the shadow ring

really - all gratitude for championing avant underworlds for my seventeen year old ears to discover some ten years ago, now.

"extremely proud and excited to announce a new imprint, ErstPast, documenting archival recordings with a connection to Erstwhile.

there will be two major projects coming on ErstPast in 2019, one will be:

The Shadow Ring-The Complete Recorded Work 1993-2003 (11 CD/DVD box set)"

https://www.facebook.com/erstwhilerecords/posts/1997226303653728

well that is indeed amazing, and thank you, but I must ask - are there plans for separate release of the individual discs?

I mean, I will probably buy this anyway, the question is more out of idle curiosity.

Will buy. What's on the DVD?!

we are in the early stages still (but it’s moving fast), so I don’t have answers for either of those yet (although I think Graham knows exactly what he wants on the DVD).

thanks! bookmarked.

dang i will buy the hell out of that

some back of the envelope calculations indicate that to purchase all of this out of print material would run you over $500 in the current marketplace

that's about what I made in a regrettable sell-off of my shadow ring collection 9 years ago.

now 12 CDs/1 DVD.

have to say I expected a lot more excitement in this thread about that news, but maybe when it's out.

in the meantime, Graham's fantastic new double CD with Áine O'Dwye rthat I mentioned upthread is now out for preorder, shipping in a few weeks.

https://erstwhilerecords.bandcamp.com/album/green-ways

I'm excited! A lot! So glad it will be on CD rather than vinyl! Just a bit nervous about what it will cost to purchase in the UK.

I think it's going to be pretty reasonably priced, especially direct from me, but we'll see what it actually costs to put together first.

I’m excited, too, though curious what it will be. I hope there’s a whole world to discover. Any details as yet? If it’s any consolation, I just purchased the Graham and Aine double disc through erstwhile bandcamp.

not announcing a specific track list yet, but it will have not just all of the LP/CDs but the singles and compilation tracks too. there is not much previously unreleased (Remains Unchanged covered almost everything that was left) but there should be a bit plus 'released' material that almost no one has heard (hardcore fans can probably figure out what I mean by this and just leave it at that for now without followup questions, thanks).

more exciting IMO is that most/all of this material was not mastered or mastered poorly originally, and we will be doing our best from the original tapes. plus a big booklet...

and thanks for the Green Ways purchase!!

Klaus Canterbury & The Aces deluxe 180g reissue or bust

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