Soft Confusion 33/11/1903

Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets

Moon Wiring Club's Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets. Out now.

Moon Wiring Club ~ Another Dreame

A brand new MWC album cometh! Upon the 33rd of this month by all accounts...

Get yours here.

Electric Hell!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate tonight's festivities than by spending an hour listening to Gibbet Of The Damned; a mixtape courtesy of the never not brilliant Cottage Of Electric Hell. The mix was originally created for Six Ton Armor and if psych is your thing you should head over there right away. Check out their Soundcloud too, it's chock full o' nuggets.

Goodnight... if you can!

Children Of The Stones

This time in the Ripping Yarns recommended listening corner it's a bit of a no-brainer. In Happy Days: Children Of The Stones comedian Stuart Lee returns to Radio 4 to give a highly enjoyable overview of the classic HTV show made for children in 1977. I was a tad too young to catch it the first time around, but managed to get caught up by the time of the recent dvd release and can happily confirm Children Of The Stones remains every bit as powerful as 'they' say it is.

"Writer and comedian Stewart Lee explores the ground breaking television series Children of the Stones and examines its special place in the memories of those children who watched it on its initial transmission in a state of excitement and terror.

In 1977 HTV launched the revolutionary children's television drama telling the story of an astrophysicist and his son who arrive in the village of Milbury to study ancient stones. The residents greet each other with the phrase "Happy day", and the community is held in a strange captivity by the psychic forces generated by the circle of giant Neolithic stones which surround it.

Filmed at Avebury in Wiltshire, it is a strangely atmospheric production with the baleful, discordant wailing voices of the incidental music increasing the tension.

The story, involving a temporal paradox and issues of individuality and community assimilation thematically challenged the after-school audience, which included Stewart Lee.

In this documentary Lee returns to Avebury to discuss the serial's impact, examine its influence on him and explore the history and secrets of the ancient stones. 

1970s kids may have dived behind the sofa during Doctor Who, but it was Children of the Stones that gave them nightmares. The series is frequently cited by those who remember it as one of the scariest things they saw as children.

The programme includes contributions from series co-creator Jeremy Burnham, cast members and fans.

More Fog Signals

Recommended listening: The Outer Church currently hosts Robin The Fog's rather lovely Foggy Nightshift Mix “to be enjoyed at some point between midnight and 6am" complete with track commentary. The Ghosts Of Bush limited edition vinyl has now sold out, but you can still find the digital version on good ol' Bandcamp.

Back To School

Back to School by Soulless Central Radio on Mixcloud

Happy Returns

Programme 10: "Happy Returns" by Radio Belbury on Mixcloud

Record Store Day and other stories

Three months in and this year is baring witness to a large and ever growing list of excellent new electronical/hauntological/psychedelical releases, not to mention a handful of welcome radiophonic collections*. Soon Record Store Day will be upon us here in Blighty. Aural treats this year include very limited re-issues for Radiophonic Workshop Dr Who: Sound Effects, and Out Of This World on 180g vinyl. There's also a groovy soundtrack 45 from the 1960's Dalek films in the style of the old Century 21 EP's.

Which leads me on to Vintage Beeb. At long last Auntie has seen the light and begun cleaning up and re-issuing some of the BBC Records And Tapes back catalogue. Amongst the first to be re-released back in February was indeed the aforementioned Dr Who: Sound Effects.

From the beginning I always intended that Ripping Yarns would stick strictly to only sharing rare, deleted and unreleased material. Vintage Beeb has meant that I won't now be sharing as quite much of that old BBC vinyl as I had originally planned. It also means that I've deleted the Dr Who: Sound Effects vinyl rip. When you can easily purchase a brand new, restored and well packaged hard copy for under a fiver, it's hardly seems worth treading on any toes. However, worry ye not listeners, there is always plenty more to share out there.

*Ripping Yarns recommended listening from the year so far (L-R):

Pepe Deluxē - Queen Of The Wave: An Esoteric Pop Opera In Three Parts (Catskills)

F.C. Judd - Electronics Without Tears (Public Information)

Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales (Ghost Box)

Suzanne Ciani - Lixiviation (Finders Keepers)
David Cain of BBC Radiophonic Workshop - The Seasons (Trunk)

DJ Format (feat. The Simonsound) - Statement Of Intent (Project Blue Book)

Pye Corner Audio - Black Mill Tapes Volume 3: All Pathways Open (Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services)

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Doctor Who: Sound Effects (Vintage Beeb)

Air - Le Voyage Dans la Lune (Virgin)

Daphne Oram - The Oram Tapes Volume One (Young Americans)

DJ Food - The Search Engine (Ninja Tune)

Jon Brooks - Dieter Rams Reconstructions (Cafe Kaput)

Marshall McLuhan - The Medium Is The Massage (Five Day Weekend)

Ask The Family

Programme 8: "Ask the Family" by Radio Belbury on Mixcloud

Jim Jupp of The Belbury Parish Magazine brings you Radio Belbury Programme No. 8 to coincide with the  release of a new Belbury Poly long player, "The Belbury Tales" on the Ghost Box label.

All Pathways Open

All Pathways Open

Pye Corner Audio - Black Mill Tapes Volume 3: All Pathways Open is out today.  Vol.2: Do You Synthesize? was one of my favourite albums of last year and on first listen Vol.3 is every bit as good. However, you needn't take my word for it, try before you buy.

Moon Wiring Club ~ Spellcasting Summat

New sounds on the way from Moon Wiring Club in the form of Clutch It Like A Gonk.

Autumn Cycles

That's all the creepy sounds I have... for now. Back to posts of a more musical vein for a bit. By way of a palette cleanser, may I recommend this rather fine mixcloud courtesy of The Advisory Circle?

The Advisory Circle present 'Autumn Cycles' by Cafekaput on Mixcloud

01. Pye Corner Audio - Transmission Four Crooked Hill 

02. Holy Other - Touch

03. 69 - Microlovr

04. Keith Mansfield - Microchip Revolution

05. Hatchback - Everything Is Neu

06. Pussy - Come Back June

07. Dana Gillespie - You Just Gotta Know My Mind

08. Darkel - Pearl

09. The Association - Funny Kind Of Song

10. Jim O’Rourke - Something Big

11. Jackie Lee - The Town I Live In

12. Matti Oiling - Baron's Beat

13. Conrad Schnitzler - Coca

14. Alden Tyrell Feat. Fred Ventura - Memories

15. Chanjarit Singh - Raga Bairagi

16. Bernard Fevre - Central Way

17. Teenage Engineering - Slow Fm 4t

18. The Resource Centre - Circle Time

19. Marion - I Go To Sleep

"If everything's ready here on the Dark Side of the Moon... play the five tones"

Electronic Encounters - Music Inspired By Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Featuring lovely new music from Pye Corner Audio, Dolly Dolly, The Soulless Party, Monroeville Music Center and many more. Available gratis right here and best listened to whilst sculpting mash potato with a fork.

Electronic Encounters blog

Also worth your time:

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind Mixtape by Soulless Central Radio on Mixcloud

Radiophonic Jazz

This just popped up on my playlist this morning courtesy of Paris DJs . Nicely assembled and very listenable in a psychedelic Radiophonic/library type way.

Tracklisting : 

01. The Jimmy Haskell Orchestra - Blast Off!
02. Silver Apples - Lovefingers
03. John Matthews - Banshee Boogie
04. Ennio Morricone - Placcaggio
05. Raymond Scott - Limbo: The Organised Mind
06. Tony McPhee - The Hunt (Jung Collective Edit)
07. The Black Cat - Numbers feat. Rare Moods & Dom Farkas
08. Francois de Roubaix - Les Pirates
09. Tongues Of Fire - Pathway
10. Sven Libaek - In The Wave
11. The Advisory Circle - Seasons Change
12. Enrico Simonetti with Goblin - Drugs Theme
13. Jon Kennedy - Live Test
14. Raymond Scott - General Motors: Futurama 
15. Roger Roger - Rhythm 1
16. Douglas Wood - Romantic Sway
17. Miles Davis - Inamorata & Narration by Conrad Roberts
18. Ron Geesin - Syncopot
19. Johnny Hawksworth - Roobarb & Custard
20. Jung Collective - Just For John
21. Goblin - Death Dies
22. Raymond Scott - Auto Lite: Wheels
23. Superspirit - We Are The Stars
24. Wavemaker - Tunnel Of Love
25. The Sounds Of Tomorrow - The Diamond
26. John Baker - COI Technology Pavilion
27. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery (7" edit)
28. Thomas Dissevelt - Ignition
29. Jean Francis Engel - Knitting
30. Lab Rat - Ha! Why E (Jung Collective Rehash)
31. John Baker - Vendetta: The Sugar Man
32. Belbury Poly & Moon Wiring Club - Portals & Parallels
33. John Baker - The Caves Of Steel
34. Jung Collective - The Wicker Man (Rampant Rabbit Mix)

Moon Wiring Club ~ Sly Gavotte

From the forthcoming souvenir album Somewhere a Fox is Getting Married, limited to 450 vinyl. Apply to have one delivered post-haste to your domicile here.

Denton & Cook - Quiller 7"

Denton & Cook are all about the bongos, bass and synth, with this exceedingly funky sig tune from the 1975 TV spy show starring Michael Jayston. Those keyboards might sound hauntingly familiar from being sampled by The Avalanches all those years ago. Also the B-side's not half bad either in a 'contemporary pop' library-music-playing-over-a-kitchen-radio-in-The-Sweeney type way.

dl

Your Michael Jayston themed music needs still not sated? Time to investigate the playful yet haunting sounds of The Jayston Mix by Moon Wiring Club and then do yourself a favour and put an order in for some MWC albums. Your home radiogram unit will thank you for it in the long run, I assure you.