Songs For Skulls

Songs For Skulls is a five track EP by The Field Guide Radio, a duo from Margate of Chris F Clark and Lesley Malone who with their synths, drones, words and art have produced a musical response to a book called The Skull by Jon Klassen. The EP is at Bandcamp, a full on half hour journey into the woods, a crossover between experimental electronics, spoken word and folklore. It's out on The Fearless Few, a label and collective based in London. At the end of last week a remix EP came out, four of the tracks on Songs For Skulls reworked and remixed by Oliver Si, MSOM, Valtow, Greyfield Woods, and Melinda Bronstein, Songs For Skulls- The Fearless reworkings. 

Helpfully, in order to simplify matters and provide some background the Fearless Few asked the remixers to describe themselves and their remix, and each one of them did a really good job. Oliver Si's remix of The Bones & The Fire opens the EP, dark and persistent, a walk in the woods that has gone way off the path. Oliver's own description is 'a dark and majestic take on an already deep and strange theme'. MSOM's remix of The Headless Skeleton is an eight and a half minute slow building trip by a self- confessed synth obsessive, long synth chords, a rippling topline and then the thump of the kick drum. MSOM describes his remix as 'a dramatic intro evolving into a synth banging tour de noughties', as accurate a description as any. 

It's followed by Valtow's remix of The Forest, a 'dubby soundscape with syncopated grooves' according to Valtaw. It's definitely dubby- that kind of dark, industrial, electronic dub- and the drums are nicely off beat and disturbed. Greyfield Woods remixed The Dark, a short piece, less than three minutes, of soundtrack/ folk horror sounds, with a hushed voice and wash of grey synths. Greyfield Woods says it is 'whispers from a witch dabbling in borderline- pervy remote viewing', and also as 'occult, lusty and atmospheric'. The remix EP concludes with Melinda Bronstein's version of The Bones & The Fire, a drone, a folky, female voice, the peculiarities of the countryside turned into five minutes of sound. Melinda calls it a 'radiophonic torch song' and 'a crepuscular vision of desire and hope emanating from a flickering fire'. Again, spot on and better than anything I can do. The EP is at Bandcamp