Oddfinds is a series about the records, bands, songs, or even shops, labels and other pieces of the musical ecology that are literally ‘odd finds’. Stories, pieces of vinyl, CDs, or online sounds found in digital corners. From my point of view, an oddfind is good – very good.
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Note: As I was getting into this particular piece, I realised that there is really too much to write about in one post, so this is going to be part one of two (or more!) posts on and around the Moonbuilding and Castles in Space universe. As always, I hope it gets you digging…
Oddfinds #6
Moonbuilding: into the electric universe Pt. 1
Moonage daydreams
A little while back, my friend and fellow Unpsychology editor, Patrick Carpenter (also electronic music producer extraordinaire, aka PC, formerly DJ Food and Cinematic Orchestra) recommended an online Substack newsletter that he, in turn, had been recommended by his friend Kevin. It turns out that Kevin has great taste.
The newsletter is called
and it’s obscurely, crate-diggingly brilliant! describes itself thus: “Moonbuilding is a rather lovely 48-page A5 print magazine… Think of us as the house magazine for independent DIY electronic artists and labels.” When I first started subscribing, I didn’t clock the print bit, and got a bit overwhelmed by the twice-weekly Substack newsletters with news, reviews, links and recommendations about a scene that I knew very little about.I’d come across the neo-Kraftwerkian wonders of Northern synth-meister, Craven Faults, whose music is as bleak and absorbing as the post-industrial landscapes through which he tracks his journeys. I’d also discovered the eclectic and prolific output of ambient label, A Strangely Isolated Place. This, in turn, led me to tentatively push open a door to the vast alternative world of DIY electronica, that has recognisable influences from artists I knew from way back like Kraftwerk, Eno, Future Sound of London, The Egg and Apex Twin (as well as whole swathes of electronic dance music) threaded through it, but has subsequently spread out far beyond the known musical universe (or mine anyway).
, if you like, tracks the creative output of a tribe of alternative lifeforms and the strange and alien worlds they live on. I pride myself as having quite a wide musical knowledge, but I can confidently (and slightly shamefacedly) say that when the first newsletters came along, I literally knew none of the artists and producers.My bad! I’m trying to make up for it now though, and already finding new favourite artists and albums only a few weeks in.
Fan Zines
What made the difference to me were the actual print magazines. Like a lot of indie magazines – including the one I run myself, Unpsychology (see
for information) – getting print out is hard. It’s much easy to tap out few hundred words on a blog each week, reviewing an album or two and writing about a festival or label that you like. However, I also know it’s easy to overlook or just delete an email - especially if you subscribe to a lot of newsletters! Much harder - but infinitely preferable – is to get something out that people can pick up, read, enjoy and cherish. Of course, not all magazine - music or otherwise - are great, but Moonbuilding - the magazine - is that good.DIY stuff is often the best. That’s what made punk so accessible, and fanzines so great. Moonbuilding - the magazine - has the look and feel of those old ‘zines’ from way back, but the design and content of this one stands out. And as with DIY projects of all kinds, there’s just a few people behind this beautiful object, namely Neil Mason (an experienced music journalist gone electro-indie) and Colin Morrison (who runs the excellent label, Castles in Space). Neil seems to do almost everything – design, writing, reviews, interviews etc. In particular, his fascinating in-depth interviews, provide some of the best contextualisation of the artists’ work that I’ve seen in any media.
There are also some guest contributors and other features here and there. Moonbuilding now has Captain Star, the cartoon creation of Steven Appleby, first appearing in the NME in the 80s, and a TV series in the 90s! And there’s also a column by Orb guy and editor of the West Norwood Bugle, Alex Paterson. Awesome…
In short, I wish I’d discovered the magazine earlier, as the first three print editions are now all sold out. When issue five appeared on pre-order for Summer 2024, I jumped at the chance to buy it, in a ‘bundle’ with issue four (Autumn 2023). Each has a cover CD (I love a cover CD!) with further stuff to explore, and I already have more than enough music to check out from just those two issues to last me some time.
(Note: By the way, I know I’ve used a lot of superlatives here, but in this case they are not out of place…)
Discoveries…
The tracklist on the cover CD of issue four (see below) is like a who’s who of current DIY electronica, as of Autumn 2023 (the magazine with CD is still available for a bargain price of £5, but might not be around much longer…). Issue five, recently released, features the artist, Polypores (aka Stephen Buckley) on the front cover, and an exclusive CD of his accompanies that issue of the mag.
Discoveries so far
(Apart from Captain Star, Alex Paterson’s column and Castles in Space - which is already a lot)
1. Maria Uzor - Soft Cuts (Castles in Space)
From the cover of issue four with interview and reviews inside…
The first track on the cover CD for issue four of Moonbuilding is by issue 4 cover star, Maria Uzor. She’s new to me, and what a discovery. Yeah Yeah is a slow burn, hypnotic work of genius that has Chicago House, British punk and late Bowie all mixed up in its DNA.
Her new album, Soft Cuts (on the aforementioned Castles in Space label) is a thing of beauty. It’s one you can dance to – or one to be on headphones whilst lying in late night relaxation. I have done both with it… and it’s a record I want to listen to again and again.
The lead single, Ventolin, got a lot of attention when it was released last year. Maria Uzor has been compared to a number of disparate artists and sounds, from Kate Bush to Apex Twin, but when I first heard the album, I was reminded of Felix Da Housecat’s Kittenz and Thee Glitz album from 2001. In that tradition of warped, danceable electronica anyway!! 1
2. Veryan: Reflection In A Wilderness (on Werra Foxma)
from Neil Mason’s review of the album in issue four…
All that is publically known of Veryan is that she is a “female electronic musician based in Scotland.” She has, however, an intriguing catalogue of music - EPs, albums and a series of magazines/EPs entitled Insights & Sounds (she’s up to Volume 5), in which she uses sounds sent to her by friends and collaborators to make pieces of music.
In his issue four review of Veryan’s new album, Reflections In A Wilderness, editor Neil Mason seems intrigued about the anonymous status of the artist. He writes: “You’d guess being anonymous is for various reasons. Perhaps it’s someone well-known moonlighting, maybe they’re intentionally creating an air of mystique for some reason, or they could genuinely want to be left alone”.
I guess his familiarity with the universe of DIY electronica means that, naturally, this is an interesting question for him. For me, new to her work and to these vast new worlds of DIY electronica, I just fell for the music. I just loved the intimacy, intricacy and, yes, the mystery of this record, and I think she (whoever she is) is saying something awesome about belonging in her world and, I think, ours too…
This track (below) is An Almost Echo from the album. It has a wonderful feel, and reminds me of a what a chilled down electronic version of Katherine Tickell’s Northumbrian pipe tunes might sound like. Both might be classed as ‘landscape’ music, so I guess it’s not too surprising.
Veryan also has a new album, One Universal Breath, just coming out as I write on the Quiet Details label : https://quietdetails.bandcamp.com, so more to check out.
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan. Album: Your Community Hub
From a review of the album in issue four.
Another artist on the Castles in Space roster, WRNTDP (as this artist is sometimes called because - well, obviously) is the brainchild of Gordon Chapman-Fox, who is onto his fifth album, this one: Your Community Hub.
WRNTDP is “music for a broken concrete utopia” says the WRNTDP YouTube channel. Beyond that, It’s hard to explain the concept of WRNTDP without getting too literal.
However, I guess we might also describe this as ‘landscape music’, except that these landscapes aren’t misty Scottish forests and lakes or the border moorlands of Northumberland. or even bleak post-industrial Northern places, but brick and concrete New Towns dreamed up in the late 20th century by idealistic politicians and town planners. It’s as if someone has taken the naive idealism of 60s planning and produced a sociological, political and architectural critique of what they’ve turned into. But in music.
(Note: There is a description on the album’s Bandcamp page which say more about the background to the album’s ideas, and photographs in the physical versions of the record, so you can go there if you want to know more...).
I told you it was difficult to explain! On a couple of earlier tracks I’d heard from WRNTDP, there are some recorded voiceovers, and I imagined something like Public Service Broadcasting, which, to be honest, I’m a little bit ‘meh’ about. But that would be taking things too literally again, and I don’t think the comparison actually holds. The music does its own thing, and this album (which I listened to relatively fresh, without know too much about its origins) is strong enough on is own terms.
The rhythm of the first track, A Shared Sense of Purpose, and then its rumbling baseline, were enough to draw me in. It builds nicely, and the rest of the album follows suit, with synths rising and falling and deep bass rumbles travelling through. My particular favourite is Summer All Year Round, which really soars and sparkles. The driving baseline on the final track - snappily titled, A New Town With an Old Sense of Community – provides a suitable crescendo which still seems able to retain a sense of optimism about it.
Whatever it is, this album - this project - it’s a call for humanity, I think. For a kind of gentle bricks and mortar socialism that, looking back over 60-odd years of hope, then decline, then despair and decay, might be able to conjure something better out of the ruins. This, from the album’s Bandcamp page:
“Chapman-Fox's latest album decries the cruelty of where we find ourselves in 2024 and his quiet incandescence about the loss of optimism for what communities should be and could be. It's his most powerful work, and as always, it will deeply resonate with those who tune in to his unique vision and unparalleled productions.”
To be continued…
Look out for Part 2 (and maybe even part 3) of my journeys into the Moonbuilding and Castles In Space universe in the future.
Notes
Bonus track: I remember buying Felix Da Housecat’s album, Kittenz and Thee Glitz and being blown away. It was like Debbie Harry and Madonna had decided to team up with a Deep House crew and then weirded it all up. Very sleazy, queer and brilliant…