Shadows was a Thames TV supernatural/mystery series that ran for 3 series from 1975 to 1978. All the stories were supernatural/Ghost/Fantasy/Mystery based. Shadows featured a superb array of actors including John Nettleton, Jenny Agutter, Jacqueline Pearce, Gareth Thomas, Brian Glover, June Brown, Russell Hunter (as Mr Stabs this character was also in Ace of Wands) George A Cooper (Caretaker Grange Hill) Brian Wilde (Mr Barraclough, Porridge) Norman Rossington, Gwyneth Strong and Joan Greenwood.
Writers for the series included Fay Weldon, J.B.Priestley, Susan Cooper, Joan Aiken.
What is also rather wonderful about Shadows was the exceptionally good intros to the series. A total of 3 different intros were used across all three series. My Personal favorite was the intro to the 2nd series with the animated bird flying, high contrast tower blocks and the creepy girl standing still whilst her shadow skips on a pale blue landscape.
Some of the stories are perhaps a bit obvious/cliched and samey (After School & Waiting Room) some are fun (Dutch Schlitz's Shoes, The Man Who Hated Children) The Inheritance is a personal Favorite and definitely has a Folk Horror edge to it. A very fine and often over looked series.  If you do get the chance check out all three intros here.

The Horn Dance from The Inheritance

 

Test Transmission Archive Reel 56

 

About 12 months ago I decided I needed a break from the Test Transmission Archive reel mixes. Was not sure at the time if or when I would do another..but here we are nearly 12 months later and it is time for Test Transmission Archive Reel 56. A  Psych, Electronic, Acid Folk (and all other goodies) mix.  To keep you all entertained this mix is 2 hours long and contains all sorts of ear worms, Focus Group, Funkadelic, Sweetwater, Joe Meek, Levitation, Dudley Moore, Fairport Convention, Genesis, Amon Duul ll, Forest, Fair Mothers and much more. I should say this is not the start of reguler Test Transmission mixes, but maybe the start of some random every now and then mixes.
So until next time strap yourself in for a right old audio head massage.

Tracklist
Focus Group - Bachoo
Bonzo Dog - We are Normal
Amon Duul ll - Pale Gallery
Ivor Cutler - I Got No Common Sense
Pink Floyd - Heart Beat Pig Meat
Funkadelic - What is Soul
Julian Cope - Transporting
Schifrin/Holmes - The Pidgeon Toad Orange Peel
Sweetwater - In a Rainbow
Fifty Foot Hose - Cauldron
Large Plants - Every Single Day
Psylons - Midnight Sun
Broadcast - The Be Colony
Fairport Convention - If I had a Ribbon Bow
Joe Meek - Entry of the Globbots
Joe Harriott John Mayer Double Quintet - Acka Raga
Spectrum -  You Satisfy Me
Genesis - The Conqueror
Delia Derbyshire - Ziwzih Ziwzih
Lother and the Hand People - L O V E
United States of America - Coming Down
Forest - Graveyard
Levitation - Pieces of Mary
Bruce Haack - Incantation
Silver Apples - A Pox On You
Elephants Memory - Old Man Willow
Gershon Kingsley - Pop Corn
White Noise - Here Come The Fleas
Belbury Poly - Chapel Perilous
Fair Mothers - Birds Bees and Tiny Fleas
Dudley Moore - Bedazzled
The 101 Strings - Flameout
Tangerine Dream - Ultima Thule Part 1
Red Crayola - Hurricane Fighter Plane
Free Design - Make the Madness Stop

Berial at Bevill's Leam 12inch Available Again

 

Originally released in Jan 2023 on Castles in Space. Burial at Bevill's Leam sold out very quickly.
The plan was not to repress and leave it as a limited release that was now no longer available on vinyl. However after a recent tidy up and change of distributor at Castles in Space, a few of these red 12inch singles appeared. A few are now on sale again on the Castles in Space Bandcamp page and myself and Mr Powell have a few to make available soon.

When recording the album “Sad Old Tatty Bunting”, I decided it needed a spoken word track. I wanted to mix this in the style of The Velvet Underground track, 'The Gift', with the vocals hard panned to the left and music to the right. I approached singer/songwriter Douglas E Powell and asked him if he would be interested in writing a short story for this purpose. Doug came back to me sometime later with a 13/14 minute tale about ancient giant crabs and a burial at a place called 'Bevill’s Leam'.

I loved the story, however it was too long, way too long. There was only about 7 minutes spare for the last track on the album. So Doug went back to work on it and presented me with a shortened version. The voice was recorded and mixed, hard panning left and right.

“Sad Old Tatty Bunting” was released on Castles in Space in Feb 2022.

In the Spring of 2022 I started thinking about the full version of 'Bevill’s Leam', and started to think that we should revisit the track in order to record and release the long version using Doug’s full text as originally planned.

I told my label, Castles in Space that I wanted to do the 12” in the style of a DIY white label. We agreed on no cover artwork and only a white sleeve with an A5 paper insert. Taking inspiration from Public Image’s “Metal Box” a red typewriter font was chosen for all the text. Colin Morrison at CiS proposed a red vinyl pressing because he’s like that.

So, with all the label details worked out, the last remaining problem we had was that Doug no longer had the original full story! So in double quick time he set to work and re-wrote and re-recorded the whole thing. It turned out Longer, darker and better.

Myself and long time friend and producer Jack Packer set to work remixing the new version of 'Bevill’s Leam'. Some new tracks were laid down with additional sounds and effects and then Doug’s new extended vocal (sounding amazing) was sewn into the mix.

This new version of the track is very different from the album version, having a fuller sound and sharper clarity. Doug’s vocal was perfect, and the new musical additions created a more balanced and atmospheric feel. The B side instrumental version was slightly extended, and again some new sounds and effects added.

So there you have it…the full story of Burial at Bevill’s Leam in glorious hand numbered,
red 12" 45rpm format.  

Clip Clop Non Stop (Belbury Poly Mix) by Keith Seatman and Belbury Poly

 

Exclusive to the Castles in Space Subscription Library Singles Club.

 https://castlesinspace.bandcamp.com/community

 Clip Clop Non Stop (Belbury Poly Mix) by Keith Seatman and Belbury Poly 

 is our opening salvo. 

  

There will be a vinyl compilation of some of these singles coming towards the back end of the year, but meanwhile prepare yourself for a series of exclusive virtual 7" and 12" singles as we move through 2025. These tracks will not be appearing anywhere else other than within the Subscription Library community. credits released February 22, 2025 

 

 Written by Keith Seatman and Jim Jupp Production and remix by Jim Jupp Artwork by Nick Taylor © Castles in Space ℗ Signal to Noise ℗ Belbury Music CiS196 

 The original version of this track will appear on the forthcoming Keith Seatman album, "Counting To Ten Then Back Again" 

Freak Zone Best of 2024

Was absolutly blown away and so chuffed to have been included in Stuart Maconie's Best of 2024 Freak Zone show (Dec 29th) Really did not see that coming at all. So a massive thankyou to Mr Maconie and all who bought my last CD/Digi release a skip and a song to see us along. 

Happy New year to you all

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00269xj

Electronic Sound End of year Top 100.

 A nice end of year surprise. My last self release CD/Digi made it into the Electronic Sound Mag end of year top 100. Number 14. Def did not see that coming. Hopefully new Castles in Space Album and remix single 2025. Also for your listening pleasure something from my past should make an appearence early 2025.

Bedham Church/School Room

On a very wet cold and dark December morning myself and Mrs Seatman set out to find the old ruins of Bedham Church.  Set deep in West Sussex not far from Pulborough and Petworth Bedham Church is not that easy to find. To get to Bedham you have to head West on the A283 out of Pulborough and then look for a small sign on the right for Bedham Lane. The small track/road to Bedham Church (Bedham Lane) is narrow and very bumpy and muddy (it was very wet that day) and if approaching from the south the church is on the right. Lucky its winter and the trees are bare, if it was the summer the trees would totally obscure the church and make the task of finding it even more difficult than what it is. Once we had found the church the next problem was to find a lay by to park the car in. We managed to park about 100 yards or so from the church and then headed back down the road, and down the muddy slope to Bedham Church. Bedham Church was built in 1880 and funded by William Townley Mitford MP for Midhurst as a dual purpose Church and School House. At one time the Church/School had 60 pupils and 3 Teachers. The Church was finally abandoned in 1959. Given the remoteness of Bedham Church there is also lack of litter/rubbish and only a tiny bit of graffiti which can only be good at a lovely old place like this. If you have the time and can get to Bedham, then this old church is worth checking out. 

A Shindig an Electronic Sound and a Fortean Times

 Some recent reviews for the last long player a skip and a song to see us along.
Available from Bandcamp
A Shindig an Electronic Sound and a Fortean Times

A few years back on a little trip into Wells (smallest city in UK, so they say, used as the town of Sandford in the film Hot Fuzz) I briskly popped into a rather good charity shop and found this 3 box 9 disc collection, recorded by Victor C Lewis. It really is quite wonderful. Had to move very swiftly as someone else was looking at it from afar, so I sprinted across the shop and then parted with the cash. Not often these days that you could find something like this in a charity shop.

 

a skip and a song to see us along

 

Out now and available from Bandcamp

New long player. a skip and a song to see us along Excerpts

 

Title: a skip and a song to see us along

Artist: keith seatman

Release Date: 16^th August 2024

Cat No: ksa 011

Released by: K.S.Audio

Format: CD, Digi from Bandcamp

a skip and a song to see us along is the 8^th album by Keith Seatman and his 1^st non-Castles in Space album release since 2017.
Castles in Space will be releasing a new LP from Keith in Feb 2025 and a
remix 7inch single in late 2024.
In the meantime this release is a collection of 10 new tunes featuring more of his Odd Electronics, Psych, Radiophonics, Drone, quirky melodies, samples and random thoughts. Douglas E Powell joins Keith again and supplies Acoustic Guitar on track 10 jumbled letters.

a skip and a song to see us along Excerpts

Keith Seatman · a skip and a song to see us along Excerpts

FC Judd

Some years back I posted somewhere (could have been here or elsewhere) some images from my top find Tape Recording for Everyone by Electronic Music Pioneer F C Judd.
If you have never had the pleasure of listening to FC Judd's work then a visit to here will sort you out. I Around the same time I had the good fortune to receive from a friend of mine these lovely Castle Sound Effects EPs by FC Judd. Some basic sound effects on the records (Applause, Car Crash, Foot Steps) but on the Haunted House EP are a couple of very interesting pieces, track 2 and 3 on side one. Mysterioso (special fx music) and Fright (special fx music) Electronic Sounds and Music is full of some very interesting radiophonic/drone, and is quite a spacey selection, with titles Cosmos-composition with etherial element, Vortex-composition with mystery element and sound effects like Spaceship take off, Ring Modulation, Space Vehicle, Sibilation.For much much more on FC Judd check out Ian Helliwell's Practical Electronica FC Judd Documentry.

Test Transmission Archive Reel 55 (OST, TV and Library Music)

 

Here we are Test Transmission Archive Reel 55, and this time round we have a one hour forty three minute OST Library and TV Music mix. However all things must come to an end and with that in mind its time for the Test Transmission Archive Reel’s to stop for now. Have been doing these since 2011, so maybe time for a break.
I might do another at a much later date, then again I might not. So until the we meet again, thank you all for listening your support and fantastic comments over the years.
I have been asked by Kate Bosworth to contribute a mix for a December/Winter Dark Train which I am really looking forward to, so keep em peeled for that.
For now its a goodbye.

Alain Legrand - Magic Roundabout
Ron Goodwin - Miss Marple's Theme
Alan Moorhouse - Psychodale
Don Partridge - Homeless Bones
Johnny Flynn - Detectorists
The Settlers - Lightning Tree
Georges Delerue - Desert Crusader
Mr Brooks - The Family
Neal Hefti - Duel at Diablo
John Baker - Dial M for Murder
Captain Zorro - Phantasm
Angela Morley - When 8 Bells Toll
John Carpenter - Mathew Ghost Story
Joan Baez - Silent Running
Krysztof Komeda - Rosemary's Baby Main Theme
Kenny Everet & Mike Vickers - Captain Kremmen
Paul Williams - The Devils Men
Giorgio Moroder - Pauls Theme
Harry Robinson - Vampire Lovers
John Barry - The Lion In Winter
Ennio Morricone - The Men from Shiloh
Goblin - Suspiria
J Arel & J C Petit - No. 6's Speech
Lalo Schifrin - Theme from Enter The Dragon
George Martin - Bond Meets Solitaire
Reg Wale - Fruity Flutes (Farmhouse Kitchen)
Laurie Johnson - Happy Go Lively
Alan Hawkshaw - Blarney's Stoned
Yann Tiersen - La Valse D'Amélie
Vangelis - La Petite Fille De La Mar
Jim Williams - Walking Here Two Shadows Went
Roger Webb - Shadows of Fear
Max Harris - Guerney Slade
Paddy Kingsland - The Changes (Suite)
Booth, Hayes, Arthey - The Double Deckers
Rita Tushingham & Lyn Redgrave - Smashing Time
Denton and Cooke - Quiller
Micheal Fassbender - I Love You All
Allan Grey - The Stairway To Heaven
Mary Habberfield - Man in White suit
Elizabeth Parker -  Davil's Lightening
Scharf,Bricusse,Newley - The Wondrous Boat Ride

Some Vinyl and CDs still available and floating about

 

 

Some 12inch Vinyl copies of Sad Old Tatty Bunting still available over at Castles in Space

 

There's no one quite like Keith Seatman. His new album Sad Old Tatty Bunting, is a psychedelic joyride through a parallel universe, a dreamlike England full of alchemists and scarecrows and gated communities guarded by gnomes.
Bob Fischer Electronic Sound (March 2022)

Keith has gradually risen to the top of the pile of the hauntology genre. For this new album It’s an album of wonky, kaleidoscopic psychedelia and has some genuinely scary moments on offer. It’s like some mad, arcade feature, I am again caught up in a seemingly never ending fairground nightmare, there’s a ton of synths and backwards guitar riffs vying for my attention.
Andrew Young Terrascope (May 2022) 

 

 

Some 10inch Green Vinyl copies of The Broken Folk EP still available over at
Ghostbox Records/Belbury Music Shop.

 

This 5 song 10inch EP combines the plaintive English voice of Powell placed amongst Germanic analogue organ, synths and sequencers creating the type of dark Cold War soundscapes favoured by the Radiophonic Workshop to the Human League. Floydian incidental music for a late 70s post nuclear meltdown drama.
Shindig Magazine (Jan 2019)

 

Some CD copies of Disjointed Oddities and Other Such Things  still available over at

Bandcamp

 

"Disjointed Oddities Vol: 2 follows on from 2018's Disjointed Oddities and Other Such things.
This is by the great Keith Seatman. Over the last 13 years has released 7 solo albums,
all of them unique and interesting."
Stuart Maconie, Freak Zone BBC 6 Music June 2023  

 

Recalling the abstract experiments of Basil Kirchin, back-to-the-nursery psychedelic nightmares that were recurring scenarios on The Prisoner and The Avengers. A parping, marching melody that could’ve come from The Residents. This 16-minute EP is a perfect introduction to Seatman’s evocative, unsettling world.

Ben Graham Shindig Magazine (July 2023)  

 

Model World and Update

Model World was a programme first aired on BBC2 in 1975, and presented by Bob Symes. Personally I was very fond of this program, and have very good memories associated with it. I will now explain why. Over a number of weeks Bob Symes Smith would introduce us to different aspects of The Modellers World. One week it would be Model Trains the next Model Aircraft and Gliders or Radio controlled boats, and so on. I remember at the time being very impressed with the intro titles, thinking they were quite futuristic. Model World was a very gentle and quiet program. Just a lot of odd looking blokes in tweed jackets, shirts and ties making and talking models. There was a BBC publication to accompany the series.  The Model World book came with plans showing you how to make a Model Yacht, Glider and a radio Controlled frigate. I loved the show so much my Father went out and got me the Model World book. I then ventured down to the shed to build a 30in Frigate. A month or so later the Frigate was finished, but on my Frigates 1st and only sailing, it got attacked by a swan, and the superstructure sustained quite a bit of damage. With every intention of repairing the Frigate I went home and placed it into my bedroom cupboard.
A couple of years later my Sister and I welcomed Punk into our home, and for a while I embraced Punk with a vengeance. As far as I was concerned it was year zero in my bedroom. So books toys and Airfix models got put into the cupboard and out of sight. With that the now badly neglected Model World Frigate got pushed back into the cupboard even more. Sometime later realising that my year zero attitude was a tad foolish, all my old books and models slowly reappeared. But for some reason the Frigate stayed in the cupboard and The Model World Book was no where to be seen. To this day I do not know what happened to it.
When my Father died my Sister and I were clearing out his house. I was in my old bedroom clearing out the cupboard when I came across my Model World Frigate. I am afraid to say it was in a worse state than ever. Years of being pushed back further and further into the cupboard had damaged my Frigate beyond repair. So I reluctantly placed it into a bin bag and dropped it into a skip.
I discovered a pile of photos of myself from the 1970s. As I was flicking through them I found a photo of a sulky looking me holding my Model World Frigate.

 

Model World Update

Some years back I uploaded a post onto Found Objects about the 1970s BBC series Model World and the accompanying Book, which I lost many many years ago. After searching numerous car boot sales and old book shops I finally have found a copy of the BBC Model World book, with all the model plans intact. Which goes to show if you keep on rummaging and searching, that lost old object can become a found object.  Right now I am a very happy chap.