Happy September everyone! I’ve enjoyed an overly long break from this blog and it’s time I gave it some more attention. Here’s a nice song to start off the month from one of my favorite crooners Ian McCulloch’s version of “September Song”:
Since I’m still exhausted from the recent heatwave, a full actual blog post will wait until later. In the meantime, here’s a press release about Tones on Tail related band called Lonestation:
Glenn Campling’s musical origins stem from a grand vintage, having begun his musical career teaming up with art college friend and Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash to form Tones On Tail. Active as a duo alongside Bauhaus for two years before the Bauhaus demise in 1983, which inadvertently kick started Tones On Tail into a fully- fledged recording/touring unit, with the addition of Bauhaus’ former drummer Kevin Haskins.
Often described as ‘otherworldly’ Tones On Tail exemplified a string of diverse musical tastes. Glenn’s part in this seminal band should not be underrated. Many of Tones On Tail’s finest songs were initially conceived as bass lines – GO!, Lions, OK, This is The Pops, Burning Skies, Twist, and the floaty instrumental When You’re Smiling to name but a handful. Glenn was responsible for not only some innovative bass lines and quirky electronic noodling but also played twelve string guitar on You The Night and The Music for example, while Daniel played bass – a simple but highly effective role reversing idea borrowed subconsciously perhaps from hero Brian Eno.
After semi-retiring from the music business for some years (through fatherhood and then health issues) Glenn re-surfaced early in the millennium with some very strong original material. Having accumulated new equipment and discovering the joy of computer based home recording/mixing, it seemed like a great time for him to experiment with the new media.
Working with a combination of real instruments, synths, samples and loops he produced his first project Black & Whole in 2008 and then joined by ‘lone wolf’ Mark Garner in 2011 to form their latest incarnation, LoneStation.
The pair initially met at an after show bar in the cavernous Brixton Academy in February of 2006, but it wasn’t until 2011 when Glenn received a set of songs created by Mark, a collection of solo interpretations of his own personal favourite tracks, that they discovered they both shared a healthy passion for raw energising sounds, the diverse and the quirky.
Mark’s solo work fuses both samples with live instruments whilst adopting a unique vocal, creating a variety of hybrid soundscapes under the names Blue Sky Buriel and Her Dark Materials. Whilst drawing on his array of influences as diverse as Catherine Wheel, Bauhaus, Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Portishead and Interpol amongst many others, Mark still manages to retain a healthy dose of originality to his work, which includes some superlative cover versions along with his own inventive creations.
LoneStation fuse talent from opposite ends of the musical spectrum… with explosive results
AVAILABLE NOW: EP4 Into The Sun, Void, Unwind / The Lone Station
Also available for immediate download via www.lonestation.co.uk
- EP1 Funtown / Dark Matter / Son of Jack / Too Many People
- EP2 A Billion Black Stars / Divided We Fall / Gravity / Wrap Me Up
- EP3 Blue Giant / One Too Far / October Daze / The Deep
From what I’ve heard on Apple Music, it’s worth a listen (particularly if you like post punk sounds).
And Poptone (basically Tones on Tail with Kevin Haskins’ daughter Diva on bass/other instruments) is pretty much my soundtrack of this year (Tones on Tail/Love & Rockets/Bauhaus/Daniel Ash). If you really want to get into them – there are so many YouTube videos, including many of mine!
