Playlist: Rail Cables’ Spring Selection 2015 (Exclusive Mix)
Grab some headphones, buy a ticket and take a seat: celebrating the release of their Spring Selection later this month with an exclusive mix for The Double Negative, Dave Tate rides along with the Rail Cables project…
Train journeys can be powerfully moving things (excuse the pun). Sometimes, when the fates align, the results are otherworldly. Those moments — the sun scattering through the trees, a dramatic landscape unfurling across the window — are always capable of inspiring awe, be it on a cross-country expedition to somewhere new, or a morning trip into work you’ve taken hundreds of times before.
Often, the only thing that can make these moments any better is the right soundtrack. Celebrating simple pleasures, compilation maestros Rail Cables are launching their second release in an ongoing seasonal series, each of which features music inspired by train travel.
The Rail Cables comps — the creation of Newcastle-based curator Stuart Metcalfe – each feature four different musicians asked to contribute around 20 minutes of material: i.e., a side of vinyl. The idea behind the project was to invite artists to provide music they felt would make a perfect accompaniment to a train journey. Much like Brian Eno’s Music For Airports, the tracks would seek not to invite attention, but sit in the background, colouring each mile and passing landscape.
The records also feature a different artist and/or design studio contributing to the look and feel of each record: this Spring, Michigan-born multi-disciplinary artist (and album cover specialist) Sean Curtis Patrick takes the reigns.
‘Frail Cables’ A mix by Benoît Pioulard for TheDoubleNegative and RailCables by Railcables on Mixcloud
The Winter Selection, released in February, featured music from the likes of Scanner, Dru$s (Paddy from Gnod), Israeli musician Ran Slavin and drummer Greg Fox (Guardian Alien / Liturgy / Ben Frost). Cinematic, sprawling and contemplative, it served as the perfect background to a landscape dominated by misty moors, cold light and frosty terrain.
It fell to Benoit Pioulard to celebrate the arrival of Spring, whose latest album Sonnet has been garnering great acclaim, including from Pitchfork (who called it ‘arresting’); alongside Symbol, aka Christopher Royal King, guitarist with the american post-rock four piece This Will Destroy You. The sounds are hazy, nostalgic and bright — a perfect companion to flowers blooming, the sun waking from its winter slumber, and journeys that promise to be much brighter.
Opening the record are two pehaps unexpected tracks originally released on Andrew Weatherall’s now defunct SabreSongs label. Though they veer slightly from the original intention of using new music (they came out in 1995), Rail Cables curator Metcalfe explains their inclusion as being part of the inspiration for the entire series, originating from a chance discovery in a record shop in Kendal.
The final musical contributor to the Spring Selection is Dead Voices On Air. Mark Spybey, who originally started out as a member of the North-East experimental electronic band Zoviet*France, has since gone on to play with a whole host of other interesting bands and projects, including a stint playing live with Michael Karoli of pioneering group Can.
Whetted your appetite? Never fear: ahead of the official Spring Selection release later on this month, TDN have an exclusive teaser mix by Benoit Pioulard. Featuring the likes of Grouper and Baths, our new playlist serves as a perfect appetiser for the Rail Cables record, swerving between introspection and optimism, and it does a great job capturing the essence of Spring. All that’s missing is for you to grab some headphones, buy a ticket and ride the rails.
Dave Tate
Rail Cables’ Spring Selection 2015 by Being / Benoit Pioulard / Symbol / Dead Voices On Air will be released 25 May 2015
Pre-order now: available as a digital album (£7) or limited edition gatefold 2XLP vinyl with printed inner sleeves, designed by Sean Curtis Patrick (£16)
