Althea

Earlier this year Cheval Sombre, the musical vehicle for New York poet/ songwriter Chris Porpora, released two albums- Time Waits For No One and Days Go By. Both are beautiful records, slightly frazzled, folky/ acoustic guitar songs with Sonic Boom at the controls adding a swirly, quietly psychedelic backdrop. Dean and Britta added backing vocals and guitar. Both are really good, a self- contained world in themselves and also, especially Time Waits For No One, quite bleak. Had Enough Blues, a desperate plea to shut the outside world off is punctuated by samples of terrorist attacks and atrocities from news channels. 

Had Enough Blues

The pair of albums were released a couple of months apart and they're not an easy, everyday listen but well worth the investment and the time spent with them if you fancy some catharsis. Cheval Sombre's voice is recorded really close to the mic, like he's singing in the room next to you. Days Go By is more up, the promise of spring after the dark of winter It's difficult not to draw parallels with the recording of them during 2020 and everything the pandemic threw at us. Even so, Days Go By isn't exactly a happy- go- lucky song and dance album, more a sense of relief that we made it through the night and the dawn has actually appeared.

To bookend the year there's now a three song EP (out of 10" vinyl if that's your bag). The lead song is an eight minute cover version of Althea, a song originally by The Grateful Dead (and that's the first time they've been mentioned here I think). 

It's followed by a Sonic Boom remix of Are You Ready (from Days Go By), the sound of snow falling late at night while, all echo and reverb, some organ and FX and Cheval Sombre's voice. It's a stunner.  

Monday Mix

I did another mix for Scotland's Tak Tent Radio and it went out yesterday from their nerve centre. I put it together back in March when the days were shorter and I seemed to spend a lot of time walking round in the dark after work- seems a bit gloomy now that it's May and the evenings are lighter much later. At first I intended it to be a fully ambient/ drone mix, partly because I was listening to a lot of ambient music in my headphones while walking and partly because I'd just begun reading Harry Sword's book, Monolithic Undertow, a history and appreciation of the drone from Neolithic times to the present day (highly recommended if you haven't read it) but I got twenty five minutes into the mix and thought we needed some drums (and a voice or two too). Tak Tent Radio is here, loads of great stuff to listen to. Bagging Area Tak Tent Three is at Mixcloud. Tracklist below. 

Tak Tent Three

• Luke Schneider: Anteludium
• Daniel Avery: Tremor
• A Winged Victory For The Sullen: The Dead Outnumber The Living
• Richard Norris: Hilma
• Craven Faults: Cupola Smelt Mill
• Pye Corner Audio: Quarry Rave
• Herrmann Kristoferson: Gone Gold
• Ruf Dug: Dominica (Kenneth Bager’s Sunset Ambient Mix)
• Andrew Weatherall and Michael Smith: Estuary Embers
• Art Of Noise: Moments In Love
• Cheval Sombre: It’s Not Time
• Vangelis/ Blade Runner: Pris Meets JF Sebastian 
• Vangelis/ Blade Runner: Spinner Ascent

Well It's Hard

Cheval Sombre's album Time Waits For No One came out in February, a Sonic Boom produced collection of after hours psychedelic folk songs. There's a companion album coming out in May called Days Go By, again produced by Sonic Boom (who also contributes keyboards and processing) and this wasted, dreamy sparse folk song has just come out in advance of it. The strings that come in and take over for the last couple of minutes are especially sublime. 

Sonic Booms

Sonic Boom has announced a remixed version of his album from last year, a record called Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough, out in April. More analogue synths, more drones, more slow motion, tripped out washes of sound, more songs that sound like waking up to the sun coming through the trees, flashes of light and rainbows at the edges of your vision. On A Summer's Day is the first release. The album is available at Bandcamp and out on clear vinyl with a neon candy splatter in a foil embossed jacket with a poster. I'd be happy with plain old black vinyl and a cardboard sleeve but that doesn't seem to be an option. Video here. 

The album he produced with Cheval Sombre is also out soon, at the end of this month I think. Fragile songs for late at night, acoustic guitars and hushed vocals. Curtain Grove has Sonic on guitar and Britta on backing vocals. The album, Time Waits For No One, will be on white vinyl. Video here. 

It's Not Time

A cosmic, psychedelic lullaby from Cheval Sombre- you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by this. A little bit of the 'it's 2am and you're still up thinking things through' feeling, fragile but out there too. The acoustic guitar motif circles round and round gently as Cheval sings softly. The video- two sunsets side by side- is quite something too. Produced by Sonic Boom and from an album out at the end of February called Time Waits For No One. It's Not Time is here and below. 

Couldn't Do

Down in the basement, James Dean spends his Monday morning pondering his next vinyl selection.

The new Time And Space Machine remix compilation, The Way Out Sound From In, is rapidly taking over my stereo. Eight high quality Richard Norris remixes including Warpaint, Jagwar Ma and Temples that hang together really well as an album and take in a variety of sounds, from acid rock to Balearica to spaced out danciness. This is slow burning remix of New York's Cheval Sombre. Listen, enjoy and then go out and get the album.

Couldn't Do (The Time And Space Machine Remix)