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Recommended by us on 2nd September 2011
...according to our Dave on Thu 01 Sep, 2011.
A pastoral stroll through Dorset, anyone? if so why not take the A-Lords on a jaunt with you and relax in their highly soothing company. It's an album that has been recorded over 10 long, hot summers (well, if you live in England replace long, hot with occasionally nice but pissy most of the time..) from the year 2000 to 2010, five songs by day, five songs by night. It's a wondrous record is this. It's gently strummed, emotionally moving stuff. I thought I was gonna start weeping in the office, and I nearly did, but then I became aware that the Arse had actually made some signings and this was the reason for my sudden waterworks. It sounds absolutely brilliant does this record. It's instrumental and not as folky as I'd have first thought. It has an innocence that I find really involving and lovely. It was all recorded outside as well and you can really imagine making these compositions outside and getting "vibes" from Mamma Nature. I wonder what it was recorded on as it sounds ace and if it was recorded outside, then I demand to do my next recording outside...with no pants on. The instruments sound great as do the hands that are playing them. A wondrous folk effort really. Norman Records understands that the Tedworth Ghost has been seen in Tedworth and is undergoing a medical, he's expecting to sign for an undisclosed fee any time now...we will keep you posted. A sterling textured walk down gorgeous summer lanes and fields...
The A. Lords make songs about Dorset, recorded outside and on the hoof. A CD EP was released on Barl Fire in 2006 (long since sold out), and now finally they're unleashing their debut LP, the bulk of which was recorded 2 years ago in a barn at night on the Dorset/Devonshire border.
The A. Lords are primarily Michael Tanner and Nicholas Palmer. The name comes from a joke made on an autumnal afternoon that no longer makes sense, and probably wasn't funny in the first place. Nicholas is better known for making short, elaborate instrumental music as Directorsound and Michael has a history of recording longer, gloomier pieces as Plinth. The A. Lords peversely straddle the two, looking down at us with an expression of woe. Some of the songs recorded date back almost 8 years now. Each one is a very slow and deliberate paean to the oft maligned (and rightly so) fields of Dorset. The first batch were improvised on summer days spent in gardens, churches and a lovely old wooden summerhouse. The second set of songs made themselves known over two nights in a rusty old barn during Harvest Festival. Microphones were placed in trees outside and under the floorboards, making the tunes regretfully creak into life.
The album, comprising 4 tracks from the Barl Fire EP and 6 new songs, is available as a 180g vinyl LP and this will include a CD-r of the whole album.
Michael Tanner is better known as Plinth - his Victorian Machine Music mini-album from 2006 was much-loved in avant garde circles (even earning praise from the Queen of the English folk revival Shirley Collins) and his latest release (Music For Smalls Lighthouse) came via the excellent Second Language label in 2010. Tanner has also produced albums by Sharron Kraus and Pantaleimon.
The band are now working on a full-length record with 1970s acid-folk legend Mark Fry, recorded mostly at Fry's château in rural France.
1. Freohyll
2. Mistress Chetell
3. Summerhouse
4. Crimson Rambler
5. Of Wren or Raven
6. Skyclad in Pendle
7. The Seventh Child
8. Hopkin's Lament
9. Things Near & Far
10. Pyewacket's Nest
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Norman Records,
Unit 20, Croydon House,
Croydon Street,
Leeds,
LS11 9RT, UK.
Tel/fax: (+44) 0113 245 4399
Email: phil@normanrecords.com
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