Vinyl / CD / Digital
D Rothon - Memories of Earth.
700 hand numbered vinyl copies.
CD: £11 + P&P
Vinyl: £18.99 + P&P Sold Out
Memories of Earth is D Rothon’s second LP for Clay Pipe Music. In the years since 2018’s critically acclaimed Nightscapes, aside from working on this follow-up, he has played pedal steel on albums by Lost Horizons (on the John Grant-fronted track Cordelia), Liela Moss and Johanna Warren. He has also contributed to two recent compilations by the Second Language label – a kindred spirit to Clay Pipe.
The
catalyst for Memories of Earth was the 2019 Moving to Mars exhibition
at London’s Design Museum - which created a simulation of a future
Martian settlement. For Rothon this triggered recollections of a
childhood fascination with space – fuelled by the moon landings,
visits to the London Planetarium and being taken aged six to see
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. “I recall it as a time when
a science fiction-style future seemed just around the corner,” he
says.
He cites as another influential experience the landmark Cybernetics
Serendipity show at the ICA, which featured collaborations between
artists and scientists: machines were shown alongside artwork in a
spirit of postwar optimism for the positive power of new
technologies. “I actually remember very little about it other than
it was very noisy and somewhat scary!”
Memories of Earth
reflects a spectrum of emotional responses to the idea of space
travel – from the optimism and wonder of those childhood dreams to
the sense of disconnection, isolation and loss we might feel on a
one-way trip to Mars… or beyond. The final, bittersweet track
brings us back down to earth with a sense that perhaps it’s caring
for our own planet that should be our priority.
Musically
Memories of Earth draws on a varied palette of influences including
early prog, electronica and European film soundtracks. This diversity
of styles flows together to form an album that’s coherent but full
of surprises. It also benefits from vocal contributions by acclaimed
US musician Johanna Warren and actress/chanteuse Claudia Barton, who
wrote and performs the words for the title track – a paean to
Earth’s “soft, green bacterial surface”; its “deep, wet, blue
mysteries”…
Praise for Nightscapes:
"An instant classic – 9/10" The Line Of Best Fit
"Wonderful" Prog magazine
"Beautifully somnolent neo-classical/ambient work" Electronic Sound
"A Suite of gently haunting instrumentals..Hunker down, listen after dark and let it infiltrate your dreams" Shindig
"Nightscapes is an otherworldly ambient record... it’s like some distantly remembered TV theme, delivered via cor anglais, guitar and strings." Terrascope