Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009

Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009 were the last burblings, thuddings and wailings to be heard from Alchemeon. These versions of the songs were recorded during live sessions at The Sound Gallery, Exeter between late February and mid April 2009.

This particular selection was chosen by consensus of Alchemeon band members, including in the old and now disabled Wud Records forums.

All of the tracks were recorded live on February 22nd and 23rd, and April 6th 2009. The songs were all recorded using four mics into the mixer section of a Tascam 244 portastudio (state of the art in 1986 and still has a lovely warm sound) and then into a cassette machine.

The cassettes were played into our computers using some rather dodgy technology, which we have long since abandoned. This abandonement was due to the enormous number of unnecessary technical issues it created.

By not transfering the audio to digital format correctly, the files ended up languishing in our vaults for quite some time. All of the files were plagued by many instances of a sound similar to the sound one might hear when someone bends over and rips one's trousers during a <em>Carry On</em> movie. This was very annoying and required a lot of work to redraw the corrupted wave forms by hand in miniscule detail, which was extremely fiddly, tooth-gnashingly tedious and horribly time-consuming.

Subsequently to the discontinuation of our previous in-site mp3 player, the FlamPlayer, we took the opportunity to master these tracks before re-release. Despite the ghastly cassette hum, the somewhat furry sound in places and general technical difficulties assocaited with digitising old 1960s technology, the tracks are sounding pretty good by now in comparison to what we salvaged from the cassettes.

Download

Alchemeon: Live In Session Spring 2009

Celestine by Alchemeon, from Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009. 

* Celestine is a song of several parts.
* Sometimes it seems to be in the key of B minor, other times G major.
* In the end it resolves to D major.
* Celestine is an Alchemeon exclusive, having not been performed by the Spacegoats, nor any of the Masters of Drone bands such as Now or Laughing Sun.

CELESTINE
Celestine they make their way
Brothers to the water
To cleanse the crystal in the head
Still in silent laughter

The drop into the forehead
Silver people roam
To lace the time
With story rhyme
And drink the river’s daughter
Drink the river’s daughter

Oh! La la la la…

Pyramids inside the mind
They walk the crystalline
To trade their scarlet thoughts for talk
All wisdoms from the grail

Tower stands against the sky
The people are not there
Stone’s old voice speaks of an age
The brothers hear and reel amazed
The brothers hear and reel amazed

Oh! La la la la...

Wind through stone
Your eyes and your ears
Our time has come
Wonder begun

Wind through stone
Your eyes and your ears
The time has come
Wonder begun
Wonder, wonder

Now to be
Now to be
Now to be
Now to be
Now to be

La la la la la…

Words and music by Simon Miller.
This arrangement by S. Miller/G. Davies/J. Peters/Iggy.

Performers:
Pok the Bard – guitar and voice
Jim Iz – keys and voice
Iggy – drums and percussion
George – bass and technicals

This version recorded live at Sound Gallery, Exeter, 22nd February 2009. 
Cassette salvage and remastering at Wud Records Studio One, 2020.

Cover illustration by Pok the Bard.
Graphic design by Sam James.

Released worldwide September 14, 2020.
Original release date: 10th April 2009.

Copyright © 2020 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1993 Pok Songs/Explicit Music.

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alchemeon/
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/alchemeon/alchemeon-lyrics/celestine
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-spring-2009
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-winter-2008-09
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Live In Session Spring 2009

Celestine

Alchemeon: Celestine

The Freaks (Shall Inherit The Earth) by Alchemeon, from Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009.

The Freaks (Shall Inherit the Earth) is a glorious rock n roll anthem and call to action in the key of G major. It was performed by the Spacegoats before Alchemeon started playing it. The Freaks (Shall Inherit the Earth) would have been the final song in an Alchemeon set, with Orb and Finale as encores.

During this rendition one of Jim's keyboards started to misbehave. It was either too quiet or too loud and harsh despite his numerous and ongoing fiddlings and twiddlings. At 3:29 he becomes a bit frustrated and gives it a good bash.

THE FREAKS (SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH)
How many jacks are kept in their boxes?
How many dreams are trodden underfoot?
Could it be in you or it could be in me
The fate of all nations or a colour TV

Look down any road see a million faces
Scream back their pain from a sheer concrete wall
There’s a million products made just to fill that hole
But you never never, can never fill it at all

It’s a cry from the depths of a pin-stripe suit
And whose voice dares not to conform
Why is it just those who can see through the see through?
They’re the misfits who break out from the norm

The Freaks! The Freaks!
The Freaks shall inherit the Earth
The Freaks! The Geeks!
Who speak shall inherit the Earth

Should we obey what the government say?
Is it wrong not to tag along?
The question is no question at all
But what we do with our backs to the wall

What is a freak? I think we’ll see
When what is established gets washed away
Those who cling to it will not survive if
Destiny’s child awakes a new day

Just look around you see those bulldozers working
Ripping up the land for fool’s gold again
It’s getting worse, can’t go on forever
And who’s gonna be here when these dinosaurs fall?

Ok. What’s it going to be if it is as we’ve hear?
Who’s gonna emerge with these worlds have submerged?
When the profit is made from the damage is done
You wanna cling to the wreckage or go with the change?

CHANGE!!!!!

Now there’s some pretty megaton forces
Stirring up hate and making a war
Who can get poison and spit out the bullet?
Who are these freaks, do you think that one’s you?

The Freaks! The Freaks!
The Freaks shall inherit the Earth
The Freaks! The Geeks!
Who speak shall inherit the Earth

The Freaks! The Freaks!
The Freaks shall inherit the Earth
The Freaks! The Geeks!
Who speak shall inherit the ….. Earth!!!!

Words and music by Simon Miller.
This arrangement by S. Miller/G. Davies/J. Peters/Iggy.

Performers:
Pok the Bard – guitar and voice
Jim Iz – keys and voice
Iggy – drums and percussion
George – bass and technicals

This version recorded live at Sound Gallery, Exeter, 23rd February 2009.
Cassette salvage and remastering at Wud Records Studio One, 2020.

Cover illustration by Pok the Bard.
Graphic design by Sam James.

Released worldwide September 14, 2020.
Original release date: 10th April 2009.

Copyright © 2020 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1992 Pok Songs/Explicit Music.

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alchemeon/
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/alchemeon/the-freaks-shall-inherit-the-earth
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-spring-2009
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-winter-2008-09
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

The Freaks (Shall Inherit the Earth)

Alchemeon: The Freaks (Shall Inherit the Earth)

The Centre of the Cyclone by Alchemeon, from Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009.

* The Centre of the Cyclone is more-or-less in the key of A major.
* The rhythm and noises at the start and then in the instrumental section are in the key of E.
* There is a classic chord progression in the first verses, which is A - Em - G - Bm - D.
* This mutates into C - G - D - Am - Em - G.
* The final chord of the whole song is an Asus4, which leaves a giant tantalising question mark dangling in the air.
* The Centre of the Cyclone has several sections, each with a different tempo and texture.
* It was first performed live in 1985 by Laughing Sun in the drama studio at Exeter College during a free lunchtime concert given for the students.
* Jim used his amazing understanding of arrangement to take this wonderful song and make it longer and more elegant with the addition of a guitar solo before the vocals start.
* It seems more and more extraordinary that Pok wrote the lyrics for this when he was only 19.

THE CENTRE OF THE CYCLONE
In forlorn castles too brief for living
We rose to catch the sun but were defeated
Just around the corner beyond the eyes
Beyond the skies we set ourselves as real
Like spaceships casting cosmic lines
Left behind with stars strewn from our astral selves
And planets in our eyes

You walk along the road of life
Too high to see the mountain you are climbing
Casting seeds and scrolls from our outstretched hands
The forgiven forget of the gift
And it’s too late, the ladder stretches up and down
And where do you stand in perspective to it all?

Can you imagine a place
A space where you have not been before
But which is not new to you?
A place you can recall softly
Push through bad dreams
Make it real, remember
Complications contradict but reality sticks
And unbounded has its realms
In everything you see

Yes, what do you see?
Push through the dark vales to the sea
Cast your cosmic line wherever it may fall
Maybe you will find some higher guidance there
Or maybe you will find a place where you may truly rest
Maybe you will find some friends who love you the best

Listen
Listen
Listen

The tides of swirling memories
Are nearly gone but forgotten
Would you choose to beg or lose
The axis which you hold onto
Thirteen is the number, twelve it is the rite
Thirteen red eyed ravens
Outside the house til night

Outward, outward on out
Cast light, cast light about
Outward, outward on out
Look out, which way is far out?

Petty wages are falling like leaves
Calling the master to apprenticeship again
Will he recall the time, the chimes of freedom
Blowing through his keyhole
Step down from your pedestal and mingle once again
With the crowds that you shunned as a youth

At the centre of the cyclone
Where all our thoughts are real
You’re cacooned in your mental egg
Imprisoned inside your head

When you look out the bars you’ve made
Can you maybe follow a little way
To see there are no more shackles to pass
Yet more fresh air, green fields and grass

And we are like the butterfly
Cannot take off, our wings aren’t dry
But soon if we shall heed the guides
The caterpillar metamorphosise

Words and music by Simon Miller.
This arrangement by S. Miller/G. Davies/J. Peters/Iggy.

Performers:
Pok the Bard – guitar and voice
Jim Iz – keys and voice
Iggy – drums and percussion
George – bass and technicals

This version recorded live at Sound Gallery, Exeter, 22nd February 2009.
Cassette salvage and remastering at Wud Records Studio One, 2020.

Released worldwide September 14, 2020.
Original release date: 10th April 2009.

Copyright © 2020 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1984 Pok Songs/Explicit Music.

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alchemeon/
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/alchemeon/alchemeon-lyrics/the-centre-of-the-cyclone
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-spring-2009
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-winter-2008-09
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

The Centre of the Cyclone

Alchemeon: The Centre of the Cyclone

Crazy Mandy by Alchemeon, from Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009.

* Crazy Mandy is in the key of D minor.
* It was originally performed by Laughing Sun in 1985.
* When this was recorded it was still a new song for Alchemeon.
* Pok had the idea for this song after meeting one of George's girlfriends, whose name was not actually Mandy.
* A new development in the Alchemeon version was that Jim and Iggy made the Boosa Nova section towards the end of the song much more Bossa Nova-ish.

CRAZY MANDY
If you have flown too far from the nest
If they got you under sedation
Come rest in here, come meet your fears
Come greet some human relation
And we shall wait and say the words
That cool you like a breeze
Becoming part of the clothes that you wear
Becoming whole, it’s easy

It’s all in the plan, crazy Mandy
It’s all as it should be
It’s all in the winds of time my love
And it weighs out like sand

Add two and two, it’s all you need do
You already have done that
No sign on the line, everything’s fine
Everyone’s here from the start
And to take a bet and jape and jest
Is all you might have done
This matters not because what you have got
Is really much more than that

It’s all in the plan, crazy Mandy
It’s all as it should be
It’s all in the winds of time my love
And it weighs out like sand

Silently she has to wait in the long halls of stone
Red drops the blood from her fingers to the floor
Will she know?
Will her children grow?
Will she hear?
Is she near?
Watch her go
Mindfire glow
She is seeking

Mandy a bird of some sort she soared
High above civilization
And looking down she gulped and frowned
Saying this is not my inclination
To bank and shop the streets and follow
All these rules I see
Something else must I do
Or am I really being me?

It’s all in the plan, crazy Mandy
It’s all as it should be
It’s all in the winds of time my love
And it weighs out like sand

Words and music by Simon Miller.
This arrangement by S. Miller/G. Davies/J. Peters/Iggy.

Performers:
Pok the Bard – guitar and voice
Jim Iz – keys and voice
Iggy – drums and percussion
George – bass and technicals

This version recorded live at Sound Gallery, Exeter, 6th April 2009.
Cassette salvage and remastering at Wud Records Studio One, 2020.

Released worldwide September 14, 2020.
Original release date: 10th April 2009.

Copyright © 2020 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1985 Pok Songs/Explicit Music. 

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alchemeon/
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/alchemeon/alchemeon-lyrics/crazy-mandy
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-spring-2009
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-winter-2008-09
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Crazy Mandy

Alchemeon: Crazy Mandy

The Winged Man by Alchemeon, from Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009.

* The Winged Man is in the key of A major.
* This is the version with the new ending.
* The Winged Man is an Alchemeon exclusive.
* It was never performed by any of the Masters of Drone bands such as Laughing Sun or Now, nor by the Spacegoats.

THE WINGED MAN
Heaven knows why but he saved us from the furnace
We mistreated his kind and stained his need to see

Heaven knows why
Our people will fly
Memory will die
This winged man he cried

Melting above he drew his energy from below
And seeing the sun he knew he had to go

Heaven knows why
Our people will fly
Memory will die
This winged man he cried

Can you hear the voices?
Hear the voices around you
And the echo of the voices
Hear them too
Play on
Play on

Seething below the man was a wreck of invention
And we brought him down just like a crash landing

Heaven knows why
Our people will fly
Memory will die
This winged man he cried

He was too far ahead for us here and so he flew
Back to the sun where he’s working on something new

Heaven knows why
Our people will fly
Memory will die
This winged man he cried

Words and music by Simon Miller.
This arrangement by S. Miller/G. Davies/J. Peters/Iggy.

Performers:
Pok the Bard – guitar and voice
Jim Iz – keys and voice
Iggy – drums and percussion
George – bass and technicals

This version recorded live at Sound Gallery, Exeter, 6th April 2009.
Cassette salvage and remastering at Wud Records Studio One, 2020.

Released worldwide September 14, 2020.
Original release date: 10th April 2009.

Copyright © 2020 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1985 Pok Songs/Explicit Music. 

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alchemeon/
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/alchemeon/alchemeon-lyrics/the-winged-man
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-spring-2009
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-winter-2008-09
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

The Winged Man

Alchemeon: The Winged Man

Born by Alchemeon, from Alchemeon Live In Session Spring 2009.

* Born is in the key of E minor.
* It was first performed by Laughing Sun in 1985.
* There are many changes of tempo throughout, some subtle, some not.
* One of the changes that Jim introduced was replacing two of the B minors with G majors during the main ascending theme.
* The main ascending theme is ten bars long, four measures of 2.5 bars.
* Pok plays Marsha, a pale gold 1985 Ibanez Roadstar II.

BORN
Can she see?
Will she be?
Saintly lady by the water
Faintly fiery fisher’s daughter

And you see nothing is as it is
Nothing is as it ought to be
And you see it’s back to where we began
Back so far you’re out in front again…

It’s time.

Born – you were meant to be
Born – into the family
Born – we were meant to be
Born – into the family

Words and music by Simon Miller.
This arrangement by S. Miller/G. Davies/J. Peters/Iggy.

Performers:
Pok the Bard – guitar and voice
Jim Iz – keys and voice
Iggy – drums and percussion
George – bass and technicals

This version recorded live at Sound Gallery, Exeter, 23rd February 2009.
Cassette salvage and remastering at Wud Records Studio One, 2020.

Released worldwide September 14, 2020.
Original release date: 10th April 2009.

Copyright © 2020 Wud Records.
Copyright ℗ 1985 Pok Songs/Explicit Music. 

See also:
https://www.wudrecords.co.uk/artists/alchemeon/
https://www.explicitmusic.co.uk/lyrics-information/alchemeon/alchemeon-lyrics/born
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-spring-2009
https://wudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-session-winter-2008-09
https://twitter.com/WudRecords

Born

Alchemeon: Born

Contact: info@wudrecords.co.uk
3998 followers when our account was deleted unexpectedly in error by a SC robot 20.07.2025. SC don't do support so we're leaving, slowly. UK/EU rock label since 1984. Demos, oddities, archives, WIP. Releases on Bandcamp etc. AI-free zone. All reposts shared to BlueSky and 'X'.
Wud! You have just been wudded. ;-)

We're very sorry but we're unable to reply to SC messages. We can read them but cannot reply. Please email info@wudrecords.co.uk instead. We answer most emails within a week.

ACTIVE ARTISTS:
Flicker, Dark Company, Pok the Bard, The Bastard Sons of Dennis

LEGACY ARTISTS:
Alchemeon, Clonk!, Dr Watson, The Ug Brothers, Alien Heat, Rough Terrain, The Subterraineans, The Addled Eggs, The Masters of Drone, Laughing Sun, Wud, Lemming Meringue, Sirius Rising, Now, Fooog Dinboffin and the Release, Mark Drower and the Everyones

ARCHIVE ARTISTS:
Andromeda, Critical Error, Dayglow, Demon Groove Lizards, Ember, Fruit Bats, Goodstaff, Guarana, Murdock, Prism, Pyg, Recluse, Search Party, Spacegoats, Stephen Yates, The Chillun, Watershed

* For DIY musicians:

Looking to grow your fanbase? Here's a proven strategy for success. It's a bit time-consuming at first because you need to work at it often. However, the awesome results will make it worth your while:

http://www.wudrecords.co.uk/miscellaneous/be-discovered-on-social-media

That article was published in March 2017. While some of the links may no longer work, the theory absolutely will. Try it for yourself!

* Unfortunately...

Due to brexshit, broken britain, rip-off britain, corruption, lies and bias in the media, bigotry, racism, intolerance, polarisation, the fact that some of our family members would not be allowed to remain post-brexit, state-sponsored child trafficking (yes, that's right, we said it - it's pretty shocking, start reading from here if you don't believe it: https://forced-adoption.com/), an increasing sense of frustration and exasperation, and general total weariness of being treated with nothing but derision, ignorance and contempt by the entire shebang since the early 80s, we decided enough was enough and moved our entire operation from brexeter in the uk to begin our grand brexodus in 2017. We are now brefugees, living in brexile very near the border of the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. If you live in (the crumbling remains of) the uk, do yourself a favour and leave. The upgrade in life quality will blow your mind.

* What do we stand for as a label?

We support all independent musicians who are doing something we find interesting. Our team members all have formal music education qualifications.

We are against corporate brainwash muzak, their puppet friends in the mass media, and many other corporate activities. We will fight their desecration of music until either it stops or we die. 

We believe in helping others in the face of corrupt laws and a broken system. We are pro democracy, green energy and free speech.

We're politically liberal. We cannot support the republicans, maga or gun violence in the usa. We don't see there's any real difference, other than in name, between the christian far right in the USA and the taliban in Afghanistan.

In the uk we are broadly pro LibDem/Green/Labour/SNP. We are VERY anti-tory, bnp, ukip, and any of their friends and associates. We have no trust at all in the uk right wing press monopoly and the bbc. Beware the bbc and its claims of neutrality. It is the propaganda mouthpiece of the tory party. It even charges a propaganda tax called the licence fee. But we like Test Match Special and Radio 6, so does that make us hypocrites...? Hmm.

We support independence for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Cornwall. We support the individual and the underdog. We are anti-putin and his war, and pro-Ukraine.

Please notice the careful use of capitals. Capital letters imply respect!

We're only interested in the colour of your soul. Not your skin, hair or socks.

We like cricket! Most of us support Somerset County Cricket Club.