Hello, you. Ready for another quietly spectacular edition of Fog Cast? Of course you are. And this week it’s an absolute humdinger, featuring two recent albums from the ever-dependable Spun Out Of Control label and another visit to Mark Vernon’s An Anontated Phonography Of Chance, an album that almost seems to have been designed specifically with Fog Cast in mind! Plus there’s an exclusive nugget from Long Meadows, so pop on your headphones and let’s roll.
Hattie Cooke – Chamber / Emerging / Ladders / Run / Something’s Watching You [from The Sleepers, Spun Out Of Control, 2019]
Long Meadows – Dungeness Pt. 1 [unreleased, 2020]
Steve Nolan & Grey Frequency – Been / The End Or The Exit / In Private / Not So Distant [from Intercept, Spun Out Of Control, 2020]
Mark Vernon – Aspen House / Megalithic Circuit / Shrouded Yagis / Simmer Dim [from An Annotated Phonography Of Chance, Misanthropic Agenda, 2019]
An old friend of these pages, of course, Grey Frequency makes another appearance this week with the launch of this rather fantastic new fundraising compilation Isolation and Rejection vol.1. It’s the first in a planned series from a rejuvenated Front And Follow, emerging from hibernation to do some good in these troubled times, and featuring twenty tracks for a mere fiver. Lovely to see this label back in action, albeit temporarily, and this first outing boasts a predictably killer lineup, with contributions from old friends Time Attendant, Ekoplekz, Kemper Norton and many more.
Isolation and Rejection was born out of thinking about what happened to all the tracks that didn’t make it onto those fancy compilations, and is now turning into an ongoing project to collect, collate and promote rejected sounds. This is not an isolation project – it’s a rejection project. All income raised will go to The Brick in Wigan, a fantastic charity on the front line of supporting those most in need, seeking to address the inequalities across our country exacerbated by COVID-19, but there all along.
A superb compilation for a thoroughly worthy cause, then. Front and Follow have already raised an impressive £600 with volume one alone and further editions are on the way, one of which will feature an exclusive Howlround track. Dig deep, friends, this will surely be another future classic in what has already been a vintage year for experimental music and an absolutely rubbish year in absolutely every other respect. Compilations such as this and Castles In Space’s excellent Isolation Tapes offer hope for us all – and some new ear candy to enjoy while studiously avoiding everyone else. More isolation action next week!
Robin The Fog 