Leyland Kirby - The CD trilogy - Sadly, The Future Is Not What It Was

For the last six weeks or so you have witnessed my quest, ultimately successful, to obtain the trilogy of double-vinyl 12s released by Leyland Kirby. Whatever the reason - curiosity or incredulity come to mind - a large number of people have found themselves here as a result. If vinyl is simply not your thing I can understand that, and if you were unable to partake I sympathize, but a more readily available and more easily handled alternative is now available:

It has the same content as the vinyl releases, but on three CDs instead, and the same track listing and notes too (absolutely none at all) but new artwork. It is available as follows:

LEYLAND KIRBY - Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was (Deluxe Triple CD Edition)
Label: History Always Favours The Winners
3CD // £15.99 [approx. €17.60 and US$ 26.50] plus the appropriate shipping charges.
Released: Oct 2009
Catalogue Number: HAFTW001CD

While Amazon.co.uk list it, it is described as unavailable so they may as well not bother. It is however available from independent retailer Boomkat Records, Manchester, UK and they will ship internationally. The link to this item, including a review etc., is here:
http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=236773

I'm listening to the whole lot, rather over four hours of it, from end-to-end for the first time and I can see a misty but near-full moon out of my skylight window. Perfect for Halloween and, were there wolves in Somerset, I expect that I would be able to hear them howling in the distance as I write...

There are, actually, but Longleat is just a little bit too far away and that puts me in mind of a very sad story from earlier this week: nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell, a promising (and award-nominated) Canadian folk singer-songwriter, was hiking in Cape Breton National Park, Nova Scotia, when she was attacked, fatally, by two coyotes; a shy animal not known as a species aggressive towards humans.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6895020.ece

Note added 3 November:

It is also available on mp3 from Boomkat for £8.99 (€10, US$14.75) but I don't actually know if that facility is available internationally.

From Eden, Home and in Between - Time well spent?

I'd rather bet that it is!

There have been so many things that have influenced my music listening in the last couple of years and the 10" EP, From Eden, Home and in Between, released on Yesternow in 2006, was very certainly one of them. Not only did it open new listening horizons for me (new folk, alt-folk and any other categories that fit in that mould whatever they are called) it alerted me to the possibility that there were others as yet unknown. There were - and even more than I could have then imagined. I have mentioned (link to earlier blog post) the aforementioned Shoreline (link to their MySpace) at least once before in this blog.

Time Well Spent, their first full album, seems however to have been rumoured for ages but now it is due to be released on Monday, 22 September on the Wilkommenen label. If it is anywhere near as good as the EP then it will have, indeed, been well worth the wait!

No shouts, but a very good call!

I mentioned this album in my "want to listen to" list last week. It is released Monday 30th April but thanks to the great folks at Boomkat Records I had the vinyl version arrive in the post on Friday. I have already listened to it at least half a dozen times and it is quite something.

Let's just start with the LP itself: it is two very well pressed discs of heavy vinyl, as there is no attempt to cram the 44 minutes on to a single one, each in its own illustrated slip cover and both contained in an outer sleeve (as illustrated above, with the logo in glossy foil rather than merely printed), plus there is also an A3 poster/lyric sheet. All this for £2 ($4) more than the regular CD - no contest I'd say! It is the most beautifully designed and executed LP package I have seen in a long time. To be quite honest if I didn't actually like the music, and since I had never heard anything from it or indeed either of Electrelane's previous output it was quite possible, it wouldn't have mattered too much!

Now for the music: It is actually quite difficult to describe because it mostly relies on textures and the creation of soundscapes quite heavily, indeed four of the eleven tracks are entirely instrumental and the and lyrics don't tend to be an overpowering element on the others. The result is best described by that often double-edged term 'atmospheric'.
To me it reminds me of walking through a familiar landscape on a very foggy day, or perhaps a vivid dream that has that strange feeling of being real but somehow distorted. I suspect that it will split opinion as I can see that if it doesn't in some indefinable way "make sense" on first listening then it is going to prove hard going. [Writing this review certainly is proving hard going.]
I won't suggest anything it sounds like because I can't think of much that will help in that way. Although in no way the same it is worth noting that Electrelane supported Arcade Fire on the UK leg of their recent tour and if you are a fan of the less "chart-orientated" end of indie then you might find this is well worth a listen...
...and also another album that will baffle your friends with when you play it in the car!