English sound artist Steve North was confronted by serious health scare after being diagnosed with cancer. He got better and whiled away the hours exploring the endless possibilities of a looper pedal. Pretty much to his own surprise some of his noodling was just begging to be turned into off-kilter songs that explore post-punk, ambient, jazz and spoken word, more often than not within the space of a single track. The result was a full album, Dandelion Clockwork Faded, that is filled to the rafters with weirdness and serious concerns about where Old Blighty is heading right now.
Some of the music is tailor-made for a documentary about brutalist architecture, but there is also plenty of room for skewed pastoral interludes. Rhythmic seizures sit comfortably next to drenched-in-echo guitar flourishes. His creativity is in full bloom and it requires repeating listening to fully appreciate this baffling yet highly entertaining collection of improvised songs. Avant-garde as a genre never aims to please, but in the long run it always turns out that the best things happen when the rule books are ditched aside. North is heading to new horizons and he doesn't care if anyone is actually following him.
Dandelion Clockwork Faded is a self-released album. Buy it (CD, digital) from his website.
Tracks:- You Weren't Afraid To Be Born (So Why Are You Afraid To Die)?
- Worst Family Christmas Ever With Uncle Aamon
- Dandelion Clockwork Faded
- A Victorian Lullaby
- A Banshee Awakes In Kensal Green Cemetery
- Can We Go Wild Swimming?
- A Wasp Picnic Reimagined
- Activate Playground Hybrid Machine
- Tsuzumi Gate
- Considerably More Scary Than I Remember
- Four Times Log In The Extreme
- I'm Still Waiting For A Good Explanation
- Submarine Sonar Wins Best In Bloom
- Reggie And I Are Having A Marvelous Time
- Druantia's Missing Person Report
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