SNORKEL
Stop Machine
SLOLP015
Slowfoot 2011
08 Tracks. 41mins17secs

Amazon UK: LP | DLD US: LP | DLD Boomkat: DLD iTunes: DLD

Under the lead of drummer Frank Byng, South East London’s Snorkel happily veer from krautrock, free jazz and improvisation to dub, post rock and funk without ever really settling on any particular genre for very long. This was what fueled Glass Darkly, released three years ago, but, although this was their first album, the band have actually been performing live for over ten years. The band, originally set up to explore the possibilities of improvised music, was partly modeled on the likes of Can or Soft Machine, but the scope has since widened quite drastically.

A band with no fixed line-up, Snorkel was, for the recording, formed of Byng, the only recurring member, plus Ben Cowen, Charles Stuart, Tom Marriott, and 129, with additional contribution from Slowfoot label head Robert Logan, Ralph Cumbers (Bass Clef), Lucas Suarez and Luke Wills. The album is, like its predecessor, the fruit of improvised sessions, but this on occasions tempered by a more structured compositional approach. Continue Reading »

ROBERT LOGAN
Inscape
SLOCD010
Slowfoot 2009
12 Tracks. 68mins53secs

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Robert Logan first came to attention a couple of years ago when his debut album, Cognessence, was released on London-based imprint Slowfoot. An often dark, abstract and organic soundtrack, this record showed a surprising level of maturity and control.

While his music appears at first extremely electronic and textured, Logan’s roots are actually more diverse. Indeed, alongside Aphex Twin and Autechre, he also names seventies pioneering bands such as Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream, and modern classical composers such as Steve Reich or Arvo Pärt, as influences. His taste for ambitious soundscapes, gritty electronics and brooding atmospheres led him to compose the soundtrack for Alex Gibney’s documentary Taxi To The Darkside, a hard-hitting film on the torture practiced by the US in the middle east and in Guantanamo Bay, and provide textures and drum edits for Grace Jones’s most recent album. Continue Reading »

SNORKEL
Glass Darkly
SLOCD006
Slowfoot Records 2008
10 Tracks. 49mins17secs

Snorkel is a London-based collective with a penchant for eclectic music forms and improvisation. Formed in South London by six musicians with very varied and colourful pedigrees, including singer songwriter and multi-instrumentist Charles Stuart, whose debut solo album was released on Slowfoot in May of last year, and Tom Marriott, who also releases music under a handful of monikers and is one of the founding members of Pest (Ninja Tune), Snorkel have honed their sound by regularly playing. Glass Darkly, the band’s first release, attempts to capture of the energy deployed on stage. Continue Reading »