David Colohan - voice, duduk, alto saxophone, modified low whistle, tin whistles, clarina & modular synth

Alison O'Donnell - voice

These songs were generated using the cut-up technique on a pile of magazines, then sung immediately upon completion of the text, without any planning. The instrumental sections were similarly randomly placed together, with some synth overdubs. Alison then sang wherever she felt was appropriate.

Recording completed at Ryan Electronics, November 2016

For Iain Grey

credits

released on CD-R limited edition of 50 on 28th April.

taking pre-orders now at http://sonicoysterrecords.bigcartel.com/product/david-colohan-hope-can-be-a-barrier-to-action

Richard Youngs - Cavalcades

Sonic Oyster Records (SOR051)

Limited Edition of 50 CDR

Release Date: 6th March 2017

"A circle's circumference can be traced clockwise or counter-clockwise. Similarly a cymbal's edge can be brushed clockwise or counter-clockwise. That's how I started. The concept initially seemed high enough to carry an entire two pieces of music. But then, creative drift set in and two pieces became three. In truth, clockwise or counterclockwise made not a jot of difference. If clockwise was the thesis, counter-clockwise the antithesis, couldn't-give-a-fuck was the synthesis. And then, why just brush the cymbal? Why just a cymbal? Everything became possible, and Cavalcades was recorded." Richard Youngs

Order at http://sonicoysterrecords.bigcartel.com

The Flexibles - Pink Everything

The Flexibles are a Punk Rock Band. The Flexibles bend space and time, flex your head, space your Punk, a jarring lightning bolt of truth to the heart of the matter. Comprised of Richard Youngs, his young son Sorley Youngs and family friend Andrew Paine, they operate within Glasgow city limits, outsiders in an outsider culture. Swirling around the wild, searing guitar playing and cosmically infused songwriting of Sorley, The Flexibles' Pink Everything is a concept album of sorts, on the surface a narrative about space travel, the state of the human race in the modern Acopalyx. While vicious in its take down of humanity's own death-drive, the subtext of Pink Everything describes a world where anything is possible. Perhaps the Acopalyx, or Apocalypse, needs to happen for us to be re-born. Anything can be Pink.

Over both sides, The Flexibles depict a realm where fantasy and reality are inexplicably fused together… Sorley’s lyrical flourishes touch on the stream-of-conciousness imagery that seems to be swimming in the Youngs genepool, but there are dashes of real life. When I Was 86 has Sorley tearing modern living apart both from the perspective of the anti-hero Arcosta – an alien visitor to Earth but also from his own perspective as a young man making sense of a reality that needs changed. Smothered by Richard’s electronics and the super-massive fuzz bass of Paine, it’s a radical stomper. Album opener Pink Everything however, offers the flip: a distorted, crazed sermon that essentially asks Why Not? Why can’t everything be pink, true and truthful. Side B comprises a suite chronicling Arcosta’s journey, struggling to comprehend the things we do; capitalism, the endless grind of work-play, the rituals that to extra terrestrials and indeed to children unaffected by cynicism seem meaningless.

As a power trio, The Flexibles blow apart pre-conceptions, burn down barriers and paint them pink. The Flexibles believe anything can be possible and embody an ultimate creative freedom, unencumbered by age barriers, limits. Anything can be Pink

Available at http://nightschoolrecords.bigcartel.com/product/the-flexibles-pink-everything-lp-lssn038

Andrew Paine - Sky Movers Must Fight On (Glass Redux)

Quietly and without fuss, Andrew Paine has established himself as one of the UK underground’s most progressive thinkers and most diverse operators, his modes ranging from solo voice, through layered howling guitars, gentle piano interludes, oblique electronics and wherever he likes in between. 

He initially broke cover collaborating with Richard Youngs in their progressive rock group project Ilk. Following their second album “Canticle” (VHF, 2005), he became particularly prolific, releasing many collaborative titles both with Youngs and with fellow Glasgow resident Caroline McKenzie as well as several solo titles. 

He founded his own Sonic Oyster Records in 2006 to release much of his work and co-founded the progressive kraut-rock power trio, Space Weather. Current duties extend to bass guitar with punk trio ‘The Flexibles’ , one half of theosophical thinkers ‘The Blue Tree’, with long-time collaborator, Matthew Shaw (Tex La Homa) and co-founder of Turds of the Reformation. 

‘Sky Movers Must Fight On’ is his first release for Glass Redux. Its short-sharp futuristic bursts capture Paine monologuing to the electronic horizon. Dada with beats. Mixed by Reuben Bough. Artwork by Steve Krakow (aka Plastic Crimewave). 

"of extreme use for meditation, navigation and general cuntedness” Julian Cope 

Available at Glass Redux 

https://glassredux.bandcamp.com/album/sky-movers-must-fight-on

SOR50 arrived to celebrate the 50th CD-R release of the label. That was back in 2011. I think it's time to re-boot the series and take the first steps towards SOR100. 

If you would like to send something for consideration... send it over to sonicoysterrecords@yahoo.co.uk. I can't guarantee I'll like it, but I guarantee I'll listen to it and get back to you.

Releases will be limited to an edition of 50. 

Here's what the greatly missed Volcanic Tongue had to say about SOR50:

"Fantastic new compilation celebrating the fiftieth release on Andrew Paine’s consistently excellent Sonic Oyster imprint, with exclusive unreleased tracks from Richard Youngs (a song from his unreleased B Sides for Ultrahits project!), Richard Youngs & Andrew Paine, a beautiful drone work from Alistair Crosbie, The Zero Map with Wellington Squares (A Band related), Buddha On The Moon, Andrew Paine (US), Susan Matthews, Bolide, Clutter, Matthew Shaw, Brian Lavelle, Astral Social Club, Andrew Paine (UK), Will Klingenmeier, Book Of Shadows, Sindre and a final amazing blow-out from Glasgow’s Smoke Jaguar that pretty much justifies the entrance fee on its own"

Onwards!

Matthew Shaw - Songs and the Silences of Night

On 25th August Sonic Oyster Records will release ‘Songs and the Silences of Night’ by Matthew Shaw. These four songs are the first to be released under his own name and build on the past releases as Tex La Homa while updating the sound and structure in view of more recent site specific and long form pieces. 
The ep is a celebration and personal investigation into four states of being, all considered in the present tense. Released on black 7″ vinyl with photo sleeve, and accompanying text by Matthew verso, and while inner sleeve, played at 33RPM

Tracklisting;

Side A – 1. Walking in Circles 2.Autumn Equinox

Side AA – 1. 13th Moon 2. Vernal Equinox

‘Songs and the Silences of Night’ may well form the beginning of new explorations into the use of poetry and song in the context of the seasons and circular nature of life.

Available for £5.00 at http://sonicoysterrecords.bigcartel.com/product/songs-and-the-silences-of-night

Rough Trade - Barbed Wire

RICHARD YOUNGS

BARBED WIRE EXPLOSION IN THE KINGDOM OF ATLANTIS

Limited LP. Beyond 'Outsider,' beyond 'auteur' there is one figure who continues to revel in curveballs and sideways steps, and that figure is Glasgow based artist Richard Youngs. On 'Barbed Wire Explosion In The Kingdom Of Atlantis' Richard Youngs crafts a truly out-there and personal version of 80s D-Beat, recreating on his own the power of a punk band at the peak of its creative powers. Over pounding tin-can d-beats, the cheapest sounding power-chord guitar playing possible Youngs' voice is surviving the onslaught: recognisable from his previous vocal work but entirely perverted by a sonic form truly at wonderful odds with his lilting, droning tone. Easily more extreme in its execution than any number of 'classic' d-beat albums, this record aims for something, completely misses it and ends up in a place that is truly unique and needs to be heard. You can't ask more from an artist.

Richard Youngs - Barbed Wire Explosion in the Kingdom of Atlantis

Richard Youngs 'Barbed Wire Explosion in the Kingdom of Atlantis' is now available for pre-order on Sonic Oyster Records for £10.00 plus postage & packaging.

The album comes with full lyric sheet and is limited to an edition of 250. It will not be available in any other format.

Here's Richard's press release:

'Barbed Wire Explosion in the Kingdom of Atlantis is the sound of Richard Youngs attempting to recreate the sound of a band at the peak of its powers. Homemade in Glasgow to the backdrop of everyday life, nothing is hidden on this record. It is raw, direct, unpretentious, loud, fast, brief.

Richard Youngs' 38th solo album finds him revisiting a key influence on his adolescent self. He has had 30+ years to forget and now rediscover the joy of d-beat.'

The album is officially released on the 24th June, but you can pre-order directly now from http://sonicoysterrecords.bigcartel.com/

If you're desperate to get the album a week early, Volcanic Tongue will be selling it from Monday 17th June, with lyric sheet signed by Richard. You can find Volcanic Tongue at http://volcanictongue.com/

This is going to sell out fast, so don't delay in ordering your copy.

A track from 'Barbed Wire' can be heard on soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sonic-oyster-records/richard-youngs-m-f-s

Volcanic Tongue's Barbed Wire Review

Richard Youngs

Barbed Wire Explosion In The Kingdom Of Atlantis


Sonic Oyster Vinyl (SOV-002
)




"Massively anticipated brand new album from Richard Youngs in an edition of only 250 copies, with all VT copies coming with a lyric sheet individually signed by Richard while stocks last: this one has been gestating for a while. Youngs was a big d-beat fan back in the day and has been working towards a vision of an ultra streamlined hardcore record that would combine the protesting/apocalyptic aesthetic of Discharge/Rude Kids et al with the heavenly song-stylings/‘Church of England’ edge that defines the best of his back catalogue. Well this is it. And it’s a monster. The Rotten Masters EP that he cut with Andrew Paine and that was the debut Sonic Oyster Vinyl release points the way but oddly enough the style is less aggressive than on there while still shadowing the whole early-Public Image Limited ‘feel’, especially in Richard’s vocals, which come over like a home counties take on Lydon circa Metal Box. Drum machines kick in with the classic d-beat rhythm and Richard shreds on lead guitar, playing in a fast amphetamine-metal style that trades technique for tectonics. The lyrics are genre-perfect with classic tracks like “More Fucking Stuff” coming over like a typically textually convoluted yet two-fingers pithy assault on consumerism – “more fucking stuff/high rise wilderness/more fucking stuff/these briars of prefabrication/more fucking stuff/random dystopias of regeneration/more fucking stuff” – and classic choruses like “feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling/feeling no feeling” that marry the hypnotic, bardic style of tracks like “Summer’s Edge” from Summer Wanderer to urban street-fighting aesthetics. Yet despite the potentially generic trappings this is a classic Richard Youngs album with beautifully rendered songs and some truly stirring vocal performances, with his voice given a new sense of urgent delivery, somehow linking his own particular English DIY tradition to parallel currents like Public Image, Crass, A Flux Of Pink Indians and Rudimentary Peni. With perfect scrabbly/messy DIY cover art and an atmosphere that is a confounding mix of strident avant rock radicalism, hardcore refusal, high energy free metal and nostalgic teenage memorial this is at once a defining Richard Youngs side and a massive step outside. Another amazing instalment in one of the most fascinating and unpredictable trips in underground music. Very highly recommended, you need to hear this one..." (Volcanic Tongue)

The Driftwood Manor - A Cross atop a Hill (SOC010)

The Driftwood Manor - A Cross atop a Hill (SOC010)

Release Date: 15th October 2012

Limited Edition of 50 Cassettes

Cost: £5.00 plus postage & packaging

The Driftwood Manor has gifted the Sonic Oyster Cassette series with a stunning album to round off 2012.

'A Cross atop a Hill' takes Irish Folk as a starting point and proceeds to defy expectation with a quietly emerging mix of traditional music, drone and experimental modes. 

‘A Cross Atop A Hill’ is the final cassette release on the sonic oyster imprint for 2012. This is strictly limited to an edition of 50 and is set for release on October 15^th.

If you would like to reserve a copy, please paypal to sonicoysterrecords@yahoo.co.uk.

Please note new pricing for POSTAGE & PAYPAL: - CD-R- In the UK, please add £1.00p towards p&p for one CD-R, £1.50 for 2 or more. Outside the UK, please add £1.50 towards p&p for one CD-R, £2 for 2 or more. Paypal is preferred - the address is sonicoysterrecords (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk.


The Tongue Gets Rotten

"Totally mind-blowing new three-track EP, privately issued by Andrew Paine’s Sonic Oyster imprint that sees Youngs and Paine at some kind of high-energy peak, with a tribute to UK anarcho groups like Crass, Flux Of Pink Indians, Discharge et al cut with the aggressive a-formalism of Throbbing Gristle: the opening “Tomorrow’s Story” is hands-down the wildest vocal performance of Richard’s career, with a heady use of ring modulation coming over like a Dalek fronting Crass, with every line a negative statement, an absolute refusal. The music is amazing, with Paine holding down massively dunderhead one-note bass solos and punked electronics and as the EP unfolds the music becomes even more aggressive, with the closing “Wisdom” coming over like Discharge’s “State Violence State Control” as played by Tampax. Indeed, this is the crudest, wildest, nastiest refusenik Industrial punk of either players’ back catalogue, a stunning slab of righteously enraged avant-thug muscle that just keeps on keeping on. A non-stop addition to the VT turntable this week, in a run of only 250 copies of which 50 are part of an exclusive VT sub-edition personally autographed by both Youngs and Paine. Seriously, you need to hear this: highest possible recommendation!" Volcanic Tongue

Rotten Masters - Signing at Volcanic Tongue

Richard Youngs & Andrew Paine signing Volcanic Tongue's copies of their new Rotten Masters 7"! On sale in the shop starting Saturday and on the site starting Sunday! 

Richard Youngs & Andrew Paine - Rotten Masters e.p. (SOV001)

Richard Youngs & Andrew Paine

Rotten Masters e.p. (SOV001)

Limited Edition of 250

Release Date: 2^nd July

£6.00 plus postage & packaging

Taking pre-orders now

We’ve got questions for this so-called progress.

We do not offer this to you for your excitement.

This is our attitude, another fine clearance.

No place for Masters, there are no benefits.

It’s just an illusion to keep us in our places.”

                                                Paine & Youngs, June 2012

Please note new pricing for POSTAGE & PAYPAL: 7" Vinyl in the UK, please add £1.50 towards p&p for one E.P. £2.00 for 2 or more. Outside the UK, please add £4.00 towards p&p for one E.P. £5.00 for 2 or more. Paypal is preferred - the address is sonicoysterrecords (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk.


Norman on Jazzfinger

Sonic Oyster have got another new tape out. I really liked that recent one from Buddha on the Moon so I have high hopes for this one. On here, “Chav's Finger” (as I like to call them) are dropping six sparse, mystical bong meditations with synthesizers and also proper grown-up instruments. Mellow drones with mellow twinkles over the top, sometimes melodic, sometimes freeform and a little bit chuntery...I guess you've got to get into the “zone” for this one and I've not smoked enough chong for that yet today.

The Buddha speaks to Norman

Ooh, this one's right up my street. On here the mysterious Buddha On The Moon bust out two side-long jams with elements of drone and psychedelic rock, which seem to be based around simple echo-laden bass guitar melodies alongside processing and programming and ethereal washed out background vocals which are blended with synth drones to fascinating effect. The simple, repetitive, slooooooow bassline that anchors everything on the first side is totally hypnotic and when the cautiously understated, primal drums start to emerge from the fug about halfway through it has a total ritualistic Master Musicians Of Bukkake feel going on that I know a lot of you will appreciate. The second side, 'Emergence', is far more of an ambient drone trip, with less bassy and more shimmering drones gradually shifting and morphing for a refreshing tone bath. There's totally immersive atmospheres here, but it's too busy to really call drone, especially on the first side. It's more of a slowed down, submerged psych drift with a nod to the post-dubby snail-like pacing of Sun Araw and the semi-musical psychedelic texturing of Expo 70. Sonic Oyster's output tends to be pretty consistent but I think this is my favourite thing I've heard from them yet. Great job lads! (Norman Records)

Tongue on Finger

Welcome return for this legendary UK underground cell from Newcastle, piloted by Ben Jones and Hasan Gaylani now for many, many years: edition of only 50 copies six-track cassette album that occupies a nocturnal zone of bowed and struck electro-acoustic soundings somewhere downwind of Organum, NNCK et al. That patented Jazzfinger dead-at-the-steering-wheel drone, achieved through the obsessive application of busted cassette decks, is at the heart of this new work, with pulsing low-grade atmospherics over slow Chalk-like accordion drones, buzzing, tactile string work... aspects of MEV’s sci-fi/Industrial masterpiece, Leave The City w/a similarly dramatic and atmospheric approach to junkyard ritual make this one of the highlights of the SOC catalogue to date: recommended! 

Jazzfinger - Night Fall At Borrowed World

Jazzfinger - Night Fall At Borrowed World
Sonic Oyster Cassettes (009)Limited edition of 50
Release date: 21 May 2012
Cost: £6.00 plus postage & packaging

Sonic Oyster welcomes in the night with brand new twisted entertainment from Jazzfinger.
'Night Fall At Borrowed World' serves up six episodes of absorbing, nerve shredding psychodrama. This is the soundtrack of perpetual darkness. Embrace it.


Please note new pricing for POSTAGE & PAYPAL: - CD-R- In the UK, please add £1.00p towards p&p for one CD-R, £1.50 for 2 or more. Outside the UK, please add £1.50 towards p&p for one CD-R, £2 for 2 or more. Paypal is preferred - the address is sonicoysterrecords (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk.