North Sea Radio Orchestra - Special Powers [VINYL]

Beautiful music both ancient and modern --- fie under psych//folk//pop//post-rock chamber music. Way back in 2002 North Sea Radio Orchestra (NSRO) began rehearsing and performing in old churches, secreted away in the heart of the City Of London. At first their audience had to explore the lost alleys and lanes of old Londinium to hear their sounds. NSRO then moved out into the world at large; performing in venues diverse - from churches to clubs to Freakzone sessions to festivals, opera houses, libraries etc etc. NSRO are very much a part of the 'Cardiacs Family' of bands and musicians; having personal and stylistic ties (harmonically and melodically) to Cardiacs and the music of the late Tim Smith generally; other bands in the 'scene' include Gong (and Kavus Torabi), Lost Crowns, William D Drake, Spratleys, Crayola Lectern etc. Special Powers is their fifth studio album and as ever, all material is written and produced by band leader Craig Fortnam. "North Sea Radio Orchestra might share with Britten and Vaughan Williams a kind of haunted melancholy that has come to be seen as characteristically English, but their music couldn't have come from any other century than the 21st" The Wire. "Fortnam is a compositional powerhouse" MOJO. "Part of a line of non-conformist 'English' composers that encompass Robert Wyatt, William D Drake, Simon Jeffes and others, Fortnam's writing is quietly brilliant throughout" Prog Mag. "genuinely very beautiful" BBC. "There can be few currently operating musicians around today who have a sound as distinctive as Craig Fortnam's. Whether solo or with North Sea Radio Orchestra or Arch Garrison, his writing has a kind of zig-zagging melody that is part Robert Wyatt, part early Kate Bush, part medieval, but all Fortnam" Arts Desk. The NSRO Stalwarts do not include original singer Sharron Fortnam. After her and Craig's marriage came to an end she had already moved on to musical pastures anew. While the dust was settling on all that, Craig got on with releasing loads of solo albums including releases of guitar pieces, string trios, psych//folk-pop etc etc..... However eventually the siren-call of NSRO became too strong so Craig recruited his pal Chantelle Pike (her of the honey'd tones) to sing his new songs, which allied to the playing of the Stalwarts has resulted in the release of this new record, the frst NSRO studio album since 2016. Like previous releases, 'Special Powers' features a mix of songs and instrumentals both large and small, inhabiting the psych/chamber/folk/pop world that Craig has lived in for a while now. Indeed, fans of his solo work and Arch Garrison will recognise many of his trademark musical elements; strong emphasis on melody and chord combined with a clear rhythmic sense, a mixed palette of guitars, strings, wind, various keyboard instruments and percussion. Craig's music is often described as 'beautiful', 'English-sounding'; not sure why - probably the chords - which certainly do have a Vaughan Williams/ Cardiacs/Dowland/' Canterbury-esque ' (etc etc) aspect, but with selective use of dissonance to add a little astringency and temper the bitter-sweet melancholy. Tracks: 1. Mansions In Eternity 07:52 2. Hearty 02:56 3. Barrel 01:19 4. All Alice Like 06:47 5. Special Powers 04:46 6. Full Human 04:28 7. Guitar Miniature No.5 00:47 8 The Players Ask For A Blessing On The Psalteries And On Themselves 08:42