The inception of 49North marks the beginning of a brand new era for Duncan Forbes; who most emphatically made his mark on the WW scene as one half of legendary duo - Spooky - alongside Charlie May; releasing a string of landmark singles and albums over 3 decades, not to mention timeless remix / production work for International heavyweights like Depeche Mode, M83, Sasha, William Orbit, Mr.G and Apparat.

On Side A of this very special, 3rd and final ‘49North - Phase 1: Distilled & Amplified’ LP Sampler - we see Duncan's close compadre, Mr. G, flip 'The Next Step' into a killer slice of deep and kinetic, psych-tinged Techno; before the Phoenix G boss steps up to the plate once again, to kick off the flipside - distilling 'Bluer Than Blue' down into one super-tight, swing-loaded roller; topped off with a seductive whispered vocal, skating rides and a perfectly-poised low-end lead. And then, to fittingly wrap up this three-pronged 12” attack, we have an out-and-out gem from Mr. Forbes himself… as we see him transform, 'When Lightning Strikes Twice' - into a pulsing, beyond widescreen - Motor City meets The White Isle - colossus.

TRACK LISTING

A1. ‘The Next Step’ (Mr. G’s ‘Tears Of Gratitude’ Dub)
B1. ‘Bluer Than Blue’ (Mr. G’s ‘Time To Sweat’ Remix)
B2. ‘When Lightning Strikes Twice’ (Duncan’s ‘Lost In The Moment’ Remix)

You probably already know Duncan as a founding member of Maximo Park, but here he brings us a rather wonderful collection of his solo work: Beautifully understated, melodic pop songs.

More about the album from Duncan...

'Early last year in that strange sort of limbo of a time, I was releasing songs on Bandcamp as & when I’d finished messing around with them. It was kind of therapeutic to work as a musician in a more spontaneous way, no deadline or pressure other than to create songs that were a standard I was happy with and as a reaction to whatever was happening at that point. I started to build an album of these songs with no planned finishing point, making music to escape the strange days. Around the same time I received a message from Tom at Reveal Records asking if I’d like to release a compilation of my solo work. I already knew of Reveal Records as it is based back in my home town of Derby but even though we had lost touch over the years, I remembered Tom had been an enthusiastic early supporter of Maximo Park (we played a couple of in store sessions at his record shop around our first two albums). In fact our paths had crossed way before that even because I used to go into his shop as a young kid in the 90’s (saving up my pennies to buy records by Sonic Youth and Pixies and U.S. import Lemonheads t shirts). That all informed my path to becoming a musician so it feels fitting & fortunate that things have come full circle & we are now working together.

After going through the songs, we came up with, Green Grows Devotion. A collection of selected songs written & recorded all over the place and spanning nearly 12 years of writing.

The collection travels through a mixture of styles, veering from spacey experimental ideas to quieter acoustic songs, one, “Cathedral Doors”, was written shortly after I lost my Dad & pushed me further to explore my own self sufficiency and sound, from the rawer punk spirited to the sparser & psychedelic ones.

The recordings vary from lo-fi home recordings to full band recordings done in rehearsals spaces with a handful of microphones. Some of the songs are from short run albums I’ve released myself, some are unreleased & some are from EPs or singles I’ve put out leading right back to 2010 when I started. It's been exciting to hear them come out of the dark & cathartic to sequence them all like this on the new album.

Hope you enjoy listening.

TRACK LISTING

Branca Drive
Heads Of The Bastille
Red Moon
Freak Facade
Dear O
Cathedral Doors (Transit IV)
Historic Elements
Impossible To Define
Outside Notion (Featuring Sarah Suri)
Sam (Demo #2)
Filler In The Bodywork
A Chime

‘Alluvium’ is the fourth album from C Duncan, Glasgow’s classically trained multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, released through Bella Union. After the haunting raptures of Architect (2015), the Twilight Zone-inspired reveries of The Midnight Sun (2016) and the richly melodic Health (2019), Alluvium is a sublime palate-refresher for Duncan (C for Christopher), brimming with revitalised fluency: a warming dispatch from the daylight zone, if you like.

TRACK LISTING

Air
Heaven
We Have A Lifetime
Bell Toll
Lullaby
Torso
Pretending
You Don’t Come Around
I Tried
Sad Dreams
Alluvium
Earth
The Wedding Song
Upon The Table

The Phantom Band guitarist, Duncan Marquiss's instrumental solo (ad)venture finds electronic guitar manipulations intertwine with wandering acoustic ambience. With one foot in 1970s Germany and the other in the woods, rivers and mountains of northeast Scotland.

“I like it when music builds itself up in an organic fashion,” says Duncan Marquiss. “When it just seems to emerge and almost writes itself.”
This natural, intuitive and free flowing approach is evident all across the debut solo album from the multi-disciplinary artist. From tender yet sweeping acoustic moments to experimental electronic guitar manipulations, the album feels like a ceaselessly sprawling exploration of texture and tone. Despite veering into what sounds like electronic ambient soundscapes, the entire album is rooted in the guitars. “I enjoy trying to stretch the guitar as an instrument,” says Marquiss. “That reflects my playing style, always trying to make the guitar sound different, or create non-guitar like sounds.”

Marrying earthy, textural acoustic instrumentals that feel rooted in open landscapes, with those that capture the pulse and hum of a populated metropolis (Marquiss resides in Glasgow). The album was recorded in Aberdeenshire in Marquiss’ parents' garage. “Apart from the wind and the swallows nesting in the eaves there’s not many distractions around,” he says. This is a solo record that goes right to the very essence of Marquiss as an artist. The expansive yet intimate sounds he’s created here stem from the same peaceful isolation of where it all began.

There’s a cosmic touch tracing back to 1970s Germany (Michael Rother solo, Cluster, Harmonia, Popul Vuh soundtracks) that infiltrates much of the album, alongside some of its more pastoral textures, with Marquiss citing a wide range of listening habits. These include Bruce Langhorne's The Hired Hand, Jim O Rouke's Bad Timing, Arthur Russell and Laurie Spiegel.

Despite containing no lyrics, the album feels rooted in narrative and development. As the album unfolds the acoustic guitar becomes more prominent over the electric, almost as if nature is slowly taking back and growing over abandoned human-made structures. A record that, despite being experimental in tone and essence, retains a very human and natural touch throughout. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Marquiss' solo record sees the Phantom Band guitarist pulling out a soaring selection of expansive ambient melodies skilfully wrought out of the guitar, resulting in an evocative and hypnotic selection of 70's synth influenced neo-folk gems.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Drivenhalle
2. C Sweeps
3. Fixed Action Patterns
SIDE B
4. Tracks
5. Murmer Double
6. Wires Turned Sideways In Time
7. Minor History