Friday 3 February 2023

Leighton Craig - Logical Descent LP

Dear Friends 

My new album Logical Descent is out now. I've had 155 copies pressed at Suitcase Records, Meanjn/Brisbane's new pressing plant, and I'm pleased to report they've done an amazing job (and were a pleasure to deal with!) 

These recordings are as close as I get to publishing a diary, so I don't have much to say about the music. I did however ask Francis Plagne to share some words, and my sincere thanks to him for the following thoughtful reflections:

 “Recorded at home and on holidays between 2013 and 2020, Logical Descent is a rare solo longplayer from Leighton Craig. In groups like The Lost Domain, The Deadnotes and Primitive Motion, Leighton has dedicated much of his musical life to the art of collaboration, each collective developing the kind of near-telepathic levels of intuitive interplay that only friendship and hundreds of hours of gig-or-no-gig jamming make possible. Leighton’s solo work transmits the same autotelic energy as these bands, the same sense of a constantly evolving daily music making practised for its own sake. The fruit of moments of musical meditation and experiment snatched from the rhythm of everyday working life, it is fitting that Logical Descent arrives in a sleeve reproducing a painting by Gordon Shepherdson, the great Brisbane figurative expressionist painter who produced much of his painting in a suburban shed studio after days spent working in an abattoir and once described his work as painted ‘for an audience of one’. 

Bunya Mountains, 2014
Listeners familiar with Leighton’s previous work will be familiar with the delicate melodic miniatures and drifting tone clouds he coaxes from his array of Casio and other keyboards. The surprise here is the prevalence of Leighton’s voice and lyrics, making this essentially an album of songs. The opening ‘I am Dust’ immediately ushers the listener into Logical Descent’s uniquely intimate space, as Leighton’s hushed voice breathes a hymn to communion with the non-human world over burbling melodic figures and shimmering synthetic textures. Coming across like Alastair Galbraith fronting Die Welttraumforscher, these dreamlike miniatures are one of the record’s dominant modes. Lasting as little as a single minute, the effect of their haunting melodies and elemental vocabulary of fire, night, sea, and sky is at times akin to reading haiku.   

 Logical Descent ups the energy on its second side, with several tracks gaining a pronounced rhythmic dimension from the presence of either drum machines or Leighton’s beautifully garage-appropriate kit drumming. On ‘My Mind, Sailing Away’, a fuzzed-out organ riff connects the dots between Peter Gutteridge and ‘Wooly Bully’, while ‘Parachute’ offers a slice of motorikpop sent off course by subtly strange vocal production. The elegiac ‘Alderbaran’ is almost like Leighton’s take on the woozy, melancholic second side of Before and after Science, as an insistently repeating keyboard figure – at once childlike and plaintive – supports multi-tracked voices before being swarmed by distant, howling synth tones. In an environment where ‘underground’ music often seems intent on mimicking the mainstream industry’s collapse between production and promotion, Logical Descent is a powerful reminder of what can be achieved through quiet dedication and personal vision.” - - - Francis Plagne, October 2022

The album is pressed on 180gm vinyl, housed in black poly lined bags with a double sided lyric/artwork insert sheet. The covers have been printed locally too and I'd like to think they do credit to the painting that adorns the cover by the great Gordon Shepherdson. Big thanks to Sandra Selig for brilliantly photographing Gordon's painting and to Lawrence English for mastering. Friends residing in Australia and New Zealand can purchase a copy at the Buy Now button. If you're after multiple copies, perhaps drop me an email for a quote, or use the Bandcamp purchasing tool linked below.
Price includes shipping

As the postage for international shipping has become ridiculous (for example $31AUS to the UK), I'd ask friends living in other locations to purchase from one of the following great outlets who are supporting this release. I anticipate these being available in 2-3 weeks from:
Hastings Point, 2019 

Sweden - Discreet Music

Finally, you can have a listen by streaming here:


Friday 5 February 2021

Primitive Motion - Descendants of Air (cassette + digital)

 


The Kindling consortium is pleased as punch to present Primitive Motion's "Descendants of Air" album - available today on cassette and digital formats.

Album number seven documents PM recording in a bamboo grove on the banks of their home town’s heritage-listed water source and popular swimming destination, Enoggera Reservoir. 

Recorded over a weekend and featuring a barrow-load of acoustic and battery powered instruments carried on site, according to the label (me), Descendants of Air is "a playful and at times abstract ode to the urban wild on our doorstep."

Previously issued as a limited give-away CD-R at two live performances at the Reservoir as part of the Open Actions event in 2019, this is the first time Descendants of Air has been made widely available. 

The album is presented in a beautifully assembled cassette edition that comes housed in a heavy card sleeve and fold out panels with photographs of the site by Brisbane's  legendary psychedelic film maestro Marek Rygielski. The cassettes have been dubbed by the good folks at Duplication in Canada, and they sound particularly toasty.  

While we blew budget on the packaging of this edition, our distributor (me) has wheeled and dealed to keep postage to an absolute minimum for our overseas friends. We are selling these at below cost and ye cannae ask for more than that! 

We've also  uncovered a handful of leftover CD-Rs - strictly one per order please.

Available only from our Bandcamp page, and if purchased today Bandcamp has waived the 15% commission it usually collects on each purchase  - click the link below to stream or purchase:


Thursday 3 September 2020

Sing Trees

Leighton Craig
Sing Trees, 2020
Cardboard, acrylic and grass on paper  














Friday 5 June 2020

Pink Sea


LEIGHTON CRAIG - PINK SEA 7" lathe

Hi friends - out today my new lathe cut 7" Pink Sea. Recorded in 2018 on holiday at the beach, this is the companion release to my Wind Songs ep from a few years back.

More freewheeling Casio SK-1 jams, this time with mini-sax, thumb piano, kitchen percussion and a memorable performance from a butcher bird on the window ledge.

As with Wind Songs, this 7" record was lathe cut by Peter King in New Zealand with mastering by Antony Milton. Made in an edition of 40, with heavy folded card jacket and black inner sleeve.

The records (and digital) are available now for purchase from my Bandcamp page here and will ship no later than 19 June, including to locations outside Australia.  I trust you enjoy.







Friday 21 February 2020

Leighton Craig - The Common Pulse of Being

Leighton Craig
The Common Pulse of Being
Milani Gallery, 8 - 29 February 2020


Common Pulse Series I, 2020
Balsa wood, acrylic on paper. 8 parts, dimensions variable

Common Pulse Series IV, 2020
Acrylic, canvas and wood on paper. 2 parts, 22 x 18 cm each 

I am the Universe, Common Pulse Series I, 2020
Balsa wood, acrylic, canvas on paper. 8 parts, dimensions variable.

The Solar System, Common Pulse Series I, 2020
Balsa wood, acrylic on paper. 8 parts, dimensions variable.

Common Pulse Series I and Quiet Earth Within, 2020
Balsa wood, acrylic and printed text on paper 

Logical Descent, 2017
Cloth tape and acrylic on cardboard. 17 x 11.5 cm

Circle Poem, 2013
Cloth tape on cardboard, sound, headphones and audio player 00:20 minute


Common Pulse Series I, 2020
Seed pods on paper. 30 x 22.5 cm

Hymn to the Common Pulse and Common Pulse Journal - installation view

Common Pulse Journal, 2020
Ink on board, 18 x 12 cm

The Common Pulse of Being, 2020
Sound, speaker, amplifier, audio player 23:36 minutes




In a Chord, 2002
Potato print on paper. 3 parts, 12.4 x 8.6 cm

Logical Ascent, 2020
Lino prints on paper (edition of 5). 3 parts, 14.8 x 10.5 cm each

Fundamental Unity Suite (Part 3), 2020
Cloth tape, balsa wood, acrylic, graphite and canvas on paper. 12 parts, 21 x 14.8 cm

Fundamental Unity Suite (Part 2), 2020
Cloth tape, balsa wood, acrylic and canvas on paper. 7 parts, 21 x 14.8 cm

Stay Small in the World, Fundamental Unity Suite (Part 2), 2020
Cloth tape, acrylic and canvas on paper. 7 parts, 21 x 14.8 cm

Soft Rhythm of Existence, Fundamental Unity Suite (Part 2), 2020
Cloth tape, acrylic and canvas on paper. 7 parts, 21 x 14.8 cm

Continuity of Becoming (detail), Fundamental Unity Suite (Part 3), 2020
Cloth tape on paper. 12 parts, 21 x 14.8 cm

Saturday 8 February 2020

Elemental Dreaming

Primitive Motion has a new 7" released by the great Swedish connoisseurs of small vinyl I Dischi Del Barone

An edition of 200, with the trademark handsome IDDB postcard cover, card insert and stamped labels. The artwork for this release features beautifully printed works from Sandra's "Elemental Dreaming" suite.

Featuring a couple of tracks dusted from the PM vaults, recorded in 2012 and 2016. Guest beats on one track by our pal Glenn Donaldson (Blithe Sons, The Reds, Pinks & Purples et al) and mastered by the man in the hat Lawrence English at Negative Space.

We have a limited number of copies for friends in Australia and NZ - $14.50 postage paid. Copies available in Europe from great new IDDB related record store Discreet and US pals can try Careful Catalog in the next week or so.

No digital sales on this one!

Sunday 17 November 2019

Breath of Light Remains


Primitive Motion has a new album out on the excellent A Guide to Saints label in collaboration with our friend Anthony Burr.  Here's what the label has to say: 

"Dream-like extended duration work from Brisbane duo Primitive Motion in collaboration with San Diego musician Anthony Burr. Breath of Light Remains is an improvised work recorded at PM HQ during one of Burr’s sojourns to his Australian home town. Summertime neighbourhood sounds of children playing, local birdlife and cicadas drift into the home studio as the trio arc sound around the room and beyond, colouring the air in shades both light and dark as time stands still.
Anthony Burr has enjoyed a distinguished career both as an improviser and reader of contemporary composition. He has recorded key works of Alvin Lucier and Morton Feldman and has played with Jim O’Rourke, John Zorn and Laurie Anderson. He has released work in duo form with both Iclelandic bassist /composer Skúli Sverrisson and Australian pianist/composer Anthony Pateras. While principally renowned as a clarinettist, on Breath of Light Remains he drops time-dissolving notes from the piano in a beautifully measured and delicate performance.
Primitive Motion is the collaborative project of Brisbane artists Sandra Selig and Leighton Craig. Over the past decade they have recorded an extensive body of work, with five albums released to date of their otherworldly musical dialogue, including a previous Guide to Saints edition. Their visual/audio collaborations have been exhibited, with a major work included in the 2010 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. They have recorded and performed outdoor improvisations responsive to the natural environment, and on this release weave a group tapestry of floating sound with Burr that dissolves into the fading afternoon."



A special edition of 100 cassettes is available, with the cover photograph by Sandra of the trees outside her home studio where the work was recorded. Once again covers lovingly screen printed by No.7 Printhouse in Brisbane.  

Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space, the tapes sound as warm as the Brisbane summer afternoon on which they were recorded. We are very are very happy with this release! The cassettes come in lavender shells and a very limited number of grey.  Link below to purchase from Primitive Motion's Bandcamp page.

Wednesday 13 November 2019

Primitive Motion - Open Actions Performance


Friends

Primitive Motion will give two battery powered outdoor performances this weekend at Enoggera Reservoir as part of the People Artist Place event Open Actions 2019.
  • Saturday 16th Nov - event opening 3.30pm. Primitive Motion performance 4.30pm
  • Sunday 17th Nov - early morning performance 7.30am
For full event details, including information on all the artists involved and a site map for where we will be performing, check out the the Open Actions 2019 catalogue by clicking here.

As part of the project we have made a new album "Descendants of Air" which we recorded in a bamboo grove at the Reservoir over a weekend in August this year, adding a few overdubs in our home studios. It was a magical experience making the album, and we hope some of that has been distilled in the sounds we collected that weekend.

          

We've had 100 CDs made to give away to folks attending the performances, but at this stage will not be making the release more widely available. The CD comes in a lovely gatefold sleeve, with cover and gatefold photographs of Enoggera Reservoir by our favourite photographer Marek Rygielski.  Check out more of Marek's stunning work with film on his Instagram account

Back cover by Sandra Selig

















In the meantime, the album can be streamed via Soundcloud over the next few weeks.  We trust you enjoy and look forward to seeing you there!

Friday 25 October 2019