"White Lion / I Want The Lion / White Lion /" etc

    

The first two of Alex Blackmore's Youth Tribes editions, along with a bit of stout packaging in progress.

These figures are really beautiful, 6 inches tall, detail and clobber  dragged from Alex's memory and from photos loaned and uploaded by friends. 

 You'll get a detachable period graffiti'd brick wall, for the figure to glower in front of, and a badge for your Lewis leather or Donkey Jacket.

Ideal for intimidating your Star Wars figures.

Craft Slices. Lathe cut 45s

This is almost unbearably exciting.  2 boxes of Lathe-cut 45s arrived today, the AOIRE single Appyali / Organ Doner, and my Familiar Music EP, which is actually about the length of most singles, but you get four tracks.

If you heard AOIRE at FON in Barrow just before Christmas you'll have an idea of the deepmined intricacies of this music, which is sourced from local band demo tapes, rehearsal cassettes and recordings made by our much loved and missed Ali Rigg, whose home recordings were among the most popular recordings on the Artfly Dock-ola Juke Box during the Play One Of Your Own exhibition. At the same gig you'll have also heard versions of the 4 instrumentals that make up Familiar Music, played on Dulcimers, Guitar and Psaltery. You also hear a Yamaha keyboard and last years Bees in my garden.

The recordings were mastered by Matt Kassel at Seahouse in Barrow, and cut in real time by our friend Ben at Plastidisc. 

https://seahouserecords.com/

https://plastidisc.com/

The quality is marvellous. As is the music, obviously... but Ben and Matt have done us proud here. 

So, now we have to assemble the sleeves and get the records into them. There'll be a launch event, but before that there'll be other news on REVERB.

We'll be back after this short break.

 

Box Fresh: The Teams That Meet In Caffs

 Pieces from the first of 3 editions by Alex Blackmore, The Yoof Culture Collection, perched on their packaging. The Teams That Meet In Caffs, in Donkey Jackets, Dungarees and Wool Caps.  Tea, three sugars, Eggy Bread, NME. 

3D printing by FUSION 3D of Barrow in Furness https://www.facebook.com/p/Fusion-3D-Printing-100085543682492/

info@fusion3dprinting.co.uk

Self-assembly Flatpack.

 These are the sleeves for our lathecut vinyl editions. After a bit of folding and sticking we'll end up with 2 45's, from recordings lovingly mastered by Shaun and Matt Kassel at Barrow's Seahouse Studio. There's also some great footage in the offing from AOIRE/Shaun's FON gig, recorded by Laurence Campbell, associate dust photographer. 

We are Dust Mites / We are Golden.

I've been allowing dust to settle on this LP record for about two and a half years, and today filmmaker / editor Laurence Campbell - who did the video for me and Shaun at FON the other week, and records all their shows - has recorded some marvellous video footage of my pick up-arm ploughing through the dust and of it gathering on the stylus.

An excellent afternoon. Thanks Larry.

Yes Master.

 

Right then.  The masters for me and Shaun's singles are in the hands of Ben at Plasticraft the vinyl lathecutters. Alex is assembling his ranks of picket line indiekids (or something) while me and Jim work on the packaging. The animation is looking good and Ellie is working on a flickbook.  I had a trip to Chesterfield last week to talk to their Museum about a similar project dahn theeyer, and stopped off to talk to Phil, late of The Instructions about their brief and bewildering journey from a flat on Steamer St to the Ambrose for the latest of the heritage interviews project. Then back here for further chats with Glyn Fogharty on drummers and drumming, and Sue Gill on Blast Furnace. I'm stoppininternate it's baltic.

 

Busy Old Week

 

A very busy and very good few days on Reverb. Song Of David, Jim's animation took another giant step, and  We were at Full Of Noises in Barrow Park last week for a performance. We showed a teaser loop from  and I played some of the recordings that will make up the soundtrack and a vinyl release called Familiar Music next year. This was followed by a performance by Aoire.  Aoire deep-mines rehearsal tapes and cassette  releases by for stems and samples, and subjects them to a granular, forensic examination. What emerges is like a hazy memory of youth glimpsed from a middle aged perspective, it floats in a suspension of blue pub air and valve amp hum, pinpricked by shards of clarity. You also heard recordings from what had been the Edisons night club on Abbey Road, kindly made by Jon Borgia,and voices from audience tapes of performances there.

Cassettes of Aoire's music are available here..

https://www.johnhallartistcumbria.com/product-page/aoire-the-keening 

There is video of the evening and the set-up on the way from Laurence Campbell, and audio from various sources, this will be included in the final presentation in March at the Barrow Dock Museum, along with Alex Blackmore's collective Pop Culture Figures. We got the first 3-d proofs of these from Andy at Fusion 3D in Barrow  the day after the show, and they look marvellous. 

You might also look in on Second Spin, Barrow's new vinyl venture on Crellin Street,and our friend Steve Cook's Sergeant Pepperry mural of Barrow music legends, which, I'm proud to say,includes a shot of the Artfly  Jukebox from the Play One Of Your Own exhibition.

Our thanks to all who came to the FON

show,to Larry Campbell for his photos,  and to the FON team for their hospitality.

Great few days.