The Séance

We fashioned a 2+ hour continuous mix 'holiday' (i.e. lockdown) special Séance for the good folk at Amateurism Radio. We filled it with things we love while stepping away from the mic and swerving our murkier inclinations. You might be presently be able to fill your dwelling with it via amateurism.co.uk. Thanks for inviting us, crew. It ran thus: 

The Séance with Lutine - ‘Trees Grew All Around Her’

The Séance has long had an affinity with the excellent A Year In The Country blog and its attendant musical output.  Over the past couple of years it has provided erudite and illuminating ruminations upon the culturally fruitful intersection of the bucolic with the uncanny.  It might also be regarded as something of an enclave of integrity and critical discourse in the crowded field of commentators and blogs concerned with matters which might be (or might have been) regarded hauntological or at least associated with that much namechecked non-genre, which has most recently been all but misinterpreted to death by some of its self styled custodians.

Excellent Shindig! mag review here courtesy of Strictly Kev/ DJ Food for the Delaware Road happening we (kind of) played at the other week. Kudos to Buried Treasure kingpin Alan Gubby in the first for the ambition, then doubled for the realisation. All participants were excellent. Here in the parlour we knew Dolly Dolly would make the ideal narrator for Mr. Gubby’s occult Radiophonic pop opera (of sorts) but scarcely suspected the dexterity with which the Corporation would be conjoined to the non-corporeal with Reussian flourishes and allusions to 'magicians mourning' etc. Such arcana. Such drama. 

Shame the Séance didn't get to present its full disco garb as it should be, i.e. with the occasional wrong speed, the odd gap you can drive a bus through and more than four tunes, but maybe next time. The evening's manifold marvels compensated. Top marks. There have already been rumours of a rematch in a certain strange and beautiful city, so watch this space. To be continued...

The CD and very lovely vinyl editions of Pete’s celebrated soundtrack for Paul Kelly’s much acclaimed postwar London film collage How We Used To Live have been out via Heavenly Recordings for a few months, and now the film itself is available on a BFI DVD.  

Written by Bob Stanley and Travis Elborough with narration by Ian McShane, it’s beautifully edited, endlessly fascinating throughout and rewards repeated viewings, and so a pretty essential artefact for anyone with an interest in recent London history or those of a psychogeographical bent.  Sounds excellent too, but one would say that. This nice little CD and DVD package can be picked up at the Saint Et site here.   

Here’s the official trailer: 

2013 has been hugely successful year for The Outer Church, not least due to the apportation of its benchmark compilation CD as facilitated by the ever excellent Front And Follow imprint. Rory Gibbs' review in the Quietus here nails the whole endeavour rather beautifully.

SYNTHESIZE ME at the HOTEL PELIROCCO 14/12/2013

Looking forward to playing some records for these good people in the Séance's terrestrial birth-space next week.  We witnessed Occult Hand's vox, loops and drones witchery at the Outer Church earlier this year and thought them outstanding.  Loving this PTV-referencing poster too.  Today's preparations this end indicate a 70s/80s analogue heavy, vinyl only set, but that could all change.  It has been known.

Much saddened by the demise of The Stool Pigeon.  I was ambivalent about the cartoons and all those coloured fonts were a bit testing on the minces, but it truly was the last of the decent inkies and some great covers never failed to make one snatch up a copy during one of those treasured record shopping sorties.  They even ran some of my hyperbolic guff in recent months, some of which can be 'savoured' here or here (typos not the author's, obvioulsy), but despite that, the prospect of us enjoying a half decent, independent printed music press just got a shade more dispiriting with its passing.  

Just recently managed to find a cover image of the first issue of Form, the arts and lit journal revived in 1921 by Austin Spare and my great, great (great?) uncle WH (original Super Tramp) Davies.  "A horrible but fascinating magazine," said George Bernard Shaw.  Skills.    

Regular listeners will be aware of our abiding fetish for the 4AD label's early output here in the parlour, so this half of the Séance is thrilled skinny at the prospect of Dead Can Dance at the Royal Albert Hall this winter. Having been lucky enough to have seen them in London in 2005 it remains one of my most fondly remembered concerts, from a completely spellbinding set which commenced with a diaphanously-robed Lisa Gerrard being helped up to her Yang Ch'in (it's a Chinese hammered dulcimer) in true diva style by two sombre stagehands, to the unexpected supplementary fantasia of all goth's myriad subdivisions (trad, punk, cyber, hippy etc) thronging the Barbican's brutalist thoroughfares.

Here's Lisa and Brendan transcending the 't.v. special' production values of their 'Toward the Within' live film and being fantastic. Would love to hear them with a string section though.  

Oso Panda - by Papa Topo

Compatriot Paul Kelly's long awaited film portrait of the legendary Felt/Denim/Go Kart Mozart is getting an airing at cinemas across the country this December. See it!!

Just found this piece in the New Statesman

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital/2011/10/lawrence-film-denim-thought