2016: Vic Mars, Tyneham House, Alasdair Roberts and James Green.

Thanks to everyone who bought the Vic Mars album, the vinyl sold out very quickly so if you missed it there will be a second "Hollyhock" edition early next year. 500 hand numbered copies. Please sign up to the mailing list if you want to be informed when it is ready.

It is available digitally at: AMAZON // ITUNES // GOOGLE PLAY

The next release on Clay Pipe will be the re-issue of Tyneham House on 10" pale green vinyl with a handmade booklet. 300 numbered copies.

Following on from this in the spring, will be Alasdair Roberts and James Green's: 'Plaint of Lapwing'.

Independent Label Market

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered  a copy of the Vic Mars album today, it is now SOLD OUT. If you are in London on Saturday I will have a few copies for sale at the Independent Label Market, Spitalfields. (Sharing a stall with WIAIWYA) If you want to reserve a copy to buy at the market drop me an email. If you are not in London please ignore any copies of the LP that may turn up on Discogs (I've tried extra hard to stop it from happening this time round) and wait for the reissue that will be out next year.

Digital Pre-orders of Vic Mars The Land and The Garden can be ordered here:

AMAZON // ITUNES // GOOGLE PLAY

 
 

Vic Mars - The Land And The Garden.

Vic Mars - The Land And The Garden. Pre-orders will be available from 23rd November 2015. Please sign up to the mailing list for a reminder. Release date 4th December 2015. It will also be available digitally across most digital platforms.

12" Vinyl LP, 300 hand numbered copies, reverse board mat cover, and printed inner sleeve with download code included.

SOLD OUT

 

 

Digital Pre-orders:

AMAZON // ITUNES // GOOGLE PLAY

Vic Mars is a Herefordshire born musician currently based in London, he has recently returned from spending over a decade in Nagoya, Japan. In 2008 he released the mini-LP 'Kanransha' on Kentaro Togawa's Symbolic Interaction label, and 2012 saw the Bandcamp released library music inspired, 'Curriculum For Schools And Colleges: Volumes 1 &2'.

In 2013 whilst still based in Japan but on a visit home, Vic was stuck by the reprints of vintage British Railway posters hanging in his brothers house. Back in Japan, homesick and inspired by his childhood memories of the Herefordshire landscape he started the initial recordings for The Land and the Garden, carefully piecing together string and Mellotron soundscapes using archaic tracker software, and recording direct to cassette tape. During this time he immersed himself in the music of British classical composers such as Gustav Holst, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, the minimalist work of Wim Mertens and 1970’s children's BBC soundtracks such as those by Freddie Phillips, and Vernon Elliot. 

In 2014 with the album half finished Vic moved back to the UK, and after a period of disruption where his equipment was still in transit, he completed the record in the spring of 2015.


This is hugely ambitious and beautifully realised, neo-classical electronic/organic chamber music with mellotron (and associated ‘natural’ tape hiss) at the centre of much of the action going on. This is the sound of memory – a psycho-geographical survey of his British homeland largely dreamt up when Vic was way out east in Japan. The Active Listener

Vic Mars delved into his thoroughly English past for this release, pulling in vintage British Railway posters, the composer Gustav Holst and, 1970's children's television programs. The aesthetic is so deeply imbued that he’s even the classic Faber & Faber typeface… So, The Land And The Garden is kind of like English hauntology but without the spooky aspect: in fact, these pieces are rather lovely.  Normans Records

A quietly stunning full length from Vic Mars on the ever-reliable Clay Pipe label. The Land and The Garden takes a bucolic look at modern composition, with enticing reed instruments and Moondog-esque percussive lines weaving an understated poignancy into the compositions. It's instantly involving, a record unboastful of its melodic and arrangement achievements and sitting somewhere between Pascal Comelade, the afore-mentioned Moondog's most melodic work and something somehow quintessentially British and nostalgic, in the best possible way. Monorail Records

 The first non bandcamp release from Hereford born musician Vic Mars gives the impression of what the still shadowed pastoral of Virgina Astley's of From Gardens Where We Feel Secure would sound like if reorchestrated by Belbury Poly. The Wire

New Prints

There are three new prints for sale in the Clay Pipe Shop. One based on the artwork for the forthcoming album from Vic Mars LP, and two others based on the artwork from the Sharron Kraus LP. 

Sharron Kraus -  Friends and Enemies, Lovers and Strangers.

Risograph* print on Munken Pure 170mg paper. 40 copies signed and numbered. A3

 £20 +P&P

Sharron Kraus -  Friends and Enemies, Lovers and Strangers.

Risograph print on Munken Pure 170mg paper. 40 copies signed and numbered. A3

 £20 +P&P

*Unlike digital or Gilcee prints Risogarph prints are not direct copies of the original image. Each colour is printed separately from black and white artwork, and because the Risograph inks come in just a few tones the colour pallet is limited. Risograph prints have a distinct lo-fi charm all of their own. 

 

 Vic Mars - The Land and The Garden.

Giclée Print on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper.  30 copies signed and numbered. 16"x12"

SOLD OUT