Sundaze 1837

Hello, last week hurricane Florence announced itself as a Cat 4 storm, a few days and lot's of panic later the wind fizzled out but now it won't move and is dumping huge amounts of rain, not cool, but at least most property is still standing, i wonder if we have witnessed experimental weather modification of the defensive kind.

Meanwhile over in Singapore it's a weekend of F1 night racing, there was an phenomenal qualifying lap by Hamilton and specially Verstappen in the straight-line slower Red Bull. Interestingly the #1 drivers were clearly separated from the #2 drivers in today's qualification it delivers a nice mix up of the top 3 teams at the start, hopefully it won't be a carnage like last year.


Today's Artists  are an English experimental space rock band formed in Bristol in 1992 and led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook (now Rachel Coe) of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation, other musicians contributing to the group's recordings and life performances included Rocker (ex-the Flatmates), Matt Elliott (aka the Third Eye Foundation) and Sam Jones (of Crescent). There must be something about the landscape around Bristol, England, that incites its denizens to travel ever deeper inward in order to find inspiration for their art. Not at all dissimilar to the contemporaneous trip-hop scene that flourishes at its doorstep, they create a trance-like, decidedly cerebral sound — albeit without the vaguest insinuation of danceability. There's an eerie, elusive bliss in the collaborations between home-recording wizards Rachel Brook and David Pearce — kind of like an elongation of that sensorily unbound moment when wakefulness is about to give way to sleep .. .....N'Joy

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Pearce had previously been a member of Ha Ha Ha, releasing the Up and Down EP in 1985. He then formed Rosemary's Children, issuing the 1986 single "Southern Fields" and 1987 album Kings and Princes. While at art school in Farnham, he met other Bristol musicians and played through the early 1990s as a member of various groups including the Secret Garden, the Distance and Linda’s Strange Vacation. Flying Saucer Attack formed in 1992 as a loose collective centered on the core of Pearce and Brook, releasing their debut single, "Soaring High", in January 1993 on their own FSA label. Their second single, "Wish", followed that June. Both singles were issued as limited edition vinyl 7-inches in handmade packaging. Drawing on sources such as krautrock, folk and dream pop, the group referred to their DIY sound as "rural psychedelia" and were associated with bands of the contemporary post-rock and shoegazing scenes. FSA were able to create a small but enthusiastic fanbase, and were notable for recording most of their output at home, avoiding recording studios

The group's first studio album (self-titled, but sometimes called Rural Psychedelia as those words appeared on the cover) was released in 1993, and included a noisy cover of Suede's contemporary single "The Drowners", which provoked press interest in the record. Like the earlier singles, the album was released on FSA's own label by Heartbeat Productions, and was deliberately only made available on vinyl. The album was released in the United States by VHF Records in early 1994, on CD and vinyl – the CD bore the legend "compact discs are a major cause of the breakdown of society" (other releases would carry messages such as "keep vinyl alive", "home taping is reinventing music" and "less is more").

The band then signed to Domino Recording Company. The first release for the new label was Distance (October 1994), which collected the early singles and some unreleased material. It was released in the US by VHF. A contemporaneous non-album single, "Land Beyond the Sun", was Flying Saucer Attack's first release on US label Drag City, who issued it on 25 September 1994, followed by a Domino release the following month. A second studio album, Further, was released 17 April 1995 by Domino and Drag City. A cover of Wire's "Outdoor Miner" was released as a single that year. Another singles compilation followed, Chorus on 20 November 1995, including a sleeve note stating that "this album marks the end of FSA phase one". In 1995, Brook left the band to concentrate on Movietone.

A version of the folk song "Sally Free and Easy" was initially only released as a single on CD on 5 November 1996; the sleeve note explained that the pressing plant had been unable to cut it to vinyl (a US plant later achieved the feat by using a monaural master, and it was issued on 12" by Drag City). Full-length 1996 releases included In Search of Spaces, an album consisting of early 1994 live tracks (mainly unstructured noise, released by Bruce Russell's Corpus Hermeticum imprint), and Distant Station, an album with two long tracks constructed by fellow Domino act Tele:Funken from samples of the band.

The three-song "Goodbye" EP, released 21 January 1997 on VHF Records, was a mix of old and new material; the second track, recorded live in April 1995, featured New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery. New Lands, Flying Saucer Attack's third studio album, was released in October 1997. The band described it as "phase two", but it did not depart from the usual mixture of aggressive feedback and noise, and gentle folk-influenced melody. After New Lands and a final vinyl-only 7" single, "Coming Home", both issued in 1997, Pearce left Domino.

The "phase 2" version of Flying Saucer Attack accepted an invitation to participate in a tribute album to Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, who was dying of lung cancer. More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album, featuring their cover of "Grey - Afro", was released by Birdman Records on 6 July 1999. Flying Saucer Attack's fourth studio album, Mirror, was released 17 January 2000 on FSA, effectively marking the end of the group for the next 15 years. Pearce subsequently collaborated with Jessica Bailiff under the name Clear Horizon; the duo released an eponymous album on Kranky in 2003.

The only new material released by the band during their sabbatical came in 2008, when Flying Saucer Attack participated in a two-disc Fire Records compilation setting all 36 poems from James Joyce's 1907 Chamber Music poetry collection to music by contemporary alternative acts. After a 15-year hiatus, Flying Saucer Attack released a new album, Instrumentals 2015, on 17 July 2015.

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An unusual and striking document of the FSA live experience, In Search of Spaces consists of instrumental snippets from a series of shows in the early '90s with a rotating lineup, including Matt Elliott of Third Eye Foundation. The number of shows FSA has ever done is nearly nil to begin with, and no live line-up was ever quite the same. Corpus Hermeticum/A Handful of Dust mainman Bruce Russell then edited and wove everything together, creating a single-track CD that runs for 50 minutes. In Search of Spaces definitely rewards the patient as a result, but those willing to take the plunge will be well-rewarded. Given the general FSA recording approach of home-taping and anti-gloss, the crumbling and murky results aren't too far off from the band's studio releases (indeed, the liner notes claim the recordings come from audience tapes rather than soundboard streams). If there's little or none of the sudden crispness that makes songs like "In the Light of Time" so striking, the moody, post-psychedelic reach of the performances more than makes up for it. As there's no way to tell when or how anything was done, making judgments on the basis of improved abilities over the time or the like is impossible -- In Search of Spaces needs to be taken at face value. Elliott's contributions likely result in the occasional drums, but Pearce's unearthly guitar howls and shattering, abrasive yet lovely feedback arcs take understandable pride of place. Singling out particular moments to concentrate on can take some patience, but there's a lengthy jam starting around ten minutes in with a low, rumbling rhythm providing the background for some wonderful guitar craziness from Pearce and others.

Flying Saucer Attack - In Search Of Spaces (Live) (flac  285mb)

01 In Search Of Spaces 50:25

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Likely titled New Lands due to Flying Saucer Attack being lauched upon "phase two" (as the liner notes put it), this release finds FSA down to Pearce and Pearce only, as before with a bit of help here and there from Rocker and, on "Present," the co-writing skills of two members of Amp. That the first two tracks are called "Past" and "Present" and that the first has more of a "classic" FSA sound with a steady rhythm and huge solo while the second revolves around a buried, near inaudible series of loops, seems to be part of the album's plan, such as it is. New Lands in general showcases Pearce in testing mode, seeming to see what works and what doesn't, looking backward as much as forward. Indeed, the lengthy, majestic steady build of "Whole Day Song" reappears from the Goodbye/and Goodbye EP, this time with vocals and a low-key, softly intoxicating piano line. While the more experimental parts of New Lands aren't really Pearce completely trashing his general aesthetic and trying something new, they do show him attempting and often succeeding at introducing further variety to his murky, intriguing field. Thus, "Up in Her Eyes" has a very familiar vocal and guitar style, but the obsessive, upfront yet still shadowy percussion -- sounding more like a chugging train engine than anything else -- dominates the track, at least up until its slightly more ambient, free-flowing end. Other curious rhythms, reminiscent of past comparisons to the work of Main, crop up more than once -- the near arrhythmic, squealing loop that introduces "Respect" or the blunt, brusque punch of "The Sea." Through it all, the combination of Pearce's tender, dark folk vocals and skybursting guitar provides the central point of the experience, making for some fascinating, entrancing results.

Flying Saucer Attack  - New Lands  (flac 351mb)

01 Past 3:09
02 Present 4:11
03 Up In Her Eyes 5:49
04 Respect 3:20
05 Night Falls 6:03
06 Whole Day Song 7:15
07 The Sea 6:51
08 Forever 12:19

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The sweeping billows of sound that begin "Space (1999)," the opening track of Mirror, Flying Saucer Attack's first album of the 21st century, set the tone for this ride on the clouds. The blurring of lines between noises and notes, of sounds and music, give this album a soothing and ambient feel. Atmospheric guitars layer the background, simple basslines provide the anchor, and sound effects take the sound further into space. Dave Pearce's gentle vocals keep the album a mellow affair throughout, except for the out of place "Chemicals," which unfortunately breaks the mood with its quasi-industrial feel. Some of the songs do seem to wander aimlessly, however, and Mirror occasionally gets tangled in its own loose web. Overall, these surges of sound are best enjoyed in the late evening or early morning hours, depending on your intention. Both results are great. Either you will enter one of your most relaxed states of sleep or will awaken as if by a wave of feathers.

Flying Saucer Attack - Mirror  (flac 321mb)

01 Space (1999) 3:23
02 Suncatcher 2:44
03 Islands 8:34
04 Tides 2:49
05 Chemicals 3:39
06 Dark Wind 4:44
07 Winter Song 4:39
08 River 3:56
09 Dust 5:09
10 Rise 6:50
11 Star City 4:12

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Personal selection of live material compiled by Dave Pearce for "casual" release. The centerpiece is "P.A. Blues," a massive collage of bracing, full-on sound recorded at various 1994 shows. Moving through various moods and grooves, the piece is similar to the material on the out of print In Search Of Spaces/Live CD released a few years back on Hermes Corp, tho' there's no overlap in the content between the two CD's. Also included: the 1995 group's take on the oft-covered "She Moved Through The Fair, a subdued performance of "The Season Is Ours," and an uncirculated (and assaultive) 1994 instrumental rehearsal, which I believe pre-dates FSA's first live performance.

Flying Saucer Attack - P.A. Blues (flac  442mb)

01 P.A. Blues 37:46
02 She Moved Through The Fair/Destruction 11:11
03 The Season Is Ours 2:46
04 Instrumental 14:28

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On Flying Saucer Attack's first album in 15 years, it seems as if Dave Pearce is leaving the project's history in the past and rebuilding it from the ground up. Instrumentals 2015 consists entirely of drifting, effects-heavy guitars; no vocals, no acoustic guitars, no Wire covers, no blown-out drum'n'bass breaks. It's the sound of FSA re-emerging from a bunker and cautiously exploring the surface, carefully attempting not to disrupt anything on its initial investigation above ground. The album stays true to FSA's D.I.Y. aesthetic, and was recorded directly to cassette and CD-R by Pearce at his home, so it constantly has a faded, grainy texture to it, contributing to its otherworldly feel. The album's 15 tracks are numerically titled, and while that may give them a generic appearance, they have a diverse characteristic range, from brief, wispy fragments to complexly layered drones that stretch out toward the ten-minute mark. Pearce is a master at building blankets of sound consisting of intricately woven clusters of notes, and they're often held together with haunting melodies. If there's any rhythmic element to these instrumentals, they ebb and flow in waves, such as in "Instrumental 9." The most startling track is "Instrumental 6," an 80-second burst of Merzbow-like harsh noise. The piece that follows seems to be buried behind an air-raid siren, and it keeps cutting out as if the tape is damaged, which of course adds a suspenseful pace to it. "Instrumental 14" is bathed in backwards effects, and stunning ten-minute conclusion "Instrumental 15" expands toward space, yet seems to be the most focused, deliberate composition on the entire album, with each carefully placed note playing a crucial part. Instrumentals 2015 feels like a successful reinvention after such a lengthy absence, but at the same time, it could've been beamed in at any point during FSA's existence, as its elemental, bare-basics construction isn't beholden to any trends, and therefore it feels timeless.

Flying Saucer Attack - Instrumental (flac  266mb)

01 Instrumental 1 0:58
02 Instrumental 2 2:58
03 Instrumental 3 6:27
04 Instrumental 4 4:11
05 Instrumental 5 1:38
06 Instrumental 6 1:22
07 Instrumental 7 6:56
08 Instrumental 8 1:14
09 Instrumental 9 4:08
10 Instrumental 10 2:52
11 Instrumental 11 4:15
12 Instrumental 12 0:42
13 Instrumental 13 1:53
14 Instrumental 14 7:49
15 Instrumental 15 9:42

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