At first sight you might not recognise the name, but Craig Tattersall has been making music for a good, long while now under a wide range of artist names, either alone or with a number of collaborators. Over the years Craig has been involved in too many projects to name: Hood, the Famous Boyfriend, Remote Viewer, the Boats, the Humble Bee, E&I, the Archivist, Theodore and Hamblin… I imagine these are only the ones I’m aware of. Besides these numerous guises (and voluminous remix work) he co-founded the Moteer/ Mobeer record labels, with Andrew Johnson, and currently oversees the Cotton Goods label (hand making each release out of reclaimed books with an evident degree of painstaking attention to detail and love).

It’s a given that most regular visitors to Fluid, would have heard some of Craig’s music at some point.

I first heard Craig’s music in 2002 on the Remote Viewer album “here we go again on our own”. At the time City Centre Offices were putting out some of the freshest sounding acoustic-influenced electronica around and, for me, the Remote Viewer seemed to define the sound. I remember being amazed that music of this calibre was coming out of my corner of England. Since then, I’d say that Craig’s stuff has been a constant feature of my listening diet – theres always something about it that just compels me to listen and absorb.

Despite the dizzying array of projects and incredible rate of production, there’s always something recognisable, something ‘Craig-y’, about everything he puts his hand to. It’s a unique sound, at once familiar yet always beguiling and somehow elusive. Even in the more abstract Humble Bee material, melody plays a central and paradoxical role – there’s a melancholy touch but it’s never cloying, there’s a kind of well-defined vagueness, neither too overt nor too subtle…always catchy but still forever unlikely to become so familiar as to lose it’s emotional pull.

In this selection, I’ve not even touched the surface of his recorded output. I’ve merely tried to give a bit of a taste of what Craig’s music is about – I think I’ve veered closer to the more beaty/clicky side of things, but in so doing, I know that I’ve neglected to do justice to the more abstract/ambient/experimental music that he produces with such apparent ease (exemplified by the Humble Bee/ E&I releases). Given my clumsy mixing, and limited selection of material, I’m thankful that the gentle beauty and well honed touches of Craig’s work manage to speak for itself.

Give this brief introduction a listen, get comfortable with it, and I’m pretty sure you’ll fall in love with Craig’s vision too. – John McCaffrey

Tracklist:

1: Forget Everything (remote viewer remix)– the famous boyfriend unreleased
2: This is About You, This is About Me – the archivist
3: Pewn – theodore & Hamblin
4: Untitled – remote viewer unreleased
5: No More Wasting Chances – the sea
6: Untitled (remote viewer remix) – brael/tokyo bloodworm
7: Walsh Ambrose – remote viewer
8: 17 Nov 2009 – humble bee
9: The Noises Inside Craig’s Head – the famous boyfriend
10: A School of Cherry Blossoms – the sea
11: You Are Made of Stardust – the archivist
12: At Little Time – the boats
13: Spend More Time With Me – remote viewer
14: The Fucking Bleeding Heart Brigade – remote viewer

www.cottongoods.co.uk
www.moteer.co.uk

Tokyo Bloodworm’s latest album Palestine is of note for two reasons: 1) it’s really damn good, as in year-end best-of list good, and 2) it is the last ever full length for Moteer records. Before we deal with reason one, a few things about reason two: this should leave you slightly heartbroken. For those who know Moteer’s output, there was probably a little pang in your heart when you read those words. For those unfamiliar with the label, their track record speaks volumes. Consider two things: Moteer released debut albums for both Part Timer and The Boats. Those two releases alone are enough to make a label noteworthy but across all 20 Moteer releases (and even all 10 Mobeer releases really), there is a devotion to quality that really borders on unparalleled. Not to mention how many labels Part Timer and The Boats have bolstered since those first releases for Moteer.

When Moteer began in 2003 it specialized in a sort of minimal electronic music that was being hinted at by artists like Boards of Canada and labels like Fat Cat. Moteer took it one step further; the music was more experimental, almost fragile, the rhythms a little weirder. It was music that required a little more time, but rewarded anyone who took the time greatly. In recent years the scope of genres the label released were all over the place – from Yuri Lugovskoy’s extremely underrated debut, which sounds like dub music performed at the bottom of the ocean, to The Ancients and their brand of psych/surf/folk, to Con Cetta’s micro minimalism. The label moved beyond genre boundaries to find artists that were both experimental but also well articulated in their forms. All of this is to say that even though the releases were more sporadic in recent years, the quality never waned and for that reason alone Moteer deserves a serious pat on the back.

And all of that segues back to the first point; the new album from Tokyo Bloodworm is a damn good one and will likely be creeping up on a few best of 2011 lists.  Tokyo Bloodworm’s last release was for Moteer as part of a collaborative album with Brael. It was one of Moteer’s finest moments and an album that one can go back to again and again and still find great rewards. It hinted at what was to come with Palestine.

In a 2008 interview with loastatsea.net, Ryan Keane, one half of Tokyo Bloodworm’s core unit, said of the collective and their song ‘Still Passage’: “Compositionally speaking, we stray from catchy hooks in our tracks. We like keeping a simple, yet subtly complex series of sounds per track. It sounded right in the case of ‘Still Passage’ when the track as a whole felt relaxing, and the scarce notes of melody in the track played off of one another. We are both OCD about details and sometimes we spend weeks at a time on one song and eventually we keep the stuff we are not completely sick of in the final mix. Hopefully in the end, our time and attention to detail appeals to the patient listener”. This same philosophy seems to be at the core of what makes Palestine work so well.

“Canaanite Coast” opens up the album with some striking guitar work, some haunted violins and a collection of sparse melodies via various instruments. It’s experimental, yet accessible. The guitar work serves as a sort of central force to gravitate toward. Even though the song is loose, that guitar seems to offer a roadmap to navigate through the piece. It’s a strong and inviting opener.

It takes all of one note into second song “Pale the Clerics Pass” to recognize why the album is called Palestine; the Middle Eastern influences are striking. And unlike the opener, there is no central instrument driving the melody. There’s a distorted/reverbed beat buried in there that almost goes unnoticed at first, as if the rhythms are so organic that their presence is almost invisble. But once you take note of that beat it’s almost as if all the ‘scarce notes of melody that play off each other’ seem to swell with the echo it spawns. It becomes a sort of pulse keeping the song alive. There are points in the song where the beat disappears and it’s like the melodies hover above some ghostly absence. As the beat drops out completely, a guitar enters…

Suddenly it’s a new song, “Vesica Piscis”, and the delayed/reverbed sounds of the guitar pick scrapping against the strings seem to form the rhythmic foundation of the song. Another point of interest, and not one to be taken as incidental, is that Miles Whittaker (Demdike Stare/MLZ/Daughter of the Industrial Revolution) mastered the disc. Again, that idea of rhythms being organic seems to be the driving force behind the sound. There is no central instrument to gravitate toward; instead the composition relies on a series of small musical phrases from various instruments working in collage to form the melodic thrust of the piece. And indeed much of the first half of the album seems designed to prey on your subconscious and get under your skin in ways that are hard to pinpoint. And yet despite everything being so sparse, there is somehow a sense of urgency to the songs.

“People Do It to Each Other” is driven by percussive elements that have such an off kilter rhythm it’s hard to ever catch up to. Interestingly, the song almost feels as if the percussion was written first and the challenge was to build off that rhythmic energy. It’s hard to pick out individual instruments; all seem to be working in a chaotic sort of harmony. But still that sense of focus is there. By now it’s clear that Palestine is an album both devoted to an idea and insistent on creating a feeling in the listener.

There is a sense throughout the album that it as a whole is developing a narrative, but even within that, it’s as if each song is a story unto itself. Not only that though: the quality of the songs seems to get better and better. “The Garden Shined Our Eyes Away” is an absolute stunner and one of the collective’s best songs to date.  Second to last song, “Flames Set in Wooden Frames”, rolls on over an epic 12 minutes, creating a feel both progressive and cinematic. The song has such a sense of urgency to it that it feels like a train about to speed off the tracks. It feels like the climax that the album has been working toward.

Final song “Everything is Created by the Will for It Too Exist” is the come down after that climax, gently easing the listener out of the experience. It blends Middle Eastern sounds with some Asian influences, hinting that there is even more to this collective’s palette than Palestine would allow. It serves as a great outro and teases at a future filled with many more rich excursions.

As a limited bonus disc, Palestine Remixes offers a strong collection of re-workings from artists including Ian Hawgood, The Remote Viewer, Part Timer, Children of the Wave and Shigeto. The great thing about the remix disc is that it too works as an album. None of the artists involved took a conventional approach to remixing, so the abstract approach to composition that the original album takes is mirrored across the remix disc as well.

If one thing links Tokyo Bloodworm’s Palestine with the previous Moteer full length from Yuri Lugovskoy, it is the fact that both albums have one foot firmly rooted in tradition and the other in innovation. As located in the past as some of its influences may be, Palestine also feels ahead of its time. Four years in the making, this is an album that manages the tricky balance of being both abstract and deliberate: abstract in its approach to arrangement and composition, deliberate in its intent. Reading Ryan Keane’s words from a few years back, it’s clear that this music comes from an intuitive place, and that’s a hard place to write from in any medium. But as most musicians will tell you, it’s also the only honest place to write from.  This is an album rich in mysteries that reward repeated listens. Simply put, this is on the do-not-miss list for 2011.

- Review by Brendan Moore for Fluid Radio

www.moteer.co.uk
www.myspace.com/tokyobloodworm

Andrew Hargreaves (The Boats) by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

We are delighted to welcome Andrew Hargreaves (one half of the fabulous The Boats) to the Fluid Radio mix installments, presenting a bespoke selection of unusual and abstract soundscapes…

‘My original idea was to create a mix called “Sequences out of Control”, but I think my mood changed. Anyway there
are quite a few sequencer lines in their and lots of synthesisers which we can all be thankful for’! – Andrew

Track List:

Klaus Nomi – Nomi Chant
Ryuichi Sakamoto – The End Of Asia
François De Roubaix – Survol
Giorgio Moroder – Chase
Moebius, Plank, Neumeir – All Repro
The Units – High Pressure Days
John Carpenter with Alan Howarth – 69th Street Bridge
Irmin Schmidt & Bruno Spoerri – Two Dolphins Go Dancing
Monoton – Minibeat
John Surman – Edges Of Illusion
Human League – Almost Medieval
Visitors – V-­I-­S-­I-­T-­O-­R-­S
Sparks – Tryouts For The Human Race
Tony McPhee – The Hunt
Screamers – Matar Dolores
Bruce Haack – Invocation And Dance Of Death
Flying Lizards – Trouble
Eno, Roedelius, Moebius – The Belldog
XTC – Somnambulist

Following the release of the wonderful Words Are Something Else and while preparing for a series of live shows in the UK and Japan, Craig Tattersall and Andrew Hargreaves decided to compile an overview of unreleased and rare Boats material. The result is Sleepy Insect Music, a sixteen track compilation of material recorded between 2003 – 2010…

Opening with a laid back track peppered with slow moving subtle tones, Sleepy Insect Music then goes on to cover a whole spectrum of material.

Chris Stewart and Elaine Reynolds join the duo on vocal duties, giving contrast to the moody instrumentals and beat driven ambience. Danny Norbury of Le Lendemain also makes an appearance on cello, his mournful strings adding yet another dimension to this release.

The tracks hold the listeners interest with inventive beats, complemented by a wide array of instruments and breathtaking vocals. Always unhurried, the tracks retain a feeling of space, with notes ringing out and echoing.

Where other performers might content themselves with one stylistic idea per track, Tattersall and Hargreaves eclectic songwriting technique is enthralling and leaves one wanting to spend time exploring the tracks fully, each sitting revealing something more to enjoy.

It’s difficult to mix such disparate ideas, and compilations often suffer from a lack of cohesion, but Sleepy Insect Music has been compiled with great care and attention. Working with restraint, the duos songwriting instincts are inspired and when put together, the tracks feel like one body of work.

Highlighting the many changes in direction and style by The Boats, Sleepy Insect Music is a well executed compilation of impressive scope and variety which will continue to hold the listeners interest over time. Review by Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

Available from Home Normal here
Also from the flau store here
Also through Experimedia here

www.oursmallideas.co.uk
www.myspace.com/bepputheboats
www.homenormal.com
www.flau.jp

Need More Sources - The Grand Scheme Of Things by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

Need More Sources introduces himself to the Fluid schedule with his first instalment focusing on abstract soundscapes…

The grand scheme of things……

“…..A collection of disparate sonic and musical elements are hooded and bound together into the same silent space. If they don’t comply and come to some kind of an orderly arrangement along the lines of the Conductors will – outside agencies are sought and micro-management is imposed onto each individual element. If an element/elements still refuses to be compliant and do what is being imposed; radical attitude adjustment technologies and techniques are liberally applied until said element/elements atone and get in sync with the Conductor.

This process leads to a desired outcome for the Conductor. Though whether this outcome is welcomed, appreciated or even understood by the elements themselves is questionable and remains to be realised by each element personally, but for now; they must be contented and consoled by the fact that they were hand-picked, auditioned and wrangled to play a functional yet disposable part within a larger design.
For the Conductor; the elements had to be ceremoniously sacrificed…..” – n.m.s.

Track List:

1: Clock Watching.
2: Bracing the Elements.
3: Landing Home.
4: Ready, Steady Microwave!
5:  ‘Live Like This’ TV.
6: The News at Sixes and Sevens. (with a stern fucker in a suit)
7: The ‘OFF’ button.
8: 75 Hurts.
9: Allahalla.
10: Dozed Off.
11: Up The Wooden Dancers.
12: Reflecting On The Day.

www.myspace.com/needmoresources

Moteer Exclusive by Fluid Radio on Mixcloud

A superb selection of alternative experimentation from the guys over at Moteer Label…

Track List:

Title – 24th january 2010
Release – morning music (unreleased)
Artist – the humble bee

Title – burn all the letters and the cards
Release – mobeer::09 (futue released)
Artist – david newlyn

Title – untitled – 3
Release – moteer::16 (futue released)
Artist – yuri lugovskoy

Title – inattention opiate
Release – mobeer::14
Artist – con_cetta

Title – flotan-e
Release – depuro – mobeer::09 (futue released)
Artist – insecto

Title – mergers and occupations
Release – moteer::17 (futue released)
Artist – Tokyo bloodworm

Title – diamond eyes
Release – moteer::15
Artist – the ancients

Title – untitled – 4
Release – mobeer::10 (futue released)
Artist – happenstance

Title – acoustic fingerprint
Release – mobeer::09 (futue released)
Artist – the archivist

Title – we will look together
Release – mobeer::09 (futue released)
Artist – david newlyn

Title – the way back home
Release – mobeer::08
Artist – new north wales

Title – untitled – 10
Release – moteer::16 (futue released)
Artist – yuri lugovskoy

Title – mibok
Release – depuro – mobeer::09 (futue released)
Artist – insecto

Title – untitled – 1
Release – mobeer::10 (futue released)
Artist – happenstance

Title – our restless plans
Release – mobeer::08
Artist – new northwales

Title – the garden shined our eyes away
Release – moteer::17 (futue released)
Artist – Tokyo bloodworm

Title – time please
Release – mobeer::09 (futue released)
Artist – the archivist

Title – 19th january 2010
Release – morning music (unreleased)
Artist – the humble bee

www.moteer.co.uk
www.myspace.com/moteer

www.moteer.co.uk