{"title":"North Sea Radio Orchestra","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"i-a-moon","title":"I A Moon","description":"\u003cp\u003enorth sea radio orchestra, two album releases with glowing reviews and several bbc6 sessions. now, after a short period of hibernation they return with their third album; 'i a moon'. 'i a moon' retains the unique north sea radio orchestra line-up of strings, woodwind, percussion, guitars, keyboards and voices but with a darker, less pastoral sound, with synth and percussion taking a more prominent role than on their previous two albums. another departure is a move away from using poetry to the more personal use of self-penned lyrics. on this new release, the influences apparent on the first two albums (britten, vaughan williams, reich, isb, 70's prog) have been augmented by a distinct whiff of krautrock while the angular guitars of 'ring moonlets' show a debt to the dual guitar textures of deerhoof. north sea radio orchestra continue to blend their influences in a highly imaginative and unusual way, while all the time having an ear for the beautiful, be it in melody, texture or chord. the uniqueness of nsro's music has meant they have never really belonged to any 'scene', having always defied categorisation. some continue to include them in with the 'nu folk' phenomenon but in reality they continue as they have always done; doing it all themselves, ploughing their own furrow outside of any group or affiliation, creating beautiful, crafted music for music lovers uninterested in category or genre. it is in this light that they have set up their own label, 'the household mark', to release this record. the creative freedom that flows through this album in part springs from the liberating feeling of not having to seek assurances from label, contemporaries or advisors. without them north sea radio orchestra have been free to create a unified collection of songs and instrumentals that will stand up to scrutiny for years to come.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50470757761355,"sku":"340582","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/963ede6a-124a-410a-9c72-60a6e011c634_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727382020"},{"product_id":"dronne","title":"Dronne","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter a 4 year break North Sea Radio Orchestra return with their fourth album 'Dronne'. All North Sea Radio Orchestra music is composed, recorded and lead by guitarist Craig Fortnam who during the last four years he has not been idle. As well as releasing Arch Garrison's 2014 CD, 'I Will Be A Pilgrim' (Craig as singer-songwriter, singing songs about old roads and chalk downland in a psych-folk haze), Craig also spent the first half of 2014 immersed in the music of Robert Wyatt, having been asked to direct and do all arrangements for a performance of Wyatt's music for the Nuits de Fourviere Festival in Lyon, with North Sea Radio Orchestra as house-band. 'I A Moon', North Sea Radio Orchestra's previous album was very much concerned with the tragic illness that befell Craig's good friend Tim Smith (that underrated genius from pop \/ prog \/ punk legends Cardiacs), so that album felt almost unbearably sad at points. For this release Craig wanted there to be no 'meaning' or particular theme but of course life often intervenes in such plans; half way through making the record Craig suffered a close family bereavement, naturally having a huge impact on the outcome of this album 'Dronne' still contains all the elements that have made North Sea Radio Orchestra special to their fans and wholly unique in British music; the ability to produce beautiful music without being over-sweet, the combination of large-scale instrumentals ('Dinosaurus Rex Parts 1 and 2') with smaller pieces and songs, the beautiful voice of Sharron Fortnam, and the ability to marry seemingly disparate influences (Britten, Vaughan-Williams, Cardiacs, early Kraftwerk etc), all wrapped up in a very English\/Northern European harmonic and melodic language.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Household Mark","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471160807755,"sku":"404663","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/93ce7a5f-dcf3-43bb-8ece-c41ededc8449_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727393653"},{"product_id":"i-a-moon-rsd-2020","title":"I A Moon - RSD 2020","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten throughout the Autumn and Winter of 2010 \/ 2011 by band leader and guitarist \u003cstrong\u003eCraig Fortnam\u003c\/strong\u003e with a pencil and paper, guitar and piano and recorded 'at various locations in southern England on his laptop', \u003cem\u003eI A Moon\u003c\/em\u003e retains the unique \u003cstrong\u003eNorth Sea Radio Orchestra\u003c\/strong\u003e line-up of strings, woodwind, percussion, guitars, keyboards and voices but with a darker, less pastoral sound, with synth and percussion taking a more prominent role than on their previous two albums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother departure is a move away from using poetry to the more personal use of self-penned lyrics: \"\u003cem\u003eI a moon\u003c\/em\u003e, orbiting myself. Sometime gravity pulls me close…\". On this release, the influences apparent on the first two albums (Britten, Vaughan Williams, Reich, ISB, 70's prog) have been augmented by a distinct whiff of Krautrock (on the instrumental \u003cem\u003eBerliner Luft\u003c\/em\u003e) while the angular guitars of \u003cem\u003eRing Moonlets\u003c\/em\u003e show a debt to the dual guitar textures of \u003cstrong\u003eDeerhoof\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNorth Sea Radio Orchestra\u003c\/strong\u003e continue to blend their influences in a highly imaginative and unusual way, while all the time having an ear for the beautiful, be it in melody, texture or chord. \u003cstrong\u003eNorth Sea Radio Orchestra\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cem\u003eI A Moon\u003c\/em\u003e; beautiful, redolent, ancient and modern, English and world, unique.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Household Mark","offers":[{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50480977641803,"sku":"1090710","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6371a4bd-6b1b-4361-addd-9354ffc30c18_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727531313"},{"product_id":"special-powers","title":"Special Powers","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike previous releases, \u003cem\u003eSpecial Powers\u003c\/em\u003e features a mix of songs and instrumentals both large and small, inhabiting the psych\/chamber\/folk\/pop world that \u003cstrong\u003eCraig\u003c\/strong\u003e has lived in for a while now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIndeed, fans of his solo work and \u003cem\u003eArch Garrison\u003c\/em\u003e will recognise many of his trademark musical elements; strong emphasis on melody and chord combined with a clear rhythmic sense, a mixed palette of guitars, strings, wind, various keyboard instruments and percussion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCraig's\u003c\/strong\u003e music is often described as 'beautiful', 'English-sounding'; not sure why - probably the chords - which certainly do have a Vaughan Williams\/ Cardiacs\/Dowland\/' Canterbury-esque ' (etc etc) aspect, but with selective use of dissonance to add a little astringency and temper the bitter-sweet melancholy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Believers Roast","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":52321423917387,"sku":"R4426-8877","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52321423950155,"sku":"R4426-7437","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_5b696468-095e-48fe-b477-8298c2658231.jpg?v=1750400127"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/north-sea-radio-orchestra.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}