The Toy Library - Haunted Woodland - Volume One

Those Epic 45 boys have been busy of late, not only a yearly missive from the parent band, but individual members have branched out into solo projects. Following Ben Holton's Norman Records Album of the Week under the moniker My Autumn Empire, and Eric Heath's El Heath CD from last week, now we have the third in the trilogy, this time from Rob Glover. The theme here is blissed-out ambience, crackly field recordings and treated found sounds. The main comparison I guess would be The Caretaker, it has the same haunted, eerie feel with the oddest of sounds looped to abstraction and noises suddenly jutting out of the mix to leave an overall feeling of disquiet. It's intoxicating stuff and perfect for (albeit slightly scary) late night bedtime listening. The project was inspired by woodland close to White Ladies priory and continues the obsession with myths and legends of the countryside around their Shropshire home. The album perfectly captures the feel of being out at dusk somewhere slightly scary, every small snap of a twig increasing your pace as you hurtle back towards civilisation. The CD is limited to a preposterous 50 copies with a small brief photo booklet and comes with a bonus disc featuring a live set recorded in Birmingham that features manipulated 78rpm vinyl. These are one per person, obviously!