Fossils 'korjev/
"Fossils were Daniel Farr, Graham Lambkin and David Payne. 2012 duo recordings of Farr and Payne were transferred to Lambkin for special treatment. Lambkin's touch is understated yet elevates Fossils to new heights.
Side A 'Korjev' brings you to the playground, combining electronic and organic impressions.
Side B 'Wet Industry' is a bus ride to the rodeo, vibrating subtle itch on the spine."
Check out sights and sounds http://youtu.be/re91-DE90kk
Lathes cut by Graham Baldwin at 2208 http://2208records.blogspot.ca/
Artwork by Graham Lambkin
50 numbered copies
£9.50 plus postage: £2.00 UK / £2.50 Europe
To order email: mantilerecords@gmail.com
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Fossils "Bells and Gulls" CD-R (KSE #239)
"Since 2004, the FOSSILS collective, working
out of Hamilton, Ontario, have been issuing a constant flow of exciting,
micro-label editions of fascinating, edgy, complex, and often witty
experimental music. Can’t really think of a similar outfit—the approach
is not unlike The LA Free Music Society, and they have a DIY
cut-up/xerox aesthetic to the releases that always gives the music a
warm human feel (like KSE, I’m thinking they are animated by the true
original spirit of punk, when punk was a spirit and not a commodity and a
set of images), and the music itself is always a surprise…you cannot
put a label like “drone” or “harsh noise” or “free improv” on this body
of work. I’ve got about a dozen Fossils releases, and each is REALLY
different. They can be brutal, they can be tender and elegant, they can
be absurdist, they can be trippy, but usually they will be delivering a
unique blend of off-kilter sound experiments, always fresh and
unexpected. They also have the “everything but the kitchen sink”
approach to instrumentation that reminds one of the early AACM/Art
Ensemble of Chicago and the above-mentioned LAFMS. So if those names
interest you (one is tempted to add Jandek, AMM, and Half Japanese too),
you should be on the Middle James mailing list (go to Yahoo Groups and
look up Middle James Co. and subscribe) and you will want this exciting
and decidedly different new FOSSILS creation from KSE: BELLS AND GULLS.
This new release, recorded especially for
KSE, features core Fossils members Daniel Farr on piano and David Payne
on accordion, and the first two tracks feature this duo
material…although you should think of these instruments as ”sound
sources” as the material is treated heavily. The piano is clearly a
piano in some parts (reminiscent of the “broken piano” found on Coum
Transmissions “Sugarmorphoses” LP), though the playing is of a wobbly
nature that reminds me of a gyroscope falling off its axis (and that’s
before it’s slowed down and stretched like elastic), and the accordion
is used to create various chunky, streaky layers. Thus, the overall
effect is one of cold candle-lit bubbling, churning other-worldly
experimental library music filtered through Two Virgins. It’s
atmospheric and as you listen it leaves melted residue on your mind.
Also, the hand of the artist is clear in the edits/overlays which are
not intended to be un-noticed and seamless, so it’s almost like an
action-painting in sound.
The remaining 7 tracks consist of solo
pieces from Farr (tracks 3-5) and Payne (tracks 6-9), which use
recordings from the same source-material sessions, but go much further
out. I have images of AMM rehearsing in a dank chamber of Boris
Karloff’s dungeon, full of Jess Franco-esque zooms and garish-colored
lighting, and with someone tripping while messing with the sound source.
You can conjur your own picture, but this is the perfect music for the
freezing wet 5 a.m. winter atmosphere in which I’m typing this.
And the exciting news is that the next
Fossils release will be nothing at all like this. These guys are doing
important work. They are unconcerned with image and hipness and being
part of some clique, as so many “experimental” musicians in the
so-called noise world are. This is original creation of the purist
sort–in the great North American tradition spanning from Harry Partch to
Jandek and beyond. Fossils and Middle James Co. are creating one of the
most original bodies of work being done today. People will look back on
this and pretend to have been champions of it while they were actually
over-praising the darlings of the drone/ambient/noise world instead. Get
on the Fossils Train To Surreal Lalaland NOW with BELLS AND GULLS. KSE
is honored to feature Messrs. Payne and Farr’s work and to welcome them
to the KSE family. Fossils and Middle James are the kind of groups/arts
collectives that I look up to and respect…and most of all, ENJOY as they
document the pure joy of creation, with the blinders taken off, the
training wheels removed, and the fences taken down. It’s a wild ride…"£4.00 plus postage: £1.50 UK / £2.00 Europe
To order email: mantilerecords@gmail.com
