Shadows 1975 to 1978 Thames TV

 

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. 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. Always thought the intro to the 3rd series had a Box of Delights feel to it.
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 all intros are here on YouTube

The Horn Dance from The Inheritance

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.  

27th January 2023, 12inch Extended and Instrumental Burial at Bevill's Leam

 

Burial at Bevill’s Leam

Extended and Instrumental Versions
of Seatman and Powell track from
CiS093 - 'Sad Old Tatty Bunting’

Format: 12” Red Vinyl / Download
Released: 27th January, 2023
Catalogue Number CiS137
Available From
https://castlesinspace.bandcamp.com/music
Distributor: state51

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. 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.

 

Out Now. Broken Folk 10 inch EP and Digi Release

After over a year of planning, and long walks on the Southdowns, the Seatman And Powell (Featuring Belbury Poly) 10 inch has arrived. The original plan for this release was conceived 18 months ago late one night in North Devon. Myself and Doug, decided to release a 7 inch single containing two vocal tracks. These tracks were from the albums all hold hands and off we go and A Rest Before the Walk. Doug and I would re-master and re-work these 2 tracks and release them as a very limited run. Then the idea moved on a bit to a 7 inch ep. Months went by and I discussed this project with Jim Jupp at Ghost Box. Way back in early 2018 myself Jim, Doug and our friend Russel went for a very long walk along the South Downs. It was when sitting in a very snug pub in Lewes that Jim said he would be interested in releasing the single but taking it up to a 10inch on colour vinyl and full colour artwork. Not to be released on Ghostbox but released through his own Belbury Music. I said yes to this and months down the line here is the final product.
The EP has 5 tracks with Broken Folk remixed by Belbury Poly.
The 4 other tracks have been re-worked by myself and Doug.
All tracks re-mastered by Jim Jupp, and all artwork by Jim Jupp at Belbury Music.
Broken Folk Excerpts Soudcloud
  An EP of collaborations with folk singer Douglas E. Powell selected from Keith Seatman’s last two albums. It opens with a remix of the title track Broken Folk by stalwarts of British pastoral electronica Belbury Poly.
Melancholic and subtly psychedelic, these songs are redolent of supernatural short stories and winter afternoons out on English landscapes.  They are dark rustic reveries, occupying the overlapping territory between haunted electronica and wyrd folk.
Seatman builds a dense collage of electronics, fragmented melody and found sound, around which Powell weaves his dreamlike lyrics.
The tracks have been remastered for the EP by Belbury Poly’s Jim Jupp and the 10” is pressed on translucent green vinyl with sleeve art by Jim Jupp. It’s released on Seatman’s own label
KS Audio in conjunction with Jupp’s Belbury Music.
The Broken Folk vinyl ep can be purchased from the
Belbury Music Shop 
The Digital version is available from Bandcamp.   

 

Wyrd Kalender January 1st 2019

WYRD KALENDAR
Released by Mega Dodo
Edited and curated by Chris Lambert
Mastered by Chris Sharp
Book written by Chris Lambert
Illustrations and artwork by Andy Paciorek
  Available to buy from January 1^st 2019 from Mega Dodo
CD and digital download

www.mega-dodo.co.uk
www.wyrdkalendar.blogspot.com

All profits from the sale of Wyrd Kalendar will go to Cancer Research UK.

Following the success of “Songs from the Black Meadow” in 2016 Mega Dodo and Chris Lambert are proud to present Wyrd Kalendar, a new Book and CD release.
This will be released on January 1^st the beginning of the next Wyrd year.

Wyrd Kalendar takes the year as its starting point weaving from dark and forgotten traditions stories and music to delight, disturb and escape into.

Artists from the England, Scotland, Ireland and Portugal were each given a month of the year and a story from the book (Wyrd Kalendar) as a starting point from which to create a vastly eclectic and evocative mix of genres that sweep from the worlds of Folk to Electronica via Psychedelic licks and lost Horror Soundtracks.

Each month is presented by a different artist.
January: Widow’s Weeds (lead by Grey Malkin formerly of The Hare and the Moon) give us their occult tinged hymn to that month in Song for January.
February: Electronic wizard Keith Seatman explores the strange world of the Three Day Girl forever doomed to experience the missing days of that truncated month.
March: Psych-Folk singer Emily Jones brings to life the words of her long dead ancestor in Waiting for Spring.
April: Psychedelic Queen of Spring - Crystal Jaqueline plays us all for fools as she goes Chasing the Gowk.
May: Ghost Box’s Beautify Junkyards charm us with their delicious and haunting May Day Eve.
June: Alison O’Donnell of Mellow Candle, Flibbertigibbet, Firefay and United Bible Studies teams up with David Colohan on her wasp celebration Deadly Nest.
July: Scarfolk collaborator and electronic ghost of Cold War Britain Concretismbrings to life A Fair by the Sea.
August: Icarus Peel explores lost love and yearning as he explores the words of the aching and humid The Weeping Will Walk.
September: Legendary Folk Rock duo Tir na nOg encourage us to raise a glass to Autumn with Columbine.
October: Wyrdstone explores the haunting rhythms of harvest in The Field.
November: The Soulless Party leave the Black Meadow to take us for a Dark November Drive.
December: The Rowan Amber Mill explore the darker side of Christmas with The Witch’s Lament.
The Year: The 13^th track of the album is called Wyrd Kalendar. The Mortlake Bookclub explore the world of the book and the year through their unusual aural game of Exquisite Corpse.

About:  Wyrd Kalendar – The Book
Open the Wyrd Kalendar and explore the year with eyes that are not your own…

Join Chris Lambert and Andy Paciorek as they guide you through the twelve months of the year weaving twelve tales of Magic, Murder, Terror, Love and the Wyrd.

Hold to the resolution in January…
Seek to do more with those missing days in February…
Avoid the madness of the March hare…
Become the fool in April…
Dance around Aunt May…
Protect and nurture the June bug…
Celebrate Grotto Day in July…
Fall in love and weep in August…
Let it all fall in September…
Prepare for the October harvest…
Avoid November sin…
Do not let December find you out…

“Gripping, sometimes terrifying but always surprising: this is the year described in the Wyrd Kalendar. Live it if you dare…” – Sebastian Baczkiewicz - Creator of BBC Radio 4’s “Pilgrim”
"There's a story here for all horror tastes, from the understated to the gruesome and everything in between."
"Those with a fondness for horror's rich folk heritage will find plenty to enjoy here, but what's most impressive about Wyrd  Kalendar is how both Lambert and Paciorek have captured the spirit and mood of each month in their storytelling."
"If you like your scare fare laced with imagination, surprise, and plenty of spine-tingling moments, I cannot recommend this enough." - Kieran Fisher - Scream Magazine Issue 49 July/Aug 2018 (pp 94-95)

About:  Songs from the Black Meadow (Released by MegaDodo 2016)
“Songs From The Black Meadow is a deeply involving and atmospherically congruent undertaking, swathed in the beckoning hauntology of the fictitious-or-is-it Black Meadow itself.” – Record Collector
“Here’s a legend for a new kind of perception.” – DME
“Songs From The Black Meadow is a well-realized, immersive concept that will pull you in, and never let you go. It serves as an additional soundtrack for some damn fine horrors, and also stands alone as a weird, supernatural journey all its own.” – forestpunk
“Sometimes frivolous, sometimes chilling, let this be your entrance into one of modern acid folk’s most pervasive myths.” – Goldmine Magazine

Harvest Hyms (2 Volumes)

Something very interesting is on its way from
Folk Horror Revival
Some very interesting albums in the picture, including one of mine

all hold hands and off we go OUT NOW

Surreal retro analogue visions slide in and out of haunted fever dreams in this woozy, uniquely psychedelic, Radiophonic-flavored concoction that's suffused with ambivalent subconscious.
Carl Griffin Electronic Sound Magazine 28 (April 2017)
Strange exotica, repeated samples and a sense of quiet adventure are found on
Keith Seatman‘s all hold hands and off we go.
A Closer Listen (April 2017)
An album length sonic journey into the surreal, the strange and the sinister, a psychedelic pseance populated by waking dreams, nocturnal nightmares and supernatural forbearance, a melodic map of discovered Barrett-esque continents and hitherto beyond the
eye magick lands. Trippy stuff.
The Sunday Experience (Jan 2017) 
After a lot of stress uncertainty and upheaval over the last year or so, I have somehow managed to complete and release a new album. Its been a strange old journey this time round. I was starting to feel a bit lost and despondent with the whole recording process, and was not even sure if I wanted to do another album, I was seriously considering slinging in the old towel or at least having a very long break............I was bored...its that simple. Then something happened (like it does) and I felt quite inspired to record again. With this one I wanted to do something a bit lighter and a bit more uptempo in places. I knew I wanted to include Douglas E Powell for some more vocal duties, and my friend and Artist (Stalybridge born and bred) Greg Palmer had a lovely painting/image called Slush Puppy which I liked a lot. I knew I wanted to incorporate samples of this image into the cover art of the album because I wanted the overall feel of the album to be a tad more bright and optimistic, and I also knew the album had to be released in Spring or Summer. I entered into recording/composing the music with a slightly different feel and attitude than before. Optimism was the name of the game, and looking at it all now I am quite happy with it, which is a step forward for me. Sadly my plan was to make this one vinyl, but it just did not happen. So that's it really. Whats next?? there are long term plans for a couple of EPs and I have recorded a number of tracks for some other projects that are in the pipeline.

 

 CD and Digital download of all hold hands and off we go is available from Bandcamp

Or if the mood takes you, you might even fancy getting all 5 albums as downloads fo £16.25.

Folk Horror at The British Museum A Fine Day Out

 

On Sunday 16th Oct I got up very very early (5pm) and caught a coach to London. The reason for this is because I had a ticket for The Folk Horror Revival at The British Museum.

What a fine day it was indeed, despite the fact that a few days before I came down with a rather grim cold but thanks to some heavy duty cold and flu tablets and huge amount of throat lozenges I got through the day (should not have gone for drink the night before) Guest Speakers for the day were Andy Paciorek, Darren Charles, Eamon Byers, Iain Sinclair, Adam Scovell, James Riley and Gary Lachman. Also present and speaking at the Q & A was Shirley Collins. We were also very lucky to be present at the 1st Public Screening of Death and the Lady by Shirley Collins. Compare for the day was Chris Lambert (Songs from the Black Meadow)

Sadly I had to leave early to make a dash for my Coach so I missed most of the Q & A session where Jim Peters Darren Charles Andy Paciorek Sharron Kraus & Shirley Collins were joined onstage for this end session by Reece Shearsmith. I had a fine informative and wonderful day despite feeling grotty for the most of it.

Folk Horror the British Museum Oct 16th

On 16th October I will be visiting the British Museum for a day of Folk Horror Revival. Master of ceremonies on the day is Chris Lambert curator and writer of Songs/Tales from the Black Meadow. The first Folk Horror Revival event will be taking place at the British Museum, London on  October 16th 2016, featuring talks, lectures, short films, poetry readings, museum tours and other wyrd and intriguing happenings.

Cult television programmes and films of the 1960s and 70s are inspiring a new generation of poets, writers, artists and musicians with their atmospheric themes of contemporary individuals interacting with a uniquely British world of ancient mythology and magic, often uncanny and unsettling.

This special event will feature lectures, film screenings, performances and gallery tours of featured objects in the Museum’s collection to explore themes of cultural rituals, earth mysteries, psychogeography and folklore. Come along and prepare to be scared!
For more info about the day and guest speakers please go to here