Issue 118 / 24 July 2026
The essential DIY electronic music lowdown: Track Of The Week: KLSR & James Adrian Brown + JAB mini interview + Album Of The Week: Lone Bison + Plant43 + Two Way Mirror/Samantha S + more...
One more newsletter next week and the Moonbuilding Weekly summer hols can begin! There’s no mailouts in August and all paying subs go on hold for the month too. We’ll be returning on 4 September. Don’t forget there’s a £25/week offer on ads placed until the end of September.
I accidentally did a little interview with James Adrian Brown for this week’s newsletter, see Track Of The Week below. Thanks to him for that. I miss Moonbuilding Weekly running interviews. We used to do a separate Album Of The Week email with an artist interview for the first six months. Maybe I should think about that again.
Righto. Same time next week for the School’s Out edition then.
Neil Mason, editor
moonbuildingmag@gmail.com
Issue 118 Playlist: Listen
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KLSR & James Adrian Brown ‘Slipstream’
So this is interesting, not to mention rather good. James Adrian Brown teams up with the Brighton-based audio-visual artist KLSR for a collaborative single, ‘Slipstream’. “Blending four-track tape loops, analogue synthesis, piano, strings and propulsive electronic beats” say the notes, the track “occupies the space between immersive ambient music and atmospheric electronica”.
It’s an action-packed three minutes and 56 seconds that is for sure. The word “ambient” doesn’t half do some heavy lifting these days. If you know the work of either of these two, you can hear how they’ve come together here, I think. There’s hectic modular arpeggiation (JAB), piano rumbles (KLSR), haunting noises off (JAB), deep, dark growls of sound (KLSR). It is heavy on atmosphere. Very heavy. “The duo have carefully crafted an expansive and organic piece of immersive and beautiful electronica which shifts, pulses and pulls at the heartstrings” say the notes. I’d say it’s a powerful wedge of sound that rattles the heartstrings more than pulls at them.
There’s real beauty in work like this, the way the sound piles up as it swells into a huge mass is very cool. I really like how the whole thing stops dead in its tracks at the end too. The shift from sound to silence made me jump the first time I heard it. There’s also a ‘Hologram Mix’, which dials everything down, to start with anyway. It ends up sounding like pure panic.
I’m hoping this is not a one off and there’s more up the sleeve of this pairing. Nice video from KLSR too. I caught up with James for a quick chat about the release, here’s what he had to say.
Hello James. How do you know KLSR?
”I was offered a support slot with KLSR in London last year via Baba Yaga’s Hut. I’d come across a couple of his tracks before and jumped at the chance as I was really into his sound and approach.”
How did the collab come about?
“We got chatting over Instagram and, weirdly, started working on some ideas before the gig had even taken place, before we’d met in person. Everything clicked really naturally. Not long after the show, Ben [KLSR] produced a remix of one of my singles, and when things became a little quieter for both of us we decided to release ‘Slipstream’.”
It’s a good pairing isn’t it?
“It felt like a really obvious collaboration. We both blur the lines between electronica and ambient, and I had a feeling our approaches would create something unique. Thankfully, they did.”
I’m always interested in how people work together. Were you in the same room or passing files backwards and forwards online?
“It was all done swapping files back and forth. I had a four-track cassette tape from the sessions for my album that I’d used to record a series of chord drones. By fading them in and out live, I’d build chord progressions that weren’t tempo-locked, giving everything a fluid and loose feel.
“I played around with those recordings and built some loops and progressions before sending them over to Ben. He’d then send back ideas, and after a good old tennis match of file slinging it became ‘Slipstream’. Ben performed an early version in his live set on the night of the London show we played together to see how it felt. Hearing it through a huge sound system before it was even finished or released was a really buzzing moment.”
The video that goes with the track, see above, is lovely. I’m presuming KLSR made that?
“It was indeed, yep. KLSR is as much about the visuals as it is the music. That’s one of the things that drew me into what he does so quickly. It feels completely driven by art for art’s sake. I’ve honestly no idea how he creates his visuals, but they’re very special and masterfully crafted. If you ever get the chance to see KLSR play live, I’d highly recommend going along. It’s genuinely an immersive experience. He’s a true and genuine talent.”
This project seems like a bit of hit. Have you got plans for more?
“Nothing’s planned right now, but we did create another version of the track a couple of weeks ago, an ambient reworking, and we’re both really pleased with how it turned out. I’d love to do more again at some point. I think an EP on vinyl would suit what we do really well, and if people are enjoying ‘Slipstream’ I’d definitely be up for making something a bit more substantial together down the line.”
A big thanks to James for taking the time to chat. Can I just say if you happen to be in Thirsk tonight (24/07) you can catch him at the Deer Shed Festival at Baldersby Park. Looks like a good weekend, nicely left field. Look out for two Moonbuilding cover stars on the bill too – Kayla Painter and Loula Yorke. It’s not too late for tickets. You’ll find them here.
LONE BISON ‘Longshore Drifting’ (Castles In Space)
Words: NEIL MASON
Castles In Space are getting this in early before everyone loses their mind over what the label have coming next. Lone Bison, Ramsgate-based Nick Bonell, has been working as the songwriter-in-chief on ‘Castles In Space Presents Project Pop Volume One’, a pure pop project that has been four years in the making. “Hooky as fooky, Nick again demonstrates his prowess with melody, invention and startling musicianship,” says Colin at CiS of the release. Colin has driven us all half crazy with his pop talk, but it is quite the piece of work. I’m confident you will be gobsmacked by it. Not long to wait now, it’s money where your mouth is time for our Col. More in September when it drops.
So first, let’s concentrate on Lone Bison and give this release the attention it deserves, because it is a totally brilliant synthpop album. If you need a catch up, and I’d highly recommend doing so, there’s three Lone Bison albums so far – 2021’s ‘Transistor Memory’ on Polytechnic Youth (my favourite), 2023’s ‘Wave Construction’ on CiS and 2024’s ‘Mechanical And Electrical’ on said label’s subs library.
Nick explains in the notes that those albums were all pretty much recorded back to back and how, for this release, he wanted a fresh-sounding palette. He talks about using his voice, sampling it at first and then finding himself recording it in a more straightforward way, which in turn led to him “writing proper songs”.
I have a love-hate thing with vocals. I often look at the deluge of singer/songwriter types queuing up with their acoustic guitars and a song they wrote about toast. It seems lazy to me. They all sound the same. Guitar, voice, toast song. What’s bold, what’s brave, is being different. What I want from songwriting and singers is exactly what Nick does here.
Would these songs work if it was him and guitar? Well, yes, probably, but it’s not the point. These songs work because they are stacked full of awesome synths sounds. Sounds piled on sounds. Heaps of the stuff. All rich and warm and heavy and delicious. And he sings on them too, properly sings. But the singing isn’t the be all and end all. It’s the combination of the elements that make all this work.
Opener ‘Down In Flames’ is a great opener and a proper statement of intent. It has such a beautiful melody. It starts out with an ‘O Superman’-like ah-ah-ah before the first of many rich synthlines appears and the song just seems to swell. The whole album is like planting a seed and watching it bloom. ‘Overcome With Love’ is stunning. What Nick hasn’t chucked into that particular electronic kitchen sink is not worth the Fairy Liquid. It hoovers up sound like a black hole pulling everything into its orbit until a squelchy synths arrives, which in turn ushers in the krauty of krautiest beats. It’ll have you reaching for the volume that’s for sure. Turn it up loud.
And as brilliantly as he does upbeat, he also totally nails downtempo. Try ‘Famous Last Words’, it has this delicious vocal melody that appears out of the chaos of frantic bubbling synths. It’s not mellow exactly, but if he was playing it, just him and his guitar, he’d have about a dozen singer/songwriters giving up on the spot.
A track like ‘The Power’ is a real showstopper. There’s waves of acid squelching. I love how it drops out in the middle, a vocodered voice stuttering out a rhythm on its own before everything piles back in. So good.
The sounds he eeks out across the board here are glorious. “I’ve always liked really concise records,” says Nick. “So I got interested in packing lots of synth textures into a three-minute pop song.” I mean, he wins. This stuff is properly packed and it sounds amazing. It’s deep and rich and, well, what’s the word? It is the very definition of synthy goodness. I especially love the sounds in ‘Hand Me Down’, it’s like you’re stood in the middle of an amusement arcade with a blaring radio tuned to a pop station. ‘Chemistry ‘88’ is quite something too. Almost Chemical Brothers-y. Its blipping, frothing synths sound incredible on headphones.
Closer ‘Minimal/Maximal’ is krauty as heck, Kraftwerky as anything. Imagine Ralf released some new work. That. Vocoder vocal, driving beat, I love the breakdown around the three minute mark and the full-blooded guitar workout that kicks in with the drop. The label describe it as “a bit of James Williamson era Stooges”. “I was a bit nervous about playing garage rock guitar on a Castles In Space record,” says Nick, “but Colin told me I would be ‘fucking mental’ if I didn’t end the record with it.” The axe-killer fade out is indeed totally bonkers.
I know it’s supposed to be like this, short songs armed to teeth, but I often feel like I want more. An extended mix maybe. Talking of which… “Things like ‘Maths’ and ‘Minimal / Maximal’ are more groove-based and came from recording 20 minute drum tracks then jamming bass guitar over it and editing it all down and adding loads of synths,” says Nick. I hope there are some extended versions he’s happy to release into the wild.
This is one of those records that leaves you a bit stunned when it’s over. You’ll sit there for a moment or two, just staring. And then you’ll hit play and off you’ll go again. And every time you listen you will have a new favourite track. One for the Album Of The Year pile? You bet.
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Words: Neil Mason
GOOD STUFF #1/#1a
PLANT43 ‘Mycelium Network’ / ‘Live At System Revival x Iklectik, London’ (Plant43)
A double of double bills coming your way. Four reviews for the price of two really. First up, the 18th release on Emile Facey’s Plant43 label, which feels to me like an achievement. While he has some way to go to catch labels like DiN, who are heading toward 100 releases, or Castles In Space, who will be hitting CiS200 in the autumn, making 18 of anything is impressive. I’m working on Issue 7 of Moonbuilding at the moment. Which isn’t great considering Issue 1 was four years ago! That said, anyone who is able to send their creations out into the world these days should be applauded.
With Plant43 there is never a duff release. Emile never, ever, puts a foot wrong. The precision of his work and the whole look and feel of Plant43 has proper kerb appeal. The draw, for me at least, lies in the description on his Discogs page. It says “First inspired by Kraftwerk and the ‘Street Sounds’ hip hop compilations in the early 1980s, London-based Emile Facey was hooked on electro from an early age”. I mean that is one well rounded child. Those ‘Street Sounds’ compilations really cut through. I don’t think it mattered what else you were listening to, for some reason everyone used to have at least one ‘Street Sounds’ tape. And you can hear the influence everywhere, right up to megahits like ‘Cars’, ‘Tainted Love’ and ‘Blue Monday’. I think that’s why Emile’s work resonates, especially with those of us who grew up with the same input.
‘Mycelium Network’ sees him return to the “fascinating world of Fungi” for inspiration. This four tracker is a continuation of his three-part ‘Mycology’ series. Here he takes the underground mycelium network as his jumping off point. In his notes Emile explains that it’s “a root-like structure that can span vast areas” and “its thread-like fibres gather nutrients, connecting and co-evolving with other plants”. More than that though research has discovered it also acts as filter “to remove microorganisms from soil or water” and it also has the “ability to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere”. Incredible stuff. As is the music here. I never know how artists make the connections between inspiration and sound. What would a mycelium network sound like? Armed with this information, you can hear the root network transmitting in the bright blips and beeps of the title track. You imagine the whole thing would be like electricity pinging along cables, only the nature version.
I really like the crisp cymbals, the snap of the snare and the ping of the deep bass drum thud on ‘Facilitated Diffusion’, there’s some lovely melody in there too. ‘Mycofiltration’, I’m sure you’re getting the hang of these song titles, has a bracing techno-like speed about it underneath which there’s this delicious almost slo-mo dark swell. And I love the ‘SAW’ like squiggles darting about.
Closer, ‘Corrosive Enzymes’ is rather Kraftwerky in its beats. Again there’s a lovely slo-mo drone underneath the increasingly hectic action. It’s almost like an inverted mycelium network, right? Calm on top, the action down below. Quality work, but when isn’t it from Plant43.
What’s more there is, well, more. Emile released an ambient drone album, ‘Spells For Warding Off Evil’, on Jo Johnson’s brilliant Sliver Threads label. He was invited to play a live show by the Beirut-based label/events promoter System Revival at London’s Iklectik venue in June. So ‘Live At System Revival x Iklectik, London’ is his live set from that event. He was asked to play a set based on the Silver Threads release. “It ended up being inspired by rather than an exact recreation,” Emile tells me. “It was hard to copy and I didn’t want to just play back the tracks from the album. It ended up being quite different, especially towards the end where I added more beats.”
It’s quite the piece of work. At 50 minutes it has been something that I’ve had on at Moonbuilding HQ more than once over the last couple of weeks. It’s really lovely, the way it creeps up on you. There’s lots of bird song early one, which I especially like on these warm days when the windows are open and actual birdsong joins in. It’s such a languorous unfurling, I do like long-form work like this that’s allowed to take its time. The first beats are around the half hour mark. Great stuff. Highly recommended.
GOOD STUFF 2
TWO WAY MIRRORS / SAMANTHA S ‘Swaying Shadows’ (Frosti)
Not strictly a double-bill, but there are two artists on this split release so I’m stretching the definition. You’re still getting three releases in two reviews, which is always a bonus. Pleasingly described as a release of “blurry ambience”, I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this. Two Way Mirrors, you should know by now, is the stupidly talented Mr Thomas Ragsdale, while Samantha S is a Connecticut-based experimental/ambient artist who released a rather good cassette called ‘Reveals Twin Moons’ earlier this year. The notes say the physical artefact is “DIY homemade cassettes made from reused tapes that used to be my Dad’s”. There’s one left, but fret not, Samantha says “I’ll make more when it runs out”. I like the cut of her jib already. Listening to that release you can hear the appeal for Thomas. She makes a very similar earthy sound, something that sounds like it’s been discovered in thick, dark clods of earth and been dug up with bare hands.
There’s also the matter of her video extracts to go with the sounds, made on a “JVC Everio GZ-MS230 camcorder”. It’s right up Thomas’ street is that. The notes for this release talk about the pair sharing “a handful of improvised tape loop recordings and densely meditative sound textures” and how they hatched a plan to “sonically respond to each other’s work with audio and visuals through a shared admiration for nostalgic technology”.
Yup. So here we have four tracks a-piece. The notes are interesting and back up my earthy sounds comparison. “Refined harmonic motifs are aching to emerge and establish themselves, yet they reside six feet below cyclic drones and static pressure” or they talk about how the eight videos are “digging deeper into each piece’s character and transporting the viewer to a video library of downgraded found footage treasures”.
The first question is, do you listen to just the music or do you take it in with the accompanying video? First pass was just the sounds. These are lengthy pieces of work. Samantha’s four tracks clock in at a little over half an hour. The 10-minute opener ‘Cold Winds And Swaying Shadows’ sounds like the title suggests. There’s a distinct chill to the, well, swaying sounds that loop over and over. It creates this lovely hypnotic sound, like its spinning round and round, wobbling slightly off centre. Or like wonky church bells perhaps. ‘Now Lucid’ also has the feeling of wind, a high-pitched sort of shimmer, a repeating pattern phases in and out like it’s blowing into every corner or crevice. If it wasn’t so warm outside, you’d feel the cold of this.
Thomas’ side is a little under half an hour and feels more grounded, it’s not as ethereal, as in the air, as Samantha’s work. And it’s a lot more sombre. ‘Cheyne Stoking’ feels funereal, solemn, heavy as if you are about to be buried. The swells are pretty ominous as they rise in the mix, making you watch your back, especially if you’re wearing headphones. There’s a lovely drop out at the end too.
He also serves up two tracks called ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, which made me smile. It’s a line from Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’, as are the subtitles that distinguish each track, there’s ‘Heavy Metal Thunder (Take The World In A Love Embrace)’ and ‘Heavy Metal Thunder (And The Feeling That I’m Under)’. Is there the merest flicker of Steppenwolf in there? There’s a lovely huge swell emerges in the former that takes a delicious age to ebb, while the latter gets orchestral on us with shimmering strings that are totally mesmerising as they build to a crescendo. Like a true nature’s child, Thomas was born, born to be wild.
The videos, say the notes, are “digging deeper into each piece’s character and transporting the viewer to a video library of downgraded found footage treasures. The images are derelict, hazed and subtly transcendent, giving the final link between these shadowy sounds”. The videos aren’t full length tracks, that would be mad, think of them like the pop song versions if you will, all hovering around the two minute mark so you can watch the whole lot in around 15 minutes. Time well spent it is too. Thomas’ videos are more figurative/manmade objects, buildings, roads, etc, the imagery is recognisable, whereas Samantha’s films, videos, are drawn from nature and are more abstract.
This is a great package from, as I’ve said more than once before, a brilliant little label.
GOOD STUFF #3
LEON CLOWES ‘Empirical Evidence Of The Existence Of Angels’ (Naviar Records)
Leon Clowes used to sit next to me when we both found ourselves in the same tedious office job in the early 90s. I was never entirely sure what it was we actually did, which made things tricky. It was some sort of contract processing, with generous overtime payments as there was a huge backlog that I made zero inroads into.
The office was just off Oxford Street, which was great as we were right in the thick of it. There was a newsagents round the corner, on Goodge Street, where you could get the weekly music papers on a Tuesday afternoon (versus everyone else having to wait until Wednesday). I’d started writing by then, but it took me another couple of years before I was working for the music press I was buying and probably reading instead of doing any work every Tuesday afternoon.
Leon dropped me an email recently tentatively asking if I was the same person who shared a desk with him all those years ago. I am, I was, I did. Leon has had an interesting life since his paper-pushing days. He trained as a music teacher and worked for arts and social welfare charities and these days he’s a multidisciplinary artist dealing in sonics and stories.
Leon has had his share of tough times. He’s a recovering alcoholic, explaining in ‘The Alcoholic’s Tarot’, a programme he made for Radio 4 last year, “it was long time before I could face and come to accept that I had some deep rooted problems with alcohol and other addictive substances and behaviours”. Well worth a listen. It’s here. There’s also a recent Resonance FM show he made called, ‘Absent Fathers’, “an ongoing work-in-progress radio experiment where artist Leon Clowes tackles this difficult issue in nuanced ways”. That’s here. It features Mortality Tables’ Mat Smith. The plot thickens, right? You will know that Mat is great friend of Moonbuilding and he’s set to release some of Leon’s work. The tangled webs we weave, eh?
And so to Leon’s debut album ‘Empirical Evidence Of The Existence Of Angels’. He helpfully points out that he’s “eight years older than Susan Boyle when she released her debut album”. Age isn’t a problem, you’d worry if he was going head-to-head with her musically. The records are, of course, light years apart.
With piano by Leon, violin by Louise Walters, recorder by Kate Gallaher, ‘Empirical Evidence…’ is all rather beautiful. Tender even. It’s like there’s two parts. The first half deals with his addiction journey. Titles like ‘Icarus’ and ‘The Fall’ don’t need much translation. The title track, all 12 and half minutes, is a delight. It’s a journey through several days in September 2021. Times, locations and thoughts are noted… 18.43 Green Park “Do you think I’d get arrested if I pissed behind this coffee stand as it’s in sight of the Palace?”. “For 11 days and 11 hours in September 2021,” explains Leon, “I noted the time, place and thought in my head every time I saw a feather on my walks around London or while at home. The purpose of doing this was to empirically evidence the existence of angels”. So there you go. We like the sound of this guy don’t we?
The album spans delicate solo piano moments, like the resonant ‘Silently’, to full-on synthy cuts like the thrumming ‘The Appliance Of Science’ and the rest falls in between. ‘Half Asleep Eyes’ has a synth swell, a kind of bright drone, among joyous bird song and has a sound not unlike Japan’s ‘Ghosts’. In fact, thinking about it, that’s exactly what this is. The first minute of ‘Ghosts’ spread over 45 minutes. Nice work my old friend.
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THE ROUND UP’s ROUND UP
Do you know what? I think John MOuse (“The Welsh John MOuse” these days for some reason, is there another one?) should be our entry into next year’s Eurovision. I had no complaints with Look Mum No Computer, but why not make it a trend and serve up our finest left field electronic music exponents? Let’s get John Davies up there representing. This latest album, ‘Ynys Parc Memorial 1854-1976’, his eighth, is cracking stuff. Like last year’s ‘Back To The Clubhouse’, it’s produced by Stephen “Sweet Baboo” Black and there’s a couple of guests in the shape of Gruff Rhys and Miki Berenyi, which all feels very starry.
It’s a reflective piece about “memory, loss and mortality”. Not sure what’s prompted that, getting older perhaps? It does come with his usual high-energy delivery, synthy goodness and plenty of humour. There’s a track called ‘Body Moving’, which sadly isn’t a cover of the Beasties’ hit, but it does have a very glam rock rumble about it, which I like. I found the single ‘20 Summer’s Left’ rather sobering, while the closer ‘Meet Me At The Tennis Courts’ feels incredibly sad. It’s a tale from the night the singer from L7 showed us her muff live on ‘The Word’ too.
John is off on tour in September/October. There’s a raft of dates, including supporting Goldie Looking Chain, who I am amazed I never wrote about first time round. I often felt like the Welsh correspondent so often did I find myself crossing the border. I wrote about so many Welsh band. So many.
Gawd, I googled the title of this album, just to see what I could find. The internet is such a cesspit, how did we let it get like this? The number of people offering their advice on dating a narcissist is astonishing. Everyone’s an expert these days, eh? We can’t all be, surely? But anyway, Laggard’s ‘7 Signs You’re Dating A Narcissist’ (Secret Friend) came via my friends at Melodic. When they send something my way I do tend to listen. It’s the work of Totnes-born, London-based producer Sean Harper who also plays in the angular double-drummered new wave outfit Folly Group.
His journey into electronic music “started at the age of eight after seeing a jungle DJ at his local skatepark”. Well, it would, wouldn’t it. The label says “after spending years experimenting behind his small desk in Stoke Newington and the occasional nip back to his childhood bedroom to record drums, the end result sits at the intersection of experimental electronic music and left-field club culture”. It’s a real mangle up of dark noise, beats, vocals and melody all wriggling around like cats in a sack. I love ‘Conceptualising Failure’ when it explodes, the slappy synthline is like an overloaded theme to ‘Mission: Impossible’. It’s one of those records that teeters on the brink of moments like that. Single ‘Hilarious’ is rather lovely, string sweeps, gentle vocal, skitty beats that drop out coming back in like they’ve just been dragged through a lake backward. Filthy. Sometimes these moments come, sometimes not. When they do it’s rather brilliant.
You have to keep an eye on Steve Cobby. I got a new release notification from him this week, from his Bandcamp page at least, saying that he’d released ‘Revolutions’, an album I’m very partial to. The music was commissioned by the Ensemble 52 theatre group for their production of the play of the same name. It premiered in 2015 at Hull’s Freedom Festival before moving to the Hull Truck Theatre. It’s about revolution, everything from the the collapse of communism to confounding the UK authorities by doing something as simple as partying in fields. It touches on themes of protest, of when the people say enough is enough. The writer Dave Windass said it was “an immersive experience to remember, with a heady soundtrack”.
Cobby created nine original pieces for the play and they’re belting. The pieces are not titled unusually for Cobby, they’re just numbered #1-#9. I can happily listen to Cobby all day. There’s a lot of live playing here, he’s a tidy drummer as you’ll see on the driving krauty opener ‘Revolution #1’. There’s some great stuff here. ‘Revolution #2’ is a top-notch hands in the air houser, while ‘#3’ is more Cobby’s usual bag, mellow and funky. You will clock that #10’ is 10 minutes long. It’s a total prog opus. Love it.
I can’t see why I got the notification, there’s nothing new here. But I have noticed Cobby has been filling his Déclassé label page with releases from his multitude of pseudonyms for a while. I think this is just the latest arrival. It’s available digitally, but no repress of the physical. Yet.
MOONBUILDING ISSUE 6 … SOLD OUT
Holy cow. MOONBUILDING Issue 6 is completely sold out, so it isn’t available from moonbuilding.bandcamp.com Sure someone is trying to cash in via Discogs.
Let’s look at what you missed, although it is still available digitally of course. Our cover star, illustrated by the peerless Nick Taylor, is the unstoppable force that is LOULA YORKE. In our bumper interview we talk about how she got here and where she’s going. As usual, it is an in-depth piece that lifts the lid on the brilliant mind behind the excellent music.
We meet Loula at her home in Suffolk where we have a proper rummage around in her world, musically, humanly, psychologically, probably even a bit metaphysically. It is a cracking read and opens the doors on what makes this most remarkable artist tick.
As always the issue comes with an accompanying CD. This one is a Loula Yorke collection called ‘How Did We Get Here’, which is compiled by artist herself and charts her rise and rise. The resulting 11-tracker will take you on a journey through her career to this point and it is utterly, totally, absolutely, exclusive to Moonbuilding.
Elsewhere, there’s a great chat with Clay Pipe Music supremo Frances Castle as we profile her wonderful label, A’Bear gets in on the There’s A First Time For Everything act, we round up an absolute mountain of recent releases and serve up our thoughts on the best albums from the last few months, which feature Loula Yorke, Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan’s Gordon Chapman-Fox, Cate Brooks, 30 Door Key and Sarno Ultra.
We talk to ‘This Is Memorial Device’ author David Keenan about ‘Volcanic Tongue’, his debut collection of music writing. He is one of the last generation of music writers who could actually call themselves journalists. He talks a lot of sense and his work is a shining example of what music writing should be. It’s an unmissable interview.
Elsewhere, we round up an absolute mountain of recent releases and point you in the right direction of some mighty fine independent magazines and books. The Orb’s Alex Paterson tells us about his ‘Top Of The Pops’ experience when he appeared on the legendary show performing ‘Blue Room’ in 1993. I say performing… There’s a new Captain Star cartoon strip from the brilliant Steven Appleby. I constantly have to pinch myself that this strip, that I first read in the NME in the early 1980s, is now in my little magazine.
Find us at moonbuilding.bandcamp.com.
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