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THE HOUSEHOLD MARK

North Sea Radio Orchestra

I A Moon (RSD20 EDITION)

    THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2020 RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY AS PART OF THE AUGUST 29TH DROP DAY AT 6PM.
    LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.


    Red colour vinyl.Limited to 500 copies.A seminal work now available for the first time on vinyl! MOJO "Chamber pop pastoralists make great leap forward...Who knew that what the music of Steve Reich has been crying out for all these years is a Krautrock makeover?" North Sea Radio Orchestra; born in the alleys and lanes of the City of London, then spreading out across the metropolis, performing shows in churches, concert halls, galleries and festivals, two album releases with glowing reviews and several BBC6 sessions.This is their third album; 'I a moon'. Written throughout the Autumn and Winter of 2010/2011 by band leader and guitarist Craig Fortnam with a pencil and paper, guitar and piano and recorded 'at various locations in southern England on his laptop', 'I a moon' retains the unique NSRO line-up of strings, woodwind, percussion, guitars, keyboards and voices but with a darker, less pastoral sound, with synth and percussion taking a more prominent role than on their previous two albums.Another departure is a move away from using poetry to the more personal use of self-penned lyrics : 'I a moon, orbiting myself.Sometime gravity pulls me closeÖ.'. On this release, the influences apparent on the first two albums (Britten, Vaughan Williams, Reich, ISB, 70's prog) have been augmented by a distinct whiff of Krautrock (on the instrumental 'Berliner Luft') while the angular guitars of 'Ring Moonlets' show a debt to the dual guitar textures of Deerhoof.NSRO continue to blend their influences in a highly imaginative and unusual way, while all the time having an ear for the beautiful, be it in melody, texture or chord.North Sea Radio Orchestra - 'I a moon'; beautiful, redolent, ancient and modern, English and world, unique.

    North Sea Radio Orchestra

    I A Moon

      REISSUE / REPRESS of NSRO's critically acclaimed third album from 2011.

      "Chamber pop pastoralists make great leap forward... Who knew that what the music of Steve Reich has been crying out for all these years is a Krautrock makeover?" MOJO 4**** 'What makes the North Sea Radio Orchestra so special is Fortnam's gift for orchestration, the deft and original way he puts deceptively simple materials in the hands of sophisticated performers. Melody pours from his pen on every page.' The Guardian *****

      On this release, the influences apparent on the first two albums (Britten, Vaughan Williams, Reich, ISB, 70's prog) have been augmented by a distinct whiff of Krautrock

      NSRO play guitars, violin, cello, bassoon, clarinets, organ, synth, vibes, percussion, voices, beautiful melodies allied to unusual but likewise beautiful chord progressions. After a 4 year break NSRO return with their fourth album 'Dronne'. All NSRO music is composed, recorded and lead by guitarist Craig Fortnam who during the last four years he has not been idle.

      As well as releasing Arch Garrison's 2014 CD, 'I Will Be A Pilgrim' (Craig as singer-songwriter, singing songs about old roads and chalk downland in a psych-folk haze), Craig also spent the first half of 2014 immersed in the music of Robert Wyatt, having been asked to direct and do all arrangements for a performance of Wyatt's music for the Nuits de Fourviere Festival in Lyon, with North Sea Radio Orchestra as house-band. 'I A Moon', NSRO's previous album was very much concerned with the tragic illness that befell Craig's good friend Tim Smith (that underrated genius from pop/prog/punk legends Cardiacs), so that album felt almost unbearably sad at points.

      For this release Craig wanted there to be no 'meaning' or particular theme but of course life often intervenes in such plans; half way through making the record Craig suffered a close family bereavement, naturally having a huge impact on the outcome of this album 'Dronne' still contains all the elements that have made NSRO special to their fans and wholly unique in British music; the ability to produce beautiful music without being over-sweet, the combination of large-scale instrumentals ('Dinosaurus Rex Parts 1 and 2') with smaller pieces and songs, the beautiful voice of Sharron Fortnam, and the ability to marry seemingly disparate influences (Britten, Vaughan-Williams, Cardiacs, early Kraftwerk etc), all wrapped up in a very English/Northern European harmonic and melodic language.


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