Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Children of Alice - S/T
Ex Broadcast and The Focus Group continue in the vein of Witch Cults..., but minus the vocals. Not played this much since it came out last year, but really, really hit the spot this week. You can't really call it music, in the understood sense, more of a bricolage of samples and moments with 'Pagan' themes given to them by the peeps at Folklore Tapes. The sounds within, remind me of a certain time from my younger days in the early 70's, when everything shut on a Sunday, and by mid afternoon, you could develop the kind of shamanic boredom unknown to my kids. It reminds me of those super hot and sultry summer days, when you'd lie listless on the bed, not knowing what to do with yourself, curtains gently billowing in the soft breeze, with the oppresive humidity, stickiness and stillness of a coming thunderstorm making your daydreams wander to forgotten and unknown realms, while outside, fragments of the real world gently distub you from your reveries. Lovely record. It's never gonna be anyones favourite, but I'm glad I own It.
Few samples here...https://bleep.com/release/stream/78524-children-of-alice-children-of-alice

Not played that in years, though must admit, even though it's a collection of B-sides etc, I recall it as a pretty weak selection of Clinic records. The only other one I dislike as much is Winchester Cathedral, where for me, they seemed to loose their 'Clinic-ey' mojo somewhat. Pretty much everything else by them I love, esp Walking With Thee, Visitations and Do It.

Nice little interview with them in Quietus.
http://thequietus.com/articles/21945-children-of-alice-broadcast-interview

The album has so many samples and sound snippets that are like little memory shards directly from my childhood backbrain. Deffo stirs up a weird nostalgia in me that's fer sure. Like those Eno ambient albums, it's not something you really listen too, but playing it in the background as you do something else, it deffo keeps pulling you back in.

As a 10 year old I had an unhealthy interest in earth mysteries, the occult, ghost stories and folklore. Pouring over those Janet and Colin Bord books my older sister used to buy me for Xmas and birthdays was my 'in' to that eldritch world of the esoteric. A time when the TV went off in the afternoon, after Camberwick Green or Trumpton, and school TV programmes consisted of stuff like Picture Box, Scene and You and Me. Where weird little Czech cartoons were used as a bookend to kids TV. Public safety films and badly dubbed adventure series in the school holidays. Those weirdly unsettling radiophonic electronics on Dr Who, and Leonard Nimmoy's 'In Search Of' and Children of the Stones at tea time. Scorching Summers and foggy Autumns, a love of the outdoors, and a freedom to roam my kids never seemed to really embrace. The record reminds me of all this.

The recentish Coil reissues have definately rekindled my interest in them. Here's hoping whomever is responsible for their legacy turns up some other stuff worth hearing.

No, though looks right up my street, will check it out, thanks fer he heads up :)

I was quite taken by the Scarfolk book a few years ago. Children of Alice would fit nicely into that universe.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/discovering-scarfolk/richard-littler/9780091958480

Website....https://scarfolk.blogspot.co.uk/

Mind you, it's not surprising some of us took to the whole Hauntology fad a from several years ago, we were hard wired for it by some of the themes from school programmes....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmNhPY7Tl_E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYrymqy1HJ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mk9jlrFjeY