From 'There The Sun Also Rises', a short story and album by Oliver Barrett; both parts inspired by and extrapolating on the other. Told by a man looking back on his life, the things he's left behind, and all the decisions that led him to up to a single revelatory experience, the story is both a wide-eyed, cosmic science fiction tale and a deeply personal reckoning with what has come to pass.

Listen / download: https://floatinglimb.bandcamp.com/album/there-the-sun-also-rises

Oliver Barrett - 'This Embracing Light'

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Remix of the track 'Fragments of Self' from 'Fragmented Self' by Max Cooper and Tom Hodge.

http://www.fieldsldn.net/

When trying to make creative decisions based on the results of somebody else's process it makes you try things out that perhaps you wouldn't normally think of and I'd say with every remix I've ever done I've come away with something new.  Sometimes its interesting to take a track in a completely new direction but in the case of Max and Tom's collaboration I was immediately drawn to the subtle harmonic undercurrent of the synth lines beneath the main piano parts and figured it would be interesting to put together an arrangement that brought that to the fore. 

I started with a rough layering and overlay of the piano samples - trying to re-arrange them into different combinations than in the original to create something that had the same feel (on a side note, its always pleasing to work with recordings like this of instruments that sound played - i.e., you can hear the movement of the pedals and the fingers on the keys rather than a surgically-extracted sequence of notes) but that came to the main melodies from a different angle.  I can't really compete with Max's glitchy rhythmic production and since this is so distinctive it seemed like a bit of a cop-out to make too much use of these samples in any case so in the end the main part of what I used of the rhythm was a short kick drum sample that I processed in various ways to create the studded melodic cross-rhythm that I used for most of the middle of the track.

With the bare bones in place the majority of the rest of the work came from layering up the arrangement with the kinds of synths and strings that I make use of in my Petrels stuff.  Like I said, I was drawn to the low root synth line in the original that casts a subtle melodic shade over the piano lines so using this as a starting point I slowly built up the orchestration around it so as to make it much more of a focal point.  In the end, hopefully the result is something akin to a huge group of assorted musicians attempting a spontaneous live version of what essentially started as a duet performance. Well that was the idea anyhow.

Max Cooper & Tom Hodge - Fragments of Self (Petrels Remix)

A remix for Swedish metal band Cult of Luna - reworking their track 'Passing Through' ahead of their tour with God Seed: http://cultofluna.com/

Cult of Luna - Passing Through (Petrels Remix)

Full album: https://floatinglimb.bandcamp.com/album/four-years-on-the-wing

From 'Four Years on the Wing' - a piece, split into four parts, attempting to imagine and evoke the interior world of a Common Swift (apus apus) in its first four years of life. After dropping from its nest and taking its first flight, a swift will spend this period almost entirely airborne, going months or years at a time without ever landing and then only briefly. Feeding and even sleeping in flight, swifts will only come back down for an extended period when they are old enough to mate. Even after this point, the vast remainder of their lives will be spent in the air, during which time they can travel over a million kilometres.

I’ve always loved swifts, but they’ve held special meaning for me ever since I moved into my current flat in North Somerset a few years ago and realised that some were nesting in the roof here. Not three feet from my desk where I wrote and recorded this piece, I can hear them shuffling and rustling above me in the early summer. Seeing them scream and swoop overhead with seemingly boundless freedom for a couple of months of the year is one of my favourite things about living where I do.

Common swifts spend most of the year in Africa, arriving back in the UK and across the rest of Northern Europe in late April / early May to breed and raise chicks. I started writing and recording this album when they left at the start of August in 2022, with the aim of finishing it by the time they returned. I heard my first swift of the year last week, so I think I just about managed it.

Four Years on the Wing

Oliver Barrett - Unihemispheric Slow-Wave Sleep

From 'For Scant Applause: A Collection of Christmas-ish Songs Curated by Crow Versus Crow'

Album available to buy here - https://crowversuscrow.bandcamp.com/album/for-scant-applause-a-collection-of-christmas-ish-songs-curated-by-crow-versus-crow - with all proceeds going to Crisis homeless charity. Please download / spread the word - loads of amazing track on there and for a fantastic cause!

More from Crow Versus Crow...

"At this time of year, when Christmas is, in the best possible scenario, considered a time for spending quality time with and expressing the love for your family and friends, I find it impossible not to be drawn to thoughts for those who don't have the luxury of such things. Personally, I want to be a part of something that addresses the problems of homelessness - the existence of such a thing is an unfathomable, horrendous aspect of our society - and to make a direct contribution in support of the work of a charity whose vital work helps those vulnerable at this time of year, Crisis.

''Homelessness is about more than rooflessness. A home is not just a physical space, it also has a legal and social dimension. A home provides roots, identity, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing. Homelessness is about the loss of all of these. It is an isolating and destructive experience and homeless people are some of the most vulnerable and socially excluded in our society.'

So, all proceeds from this record, after Bandcamp and PayPal fees, will go directly to Crisis - the national charity for single homeless people. More information of the work they do, and homelessness generally, can be found on their website, www.crisis.org.uk "

Buy (money to Crisis)

Petrels - More Than You Could Ever Know (Mariah Carey remix)

From 'Splinters' - https://floatinglimb.bandcamp.com/album/splinters

Splinters

Oliver Barrett - 'Spring Cataract'

From 'Yyauyls' – #6 in the 'Yowls' series. Solo cello improv. Single take. One mike.

Recorded on an Olympus LS-11 then fed through a Korg/Microbrute set-up with some keys held down. 

Pay what you like (including free) - https://petrels.bandcamp.com/album/yyauyls

Download

Oliver Barrett – You Play The Cello The Cello Is My Favourite Instrument

From the Petrels album, ‘Flailing Tomb’ (Denovali Records, 2015)

https://petrels.bandcamp.com/album/flailing-tomb

PETRELS – L. CAUTION parts 1, 2 & 3

Solo cello improvisation. Recorded in two parts at the Silver Road venue (a converted water tank) in Lewisham, 25-2-2017.

From 'Yowulls' - https://petrels.bandcamp.com/album/yowulls (pay what you like)

Yowulls

Download (pwyl)

Oliver Barrett - Overnight Mask

Oliver Barrett – Spring Cataract

From the album 'Haeligewielle' released on Denovali Records in 2012 (originally released on a limited run on Tartaruga Records in 2011).

Petrels - Canute

From 'All Things In Common' (originally released on tape by Patient Sounds before being re-issued by Denovali Records in 2012)

Petrels - Leonora Christine

"Sun do silver on the water, come
for me, not the dancer but the flame."
- Rick Lambert 

From SUN DO SILVER 1 - https://floatinglimb.bandcamp.com/album/1

Floating Limb

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