Mystery Year, by Sancho (CD on Seed)

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Cargo welcomes the much-respected and influential Seed Records with this debut offering from Sancho, the brainchild of Paul Hanford, formerly of Brothers In Sound (Regal / New Religion). Holed up in the Dorset countryside, 'Mystery Year' slowly emerged out of bits of old outmoded analogue hardware and acoustics. Drawing on faint memories and half remembered atmospheres contrasted against the refusal to get drawn into the rubbish job trap, Sancho slowly spread into a collective of players, some appearing on the album and some later – the group is now an ever changing and expanding 9 piece creature featuring the Paper Cinema visual team live, as well as core members of Betika. The album draws sonically on electronica, krautrock, folk, minimalism and synthpop amongst others, yet is also none of the above. It is often far more visual and cinematic than conventionally musical, accessing the heart just as much as the brain, but if your racks don’t have a section for that, file it alongside contemporary electro-acoustic folk. The CD also includes the video for ‘As Light Shone, They Fled’ by the Paper Cinema, and is limited to 750 copies worldwide. Widespread reviews expected over the next couple of months – initial reactions include “Bags of dynamic self-confidence… a surprising, subtle and intoxicating 40 minutes, rather than the mysterious year of the title.” – Rock-A-Rolla… “Calm, contemplative music full of the atmosphere of a winter evening shrinking into the fog… rural beauty and nostalgia, the music breathes the feeling of a marvellous memory from a past time.” – Groove…  “An extraordinarily passionate and deep album. Sancho employ a huge variety of sounds, flawlessly mixing electronic with acoustic to produce an awe inspiring flow of music.” – Igloo… “Slowly but surely the album reveals its charm. There’s certainly a lot more going on production wise than immediately meets the eye. A fine debut.” – Barcode…