Album: E.L. HEATH – Snailbeach Mines Trust (Wayside & Woodland 2010)

Snailbeach Mines Trust are the custodians of the Snailbeach Lead Mines in Shropshire. There was mining there from the eighteenth century through to 1955, although there is evidence of workings dating as far back as Roman times. There is a fascinating history of the site at shropshiremines.org.uk/snailbeach, as well as visitor information etc.

Eric Heath spent much of his childhood in the area, and unsurprisingly, all of the abandoned shafts, buildings and blocked off tunnels were an endless source of fascination. The album is a kind of aural exploration of the major features of the mines, with Heath sketching musical evocations that are obviously deeply felt.

In the main, there is a melancholy ambience in this music, with the ghosts from history seeping through field recordings. He uses guitar, analogue synths and all manner of effects to create a sound world that bears some resemblance to Christian Fennesz’s work. On tracks like Perkins Level, treated guitar weaves a spell of something approaching desolation, while Chapel Shaft conjours up the ghostly echoes of those who used to work the mines. Lordshill Engine Shaft breaks the spell with an angry clatter of machinery, but this too fades into silence.

Snailbeach District Railway snaps us firmly into the present, with a bright tune and the huff-puff of a restored steam locomotive, and the sounds of chattering tourists. Then it lifts off into something of sweeping grandeur as the train steams away into the past. The only vocal tune is the short, folky Tragedy At George’s Shaft that tells an impressionistic tale of an 1895 accident that killed seven mineworkers. It sounds a bit Damon Albarn-ish, but not in a bad way.

Snailbeach Mines Trust is a deeply felt and beautifully realised work that does a fantastic job of painting a musical picture of the history and wonder of the area. I’ve never been, but it isn’t hard to paint a mental picture of the place through Heath’s interpretation.

Tracks
1 . Black Tom Shaft 2:05
2 . Scott Level 3:40
3 . Chapel Shaft 3:51
4 . Day Level 3:31
5 . Upper Works Reservoir 5:58
6 . Tragedy At George’s Shaft 2:24
7 . Perkins Level 4:17
8 . Lordshill Engine Shaft 2:40
9 . Snailbeach District Railway 3:47

Websites
www.myspace.com/elheathmusic
www.myspace.com/waysideandwoodland

EPs: ALL THE EMPIRES OF THE WORLD – Last Rites; EL HEATH – Wind, Thee Wind (both Records on Ribs)

Records on Ribs are a new label to me, and a bit of a discovery if these two EPs are to go by. Their policy is to release music without charge, but simply have a voluntary donation box (similar to the Radiohead model). For those who prefer the physical, custom-made CDRs are available for all their releases. I was led to the label by Eric Heath aka EL Heath whose Phantom Channel release from three months ago remains one of the best things I’ve heard this year. More about him in a bit.

There is power in beauty, and there is sometimes great beauty in power. These two EPs couldn’t be more different sonically, and yet they both have power and beauty. All the Empires of the World are a trio from Nottingham. Their line-up is described on their MySpace page as Mark – guitar, Damon – guitar, Josh – not guitar. There is some serious six string worship going on here, but not in a noodly, show-off kind of way. Broadly speaking, they operate in a doom metal vein, but are as concerned with melody and structure as they are with brute force. They may give your ears a battering, but it’s never uncontrolled noise for the sake of it.

“Prophecy at the Ruins” doesn’t hang about with small talk, but plunges straight into gigantic slabs of layered guitar accompanied by a slow death-beat on a very bassy drum. There is an acoustic interlude and a sludgy climax. “Simon Helen Elizabeth” begins full on, but has an almost spaghetti western-ish mid section and buried vocal harmonies. “…Will Be Laid to Waste” lives up to its apocalyptic title. It’s utterly brutal. Even the ambient sections sound like metal grinding on metal. When it gets really loud, it’s punishing, ultra low-frequency, bone-shaking stuff. At its heart, though, there’s almost a zen-like calm. This is controlled aural violence. I fear for these boys’ ears.

Wind, Thee Wind exudes a different kind of power. The drone pieces “Sliding Door” and “MonoDrone” are like a beast asleep. Something dark lurks beneath. EL Heath’s calling card is his use of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument that operates on similar principles to the theremin. “Martenot Marat” is a demonstration of just how lovely the instrument can sound. The distinctive melancholy wail is weaved into a gorgeous sad melody – both slightly other-worldy and yet deeply emotional. The closing track teams the instrument with a cello, and they seem united in grief. In the midst of the EP is a short poem by Heath, accompanied only by an ambient atmospheric sound. It’s a deeply personal ode to the power and constancy of the wind.

Power in beauty, beauty in power. These are both deeply engaging sets that prove that physical and emotional power are more closely allied than you might think.

Last Rites Tracks
1 Prophecy at the Ruins 6:19
2 Simon Helen Elizabeth (The Gate) 8:16
3 …Will Be Laid to Waste (AJ Cookson Remix) 10:02

Wind Thee Wind Tracks
1 Martenot Marat 4:00
2 Sliding Door 4:00
3 Thee Wind, Thee 1:50
4 MonoDrone 4:50
5 Wind, Thee Wind 3:50

Websites
recordsonribs.com
www.myspace.com/alltheempiresoftheworldwillbelaidtowaste
www.myspace.com/elheathmusic

EP: EL HEATH – Reflecting (Ambient and Loop Tracks, Autumn 2006) [Reprise] (Phantom Channel PHCH009 2009)

Phantom Channel has put out some great stuff in the year and a bit since its inception, and all the downloads are free too. But for me, this short and unassuming release by Shropshire’s EL Heath (Eric to his mum) is the finest yet. Reflecting (Ambient and Loop Tracks, Autumn 2006) [Reprise] – let’s just call it Reflecting – first saw the light of day as an ultra-limited CDR a couple of years ago. Thankfully it’s now available to a wider audience.

As the title suggests, the five tracks are based on tape loops that provide a rhythmic backdrop to some simple melodies. The piano-based “Shadows on the Carpet” is redolent of William Basinski’s shorter loop experiments, such as the fourteen part Melancholia. “Ambiance d’Organe de Corde” is, as its name implies, a short organ piece.

The real treats are the final three tracks which introduce the eerie sound of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument related to the theremin. On “Macau”, a looped acoustic guitar figure and muffled voice set the scene for half of the track’s two minutes before the mournful cry of the ondes Martenot comes in. It’s a startling moment, but quite stunning. “Dragons Chasing Their Tails” is even better. The cosmic wail is looped and overdubbed and buried in a hiss of distortion. It sounds like a dust-caked wax cylinder recording of an Edwardian alien encounter. Finally, “Epick” outdoes the lot. There’s a half-buried bubbling synth loop like Rubycon-era Tangerine Dream beamed in from several light years away. Over this, the ondes Martenot sobs and cries, a haunted remnant from a lost civilization. It’s deeply moving – a superb piece.

And it’s available for free. I can’t recommend this release too highly. It’s beautiful, concise and warm. A must for space cadets everywhere.

Tracks
1 Shadows on the Carpet 3:25
2 Ambiance d’Organe de Corde 2:26
3 Macau 2:10
4 Dragons Chasing Their Tails 3:37
5 Epick 4:01

Websites
www.phantomchannel.co.uk/webreleases.html
www.myspace.com/elheathmusic

Album: VARIOUS – Phantom Channel Compilation Part 1 (Phantom Channel PCCH001 2008)

Phantom Channel is a new internet label, established earlier this year. The first release is a compilation called, inspiredly, Phantom Channel Compilation Part 1. It gathers together nine instrumental, electronic acts of a broadly ambient-ish stripe, and presents them as an hour long continuous mix. It’s a testament to the rude health of the leftfield / underground music scene at the moment that the result is of startlingly high quality.

I say ambient-ish – by that I mean that this is largely beat-less music, not that it is quiet, easily-ignored background listening. Some of this is quite in-your-face with drone and distortion playing as prominent roles as spacey synth washes and lonely piano tones. Engine7 kick things off with a glitch and click piece that builds into a hypnotic, train-like rhythm overlaid with snatches of vocals, metallic noise, field recordings and sonorous drone. It’s an extremely impressive start. Parhelion’s contribution is more sombre, with gentle guitar figures enveloped in swathes of reverb. It starts like Future Sound of London, but morphs into something more like Mogwai by its conclusion. “Electric Storm” isn’t especially stormy when compared to the preceding track, more a build-and-decay drone piece. “Sedation” doesn’t sound like a sedative, either, with its geiger-counter crackle and saw-like metallic scraping anything but somnatic.

Weird Fields’ “QED” takes an age to get going, but gradually it morphs from seemingly random bleeping into something dark and muscular. I’m betting Lethosomn have some Resonant albums in their collection. The reverb-heavy “Engulfed in Red Clouds” has deep echoes of both Staffrænn Håkon and Port-Royal. Along with the Engine7 track, Brakhage’s “Early Morning Frost” is my favourite. A throbbing sub-bass pulse overlaid with electro-static crackle and what sounds like a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel. It’s menacing and dark as hell, even before the scary samples of a running and coughing figure kick in. It feels like the soundtrack to some disturbing event, but one which you can’t quite make out. “Brand New Polaroid” is a long, gently unfolding drone which leads into Svefn’s “Lightness”, a celestial two chord piece that ascends into clouds of distortion and feedback. It’s a fittingly cosmic conclusion to an extremely impressive collection.

Phantom Channel Compilation Part 1 is available to download for absolutely nothing from the label’s website. The tracks are all high quality 256Kbps MP3s which should satisfy all but the most nit-picky audiophile. I recommend it wholeheartedly. Come on, what have you got to lose? It’s free, dammit!

Tracks
1 ENGINE7 – A Few Remaining Moments 6:18
2 PARHELION – Forgotten Outpost 7:04
3 EL HEATH – Electric Storm 3:40
4 ADAM TRAINER – Sedation 3:29
5 WEIRD FIELDS – QED 7:49
6 LETHOSOMN – Engulfed in Red Clouds 9:36
7 BRAKHAGE – Early Morning Frost 4:00
8 MOSCA – Brand New Polaroid 13:35
9 SVEFN – Lightness 3:14

Websites
www.phantomchannel.co.uk