/29811972/stocking-stuffer-8-king-of-the-hill-hillennium/
https://www.blubrry.com/christmas_creeps/29206069/episode-57-kiss-kiss-bang-bang/
alas due to pressing time constraints we didn’t quite have the time to mention this in any great detail, yet tasty enough for a peek, this is ‘winter warmer volume 1’ – a mix tape of holiday house collected together by Hryszko …..
https://soundcloud.com/djjoehryszko/hryszko-winter-warmer-volume-1
https://soundcloud.com/edenbyfrei/the-snowflake-collector-9-so-as-not-to-chase-away-its-wonder
https://shoegazeralive9.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/va-asian-shoegaze-compilation-vol-1-2017.html
‘dear Satan’ ……
<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/246983302″>DEAR SATAN</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/anomalylondonfilms”>Anomaly London</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
‘being Gary Numan’ ….
A John 3:16 co-hosted happening ….
https://soundcloud.com/darkfloor/mantis-radio-254-john-316
syd barrett …
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/30065696/maximum-rocknroll-radio-1589?sbe=1#autoplay
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29973058/cut-x-cut-podcast-ep-15-rated-x-mas/
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29969986/destroy-all-music-ep-04/
https://portalsoflondon.com/2017/07/02/the-woolwich-anomaly/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
more james murray here …..
https://soundcloud.com/homenormal/homen091-james-murray-killing-ghosts-album-sampler
excellent mix session from the Radio Rectangle folk……
http://www.radiorectangle.be/fr/bruise-on-silence-07.html
stupidly obscure 80’s alternative underground groove mix tape ….
john peel corner ….
Some dandy stuff posted by the dudes over at habibi funk ….
Interlude ….. Turkish psych ……
It’s not that we’ve too lazy to post anything tonight, well apart from a few mishaps perhaps you’re right, in truth though we’ve been blown away by these slabs of grooviness …. tracklistings are happily included on the popsting at no extra charge ….. this is smoking ……
Forgive us if it appears we are being a little brief and casually fleeting with this ‘un, but time pressing means we have only had the chance to sample the parting opus from this,well it is 24 tracks in length packing in some four hours of music, so what’s a lad to do. A new collosal from 400 lonely things, the second part of an unrealised and near forgotten trilogy of work going under the collective title ‘the season’s greetings’ – this one being sub titled ‘fireside favourites’. After an absence of some seven years, ‘fireside favourites’ promises to fill your wildest listening experiences in oodles of ‘crackly, Autumnal, dark ambient, found sound, nostalgic psychedelia’ – to boot, it’s available on a name your price soiree. Hopefully we’ll be returning to this in the coming new year, that said due to the pressing promise list of releases we are behind on, that might prove to be a tall order. For now, our lobes have fallen upon the parting opus ‘winter of our discontent’. Both eerily beautiful and distantly macabre, it’s as though a moment of time or perhaps a phrasing from the KLF’s ‘last train to transcentral’ – the original mix that is – has been frozen, expanded and then placed upon a loop for perpetuity. The ice sculptured toning both sparse and minimal hint of an insular Biosphere crafting lonesomely reflective murmurring symphonies to adore the vacated spaces of the galactic greenhouses from ‘silent running’ on the Valley Forge. Deeply hypnotic yet steeled with an unmistakable melancholic chill, much like a spectral apparition piloting the airless nothingness, very serene and strangely alluring. http://400lonelythings.com/album/fireside-favourites
a little too much joy and frivolity around this time of the year, time perhaps for something a little darker and more mired in doomed consequence. Might we then suggest a little something from Cendres to blacken the mood and to weigh heavy upon your fears and dread. This be the light sucking ‘Schattengestalt’, a choking slab of suffocating sonics ripped straight out of the book of Revelations, a doom doped apocalyptic foretelling gouged in slavish hell bound drone dread that hints of elements of an early 90’s ‘exorcism’ era Killing Joke in collusion with Earth, all very brutal and disquieting. https://solar-asceticists-productions.bandcamp.com/album/schattengestalt
sporting a curiously though nonetheless tasty looking box variant, the incoming set heading out of the subterranean depths of the black mara imprint is a full length from Astral and Shit entitled ‘divo’. For now, glaring ominously from the preview page loom two tracks, both tensely coiled, gouged and glowering with primordial portent, the sonic equivalent to a black hole styled ‘Mugodzhar’ in particular, emerging into view stricken with a demonic dark disquiet that literally flatlines on frequencies that hint all is not well and that something ancient stirring with macabre ne’er do well veers this way, indeed best experienced hiding from behind your favourite sofa, in daylight with the lights on. https://blackmara.bandcamp.com/album/divo
teaser trailer ….
Staying with things dark and brutal, hell’s teeth this sounds like its been drop kicked from the early 70’s, something that ought to be high on the listening list of those of you much tuned and turned on by the ways of Rise Above and er … Sabbath, whose influence I must admit is over this like a rash. This be the opening track from Kadavar’s current opus ‘rough times’ – the title track as it happens, a stoner shakedown all slavishly spiked, swaggering, strutting, smoking and damn sexy with it, good luck with the picking out of the shrapnel that this is liable lay your listening space to waste in.
How the hell did we miss this. We’ve spent the last few minutes trying without success, to carefully unpeel our tongue and jaw from the floor, I fearfully suspect that we should halt repeat listening for fear that further swoon attacks might result in permanent damage. This is Odessey & Oracle with a new full length entitled ‘specialatio’ from off which we’ve found ourselves somewhat smitten by the ridiculously gorgeous ‘L’Horizon tombe’. Let’s just say this is as wonderful a listening experience to come our way since those prized platters from the likes of beautify junkyards, lake ruth and le superhomard. There’s a breezy pastoral dusting radiating here (‘L’Horizon tombe’) whose sunny dappling sighs to fill the gaps between where Stereolab subtly changed their direction between ‘emperor tomato ketchup’ and ‘dots and loops’ to usher in a beautifully cosy toed shimmering of breathlessly laid back baroque lounge. Equally arresting, the dizzily dippy and playfully crooked waltz that is ‘J’ai vu un Croco’ is teased with a longing and lulling distractive head in the clouds aura that seductively weaves an oddly day dreaming soft psych folk magic land mysterio. Fraid to say there’ll be more of this in coming missives. https://odesseyandoracle.bandcamp.com/album/speculatio
Just in case you’re not to familiar with le superhomard – they go a lot like this ……
…. and this ….
…. things we missed …….
J C Satan – this is stupidly essential …….
… as is this by 51 black super ….
…. Scuba death …..
….. happy meals ….. so trippy and mystical …..
… some smoking after dark grooviness …. from the cactus channel ….
Just a very brief mention for this one, should appeal to those who love their sounds calibrated to a more dark tech / dub hybrid, the way this shifts and snakes makes for a crucial listening spectacle, the fracturing detail, the use of space and the application of both slow and sporadic bowed manipulations and spectral atmospheres serve to create something deeply immersive which whilst grainy and glitchy is assumed of something almost mystical, as though the portal / gateway to some ancient realm. Anyway, it’s by Emra Grid, a track taken from an opal tapes happening entitled ‘Shay’s Vacation House’, this being ‘replaced’. https://soundcloud.com/opal-tapes/emra-grid-replaced
Just out through Ideal recordings, this is the serene mantra that is ‘kostymfest / sken av palmpsalmighet’ by Vanligt Folk – one of those tracks that you might want to consider sparking up a fat one before falling beneath its hypnotic spell for this is coolly bonged out and tripping. A purely meditative happening that utilises woozily trance toned dub textures and bowed instruments to forge a deeply spiritual connection that’s so ridiculously calming and chilled its as though its dialling directly to your third eye. Available in a limited 300 only white wax run, gotta get myself one of these. https://soundcloud.com/ideal-recordings/vanligt-folk-kostymfestsken-av-palmpsalmighet-from-ideal166-12
Those of you blessed with recent recall might well remember us falling cock-a-hoop over a release quietly sneaked out by Janvy entitled ‘heads 1899’ – which in case you missed it first time of asking, you can find here https://janvy.bandcamp.com/album/heads-1899 with our fond words found somewhere here https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/12/08/janvy/ – anyhow a slightly expanded vinyl variation is due to land in record world – tomorrow as it would happen, the set expanded to six tracks going by the name ‘’Sycamore and Tronic in Northwinding Way’ from which, fingers crossed that the link works, there’s a little video collage that’s just been prepped from it entitled ‘Lavendar gets free (1921)’ which by our ears really does sound like a demurring baroque psych beauty softly adored with elements of Beaulieu Porch, Nick Nicely and Cheval Sombre all gathered in a studio late night colluding together to craft out woozy Zombies recitals.
****update …. the version available tomorrow is in fact a 10 track ddigital set, vinyl is on order and shortly to go … *****
back with opal tapes, think i’m right in saying that this is due to head out in the new year, a track by Gosheven pulled from a various artists collection called ‘the harvest of a quiet eye’ going by the name ‘kitsch is the new atonality’. In truth this ought to be, primarily on the listening radar of those among you subscribing to the sounds emerging from out of the A Year in the Country soundhouse, for here there is something silently majestic about this, a beautifully demurring lunar ghost light transmitting radiant love notes in the stilled dark depths of the cosmic void to serve, for want of a better description, as a sweetly arresting celestial navigational point, that’ll be a space type lighthouse then.
fell across this by sheer accident, slick, snaking and seductive is I think the best way to describe it, very much tuned into the softly purred after lights out noir toning of a classic 90’s Bristol scene, this be Jonathon Bree with the rather perfect ‘say you love me too’ – this particular track featuring a guest appearance by Clara Vinals. I mean what can we say, its delicate dappling of jazz motifs, its casual lazy eyed framing and caressing 60’s styled lounge psych shadow lining endow it with sultry seasoning that could easily pass for a resulting happening had Pram, Monade and Broadcast found themselves in the same studio space sometime mid 90’s.
A little something sneaked out earlier in the year, which we did intend to chase up and didn’t due to being under siege with releases and postings and what nots. This is quite stunning if a little brooding and overcoming in darkness,from Ashtoreth this might be ‘i am the story’ – then again it could be something totally different, anyhow it features music by Grey Malkin – he of the hare and the moon fame.
…here’s an Ashtoreth live happening from a few years ago ….
Admit it, you never really thought Pierre Henry could be funky and down with the kids, think again, this I believe is from 1967 – the ultra wigged out ‘teen tonic’ – yowzah
Again another release from earlier in the year that we meant to fuss over with fond words, this is Anthony Ruptak with a glorious slab of purring prairie psych blues in the shape of the moonshining Americana gospel that is ‘sticks’ – quite stunning if you ask me…..
A few more things we’ve missed in recent momory …..first up …..
…. The milky murmur tones of this sweetly chime chirped dream drift from Mute Swan ……
… something perhaps a little bruised in hypnotic radiance from Lev Snowe ….
….. something smoking from the Velveteins ….
… and this little darling from the hooded fang ….
Something that’ll be featuring in our first missive of the year, courtesy of the French label that brought us Cite Lumiere – ERR REC – this is the Space Probe Project … here in interview mode – sounds as said arrive next week …..
…. Ascending to new levels of strangeness, the delightfully kooky Fever Ray with a track or two taken from her acclaimed ‘plunge’ full length…..the first one visual pushes the envelope so if golden showers and S & M aren’t qquite your bag, then maybe fast track to the more genteel and heavenly sounding second offering ….
Those fancying something that sounds as though its strayed from the 80’s, here I’m thinking B-Movie might be well minded to seek out ‘the movies’ by the ever excellent Kites with lights … again another that slipped our net on first asking ……
… more stunningness … this time from St. Jimi Sebastian Cricket Club with ‘epilogue’ – this ‘un coming equipped in all manner of slow burn swoons of cavalry’s heading over the hills phrasing ……
Spotted this rather dandy giddy up on that there yoo tube, live footage of goat girl from a recent appearance in Liverpool, essential listening should your radar stray to the sound of primitive psych folk a la a youthful stealing sheep …..
I’ll have to be honest in saying that I’d have sworn we’d had this one bagged and published, came as a great surprise to find it had sneaked beneath the observation post. This is the quietly enigmatic no movement no sound no memories with a remix of ‘removed’ as rephrased by Pole …. superbly immersive application of old school trance motifs submerged in an intricate undergrowth of stilled dub doused subtronic grooving.
another release that I’m a tad upset to say, got missed in the year’s release melee, this is the quite wonderful Weather Station with ‘thirty’ …
Not my words but their’s and in truth I’m not arguing though I’m minded to say, had us recalling red lorry yellow lorry, but that’s just me …. ‘Breathe’ by Simon’s Ghost (https://simonsghost.bandcamp.com/): spiky post-punk to file alongside ‘Transmission’ by Joy Division or ‘Shine On’ by the House of Love. Taken from the Breathe EP (Arc3). http://simonsghost.co.uk (movie excerpts from ‘The Hitch-Hiker’….
Would have been around October that this ‘un reared into view, so good that we couldn’t bopping which now i come to think of it is probably the reason why we overlooked to review, starts out very Magazine and then goes pow ….. it’s by Sekel from a Fuzz Club released self titled happening out just now, this is the rather spiffing ‘next to nothing’ – is it me or is that riff a speeded up variant of ‘mad world’ – just me then.
Another release that was prepped for loving attention, this is Night Thoughts – who hail from Cardiff and do a very neat John Peel playlist c.1982 type thing with ‘century eyes’ – very much recalls the much loved and indeed missed Ellery Bop….
first of two visits to these musings from the Grilled Chicken Legs Brittany Style, the other one comes a little later in the day and it’s a blinder. That said this ‘un is not too shabby either, ‘at the edge of the guervily’ is a pretty zonked out affair, blending a strange fusion of late 70’s new wave-isms with a fractious glam ghostings with oodles of warping electronics, I must admit it is something that’s caught us clearly on the hop not least because it curiously weaves elements of Wire with Plastic Bertrand and then appears to feed them through a coolly aloof Cockney Rebel-esque wash cycle. It’s all delightfully wonky, dayglo and a touch kaleidoscopically spacey, a bit like a Jack Ellister flip side if I’m being totally honest. https://thegrilledchickenlegsbrittanystyle.bandcamp.com/releases
returning back to ERR -REC imprint of France, who you may recall we mentioned a day or three ago when we were rightly blown away by that drop dead cool visitation by Cite Lumiere, more from them later both in the week and today, given we’ve a little something from the previously mentioned Grilled Chicken Legs Brittany Style that features at least one of their number. Anyhow, before we go off on a tangent, the label suggested we might like Dialectric, who will be popping up at some point this missive, however what took our ear was the parting track from a set put out by Viryane Say entitled ‘espaces libre’. Known for her trademark punk and jazz explorations, Viryane Say sought to extend the possibilities of the bass in a more amorphous space, the result being the four tracks that make up this highly engaging release. Incorporating elements of drone, it’s both tracks 3 and 4 that caught our lobes, ‘sans nom 4’ a spacey mosaic arrested in flurries of jubilance and sun scorched activity is teased in a stilled slow burn reverence that had us here much recalling Flying Saucer Attack and those late 80’s New Zealand noise outings by the likes of Russell and Montgomery. ‘sans nom 3’ provides for a more insular and remote listening experience that utilises microlite flashings sourced from sounds more outer spheres, very minimalist, strange dreamy, yet as though harnessing nature’s very elements to create a beautifully brooding David Lynch like atmospheric palette. https://err-rec.bandcamp.com/album/espaces-libres
talking of ERR-REC here’s three tasty videos, once featuring the above named Viryane Say and the other, Cite Lumiere and a further one from Amo Vaccaria & Bernold Delgoda …….
Stuff ….
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29969986/destroy-all-music-ep-04?sbe=1#autoplay
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29953741/earache-radio-no-24/
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29925934/cut-x-cut-podcast-14-this-sucks/
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29925933/record-roulette-club-22/
the season doesn’t seem the same without a spot of Frank …….
https://www.blubrry.com/radio_mutation/29973058/cut-x-cut-podcast-ep-15-rated-x-mas?sbe=1#autoplay
some IMPATV – essential watching – featuring Wilf Petherbridge and Ben Hauke …
Stuff …
John peel corner ….
immensely proud of this, thanks to Stephen over at A Year in the Country …. Really made my day …..
http://ayearinthecountry.co.uk/artifact-report-4952a-year-country-sunday-experience/
mentioned in earlier dispatches – here’s some rare footage of Drew Mulholland – in lecture mode …..
Roger Eagle’s Cracking up…….
Volume 3 ….
Volume 4 ….
Volume 5 …..
Volume 6 ….
Volume 7 ….
Dalek i love you – live at Eric’s ’78 ….
interlude … post punk….
In the nursery……
Dormannu….
Southern Death Cult…..
Xmal Deutschland…..
Getting the fear…..
Into a Circle….
…….
… next time ……
https://theblogthatcelebratesitself.bandcamp.com/ – who we’ve spied have just posted another end of year collection …. this one entitled ‘VA – Girl Groups – The Underground Versions’ features these darlings od dream draped bliss pop ……
ERR REC …. Stuff like this ….
… unexplained sounds group – whose latest is the colossal end of year report titled ‘Ocean of Sound – the 3rd annual report volume I’ – which you can immerse yourselves in by going to https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-of-sound-the-3rd-annual-report-volume-i – be warned though there are 2 volumes that collectively pack some 229 tracks …..
… one of the featured artists goes a lot like this ….
… and just as we were heading for the exit door, tripped over this little indie swerving swagger toning shimmer popping dandy from Real Numbers – all very ridiculously happy, sunny, effervescent and infectious …. indeed, it has been out for a while, but be honest, killer toons are forever …… enjoy and ta-ra till next year……
the sunday experience 