Pulselovers is the recording moniker of Doncaster's electronic music polymath - Mat Handley. In recent times, Mat's restless enthusiasm and boundless talent has seen him excel in a variety of related fields: as a much-loved broadcaster (presenting 'You, the Night and the Music'); dispensing his electronic magic as a member of the bands Floodlights and Vert:x; and founding the essential Woodford Halse tape label. While recording as Pulselovers, he has produced a string of impressive releases, including titles on Castles in Space, Sensory Leakage, Polytechnic Youth, Misophonia, Russian Library, Do It Thissen, as well as regular contributions to the iconic A Year In The Country album series. Mat explains how reviewing these AYITC contributions gave rise to the possibility of compiling a retrospective collection as a stand alone album:

"Circles Within Circles contains tracks that have previously appeared on albums released by A Year in the Country between 2017 and 2020. Each collection had a particular theme which gave me an opportunity to experiment and develop the way I work by incorporating field recordings, tape loops and enrichments from additional instrumentation played by friends and kindred souls (guitar, bass, saxophone, flute, violin, vocals etc). For example, the track “Brodsworth” is built around a four track tape loop of different synth tones to create a rudimentary (and very lo-fi) Mellotron, played using the sliders on the Tascam 414 in place of keys. For “Fuggles”, my partner and I broke into an abandoned brewery in Sheffield and made recordings of the empty space and crumbling concrete. For “Beat Her Down” I assembled a virtual choir lead by Katje Janisch to sing a simple but disturbing folk nursery rhyme. It was my friend (and Floodlights main man) John Alexander who suggested collecting the AYITC tracks into a single volume and after several different permutations (around 5 pieces were excluded from this compilation), I think we’ve managed to put together something that feels like a coherent stand alone album.

I’ve enjoyed revisiting these works, some of which I’ve not listened to in 5 years. Thanks to Steve Prince of AYITC for his inspirational concepts and to Dan at Subexotic for giving these pieces a second home.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A truly pioneering piece of DIY electronics, concrète and experimental electronics. Assembled by a maverick wizard of the Doncaster synth scene.

TRACK LISTING

1. Brodsworth
2. Thieves’ Cant
3. Fuggles
4. Tales Of Jack
5. Woodford Halse To Fenny Compton In Five Minutes
6. Beat Her Down
7. Endless Repeats, Eternal Return
8. Circles Within Circles
9. Lonely Puck
10. The Gaumont Frieze

Gary Collins debut vinyl LP with Subexotic is the darkly seductive album ‘Skins’. ’Skins’ unveils a fascinating, if slightly unnerving, crepuscular world. This is a land of slow motion, beautifully poised electro-ballads comprising vintage synths, drum machines and a scintillating cinematic palette of found sound. Gary is an award-winning DJ (incl. Turnmills and Mixmag), having played extensively on the club circuit across Europe and Brazil since the mid 1990’s. He began experimenting with music production around 2005, as he became increasingly interested in making his own musical mark.

This eventually led to a string of well-received releases on a variety of labels, including Giallo Disco, Spun Out Of Control, Dark Leader and Telefuture Records. Technically speaking, Gary’s creative process combines a digital workstation and analogue hardware, intriguingly crafting soundscapes with a myriad of recorded matter: “I like to create quite a layered mix, some sounds or noise are buried deep, barely perceptible but add to the ambience. I love to use recordings of real places, of real moments in time. On one track for example there’s a sample of me rattling an iron gate in the catacombs of Paris. On another, recorded on the Cliffs Of Moher here in Ireland, there's the sound of an electric fence being struck with a branch whilst the wind whips around me. “I can take inspiration from anywhere.

Can be a turn of phrase, a scene from a movie or even a conversation with a friend that gives me the initial idea for a track or the concept for an album. “This new album is definitely my most personal work to date. I started work on it in 2016. I was going through a break-up, it was quite a sad time so I started to make some really sad music. A bit cliche I know, but it helped. I remember thinking that as life goes by, inevitably we lose people who are very special and close to us, who’ve played a massive role in our lives. Be it through death, break-ups or just through the natural diverging of paths over time. From there I started to write tracks, to dedicate to friends, to capture memories, to reference special moments. And even though they’re not with me anymore, I just want these old friends to know that I look fondly on our time together.

“We can see how this re-examination of the themes of loss and regret create an apparent paradox at the heart of ’Skins’. Indeed, its very fabric is drafted with an almost wistful positivity: “The suffering is obvious yet there's hope. Belief that all is not lost - the memories live on at least. I consciously wrote a few of the songs in D Dorian, a melancholic yet optimistic key signature.” “People's interpretations could vary as the messages are often quite cryptic and abstract. But by watching the video clips on my YouTube channel the audience can pick up overt visual clues. I’d love it though if they could just put the needle on the record, sit back, switch off the lights and go on their own journey. A journey that took me 5 years to complete.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Heart Armor
2. The Clocks
3. Willow
4. Not Waving, But Drowning
5. The Unfortunate Lad
6. DNR
7. Ushers Island
8. A Song For Sparrow
9. Preserved In Amber