PEEL AWAY THE IVY by THE PATTERN FORMS OUT 21st OCTOBER

The debut album from The Pattern Forms, a collaborative project between Ed Macfarlane and Edd Gibson of Friendly Fires and Jon Brooks of The Advisory Circle, is due out 21st October 

Following on from the Other Voices 03 single in 2015, this is an album that perfectly melds blissful pop with more exploratory electronics, its roots lying in the artists' shared love of soundtracks and electronic library music of the 70s and 80s. It should appeal to fans of both bands.



On DL, CD, and heavyweight LP, with luxurious packaging designed by Julian House. There'll also be a special coloured vinyl version exclusive to Rough Trade Records. Pre-orders will open early October.

Edd Gibson and Ed Macfarlane (Jon Brooks is Elsewhere)

More news on this here and on our other channels soon.

n CD, LP and DL.

PEEL AWAY THE IVY, THIS OCTOBER

The new album from The Pattern Forms, "Peel Away the Ivy" comes out on 21st October. There'll be clips and some special news about this later this week, here and on our other channels.

OTHER CHANNELS AND SEANCE AT HOBS LANE VINYL RE-ISSUES

Two classic Ghost Box albums are re-issued for the first time on vinyl today. Both remastered especially for this format - heavyweight 180g vinyl packaged in luxurious redesigned artwork by Julian House, with original liner notes on beautiful colour inner sleeves.

Other Channels was the first full length album from The Advisory Circle. It evokes a world of public information films, domestic isolation, tranquilliser addiction and the ever present nuclear threat. Jon Brooks achieves this with a carefully crafted sound palette of analogue synthesisers and fragments of long lost broadcasts.

Light synthesiser melodies and moments of surreal humour float in a drift of pastoral melancholia and fuzzy music concrete as the album’s protagonist stares out forlornly at the modernist public library outlined against the ancient bulk of Belbury hill.

Beautifully evocative liner notes by writer, broadcaster and journalist Ken Hollings set the music in a context of domestic neuroses and cold war paranoia.

Séance at Hobs Lane by Mount Vernon Arts Lab is a classic of psychogeographical electronics. Hobs Lane is the fictional tube station where the action of Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass and the Pit takes place. The album plunges the listener into a world of abandoned underground stations, eighteenth century secret societies and the footsore reveries of generations of flâneurs from Thomas De Quincey to Iain Sinclair.

The album was conceived and recorded by Drew Mulholland in 2001, and collaborators included Adrian Utley (Portishead), Jhon Balance (Coil), Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) and Barry 7 (Add N to X). Sleeve notes by the novelist Lawrence Norfolk.

Both are available now in the Ghost Box shop on vinyl and download. They'll also be at your usual stockists very soon. Vinyl customers in the Ghost Box shop will also qualify for a free download version of these albums.

(NOTE: this only applies to Ghost Box shoppers - no DL code is included with the LP anywhere else)

THE ADVISORY CIRCLE, FROM OUT HERE, RELEASED TODAY.

From Out Here is available now on LP, CD and download from the Ghost Box shop , your usual online retailers and finer record shops around the world.

The LP version comes on heavyweight 180g vinyl and includes a free download code. The CD includes three bonus tracks and comes packed in a beautifully designed and textured 6 panel digi pack by Julian House.

THE ADVISORY CIRCLE'S "WINTER FROM OUT HERE" MIX

 

PRE-ORDER THE NEW ADVISORY CIRCLE ALBUM

You can pre-order From Out Here at the Ghost Box shop right now on CD, LP or download.

And to mark the launch of the album here are two free, printable, hi-res, A4, posters designed by Julian House.

THE ADVISORY CIRCLE, FROM OUT HERE

We're very excited to announce that the new album by The Advisory Circle, From Out Here will be released on 5th December.

Exploring darker territory than  2012’s more pastoral As The Crow Flies, The Advisory Circle hint at a Wyndham-esque science fiction story, where bucolic English scenery is being manipulated and maybe even artificially generated by bizarre multi-dimensional computer technology.

Jon Brooks’ strong sense of melody and composition is still evident as is his renowned sound design and production skill. All of which make this a rich and rewarding experience.
 

The CD and LP will come lavishly packaged with artwork by Julian House based on the original concepts for the music. The 180gm LP will come with a free download code, and the download and CD versions include three bonus tracks.

It'll be released on 5th December and will be available to pre-order in the Ghost Box shop from 12th November. 

COMING THIS DECEMBER

SPACEDOG AND MORE AT THE BFI

As part of their GOTHIC season of classic horror cinema, the BFI in London will be hosting an evening called Vault: Music for Silent Gothic Treasures on Saturday, December 14th. Its a selection of silent films with live and newly commissioned soundtracks and its curated by Spacedog's Sarah Angliss.

Heading the bill will be Spacedog with a performance of a new soundtrack to the 1928 film of The Fall of the House of Usher. As well as the full live band the Spacedog crew will be accompanied by the usual group of rag tag robots and automata. Also of note to members of our parish will be a newly commissioned recorded soundtrack to the 1928 film, The Black Pearl from our very own Advisory Circle .

There'll also be new work from Exotic Pylon’s Time Attendant  on tabletop electronics and extemporisations from Bela Emerson, a soloist who works with cello and electronics.

 

Its selling quickly and tickets are available here.

 

THE ADVISORY CIRCLE SUMMER MIX

 

JOHN FOXX AND THE BELBURY CIRCLE

This September on Ghost Box...

 

More info and clips soon. Meanwhile  Listening Center's Study Series 09 is available now.

 

THE ADVISORY CIRCLE MIX FOR FANGORIA

To coincide with a piece on The Finishing Line, probably the most upsetting Public Information Film ever made, Fangoria magazine asked Jon Brooks of The Advisory Circle to put together this PIF inspired mix...

 

 

SHAPWICK ON VINYL

Last year Jon Brooks of The Advisory Circle took a break from his native Ghost Box  to record an album called Shapwick for Clay Pipe Records. Clay Pipe is a marvellously inventive boutique label run by Frances Castle, who specialises in beautifully hand made limited edition CDs.

 

Shapwick sold out of its first run of 110 overnight, so if you missed out the first time round, now is your chance to get it again, not the handmade CD unfortunately but this time its on Vinyl (with a free download code inside) and its in the Ghost Box shop right now. Once again though its only a limited edition.

Shapwick was inspired by a night drive through the countryside of England's West Country and is in similar territory to the Advisory Circle's melodic and melancholy, rustic electronics but taking in more elements of acoustic instrumentation and found sound. A perfectly self contained mood piece and as elegantly produced as any Brooks project.

 

 

UPDATE: This sold out in a matter of days again ! Clay Pipe tell us there may be another edition at some point - we'll let you know. 

Ghost Box Autumn Sale

There's a mini autumn sale starting this week in the Ghost Box shop. Including bundle deals on our most recent albums on vinyl or CD and offers on some back catalogue CD titles.

An Advisory Circle Summer's End Mix

 

 

Study Series 08: "Inversions"

In the next single in the Study Series, The Advisory Circle cover Wildpsot, a tune taken from the first Belbury Poly album, The Willows and Belbury Poly re-imagine a more recent Advisory Circle piece called Now Ends the Beginning. The results are bright, light and naggingly familiar.

Available now on 7" and download.

FACT Magazine Mix and Chat

Kiran and Tim from FACT magazine dropped in to the vicarage the other day for a chat and a pot of tea and left with some valuable spiritual guidance, several pamphlets, and this Mix...

Belbury Poly's mix for FACT

You can read what we talked about here. The Mix includes another exclusive preview track from The Belbury Tales and an a completely new one by The Advisory Circle.  A couple of other tunes maybe familiar to Radio Belbury listeners, who might also be relieved to hear that my tiresome and factually inaccurate links are absent this time.

The Advisory Circle Winter Mix

Nadolig LLawen

Friends of this parish, Golau Glau (that's goll-eye gl-eye to non gallophones)have just released a free and very seasonal download EP. It includes a remix by The Advisory Circle, yet again interfering in other people's work.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers and listeners for their support over the last year.  Everyone in the parish of Belbury and all at Ghost Box wish you the complements of the season and a joyful new year.  He is here, rejoice !

Modular Minitronics

Fresh from mastering the new Belbury Poly album , The Belbury Tales (more on this soon),  Jon Brooks gets to grips with his newly built modular synthesizer. In another self imposed creative exercise,  Jon has limited this work to simple overdubs using only the modular system with no multi-tracking or post-production. A remarkably lovely and fully realised piece of work it is too.

I think 03 is my favourite at the moment (I have to say though you could have tried harder on those titles Jon).