Shit Creek - The Land Of Remember / Wonderful Beasts - The Art Of Whisper
Small, independent labels are the very lifeblood of music..those labels that are invariably run by people who do it for the sheer pleasure derived from music and not the search for the mighty dollar. The music put out by these labels is sometimes challenging, sometimes thought provoking, always interesting and even sometimes beautiful but, and this is a big but, it is always created for music's sake not for money, kudos or "reputation" (that being said, I'm sure most label owners and artists alike would appreciate healthy sales figures). All hail these labels I say. So in that spirit here is a double header from 2 of my favourite 'small' labels..the first from Shit Creek will be released on the Crow Versus Crow label and the second is Wonderful Beasts out now on Wormhole World.
Shit Creek - The Land Of Remember
To put 'The Land Of Remember' into some sort of context, it was recorded between October and December 2019...you know, those good ol' days when all we had to worry about was a bunch of chinless, racist, public school wankers being re-elected. The album was made with a view to re-imagining the world as a better place through positive sounds...and by golly it works. Shit Creek have been an entity since 2017 and have released material through labels as Liquid Library, Structured Disasters and Moon Myst, along with self-released works through the Luxury Bucket mini-label. Initially starting as a solo project centred on a violin-and-cassette-loops, they have evolved their sound with "toy synths, electric and 12-string guitar, junk, cymbals and an array of pedals, with the focus now on creating static sound collages, lo-fi airing cupboard psychedelia, and un-anhedonic, happy new sonic worlds."
In short, 'The Land Of Remember' is an absolute joy! - 14 tracks and 39 minutes of sheer, unadulterated aural bliss. There are no thumping beats or histrionic guitar solos but this is deeply psychedelic in the true meaning of the word. Adopting a sonic collage approach, each track is different. Tracks like 'Pram Racer' are almost motorik its approach whilst 'Little Solas' is akin to being serenaded in a sun-dappled Eastern garden. From the very first track - 'Happy Skeletonzz'- and its electronic raga vibe to the closing title track and its kitchen sink jazz the album fizzes and glitters like an oasis of joie de vivre in this fucked up world. Seriously, do yourselves a favour and give this a listen..put aside 40 minutes for some 'healing'...and then buy it!
'The Land Of Remember' is released as a limited edition of 50 hand-numbered CD-Rs and digital download via the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp on Friday 27th March 2020. The physical version is presented as a full-colour thermal printed CD-R, housed in a recycled card ‘greeting card’ sleeve, with full colour artwork by Crow Versus Crow
Wonderful Beasts - The Art Of Whisper
Wormhole World is one of my favourite labels, they first came to my attention when they released a St James Infirmary CD (can never have enough St James Infirmary!) and since then they have been 'on my radar' as 'twere. Wonderful Beasts is essentially a collaboration between "Audio wave riding high priest of the sonic spheres boycalledcrow and, experimental artist and remixer Xqui" and 'The Art Of Remember' is their first release together. Tracks were made by boycalledcrow before the music stems were digitally forwarded to Xqui who reconstructed them without listening to the original track and the results are, just like 'The Land Of Remember', a perfect balm to ease the soul. However, whereas 'The Land Of Remember' utilised collages to create something joyful, 'The Art Of Whisper' creates something more dreamy and, at times, hypnagogic.
The album opens with 'You Came With The Dawn' and some Blade Runner-esque drones and a static hum redolent of falling water before some rich synth swathes calm the waters..a brief 2 minute cameo to set us up nicely for what follows. What follows is 11 more tracks of differing textures and structures that wow and flutter on the breeze. Tracks like 'Love her' have a delicate, haunting filigree that is utterly bewitching while 'Into The Emerald Eye' plows a more dystopian Sci-Fi furrow with cavernous drones and a dread laden mood. Then there is 'Heavy Gaze' with its flashes of tropicalia and celestial chimes....absolute perfection. Such is the skill of this duo that every track conjures up different places and different times....and it's all very zen at times and that, boys and girls, is what we all need in our life at the moment.
'The Art Of Whisper' is out now and available from the Wormhole World Bandcamp page here and comes as a ltd.ed. CD (which contain 2 tracks unavailable elsewhere) and as a download.
Shit Creek - The Land Of Remember
To put 'The Land Of Remember' into some sort of context, it was recorded between October and December 2019...you know, those good ol' days when all we had to worry about was a bunch of chinless, racist, public school wankers being re-elected. The album was made with a view to re-imagining the world as a better place through positive sounds...and by golly it works. Shit Creek have been an entity since 2017 and have released material through labels as Liquid Library, Structured Disasters and Moon Myst, along with self-released works through the Luxury Bucket mini-label. Initially starting as a solo project centred on a violin-and-cassette-loops, they have evolved their sound with "toy synths, electric and 12-string guitar, junk, cymbals and an array of pedals, with the focus now on creating static sound collages, lo-fi airing cupboard psychedelia, and un-anhedonic, happy new sonic worlds."
In short, 'The Land Of Remember' is an absolute joy! - 14 tracks and 39 minutes of sheer, unadulterated aural bliss. There are no thumping beats or histrionic guitar solos but this is deeply psychedelic in the true meaning of the word. Adopting a sonic collage approach, each track is different. Tracks like 'Pram Racer' are almost motorik its approach whilst 'Little Solas' is akin to being serenaded in a sun-dappled Eastern garden. From the very first track - 'Happy Skeletonzz'- and its electronic raga vibe to the closing title track and its kitchen sink jazz the album fizzes and glitters like an oasis of joie de vivre in this fucked up world. Seriously, do yourselves a favour and give this a listen..put aside 40 minutes for some 'healing'...and then buy it!
'The Land Of Remember' is released as a limited edition of 50 hand-numbered CD-Rs and digital download via the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp on Friday 27th March 2020. The physical version is presented as a full-colour thermal printed CD-R, housed in a recycled card ‘greeting card’ sleeve, with full colour artwork by Crow Versus Crow
Wonderful Beasts - The Art Of Whisper
Wormhole World is one of my favourite labels, they first came to my attention when they released a St James Infirmary CD (can never have enough St James Infirmary!) and since then they have been 'on my radar' as 'twere. Wonderful Beasts is essentially a collaboration between "Audio wave riding high priest of the sonic spheres boycalledcrow and, experimental artist and remixer Xqui" and 'The Art Of Remember' is their first release together. Tracks were made by boycalledcrow before the music stems were digitally forwarded to Xqui who reconstructed them without listening to the original track and the results are, just like 'The Land Of Remember', a perfect balm to ease the soul. However, whereas 'The Land Of Remember' utilised collages to create something joyful, 'The Art Of Whisper' creates something more dreamy and, at times, hypnagogic.
The album opens with 'You Came With The Dawn' and some Blade Runner-esque drones and a static hum redolent of falling water before some rich synth swathes calm the waters..a brief 2 minute cameo to set us up nicely for what follows. What follows is 11 more tracks of differing textures and structures that wow and flutter on the breeze. Tracks like 'Love her' have a delicate, haunting filigree that is utterly bewitching while 'Into The Emerald Eye' plows a more dystopian Sci-Fi furrow with cavernous drones and a dread laden mood. Then there is 'Heavy Gaze' with its flashes of tropicalia and celestial chimes....absolute perfection. Such is the skill of this duo that every track conjures up different places and different times....and it's all very zen at times and that, boys and girls, is what we all need in our life at the moment.
'The Art Of Whisper' is out now and available from the Wormhole World Bandcamp page here and comes as a ltd.ed. CD (which contain 2 tracks unavailable elsewhere) and as a download.
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