ÆTHENOR - 'BETIME BLACK CLOUDMASSES'

Formats

• VHF111 - LP

  783881011111

• VHF111CD - CD

  783881011128

Details

Betimes Black Cloudmasses is the highly-anticipated second album from Vincent De Roguin (Shora), Stephen O'Malley (SUNN0))), KTL), and Daniel O'Sullivan (Guapo). Like their genre- and audience- confounding debut Deep In Ocean Sunk the Lamp of Light, Betimes is an atmospheric, constantly changing piece that encompasses a mind-boggling array of different performance and processing techniques. The deeply psychedelic and moving results present a soundstage that is continually evolving, with new elements entering and leaving the fray every couple of seconds. Betimes includes significant contributions from free percussionists Nicolas Field and Alex Babel, who sprinkle the sound field with an almost FMP-style rush of splattering drum sound, raising the intensity of the music (without resorting to bashing). The album also features a brief but affecting vocal from Ulver mastermind Kristoffer Rygg, who will make his first live appearance in over a decade when ?thenor plays the Roadburn Festival in April 2008. ?thenor's third LP, featuring vocals and lyrics by David Tibet, will be released in Autumn 2008. "Musically, ?thenor summon the most somnolent examples of Bernard Parmegiani, Organum, Nurse with Wound, Klaus Schulze, Igor Wakhevitch, Coil, Iancu Dumitrescu, and Charlemagne Palestine. Acousmatic drones ebb and flow into crackling and bubbling sonic clusters. Lulling piano motifs and lamenting chants shimmer into distant lunar horizons while oscillators spin and drove serenely into unchartered audial regions. Sometimes as calm as a silvery sea, so that every gentle cat's-paw and lapping wave is deafening. Sometimes as tempestuous as a fuming lava beach, spitting and popping at the surface." -Daniel O'Sullivan

Tracks

1. I
2. II
3. III

Press

Reviews i n Plan B, WIRE, MOJO, Uncut, Terrorizer. More tbc

Audio & Video

FOSCA - 'THE PAINTED SIDE OF THE ROCKET'

Formats

• ART08 - CD

  7393210122031

Details

Fosca is the eccentric UK pop band fronted by Highgate-based dandy and wordsmith Dickon Edwards. Since forming in 1998, they've released four singles and 3 albums, toured several times across Europe, received BBC radio play by John Peel, and found their lyrics quoted in a Swedish novel (Martina Lowden's "Allt"). After leaving the slightly acclaimed group Orlando, Mr Edwards started Fosca with a revolving line-up of London musicians, recruited partly down to their musical prowess, but mostly on what he thought of their dress sense at the time (Mr Edwards still has a strict 'no trainers' rule, believing running shoes are for running in, not for playing guitar in). However, some members have managed to stick around for the duration, notably Rachel Stevenson (keyboards/vocals). From 2000 - 2002, Fosca were signed to Shinkansen Recordings, recording two albums with Saint Etienne producer Ian Catt. The results won fans all over the world, with NYC label Secret Crush Records taking their name from the Fosca single "Secret Crush On Third Trombone". Two unofficial videos were made by separate groups of fans - both from Sweden - for "Secret Crush" and for the obscure b-side "Confused And Proud". Given its curious popularity beyond its status, this latter song has now been reworked and re-recorded for the third album. For the last five years, Mr Edwards has concentrated on non-Fosca activities, such as appearing on BBC1's "Imagine" in his dubious capacity as a pioneer blogger; writing music and film reviews for Plan B Magazine, DJ-ing for dress-up club nights like The Beautiful & Damned (including four nights at the 2007 Latitude Festival); collaborating with the Monochrome Set's Bid for his group Scarlet's Well, writing a new Afterword for Jerome K Jerome's "The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow" (Snowbooks) and contributing an article about a trip to Tangier with Shane MacGowan, for "The Decadent Handbook" (Dedalus Books), where he was described by the "Daily Telegraph" as possessing a certain 'wonky charm'. After much idling, bouts of ill health and general misfortune, the third Fosca album was finally completed in a Hackney basement in summer 2007, with Tom Edwards (guitar/pro-gramming) and Kate Dornan (keyboards, recorder, vocals). As Shinkansen had wound down, Sweden's But is it Art? stepped in to release the album. And no, Fosca still have no idea why their most devoted fans tend to be Swedish. "The Painted Side of the Rocket" is long awaited. It's Foscas first album in six years. Their previous work has received high critical acclaim. Fosca should attract attention from fans of Sarah Records and Shinkansen Recordings. "The Painted Side of the Rocket" carries all the pop brilliance that Dickon Edwards and Fosca is synonymous of. Exquisite pop music with sharp and poetic lyrics, that is. Dickon Edwards used to be a member of Shelley, Orlando and Spearmint. Dickon Edwards is one of the worlds most renown bloggers. His online diary "The Diary at the Centre of the Earth" attracts 100 000 visits per month.

Tracks

01. I?ve Agreed To Something I Shouldn?t Have
02. It Only Matters To Those To Whom It Matters
03. Head Boy
04. We See The World As Our Stunt Doubles
05. Kim
06. In-Joke For One
07. Don?t Be A DJ
08. Confused And Proud
09. Evening Dress At 3pm
10. Come Down From The Cross (Someone Else Needs The Wood)

Press

PRESS TBA

Audio & Video