02 July 2024: Jethro Tull, Thick as a Brick (Steven Wilson Remix); quiet details 20: Plant43, The Unfading Spark

 
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Thick as a Brick is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 3 March 1972. The album contains one continuous piece of music, split over two sides of an LP record, and is intended as a parody of the concept album genre. The original packaging, designed as a 12-page newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by fictional eight-year-old genius Gerald Bostock, though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson.

The album was recorded in late 1971, featuring music composed by Anderson and arranged with the contribution of all band members. The album was the band's first to include drummer Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow, replacing the band's previous drummer Clive Bunker. The live show promoting the album included the playing of the full suite, with various comic interludes. Thick as a Brick is considered by critics to be the first Jethro Tull release to entirely consist of progressive rock music. It received mixed reviews upon its release, but was a commercial success and topped various charts in 1972. Today it is regarded as a classic of progressive rock, and has received several accolades. Anderson produced a follow-up to the album in 2012, focusing on the adult life of the fictional Gerald Bostock, and being released as Anderson's solo album instead of as Jethro Tull's album.

quiet details 20 - Plant43 - The Unfading Spark 

(our thanks to alex at quiet details for a copy of this release)

 
 Very happy to say that next up in the quiet details series is the wonderful producer and live performer of everything from the deepest ambience to true dance-floor electro, Emile Facey, otherwise known as Plant43.

Resident of the legendary Berlin club and cultural institution, Tresor, with nearly twenty years of cutting-edge releases across genres, and untouchable international live performances of pure energy - Plant43 is one of the leaders at bringing authentic electronic music culture to our ears in the most genuine way possible.
He also runs and does the graphic design for his label Plant43 Recordings and is a co-founder of the Bleep43 crew who, originating from techno/electro sessions with regulars such as Surgeon and Convextion/ERP, now regularly put on some of the best and most wide-ranging deep-listening events around.

The Unfading Spark shows this immense and honest experience realised to stunning effect. An instant post-club classic, his innate melodic and textural understanding mixes perfectly with a sense of build and release, the album moving through its own indelible world of space-time to completely immerse the listener in its expanding beauty.

Influenced directly by his experiences at Tresor, with the first half of the album made as he went through the timeline of the experience playing there, here we see the impeccable marriage of widescreen synths, elastic bass and minimal syncopated percussion nodding to classic electro sound-design, with vast and polychromatic atmospheres, sparkling digital synthesis and ever-shifting distant landscapes - emotionally the quiet moments are as important as the loud and he finds the spaces between in a way that everyone who has experienced such moments can relate to.

The album feels like watching your favourite film, each track being a distinct scene with a story to tell, moving seamlessly from moment-to-moment, keeping you fully engaged for the duration and leaving you with an almost indescribable after-glow when it’s over. An example of thoughtful and mesmerising parts somehow creating something even more beautiful when combined so skilfully.

In Plant43’s own words:
Carried on soft strings this unfading spark takes hold. Like wisps of vapour carrying spells on the wind, we move and listen, together. Voices from high above fill the air and cradled by love from afar, we keep the spark alive.
Thanks to Paul Ćinske and all of the caring staff at Tresor, Berlin. To Jo, Alex and Mike for your support and love.


This album is wonderful example of an artist taking the quiet details idea and making it their own - there are no limits to people that can be involved or the styles that can be incorporated, just musicians we love and their unique take on the idea.

Huge thanks to Plant43 for everything, a fantastic and evolutionary addition to the series.
Mastered at quiet details studio.

The artwork was made as always influenced by the music and idea behind the album - originating from a photo from Emile which was then captured with analogue photography and processed here at quiet details studios. 

As usual, the album is presented on the physical edition, a custom 6-panel digipack with a separate fine art print too.
The CD also has a special long-form continuous mix of the album, representing the music in its purest form.

As a label we support the Cancer Centre - Milton Keynes University Hospital and all their wonderful NHS staff.

25 June 2024: Mostly Autumn; Loula Yorke; Cut UP. Deconstructing W. S. Burroughs

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I am also hosting Rural Electric (Mostly) Country from 7:15-9:00 pm before FreeForm.
This week I am featuring Willie Nelson's new release, "Borders" in its entirety.




Mostly Autumn: the emotional story behind Graveyard Star

Mostly Autumn group shot in the back of a van
(Image credit: Sharon McInerney)

“It’s amazing what music can do,” says Bryan Josh. “It lubricates any sort of stress or fear, things that are clogging up when you’re in a dark place. Music becomes like an exhaust pipe. There’s no two ways about it. It’s one of the best things in the world for that, actually.”

Graveyard Star, the new album from Mostly Autumn, was born out of the fear and darkness of the pandemic and the loss of people close to Josh and his wife Olivia Sparnenn-Josh. Facing lockdown with their young daughter at home, music was a way to process the experience. “All the inspiration for doing normal things like songwriting just went really, because it was a crazy, strange time,” says Josh. “It left a vacuum. It strips away the normal juices that flow, the inspiration, and what I found personally was that all that was left was dealing with the situation. That’s where this album came from, really. It was a real-life diary of what went on through the months.”

For bandleader Josh, the muse can descend without warning and must be answered before she slips away. “I don’t write songs, they happen,” he says. “They come really quickly: it’s like you’re a little radio station tuning into something, and it just comes in.” If there’s no guitar or keyboard to hand, the voice recorder on his phone will suffice to capture not just a song idea but the feeling that inspired it. “If you listen to the demos which I’ve got on my phone, you’re always trying to recreate what that was,” he says. “The feeling that was in it was deep and thick and emotional – it’s trying to make sure we kept that, but in a more polished version. But the songs are generally what they were in the first place. It’s very much written in that time.”

Graveyard Star may be the most heartfelt release yet in Mostly Autumn’s storied career, conveying a spectrum of emotions, from the depths of grief to the promise of brighter days ahead. “Every song is very different. For someone’s first listen you would never anticipate the sound of what the next song is going to be, but it takes you on a journey,” says Josh. “It’s a concept of how we felt going through it. You could almost say it’s a bit War Of The Worlds or Pink Floyd’s The Wall.”

The record features appearances from Nightwish’s Troy Donockley and Chris Leslie from Fairport Convention. “Troy has been a friend for about 35 years – we’re very close, almost like brothers,” says Josh. “He’s played on a lot of our stuff. He’s a very positive energy, a phenomenal player.” Donockley contributed uilleann pipes and whistles to four songs: “And some Portuguese mandolas.”

“I think he plays everything,” adds Sparnenn-Josh. “He just knows what the right thing is for the track, and he gets it perfect every time.” 

 Music by Loula Yorke
Mastered by Alex at quiet details studios; our thanks to Alex for providing us with a copy of this release

Artwork by quiet details in collaboration with Loula Yorke Design by quiet details

So pleased to announce that next to give their interpretation of the quiet details idea is one of the most creative forces in recent times, the synthesist and sound artist, Loula Yorke.

Having been involved with music for many years, Loula’s star is burning brighter than ever - following a series of incredible studio albums, this year’s Volta landed to widespread critical acclaim, adored by fans of nuanced and highly musical synth work - this, coupled with her stunning live modular performances have made her one of the most loved and admired artists around.

speak, thou vast and venerable head sees Loula taking all this innate understanding and skilled experience to dive deeper into her psychedelic worlds of the raw electricity and vast soundscapes.

This is music made with a symbiotic relationship to her machines, and you can feel Loula’s energy flowing through as it moves ever forward, huge spatial plains of infinite depth guided by pure intuition. Galvanic analogue vibrations meets acidic resonant shapes, constantly moving timbres and spaces - endless drones and atmospheres underpin this voltage controlled and uniquely tactile universe.

Adept at bringing the natural world into her work, highly processed field and environmental recordings feature prominently and provide an unknown familiarity and perfect juxtaposition to the filtered and manipulated harmonics so beautifully crafted from each electronic oscillation.

You can feel the human emotion guiding this music, Loula at her perceptive and spontaneous best.
Always thoughtful and incisive, the inspirations for the album draw on literature (Moby Dick, Wordsworth), and delves into history and connections only someone with her sensitive originality could see. In her own words:

This album is a plank in the hull of an imaginary ship that once set sail on a quest to uncover the meaning of it all.
By recombining patterns of synthesised sounds with field recordings taken from my immediate vicinity, I attempt to cause a glint in the surface of the waves.
Onward together, Loula

Huge thanks to Loula for everything, a complete and gorgeous addition to the series.

The artwork was made as always influenced by the music and idea behind the album - originating from a photo from Loula which was then captured with analogue photography and processed here at quiet details studios.
As usual, the album is presented on the physical edition, a custom 6-panel digipack with a separate fine art print too.

The CD also has a special long-form continuous mix of the album, representing the music in its purest form.
 

credits

released June 19, 2024

copyright © quiet details 2024
all rights reserved

 

Cut UP. Deconstructing W. S. Burroughs

Between the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the literary and stylistic technique of William S. Burroughs (Saint Louis 1917-Lawrence 1997) influenced an entire generation that was, in those years, in direct collision with the social system. A somewhat controversial and brilliant figure, a man on the fringes of civilization. From his mind emerged the creative writing technique that burst onto the scene under the name of Cut-Up. This procedure was previously introduced by the Dadaist poet Tristan Tzara, involving cutting words from an existing text to generate a new meaning by mixing the various words in a different order. Burroughs took this technique to the extreme, making it very popular and influencing every artistic realm, particularly the field of rock and experimental music. The list of his disciples in the musical domain is extensive, including names like David Bowie, Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, and Throbbing Gristle, to name just a few.
It is from this devotion to the technique and the persona of this legendary writer that the homage by the Unexplained Sounds Group and the musicians involved in the project is born, paying tribute to the great American writer.

credits

released June 6, 2024 
Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.

REVIEWS

SOUNDOHM
From the always fantastic imprint, Unexplained Sounds Group known for its rigorous efforts exploring some of the most obscure corners of experimental sound practice comes “Cut UP. Deconstructing W. S. Burroughs”, an astounding new collection exploring contemporary practices rooted in avant-garde tactic - the“cut up”- developed and advocated by the legendary Beat writer William S. Burroughs.
Visionary and endlessly surprising in its venturing from the beaten and expected paths, via the work of 13 artists including Rapoon, Adi Newton, PBK, Sigillum S, David Lee Myers and more - it stands as a powerful rethinking of the potential of ambient music through the lens of industrial music, electronic experimentalism, and subtle treatments of musique concrète.

Mark Hjorthoy
This is a genius collection of excellent music from a label that never disappoints.
www.citr.ca/2024/06/13/14-june-2024-broadcast-preview-108897

Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2024/06/15/amn-reviews-various-artists-cut-up-deconstructing-w-s-burroughs-2024-unexplained-sounds-group

Grey Clay Radio
Like all the themed compilations by the USG network of labels, it is a supremely excellent offering. A whole constellation of artists focused on this one theme pays tribute by the ever magickal act of creativity.
Through and across each of the diverse styles and interpretations can be triangulated a feeling of true respect and affection for Burroughs. As an album it is hugely beautiful and affecting
www.greyclayradio.com/home

Luminous Dash
luminousdash.be/reviews/cut-up-deconstructing-w-s-burroughs-unexplained-sounds


Published by ©Unexplained Sounds Group.
Mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst).
Artwork and layout by Matteo Mariano.
Cat. Num. USG096.
© 2024. All rights reserved.

 

 

18 June 2024: Field Lines Cartographer; Protogonos

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                           Portable Reality Generator (DiN85)

Mark Burford, aka Field Lines Cartographer, is one of the new generation of musicians crafting original sonic worlds in electronic music using primarily modular synths. He has garnered quite a reputation both for his live performances as well as a series of releases on labels such as Castles In Space, Quiet Details and Woodford Halse. He has also appeared on a couple of the Tone Science albums, most notably Volume 8, which was the Tone Science Live event from last year. Thus the time seemed right to invite Mark to create a long form solo release on the DiN imprint.

What is particularly fascinating is that Burford seems to channel the Kosmische Musik vibe of early Tangerine Dream without actually trying to copy their style. His music just seems to end up in a similar sound world but via a completely different path. In his words; “I’ve always loved how music creates new worlds -  imaginary environments you can live in. As a listener you become immersed in a new reality for the duration of an album. Fully enveloped by textures, melodies, harmonies and rhythms, new pictures appear in the minds-eye, new dreams … strange & beautiful landscapes sketched in sound. An alternate, portable reality.”

With a running time of nearly 70 minutes this is exactly what FLC achieves on this beautiful album. From the opening gentle undulations of ‘The Sun In Splendour’ the music is both familiar and yet strangely different. The epic, almost 20 minute piece, ‘Collapsable Mantra’ flirts with Berlin School sequencing but adds something new and fresh to the mix. The music has time and space to gently unfold, to grow organically where texture and harmony become one before finally coming to rest on the shimmering shoreline of the final track ‘Interference Patterns’.

As DiN is celebrating its 25th anniversary it’s really satisfying to be able to give such talented artists as Field Lines Cartographer a platform from which to spread the word about their fine music.
 

credits

Our thanks to Ian Boddy for providing us with a copy of this release.

releases June 21, 2024

All music performed and recorded by Mark Burford using ARP2600 and Eurorack modular synthesisers.

Mastered by Ian Boddy.

Special thanks to Ian and Wendy at DiN for inviting me along.

Instagram:  field_lines_cartographer 
X: @FLCartographer
Bluesky: @flcartographer.bsky.social

license

all rights reserved
 
 
A collection of tracks from the last forty [gulp!!] years of Protogonos. Some were unfinished but have been completed for this collection. Some were published in other compilations.

credits

released September 1, 2023

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11 June 2024: It's A Beautiful Day; Invisible Opera Company of Tibet (Brazil); Psyche

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It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San FranciscoCalifornia, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards.

David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once performed as a soloist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, had previously been in the group Orkustra playing five-string violin. The other members of It's a Beautiful Day in its early years were Val Fuentes (drums), Mitchell Holman (bass) and Hal Wagenet (guitar). Although they were one of the notable San Francisco bands to emerge from 1967's Summer of Love, the band never achieved the success of contemporaries such as the Grateful DeadJefferson Airplane, and Santana, with whom they had connections. The band created a unique blend of rock, jazz, folk, classical, and world-beat styles.

It's a Beautiful Day is the debut album by San Francisco band It's a Beautiful Day. This album's song "White Bird" was the band's biggest hit. The album rose to number 47 on Billboard's Top LPs American albums chart.

The group's signature song "White Bird" was inspired by the experiences David and Linda LaFlamme had while living in Seattle, Washington. For a few weeks in December 1967 the group members lived in the attic of an old house while playing and rehearsing at a Seattle venue originally known as The Encore Ballroom. The band's manager, Matthew Katz, had recently assumed control over the club and renamed it "San Francisco Sound". In an ironic twist on the band's name, the song was partly inspired by Seattle's rainy winter weather. In a later interview David LaFlamme said:

Where the 'white bird' thing came from ... We were like caged birds in that attic. We had no money, no transportation, the weather was miserable. We were just barely getting by on a very small food allowance provided to us. It was quite an experience, but it was very creative in a way.[6]

A substantial part of the theme and arrangement of the song "Bombay Calling" was used by Deep Purple as the basis for their song "Child in Time".

 


 Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER

5 stars The INVISIBLE OPERA COMPANY OF TIBET is actually the idea of GONG's Daevid Allen. His goal was to have like-minded bands playing under that banner from different places of the world. Of course by like-minded we're talking about the love of playing Psychedelic music that is positive and uplifting.There is one band in the UK, one in Australia and of course this one from Brazil.This particular projected was put together by the guitarist for VIOLETA DE OUTONO (Fabio Golfetti) who contacted Daevid Allen about participating and has since played with Daevid in concert in Brazil under the GONG GLOBAL FAMILY name, and the DVD for that is listed here. I have to mention that Fabio contacted me some months ago thanking me for my review on his band's "Volume 7" album. In all honesty that album by VIOLETA DE OUTONO is one of my all time favourites and I can't even describe why it touches me so deeply but it does. So to get this message left me both numb and elated at the same time.To have one of my heroes message me (we exchanged several messages) is difficult to put into words. He sent me this particular cd along with that DVD I was talking about earlier from the GLOBAL GONG FAMILY.Talk about a humbling yet uplifting experience.The music on this album is gorgeous by the way. Fabio like Daevid plays this Glissado guitar which brings an otherworldly aspect to this music.

"First Contact" is the over 27 minute opener.The guitar to open is so beautiful that i can't help but be moved. Bass and drums join in then we get a second guitar that starts to solo so tastefully over top. It turns more aggressive a minute later. Check out the bass and drums 4 1/2 minutes in ! It settles before 10 1/2 minutes then kicks back in after 12 minutes. Hell yeah ! Killer drum work then the guitar is crying out in a powerful way. Drums and bass only after 16 minutes.The guitar is back and Fabio is lighting it up 19 minutes in.My God ! It then settles back as they jam.

"Sal Paradise" has this pleasant and drifting sound to start. Marching styled drums come in around 2 minutes which signal a change. Bass and drums take over then the gutar joins in. Nice. Vocals come in around 3 1/2 minutes and they remind me of early FLOYD. So good ! Some whistling 5 1/2 minutes in then the vocals return a minute later.This is such a feel good track just like the opener.

"Stars" has this beat with the guitar playing over top. It reminds me of early PORCUPINE TREE. "Spirits" has this relaxed trippy sound and I love the tone of the guitar.The drums do get aggressive.The guitar late reminds me of FLOYD.

"Landing In Shambala" opens with drums as the bass comes in along with spacey sounds.The spacey sounds end up taking over and they echo 3 1/2 minutes in.The drums and bass then return to the fore but it's still spacey. "Moon In June" is of course a SOFT MACHINE cover and it was done live in Brazil September 8th 2007. Man the guy singing sounds like Wyatt too. Just a fantastic cover. Love the guitar after 9 1/2 minutes and check out the bass before 11 minutes as the drums and guitar continue.Vocal melodies follow. Freaking perfect !

This is an absolute joy, that's the only way I can describe the experience of listening to this album.

 Studio Album, released in 2010

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. First Contact (27:16)
2. Sal Paradise (9:50)
3. Stars (3:02)
4. Spirits (3:15)
5. Landing In Shambala (11:36)
6. Moon In June [Live *] (15:11)

Total Time: 70:10

* Recorded at Centro Cultural São Paulo, in Sept 8, 2007

Line-up / Musicians

- Fabio Golfetti / guitar, vocals, mixing
- Gabriel Costa / bass
- Fred Barley / drums, vocals

With:
- Fernando Alge / guitar (2)

Releases information Artwork: Invisivel

CD Voiceprint ‎- VPB125CD (2010, Brazil) 
 

 
In the ethereal journey woven through the five mesmerizing tracks of Psyche, Rick Hopkinson masterfully intertwines ambient music with a myriad of elements, including subtle minimalism and evocative field recordings. Each composition serves as a sonic exploration of the psyche itself, delving into the depths of consciousness and emotion.

As one ventures into the sonic landscape crafted by Hopkinson, they are enveloped by layers of sound that seem to echo the complexities of the human mind. The gentle ebb and flow of synthesizers evoke a sense of introspection, while carefully integrated field recordings transport the listener to distant realms of imagination.

Hopkinson's keen attention to detail extends beyond the music itself. Through his Sanctuary project and his insightful YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@rickhopkinson), he invites listeners into his creative "sanctuary", offering glimpses into his meticulous process of music production. Here he unveils the inner workings of his sonic explorations, sharing his passion for synthesis and the art of crafting immersive ambient soundscapes.

credits

Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.

released May 16, 2024

REVIEWS

Luminous Dash
Psyche is a much more challenging album than most of the dark ambient and related ones that we are bombarded with almost every week.
luminousdash.be/reviews/sanctuary-psyche-reverse-alignment

Ver Sacrum
www.versacrum.com/vs/2024/05/sanctuary-psyche.html

Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2024/05/19/amn-reviews-sanctuary-psyche-2024-reverse-alignment/

This Is Darkness
The latest album from Sanctuary is this wonderfully dark and foreboding album of dark ambient / experimental electronica – in which the boundaries of the genre are blown away, resulting in an album that takes things to the next level. Multi-layered, and featuring incredible synth work, eerie drones, and spine chilling field recordings, this is an album that offers something different in each and every listen. This is an album for losing yourself in, as you lie back in a darkened room, and immerse yourself in the unfolding soundscapes. Stunning.

Published by Reverse Alignment.
Mastering by Raffaele Pezzella (a.k.a. Sonologyst).
© 2024. All rights reserved.