Posted 28-05-2023 at 19:14
An extract from my concert thread from last night:
Were my shattered senses playing tricks? I’m sure I saw a fleeting glimpse of a standing stone in the impressionistic landscape video towards the end of the Rival Consoles
gig at the Barbican last night?
Indeed yes - see the Untravel vid here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxxIN6fyj58&t=158s
They look out of place in these as well, but the context works - stoned rockers and their "ladies" go on midnight trip to megalithic monument, and the clothes are more druidic. #RollingStones#Stonehengepic.twitter.com/sw9Hw4nFVY
More rock bands at megalithic monuments: Ultravox shot a video at the Callanish stones on the Isle Of Lewis. As far as I know, they were refused permission to film among the huge main circle and shot in a smaller satellite circle. Still looks pretty good. Photo: Sam Maynard. pic.twitter.com/eEakTgaSF9
Not quite as good, but I did manage to get a couple of Waterboys in the main circle when we visited, although it was pretty dreich as I recall. pic.twitter.com/aUdZ2U3LQd
— Grahame Gardner🏴🇪🇺🇺🇦🖖 (@grumgeo) May 8, 2023
[ This message was edited by: Andy B on 2023-06-04 16:35 ]
Posted 20-06-2023 at 14:06
Just announced on 12" vinyl: The Hurdy-Gurdy Song Remixes, including a 23 minute soundscape remix by our mates Stone Club.
Carnax, bleeps, audio from the stone's dedication, reminiscent of "It's grim up North" I reckon - one of my favourite KLF tracks.
I have to admit struggling to love the original but these remixes are great - pre-ordered!
Posted 23-08-2023 at 13:31
Ringstone Round by The Heartwood Institute
Huffity, puffity, Ringstone Round,
If you lose your hat it will never be found,
So pull your britches right up to your chin,
And fasten your cloak with a bright new pin,
And when you are ready, then we can begin,
Huffity, puffity, puff!
Posted 23-08-2023 at 13:39
Spaceship Markwrites: A new EP created from a single sample of me and Kate singing 338hz in a chambered tomb
In August 2023 Kate Kinoshita and I visited the Tumulus de Kercado in Carnac, Brittany. This megalithic structure has been dated as one of the oldest in Europe at around 4800BCE.
The monument was heavily restored in the early 20th century but, even so, we decided to carry out some simple sonic investigation. Singing through the pitches, it was clear that there was a particular resonance around 338-440Hz.
There seem to be many conflicting theories regarding the benefits of different frequencies of sound, but if nothing else, it is interesting that this area, around concert 'A', may have been as important 7000 years ago as it is today.
All the sounds in this ep were created from one seven second sample of us singing, as closely as we could, the resonant frequency of the chamber.
To mark the 50,000 year return of the Green Comet and the release of Local Psycho's The Hurdy Gurdy Song on Heavenly Recordings Jimmy Cauty and Jem Finer have stood a 3.5 ton stone in a field in Sussex and encoded the music within its atomic structure.
Posted 11-10-2023 at 05:34
Singer, musician and songwriter, Mike Oram, and his band, were discovered by a big American outfit in the 60s, but for personal reasons he never followed it up.
This is one of his songs on an album, "Eklectia" put together by Joanna Summerscales featuring ET experiencers and their music and art.
This video was shot at Heysham Head in Cumbria. I visited Heysham Head several years ago, with artist and author friends, Katie Hall and John Pickering "Beyond Photography – Encounters with orbs, angels and mysterious light forms" (1st of a trilogy), where we had an unforgettable psychic encounter experience. It's an extraordinary place.
Mike Oram is the guitarist sitting on the stones in the chapel ruins.
"Travellers" by Mike Oram
Quote:
This song appears on the Eklectia Album, and showcases and encapsulates some of Mike Oram's experiences. Mike is an author, recounting his life long experiences in the book Does It Rain in Other Dimensions and his collaborative children's book Ben's World.
Posted 08-12-2023 at 13:30
David Soulscorch was one of the kind souls who attended my talk last night, braving the rainstorm to get to the very end of Brighton Pier - what an experience that was!
Anyway he records as the Rural District Lo-Fi Recording Project.
DIY, Lo-Fi sounds of Sussex's chalk downlands and clay flatlands. The lanes, bridleways, paths villages, hamlets, woods, fields and hedgerows. Attempting to capture the well being and mindfulness of the countryside, nature and the magic of psychogeograpy.
Latest release - very atmospheric - I wish I had the patience to do this sort of thing:
Theobalds Road is an ancient bridleway in Mid Sussex.
The pathway follows a ridgeway line linking prehistoric sites.
In the Romano-British period it may also of been used as a link to the Ouse Valley Way and the Greensand Way.
What remains of Theobalds Road are Holloways and Droveways along ancient hedgerows, copses, fields and meadows, with meandering streams and multiple footpaths looping away. There is a splendid Saxo-Norman Church, a few ancient houses and farms, a moat and the site of a roadside gibbet.
Recordings made on and around Theobalds Road in January and February 2023.
Posted 29-12-2023 at 12:53
Crwydro Cymru Hynafol (Exploring Ancient Wales)
Music composed & recorded by Matthew Shaw (half of Stone Club) on the pathways of ancient Britain at Bryn Celli Ddu, Din Lligwy, Gop Hill Cairn & Moel Arthur. It premiered within Barclodiad y Gawres on Anglesey thanks to CADW.
Posted 16-01-2024 at 13:23
The Yes album Tormato cover features a well known Tor on Dartmoor with what looks like an antiquarian / Alfred Watkins type character and what are presumably intended to be dowsing rods but being held more like drumsticks - maybe intentional but wrong in any case.) The inner sleeve has a Hipgnosis designed map with barrows, angles and alignments on both sides. Oh - and a tomato splat!
I always thought this was just terrible punnage but the planned name for the album was Yes Tor until Rick Wakeman vandalised the prototype artwork using a ripe tomato.
"Quarrels between Yes members were nothing new, and members came and went on a regular basis, but things seemed particularly stormy during this period. Singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman both exited in the following months. Wakeman's displeasure became particularly evident during an infamous incident when he hurled a tomato at the artwork for the record, which was then titled Yes Tor."
"We had paid a fortune for the artwork – which, when we were shown it, we all agreed we had been ripped off," he later recalled. "It was a pile of brown smelly stuff. I picked up a tomato and threw it at it. [The title] was hastily changed to Tormato."
The inner sleeve map that Yes clearly hated features Yes Tor, which is a real place - the second highest point on Dartmoor at 619 metres (2,031 ft) above sea level. One of only two wholly English peaks south of the Peak District National Park - the other being nearby High Willhays - that are above 2,000 feet (610 m). Not so well known as it lies within a British Army firing range and safe access is only possible on days or nights when firing is not taking place.
Source: Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_Tor
From the inner sleeve: " Yes Tor is situated 2 1/2 miles from Okehampton, on a clear day, from the top, you can see far away places with strange sounding names"
Ancient sites in the music, not so much apart from some strange stuff about mythical creatures, Troy, Zeus and the Gardens of Babylon in Circus of Heaven. Most of the lyrics have vaguely new agey / fantasy / UFO themes.
[ This message was edited by: Andy B on 2024-01-16 13:34 ]
Posted 05-02-2024 at 12:35
An article on stones in folk song from Folk Review, September 1973. This is by the same Rob Ixer who co-authors the papers on provenance of Stonehenge stones. Part 2 of 2; the earlier part was on minerals and gems. I've passed it on to Rob, asking "Was that your first published work on standing stones?" - he replied: "Good lord, yes I guess it is."
Ben Edge's painting of the Devil's Den (and the dolmen of course) has inspired a new opera by Isabella Gellis, which will be performed by the Shadwell Opera this June 15th 2024 at the Nevill Holt festival in Leicestershire.
A tale of superstition and sacrifice rooted in English folklore, concerning a child, a rabbit, a devil, a druid and their mysterious connection to a celebrated “dolmen”, or ancient burial chamber. A chorus of Morris dancers punctuate the drama, leading us through moments of exuberance, severity, tenderness and into the hysterical ruckus of a charivari. More details and booking at https://nevillholtfestival.com/whats-on/.
Posted 03-03-2024 at 19:31
Give this a listen at dead of night…
Orcadia. Chapter One - Megalithic Tapes & Neolithic Soundscapes
by Rural District Lo-Fi Recording Project Armed with an OS map, Julian Cope’s legendary “The Modern Antiquarian,” The Megalithic Portal's essential “The Old Stones” and Janet and Colin Bord’s “A Guide To Ancient Sites In Britain” (maybe not quite as useful a field guide, but I've had the book so long and felt it deserved a special place on the adventure) a bobble hat and, most importantly, for this Bandcamp forward, my microphone.
We leapt into the Fiat 500 and travelled from Sussex-by-the-sea the length of the UK to the Scottish port of Scrabster. A short and decidedly choppy ferry crossing later we landed in the Mecca of Megalithic Britain, The Orkney Islands.
Our short stay, in early October, was confined to the main Island, exploring World Heritage sites, amazing Cairns, mysterious earth works, ancient dwellings, enormous standings stones, monstrous stone circles, stunning Lochs, epic cliffs, beautiful windswept beaches and endless awe-inspiring views, where I proceeded to annoy anyone around me by insisting on setting up my microphone and making field recordings.
Posted 05-03-2024 at 16:15
Baled Y Dolmen - a song by Yfory with accompanying film: "a doomed roadtrip taking an Ex to see the stones and realising enchantment is not a feeling you can force."
The film was shot in 24 hours on Super-8 by the Irish filmmaker and musician Leigh Arthur. Baled y Dolmen is a song in Wenglish about a search for salvation at the motorway services, the worlds' most awkward roadtrip and the strange neolithic modernism of my hometown Swansea.
Posted 20-04-2024 at 02:19
Sorry, but the idea of Stonehenge as hanging stones, hanging as in used for hanging, was on my mind when I found this. Roy Harper did it, as did The Strawbs, but a different perspective comes from Shell Siverstein.
Posted 16-05-2024 at 12:50
Ray Godwin 'The Dandelion Clocks' writes:
I'm please to announce the release of a new single and video:
Ava (The Achavanich Beaker Burial).
It's a song inspired by the accidental discovery of a 4,250 year old cist grave in Caithness, Scotland and the subsequent archaeological investigations, including the creation of an image of the young woman who was interred there all those years ago.
Many thanks to Archaeologist Maya Hoole and Forensic Artist Hew Morrison for kindly allowing me to include their illustrations and work in the video.
Posted 27-05-2024 at 19:21
"Journey to Avebury"
Derek Jarman's Super 8mm film with the title "A Journey to Avebury", which was originally backed by a bird song soundtrack, was later set to music by the band COIL :
An exploratory, but rather unsettling soundtrack, not for the feint-hearted! A strange juxtaposition of weird and eerie sounds set against the background of that all-so-famous patch of land in Wiltshire. Discordant sounds meander and contort their way through the stones of Avebury and wider landscapes; and with the 'decaying' quality of that old 8mm film, making the already otherworldly that much more so.
Also a challenge for any composers on the Portal to experiment with compositions of their own?
Posted 27-05-2024 at 19:23
And as a more cheery follow up:
The first Fairport album without Richard Thompson, the legendary guitarist! But he appears on this song as a guest, and co-writer with Dave Swarbrick
The Journeyman's Grace
Lyrics
Someone told me there's a grace that leads you straight from place to place
And you always leave the road behind you
You don't need your horses shod, just a dowser and his rod
Leave your mistress, she won't need to find you
(Chorus)
Oh please, journeyman, help me on my way
Oh please, help me please, I won't be afraid
Oh please, journeyman, help me on my way
Oh please, help me please, I won't be afraid
Leave my weary flesh and bone to a circle made of stone
Take me to the mountains for my pleasure
And if the dead man won't depart, drive a stake into his heart
And let me ere deliver him his leisure
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
When you see the race is run and the dark has just begun
Come on with the few and leave the many
There you'll find the journeyman with a lantern in his hand
He'll show you a good time for a penny
(Chorus)
My emphasis,
[ This message was edited by: Orpbit on 2024-05-28 20:37 ]
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Posted 28-05-2023 at 19:14 
