The Séance at Hobs Lane by Mount Vernon Arts Lab is available to pre-order now. It's the latest in an ongoing series of Ghost Box back catalogue re-issues. It's released on 28th March on heavyweight vinyl with free download code card.

First issued in 2001, Séance at Hobs Lane is an overlooked classic of weird British electronics. Its sinister atmospherics are comprised of VCS3 synthesizer squalls, howling guitar, skronking sax, and oddly haunting keyboard and cello melodies. The album has a similar eccentric and disturbing atmosphere to the work of great mid-century British experimentalists like Desmond Leslie, Daphne Oram or Tristram Carey.

 

Mount Vernon Arts Lab is the lifelong, ever mutating, experimental art and music project of Glasgow’s Drew Mulholland (pictured below). Séance was his fifth and possibly his most ambitious album, with a large number of talented artists co-writing and performing: John Balance (Coil) on Hobgoblins, Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) on The Mandrake Club, Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian) on The Black Drop, Barry 7 (Add N to X) on The Submariner’s Song and Adrian Utley (Portishead) on Warminster 4.  Also taking part were saxophonist Raymond MacDonald and broadcaster and producer John Cavanagh.

Artwork is by Julian House and beautifully evocative sleeve notes are courtesy of Lawrence Norfolk (author of Lemprière’s Dictionary, The Pope’s Rhinoceros & Saturnall’s Feast.)