Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - Track Title Announcement

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - Adventures with Melmoth Part 2 - A Proposal

An incredible mix that caused me to fall in love with Melmoth the Wanderer.

Ahem.

Melmoth. Will you marry me?

Folklore - a pleasing terror by Melmoth_The_Wanderer on Mixcloud

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen conducts the Sci-Fidelic Orchestra

The first release of material from the vaults of Cox & Sons. These tracks were all recorded in the Lancashire Village of Septimus Keen at the turn of the century during experiments within the Electric Pentacle.

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - When the Sleeper Wakes

Inspired by H.G.Wells' `When the sleeper awakes' summons up the creeping dread the main character feels when he wakes after 203 years....

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - Adventures with Melmoth Part 1

The recordings of Septimus Keen have been unearthed by Jim Peters. 

Jim Peters has also worked with Melmoth the Wanderer who has produced some incredible mixes including this one...

The Legend of the Demon Tree by Melmoth_The_Wanderer on Mixcloud

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - Wraithstatic

We all know about the tragic occurrences at Hobbs End.

But were you aware that the transmissions made from that horrific place were picked up in the village of Septimus Keen?

Be careful. The masters of your ancestors are calling you.

Songs from the Black Meadow accept no responsibility for any trances or injuries caused within a fugue state. They accept no responsibility for any violence that may occur or any hankering for long dead Martian landscapes. Anything that may occur whilst listening to "Wraithscapes" is the responsibility of the listener.

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - Images from the village

There is still no explanation for the curious spheres that appeared buried on the outskirts of Septimus Keen.

Many of the days top scientists and psychics gathered to examine them and exchange theories and inevitably comparisons were drawn with the famous `Land Spheres' of Yorkshire's Black Meadow despite the lack of luminosity from those at the village of Septimus Keen.

Resident photographer Septimus Keen - who has featured in previous posts - provides the evidence for much of what is known about the strange and secretive daily life in the village of Septimus Keen. Her images and radical feminist views make her possibly the most significant resident after that of founder Septimus Keen himself. 

Here is a self portrait of Septimus with another of the village's more well known residents who before being invited to join the commune had performed for Princess Alexandra at Windsor Castle with a young Charlie Chaplin and The Eight Lancashire Lads. 

After Marcus Swift chose the village of Septimus Keen to recover from his near fatal crash on the Bexhill Seafront there was a brief craze among younger residents for assembling a convoy of sidecars and heading off into the countryside for picnics. This was brought to an end when a collision with the gates of Stonyhurst school drew attention to the unconventional commune and Septimus Keen was forced to ban all petrol driven vehicles from his village just as he had done Newspapers a few years earlier. 

This heavy handed approach to maintaining the village's integrity and survival was certainly one of the factors in the beginning of the end for the village of Septimus Keen.

Recently recovered from box of junk thrown out during a house clearance these four plates record the very first spring the inhabitants enjoyed at Septimus Keen. The sense of playful excitement and experimentation that were hallmarks of the early years is evident in this charming collection of images.

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen - The Seance at Solstice

Recorded in the deserted village of Septimus Keen in Lancashire which sits in the shadow of Pendle Hill these two track serve as a record of the séance held on the night of the solstice. The Mystics' Prayer marks the beginning of the evening as those gathered called upon the Elders to join them. The main track was discovered on one of the reel-to-reel machines that had been set up within the protection of the electric pentacle....a machine that wasn't turned on turning the séance.

I wonder whether there's a direct road from Septimus Keen to the Black Meadow?

Artist of the Week - Septimus Keen

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - Track Title Announcement

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - The Thing on the Doorstep

"I always knew you were no scientist.

Trembling, eh.

Trembling with anxiety to see the ultimate things I have discovered.

Why don't you move, then? Tired?

Well, don't worry, my friend, for they are coming...

Look, look, curse you, look...

...it's just over your left shoulder..."

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - Reviews and Words

Joseph Curwen's sounds are utterly compelling and draw us into a dark world of Lovecraftian nightmare.

He is utterly prolific and exciting. His work immersive and disturbing.  However don't just take my word for it look at the following gushing reviews from some very exciting reviewers from the interweb.

In his review of Curwen's work "Strange Olden Ruin" Forest Punk tells us that this Sounds Like: "Wind, Mist, Sucking Mud, Lustmord, Eternity, Being Lost"

Read the whole extensive review here in all it's beauty.

Check out this very recent review from the Horror News Network which gives him 10 out of 10 for the Joseph Curwen box set (which you can buy here).

Check out the great praise for Joseph Curwen here from James Armstrong of "The Colony". He tells us that "H.P. Lovecraft" would be proud". No disagreements here. So much exciting work.

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - Heard Afar On The Moor

Well this fits beautifully doesn't it?

Wallow in this haunting drone.

Headphones on.

Goosebumps activated.

Check your periphery.

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - Live and Undead

Utterly impressive.

You can feel the demons crawling under your skull.

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - Strange Olden Ruin

Visit the "Strange Old Ruin" in all it's majestic crumbling glory.

Look in the shadows.

Crouch in the corners.

Touch the walls.

Let your fingers run over the inscriptions carved into the damp stone.

Let the mist engulf you.

Look through the rotten timbers of the old roof at the stars.

Hear the rumblings beneath the cracked flagstones.

Lie on the earth floor and feel it move and undulate beneath you.

Seek for the horror in the dark.

Embrace it.

Enjoy the cold hand upon your shoulder.

The whisper of the ancient words into your ear.

Let the dark earth crumble beneath your scratching fingernails.

Scratch scratch scratch.

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen - The Cold Room

Meet me in the Cold Room.

Possibly located beneath the old Radomes at RAF Fylingdales.

Artist of the Week - Joseph Curwen

Artist of the Week - The Hare and the Moon with Alison O'Donnell - Track Title Announcement

Artist of the Week - Alison O'Donnell and the Owl Service - The Fabric of Folk

Before the announcement of the track with the Hare and the Moon check out this collaboration with The Owl Service and then buy the album here.

Superb live performance this.

Artist of the Week - The Hare and the Moon - Reverb Worship

The Hare and the Moon have many releases on Reverb Worship a stunning label who release limited edition psych-folk recordings throughout the year.

They have released works by artists such as Vapaa, Sand Snowman, Mountainhood, Wooden Spoon , Mark Bradley, Uton, LSD March, Kwannon, Directorsound, Phosphene, Jeremy Kelly, Sedayne, Timas 23, ST 37, The Hare And The Moon,  Sproatly Smith, Wyrdstone, Dark Sun, Magic Carpathians, Kawabata Makoto, Motion Sickness Of Time Travel,  and many,many others. 

Check them out here.