The 100 lathe-cuts sold out so I’m now offering CD and digital versions. 3 tracks on a red and white splatter compact disc in a lovely gatefold card case, with 2 inserts. 50 hand-numbered copies.
The Century of Sounds project I mentioned last year is now complete, and here is my contribution ‘Eulogy for Freddy Hill’.
As a starting point for this project, I did some research into the person who played the barrel organs on the recording. It transpired that Freddy Hill (born 1932 in Sussex, UK) was a very gifted man. The son of a headmaster and a clockmaker by profession, he also taught carpentry and music and was an expert restorer of antique musical instruments including the chamber barrel organs in this recording. Freddy was a founder member of the Musical Box Society of Great Britain which was established in 1962. The three barrel organs being played here were built between 1764 and 1850, and the recordings were made in April 1967 after Freddy’s repairs and restoration. Most of the sounds on this 42-minute recording are of Freddy speeding through the barrel organ cylinders to check functionality, however the “Morning Hymn’”and “Evening Hymn” sections are played through at a nice pace and stood out to me, so I extracted these as the base for my work.
After a number of abandoned approaches, rather than “reinterpret” the sounds, I have built a world around them, orchestrating with strings and brass, and blending sounds both natural and unnatural into the mix aiming to give the finished track a widescreen feel. I considered contacting Freddy to tell him what I was doing, but he died in 2005. It was at that point I realised that this piece could be my small tribute to his life, hence the title I have chosen. Via Facebook I managed to locate someone who knew Freddy, and they have agreed to inform his only known relative; his nephew Michael Richards – of this project and submission.
Freddy’s collection of clocks, musical instruments and barrel organs were bequeathed to the Royal College of Music.
WHAT IS A CENTURY OF SOUNDS?
A Century of Sounds is a collaborative project between Cities and Memory and the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, to celebrate and creatively reimagine a century of ethnographic sound recordings from the museum’s archives. The project features 100 rare and previously unheard recordings from around the world. Artists from across the globe were invited to select one recording and create a new composition in response, exploring themes of history, culture, emotion, and memory. The resulting 100 compositions are showcased in the museum’s unique ‘sound shower’ space.
I have new music out. Two tracks taken from the forthcoming A Farewell To Hexes album ‘TODMORDEN’ which soundtracks the strange PC Alan Godfrey Incidents of 1980 in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.
Feral Child Recordings have released 100 x 5″ translucent red lathe-cut singles – with inserts – containing the tracks:
A. The Eyewall // B. They Actually Examined My Left Foot
Sold out at the label but I have a few artist copies HERE
I am honored to have been selected along with 99 other sound artists worldwide to participate in the Cities and Memory project:
A CENTURY OF SOUNDS
ETHNOGRAPHIC RECORDINGS FROM THE PITT RIVERS MUSEUM’S COLLECTIONS
A Century of Sounds is a partnership between Cities and Memory and the Pitt Rivers Museum, inviting listeners to explore a century of incredible recordings from the museum’s collections in brand new ways.
One hundred recordings from all over the world, dating back as early as wax cylinder recordings from 1914, have been curated to showcase the amazing breadth of the museum’s sound collections, as well as to provide fascinating, exclusive material for artists to work with.
Many of these recordings have never been publicly available to listen to before – and they are some of the most extraordinary sounds a Cities and Memory project has ever included. Artists were invited to choose a recording that speaks to them, and create a composition based on their response to that sound, and to the resonances of history, culture, society and emotion that come from it.
The Century of Sounds collection will not only offer a unique window into global cultures past and present with rarely-heard recordings, but a new way of experiencing these sounds through the composition, sound design, music and imagination of our community of artists.
Echoes for Palestine is a labor of love and solidarity, a charitable project brought to life by Rafael Diogo (Deep Dive Sound) in collaboration with Cities and Memory, with every penny of proceeds flowing directly to Hope and Play, supporting the children of Gaza.
From over a hundred submissions of original, sound-based compositions from artists around the world, we have woven together 25 tracks for Volume 1.
This collection unfolds like a journey through diverse sonic landscapes — experimental electronic pulses, drifting ambient textures, intricate electroacoustic designs, intimate spoken word, and evocative narrative soundscapes. Each piece hums with the spirit of resistance, whispers resilience, carries memory, and offers hope, preserving the cultural heartbeat of Palestine.
This compilation is more than music. It is testimony, imagination, and a bridge across distance and time — a tribute to Palestinian lives, voices, and dreams, and a celebration of the profound, transformative power of sound. By listening to and purchasing the album, you help bring hope, joy, and support to the children of Gaza.
ABOUT THE TRACK
Lifta is a historic Palestinian village located near Jerusalem, notable for being the only Arab village evacuated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that has not been destroyed or repopulated. It stands as a poignant symbol of the Nakba (the 1948 Palestinian exodus) and a physical reminder of the displacement and loss experienced by Palestinians. The village, with its well-preserved stone buildings, agricultural terraces, and spring, is also recognized for its unique cultural and historical value and is currently under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage status.
This piece uses elements of field recordings taken by Anders Vinjar (Mount of Olives / Ramallah Market / Ruins of Lifta), topped with a semi-composed / semi-improvised acoustic guitar line plus added synth washes.
The Ghosts of Lifta was inspired by these field recordings and current photographs of the overgrown, deserted village.
Further reading: We will return: the battle to save an ancient Palestinian village from demolition
WITH PREVIOUS CASSETTE AND VINYL EDITIONS LONG SOLD OUT, TECTONA GRANDIS NOW ISSUES THE ALBUM ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME, REBADGED ‘THE HALT TAPE IN COLOUR’ WITH 2 BONUS TRACKS. THE PHYSICAL EDITION IS A MINI TIME CAPSULE OF THE EVENT, WITH MULTIPLE INSERTS INCLUDING ACTUAL PINE NEEDLES FROM RENDLESHAM FOREST.
LIMITED TO 50 COPIES
TRACKLISTING 01 Lights Over Woodbridge 02 East Gate Expedition 03 What Is That? 04 Circling The Mechanical Object 05 In Receipt Of Zeros And Ones 06 Orford Ness At Dawn 07 The Halt Tape In Colour 08 Aftermath
BONUS MATERIAL 09 Ipswich 10 Halt Testimony (Previously unreleased)
PRESS FOR ‘RENDLESHAM’ “A ramshackle kosmiche banger” – The Quietus “A Radiophonic Workshop-evoking set of chilling electronics” – Resident Music “Fans of concept-heavy electronic albums, sci-fi, or the output of BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop may want to point your eyes and ears in the direction of this limited-to-250 LP release from Adam Leonard” – Norman Records “Haunting synths, woozy atmospherics and saturated, crackling bliss. Superb” – Piccadilly Records
I don’t normally post about Invaderband on here anymore as there’s invaderband.com for that stuff, but this is big news (to me, anyway!). The ‘Peter Gabriel’ album (and the latest single from it ‘Cheese Slices’) are nominated for Album of the Year and Single of the Year and there is a public vote – closing Tue 20th Sept – taking place NOW. If the records get enough votes they will be shortlisted (Top 12), and then in with a chance of actually winning the prize, which would be an absolute game changer for me & the band (after 10 years of hard work). So please head over to nimusicprize.com and cast a vote for the album and / or single. It would mean an awful lot to me.
There’s a new A Farewell To Hexes track on the new Bibliotapes release ‘The Diary Of A Madman’ (BIB017). The tapes sold out in a flash, but you can get a download on bandcamp. All proceeds to Ukraine Red Cross.
“In 1980 the village of Rendlesham, Suffolk was put on the map with two UFO encounters at the nearby RAF base. These events were far from trivial, two airmen suffering life threatening injuries in the first encounter, while the second incident saw increased levels of radiation detected at a site where one of the UFOs allegedly landed. These events form the inspiration for Adam Leonard, or rather, A Farewell To Hexes’s Rendlesham. More than anything these wonky synth jams conjure the homemade, hopeful skywatching spirit of John Was Trying To Contact Aliens, a world of garden shed laboratories and off balanced experiments. ‘East Gate Expedition’ is a ramshackle kosmiche banger, the stargazing synths conjuring an ambience equal parts PolyCement and Harmonia. The second side slips into a slightly more sinister place, closer ‘Aftermath’ featuring the voice of Attorney Patrick Frascogna speaking at a US court hearing in 2011 in an attempt to gain access to the medical records of John Burroughs and James Penniston – the two airmen injured in the first Rendlesham encounter. Juxtaposed against the sci-fi synths, it brings to light the layers of secrecy and obstruction that can surround the night sky”
– THE QUIETUS
“Occupying similarly cosmic ground – just a little closer to Ipswich – is A Farewell To Hexes. This is the electronic side project of Adam Leonard, also of BBC 6Music-approved rockers Invaderband. No prizes for guessing the inspiration behind his new album Rendlesham, a splendidly sinister synth-fuelled account of the rum business that enveloped this picturesque Suffolk forest in December 1980. Epic 18-minute track ‘The Halt Tape In Colour’ even incorporates snippets of the infamous tape recordings made by RAF Woodbridge’s deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt”
The Message Tapes 