We sold literally a million of the last Northerner CD, The Ridings (ah, I remember my days of playing with the wooden train set in the West Riding Centre's Early Learning Centre - it was last weekend), so maybe we'll sell a million of 1976. It's a whole new album and it's chock full of warm, pastoral electro-acoustic ambience which builds up to lovely shimmery bits and could certainly comfort you through the winter months better than than electric blanket you've got in the cupboard which still smells a bit of cat piss 'cos Fraggly did a whoopsie that time but you didn't want to throw away because electric blankets cost money and money doesn't grow on trees you know, Brett. Sorry, I went off somewhere then. I liked this album and so did everyone else. 1976 is CD only on the Hibernate label.....
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Sound clips for 1976 by Northerner: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Hibernate, hb04 , £7.99.
Northerner, aka Martin J Cummings, is one of a growing band of musicians operating in the UK's blossoming electro-acoustic scene. 1976 closely follows mammoth double-set The Ridings (on Home Assembly Music), a special little release that further enhances Cummings reputation. Avoiding the familiar, Cummings sets about transporting the listener down new paths, where gossamer guitar textures mingle with shimmering, bucolic atmospherics, forgotten voices and deftly laced found sounds, suggesting a kinship with the heart-warming nostalgia of fellow countrymen Epic45. The miniature electronic pulses and glitches adroitly placed throughout add a beguiling sheen, often found lacking in the genre.
Despite its compact running time, this release is no stop-gap, with each track purposefully flowing into the next, suggesting a narrative hidden just underneath the surface. There's a rich, emotional depth prevalent here and the countless left turns render this record as riveting, taking us from the intoxicating chill of 'The End of December' through to the comforting hazy warmth of 'Red Soil'.
