The eagle-eyed will have spotted Dedicated to the Stones & Trees of the Small Palace inscribed on the play-out groove of the Masstishaddhu Shekinah album released on United Dairies in 1988. Less difficult to spot is the same dedication on Dr Pagan Pond's cover design of the Psychedelic Pig CD re-issue of 2000, where it features with a satisfying prominence respectful of the source which inspired the Masstishaddhu seance one freezing night in winter of 1987 in a Mithraeum on the north bank of the River Tyne.
Some six years earlier, in the January of 1981, two of the Masstishaddhu musicians took part in another seance which resulted in The Stones & Trees of the Small Palace released thereafter in a cassette-only edition, all copies of which were feared lost in the mists of time or otherwise absorbed back into the ancestral mold from which they sprung. However, we are delighted to report one copy has lately come to light, and in celebration of its 30th anniversary an MP3 edition has been realised has been uploaded for free access. No attempt has been made to clean up or otherwise enhance this hoary artefact other than to attend to a couple of dodgy edits on the original master; all is heard in its original lo-fi glory.
Some six years earlier, in the January of 1981, two of the Masstishaddhu musicians took part in another seance which resulted in The Stones & Trees of the Small Palace released thereafter in a cassette-only edition, all copies of which were feared lost in the mists of time or otherwise absorbed back into the ancestral mold from which they sprung. However, we are delighted to report one copy has lately come to light, and in celebration of its 30th anniversary an MP3 edition has been realised has been uploaded for free access. No attempt has been made to clean up or otherwise enhance this hoary artefact other than to attend to a couple of dodgy edits on the original master; all is heard in its original lo-fi glory.
The line-up for the session was given the name Gathering Cries (after the gathering cries of the Northumbrian clans as given in The Denham Tracts of Northumbrian folklore in 1892) and features a basic trio of B. Sedayne (flutes / hand drum / hummel / voice / musical direction), M. Watson (cello / flutes / voice) & P. Howe (gongs / bells) with contributions from S. Smith (voice on Part Three) and T. Breadin (guitar on Part Seven).
The music comprises a sequence of ten tracks reflecting the influence of free improvisation, folk & medieval musics after the fashion of the Third Ear Band which remains the closest comparison. Using hand-made bamboo flutes, ethnic percussion, antique Scandinavian zither and 'cello, they range from bleak atonal dronescapes to spirited modal dances, taking a notion of the folk aesthetic without referencing any folk material per se. This not music of revival, but of renewal in its most vivid sense; all the music is improvised, organic & spontaneous, though within the overall musical vision of the MD of which Stones and Trees respresents the first steps in a 30-year musical journey.
The music comprises a sequence of ten tracks reflecting the influence of free improvisation, folk & medieval musics after the fashion of the Third Ear Band which remains the closest comparison. Using hand-made bamboo flutes, ethnic percussion, antique Scandinavian zither and 'cello, they range from bleak atonal dronescapes to spirited modal dances, taking a notion of the folk aesthetic without referencing any folk material per se. This not music of revival, but of renewal in its most vivid sense; all the music is improvised, organic & spontaneous, though within the overall musical vision of the MD of which Stones and Trees respresents the first steps in a 30-year musical journey.
The Stones & Trees of the Small Palace - January 1981
