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viewing 1 To 5 of 5 items
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CD
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WIW 005CD
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"Hotplate is the chosen name of Iain Chambers, who started playing guitar at 17 and references John Fahey, Charlie Patton, Tortoise, Autechre, Animal Collective and Scheherezade as inspirations. However, it was Fahey's music that provided a framework for the Hotplate sound and encouraged Chambers to engage with the guitar as a solo instrument. Somehow all these influences work their way into Hotplate's finger-picking and powerful rhythms. This persistent thrum comes naturally to Chambers -- as a teenager he was a successful basketball player while today he plays drums and guitar in emerging post-rock outfit Angela Valid. Elephas showcases seven new tracks, beginning with 'A Father's Grip,' a considered blues anthem that sets the Hotplate sound in motion. After the opener, the record starts to explore new depths, with the atmospheric 'Going to Bill's' and the epic 'Requiem' -- recorded live at the Red Deer Club last November -- changing key, rhythm and tunings throughout. Hotplate moves freely between an emotive guitar style, reminiscent of '60s John Fahey, and a playful melodic approach, with the introspection of the second and third tracks countered by the short and sweet 'Blackheart Blues (A Sea Shanty)', before moving back into the slow atmospheric slide of 'Royal Oak'. The lighthearted riffing of the 'The Drink. The Sound. The Sea.' is coupled in a medley with the deep strums of 'Elephas,' using this contrast between bright melody and introspective depth to great effect, before 'Sandy-Haired Girl' brings the Hotplate sound back to the surface, playing out the harmony until the album ends. At 48 minutes, Elephas is an outstanding piece of work. Chambers has played a string of quality live performances over the last year, on the London circuit and on the road to Manchester, notably the 'In the City' Festival and Red Deer Club. In June, he recorded a live session for Tom Ravenscroft's Channel 4 Radio Slashmusic podcast and will be gigging throughout the summer, including a date in Amsterdam with the Transformed Dreams label crew. Hotplate is founding member of World in Winter Recordings, a label and collective of musicians set up in 2005 in London and encouraging collaborations between the likes of Voice of the Seven Woods, All Traps Set, James Rutledge, Angela Valid, Pedro, Colours and Chapters."
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CD
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WIW 004CD
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"With only four releases under their belt, the World in Winter label have already established themselves as a fine purveyor of genre-evading, guitar-led music, and with the release of EP1 from the three-piece, Chapters, the imprint comfortably live up to all expectations to deliver their finest release to date. Having previously appeared as Ashbourne's Strongest Man on the first release by the label, a split 7" with Angela Valid, EP1 is their first release as Chapters: a different identity for a more mature and focused band, keen on pushing their songwriting talents to the limits. The members of Chapters, Mike Brooks, James Rutledge and Jimmy Wright, met at school in the hills of Derbyshire. Forever cooking up musical storms in the sixth form, they inevitably went their separate ways to study at different universities, with James and Jimmy recording with Dave Tyack on Twisted Nerve as part of the short-lived DOT while James released records under the name of Pedro on the Melodic label. After the demise of DOT, the three friends reconvened in London to discuss the idea of further collaborations. Away from the constraints of a record-deal, they began leisurely recording sessions together when they could find the time, and after not too long a distinct sound began to emerge from their lazy Sunday jams. Folky guitars and playful glockenspiel, reminiscent of the likes of State River Widening, merged gracefully with influences from Tortoise, early Mogwai and even Krautrock. After some time, six tracks were created and found their way to World in Winter for release, a label that fits their aesthetic and attitude perfectly. Creating ambitious yet subtle works which tip-toe the line between minimal and extravagant, Chapters are a band you are bound to hear more about in the future, and the perfect fourth release from one of the most exciting labels in England at the moment."
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CD
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WIW 003CD
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"Angela Valid, a band making restrained lofi garage rock with guitars, drums, electronics and violin, first met in Sheffield while studying film. Recorded live in a church hall opposite Holloway Women's Prison, it offers four tracks bringing in various influences from all sides of the experimental music spectrum. The band mixes a traditional guitar/drums set-up with raucous electronics in a way that stays true and respectful to both the past and to pushing the boundaries of modern improv. Ambitiously for their first EP, the band craft a complete and sophisticated debut that hints at everyone from early Tortoise (notably on the penultimate track, 'Ocean Ceiling') to the masters of noise themselves, Wolf Eyes. On the opening track, from which the EP takes its name, the band is joined by Pedro's James Rutledge for the release's defining moment. Sounding comparable to the Constellation label, only raised on a diet of free-jazz instead of post-rock, it retains a sense of purpose and direction that is often lost in improved music akin to Angela Valid's. You sense that they value texture with equal importance to rhythm and melody as the song reaches a half-way point; the drums begin to fragment as waves of melodicas and electronics ebb and flow around a layer of guitar feedback which finally brings the song to a close. Next up comes 'Terry's Incantation' with a sharper and more direct slant on jazzy spontaneity. Electronics take the lead here, with the drummer sharing space with broken drum-machines and pounding, distorted synths. After just over six minutes the song fades away, leaving the listener with just a taste of a session in which these boys thrived. This Book's On Fire is an accomplished and fully-realized take on improvised music that borrows from a range of musical sources while still creating something very much current and forward-thinking."
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7"
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WIW 001EP
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Split 7" release. "World in Winter have come up with the goods again. Angela Valid dish out a grainy lo-fi recording of their brooding instrumental post-rock, while on the other side, Ashbourne's Strongest Man deals out a great guitar piece, with some sweet acoustic picking laying down a bed for subtle electric leads. Exciting new label."
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7"
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WIW 002EP
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"Blues-folk guitar stylings here, very much in the tradition of John Fahey, with a dash of the good Reverend Gary Davis thrown in for good measure. Hotplate's got the chops, and strings together decent ragtime tunes in almost medley format. One side sports some heavy bottleneck blues -- while the other is fingerpicking at its best."
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