Tapes and Tee bundle
Now on offer exclusively on this site. Get two tapes at a reduced price and/or 'Noughts and Crosses' printed t-shirt.The tapes are the recent reissue of Athena 'Museums EP' as well as last years 'ICU on Telephono 1986' You will be emailed a download code on purchase of the tapes.
The picture below is a still from the video to 'My New Image'. The video was shot in 1999. T-shirts are either small or medium size.
You can listen to both tapes at: https://patrickwray.bandcamp.com/
Athena-Museums EP Reissue
During the late nineties between 1998 and early 2000 I was a member of a minimal synth band with my friend Asim Butt at a time when the genre was deeply unfashionable. I was either ahead of my time, behind the times or somewhere in between. Any hey, there has been a bit of interest in this EP over the years; most recently when two tracks were featured on the influential compilation series 'Bedroom Cassette Masters Volume 9' With the resurgent interest in minimal synth in the last few years I thought this might be a good time to present this music again and so here is the album again with one track re-recorded and new artwork (the original cover which you can see below is terrible!)
Below is a reprint of an article printed about the band in Nude Magazine 2010. I had to cut it up a little bit to make the text legible on here. The album is £4 and comes with a free download when you buy on bandcamp. The download features extra bonus track.
You can listen and buy the tape here....
https://patrickwray.bandcamp.com/
Track 1: Stock Market Crash (New Version)
The first song we ever did in the music practice rooms at Dartington College of Art back in 1998. A product of what we used to call pre-millennial tension. This version is truer to the original rehearsal version we did before recording for the EP. I recorded this alone and this was recently featured under my own name on 'Bedroom Cassette Masters' but in truth could have been credited to Athena.
Track 2: My New Image
A pessimistic song. As minimal as synth can get without disappearing. I have always been interested in dystopian films and books and this one fits with that. On a more prosaic level it probably reflects my sense of anxiousness about the prospect of having to get a job at some point really soon as we neared the end of our art college party.This featured again on the early 2010 double Cogs collection 'Afternoons' despite not being a Cogs track.
Track 3: Helicoptors
Another dystopian number that was inspired by a dream I had. This featured on the 2005 Cogs double album 'Laughter and Footsteps' despite not being a Cogs track. The song has a similar feel to the seminal song 'Private Plane' which I was yet to hear when 'Helicoptors' was written.
Track 4: Who Invented the Set Up?
This song was written and pretty much recorded in one take and never played again while recording the other songs for the 'Museums EP' The lyric was about the futurist movement and it's descent into fascism.
Track 5: Stock Market Crash (Original Version)
Track 6: The Reflective (Download Only)
A much looser song than the others. Recorded on a cheap tape recorder. By this time Asim's brother Attif had joined on drums. This was one of a batch of songs we did in a similar style that we wrote for inclusion on what was to be a semi-improvised dada opera called 'Workathon 2' a sequel of sorts to a comic and short film I had made around this time. It was never completed.
Below is a reprint of an article printed about the band in Nude Magazine 2010. I had to cut it up a little bit to make the text legible on here. The album is £4 and comes with a free download when you buy on bandcamp. The download features extra bonus track.
You can listen and buy the tape here....
https://patrickwray.bandcamp.com/
Track 1: Stock Market Crash (New Version)
The first song we ever did in the music practice rooms at Dartington College of Art back in 1998. A product of what we used to call pre-millennial tension. This version is truer to the original rehearsal version we did before recording for the EP. I recorded this alone and this was recently featured under my own name on 'Bedroom Cassette Masters' but in truth could have been credited to Athena.
Track 2: My New Image
A pessimistic song. As minimal as synth can get without disappearing. I have always been interested in dystopian films and books and this one fits with that. On a more prosaic level it probably reflects my sense of anxiousness about the prospect of having to get a job at some point really soon as we neared the end of our art college party.This featured again on the early 2010 double Cogs collection 'Afternoons' despite not being a Cogs track.
Track 3: Helicoptors
Another dystopian number that was inspired by a dream I had. This featured on the 2005 Cogs double album 'Laughter and Footsteps' despite not being a Cogs track. The song has a similar feel to the seminal song 'Private Plane' which I was yet to hear when 'Helicoptors' was written.
Track 4: Who Invented the Set Up?
This song was written and pretty much recorded in one take and never played again while recording the other songs for the 'Museums EP' The lyric was about the futurist movement and it's descent into fascism.
Track 5: Stock Market Crash (Original Version)
Track 6: The Reflective (Download Only)
A much looser song than the others. Recorded on a cheap tape recorder. By this time Asim's brother Attif had joined on drums. This was one of a batch of songs we did in a similar style that we wrote for inclusion on what was to be a semi-improvised dada opera called 'Workathon 2' a sequel of sorts to a comic and short film I had made around this time. It was never completed.
Clapton Pond: A Radio Musical
A musical I composed for radio is being broadcast on Good Friday at 11pm and repeated at 6:30am on Sunday morning on London based arts radio station Resonance FM. Inspired by the Clapton/Hackney area in the mid to late noughties. The loose concept behind the musical is that it follows a collection of disparate characters living in the Clapton/Hackney area depicting their points of view through songs and dramatised scenes. I did all the voices and most of the instruments with a bit of help from my friend Adam Stewart who also helped me edit it together.
The area has seen quite a few changes of late, but when I lived there in the early to mid noughties it was full of boarded up shops, pokey old pubs with no-one in them and fried chicken joints. 'Clapton Pond' evokes this version of the area on grey, rain soaked afternoon.
The idea for making a musical specifically composed for radio was inspired to some degree by another resonance programme; an episode of Richard Scotts show 'Opera Hour' in which composer Leo Chadburn (aka Simon Bookish) discussed the work of artist and composer Robert Ashley. I cannot claim that the finished piece resembles Ashley's work as such, but it was the wider possibilities for opera/musicals in other mediums like radio and TV that his work suggests that sparked the idea.
Here is the blurb from the resonance site....
'Clapton Pond is a musical devised specifically for radio written and performed by artist and musician Patrick Wray. Inspired by Hackney and Clapton in the early to mid-noughties a host of fanciful characters take center stage for a visceral, nightmarish tour of Claptons seedy inner life.'
Here is the schedule for the broadcast.....
https://resonancefm.com/schedule/2018-03-30
The sections of the musical are as follows:
1. Clapton Pond Theme Intro
A short piano piece. This is designed to be like a soap opera theme in the style of the great Simon May.
2. Simon
A claustrophobic look inside the 'damp flat' of terminal bachelor Simon. Full of dark, seedy, sleazy atmosphere.
3. The Song from Inside the Pipes
A bluesy, jazzy number sung by an unidentified character.
4. Ode to Dissapointment
From outside the pipes we hear an unidentified character singing this short jaded song in the shower.
5. Bailiffs Blues
As the rain pours down the window a bailiff sings this pained ballad. The music for this was written and performed by my friend Daniel Halliday.
6. I'm the Landlord!
A ruthless landlord rants out his skewed manifesto. The music on this was originally used on a track called 'Piss Flower' from my 2008 album 'New Primitive' but has been remixed and remastered for use here.
7. Ian and Lorraine
Abusive husband Ian get annoyed at his wife Lorraine when he discovers she has left daughter Jenny in the care of uncle Julian.
8. Uncle Julian
Ian confronts uncle Julian.
9. Radio Waves
Changing stations on afternoon radio. A delirious synthesiser song about nothing in particular.
10. Simon (Reprise)
We return to the flat of Simon as he contemplates venturing outside.
11. News Report (Off Licence on Fire)
An authentic sounding news report about an off licence in the area catching fire. As with 'Ian and Lorraine' and 'Bailiffs Blues' the words to this were pretty much improvised on the spot.
12. Clapton Pond Theme (Reprise)
You can listen to or buy my album 'ICU on Telephono 1986' released last year on the link below. 10 songs of experimental pop. https://patrickwray.bandcamp.com/
The area has seen quite a few changes of late, but when I lived there in the early to mid noughties it was full of boarded up shops, pokey old pubs with no-one in them and fried chicken joints. 'Clapton Pond' evokes this version of the area on grey, rain soaked afternoon.
The idea for making a musical specifically composed for radio was inspired to some degree by another resonance programme; an episode of Richard Scotts show 'Opera Hour' in which composer Leo Chadburn (aka Simon Bookish) discussed the work of artist and composer Robert Ashley. I cannot claim that the finished piece resembles Ashley's work as such, but it was the wider possibilities for opera/musicals in other mediums like radio and TV that his work suggests that sparked the idea.
Here is the blurb from the resonance site....
'Clapton Pond is a musical devised specifically for radio written and performed by artist and musician Patrick Wray. Inspired by Hackney and Clapton in the early to mid-noughties a host of fanciful characters take center stage for a visceral, nightmarish tour of Claptons seedy inner life.'
Here is the schedule for the broadcast.....
https://resonancefm.com/schedule/2018-03-30
The sections of the musical are as follows:
1. Clapton Pond Theme Intro
A short piano piece. This is designed to be like a soap opera theme in the style of the great Simon May.
2. Simon
A claustrophobic look inside the 'damp flat' of terminal bachelor Simon. Full of dark, seedy, sleazy atmosphere.
3. The Song from Inside the Pipes
A bluesy, jazzy number sung by an unidentified character.
4. Ode to Dissapointment
From outside the pipes we hear an unidentified character singing this short jaded song in the shower.
5. Bailiffs Blues
As the rain pours down the window a bailiff sings this pained ballad. The music for this was written and performed by my friend Daniel Halliday.
6. I'm the Landlord!
A ruthless landlord rants out his skewed manifesto. The music on this was originally used on a track called 'Piss Flower' from my 2008 album 'New Primitive' but has been remixed and remastered for use here.
7. Ian and Lorraine
Abusive husband Ian get annoyed at his wife Lorraine when he discovers she has left daughter Jenny in the care of uncle Julian.
8. Uncle Julian
Ian confronts uncle Julian.
9. Radio Waves
Changing stations on afternoon radio. A delirious synthesiser song about nothing in particular.
10. Simon (Reprise)
We return to the flat of Simon as he contemplates venturing outside.
11. News Report (Off Licence on Fire)
An authentic sounding news report about an off licence in the area catching fire. As with 'Ian and Lorraine' and 'Bailiffs Blues' the words to this were pretty much improvised on the spot.
12. Clapton Pond Theme (Reprise)
You can listen to or buy my album 'ICU on Telephono 1986' released last year on the link below. 10 songs of experimental pop. https://patrickwray.bandcamp.com/
Bedroom Cassette Masters Volume 9
I have two songs featured on this popular and influential compilation series. One is a song entitled 'Who Invented the Set UP?' from the 'Museums EP' by Athena, recorded while I was at Dartington College of Art many moons ago. The song is about the Futurist movement and specifically addresses its descent into fascism. The other song, credited to Patrick Wray, 'Stock Market Crash' is also an Athena track which I re-recorded alone, but in theory this could have been credited to Athena as well. The original EP is currently being remastered for a limited cassette reissue which I hope to do in the next couple of months.
This is how the Bandcamp page describes the compilation series which is really a labour of love project by Simon Holland who works tirelessly to compile the series.
'Eclectic selections of lo-fi electronica produced in bedrooms around the globe between 1980- 89.
Each downloadable volume of Bedroom Cassette Masters comes with an extensive PDF guide to the artists, the gear and the era + printable j-card cassette inlay'.
Needless to say, it is a great honour to be selected not once, but twice for inclusion on the album.
You can download it all with inlay for £4 here....
https://bedroomcassettemasters.bandcamp.com/album/bedroom-cassette-masters-1980-89-volume-nine
Below, alongside the cover, is a vintage pic of yours truly (this one is not included in the BCM package) and a vintage pic of the cold wave, minimal synth duo Athena. More info on Athena will be posted soon on the site.
Happy new Year!
This is how the Bandcamp page describes the compilation series which is really a labour of love project by Simon Holland who works tirelessly to compile the series.
'Eclectic selections of lo-fi electronica produced in bedrooms around the globe between 1980- 89.
Each downloadable volume of Bedroom Cassette Masters comes with an extensive PDF guide to the artists, the gear and the era + printable j-card cassette inlay'.
Needless to say, it is a great honour to be selected not once, but twice for inclusion on the album.
You can download it all with inlay for £4 here....
https://bedroomcassettemasters.bandcamp.com/album/bedroom-cassette-masters-1980-89-volume-nine
Below, alongside the cover, is a vintage pic of yours truly (this one is not included in the BCM package) and a vintage pic of the cold wave, minimal synth duo Athena. More info on Athena will be posted soon on the site.
Happy new Year!
Cosmic Masque V
I drew the cover for the new winter issue of Doctor Who Appreciation Society spin-off publication 'Cosmic Masque' which focusses on fan art. You can download it for free here...dwasonline.co.uk/node/1322
Also available in a limited edition print run.
Christmas Art Sale 2017
Thinking of buying art as a present this Christmas? Some pics for sale via this site. Most done in the last year or so. They are priced £45 (plus £5 postage)
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