Seasons Greetings to you all

I have had a busy old year, what with one thing or another, so a big thank you

to everyone who bought played and reviewed my album Boxes Windows and Secret Hidey Holes.  Also thanks for the support and emails and comments with regards to the album and Mixcloud etc. Have a great break and holiday. See you all again in the New Year

Dolly Dolly Antimacassar

The rather great smashing and super Dolly Dolly album Antimacassar is available from Exotic Pylon as a limited edition digipak CD or digital download. I suggest you go here to get a copy. Also here is some info from Exotic Pylon. TATA.

Exotic Pylon is overwhelmingly thrilled to present something very different and very special – the long-awaited debut album from a true original: Antimacassar by Dolly Dolly. 

Dolly (sometimes known as David Yates) is a Berkshire-based spoken-word artist, poet, events curator, radio playwright and belongs in the lineage of British surrealists. Antimacassar’s twisted insights were created via a process of cut-ups, automatic writing, and dream diaries channelling the skewed atmospherics of such luminaries as David Gascoyne and Roland Penrose after a collision with the Beats. At turns playful, darkly whimsical, disorientating and sharp Dolly Dolly’s words and voices destabilise familiar scenes into overcast alien shapes. Imagine if Tom Baker’s Tardis became a Stone Tape jukebox… 

Aiding and abetting Dolly on this maiden voyage are some of the finest artists from the UK underground: Ekoplekz, Position Normal, Moon Wiring Club, Regal Worm (an offshoot of I Monster), Time Attendant, Steve Christie and Language, Timothy! 

Shindig Spacerock

Have pre-ordered this from Shindig Magazine. Due out on Jan 16th, seems to be packed full of goodies Louis and Bebe Barron’s FORBIDDEN PLANET, JOE MEEK THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, PINK FLOYD HAWKWIND. GONG SILVER APPLES FIFTY FOOT HOSE, BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP  AMON DÜÜL II, NEU and ASH RA TEMPEL CHROME HERE AND NOW OZRIC TENTACLES SPACEMEN 3 LOOP SUN RA ASTRA THE HEADS and WHITE HILLS. Thats gonna be a lot of reading. Its only £6.50 available from here

Test Transmission Archive Reel 15 Garden of Earthly Delights Mix 8/11/13

Test Transmission Archive Reel 15 (Garden of Earthly Delights Mix) by Keith Seatman on Mixcloud

Here is my final mix of the year. Which was recorded for the Head Gardener at The Garden of Earthly Delights CRMK Radio. On this end of year mix we have music from Carl Orff, John Foxx & The Belbury Circle, The National Jazz Trio of Scotland, Anne Briggs, The Greg Foat Group, Spectrum and much much more.

Vault: Music for Silent Gothic Treasures 13th - 14th December

From the Vault: Electronic musicians perform new music for 110-year-old Gothic films

The devil has the best tunes on Saturday 14 December when a collective of British electronic musicians perform new music inspired by rarely seen Gothic silent films from the BFI National Archive. The music and films will be brought together for the first time in Vault: Music for Silent Gothic Treasures at BFI Southbank as part of the BFI’s nationwide project GOTHIC: The Dark Heart of Film (8:45pm).

The ensemble was put together by Sarah Angliss, a composer, automatist and theremin player, whose singularly unsettling music was recently heard at the National Theatre as a tense underscore to Lucy Prebble’s The Effect. Angliss’ music for Gothic film will be performed by her band: recent Ghost Box collaborators Spacedog. They’ll be joined by Exotic Pylon’s Time Attendant (Paul Snowdon) who will be supplying a new work on simmering, tabletop electronics. There will also be some extemporisations from Bela Emerson, a soloist who works with cello and electronics. Fellow Ghost Box associate Jon Brooks, composer of the haunting Music for Thomas Carnacki (2011), will also be creating a studio piece for the event.

Sourced by Bryony Dixon, the BFI’s curator of silent film, many of the short films inspiring these musicians were made in the opening years of the twentieth century. The Legende du fantôme (1908) and early split screen experiment Skulls Take Over (1901) are on the bill, along with the silent cubist masterpiece The Fall of the House of Usher (US version, 1928) and more.

“There is undoubtedly something uncanny about the earliest of these films”, said Angliss. “Many are stencil-coloured in vibrant hues, adding to that sense of the familiar taking on a strange cast. They seem to demand music that suggests rather than points up the horror, a motif that discomforts as it soothes, or a sweet sound that is somehow sickly, as though heard in a fever. As with vision, sound for horror can use the art of the almost, inviting the audience to make unnerving connections of their own.” 

Jon Brooks said “the visuals suggest aural textures reminiscent of painted glass, to strange derivatives of stringed instruments. Hopefully I've conjured some playfulness amongst the macabre too."

Adding to the strangeness are Angliss’ automata, who will also be performing live. These include a polyphonic, robotic carillon (bell playing machine) and Hugo, the roboticised head of a ventriloquist’s dummy who is of the same vintage as some of the films. The event will be directed by Emma Kilbey. After the BFI Southbank performance there are plans to tour Vault around Gothic revivalist buildings around the UK. 

Sarah Angliss is grateful to PRSF for Music for financially supporting her new work. Vault: Music for Silent Gothic Treasures is part of the BFI’s Hauntology Weekend, in association with The Wire magazine (Fri 13 Dec – Sat 14 Dec)

Peter Sykes Pink Floyd The Committee

The Committee is a 1968 film Written and Directed by Peter Sykes and staring Paul (Manfred Mann) Jones. The film features a superb score by Pink Floyd, and even The Crazy World of Arthur Brown make an appearance.  In the film Paul Jones who is unnamed, is picked up and given a lift in a car. The driver of the car pulls over because he does not like the sound of the engine. When the driver is checking the engine Paul Jones slams the bonnet of the car down on him decapitating his head. After a while Paul Jones sews the drivers head back on. The driver wakes up and Paul Jones informs the driver he does not want to drive with him anymore and he should leave. A couple of years later Paul Jones is invited to join a committee. These committee groups seem to exist to keep the system??? up and running, but really seem to not do anything. Later Paul Jones encounters the driver who gave him a lift a few years before. The driver does not seem to recognise Jones or remember having his head cut of. Jones then asks the man "are your teeth ok?" Jones then spends the rest of the film talking with The Committee Director (Robert Lloyd) about his earlier actions involving the car driver.

The film is in black and white and is quite compelling. My own favorite sequence early on in the film is when a number of suit and tie gentlemen are walking through a building, accompanied by a 1st class Pink Floyd score. The camera follows these men going to a meeting, intercut with other images of old reel to reel computers and card index machines. The musical score by Pink Floyd at this moment is a must and would not have sounded out of place on Piper at the Gates of Dawn or Saucerful of Secrets. After a very successful run in The West End in 68,  screenings of The Committee were almost non existant.  I won't pretend that I fully understood what was going on in The Committee but who cares? maybe that is what makes the film interesting, and as a slice of 60s weirdness and self indulgence The Committee is definitely out there. 

In The Garden Friday Nov 8th

I was asked a while ago by The Head Gardener to supply him with a Mix for The Garden of Earthly Delights Radio show. The mix is now complete and will be Broadcast on Friday 8th of November at 10pm on CRMK Radio. I will upload the mix later on in November to my Mixcloud thingy. 

Wire Thirty Three and a Third

My Friend Mr Stevens (Echopet) recently gave me a book from the Bloomsbury 331/3 series.
331/3 is basically an ongoing series of books written by various authors about classic (or not so classic, its up to you really) albums. Wilson Neate's contribution to this series is Wire's Pink Flag. Pink Flag was not the 1st Wire album I ever got, my 1st Wire long play was the mighty 154 and before that I managed to get a few singles which I had heard on John Peel, (I am the Fly, Dot Dash and Outdoor Miner). So once I had 154 I decided it was time to get Chairs Missing and Pink Flag. Pink Flag is probably the most unique album to come out of the class of 77 punk releases. With 21 tracks its awkward jerkiness and at times ability to just stop (Field Day for the Sundays 28 secs The Commercial 48 secs) must have put even your average punk on edge. If punk is about attitude, change and breaking down barriers then Wire were basically more punk than most bands at the time, but they also seemed to have more art leanings than most so called art rock bands. At the time the band were signed to Harvest (Kevin Ayers, Pink Floyd, Roy Harper, Be-Bop- Deluxe to name a few) which probably never went down to well with sections of the punk elite, and at producer Mike Thorne's suggestion even used a flute on the track Strange. Wire's ability to deconstruct and lose interest in their own songs went even further with the next 2 albums. When playing live the band would hardly play any songs of the album they were on tour to promote (they had already been working on new songs and played them instead) If you want to know the the full details about the recording of Pink Flag, the song writing, equipment studio used and set up, then its all here. The end of the book briefly deals with Bruces Gilberts departure from the band in 2004 and the Three Girl Rhumba/Elastica issue. I ended up reading the whole book over 2 days and thought it was fantastic. Might read it again, but in the spirit of Wire maybe stop halfway through, or not at all. Who knows?????

Its a Litmus Test

A rather spot on new album by my good friend Mr Packer. Some weird, wonderful and haunting tunes are on this album, which can be purchased from Bandcamp I have been informed that part 2 should be with us early 2014.

7 inch Center Label Selection (Part 2)

As promised a while back, here is another random selection of 7 inch single centers from the shelf.  How does he randomly select these fine old singles???  I hear you say. The answer is  simple...... dice, quite a few of them. More random singles at a later date.

COCO Phono 6th October

I have been invited to play some records at COCO Phono at The King St Tavern Southsea  (the seaside yippee!!!!) on Sunday 6th September from 4.30pm. Have picked up some new vinyl to play recently (The Other World of the Sound Carriers is one of them) Not sure what time I am playing???? or for how long????? I am sure I will find out on the day.

Tales From the Black Meadow Book & CD

Went to the book launch of Tales of the Black Meadow the other night with my friend Mr Palmer. This event was held at The Reading Central Library (bit of a nightmare to get to, lots of roundabouts and Traffic lights and very very bad traffic jam on the way into Reading) Once there had a very nice evening. There was Poetry, Film, Music, Readings and Drama all very well hosted by Chris Lambert and Kevin (Soulless Party) Oyston.

What can I say about Tales of the Black Meadow??????? if you enjoy a bit of Folklore, Poetry, A Mystery on the moors, 1970s kids TV and some very lovely haunting music, then this book and CD are an absolute must. A fantastic evening was had, and it was great to finally meet Kevin and Chris. I do get the feeling that The book and the CD are not the final word on the strange history of The Black Meadow. I would like to think and hope that as more information regarding The Black Meadow comes to light, Chis and Kevin will make it available to us all. I genuinely can't wait and look forward to even more on The Black Meadow. But she smil'd and whisper'd once again "I've been Beyond the Moor

John Foxx & The Belbury Circle

As you all might be aware, I am quite keen on the John Foxx era Ultravox (bit of an understatement) and of course John Foxx himself. Ever since hearing and then purchasing John Foxx's 1st single Underpass I have always tried (and at times failed) to keep up with John Foxx's musical output. So I was very pleased to be sent a copy of the new Ghost Box John Foxx Belbury Circle release Empty Avenues (Thanks Jim)  There are six tracks on offer here, all written by John Foxx Jim Jupp and Jon Brooks (hence Belbury Circle) with a rather nice remix by Pye Corner Audio. I am not going to go into detail about any of the individual songs/tracks on Empty Avenues, but must say that if you like the musical output of John Foxx, Belbury Poly or The Advisory Circle/Jon Brooks then this is for you. Come to think of it........even if you are not that keen on any of the artists on Empty Avenues, you should still get a copy of this release. The reason for this is very simple, your Record/CD collection will never forgive you for not owning a copy of Empty Avenues. Plus thanks to some stunning artwork from Mr Julian (Focus Group) House your collection will also look sad, empty and bland without it. So best move very fast before this is sold out. I perhaps should also mention that I do like this a lot. 

Another new tune 2014

Another new tune for the next album. Hopefully out sometime in 2014. Track needs a bit of tweeking and mastering, so this not fully finished version.

Its Flexi

They came free with magazines, they came free attached to the front of record sleeves, they came free in booklets and in some cases you could walk into a record shop and just ask for them...............for FREE. So here is a selection of Flexi Discs. They never sounded great, but they always seemed to be free. I would like to say that after many many years the quality of these flexi discs has deteriorated so much that they are virtually unplayable, but still always worth checking out.

 This came free with the 7inch of I Travel

Have no idea where I got this??? but it was a very long time ago

 

 Good old Smash Hits. OMD and Nash the Slash

Walked into HMV and they were giving these away.

Good old Factory.

A charity shop find that I thought would come in handy.

Melody Maker!!!!! The Passage and Blancmange

7 inch Center Label Selection

There has been a lot on the Wireless and Television Set  recently about the good old 7in single. So I have decided that every now and then, to make some sort of random selection of 7inch singles from the shelf and place them here, but only showing the single center labels, no single sleeves. When doing this I did find quite a few flexi discs so it might be flexis next time.

Test Transmission Archive Reel 14

Test Transmission Archive Reel 14 by Keith Seatman on Mixcloud

Test Transmision Archive Reel 14 is now on Mixcloud. This time round we have tunes from The Soulless Party, The Supremes, Kevin Ayers, Isaac Hayes, Buffalo Daughter, Hacker Farm The Focus Group and tons more.

Film 4 10.45pm Friday 5th July

 On Friday 5th July at 10.45pm Ben Wheatley's new film A Field in England is to be shown on Film 4. The English Civil War, Magic Mushrooms Alchemy, Buried Treasure, Muskets, Michael Smiley. What more do we need on a Friday night????.

Shindig Review

A very happy chap I am today. My album Boxes Windows and Secret Hidey Holes has just had a rather nice review in Shindig.  So a big thank you to Thomas Paterson and Shindig for this review. I should point out that the album is still available from Bandcamp as a CD or Digital download. I am now of to W H Smith to get my copy.........The Seeds are on the front cover this month.

The Terrors

On Tuesday June 25th at The Sq Tower Old Portsmouth Mr Stevens and I will be playing a new live score for the recently found 1929 silent sci-fi adventure film The Terrors. This event has been organised by The Portsmouth Film Society, and we hope to play our slightly improvised and occasionally organised but always chaotic musical score on the night armed with a couple of Synths some Melos Analogue Echo units a box of Cat Litter a Football Rattle, Swanee Whistle Castanets and Bagpipes (courtesy of Pipe Sgt Dan Del Piccolo) The film is just over 1 hour long and admission is £3. It all starts at 6pm

2 New Tracks 2014 Maybe

Have uploaded a couple of new tracks to Soundcloud which might make it on to the next album in 2014. The tunes are A Gathering off the Odd and Under the Hill.

Quiet Men

Ultravox's Quiet Men was released in October 1978, and was the last single by Ultravox with John Foxx as their singer. My Sister had the 12in white vinyl copy of this record which she got as soon as it came out, and on hearing this version for the first time I was hooked on it.
I started getting into Ultravox after hearing their blistering Punk/New Wave EP Retro and upon hearing that album I went on a bit of a mission to catch up with their back catalogue, picking up the Lillywhite/Eno produced 1st album Ultravox! plus the the singles Young Savage and Rockwrok. Why was Quiet Men so good????? Unlike the Systems of Romance album version, this 12in version of Quiet Men starts of with what can only be described as a driving Euro Disco (very Moroder) beat and Robin Simon's sharp and very catchy Guiter riff, and its loud!!! I loved this record so much I managed to borrow it from my sister for a while (did not want the 7in version) then in early 1979 I was strolling through Bournemouth with nothing to do, and popped into a record shop (as you would). Right at the front of the Punk/New Wave section of 12in singles was Quiet Men on White vinyl, all else went out of my mind as I snatched this record out of the rack and bought it. I do still love this record so much to this day. What makes this record so good??? for me its this simple, its early Ultravox, its on White vinyl its got John Foxx singing, the pressing is loud its better than the album version (which is still good) and of course its produced by Connnie Plank. What more do you need?

Echopet and other musical Doodlings

A while ago my friend Mr Stevens asked me if  I wanted to work with him on composing a musical score for a recently found film from 1929. Of course I said yes, and the fruits of our labour can be heard at a screening in late June (hopefully). When working on the music for the film we also started working on some other musical ideas (getting sidetracked is a habit of ours) We put  2 SH101s, 2 Melos analogue Echos a Theremin and a Yamaha DX100 into an 8 channel mixer, and then recorded live onto DAT. Everything was improvised on the spot with no overdubs, and we ended up with over 30mins of music/sound/audio doodles. So we decided to use these ideas, and for  this project we will be calling ourselves Echopet. The 1st of these odd and spontaneous musical doodlings can be heard on Soundcloud. I should add that we might also be performing all this  live at a later date if we get the chance.

Roll up Roll up for the Elektrik Karousel

Sometimes in life I get completely sidetracked. Over the last few weeks I have started working on a new project with my Friend Mr Stevens (more on that at a later date), plus have been working on new tracks and ideas for my next album. Then what with work, school runs family etc I have been a tad bogged down. So when I recently received a copy of the new Focus Group album Elektrik Karousel the best place to keep it was in the car. This was not because I dislike the album or The Focus Group and wanted to banish it out of my sight, it was just simply the best place to listen to the album by myself and not get sidetracked, and after many listens and very long journeys, you must believe me when I say this album is outstanding. The samples/audio/sound cut ups that are a feature and style of The Focus Group's music are all there, but amongst the quirky and disjointed sounds there is something slightly sinister lurking, something that leaves you with an ominous feeling, a feeling that the odd the strange and unusual is also about to happen. In places Elektrik Karousel comes across as some sort of dark psychedelic alternative soundtrack to Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this way Comes. You can imagine a smiling Mr House tipping his top hat as he invites you to board The Elektrik Karousel. The artwork for Elektrik Karousel is quite stunning with the CD coming in an 8 panel digi pack, with the inspiration for it coming from 1960s underground press. A truly wonderful release from The Focus Group. Personal favs on the album are Bachoo and ChordfI. So Roll up Roll up for the Elektrik Karousel....................but the cost of admission could be your mind. Which is definitely a price worth paying.

Our Secret Place

From my album Boxes Windows & Secret Hidey Holes, here is a video for the track Our Secret Place. Filmed out and about in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Wales. Still a handful of CDs left at the mo, but will get a re-press soon.

Bernard Cribbins Radio 4

Fantastic program about Bernard Cribbins on Radio 4 today. Part 2 being broadcast next Thursday at 11.30am. In part 1 Bernard chats about his early years in acting, his National service, fishing Carry on Spying and being directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Looking forward to part 2 next week, Jackanory Wombles Dr Who and lots more. I did not realise he was 85. Its on BBC iPlayer for another 6 days

Its a bit of a Twitter

After a lot of delay I am finally on Twitter. Last year I joined Facebook and lasted 23 hrs, then got bored with it. So if you go to https://twitter.com/KeithSeatman you just might every now and then catch a very dull and pointless Tweet from me. Who knows??? this might last a lot longer than 23hrs.

Shindig 32 (its a Whopper)

I have just got this months copy of Shindig magazine, and what a whopper it is. We have Interviews with James Cargill (Broadcast), Jim Jupp Julian House (Ghostbox) a look at The Childrens Film Foundation  The Sweet and also The rise and fall of Italian Giallo. Thats me taken care of for the evening. Feet up Glass of wine and Shindig 32.

Archive Reel 13 (a tad early)

Here a tad earlier than I anticipated is Test Transmission Archive Reel 13. To take us into the spring we have music from William Basinski, Prince Rama, Red Crayola, Scarfolk Council, Mark Fry, Sarah Angliss, Professor Elemental and loads more to get your feet tapping and your head throbbing. I will be spending the Spring working on a very strange and odd Audio project with my friend Mr Stevens (more on that later) so I hope to have Archive reel 14 ready for you all by late June or Early July. So for now TATA.

Dad knew Gurney Slade

The Strange World of Gurney Slade was 1st broadcast on Saturday 22nd of October 1960 on ITV at 8.35pm. By episode number 3 it had been moved to the much later slot of 11.10pm.

I 1st became aware of The Strange World of Gurney Slade a couple of years ago and really could not believe how good this strange surreal odd and bizarre program was.

At the time (1960) there really was nothing on TV to compare this series with. Written by Anthony Newley (who also played Gurney Slade) Sid Green and Dick Hills, in the 1st episode we see a standard sitcom family set up, then after repeatedly being asked a question by the sitcom actors Newley gets up, walks through the 4th wall past the cameras  and out of the studio into the street. From here on we follow Gurney through all sorts of strange a surreal events. In episode 4 we see a court case unfold in which Newley/Gurney is accused of not being funny and having no sense of humor, and Gurney/the series is put on trial. This episode in particular does remind me very much of The Prisoner.

The theme for The Strange World of Gurney Slade was composed by Max Harris, the single version managed to reach number 10 in the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks. Most people will remember the music from Vision On when it was used in the clock sequence.

So what has all this got to do with my Father?????? when I was growing up everytime Anthony Newley appeared on TV or the Radio my Dad would inform us that he knew Anthony Newley, I was quite impressed that my Dad knew someone famous, I also wondered how and when he knew him. The answer was quite simple and not very exciting at all. My Father had served with Newley when he was called up to do his 2 years National Service. My Father also did a very bad impersonation of Newley as well. Obviously I have no idea what my Father thought of The Strange World of Gurney Slade, or if he ever saw it???  But................my Dad knew Gurney Slade...........................Whoops!!!!! I should mention that all 6 episodes can be seen here.