1 post tagged “eric random”
Eric Random (Ramsden) had quite an interesting musical trajectory in the 80s. He was from Manchester, but after hooking up with Cabaret Voltaire he became more closely aligned with the Sheffield scene. His first recordings for New Hormones consisted of simple drum machine patterns, basic synth noises, and manipulated tapes, but he began incorporating, on one hand, Middle Eastern and dub styles, and on the other hand, more insistent rhythms, especially after adding drummer Graham "Dids" Dowdall. This musical journey culminated in 1987 in what I think of as "The Great Lost Worldbeat Album," Ishmael, on FON Records; "lost" because it has never been issued on CD, an oversight I find astounding. Random weaves Middle Eastern modalities with rock structures and rhythms, acoustic instruments with electronics, danceability with meditation. In short, it's a masterpiece. Here is the first track, "Cherish":
I love that bongo/flute jam in the middle! The album cover doesn't translate well to digital format, it is actually very striking. "Ishmael" is printed in white-on-white Arabic-style letters using a mask technique, i.e. the cover is glossy except for the letters. The only thing wrong with this album is its length: only six tracks (one a cover of Collin Walcott's "Hey Da Da Boom") for roughly half an hour of music. If only there had been more... Eric Random has remained active, sort of, so I suppose I should track down some of his newer material.
I could participate in the Sheffield scene only vicariously, from across the Atlantic, through reading the weekly UK music papers. I remember reading Amrik Rai's highly enthusiastic review of Hula. He was so enthusiastic that he founded the FON Records label in collaboration with Mark Brydon of Chakk (coming to the blog soon, maybe). Hula was already signed to Red Rhino, but FON picked up some closely associated bands (Chakk for one, obviously). Now that was a label whose every release was a must-buy for me; up until The Funky Worm, that is. FON records were easy to spot by their distinctive black-and-white-striped spine, which just lapped onto the front cover. Now that I think of it, and have done a quick Google search, very little of the FON catalog has made it to CD, except what I have ripped from vinyl for myself. And you!
