CD

Alexander Tucker began as the vocalist in post-rock hardcore 5-piece ‘Unhome’ who released one album “A Short History of Houses” (Unlabel) and a split single with Papa M. Unhome split in late 1999 and Tucker went on to tour with Detroit space-rockers ‘Fuxa’. Simultaneously, Tucker had been developing his interest in improvisation using detuned guitars, tape loops, mini disc player and fx pedals. In early 2000 Tucker recorded a solo self-titled album of acoustic finger-picking, experimental electronics, field recordings and spooked vocals, which was picked up by Tom Greenwood of Jackie-O-Motherfucker and released under his U-Sound Archives label.

Culled from hours of orchestrated tape loops, “Against a Backdrop of Blue Hills, They Were as Beautiful as a Lullaby” finds Jannick Schou circumnavigating the folds of a rich, effervescent landscape with monsoon-like drones, mountainous drifts, and suspended tones. Tape loops designed as torrential storms, evasive sounds peak from crevices, me sat transfixed in a half-conscious state, between wake and sleep, exploring the nether regions with a thousand yard stare. “Against a Backdrop of Blue Hills…” provides the canvas for a drifting stasis, wavering and dissolving amongst glimmers of thoughts; me, immobile, intent on the far reaches of the ether, a study of the minutia, the cataclysm of antimatter, an assured focus of the universe condensed in my writhing hands, my feet seemingly suspended above the floor, weightlessness, a “Departure”, fleeting tracks such as “Untitled II (For Tape) and “A Wave in My Backyard” allow distance from the body, now a separate entity; the mind is adrift. All extremities go numb in “Blue Hills”; the listener is left with an awareness of location but one’s surrounding are intangible—the closeness of the music develops even further; an overwhelming oneness ensues.

The CD features a fantastically detailed drawing from Bleeding Heart Narrative, folding out around the gatefold thick-card sleeve in a two colour print. All copies come with a 12-panel foldout insert, and the 200 limited copies also include an extra two-colour numbered screenprint, and are also hand-numbered and sewn together.