Monday 2 November 2015

Wyrd Britain mix 8

As Autumn progresses and Winter looms I thought I’d make a, mostly, mellow and late night sounding mix to ease us all into November but then I flipped that on its head by putting a Syd Dale classic in the middle, oh well.

(Scroll to bottom for music player)

Opening the mix is some glorious hauntological folk-tronica by Revbjelde, with guest vocals from Emma Churchley, taken from their fabulous 'The Weeping Tree' EP which has been one of a few things clamouring for space on my player of late.
https://buriedtreasure.bandcamp.com/album/the-weeping-tree

Next up is some very late era BBC Radiophonic Workshop with a track from Mark Ayres’ terrific soundtrack to the Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who serial ‘The Curse of Fenric’. Mark is also the curator of the workshop and one of the current touring line-up.

Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore released his second solo album this year made using his enviable collection of modular synths. The album, ‘MG’, is a sumptuous and rolling set of electronic burbles and bloops that manages to create a real period vibe whilst remaining utterly contemporary.

Someone else who manages this temporal juggling act, and does so perhaps better than anyone else, is Boards of Canada and their ‘Kid For Today’ is evidence of this with its textured washes , clattering rhythms and xylophone-esque melodies swirling through the fog of childhood half-memories.

Neil Fellows’ ‘Encounter’ is a tune I discovered on a very good Close Encounters of the Third Kind tribute album, 'Electronic Encounters'. Its hauntological reminiscence of both the film and the iconic melody made it for me the stand out track on what is a very fine collection.
https://electronicencounters.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-encounters-music-inspired-by-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind

John Keating’s ‘Space Experience’ is one I originally found in a box of LPs in a remote antique centre in mid Wales. The title and the words ‘featuring E.M.S. Synth VCS3’ were always going to be enough to get me to part with my money. The album is an odd mix of original tunes (like the one featured), show tunes (‘Jesus Christ Superstar’), cheesy pop classics (‘I Feel the Earth Move’) and theme tunes (‘Star Trek’).

Jon Baker is a name I’m sure is familiar to many of you. One of the classic triumvirate of Radiophonic Workshoppers Baker’s re-purposed and re-configured twangs, clangs, toots and boops are here melded with his keen Jazz sensibilities to soundtrack a 1960s crime show. Taken from the album ‘John Baker – The Vendetta Tapes’, out now on Buried Treasure.
https://buriedtreasure.bandcamp.com/album/the-vendetta-tapes

And so we arrive at an all time classic Syd Dale’s ‘Marching There and Back’ or more commonly known to entire generations of Brits as the theme tune from ‘Screen Test’. A more triumphant and exuberant piece of music you’d be hard pressed to find; just try and listen without singing along.

Keith Seatman is someone whose music I first heard in the context of my old experimental music zine, ‘WonderfulWooden Reasons’ and who’s album left me craving more. His latest, ‘A Rest Before the Walk’, is an utterly glorious selection of filmic folk and ghostly electronica that is utterly mesmerising from first to last.
https://keithseatman.bandcamp.com/album/a-rest-before-the-walk

Closing the mix is Howlround and abandoned playground’s collaborative track ‘OH’ made using micro-cassette field recordings, chimes and distant trains. This version is taken from the Xpylon charity comp but a different extended mix opens the fabulous new Howlround album, ‘Tales from the Black Tangle’.
http://thefogsignals.com/track/oh

Hope you enjoy.


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