The following titles are still available. Each CDR release costs 5GBP, with the exception of 'Fougou: Atlantis (for John Michell)', which is available for 4GBP.
POSTAGE & PAYPAL INFORMATION - CDRS - In the UK, please add 50p towards p&p for one disc, £1 for 2 or more. Outside the UK, please add £1 towards p&p for one disc, £2 for 2 or more. Paypal is preferred - the address is sonicoysterrecords (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk.
Clutter - Live At the Bombed Out Church
'Live At The Bombed Out Church' is a big shimmering, swirling, electro-acoustic album, full of twisting ambient melodies.
Boasting an enormous range of impressions, Clutter is never afraid to just let things be, to swirl around a groove and let the sonic entropy do the work for him.
'Church' constantly evolves and expands; its path of development building on sumptuous tones, simple loops, multi-field recordings - constantly clashing, complementing and contrasting into a rich yielding electronic soup.
Clutter (Shaun Blezard), works between the fields of electroacoustic improvisation, ambient electronics and music concrete, adding touches of anything from dub, jazz and post rock to his eclectic mix of influences.
He is interested in areas of music where genres meet and finding ways to incorporate this melding of influences back into his music. His working method involves the use of field recordings, both raw and processed, to convey a sense of place and narrative, with the immediate sonic environment at the core of his work. He combines this with electronics and traditional instruments. His current set up involves laptop, I-Phone, Nintendo DS, a number of effects pedals, and guitar and bass.
He is also a regular improviser on the improv circuit where he has been developing ways of working with electronics alongside traditional players on this scene and also with jazz musicians.
Clutter has been involved in a number of recordings since 2001 under his own name and with a variety of other projects, including orfeo 5, Good Noise Bad Noise, Aht-n and with composer Susan Matthews. Recordings include releases on Clinical Archives, Dokuro and Earth Monkey Productions.
Listen to 12 January 1831 from 'Live At The Bombed Out Church' at http://soundcloud.com/sonic-oyster-records/clutter-12th-january-1831
Sindre Bjerga - Nowhere & Nowhere ElseSINDRE BJERGA has been touring the UK every October for the last 5 years, as well as mainland Europe and even Russia, with his cassette player drones and kitchen sink psychedelia... armed with an array of tape players, dictaphones and a pile of less-than-glamourous sound debris from the sonic junkyards, as he tries to juxtapose and melt sound ghosts hidden deep in the molten magnetic tapes, sometimes forcefeeding them with sheets of feedback from dying amps, always aiming for that mind-altering head trip...
He has released over a 100 records as a solo artist and in a variety of collaborations, most notably with Jan Iversen.
Recently most of his releases have been live recordings taken from his many concerts and tours around Europe: 'nowhereandnowhereelse' is taken from a performance in the Art Academy in Warsaw, 2010.
For further information about Sindre visit him at www.myspace.com/sindrebjerga
A blast from the past...
ILK - Zenith"We managed to score some copies of this out of print disc from Richard youngs. Holy shit what on earth is going on???? A sort of new age spoken word intro gives way to what I can only describe as what it might sound like if Rick Wakeman was playing a crystal organ somewhere in the hills of Transylvania! Oh yes for this is Richard Youngs' one man progressive rock band. Multi-tracking and building up various layers and channels it does really sound like a fully formed group project. To be honest this has completely blown me away. The passion, skill, vision and creativity on this record is mind blowing; Richard plays bass, guitar, flute, keyboard, sleigh-bells and violin as well as singing. Recorded back in 1997 the record still sounds relevant and sounds like it could have been recorded much earlier but will doubtlessly age with grace. Brimming with the mans trademark folk magic, this is a great opportunity to fill a gap in your Youngs collection (Norman Records)"
Soliloquy Sun - Soliloquy Sun (SOR44)Soliloquy Sun is an ambient and experimental outfit comprised of varying members and instruments. It was created out of an idea Will Klingenmeier (Burning Shutter, Still Light) had to gather various musicians to play improvised music based around simple chord progressions and/or spontaneously create music.
These recordings drift out into the room: sombre, reflective, nocturnal, deeply personal: this is a highly original work, owing much to the techniques of jazz improvisation and the early pioneering minimalist composers.
Recorded in Spring 2010, this is simply one of the most evocative recordings Sonic Oyster has put out to date.
Bolide - The Mighty Hand (SOR 42)Edition of 50 copies CD-R on Andrew Paine’s Sonic Oyster imprint with a new blat from Brighton’s Bolide aka Bolide Awkwardstra. Bolide play freak free jazz in the tradition of The Art Ensemble, Le Forte Four and The Mothers Of Invention with a goofy communal style that moves from cosmo-shakedowns through wall-destroying breakout brass.
The Haunts of Ancient Peace (SOR40) Andrew Paine
'The Haunts of Ancient Peace' is the result of a one hour session at my piano, recorded directly onto an iphone mic.
Free and indeterminate in nature, these simple compositions chart loss and friendship through quiet, slowly evolving patterns.
The album is dedicated to AKN 1963 - 2010.
STRCTLY limited to 50 copies
In Search of the Shadow Walker (SOR39) Susan Matthews'In Search of the Shadow Walker' is Susan's first solo release for two years and is described as an album of 'classically inspired vignettes and piano compositions'.
Susan Matthews meditates on ancient landscapes & personal histories with a keening cragged honesty - beautiful and sad.
Haunting harmonies, melancholic piano patterns, violent stabbing entreaties all unfold with unresolved tension, drama and subtle poignancy.
The album is STRICTLY limited to 80 copies
Atlantis (for John Michell) (SOR37) Fougou'Fougou' are Brian Lavelle (Space Weather, Richard Youngs) and Matthew Shaw (Tex La Homa). The name derives from a peculiar type of subterranean structure only found in Cornwall in the extreme southwest of the United Kingdom.
'Athantis (for John Michell)' released on Sonic Oyster Records on 24 May is the next stage in Fougou's sonic descent into subterranean chambers.
Following on from their stunning debut "Reversed Dreams of this Nature', the duo offer up a meditative love letter to the English writer, John Michell, using dense textural electronics, processed acoustic instruments, vocals and field recordings conjuring up a kind of megalithic valediction to Michell's vision of fortean phenomena.
Functions of Hedgerow (SOR31) Andrew Paine
"The EP "Functions Of Hedgerow" by Andrew Paine of Scottish label Sonic Oyster Records is an all-too-brief excursion into minimal, spectral sonic tapestries. Opening with the title track, the mood is very eerie; ghostly piano chords haunted by whispering voices. 'Scent Of Green' matches resonant bass notes with whistling synths (or sounds - difficult to tell, which is a good sign), while 'Year Of Rabbit, Year Of Cat' sounds like an out-take from Tangerine Dream's "Atem" - an outstanding track.
'Walk the Field' features heavily effected voices over a spooky soundscape, while EP closer 'Corners Of Canterbury' sounds like an audio description of a macabre nocturnal world. This is an evocative and peaceful work, notable not least for the track titles. Highly recommended for those into the ambient side of things." www.terrascope.co.uk
Each to Each... Exclaims (SOR27) AP/AP"Collaboration album between two different guys with the same name, one an artist based in the USA and the other the CEO of Sonic Oyster and frequent Richard Youngs collaborator. One 31 minute track, recorded in a series of back-and-forth mail shots. The guitar has some of the Japanese amp worshipping form of Paine’s Mekonium Reaktor, albeit processed through the bedroom fuzz-monster style of UK units like Spacemen 3 and Flying Saucer Attack. Electric guitar, bass, keyboard, radios and subliminal vocals." (Volcanic Tongue)
