Tag Archive: Rob St John


How to make a music scene

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November 28, 2015
Illustration by Lizzy Stewart.

Illustration by Lizzy Stewart.

‘Don’t Make A Scene – A field guide to putting on DIY gigs’ is a ‘zine compiled by Rob St John and Bartholomew Owl; two dedicated Alt.Folk musicians and all round decent guys.

The 2014 booklet was originally charged at a highly reasonable £4. Now it’s an even better deal as it’s just been made available as a free to download PDF. This generous offer is a way of sticking two fingers up to Black Friday zombie consumption and to embrace the spirit of buy nothing day. Continue reading →

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BRAINDEAD CHRISTMAS

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December 16, 2010

I am a big fan of Rob St John’s solo eps as my ten star reviews on Whisperin’ & Hollerin’ of  Tipping In and Like Alchemy will tell you.

After too long a silence it’s good to hear his voice again on a collaboration with a group of UK musicians who go by the auspicious name of Braindead Collective.

They have a name your price Christmas single called Whites Of Our Eyes which you can buy over at Bandcamp. Very nice it is too although don’t expect to find any festive merriment in this 7 minute long drone-based work.

At times it sounds like a world weary take on The House of the Rising Sun.

The downbeat mood reflects the fact that the improvised recording was made on “the coldest day of a freezing British winter” in Oxford’s oldest church,  St.Michael’s on Cornmarket St.

The spirit of the season is present, however, by virtue of the fact that all proceeds go to the worthy cause of the housing and homelessness charity Shelter.

Totally unrelated festive article (manually generated) :

Antti Nylén column on Christmas in We Are Helsinki

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BEN REYNOLDS AND THE NEW WEIRD NORTH

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June 27, 2008

ALBUM COVER

Up until now, Ben Reynolds‘ solo albums have been a mixed bag.

Drone orientated pieces with titles like ‘O Time Thy Pyramids'(on ‘O Joy & Beyond) or ‘The Bard’s Vision Over Stinking Fires’ (on ‘Silver Songs’) left little doubt of his skills or his experimental intentions but somehow lacked a real heart, coming across too often as exercises in style rather than genuinely expressive.

They are interesting and sporadically striking works but Reynolds’ personality seemed strangely hidden.

This cannot be said of his beautiful new album – ‘Two Wings’ out now on Strange Attractors Audio House. Continue reading →

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Rob St John – An Interview With A Leafy Gent

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February 16, 2008
leaf

The delicate charm of Rob St John’s ‘Tipping In’ EP shows that inspiration of New Weird America is far from being just a stateside phenomenon.This is a magical record which I had no hesitation in giving a 10 star rating in my Whisperin’ & Hollerin’ review.

Three tracks and less than 15 minutes left me wanting to hear more and also made me curious to find out more about the man behind the sound.

Rob very kindly agreed to answer some questions.

So if you want to know why Jack Johnson sucks, how musical dots can connect Godspeed You Black Emperor with Bert Jansch or simply need a hearty veggie meal in Edinburgh, read on …….

Continue reading →

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