Sophia 6 / Alter, by Psychological Strategy Board

Sophia 6 / Alter

by Psychological Strategy Board

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	1.	Sophia 6 10:57
	2.	Alter 11:09

about

The Quietus described this as "the greatest lathe cut record to be released in the 21st Century (featuring an electric toothbrush solo)", at: thequietus.com/articles/27785-psychological-strategy-board-sophia-6-single

And Toneshift continued the theme, describing Sophia 6 as sounding, "like a composition for a broken conveyor belt that’s been left to fizzle and tilt", read more at: toneshift.net/2019/12/09/two-short-form-records/

Something like a fanfare, that most traditional of openings, heralds Sophia 6, but Psychological Strategy Board have subverted it monstrously. An amplified toothbrush, audible only through a saturated contact microphone, the sound is dynamic, aggressive, bizarre, giving way to a tentative and questioning lull, through which a series of explosive rattles locks us in to the duo’s trademark ‘panic-ambient’ sound. Frantic, jarring synth stabs rise, summoning a looping upbeat sample and thudding breakbeats, giving way to the deeper, contemplative, synth soundscape of Alter on the reverse. Rich and three-dimensional (it is, in fact, mono), Sophia 6 / Alter is a challenging record that both demands and rewards repeated listening.

These are the first original transmissions from Psychological Strategy Board (Paul Snowdon and jonny mugwump) since their acclaimed 2018 film soundtrack tribute to artist Penny Slinger. Following a sonic breakthrough with the aforementioned toothbrush, and a box built for a lost hero, Psychological Strategy Board was born again, renewed, and, they say, “we are now possessed”. “There is a sound we're striving to reach whilst simultaneously embracing patience, restraint and the urge to pile on the noise”, says mugwump, “we think the panic is still there though”.

Improvised and recorded live in a couple of feverish hours one late August night - in what mugwump describes as “Dog Tunnel’s crazy DIY studio in Elephant and Castle, housing a spectacular reverb panel!” - these sounds are a collision of sequences from Psychological Strategy Board’s most recent live set. In the spirit of evading control, Dog Tunnel were left a free hand to mix with interference or influence the recording.

Recorded and mixed on tape, released on lathe-cut record, each cover and every single copy made by hand, to order, on a restored, professional-quality, valve-driven RCA lathe from the rock n’ roll era, this record speaks of a collision of sound worlds: mugwump’s crisp digital attack sparring with Snowdon’s creaking analogue howl.

Artist bio.
Psychological Strategy Board is the collaboration between Paul Snowdon (Time Attendant) and jonny mugwump that grew out of several years’ worth of unintentional improvisation on the Exotic Pylon radio show on Resonance FM. A chance encounter via Radio 3 led to the duo being invited to record the soundtrack to a documentary about the extraordinary work that artist Penny Slinger was producing in the late sixties. In 2018 Front & Follow released the soundtrack to critical acclaim. mugwump explains “it was during the soundtrack work that we decided to formalise the concepts that we had unconsciously adopted over the years, largely based on strict parameters of improvisation, restriction and removal of authorial control”. The duo then “had to work out how the hell to reproduce the ‘panic-ambient’ we had accidentally stumbled upon in a live setting, and we performed a number of gigs”.

Endorsements for previous work
“This is film music that can engage directly and can flow gently into the backdrop. Like the art that inspired it, Out Of The Shadows rewards deep exploration and repeated visits”, Richard Fontenoy, The Quietus (20 April 2018).

“It’s rare that a debut act is asked to score a feature film, and rarer still that such an act surpasses expectations … the deeper they go, the darker they get, chasing the rabbit until the path is lost”, A Closer Listen (4 April 2018).

credits

released December 10, 2019

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Dog Tunnel Records London, UK

Analogue recording and production in SE1, London, UK.

Handmade records, cut on an RCA 70C lathe from the 1940s.

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