ALWAYS EVERYTHING

ALWAYS EVERYTHING MIX 005: MUSICK FOR MOORLAND

Musick for Moorland was inspired by two immediate events. The first was writing a feature about The Haxan Cloak, whose self-titled album from this year is one of 2011’s finest, darkest treats. The second was a late night purchase of Leyland James Kirby’s 2008 album Bleaklow, recorded and released under the name The Stranger, whose theme was one of exploring the moors around the region where Kirby grew up.

Both musicians are tied together by writing music that’s strongly evocative of the countryside and untamed nature (and also of people being swallowed up by the wilderness). Both albums are wild, elemental listens, necessitating repeat listens at high volume on very large speakers.

This mix was also influenced by a trip to the Peak District a few weeks back, a welcome escape from the urban surrounds within which I spend most of my time.

Outside of these triggers to record the mix, there are the contents themselves. A number of (particularly British) artists have been taking electronic music and composition into darker and more treacherous territories over the last two to three years. People like Demdike Stare, Raime and Ekoplekz are rewiring and re-energising the dread ghosts of eighties Thatcherite Britain, potent reminders of the fucked state we find the UK in circa 2011. Others - Manchester’s Modern Love label and a number of people in Bristol immediately spring to mind - are wearing the hard, polished edges of dancefloor music away, leaving rhythms that send muffled ripples of dissonance outward through the mix. And the spectre of post-punk and early industrial - Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle - is once again leering forward in Perc’s hard-edged techno, Roly Porter’s ragged ambient landscapes, Actress’ house-not-house and Ekoplekz’s crushed analogue dub. Richard Skelton and Lawrence English both make music concerned with space and resonance, the former working with the naturally amplifying properties of wind-whipped moors in order to create beautiful, moving, exploratory string compositions.

There’s something peculiarly British about the landscapes - both urban and rural - these artists evoke: the main reason why it was particularly easy to find the common threads that bind them together in a mix.

So Musick for Moorland is intended, as much as possible, to match its title. For best results, if you’re not anywhere near somewhere wild, cold and unnerving to go walking, it’s probably about turning the lights off, or something similar.

Music by: 10-20, Raime, The Haxan Cloak, The Stranger, Andy Stott, Leyland Kirby, Miles, Demdike Stare, Perc, Richard Skelton, Chris Watson, Roly Porter, Lawrence English, Actress, Shackleton & Sam Kidel.

Download in 320: http://www.mediafire.com/?gg6supb820z47ah