Cousin Silas: September 2010

Monday 27 September 2010

Cousin Silas featured on "alight here"

I am very pleased to see some of my tracks have featured on a couple of Thomas Mathie's mixcasts.

alight here #0001 features a passing and Sawney Hill from Canaveral Dreams and...

alight here #0002 features the toad song from the Snow Imposed Silence.

Well worth checking out... Thomas is doing his bit to promote independent artists by compiling these mixcasts of stuffed to the gunnels with approximately 55 mins of ambient electronic and post-rock tunes from netlabels and bandcamp.

Cousin Silas on Bandcamp

I am now on Bandcamp and will look to the channel as an additional means of getting content out there. I know Thomas Mathie, who I collaborate with my artwork, is a huge fan of the site and I am glad to have a presence on there.

Basically, artists get their own sub-site with the bandcamp URL... mine is http://cousinsilas.bandcamp.com/ and I have the freedom to charge what I want for the music (I prefer free). You, the listener, have the opportunity to download whatever format you want from 320kbps to WAV with FLAC inbetween. I think it is a pretty impressive deal.

While you are on bandcamp... I would recommend you check out their ambient, drone and post-rock genres for some inspired music.

Adrift off the Islets of Langerhans :: Earthrid 012

Available on Earthrid and for the first time Bandcamp is my lucky thirteenth release entitled "Adrift off the Islets of Langerhans".

It is described in the blurb as... "an album of majestic, brooding mood music from Yorkshire’s master of ambience, Cousin Silas. The atmosphere ranges from the menacing to the pastoral, from the joyous to the serene."

This is my third release on Earthrid (I count "Abominations of Yondo") and my thanks go to them for, once again, releasing my work.

Adrift off the Islets of Langerhans is available now from Earthrid and Bandcamp.

Canaveral Dreams :: Acustronica A010

Available on the acustronica, Canaveral Dreams is my 12th release. As you will see from the blurb... "it's a mixture of light ambient, atmospheric, moody and dark Ballardian soundscapes - a veritable potpourrie of sonic textures and aural landscapes."

Artwork is by Thomas Mathie who contributed the following thoughts on his personal blog:

Here are some thoughts on the album... provided to the man himself as feedback a few months back:

001 - A Passing - Wonderfully languid... reminiscent of Eno... an excellent opener – sets the tone for the album.

002 - From A Dark Lighthouse Parts 1, 2 & 3 - Expertly crafted soundscape... gives me “mind pictures” of the sea. Haunting... in a more unfamiliar than scary kind of way.

003 - Crane At Train Station - My kind of ambience... beautifully subtle & relaxed yet well formed and melodious with a sense of brightness... a joyful moment... like seeing a massive crane in the Motherwell Train Station carpark (the track was inspired by one of my photos).

004 - The Decay Of Concrete - Another wonderful soundscape... very much reminiscent of your “Ballardian” work... but not necessarily as dark. More empty and unknown than dark. I see old disused concrete tunnels that whilst abandoned and forgotten by their makers retain a mystique to a new breed of urban explorers with cameras.

005 - Sawney Hill - There is an openness about this track that is truly delightful... coupled with a sense of the grand. As if you've reached your destination and you are taking in the panoramic view for the first time.

006 - Black Mold - Disturbing and disorientating... a sense of panic in the dark. Intimidating but not quite overwhelming.

007 - Canaveral Dreams - A sense of awe and a feeling of size & proportion... like look towards something grand, inspiring and yet intimidating. Like the feeling of walking into the cathedrals of old or seeing the scientific marvels of now... like a rocket about to launch from its dock. Maybe even seeing the Earth from space.

008 - To The Other Side - A sense of coming and going... waves of the sea on sand... that leads to an awakening... a dawning of a new day... like the dark is darkest just before the dawn and then when dawn comes all that concerned us is forgotten in the warmth of the sun.

009 - Arriving Home - The anticipation builds... is felt in the repetition of a heartbeat. Everything passes by in a blur as the focus is placed on the singular moment of arrival... even holding our breath as we near.

010 - Concrete Towers - I see the sun glinting and flaring off towers... I see my photos of the sun playing peek-a-boo... with a sense of calm and peace. A sense that the sun is there... and keeps shining. Regardless of our bleak and empty surroundings there is still light and beauty.

011 - Time Lapse Crash - Scene 7 - Very powerfully evocative soundscape... I can visualise the crash referred to in title.

012 - Whitefield Pits - The feeling of walking in a darkened cave or tunnel... the drips from the roof creating an eerie yet reassuring sound.

013 - First Night - The sense of sleeping rough or in a tent... in the middle of an unknown and threatening space. Very much a feeling of restlessness in the dark as a result of all thats going on outside... unseen yet heard... in the blackness.

014 - Through Glittering Trees - There is something wonderfully rhythmic in the melody. Simple and joyous.

015 - Out There - Something foreboding... in the dark. A wonderful end to another awesome album.

If you like ambient electronica then please check this album out. Truly fantastic.