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Thursday
Nov262009

Moon Wiring Club - Striped Paint for the Last Post

MOON WIRING CLUB - STRIPED PAINT FOR THE LAST POST (Blank Workshop)

For the third year running Ian Hodgson has treated us to another carefully crafted and beautifully packaged Moon Wiring Club album. His 2008 album ‘Shoes Off And Chairs Away’ ended on an eerily grim high with ‘Ten Years Or Twenty’ which left a palpable whiff of turgid excitement in the air. This new release replicates the track number, 22 to be precise. 

If you’ve not heard Hodgson’s work before, it’s difficult to describe to the uninitiated, being a strange mixture of solid hip-hop tempo percussion, ghostly samples from ancient 1970’s TV dramas and quirky but catchy melodic looped samples, ranging from 8 bit games to obscure library music. Somehow he has gained the uncanny ability to craft all of these somewhat random elements into one seamless and engrossing entity. The whole experience is topped off with idiosyncratic artwork, which together with the music, combines to take the listener to the fictional village of Clinkshell, the home of an exclusively British form of supernatural horror reminiscent of 70’s ITV series ‘Sapphire & Steel’ or John Wyndham’s ‘Chocky’.

Following the obligatory eerie spoken word intro the album delves quickly into the immersive cavern that is ‘A Friendly Warning’, a marked departure from typical Moon Wring Club tracks, undoubtebly taking its cue from Stinson and Donald. Apparent right from the outset, it’s clear Hodgson has upped the ante with a combination of a noticeably improved sound production and more focused and intense composition. From this point the album continues to disconcert as it meanders through a strange collection of confounding musical atmospheres. ‘Black Stage Mysteries’ is a great example of the mood, evoking terror and whimsy with one deft move, constantly teetering on the brink of spine chilling strangeness and amusing familiarity.  ‘Ancient Watery Gods’ is another highlight, clocking in at a frustratingly short two minitues and 11 seconds. Like the tantalisngly embryonic warmth of Boards of Canada, it teases you with a short glimpse at a vast and unknown world before swiftly shutting the door. One of the most noticeable changes between this and previous material is the addition of a lot more melodic elements, specifically analogue synth lines which add an emotional depth which was only occasionally reached in previous releases. ‘Foxy Mind’ also stands out from the pack echoing Warp Records at its height, and it’s hard not to wonder where the samples are taken from.  

I found extended listening leaves your mind is a strange place, amused and entertained but somewhat uneasy. With this album Hodgson has managed to keep the mischievous spirit and haunting atmosphere of Moon Wiring Club intact while taking the musical aspect of the project to a new level and it’s impossible not to admire his singular vision. This is by far his best work yet.

Emile Facey


Order Moon Wiring Club CDs direct from BlankWorkshop

Listen to Moon Wiring Club on the Bleep43 Podcast

Moon Wiring Club MySpace 


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