This month I am literally speechless with excitement (though I’m sure I’ll soon recover) as top alternative music magazine The Wire has devoted a significant portion of it’s June 2012 issue to discussing the recently released ‘Notes On Cow Life’ album!
Yep, a copy of the cassette fell/was pushed into the hands of one Mr. Byron Coley of the ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’ column that specialises each month in reviewing new music released on unusual and obscure formats. And look – there we are in the prime spot of second column, fifth paragraph down on page 66! The last time I was this giddy (or included in a magazine) was that time when a thumb-nail image of me appeared on page 166 of an issue of ‘Q Magazine’. Simple mathematics therefore suggests that I am now exactly one hundred pages more famous than I was then! Wowsers!
So, what does Mr. Coley think of our inaugural release? Well, for those of you too remote or too stingy to purchase your own copy, I’ve reproduced it below. I’ve also made it nice and big to really emphasise our star-billing:
What do you reckon? A good review? Not bad overall, I reckon, worth the £20 note I slipped into the jiffy bag as an incentive. I must add, however, that I was momentarily troubled by having my contribution seemingly described as ‘slight’, possibly the first time that adjective has ever been used in connection with your humble scribe. ‘Slight effects’? What could this mean? Naturally I took it personally and spent several minutes sobbing in the newsagents. But having spent the past week repeatedly analysing this paragraph, I’ve made my peace with it and also decided that for the next album I shall increase the level of effects from ‘slight‘ to ‘pronounced‘. And the cash incentive to £40.
In the meantime, copies of ‘Notes On Cow Life’ are now available as part of Sound//Space, a pop-up record store and community hub located within the V22 Summer club in The Biscuit Factory, Clements Road, Bermondsey. The latest project from the brains behind the excellent Sound Fjord Gallery, the shop stocks releases from a wide variety of obscure musicians and sound artists on tiny bedroom labels from around the globe, as well as a full programme of performances, installations, films and theatre pieces until the end of July. Check out their full listings here.
Don’t worry if you’re not lucky enough to be based here in swinging London, you can still pick up a copy from our label The Fog Signals’ website in limited-edition bright orange cassette and/or download. And of course The Wire magazine is available from all good newsagents, record shops and selected trendy bistros. There’s an interesting article about Bass Clef this month too. And a really good ‘Inner Sleeve’, which is always the bit I read first…
Robin The Fog 