Wyrdology 001: Someone's Watching...

 

The concept for this new series began back in January this year when Manerg started cobbling together some tracks for a "Hauntology" kind of mix. He asked if I wanted to collaborate, as I found the idea of great interest I had no hesitation in accepting his offer. The vast majority of the tracks included here were chosen by him, the others were tracks I offered which I thought would suit the theme. From the vast "shortlist" of tracks put forward, over 4 hours of music, I assembled the tracks you see listed below, trying to keep some kind of running narrative.

I asked Manerg to put into words his initial ideas for this mix, and this is what he had to say:
The idea behind this mix stems from the early noughties when I noticed the existence of a then fledgling record label called Ghost Box. I noticed that it's releases were sometimes tagged 'Hauntology', a term that I was unfamiliar with at the time. I researched the term to find that it was a philosophy posited by Jacques Derrida. I don't understand much of  Derrida's philosophy on this subject  but I can compare it to Marcel Proust's idea that scent and smell can trigger memories. In this case the memories are triggered sonically.
Upon my first listening to the releases on Ghost Box these triggers started happening to me. The use of TV and radio idents, also the inclusion of public information broadcasts mixed with music that could have been the soundtrack to many children's television programmes from the 1960s/70s.
 
I started to realize that this was also something that I'd noticed in the 1990's with releases from Portishead who used samples from spaghetti westerns and Italian horror films. There was also the release of the Journeys by DJ series of albums by various artists. The one that comes to mind most readily is the one by Coldcut which mixed current trip-hop and electonica artists with samples from television shows and found sounds. Other references include the plunderphonic releases by Avalanches, DJ Shadow, DJ Food and the eerie, otherworldly releases by Caretaker. Library music also shows it's influence.
Trying to pin down half remembered memories is the aim of this mix. But in this case half remembered is better than completely remembered. I have on occasion pinned down a flickering memory of a television programme and bought a dvd only to find disappointment in the whole as opposed to the incomplete memory.

The aim of this mix is to create atmospheres, and I know that these things are purely subjective but I hope that it can bring about a sonic Proustian rush to anyone who listens it.
So, as the story teller on the BBC's listen With Mother would say before each episode..."Are you sitting comfortably, then we'll begin...."


So there you have it! There is a slight similarity on this mix with my Sour Kraut mixes, in that there are 2 different mixes. First, is the unmixed version, comprising of separate tracks, below that are links for the mixed version where all tracks blend into each other. Note that on the original unmixed version there are a few merged tracks, which I think enhanced the whole listening experience. Also, unlisted, are odd snippets from children's TV shows from the 60s/70s, maybe some of you will recognise them.

Whichever version you prefer I hope you enjoy. Info containing origin of each track is also included with the download file. As we are hopefully beginning to see some kind of light at the end of the tunnel, I hope you are all still managing to keep safe!

Disc 1:
01. Paddy Kingsland / Belbury Poly - The Changes / Farmer's Angle (5:12)
02. Mary Hopkin - Lord of the Reedy River (3:45)
03. Third Ear Band - The Magus (8:08)
04. The Memory Band - Follow the Sarsen Stones (2:51)
05. Harmonic 33 - Carousel (2:01)
06. Pram - Track of the Cat (4:10)
07. Bingo Sputnik - Watch Me Glide (4:15)
08. Marcus Fjellstrom / Revbjelde - LM-103 / The Weeping Tree (4:45)
09. White Noise - My Game of Loving (4:54)
10. Andrew Bown - Tarot (2:22)
11. Fit & Limo - Measured Tides (2:14)
12. The Focus Group - The Elektrik Karousel (3:44)
13. Brian Eno - By This River (2:56)
14. Ambrosian Singers / Death and Vanilla - Children of the Stones / Moonshine (4:03)
15. Sproatly Smith - The River Song (5:37)
16. Jane Weaver - The Amber Light (5:16)
17. Pye Corner Audio / Coil - A Dark Door / The Dreamer Is Still Asleep (12:17)

Disc 2:
01. Thorsten Schmidt - Hereford Wakes Main Title (1:27)
02. Beak> - When We Fall (5:31)
03. The Advisory Circle / Boards of Canada - Frozen Ponds / The Devil Is in the Details (4:39)
04. The Dandelion Set & Alan Moore - Nine Regal (3:11)
05. Mordant Music / Sharron Kraus with Belbury Poly - Malcolm's Driven Me Wild / Something Out of Nothing (5:09)
06. Alan Parker & Alan Hawkshaw - Days of Orange Squash (2:14)
07. Heather Trost - Sunrise (2:12)
08. Beautify Junkyards - The Miller's Song (3:02)
09. Delia Derbyshire & Brian Hodgson / Circulus - Restless Relays / Tintagic (4:14)
10. David Cain - June (2:14)
11. Brian Bennett - Watchful Eye (3:05)
12. In Gowan Ring - Hazel Steps (5:04)
13. Sneaker Pimps - How Do (5:00)
14. Vernon Elliott / Paul Giovanni / Candidate - From Cloud / Lullaby / Save Us (4:21)
15. Mr. Fox - Mendle (7:11)
16. The Roger Webb Sound - Moon Bird (2:16)
17. Lake Ruth - One Night as I Lay on My Bed (4:30)
18. The Memory Band with Grantby - The Ballad of Imber Down (5:48)
19. Plone - Watson’s Telescope (3:25)
20. David Sylvian - The Devil's Own (3:57)

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Mixed version:
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