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CAMBERWELL NOW - The EP Collection

Format: LP Label & Cat.Number: Modern Classics Recordings MCR 922 Release Year: 2016 Note: re-issue of the EPs "Meridian" from 1983 (which started as a recording project for THIS HEAT and feat. CHARLES BULLEN on the opening track), and their last recordings on "Greenfingers" (1987); "Comprising tracks that overlapped between This Heat and Camberwell Now, the EPs concerned themselves with information technology, surveillance, propaganda and what Hayward describes as 'day-to-day, hand-to-mouth survival' "... classy coverar & download code Price (incl. 19% VAT): €28.00 More Info Camberwell, in South London, pops up infrequently in pop culture. Perhaps you know it from the Camberwell Carrot, the heroically sized joint smoked in cult movie Withnail & I, or perhaps – if you’re attuned to experimental music – you know of Camberwell Now. The group formed from the ashes of This Heat, the art-noise group whose catalog was reissued on Modern Classics Recordings in early 2016. Not so much a supersession as a continuation of that group, Camberwell Now featured This Heat’s vocalist / drummer Charles Hayward, who assembled an unusual line-up comprising Stephen Rickard, a former BBC sound engineer, on field recordings and tape manipulation and Trefor Goronwy on bass, vocals and ukulele. “We had a very specific set of skills,” says Hayward, in new liner notes compiled for this long overdue reissue, “and it wasn’t immediately clear to us how best to bring them together so that we could play live.” Taking inspiration from seafaring and imperialism, and the fact that the music was created within close proximity to the meridian line in Greenwich, the Meridian EP was originally intended to be a project for This Heat. The group’s departing member Charles Bullen plays on the opening track, “Cutty Sark”, named for the famed British clipper ship. The second EP, 1987’s Greenfingers, was their final recorded work and, according to Hayward, “it’s possible to hear the group atomising and preparing to go its separate ways” within its grooves. The only This Heat or Camberwell Now recording not to have been produced at Brixton’s Cold Storage studios, it was recorded as a DIY exercise and – unusually for either of the groups – was not pored over laboriously for a great deal of time. The EP also saw the addition of a new member, Maria Lamburn, primarily on sax, whose “Element Unknown” was inspired by her experiences in the nuclear protest camp at Greenham Common. Comprising tracks that overlapped between This Heat and Camberwell Now, the EPs concerned themselves with information technology, surveillance, propaganda and what Hayward describes as “day-to-day, hand-to-mouth survival” – all pertinent concerns in a fractured Britain under the rule of right-wing ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher, and perhaps still as pertinent today in fractured, recession-hit, isolationist Britain. The group dispersed after a final European tour, amicably, quietly, and differently, the latter their MO throughout a unique career. Goronwy, Hayward and Rickard all share their experiences and thoughts on The Camberwell Now in liner notes accompanying this landmark release: young and old, birth and death captured on two sides of vinyl. Note: On download card (and audio samples above), track one includes the songs “Cutty Sark”, “Trade Winds” and “Pearl Divers”. Total running time for track one is 9:34 and each song is distinct, though they are to be experienced as one long-form piece of music. Release Notes Official vinyl re-issue in collaboration with original members 24 bit/96 kHz re-master from original analog tapes Restored art, expanded to a gatefold tip-on jacket Includes download card with two bonus tracks 8 page booklet with track notes by the artists, lyrics and archival photos Auf Camberwell in South London wird sich in der Popkultur immer wieder bezogen. Vielleicht kennt man es von der Camberwell Carrot, dem überdimensionalen Joint, der im Kultfilm „Withnail & I“ geraucht wird, oder von CAMBERWELL NOW. Die Band entstand aus der Asche von THIS HEAT und bildete sich um Sänger und Schlagzeuger Charles Hayward, der den ehemaligen BBC Sound Engineer Stephen Rickard für Field Recording und Bandmanipulationen und Trefor Goronwy an Bass, Vocals und Ukulele akquirierte. „Wir hatten eine sehr spezielle Herangehensweise“, sagt Hayward, „und zu Beginn wussten wir nicht, wie wir unseren Sound live umsetzen sollten.“ Die „Meridian EP“ vereinigte Einflüsse aus der Seefahrt und dem Imperialismus und spielte auf den Fakt an, dass die Musik nahe am Meridian in Greenwich entstanden war. Die zweite EP, „Greenfingers“ von 1987 war ihre allerletzte Aufnahme, auf der man laut Hayward hört, wie die Gruppe „sich langsam zerstreut und getrennte Wege geht“. Auf der EP war erstmals das neue Mitglied Maria Lamburn am Saxophon zu hören, deren „Element Unknown“ von ihren Erfahrungen in einem Protestcamp gegen Atomenergie inspiriert ist. Die EPs vereinen Tracks aus Zeiten von THIS HEAT und CABERWELL NOW und befassen sich mit Informationstechnologie, Überwachung, Propaganda und dem tagtäglichen Überlebenskampf, ernsthafte Sorgen im gespaltenen Großbritannien unter der eisernen Margaret Thatcher und vielleicht heute noch genauso relevant im zerrissenen, rezessionsgeplagten, isolationistischen Großbritannien der Gegenwart.