Nick Franglen is one half of Lemon Jelly, and producer of albums by John Cale and Badly Drawn Boy amongst others.
Charles Casey is one half of Akasha - the original, tripped-out purveyors of noirish jazadelica - and collaborator with Neneh Cherry and David Axelrod.
In early 2007 they discovered a new way of making music. Entirely improvised, and created by just two guitars fed through a tangle of FX boxes, theirs is a sound of dark, visceral beauty that connects in a way that eludes much electronica. Every track is improvised and unrepeatable. Blacksand music is recorded live with no overdubs.
Blacksand have spent much of 2008 planning and executing astonishing performances in unusual places. The launch party for their album 'Barn' was held hundreds of feet underground in a ancient mine system in Wiltshire. They were accompanied by a Channel 4 film crew for a highly unauthorised performance inside a disused industrial testing facility in March of this year. In May they performed inside a cold war Soviet submarine floating on the Medway. Click *HERE* to read Mike Barnes' review in The Wire of the submarine performance.
They have plans for performances over the summer months in rather more publicly accessible places. Watch this space.
Blacksand have received an excellent critical response for their activities since their debut record release in March 2008. Barn was Album Of The Week for both Rough Trade and Boomkat, Observer Music Magazine had it as one of their top 10 albums with a 5 star review, and Mojo gave it a 4 star review. The Times ran a three page article on the Industrial 'break-in' performance and recording, and The Wire ran an excellent, illuminating piece on the Submarine performance and recording in their August issue.
Barn is now available in all decent UK outlets on general release through Cargo distribution, and iTunes or Boomkat as a download. This beautiful double gatefold CD was designed by the great Chris Bigg and Vaughan Oliver of v23.
The Barn Sleeve:
One copy of the 'Barn' CD at Rough Trade contains a Golden Ticket, entitling the holder to a personal performance by Blacksand in their front room. It still hasn't showed up yet - it's out there somewhere...
Click HERE to buy the CD directly from Rough Trade.
‘Barn’ is the sound of two men in a calving shed in Sussex, equipped with guitars, an array of effects pedals, a musical relationship that verges on the telepathic and the desire to create a new way of making music. While they set out create one thing, they ended up with something quite different. A line on the CD sleeve acknowledges the sheer unpredictability of the creative process:
“This isn’t what we set out to do. You never know what’s about to happen.”
Thx alot for the friendship. Visit our page and get a free download. Just click on the coverpic to get the song ( 192kbps MP3 ) This is a service for our friends and fans on MySpace. ENJOY.
"At last a follow up to Janette Mason's sparkling debut as leader. Alien Left Hand ....was well worth the wait…” Production **** Performance**** -- BBC Music Magazine
“…an album fizzing with fresh ideas and delights, an exhilarating musical journey .. with brilliantly original writing and inspired playing…” -- Helen Mayhew
"Every track from the rhythmic ‘NY Cab Ride’ and restless ‘4 Wheel Drive’ to the brooding ‘Mae’s Song’ has a terrific hook but it’s the way Mason switches tempo and moods that makes ALH great fun. " -- Diva Magazine
