"Mary
Ann Cotton, She's dead and she's rottenShe lies in her bed, With
her eyes wide openSing, sing, oh, what can I sing,Mary Ann
Cotton is tied up with string ...”
Legend
has it that When the walls are thin between the world of the living
and the dead on Halloween, reciting this rhyme over her grave was
enough to call the spirits of those she'd killed to audible
experience... All
Mine Enemys Whispers.... The
story of Mary Ann Cotton: The Victorian poisoner A free download
and half price CD just until
Halloween....https://attritionuk.bandcamp.com/album/all-mine-enemys-whispers-the-story-of-mary-ann-cotton The
Story. Mary
Ann Cotton was born October 1832 in County Durham , Northern England
. Possibly the greatest female mass murderer Britain has ever
known, she left a trail of death throughout her life, killing
between 16 to 21 of her children and former husbands over many years
by arsenic poisoning . She was eventually arrested, tried and
hanged in Durham Jail on the 24th March 1873.
The Police
officer that arrested Mary Ann Cotton was a Sergeant Tom
McCutcheon. Coincidentally, his daughter, Louisa McCutcheon, had
worked for a while for Mary as a seamstress.. On departing for
Durham jail Mary gave Louisa her prized sewing box as the only way
she could now pay her for her work… The sewing box was kept in
Louisa's family and passed down through the generations. Rather
uneasily considering what it represented… My own father met a by
then very old Louisa when he was a young child in the 1940's - He
recently recounted this story and passed on the box on to me. Louisa
McCutcheon was my great great great aunt….
Originally
released on Projekt Records in 2008.... on digipack CD, with
booklet and a selection of Victorian poison bottle labels
included....
To celebrate the
imminent ATTRITION show in Transylvania, performing their horror film score "Invocation",and are giving away the
soundtrack as a free download(the CD version will be half price) for
the month of August only:
https://attritionuk.bandcamp.com/album/invocation
A soundtrack
for your dreams and nightmares... 30 years since their groundbreaking
dark ambient album "This Death House" ATTRITION's Martin
Bowes has combined forces with his wife Kerri on their full length
movie score, written for the film G.H.O.S.T from cult U.S. horror
film company Mutantville. From uneasy, shifting atmospheres to main
themes on piano, vocals and strings, the album was remodelled and
mixed at the Cage for this audio only version...
An invocation
in nine parts. With artwork by Holger Karas.
August
18th - Bala, Transylvania, Romania November 3rd
- Electrowerks, London, UK November 10th - Mulberry
Tavern, Sheffield, UK
Already a highly regarded song within
the Attrition back catalogue, 'A Girl Called Harmony', which was
originally part of 1991'a 'Tricky Business' album sees a release in
it's own right on this EP. Although it saw inclusion on a lot of
compilations at the time it never made it to a single release but 25
years later Martine Bowes' own Two Gods Records label finally
addresses this oversight.
The resulting EP see's the original
baroque-infused darkwave meets industrial track joined by the
four-track demo track from the previous year. In addition are two
remixes of 'I Am Eternity' (one classical and one electronica) from a
promotional giveaway on Projekt records in 1997 which compliment the
title track very nicely with their respective use of warm strings and
trip-hop flavours. The EP is rounded out with a 1986 demo of 'I Am'
which adds a nice ambient atmosphere to close with.
The
tracks have been remastered with the care and precision that you
would come to expect from Bowes. His stock as a producer and engineer
is without question especially when taking tracks from across a ten
year period and bringing them up to scratch for release in 2017 and
have them still sound as strong as they do.
This is a nice
addition for any long-time Attrition fan with a strong song leading
the charge as well as four enjoyable rarities to boot. It might not
be a good starting point for newer fans, but for anyone that has
previously thought “He should have released that as a single” now
would be the perfect time to grab yourself a copy.
A 35 year career is
hard to sum up for any artist, let alone one as prolific as Attrition
mastermind Martin Bowes. He has been the dark cornerstone of the UK
gothic industrial music scene for all of that time, garnering
international acclaim not only for his own output but also for his
extensive production work out of his own The Cage Studios in
Coventry. As such any kind of attempt to create a “best of”
compilation is only ever going to scratch the surface of a diverse
and expansive discography. But with 'In Dark Dreams...' Bowes does
just that. A perfect introduction encapsulated on a two-disc set,
(which could have easily been a box set) to present Attrition's
legacy in a bite-size fashion.
For this compilation Bowes
looks back across a range of albums including '3 Arms & A Dead
Cert', 'In The Realm Of The Hungry Ghosts', 'Dante's Kitchen',
'Attrition Of Reason', and 'The Unraveller Of Angels', as well as his
most recent outing 'Millions Of The Mouthless Dead'.
The
compilation follows no chronological framework, but instead lets each
track compliment the one that came before it to create a unified
expression. This sees older material and newer works rub shoulders
comfortably and shows of the truly esoteric nature of Bowes'
compositions.
Grooving electronics, dark ambient, grim
industrial and gothic atmospheres from the darkest corners of Bowes'
discography create a rich sonic journey with songs such as
'Dreamsleep', 'One Horse Rider', 'Beast Of Burden', 'Invocation V',
'Lip Sync', 'The Bone Factory', and 'Silent Night'. As well as rarer
gems which give a well-rounded look into Attrition as a whole.
As
you would expect from Bowes, 'In Dark Dreams...' is well produced and
nicely put together with every track remastered and updated to fit
perfectly with one another. The older recordings sound fresh and just
as relevant as the more recent ones.
Attrition may have an
intimidating discography for those new to them. But with 'In Dark
Dreams 1980 – 2015' some of Bowes' finest cuts provide a taster of
many of his most memorable albums. This release in itself is a very
strong offering, keeping that album unity that Bowes has always
fostered on his main releases, and as such for fans old and new this
is an essential release.
ATTRITION 'Millions Of The Mouthless Dead' A TWO GODS PRODUCTION /
ULTRA MAIL PRODUCTIONS
Martin Bowes of Attrition is a
prolific artist in a very literal sense. His 30-plus year discography
is expansive by anyone's standards, and he continues to release
multiple albums, collaborations and remixes per year as well as
working as a producer and engineer. His latest work is perhaps his
most poignant and powerful to date.
“June 1917.
Ypres. Flanders. Belgium.Private William
Bowes of the West Yorks Regiment, British Expeditionary Force was
hit by a German shell while out working on trench defences’He suffered a
severe stomach wound.Rescued by
stretcher-bearers, his life was saved by Canadian army medics in a
front line field hospital.He was
repatriated to England where he stayed and recuperated for the
remainder of the Great War…William
Bowes was my Grandfather.”
Inspired by his
grandfather's role in the first world war Bowes has enlisted the help
of pioneering artist and musician Anni Hogan, as well as a guest
appearance from ex-Kraftwerk hand Wolfgang Flür to explore his personal connection to the conflict. The
result blends Bowes' dark ambient industrial soundscapes with Hogan's
chilling piano with powerful readings of war poetry in various
languages.
Mechanical noises, chilling pianos, strings and
ambient electronics combine to create bleak and nightmarish
soundscapes to evoke the wholesale horror and destruction of the war.
Tracks such as 'Divine Providence', 'Mincing Machine', 'Shell Shock',
and 'The Mouthless Dead' cutting deep with a balance of noise and
dark ambience for chilling effect.
These are counterpointed
by the avant garde approaches of pieces such as 'Into Cleanness
Leaping', 'Heimatschluss', 'A Madman's Flash – As Quiet As', 'A
Madman's Flash – All The Mad Men', and 'A Madman's Flash – Krieg'
which frame spoken word readings with haunting piano and atmospheric
synthesizers for an affecting listening experience.
The
production is of course up to Bowes' usual high standards with a fine
balance between ambient and noise running throughout that creates an
unnerving and oppressive atmosphere throughout. Yet it is very
accessible. It has been made to be heard as much as it has been made
to evoke the horror of the war, and it does both very well.
Along
with Einstürzende Neubauten's recent album 'Lament', 'Millions Of
the Mouthless Dead' is one of the most powerful albums about the
First World War to date. It is dark, chilling, and compelling. But
best of all it is effective. With the war only recently out of
living memory, the centenary years of 2014-18 take on a particular
significance that is reflected in the album.
Veteran industrial pioneer
Attrition, AKA Martin Bowes, has announced the release of a new remix
album 'Narcissist vs One Horse Rider'. The album, available through A
Two Gods Production, features 26 Remixes of the songs 'Narcissist'
and 'One Horse Rider', which are both taken from the studio album
'The Unraveller of Angels'. The album encompasses every genre from
dance floor electronics to dark ambient piano and strings, and
features contributions from the likes of Angst Pop, Technomancer,
Fearpassage, and Zero Corporation.
Track List:
1.Narcissist (ID Mix by Angst Pop feat. Technomancer)
2.Narcissist [Void
Prototype remix]
3.One Horse Rider (Man
Woman Machine mix)
4.Narcissist (Id Before
Ego Mix by ANKST)
5.One Horse Rider
(Technomancer mix)
6.Narcissist (Analog
Angel remix)
7.Narcissist (Egoist
Anarchism mix by Fearpassage)
'Narcissist vs One Horse Rider' is available
as a free/pay what you want download for 26 days, as well as a double
CDr version through the Attrition bandcamp page. For more information
on the band, including live dates and future releases, please visit
the official Attrition website.
The
30th anniversary edition is available as both a digital download as
well as a CDR burnt on pro equipment on special vinyl style CD's,
with printed PDF cover signed by Martin! Also included is a very rare
bonus track in 'How About That Dum Dum' – previously released on
cassette only in 1983.
Track List:
1. 'Monkey In A
Bin'
2. 'Surge And Run'
3. 'How About That Dum Dum'
Industrial veteran
Martin Bowes has opened up the archives to remaster and release not
one, but two rare Attrition recordings. The first captures the band's
performance at General Wolfe, Coventry on April 21st 1983 and is
Mastered from the original cassette recording. Released through A Two
Gods production, the album is available as a digital download with a
four-page PDF booklet of photos.
Also to be released on
14th February is 'Demonstro: 1982-85', a definitive collection of 20
of the rarest Attrition songs from the band's early years. The album
will be available as a digital download and CD release through A Two
Gods Production.
Attrition will also
take to the road on the following dates:
May 24th : The Loft,
Moseley, Birmingham. UK - with Sigue Sigue Sputnik
August 17th :
Alt-Fest, Kettering, UK
September 27th : Dark Culture fest,
Manchester, UK
To order the new
albums, please visit the Attrition bandcamp page. For more
information on the band, please visit their official website.
From the beginning ATTRITION has inhabited a space all their own. From the stark experimental soundscapes of the early cassette releases to albums spanning electronic post punk, hard electronic beats, lush orchestration to ambient pieces that are simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, there is a sonic identity to all aspects. With an Attrition release one may know the universe that awaits within, but one may be taken to any one of innumerable galaxies and landscapes. Through three decades Martin Bowes has led the project, accumulating a body of work that stands outside its time and above any scene. It was a distinct pleasure and privilege to put some questions to Martin and receive the benefit of his years in music and as an artist.
Intravenous Magazine: This release feels like a culmination of different threads of past work with the integration of beat driven tracks with ambient and classical layers into an organic whole. Does the completion of this album feel like the start of a new era for Attrition?
Martin Bowes: I think it well may be... I did spend a long time writing and recording "The Unraveller...". After so many albums I felt it needed to go a stage further and there was no rush. I've always been interested and inspired by different threads of music anyway. I never sat down and said to myself "this album is going to integrate them all..", but it just happened and I let that happen. I'm never totally in control it seems :)
IVM: You had many collaborators on The Unraveller of Angels. What was the process of collaboration how did you gather contributions from people from all over the world?
MB: As ATTRITION for many years has been my own project, I've always found collaborating an inspiration. Opening up new ideas and new possibilities I'd perhaps never have known totally on my own. It's so easy sharing recording via the internet these days, so I've found it very easy to have people record with me, wherever they may be in the world. I love the fact that on many of the new songs the collaborators were not even aware of the other people they were playing with, and on one or two pieces their parts were even recorded for different songs! Once I get some audio I get my editing scalpel out and work on the songs very much like audio montages. For the Unraveller I had one or two regular guests, who often appear in the live line up, such as Tylean and Ian Arkley and asked Erica from Unwoman early on as she's already recorded with me on the "All Mine Enemys..." album. Then if I felt a song needed something extra I'd get other people involved. I was very pleased to have Anni Hogan in on piano, and then the guest vocals of Mona Mur are a treat.
IVM: You created the score for the horror film G.H.O.S.T., which you released as an album that stands on its own as an intense abstract experience. Did creating music for a film inform the writing of The Unraveller of Angels?
MB: It was our first ever full length film score. I worked on Invocation with my wife Kerri helping on piano and keyboard parts. I remember when we first started it and I looked at 85 minutes of empty soundscape and thought how the hell am i going to fill all this up! A mixture of fear and adrenalin sorted that out, and I think that was very fitting for the soundtrack. We are both really pleased with that piece of music. Its a different way to work and different is always a good thing to me. We are actually going to perform it live in its entirety at this years Tower Transmissions festival in Dresden this September.
I took some time off "The Unraveller of Angels" to record that film score and I know I went back to finish the album inspired and that break helped. I took that inspiration and added it to the final processes and mixes of the new album.
IVM: You're quite active on facebook and other social media sites. How do you balance time between recording, admin, touring and promotion?
MB: Now that's a good question! I don't know how it do it sometimes... I do a hell of a lot myself here... management, promotion, studio work, booking shows, doing interviews (!)... oh and sometimes I write music! At the moment with the new album launch and new tours starting I've just had to work 12 to 14 hours a day to fit it all in, and Kerri has been helping more and more. Its working out. The response has been amazing, and taking control is always a good thing, now more than ever and i love what i do. I couldn't imagine it any other way and i still get time to see my kids and go down the pub.
IVM: You ran a 'zine called Alternative Sounds in the late -70's, early -80's. Did writing and editing for Alternative sounds inform your vision, and prepare you for the business when you started making your own music?
MB: It really did... I was inspired by punk and post punk and there was a great scene here in Coventry in 1979 when i started Alternative Sounds. It ran for 18 issues over 2 years and did pretty well and I learned a lot about how things worked in music from that, and more importantly became friends with other fanzine editors and bands so when I realised that writing a fanzine was not enough for me and started ATTRITION. I already had a network of contacts, so we got out of the City fairly early on which was important to us. It made a difference and it created possibilities.
IVM: There are some who are swapping scans of issues of alternative Sounds and other Industrial and underground music magazines over the web. Have you ever thought of making the magazine available electronically or in print collections for historical interest?
MB: Yes I have. There are a couple of issues online but I would like to find the time to scan them all. I also have a box full of old ATTRITION tapes and flyers and press that I want to document. I am gradually doing it, but it may take some time. I shall let it out a bit at a time I think. In fact we have started making a documentary on my life in Attrition and the early industrial scene with Daniel Gouyette, our Parisian film maker friend. It will take a year to make, but the release of this may well be the right time to release a lot more audio and printed history.
IVM: Do you think the move of most 'zines to the web has altered their effectiveness as a means of promotion, and as an experience for the reader?
MB: Yes and no... It was always a far more important experience to buy a fanzine and take it home to read it cover to cover. But they were also hard to find in your local shops. These days we live in an era of soundbytes, for good or for bad, but it does make things more easily available and that is a good thing. So the promotion has changed and the experience... well I think that is changing too. There are things we want in our lives and if they are lost we will find another way to have that experience.
IVM: From the beginning there has been a strong visual side to Attrition, is this something you incorporate live as stage sets and/or multimedia?
MB: We did a lot with multimedia in the 80's but everyone was doing film shows and i found they were getting blander. As we have 2 vocalists, I work with backdrops and lighting and smoke, and incense of course... I prefer it. It can be more intimate than a wall of images. But saying that, just for a change, we are having a special visual show for our performance of the Invocation soundtrack at Tower Transmissions by Holger Karas, the photographer and cover artist for that album and "The Unraveller .... " too. I love his work and it complements my music so well. We have something in common...
IVM: Many artists, labels and studios are struggling these days, caught between a sagging economy, the growth of filesharing and the demise of record stores. How has your approach to the business end adapted over the years?
MB: A Tricky Business indeed. Its been difficult. A lot of musicians I know have been down about how things hit everyone over the last 10 years. For us, as for most bands, we sold a LOT more records 10 years ago, but at least that got our name out there then when labels were willing to invest as they would see a return. Ever since my fanzine days I've always seen the value of and been involved in self promotion and with the help of the web these days its more and more possible to do it, with not too much financial backing, although the hours are still the same if you are going to do anything effectively. So its self reliance and doing it yourself. I promote even when I have a label to help. I book my own shows even if I have booking agents helping. And record labels don't have advances any more, so I long ago set up my own studio to record, well, 20 years ago. And with computer technology its so much easier these days. Its a lot of hard work and a lot of ups and downs, whatever level you are at. Just do it. it is all so worth it.
IVM: What did it take to make the Cage studio a success in with so many artists taking on recording at home with the wide array of digital tools that are available?
MB: Well you're right, everyone can have studio in a box at home, but its knowing how to use them. I taught students music tech for years at the college here before i opened up the Cage full time. Its one hell of a learning curve, and I'd come up through years of recording with hardware and it gradually turning into software. So yes its about that, and for me, I already had the equipment and the place and bands had asked me if I'd be into mixing them or mastering them for quite a while. I just hadn't the time for most of them when I was teaching, and with the internet and file transfers I can work with bands from all over the world now. I did do a little marketing at first, but nothing as much as I have for the band. I didn't really need to. I'm in a good position with the Cage, it's my day job now if you like to call it that, and I love it, and I can keep ATTRITION as my passion.
IVM: A common argument that comes up in discussions on file sharing and the rate of pay from streaming services like Spotify and Rdio that recorded music are just ways to sell merchandise and concert tickets. Do you find that this argument squares with your experience?
MB: I know streaming is negligible for pay, but its a way people are listening to music now, so it can't be ignored. And yes of course its publicity and that can lead to concert sales and other merch. I don't think I'd agree that recorded music itself is just a way to sell merch though. There are a lot of people still buying physical formats and paying for downloads. I've seen an amazing response to our new album through direct sales on our bandcamp page. I've done more than ever before. Maybe as the record stores have closed, the people that care come direct now. It certainly seems like that and it really helps as we cut out the middle men. As much as I loved the indie stores and they offered more than just record sales, but ultimately stores and in particular the distributors are just that...
IVM: Some producers will do separate masters for lossless formats like CD and master separately for streaming and other lossy formats to compensate for the limitaitons of the latter fomats. Is this something you were mindful of when praparing to release the back catalogue for digital Distribution?
MB: Actually all our back catalogue is available as full wave file quality through bandcamp and all the major digital platforms, so I think the days of mastering for poor quality mp3 are behind us. Actually what's come back is more mastering for vinyl format, something I am doing more and more in my studio. Some of those extreme noise releases are a killer!
IVM: Attrition has been released through a number of labels, including Third Mind, Antler Subway, Contempo, and Projekt Records among others. Did you stipulate that you retain rights and masters kept from the start?
MB: Well, in the early days, like most bands, we didn't always know what we were doing and masters were usually just one set of analogue reel to reel tapes back then. So for a while we lost our early masters.... until we got them back and re-issued on CD and one way or another I made sure I had the rights from then on. Some of our songs we signed publishing over to in the early days and we still can't win them back... But to be honest, we've done pretty well compared to the many horror stories I've heard from bands. I have rights to almost everything I've ever done and the masters are all here and copied many times over.
IVM: Steve Albini has stated on several occasions that he records to tape because analog can be preserved longer. Do you worry about archiving music for posterity?
MB: I did used to worry, but now my music is available in full quality in so many places online and physically that I really don't think there's much chance of it disappearing. Early CDR's were prone to corrupt and die but the new ones and hard rives are pretty good. In fact, we lost some tracks on old reels of ampex analogue tape at one point as they shed their coatings, so there's no such thing as perfect.
IVM: How do you think current conditions for independent musicians compare with when you began, both in a career aspect and as a way to spread new ideas and issues in the greater culture?
MB: At a glance it seems a very different world to the early 80's. Technology is all around us, an information overload is everywhere we turn, and that's so different. But I actually don't think things are really all that different when you look at things in perspective. Like always, we need to find our own way in this life, and as I said earlier it's all down to taking control of your career, your life and working on those skills and working as hard as you can at it. And don't care for the knock downs, be confident in yourself and don't worry about fitting into any trend or clique or fashion. Work with them, use them, help them too, but ultimately let them fit around you.
Check out The Unraveller of Angels, the latest album from attrition:
The sound and imagery of Attrition evokes a sense of standing in an abandoned space. A crumbling edifice where the ghosts of those who lived there and events that transpired there linger as palpable presences and a heavy feeling. The beat driven tracks have percussive and sequenced structures characterized by great precision and strategic stabs of distorted guitars. Woven through this precise and cold sonic architecture are layers of more free-flowing, ambient and organic elements, populating the space carved out with haunting spectres. Martin Bowes' vocals move among the spirits. Unlike the way the vocals cut through to the forefront on 1991's A tricky Business they embed themselves at the centre Interestingly, the vocals are more another instrument in the speakers, but through headphones they it's like they come from within the listener's head, clear and intelligible.
There are may details of the arrangements and production that impress and fascinate throughout. The way the strings are captured, so one can hear the drag of the rosinous bows and the tone of the wood. Many underground releases can work a lo-fi aesthetic to their advantage and an immaculate production can often de-claw and de-fang what would otherwise be a more potent experience, but with Attrition the superior recording and mastering are elements of the overall artistry.
Opening introduction 'The Unraveller' with its layers of inviting spoken voices opens up the door to the world that unfolds on this release, leading into the synthetic and skittering descent of 'Karma Mechanic'. Intriguing and forward lurching in its spare insistence. There's no turning back.
'Narcissist' pounds out an infectious dance groove that swells and opens up in a breathless chorus and pulls back into the hard charging breakdowns. 'Histrionic' comes in with a an up-tempo beat and a keening violin and builds on with layers of piano, strings and electronics to a crescendo. This peak resolves into the opening string section of 'One Horse Rider', a ritualistic fever dream of a song juxtaposing languid violins with mounting percussion and passionate backing vocals. 'Snakepit' and 'Suicide Engineer' both give the guitar more of a role. The guitar is in the pocket of the grooves, which works best accenting the waltz feel of the latter. 'The Causal Agent' with its atmosphere of encroaching, slow moving menace winds up with a groove like a subtle mental shift, like a decision made that builds with increasingly heavy percussion and ever more rapturous voices.
'Hollow Latitudes' combines the classical and electronic strains in a very hauntingly beautiful way. The track opens with a lone melancholic piano and violins come in one by one interweaving a melody that develops and circles around itself. It builds, pulsing and ritualistic, pulling the listener into its narrative psychogeography. 'The Internal Narrator' – the title for this song would be a good way to describe the feeling Martin's vocals convey here. Plucked piano strings ring dissonant and scratching among the floating voices and feedback guitars. Percussive explosions come like poltergeists slamming doors.
On 'The Unraveller Of Angels' many special guests, including Mona Mur, Matt Howden, Annie Hogan, Erica Mulkey (Unwoman), Ian Arkely and more. The star of this twisted tale is the songs and every contribution, every element supports the songs and with this, the listener is well served.
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