the shadow ring

did i ever tell you about the time i saw shadow ring @ o’brien’s in allston... this would have been around... 1996 or 1997 or so? well, they were great and they left a lasting impression on me. i’ll always remember how their “encore” song consisted of mr. lambkin singing about the merch table; “buy... our record... cut... on a lathe... 5 whole dollars...” funny, funny stuff...

oh, what a band.

graham's two solo lps are great too.

there are two LPs? I know there was a new CD. I really like "Poem" a lot, where a lot of people think it's boring or lazy or something.

sorry, i used 'lp' generically--"Poem" (lp/vinyl-only i believe) and "Salmon Run" (cd).

i didn't like "poem" but i love "salmon run"

POEM IS GRATE, LISTEN HARDER.

I really like "Poem" a lot, where a lot of people think it's boring or lazy or something.

that's what i think. anyone want to buy a copy? played twice!

anyone know whats up with this "life review 1993-2003" compilation? is it just a straight best-of? are we never going to get a straight reissue of city lights?

check it out

yeah i know, i want like a real copy without ebay tax

I guess that Shadow Ring reissues are on the way.
Didja see Graham Lambkin's Listed?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Graham Lambkin

For nearly two decades, Graham Lambkin has been redefining our concept of domestic disturbance. From his time in The Shadow Ring to his solo ventures (2003’s Poem for Voice and Tape and Salomon Run, from 2007) to his collaboration with Jason Lescalleet (2008’s The Breadwinner), he has continually transformed everyday atmospheres and the mundane into expressive sound art using tape manipulation techniques, synthesizers, chance operations, and the thick ambiance of domestic field recordings. Lambkin’s playfully surreal perspective is also present in his work as a visual artist. For those who missed The Shadow Ring the first time around, Lambkin’s own label, KYE, released Life Review (1993-2003) earlier this year, a retrospective of the group’s decade-long output. Future plans call for reissues of the group’s entire discography, another solo album and a second collaboration with Lescalleet.

1. ZNR - Barricade 3 (Isadora)
The debut ZNR LP has long remained one of my all-time faves. A collision of eccentric Satie-esque miniatures, strange, amateurish keyboard/synth explorations and the occasional song, delivered in a mixture of French and Spanish tongues. I always think of the creepy, over-ripe vocals on Seynete as one of the LP’s most memorable moments, but there are many. A genuine hybrid of weirdness and beauty, Barricade 3 has kept me entertained for the better part of 18 years.

2. Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice And Rats In The Loft (Transatlantic)
One of my favorite UK underground folk LPs. Three extended tracks that wildly roam through the darker variants of human psychosis, leaving its better known bedfellow, Comus’s First Utterance, in the shade. A big influence on my worldview circa Wax-Work Echoes, and it still does the business today.

3. Van der Graaf Generator - World Record (Charisma)
When it’s time for The Boys to come off the shelf, this is the one to pull. One anthem after another after another. And how about that side 2 then? Did VdGG ever cut a better side of music than "Meurglys III (The Songwriters Guild)" > "Wondering"? The latter so heroic it’s hard not to choke up on those opening chords. "Wondering" also has the hands down best ‘promo video’ of all time.

4. Tyrannosaurus Rex - Unicorn (Regal Zonophone)
In our house Marc’s the boss. From Toby Tyler to "Hot George", we do the lot, but this one’s Dads favorite. With a fuller sound than its predecessors, and that great, booming Spector-esque drum production, Marc’s unintelligible elfin warble never sounded more potent. Steve Took also scores highly for his colorful backdrop of animal impersonations and all around musical dexterity. Gone but not forgotten.

5. Lou Reed - The Bells (Arista)
Lou’s best. Queasy, deranged and confessional. Lou’s rarely this playful – parading a range of affected, varispeed voices, ad-hoc lyrics and recycled backing tapes. The towering presence of Don Cherry and Nils Lofgren doesn’t hurt either. This is a hangover in a sleeve. Just beautiful.

6. The Good Missionaries - Fire From Heaven (Vinyl Japan)
Alternative TV hits the bottom of the barrel and comes up smelling like a free festival. Hearing this record for the first time was like being hit in the face with a brick of hash. A total shambles, in one of the best WTF sleeves ever. I always like to supersize mine with the equally great "Vibing Up The Senile World" 7". What humanity needs now is a decent reissue of their elusive live cassette. Anyone have it?

7. Gilli Smyth - Mother (Charly)
The first solo flight from Mother Gong, and the one that reaches farthest into the blackness of space. A role-call of Gong luminaries smoke their way through two sides of cosmic whisperings, meditations on prostitution, creepy fairy tales and a voicemail from Father Christmas, framed brilliantly in Daevid Allen’s hazy tape-collage. Played this one a lot during my two-year tenure at Coombe House.

8. Joe McPhee & John Snyder - Pieces Of Light (Atavistic)
Back in 1993 one of the chief concerns of the then fledgling Shadow Ring was to emulate the electronic textures of John Snyder’s ARP. Armed only with Darren’s brother’s Casio we had our work cut out for us. I love McPhee’s ambition and scope on this LP, tackling everything from trumpet and fluegelhorn to modified nagoya harp, bird chimes, voice and beyond. Of interest – Joe McPhee and I now happily share the same branch of Stop & Shop.

9. Moniek Darge - Sounds Of Sacred Places (Igloo)
One of my favorite LPs of tape-based music. Moniek is better known for her work with the Logos Duo (along with her partner Godfried-Willem Raes) and is relatively under-documented as a solo artist. This LP has a beautiful, unhurried pace that slowly reveals its rich detail like a developing Polaroid. Every mixtape I’ve made over the last 13 years has featured a track from this LP.

10. Daniel Steven Crafts - Soap Opera Suit / Snake Oil Symphony (Lutra)
This record has always seemed very exotic to a non-TV owner such as myself. Crudely sampled dialog and music excerpts ripped from TV adverts and soap operas, lightly whipped into two side-long repeat-pattern brain-freeze epics. A great exercise in turning domestic banality into high-art banality.

Thanks for the link!

There was also a one-page feature of Graham in the June issue of Wire, Idk if it's available online

yay someone cooler than me likes that moniek darge LP, my life is complete.

Very educational Listed. Graham fuckin rules.

Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice And Rats In The Loft

Had forgotten all about this one, looking forward to digging it out at the weekend now.

great list, thanks for the link - so sad to read that Adris "no longer makes music"

"Of interest – Joe McPhee and I now happily share the same branch of Stop & Shop."

Classic.

Some great Lambkin self-portraits in the Wire's online extras...
http://www.thewire.co.uk/gallery.php?article=2513

does anyone know what song is playing at the end of "I Lap It Up"?

it's from Capsicum Red's LP - can't recall the title of the track now.

oh, wonderful! thank you very very much!

in other news: new Graham Lambkin record soon!

http://penultimate-press.blogspot.com/

a book too!

okay, this seems to be the track on the lindus lp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEvrPpW9bzs

has anyone heard back from dude that released the book? I e-mailed him a few days back and haven't gotten a response.

today is a good day for lindus

got the book today!

I had forgotten that it came with a CD. yessssss.

listened to Lighthouse today, btw.

oh shit need to pay for my book!!!!

i love the shadow ring. they are one of the most incredible.... things. ever.

they really are quite wonderful.

the book has the complete lyrics to "We're Complex Piss." turns out my transcription was actually pretty close.

there's a new single by Tim Goss out on KYE. "Call Back the Giants."
It is excellent.

listened to 'Salmon Run' for the first time today - what an amazing rec, as gd as any shadow ring disc imho! love the way that lambkin can make something so spooky and OTHER out of relatively simple, even familiar, effects - animal noises, laughter, water sounds, hiss, ominous thumps, raw chunks of classical singing, breathing and so on, all of interconnected and (self) referencing, never academic or heartless. also makes it slightly easier to 'see' lambkin's contribution to the shadow ring through this prism - more pl!

softly softly copy copy!

is that as gd, ian? might have to stroll down to volcanic tongue one lunchtime...

i don't know if it's /as good/ (whatever that means?) but it's certainly a nice recording! it does incorporate a lot of similar sounds--water, animals, weird tape manipulation, violin..

ya sold me!

Tim Goss performing Call Back the Giants material at Cafe Oto this week. Graham Lambkin doing some readings from Dumb Answer to Miracles as well. Hopefully playing something too.

And I gather there's a Call Back the Giants LP on the way. Hope it's not as pricey as the Kye 7"s have been.

Graham's got a book of recent drawings coming out soon too.

Lambkin/Lescaleet duo playing at Issue Project Room in NYC tonight--who's going?
Also, do I need to show up at the space on time? I will need to leave work early, and perhaps take a cab.

no body?

dont suppose reissues will ever happen just have to stump up the big bucks but this is one band that is completely worthwhile so whatever happens you need to find a way

my excitement is tempered cos of the exact opposite reasons that Ward Fowler IS excited - won't be on record - its not a surprise because I know Mr Lambkins indifference towards the format but I can't help but feel a little bummed

I mean, it would be like 20 LPs or something, I can't even imagine what we'd have to sell it for or what shipping costs would be, etc.

fair enough - was hoping there might be some other version of this, stripped down 3-4 record set or maybe individual records considering the prices and availability the older ones go for - but great that its coming out at all, guess ill just have to think about modernising my listening habits and get into these new fangled 'CD' things people keep going on about

As people are indicating above, I'm sure that nowadays it's an expensive proposition to acquire the original Shadow Ring albs, but things like I'm Some Songs have NEVER been issued on CD before - so that's why I'm excited.

Count me among those happy that this will be a CD set and not some exorbitantly expensive vinyl only thing

hurrah for compact disc. looking forward to remasters.

Excellent!

shameless plug, but what better thread - i put out a record w/ penultimate press this month. graham lambkin helped it come to fruition, and lent handwriting for the artwork. this was a big deal for me given that i grew up listening to PP & Kye. very limited copies. hope you enjoy

https://www.penultimatepress.com/product/parlours-who-will-listen-to-aches-that-everyone-has-7/

Oh wow, congratulations! Ordered it just now (I'd been meaning to order Timo van Luijk's new album too, so added that one as well) :)

oh ty very much!

Any news on the Erstwhile mega reissue project? I've had and sold most of the Shadow Ring discography in the past but would love to have the definitive collection.

sorry, just seeing this...

it’s going to happen still, by next spring if not sooner. we had two other box sets to do first (Pisaro on Gravity Wave and Tsunoda on ErstPast), but those are done now.

also if you want to reserve a copy early and be alerted when preorders start, shoot me an e-mail at erstrecs gmail.

I CAN HEAR PLANES COMING IN
I'VE GOT GATWICK EARS

thanks for the update, Jon! emailing you now for pre-order alert info.

Related to the above discussion perhaps, noticed this just went up:

https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/city-lights

Which mentions this:

Throughout their legendary, decade-long run, the Shadow Ring were an enigmatic force on the international musical sub-underground. Before their disbandment in 2002, this shambolic rock outfit, formed by a group of rowdy teenagers in southeast England, left behind a mighty run of eight LPs, a handful of 7"s, and a spate of raucous live shows and cryptic zine appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, all which have bolstered their enduring word-of-mouth mystique. Beginning this year with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the self-released pre-Shadow Ring tape The Cat & Bells Club (1992), Blank Forms Editions is conducting a systematic retrospective of the storied group, including a multi-year LP reissue effort and a forthcoming comprehensive CD box set and an over five hundred page book.

This is up as well

https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/put-the-music-in-its-coffin

awesome, I never got to pick any of these up back in the day

And that Cat & Bells Club mention:

https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/the-cat-bells-club

Graham, BTW, had this out in June:

https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/aphorisms

oh right, I never updated here, sorry. Blank Forms took over the Shadow Ring box project just before Covid, glad to see it will finally emerge.

this really is the year of Lambkin, he turned 50 earlier this summer and we just put this stunner up for preorder last week:

https://erstwhilerecords.bandcamp.com/album/gondolas

All v nice

OK "City Lights" is what has finally flipped the switch for me to "get" this band

Okay here we fucking go

https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/the-shadow-ring-1992-2002

Yeah baby

very glad this is happening and while I think this is a good value for all they are offering, $200 is too rich for my blood. Normally I'd assume there would be a scaled-down edition, but I guess Life Review was that.

I may cave eventually. That book is going to be insane

As a huge fan who owns all the records and cds, I can’t really justify buying fir myself. However, it would be a great gift for someone who has yet to drench themselves in their particularly cold and damp vibes. Lighthouse, imo, remains one of the best double albums of all time.

I’m guessing the book isn’t going to be available separately? I don’t necessarily need the whole set as I already have a good bit of their material in various formats but I’d def pay a fraction of 200 dollars for the book.

I may end up paying all of 200 dollars for the whole thing but I really don’t want to do that