The House in the Woods

Martin Jenkisn has been making quite a name for himself in the murkier side of the electronic music scene over the past year or so. Or at least a name for his main project Pye Corner Audio. He himself often hides behind the moniker Head Technician. From his first two Black Mill Tapes volumes that got a release on Type last spring and his debut on Ghost Box "Sleep Games" last autumn to this springs tape and EP releases there's been two clear strands to his productions, one brooding techno influenced side and one more ambient (on occasion almost kosmische) side. On his latest full length release, this time under new nome de guerre The House in the Woods it is the side that's taken over the proceedings completely. Or at least almost,

When I listen to "Bucolica" I'm reminded of those GAS albums Wolfgang Voigt put out in the nineties. They were like hazy chill outs after that eras raves, sonic pictures of Voigt relaxing after a week long trance trip in the Black Forest. The beats from the rave still echoing in the distant. "Bucolica" is more like someone trying to come down after a full night of shaking the booty at the Belbury Youth Club, and having retired to the haunted woods nearby, just next to the old abandoned cottage of that seventeenth century witch.

Jenkins has tapped in to that same sphere of beat centered ambient. The drones are in the center but the rhythms are never far away, slowly building and coersing the listener along to an almost trance like state. So enough with the contrived descriptions: this is a great ambient piece, brooding yet somehow strangely uplifting. (There's links to radiophonics and Howlrounds excellent "The Ghosts of Bush" album as well.) It's richness in detail rewards the patient listener. This is an album that needs to listened to repeatedly, to be fully appreciated. Something I've already done, very little else has made it into my iPod over the last week. It's an amazing album that manages to build a sonic world all it's own with seemingly simple elements. This is surely an album that's destined for my personal top ten albums of the year.

John Foxx and the Belbury Circle

When I first learned last year that John Foxx had been recording something together with Jon Brooks (The Advisory Circle) and Jim Jupp (Belbury Poly) for the Ghost Box label, I assumed it would be another entry in their Study Series, i.e. two or three tracks on a 7" single. That in itself was enough to have med longing for it. When it turned out to be a six track 10" EP instead, I was, well not quite ecstatic, but pretty damn close.

When I'm this excited about something I quite often feel a bit disappointed when I eventually get to hear the actual record. In this case that wasn't to be the case. "Empty Avenues" is a stunning piece of nostalgic synth pop at it's best. All the three main participants signatures are there clearly on each track, and yet they seem to fit together so snugly that they seem made to be working together. Even though I greatly appreciate Foxx's collaboration with Benge as John Foxx and The Maths, this is just one step ahead of those albums for me. The lyrics and their mood fit perfectly with the general sense of melancholy and retrofuturism that permeates the proceedings. The links to Foxx's lyrics on Metamatic is obvious, but these are more mature, more settled down takes on the same topics: urban desolation and man alone.

Apart from the five main tracks Pye Corner Audio also delivers a remix on the title track, which perfectly rounds out the EP. What I supposed would be a single turned out to be an EP that I wish would be a full album. Would it be too much to ask for some kind of follow up?


Read full review of Empty Avenues - John Foxx and The Belbury Circle on Boomkat.com ©

Pye Corner Audio

Martin Jenkins' Pye Corner Audio is the latest artist to join the ever fascinating Ghost Box label. I first became aware of PCA after his collaboration with The Advisory Circle in the Ghost Box study series about a year ago, and I must say Jenkins manages to bring something new to the GB brand while still producing music that fits right in with their esthetics.

"Sleep Games", although PCA's debut on Ghost Box, should probably be considered his fourth album, after The Black Mill Tapes vol. 1-3, that Jenkins released as downloads on bandcamp and in various cassette issues. Vol. 1-2 was also released on vinyl earlier this year by Type.


Read full review of Sleep Games - Pye Corner Audio on Boomkat.com ©

The music of PCA contains the same blend of nostalgic retro-futurism that Belbury Poly and The Advisory Circle has made a name from. But PCA brings something else to the genre. Sonically it is a bit more murky sounding, like it really was recorded in some undefined past of a better future. Sometimes I'm almost reminded of the underwater quality of some of Wolfgang Voighs GAS output, especially when it comes to the bass drum. Musically there's a strain of techno and dance music that isn't as apparent with the other Ghost Box artists. Quite often PCA also feels a bit bleaker than the stable mates. All in all it makes for a fresh approach to a sound I've been heavily infatuated with for the last couple of years. If you have the least bit of interest in this type of music, be sure to check out "Sleep Games". And while you're at it stop by Jenkins bandcamp page and pick up volume 3 of the Black Mill Tapes as well.

And after you've given those two a couple of listens and still feel you need more, there's also this one:


Read full review of The Black Mill Tapes Volumes 1&2 - Pye Corner Audio on Boomkat.com ©

Pye Corner Audio

En ny snubbe i gänget runt Ghost Box. Än så länge har Pye Corner Audio bara medverkat på en singel tillsammans med The Advisory Circle, men ett fullt album är på gång. I väntan på det släppte Type nyligen PCA:s två första Bandcamp-releaser på vinyl och download. Fullständigt lysande för alla med det minsta intresse i hauntology och library-musik. Vill man ha lite smakprov innan man köper finns det ett par live-spelningar att ladda ner på PCA:s Soundcloud-sida.
Read full review of The Black Mill Tapes Volumes 1&2 - Pye Corner Audio on Boomkat.com ©