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LP
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HDFR 008LP
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LP version. 180 gram vinyl; edition of 500. Witch's Ladder is the fourth full-length album from UK guitarist Dean McPhee, whose last LP Four Stones (2018) introduced a kick drum pulse, hypnotic loops and synth-like Ebow lines to his sparsely meditative, echo-laden solo guitar music. On this new album he uses his Telecaster, valve amp and effects to weave an even deeper spell, as fingerpicked melodies soar over hypnotic riffs, looped basslines and cosmic reverb trails. Recorded live with no overdubs and inspired by folklore, mysticism and the landscapes of the North of England, Witch's Ladder represents a significant evolution in his sound, while also retaining the unique sense of depth and space that has drawn comparison with the likes of Loren Connors, Dylan Carlson, and Popul Vuh. The cover art to Witch's Ladder features the stunning 1933 painting "The Primal Wing" by Agnes Pelton, a visionary symbolist who was not widely known during her lifetime but is now being recognized as a pioneer of spiritual abstract art alongside the likes of Hilma Af Klimt and Wassily Kandinsky. Witch's Ladder is the twelfth release on the Hood Faire label, a venture overseen by Sam McLoughlin (Samandtheplants/Tongues of Light), David Chatton Barker (Folklore Tapes), and Dean McPhee.
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CD
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HDFR 008CD
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Witch's Ladder is the fourth full-length album from UK guitarist Dean McPhee, whose last LP Four Stones (2018) introduced a kick drum pulse, hypnotic loops and synth-like Ebow lines to his sparsely meditative, echo-laden solo guitar music. On this new album he uses his Telecaster, valve amp and effects to weave an even deeper spell, as fingerpicked melodies soar over hypnotic riffs, looped basslines and cosmic reverb trails. Recorded live with no overdubs and inspired by folklore, mysticism and the landscapes of the North of England, Witch's Ladder represents a significant evolution in his sound, while also retaining the unique sense of depth and space that has drawn comparison with the likes of Loren Connors, Dylan Carlson, and Popul Vuh. The cover art to Witch's Ladder features the stunning 1933 painting "The Primal Wing" by Agnes Pelton, a visionary symbolist who was not widely known during her lifetime but is now being recognized as a pioneer of spiritual abstract art alongside the likes of Hilma Af Klimt and Wassily Kandinsky. Witch's Ladder is the twelfth release on the Hood Faire label, a venture overseen by Sam McLoughlin (Samandtheplants/Tongues of Light), David Chatton Barker (Folklore Tapes), and Dean McPhee.
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LP
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HDFR 007LP
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Four Stones is solo electric guitarist Dean McPhee's third full-length album, a collection of free-flowing instrumentals which combines fluid fingerpicked melodies with atmospheric drones and trance-inducing loops. Four Stones brings together remastered versions of three tracks that were only previously available on a limited edition tape compilations on the Folklore Tapes label (2016) along with two new pieces, "Danse Macabre" and the epic 14-minute "Four Stones" which find Dean using a new kick drum pedal to add a percussive undercurrent to his music. The Folklore Tapes tracks "The Blood Of St. John" -- from Calendar Customs Vol IV: Crown of Light (2016) --, "Rule Of Threes" -- from Lancashire Folklore Tapes Vol 1: Pendle, 1612 (2012) --, and "The Devil's Knell" -- from Folklore Tapes Calendar Customs Vol III: Midwinter Rites and Revelries (2015). Four Stones was mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. The album cover features a photo by Robin Zahler of The Great Stone of Four Stones in North Yorkshire. The album was recorded live with no overdubs. 180 gram vinyl. Edition of 500.
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LP
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HDFR 006LP
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LP version on 180 gram vinyl; edition of 500 copies. Fatima's Hand is West Yorkshire based solo electric guitarist Dean McPhee's second full-length album and the follow up to 2011's critically acclaimed Son of the Black Peace (PTYT 047). Fatima's Hand is a meditative and quietly intense album combining influences from British folk, dub, Moroccan trance and ambient/drone. McPhee's sparse, melodic and echo-laden guitar playing on Fatima's Hand has been compared to Vini Reilly, Fripp & Eno and Loren Connors but his singular approach to the instrument is very much his own. Steve Barker of BBC Radio Lancashire's On the Wire program described Dean as "definitely one of the leading contemporary guitar stylists in the UK, and in the world". Fatima's Hand features cover art by Federico Cortese which is beautifully presented on a matte laminate sleeve.
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CD
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HDFR 006CD
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Fatima's Hand is West Yorkshire based solo electric guitarist Dean McPhee's second full-length album and the follow up to 2011's critically acclaimed Son of the Black Peace (PTYT 047). Fatima's Hand is a meditative and quietly intense album combining influences from British folk, dub, Moroccan trance and ambient/drone. McPhee's sparse, melodic and echo-laden guitar playing on Fatima's Hand has been compared to Vini Reilly, Fripp & Eno and Loren Connors but his singular approach to the instrument is very much his own. Steve Barker of BBC Radio Lancashire's On the Wire program described Dean as "definitely one of the leading contemporary guitar stylists in the UK, and in the world". Fatima's Hand features cover art by Federico Cortese which is beautifully presented on a matte laminate sleeve.
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PTYT 047LP
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LP version. West Yorkshire's Dean McPhee releases his first full-length album consisting of four new tracks of his singular signature style of introspective, drifting instrumentals, masterfully-played eclectic electric guitar and efx meanderings. Quiet-time music; summer fields and winter fire-tending. Future dub folk from an olde English tradition that no one can quite put their finger on. Blast First Petite re-released his initial Brown Bear EP on CD in spring of 2010 to a growing press awareness of this young man's talents with Boomkat, Brainwashed and Foxy Digitalis giving him the big ears kudos and MOJO and Tom Ravenscroft firmly planting the McPhee flag as a talent to watch out for. A steady rivulet of live dates are planned with sympathetic souls old (Michael Chapman's Ecstatic Peace! tripping) and new (Richard Skelton psychogeographical séances with place).
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CD
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PTYT 047CD
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West Yorkshire's Dean McPhee releases his first full-length album consisting of four new tracks of his singular signature style of introspective, drifting instrumentals, masterfully-played eclectic electric guitar and efx meanderings. Quiet-time music; summer fields and winter fire-tending. Future dub folk from an olde English tradition that no one can quite put their finger on. Blast First Petite re-released his initial Brown Bear EP on CD in spring of 2010 to a growing press awareness of this young man's talents with Boomkat, Brainwashed and Foxy Digitalis giving him the big ears kudos and MOJO and Tom Ravenscroft firmly planting the McPhee flag as a talent to watch out for. A steady rivulet of live dates are planned with sympathetic souls old (Michael Chapman's Ecstatic Peace! tripping) and new (Richard Skelton psychogeographical séances with place).
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PTYT 046CD
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West Yorkshire's Dean McPhee self-released on his own Hood Faire label a limited 12" in 2009. Blast First Petite picked up rights for this CD re-release after hearing a track on WFMU New York, and Dean has gone on to record a new album for BFP. John Peel's son, Tom Ravenscroft gave the 12" an honorable mention in a round-up of his current favorite music. In New York, a store reported that it seems every time they put the record on they sell one, so immediate is the "McPhee Effect." Reviews of the 12": Brainwashed: "This is a very promising and assured first release, as McPhee displays a rare combination of technical skill, simplicity, and subtle unpredictability." Boomkat: "Dean McPhee offers a more complete picture of his talents as a solo guitarist on this new 12" for the Hood Faire label. Playing clean electric guitar without too much in the way of reverb, McPhee plucks his way through some lovely instrumentals here, perhaps bringing to mind John Fahey's more melodic Table Of The Elements output or certain Six Organs Of Admittance recordings. Best of the bunch is the B-side-filling title track which makes good use of delay/loop pedals and stirs up a wonderfully dense atmospheric backdrop after the more skeletal, naturalistic sounds of the A-side. Recommended." Foxy Digitalis: "Arguably the best solo guitar record in the past few years. 10/10."
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