{"id":14324,"date":"2013-09-23T03:07:05","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T02:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/?p=14324"},"modified":"2013-09-24T05:31:50","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T04:31:50","slug":"stone-tapes-and-quatermasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/2013\/09\/23\/stone-tapes-and-quatermasses\/","title":{"rendered":"Stone Tapes and Quatermasses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"penguin.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Quatermass paperbacks from Jovike’s Flickr pages<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

This may be another occasional series in the making since there’s already been a post about Roadside Picnic<\/em>\/Stalker<\/em> music<\/a>, and one about music inspired by the cosmic horror of William Hope Hodgson<\/a>. I was going to write something earlier this year about music derived from the works of Nigel Kneale after rewatching all of Kneale’s major works. The reappraisal was prompted by the publication in January of The Twilight Language of Nigel Kneale<\/em><\/a>, an excellent anthology of essays\/speculations (and a China Mi\u00e9ville interview) about Kneale’s film and TV dramas. The delay in writing was a result of having to wait several months after ordering a CD of the Tod Dockstader album (see below) which for some reason the distributors couldn’t manage to get in the post.<\/p>\n

In the Twilight Language<\/em> book there’s a piece by Ken Hollings about electronic music, some of which has material connections with Kneale’s work, notably the Radiophonic Workshop’s creation of sound effects for Quatermass and the Pit<\/em>. Early copies of the book came with a bonus cassette tape of Kneale-inspired music; more about that below. The men and women of the Radiophonic Workshop are the godparents of the following Kneale soundworks, most of which are British, and inevitably tend towards the grinding, droning and doom-laden end of the electronic spectrum. Given the enduring influence of Kneale’s work, especially the Quatermass serials and their film equivalents, it’s surprising there isn’t more Knealesque music to be found. (I’m avoiding the obvious film soundtracks, and any bands such as Quatermass<\/a> who may be named after Kneale’s work but whose music doesn’t reflect it.) If anyone can add to this list then please leave a comment.<\/p>\n

\"quatermass.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Quatermass (1964) by Tod Dockstader<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American master of tape manipulation here processes hours of recordings of cymbals, pipes, tone generators, a vacuum hose and rubber balloons to create what he calls “a very dense, massive, even threatening work”. Dockstader hadn’t seen any of the Quatermass films or serials when he chose the name but he said that it sounded right. It certainly does, as does the unnerving, shrieking morass of sound he manages to craft using the most primitive equipment. The Starkland CD<\/a> containing the Quatermass<\/em> suite includes two further edits of the source <\/em>material entitled Two Moons of Quatermass<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"seance.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The S\u00e9ance At Hobs Lane (2001) by Mount Vernon Arts Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mount Vernon Arts Lab is Drew Mulholland and various collaborators. The S\u00e9ance At Hobs Lane<\/em> is an abstract concept album based on Mulholland’s lifelong obsession with Quatermass and the Pit<\/em> (an id\u00e9e fixe<\/em> he writes about in the Twilight Language<\/em> book), plus “Victorian skullduggery, outlaws, secret societies and subterranean experiences”. Among the collaborators are Coil, Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, Barry 7 of Add N to (X), and Adrian Utley of Portishead. The album was reissued in 2007 on the Ghost Box label<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ouroborindra.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Ouroborindra (2005) by Eric Zann<\/strong><\/p>\n

And speaking of Ghost Box… This album<\/a> has been mentioned here on several occasions, a one-off release that’s the most consciously horror-oriented of all the works in the Ghost Box catalogue. The artist “name” and track titles reference Lovecraft and Machen but it’s included here for the dialogue quote in the insert from Kneale’s ghost drama The Stone Tape<\/em><\/a>. In addition to the Mount Vernon reissue other Ghost Box references to Kneale can be found in the samples from Quatermass and the Pit<\/em> (TV version) on The Bohm Site<\/em> from We Are All Pan’s People<\/em><\/a> by The Focus Group, and the title of the track which follows: Hob’s Rumble<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\"bellancourt.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The Stone Tape (2009) by Max Bellancourt<\/strong><\/p>\n

A 3 x CD-R release by a French artist of “glitchy textures, abstract field recordings and Jules Verne noise”. Limited to 60 copies. There’s an extract here<\/a> which reveals some disquieting rumblings.<\/p>\n

\"holloway.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The Prescient Machine (2011) by Ian Holloway<\/strong><\/p>\n

A 29-minute track available for purchase at Bandcamp<\/a> which Holloway describes as his homage to the Quatermass series.<\/p>\n

\"restligeists.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Restligeists (2012) by Various Artists<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Twilight Language<\/em> compilation breaks from the doomy atmospheres with a variety of Kneale-derived music by Hong Kong In The 60s, The Listening Centre, The Real Tuesday Weld, The Asterism & Xylitol, Emma Hammond & Robin The Fog, and Mordant Music. If it wasn’t for titles like Theme For The Experimental Rocket Group<\/em> you wouldn’t necessarily know some of these had any relation to Kneale’s work but I’m okay with that. If it’s doom you require then Mordant Music easily fill the brief with (J)ill<\/em><\/a>, ten minutes of Stone Tape<\/em> samples telegraphed into a spectral mist.<\/p>\n

\"triax.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Quatermass\/The Stone Tape (2013) by Triax<\/strong><\/p>\n

One I’ve not heard, having only been released a couple of months ago. Triax are the Freeman brothers, Alan and Steve, well-known to UK record collectors as the proprietors of the record shop Ultima Thule, and publishers of electronica magazine Audion<\/em>. They’re joined here by one Dave Powell to create an hour of music dedicated to Nigel Kneale. CD-Rs are for sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Previously on { feuilleton }
\n\u2022 The Outer Church<\/a>
\n\u2022 The Ghost Box Study Series<\/a>
\n\u2022 Nigel Kneale\u2019s Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/a>
\n\u2022 A playlist for Halloween: Hauntology<\/a>
\n\u2022 The Stone Tape<\/a>
\n\u2022 The S\u00e9ance at Hobs Lane<\/a>
\n\u2022 Ghost Box<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quatermass paperbacks from Jovike’s Flickr pages. This may be another occasional series in the making since there’s already been a post about Roadside Picnic\/Stalker music, and one about music inspired by the cosmic horror of William Hope Hodgson. I was going to write something earlier this year about music derived from the works of Nigel … Continue reading “Stone Tapes and Quatermasses”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,7,22,3,20,19],"tags":[4915,4068,1032,2272,5213,5220,172,5034,5215,715,953,5214,4665,5212,263,615,3048,194,3955,5218,4221,5228,5217,8729,5137,5221,5219],"class_list":["post-14324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-electronica","category-film","category-horror","category-music","category-science-fiction","category-television","tag-add-n-to-x","tag-adrian-utley","tag-china-mieville","tag-coil-group","tag-drew-mulholland","tag-emma-hammond","tag-ghost-box","tag-hong-kong-in-the-60s","tag-ian-holloway","tag-jules-verne","tag-ken-hollings","tag-max-bellancourt","tag-mordant-music","tag-mount-vernon-arts-lab","tag-nigel-kneale","tag-portishead","tag-quatermass","tag-radiophonic-workshop","tag-robin-the-fog","tag-the-asterism","tag-the-focus-group","tag-the-listening-centre","tag-the-real-tuesday-weld","tag-the-seance","tag-tod-dockstader","tag-triax","tag-xylitol"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pq7rV-3J2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}