A Year In The Country

Below are some of the reviews and radio broadcasts of the A Year In The Country album Undercurrents:

First up is Ben Willmott’s review in issue 32 of Electronic Sound magazine:

“The countryside is often over romanticised, ususally by those who don’t live there. A Year In The Country has dug a little deeper and hit on something much more profound to end up, if you’ll excuse the pun, in a field of his own.”

That issue can be found at their site here and as I’ve mentioned around these parts before, there’s a particularly generous subscription offer to the magazine which is available here.

Then there’s Dave Thompson’s review at Spin Cycle/Goldmine:

“…the chimes of a music box, the creak of a gate, the rush of the wind, the crackle of static, the turning of pages.  Cathode hiss and transistor hum from the bottom of the lake.”

That can be found here.

As an aside, for a number of decades Dave Thompson has been a prolific journalist and author and has written over a hundred (blimey) books including A Seance at Syd’s – An Anthology of Modern Acid-Folk-Haunt-Psych-Prog-Space-Radiophonic-Rock Etc Quotes, in which you may well find an intertwining or two with the wanderings at A Year In The Country. You can start to delve amongst the considerable catalogue of his writing at his site here.

Caught In The Flow from the album was broadcast on an episode of the Sunrise Ocean Bender radio show, where it can be found next to a track on the From The Furthest Signals album, underground rock and other intriguing musical explorations.

The show was originally broacast on WRIR FM and it is archived here.

Mark Barton reviews the album at The Sunday Experience:

“…here these monolithic drone recitals act as something akin to aural cartography capturing eloquently the very pulse, the bleak beauty and the secret majesty of these wide open spaces all the time bowing forth to their legacy.”

Visit that here.

John Coulthart explores layers of connection to the album at his feuilleton site:

“The electronic nature of these recordings contradicts the usual expectation that anything to do with the country—especially the English countryside—has to be presented in a folk idiom and with acoustic instruments. This adds further resonances to the theme, making me think of electric currents, dowsing maps…”

Visit that here.

Simon Reynolds includes the album in the Summer 2017 edition of his Hauntology Parish Newsletter, where it can be found next to Ian Hodgson of Moon Wiring Club’s alter-ego Genteel Decay, The Focus Group and Ekoplekz:

“Excellent moody n’ twinkly stuff it is too, with the usual exquisitely intricate packaging.”

Visit that here.

Martin Raybould reviews the album at Whisperin’ & Hollerin’:

“Listening to Undercurrents is like being drawn away from well-marked pathways with no clues as to where they might lead. AYITC’s music therefore provides a kind of psychogeography of the countryside.”

Visit that here.

Raffaello Russo reviews the album from over the seas at his Music Won’t Save You site:

“Stanno a testimoniarlo, fin dai titoli, brani quali “A Pastoral Playground” e “Dreamscapes Of Old”, pienamente imbevuti di un immaginario bucolico, tuttavia reso non nella sua quiete arcadica bensì attraverso particelle sonore incorporee e correnti di elettricità statica, che generano interferenze spettrali, in una rappresentazione che del paesaggio cattura soprattutto le immanenze aliene, ben oltre la sua superficie materialmente visibile.”

Visit that here.

And Mat Handley included Currents from the album in episode 212 of his You, the Night & the Music radio show, where it can also be found next to a track on From The Furthest Signals, alongside his ongoing musical unearthing, spinning and selecting.

The show was originally broadcast on Sine FM and can be found archived for your listening pleasure here.

Thanks to everybody involved, in particular Ben Willmott, Push and Neil Mason of Electronic Sound, Dave Thompson, Kevin McFadin of Sunrise Ocean Bender, Simon Reynolds, John Coulthart, Martin Raybould, Tim Peacock, Mark Barton, Raffaello Russo and Mat Handley.

Tip of the hat to all.

More information on Undercurrents can be found here. It is available via our Artifacts Shop, our Bandcamp Ether Victrola and Norman Records.

Clips from the album can be previewed at Soundcloud.

 

(File Post Under: Encasements / Artifacts – Artifact #4a)

 

The CDs are now sold out but the album is available to download at our Bandcamp page, Amazon, The Tidal Store, 7digital etc and can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube etc.

Dawn Edition £11.95. Night Edition £24.95.

Available via our Artifacts Shop, our Bandcamp Ether Victrola and Norman Records.
Released 8th August 2017.

Undercurrents was partly inspired by living in the countryside for the first time since I was young, where because of the more exposed nature of rural life I found myself in closer contact with, more overtly affected by and able to directly observe the elements and nature than via life in the city.

This coincided with an interest in and exploration of an otherly take on pastoralism and creating the A Year In The Country project; of coming to know the land as a place of beauty, exploration and escape that you may well drift off into but where there is also a sometimes unsettled undercurrent and layering of history and culture.

I found myself drawn to areas of culture that draw from the landscape, the patterns beneath the plough, the pylons and amongst the edgelands and where they meet with the lost progressive futures, spectral histories and parallel worlds of what has come to be known as hauntology.

Undercurrents is an audio exploration and interweaving of these themes – a wandering amongst nature, electronic soundscapes, field recordings, the flow of water through and across the land and the flipside of bucolic dreams.

Preview clips from the album at our Soundcloud Mark II Ether Victrola

 

Undercurrent Dawn Edition. Limited to 104 copies. £11.95.
Hand-finished white/black CDr album in textured recycled fold out sleeve with 3 x inserts and badge.

Top of CD.                                                          Bottom of CD.

Further encasement details:
1) Custom printed using archival giclée pigment ink.
2) Includes 25mm/1″ badge, secured with removable glue on string bound tag.
3) Back of one insert hand numbered and signed.

 

Undercurents Night Edition. Limited to 104 copies. £24.95.
Hand-finished box-set contains: album on all black CDr, 12 page string bound booklet, 4 x badge pack, 1 x large badge, 2 x stickers, 1 x print.


Top of CD.                                                            Bottom of CD.

Further encasement details:
1) Booklet/cover art custom printed using archival giclée pigment ink.
2) Contained in a matchbox style sliding two-part rigid matt card box with cover print.
3) Fully black CDr (black on top, black on playable side).
4) Black string bound booklet: 12 pages (6 sides printed);
Printed on textured fine art cotton rag paper, heavy card and semi-transparent vellum.
Hand numbered and signed on the reverse.
5) 4 x badge set, contained in a see-through polythene bag with a folded card header.
6) 1 x large badge.
7) 1 x square sticker, 1 x landscape format sticker.
8) Print on textured fine art cotton rag paper. Hand numbered and signed on the reverse.

(File Under: Encasements / Artifacts – Artifact #4a)

 

There have been a number of new broadcasts and reviews of the From The Furthest Signals album…

First up is a review in issue 31 of Electronic Sound magazine by Push: “The ghosts are out of the machines. Lock your windows tonight.”

You can visit Electronic Sound and issue 31 here (there is also a rather generous introductory subscription offer for the magazine which can be found here).

Keith Seatman’s track Curious Noises and Distant Voices from the album was played on the Gated Canal Community Radio show which is presented and compiled by the record labels Front & Follow and The Geography Trip.

The show is hosted by Reform Radio and you can find Keith Seatman’s track in some rather fine company (including a mix by IX Tab which wanders amongst the Hidden Reverse sides of music) at Gated Canal’s Tumblr site and at Mixcloud.

Max Reinhardt played Grey Frequency’s Ident (IV) from the album on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction show. Ident (IV) plays around 1:09 and the album is also mentioned around 1:19.

Visit the show here, where you can find Ident (IV) also in some fine company (including Anne Briggs, whose work is much appreciated around these parts).

Sunrise Ocean Bender played Polypores’ Signals Caught Off The Coast on their radio show, alongside the likes of Helios Creed, UFO and various wanderings amongst underground and space rock. Originally broadcast on WRIR FM the show featuring the track can be found at Sunrise Ocean Bender’s site here and also at Mixcloud.

Kim Harten reviewed the album at her site Bliss Aquamarine, where her indepth consideration of the different tracks can be found alongside an earlier review of The Restless Field. Visit those here.

Thanks to all involved for their ongoing support: Push, Neil Mason and all at Electronic Sound, Justin and Rob of Gated Canal Community Radio, Max Reinhardt and all at Late Junction, Kevin McFadin of Sunrise Ocean Bender and Kim Harten of Bliss Aquamarine.

Not forgetting those whose music is included on the album: Circle/Temple, David Colohan, Sharron Kraus, Time Attendant, Depatterning, Sproatly Smith, Field Lines Cartographer, Grey Frequency, Keith Seatman, Polypores, The Haren And The Moon, Pulselovers and Listening Center.

Tip of the hat to all.

More information on From The Furthest Signals can be found around these parts here and the album can be previewed at Soundcloud

It can be ordered at our Artifacts Shop, Bandcamp and Norman Records.

Other reviews and broadcasts etc of the album by Music Won’t Save You, John Coulthart, Violet Apple, Dave Thompson at Goldmine/Spin Cycle, We Are Cult, Whisperinandhollerin, Flatland Frequencies and More Than Human, alongside earlier broadcasts by Gated Canal Community Radio and Sunrise Ocean Bender can be visited around these parts here.

 

The CDs are now sold out but the album is available to download at our Bandcamp page, Amazon, The Tidal Store, 7digital etc and can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube etc.

Dawn Edition £11.95. Night Edition £24.95.

Available via our Artifacts Shop, our Bandcamp Ether Victrola and Norman Records.

Undercurrents was partly inspired by living in the countryside for the first time since I was young, where because of the more exposed nature of rural life I found myself in closer contact with, more overtly affected by and able to directly observe the elements and nature than via life in the city.

This coincided with an interest in and exploration of an otherly take on pastoralism and creating the A Year In The Country project; of coming to know the land as a place of beauty, exploration and escape that you may well drift off into but where there is also a sometimes unsettled undercurrent and layering of history and culture.

I found myself drawn to areas of culture that draw from the landscape, the patterns beneath the plough, the pylons and amongst the edgelands and where they meet with the lost progressive futures, spectral histories and parallel worlds of what has come to be known as hauntology.

Undercurrents is an audio exploration and interweaving of these themes – a wandering amongst nature, electronic soundscapes, field recordings, the flow of water through and across the land and the flipside of bucolic dreams.

Preview clips from the album at our Soundcloud Mark II Ether Victrola

 

Undercurrent Dawn Edition. Limited to 104 copies. £11.95.
Hand-finished white/black CDr album in textured recycled fold out sleeve with 3 x inserts and badge.

Top of CD.                                                          Bottom of CD.

Further encasement details:
1) Custom printed using archival giclée pigment ink.
2) Includes 25mm/1″ badge, secured with removable glue on string bound tag.
3) Back of one insert hand numbered and signed.

 

Undercurents Night Edition. Limited to 104 copies. £24.95.
Hand-finished box-set contains: album on all black CDr, 12 page string bound booklet, 4 x badge pack, 1 x large badge, 2 x stickers, 1 x print.


Top of CD.                                                            Bottom of CD.

Further encasement details:
1) Booklet/cover art custom printed using archival giclée pigment ink.
2) Contained in a matchbox style sliding two-part rigid matt card box with cover print.
3) Fully black CDr (black on top, black on playable side).
4) Black string bound booklet: 12 pages (6 sides printed);
Printed on textured fine art cotton rag paper, heavy card and semi-transparent vellum.
Hand numbered and signed on the reverse.
5) 4 x badge set, contained in a see-through polythene bag with a folded card header.
6) 1 x large badge.
7) 1 x square sticker, 1 x landscape format sticker.
8) Print on textured fine art cotton rag paper. Hand numbered and signed on the reverse.

(File Under: Encasements / Artifacts – Artifact #4a)