Friday 19 October 2018, 7.30pm
The long-running DIY label Fourth Dimension Records plays host to a few of the artists it has championed in more recent years…
All four artists featured will each have a track included on a very limited double-7” issued by the label that will be launched on the night.
Where to start with Alternative TV? Most know that Mark Perry, founder of Sniffin’ Glue fanzine, formed the group either due to or as a response to punk in 1977. Since the debut ‘How Much Longer’ 7” released that very same year, however, Mark has remained the sole surviving original member and driving force. Not one to stand still, he has taken the group through a succession of lineup changes embarking on a wide spectrum of styles since then; including the blend of igneous rock bludgeon and amalgamation of stripped electronics that informs the ‘Dark Places’ 12” e.p. on Fourth Dimension and released in April 2018.
ATV will be in group mode (featuring Dave Morgan and Clive Goblin besides Mark Perry) on the Cafe OTO night, doubtlessly playing new songs as well as several from their considerable back catalogue.
RECORD COLLECTOR said: “ATV’s long-awaited 10th, Opposing Forces, suggests Perry’s back in the game with a fresh sense of purpose. He’s fronting an all-new five-man line-up (including ex-The Loft/Weather Prophets drummer Dave Morgan) and, for the most part, he sounds wholly reinvigorated. Accordingly, Opposing Forces presents a riveting programme for seasoned ATV watchers. The spiky, militant titular song quickly demonstrates that Perry and his latest charges are in the rudest of health; the lusty, swaggering French Girls and ballsy Hello New York are both unashamedly anthemic, and The Visitor’s ghostly minimalism is genuinely eerie.” (2016)
The solo guise of Andrew Fearn of Sleaford Mods, who for a number of years now has been sculpting often atmospheric, sometimes tumultuous and largely erratic electronic music drawing from a range of source as wide as those to be found in SM. Although SM themselves once graced Fourth Dimension Records with a 7”, EXTNDDNTWRK have appeared on the label a couple of times thus far. One of these, a 2CD collection released a few years ago, included a soft-focus cover of Big Black’s ‘Bad Penny’, just like Albini had been replaced by Marvin Gaye. This probably exemplifies the spirit behind Andrew’s work as much as anything else.
FEAR & LOATHING said: “Mostly-instrumental tracks from Andrew Fearn, the musical half of Sleaford Mods. It’s something of a sideways-step from what you might be expecting, although at times the loops and rhythm suggest possible works-in-progress, but generally speaking, this is something that’s very much its’ own entity. Musically, it switches between genres with a sly, casual style, from Ambient atmospherics to occasional dance beats, although usually in a darker, more sparse framework. “ (Just Tracks 2CD, FDR, 2014)
The highly prolific yet always captivating Richard Youngs, whose music can waver healthily between new forms of singer-songwriter material, lo-fi drones and all manner of avant-garde forms/non-forms, is no stranger to OTO, having performed at the venue at least twice in the past. Akin to his releases, an element of surprise that can sometimes confound or completely overturn expectations very much remains one of the main threads to his work. It is precisely because of this hardwired sensibility the label has long endorsed his music. Who knows what he’ll do on the night? He is an artist given to working with the immediate environment he is in or even defying it.
THE QUIETUS said: “Many of the frequencies deployed here lie well beyond noise and manifest themselves somewhere in the realms of the sort of techniques used to extract information under duress more than resembling anything approaching music.” (This Is Not a Lament 2CD, FDR 2017)
Brighton’s Map 71 are a duo comprised of Andy Pyne (percussion, electronics) and Lisa Jayne (words, voice). Together they have been working away at an approach that draws from post-punk, improvisation, electronics and other such realms of music to create a refreshing environment where reflection, wry observations, the abstract and immersion can develop. They have existed for a few years now and had several releases out both on their own Foolproof Projects imprint and via a couple of other labels. Fourth Dimension Records reissued their Gloriosa album in February 2018. A new album is presently in the works too.
THE QUIETUS said: “Crisp, springy percussive work sets the verse in motion on ‘Red Mass’ and ‘One-Dimensional Bang’, Jayne affecting a blank-eyed recital style which I suspect not everyone will warm to, but works for this listener at least. ‘Azeleas’ moves into trippier climes, haphazardly clashing layers of synth and click-clack rhythms likely unrelated to a drum kit, while on ‘CDM’ Jayne, audibly warming to her role, repeats the dictum “Controversial Dance Moves / Should not be attempted!” ‘Monoprint’, the words of which are on Jayne’s blog, adds some fizzy, scrawly early 80s DIY synth, and the closing ‘Default Slogan’ is bluntly concrete on both counts: single-word darts building to a portrait of grey suburban hell over a goofy loop of what might well be an accidental pocket recording.” (Gloriosa, 2017)
