Phantasmagorical Progtronica

Like peeking round a corner and viewing scenes from your own or someone else’s past. Old photographs brought to life with the horrible high-definition of reality.
Each track is a mechanical box, the album a set of Russian dolls peculiarly connected but of
the same family. It makes for a sometimes uncomfortably intriguing experience.
That unease you feel? It is just around the corner.

Stewart Gardiner: Concrete Islands Apil 2020 (Full Review)

Concrete Islands

Test Transmission Archive Reel 39

Hi people its been 4 months since my last Test Transmission Archive Reel and to be honest not 100% sure when the next will be. Since the last mix my album Time to Dream But Never Seen came out on Castles in Space which was rather nice. Being as we are all stuck in doors thought I better get this one out there. Lots of goodies (not Tim Bill or Graham...nxt time) we have The Soulless Party, Revbjelde,, Plone, Space, The Ventures, Forest, Nick Drake, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Julie Driscoll, Echo and the `Bunnymen, The Gamma Children, Johanna M Beyer and loads more. If you would be interested in reading some of my ramblings then go to here
https://hauntedgeneration.co.uk/2020/03/12/keith-seatman-doctor-who-and-time-to-dream-but-never-seen/  a recent interview I did with the wonderful Mr Bob Fischer.
So thats it from me for now. Until the next one...all you please keep safe, and thankyou for listening over the years. TATA for now.

Noahs Castle 1980

Drew Mulholland:
A Haunting Strip Of Marshland.
A New Soundtrack Album for NESS:
A book/film by Robert MacFarlane, Stanley Donwood and Adam Scovell.

Release Date: 18th April 2020:
Released By: Castles in Space- CiS053
Distributed By: Forte Distribution
Format: Heavyweight Black Vinyl & Digital Download

Robert MacFarlane, Sunday Times Bestselling Author of "Ness", "The Old Ways", "Underland".

"In the early 2000s, I made my first boat-crossing to the untrue island of Orford Ness. ‘Untrue’ because The Ness-–as I’ve since come to call it––is a ten-mile-long shingle spit that curves south along the Suffolk coast like a bracket, joined thinly––but still joined––to the mainland at its northern end. Shaped by storm, tide and longshore drift, The Ness is startlingly dynamic. Between 1812 and 1821 alone its length shifted by nearly two miles. If you could view the Ness as an aerial stop-motion film shot over several centuries, you would see its long stone tail whipping around in the North Sea.
For Ness is a place to improvise. Ness is its own realm with its own rules. 
Don’t look. Don’t tell. Don’t understand. Don’t ever remember.” "

The Haunted Generation Interview

Interview with Bob Fisher
(BBC Radio Tees, Forteen Times)
from a few weeks back.
The Haunted Generation
Castles in Space

Found Objects: In Search of the English Folk Song

Found Objects: In Search of the English Folk Song: Made in 1997 -  many years before the resurgence of interest in British traditional music among the hipsterati - Ken Russell's take on...

Out Now on Castles in Space

 

Time to Dream but Never Seen is out now and available from

Vinyl & Digi from Castles in Space
Digi from Bandcamp
 Credits
All Tracks written by
Keith Seatman
Except*
Seatman and Powell
Music
Keith Seatman
Words and Voice
Douglas E Powell 
Produced by
Keith Seatman and Jack Packer
© Keith Seatman 2019
Many Thanks to
Jim Jupp for Sleeve Notes and Audio Advice
Simon Heartfield Audio Advice
Jez Stevens for Video
Colin Morrison at Castles in Space
Nick Taylor for Artwork/Design
Antony at RedRed Paw Mastering
CiS and Keith Seatman would like to thank Spencer Robinson for
invaluable production support and Mr Bob Fisher at Electronic Sound and BBC Tees.
Cat: CiS042

 

Concrete Islands Review

Gigslutz Review

RIP Andy Gill

Three fine reasons why Andy Gill's razor sharp guitar playing and sound was so bloody awsome.
RIP Andy Gill 1956-2020

 

Pre-Order Time to Dream Norman & Rough Trade Records

It is now possible to Pr-order Time to Dream but Never Seen from
Norman Records

 

and Rough Trade

Revbjelde - HOOHA HUBBUB

Release Date: March 6th 2020
Format: LP CD DL
Label: Buried Treasure

The 2nd album by Alan Gubby [ The Delaware Road] & his protean noise folk collective. Recorded in Berkshire, England between 2017 & 2019 “whilst enveloped in a post-referendum smog of lies, schemes & misinformation”. Shifting from psych rock to glam & motorik free jazz to industrial soundscapes, Hooha Hubbub is a kaleidoscopic call to action & a lament for a country that maybe never was. With guest appearances by:
Peter Hope: vocals [The Box, Richard H. Kirk]
Jim Lacey: drums [The Magic Mushroom Band, Astralasia]
Andy Prince: bass + chapman stick [Sham 69, Damo Suzuki]
Emma Churchley: vocals [The Silvermoths]
Tim Hill: saxophones [Tongues Of Fire]
Steve Christie: vibraphone + ondioline [Vintage Keys]
Mordecai Smyth: Mellotron [Mega Dodo]
Jez Butler: mastering [The Twelve Hour Foundation]

Some Random Christmas thoughts and stuff

When I was growing up, we had some very chunky coloured lights on our Christmas tree.
Very much like the lights on the right side of this image.

It snowed once quite close to Christmas/or just after.
I look quite confused or bemused in this pictue. I loved that coat.

Picked this up some years ago. Love the cover and some very lovely songs on it.

Always wanted a Johnny Seven OMA for Christmas. But one year I got this...Flight Deck.

and an Airfix Pontoon bridge

A selection of the much treasured Christmas Annuals.
They are still with me and are happy living on the shelf.

A Christmas tradition to watch every year.

There are Christmas songs, and then there is Billy Childish Christmas 1979

Were you Scarred for life?

A few weeks back the Scarred for life CD was released. All (and I mean all) proceeds went to Cancer Research. It sold out almost instantly, but the good news is that more copies will be available in January 2020. I had the the priviledge of being invited to contribute a track to this mighty compilation. The idea was simple, all artists had to contribute a track that was in some way inspired by the "terrifying televisual sounds of our childhoods" The idea was concived by Kev (Soulless Party, Black Meadow) Oyston, Colin (Castles in Space) Morrison and Stephen (Scarred for Life Book) Brotherstone. My track Words from the Wireless was inspired by the 1972 ATV series Escape into Night which in turn was based on Catherine Storr's book Mariane Dreams.

There are so many artists/musicians that I like, admire and have listened to, who have contributed to this project; the list is vast and quite staggering.
A tip of the hat and a thank you to you all.

Scarred for life CD and Digi available from here.

There was a certain something about watching television in the 70s and 80s. The static crackle when you switched on your set. The faint smell of ozone as it slowly warmed up. The chunky buttons (including such flights of fancy as 'BBC3' and 'ITV2"). And, of course, the
programmes themselves. Whether it was HTV's seminal Folk Horror tinged children's classics 'Sky' or Children of the Stones, BBC1's fiercely intelligent 'adult-show-for-kids' 'The Changes' or ITV's everyday tale of alien possession, 'Chocky', the era was bursting with inventive, unforgettable and yes, terrifying shows. The only thing more memorable than the actual programmes were their theme tunes. The unique talents of Paddy Kingsland, Sidney Saget, Eric Wetherell, John Hyde and many more were responsible for the atmospheric, eerie soundscapes which formed the aural backdrop to our favourite shows. Which is where Kev Oyston (The Soulless Party) and Colin Morrison (Castles in Space) come in. They've corralled the best of today's innovative electronic musicians, and together they've created 'Scarred For Life: The Album', a collection of new music inspired by the terrifying televisual sounds of our childhoods.

All proceeds for this album will go to aid Cancer Research UK, a charity which is close to the hearts of some of our artists, one of whom is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.

Enjoy. And remember: DO have nightmares. They're good for you.

-Stephen Brotherstone & Dave Laurence, co-authors 'Scarred For Life Volume One: the 1970's'. September 2019. 

Time to Dream but Never Seen (Feb 28th 2020)

Time to Dream but never Seen.
Release Date Feb 28th 2020

 Credits
All Tracks written by
Keith Seatman
Except*
Seatman and Powell
Music
Keith Seatman
Words and Voice
Douglas E Powell 
Produced by
Keith Seatman and Jack Packer
© Keith Seatman 2019
Many Thanks to
Jim Jupp for Sleeve Notes and Audio Advice
Simon Heartfield Audio Advice
Jez Stevens for Video
Colin Morrison at Castles in Space
Nick Taylor for Artwork/Design
Antony at RedRed Paw Mastering

CiS would like to thank Spencer Robinson for
invaluable production support
Cat: CiS042

 Keith Seatman’s music is an anachronistically repurposed assemblage of sounds, melodies and technologies plundered from different time zones. Perhaps no surprise as he lives and records a stone’s throw from the jaded, yet jaunty seafront of Southsea in Portsmouth on the south coast of England. This album however is far from being a haphazard and spontaneous collage. Keith’s busy and dense soundworld is composed though a very deliberate and painstaking process. Unlikely musical and sonic juxtapositions artfully evoke a sense of place and narrative. This latest excursion is bad-trip psychedelia shot through with wistful and whimsical melodies and occasional haunted voices.
So, on Last One In for example, what could be a chirpy and exciting theme tune to a 1970s kid’s adventure series is modulated into a minor key by a sinister synth bass line and menaced by a stomping bother boy rhythm. In the opening track On to the Pier & Down to the Sea, the amusement arcade din is submerged in a watery digital swirl during. Likewise, on Tippy Toe Tippy Toe the tiddly-om-pom-pom of the pier is heard from the point of view some approaching aquatic creature or perhaps by a drowning man. This track heralds the closing section of the album which shifts focus from the seafront to its rustic precursor, the mayday fair. Something weird comes to the village in Waiting by the Window. Sounding as if late period Radiophonic Workshop (when they got hold of expensive synths) had popped back 15 years to work with their boffinish tape wielding forbears. It summons an atmosphere like a Nigel Kneale drama or one of those folk-horror inspired episodes of Dr.Who. 
Finally, the album’s title track seems to offer a chance of escape to a more rustic idyll 
with melancholy mellotron flute and mumbled nursery rhymes. But as the album 
closes it feels like a relentlessly inescapable holiday-special steam train drags us back
On to the Pier & Down to the Sea. Jim Jupp, Ghost Box Records   (extract Sleeve Notes) 

 

Test Transmission Archive Reel 38

A tad late but here is the last mix of the year. Should have put this up back in October but got sidetracked with other things. So for the end of the year for your listening pleasure there is Jodie Lowther, Johnny Flynn, Kate Tempest, Paddy Kingsland, The Utopia Strong, Gasman, Tomita, Geoff Love, Plone, Bellprover, Revbjelde, Misty Bywater and all sorts of other audio goodies (not The Goodies,but maybe next time) Have a good winter, enjoy yourselfs and keep warm.
"A simulated tree, you can sit round the tree"

Wyrd Britain: Alice Through the Looking Glass

Wyrd Britain: Alice Through the Looking Glass: In 1974 a young composer named Peter Howell joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where he stayed for the next 23 years composing some of ...

More info over the coming Winter months

More info over the coming Winter months
Castles in Space

Found Objects: You Will Go to the Moon By Mae & Ira Freeman

Found Objects: You Will Go to the Moon By Mae & Ira Freeman: Picked this up a few years ago. You Will Go to the Moon was part of the "I Can Read it All By Myself " Originally published in 19...

Undulating Waters 3/Woodford Halse

A project which evolved from the now defunct radio show You, the Night and the Music on Sine FM in Doncaster, Woodford Halse is now a tape label which brings you the best in electronic, psychedelic, experimental and folk sounds.
A while back I was invited by Mat Handley (You the night and the Music) to contribute a track to Undulating Waters 3. Undulating Waters is a series of Musical Cassette and Digi collections featuring new or exclusive recordings from underground artists from across the world. Musical artists included so far have been Polypores, Time Attendent, Revbjelde, Midwich Youth Club, Heartwood Institute, Grey Frequency, Field Lines Cartographer, Twelve Hour Foundation and absolutely loads more. My track on Undulating Waters 3 is called The Project Club. The superb design is by Nick Taylor (who I managed to meet at Deleware Rd + he has just done my new album artwork) and words by Paul Bareham.

Deleware Road Wiltshire (A Random Thought/Memory)

I will be attending the Deleware Road Ritual Resistance Festival this weekend. A tad excited as it will give me the chance to catch up and speak with many people. The Deleware Road is taking place in Wiltshire, just off the A360. It was as I was thinking about getting there that I had a random thought/memory. For one reason or another I have spent quite a lot of time out this way (lurking around Devizes, Avebury, Marlborough) and I remembered that one of the main images on my album A Rest Before the Walk is a photo of a Treeline on the A342 which is just along from Devizes and the A360. A few years back I was wandering along the A342 looking for interesting things to photograph and saw the tree line and realised instantly that it was going to be the main image and starting point for the artwork for A Rest Before the Walk. On the way there see if you can spot the treeline. As said I will be wandering about on the day, probably looking lost and confused.

View of Treeline from A342

Test Transmission Archive Reel 37!!!!!!!!

Here is Archive Reel 37. Something to plod along and tap your foot to over the summer. BTW I will be wandering around the Deleware Rd event on 17th Aug, if you see someone drinking to much coffee and looking a bit lost...it could be me. Final bit of info for you all is that the new album is all finished and is coming out in the New Year on Castles in Space. More on that at later date, so until then have a nice summer. tata.
Allan Grey - The Stairway To Heaven (Matter of Life and Death)
Drew Mulholland - RETURN TO THE DESOLATE SHORE
Scott Walker - Montague Terrace (In Blue)
The United States of America - Do You Follow Me
Tony Hatch - The Champions
Yvonne Baker - You Didn't Say A Word
Loose Capacitor - Theme From Robins Nest
Hopper, Kraus and Belbury Poly - The Devil and St. Dunstan
Joe Harriott John Mayer Double Quintet - Acka Raga
Marianne Faithfull - In the Night Time
PJ Harvey - The Crowded Cell
Simon Heartfield - Radial Theme
These New Puritans - Infinity Vibraphones
Steamhammer - Six Eight for Amiran
Messer Für Freu Müller - The Best Girl in the USSR
Spacemen 3 - Why Couldn't I See?
Snooze - Did I Give You Much?
Polypores - The Amateur Astronomer
Jockstrap - Hayley
Laurie Johnson - Las Vegas/Animal Magic