Was mooching around the music shelves and came across this superb cassette length track
Mindflight by
Matthewdavid which I was listening too constantly whilst away on holiday in Pembokeshire this last Summer. This lovely release was a constant companion on my walkman whilst perusing various prehistoric chambers, tombs and mounds, and added a delightful ambient summery vibe to the various places I visited. Think
KLF - Chill Out, Think aborted Jimmy Cauty proto Orb offering
Space, Think distant african tribal drums carried on the wind, Think half rememberd snatches of sound or dialogue and your in the right ball park. The B-side of the cassette is the A-side in reverse, a rip off you may think, but it really works as a sepearate recording in it's own right.
Have a listen to the A-Side
Here.
On a slghtly different tack, I used to own a tape copy of
Capt. Beefheart's Abba Zaba that did something similar to Mindflight. The B-side would bleed through onto the A-side during playback, and vice versa making an out there album even more of an 'out there' experience.
And of course, this is just an excuse to show a few 'megalithic' holiday pixs well.
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| Llech Y Drybedd - Nr Trefwrdn Uchaf |
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| As Above |
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| Carn Menyn - Original Quarry of Stonehenge Bluestone, Preselli Hills |
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| Burial Mound atop Carn Sian, Preselli Hills |
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| Bedd Arthur Circle (Elipse), Preselli Hills |
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| The 'Airforce' Blue of Bluestone |
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| Carreg Coetan Nr Newport Sands |
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| A Rather Sterile Pentre Ifan |
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| The Wicker Man (Castell Henllys) |
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| Castell Henllys Iron Age Fort (reconstructed on actual footprint of fort/buildings) |
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| Pentre Ifan - Mirroring The Skyline |
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| Wogan Caves below Pembroke Castle (no Terry out today) |
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Bluestone Assemblage eroding out of sea cliff Nr Whitesands Bay - Tantilising proof of ancient journey?
(probabably not)
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Hi
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, will be good to look this up. Nice link to the KLF Chill Out: great album. I like its conjuration of the American landscape. Interesting to speculate on ambient music that is suited for / evokes the British Landscape. Judging by your description here I'd say it would be more to do with natural echoes and cave reverberations than the industrialized / transit / train sounds of Chill Out's US.
Hey James, Have you heard the Jimmy Cauty / Alex Paterson proto Orb album Space (Jimmy left before the Orb became an actual band). Each track is named after a planet in the solar system (minus Earth, which I think turned up on the first Orb record 'Adventures Beyond the Ultaworld')
ReplyDeleteAlmost ambient as classical music, it's a lovely album to stare at the night sky to. Link to you tube upload here..
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=vNjW94mB3wk&list=PL9E7D8F8207E9C05A
The Matthewdavid album has a lovely natural ambence to it, unlike the KLF Chill out, as you rightly recognised, has a beautiful evoction of mid century, mid west U.S..
Wasn't sure what to expect when I first got Mindflight, a pal recommended it to me, but it's deffo turned into a firm favourite. I do a lot of hiking, and at some point there is an inevitable 'soundtrack' inolved (usually towards the end when I'm flagging a bit :) Mindflight perfectly soundtracked the ancient landcape and ambience of those rocky out crops of Pembrokeshires Preselli Hills. Hope you enjoy the track. It's quite long at 45 odd minutes, a whole side of the tape, but it's very 'dippable', you don't have to listen to the whole thing in one go. There are golden moments throughout.