Thursday 24 August 2017

The Quietened Cosmologists – Pre-order Release Dates and Audio Clips

Pre-order available 12th September 2017.
Released 3rd October 2017.
From a Year in the Country Another superb themed compilation. 
The Quietened Cosmologists is a reflection on space exploration projects that have been abandoned and/or that were never realised, of connected lost or imagined futures and dreams, the intrigue and sometimes melancholia of related derelict sites and technological remnants that lie scattered and forgotten.
It takes as its initial starting points the shape of the future’s past via the discarded British space program of the 1950s to 1970s; the sometimes statuesque and startling derelict artifacts and infrastructure from the Soviet Union’s once far reaching space projects; the way in which manned spaceflight beyond Earth’s orbit/to the moon and the associated sense of a coming space age came to be largely put to one side after the 1969 to 1972 US Apollo flights.
Featuring audiological explorations by: Field Lines Cartographer Pulselovers Magpahi Howlround Vic Mars Unit One (Dom Cooper of Circle/Temple and The Straw Bear Band in collaboration with Al Hill) A Year In The Country Keith Seatman Grey Frequency Time Attendant Listening Center Polypores David Colohan
Available from  
Bandcamp 
Preview audio clips can be heard at
A Year in the Country Soundcloud Page

Tuesday 15 August 2017

A couple of new tunes

A couple of new tunes. These are the first tunes that I have produced since the last album came out back in April. Not sure if these will end up on a new album? or might try to release an Ep (Vinyl) Also maybe plans if possible to release an EP with Douglas E Powell (see previous post) of course all of this depends on time and finances, so who knows?
 

A bit of Pop/Punk/Psychobilly is good for you.

I have always had a soft spot for The Cramps. This should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me, but does seem to confuse some people I have met who seem to think that I sit around all day listening to strange and obscure Electronic/Avent-garde music Reading MR James, Robert Aickman and discussing Public info Films (ok sometimes I might)
So with that in mind here are a few albums that have been with me since teenage years and are played on a regular basis in the house whilst Hoovering and washing up and pottering around. There are other albums I could include here (Swell Maps Marineville a superb pop/noise/punk psych classic) but all three of these albums in my opinion are true singalong foot tapping greats. 1st up is The Cramps Off the Bone.
What more could you ask for here??? A Cramps compilation of obscure 50s Rock'n'Roll/Rockerbilly cover versions plus a healthy number of Cramps originals, all in a 3D cover (I still have the glasses) covering the Iillegal Records years 79 to 83. Garbage Man is a major foot tapper, and Some New Kind of Kick still reminds me of The Fall (Replace Lux's voice with Mark E Smith impersonation and you'll see what I mean)
The Ramones Its Alive has got to be one of the best live albums of all time. Recorded at The Rainbow Theatre London New Years Eve 1977 and was released in 1979. The album is an absolute cracker and contains most tracks from the 1st three Ramones albums (Ramones, Leave Home and Rocket to Russia) I remember when I first got this album I played it to death. Some years later I finally got to see The Ramones Live and was not disappointed. of course the ups and downs and inner conflicts within the band are now well documented, Johnny's Political views (Right), Joey's views (Left), Tommy leaving, Marky Drinking, Dee Dee's Rap album see End of the Century Documentry), Joey not speaking to Johnny for years. But all of that can never take away how exciting and bloody awesome this album and the band truly were.
Next up has to be the Undertones 1st album. I know its probably a cliche, but from the moment I heard Teenage Kicks on John Peel I was hooked, then seeing the band on TOTP shortly later just confirmed it all for me (Their Old Grey Whistle Test appearance is fantastic) As soon as the album came out in May 1979 I got a copy. The Undertones were in fact signed to Sire Records, the same label as the Ramones. I was also fortunate enough to see them on tour in March and Sept 79 and managed to meet the band on both occasions after the shows (I was still at School and got home late on both occasions) All members of the band were fantastic and very sociable and shared their drinks and cigarettes with all of us. As for the album it is a pop classic. Jump Boys, Billys Third, I Know a Girl, Male Model. All superb and very catchy sing along tracks. It really is a perfect pop album.

Tuesday 1 August 2017

Found Objects: An Edwardian Railway and the Ghosts of Punks Past

Found Objects: An Edwardian Railway and the Ghosts of Punks Past: In June 1903 The Meon Valley Railway was opened and operated with passengers until 1955. Goods traffic remained on sections of the line u...

Hare and the Moon/Grey Malken Reviews all hold hands hands


A Review for all hold hands and off we go by
Grey Malken/Hare and the Moon (Active Listener 2017)
 
Hampshire artist Keith Seatman beckons us to return to his spooked, analogue world with his fifth album 'All Hold Hands And Off We Go', the follow up to 2015's masterful folk flecked slice of electronic pastoralism 'A Rest Before A Walk'. With a back catalogue of haunted gems as well as being the architect behind the highly recommended Test Transmission mixes, Seatman is quietly cementing a reputation as one of the foremost and most influential of electronic explorers in the inhabited by fellow travelers Belbury Poly, The Advisory Circle and Concretism. 'All Hold Hands And Off We Go' more than cements this; this is possibly Seatman's finest yet and an album which seems to unveil more depth, detail and riches upon each successive encounter.
The brief ominous hum and distant chatter of voice that opens 'A Lighthouse Might Look Long' provides a startling and pleasingly disorientating beginning to proceedings before the driven and urgent synth stomp of 'All Hold Hands And Off We Go' accelerates the listener into a metallic and neon filled dream. Electronic drumbeats propel the whirling strings and twisted carnivalesque keys and chimes; both exhilarating and disconcerting this ably sets out Seatman's stall and leaves some other 'hauntology' or electronica acts seem tame and plodding in comparison. 'Skipping Rope' goes even further down the rabbit hole, a descending synth motif merges with a children’s' song, music boxes and clattering percussion to create a truly spectral and ghost filled vision that begs repeat listening; nightmares have rarely sounded quiet so delicious. Next, 'Mr Metronome' eases the pace to a stately, dystopian glacial grandeur, strings framing vocalist Douglas E Powell's breathtaking performance; fans of John Foxx, should immediately seek this out. Should an alternative soundtrack to Ben Wheatley's 'High Rise' be needed then he need look no further; this is both chilling and addictive. 'Left behind, Lost Or Dropped' screams into view, propelled by insistent keys and increasingly frantic drumbeats, it's melody (as Seatman's seem to) getting under the listener’s skin and into the imagination; this music conjures visuals like almost no other. Next, 'Four Steps At A Time' shrouds its glistening melodies in a cosmic wind, echoes from a past within the present ricocheting and returning around the steady electric beat. Haunting and curiously uplifting, this track exemplifies the layers and careful construction involve din Seatman's mini symphonies, there is so much going on here that repeated listens are ably rewarded. 'Odd In A Nightcap and Cup' posits backwards effects amidst synthetic voices and analogue bleeps and whirrs before an organ harmony plucked straight from some decaying old Hollywood film hovers into view; this music is filled with ghosts. 'Tap Tap' is a foreboding slice of future sock; rasping keyboards and a colossal sounding drums give an indication perhaps of what Black Sabbath might have sounded like in alternate universe had they formed with a battery of Korg synths rather than conventional instruments. 'Boxes With Rhythms In' returns Douglas E Powell to the helm for an album highlight, a shimmering jewel of a song, banks of strings and keys creating a processional march of no small power. The album concludes with 'Of salt And candy', a children’s' nursery rhyme resonating against electronic howls and gusts; an ending befitting the otherworldly nature of what has come before.

This is a masterclass in atmosphere and mood but also in melody and song craft; Seatman has composed an album that lingers long after it has finished, it leaves its own ghosts behind and delightfully so. This is essential listening but don't stop here; seek out Seatman's earlier albums for more treasures. Available now from KS Audio on CD and as a download from Bandcamp
Grey Malken (Hare and the Moon 2017)