Soul On The Radio, Lap Steel In My Soul and Alone Again With The Sun Coming Up

 

May 31st - last day of this wonderful month that I love so much and I wonder where it's gone

he disappeared. We've had a lot of unsettled weather over the last few days, but basically the month, what I love about it, was making this transition from spring-like days to the first bursts of summer. I wasn't able to work for some time due to a bicycle accident and subsequent surgery. Next Monday I'll cautiously get back on and see how it feels.

But today it’s time to chill out again. A term that often has a negative connotation in the music world due to many sell-out tendencies, similar to what might be the case with New Age.

And how much I hated the term New Age myself, even if the word hate is perhaps too strong a word for it. The fact is, they could drive me out of the yard with NA.

Today things have changed for a long time, I simply know too many good albums that belong to the New Age genre, and I've never had any problems with the term chill out. Sale or not. In the end, it is always the music that speaks for itself, beyond all terminology.

Almost exactly 10 years ago “The Chill Out Album” by Coco, Steel & Lovebomb was released.

When I read the announcement and theme of the album, I was pretty excited and felt my heart rate increase. A trip back to the chill out rooms of the 90s and of course references to THE chill out album of all time, KLF's version and vision of retreat spaces, it was clear that I would jump on this bandwagon. When the album was released in June 2014, I wasn't disappointed and the beginning of the World Cup in Brazil didn't stop me from spending time horizontally with this album as often as possible. 

“Synthesizer pads surge, voices murmur in the background, water rushes past, isolated guitar lines meander along the horizon.” (Groove). It makes no sense to single out individual track titles, which are also a clear reference to KLF's masterpiece, as the entire album should be listened to in a flow with its transitions. The album was co-produced and co-written by Deekie, among others, about whom I will write separately (Effects -Special Ambient Atmospheres Created By Deekie).

Acidted wrote a wonderful review back then, which I would like to share again here and bring out of obscurity:

„Coco,Steel & Lovebomb produced some brilliant house music in the early/mid 90s on Warp before fading. Chris Coco has continued as a successful artist and owner of the cracking downtempo Melodica label. But you worry when your 90s heroes return, in case, well, the music’s rubbish and tarnishes you and your memories. Thankfully, they haven’t attempted to return to a house music but have gone for an ambient concept album. To be more specific, and the album title’s a giveaway, a sort of update of the classic KLF album Chill Out.

The KLF album portrays a mythical night-time journey by rail up the US Gulf Coast from Texas into Louisiana. It is a brilliant album, recorded in a single take in 1990, that stands up incredibly well today. Even now, I can’t hear a steel guitar without thinking about “Elvis on the Radio, Steel Guitar in My Soul”. To produce your own album that owns up to the debt it owes this seminal record is setting yourself a tough ask. How have CS&L done? But first, why do it?

Chris Coco comments “We have been listening to a lot of new ambient and bedroom computer music over the last couple of years. We felt that it was the right time to make a ‘proper’ chillout album. The loose nature of the Coco Steel & Lovebomb working group is the perfect framework to make some experimental music of that nature. This album is a sort of throwback to the time when CSL were raving and chilling so it felt appropriate from that point of view. It’s taking something of the spirit of that time but adding something new with contemporary production techniques and sounds.”

And so to the album. The KLF set theirs firmly in the USA, despite the samples from other cultures. CS&L’s version is more rootless, reflecting a stateless dance culture, though with more London and Asian or Indian influence than anything else. Although there are puns or pastiches in some of the titles (Soul On The Radio, Lap Steel In My Soul and Alone Again With The Sun Coming Up, in particular) it’s a proper album in its own right, with musical references back to The KLF kept to a minimum. Where it gains on most ambient album is in following The KLF’s lead in having tracks flow one into another. There’s no point for this type of album in reviewing tracks. It slides along with the beautiful haze of the semi-stoned in the sunshine. This will blow some minds this festival season. Does it exceed The KLF? Not sure it really sees itself in that sort of competition. It’s its own lovely self. And that’s more than enough.

File under: Ambient, British Summer Time, Electronica. 

Coco, Steel & Lovebomb last got together in 1994 to make an album for Warp Records called It. 

20 years later, on mid summers day, the enigmatic trio return with new material - The Chillout Album, a kind of homage to 90s chillout rooms and lost weekends at festivals. 

The tracks were made in a series of late night sessions in various south London studios under the heavy influence of many crackly vinyl spins of classic albums by Eno, KLF and Laraaji; with pals Deekie, James McArthur and Haraket popping in to contribute too. 

This is 44 minutes and 44 seconds of melodies and grooves interwoven with found sound and analogue noise, making one long, immersive piece that demands repeat listening.

-Bandcamp-

The Ocean Inside

 

The follow-up album from the Seahawks offshoot Captain Sunshine & The Valley People was released in 2015, 2 years after the Balearic “Tomorrows never known”. “The Ocean inside” continued where the previous album left off and added further sound ideas, for example when Blade Runner references can clearly be heard in “Sunset Shadow”. The Valley People are lost on this voyage, and the captain steers the ship alone into a fitting sunset. What might not seem to be an advantage in other working models if it is not noticeable when half of the team is no longer on board actually doesn't matter here and listening to both albums in one go makes sense. Captain, is the bar open yet?

„Captain Sunshine is the alias of Jon Tye, one half of revered cosmic quakers Seahawks. The style shares many of Seahawks deep space aquatic vibes but is if anything even more salt washed and faded, spaced and misted. 

The Ocean Inside was recorded alone during a particularly long and dark winter voyage. A dose of flu helped create a deep dream state, sometimes unsettling at others blissfully narcotic. The analog tape recordings were later cut and spliced together with occasional overdubs of guitar and vocal to form a collection of celestial tone poems that at times recall early Eno, Vangelis, Joe Meek’s ‘I Hear A New World’ or even Aphex Twin’s selected ambient works. 

Deep and meditative, warm and enveloping, this is a great album to put on of a clear evening as you stare at the stars, watch the distant ships bobbing on the waves or simply zone out in your favourite place.“

-Bandcamp-

File under: Ambient I Balearic I New Age

Tomorrows never known

 

The Seahawks had me hooked with their 5th release “Aquadisco” (OM006), 10 Years ago.

To this day they consist of Lo Recordings label boss Jon Tye & Peter Fowler.

Here we had another band that I was able to discover retrospectively. Although I have to say that since “Aquadisco” they have gotten better and better for me. I think it's the normal way when you start a project and at the beginning it's not clear where the journey is going and then the path you're walking on begins to shine more and more.

“Tomorrows Never Known” came right into the middle of my new Seahawks relationship in 2013 and was released under the alias: Captain Sunshine & The Valley People. It quickly became clear that Jon Tye would be Captain Sunshine. Who was behind the Valley People, probably not. The credits only list the Seahawks as producers, so Pete Fowler probably takes on the role of the Valley People. A wonderful Balearic summer album. Unfortunately, I don't know of any MP3 releases yet. You can listen to 2 of the 6 tracks on Discogs.

Addendum: Courage to correct - I just listened to “Invisible Sunrise (OM002)” & “Tender Abyss (OM004)” again. Talking about better and better doesn't actually help. These are completely different albums, and each is exciting and good in its own right. We need more Seahawks.

„During the summer of 2012 before the rains came, the Captain headed for the interior and in a lost valley far from the world of men he jammed with a tribe of initiates…The Valley People. 

The results were channelled via ether waves to Ocean Moon Central aka The Centre Of Sound where Seahawks guided them to vinyl in their own sweet way. Echoes of Fern Kinney on helium, Nick Nicely on mogadon, Kraftwerk jamming in the jungle whilst aliens land their craft ready for a cosmic lounge party. Listen out for ethereal soul sounds, Island funk and dream wave….ghost vibrations from beyond the reef where they dream of sliver rivers and sleep under the stars.“

-phonica records-

„This is so good it's almost like my dream Seahawks album come true. "Did I commision this?", was my first reaction after I very eagerly and with high expectations unwrapped it and put it on. It's lush, melodic, ambient dubby dream-disco for those smoke filled, late night summer sessions of pure hedonism. I think I'll just stick to "ambient dream-disco" when I have my inevitable fan-boi rants about this in the future. Limited to 500 copies on purple vinyl.“

-co-existence-

https://www.discogs.com/release/4760615-Captain-Sunshine-The-Valley-People-Tomorrows-Never-Known

Deep Breakfast Series 161

 

My most successful (….) mix to date appeared 2 years ago today on Francesco Piunti’s Deep Breakfast Series. DBS 161 was released as Bamboo Temple Garden and was intended as a sonic alternative to my tropical ambient mixes as Echo and Rauschen and was not intended to exclude the tropics, but should expand it to include Balearic, acid, ambient house and dub. I had only used the new name once before, to create a very personal mix that I dedicated to my wife, who was in a very difficult health situation at the time. Once she and we were out of the woodwork, it felt good to make this mix publicly available. Reusing the name for Deep Breakfast Series seemed like the right move. The fact that DBS 161 eclipsed all other previous Echo and Rauschen mixes is actually a bit crazy.

A follow-up to Deep Breakfast Series is planned for late 2024/early 2025.

Tracklist: 

01. Wild Ambience - Morning Rain (Self Release)
02. Ishtadi - Forgotten Territory 1 (Secret Domain)
03. Ocean Moon - Peace Bells (KPM Music)
04. Post Apocalyptic - Galactic Collison (Secret Domain)
05. X.Y.R. - Thirumalai Kovil Steps (Good Morning Tape)
06. Young Marco - Temple on a Road (Islands of the Gods)
07. Alex Albrecht - Forest from the Trees w. Sean La'Brooy (Analogue Attic)
08. Wanderwelle - Ancestral Guidance (Silent Season)
09. Andrew Skeoch/Sarah Koschak - Flowing ever onward (Listening Earth)
10. Atmøsphäre & Bålsam - Watercourse (Atlantea Records)
11. Mind Groove - Imagine (Seven Villas Voyage)
12. Ishtadi & Respira - Waxing Moon (Nature Tales)
13. Shakali - Harhama (Good Morning Tapes)
14. Florian T M Zeisig - Dad is painting again (Metron Records)
15. Mind Groove - Unseen (Seven Villas Voyage)
16. Twin Lakes - Northern Lights (Jungle Gym)
17. Dimitar Dodovski - Predel (l) (Hibernate)
18. Inhmost - Walking at Night (Huinali)
19. Atmøsphäre & VictorYibril - Gift of the Caves (Self Release)
20. Respira - Talking To The Sea Part2/Part1 (Nature Tales)
21. Andrew Skeoch/Sarah Koschak - Flowing ever onward (Listening Earth)

Deep Breakfast Series · Deep Breakfast 161 - Bamboo Temple Garden

Guitar for Mother

 

Vini Reilly’s Durutti Column certainly doesn’t need to be introduced to anyone anymore.

His first album “The Return of the Durutti Column” imagined a long absence & was released in 1980 on Factory. With the multitude of albums that have accumulated since then, it is difficult to name favorites. It's probably always different. Personally, I always liked the albums best where, in addition to Vini's guitar meditations, synthesizers and drum boxes plucking away. Seen in this way, “Fidelity” is an excellent choice to start the new week and otherwise and anyway.

Originally only released on CD in 1996, there were reissues on vinyl in 2019 & 2022 with completely new artwork & 2 bonus tracks. And actually an album without filler, but this aspect is not really relevant for a DC album anyway. Great album!

Here ist a beautiful review by Ian Canty from Louder than war:

„By the time that Fidelity was released in 1996, Durutti Column had gone from their early, purely guitar instrumental roots to include various other sounds and influences that pushed them further into classical and dance directions. Fidelity found them mostly immersed in the latter. Vini Reilly’s guitar expertise is obviously well represented, but the vocals from Eley Rudge and the electronics firmly place the record in the chilled out dance field. I listened to this on New Year’s Day and it fitted the mood perfectly….hopeful sounding, but tinged with a little regret for something lost.

The title track sets out the stall for the rest of the LP, starting with a queasy-sounding rhythm before settling down into a neat soundscape of rickety guitar and breathy vocals with a load of echo applied to them. A gently and beguiling beauty, which is followed by the shuffle beats of the more house-toned For Suzanne, Eley’s voice soaring alongside the synth-driven beat. Future Perfect comes next and for me it is the highlight of the album – the warm rush and dance beat would have made an excellent single. Abstract Of Expression continues the upbeat dance trend and also packs in some operatic vocals among the electronica bleeps.

Coming next is the short jazz guitar reflection of G+T, this record’s only look back to the “classic” Durutti sound of 1980. With Remember Me we move to the latter half of the album proper with the only Vini vocal – I know he himself didn’t rate his singing highly, but I always find his simple, uncertain style charming. Sanko is another pacey dance number and Grace would have been another contender, if a single had been plucked from the album. It gathers momentum and the song is almost a cherry nursery rhyme, but with a slight hint of the sinister lurking mysteriously in the background. The final two tracks from Fidelity switch position on this vinyl edition. Storm For Steve opens with scratchy noise and electronics, before mutating into a quite house/dance thing with Vini’s guitar getting a chance to shine again. The glistening guitar and brief bird song of Guitar For Mother now provide the end-piece to the album and to be honest it does make sense in this order.

Of the two bonus tracks My Only Love seems to be a partial cover of DC’s own The Rest Of My Life, here a guitar jangle in typical Vini-mode with ghostly vocals adding to the dream-like atmosphere. The final offering, The New Fidelity, comes from a rare compilation album entitled Hare, Hunter, Field originally issued in 1992. This tune features racing electronic modulation set against a trademark guitar essay – perhaps pre-empting the accompanying album and a good fit as an extra here.

This latest release in Les Disques du Crepuscule’s ongoing Durutti Column reissue programme is put together with great love and respect for the artist. Fidelity may have found Vini a fair distance away from the early days of The Return Of The Durutti Column album, but it is a satisfying, relaxing listen, one that also might get your toes tapping with the dance rhythms deployed. Perfect for these mid-winter months and with that a hint of warmth on hand that we all need during these damp, dark days. Perhaps not one for newcomers to DC, but this album has held up across the years pretty well and merits this natty first vinyl release.“

Fireflies

 

Sunday service.

The always remarkable Devendra Banhart has once again presented a very nice album with Flying Wig. In general, it's rare that I completely enjoy an entire album.

But on Flying Wig the level is consistently high. And when I listen to “Fireflies” for the fifth time, I can’t help but think that Mr. Banhart may or may have heard a lot of Durutti Column lately. Definitely a good idea and thanks again to Vini for the worldwide inspiration.

Every Man and Woman is a Star

 

„Was the title – Every Man And Woman Is A Star – a conscious nod to Aleister Crowley?

Yes. I think we liked the idea of the all-inclusive slightly hippyish sound of it, but it coming from quite a dark, esoteric source.“

from a Interview with Paul Hammond on Ban Ban Ton Ton

„We would like to dedicate this album to Dewey, whose spirit pervaded the sessions and who will be fondly remembered by us all for his kindness and his wisdom. It was on a late summer evening at Dewey and Cassie's place in Sweetleaf County, Arkansas, that the seeds of these songs were sown.

With a belly full of Cassie's hog-roast and a head full of Dewey's moonshine, talk turned to music. Dewey said "There is music for the body and there is music for the mind. Music for the body picks you off the floor and hurls you into physical activity. Music for the mind floats you gently downstream, through pleasurable twists and turns, ups and downs, rapids and calm waters...

And sometimes there is music for the body and for the mind."

After a few more bottles and some fine bearclaw, we made our way up to the ridge to take in the night air. Looking up at the sky, Dewey said, with a tear in his eye and way too much booze inside him, "Every man and woman is a star." His comment passed us by at the time, but these words stayed with us and gradually became our focal point during work on this album.“

- from the inlay cover of Every Man and Woman is a Star - 

Who can say why and why one was interested in this or that thing in one's life? Why you read this book, or another one, or whether you read books at all, or whether you liked music and what kind. You are certainly influenced by your parents and friends and were dependent on their understanding of culture before you discovered and followed your own path. It's difficult for me to attribute my interest in this or that music, or my preference for certain authors and films, to these influences. There must always have been something of its own there that emerged at some point and found its way. For me it was electronic pop music, OMD, Heaven 17, Depeche Mode, New Order & Cabaret Voltaire, later acid house, ambient & dub and everything else developed from that. The music itself was my biggest influence, and the radio DJs who shared the music with us. I owe more to John Peel or Monika Dietl than to any living person around me. And I'm glad it's this music & not death metal or classical music from the 18th century. Fans of this music will probably think the same as me.

In 1992, a friend and I were sitting in our sparsely furnished apartments, each our first apartment after moving out of our parents' homes, and listening to the album by a band called Ultramarine - which had become our attention through reviews in magazines - “Every Man and Woman is a Star.” We both grew up with the pop of the 80s, but while my friend, after an initial interest in house music and techno, including visits to the relevant clubs (Tresor etc.), increasingly felt drawn to Prince and Eros Ramazotti, I kept going the electronic route. Calexico, Tindersticks and so many other things came much later. And the realization that all this music found space inside me.

“Every Man and Woman is a Star” was an album that we both agreed on pretty quickly. I don't know how this friend feels about this music today. This album has never left me. An incredibly enjoyable album that contains everything I like.

Acid, ambient, pop, summer meadows, field recordings, nature sounds, wonderful voice samples.

Ian Cooper & Paul Hammond remained from the post punk predecessor band “A Primary Industry” and named themselves after the only album that came out in 1986: Ultramarine. 

Their first album “Folk” already contained many elements that distinguished EMAWiaS, but it was only with this second album that everything came together in a perfect way. The band now worked heavily with samples and continued to include acoustic instruments, but also a 303 / 808, which would become crucial for their sound.

„All sun-ripened, meandering lassitude and undulant dub-sway tempos like acid-house suffused with the folky-jazzy ambience of the Canterbury scene." As well as the sublime single cuts Stella and Saratoga, the album offers a mesh of acoustic textures underpinned by a sometimes dubby, sometimes upfront beat. It's a lavish mix of light yet infectious rhythms and mellow vibes, recalling lazy afternoons and bright summer seascapes. Largely instrumental, the album also features lyric snatches from Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt, while on Stella the found voice speaks to the "deepest part of the soul." "It isn't really techno music," confesses Ian. "We use the shape and form of dance music but use different acoustic sounds. It's the sort of stuff which seeps into you."

• Simon Reynolds/Energy Flash - 

https://www.discogs.com/master/33359-Ultramarine-Every-Man-And-Woman-Is-A-Star

Mister Buntington said

Hmm, a month of Bamboo Blog. 

I didn't think for a second that I would post so much. A post almost every day seemed impossible to me. At the moment it seems that it's still working, I have the capacity and freedom due to the current life situation. When little else is possible. Things will change again soon, and I'll see. My writing is currently bumpy, clumsy & I quote from many who can do it better. I already wrote about it & I hope one day it will be easier to read. I hope the content is interesting enough to encourage you to discover or rediscover the music described here and there.

At the moment the last post carries me to the next. Two or three lines about Sadie Glutz and Ultramarine are obvious after yesterday.

David Conway & Laurence Elliott-Potter released an album & 4 EP's between 1996 and 1999 as Sadie Glutz on Silver Planet Recordings, home of many James Holden tracks and were another discovery in the late 1990s that introduced me to John Peel. What this man has done for my musical development can never be appreciated enough. I won't be the only one who thinks this way. And he actually expanded my tastes to more and more eclectic listening. 

“The Boys from Outerspace” is an album full of dance, trance (break) beats that have their moments when used in the right place. The winners for me, however, are album opener “The Meteorite” and “Zorg”, two cozy acid songs for the afternoon after-hours in the summer garden. Dream on.