Peter Wright / The North Sea / Agitated Radio Pilot - Split (Deserted Village, 2005)

1 Peter Wright - Plume
2 Peter Wright - Coruscation
3 Peter Wright - Heat Haze
4 The North Sea - Embroidered Copper
5 The North Sea - Batik
6 The North Sea - Kaleidoscope Silk Print
7 The North Sea - Ferns Pressed In Paper
8 Agitated Radio Pilot - Broken Hill
9 Agitated Radio Pilot - For Karen Ava
10 Agitated Radio Pilot - Umberumberka

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The North Sea - Autumn Birch (PseudoArcana, 2004)

01 These Years Become Sand
02 English Ivy Climbs the Walls
03 Magenta Spray
04 Asleep in Caves

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The North Sea - Botanical Traces (Nokahoma, 2005)

*** sorry no cover art ***

01 Howling Pines
02 Breathing African Violets
03 Lime Green Fence Posts
04 The Consequence Of Being Divine
05 Secret Of The Seeds
06 Aborigine Death March
07 Lilypod
08 Eighth Gear

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The North Sea & Hush Arbors - Singing Through Moss And Mist (Foxglove, 2004)

** sorry, no artwork **

1 Hush Arbors I Will Carry Bones In My Knapsack (11:37)
2 Hush Arbors Wasp Of Leaves (12:01)
3 The North Sea Spiralling Timbers (7:28)
4 The North Sea Another Birdsong Ministry (10:26)

brothers in feeling and spirit, the north sea and hush arbors parallel paths come to a head on their first split release. each offers up two tracks of organic drone, extracted from the depths of the earth and released into the air, captured on tape. at just over 40 minutes, the density and texture on each track is introspective and free. while there are obviously differences, these two projects share a commonality that cannot be simply explained through words. one must not just hear these groaning extolls, but must listen to their fledgling grace.
Foxglove

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The North Sea - The Oscelot Chronicles Vol. 2 (Foxglove, 2004)

** sorry, no artwork **

1 Emeralds And Rubies (4:19)
2 Mississippi Sings (2:57)
3 Moth Wings (2:12)
4 Cherry Blossom Mosquitos (4:09)
5 Stainless Steel Waterfall (9:30)
6 Limestone Fields (3:00)
7 Cellophane Dragons (1:44)
8 Forcefield (5:42)
9 Covering Our Tracks With Crusted Jewels (13:15)

they say, "it's an organic world, and we can only hope to survive," to which i respond with indifference. it makes no sense. but in this landscape where guitars sink in the ocean and where the blues are the only real heart ache left, i present the second installment of the tribute to the most underrated of the big cats. glockenspiels whir, bowed guitars assault flutes and recorders, thunder dances with piano, and mississippi? oh, it sings. you better believe it sings.
Foxglove

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The North Sea - The Oscelot Chronicles Vol. 1 (Foxglove, 2004)

** sorry, no artwork **

1 Drinking Gallo By The Seaside
2 Ghost Robotics
3 Nothing But Rust
4 Rainy Day In April
5 Clandestine
6 Old Buildings Come Down
7 Telefilm
8 Vegas
9 Sinking Poseidon

the debut of the north sea. the first of three odes to the oscelot, the most underappreciated of big cats, in some way? not sure, but running the gambit between improvised ambient guitar drones to acoustic meanderings mixed with field recordings to noisey assaults, there's something for everyone here. this cd-r has the distinction of being the only album i've ever mixed mere hours before nearly getting killed in a tornado. ah, how the birds were singing that afternoon.
Foxglove

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The North Sea - Clean White Beds (Period Tapes, 2008)

A World Of Waitresses (14:46)
B Best Of The Child-Bearing Years (14:30)

A drone sensation swelling from the cold waters of Brad Rose.
Period Tapes

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The North Sea - Archaic Spines (A Silent Place, 2007)

1 Splendor (7:57)
2 Oh Velveteen (3:49)
3 Silent Order Of The Shrouded Tombs (12:22)
4 We Salute The Sandblasted Turrets (2:48)
5 The Feather'd King, The Bluejay Queen (13:16)

Festival de ragas utilisant uniquement un bouzouki...

Brad Rose, the man behind the Digitalis and Foxglove labels returns with another solo album, on another beautifully presented ha limited edition imprint. Archaic Spines is an album that utilises only a bouzouki and a hint of vocals, spreading five celestial ragas over forty minutes of improvisation. Unlike the open tuned raga variations we've come to expect from the Takoma lineage, these pieces tend to be strummed with droning open strings as you'd find in classical sitar music. For all the nods toward Eastern harmonic patterns and improvisational structures Rose remains plugged into American folk music and psychedelia - with typically imaginative, fanciful song titles like 'Silent Order Of The Shrouded Tombs' and 'The Feather'd King, The Bluejay Queen' being suggestive of the trance-inducing mediaeval mysticism Rose is aiming for with his extended string workouts.
Boomkat

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The North Sea & Rameses III - Night of the Ankou (Type Records, 2005 (2006 reissue))

1 Death Of The Ankou (17:56)
2 Night Blossoms Written In Sanskrit (18:01)
3 Return Of The Ankou (Xela Remix) (7:45)

A côté de l’élégant album Eingya d’Helios, Type publie un album collaboratif entre le musicien américain Brad Rose aka The North Sea et le trio Rameses III, qui voit la structure anglaise s’intéresser à d’autres univers musicaux. Ce disque fait de deux longs titres, déjà paru en cdr sur le label finlandais 267 Lättäjjää, est réédité ici accompagné d’un remix de Xela (gérant de la maison TYpe).

Night Of The Ankou est une album ambiant dronique aux accents psychédéliques, qui évoque certaine productions récentes de chez Kranky. Sur Death Of The Ankou, des nappes vibrantes s’épanchent longuement, et sont agrémentées de flûtes, grelots et autres arrangements orientalisants, résolument tournés vers Katmandou. Puis le morceau découvre une ambiante plus sobre et plus éthérée. Night Blossoms Written In Sanskrit s’insrit dans une veine plus pop et shoegaze, mais pas forcément moins classique. Le remix de Xela reprend l’Ankou là où il s’était arrêté (aux portes du Tibet) pour en extraire une version élaguée, simplifiée, où l’émotion est plus brute que sur l’original, car moins diluée dans l’encens et le feu de camp.

Autres Directions

The aural equivalent of gazing across a stormy midnight ocean, the newest release on Type comes from The North Sea & Rameses III - with 'Night Of The Ankou' a long-distance collaboration that provokes unflinching comparisons with Slowdive, Deaf Center and all manner of soft-footed troubadours. Utterly vast in a manner that shows no embarrassment with the more epic end of prog, 'Night Of The Ankou' opens through the wheezing tones of 'Death Of The Ankou', wherein London's Rameses III and The North Sea (aka Digitalis boss Brad Rose) build an ambient masterpiece from an encroaching batch of elements that are simultaneously calming yet utterly beguiling. Recalling the work of Poppl Vuh and Stars of the Lid, 'Death...' lulls the spirit through Eastern elements that are hypnotic without ever losing their focus - sucking your attention in deep, then keeping it there through just the right amount of instrumental bliss. Like having your emotions moulded around a sweetly satisfying core, the next piece is just as arresting - with 'Night Blossoms Written In Sanskrit' changing its focus marginally, ushering in shoe-gaze comparisons through triumphant arrangements and blissful soundscapes. Despite both clocking in at nearly twenty-minutes each, neither stay a second past their welcome - coaxing filaments of rimy instrumental nourishment from the fibrous elements on show. If that weren't enough, Type boss Xela has also turned up for a friable remix, contributing 'Return Of The Ankou' and in doing so topping off an already affecting record with a batch of oven-fresh drones and couched harp. Psychedelic, epic and genuinely warming, 'Night Of The Ankou' is a gem that won't need polishing.
Boomkat

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