Far Rainbow are releasing a new album-length cassette featuring spoken word by tQ’s very own John Doran. Entitled Area Forecast For the Borough of Camden, the pinky-purply coloured C60 consists of two thirty minute tracks recorded by the London-based improvising duo with tQ editor and Jolly Lad author Doran. Out this week and available now from the group’s Bandcamp page, Area Forecast for the Borough of Camden marks the fourth cassette release on the duo’s own Zero Wave label.
Formed in 2014, Far Rainbow have been described by Paul Margree’s We Need No Swords blog as bringing to mind “the free-spirited electronic kosmische musik that Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius may have created in their Cluster heyday if they had King Tubby rather than Conny Plank producing it.” Since early 2015, they have been jointly curating the Zero Wave label and concert series across various north London venues, featuring an eclectic mix of experimental electronic music, instrumental free improvisation, contemporary composition, artist film, and sound art.
From the start of 2016, Far Rainbow initiated a series of collaborations with other artists, kicking off with a live collaboration with modular synth maven Homodular which resulted in the tape release In A State Of Weightlessness. The hook-up with John Doran represents the fruits of the second such collaboration. The A-side was recorded live at the Fiddler’s Elbow in Kentish Town and the B-side, ‘Exercise No.1’ was specially prepared for this release. Both tracks feature Far Rainbow’s characteristic mix of atmospheric field recordings, densely textured drones, and freeform percussion here aided and abetted by the distinctive voice of John Doran, reading from his own texts.
The next Zero Wave event curated by Far Rainbow will take place this Thursday (25 August) in the basement of the Harrison Pub, Bloomsbury and will feature live performances by vocal experimenter Sharon Gal, composer-performer Josh Spear (Bastard Assignments), improviser Sylvia Hallett, plus spoken word by Verso Books author Juliet Jacques (author of the acclaimed Trans – A Memoir). Far Rainbow will also perform themselves, first on the bill. Doors open at 8pm and advance tickets are available from Billetto (where you can also purchase a discounted copy of the new cassette if purchased in conjunction for a ticket to the gig).
Far Rainbow will be performing at The Harrison, Bloomsbury on Thursday 25 August
