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Michael Tanner is a composer, writer and musician from the south of England occasionally recording under the pseudonym 'Plinth'. He's been a member of the bands Directorsound, Pantaleimon, United Bible Studies, The Rural Tradition and plays live with English folk-musician Sharron Kraus. Engineering and Recording credits include Sharron Kraus' acclaimed The Foxes Wedding, forthcoming albums by Autumn Grieve, The Rural Tradition and United Bible Studies, whilst he's also contributed songs and remixes to Andria Degen's Pantaleimon. Other musical outlets include acoustic duo The A.Lords with Nicholas Palmer and Vangelis-styled synth project Cat lady with Matthew Shaw.

The A.Lords Self-titled LP is a collection of music by Michael and Nicholas. The name comes from a joke made on an autumnal afternoon that no longer makes sense, and probably wasn't funny in the first place. Nicholas is better known for making short elaborate instrumental music as 'Directorsound' and Michael has a history of making longer, gloomier pieces as 'Plinth' - The A.Lords peversely straddle the two, looking down at us with an expression of woe.
Some of the songs recorded date back almost 8 years now. Each one was a very slow and deliberate paean to the oft maligned (and rightly so) fields of Dorset. The first batch were improvised on summer days spent in gardens, churches and a lovely old wooden summerhouse. The second set made themselves known over two nights in a rusty old barn during Harvest festival. Microphones were placed in trees outside and under the floorboards, making the tunes regretfully creak into life.

This album will be released by the esteemed Midwich Records in 2009


The Rest I Leave to the Poor is a collaboration with Glen Johnson of Textile Ranch and Piano Magic. This 44 minute piece may structurally resemble a classical composition - divided as it is into several interlocking stanzas - but it's difficult to place it comfortably within the realm of modern music. If anything, 'The Rest....' evokes the otherwordly, fantastical obsessions of the Victorians (Conan Doyle, Lear, Grandville, Wellcome, etc) through means of meticulously manipulated instrumentation, samples and voice. Limited to 1000 copies with hardback card and letterpress design, this record was released in 2008 on Make Mine Music. Copies are available from Norman's Records.

".Dorset's Plinth appeared on the Geographic compilation You Dont Need Darkness To Do What You Think Is Right back in 2001. As the title suggests, all eight tracks on this EP were created by the 'creaking, winding, piping, chiming and wood-knocking of Victorian parlour music machines'. Though Plinth sometimes lets aged fairground/carnival tunes peek through the static, more often he uses the music machines for melancholy toy tunes, or reflective puddles of wistful melody, swamping the sweet metallic ring of the instrument with layers of machine clutter and clatter. " The Wire.

" 10 stars out of 10.... What strikes me every time I play this cdr is the sheer delicacy and dreamlike nature of the music. There's this whole tapestry of more or less loosely-bound melodies and ghostly textures that never exhaust their mysterious powers. Sometimes, there are moments that may recall the sound-world of C?cile Schott aka Colleen, although a closer listen reveals a different kind of approach altogether, at least to my ears. Right, the melodies do not necessarily follow a song-like structure. Sometimes, only fragments of them are actually surfacing . But this doesn?t make up for the fragile poetry that you will find here. True, the chosen medium (a three-inch cdr) makes the experience all the more concise in its overall scope and the collage method is deliberately unconventional (only one piece of software was used for the sole purpose of editing the tunes), but there is something here that just cannot be fully grasped into words. I may venture to write that, like Vashti Bunyan's oft-misunderstood lullabies, the music of Plinth is able to create a singular climate that offers as much a safe haven as a more acute awareness of the dangers that may surround us. Consequently, the dreamlike quality of the music mentioned just above is not merely lovely-sounding and it is a tribute to Tanners unique experimental edge to make us hear other unexpected voices in-between the tunes themselves. To my mind, these darker overtones are a full part of the fabric of this work and although they're not overwhelming in any way, their presence is quietly upsetting. Again, this may all be woven from the stuff that dreams are made of, but there's a reality going on here too, and it will be as joyful, lively and sad as you want it to be. It's also a perfect example of how free music can be, as it starts to behave like an organic entity that plays along with its creator(s) and develop the ability to change the way we actually listen to all this without even our realizing it. A true gem, indeed... " Foxy Digitalis

"Plinth has largely documented the efforts of Mike Tanner, though there maybe other members involved now – it's all a bit sketchy and mysterious biographically. I was greatly impressed by their 3" CD-R 'Victorian Machine Music' for the Rusted Rail nano-imprint (who perversely but quite wonderfully only release 3" CD-Rs), and now have a full-length release from the project to enjoy, though its status in ambiguous (is it a demo? self-released? who knows?). 'A Compilation Of Film Music Released/Unreleased 1988-2006' is like an expanded version of 'Victorian Machine Music' as the fascination with antiquity continues. Over the course of 16 undocumented tracks the listener is transported to a world of rescued music making devices: old music boxes, parlour bell machines, calliopes, gramophones and tape decks and creating a deeply affecting, almost spiritual world out of the synergy between sampled sounds. The process could have been cold and stochastic, but in Tanner's hands the results have a dreamlike quality and organic cohesion. It's like the echo of a carnival that has passed through a town and gone leaving only fragments of memory." Terrascope

"Within "Wintersongs" one will find a penchant for the creation of nostalgic spaces that transport one back to an idyllic, yet somewhat melancholic childhood. Plinth employs a wide variety of high to mid-range, chiming instruments and music box-like effects. Coming up through the mix one can occasionally hear the sounds of birds chattering, an old dusty recording of a woman singing, the crackle of the fireplace and the sound of footsteps. Plinth also employs clocks, teapots, trains, garden and a variety of other non-instrumental sound makers, which adds a great deal to the completion of a full space in which their sound is able to live and aids drastically in the bands intent to create a soundtrack to Lucy Boston's children's book "The Children of Greene Knowe."" Foxy Digitalis

"The A. Lords offer up a subtle, multifaceted beauty with their debut 3" CDR on Barl Fire Recordings. The five instrumental pieces on this release speak with clarity. I am immediately hit with a nostalgic feeling of being alone in the early morning; the sun just beginning to rise and a feeling a introspection lingering in the moist air. There is a wonderful romanticism to this disc, and an honest beauty that is enhanced by the warm lo-fi recording quality and the patchwork of instrumentation and field recordings that are utilized. This release really never feels like it is about the musicians themselves. It all seems focused on the greater goal of the feeling that this music can evoke. Fans of any of the newer psych-folk or fingerstyle guitar music that has emerged in the past few years will do well to pay attention to The A. Lords. They are carving out a space that is uniquely there own; a space that you will want to get lost in. 10/10" Foxy Digitalis

"What an amazing and intriguing set of recordings. First time I heard it I thought how enchanting and almost touching the first track was. The third track with the waves coming in and out I loved and thought it so inventive. Track 4 sent me into a trance - although I wasn't aware of that until I came to! Then, track 5, with the animal/bird snufflings sounded like the start of creation. Track 6 sounded like toy tin soldiers on the march, followed by tin horse riders with the trappings all a-jingle in a very tinny way - very surreal. And track 8 - so pretty, but with a warning or alarm sounding all the way through. Then I played it again, and started to hear that there was a bit of a nightmare echoing through as well... a tad unsettling ... This is really original stuff - a remarkable concept. Clever old you! " Shirley Collins on Victorian Machine Music