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29 November 2020 11:14Oh my god I am on top of the world, I was so lucky & someone sent me a copy of Chanctonbury Rings for my birthday, and it is so much more transcendent played on a proper record player through proper speakers - it's so wonderful, so much thicker and richer.
I suppose I'll do you all a proper write up for it soon - it's text from Julian Hopper's Old Weird Albion about going for a walk at a stone circle, set to pastoral uncanny music by the Belbury Poly - Ghost Box's inhouse band - and Sharon Krauss - but one thing I want to highlight is that its a rare Ghost Box release that can still be got as a record, which is lucky really because it's easily my favourite. The hauntological music thing can often be clever-clever in a way that forgets to be pleasurable as music, but this is not one of them. This is - astonishingly us, perfect for meditation or reflection, it's wonderful as text and wonderful as sound. This is magic engraved onto vinyl. & it makes clear the importance of a Reading List in fencraft, the idea that we have created nothing new but we are rediscovering it - Hopper's words are familiar because we have heard the same thing in the hills, and we form part of the same seam of culture which explores it.
& also one thing I highlight in my writeup for the website is the importance of Hopper's american accent - something, i confess with shame, i initially found a little offputting about the album's sound. But on reflection - this is an exceptionally perfect album - I think i like the political implications of a "foreign" voice creating such unabashed English landscape weird - I think it says something vital about who these stories belong to, and if the timbre of a voice is unexpected or unwanted, then maybe one should sit with that a little longer and reflect on what that means for England as a place, if you recognise so few voices as English ones.
(also whine time. The album cover came bent :/ The record itself came undamanged, but I can't work out how important it is to me that the cover is damaged. I don't want to cause problems for someone who sent me a present, but also, fuck amazon. I am definitely a person for who this Matters A Lot but idk, it's not like I'm every going to sell it, but also what's the point of being a record collecting human if you're not a bit anal about this for your own pleasure. The art is a big part of this label's appeal, but it's also supposed to be a bit 70s so perhaps the fact its crumpled is like, I can pretend I found it second hand in a box)
I suppose I'll do you all a proper write up for it soon - it's text from Julian Hopper's Old Weird Albion about going for a walk at a stone circle, set to pastoral uncanny music by the Belbury Poly - Ghost Box's inhouse band - and Sharon Krauss - but one thing I want to highlight is that its a rare Ghost Box release that can still be got as a record, which is lucky really because it's easily my favourite. The hauntological music thing can often be clever-clever in a way that forgets to be pleasurable as music, but this is not one of them. This is - astonishingly us, perfect for meditation or reflection, it's wonderful as text and wonderful as sound. This is magic engraved onto vinyl. & it makes clear the importance of a Reading List in fencraft, the idea that we have created nothing new but we are rediscovering it - Hopper's words are familiar because we have heard the same thing in the hills, and we form part of the same seam of culture which explores it.
& also one thing I highlight in my writeup for the website is the importance of Hopper's american accent - something, i confess with shame, i initially found a little offputting about the album's sound. But on reflection - this is an exceptionally perfect album - I think i like the political implications of a "foreign" voice creating such unabashed English landscape weird - I think it says something vital about who these stories belong to, and if the timbre of a voice is unexpected or unwanted, then maybe one should sit with that a little longer and reflect on what that means for England as a place, if you recognise so few voices as English ones.
(also whine time. The album cover came bent :/ The record itself came undamanged, but I can't work out how important it is to me that the cover is damaged. I don't want to cause problems for someone who sent me a present, but also, fuck amazon. I am definitely a person for who this Matters A Lot but idk, it's not like I'm every going to sell it, but also what's the point of being a record collecting human if you're not a bit anal about this for your own pleasure. The art is a big part of this label's appeal, but it's also supposed to be a bit 70s so perhaps the fact its crumpled is like, I can pretend I found it second hand in a box)
