mixtape | bleak house: a uk post rock primer (vol 1)

after a 2-week break it's time to get back into the fray. and here's a mix that i've been tinkering with for a while now. if you're a last fm user and a fan of post rock, then you're probably aware of samuel macklin's uk post rock group and therefore of the compilations he's been posting. in which case, here's my version.

post rock, by definition, is hard to define, but i think the original premise of post rock as a genre was the idea of the rock song deconstructed. think of it as an evolution of the dub/beefheart/punk melange of post punk, with added jazz and house music, plus a genuine sense of space combined with an "anything goes" approach. kind of.

i've sequenced the compilation in basic chronological order, so you get a rough idea of the evolution, though of course i'm not included any of the actual influences, just the influencers (if that makes sense). volume 1 covers the period 1981 to 1994.

anyway, like i said, this is just my take on it. i started to write about each track individually, but really you don't need my waffle.

::: dif juz - heset
::: ar kane - sperm whale trip over
::: bark psychosis - i know
::: my bloody valentine - instrumental
::: talk talk - after the flood
::: earwig - every day shines
::: moonshake - seen and not heard
::: papa sprain - bathtime
::: butterfly child - lunar eclipse
::: disco inferno - the last dance
::: insides - darling effect
::: laika - coming down glass

get.

butterfly child | may

super super crackly transfer this, just for that genuine vinyl experience. though if i was really going for it i should have let it slur round the run out groove for 5 mins at the end of each track before it gets turned over. at least that's how most of my records end anyway.

not joe's best record i don't think. but not bad either mind.

released by rough trade in 1992.

mississip.

p.s. i've called this may because i guess that was the month it was released (as part of rough trade's singles club), but it's aka "juice".

butterfly child | soft explosives

third and final (?) album from butterfly child, and while the songs are still there, it has neither the bursting exuberance of "the honeymoon suite" nor the thrilling adventurism of "onomatopeia". instead it maintains a more even, conventional keel - at least relative to its forebears. quite how anyone can compare it to oasis is beyond me, however.

edit: actually, listening again to "the number one", the strings definitely give it an oasis feel, so i take that back. gosh.

released by hit it! in 1998.

download me. *re-upped!*

butterfly child | the honeymoon suite

the follow up to onomatopeoia, more structured, more pop, still lush. passion is the only fruit.

released by dedicated in 1995.

ride me big, sheldon. *re-upped!*

butterfly child | onomatopeoia

i've written about the brilliance of this album before, so this time i'm just going to cut to the chase and post the whole album. two more from him to follow shortly. listen and wonder.

does barry manilow know that you raid his wardrobe? *re-upped!*

various | sunday mix

the weather has been crap recently, lots of rain, grey days and an autumnal chill in the air. it's a shame, but so long as it's sunny mid-may then i'll get over it. i've been itching to get out take pictures of the neighbourhood. the dogwoods are out in full bloom and the streets are covered in pink blankets of petals. maybe tomorrow.

in the meantime, here's a gentle mix for a sunday hangover. happily i don't have one today, but someone else in this house certainly does.

::: pedro the lion - be thou my vision
::: mark eitzel - christian science reading room
::: james blackshaw - running to the ghost
::: movietone - sun drawing
::: south - smoke
::: valgeir sigurðsson - focal point
::: butterfly child - lunar eclipse
::: the wedding present - falling
::: white rabbits - take a walk around the table
::: calliope - did you get what you came for

butterfly child | onomatothingy

most of my vinyl collection is all about nostalgia. i don't mean it's full of tedious sixties throwbacks or tribute bands. i mean i rarely buy vinyl any more unless it's second hand, so the majority are records purchased when i was a teenager. of course most people's teens are both traumatic and exciting in different ways. for me a big part of it was discovering this thing called indie music, a beast whose every grunt seeped into my every pore via weekly doses of nme and melody maker.

and naturally those days are long gone. i'm older and predictably more cynical. the music press no longer holds any sway over what records i buy. but back then if they gave a ride album 10/10 then i'd rush out and buy it.

but i first heard about butterfly child from a fanzine called kerosene, which had lots of grainy pictures of tons of bands i'd never heard of, playing venues i'd never been to. and butterfly child was one of them. they sounded intriguing, essentially the ethereal project of a guy called joe, with links to an even more mysterious group called papa sprain.

these days, records by both bands aren't that easy to get hold of, especially the latter (for which look out for a future post). so here's the opening three songs from butterfly child's debut album, onomatopoeia, on dedicated records. i reckon they're a pretty good encapsulation of his approach: swooning, layered pop that's fit to burst your heart, combined with an otherworldly experimentalism.

i've always seen both butterfly child and papa sprain as part of the uk's far more experimental version of post rock - bands like ar kane, insides, moonshake, bark pyschosis and disco inferno - none of whom were seemingly afraid to "push the boundaries" in order to recreate the sounds they hear in their heads.

and every time ave furs it's way out of the speakers I'm transported back to those less cynical days.

::: ave
::: our lady mississipp
::: lunar eclipse

butterfly child on epitonic
read an interview with joe cassidy