Presenting ... LOOKING BACK moving forward VOL.001

LOOKING BACK moving forward VOL.001 features new music from Cousin Silas, Kevin Lyons, David Gerard, and Brother Saturn; tracks that will either appear on new releases in 2016 or are exclusive to this compilation.

As with last year’s compilation, there will be a small charge for the music featured during the month of January. All proceeds will be donated to HOSPICE UK, a charity based in the UK that supports the development of hospice care in the UK and internationally.

weareallghosts is my main side-project and something I do for the love of it. My main employment is as a Senior Business Analyst in Glasgow, Scotland; my employer actively and generously supports HOSPICE UK and doubles any donation made by her staff - by paying for this album (22p per track) we will hopefully be able to raise some money for a really great cause and give a little good back into the world.

The album will not be available on Archive although you will be able to stream it on Soundcloud.

My sincere thanks to everyone who released their music on weareallghosts in 2015 … and to Cousin Silas and Kevin Lyons for helping me choose the tracks featured.

Here’s to 2016 … we will feature some new names along with all the old favourites this year. I hope you enjoy what’s to come as much as I do!

Tx



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Tracklisting
01. Cousin Silas - Berlin Evenings (edit) 06:11
02. Cousin Silas - Dronescape 028 edit with guitar 20:16
03. David Gerard - Hypnotique 18:14
04. Symatic Star & String Theories - Compressionism (Symatic Star & Stephen Briggs) 11:32
05. Cousin Silas & Kevin Lyons - The Desolation 11:14
06. Kevin Lyons - Learning to Let Go 07:24
07. Cousin Silas - Dronescape 002 edit with guitar 04:28
08. Symatic Star & String Theories - Yearning (Symatic Star & Cousin Silas) 09:19
09. Brother Saturn - Beacons 14:14
10. Cousin Silas - Returning to Dust (January 1974) 07:13
11. Matthew VandeBrook - Metempsychosis 04:20
12. Cousin Silas - Tim Jones - Kevin Lyons - Narcoleptic Summer 05:24
13. Cousin Silas - Dronescape 030 edit with guitar 11:26
14. Cousin Silas - Further East 07:22
15. Brother Saturn - Snowdrift 04:14
16. Scott Lawlor and The Gateless Gate - Lemurian Shores- (a) Pleasure Garden (b) Temple 16:08
17. Cousin Silas & Kevin Lyons - The Backstreets Of Marsport Ain’t No Place For Tourists 04:56
18. Kevin Lyons - Dark Flow 05:16
19. Cousin Silas & David Gerard - Bagatelle for Harp and Orchestra 03:54
20. Brother Saturn - I’ve Never Felt This Way Before 06:41
21. Cousin Silas - Tim Jones - Kevin Lyons - Radio Dunwich 07:22
22. Cousin Silas - The Other Jezebel 04:09
23. Cousin Silas - Old Tin Hat 04:39

+

a bonus track from Gurdonark: "Constellation Blackbird"

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Presenting ... The people who walked in darkness (waag_aa002_4) by Stephen Briggs

“The people who walked in darkness (waag_aa002_4)” is the fourth piece by Stephen Briggs that makes up this second “Ambient Advent” collection and with it comes a fifth track, a bonus track, that was simply too good not to include.

Both “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” and “Light and life to all he brings” are designed for contemplation and meditation during what has become a very busy period.

Regardless how you celebrate this period, I hope these pieces will give you a sense of peace. Please create a playlist with all five tracks and take some time out to consider how you can bring light to the dark corners of this world.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. Any monies raised from this track will be donated to charity … more details to follow.

Tx

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Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/a-hubble-cosmic-couple

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https://archive.org/details/waag_aa002_4

Presenting ... Let your heart take courage (waag_aa002_3) by Stephen Briggs

“Let your heart take courage (waag_aa002_3)” is the third of four pieces by Stephen Briggs that are intended for the season of Advent.

Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, and the like without fear; It is a quality we need desperately today when we consider all that is happening in our beautiful world. The terrorists and the warmongers want us to fear and every Star Wars fan knows that fear is the path to the dark side:

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

We need the courage to live without fear … and for us to have courage, we need hope. The time of Advent is all about hope: the hope of a new day.

The four soundscapes that will make up this second “Ambient Advent” collection are designed for contemplation and meditation during what has become a very busy period.

Regardless how you celebrate this period, I hope this piece will give you a sense of peace.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. Any monies raised from this track will be donated to charity … more details to follow.

Tx

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Image Credit: NASA/JAXA
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/venus-from-the-international-space-station

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https://archive.org/details/waag_aa002_3

Presenting ... Ambient Advent 2015: "We Wait For The Light (waag_aa002_12)" by Stephen Briggs

“We wait for the light (waag_aa002_2)” is the second of four pieces by Stephen Briggs that are intended for the season of Advent.

Darker than the previous soundscape, “We wait for the light” is all about anticipation … of waiting and watching … of wondering about the future.

The four soundscapes that will make up this second “Ambient Advent” collection are designed for contemplation and meditation during what has become a very busy period.

Regardless how you celebrate this period, I hope this piece will give you a sense of peace.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. Any monies raised from this track will be donated to charity … more details to follow.

Tx

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Image credit: NASA/SDO > www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/coronal-hole-front-and-center 
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https://archive.org/details/waag_aa002_2

Presenting ... Ambient Advent 2015: The Stars In The Bright Sky (waag_aa002_1​)” by Stephen Briggs

“The Stars In The Bright Sky (waag_aa002_1​)” is the first of four pieces by Stephen Briggs that are intended for the season of Advent.

Advent, for me, is about mystery and there is nothing more mysterious than the stars in the night sky. Briggs’ first piece conveys, through a moving looped and layered ambient guitar instrumental, this sense of mystery before settling on a tune that will be very familiar to some.

The four soundscapes that will make up this second “Ambient Advent” collection are designed for contemplation and meditation during what has become a very busy period.

Regardless how you celebrate this period, I hope this piece will give you a sense of peace.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. Any monies raised from this track will be donated to charity … more details to follow.

Tx

https://archive.org/details/waag_aa002_1

Presenting ... "Oscillation I (waag_CDr002)" by Symatic Star & String Theories

I am proud to announce weareallghosts' second physical release - "Oscillation I" by Symatic Star & String Theories.

From the liner notes:

Collaboration of the kind shown here from Symatic Star and his collective, String Theories, on their first album - "Oscillation I" - is a truly beautiful thing indeed. 

Working with waag alumni Stephen Briggs and Cousin Silas, as well as Chris Archibald, Steve Bobs, Disturbed Earth, Dan Minoza, and Darage Bang; under the collective name of String Theories … Simon Walsh aka Symatic Star has created something exquisite: music that is both deeply engaging and expressive ... music that is memorable, not for individual contributions but for the whole togetherness of the pieces presented. Elements of post-rock and "world" sounds combine with expressive improvisation forming atmospheres, the whole interwoven by Walsh's masterful ambience. 

String theories is a musical collective where each member contributes to the overall sound using only stringed instruments such as guitar (all), fretless bass and bass VI (Symatic Star) and even the mandolin (Darage Bang); crafting this sound with a range of pedals and software, as appropriate. 

This is not a sum-of-the-parts endeavour but a series of genuine collaborations where the seams do not show, where continuity and flow, as values, are both expertly and consistently expressed. 

Oscillation I was directed by Simon Walsh with the members of String Theories each contributing to one track. Oscillation II will see the role of director pass to another member with Symatic Star only playing on one track and the responsibility for aural cohesion passed to one of his collaborators. 

My kudos to Simon & to the String Theories collective for what has become the second physical product that weareallghosts has put out, a release I am proud to back. 

This, the second proper physical release from weareallghosts, features artwork by Sheleah Nahshon in a beautiful digipack created by Brin Coleman (aka Bing Satellites) for scramsons.co.uk.

The CD is currently on pre-order over on our Bandcamp page. If you buy it now you will get 2 tracks immediately (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more) and will receive the complete album the moment it's released on 21st August, 2015;

CDs are priced at £8 + postage and packing with the download (without CD) priced at £6 ... weareallghosts has 75 CDs for sale via our Bandcamp page with the remaining 25 with Simon for local sale in Australia and to pass to the artists who contributed to the making of the album.

CDs will start shipping on or around 22 August 2015.

Presenting ... "The Gallery of Time (waag_sng006)" by Christopher Alvarado & Stephen Briggs

I totally missed this track. It was intended for our recent end-of-year compilation and it got bogged down in my inbox.

I am so sorry to Christopher Alvarado and Stephen Briggs for my oversight ... and to make it up to them I've decided to release it as a free single.

That said, I am also releasing it because it is a superb piece of music ... a track where two distinct musicians have come together to make something new and unique ... a synergy, so to speak, and a fabulous one at that.

This is the kind of ambient music that weareallghosts was brought into being to support ... and I am proud to do so ... albeit 16 days later than I should have.

Enjoy.

Tx



https://archive.org/details/waag_sng006

Presenting ... "New Beginnings (waag_rel037)" by Stephen Briggs

I love Stephen Briggs' particular brand of looping ambient guitar-orientated soundscapes and I am proud to present his latest release - "New Beginnings (waag_rel037)".

According to Stephen, this is an album that explores themes of newness ... the newness of planted grass seed ... and of space ... the freedom of open space. Inspired by hot evenings and watching the water spraying on freshly pruned trees, "New Beginnings (waag_rel037)" is a delight from start to finish ... best enjoyed in a single sitting, this is the kind of sound that washes over you in a way that both invigorates and inspires.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have ... "New Beginnings (waag_rel037)" is a welcome addition to the weareallghosts canon.

An MP3 version of this album is available for free on Archive or a lossless version available on Bandcamp for 'pay what you want' which does include £0 (albeit paying supporters also get unlimited mobile access using the free Bandcamp listening app).

Tx

Please Note
All tracks are live improvisations using guitar and pedals. There is no overdubbing and no PC gubbins involved. It was recorded live ... mistakes, foibles and all.



https://archive.org/details/waag_rel037

Presenting ... "Good Friday (waag_rel026)" by Stephen Briggs

"Good Friday was inspired by observing the power of crowds … how the spirit of a crowd can change a person … take over them … make them do things they wouldn't otherwise consider doing. This spirit … the spirit that can turn a respected school teacher into a looter grasping for a TV in a riot … was evident on the first Good Friday … a day when the crowd took over. 

Good Friday was also inspired by the spirit that exists in a room or a building ... be it an incense-rich 15th century church in rural Spain or a grease-filled garage near my home in New Zealand. 

Take, for example, the room I live and work in ... it is full of the memories of souls and conversations … thousands of them. From day old babies to 90+ year olds. Somehow I channel their thoughts and feelings into my music. Just as I try to revive their tired life-force and help them to get better from their injuries … they help and inspire me to create and express what is inside me. 

My music comes from my soul. I hope … in handing what is inside me over to you … that this will act as a catalyst for you … that you may be inspired too." 

- Stephen

"I really connect with Stephen's music … it have connected with it since the first time he let me hear the start of what we now call 'Good Friday (waag_rel026)'. He is a talented musician and a genuinely beautiful human being … someone who gives generously from the deep well of his soul to all who know him. 

I am honoured to know him and am equally honoured to release 'Good Friday (waag_rel026)' on weareallghosts. We always have room for inspired improvisational ambient music. His is a powerful music … a music that comes from all that dwells within him. It is fascinating to listen to. 

To say this is an expression of Briggs' faith would not be entirely accurate … this is an expression of more than his faith … it is an expression of his humanity and his experience … and I am grateful for this whole-of-self expression. It inspires me. 

I hope you are as challenged and inspired by 'Good Friday (waag_rel026)' as I was and am." 

- Thomas

As before, an MP3 version will be available on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for 'pay what you want'. If you decide to download this album for free, and you are able to do so with our blessing, then please tell everyone you know about it … and then tell us. We always enjoy hearing from the folks who've taken the time to download and really listen. Its what we're about afterall.



- or -

http://archive.org/details/waag_rel026