It’s a blinder. Into the album of the year lists this one.
Sound Art Radio
“Moody beats for a post-lockdown hellscape. Contains theremin.”
“Mournful bass, synth washes and lethargic rhythms, born from anguish, leading to hope.”
Contact
For label enquiries, please contact Steve at Cruel Nature Records:
cruelnature@live.com
For download links, gigs, interviews etc., email Lee:
lee@onemanunderground.co.uk
About Lee Ashcroft
Depending on who you ask, Lee Ashcroft is either a musician, writer, social care worker, artist, theremin player, autistic man, internet radio host, 2-time loser of BBC’s Pointless, or 1-time member of The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu. He lives with his partner in North Essex, UK.
Among other pseudonyms too numerous and irrelevant to mention, Lee has previously recorded and performed as 00’s bootleg/mashup provocateur/nuisance Mixomatosis, recording for egalitarian netlabel Digital Vomit, Austrian experimental label Hirntrust Grind Media, and Stockport’s legendary V/Vm Test Records, while lip-syncing aggressively to audiences across the East and South East of England throughout the decade. He also recorded and performed as The Nearly, releasing 2011’s ‘Cathode Rave’ for El Perro Rojo Records, a 9-minute album which, depending on which zines you read, either represents “the future of pop music” or makes you “feel physically sick.” ‘Persons Underground’ is the first album he has recorded under his birth name.
As well as performing music, Lee currently writes for American online publication In Spite Magazine and hosts a 4-weekly radio show for French internet station CAMP Radio, both under the name One Man Underground.
www.onemanunderground.co.uk
www.facebook.com/onemanunderground
www.instagram.com/1manunderground
About ‘Persons Underground’
‘Persons Underground’ began in a few weeks into the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. While the rest of the world seemed to be at home baking sourdough and watching ‘Tiger King’, Lee was on the frontline, attempting to maintain the wellbeing of disabled adults at a point they were forbidden to leave their home. Through a fog of low mood and physical exhaustion, a chance encounter with some cult record labels looking for lockdown-inspired submissions, along with some old musical acquaintances, led to the discovery of a new sound for Lee – mournful, bassy, with lethargic rhythm.
Over the next 4 years, Lee continued to explore these sonic territories, working with singer-songwriters and producers from the UK, Europe, Singapore, and the US. The resulting album is the culmination of this work – a journey through the haze of physical and mental exhaustion, coming out the other side to a more hopeful future. The album also features a remix of one of his earlier songs recorded as The Nearly, recorded independently from this project, but sonically fitting like a glove.
About the featured artists
Alina Noir is an artist and choreographer based in Lyon, France. Born in Romania, she studied classical and contemporary dance at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and École Nationale de Musique de Danse et D’art Dramatique in Lyon.
alinanoir.com
Kö Manafumi is a singer-songwriter based in Singapore. A student of the Chinese Master Flautist, Mr Zhan Yongming, and the Violinists of the Sui Family, the motivation behind his work is his love and understanding of popular music, and how it can bridge people of different backgrounds and preferences.
Instagram
Noah Britton is a musician and comedian based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is best known as a member of comedy group Aspergers Are Us. His work has appeared in films and TV shows on Netflix, HBO, and Adult Swim. As a songwriter he has recorded with The Best Thing Ever, ACLU Benefit, and Amanda Palmer.
fakenoah.blogspot.com/2022/03/everything-on-internet-about-noah.html
The Reverend Matthew Simpkins is the Priest in Charge of St. Leonard’s Church in Lexden, Essex. He is also a singer-songwriter, recording with Rev Simpkins and His Phantom Notes, Pissabed Prophet, and Sons of Joy.
revsimpkins.com
John Callaghan is an unusual songwriter and performer of thoughtful and spiky electronica from Birmingham, UK. His self-directed video for ‘I’m Not Comfortable Inside My Mind’, released on Warp Records, aired on MTV. He is the self-described “both king and fool of the Eccentronica microscene.”
johncallaghan.co.uk
Tristram Oaten, aka. Namtao, is a trumpet player who writes electronic music, publishes videos and is the creator of 3 cult podcasts – ‘Lost Terminal’, ‘Modem Prometheus’, and ‘The Phosphene Catalogue’.
namtao.com
Jack Burley is a drummer and vocalist who once lived in the same house as Lee in Colchester, albeit years apart. Formerly of Braintree-based progressive metal group Another Dead Hero, he currently plays with doom band Earthmass.
Discogs
Gemma Oakley is a multidisciplinary artist based in the East of England. A collaborative cultural magpie; begging, borrowing and building in order to create beguiling and locally significant works. She writes and sings for Essex-based bands Mezzotint, Leechbook and EthelFled.
alleyesthisway.com
Tim Oakenfull is a visual artist based in Hastings, UK. His previous work includes commissions for publisher Elliott & Thompson, and comedian Simon Amstell.
timoakenfull.weebly.com
Images
Image credits
Album cover – please credit to Tim Oakenfull
B/W theremin photo – please credit to Frazer Merrick/@colchesteremom
Glitch portrait – please credit to Sam Fez