TOR083. Released January 2022.
01 Troll Hatchery, or the Cathedral of Diminishing Returns
02 Happy Drill Time
03 Masala Disaster
Another music project with my involvement...
In the Autumn of 2015, I was the bass player in Asian Babes and we were rehearsing for upcoming winter gigs. One particular rehearsal was nearly cancelled as Kate Thorburn (vocals) and Neil Armstrong (drums) couldn't attend. Myself and Bob Cuthbertson (guitar) decided to keep the slot and record some improvisations.
We produced over 2 hours of recordings using mainly synth and drums with some guitar and handed these over to Alastair Popple for remixing and recreating.
An initial idea was to have guest vocalists on each track, but only one of these came to fruition. Chili Nasti is a Ghanaian rapper and provides the vocals on 'Happy Drill Time'. This came about because the Asian Babes producers at Green Door Studios in Glasgow were running an exchange program with the ultimate aim of having a fully functioning recording studio built in Ghana. At this time, the studio was nearly complete and they were about to start recording tests. Chili Nasti was asked to come in to test microphones and recording in general. We requested that he do his vocal tests to a fixed tempo with the intention of using them on one of our tracks.
A few Bass guitar overdubs were scheduled, and recorded in November, but these morphed into its own track, 'Masala Disaster'.
Al worked away on these tracks and even provided rough mixes, but the project came to a halt to accommodate other projects, and within a couple of years was (nearly) forgotten.
At the very end of 2021, Al, in rescuing old music projects after a particularly drastic technological systems upgrade, recovered these tracks, blew off the dust, and produced new versions - this time complete - and presented them as a finished article.
I was happy to hear these live improvised recordings had been finally transformed into the bizarre, surreal, and unique music that is Twin Beaks, nearly 7 years after they were recorded. - Ste.
Improvised jams performed by Stephen Benson and Bob Cuthbertson at Scott's Self Storage on the 14th of October and at home on the 20th of November 2015.
Mechanically reclaimed by Alastair Popple off and on between then and now.
Vocals on #2 by Chilli Nasti. Recorded at the Tafi Cultural Institute Studios, Tafi Atome, Ghana.
Photography by Stephen Benson, design by Alastair Popple.
Streaming, download and limited edition CD available from the Treehouse Orchestra Recordings Bandcamp.
