Mount Vernon Arts Lab
Encyclopedia
Mount Vernon Arts Lab is a musical project of Scottish
musician Drew Mulholland, who has also recorded as Black Noise and N. Between 1996 and 2001, a string of EPs
, singles, and albums were released. After this he continued to release material as Mount Vernon Astral Temple.
, and from Daniel Miller
's work as The Normal
, Mulholland began creating avant-garde
/post-rock
recordings in 1996, and soon found the support of independent labels such as Via Satellite and Earworm
, who between them issued a series of vinyl-only releases during 1997 and 1998. Mulholland used a range of electronic and acoustic instruments including Moog synthesizer
s, theremin
, and a specially-built unit which he calls a "Turbine Generator". The debut mini-album, Gummy Twinkle, was issued in September 1998, featuring guest appearances from Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) and Norman Blake
of Teenage Fanclub
. He then signed a deal with Ochre Records, who issued his second mini-set, a collaboration with Adrian Utley
of Portishead, featuring a single 23-minute track, "Warminster". A second mini-set followed for Ochre, this time recorded 100 feet below ground in the abandoned nuclear bunker at Troywood. A final album as Mount Vernon Arts Lab was released in 2001 on Via Satellite; The Séance at Hobs Lane
was inspired by "Victorian skullduggery, outlaws, secret societies and subterranean experiences", and featured guest appearances from Blake, Utley, Isobel Campbell
, and Barry 7 (of Add N to (X)
). It has been described as "a music distilled from the nuclear age". Mulholland released further work under the name Mount Vernon Astral Temple, including Musick That Destroys Itself (2003), Bent Sinister By Sound (2005).
Many of MVAL's tracks are inspired by historical locations, and Mulholland has been described as the "godfather" of psychogeographic rock, and the inspiration for the Ghost Box Music
record label.
Mulholland went on to become the composer-in-residence at Glasgow University's geography
department.
In 2009, Mulholland and Utley again collaborated, with a performance at the Le Weekend festival in Stirling
.
Compilations:
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
musician Drew Mulholland, who has also recorded as Black Noise and N. Between 1996 and 2001, a string of EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, singles, and albums were released. After this he continued to release material as Mount Vernon Astral Temple.
History
Taking inspiration from Joe MeekJoe Meek
Robert George "Joe" Meek was a pioneering English record producer and songwriter....
, and from Daniel Miller
Daniel Miller
Daniel Miller may refer to:* Daniel Miller , anthropologist at University College London* Daniel Miller , cricketer for Surrey County Cricket Club...
's work as The Normal
The Normal
The Normal is the recording artist name used by English music producer Daniel Miller, a film editor at the time, who is best known as the founder of the record label Mute Records.-Background:...
, Mulholland began creating avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
/post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
recordings in 1996, and soon found the support of independent labels such as Via Satellite and Earworm
Earworm Records
Earworm Records was a London-based independent record label, with its first release by the band Hood in 1997. Other bands to release music on the label include Yo La Tengo, Of Montreal, Stars of the Lid, Windy & Carl, Portal, The Besnard Lakes, Fridge, Damon & Naomi and Magnétophone....
, who between them issued a series of vinyl-only releases during 1997 and 1998. Mulholland used a range of electronic and acoustic instruments including Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s, theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
, and a specially-built unit which he calls a "Turbine Generator". The debut mini-album, Gummy Twinkle, was issued in September 1998, featuring guest appearances from Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) and Norman Blake
Norman Blake (Scottish musician)
Norman Blake is a singer-songwriter in the Glasgow based band, Teenage Fanclub.Blake and Sean Dickson were in The Faith Healers together, which also contained various members at different times Stevie Gray, Hugh McLaughlin, Brian Carson and Colin Murray to name but a few.Blake and Carson were...
of Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
. He then signed a deal with Ochre Records, who issued his second mini-set, a collaboration with Adrian Utley
Adrian Utley
Adrian Francis Utley is an English musician and a member of the band Portishead.-Biography:Utley is self-taught on guitar, bass and keyboards, and played professionally from the age of 18 in working men's clubs, night clubs, holiday camps, and in cabaret, backing soul artists...
of Portishead, featuring a single 23-minute track, "Warminster". A second mini-set followed for Ochre, this time recorded 100 feet below ground in the abandoned nuclear bunker at Troywood. A final album as Mount Vernon Arts Lab was released in 2001 on Via Satellite; The Séance at Hobs Lane
The Séance at Hobs Lane
The Séance at Hobs Lane is the fifth release by Drew Mulholland , under the pseudonym of Mount Vernon Arts Lab. The album was re-released on the Ghost Box Music label some years after its initial appearance.-Track listing:...
was inspired by "Victorian skullduggery, outlaws, secret societies and subterranean experiences", and featured guest appearances from Blake, Utley, Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer, cellist and composer in the indie and rock genres.-History:Campbell was a member of Belle & Sebastian from their formation in Glasgow in 1996 until 2002, when she departed the band for personal reasons. She played cello and keyboards with the band, and sang...
, and Barry 7 (of Add N to (X)
Add N to (X)
Add N to were a three-piece British band specializing in electronic music performed on analogue synthesizers, formed in London in 1994.The original band members were Andrew Aveling, Barry Smith and Ann Shenton...
). It has been described as "a music distilled from the nuclear age". Mulholland released further work under the name Mount Vernon Astral Temple, including Musick That Destroys Itself (2003), Bent Sinister By Sound (2005).
Many of MVAL's tracks are inspired by historical locations, and Mulholland has been described as the "godfather" of psychogeographic rock, and the inspiration for the Ghost Box Music
Ghost Box Music
Ghost Box Music is an English independent record label, established in 2004 by Julian House and Jim Jupp.-Concept:The concept for the label was hatched by House and Jupp Ghost Box Music is an English independent record label, established in 2004 by Julian House and Jim Jupp.-Concept:The concept for...
record label.
Mulholland went on to become the composer-in-residence at Glasgow University's geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
department.
In 2009, Mulholland and Utley again collaborated, with a performance at the Le Weekend festival in Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
.
Singles, EPs
- Nova EP (1997), Via Satellite
- "Window" (1997), EarwormEarworm RecordsEarworm Records was a London-based independent record label, with its first release by the band Hood in 1997. Other bands to release music on the label include Yo La Tengo, Of Montreal, Stars of the Lid, Windy & Carl, Portal, The Besnard Lakes, Fridge, Damon & Naomi and Magnétophone....
- split with Omit - Talvin Stardust EP (1997), Via Satellite
- William Green EP (1998), Via Satellite
- "Imber" (1998), Earworm - one-sided 7-inch single, split with ElectroscopeElectroscopeAn electroscope is an early scientific instrument that is used to detect the presence and magnitude of electric charge on a body. It was the first electrical measuring instrument. The first electroscope, a pivoted needle called the versorium, was invented by British physician William Gilbert...
Albums
- Gummy Twinkle (1998), Via Satellite
- Warminster (1999), Ochre - with Adrian UtleyAdrian UtleyAdrian Francis Utley is an English musician and a member of the band Portishead.-Biography:Utley is self-taught on guitar, bass and keyboards, and played professionally from the age of 18 in working men's clubs, night clubs, holiday camps, and in cabaret, backing soul artists...
- One Minute Blasts Rising to Three and then Diminishing (2000), Ochre
- The Séance at Hobs LaneThe Séance at Hobs LaneThe Séance at Hobs Lane is the fifth release by Drew Mulholland , under the pseudonym of Mount Vernon Arts Lab. The album was re-released on the Ghost Box Music label some years after its initial appearance.-Track listing:...
(2001), Via Satelliterereleased in 2008 on Ghost Box Records - Musick That Destroys Itself (2003), EskatonEskatonEskaton is a defunct vanity record label created by Coil, exclusively for albums put out by the group and their friends. Its brother labels are Threshold House and Chalice....
as Mount Vernon Astral Temple - Untitled (2003), Eskaton
- Bent Sinister by Sound (2005), Further - CDR-only issue, limited to 33 copies
Compilations:
- E for Experimental (1999), Ochre
Compilation appearances, split releases
- Creeping Bent Singles Club 7" (1997), Creeping Bent - "Bad Vibrations" (Mount Vernon Arts Lab deconstructed by Scientific Support Dept.)
- Just Like Jeff 7-inch, Boa Records - "Sky Men" (ElectroscopeElectroscopeAn electroscope is an early scientific instrument that is used to detect the presence and magnitude of electric charge on a body. It was the first electrical measuring instrument. The first electroscope, a pivoted needle called the versorium, was invented by British physician William Gilbert...
with Mount Vernon Arts Lab) - After Hours (1997), After Hours - "The Mind Field"
- Spooky Sounds of Now (1997), Vesuvius - "Scooby Don't"
- Sunday Sept. 14th. '97 (1997), Enraptured - "Automatic Frequency Control"
- Electronic Lullabies (1998), Creeping BentCreeping bentCreeping Bent can be:*Agrostis stolonifera, a species of bentgrass.*Creeping Bent , a record label based in Glasgow, Scotland....
- "MV 3" - The Battle Of Bosworth (1998), Trunk - "Electroluminessence"
- Bentism - The Underground Sounds Of Creeping Bent (1999), Creeping Bent - "Remix" (remix by Scientific Support Dept.)
- 271199 (2000), Ochre - "Abstracts"
- Infrasonic Waves (2001), Ochre - "Broadcasting"
- The Electronic Bible Chapter 1 (2004), White Label Music - "Hobgoblins" (CoilCoil (band)Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...
remix), "The Hackney Homonculus" (as N) - Not Alone (2006), Durtro/Jnana - "The Postal Workers Night Out"as Black Noise
- Electric Brain Storms Vol.1 (2008), The Pod Room (podcast by Future Sound of London) - "Mv3"
- Ritual And Education (2008), Ghost Box - "The Black Drop", "The Submariner's Song"
- Infrasonic Waves Volume III 7-inch EP, Ochre - "Broadcasting"
External links
- Mount Vernon Arts Lab at Discogs.com