A Hand Raised In Blessing & Other Songs

I have a new album out. I have released the album “A Hand Raised In Blessing” this morning. I have released the album under a relatively new name nom de guerre of Forward! For Noise. You will be able to steam my new album in this post.

Now then, this is an experimental album – a Drone album. For more on why I make Drone please see this page.

You may think I am a cha cha short of a choo choo when I say that I make music that never really gets anywhere.

It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the static quality of a drone means it lacks interesting musical content. It’s well known that if you listen to a repetitive or sustained sound for long enough the way in which you perceive it changes, even though it may not. That means that even a pure sine tone, devoid of harmonics or overtones, can reward close attention if you’re in the right mood.

More complex drones can be full of information and event. To listen to the drone of a Tambura or Hurdy Gurdy is to hear an intricate pattern of shifting harmonics and microtones, moving between dissonance and consonance, and inviting total absorption into the mesmerising sonic space it creates.

Monotony can be thought of as an unpleasant thing. So the notion of music that doesn’t seem to change seems kind of redundant. But one could defend monotony as being interesting. Think about John Cage; he said that if you do something and it’s boring, then you should do it again until it becomes interesting.

The album was recorded at Creao Studio – the best recording studio and rehearsal space in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Allan was amazing to work with and he fitted me in to his schedule. I booked time there and it went like clockwork.

I used a variety of equipment all based around a Grendel Drone Commander. This album was a lot of fun to make. It was mastered at Sigil Of Brass – the Mastering studio for experimental music.

So, I used all of my contacts and came out with a great album – this is a work in progress, handing the baton from a skillset to analogue technology. I hope you like the new album, “A Hand Raised In Blessing.”