Bark Psychosis: C or D

Excuse me; I had a pint at lunchtime.

yes, i hope they haven't quite all been snapped up and i'm too late

(any pointers along the lines of, "if you like this then you'll like Bark Psychosis" -- oh, i know such comparisons are a bit shaky, but help !)

Hex is easy enough to triangulate. A.R. Kane, Laughing Stock, Astral Weeks. but it's so much more than the sum of its influences.

Of all the bands branded with the nebulous "post-rock" tag, England's Bark Psychosis achieved the rarest balance between group musicality and post-production programming. Recorded with a large ensemble of musicians but pieced together with a computer and a sampler, Hex is a seamless tapestry—-a miraculous album that never forfeits its supernatural aura to the sterility of digital design. Principals Graham Sutton and Daniel Gish elaborate on such timeless models as A.R. Kane's 69, The Blue Nile's A Walk Across the Rooftops and especially Talk Talk's Laughing Stock, filling Hex's wide-screen canvas with emotional song-craft and technological refinement. Hex favors the elegant and the understated, presenting an extraordinarily filmic backdrop against which piano, guitar and vocal phrases, wisps of instrumentation and Mark Simnett's percussive cascades fall like December snow. The secret tensions that underscore Bark Psychosis' shimmering quiescence first manifest themselves in John Ling's sinuous, dub-modulated basslines, occasionally erupting in such rapturous displays of bittersweet beauty as "A Street Scene" and "Eyes & Smiles." Other breathtaking flourishes include ribbon-fine feedback, quenching showers of vibes and Del Crabtree's electrifying Miles-style trumpet. Alas, even Bark Psychosis couldn't top Hex. The group disbanded, with Sutton finding minor fame in the drum n' bass arena as Boymerang.

i hope to be proved oh-so-wrong on this last point. will be able to let you know very soon. (-;

grrr.

Nick I can burn you Independency if you want, it's next to impossible to find now (check musicstack.com or gemm, I guess).

i miss john ling though. *crying over loss of dub*

Bark Psychosis: NEW ALBUM: MARCH 2004

The release of the much delayed: CODENAME: dustsucker album by Bark Psychosis has been set for March 2004.

It will be released on Fire Records

From the Bark Psychosis forum:

Personnel on the new album consists of:

Pete Beresford - Vibraphone
Anja Buechele – Vocals
Rachel Dreyer – Piano, Vocals, Wood Flute
Shaun Hyder – Sindhi Tamboura
Lee Harris – Drums
Alice Kemp – Bowed Guitar
T.J. Mackenzie – Trumpet
David Panos – Bass
Graham Sutton– Guitar,Piano, Melodica, Bass, Emulator,Vocals

The record was engineered and produced by Graham Sutton at DustSuckerSound, Hackney, London.

Like, THE Lee Harris??? Of Talk Talk???

Hmmm... March 2004. So, I should expect to hear it around February or so?? heh heh heh.

Fake Edit: I remember some kind of ep or comp. being released after Hex, so it may have not have been all that long since Bark Psychosis put out something. But I may be wrong about that.

Bark Psychosis were one of the leading innovators of rock during their
active period of 1988 to 1994. Their music, while almost traditional rock is better described as post rock. Their use of samples to create textural soundscapes brings a whole new sound to the genre. Post rock was speared-headed by Bark Psychosis when the genre was staid and unchanging, one of Bark Psychosis innovations is the use of volume, not too exciting you might think but as the barrage of guitars gives way to the soft vocals and synthesizers you’ll notice the dynamics that infuse their work. The artwork feature photographs of the St Johns Church where this live recording was made back in 1991, the situation perfectly reflecting the style of Bark Psychosis and their unique sound is enhanced by the acoustics. Starring alongside the 5 live tracks are some very special moments in the history of Bark Psychosis. Re-mastered versions of Reserve Shotgunman and Hex make
their first appearance since their release as b-sides and are joined by an ultra-rare track that all good Psychosis fans will have heard of - Clawhammer. Originally released in 1988 alongside an extract from Spacemen 3 Dreamweapon, this flexi-disc remains a collectors item for both Bark Psychosis fans and Spacemen 3 devotee's alike. Also featured is a remix of Big Shot.

The CD single does say 'edit' on it, and as I bought that first on the day of release I thought "Great song, I wonder if the full version is any bigger and better?" So I went off and bought the 12 inch (on white vinyl) a day or so later and do know how much difference there is? Hardly any. There's about 20 or 30 seconds of music at the start, very much like the coda of the song, then the song proper starts, and it ends just like the CD version. So really, you're not missing much.

What are the live tracks on "Replay" then? I presume "Pendulum man" from "Game over" is there?

Have you got "World of Echo" then, as I've been after a copy of that for years...

I do like "Spirit of Eden", "Hex" never made enough impression on me to ever play it more than a couple of times

Have you got "World of Echo" then, as I've been after a copy of that for years...

Yes I have a copy. No I cannot for the life of me work out why people go on about it so much - I blame Simon Reynolds.

I did. Listened to it last night and it actually sounds pretty great!!

Guessing, despite Graham’s comments, that they must’ve had some sort of decent masters to work with.

Picked it up but not listened to it yet. Also sent me off to finally order the “Blue” and “A Street Scene” CD singles which have now arrived.

I was so conflicted about this one. As well as your comment about the quality of the sound Alan, a few people on Discogs have said it sounds excellent. As soon as it was announced it was at the top of my list, but Graham's comments stopped me from getting it. We have one copy left at work and it's calling my name.

I asked Graham if he’d ever remaster Independency and he suggested there were significant legal issues with doing so, iirc. No idea what.

The legal issue will be Gerald Palmer’s ownership of the masters.

I ended up picking up this reissue and have to say, it sounds really great. Just as good as the recent Hex and Codename vinyl reissues.

So Independency, Game Over and Replay have now hit streaming services? Really didn't expect this at all.

nice!

Files were upped on Boomkat a couple of months ago but Graham asked them to take them down and they complied almost immediately, so I guess Third Stone were responsible.

well, i'm happy to hear independency again.

Is there any plans to reissue the non-album stuff?

Struggled to decide which thread to flag this on ...

https://acerecords.co.uk/in-the-light-of-time

Great track listing.

This looks great but I feel picky about a couple of the inclusions on here.

Hate to nit pick as all these tracks are great but no Butterfly Child or Papa Sprain?

Appliance are not great imho, or relevant, ESoJ too.

Yes, surprising that Butterfly Child weren't on there.

I felt strangely enthused about this last night - just glad to see those bands being documented together - without ever having a need to buy the album (as I'd have every track on there that I'd want).

Made this a few years ago (probably with wine). Surprised I omitted Piano Magic and Hood and not sure Montgolfier Brothers and Bitter Springs quite fit the timeline:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WNCUK2moLElB1CeOkMxVm

I felt strangely enthused about this last night - just glad to see those bands being documented together - without ever having a need to buy the album (as I'd have every track on there that I'd want).

Yeah, would agree with this (while simultaneously being very irritated that Butterfly Child/Joe is not on there).

Surprised that O'Rang are not on that comp as well, or Long Fin Killie for that matter. Would have been nice if it went all in on the mid-90's era post-rock stuff.

Then again, licensing etc. Probably good (and mundane) reasons why the obvious artists aren't repped. (See also: MBV/When You're Awake You're Still in a Dream.)

x-posts. Butterfly Child seems an omission and there might be a practical reason for it (or the compiler might just not have liked). But, regardless, it's a better version of those years than any other compilation trying to recall the UK nineties, I'd reckon.

Casts a wider net and obviously lacks some of the key UK bands but this is still the benchmark comp of the first wave postrock era imo:

https://www.discogs.com/release/178563-Various-Monsters-Robots-And-Bug-Men-A-Users-Guide-To-The-Rock-Hinterland

Virgin Ambient was on a roll there, for a while.

Yes, great compilation but with a slightly different perspective. Have in my head that Simon Hopkins was behind some awesome compilations.

Yes, and Kodwo Eshun did the amazing Routes From The Jungle comp which I believe was part of the Ambient series.

think Kevin Martin did the Monsters one. David Toop was behind lots of the others

oh no you're quite right, was Hopkins my apologies!

Tangentally related, I'd check out the two Southeast Of Saturn comps too.

Yes! Will stan for Majesty Crush all the livelong day.

Random Monday night thought: did "In The Light of Time" get much coverage and/or prompt any interesting writing/interviews?

Nothing seen on any of the stops that I frequented since it was released. Maybe it's not yet the right moment for a UK post-rock / lost generation resurgence? Despite the stupidly accelerated culture in the West, some music just needs time to get properly lost before it can be rediscovered.

Just checked and yeah, it's been less than 15 years since Biggie Samuels did those excellent "Post-Rocktoberfest" compilations on his Bubblegumcage blog.

somewhat tangential but … the distance between the quality of the music and quality of album title with “code name: dustsucker” remains astonishing

30th anniversary of Hex, apparently.

Hell of an album still.

Absolutely.

A massive album. And Dustsucker will turn 20 in July of this year. Still holding on for one more BP album but yeah, so much time has passed

The Boymerang album turned 25 a couple years back, with little to no fanfare.