The Caretaker (musician)
Encyclopedia
The Caretaker is a long-running project by electronic music
ian James Kirby alongside his better-known project V/Vm
. Initially the project was inspired by the haunted ballroom scene in the Stanley Kubrick
film The Shining
, with the first several releases consisting of dark ambient with intermittent orchestral segues and flourishes.
The Caretaker releases the majority of his work on the V/Vm Test Records
label.
Recently The Caretaker has shifted attention onto the processes of the brain's function in recalling memories. This has been typified by the monumental release 'Theoretically pure anterograde amnesia' which was released in 2005 as a series of 72 free MP3 downloads. In 2006 this was pressed up as a limited edition 6 cd boxset with an additional 12 tracks. Those who suffer from 'theoretically pure anterograde amnesia' will still be able to recall memories laid down before the onset of anterograde amnesia, but will exist in a transient world where anything beyond their immediate attention-span disappears permanently from their consciousness. The release itself found much critical acclaim - it was record of the week in Stylus Magazine, received a favourable review in Grooves Magazine and was given an honorary mention at the ARS Technica awards for Digital Musics in Austria, 2007
Older works have received critical acclaim in publications as diverse as Russian Playboy and the BBC and the project was a favourite of legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel
who regularly played audio by The Caretaker on his shows.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
ian James Kirby alongside his better-known project V/Vm
V/Vm
V/Vm is the experimental music and sound collage project of James Leyland Kirby, from Stockport, England. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, Kirby is also a composer of original electronic music and remixes. His vast output is released primarily on his own V/Vm Test Records...
. Initially the project was inspired by the haunted ballroom scene in the Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
film The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
, with the first several releases consisting of dark ambient with intermittent orchestral segues and flourishes.
The Caretaker releases the majority of his work on the V/Vm Test Records
V/Vm Test Records
V/Vm Test records is a record label based in Stockport, England and was started by James Kirby and Andrew Macgregor in 1996...
label.
Recently The Caretaker has shifted attention onto the processes of the brain's function in recalling memories. This has been typified by the monumental release 'Theoretically pure anterograde amnesia' which was released in 2005 as a series of 72 free MP3 downloads. In 2006 this was pressed up as a limited edition 6 cd boxset with an additional 12 tracks. Those who suffer from 'theoretically pure anterograde amnesia' will still be able to recall memories laid down before the onset of anterograde amnesia, but will exist in a transient world where anything beyond their immediate attention-span disappears permanently from their consciousness. The release itself found much critical acclaim - it was record of the week in Stylus Magazine, received a favourable review in Grooves Magazine and was given an honorary mention at the ARS Technica awards for Digital Musics in Austria, 2007
Older works have received critical acclaim in publications as diverse as Russian Playboy and the BBC and the project was a favourite of legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
who regularly played audio by The Caretaker on his shows.
Discography
- Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom 1999 (Release info)
- A Stairway To The Stars 2001 (Release info and free download)
- We'll All Go Riding On A Rainbow 2003 (Release info and track preview)
- Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia 2005 (Release info and free download)
- Additional Amnesiac Memories 2006 (Free download)
- Deleted Scenes / Forgotten Dreams 2007 (Release info and track preview)
- Persistent repetition of phrases 2008 (Release info and track preview)
- An Empty Bliss Beyond This World 2011 (Release info)
Interviews
- Conversations with The Caretaker Headphone Commute, September 2011.