Mouldycliff, Potter, Mouldycliff 'Canopies & Cathedrals' Limited Edition with Print
July 2025
This is an edition of 15 copies of the new MPM CD that come with an individual A4 print by Phil Mouldycliff, signed & numbered.
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY BOUGHT THIS BEFORE THIS EDITION WAS AVAILABLE & YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY A PRINT PLEASE Email : colinpotter@icrdistribution.com
Canopies: A roof-like covering of trees enclosing a large or wide natural space.
Cathedrals: Large edifice usually of stone, enclosing space reserved for spiritual contemplation.
Vertical structures that strive for light and open spaces, defying gravity, and reason.
A Tarkosvsky-esque transcendence of spirit and nature, time imprinted on an intertwining of sap and stone, branch and pillar, column, and trunk.
This third MPM release is co-written by Phil and Jackson Mouldycliff, with studio treatments (mixing, mastering, and arranging) by Colin Potter. Additional field recordings used in the composition were provided by Dave Carson. It accompanies an installation under the same title, with visual material by Phil, Dave, and Sarah Robinson, to be shown at Wells Cathedral in the summer of 2025.
The extended ambient piece weaves together found sounds from the interiors of ecclesiastical buildings and both temperate and tropical forests. The composition features bells, organ, choirs, wind through vegetation, birds, insects-both real and imagined. These elements are further layered with synthesised and sampled sounds, creating a seamless soundscape that embodies the connection between nature, architecture, and memory.
YOU CAN LISTEN HERE : https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/canopies-cathedrals
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A FREE BANDCAMP DOWNLOAD CODE WITH YOUR PURCHASE PLEASE Email : colinpotter@icrdistribution.com
Review by Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly : Let's safely say one knows what a cathedral is, a big church (I know there's more to it), but the word canopy may not be as familiar: "A roof-like covering of trees enclosing a large or wide natural space." Both are big spaces and thus great for recording sound, or, using these words, suggest vast spaces, which can be electronically re-created. The music on this CD, six parts of the title piece, was recorded by Phil and Jackson Mouldycliff, using "bells, organ, choirs, wind through vegetation, birds, insects, real and imagined. These elements are further layered with synthesised and sampled sounds, creating a seamless soundscape that embodies the connection between nature, architecture, and memory. Colin Potter is responsible for what is loosely described as "studio treatments", which include mixing, mastering, and arranging. The music was used in an installation piece, but also stands firmly by itself, as heard on this CD. Like many other releases on Potter's ICR label, this too falls in the category of ambient music (think also of solo works by Potter, Jonathan Coleclough or Monos. The line between what the Mouldycliff brothers recorded and Potter's treatments blurs, and it becomes unclear what is what. That is no problem, as I am sure this is what these three men intended to do with the music. Massive long-form drones, sometimes sounding like a synth, sometimes like bowed strings, with some gentle field recordings; mostly birds in that department. In the third part, there's also some choir sounds, which I admit I found a bit tacky - too much of a cliché and a bit over-the-top. But when a church organ is added, things roll back to what I enjoy a lot; calm, spacious music with some wonderous bending and, at times, neatly sparse, followed by all-immersion.
