Thursday, November 08, 2012

Cults and Parry

Now that you've got your copy of Pye Corner Audio's Sleep Games and you're wondering what to spend this month's record money on, I'd highly recommend either of these LPs, kindly sent to the vicarage by two of my favourite record labels.
This first comes from Trunk Records and is a re-issue of a rather obscure but rather wonderful privately pressed album by The Cults Percussion Ensemble.  Assembled from several Aberdeenshire schools in 1976 by percussion teacher, Robin Forbes and made up of female students with an average age of 14 including one Evelyn Glennie.
Its a surprisingly delicate and hypnotic sound, which as Jonny Trunk points out in the liner notes is not dissimilar to Carl Orff's Schulwerk records. Beautiful Cover art by Paul Flack and expertly remastered by Jon Brooks. I haven't found the obligatory Trunk Records typos yet, maybe they've been specially reserved for the CD version. Preview and buy it here .

The other one from Public Information Records is a marvellous compilation of music cues from the Canadian library label Parry, Tomorrow’s Achievements: Parry Music Library 1976-86.
The album is geared toward melodic, electronic tunes and features a who's who of international library artists.
"Johnny Hawksworth, Robin Artus, Paul Kass, Nino Nardini (close allies with Roger Roger) are on board Tomorrow’s Achievements . At the same time we have a little known Canadian Library musician who features heavily, one Harry Forbes.Forbes is the real driving force of our Parry-Love; a master of imminent, hummable melody, sublime synth miniatures baked in sweetness. Elsewhere we revel with the other players in proto-Balearic house, groovy electronic disco, spooked choral drone, freaked-modular scorch, weird Radiophonic bleep. These are the soundtracks to movie car chases never known, lost kids TV shows never realized, radio-ads never broadcast – music to make your ears sing for more." say Public Info. Get it here .



And apart from anything else both LPs have pleasingly complimentary covers.