Picture a scene in time lapse. From a breaking dawn follows parting clouds. Trees blow, their branches swaying from a wind unseen but felt by many. Birds trace the sky, ants march from their nests, the world awakes. A light powers on and in tandem a car exhaust bellows its fumes. Life asserts itself onto this earth, all of which is captured in this one, prolonged moment.

Now imagine something altogether different. First, witness the crack of an eggshell and then visualise the merging of textures. The thick, clear innards of the egg are blended with a coarse sugar, powdery flour and a solid, sticky butter. It’s an effort but they join together, forming into a blonde coloured slime, with a drooping consistency.  A simple act of heat will transform this messy substance into an entirely edible creation. A cake will arise and its sweetness will be a taste to behold.

From here we’ll diverge slightly. Let’s internalise. How did we reach our present? What were the conflicts and the pleasures which brought us here? We met crossroads, suffered loss, felt love and experienced hope. This was what drove us forward, these merged emotions. Yet here we stand, unaware of the future. The road that lies ahead is an unpredictable one, but the only certainty is that our destinies will be formed by conflict and the convergence of elements both human and of the world itself.

So what of sound? Not everything is comprised of something visual. Those heart strings can be pulled by reverberations too! Let’s consider what influenced the above and how its wholeness is also dictated by the meeting of varied notes. Our subject is a musician, Jerome Alexander. He has an alias, Message to Bears, and an accomplice in Laura Ashby who plays stringed instruments. For this exercise we’ve been invited to explore “Folding Leaves” which marks the second long player from his musical canon. His formula is precise; subtle narratives woven together from varied influences, but his impact is vast.

Small worlds of sound will form as we enjoy this record. As with our thoughts on captured moments, baked goods and the journey of life itself, the nine fragments at work here are built from the brilliance of joining. Whether guitars, violins, chanted voices, field sounds or minimalist thuds of percussion we witness the beauty of noise in unison.

Each song is guided by a strange juxtaposition. An undoubted melancholy rests at the base of the tracks and as the ingredients of each number dance around, connecting with one another to form these creations; they are supported with a piercing light of encouragement. It is to this effect that these songs take on the presence of something more than just music. The sounds feel like some sort of digestible air whose nutrients and vitamins will tug at the inner workings of one’s emotional foundations.

To move away from the conceptual and diverge into the literal, let us conclude by encouraging others to enjoy this musical experience. “Folding Leaves” truly is an excellent work; a winter composition to savour and one that should be embraced by a listener willing to let their emotions amalgamate through the binding of multifarious sounds.

- Josh Atkin for Fluid Radio

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www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com

I first discovered the music of  Michael Curtis Hilde (known here and on all the releases I have by him as Mountainhood) through a beautiful hand painted cdr called “Live at Deerborn house”. The cover was exquisite, and each one was hand painted by Michael containing a world of his own making, re-imagined in some of the best album art I’ve seen in a long while. Shortly later I purchased an equally beautiful 7” on Important Records. Both extremely well dressed records then but what of the music.? The music on all the previous recordings I have heard by Mountainhood was as beautiful as any of the artwork, if a little more ruff and ready and decidedly lo-fi. All good things…

So where to begin with “America 2 or Nahuel Huapa Asaga the Intense Vibes of the Rainbow A Tale of Transformation of my Brother”? Lets begin by saying that this is a two disk set containing 29 tracks, many of these taking the form of wonderfully realized songs, others in the style of drifting dronworks, all containing a variety of sounds and textures. The work hangs together tremendously well considering the scope and ambition of a project over an hour and three quarters in length.

On and On (the rainbow song) keeps popping into my head, it‘s just one of many short and sweet songs on offer here, I suspect Rainbows are a fairly central part of Mountainhood imagery, and why not. “Salvia Superman” could be a more drugged parallel universe Donovan, or perhaps not. “Emar’o neh va” is a sweet flute or recorder melody, totally lo-fidelity, with clapping and vocals drifting in and out of the mix from across the campfire. “Welcome to the Mountain” is a bucolic seven minutes or so of wordless vocal light percussion, guitar and chiming goodness. Disk two begins with the equally brilliant “Rainbow welcome”, and we’re off again….”Whales visitation”, time to take the delta factor off the bookshelf and let Timothy Wyllie join the ride!

So what else is there to say here? Well lyrically things move from the naive to the psychedelic to the profound. Perhaps the dream landscape of Michaels art and music are just using these mediums and Michael to get there message out there, wherever these things come from doesn’t matter, the fact they are here at all means that we are all so much better off. “Time Outside of Your Mind” indeed.

One of the things I like best about “America 2” is that it is a long, bold visionary statement in a world increasingly dominated by single song downloads. It is completely out of time and place with what the music industry expects of an artist in 2011, it is completely outside of this and standing proud. Hats off to Mountainhood.”

- Mathew Shaw for Fluid Radio

Available through Stashed Goods and Dead Pilot Records

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com
www.mountainhood.com

Message to Bears has a brand new album ready and waiting to be unleashed into the world entitled “Folding Leaves”, but we (Dead Pilot Records) need a little help from you guys to make it happen. We also want to re-release the long sold out “EP1″.

So here’s the deal….

What we need and what you get:

Instead of offering you guys a straight forward pre order, we want to offer you a bunch of options, with some extras and bonus perks especially to say thank you for your help. We need to raise around £3,500 to help us cover a bunch of costs for the releases. That includes paying the lovely Keith Kennif for his mastering skills, the amazing Jake Blanchard for his illustrations, The Sound Is Not Asleep for their PR and of course the pressing plants for their shiny CDs and vinyl. In return for your funding, you can not only get the new album “Folding Leaves” and/or “EP1″ on CD and vinyl, but you can also get a bunch of awesome extras we’re including just for you! These includes a hand written thank you letter from Jerome, a bonus disc of demo versions and remixes, special edition packaging and more! Just for you! These will all be sent to you shortly after the campaign is finished!

Why you should care:

Message to Bears aka Jerome Alexander and I have been working together since 2007. We’ve achieved a lot in a short space of time but want to push things even further. These days it can be hard for an artist or label to survive and we are extremely grateful to all the fans who have supported us a long the way so far. Now we want to be able to offer something special to you guys, as a thank you, whilst you you help us bring our vision of getting more of Jeromes music out there to life. Dead Pilot Records wouldn’t have made it this far, and neither would Message to Bears, if it weren’t for all the wonderful people who have helped and supported us a long the way, so this is our way of saying a big thank you, because without you, none of this could happen!

Ambient musician Daniel Mackenzie returns once again as Ekca Liena with this re-issue of the critically acclaimed Slow Music For Rapid Eye Movement…

Originally released on Dead Pilot Records on a limited edition of 100 CDr in 2008, Slow Music For Rapid Eye Movement has been remastered and expanded for the label once again in a further run of 300, now featuring an extra disc of covers and remixes by artists such as Clem Leek, Nick Hudson and Duncan Harrison. With past releases on Under The Spire, Phantom Channel and Dead Pilot Records, Mackenzie’s work has been gathering favourable reviews and increasing attention, most recently on the full length Sleep Paralysis.

Working with heavily distorted guitar and synthesizers, Mackenzie sculpts his harsh sound into unexpectedly digestible rhythms and melodies, the material nodding subtly toward artists such as Tim Hecker and Fennesz. Once again dealing with a stage of sleep, the music is well suited to this subject and the use of reverb-laden guitar lines suit the atmosphere perfectly without becoming overly concerned with the theme.

Following the ambient dirge of opener Unfolding, Fire Emerging From Mist is a track epic in scope. Beginning at first with electronic static awash, this static is succeeded by a repetitive guitar riff which continues for some minutes until it is at first threatened with, and then ultimately destroyed by, sweeping modulated distortion. The mammoth Further Longer blends an eastern mysticism with noise for an almost EP length of seventeen minutes before the album closes with Missing Ending / Unfolding Revisited.

Though it is a later addition, the remix disc is itself worth exploring, as rather than feeling like a hastily thrown together CD for the sake of appealing to completists, care has gone to making the remixes true value for money and they stand on their own merits. From the jazz-leaning Reverse Erasing Cover by Nick Hudson to Clem Leek’s remix of Missing Weeks, there is a wealth of audio here and almost an hour of additional music.

Whether one is revisiting the album or listening for the first time, Slow Music For Rapid Eye Movement is another fine release from the consistently excellent Dead Pilot Records.

Available through Stashed Goods

- Review by Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com
www.myspace.com/kitearc

“How did this one slip my radar?” These the thoughts of a reviewer left startled after a first listen through ‘Departures,’ the debut full length release by musician Message to Bears. Originally available as a limited edition CD in 2009, other listeners will thankfully be treated to a re-release in 2011, this time as a Vinyl only release.

Message to Bears is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Jerome Alexander. Creating delicate soundscapes through looped guitar, strings, percussion and samples, the music presented is intimate, emotive and heartfelt. Best classified as an album of acoustic excellence, “Departures” successfully collates sounds from folk and classical music’s past, in turn meshing to form a contemporary fusion of these inspirations.

Listeners will taken through songs layered with vocal hums, plucked guitar and strings like on numbers such as ‘At The Top Of This Hill,’ ‘Autumn,’ ‘Find Our Way Home’ and ‘Hidden Beneath.’ On some of these tracks, including the excellent ‘Snowdonia,’ the addition of glitch ridden beats and audio samples are woven into the mix, providing a sense of the modern world to fuse with these reflective sounds of yesteryear.

Elsewhere they will hear fine examples of present day classical sounds. The string filled movements on ‘Hope’ providing sombre moments, while samples of rainfall blend well with the weeping bows and cinematic piano of ‘November.’

The music travels through this album at a graceful speed, with each song capable of inspiring hope, whilst also clutching at more mournful emotions. Indeed this juxtaposition of emotive qualities is found in strong voice on ‘Running Through Woodland’ a track whose sadness is conveyed through guitar, with warm strings offering signs of healing.

‘Departures’ comes as a surprise both in its quality but also as it has taken a couple of years for its creator to now be known to this reviewer. However, this surprise is most definitely a pleasant one, as the album will no doubt be enjoyed thoroughly forthwith. He can now only encourage listeners to do what is sensible and make this record an essential entry into their collections.

- Review by Josh Atkin for Fluid Radio

250 copies pressed on 180gram black virgin vinyl (pressed at Record Industry), packaged in full colour & hand numbered tip-on Stoughton sleeves with full colour inners. All manufactured to the highest possible standard. Purchase through the Fluid Radio store Stashed Goods

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com
www.myspace.com/messagetobears

Album Of The Week: Culled from hours of orchestrated tape loops, “Against a Backdrop of Blue Hills, They Were as Beautiful as a Lullaby” finds Jannick Schou circumnavigating the folds of a rich, effervescent landscape with monsoon-like drones, mountainous drifts, and suspended tones.

Tape loops designed as torrential storms, evasive sounds peak from crevices, me sat transfixed in a half-conscious state, between wake and sleep, exploring the nether regions with a thousand yard stare. “Against a Backdrop of Blue Hills…” provides the canvas for a drifting stasis, wavering and dissolving amongst glimmers of thoughts; me, immobile, intent on the far reaches of the ether, a study of the minutia, the cataclysm of antimatter, an assured focus of the universe condensed in my writhing hands, my feet seemingly suspended above the floor, weightlessness, a “Departure”, fleeting tracks such as “Untitled II (For Tape) and “A Wave in My Backyard” allow distance from the body, now a separate entity; the mind is adrift. All extremities go numb in “Blue Hills”; the listener is left with an awareness of location but one’s surrounding are intangible—the closeness of the music develops even further; an overwhelming oneness ensues.

How to write about a dissolving? Of being erased as the music fades away? Jannick Schou fills in the emptiness with a persistent downpour of sound, creating an overabundance of feeling. I tried reading whilst listening but Proust’s words fell off the page. “Kant” designed images to wade in, mountains to explore, but words moved off the page as my eyes fell out of focus. There is a hollow. Schou mines dirge-like territory to find burrowed light. As “19.17” begins, I am reminded of Robert Creeley’s poem, “Oh No”:

If you wander far enough
you will come to it
and when you get there
they will give you a place to sit

When you fall into the noise and grasp the fine particles that gleam underneath, you will know when you have gotten there, and they, those whom you find, whether inanimate or not, will give you a place to sit.

Originally self-released as a digital download, “Against a Backdrop of Blue Hills…” is presented in a remastered, reedited, and recontextualized edition, packaged in a sublime letter pressed arigato pak by the astute folk(s) at Dead Pilot Records. The first 100 copies of this sublime release include a bonus CDr of remixes of Jannick’s works.

- Review by Michael Vitrano for Fluid Radio

Pre order from Dead Pilot

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com
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Lost Chords is the latest album from French experimental guitarist Guilluame Gargaud, an artist who’s improvisational method of performance and recording has seen him gain a strong following amongst discerning listeners. Following acclaimed previous releases on Utech and Dirty Demos, Lost Chords comes via Dead Pilot Records and could well be his finest work to date.

One must experience Gargaud’s music in full to properly appreciate his unique take on solo guitar and though his sound may be superficially similar to noise pioneers such as Tim Hecker and Fennesz, Gargaud occupies his own ground somewhere between the two. Perhaps a more apt comparison would be with John Fahey and the genre he spawned, American Primitivism. Within Lost Chords there is material for the keen guitar technique enthusiast to enjoy, but this is no technical bore as can often befall such unusually gifted artists. No, while the listener cannot help but be impressed by the sheer level of talent within this guitarists hands, more remarkable still are his gifts as an arranger and songwriter.

Lost Chords opens with Oeil Humide and Gargaud immediately grabs one’s attention by buffeting the listener with dramatic distortion and feedback. The track is dominated by a high frequency noise, which at times threatens to overwhelm the complex melodies wielded by Gargaud and it is an effective method of setting the tone for what’s to come. Following numbers use similar elements but in a wholly different way, at times sinister and atmospheric as on Sortir, Lost Chords also occasionally veers towards an uplifting and altogether sunny tone – the brevity of these melodic refrains only highlighting their beauty.

Much of the genius of this album lies within Gargaud’s knack for making his improvisational noise guitar solos not just engaging, but an accessible listening experience and when one considers the artists challenging style, this is an impressive feat indeed. Gargaud deftly switches between gentle swelling textures, busy tapping lead guitar and high volume electronics, like a one man noise rock band. It is this talent and the depth of Gargaud’s work which makes Lost Chords a standout release for lovers of experimental guitar-based music.

Available from Dead Pilot Records now, Lost Chords is released in a run of 100 CDr copies in a stickered metal tin with hand numbered textured paper insert. First 20 copies come with photography negative.

- Review by Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com

With only a handful of releases between them, Clem Leek and Jannick Schou have established themselves as rising stars among modern classical composers, and it’s only a matter of time before they become household names and occupy a place of pre-eminence in this humble genre…

Under his own name, as well as through his Cylon moniker, Jannick Schou’s drifting ambience has become a standard of excellence in an over-crowded ambient/drone genre. His release on Under The Spire, “Night”, was a wonderful example of exquisite drone pieces, marrying tape delay and processed guitar to produce four pieces that can soundtrack any nocturnal introspection.

Clem Leek, who will release his much-awaited full-length debut on Hibernate Recordings soon, has, with “Through The Annular” (Scheidos) and “Snow Tales” (Experimedia), produced moving compositions that connect idyllic ambient sounds with assorted field recordings and radio samples.

“Pimlico”, named for, I believe, the small, exquisite area located in London, is a long piece that brings together the unique aesthetic of both artists to create a startling excursion, cinematic in feel, subdued in tone, enveloping in nature, and wonderful all-around. Field recordings, highlighted by chirps of birds, rustling of branches, intermixed with a delicate drone, begin the proceedings, slowly immersing the listener into calm water, with no undertow. Submerging the listener even further, the serenity is heightened by layered drones and shifting soundscapes that alter and augment the piece towards a stunning conclusion.

Sadly, this 3” cdr, which comes beautifully packaged in a small box with stickered artwork and vellum obi strip, was only issued in an edition of 60 and is now sold out at the Dead Pilots website. If you did not manage to secure a copy, fear not, it is available for streaming via soundcloud at the Dead Pilots website.

- Review by Michael Vitrano for Fluid Radio

www.deadpilotrecords.co.uk
www.myspace.com/clemleekofficial
www.myspace.com/schoudk

Daniel J. Gregory of Dead Pilot Records returns with his third in the series of short piano based mixes entitled “Eventually, when we’ve tired out all of our promises, what’s left was not worth any of it”…

Daniel W J Mackenzie – Untitled
Clem Leek – London Bridge, Friday, 2:30pm (Live At The Union Chapel)
Simon Cummings – Op12
An Aestetic Voyager – An Aestetic Voyager
Heinali – October
Anna Rose Carter – A Mirror Sitting
Neil Milton – Earth (Or Warszawa)
Christoph Bergh – Poems Written By An Old (Prepared) Piano

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com

Dead Pilot Records are a label that deliver quality bespoke releases on a regular basis and never fail to impress. We felt is was high time they had some fresh coverage on Fluid, and the following post dives into the realms of Cylon, Ekca Liena, Timothy C Holehouse and Expo ’70…

Along with the following reviews we are also offering one lucky winner the chance to win all four albums highlighted below. For your chance to win simply answer the following question sending your answer via this contact form

What is the name of the upcoming Expo ’70 release on Immune Recordings?

Yeah yeah to easy I know, especially if you have been following our recent reviews. This comp will close on 22/10/10. Good luck!

…………………………..

Dead Pilot Records is a Buckinghamshire based independent label which was created by Daniel J Gregory in 2007 as a platform for releasing music by underground artists on physical media and as a counterweight to the increased devaluation of music as a physical product. In the time since, Dead Pilot has released works by the likes of Message To Bears, Stray Ghost and Ekca Liena.

Cylon – Resonanz

Cylon is the solo project of Danish musician Jannick Schou, who also records under his own name. Currently studying electronic music at the Royal Academy of Music in Ahrus, Denmark, Schou has released some of his work for free download on the netlabel he co-founded with Mads Fors in 2009, dotContemporary. Schou has also released material under such labels as Heat Death Records, Under The Spire and Dead Pilot Records.

The six tracks on this album are labelled as Roman Numerals and I opens with ethereal synthesisers providing ambience while a subtle undercurrent of noise gives weight to the track. As the aforementioned noise gains in volume and pace, the piece comes to an apex before all abrasive sounds stop and the melodies play out unmolested. The effect akin to the sun which shines more brightly just after a storm.

From the ethereal opener, the middle tracks often switch between abrasive tones and beautiful noise. Though the tracks are beatless slow-burning ambience, they feel as though there’s an interminable tempo buried deep beneath them until V once again provides the listener with respite.

Jannick Schou is at the apex of current experimental music and shall no doubt be so for years to come. Attempting to summarise these pieces feels a disservice but sufficed to say, each track is a miniature work of art which, when put together, feels like a very special whole indeed.

Cylon is released on Dead Pilot Records in an edition of 250 copies, packaged in hand numbered and hand stamped recycled card digipack and inserts.

Ekca Liena – Sleep Paralysis

Ekca Liena is the moniker by which ambient musician Daniel Mackenzie performs under. Previous releases have included Drones Without Homes (Under The Spire) and Slow Music For Rapid Eye Movement (Dead Pilot Records).

The albums opening track Sleep feels much like an audial representation of the strange and terrifying experience that is sleep paralysis which has so much folklore surrounding it. The piece begins with beautiful, peaceful ambience and could be mistaken for something released on the wonderful Slaapwel Records, except that as the track continues forward, the tones become sinister and foreboding. Indeed, while Slaapwel Records aim is best summed up as music to fall asleep to gently and peacefully, this release by Dead Pilot Records is music to induce nightmares.

After second track Ceiling Ghosts increases the discomfort to an almost unbearable level, Heavy Weather abates somewhat, at least for a time, until adding asymmetric beats and heavy guitar which screams through the speakers.

Step Failure and June 4104 are both heavy tracks which buffet the listener with noise and the relative respite of the two tracks which follow is the calm before the real storm, as then the album closes on Paralysis, a track of beats and loud distorted guitar, almost feeling a little bombastic but there is undeniable passion. The latter part of the track then closes with restrained ambience.

Sleep Paralysis is a challenging, original and bold album. Though the thematic approach behind Sleep Paralysis may well have fallen into a trap of seeming overblown, it’s well executed and Mackenzie perfectly times the beauty, the ominous and the suspenseful.

Released in a run of 250 copies, Sleep Paralysis is packaged in Black bottomed CDr housed in windowed sleeve.

Timothy C Holehouse – In Search Of The Binary Star

In mid 2008, folk/blues musician Tim Holehouse decided that the music he was writing fell into two quite separate styles and so created the alter-ego Timothy C Holehouse for his more experimental offerings.

The album opens with Monster, a folk/blues number with ambient undertones. Slow guitar picking complements down-key vocals which match the track perfectly, the piece increasing in tempo and noise towards the end of the track, reminiscent of Slint’s masterpiece Spiderland.

The Slint comparison holds for second track Swollen Black too, which uses a similar quiet/loud dynamic, though at twelve minutes long Holehouse has more time to build an atmosphere with spoken word vocals and scratchy guitar.

At just two minutes long, Requiem is the shortest song on the album and it once again shows Holehouse’s desire to experiment and explore. The track is a cappella and multi-layered vocals sound like a male voice choir, in a similar way to how Nick Cave is prone to open occasional Bad Seeds tracks.

Red/Black closes the album and is both the longest and most overtly ambient sounding track, at least for the first half. Ebow-like drones pulse rhythmically while wind chimes are soon added to the mix, a crooning vocal matches the mood perfectly. Suddenly the pace changes and the guitars are distorted, loud and backed by drums. The track, indeed the entire album, is Schizophrenic, challenging and exhilarating, helping Timothy C Holehouse set himself apart from many other artists involved in the experimental music scene.

Released on professionally reproduced CD’s in an edition of 500 in slick black on black screen printed digipaks with full colour insert.

Expo ’70 – Death Voyage

Expo ’70 is the project of Justin Wright and the recently joined Matt Hill. Begun in 2003, Expo ’70 has released a number of CDr’s and two full length albums, blending a mix of ambient drone, krautrock and minimalist compositions. Having recently completed a tour of the US West Coast, Wright was accompanied by Kansas City musician Matt Hill, who contributed bass and analogue drum patterns.

Channeling the spirit of classic artists such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, while being compared to Earth and SunnO))), Wright designs much of the artwork for Expo ’70 himself, as is the case with this release.

Opening track Building Celestial Tapestries begins with slow and heavy distorted drones, a central riff repeating throughout the track’s nine-plus minutes. Guitars feedback and electronic noises squeal. The doom/drone repetition puts the listener into a near meditative state.

The lower frequency onslaught continues well into Silent Watcher until busy clean guitar noodles while the mood is kept dark and foreboding. A dark atmosphere is achieved more naturally than the occasionally theatrical SunnO))) and Expo ’70 pull off a post-apocalyptic ambience unmatched by their peers.

In Metensomatosis, Wright and Hill mix things up a little and show that they are not a one trick act. Electronic beats begin the number and the music is kept minimal until the latter stages, when there is a Hawkwind style crescendo of noise.

Death Voyage closes with fifth and final track Summoning Recapitulation Upon the Pyramid Temple. An epic nineteen minutes, the track is noisy and sounds improvisational, managing a balancing act of sounding loose and without direction but still remaining compelling.

A brooding, ominous and surprisingly accessible album, Death Voyage is  a fine example of the use of repetition and minimalism to great effect, a highlight of the genre.

Death Voyage is mastered by Jannick Schou and released in a run of 500 copies on replicated CD in numbered 6 panel digipak with full colour artwork designed by Justin Wright himself.

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In the above four albums, Dead Pilot Records shows itself once again to be an eclectic label which will not be bound by expectations or genre, releasing limited runs of remarkable music.

- Review by Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

www.deadpilotrecords.wordpress.com