NOVEMBERISM was our final presentation. Here are some comments on the evening and on other aspects of the project, and after that the programme notes for the evening and links to some of the a/v pieces.
Thanks on the night to
Jennie Dennett (vocals,fur)
Ste Tyson (decks)
Martin (Transport)
Mark and Matthew (venue).
"The
evening has stayed with me and continues to inspire new
reflections... Wonderful that art can have that effect and to be able
to experience this kind of art in a rural area so far from the
cultural hubs!"
".I saw and heard an evocation of our local hill. I watched a piece of film of George Butterworth and Cecil sharp dancing (a film I have personally watched many times) but saw it through very different eyes. I Heard the words of a poet from Dalton’s 19th Century industrial history singing out here and now. A dusty fragment of 60’s vinyl recording history fascinated us and turned into an imagined world of the dense ordinariness of making pop music in the form of a written story read to us in a dimly lit room.
All involving, evolving and experiential leading to a performance of sound effects, voices and vinyl. Could it be all the voices and writings from the past, the sounds of here and now all emerging from hundreds of record crates? All of this is moving and emerging and offering an insight into a year’s worth of thoughts, exploration and glimpses of the bones of bigger projects and pieces in development."
"I
particularly enjoyed the video pieces - the rediscovery and dusting
off of the song from the castle, the footage of folk dance with
beautifully poignant song to accompany. The story was fab - great fun
to imagine the back story behind those relics of musical history -
a little window on another world that may or may not reflect the
reality - in a world where we are fed so many ready made
experiences that the imagination could become redundant. And the use
of the sound effects to DJ nicely playful too - almost like a musical
zoo - who'd have thought that those sounds from such diverse
locations and sources would be brought together!"
"An
artist living and working in a small market town can be virtually
invisible, perhaps showing a small selection of work once in a while
only lightly marking their place in the community. John however has
brought us a way of seeing and being some way invited into what he
has been thinking, developing and working with through the year,
offering a feeling of sharing and inviting an involvement.
It becomes clearer to see and understand his relevance to the fabric
of our community and draws us into involvement."
"An
artist living and working in a small market town can be virtually
invisible, perhaps showing a small selection of work once in a while
only lightly marking their place in the community. John however has
brought us a way of seeing and being some way invited into what he
has been thinking, developing and working with through the year,
offering a feeling of sharing and inviting an involvement.
It becomes clearer to see and understand his relevance to the fabric
of our community and draws us into involvement."
" a very mesmerising sonic collage"
"a really lovely yet subtly disquieting piece" (TRH)
"Excellent work! Great to see the development and direction of travel."
"brilliant, arresting and fun"
"Loved your performance"
"..it was something entirely unique and totally mesmerising.."
"(we enjoyed) particularly the simplicity of it, which spoke for itself; each sound or track being really ‘clean.’ ( TRH)
"Thank you for giving us such a great musical accompaniment!" (Street theatre group on the Human Organs at Ulverston Lantern Procession)
I
think these guys were possibly my favourite act of the weekend, loved
watching them today! #weirdlygenius ( Human Organs at Dickfest)
"Valuable projects like the Walney Sound Calendar enable us to provide a different perspective from which to work with the environment, and allows us to work at length with young people from within our community while reaching beyond it through the use of an online platform." (Natural England)
Seasoning has looked at seasonal rituals and celebrations, , the shapeshifting nature of the folk process, the blurs and echoes of folk and vernacular arts in what we do today.
Research and collaborations have involved musicians, sound recordists, a DJ, crate digging, writers and archivists, local collections and venues, more crate digging...I visited folk and social history archivist Doc Rowe in Whitby and he brought his film "Parted Friends" to the Hope. At Cecil Sharp House Mike Willoughby and me found songs from this area which we are feeding back into the tradition and the local repertoire.
Research and collaborations have involved musicians, sound recordists, a DJ, crate digging, writers and archivists, local collections and venues, more crate digging...I visited folk and social history archivist Doc Rowe in Whitby and he brought his film "Parted Friends" to the Hope. At Cecil Sharp House Mike Willoughby and me found songs from this area which we are feeding back into the tradition and the local repertoire.
A couple of performing
units have emerged...Ste, Damo and me devised two pieces for radio and
performance.The Human Organs have taken to the streets and the woods
with our elbow-driven techno.
We have a 4-piece core and a
strong "bench" to play our backpack mounted pipes,
donated by Mark Latimer and built by Alex Blackmore
Novemberism: the
ritual and ceremony of what we used to call the blood month.
Sacrifices of all kinds, bargains and observances made with a eye on
getting through the
winter.
winter.
The video pieces
include documentation of a piece made for the Sir John Barrow
Monument, one of a couple of days out at the Merzbarn with the Human
Organs, and a recording made with Mike one november morning in the
Hope of a song from 1889 discovered in Dalton Castle, and oddly
relevant.
An there's a shot at linking the pantheist pastoral side
of english psychedelia with the romanticism of composers Ralph Vaughn
Williams and George Butterworth. Artists looking beyond the
territory of rock n roll and european classicism to folk tunes,
songs, nursery rhymes and seeing parallell worlds moving at different
speeds, unaware of each other. Recorded on Armistice Day.
The last piece is a
patchwork of sounds and images from the year, a lens and a mic
largely pointed away from the action to quiet spots and, again, to worlds unaware of each other and moving at different speeds.
Serves Twelve is built
around a narrative and a recipie for the Alls Soul's night delicacy
Soul Cakes. You'll hear the the BBC's SFX vinyl, Field Recordings,
a nursery song of slaughter and narration from Jennie
Dennett..a recording was featured in the Radiophrenia festival this
November in Glasgow
Piccadilly Sunshine is
set in 1967-68, the dark nights are coming in after the summer of
love. Two smaller and less idealistic players are wondering what
kind of deals they'll have to make if they're get to the next era without starving or having to leave the game,whichever is worse. The story draws on the information available within and around these 2 slices of paisley-exploitation vinyl from 1967-68. 
George Butterworth
https://vimeo.com/245558890
To Every Thing
DVD edition.
http://www.bifocals2013.com/bifocals-library-shop/4589880526
from bifocalsmultiples on Etsy, and from Sutton's Bookshop, Ulverston.
Thanks to everyone who has supported this project, either by turning up, joining in , or having something to say.
Stay tuned, there is more to come.
John Hall November 2017
