Hello You. It’s been really rather too long since I updated these pages and I really must apologise to each and every one of you (and will probably be doing so in person quite soon if the stats are anything to go by). I wouldn’t want anyone to think that it constituted a lack of industry here Fog Towers, mind you, if anything 2023 has been crammed with intrigue and incident, sometimes rather more than is healthy and tolerable. Howlround’s Trespass and Welfare album has resurfaced as a very classy sounding LP on blood red vinyl with a handful of new tracks. There have been triumphant live shows in London, Geneva and Bristol, the last of which saw me in support of that absolute magnetic tape legend Jérôme Noetinger, which was every bit the honour and privilege I could have predicted. I’ll be hoping for a similar response later in July when I bring the tape machines back to Barcelona to perform an audiovisual set as a trio with old friends Pascal Savy and Merkaba Macabre (see above).
Plus I’ve just returned from a fantastic weekend in Utrecht running a tape loop workshop at the studio of another fellow tape aficionado Wouter van Weldhoven, where a number of spirited youngsters enjoyed using a single loop and a microphone to conjure up some spooky magic. The Kids Are Alright!
Elsewhere things have been a tad more fraught as I had to move all of my equipment out of one studio following not one but two roof leaks thanks to the inattention of a thoroughly incompetent landlord. I then set up shop in a lovely light and spacious room in an old school, before getting chucked out of there almost as quickly. How lucky that on both occasions I managed to assemble the most amazing moving out crew at extremely short notice!
As a result of all this the machines are now sat silently in my bedroom awaiting their next adventure, so any tips on cheap new studio spaces that don’t mind a bit/a lot of noise would be hugely appreciated! While the thought of having them reside at home and just rolling out of bed and straight into the studio every morning is indeed tempting, I’m guessing my flatmates and neighbours would be less keen.
Despite this unfortunate pause on studio activity, I can confirm that new Howlround material is in the pipeline, including a new project that I’m VERY excited about and hope to be unveiling soon (though for now I’m sworn to secrecy). In the meantime an exclusive track that was made last year in one take while scrupulously avoiding the Queen’s Jubilee has found its way onto Diacritical Mark’s ‘Noisy Mixtape‘ and is in very fine company indeed. Well worth bending your ears toward.
Was chuffed to bits to be the special guest on Resonance FM veteran Dexter Bentley’s Hello Goodbye Show last week, where we talked about the new Howlround album, making angsty music, the contemporary weltschmerz experience and that very British condition of being constantly plagued by overzealous public service announcements. Host Richard has been bringing noisy Saturday lunchtime delights to the ears of Resonance listeners for at least two decades now and I will always have nothing but love for ‘Hello Goodbye’, not least because of the years I spent as one of the show’s engineers, setting up live sessions in the rather poky downstairs performance space (this was before the ceiling caved in). Those Saturday mornings in Denmark Street all those years ago were where I first learned how to mix live bands and taught me life skills that I still rely on today (ie ensure you’re feeling quite groggy and sleep-deprived and that you keep one eye on the rapidly ticking clock. And avoid having the ceiling fall in). As it happens this edition of the show also features a vintage 2007 session by the mighty Teeth of the Sea, that I’m fairly sure was on my watch, if the foggy memory serves me correctly. I suppose now would be as good a time to apologise to them as any…?!!
And finally, will you be joining us for the Iklectika 2023 Experimental Music and Book Fair on 8-9th July? Two days of the very best independent labels showing off their latest wares, plus talks, performances, DJs etc. etc. It’s always the highlight of the summer social calendar and I’m being put in charge of the Touch stall once again, so do come and say hello if you’re passing. Might even have some rarities and exclusives up for grabs!
That about does it for now, but I’ll leave you once again with cinema iloobia’s absolutely enchanting promo video for Trespass And Welfare’s closing track ‘Frosi’, because it’s a sublime piece of work that simply hasn’t had as many views as it damn well deserves. He’s a pretty busy chap too at the moment, so have a gander and then head over to iloobia.com for some more. What it is to have such talented friends, eh?!
Robin The Fog 