BASS CLEF

‘acid tracts e.p.’

RELEASED 21.10.2013

FORMAT: digital / cassette with download code

CATALOGUE NUMBER: MAD023

ACID TRACTS is the new 6-track e.p. from me, Ralph Cumbers sometimes aka Bass Clef. It’s out now digitally and on a cassette too. It follows on from my last album ‘Reeling Skullways’ which was released by Peverelist’s wonderful Punch Drunk label (and was voted ‘#1 album of all time’ by Outsider House Magazine*), and it precedes a batch of forthcoming Bass Clef 12″s for PAN, Punch Drunk and Public Information.

It was born out of a long weekend of all day and all night sessions, using a borrowed MFB Drum-computer (thanks Ali!), which when hooked-up to the modular synth, made for a wild ride. In hindsight I’m not 100% sure how I made some of these tracks, of which noises came from what, of which cables went where etcetera. I do remember it though as a special weekend of total solitude and immersion, with the moon rising high and the moon shining bright into the studio windows.

One of the tracks is from another time though, and that is ‘lower state of unconsciousness’, which opens side B of the tape. This was made during the ‘Reeling Skullways’ sessions, but at 19 minutes long (and refusing to submit to the razor) it just couldn’t go on the record. It’s the odd one out of the Skullways litter, that had to be kept locked away in the attic. Until now.

‘full moon revenge rainbow’ which closes out the e.p. is one of my favourite things that I’ve done. It’s sort of over-the-top I suppose, very sentimental, and quite badly engineered. But is has a particular kind of just-pre-dawn quality that is hard to capture any other way.

The cassette release is pro-duped onto fluorescent orange tapes and limited to 94 copies, and all the covers are different. They were cut out of various books and magazines. It took me and some good friends of mine a long long time to do. We made a roast and drank wine while we did it. It was a good day. The digital copies are unlimited (not of course infinite though that would be weird) and I assume they are all the same, but who knows, maybe some of the bytes change every time.

 

TRACKLIST:

1. strings of death

2. what time is hate?

3. apathy flash

4. set adrift on memory abyss

5. lower state of unconsciousness

6. full moon revenge rainbow

*

MAGIC + DREAMS

www.magicanddreams.wordpress.com