--
Login
|
Logout
| User:
Not Signed In
| Email | Cart | Items
Home |
Magazine
| Photography |
Discussion
| Buy | Sell |
My Account
| About
www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk
Band:
Ghostwriter
Label:
Chaffinch Records
Title:
Dimensions
Tweet
Review (1)
Release Details
Add Release
Releases (1)
Articles (0)
Cover Art (1)
Versions (0)
Edit Release
Releases List (1)
Reviews (1)
Pictures (0)
Summary (0)
Related (1)
Jukebox (1)
List All (2)
Band:
Ghostwriter
Title:
Dimensions
Reviewed By:
Benjamin Howarth
Date Published:
27/03/2013
Label:
Chaffinch Records
Format:
7"
Release Year:
2013
Lookup:
More than two years after releasing ‘The Continuing Adventures of the Strange Sound Association’ – a limited edition album that is now almost impossible to find – Ghostwriter’s next move is a vinyl only EP on Chaffinch Records. Again limited, this time to 200 copies, it is likely to become equally collectable.
I missed the album, but have managed to get my mitts on this EP – my first experience of Ghostwriter (aka Mark Brend) having been his collaboration with Darren Hayman on his 'January Songs' project in 2011. He was the only artist to ‘cheat’ during that project, explaining that he simply didn’t work in a way that allowed him to record a whole song in a single way. Instead, he produced an instrumental piece at his regular, unhurried pace in advance, with Hayman then adding his vocals on the allotted day.
The EP is centred around its eleven minute title track, split onto both sides of the seven inch vinyl. It is the soundtrack to an imaginary walk around 1930's London, in the company of Christian mystic writer Charles Williams (whose work in quoted on the sleeve). The piece begins with a refrain, played on an ominous sounding piano, which gradually fades out, replaced by the same melody played on electronic instruments. In the background, you hear the echoes of a sermon and possibly organ as well. The first half of the track ends with a church choir, singing plainsong, ‘Amen’.
The second half begins with a heavily echoed acoustic guitar, with electronic effects bubbling out of the echoes of the chords, before a synth passage begins – different sections merge into one another, some peaceful, some frantic and some disconcertingly strange. I can only imagine Brend intended his listeners to be disconcerted – this is not background music. The complete absence of percussion during what are actually fairly rhythmic passages only adds to this effect. Finally, the church choir returns for a longer passage.
Around these, there are two short tracks – one a pleasant lead-in to the main event of the title track, the other reminiscent of the distorted folk instrumentation Four Tet used on ‘Pause’, yet without any beats. It’s a pity there isn’t more than a minute.
As a bonus, anyone who buys the vinyl also gets a download only extra track, ‘Bidding Bell’ – on which Brend collaborates with Suzy Mangion and Adrian Ramsey on what he describes as a “pastoral/choral conversation with God”. The track is part Christmas carol, part folk and part ambient. It lifts off when Mangion’s vocals are suddenly layered over each other, before cutting out just as suddenly. Though this track is four minutes long, it is again a pity there isn’t more of it.
This is an excellent record, and one can only hope that it isn’t too long a wait for a full length album.
Track Listing:
01) Autobiographical Sketch No. 1
02) Dimensions - Chapter 1
03) Dimensions - Chapter 2
04) With Stringed Instruments, A Song
First
Previous
Next
Last
Related Links
http://endofthewest.com/
http://minutebook.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Ghostwriter/
Commenting On: Dimensions by Ghostwriter
Header
Comment:
Your Name
Your Location
ie London, England
tick box before submitting comment
First
Previous
Next
Last
Related Bands
(edit)
Ghostwriter
Ghostwriter and Michael Paine
Related Labels
Chaffinch Records
Review Header
Spiritual limited-to-200 copies vinyl only single from Ghostwriter, the moniker for electronic artist Mark Brend
Mark Brend:Interview
John Clarkson talks to music writer and Palace of Light, Farina and Ghostwriter guitarist Mark Brend about his debut novel 'Undercliff'.
First
Previous
Next
Articles A-Z
View All
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Dimensions - 7"
Spiritual limited-to-200 copies vinyl only single from Ghostwriter, the moniker for electronic artist Mark Brend
First
Previous
Next
Reviews A-Z
View All
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Top Articles (Current Magazine)
Stephen McLaren 'Put Me On The Television' Video Premiere
Hector Gannet Live at Polestar Studios
Jeremy Thoms Interview
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities #2
Nicky Crewe A Life in Music
Steve Hackett Interview
McCookerybook and Rotifer Interview Part 2
Philip Parfitt Interview Part 1
U2 Raging Pages
Paul Brett Interview
Top Reviews (Current Magazine)
Rats on Rafts Excerpts from Chapter 3: The Mind Runs a Net of Rabbit Paths CD (Nonplace)
Lost Doves Set Your Sights Towards the Sun CD (Green Tea Productions )
Still Corners The Last Exit CD (Wrecking Light Records )
Gary Lucas The Essential Gary Lucas CD X2 (KFR )
Telescopes Songs of Love and Revolution CD (Tapete Records)
McKenzie FIX Pandora's Box CD (Crystal Seven Records )
Barry Gibb Greenfields CD (Universal Music)
RVDS Moods and Dances 2021 CD (Bureau B)
Celeste Not Your Muse CD (Polydor)
Arlo Parks Collapsed in Sunbeams CD (Transgressive Records)