Some time ago I wrote here about Years On Earth from Northampton, a band that I was in touch with in ’84. I had two of their tapes in my label program, license releases, that is: YOE-2 ‘Site’, YOE-3 ‘Worlds Apart’. Read it here: http://www.calypsonow.ch/catalogue/bands/years-on-earth/.
When I reactivated my cassette label last september, Bob Roke from Years On Earth sent me by happy coincidence a solo work he had done in 2003 – he did not know then that I was back in business again. Of course I was thrilled, because I was badly looking for the whereabouts of the band. So of course I asked Bob if I could release the CD on cassette. And now it’s here for the taking:
The cassette is a C50 with 15 tracks, it’s a Calypso Now exclusive release, and it goes by the number YOE-4, thus continuing the band’s work. YOE-3 was ‘Worlds Apart’ from 1984, by the way.
Bob uses dark ambient electronics combined with natural sounds or field recordings, and he is still a master of the bedroom electronics. And I remember that YOE used to build part of their equipment themselves. You hear the Years On Earth heritage, of course, but you find less of their song structures here. What always amazes me, since their first recordings, are the high quality standards. No fillers, no fiddling around with the buttons, although it definitely goes under ‘industrial’. In short, a very good production, and a very special tape. The same goes for all the Years On Earth productions, and they are all rereleased by Calypso Now at the same time!
You can order the tapes online here at the Calypso Now Shop.