Space Age Seasons Greetings to you all

Happy Merry and Yuletide Greetings to you all.

A Couple of Fine Christmas Tunes

Two very fine Christmas tunes.
I did Tweet about these last Christmas, and will probably do the same again this
year and next. Both perfect in there own way.

A Christmas Carol (This cat was a drag)

I have always enjoyed Charles Dicken's Christmas story A Christmas Carol. So what better time of year than now to have a look at some book covers for A Christmas Carol. Have to admit the Pulp! the Classics cover is a fav and the last one is my own copy. Why do I like A Christmas Carol so much???? probably for the same reasons as yourselves. Very fond of a number of the films, the animated version form 1971 with the voices of Alistair Sim Michael Redgrave and Michael Hordern is a particular fav which can be viewed here. But never never risk watching the Albert Finney Musical version Scrooge which I saw many years ago and still bothers me to this day.    

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This is my own cherished and old copy which I have had for years.

all hold hands and off we go (Excerpt)

Another excerpt from the new album all hold hands and off we go, due for release in 2017. There are also plans for a 4 track ep late in 2017 and I have two tracks on another compilation, so busy times ahead. More on all this at a later date.

DARK OR DARKER SHIVERING OR NOT!

 

DARK OR DARKER SHIVERING OR NOT!
If all goes to plan I will be playing at this event with Jez Stevens as Echopet
Together we will be performing a 30 minute piece live. Using Synths Samples an Old tone Generator and all sorts of pther things we can get our hands on.
You can expect noise feedback echos drone and video.

An exploration of the urban supernatural, occult temporalities, uncanny architecture, hauntology, the phantasmagorical, the monstrous, supernatural cartographies and the psychogeographic imagination.
 A night of: audio visual performance, live electronica, spoken word, installations, interstitial architects, psycho-geographers, kinetic sculptors, live artists and theatre makers.
With live performances from 7pm to 11pm followed by DJ's in the bar until 1pm.
FREE admission though a collection may be taken during the night.

This event is part of Darkfest, a celebration of creativity in Portsmouth, UK
inspired by the Supernatural Cities Project.
 Coastguard Studio: Montague House, Clarendon Rd, Portsmouth, Southsea PO4 0SA
 facebook.com/events/1596815733948366/
 one000plateaus.com/darkordarker/
facebook.com/1000plateaus/

New Album 2017

More info at a later date.
Until then snippets and segments can be heard here
All previous albums and reviews here

Test Transmission Archive Reel 27

Here we are with the last Test Transmission Archive Reel of 2016. I have quite a lot on at the mo trying to finish the next album which is out in 2017 so a tad busy. For your pleasure this time round we have Laurie Johnson Ultravox Current 93 Hotlegs The Rowen Amber Mill Paul Ferris Cybotron Concretism Implosion Ron Geesin Wire Broadcast The Gasman Dick Mills Listening Center Moon Duo Pye Corner Audio Cramps Nico Mark Hollis Pattern Forms and all sorts of audio oddness and shenanigans in between. So until 2017........or if/when I get round doing another mix, wrap up warm sleep tight against the old winter nights.

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.

Radio 4 The School is Full of Noises/John Paynter

How did tape loops, recycled everyday sounds and countless other weapons of the avant-garde find their way into school music lessons during the 1960s? That's the challenge for Ian McMillan as he sets out on the trail of one of music education's more unexpected byways.

It begins in an attic. Jonny Trunk is a collector of music's less travelled pathways, amongst them LPs of school children from the 1960s performing the most ambitious musical works imaginable. They have titles like 'Music for Cymbals', 'An Aleatory Game' and 'Don't Drink and Drive'.

So where did this all come from? Ian McMillan sets out to rediscover the creators of these musical curiosities, both the educators who conceived them and also the pupils themselves. Now in their 50s, what might the former pupils of the likes of Burnt Yates School and Hessington Primary make of those experiences from their youth?

Eventually Ian's travels take him to a dark place. A very dark place. In a cavern complex near Pateley Bridge he retreads footsteps taken by children not just for a recording project but also one of those schools documentaries we love to chuckle over at the distance of five decades. Only now can we discover what the class of '69 really thought of these ground-breaking musical adventures.

Missed this back in August, but finally caught up with it, and well worth the wait.
To hear this superb Radio 4 programme  go to here

Pattern Forms. Peel Away The Ivy Oct 21st 2016

The Pattern Forms is a collaborative project between Ed Macfarlane and Edd Gibson of Friendly Fires and Jon Brooks of The Advisory Circle. Peel Away the Ivy is the culmination of a fruitful collaboration that followed on from a debut single for Ghost Box’s Other Voices singles series in 2015. Release date Oct 21st 2016.

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

Sight & Sound Aug 2010. Old Weird Britain

After a lot of rummaging, tidying up and sorting things out I came across a copy of Sight and Sound from Aug 2010. In this issue is Rob Young's wonderful article on the films of Old Weird Britain called The Pattern Under the Plough. To read more on this please wander over to A Year in the Country.

Found Objects: F.C.JUDD Tape Recording for Everyone

Found Objects: F.C.JUDD Tape Recording for Everyone: I had the very good fortune to find this wonderful book by Electronic Music pioneer  F.C.JUDD  ( 1914–1992) . at a recent car boot sale. T...

Another almost completed track from the new album. I am plodding along at a slow old pace, trying to get the album completed for the new year. This is the 2nd track to feature the vocals of Douglas E Powell. Album is due for release early 2017.
Music
Keith Seatman
Vocals/Lyrics
Douglas E Powell

Stasis. Pye Corner Audio

The new album Stasis by Pye Corner Audio arrived through the letterbox this week. Available for pre-order from Ghostbox records now. Fans of PCA will not be disappointed with Stasis. Stasis is a fine sounding album, with a superb production and feel. At present my 2 personal favs are Ways Regained and Mountain View. Stasis will be released on Aug 26th.

Found Objects: Cold War Colossus

In light of the imminent release of the Year in the Country compilation The Quietened Bunker, I remembered that some years ago I posted this on Found Objects about the mighty Burlington Bunker.
Found Objects: Cold War Colossus: Air Vents Telephone Exchange P.A Systems valve amplifier The BBC Broadcast...........all is well Prime Ministers Bathroom Welcome to The mig...

Also A year in the Country has just posted this wonderful piece about signposted decommissioned Bunkers in the UK here. If you would like to investigate these things further then Nick Catford's book Secret Underground London is def worth a read.

A couple of new tunes, early mixes/excerpts

A Couple of early mixes/excerpts from the new album All Hold Hands and off we Go. Due for release early 2017.

The Quietened Bunker - Lower Level Clock Room

Here is my track/contribution to the new Year in the Country Album The Quietened Bunker. The track is called Lower Level Clock Room. Other musical contributions to the album are supplied by Grey Frequency, A Year In The Country, Panabrite, Polypores, Listening Center, Time Attendant, Unknown Heretic and David Colohan. Pre-Order is 1st August and Release date is 15th August.
There is an excellent, evocative piece on The Quietened Bunker and personal related history / explorations of an abandoned Cold War Monitoring Post by writer Simon Reynolds at his Retromania blog. The album will be available via the Artifacts Shop, Bandcamp Ether Victrola and Norman Records.

Test Transmission Archive Reel 26

As I upload selection of music I must point out that it is very very hot today. So with that I decided to stay in and not go out. The sun and I do not get on, I am more of an Autumn/Winter person really. So on Test Transmission Archive Reel 26 we have Syd Dale, Richards Dawkins, Belbury Poly, The Fall, The Flirtations, Orbital, Twisted Tongue, Oneohtrix Point Never, Visage, Hare and the Moon ft Alaska, Jodie Lowther, La Dusseldorf , Edwin Astley, Purson, Syd Barrett, Michael Nyman and The The Dandelion Set. Hope to get another mix done before the end of the year, still working on the next album. So until then, have a good summer.

The Quietened Bunker – preorder and release dates

Pre-order 1st August 2016.
Release date 15th August 2016.

Will be available from the  Artifacts Shop and our Bandcamp Ether Victrola.
Audiological Transmissions Artifact #4
The Quietened Bunker is an exploration of the abandoned and/or decommissioned Cold War installations which lie under the land and that would have acted as selectively populated refuges/control centres if the button was ever pushed; a study and reflection on these chimeric bulwarks and the faded but still present memory of associated Cold War dread, of which they are stalwart, mouldering symbols.
Audiological contents created by Keith Seatman, Grey Frequency, A Year In The Country, Panabrite, Polypores, Listening Center, Time Attendant, Unknown Heretic and David Colohan.

Mr Foots Front Room & a visit to the Seaside

 

Have been invited along by Mr Foot to play some records at the
Aurora Cafe in Southsea on July 28th.

So starting to compile lots of tunes for the night.

Will probably have way to many records to carry, must remember this
time to travel light for the journey.

Coming Soon The Quietened Bunker

Audiological explorations by:
Keith Seatman
Grey Frequency
A Year In The Country
Panabrite
Polypores
Unknown Heretic (The Owl Service / The Straw Bear Band / Rif Mountain) Listening Center
Time Attendant
David Colohan (United Bible Studies)

BFI Ghost Stories for Christmas expanded six disc collection

The rather splendid BFI Ghost Stories for Christmas expanded six disc collection.
Was trying to save this for the Autumn/Winter, but could not resist watching a couple, then ended up watching the all of them. A really wonderful collection.

Fractures Night and Dawn Editions Out Today

 

Fractures is a gathering of studies and explorations that take as their starting point the year 1973; a time when there appeared to be a schism in the fabric of things, a period of political, social, economic and industrial turmoil, when 1960s utopian ideals seemed to corrupt and turn inwards.A Year in The Country (Fractures 2016)

Further Audiological Contents Details:
1) The Osmic Projector/Vapors of Valtorr – Circle/Temple
2) The Land Of Green Ginger – Sproatly Smith
3) Seeing The Invisible – Keith Seatman
4) Triangular Shift – Listening Center
5) An Unearthly Decade – The British Space Group
6) A Fracture In The Forest – The Hare And The Moon ft Alaska/Michael Begg
7) Elastic Refraction – Time Attendant
8) Ratio (Sequence) – The Rowan Amber Mill
9) The Perfect Place For An Accident – Polypores
10) A Candle For Christmas/311219733 – A Year In The Country
11) Eldfell – David Colohan

Fractures is Available from

Norman Records 

Ghostbox Records Guest Shop 

A Year in the Country Artifacts Shop

Bandcamp 

New track Mr Metronome (vocals by Douglas E Powell)

This is a slightly shorter version of Mr Metronome a longer version will be on the new album All Hold Hands And Off We Go (late 2016/early2017) Douglas E Powell will also be supplying vocals for one other track on the album.