Tangles

tangles

The Internet has no seasons, so don’t expect many references to the current weather or season. This is hardcore Internet music provision, so close the curtains, shut the blinds, or alternatively stare at the computer screen while your audio player of preference moves towards the end point of this recording. Perhaps if I set the scene for you, give you some visual aids, it might make you feel more at ease.

Some Subcity contributors took one of their favourite bands on a road trip to a small westerly village called Ardentinny. We set off early in a van full of instruments and recording equipment. The skies were clear and blue, it was one of those last days of summer, the temperature getting slightly cooler and the bloom of nature beginning to fade.

We recorded some tracks in the town hall and in the garden of a cottage that overlooked the loch. The village is located on the banks of Loch Long, so we set up and recorded a 13 minute performance of A Boat by Tangles on the beach. Ricky Egan, the guitarist and songwriter for Tangles, recommends Milkdrop for Winamp as your visual aid for this section of the recording because “its the trippyest".

Ricky runs a blog with Joe Howe (from Ben Butler & Mousepad) dedicated to fusion jazz, they are trying to reclaim the genre by highlighting some of its best shredders. When I interviewed Ricky, he told me he was “practicing in 6/8 time signatures a lot. I was watching a documentary about Miles Davis and he said that 6/8 is the funkiest time signature, I tried it out with my new drum machine and he was right, everything sounds great in that time signature. I really want to start a proper fusion band, so I need to practise...right now my riffs are like Robert Fripp’s but a bit slower".

Ricky learnt to play guitar in a band named after him: Teenage Ricky. They were a fun punk rock band, a lot of fun to watch and a wee bit daft. Tangles are fun, but sound totally different. Their releases to date have all been on tape, the Sweet Jams EP came out earlier this year and a release via UUU tapes is planned for 2011. Its melodic, psychedelic stuff that's quite beautiful.

Posted at 19:31, 12th December 2010