Thrilled to see that all of the Cities and Memory field recordings and compositions (including my contributions Huygens and Ottawa Shortwave) are now permanently archived at The British Library as part of their Sound and Moving Image Catalogue! Read the full article at the Cities and Memory website. 📁
I was fully intending to make some equus puns, but it's even too hot for horse jokes. Instead, I will just share this new horse-themed album from Glass Grave, which I recently contributed to (Neighbourhood folks, check your emails/Bandcamp for a download code).
Also, for anyone that owns a BLACK ARROW record, you might recognise the release imprint BLACK ARROW COMMUNICATIONS and the "BAC" logo, which is part-broadcasting icon and part retro airline graphic. What started as just a riff on the rocket and…
It appears that a whole month has gone by. Here are a few notable things that have cheered me up and cheered me on in recent weeks.
To what does the mysterious title above refer?
It can only be a new show from blue star radio! Here, you can listen to my contribution to the recent Cities and Memory project, Shortwave Transmissions, along with pieces from Moray Newlands and Audio Obscura (and also music from Grouper and Mica Levi for good measure). Get ecstatic for static below. 👂
Broadcasts and radio seem to be a bit of a theme recently. First off, BLACK ARROW & ETHER/ORBIT were released together on cassette via The Dark Outside (normally broadcasting from the Galloway Forest) and now Cities and Memory has released a new project called Shortwave Transmissions (broadcasts from around the world), featuring my contribution, Ottawa Shortwave.
You can listen to the entire release on Bandcamp and hear a special radio programme from its curator on Resonance FM (broadcasts from London).
Just a quick post to say thanks to everybody who picked up a copy of the recent cassette release of BLACK ARROW and ETHER/ORBIT from The Dark Outside. It was amazing to see 100 tapes sell out in under 24 hours and even more incredible that the obi edition was sold out by 18:01 (having gone up at 18:00)!
Appreciate all the folks who enthusiastically shared updates about it too and look forward to seeing those tapes in their new homes! If you do fancy sharing a pic, tag both @DarkOutside and @RobertaFidora…
What's that, you say? The splendid Dark Outside label is releasing BLACK ARROW and ETHER/ORBIT together on a special dual colour cassette?
That's right! Tapes will be limited to 100 copies, so make sure you set your alarm for launch and bookmark on Bandcamp ready for blast off tomorrow, Friday 14th January, at 6pm (Greenwich/Galloway Mean Time). You can also get an additional nudge via the mailing list, which is a good idea, as they often sell out quickly.
I've been sending demos and oddities to The Dark…
Just a short update, but wanted to share this playlist by an excellent, equality-championing organisation called The F-List, with thanks to them for featuring my remix of isvisible isinvisible's Luna Still. Watch below and read more about The F-List here. You can also find the remix over at Bandcamp. 🌝
Today marks a year since BLACK ARROW was released. This article from Mark Brown was something I read early on when researching more about it, which gives a good overview of the kinds of topics covered in the conversation with Marlene and probably best describes many of the ideas I wanted to explore further around this small chapter in the history of space and satellites. It talks about unrealised futures, the relief from several people who worked on it at pivoting to space-focused projects from missiles and…
Read moreContinuing the cosmos theme from BLACK ARROW (and the eagle-eyed may have already spotted it here, hence the post title), you can find my remix of Luna Still, a song from the forthcoming isvisible isinvisible album Moon-White Water. The remix combines the original synth textures and bloops with a vocal sample from something I haven't released yet, just to be incredibly mysterious. You can listen to all of the album remixes and bag yourself a very nice-looking cassette below.
Drooping fingers have assumed new forms and you'd better beware, because twisted techno terror is coming to get you.
Have a listen below to the most recent tale from the crypt/soundtrack from the void, which includes my remix of Drooping Finger's 'Lurk'. All you have to do is say "SoundCloud" in the mirror five times.
If you want to take the doom dancing a step further, you can also blast out some 'Beast Moves' via the monster mix below from DJ and producer Simon Heartfield.
Failing that, you can…
Exciting to see the Cities & Memory #SpaceIsThePlace project receiving support from The Guardian, The Quietus, Bluedot Festival and even the European Space Agency. The long-running field recording project brought together artists from all over the world to rework sounds from space in celebration of the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and I contributed a track called ‘Huygens’ which uses an alien weather signal as its foundation.
The picture above is a small disc that was left behind from the Apollo 11…
‘In Your Neighbourhood’ is released today and is the first single from second album ‘Gilded Cage’, co-produced with Deluxe Flamingos.
Available to download or stream now on Amazon, Apple Music/iTunes, Bandcamp, Google Play, Spotify and YouTube.
Here’s another view of the neighbourhood, put together by @zomtographer and myself for the opening titles of ‘In Your Neighbourhood’. Much like the Isle of Wight currently, it looks like it might be about to rain.
A few of the amazing props from the ‘In Your Neighbourhood’ video. To see them flickering in all of their bright and gaudy glory, you can watch the video via YouTube.
'In Your Neighbourhood’ is the first single taken from second album ‘Gilded Cage’ and the song is co-written with Andrew E. Wright, formerly of The Strange Death of Liberal England.
Obsolete technology, a puppet band and a familiar figure.
'In Your Neighbourhood' (6.10.2017) is the first single taken from forthcoming album 'Gilded Cage' (released digitally 20.10.2017).
Directed by Rob Luckins.
Somewhere between my time as an ugly duckling and black swan theory, I enjoyed my time as a beautiful flamingo, contributing to the new Deluxe Flamingos EP.
It’s out now at all good Bandcamps. Don’t pay what you want, pay what you need.