Alison Cotton - The Girl I Left Behind Me (Ltd.edition blue vinyl 10")

Elegant and sombre ambiance for Halloween. Limited edition 10" single from London's premier viola player.


One of Autumn's must-have releases is this 10" vinyl showcasing the talents of Alison Cotton. A classically-trained viola player, former member of The 18th of May, and currently one half of Walthamstow-based duo The Left Outsides, Cotton has played on a string outstanding records of records in recent years - Trimdon Grange Explosion's self-titled debut, Through Passages of Time (The Hardy Tree) and All That Remains (The Left Outsides) are just a few examples that have been much enjoyed and covered on this humble blog.'The Girl I Left Behind' is her first solo release since her debut album from last year, All Is Quiet At The Ancient Theatre.

While its release of the new single is timed for Halloween, there's a chance you may have heard the music over the Christmas period last year. Cotton was commissioned by BBC 6Music presenter Gideon Coe to compose a soundtrack to accompany a reading of a Muriel Spark's ghost. If, like me you sadly missed the radio broadcast you can now purchase the accompanying music thanks to the ever-tasteful label, Clay Pipe Music, who are set to release it on a limited edition 10" vinyl on October 25th.

'The Girl I Left Behind Me' is a haunting and mournful instrumental based on a repeated six note motif played on the viola. Slowly more lines are added as the track progresses giving way to a wordless choral section at the six minute mark. Its sombre Autumnal mood is somehow perfectly suited to soundtrack the shortening October nights.

Side two of the 10" features a new piece of music, again inspired and named after a Muriel Spark ghost story. 'The House Of The Famous Poet' begins with wordless layered vocals before Cotton plays an improvised one-take viola solo inspired by the "abstract funeral" featured in Spark's story. With its backdrop of gentle drones and shimmering cymbals, the composition comes across as a darker- themed companion piece to Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending. Inherently English, and imbued with the complicated melancholy that that entails.

Listening to the two tracks that make up this single it strikes me there's something ingrained in the sound of a viola that connects with the human soul. Perhaps its because of the viola's closeness in pitch and timbre to the human voice, though I'm not entirely sure. Someone with a deeper understanding than me could no doubt explain it in straightforward scientific terms. What I do know is that I'm content with the mystery. And I can think of no better place to explore this mysterious connection than these two emotionally moving pieces of music.


'The Girl I Left Behind' is released by Clay Pipe Music as a limited edition 10" - 500 hand-numbered copies on transparent pale blue vinyl.

Tracklisting
A-Side - The Girl I Left Behind Me
B-Side - The House Of The Famous Poet

Click here for Alison Cotton on Twitter
Click here for Clay Pipe Music

The Cold Spells - The Cold Spells

From the margins of south-east of England. The first great album of 2018.

It's rare these days to discover an album that when listened to, doesn't divulge who the band have been listening to. And that dear readers is often the sign that you're onto something good. The Cold Spells' eponymous debut is not without predessessors – there are similarities with both Robert Wyatt and Shirley Collins both in the simple song structures and the unadorned straightly delivered vocals. But importantly The Cold Spells are not aping or mimicing. And here lies just one of the album's strengths.

So what does it sound like? Well there's the afore-mentioned simple folk-song tunes, gentle electronic backing with snatches of static, white noise, occasional backwards vocals drifting in and out. The organic meeting the technological. An intoxicating sound alone but strong poetical lyrics and stories will pull you in further.

It's an album that speaks of and to the lost, lonely and marginalised. To people on the forgotten edges of society, the dispossed, those away from metropolitan glamour. Empathatic stories that touch on delusional paranoia, quiet haunted lives and familial traits that echo through the ages. Mixed in with eulogies, a little folklore, and even a song about drowning. Modern, yet mysterious. The aural equivalent of a hillside containing a chalked white horse and a mulititude of mobile phone masts.

There are plenty of arch, all-too-knowing bands (and labels) that release referential, hauntological music that's often little more than a stylistic pastiche. The Cold Spells has lyrical depth however, and has a timeless quality in it's melodies. Sure you could place it under banner of folktronica given the gentle ambient instrumentation but it's an album that won't date. It's not trying desperately to sound like it's 2018, 1972, or even 1872. It sounds both modern and peculiarly ancient. I guarantee it will sound similarly undated and timeless in years to come.

Apparently it took 4 years to make the album so they may not be bringing out another anytime soon or maybe even ever, which would be a shame. Hopefully The Cold Spells' LP will get the recognition it deserves in the here and now rather than drift off into obscurity. If it doesn't then I'm in no doubt that in 20 years time it will be hailed as something of a lost classic.

The Cold Spells are -

Tim Ward (songs/guitar/vocals)

Michael Farmer (keyboards/vocals)

Catherine Plewa (bass guitar)

Click here for more on The Cold Spells.

Click here for The Cold Spells on Twitter.

Click here for Gare du Nord Records.

The Hardy Tree - Through Passages Of Time

(This review first appeared in issue #63 of Shindig! magazine.)

Clay Pipe Music LP

As London town continues to morph ever more rapidly into structures of steel and glass, the ghosts and echoes of its past are still there for those prepared to listen. That's the thinking behind this album from Clay Pipe Music's founder Frances Castle. With a palette of Mellotron, vibes, sequenced Moogs and viola courtesy of The Left Outsides' Alison Cotton, The Hardy Tree paint a musical elegy to the Smoke's lost landmarks, both big and small.

Interspersed with recordings of market street hawkers, running water, church bells, creaking doors and the sound of building work, this collection of instrumental pieces is uniquely affecting and owes a lot to music made for music for schools and colleges TV programmes in the 1970s. Imagine Nick Drake trying his hand at strange, spooky electronica. Hauntological library music that will have you falling in love with the city and its history all over again.