Australian
instrumentalists This is Your Captain
Speaking launched their second album
‘Eternal Return’ in their home town of
Melbourne in November 2008. The follow up to
their acclaimed 2005 debut ‘Storyboard’,
‘Eternal Return’ has garnered some nice
comments from around the world:
“Perhaps the most important record of the
year. Do not miss it. 9/10.”
- The Silent Ballet (US)
“Breathtaking beauty.”
- Now Like Photographs (US)
“Some of the prettiest music you'll hear
all year.”
- Textura (Canada)
“Beautifully crafted, a blissful
masterpiece.”
- The Organ Magazine (UK)
This is Your Captain Speaking have already
achieved a great deal through word-of-mouth and
music that speaks for itself. Without any record
label in Australia, the band has seen two
sold-out pressings of their debut, a signing to
UK label Resonant Records (Do Make Say Think)
and a 7-week tour of Europe. In 2007 the band
also wrote the original score for animated film
‘The Astronomer’, which was nominated for an
AFI, Australia’s most prestigious film award.
‘Eternal Return’ was released on This is
Your Captain Speaking’s own label in November
2008 and is available at
You've
probably heard by now, and if not you may well
have figured it yourselves.
Around
the turn of the year, the two of us - Andy and
Andy - had a lengthy session of soul-searching,
and decided that it might be time to take a
break. A long break. Maybe a permanent one.
Reason?
Well,
a couple of business dealings towards the end of
last year tipped us over the edge it's fair to
say, but were by no means solely responsible for
our decision.
We've
never made a living from the label but that
never bothered us while we were enjoying it -
but when it became more aggro than was rewarding
it wasn't difficult.
That
said, we're massively proud of our back
catalogue, right up to the last release (Our
Sleepless Forest), and we've had a terrific time
doing it.
Lastly,
your interest and support has been invaluable.
So,
to conclude, to all our friends, bands,
customers and those who've given us valuable
support and guidance over the years, a BIG thank
you one and all.
Andy and Andy
PS:
Our
mailorder sales will continue unaffected via
chunky records. To order any resonant releases
from us just use the discography & shop link above as
before. Shops will also still carry them and
distributors will still handle stock until it
runs dry.
OUR SLEEPLESS FOREST REVIEW IN WIRE MAGAZINE
&
KRUGER MAGAZINE / OSF REVIEW & FUNNY RANT
It
was a weary and woe-begotten heart that cradled
the news a few months back that one of the UK's
most criminally under-rated record labels,
Resonant Records, was going to call it a day.
Reasons? You want reasons?
Well how about those schmucks buying
coffee-table post-rock like Sigur Ros and
Explosions in the Sky in their droves when they
could have had an entire roster of goodness
thanks to this label, clogging up their I-Pod
like too much cocaine packed into your face of a
Friday night: wrong but OH SO RIGHT.
Their loss. Keep playing it safe, yeh, see you
sycophants back slapping each other at All
Tomorrows Parties, convincing yourselves that
Fuck Buttons are actually good, hanging on to
every word Plan B magazine writes. Suckers. I
mean, who are these idiots? They are the
equivalent of the kind of soulless shits that
buy Coldplay, Athlete and Hoosiers records and
go to V Festival. There's millions of 'em with
their shit eating grins and full, contented,
bellies but none of them are your friends,
right?
So if you're gonna go, go in style: and this
Resonant do with aplomb. Our Sleepless Forest's
self-titled album is the kind of uber-heavy,
digitally refracted, space-rock one keeps
reading about but never hears, most bands
claiming the aforementioned title coming on like
a fifth rate Spaceman 3. And what with that
dopey drip, Jason Pierce, inflicting another
album of pretentious tosh upon an already
blighted world, we don't that, right?
Josh Rothberger, Karl Jawara and Sam Purcell are
three young friends from London whose art feels
so utterly in love with the emotional gravitas
and limitless palate of sound. This isn't the
type of 'noise' beloved of cunts in skinny
jeans, American Apparel hoodies and just-so
beards, rather Our Sleepless Forest re-define
'noise' as some kind of gut wrenching, breath
stealing, synapses soothing and/or shattering
harbinger of transcendental wonder.
Seriously, if you aren't weeping by the end of
the majestic reverse-piano symphony that is
Afraid of You, check your pulse. You might well
be dead. (source)
OUT
NOW ON RESONANT
Artist
: OUR SLEEPLESS FOREST
Title : Our Sleepless Forest
Cat# RESCD028 click
here for more info
Label : Resonant
Barcode # 0666017179629
Release Date : OUT NOW!
Absolutely stunning debut album of ambient
electronic space rock from a
frighteningly young three-piece from South
London - their first full
release, having had an early version of album
track 'The Tinderbox' included
on the Type Records 'Free The Future'
compilation.
Having met at school, Sam Purcell, Josh
Rothberger and Karl Jawara started
experimenting with various musical instruments
and sounds using software and
basic recording equipment, inspired by the music
they were into and with the
aim of creating their own wall of sound. After
14 months they emerged with
something they were sufficiently happy with to
allow it to be heard by
others, and ultimately that brings us to the
present day - an eight-track,
45-minute debut that is comparable to any in
this field in recent times.
Our Sleepless Forest's music is multi-layered,
complex and dense, yet
dedication and attention are rewarded as the
intricate slow-build melodies
are revealed beneath the feedback, crackle and
hiss. Reminiscent at times of
the likes of Loscil or even Radiohead's more
out-there moments but on the
whole avoiding the predictable comparisons
associated with music of this
genre, this is an album that simply has to be
heard.
Press to follow; opening track 'Nomads' was
played by Mary Anne Hobbs a
couple of months back, and influential
Manchester-based website Angry Ape
have lined up an interview with the band.
"Beautiful ambient electronica from a
London trio who've spent 14 months creating
their debut album after meeting at school. It's
hard to get the mix of seemingly tranquil,
pastoral electronica which has jagged Brothers
Grimm terrors creeping up on you. But, for 45
minutes, the trio negotiate the divide
perfectly. Darkly gorgeous, they're as good a
British instrumental band as we've had in
years." 8/10 Planet Sound / Teletext
"Having first come to public attention via
the Type Records compilation 'Free The Future',
South London trio Our Sleepless Forest have
prepared a full-length for Resonant, home of the
chilliest post-rock sounds around. This lot make
an especially ambient variant of that particular
genre though, setting their tuneful guitar runs
amongst a backdrop of various outdoorsy sounds,
as on 'The Tinderbox', which is fleshed out with
sounds from echoing spaces and tweeting birds.
None of this sounds particularly fresh or
original on paper, but Our Sleepless Forest pull
it off with more of dreamlike finesse than most.
Expanding their sound further, 'Doors In Limbo'
moves into a glacially slow orchestral mode -
almost like a Stars Of The Lid composition.
Fragments of percussion creep into the clouds of
hiss and echo on 'White Bird' and 'Nomads',
sounding not dissimilar from the tranced-out
drones of Kranky's White Rainbow. All the echo
and cloaked sounds clear up a little by the time
'The Clarion' comes around. You can make out a
full band in there, making like early Sigur Ros
performing in some shaded cavern somewhere at
the heart of a forest. It functions as a bit of
a payoff for all the swirling, amorphous
potential stirred up elsewhere on the album,
which taken as a whole is a pretty terrific
first outing." Boomkat.com
"Having declared Southeast London troupe
Our Sleepless Forest as ‘one’s to watch’
some months ago during a review of Type Records
'Free The Future' compilation, it’s a tad
surprising to see their long-awaited debut
full-length release crop up on the much-loved
Resonant Label. Stranger still, is Resonant’s
decision to go with one of Britain’s most
promising up and coming acts, just before the
label embarks on an “indefinite hiatus”.
That being said, this three-piece, comprising
Sam Purcell, Josh Rothberger and Karl Jawara,
fit in perfectly with their new found home’s
love of melodic music with experimental
tendencies. Billed as Ambient Electronic Space
Rock, such ambiguity doesn’t even begin to
describe the sound of the Sleepless Forest.
Their music is alive, bursting with a seemingly
endless supply of layers. Melodies that spiral
out of control skywards only to be anchored by
swirling mantra-like vocals (at times eerily
reminiscent of the little blonde girl in
'Poltergeist') and huge plumes of monolithic,
reverbed haze.
Brimming with a hermetic radiance, Our Sleepless
tap into the heart-warming naïve charm that has
served other prodigious talents such as Khonnor
and Our Brother the Native so well. The mix of
hand-woven experimental pop with skewed
pyschedelia, campfire forest folk and transistor
crackle space-rock, though, points towards a
mature approach to songwriting and composition.
'The Clarion' is awe-inspiring, with its
sweeping, shape-shifting guitar and swirling
sonic sound effects, recalling such acts as
shoegaze/post-rock forefathers Bark Psychosis. 'Aircastles'
is magical too as reams of melodic mystery blend
with nocturnal insect life and a tempered
dissonance.
'Afraid
of You' is a temporary hitch, utilizing a
hackneyed reverse-loop effect, used by just
about every other band on the planet at some
time in their careers. Let’s be honest, such
tracks are always more filler than killer,
whether you are The Beatles, Stone Roses or,
indeed, a young act from Putney. Perhaps the
alarm bells should ring, why should OSF resort
to such tactics so early on in the band’s
lifespan? Such notions will be swept away,
though, and forgotten about along with the
brilliant white light that the ethereal 'Doors
In Limbo' bathes everything in. The alluring
'White Bird', meanwhile, seals the deal
conjuring images of some lost Aztec
civilization, the half-Gregorian chanting adding
to the mysterious nature of such a piece.
Though not without its glitches, make no
mistake, this is a solid debut from Our
Sleepless Forest, a concrete platform for them
to project sounds and set the controls for the
heart of the sun." Angryape.com
"Frankly, this is an utterly amazing debut
album. Resonoant have released plenty of good
stuff over the last few years, but this quite
possibly ranks as my favourite so far. I don't
want to go bandying superlatives around
willy-nilly, but I find it hard to resist with
this immense piece of work. Huge swathes of
guitar sound with a lightly shoegazing feel
coupled with some subtle electronic work in
amongst it. It's almost like a combination of
Televise and Stafraenn Hakon, but with a little
Seefeel added in from time to time. Just an
amazingly good album that's full of depth. If
you like a spot of guitar music this is
essential." Smallfish.co.uk
"The first track ‘Nomads’ appears on
‘The Wire’s’ ‘Wire Tapper 19’
compilation series with the April 290 issue.
‘Our Sleepless Forest’ album is a blend of
electronica and ambient. It recalls me of
Slowdive, The Durutti Column and Manual. The
music is expansive with its twinkling guitars,
soft synth waves and recordings. ‘Afraid of
you’ has a baroque feeling and a wall of sound
in the background like on ‘The Clarion’
where the sound is harsh and noisy. The beauty
marks the whole album though." Loop.cl
Artist
: PORT-ROYAL Title : Flared Up - Port-Royal Remixed Cat# RESCD027 click
here for more info Label : Resonant Barcode # 0666017179520 Release Date : OUT NOW!
The
much-delayed remix project finally surfaces,
with a stellar line-up of remixers taking apart
tracks from 'Flares', the much-loved debut album
from the Italian post-space-rock quartet.
'Flared Up' follows last year's sophomore
longplayer 'Afraid To Dance' and was put
together between June 2005 and December 2006,
with finishing touches and fine-tuning preparing
it for a Spring 2008 release.
The album will be released in a limited edition
one-off pressing of 1000 copies for the world.
CD Tracklisting :
1. Mohn f/r port-royal (F.S. Blumm)
2. Jeka (Fizzarum)
3. Spetsnaz ( Stafraenn Hakon) (on our
myspace site: www.myspace.com/resonantrecordings)
4. Karola Bloch (Manual)
5. Jeka (Judith Juillerat) (on our myspace
site: www.myspace.com/resonantrecordings)
6. Flares pt.2 (d_rradio)
7. Flares pt.3 (Televise)
8. Karola Bloch (Dialect)
9. Spetsnaz (Skyphone)
10. Flares On The Water (Minamo)
11. Karola Bloch (OPN)
12. Stimmung (Ulrich Schnauss)
Reviews:
"You'll
notice that "Flared Up" is a remix
collection based not upon Port Royal's most
recent album, last year's Afraid To Dance, but
rather their debut full-length, Flares. This
much-delayed project has been in the works since
the summer of '05, so it'd be entirely
reasonable to expect something pretty special as
the end result. FS Blumm opens the album with
what sounds like a brand new composition of his
own, doodling eloquently through acoustic drones
and tangled free-time harmony, only for
post-Chiastic Slide IDM to become the order of
the day thanks to Russian electronics heroes
Fizzarum who do a fine job of hotwiring 'Jeka'.
Predictably, the post-rock contingent sound like
they're really in their element here, with
Resonant mainstay Stafraenn Hakon weighing in
with an icy swirl of guitar texture, sculpted
into a melodic maelstrom. Elsewhere Manual quite
predictably cranks up his digital effects
pedals, soaking his source material in reverb
and chorus. After a slew of perfectly
respectable work by D_rradio, Judith Juillerat
and Dialect, the latter half of the album proves
to be especially fruitful, featuring fine
turnouts from Rune Grammofon's Skyphone and
12k's Minamo, both of whom know a thing or two
about drawing together acoustic and electronic
elements into a logical whole. The last word is
given to Ulrich Schnauss who forgoes beats
altogether, in favour of sheer dream-pop and
tuneful, Pop Ambient soundscaping." Boomkat.com
That's
right, we shit thee not. 'Somnambulist',
the opening song on Small Sails excellent 'Similar
Anniversaries' album (RESCD025) is being
used as the soundtrack music to the very first
ABSOLUT VODKA advert in the UK! And here it is
...
