How I Learnt To Disengage from The Pack

by Ben McElroy

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editions vaché Ben Mclroy is so eclectic in his approach- no one else combines the genres he uses with ease. His far-reaching compositions will delight and captivate - he even sings!.....ss/am/tm Favorite track: Bed Down In The Murk.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Where Were You in ‘72? / The Laziest Of Rivers, Beacons Of The Wilderness, Where We Don't Go, Everything Was Different Yesterday, Ever So Gently, How I Learnt To Disengage from The Pack, The Common From The Goose, Home Diaries 28 - Whitelabrecs, and 9 more. , and , .

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	1.	Store Away For a Winters Day 03:27
	2.	How I Learnt To Disengage From The Pack 05:43
	3.	Hedgehogs 02:03
	4.	From Time To Time 08:19
	5.	See More 02:07
	6.	Bed Down In The Murk 04:52
	7.	Wolves Dance 06:34
	8.	Collecting Bone Dust 05:42

about

Released by the Slow Music Movement

*** The Guardian - Folk Album of the Month, January 2022 ***
A shivering seabed of sound, haunted by barely there vocals and stitched together with lo-fi production – McElroy has made a beautiful early year listen

www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/14/ben-mcelroy-how-i-learnt-to-disengage-from-the-pack-review

*** Folk Radio UK ***
Ben McElroy seems to be mastering his own set of lessons on How I Learnt to Disengage from the Pack. Reengaging with the old, he has created something truly unique.

www.folkradio.co.uk/2022/01/ben-mcelroy-how-i-learnt-to-disengage-from-the-pack

Release notes:

Written and recorded winter/spring 2021.

Notes and thoughts on the recording from Ben:

The Location?
This was the last album to be recorded at Premier Road, where I lived from 2016 to summer 2021. Maybe you can hear the end of that relationship somewhere in the music?

The Big Picture
Governments, corporations- they will lie and lie until we’re all dead and gone. Don’t believe the layers of greenwashing- fact check everything they say. They are entranced and controlled by the ideology they created, which has taken on a life of its own and now controls them…but the climate crises can’t be solved using capitalist ideas.. it’s madness and we have a bunch of madmen steering the ship!

The Instruments:
My Apogee Duet audio interface finally died on me after many years during recording this album. You can hear the disintegration of its preamps at certain points. It also features the usual collection of fiddle, cello, acoustic guitar, accordion, organ, whistles and vocals… themselves in various forms of decay and disintegration (that accordion in particular is a pain in the arse and barely stays together long enough to record a track nowadays… still for £30 off Ebay, it's done me well!).

Notes from James:
There's no doubt this recording is midwinter folk music. You can hear the winds blowing in from the East, swaying branches instead of rustling green leaves, summer joi de vivre is replaced by winter stoicism, But even in midwinter the clouds dissapear to reveal blue skies and all those lucky enough to be out in the open often pause in a sunny spot to enjoy the warmth on their pale skin. Maybe for a moment thoughts even dare turn to the warmer days ahead? Then the clouds roll in again.

This is one of those albums. A certain world weariness and melancholy infuses the recordings there is no doubt. Life's hardships aren't glossed over and climate & Covid angst are acknowledged rather than denied, but beauty, a gentle touch, a warm embrace and easier times are never far away either.

Such is life.

credits

released January 20, 2022

Everything audible: Ben McElroy
benjaminmcelroy.com
www.facebook.com/benmcelroy4/
twitter.com/BenMcElroy4
soundcloud.com/benjaminmcelroy
benmcelroy.bandcamp.com
open.spotify.com/artist/2e1vp24JZbFDPOAk0m9GGk
www.youtube.com/channel/UCwzgb0huiy41mvJShXt6CMw

Thanks to James at The Slow music movement for all his hard work in getting this album out there and heard!

Mastering: Ian Hawgood (www.homenormal.com)
Artwork: Harriet Clare (www.harrietclare.com)
The photo that has been manipulated was taken in 1901 by Benjamin Stone (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Benjamin_Stone) and depicts a Kern Baby’ from a festival called ‘The Harvest Home’ in Northumberland in 1901.

This festival was all about celebrating that fact that the farmers had harvested the corn and this would mean that the community had enough to eat for another year. The last corn that was gathered would be made into a human shape, dressed in fine clothes and crowned with flowers and called the ‘Kern Baby’ or ‘Harvest Queen.’ There would be feasting and music to celebrate the harvest.

license

about

Ben McElroy Nottingham, UK

-folk based experiments

-drone based droning

-maker of ‘shivering seabeds of sound’ (The Guardian, no less!)

Recommendations

shows

Sep 28

Centre for Folklore, Myth & Magic

Todmorden, UK

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