Wednesday 3 July 2019, 7.30pm
On PLASMA SPLICE TRIFLE, their new collaborative LP on VHF Records, ASC and GF took several years to ferment a heady mixture of long-form pop eccentricities and free electric sound. Building on the myriad sounds unravelled therein, they now play live together for the first time to take it right out there toward the unknown region.
Plasma Splice Trifle – out via VHF Records on 7 June 2019 - is the debut collaboration between Astral Social Club (aka Neil Campbell) and the Grumbling Fur Time Machine Orchestra (Alexander Tucker and Daniel O’Sullivan), whose recent Time Machine Orchestra collaborations have included two releases with Charlemagne Palestine on Important Records and a soundtrack to British artist Mark Titchner’s audio-visual installation, Rose.
On Plasma Splice Trifle, these like-minded underground titans perfectly mix the long-form pop eccentricities of Grumbling Fur with the free electric sound of Astral Social Club to produce four epic and memorable tracks. The music is dense and layered, with hidden hooks, haunting vocals, unidentifiable electronic shuddering and delicate ambience.
After a brief vocal declaration of purpose, ‘Back to the Egg’ rides a motorik pulse for ten hypnotic minutes. ‘Three Years Apart’ pulses gently in a burbling cloud while ‘Ozone Antifreeze Intelligence’ layers electronics over a haunting piano and vocal melody, framed by subliminal fuzz guitar. ‘Toejam Boxdrum’ closes the album with an uproarious polyrhythm hidden by more layers of soft-focus electro-fizz, gradually giving way to thick bass riffs and tremelo’d interjections.
Neil Campbell has been active on the lunatic fringe of underground music since at least 1979. In that time he has performed and recorded widely as solo performer, ad hoc collaborator and core member of groups such as Vibracathedral Orchestra and A Band. His collaborations are myriad, including Richard Youngs, Campbell Kneale, High Wolf, John Clyde-Evans, Filthy Turd, Oren Ambarchi, Ashtray Navigations, Spider Stacy, David Larcher, Blood Stereo and John Olson.
Grumbling Fur are the joint manifestation of London based multi-disciplinary artists Alexander Tucker and Daniel O’Sullivan. Daniel O’Sullivan released Folly this year on O Genesis Records, while Alexander Tucker is working on the follow up to 2018’s Don’t Look Away on Thrill Jockey).
5 albums in to a lengthy career and Slomo show no sign of speeding or running into steam. After accidentally finding themselves to be the ardent doomlord’s secret chillaxer soundtrack with 2005’s THE CREEP, Slomo hopefully turned in a doom cash-in album with 2009’s THE BOG before refocussing on more familiar matters with 2012’s THE GRAIN. After a spate of gigs ploughing those furrows, the duo of Holy McGrail (Julian Cope Band/Black Sheep) and Howard Marsden (Ambient Working Men’s Club) turned their attentions outward and upward for 2017’s TRANSITS – a suite of shimmering, celestial vibrations for time and space. Emboldened by the reception of TRANSITS, Slomo cheekily asked 12 of their favourite artists to each remix that album’s centrepiece, “Super-Individual”. The relievingly varied results were released in 2018 as “Super-Individual: Collective Ritual”, running to almost 150 minutes and stretched over 2 CDs, featuring contributions from Gnod, Mr Peter Hayden, Andrew Liles & Teeth of the Sea.
Slomo return to Oto in support of tonight’s headliners for the first time since 2012, presenting a work in progress from their forthcoming album for the Golden Ratio Frequencies label.
