ARTiST: Songs Of Green Pheasant
TiTLE: Gyllyng Street
LABEL: Fat Cat Records
GENRE: Indie
TiME: 42:07 min
SiZE: 45,1 MB
BiTRATE: VBRkbps
RiP DATE: Aug-07-2007
RELEASE DATE: Sep-18-2007
WEBSiTE: n/a
Track List:
01. Boats 05:03
02. Kind Friday 03:31
03. The Ballad Of Century Paul 04:08
04. West Coast Profiling 08:15
05. Alex Drifting Alone 08:02
06. Fires P.G.R 04:53
07. A Sketch For Maenporth 08:15
Release Notes:
Coming exactly two years after the release of an
eponymous debut album, the gorgeous æGyllyng StreetÆ
is the third release by Songs Of Green Pheasant.
Marking a departure from the beautiful 4-track
folk-haze of the debut album, æGyllyng StreetÆ is
Songs Of Green PheasantÆs most adventurous and
accomplished work to date, and sees the artist take
a big step forwards whilst retaining the isolated
individuality that marks them out as a truly unique
voice in the contemporary out-folk / post-rock /
etc. milieu. Retaining something of the cloudy,
dreamlike and intimate cocooning space of its
predecessor, æGyllyng StreetÆ moves further away
from folk song-form towards a richly atmospheric and
ambitious modus, heavily tinged with the influence
of early æ90s indie. The means of production remain
modest, but the thinking is widescreen.
SOGPÆs self-titled debut was released in August
2005, gaining admiration from the likes of Devendra
Banhart, M·m, and Vetiver, and making many peopleÆs
lists as an outsider æalbum of the yearÆ. In
November 2006, a between-albums release (æAerial
DaysÆ) mopped up tracks to form a disparate
collection of newer demos, radio tracks and
unreleased older material. Again created in rural
isolation on the rim of the Peak District, this new
album (now recorded on 8-track) shows a richer,
clearer production, and is pushed further with a
change in sound; a more varied palette; as well as
being the first record to see SOGP come close to
operating as a æproperÆ band rather than the work of
one man multiplying himself via overdubs. Whilst
itÆs still largely the sole work of Duncan Sumpner,
a 32-year-old artist / teacher from Oughtibridge in
rural Sheffield, NorthWest England, this album sees
the unit expanded to include contributions from
Clive Scott (trumpet track 5), Jonathan Gill (drums
1, 2, 5), Oliver Bird (bass 1, 2, 5), and Julie Cole
(vocals 6).
æGyllyng StreetÆ is a beautiful and complete album û
varied in scope and dynamic, yet fully coherent and
well conceived as a body of work. Confident and
carefully realised, each song moves fluidly into the
next û from the pulsing, upbeat arc and chiming
guitars of æBoatsÆ or æWest Coast ProfilingÆ; to the
quieter considerations of æThe Ballad Of Century
PaulÆ; the pitter-patter, æprepared-guitarÆ gamelan
of æFires PGRÆ, and the rainy field recording /
vapour trail pastoral soundscaping of æA Sketch For
MaenporthÆ, which recalls prime Flying Saucer
Attack. Full of measured space and assured in its
movement, itÆs a warm and intricate work for drums,
acoustic / electric guitar, bass, piano and trumpet.
At its centre is DuncanÆs gentle, ethereal vocal û
still sheathed in reverb, his lyrics just avoiding
easy recognition, urging the listener to keep going
back, listening closer.
Where previous release, æAerial DaysÆ was a
scattershot collection of diverse tracks, each
redolent of a particular time or memory, æGyllyng
StreetÆ is rooted very firmly in a single,
particular period of its creatorÆs life. Gyllyng
Street was in fact the name of the Falmouth
(Cornwall) road on which Duncan lived as an art
student in the mid ænineties, alongside drug dealers
and many other odd folk. As Duncan says ôif you know
anything about Cornwall then youÆll know that a lot
of people who couldnÆt get along in normal everyday
life end up there because itÆs slower with a more
forgiving climate.ö This album is in many ways an
attempt to document and recollect those times -
there are literal characterisations and dreamlike
re-enactments within the songs. However, at the
centre of the record is an essay on the self of the
young man and what he describes as ôthe
disintegration of youth, faith and the sense of
'where you come from' û the young, feverish,
over-zealous ideas on art and politics. The many I
knew at that time - whether tramps or sons of
millionaires - make up the sense of the record and
the general quiet drift of our lives....ö
Sonically, the record quotes and takes resonance
from the records Duncan loved at that time- from the
early æ90s output of the 4AD label (Red House
Painters, Cocteau Twins, etc.), to Codeine, 1980 s /
æ90s Wire, Comsat Angels (æ80s), as well as
recalling the likes of The Blue Nile, Felt, and the
aspirations of Bark PsychosisÆ classic album æHexÆ
or Talk talkÆs æSpirit Of EdenÆ. A deep, meditation
on space and place, it is beautifully conceived as
an organic whole rather than a collection of parts.