Apparently, I buy too many records

My wife Helen, like every other woman i've ever lived with, believes that I buy too many records.

Which, as every record-buying man knows, is a ridiculous belief.

I will concede, however, that I do indeed buy a lot of records and that I don't afford them the same amount of listens and attention that I did 20 or 30 years ago.

To this end, I have decided to blog about the records that I buy, in order to help my appreciation of them - and perhaps to show Helen that I don't buy that many records after all.

Because i'm crap with deadlines the blog posts will be sporadic and probably be about a month or 2 behind but that's just the way i am! The posts will not necessarily be actual reviews (most likely comments, at best) and will generally be pretty damn short due to the reasons outlined above. As a writer in a previous existence i have decided not to worry about writing as art in the pieces but, instead, to attempt to convey feeling over semantic (and often grammatic) perfection.

And 'OCRB'? It stands for 'Obsessive Compulsive Record Buying' - a little known mental health affliction that is potentially damaging to the bank account but ultimately life-affirming. It is sad.......but a nice form of sad.

Monday, 5 December 2011

John Chantler: Automatic Music for Erik Griswold (Inventing Zero)

JOHN CHANTLER - Automatic Music image
A true labour of love this one - ltd numbered edition of 110, signed by the artist and packaged in a lovely silk screened sleeve, the whole thing screams 'piece of art' before you even remove it from the sleeve. I bought this directly from John Chantler (one of the things i love about buying stuff online is that you can often go straight to the source, it makes the whole thing a beautifully personal experience) and am totally enchanted by the 2 sidelong pieces on offer here. The title track is a piece for modular synth whereby glassy sounds fall out of the amp like electronic rain. Behind these droplets is an occasional bass rumble that grounds it and gives the whole thing a sense of perspective. Not a lot happens, to be honest, but the repetitive simplicity is its strength here - focussing on the depth of sound rather than any notion of melody, or rhythm.

The second side is a piece for two organs, whereby the gently undulating tones flow along nicely - each one rising and falling in tone occasionally (and very subtly) to give the whole thing a sense of movement.  I wanted this to carry on for a very long time as it soothed me and made me feel secure and warm - long after the fire had gone out and before i realised that the temperature in here had actually plummeted. Central heating for the soul eh?

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