THE LAW OF FIVES: OLD APPARATUS

East London outfit Old Apparatus emerged last year with a self-titled 12" on dubstep label Deep Medi. The 12" consisted of two extended tracks which defied categorisation but seemed to suggest a form of piston-powered bass music, an impression reinforced by their astonishing, steampunk-ish artwork (see below). This was followed by the equally remarkable 'Zebulon'/'Hammerhand' 12" and a number of intriguing mixtapes which indicated a tremendously diverse set of influences. In the first of an irregular series for The Outer Church, Old Apparatus pick the five tracks that are currently grinding their gears...

1. Legowelt 'Sturmvogel' 

"Taken from his first vinyl release 'Pimpshifter' in 1998. Legowelt's creations draw influence from the best of early techno and '80s electro. This is a great track for the dance floor."

2. Tim Hecker 'Hatred Of Music I-II' 

"Fascinating how an age-old instrument like the church organ can sound so fresh and powerful. Love the wailing melodies. Ben Frost's engineering is instantly recognisable for his unique approach to sculpting noise in such a way that it sounds massive but not too harsh."

3. The Knife 'We Share Our Mother's Health' 

"Just love it at the moment."

4. Wiley vs Lethal B 'Who Won?' 

"Back when grime wasn't saturated with pop ballads (and money) it was a genuinely exciting time for followers of the UK underground. With lyrics like "Your mum's got Athletes Foot" and "Your mum's got Aids and she's skinny like a twig" you know you're in for a good listen. 
Lethal won by the way."

5. The Haxan Cloak 'The Fall'

"Deepness."

Old Apparatus will be appearing at the February 17th edition of The Outer Church at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, get tickets here.

THE OUTER CHURCH COMMUNITY BROADCAST #1

The first edition of The Outer Church Community Broadcast 

is now available to stream at Mixcloud. 

Featuring special guests 

Warren Ellis and Laurie Penny 

plus a selection of the fine electronic oddities including 

Kemper Norton, 10-20, Sone Institute and The House In The Woods.

WONDERS FROM THE HOUSE OF ALBION

Earth's Dylan Carlson is currently gathering funds for a forthcoming solo project. Wonders has a projected release date of May 2013 and will be available in various formats. Some more details here: 

"The recording will combine field recordings from various megalithic and other sites of human/fairy encounters across the UK, also the use of ritual and folkloric magical practices. The expedition will be filmed by Clyde Petersen. These recordings will be layered with Dylan's interpretations of classic Scots-English ballads about human/fairy encounters from early modern England and Scotland (15th-18th century). It will also feature guest vocalists to sing the songs. This is not being done through a label, as Earth's output has, but is a labor of love/obsession of Dylan's. Being primarily of Scots-English descent, this is an historical journey to his personal and cultural past, embracing music/folklore/the occult dimension and history."

Should you feel inclined to help out, visit the project page at Kickstarter!

ELLISOUNDS

If you haven't been following Warren Ellis's terrific SPEKTRMODULE series of podcasts, what have you been doing with your time? Tsk. In any case, all is not lost as they are still available to collect and keep from the man's always informative and entertaining website:

SPEKTRMODULE 01

SPEKTRMODULE 02

SPEKTRMODULE 03

SPEKTRMODULE 04

SPEKTRMODULE 05

There is also some very fine SPEKTRMODULE merchandise available at CafePress... right NOW.

ESCAPOLOGY

John Ronson interviews Robbie Williams about UFOs for Radio 4, August 2008. The Outer Church has a certain affection for the charismatic ex-Take That entertainer: lest we forget, the sleeve of Williams's 2005 album Intensive Care was designed by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely and incorporated a specially designed sigil. If this wasn't enough to demonstrate the singer's keen interest in the paranormal, photographs later emerged of a bearded, slightly portly Williams alongside reports that he had become obsessed with UFOs. Though his pop appeal had slackened slightly since his 90s peak, it looked like Williams was about to enter the most interesting phase of his career. Of course, he rejoined Take That shortly after, which dragged him away from ufology and back into the arenas. Nevertheless, we hold out hope for the double-disc alien abductee concept album Williams surely has in him. Note: there is a third part of this programme on YouTube here but for some reason it will not embed in this post. Coincidence... or something more sinister?

TAPES OF TOMORROW

Two of early 2012's finest albums are released tomorrow, Pye Corner Audio's Black Mill Tapes Volume 3: All Pathways Open and 10-20's Magnet Marsh. 

Now, we at The Outer Church understand that you probably blew a fairly hefty wad over the festive season and have been forced to collect all the shrapnel gathered in various musty drawers and cobwebbed jars just so you can attend Feb 17th's edition of the OC - at which Pye Corner Audio will be just one of the delights on offer - but both of these releases are worth going without food for. At least for a week or two. Maybe three.

Owning these outstanding examples of British electronic music will transform your life. Really. You want your life transformed, don't you? Of course you do! Let's think about logistics then. You've probably got quite a few shit CDs you could palm off onto Cash Converters. You'd only need about 45 of them to gather the funds necessary to make a dual purchase you'll never regret. So what's stopping you? If you don't sort this out, well... that would make you a lazy daisy! You're not a lazy daisy are you? Well then!

This has been a Public Service Announcement on behalf of The Outer Church. Thank you.

THE OUTER CHURCH #2

Issue #2 of the all-new OC is designed to work as an all-out assault on the fabric of reality, paying tribute to those visionaries whose remarkable written work continues to offer inspiration while hailing the sinister sounds of elsewhere. Two films, three live acts... one Church.

WARREN ELLIS: CAPTURED GHOSTS + GRANT MORRISON: TALKING WITH GODS

Courtesy of Respect! Films, The Outer Church presents an unmissable double bill of acclaimed documentaries illuminating the lives and careers of two visionary British writers and countercultural icons. Directed by Patrick Meaney, 'Talking With Gods' and 'Captured Ghosts' were produced with the full cooperation of Morrison and Ellis and incorporate interviews with the artists alongside colleagues and contemporaries including Helen Mirren, Douglas Rushkoff, Joss Whedon, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Patton Oswalt, Stoya, Matt Fraction, Katelan Foisy and more. The influence of Morrison and Ellis on The Outer Church is immense; this double bill is intended as a tribute to their brilliance.

OLD APPARATUS

Since their OC debut last year mysterious London-based collective Old Apparatus have performed live alongside Philip Jeck and Fennesz, released their second 12" 'Zebulon/Hammerhand' for DEEP MEDi and assembled acclaimed mixtapes for Electronic Explorations and BigUp. In addition there's a cassette due on the Tapeworm label (Stephen O'Malley/Simon Fisher Turner/Philip Jeck) and the outfit are currently recording their full-length debut for DEEP MEDi. Unique and unbound by generic constraints, Old Apparatus loiter on the vanguard of contemporary bass music.

PYE CORNER AUDIO

With his 'Black Mill Tapes' series, Pye Corner Audio has administered a shot of ectoplasmic energy to the evanescent area of haunted audio, bringing elements of Carpenter soundtrack, glassy electronic drone and cosmic disco into the mix. 'Black Mill Tapes Vol.3' is PCA's current release and represents a further evolution of the outfit's unsettling sound ++STOP PRESS++ The Outer Church has just received the exciting news that the Head Technician is currently working on his debut PCA album for the esteemed Ghost Box label.

KEMPER NORTON

A longtime friend and associate of The Outer Church, Kemper Norton is the South Coast's finest - indeed only - proponent of slurrtronic folk sounds. Blending acoustic instrumentation with synthetic sonorities and his own spectral vocals, he conjures a sound suggestive of a rural Coil. Recently spotted wassailing on the allotment, he brings his finely-textured twisted roots music to The Outer Church for the third time.

Tickets £5 in advance from: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/152811

RHTLOML

New video for 'RHTLOML' by 10-20 on Broken60

OCB20 TEASER

Music: 'Broken 20' by TVO

Buy Tickets

THE OC REBOOT: A USER'S GUIDE

Just days to go... the OC universe reboots in epic style on Friday January 20th with rising Glasgow label Broken20. TVO and Erstlaub will be performing live, both in solo and collaborative configurations, with Production Unit (and also TVO) manning the decks. John Cohen is unfortunately not able to make the event. He will instead be represented by a screening of his film, Tar River, while the line-up is completed by London's Tengui (Colony/Broken20/PercTrax) who promises a set of deepest, darkest drone for your edification.

What else? Well, in their infinite kindness, Broken20 will be giving away a free 3" CD (see cover art above) featuring tracks from each artist to the first few down and a free download code for all. We will be irradiating Sticky Mike's Frog Bar from 7.30pm until late and you can buy your tickets on the door (subject to availability) or in advance from here.

While we're at it... you need to get your ears around what's happening at Broken20's cassette-based sister label, Broken60. The new release from 10-20, Magnet Marsh, is one of the finest new new new things we've heard in some time... let's just say the title is eerily appropriate.

Finally, The Outer Church visited London Fields Radio in Hackney last week to record the inaugural edition of The Outer Church Community Broadcast. Guesting were the wonderfully loquacious Warren Ellis and Laurie Penny and the show will soon be streaming from the LFR site. Stay tuned for further details.