After disappearing from ether for some time, we are coming back with new wave of tasty sounds that will twist and bend your minds. It is not that they are already twisted and bent enough by global state of affairs so our we are hoping to put you back on the track with subtle doses of pure oral nonsense. So here we come, new albums published by Fanfare Records later this year will include
Tales from the Bleached Chameleon (CDR album) contains short stories of working class magic realism by Gareth Smith with reactionary improvisations by David McLean. Here we have a story about Brexit, via the prism of viciously despised towels, hated for being non-human and a story culled from the Amazon depot, but presented via a man watching birds peck potatoes. The music, improvised responses, occasionally cycle, weaves through the words. At times dictates the pace, but then slows down and plays it straight. The instruments, sax, guitar and piano, puncture and cradle the words; for ‘drama’ hear Peter Brotzmann, for ‘I’ve got emotions too’, hear Film Noir. David McLean is label boss with Tombed Visions and is a key figure on the Manchester/Salford improvised music scene. Gareth Smith is a Manchester based artist working in various music and word based disciplines, concerned primarily with fractured narratives and ambiguity. His spoken word/electronic project, Vanishing, released their debut album in April 2017
Yashashwi Sharma & Shepherds of Cats, long awaited epic album. Going beyond modern recording standards is over one hour long improvised opera. Yashashwi is part of Liverpool based modern trip-hop collective Venusian. Together with John Pearson, they have performed in the UK and India, with their music appearing in independent movies in London and commercials on international TV. Comprising of gloomy downtempo beats with keyboards and powerful, evocative vocals, to date, Venusian have released three albums: Patterns in the Ivy (2012), The Flight of the Flamingo OST (2013) and Wolf Track Mountain (2014). Shepherds of Cats is audio visual improvising band creating sonic stories and worlds, drenched in incredulity of their own existence happily collaborating with other improvising artists. They also know for their collaboration on international project Butoh Techno.
Meantime, while awaiting for the new albums to come, we highly recommend to go out to local parks or meadows and listen to what is squeaking in the grass …
